London WTS

London- reminds me alittle bit of home! After arriving in Vitoria Gasteiz a week ago, it gave me a chance to settle back in and get some quality sessions in post travel. This year for me has been the hardest to say goodbye to home and fit back into Vitoria after spending a year at home last year after my surgery. After the Gold Coast, I started second guessing myself a lot about my place in the sport. Having a good month worth of training in Wollongong and a few small races to get some confidence back into my training and racing has helped me a lot. Pre race was good to see bits and pieces of London like Buckingham Palace and ride on the course in Hyde park where we got stopped by a horses practicing for the Queen’s birthday long weekend. Last time I was in London was for World Championships in 2013. I was pretty disappointed with my result, so I was excited to come back and give it a crack.

Race day started late in the afternoon on Sunday and I find myself getting antsy about having so much time on my hands. I warmed up on my Sportcrafters rollers which are perfect for travelling with and for cities where it is hard to ride in. It was quite cold outside so I decided not to get into the water and do some dry land exercises instead. I walked onto the pontoon quite late along the line. Big gaps were left and right of Gwen so I thought bingo, thank you very much. I didn't have that great of an initial sprint but surprisingly enough I didn’t really get touched the whole swim. A nice change! I took over quite a few people along the back straight but just couldn't make up the time I lost to start with. Exiting the water just off the front group is definitely some big motivation to work hard and focus on my front end speed in training.

To start with we had a good group all working together on the bike but as soon as the group behind us caught, everyone just sat up and some people I didn't see again the whole ride. The ride was pretty dodgey with a lot of girls, some below par skills and wind blowing us across the road. I made sure I followed good wheels and stayed near the front to keep out of trouble. The ride was pretty steady and there was only a few times where the pace was getting pushed. By the end of the last lap, we finally were making up some time on the front group. As most people wish and being in that situation myself, being in that front 7 is always ideal. Coming off the bike, I knew it would be chaos coming into T2 so I wanted to be in and out quick smart.

 I actually had a good T2 but those first few steps my feet hit the ground like blocks of cement. They didn't really warm up till the second lap of the run. The pace on the run was on from the get go with plenty of fast runners in our group. I needed to back myself and the sessions I have done over the past month. The run was probably the best and strongest I have felt all year which are big steps in the right direction in my run form. Ending up 26th is nothing special but some positives to take and build on over the European season.

Time now to head back to Vitoria!