Late season bonus…returning with a win!

Back in July when i was back running and cycling without pain I felt confident enough to enter a late season race when the Carmarthen Cotswold Sprint returned to the race calendar after a 23 year hiatus. It was only a short race with a 400m pool swim, a 23k bike, and a 5k run. I was looking forward to at least having raced in 2014 having thought this season was a write off, and also to see where i was at, having rehabbed from injury but not done any speed work running and hadn't gone flat out on the bike, only done some threshold pace intervals on the turbo. As for my swim…well, i've found that without being part of a squad i quickly find reasons to skip swim training during the week and have only been managing one swim a week at best, so i knew my swim time would be far from what i would have wanted if i had been swimming 2-3 times a week consistently.

I registered the morning before and drove the route from Johnstown to Llansteffan and back and lucky i did as there was a very sharp left turn at the bottom of a hill just before the turn around point, and then on the return there was a big left sweep that was sharper than it initially looks, and again when going down hill. However, i was pleased the road surface was looking good and nothing too challenging on the course. That night, i slept remarkably well before a race, maybe because it was a pool swim so no anxiety about drowning, and also because i was approaching this race as just being able to race. I found i had started to put pressure on myself in 2013, but the only person you can race is yourself as that's the only person you can control. Also, i didn't really know any names in the race entry list other than a few girls from the club, so i had no idea who i was racing against. However, the nerves did set in after standing pool side for a while waiting to start the swim. No idea what the nerves were for, other than the pre-performance anxiety that is very common. I just calmed my breathing and focused on watching those already in the pool. 

Having had a season off from silly o'clock weekend mornings for races I was up bright as a button at 5am and my ever-suffering parents picked me up to head on down to Carmathen. I had seen there was fog forecast and so much so that the race was delayed by just over 30 minutes to try and let the fog lift as much as possible. It never really lifted, but with the light brighter it at least enabled drivers to see us as the majority of people don't have lights on their bike, i know i don't on my race bike. The other factor was the temperature. We've been very lucky throughout the summer and the autumn so far with it being warm but it picked race day to be cold, not rising above 7 degrees all morning!

I'd brought plenty of clothes with me to choose the right combination…I had toe covers on my shoes which left my feet feeling comfortable throughout, a godsend given the number of times i've had frozen feet in the past because of my raynauds, I went for a snood for my head to keep the heat in and the breeze off on the bike, but the rain/windproof jacket i went for wasn't getting over my wet body so i went for a rapha gilet which i'd already opened and practised getting on and off over my head. Stupidly, i'd already put my helmet on thinking i was going for the jacket, so i then had to take it back off to put the gilet over but then it was getting stuck to my wet skin so wouldn't roll down my back, doh!! i was thinking to myself "god, this is the slowest transition ever!" Thankfully, whilst being slower than i'd have wanted, i was by no means the slowest, probably about average, and I felt comfortable on the bike, my hands weren't too cold (given they are usually freezing), and whilst i felt the breeze on my arms i can't say i was cold as such, not as some people suffered. For that i think i have to thank the combination i went with and the rapha gilet was awesome. Yes, they're expensive, but I've come to appreciate you often do get what you pay for and i thank the gilet for keeping the cold off my chest and leaving me comfortable throughout, unlike some who had to pull out with hypothermia! As soon as i stopped, went inside and then came back out again to get my bag from the car i was freezing, blue lips, teeth chattering, shaking incessantly, so believe it, it was cold!

So the race itself…I was pleased that the swim was a side by side swim, without having to worry about  lapping or being lapped. I haven't swam as much as i should have really but when you're injured it's hard to keep the mojo high, and i'd gotten out of the habit of early morning swims so i had only been managing one swim a week at best. However, during those swims i was feeling good, and definitely feel my stroke has come on a lot since March when i had time with @bigdaveakers a great swim coach. I couldn't get an accurate swim time as the swim included the difficult jump out of the 2m deep end of the pool, and then the run out of the pool and around the side of the leisure centre into transition. I think i swam close to what i had expected though so i was happy enough with that. 

After my less than swift T1 out onto the bike! The thing with it being a pool start means you have no idea how you're doing because everyone sets off at different times. However, i always look to overtake as many as i can and try and keep anyone from overtaking me. If i do this then i feel i've done my best. I was surprised that the bike was a whole lot more challenging that it looked! The course profile showed a steady climb for a while which you repeat on the return leg. However, the course was either going up, or it was going down, there was not much in-between! The climbing started within a kilometre or so from the start so no real chance to get the legs firing and i always find it demoralising when i'm in my lowest gear on a hill when the hill doesn't even seem that big! There was no heart rate monitoring on this ride, it was all about turning the legs as fast as i can in as decent a gear as i could. Going downhill and along the sections that were flat i felt great, but going uphill it just seemed steeper than it actually was! i think it was because the road kept climbing, even gradually, and was a very cheekily deceptive bike course! My average speed, working it out from my bike time and the course distance was over 17.5 mph, but nowhere near the kind of average speed I'd have expected from the course profile. However, i did pass plenty of people, i was zipping along in aero position on all but the climbs, and i did feel i was putting in a good shift. The only person who overtook me on the bike was a guy that i had overtaken going up a hill who quickly put the hammer down and re-took me (don't think he'd like being chicked!!). Now i haven't practiced transitions since last year, nor getting feet out of shoes and having a speedy T2 but i was pleased that i had learnt from past races where i slowed too much getting feet out and losing time getting to T2 dismount line. This time, i got feet out onto shoes and then was able to speed up getting to dismount, then a super speedy T2 where i could hear the guy on the microphone commenting on my transition, lol!

You can see the guy in the distance who i sprinted past

I've always found that i run well off the bike, even when i don't practice brick sessions often. I think i'd done a couple brick sessions in the past few months, but maybe because of my strength, I find that once the initial few steps are out of the way then i'm soon into my stride and feeling OK. The run course had been altered due to weather affecting the initial route, so we now had a 2 lap run along pavement with only a little up and down over a bridge. I actually don't mind laps because then you can judge your pace well and know how long you have left on your 2nd lap when you reach certain points. I know from photos of me running that i work hard when running and never look good! However, it seems to be relatively effective as I was able to settle into a decent pace from the off (no gadgets to tell me this, just my own feeling) and then the plan was always to pick up the pace on the second lap. From the turn around point on the 2nd lap was when i really picked up the pace, i could hear it in my breathing, but other than a couple of speedster young blokes passing me on the run, i was the one chasing down people and passing them. I could tell that i was running faster than the other girls out on the course but all i was focused on was running my own race and finishing strongly. I always have a kick, so the final turn into the school, about 600m out i'd say i picked up again and then i could see a guy in front of me and with about 60m left i turned on the sprint to finish strongly, much to the delight of the announcer!

I had no idea how i had done, but i felt I might be on for a podium, given that this race was mostly first-timers. I knew the field wasn't as stacked as if i had been racing earlier in the season, but I still didn't know how the other girls had done, especially if there had been a very fast swimmer who would have had a large advantage over me after the swim.

However, when my name was called out as the overall female winner i was almost a little choked, a lump appeared in my throat! The only time i have felt this before was when i was winning a 10k race for life race years ago and other women were clapping me as i was leading - i was almost crying then!! I was chuffed to bits!!!!!!! I hadn't come into this race to win it, i'd come into it to get back racing and to test everything out. Yes, i wanted to do as well as i could, but to come away with a win, an awesome trophy, and a cracking day pack backpack from the sponsors Cotswolds Outdoors was amazing!!!! WOOHOO!!

Looking at the results later, i was even more chuffed that i had placed 1st female on the bike and the run, with a 5k PB!! I've only ever run a 5k as part of a triathlon but i knocked 45 seconds off my previous best, and i had to make sure the length was right to be sure it was a PB! I was chuffed with this given i had been managing my own run pace when running my steady/slow runs (not determined by coach) and that i hadn't done any intervals, threshold work, or sprints since last season! My swim was 8th female which wasn't bad given there were a few swimming squad swimmers there, and i was 15th overall in the race (124 took part), so a good run out all round :)

Love my ice cream cone trophy!

So happy that i was able to race at pace in 2014 and to come away with a win was great! One more race planned now, which is the delayed Carmarthenshire duathlon that was postponed in March due to weather. So, a 5k/30k/5k race coming up next weekend. Again, for me this is just an opportunity to race, treat it as a training session working at threshold pace and see how i get on. Then, once that is done, it's time to continue to build and hope i stay injury free :)