‘On race day I got up at 5am having had the usual awful pre-race night sleep, got changed and started my mental preparation routine. This means plugging in the iPod and playing a song selection that act as audio triggers to get me in the zone – get goose bumps every time and felt incredibly up for it. And then I suddenly and surprisingly got hit with waves of emotion as it struck me how much work, training and sacrifices had gone into the last 8 months to get me here and the amazing support I have had from friends, family and Viceroys triathlon club. I managed to hold myself in check but was determined to use that emotional energy positively. Then I visualised the race and started constructing a selection of mental images to use on the start line and during the race which I know gets the best out of me (degree in psychology certainly helps :-).
We got to the venue and then lined up with my new GB team mates and loved having Mr Yeoman in my wave. He had been very generous with his tips in the days leading up to the big day which I really appreciated and we were both nervous but 100% up for it. Lined up for the swim and then bang, klaxon goes and into the washing machine I dived. Total relief when I realised that my googles had stayed on and then I started motoring. After 200m things had calmed down and then I went to put the Monday night group swim training into practice and went to find some feet. Managed to do so, felt I was mid pack and was fairly calm and just glad to be underway. Exited the water in a time of 12:37 which I was happy with considering this is my weakest discipline. Legged it into T1 which was a long old stretch, jumped on the bike and looked forward to putting the hammer down on the lovely resurfaced road surface.
‘Whatever you do do not blow a gasket on the first steep hill’ is what I had promised myself, yet got over excited over taking loads of bikes up the hill and gasket duly blew. Managed to recover quickly and had a cracking battle with about 5 other GBers, and started to really fire up the V8 turbo diesel. By lap 2 I had shaken 3 of the Brits and began a right old ding dong with an Aussie called Grice, or ‘Gricey’ as I nick-named him. Managed my effort miles better on lap 2 and sped into T2 with a 33:21 split (19th in AG).
Slipped on the trainers and was looking forward to the run, my strongest discipline, so the 500m run in T2 to the start of the 5k was fine by me. Felt good and then knew I had to start reeling in the boys to get up the finish list. Got into stride relatively quickly and shook off 1 Brit who had left T2 with me and then locked onto the next 2 Brits I could see in the distance. Reeled them both in by the last 1km which was so satisfying and then spotted Gricey ahead and tried desperately to catch him to no avail as the old legs were hurting big time. Hit the blue carpet and was greeted by a wall of noise with a massive GB contingent and unbelievably fantastic support from the grandstand. Felt like a pro!!!!
Crossed the line knowing I had emptied the tank and could not have given any more. 23rd out of 86 (BEST IN THE WORLD TRIATHLETES!!) and 5th Brit out of 17. Way above my expectations and one of the best experiences of my life – totally recommend it to any triathletes – believe in yourself and give qualification a try.’
