There couldn’t have been more contrast from the beginning of March to the end of the March. On March 1st I was guiding at an ITU series race in the heat of South Africa and March 29th I went to tackle the wet and windy weather at the British Duathlon Championships near Corby.
Two of the visually impaired athletes raced in the first ITU World series race in Buffalo city, South Africa. It was the first ever triathlon for Rhiannon and a practice race for Melissa. At the end of our training camp in Lanzarote I was asked to guide Melissa, and Nicole (Melissa’s previous guide) was to guide Rhiannon. This was going to be a brand new experience and I was very excited.
At the end of February I flew out to East London (RSA) with 7 other athletes from the British Paratri squad. We didn’t have the smoothest of journeys as initially there seemed to be a problem with our bike box allowance and then someone’s luggage was left in Heathrow. I’ve already learnt to expect delays when it comes to transporting tandems, even if it’s as simple as negotiating them through a set of double doors! But we arrived safely and I was certainly keen to get to the hotel quickly to change my jeans for shorts. I was not missing the sub 5°C temperatures that we left behind in England. Next thing to do was unpack the bike and take it for a test run. There’s always a nervous feeling as you unzip the bag or open the box and pray that the frame is still in one piece and all the components are there. We were fortunate and the bike went back to together nicely. That didn’t stop us having problems though. I’ve only ever transported my bike on a flight once, but I’ve never had so many problems with a bike prior to a race. Normally I take it out the car, put the front wheel on and I’m good to go. Over the few days leading to the race there were some disconcerting sounds, the brake pads rubbing, we had issues pumping up the tyres. We were doing test runs up until the afternoon the day before, but finally everything was in good order for the race.
Two of the visually impaired athletes raced in the first ITU World series race in Buffalo city, South Africa. It was the first ever triathlon for Rhiannon and a practice race for Melissa. At the end of our training camp in Lanzarote I was asked to guide Melissa, and Nicole (Melissa’s previous guide) was to guide Rhiannon. This was going to be a brand new experience and I was very excited.
At the end of February I flew out to East London (RSA) with 7 other athletes from the British Paratri squad. We didn’t have the smoothest of journeys as initially there seemed to be a problem with our bike box allowance and then someone’s luggage was left in Heathrow. I’ve already learnt to expect delays when it comes to transporting tandems, even if it’s as simple as negotiating them through a set of double doors! But we arrived safely and I was certainly keen to get to the hotel quickly to change my jeans for shorts. I was not missing the sub 5°C temperatures that we left behind in England. Next thing to do was unpack the bike and take it for a test run. There’s always a nervous feeling as you unzip the bag or open the box and pray that the frame is still in one piece and all the components are there. We were fortunate and the bike went back to together nicely. That didn’t stop us having problems though. I’ve only ever transported my bike on a flight once, but I’ve never had so many problems with a bike prior to a race. Normally I take it out the car, put the front wheel on and I’m good to go. Over the few days leading to the race there were some disconcerting sounds, the brake pads rubbing, we had issues pumping up the tyres. We were doing test runs up until the afternoon the day before, but finally everything was in good order for the race.
Not a bad view from the hotel!
We also got some decent open water practise. Two days before the race Melissa and I headed down to the race venue, just a short walk away, for a course recce and to see what the water was like at the time the race would start. Since it was a beach start I wanted to practise the start, as well as tethering and exiting the water. Importantly, we also needed to decide whether we were going to be wearing wetsuits for the race as we’d been told the water was over 20°C. We put our wetsuits on to begin with, walked into the water and said, ‘wetsuits, definitely wetsuits!’ Melissa said this was the first time she’d heard me swear. Once I got used to the cold water I was having a great time. Being from Cornwall, Melissa seems to know everything about the sea, sand and waves. She was teaching me how to catch the waves as we practised exiting the water. Melissa’s most efficient way to exit the water is to dolphin dive, so once your hand hits the seabed, plant your feet on the floor and dive back under the water into a glide. Being about 6 inches taller than Melissa, this wasn’t easy for me. I couldn’t get my long legs underneath me quickly enough and would often just faceplant into the bottom of the seabed. We soon realised it was quicker for me to run out of the water whilst she dived.
I wasn’t used to having so much time in the lead up to a race. Melissa and I spent a lot of time chilling on the beach and swimming in the sea, well, until we became more cautious when we were told not to swim too far from the lifeguard base as the cold water is ideal for sharks. I laughed at first and then realised the lifeguard wasn’t joking! Yikes! Thankfully the race was in a less exposed area. All the spare time gave us plenty of time for open water practice, transition practice and rehearsing taking our shoes off, and also time to inspect the course. I had done most of the technical things with Melissa the previous week down in Cornwall but it was good to do it on the race course itself. Preparation had gone well and I was feeling confident.
Sunday......race day :) We were woken up at 6.30am by the sunshine and instantly we knew today was going to be hot! This was quite unexpected given the first few days had been more mild and cloudy, but the race was due to start shortly after 9am so we should be finished before the blazing sun hit. Warm up and preparation went smoothly, with Melissa and I doing our own required warm ups. I always like to get in the water beforehand, whereas Melissa never does. We were on the beach ready to be introduced and I was feeling very excited! Unfortunately all the other athletes had withdrawn, so it was just us four Brits, but this seemed to take some pressure off. I knew we’d be pursuing Rhiannon given the strength of her swim, and I’d rather be the chaser than be chased.
I wasn’t used to having so much time in the lead up to a race. Melissa and I spent a lot of time chilling on the beach and swimming in the sea, well, until we became more cautious when we were told not to swim too far from the lifeguard base as the cold water is ideal for sharks. I laughed at first and then realised the lifeguard wasn’t joking! Yikes! Thankfully the race was in a less exposed area. All the spare time gave us plenty of time for open water practice, transition practice and rehearsing taking our shoes off, and also time to inspect the course. I had done most of the technical things with Melissa the previous week down in Cornwall but it was good to do it on the race course itself. Preparation had gone well and I was feeling confident.
Sunday......race day :) We were woken up at 6.30am by the sunshine and instantly we knew today was going to be hot! This was quite unexpected given the first few days had been more mild and cloudy, but the race was due to start shortly after 9am so we should be finished before the blazing sun hit. Warm up and preparation went smoothly, with Melissa and I doing our own required warm ups. I always like to get in the water beforehand, whereas Melissa never does. We were on the beach ready to be introduced and I was feeling very excited! Unfortunately all the other athletes had withdrawn, so it was just us four Brits, but this seemed to take some pressure off. I knew we’d be pursuing Rhiannon given the strength of her swim, and I’d rather be the chaser than be chased.
The sun was already getting strong. We put the tether round our ankles and walked out into the water till about hip height ready to start. The klaxon (which was actually more of a quiet siren and caused some confusion in the first race) sounded and off we went. This was very different to my usual triathlon experience. The water was nice, I could see the bottom of the seabed, I wasn’t getting elbowed in the jaw, drowned and I didn’t even inhale one mouth full of water. A few large waves disrupted my vision when sighting but I settled into a comfortable rhythm, and thankfully Melissa prefers to swim on my preferred breathing side, so sighting and breathing was much easier as I could see her every time I took a breath. I could see Rhiannon and Nicole ahead up until the first buoy and then they were out of sight. I started to get a bit anxious when I couldn’t seem them, as we couldn’t fall too far behind. Now I’m long sighted, so unless they were right in front of my face, which they definitely weren’t, then they swimming fast!
The swim exit went smoothly, although getting the tether off my ankle is always a bit of a struggle and a bit of confusion about the direction to the path meant I lost Melissa a bit. Guides and VI’s are not allowed to be more than a metre and a half apart during the swim but the organisers were lenient with the beach exit. We had a long uphill run to transition area making it difficult to get any recovery. My speed in getting my wetsuit off is something I’ve certainly needed to improve but once we reached the bike I had to make sure I was ready before Melissa so not to hold her up. As if racing other athletes in transition wasn’t bad enough, I had someone right next to me that I need to be faster than. For the first time EVER, my wetsuit came off smoothly! I quickly put my race belt, helmet, glasses and bike shoes on, grabbed the bike and we were ready to go. Phew! Most VI’s decide not to have their bike shoes on the bike already as it barely, and in some cases doesn’t save time. Having ridden parts of the course already helped a lot as I was able to prepare the gears to exit corners, although it was more difficult when going at race speed. Normally in a race you wouldn’t come off the big ring at the front but this course was hilly and we needed the middle ring for some of it, especially for the second lap of this out and back course. It was hard work, even more so with a head wind coming back and the sun was really shining by now. It was only on the second lap I saw Rhiannon and Nicole heading back for home when we were heading for the furthest point, but it was difficult to gauge just how far ahead they were. When we came into transition I saw them heading out onto the run course and I knew we had a lot of work to do to catch them on only a 5Km run. We slipped our feet out our shoes and dismounted. My legs felt sooo heavy. I wasn’t sure how my legs would hold up on the run, but at least it signified I worked hard on the bike! It was quite a long run back into transition but thankfully it was downhill so we could get our legs turning over, which is always ideal for the run! Another smooth transition, but with a little reminder from Melissa to take my helmet off as I appeared ready to run out but having forgotten that minor detail. Oops! We headed out onto the out and back run along the coast and we needed to run fast. I asked Melissa if she wanted any water from the aid station but she was fine, as was I at the time. A few hundred metres further and I was regretting having not picked anything up. It was hot! However, there was another aid station at the end of the road, so I grabbed a couple of bottles for us both there. It was also here that one of the coaches was telling us our deficit from Rhiannon. We were 4 minutes behind and that was a lot to catch up over such a short distance. The run was comfortable despite the heat and a big blister I had forming on my foot. I tried to give Melissa as much encouragement as possible but we were unable to catch them and came away with the silver medal. I think we were both disappointed to lose by such a distance but credit to Rhiannon for winning her first ever triathlon at an ITU race by that margin!
The swim exit went smoothly, although getting the tether off my ankle is always a bit of a struggle and a bit of confusion about the direction to the path meant I lost Melissa a bit. Guides and VI’s are not allowed to be more than a metre and a half apart during the swim but the organisers were lenient with the beach exit. We had a long uphill run to transition area making it difficult to get any recovery. My speed in getting my wetsuit off is something I’ve certainly needed to improve but once we reached the bike I had to make sure I was ready before Melissa so not to hold her up. As if racing other athletes in transition wasn’t bad enough, I had someone right next to me that I need to be faster than. For the first time EVER, my wetsuit came off smoothly! I quickly put my race belt, helmet, glasses and bike shoes on, grabbed the bike and we were ready to go. Phew! Most VI’s decide not to have their bike shoes on the bike already as it barely, and in some cases doesn’t save time. Having ridden parts of the course already helped a lot as I was able to prepare the gears to exit corners, although it was more difficult when going at race speed. Normally in a race you wouldn’t come off the big ring at the front but this course was hilly and we needed the middle ring for some of it, especially for the second lap of this out and back course. It was hard work, even more so with a head wind coming back and the sun was really shining by now. It was only on the second lap I saw Rhiannon and Nicole heading back for home when we were heading for the furthest point, but it was difficult to gauge just how far ahead they were. When we came into transition I saw them heading out onto the run course and I knew we had a lot of work to do to catch them on only a 5Km run. We slipped our feet out our shoes and dismounted. My legs felt sooo heavy. I wasn’t sure how my legs would hold up on the run, but at least it signified I worked hard on the bike! It was quite a long run back into transition but thankfully it was downhill so we could get our legs turning over, which is always ideal for the run! Another smooth transition, but with a little reminder from Melissa to take my helmet off as I appeared ready to run out but having forgotten that minor detail. Oops! We headed out onto the out and back run along the coast and we needed to run fast. I asked Melissa if she wanted any water from the aid station but she was fine, as was I at the time. A few hundred metres further and I was regretting having not picked anything up. It was hot! However, there was another aid station at the end of the road, so I grabbed a couple of bottles for us both there. It was also here that one of the coaches was telling us our deficit from Rhiannon. We were 4 minutes behind and that was a lot to catch up over such a short distance. The run was comfortable despite the heat and a big blister I had forming on my foot. I tried to give Melissa as much encouragement as possible but we were unable to catch them and came away with the silver medal. I think we were both disappointed to lose by such a distance but credit to Rhiannon for winning her first ever triathlon at an ITU race by that margin!
Once again I had a great time with the squad and it’s safe to say this was the most pleasant triathlon I’ve ever done and a huge contrast to the Elite British Duathlon Championships on 29th March.
The race was up in Northamptonshire, so quite a trek from Bristol. I drove half way up and stayed with my uncle the previous night, which is always nice, and I get to pop in to see my grandparents who live nearby too. My uncle is a keen cyclist himself and so I did my pre race ride on the Saturday with him. Now he says his 51 minutes for a 25 mile time trial days are behind him (bearing in mind most good cyclists try to break the hour mark) but I’m not sure they are. He can still go pretty fast. I wasn’t feeling particularly fresh and I was only hitting about 20mph on my efforts. I was hoping it was just the headwind but it seemed it was the start of an illness. I wasn’t feeling good that evening and then woke up feeling even worse. On the drive to the motor circuit in Corby in the morning I tried to get some more sleep but it didn’t help. It was only a sprint race so a coffee, Lucozade and the race atmosphere were going to get me through. The weather was dreadful. It was cold, wet and very windy, and it was only going to get worse. My support crew of my uncle and friend/bike mechanic (with my race wheels in hand) turned up and it was time to warm up. Having experienced riding a tandem against the winds in Lanzarote I thought this was going to be no problem, but as I headed off to do my bike warm up I was almost blown into a car. During my warm up (both bike and run) my legs were feeling good, just my nose and head weren’t. However, preparation continued and I was determined to cause some upset and have some fun on the bike. I’d had advice from my coach, uncle and boyfriend about working in a group and breaking away in windy conditions. The weather was getting even worse with many athletes in previous races coming off their bikes. We had to rack bikes by the handlebars because they were getting blown over and everyone was putting their helmets in transition as late as possible as they too were getting blown away. I went over to the race briefing and we were told they had decided to cancel the cycle due to the worsening conditions forecast, so it was now just a 4 lap 10Km run. Great! I mean, my running is still strong but I was here for the bike leg. Half of me was disappointed, especially as I had a fair few supporters, but I know racing in my ill state would not have been ideal and this was not a key race. Therefore I made the decision not to race, and I was slightly relieved. I stayed to watch anyway and the conditions certainly did get worse. It was p***ing it down and the wind was very strong. Not one of the athletes looked like they were enjoying it, and I felt I made a good decision. Instead I went for pleasant lunch with my mum who had made the effort to come up to watch. Thanks to those who came to support, and sorry there was no display.
I was in bed the next day with a bad cold but I took it easy for a few days and it passed quickly. I’m now back on form and ready to race in a couple of University races coming up. They’re bound to be eventful. I’ll keep you updated.
The race was up in Northamptonshire, so quite a trek from Bristol. I drove half way up and stayed with my uncle the previous night, which is always nice, and I get to pop in to see my grandparents who live nearby too. My uncle is a keen cyclist himself and so I did my pre race ride on the Saturday with him. Now he says his 51 minutes for a 25 mile time trial days are behind him (bearing in mind most good cyclists try to break the hour mark) but I’m not sure they are. He can still go pretty fast. I wasn’t feeling particularly fresh and I was only hitting about 20mph on my efforts. I was hoping it was just the headwind but it seemed it was the start of an illness. I wasn’t feeling good that evening and then woke up feeling even worse. On the drive to the motor circuit in Corby in the morning I tried to get some more sleep but it didn’t help. It was only a sprint race so a coffee, Lucozade and the race atmosphere were going to get me through. The weather was dreadful. It was cold, wet and very windy, and it was only going to get worse. My support crew of my uncle and friend/bike mechanic (with my race wheels in hand) turned up and it was time to warm up. Having experienced riding a tandem against the winds in Lanzarote I thought this was going to be no problem, but as I headed off to do my bike warm up I was almost blown into a car. During my warm up (both bike and run) my legs were feeling good, just my nose and head weren’t. However, preparation continued and I was determined to cause some upset and have some fun on the bike. I’d had advice from my coach, uncle and boyfriend about working in a group and breaking away in windy conditions. The weather was getting even worse with many athletes in previous races coming off their bikes. We had to rack bikes by the handlebars because they were getting blown over and everyone was putting their helmets in transition as late as possible as they too were getting blown away. I went over to the race briefing and we were told they had decided to cancel the cycle due to the worsening conditions forecast, so it was now just a 4 lap 10Km run. Great! I mean, my running is still strong but I was here for the bike leg. Half of me was disappointed, especially as I had a fair few supporters, but I know racing in my ill state would not have been ideal and this was not a key race. Therefore I made the decision not to race, and I was slightly relieved. I stayed to watch anyway and the conditions certainly did get worse. It was p***ing it down and the wind was very strong. Not one of the athletes looked like they were enjoying it, and I felt I made a good decision. Instead I went for pleasant lunch with my mum who had made the effort to come up to watch. Thanks to those who came to support, and sorry there was no display.
I was in bed the next day with a bad cold but I took it easy for a few days and it passed quickly. I’m now back on form and ready to race in a couple of University races coming up. They’re bound to be eventful. I’ll keep you updated.