Euro Champs - Tales of Turkey 2013

It's taken me a while to write this as it feels like i'm only now fully recovering, everything back in order, time to stop kinda thing. I updated my adventure from Turkey on a mostly daily basis via facebook but this is a chance to put it all together, if i remember it all!

The anxieties leading up to the event had gone and i was all set to go. My z3r0d GB polo shirt had arrived in time, shame it was meant for a child rather than an adult! That has been a major disappointment about the whole event, the kit not being ready for us, or seeing some people with it but others not having any, yet all ordered at the same time. I'm still awaiting my tracksuit, hoodie and t-shirts! Chances are tho that the majority will go back as sizes and cut are meant to not be for the average joe bloggs! interesting tho to see all the juniors, elites and paratriathletes with all the kit tho. we have to pay our whole way & get nothing in return, and those that get there on elite merit get it all...

Ready for the off!!

I stayed the night in a local hotel near the airport to ease the rush and potential for traffic on the morning and my mother kindly kept me company so i enjoyed a nice relaxed meal, even allowed myself a lager and dessert ;) Morning of the flight and squeezed into the miniscule polo shirt just so that i might be recognised by other age-groupers and feel less alone. As it was i saw a few others in GB kit in the queue for check-in so at least i knew i was in the right place. Bags got checked in without a problem but as for the 15kg carry on well i was made to test that for size in easyjet's carry-on size cradle and i had to jam it in, but fit it did, only to then get stuck trying to get it out! thankfully other age-groupers realised my troubles and helped me out. Then another guy helped lift it into the overhead bin so at least people were being friendly. On the plane i sat next to a couple who i realised were also going to Alanya and as it turned out Helen and Tim were in the same hotel as me and when at the hotel we became friends and they kinda took me under their wing, which was lovely, to have friends out there. I also met another 2 guys on the transfer from the airport to the hotel, Adey and Steve and they also became friends, along with Danny, as we were all staying in the same hotel. Post race enjoyed a lovely evening in the bar drinking beers and chatting with this bunch which was lovely :)

The transfer from the airport was longer than had been advertised (over 2 hours) and there was no Nirvana Europe (travel company) rep on the bus which meant the bus driver had no idea where we were all staying and was shouting out random hotel names at us before stopping to ask for directions! However, finally we got to our hotel after 11pm to be met with the sight of 2 camels being walked down the street! i'm used to wild horses in penlan, but camels??

At our hotel and the staff had kept us some leftover dinner which was nice. It wasn't great, but at least it was something after a long journey and no food on the plane (unless you paid an absolute fortune!) As it turned out we got the best deal on the hotel. Right on the beach, a small hotel which was beautiful. The food was OK, not great, and on my last night i refused to eat chicken nuggets, pita bread and fish vegetable soup - instead opting to pay for a decent meal in the restaurant next door, but on the whole it was decent and i probably lost some weight as i wasn't eating as much as i normally do. Not to say i didn't snack, as i still treated myself with some choc from the local shop and some lovely jelly worms :) i also found pepsi max in plentiful supply which was great.

Beautiful sunset on the beach

The first day there i just wanted to orient myself so off i toddled for a couple of hours walking through the town, trying to find the important places for the race. I was surprised at how relaxed i felt walking through this strange town and the local shopkeepers, whilst trying to entice you into their shops, didn't harass and soon moved on to the next potential customer when you walked by without stopping. I actually quite enjoyed the attention by white blonde hair brought, even if i know it was all artificial! The walk from the hotel to the race centre was a good 1/2hr walk though so i walked a fair few miles in the week and in flip flops for most of that which wasn't great! I was also surprised that i wasn't bothered by the heat. It averaged about 30 degrees probably during the day and race day the water and air temperature was 26 degrees. Hot yes, but a breeze on the bike from averaging 20.5mph and on the run there were 2 water stations on each of the 4 laps, with some shaded sections too so i found the whole race fine. I was surprised to see a few turkish athletes, and GB athletes walking. During the build up to the race i didn't lounge in the sun, to be honest i didn't lounge in the sun full stop, but i wonder if those that did just lay and soak up the sun found any detrimental affect on performance come race day, i.e. more sluggish?

View from my bedroom balcony

I'd had no communication from my age-group team captain which was disappointing, especially as a first timer way out of their comfort zone, so i joined in with a group of mostly 50-54 yr olds for a recce of the bike and run routes. Doesn't matter who i go with, but as it was, Helen, Adey & Steve all joined in this recce so at least it was friendly faces again and some of those in this group were also on my flight over so i felt comfortable enough. The road surface for the bike wasn't as bad as british roads but it was bouncy in patches from roadwork repairs and the brick road surface in places. However, the course was flat as a pancake and nothing technical so i only lost speed during the race by sitting up to drink and take a gel on-board, and also when having my brain jiggled going over the rough patches. From this race though i have now bought an aero drinks bottle so that i no longer need to change positions in order to drink. The girls in my age-group left me for dust on the bike course, one girl i was chatting to post-race clocked an average of 25mph, beating my bike time by 8 minutes so all i can say to that is "respect". However, the race has given me areas i want to improve upon and getting an aero drinks bottle i see as free time ;)

The swim recce was a nightmare...there was no safety support, which i expected for an "official" swim course recce and it was a bit of a free for all - turn up and jump in! the 1500m turn buoys looked so far out it was scary and in actual fact on the morning of the race they didn't seem as far so i think they had drifted in the tide and even on race morning the course was still long by about 200m! I hadn't planned to swim the whole course but then someone suggested i might be best doing so to settle my nerves about covering the distance so off i swam. However the waves were rolling and i kept stopping on the outward stretch, hearing myself doubting my ability to race and thinking all i wanted to do was turn around and get out! As i was trying to sight so the waves were smacking me in the face and whilst it wasn't "that" bad the anxiety of feeling like i was out on the 1500m course all by myself made it quite disconcerting so in part i kept stopping for safety reasons. As it was when i was about 100-200m from the turn buoy, and after what felt like swimming for 1/2 hr i decided to cut around early as when i looked around i could not see another swimmer anywhere around and as there was no swim support it felt a bit disconcerting should i carry on going and then be out there all by myself. Also, i was afraid the group i came with (who were all doing the sprint distance 750m loop) would have got out and gone as it felt like i was out there forever! The cross swim was fine and coming back the waves pushed you back into shore lovely but it didn't help settle the nerves at all. But hey, i gave myself a talking to on the night before the race and having swam in the sea by our hotel every day i was used to swimming in rolling waves to a degree so i told myself to "man up" and get it done. It'd be the same for everyone and if i told myself to keep swimming then i'd get there a darn sight quicker than if i doubted myself and stopped. Having swam in the sea every day i also got used to how salty it was too, which was rather unpleasant but on race day i can't say i remember much about the salt taste so it can't have been that bad.

Transition on race morning...nice to see no bed hair for me this morning!!

Having psyched myself up and told myself that i was here and i could do this, i felt good. I only slept for about 3 hours though due to fireworks and a wedding party going on until midnight in a neighbouring bar and then the call to prayer going on over the loud speaker (this happened daily 4 times, day and night!). My alarm was set for 4:20am and up i was.
Brekkie was a mishmash of a bit of bread and jam and a cereal combo but it worked as nutrition wise i was fine with a 3:1 nectar fuel drink on the bike (drank about half) 1 gel pre-race, 2 gels on the bike, and then i used every drink stop on the run to take a sip and then throw the rest over myself to keep cool. What was great post-race was the cold wet sponges! i was missing my jelly sweets though post race, instead it was yucky fruit! My feet were sore at the end though as the water throwing had led to rubbing in my shoes as obviously i don't wear socks! luckily no bleeding, which i had been expecting, but i did have to plaster them up for a few days before that actually led to them almost becoming infected from not breathing so they came off and then the wounds started to heal.

So race morning and i got a taxi down with 2 of the lads. They were both a tad nervous as they weren't up for much chat where as i'm fine on race morning and quite relaxed. My bike was already racked having done that the night before, even with the hassle of being sent away for not having my helmet with me for racking to be told upon my return 1hr later that i was right and could have come in the first time. For a european champs some of the organisation was shocking to be fair! haphazard body number printing on race morning, first wave having to dive start unexpectedly before team managers came running through us to assure us it was a water start and no diving, no official photos so no momento of me crossing the line face beaming with my GB flag waving :( (they gave us a little GB flag to carry as we're running down the finishing straight - lucky i was all alone on the finishing shute, nobody near me, so no need for a sprint finish).

The weather was perfect. Calm blue sea, no wind, warm but not too warm...perfect! i had put suntan lotion on all the bits i could reach but as it was the cut on the back of the trisuit was a little bit too far for me to reach as post-race i had some definite "tan" marks on my back, but it also goes to show how strong the sun was as when i was swimming in the sea each day with my swimming costume on, even though i put suntan lotion on my back, and was only in for up to 20-30 mins max each time i caught the sun every time. Now if you know me you'll know i'm a whiter shade of pale so the sun is attracted to me like bugs are to a light but on the whole my P20 suntan lotion worked a treat and whilst i got a little colour i didn't burn and the only thing that pealed post turkey was my nose! What was painful though were chaffing patches on the left side of my neck, which i get occasionally from swimming anyway but more pronounced post-race so i can only assume that is from breathing on my left side and rubbing?? also, the lanyard with my age-grouper access badge for the race area, chaffed my neck in places so those burns were quite painful when applying sun tan lotion and by the end of the holiday i was trying to avoid being out in the sun for periods of stillness if i could to try and protect my neck.

Wish i could say i was leading my wave by a mile but alas...still nice clear open water for me throughout ;)

Anyways, back to the race...we went off in age-groups, with a few age-groups lumped together at a time. the way they decided who went off when made no sense as first wave was 7am - men 19-29, and then 15 minutes later was us women all the way up to 34 years of age - why 15 min gap when the men are likely to be mostly much quicker?? no idea, because then 5 mins after us we had men 30-34 bearing down on us, and 5 mins after that men 35-39, etc.! i left plenty of room around the buoys knowing i would get the men coming flying through soon enough. I'm under no illusions i'm a fast swimmer and yes i did see both yellow hats fly past and then also a bunch of red hats late on in the swim. The water was crystal clear, with nothing to be seen. Some people saw small fish but i didn't see anything other than some seaweed on the floor and a manhole type cover nearer shore. Oh yeah, and the bloody big black diver that was hanging around underneath the turn buoy!!! You'd think they would have warned us???

After the race i was telling everyone i saw about it as those racing the sprint race the following day (i was racing olympic distance) might want to be aware! i had assumed he was taking photos but no, no such luck, in actual fact there wasn't an official photographer at the race which i think is shocking. The diver was a support apparently, in case you got dunked under the large buoy and got stuck! NICE!! No need of that for me as i had clear water all the way around on a lovely gentle, solo swim! We lined up in the water holding onto the rope underneath the pontoon and i was lucky enough to get a pontoon leg to push off from but i decided to let the 2 people either side of me to get a 1 second head start to give myself clear water but there was no need as i never saw any of them again! Not even a chance to get on any feet, they were gone! So in that respect it wouldn't have mattered if i had pushed off the same time as they were that much quicker than me, some of them 10 minutes quicker, that i was left swimming along, counting to 100s of strokes to pass the time, without any bother. The water was flat, no current, and other than a sting on my leg on the way in it was incident free. I actually felt my swim went OK, i felt quite strong during it and tried to keep a good pace up but i was disappointed with my time until i realised the course was long so i can knock at least 4 minutes off my time probably which actually then makes the time a decent time for me of about 30 minutes. Not great by any means, but for me it's OK although if i can get down to 28 minutes then i would be happy. The thing with this swim course was that there were only 4 buoys in total on the course so there was little to focus on, that made sighting problematic at times, but it also made it quite boring. Regular buoys give you something to aim for to break up the monotony.

Up on the toes!! Start of another lap on the run

The bike was comical in terms of the clear drafting that was going on - packs of riders, and i mean packs of 8 riders all bunched together, tight on each other's wheels - taking the piss a bit really but also poor in that there were marshals out on motorbikes all the time and regular marshals standing out on the course and how nothing was done was pretty shocking as i made a conscious effort at one point to drop back a little as someone i had earlier overtaken re-took me but then didn't pull away and i didn't want to waste energy by re-taking her when i knew it would be detrimental to my performance overall, but also that it could be classed as pacing so instead i dropped back a little out of the drafting zone, but then when you see a peloton go past you it's pretty ridiculous! the course was also poor in that there were no signs in transition to say "bike out" "bike in", etc. and no sign at the mount/dismount line, just a man with a red flag. That along with poor signage back into transition made the final route into transition a bit tricky as you could easily miss the turn. The bike was 4 laps and there was plenty of breeze from speed without there being any actual wind. You had to count your own laps but i can count to 4 so i was OK. Lot of people out on the course shouting for GB and Ben from the club and his girlfriend Nicola were also out there cheering which was nice to hear my actual name being called, rather than just GB or my surname. Thanks to Ben for a number of the photos of me racing here as without him taking photos i wouldn't have any proof that i actually raced!!

Clearly enjoying myself too much here!

Whilst the bike was flat as a pancake the run was 4 laps with a short sharp climb in each lap, which then gradually levelled off before a faster downhill type section that brought you back into town and into some shaded streets before back onto the front and back onto another lap. With 2 water stops each lap i kept cool enough and even though the run felt like a plod i was overtaking more people than were overtaking me. I have a very high cadence when running and for me it's just about putting one foot in front of the other no matter how i feel as if i keep moving, given my high foot turn over, then i still manage to keep a reasonable speed up even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. As it was when i approached the finishing line and saw the timer say "2:29" i was chuffed to bits as i had set myself a target time of 2:30 as my PB from Bala was 2:35. So, even with the longer swim i still did a PB although obviously helped by this being a non-wetsuit swim (26 barmy degrees in the sea un all that) and no wetsuit to wrestle with in T1. But, given it was non-wetsuit my time for the distance had it been the correct distance was actually OK. Anyways, i digress...

On the run i wasn't bothered particularly about overtaking people unless they were in my sights and i knew i could. I had no pressure in this race, no rivals, so i had nobody to try and beat but myself. I had hoped not to place last overall but as it was i was 66th out of 96 females of all ages so definitely not last and given this was only my 3rd olympic distance and still very much learning how much i can push myself over this distance, and only my 8th triathlon in total, i was more than happy especially given my race PB but also my run PB which was 44 minutes! my previous best 10k race was 44 mins dead back in 2009 but for a triathlon at this distance i had done 47 mins something at bala so this was a huge time given the heat, those short little climbs and the fact that it felt anything but fast! I did overtake one girl of a similar age to myself on the last lap and as it turned out that placed me 16 out of 17 in my age-group, rather than 17th! Her run time was a good while slower than mine which is why i overtook her with ease, but she had been that much better than me on swim and bike to begin with. I'll never make up the huge deficits on the swim but i can certainly improve my times there but if i can gain 2/3 minutes on my bike time, and then knock a further couple of minutes off my run time then i should at least be more competitive when racing against the best in my age-group. I will still never win, but at least i might catch a few more and gain a few more places. 

All in all though it was a job well done and whilst i might have been able to push a bit more on the bike maybe, at the time i was going as fast as my legs would take me and on the run it was about pacing it due to heat and the 4 laps being agony in one respect but also helpful in another because you knew what was coming, you knew how to pace etc. so i increased pace a bit after the hill on the 3rd lap and then on the 4th lap did increase pace after hill and kept trying to increase it so when i got about 1k out i knew i was into the final stretch if you like. Running through the town, hearing one of the girls i had met calling out my name with her family and friends, seeing welsh flags and having an extra cheer for being welsh, lapping up some of the cheers because hey, why not, and hearing people shout "Go GB, you're looking strong!!" certainly brought a warm feeling inside and those were the moments i enjoyed, when i thought how proud my parents and friends are of me, but also how proud i am of myself, for setting myself a challenge in the autumn of 2011 to conquer my inability to breathe with my head in the water (not a fear, just had never learnt so would swallow copious amounts of water and waste shed loads of energy - which is why i didn't swim), and for proving that with enough will power and determination you can achieve your goals. 

Representing my country as an age-grouper wasn't a goal when i took up triathlon, my goal was to complete a triathlon and then to be as good as i can be. However, to be able to call yourself a GB age-grouper is pretty cool, even if i got here through the reserve list having just scrapped the qualifying time. I did myself proud and whilst i wasn't the quickest, you can't ask more than a PB race time and a PB run time in my biggest race to date in the hottest conditions i have raced in, with my first non-wetsuit sea swim, outside my comfort zone, without family or friends around. Needless to say i enjoyed a well earnt beer later that afternoon although funnily enough i couldn't allow myself to have one before the afternoon, lol!

Don't think that i was able to take it easy after the race tho!! i went back to hotel to shower and change, grab something to eat, and then had to head back down to collect bike from transition and lend it to someone for the sprint race (there had been major problems getting bikes out to alanya so a lot of people borrowed from others). I got to transition 1/2hr before it was scheduled to open but then mild panic set in when transition was completely empty, no bikes at all, including mine!!!! I found people in official t-shirts but they could only tell me that everyone had collected their bikes and questionned why i thought transition was re-opening at 1:15pm - ummm, because that's what was in the official programme???? thankfully i wasn't the only one who's bike was missing and another girl in my age-group came over and we tried to find someone who knew where our bikes were. Nobody did!! How incompetent is the organisation of this event????????? Anyway, long story short, the other girl, Victoria, went off looking to see what she could see and found the bikes and our transition boxes (lucky i had not left my purse or hotel key in here) outside transition in an area that many people could access, leaning up against fences!!!! not a happy bunny!!!!! with that, i lent the bike to Molly, and then had to hope i'd see it again in one piece the following day. As it was Molly came 2nd in her age-group, and whilst not being overly grateful for the lend of my very expensive bike, at least gave it back without problems or faults. Ever one to help others me but sometimes i just wish i could quell the urge to be nice!

Later on that day i watched the women's elite race and was disturbed by how tiny they all are, like children! I'll never win races if that's how you're meant to look! Still, it was fun to cheer on the GB girls, with Vicky Holland coming second in a sprint finish. I then hung around for the presentations so by the end of the day i was absolutely shattered having walked miles and not properly rested after my race. as it was i went to stand in the sea for a few minutes just to let me legs cool off. That evening enjoyed a well earnt beer and had some dessert, just disappointed it was a bit pants! However, no late night celebrating as i was getting up at 5:45am the next morning to go and support the sprint race, doh! That was another long day as following all the cheering of Ben and Helen in the sprint race, i then returned later on to watch the men's race, only to be disappointed that there was only 1 male brit in the race, and the top guys who had been due to race hadn't come along so the field was quite depleted. Still, cool to see some of the top guys racing and the speeds they go at. That evening i finally started to unwind and enjoyed a lovely evening over beers in the bar with the friends i had made. The setting was beautiful, being able to enjoy a beer whilst looking out over the crystal blue sea and sky, really chilled me out and i was then able to reflect on all that had taken place and what i'd achieved.

My last day i had planned to do tourist sight seeing up the castle on top of the cliff overlooking the beach but my legs were in bits, i had blisters on my feet, my shins hurt from walking too much with flip flops, and i had sores on my neck that i wanted to keep out of the sun. Instead, i woke up in time to go see the elite relay event which was actually great fun, the most exciting race of the event & really good fun, just a shame there was no GB team in the event given the lottery funding they all get. However, that was a great way to finish off the event and i bought a nice 2XU fleece momento of the event, even though it was a tad expensive in my eyes, hey, at least they threw in a free cap! the expo at the event was shocking to be fair. I had expected to be able to buy bike repair stuff, like C02 cannisters given we couldn't bring them by plane, and nutrition stuff, and nice tri gear to buy, but all there was initially was a few items in the 2XU stall, before they finally added more stuff with 1.5 days left of the event, and then they added some promotional stalls but that was it!!!!! Anyway, waved goodbye to the event and then i went back and had a nice gentle lunchtime swim in the sea to ease the aches and pains, before a chilled afternoon watching tennis on TV and just unwinding over a beer or 2. This was my final evening and i decided to treat myself to a nice meal in the neighbouring restaurant as the food on the last night was particularly crap and i wanted indulgence! All week i had decided not to eat elsewhere for lunch as i hadn't felt comfortable eating alone in restaurants where they are trying to entice you in, instead, opting to have lunch in the hotel bar on those days i had proper lunch. The staff were friendly and i knew them. However, the guys at the neighbouring restaurant were lovely and very pleasant so on my last day i returned for a good lunch before leaving as i knew i wouldn't eat properly until very late. As it was i didn't eat properly until the next day as my intention of having room service upon arriving at my gatwick hotel late on the monday were thwarted by no-one answering so i had vending machine crisps & chocolate!

I had a lovely sleep that night and my parents came to fetch me late morning, rather than travelling back in the early hours of the morning and not getting any rest. So that was my adventure! I tanned a little, for me anyway, not that anyone would notice, i had fond memories, but i also wasn't wearing rose tinted specs so could see the weaknesses in the experience also. However, it has motivated me to try and qualify again for the europeans next year which will be in Kitzbuhel, Austria, with a beast of a course up a mountain! If i don't get there not to worry, it's just something to aim for. I'd be more concerned with improving upon last year's time in Bala and then seeing if that was good enough to make the rolldown list again. 

I was straight back to work and even though the race physically didn't take much from me, the travelling, the endless walking, and the emotional experience of it all certainly took it's toll as i struggled in training for the first week and a half with my legs just feeling heavy and not having any oommphff! I made a decision soon after my race that racing again in 2 weeks for Pembroke Olympic distance tri probably wasn't ideal, given my feet needed to heal before running sockless again, and also i wanted to get some good training in before my next big race which was a month from my turkey race which is Liverpool for the british championships at olympic distance, and also a world championship qualifier. So i took the decision to sell my place and give myself the chance to recover properly rather than run a race, and a hard race at that, tired, for that then to have a knock on effect on my liverpool race. So, here i am after that essay, back into training, ready for the next challenge which will be poppit sands aquathlon this sunday, and then liverpool on 12th July. I have no ambitions of making the worlds in london in september, and it being a british championship doesn't mean that i'm good, just that anyone can enter and test themselves in what will be a top-notch field. So my aim is to try and better my PB time again, trying to swim a better time to be more competitive, and then to back that up with a faster bike and run split. All i can do is my best on the day and i'm still very much learning this sport, how hard i can push myself etc., so each race is a chance to test that out and see how far i can do...

If you have read all this then you deserve a medal! Thanks for reading all xx

Done the hard work, now it's Turkey time!!

Finally my MSc assignment is all finished, albeit half of the allotted word count, and now i can turn my attention to Turkey! My stuff is laid out all over the place ready to be packed, the bike is safely tucked away in the bike box & now i'm going to enjoy a quiet evening on the sofa before i pack it all up tomorrow and head to the airport for an overnight hotel stop.

The last couple of weeks training has been good, hard but short sharp sessions during the week and then a longer bike/run sess on saturday mornings. This week has been sharp and intense but for now the hard work is done and it's rest time before i put it all together for race day. Thankfully the weather has been good here the past couple of weeks, so i've had some hot training sessions to try and help acclimatise. I'm not sun-seeker so i have my kindle fully stocked of triathlon & cycling autobiographies and my mother has bought me the Brownlee's brand new book :) it'll be nice to have time to read as lately when i've taken time off it's been to train!

GB trisuit - fits like a glove

Tried the GB trisuit out in last week's aquathlon with the 'K squad' and it felt great to swim and run in. Swimming recently has been good, felt strong and fast when doing speed work, just wish i could sustain a higher pace through a longer distance. I have no grand ambitions of ever being a good swimmer, and i know i lose a lot of time to the better triathletes because their swimming is that much better than mine, but all i can do is control my own performance and as long as i'm happy with it then that's all that matters. I'm in this sport because i enjoy pushing myself, i enjoy the buzz from a hard training sess, or the feeling of finishing a race having given it your all. I know i'm lucky to have gotten to the Euro Champs, through the roll down process and i'm under no illusions that i'll be anything other than left for dust by most out there in Turkey, but it's up to me to do the best that i can, to enjoy the experience, and to come away a better triathlete because of it.

Bit of bike bling ;) why not huh?!

Biking recently has been going well, been trying a few things out technique wise to try and optimise speed and power, without burning legs out (like i did on this week's TT when i clocked a new PB by 90 seconds), and also trying to manage knee pain which comes on acutely when pushing too hard at a slow cadence (so especially in winds). I'm still learning, i'm still relatively new to this game, Turkey will only be my 8th triathlon and only my 3rd olympic distance race, so it's about building and developing and learning all the time. Maybe next year i'll be that much better from having that many more miles in my legs on the bike, from having a whole year under coach Rose's guidance, and also from refining things as i find what works, and what doesn't work in terms of technique, nutrition, gear, etc.

Having had my MSc assignment hanging over me has meant i haven't spent much time thinking about Turkey, but i am now determined the enjoy the experience and i'm already looking forward to the post-race party because the journey out there so far has already been a challenge so i'm sure some stories will be shared over a few pints with my fellow team GB teammates once the races are run. I'll have internet access out in Alanya so i'm hoping to update my blog about my experiences out there...good luck to all in their races which are coming thick and fast now we're well into race season and i hope this weather stays for the whole summer :)

A crisis of confidence and a lot of head work

I haven't written anything in a while, even though i have thought of it. In the last few weeks i've taken a week off work to study, i've had my first dips in open water this year, i've put some good training in, but also had some down periods where i've been questioning where i'm at & even thought of not going to Turkey for the euro champs. Work has been busy, and i have one particular colleague who irritates the living daylights out of me so that hasn't helped as i've been struggling with that in my head. My uni work has been stressful as my next deadline clashes with Turkey & it's my dissertation proposal so having taken a week off work i did lots of study, but then after meeting with tutors, and thinking things through i realised that the proposed plan wasn't viable so i have had to change it. However, pinning down very busy tutors to finalise plans is difficult which means time passes quickly and adds to the stress. Then there's training...i've been questioning whether i'm improving, whether i should be doing more, whether i've reached my peak and am not all that after all and definitely starting to think i'm "all the gear but no idea"!

A few weeks ago we had the first time trial (TT) of the season and i was looking forward to smashing my only time posted from last year as i now had a fast bike and with the training i've been doing i was looking for improvement. Needless to say i was gutted as i was actually a few seconds slower even though the conditions were perfect (other than bloody great big potholes on the roads!). However, i do now have a new strategy for powering up the small inclines standing, to maintain speed, rather than dropping down gears and slipping right back in terms of speed. So i'm ready for tomorrow to see how i fare...

Last weekend was the first race of the season and the first race that i could compare my performance from last year to. Last year this was my first ever tri so i was looking forward to seeing improvements.

heading towards the finish - thank f**k!

 The weather was perfect, no wind, dry, warmish, so there was a great pool of spectators. The car park was full by the time we got there and that was 6:30am! i'm usually one of the first in transition at this time (this is when it opens) but there were already about 20 bikes in there - everyone keen for the first tri of the season. what was also brilliant was the number of celtic triers - we had 50+ taking part and to see how club colours dominate was fantastic, even if i didn't know everyone because of so many new members recently. I was in wave 1 for the swim and my ambitions of mastering and enjoying open water swimming this season are still a long way off as i find the first 5-10 minutes the hardest as my mind is telling me to stop, my breathing is difficult to settle, even though i am going slow, not panicking, etc. it's still so different swimming in the safety of the pool. the swim this year was long, we were all penned into a small space meaning you couldn't float horizontal and get any room so as soon as we were off i moved to the right hand side but then i ended up in the shallow bits so was scraping the bottom of the dock as i was swimming. this meant i had to stop a few times to shift myself over, although i probably should have just swam left as it wasn't like i was boxed in. Anyway, the swim was uneventful, felt OK, and came out with someone who is slightly faster than me in the pool so was pleased with that (even though the actual time was 3 mins slower than last year because of the extra distance!). T1 was OK and onto bike and this is where it all went wrong...i had absolutely nothing in my legs, i had my garmin on so i could see my speed and it was so far off my usual pace it was demoralising. People were passing me that i usually put 2 minutes into at least over a race, and as it was these people beat me by 2 mins on the bike so i was at least 4 minutes off the pace!!!!! All i could do was keep the legs spinning at a good cadence and keep my speed at a steady state (albeit that much slower than normal). I was actually about 30 seconds slower than last year when i didn't get out of my middle chainring last year as it was my first tri and i didnt know how the legs would be!!! It was pretty horrible to see girls glide straight past me because i never get overtaken by other girls on the bike but at least 8 strolled past, even one who had about 3 stone at least one me! So a crisis of confidence was heightened to say the least!

However, it does look likely that i had some type of virus as looking at the days leading up to the race i had been lightheaded the day before, lethargic and achey mid week, headaches in the run up, and a day or 2 after the race a little chesty...the only saving grace was that my run was 'OK', not as fast as i'd have wanted, and again 30 seconds down on my time here last year, but given that i had nothing in my legs, if i had i think i would have gone quicker, so we will have to wait until next year to see! My first race that i didn't enjoy & that went wrong, so not bad really having now done 7 triathlons and 3 duathlons.

In the first few days after the race my mojo was definitely lacking and this wasn't helped by the hassle of the trip to Turkey for the euro champs. There were concerns about bikes getting out there on time due to overbooking by the airlines and not having enough capacity to take all the bikes. Thankfully my bike wasn't affected, but that, along with kit not being ready on time to take with us, plus the crisis of confidence feeling i'm not good enough to be there, and the fact that the euros are dominated by GB athletes with only a few other triathletes from a few countries, it just felt like a whole lot of money for a glorified GB race when the standard would be less than racing in a qualifying event here. Going solo as well, to an unknown country, and an unknown quantity in racing at euro champs is anxiety provoking enough, let alone with all these extra worries. If it wasn't for me losing my money if i pulled out i might very well be writing this having pulled out. Thankfully though i've pulled my socks up, and looking forward to seeing the elites race - alistair brownlee, javier gomez, non stanford, vicky holland, lucy hall, amongst others - woohoo! bring on the end of champs party is all i can say :)

On top of the Bwlch

In order to get my mojo back i decided on a challenging bike ride saturday. 60k was what the training plan stated, but i ended up doing 73k/45miles up over cimla and then bwlch and rhigos mountains, taking 2hr56. the weather was perfect for it and i wanted to see if i could do it, as i had always been concerned i wouldn't. needless to say i felt really strong, keeping cadence steady and never struggling, even though i was in my lowest gear for a little while on bwlch before easily moving up through my gears. what was really pleasing was on the way home, having gone up at least 4100ft, as i was coming along the TT route by resolven i was easily cruising along at the pace i had been struggling to race at least week, and then when i put my foot down, my pace easily rose and i could sustain it, so my legs only went missing for the race it seems! thank f**k for that! Just gotta test them again now in the TT tuesday! the only downside was the pain in my knees and back which makes me question whether i'd ever be able to do an ironman...

At the top of rhinos mountain

The day after there was no obvious tiredness in the legs which was pleasing, and i did a good 10k with 10x 30 secs bursts of speed. I also took another dip in north dock as i'm trying to teach myself to swim non-stop for at least 5 minutes from the off to get used to it in open water. I did miss 2 swims this week through finishing work late, and back pain from the long ride, but next week i'll have at least 3 hours in the pool so that'll be fine.

So, it's been a mixed bag really. I'll catch up with coach this week after her trip away, and see what she says about things, but i have to trust in her methods as they certainly work for her other charges, so why should i think that i know best? It's why i'm paying her after all.

Time to dust off that moto "I can, I will!!"

Vale of Glamorgan Duathlon 2013

Transition area sitting quietly

On a beautiful still morning at Llandow Race Circuit, my 3rd race of the season was here. I had driven the route the night before and it was undulating but nothing seemed too tricky with some very fast sections and lovely scenery. The race was a 5.5k run, 26k bike, and final 2.5k run. The runs were 2 laps of the llandow race track, with the first run taking in some additional local lanes to add up the distance. I knew from registration that there weren't many women in the race meaning all the more men to chick ;)

For this race i wanted to try a different strategy out, having found in training that i could sustain my heart rate at a pace that felt really tough, but that i was able to keep to. This had made me wonder whether i wasn't racing hard enough going on feel alone so i decided to go on heart rate during the race.  On the first run i was briefly 1st female, lol, but then 3 other women overtook me and looking at my heart rate i knew that i was going at the right pace for me, and that they were just faster runners so i accept that and then get on with my own race. Whilst we all have a competitive edge and want to place as high as possible, i also accept that there will always be people faster than me so all i can worry about is performing the best that i can on that day and seeing where that gets me. If i were to ditch that strategy and try and keep up with faster runners then the likelihood is that i will max out my heart rate and then bonk later in the race having spent all my energy too quickly. As it was i have surprised that my natural racing heart rate was right where it should be to sustain over a race that would take me 90 minutes.

Out on Run 1

Out on the bike and i realised within a hundred metres or so that my top tube bag was loose and that either i throw it in the grass and collect later or i stop and get it sorted. Given that if i ditched it i wouldn't have CO2 cannisters, inner tube, tyre levers, or gels, i edged to the side of caution and stopped to re-attach. Oh well, better now than in an important race, and a lesson learnt in ensuring it's secure before the race starts, so i lost maybe a minute by the time i got back up to speed. Another problem on the bike course was my gears weren't settling right into the gear, making an unpleasant noise so i kept having to shift up and down to get it to settle down as i was concerned it might cause the chain to jump off. I had serviced the gears when i had washed the bike and when i had changed up through the gears they had been fine but shows that there is a difference between cycling and putting strain on the chain whilst changing gear, versus just doing it as bike is stationary. The bike course was actually quite cheeky, and the inclines that hadn't seemed too troublesome in the car were actually quite energy sapping and required a lot of low gears in the small ring! However, on the fast sections i felt great and bombed past a number of people, including the 3rd placed female. Just after overtaking though we hit some up and down hills and i wasn't sure if i would lose ground as my legs were letting me know we were on challenging little bits. Pleasingly, when i did glance around i had left that little group for dust and i had actually clocked 5 minutes faster on the bike than the female i passed.

Crossing the finish line safely in 3rd

Into the final run and i knew i had a big gap from me to the now 4th placed female so it was just about keeping my pace up, which i did, with my heart rate again right on the money, even increasing pace on the last half lap (about 1.25k). My mother was cheering me today (my dad was working) but it was also nice to hear my name being shouted out by a few others there who i knew, or who knew me. I always like to acknowledge the support and even the man on the mic was encouraging me when i was lapping up the cheers on the first lap on the final run. Into the final section and i could hear my mother with the cowbells - woohoo!! Crossed the line as 3rd female, 2nd in age-group, so job well done! The 2 women that were 1st and 2nd were 5 minutes ahead of me so fair play to them, they're pretty good!

Overcome with excitement of winning a £10 cheque!!

No trophy today, but a £10 cheque will go towards the new Oakleys that i want for turkey, as my sunglasses keep moving on the bike, meaning i am constantly pushing them back up my nose! The weather had stayed nice throughout the race, only starting to rain as we were on our way home, and my mother had managed well without anywhere to sit, so all in all a good day's work.

Next race is the first tri of the season, Llanelli sprint, which was my first tri ever last year. It'll be good to see how that goes, especially in the swim, as it'd be nice to see improvements. However, i am keen to start working on speed, as even though my duathlons have gone well, i can improve on bike speed/run speed, and i need them to make up for the time i will loose to the faster swimmers...

Rising above the hurt, in more ways than one

This week was truly shocking news with the bombings at Boston Marathon. I hate hearing about any deaths, whether they are war related, murders, or accidents, and i cannot fathom what drives people to think it's OK to kill others to prove a point, or for some cause. However, it really hurt to see a sport targeted that brings so many people together, young, old, elite, fit, those wanting to lose weight, or achieve a goal, or even just for the love of running, the sense of freedom it gives. I feel for all those affected and also hope that it doesn't put them off running, or taking part in other events, as unfortunately, we don't know what the future holds. we cannot live our lives in fear of what might happen, when what we fear might never actually happen. we have to make the most of our lives, because we don't know what is around the corner, for us, or for those we love. That's not to say that i don't moan, because believe me i have been ranting today about things, but we must live our lives to their fullest.

How is my training going i hear you ask...well the past 2 weeks have been quieter weeks. Last week was a recovery week, although i still put in about 11.5hours, and this week is the week building up to sunday's Glamorgan Duathlon so Rose has kindly given me a week to keep me rested and sharp for the race, although i had expected to train hard through some races, and taper just for key ones. But...coach knows best...

What i have been focusing on is keeping a high cadence on the bike, and trying to spin faster in a higher gear, meaning faster speed. I joined the North Dock Dredgers for a ride last Saturday, a nice 42 miles in wet, wind and filthy conditions, yuck! At least after the ride i finally relented and HAD to clean the bike as i couldn't touch it without getting dirty and gritty. I felt really good on the ride, keeping in the bunch with the blokes, even doing some breakaways on some inclines, and was pleased with how the legs felt spinning fast.

I've always focused on building my legs up in the gym with lots of squats, single leg squats, lunges, etc. This has also meant that my bum has been big but toned. Now though, following Rose's plan i haven't done a squat in 6 weeks, and the strength and conditioning routine i do is repetitive body weight based leg exercises, rather than heavy weight sets. I'm watching my body shape, and the muscle mass, and seeing if things are changing as a result of a change of focus to more triathlon specific training. if you look at the top cyclists they have the strength to climb, and the power to keep high speeds up for long durations but no bulky muscle. So we will see. I'm trying to lose a few kilograms ready for race season proper, but i love my food and have a horrible habit of getting hungry in an evening even after eating a good meal. However, i'm also aware that this might just be my bodyshape now for my age and whilst i can tweak a few things i can't expect to become like bradley wiggins.

What i am aware of though is that i'm recovering far better, probably as a result of doing less heavy weight based exercises, and also Rose's plan means i have regular rest periods, even though total hours are as much as, if not more, than i was doing before. I also love my compressport full legs (and R2 calf guards). I can't tolerate compression for longer than about an hour, but using them regular is definitely helping with recovery, and also helping my calf stay healed :) Another recovery product i make use of is For Goodness Shakes 3:1 recovery drink. The vanilla shake is just dreamy to drink and after a hard sess i have one of those, or if i know i won't be able to eat for a little while after finishing a session i will make sure i have one to tide me over and start the recovery process.

Another thing that i have noticed training wise is that the 2nd heart rate training zone that Rose has set me is pretty tough for running, but...whilst it feels hard i can also sustain it. so whilst it's not pretty viewing, with sweat and hair flying everywhere, and my chubby cheeks doing overtime on the bouncy castle, it has taught me that i can run harder in a race than i have been doing, even if it feels like a lot of hard work at the time. Happy Days!! This has made me super excited to test it out in sunday's race. Not every race is an 'A' race, and all 3 duathlons have been geared as training for the tri season, So this last duathlon is a chance for me to test out this theory, that i can push harder on the bike and run and even though it feels hard, use positive self-talk, and the knowledge that in training i can sustain that pace, to see if it plays out on the day. Then i can reflect on my performance, and adjust future race strategies accordingly. It's all trial and error and getting to know your body and what your limits are, but also whether those limits can be pushed harder.

Next time i will share with you whether my race plan materialised, and if it did, how it went ;)

A bit of what i love - sport psychology

As you will know i am doing a MSc in sport psychology, and i am already a qualified clinical psychologist working in adult mental health. Of course i'm going to preach what i do, but i can speak from experience in knowing how effective the mind can be in overcoming performance doubts that set in. I've very aware of club mates in Celtic Tri who voice concerns, or little self-doubts, for which a few psychological skills can be incredibly powerful. After a conversation with a colleague in work today i'm inspired to pursue my passion further, and the start of that is sharing some little hints that might help others out there with their tri-career, as it helps mine every day :)

 "I can, I will" is a saying i came up with to convince myself that i could overcome my inability to swim with my head in the water due to never having learnt to breathe properly when swimming. After copious amounts of water being swallowed i got it and now, whilst my swimming will never win an olympic medal, i am now comfortable in the pool and my technique has come on leaps and bounds.
The power of the mind is immense...when you start doubting yourself, "oh that hill looks too steep, i won't be able to cycle up it" - if you say that to yourself then chances are you'll be right, you have just talked yourself out of that hill. However, if you learn to use positive self talk, such as "i know i can do it, i just have to keep moving, keep my legs ticking over, each turn of the legs is one metre nearer the top" then you'll find that you start achieving what previously had seemed too hard. You have to learn key words, key phrases that work for you. That might be a focus on technique, or a performance goal, such as "right, get to that next lamppost...right, let's try for that next one...", or have a reward set up ready for afterwards, mine is a junk food indulgent evening after a race, so when the pain sets in and i start thinking "oh i'm not sure if i can keep this pace up" i think to myself "keep going, keep pushing, you'll get to the end quicker and then you can have your dominos".

Another way of challenging those niggling self-doubts, or negative thoughts that set in, is to ask yourself what evidence you have for that belief. If there's no evidence then why are you talking yourself out of it? Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Remember a thought is just a thought, not necessarily a fact. Often the thoughts we have are beliefs or opinions, but they don't have to influence our behaviour if we learn to recognise them as negative thoughts and let them go; just as clouds come and go in the sky, so thoughts come and go of their own accord. You just need to learn to focus your attention on the task in hand and not get caught up in the spiral of negative thinking (this spiral will then affect your emotions, your physical sensations and ultimately your behaviour).

Another powerful tool is imagery, imagining yourself getting up that hill, imagining yourself keeping a high cadence, imagining yourself keeping your pace up and finishing that race strong. You can imagine during a performance, but you can also imagine perfecting a technique, or a part of the race (such as transition) before the event. I imagine transition as i'm setting up my transition area and when i'm finding the routes in and out of transition. I also imagine the swim going well and if i get a bit anxious in the swim then i use self-talk and say to myself "keep your stroke long, keep breathing steady, each stroke is a bit nearer the end", etc.

These are just a few ideas, and there are many more. It's an individual thing, you have to find what works for you, but i see sport psychology as a vital aspect of training, not just to be used when a problem arises. Research has consistently shown that those people who regularly use skills such of these alongside their day to day training, recovery, nutrition plans etc. perform better than those athletes who neglect the training of the mind. If you want more ideas let me know, i'm hoping before long that this will be a side venture for me, but i'm very keen to help others as there is no reason why people can't reach their full potential, they just have to believe it's possible.

Happy training and racing folks :)

Heavy training week but batteries recharged

I had timed my annual leave so that i had a week off after 2 races in 6 days, which also meant it had easter weekend at the end, so an extra long weekend before work beckons :) Whenever i get time off i always plan a long list of things that i never get around to achieving. The main culprit is painting in the house but i realised that i just don't feel confident doing it alone as i'm sure some disaster would strike so the plan is that in the May bank holidays i will persuade my father to come and spend a day or 2 accomplishing lots of DIY chores with me :) What i did do was mow my lawn, assemble an art canvas i have had for months, clean some windows (too cold to do the outside ones other than the top ones where i just lent my arm out and used the wonderful karcher window cleaner vacuum :)), and generally just chill out :) this meant catching up on sky+ recordings, and also enjoying long drives in the car, for driving's sake. The thing i love about Wales is that it is so beautiful. When i was running in Afan Argoed on Tuesday i was struck by the stalagmites hanging on the rocks, my bike ride on monday led me to see snow topped peaks in the distance, and today's car drive led me to see the pastel coloured houses of llandeilo and spring lambs jumping across the road :)

One thing this week has been is cold!! My long bike ride monday was perhaps the worst i have felt on a bike, being blasted by side and head winds and just generally not enjoying the ride at all! the journey out i averaged 13mph due to the head wind and on the way back i made up 15 minutes time and averaged over 18mph! Alas, that was still with cross winds which just made life a little bit scary! This bike ride had gotten off to a bad start when i decided to take out my training bike and less than 400m from my house at the bottom of the hill my inner tube and tyre blew "BANG"!! Think this might have had something to do with me practising changing inner tubes on this wheel recently and i might not have seated the tyre back properly as i find the tyres very stiff on those rims so i have ordered some new stronger and meant to be thinner tipped alloy tyre levers so we will see if that helps.

Additionally, my monday swim session was a write off too as i felt sick with bilateral breathing and the rolling of my body. Never felt that before, and i tried to rest and swim through it but it just wasn't happening so i cut my losses and got home, ate, and rested up. It soon passed so i'll put that down to a one-off. It wasn't a feeling i have had before from eating the wrong stuff before a swim session, nor the sick feeling i get from heavy exertion, so just one of those things.

Not my photo but this is the old bridge that carried the railway across the river at Cymmer

Tuesday's run was a 9mile loop in Afan Argoed Country Park. I had never really seen much of the park before, other than mountain biking once in there a few summers ago, but it was beautiful. Yes, cold and blustery on the long climb out from the Rhyslyn car park as this was exposed, but the views down over the river were magical, and then the journey back along the other valley led me to run along what used to be an old railway line with the old station still present. This led to a history lesson from my grandfather 2 days later when i went to visit him for his 87th birthday. He loves talking about the local history. As for the run itself, it didn't feel like 9 miles and i could have carried on which was positive. The pace was purposefully slow to train in the right heart rate zone but i'm looking forward to running that loop again and seeing how my times improve.

Wednesday was another bike session but i couldn't face another cold windy long ride so i opted for an acclimatisation session on the turbo instead. Turkey will be racing in temperatures above 25degrees C and our current temperatures are below 5 degrees so i took matters into my own hands. Film on, doors and windows closed and heating ON set to 20 degrees. Thankfully it didn't feel hot on the bike but i could tell i was hot as my normal sweaty clothes was multiplied by about 5 to the point my nike training top was stuck to me like it was a wet tshirt and i could wring it out as if it had just come out of a bucket full of water! I managed 1hr 43 before my knees and my arse said "No more"! This was pleasing in that it wasn't my energy levels that said "Stop" rather the boredom factor of the turbo making the pains louder.

Thursday was a full training day with a 45minute strength and conditioning session followed by a 30minute conditioning run, with a 2hour swim session later. The S&C session taxes my arms with press up overload and my abs always feel nice and tight for a day or 2 after :) The conditioning run was also the first time i have managed to go further on the return leg than on the outward leg (15min out, 15min back on this one) so that was pleasing that i am pacing things better. It was also nice to be chatted up in the gym, well at least that's what i think he was doing, but given that i was sweaty and red faced he might just have felt sorry for me! Not sure i'll see him again as i never usually train at that time during a working day, but i believe in fate so we'll see what happens. He was quite nice though ;)

The swim set was heart rate testing again so a series of 200m, 100m and 50m sprints. I'm not sure if there was any improvement time wise or heart rate wise, but i definitely feel i'm a better swimmer when i am going faster as my head positioning for breathing feels bang on the money and feedback from the girls in my lane was that they could hardly tell i was breathing because my head hardly moved so happy with that! Just need to take that form into races now over long(er) distances.

This isn't me i should add! Just an illustration of what i mean

Friday's session was an easy rowing set, so 3000m followed by 10 pressups, 10 sit ups, then 2000m row with 5 pressups, 5 situps. Having been told that the Concept 2 rower is better placed on level 5 for training purposes i found it much easier to keep the pace even without feeling a huge burn in my legs and bum. it's more about repeated leg presses and heart rate being raised. Also the pull of the chain is great for the arms and back making it good for swimming crossover. Love thy guns :)

Saturday was only the evening swim session so it felt like a rest day almost so i pottered around the house doing little odds and ends, then sunday came the long brick session. This was well attended by over 30 of the club with even a few hardcore juniors taking part with their parents cycling behind for safety reasons. There were various distances to suit ability or race distance and i did the 3hr set which was 23k bike/3k run/23k bike/3k run/23k bike and without time to do a last 3k run i did a little cool down jog around the grass. This was a great time to test nutrition and i was happy with my nectar fuel drink and gels. I could have drank more maybe but with how windy it was i was concerned with keeping the bike stable when the road was exposed. Plus the road was in poor condition with little stones flying up, including one which was thrown up by a boy racer speeding past which hit me on the chin. Definitely a reminder to all to wear glasses to protect our eyes out there! There were potholes a plenty and at a couple of points i felt i was doing brain damage to myself with the rattling my brain took going over some patches of road that were uneven and treacherous :(

I learnt from this session though that my toying with the idea of buying a new helmet was something i had to put into action as my helmet was one i had from when i was a youngster pottering around on a mountain bike and has a little peak on it. As a result when in the aero position it means my vision is impeded meaning i have to crane my neck higher to see better which equals a sore neck! As it was i caught a bargain because of the easter sales, so thanks ChainReactionCycles for nearly 50% off my new helmet. I also bought from Wiggle some new tyres and inner tubes for my training bike. Just to put them on properly! next thing on the list is new sunglasses that i can wear on the run without them bouncing around everywhere...can't wait to write about them as the ones i want look cool as ****!!

So...overall, this was a heavy week training wise according to Rose, with next week being a recovery week, but as i was off work it didn't feel all that hard. Although, it did total 13hours training, not including the stretching that is now part of my daily routines, and i did over 25k running and 5hrs 20 on the bike, covering about 98 miles, so yes, it was a heavy week, as i also did 3.5 hrs swimming. Having looked at next week's plan it will give me time to work on my MSc dissertation proposal which will be good.

What was also great this week was that i got to catch up with my two closest friends, separately. This involved a trip to the local climbing wall for a catch up over coffee on wednesday evening, and then friday lunchtime a trip to carmarthen for some food and a catch up, plus some baby playing which is always great fun :) I don't socialise very often these days but its always lovely to catch up with friends :) Then came easter sunday, so as a treat after the beast of a brick session i indulged in my favourite past-time:

What i've started to think about is how i can give back and i'm aware that some people have low confidence in various areas when it comes to triathlon, whether that is the swim leg (like i did), or using cycling shoes/cleats, or on hills, etc. Therefore, next time i might just share some tips from my knowledge as a clinical psychologist and MSc Sport Psychology student, on how to overcome those anxieties that can negatively affect training, and lives in general...