The Aviemore triathlon " The long hard durty"

I was overwhelmed with the support I got after publishing my last blog “And then the wheels came off”on my website. From experienced coaches to close friends and acquaintances, I received messages from all over the world which felt like a massive huge hug. It took me a while to get to terms with the idea that although we were only in July my international racing season was over. My training was cut in half and there were words like “sleep, snooze, take a nap” taking over my training program. High intensity training was replaced by easy work outs. Nico ‘s words put a smile on my face though : Tuesday : swim squad : but only gliding, I want you to do all this week really slow, I mean like the old lady with the flowers swim caps !!!”  With his light hearted approach I started to accept that this was what needed to happen, regardless of what I wanted to happen.

 

Fynn enjoying my "easier" training

 

With every door that closes there is one that opens and with a lot more free time on my hands I started to enjoy long easy rides and runs with friends in the Scottish hills and introducing Michael to what MTBing is all about. Not racing overseas meant that I had the time to explore the local trails on the weekends and learned that “Epic” is the Scottish word for “Insane” whilst checking out the “Epic MTB rides of Scotland” involving some of the most gnarly, steep, rocky, trails I have ever ridden. At one point I was worried I was going to lose my boyfriend one way or another!

Michael suffering after 3hrs of climbing on one of the "Epic" Scottish rides

Not being able to completely let go of my season failures and being a racer at heart, I searched the internet for some races around Scotland. I had great experiences with Durty events before which made me return to their website. From MTB races, trail runs to off road triathlons and multi sport races they cover almost anything for everyone at any level. Fellow Scottish athlete Rory Downie himself was a big fan of the races saying that anything to do with Paul from Durty events meant that the course would be more than just a challenge. He advised me to race the Aviemore triathlon, so with mixed feelings wether I would be up to it or not I entered. “you will love the course” Rory said and I trusted my friends judgement.

The beauty of my back yard

I hadn’t raced or done any intensity training since Xterra France July 6 so I felt a little under prepared when I arrived at the Badaguish Centre near Aviemore where the race was held. Durty events are a truly professional company and all the instructions were easy to follow, the volunteers were friendly and helpful and the atmosphere was bubbly and inviting.  I hadn’t checked out the course and I overheard people saying how technical one part of the bike leg was. I had a slightly arrogant attitude towards this being presented with brutal MTB courses on the Xterra European circuit. But these guys weren’t wrong, there was one section in the course involving steep muddy descents, hair pin corners and plenty of handle bars attracting tree roots and rocks. A recce of the bike leg would have been highly beneficial for my bike time!!

I was nervously waiting for the start of the race, not knowing how this all would go down, where I was at or how my body would feel during the race. Michael and dog Fynn were quietly watching me for moral support. My heart stopped when we were told the water was only 11 degrees and I was told post-race that that was a positive measurement. “I am going to die” I mumbled to myself. I didn’t die, quite the opposite, my swimming had improved with leaps and bounces in the pool and for the first time I managed to put it into practice during an open water swim. Instead of feeling like a spastic in the water I felt like a real swimmer! and even though I couldn't feel my body in the freezing water I actually enjoyed the swim!!

Fynn getting used to sharing the car with bikes

Coming out of the loch I was so cold I felt like I was in slow motion taking off my wetsuit. I heard Michael’s supportive words “great swim”. On the bike and I talked to myself, relax, eat drink. Still probably way to tense I didn’t manage to eat, I felt a bit nauseas but I made sure I drank. I passed quite a few people in the first half of the bike leg until I was alone and raced by myself most of the way to the finish line. It felt good, I could set my own pace, not feeling pressured or disheartened by people passing me. I loved the course and the supportive words from people along the trails. I knew I wouldn’t have any speed on the run without the appropriate training and that it was going to hurt. I tried to find a pace I could hold but struggled a bit. Being an out and back course the front guys were coming back whilst I was climbing up and the cheers from them were awesome! It was only then that I found out I was in the lead and at the turn around point I decided to try push a little harder on the way down as the 2^nd girl 2014 Celtman winner Marie Meldrum wasn’t that far behind. Hurt box! Very happy to see the finish line I was relieved I managed to hold it together, and I finished with a little (not much) left in the tank. It was good to be able to prove to myself that I could still win a race. I had a celebrity moment when James Hodge, a fellow athlete, introduced himself to me as one of my “twitter followers”. “It’s lovely to meet you in person” he smiled.

Having a laugh with champ Marie Meldrum at prize giving

I am still nowhere near where I should be and this victory didn’t make me resume to the  hectic racing schedule I had just wiped out. Baby steps. For the rest of the season I will stay in Scotland, enjoy a lighter training schedule, hanging out with friends, racing on home ground, learning to relax. I have even booked a holiday in the Southern Spanish mountains in November. One of the first holidays in 4 years unrelated to a sporting event. With endless MTB trails to explore I won’t be able to leave the bike at home though!!

 

Its great to have companies in Scotland like Durty Events organising awesome races, with great courses involving lovely outdoor people. A big thanks to all the organisers, volunteers and competitors involved. I look forward to racing more of these type of events!!

"Close some doors today. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they lead you nowhere" Paulo Coelho

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the wheels came off

 I was born with a heart murmer . I never had any symptoms until things took a turn for the worst in my early teens when I developed endocarditis because of a neglected Streptococcus throat infection .This ended up damaging  the heart valve further which already had a small defect causing the congenital murmer. I was in for 6 monthly-12 monthly echo’s  at the Cardiologist during my teenage years. At this time I was also diagnosed with Wolf Parkison White syndrome. WPW is caused by the presence of an abnormal accessory electrical conduction pathway between the atria and the ventricles of the heart. Electrical signals traveling down this abnormal pathway (known as the bundle of Kent) may stimulate the ventricles to contract prematurely, resulting in a unique type of supraventricular tachycardia referred to as an atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia. In my case this resulted in heart rate’s close to 400 beats per minute which could lead to cardiac arrest. The definitive treatment of WPW is a destruction of the abnormal electrical pathway by radiofrequency catheter ablation, which I had done at the age of 16.

 

I never really mention my heart condition. I am someone who tends to ignore serious things to make them go away. I figured that if I was able to race at elite level on the MTB and in Cross triathlon, there couldn’t be much wrong me. I hadn't been to a cardiologist for over 15 years. Any heart patients would agree however, that once you have had a problem with your heart no unusual heart beat will go unnoticed, and it has always been on the back of my mind. When the wheels started to come off this season, without (for me) any obvious reasons, I decided to confront my fears and get my heart and health checked out. I am relieved to say that there wasn’t any evidence of my WPW syndrome on ECG’s and my heart has adapted well to training, beating in an appropriate manner under stress. My heart valve lesion is something which will always be present and I have to be aware off but I am not using it as an excuse for my under performance. More than anything the tests showed I should be more than capable racing at elite level. In my opinion, a 20min test at high intensity doesn’t mimic a 3-4hrs race though and a lot more comes in to place. Great performances are not always related to good test results and hard training alone.

How it all began with Karen Holmes

 

This year hasn’t been exactly easy, I came to Europe with the idea of finding a part time job as a veterinarian and training as hard as I could, trying to be the best I possibly could be as an athlete. For financial reasons though I didn’t have much choice and had to stick to a full time job. I looked for a job with enough holiday allowance and an easy enough on call roster to be able to race and travel at least two times a month. I found a great job, with great people in an awesome location in Scotland. For me it ticked all the boxes. With the approaching season on my mind I really wanted to bridge that gap to the better Xterra female athletes and gave it my all during winter training. Rain, hail or shine. That saying brought a whole new meaning to me trying to stick to it living in the North of Scotland. But I did it whilst adjusting to a new job, new country, and new people with my loyal dog Fynn by my side. With the help of coach Nico Lebrun I felt I was getting stronger and faster and ignored all the signs of fatigue, ignored the stresses at work and in my personal life and kept to the plan. Nothing was going to stop me. I wasn't really prepared for what ended up happening. In my job I am as much as a high achiever as I am in my athletic life and when I feel like I am not able to do the best I can for a client/animal, it upsets me. In the same way I feel stressed when I cant fit in a training session or when I feel like I haven’t achieved my training properly.  Early into my racing season it started to become apparent to me that I had been over ambitious when planning my racing calendar with races all over Europe. The time away from work, the travel and the pressure I had put on myself to perform well started to cause a state of constant stress which made me extremely tired. Being a stubborn person, I kept on pushing through, trying to accept poor performances, trying to cope with the feeling of failure in my attempt to combine my veterinary career and athletic career. When the wheels came off properly during Xterra France I decided that I needed to be honest with myself and accept that this was not working. My body was exhausted, I had pushed myself physically and mentally to my limits. I needed to stop, breathe and start again.

Exploring the Scottish Highlands with my favourite boys

 

There is nothing worse for an athlete then to stand on the side line, to not being able to compete, to let the season slip by. With social media so present in our lives, there is no escaping the confrontation of races being won, athletes putting their dreams into reality and records being set. As much as I enjoy people I know doing well, it is difficult letting it all happen whilst not being able to contribute. It’s hard not to be disappointed. And whilst people are insinuating I am taking this all way to seriously, this is my dream, my goal, my plan, and at this point in time it has fallen apart.

Finding some peace

 

Somewhere along the journey I have lost my spirit. It is time to do some soul searching and remember the way this started. With a passion for the outdoors, with a passion for the bike, sharing it with friends and being inspired to challenge myself to become strong, fast and skilful. In the next few weeks/months I will go back to the basics, exploring Scotland’s beauty, learning how to relax again, let myself recover. Rediscovering the feeling of joy it used to release in me.  Trying to find some peace. Instead of hard core training I will be playing on the mountain bike with mates, running along the Scottish Glens with Fynn and gliding along in the pool with the great girls from DCA. Why? Just because I can.

"The greatest efforts in sports came when the mind is as still as a glass lake.” Timothy Gallwey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xterra France; Mud, sweat and tears

I don’t like making excuses. I will push myself to the point of no return until someone will make me stop. I believe I have reached that point. I am tired and I am not performing. My body is in lock down and no matter how hard I train, how much I push and how much I want it, no improvement is being made. It is with huge disappointment for me to now say, no more, time to refresh, get some tests done and see how I can bounce back from this. I have never hurt more in a race than in Xterra France last weekend, mentally and physically. I love this event; it radiates passion for the outdoors, Xterra, and adventure. The Charboniers truly stepped it up another level this year by adding an awesome MTB ramp as part of the race on top of little technical obstacles throughout the whole course. It required athletes to be 100% focussed the entire way. With its 1600m of climbing over 38km on the bike and 300m of climbing on the run, this race is already one of the toughest, if not, the toughest race on the Xterra circuit. This doesn’t stop athletes entering though, sold out pretty much immediately after going online, this is also one of the biggest, if not the biggest off road triathlon in the world, with around 1000 athletes on course in the main Xterra event. The organisation is faultless, the ambiance buzzing, and no matter what the weather does, the course is a whole lot of fun in the dry or the wet! This race has to be on the bucket list for anyone owning a MTB, trail runners or loving an adventure!

Nico post bike recce

The day before the race it had been bucketing down and when Nico, Asa, Alex and me went for a course recce it was a mud fest. The winter months in Scotland had been paying off for me, and I was riding better in the wet then I had ever been before, slipping and sliding like a true Euro athlete!! Having been previously afraid of this bike course I was  loving it, riding with a big smile on my face I was looking forward to the day ahead. Compared to the year before I was a different mountain biker!

Waking up tired on race morning wasn’t the best feeling, I felt like I could sleep for a whole month and with race start at 2pm, may be my body started to go in too much of relaxation mode whilst spending most of the morning sleeping.

The hellish swim start

The swim in Xterra France is always a nightmare for weak swimmers with a 1000 athletes starting at the same time, I was prepared for this however and swam about 3min faster on the same course than I had done the year before making me coming out of the water full with confidence. Unfortunately I was now mid pack on the bike course and was forced to walk most of the hills due to riders stopping in front of me. It is a long event I thought and stayed positive, knowing I could make up a lot of time on the 2^nd lap. I didn’t make any mistakes on the downhill and I think I passed about 70 people in the one descent, I was happy.

Starting the 2^nd lap and it was time to push. Very quickly my lungs were burning and I started to feel dizzy. My chest tightened and it was a real struggle, I was getting overtaken by girls I had passed on the first lap and I couldn’t stay positive. Good friend Flo Dannah was flying past me and I tried to stick on her wheel, she looked super strong and climbed effortless whilst I was near death trying to keep up with her. I thought I was going to pass out and dropped the pace.

The hardest thing was not understanding what was happening, I had trained so solidly, I had improved so much but on race day when the pressure was on, my body fell apart. As I started the run my legs still felt fine but I was now wheezing in my breathing and my whole chest felt like a thousand elephants were jumping on top of it. I reached Nico on the course and stopped, I was nearly in tears, he asked me what was going on but I couldn’t talk. “just go easy, finish the race for training” and of I went, a combination of walking and running, watching girls passing me without being able to do anything about it. I was in a continuous battle with myself wanting to quit. Knowing I would feel worse for not finishing the race I kept on going. It was the worst sensation ever, not being able to breathe, feeling so heavy chested and knowing I was dropping further and further back in the field. I was embarrassed by it. Disappointment at all levels.

 

I reached the finish line in distress and tried to find a quiet place to regain my thoughts. Back in the transition zone I run into Flo who comforted me. Not long after that Kathrin showed up giving me a big hug. I love these girls. Kathrin had just won the biggest, toughest, longest race on the tour and still took the time to check if I was ok. "I was looking for you, Nico said you weren't well" she says. "did you win?" I ask, "yes she says with a big smile" Unstoppable!! this was her 3^rd Victory in a row and I am happy I was there to witness each and every one of them! After a season riddled with bad luck last year, Carina Wassle was back on top with a great 2^nd place, and Renata fighting to the bitter end for 3^rd place.

The organicoach team had a struggling day with Asa crashing on the bike, spending time in hospital needing 10 sutures and suffering 3 broken ribs missing prize giving, the man still managed to come 5th! Alex came 3rd in her AG and Francois had an off day.

Asa Shaw celebrating his 30th birthday

I must admit this has been a bitter pill to swallow, I had huge expectations for this season and it is not happening for me. Finding a new hobby like breeding Goldfish or playing chess has been on my mind. I love the sport however, spending time with the people in it and the places where it has taken me. I love training and the feeling of getting stronger and overcoming new challenges all the time. So instead of concentrating on problems, I have decided I will work on finding solutions with the aim of coming back stronger than ever. Its time to stop, get my health checked out, and recover. "this is not normal" says Nico. "We need to fix you"

"when the world says "give up" Hope whispers "try it one more time"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xterra Greece, the awakening of a peacefull mountainous village by crazy off-road fanatics

 Whilst travelling to Greece I had a very bad race at the European Championships fresh in my head. This memory was worsened by the news of being dropped by the Dutch Elite team for the World Championships. If it was up to me I would have turned my car around and hid under a rock somewhere for a while. But my life loving coach was waiting for me in Greece with the only expectation of me to finish the race. Which with the state of mind I was in was a challenge in itself. If it was  up to me I was ready for retirement.

I was travelling with fellow athletes and friends James Walker, Johnny Perry, Llewellyn Holmes and Louise Fox. We had rented a couple of cars together in Greece from which we had to endure a long journey on Greek roads to the little village of Lake Plastira where the race was held. Very quickly I snapped out of my sulking mood whilst hanging out with my “Xterra Family” during our little road trip.

 

Lake Plastiras (Greek: Λίμνη Πλαστήρα) also called Tavropos Reservoir (Greek: Τεχνητή Λίμνη Ταυρωπού) is an artificial lake fed by Tavropos (Megdovas) river, located in Karditsa regional unit, near the city of Karditsa, Greece. The lake is named after the Greek general and politician Nikolaos Plastiras, who was the first to visualize the construction of an artificial lake in the area.Today the lake holds up to 400 million cubic meters of fresh water. It is used for irrigation and as a power source of a hydroelectric plant,[1] but also as the main water source to the city of Karditsa. Due to its altitude (one of the highest in Europe) the Tavropos Reservoir is a popular tourist resort in Greece, as the formed landscape is quite unique. A perfect little place for an Xterra!

I immediately fell in love with the location on arrival, its beautiful surroundings and peacefulness dipped in the Xterra spirit made for a very warm welcome by all the locals and a very easy acclimatisation. After a long day travelling, Louise and I decided to have a swim in the lake and on our walk down run into Xterra Legend Sam Gardner (also Louise’s Coach) travelling athlete Will Kelsal and his girlfriend, and super star, good friend Helena Erbenova. Old friendships were reinforced, new friendships were made in typical Xterra style and I was very happy to be here and not hiding under a rock somewhere back in Scotland.

 

Xterra Greece Head boss Konstantinos Koumargialis had done an absolute amazing job with the course, accommodation arrangements, food availability, everything was very well organized and he together with all the organisers involved made sure we were happy and well looked after. Nothing was too much for these Greek stars. I was living the dream for a few days!!

team Organicoach

 

The following days I took the advice of Nico and spend my time practicing the course with my friends without worrying about the race and I absolutely loved it. The bike course was great; it took us right up in the hills with nice long climbs, spectacular scenery and great single track. In typical Xterra style stories started to develop; vicious dogs chasing athletes on their bikes, massive turtles escaping death in near collisions with riders, giant snakes held under control by reptile whisperer Nico Lebrun on the run course saving Kathrin Muller from being attacked.

 

Helena and Kostas

I really enjoyed spending some quality time with Helena, she had been teaching her daughter English which had improved her own language skills immensely and given her a lot of confidence in engaging in any form of conversation. I met her properly last year in Italy, and having always been in awe of her athletic performances it was great to get to know her as a person and learn about her day to day life. I find it very interesting you can connect with people coming from such different cultures and backgrounds; share a sense of humour and outlook on life even though there might be a slight language barrier. It’s a spirit which is recognisable and the key in forming strong friendships.

Xterra Greece Crew

 

As usual race day arrived way too early. Nerves took over and as much as I tried to fight it and Nico trying to talk confidence in me, my last race was so fresh on my memory and as much as I loved this course I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off. A talk with Nico the night before made me feel slightly more settled. “we are taking a step back, it’s about finishing tomorrow, I will chase you with stick if I have to!!”

Walking into transition on race day, the pro racks had given our own name cards with our national flag on it, I loved this little detail, so very cool!! Nothing to really write home about my performance other than that I didn’t completely lose my head this time.  It was great to have Nico on course helping me with the race. I managed to swim ok,  on the bike I was wondering why I was breathing so hard without my legs hurting and on the run I had Nico’s wife Alex who was having a great race breathing in my neck which motivated me to keep pushing. I ended up making a lot of mistakes which was a bit frustrating. But I did what I came to do, I finished. I finished in 6^th place.

Helena, Kathrin and me

 

 

I walked straight into the always positive Kathrin Muller at the finish line. She had another stellar performance for the win. She has always so much energy to give and it was great to be in her company whilst being slightly disappointed after another underperformance from me. A great chick she is.

A race recap with Nico reinforced what we already suspected. “after seeing you today I know it’s nothing physical he said, your training performance and race performance don’t match, we have to find a way to unlock your body”

Francois winning

 

The organicoach team did brilliantly with Francois Carloni winning the race and Rory Downie coming 4^th and Alex winning her AG! It’s always nice to see people who really deserve it do so well!! In the females it was Kathrin smashing it with Helena coming second and Brigitta Poor for the first time on the podium in 3^rd! It was nice to meet Brigitta properly in Greece after seeing glimpses of her at races last year. She had an amazing race for 4th at the European Champs and now another great performance. My roomie Louise Fox had a very good race coming 4^th.The Xterra podium was personalised with cool Xterra trophies for the top 7, another small touch of Kostas and something which put this race miles above others.

Coach Nico

A great few days with awesome people, the love is back, I am not quitting yet. It is time to train the mind. Next stop Xterra France.

"always believe that something wonderful is about to happen"

 

 

 

 

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Magic days with Aloha Racing and friends at the ETU Cross Tri Championship Sardinia

'All is not lost' were the wise words from one of the best veterinarians around, Jim Marks, whilst discussing the poor performance of a top class race horse with me. Many times I have told my race horse clients “a bad race doesn’t make it a bad horse”
To convince myself of both of those two statements after a horrible day at my biggest race to date was a lot harder to practice than to preach. “it’s just a race” said someone trying to cheer me up, a slightly irritated Maud Golsteyn also after a bad performance herself due to stomach upset mumbled “ it’s not “just a race” its European Champs, we will get over it but not right now, let us be disappointed”  While I was aiming for a top 10 result, Maud was looking to dominate the podium after a super performance coming 2^nd to Kathrin Muller last year. And she was so right, after months of hard training and commitment we were allowed our moment of disappointment.

The trip home after an awful race experience always seems to last forever. I had so many questions in my head without any answers. But to stay positive I remembered the reasons why I love this sport so much in the first place, the people in it,  and they didn’t disappoint last week, quite the contrary  and in the end those are the memories which will stick the forever.

Ian, Renata and me having fun on the beach

I was invited to join Aloha racing for a pre-race training camp, a small but super talented female only off road racing team existing out of Swiss Miss Renata Bucher, flying Dutch Girl Maud Golsteyn and Japanese champ Mieko Carey. Renata is one of the most smiley people on the circuit and is able to put a positive spin on any bad situation. For me she has always been a huge inspiration, and has pushed me to try be the best I possibly can. Above a great athlete and person, she is also a great friend and it was awesome to see her  smash her race and come 2^nd after an injury riddled start of

the season.

Maud and Renata

I met Maud  and her partner Lars last year in Switzerland and we hit it of immediately. A mutual interest and love for animals, sport, and other things in life made for heaps of topics of conversation and I was happy to be able to practice my Dutch again. She is one of the most earthy elite athletes I have ever met. She talks her own performances  down by saying “it doesn’t really mean anything” 
She doesn't receive the credit she deserves after many years racing herself consistently on the podium in duathlons, running races, cross triathlons, road triathlons and Xterra’s against stacked elite fields whilst maintaining a full time job. Her modesty and sober attitude towards things makes her even more likable and like Renata her positive spirit is contagious.  I am looking forward to see her race well this season and be put in the spot light for a change. I haven’t met Mieko yet but being part of Aloha racing I can only imagine she is just as lovely as Maud and Renata.

                                     
                                                        
the girls are very stylish kitted out in Coeur racing clothes and get their fast swim times by using Kathrin Muller’s wetsuit brand Mako. On top of that the girls race on Storck MTBes often posting the fastest bike splits in their races. They send out a message of being courageous, friendly, athletic and fun and loving their lifestyle of racing and travelling to some of the most remote beautiful parts of the world whilst doing this.

Other than the girls of Aloha racing we were joined by members of the Swiss team and their support network who were all great people which made the week leading into the race very enjoyable and relaxed. I was joined by my Organicoach team mate Rory Downie from Scotland, and for his young years he shared a lot of life wisdoms with me at moments I wasn’t the most optimistic about stuff. It was great to have him around.
The always energetic and bubbly Kathrin Muller wasn’t staying in the same hotel but joined us for meals and training sessions. A sporty fun bunch of people brought together by what we love doing most; a passion for the outdoors and sport.

Rory flying out of T2

So what went wrong in my race? I wish I could tell you, I felt great in training leading up to the event and had worked hard during the winter to improve my running and swimming. A big part of the problem is my own insecurity and the feeling of not belonging in an elite field of athletes.

I had major problems with my bike the day before the race which didn’t help the situation and I was so thankful for Rory being there helping me out to try and fix the issue with the local Italian mechanic. I was also battling a mild cold a couple days before but these are probably all excuses to make sense of a bad situation. I just felt awful from the 2nd boy in the swim until I decided there was no point. My first DNF in my 4 years of racing triathlon.

Kathrin Muller showed she is turning into a real off road specialist tackling this tough course in an elegant manner leading from beginning to end. Renata showed that she is back in the game after a month of no running coming 2nd and Helena Erbenova managed to get herself back in the race after she nearly got washed away to mainland Italy during the swim, coming 3rd. Awesome girls on the podium!!

Renata, Kathrin and Helena

Things were put in perspective for me after chatting with Helena post race. She had only just figured out that I have so many animals pictures on my Facebook page because I am a veterinarian. Very excitedly she wanted to know all about my job. When the topic came back to racing and I told her about my bad race she said "that doesn't matter, you go back to a very cool job!!!, I go back to the boring every day the same life, nothing exciting!" "no way!" I said laughing to her "you win big big races!!" to which she replied "in my next life I want to be an animal doctor!!" Which made me realise although I dream about winning big races and being a full time athlete, I am also very lucky to be able to combine the two passions in my life, and when one disappoints I have the other to fall back on.

Pre race banter

"All is not lost" another day, another race. The season has just begun, time to start having some fun!! Next stop Xterra Greece.

"Often in life we forget the things we should remember and remember the things we should forget"
 

 http://www.aloha-racing.com/aloha_racing/welcome_to_aloha_racing.html

http://www.mako-sport.fr/

 http://www.storck-bicycle.de/en/web0.asp?ID=1000

http://www.coeursports.com/

 

 

 

 

Podium in France, trails in Switzerland, a normal weekend in Europe : The Saugeathelon

The kayak leg

Time flies. I am not sure if it is something which you notice only when you get older as I remember the summer holidays lasting forever as a child. We are now 12 months on from when I wrote an article for Marathon MTB  http://www.marathonmtb.com/2013/03/28/taking-the-next-step-going-pro/  about following my heart and chase the dream to race at elite level. Its hard to believe how much has happened since then and how many things have changed for me. Literally my life has turned upside down.
I have moved countries, well hemispheres actually, changed jobs, changed coaches, made new friends, reunited with old friends, kept current friends, learned new skills, improved on old ones. The only thing which remained unchanged was the loyal company of my dog Fynn who I had brought with me from Australia. And that small amount of familiarity, having a trusted dog by your side is what can make all the difference on a tough day.

I have done this many times before, strangely it was probably one of the biggest but smoothest transfers I have experienced so far. It has made me wonder if I have become so anonymous that I can fit in anywhere these days, or have I finally found the right environment to do what I aspire to do. I must say training in the extreme Scottish conditions sometimes make me doubt that last statement!!

My buddy for better and for worse

Through the Xterra network of people I had become friendly with Kayak Olympian gone adventure racer, Scott engineer Alex Dimitriou, and when he invited me to come to Switzerland and race a multisport event just around the corner from where he lived in France, I was more than keen to use this race to get some speed in my legs for my upcoming season. As per normal anything to do with Alex feels like a Tsunami, 90 miles an hour, getting a thousand things done at once, from French to English to Swiss, multi tasking? Alex is proof that men can actually do it.I flew in on Friday night and the race was Saturday afternoon. Enough time to get everything sorted and for me to have a feel of the kayak as I had never done a race down river with rapids. Nor had I ever paddled in the type of boat they had organised for me. As per normal pre race things never go according to plan. Instead of practicing on the water, Alex was working on my bike to try and make it work before the race whilst my race nerves were starting to take over.

 

A snowy training session with Rory Downie

 

The weather was very Scottish, did I really get on a plane? cold, windy and wet. It was a probably a good thing I didn't end up practicing in the boat as I would have been frozen before the race even started. We only just managed to get all our stuff in the transition zones ready for the race in time. The river was high after a lot of rain and the rapids in full flow. "they are only little" says the Olympian Slalom Kayaker, hmm yeah right! My race nerves got worse when Alex started to point out some of the girls at the event as Cross Country ski Olympians, World cup competitors and trail run champions. I started to feel a sick. Nico had given me a few tips how to deal with this and to my surprise I found myself more relaxed and positive at the start of the race then I have been for a long time.

 

We started with a 200m sprint to the river bank and in these early stages of the race I was already lost trying to find the right boat, I recognised my number, jumped in, and off I went. Very different kayak from anything I had paddled in the past and before I even had the chance to start moving I was stuck backwards in the river bank, spectators were laughing at me giggling and with supportive cheers they helped me on my way. 'Race over' I thought whilst trying to steer this heavy peace of floating plastic. I was heading towards the first rapid and by complete luck I ended up in the line Alex had told me to take, whilst people were capsizing and going for a swim next to me I smoothly paddled through like a real pro, I was pretty chuffed with myself until one of the volunteers yelled at me that I was holding the paddle upside down. Embarrassing moment! I was hoping that with holding the paddle the proper way I was able to steer the boat easier but that was wishful thinking!

 

Post race banter with Alex

 

I am not sure how I ended up making the 90 degree turn around the final boy heading for land! I was aiming for one of the volunteers waving at me but ended up at about 3 volunteers down from him! but on land I was!! Time to start racing. I had no idea how far back I was, with the longer run compared to the Kayak and Mountain bike I knew it was a runners race and would need a solid pace to get myself in a good position for the MTB leg. I wasn't really worried about where I was placed, I thought I was too far back to make any impact on the pointy end of the field. Although my legs were cold from the kayak leg, I felt pretty relaxed. The first kms of the run was flat and I was running at a pace where I was wondering how long I could hold it for at any point in time. But I kept pushing and my body kept giving. Great feeling. Coming from the back passing so many people along the way was a huge confident boost! When other people were having troubles running up a steep slippery climbs, I cruised up, winter training in Scotland payed off !!! Roughly 1kms from the run bike transition I eased up a little to recover for the bike. We were on the down hill now and I made sure the distance between me and the two girls in front of me didn't get any bigger but I stopped pushing.

On the bike now and it was back to full noise, slippery, wet, sticky, windy, freezing cold and almost all climbing with some short, fast non technical downhills. A power course. I was still moving forward in the field and I felt like I had plenty more to give even though lactic acid was settling down in my legs properly by now. I could hear the finish line and people were cheering loudly. Race done.

I had no idea where I had come but I wasn't really worried, I had felt great during the race and that was all I was after. I was a bit lost at the finish line but was on a high. People were staring at me with looks on their faces "who is this girl". Whilst I was waiting for Alex who had to do two laps of the bike course I was listening into conversations of other girls finishing to get an idea of where I placed. I tried to ignore the guy with the microphone interviewing people as he was heading for me, I was pushed in his direction "deuxieme" someone said to me "who moi??" and the microphone was pushed in my face to answer a few questions, not sure if anyone understood my broken French including myself

 

Alex had a very good race for 2nd male just behind his mate Ivan who's girlfriend an elite runner won the female's event. I was lucky that the kayak leg was short enough for me to run myself back to the front and finish strong in 2nd place, with a 2nd fastest run split and the fastest MTB split. Things were on track and I was happy. I was surprised how friendly the other girls were coming up to me to congratulate me and sussing out where I had come from. A good way to practice my French!!

The day ended with a great catch up with fellow Xterra athlete Ian Pyott and his girlfriend who made us amazing pizza followed by icecream, with warm chocolate sauce and chocolate muffins. Great athlete, great cook!!

Recovery food with a recovery view

Sunday was spent "recovering" riding up the Swiss trails near Alex's place. The climbs were completely worth the screaming legs, the views were endless and the single trail on the downhill alone was worth the whole trip to Switzerland!! Buzzing. After the ride we had probably the only relaxing moment in 72hrs, engorging on pasta whilst enjoying a wonderful view on Neufchatel lake with the Alps becoming visible in the far distance. Magic.

The start of my cross triathlon season, great race, great friends, great locations. Although I have never been a big fan of super positive people because I always wonder "surely life can't be that great all the time" I must say for me, after a turbulent 2013, 2014 has given me a lot of faith. Life is good.


"never give up on something you can't go a day without thinking about"

The joy of racing

Nothing better than refreshing the mind on the MTB

 

Last year I tried to juggle racing MTB Marathons with racing Xterra triathlons and even though I was told this was not a very good combination to try make work, by more than one person, I was stubborn and filled my 2013 calendar full with races every 2nd to 3rd weekend.

I was alternating 100km MTB races with 3-4hrs off road triathlons and fitting in weekends work on call in between. My whole life was scheduled. And as a competitive person I wanted to do well and pushed myself to the limit to try climb on that podium as often as I could. Whilst being disappointed if I couldn't achieve my goals.

With an already tired body I followed the Australian season with the European season racing Xterra's and by September my body and my mind were completely and utterly fried. I had nothing left in the tank and although the experience in Europe was awesome, the results of racing with an exhausting body was not.

 

It took me a while to recover physically and mentally. I signed up with Nico Lebrun for the 2014 season who had experienced my personality through the Xterra season and I knew he would be able to help me balance myself better. When I told him my (ambitious) plans for winter racing and the 2014 season he very honestly said to me "what do you need me for? if you stick to that you will be dead before the season even starts" He made it very clear to me that winter was for sleeping, and that I needed to chill. I listened. And "chill" I did. Literally. Moving to Scotland and training in bitterly cold winter conditions was quite an eye opener, but the stunning scenery I did it in was like chicken soup for the soul.

Winter training in paradise

This year I thought it would be wiser to swap the MTB Marathon format for the shorter MTB XCO format to work on two weaknesses of mine,  1) my MTB technical skills and 2) my top end power. The first round of the Scottish National Series were held 10 minutes from where I live, it couldn't be a better opportunity to start my 2014 season; Trying out the MTB XCO format for the first time so close to home. I hadn't raced since September and with absolutely no race fitness or speed in my legs I knew this was going to hurt!

The course was already completely marked on the Saturday afternoon and very easy to follow. I heard it was one of the lesser technical courses of the series but whilst practicing it  my heart skipped a beat a few times!! I have this mental block with pure single track, you can give me the steepest, rockiest stuff and as long as its wide I am fine, but narrow single track and I am one of those people who rides like they need side wheels on their bike's!!
I found it amazing how much variety one can put in a 6km lap!! I really enjoyed the course with lots of different difficulties to keep anyone on their toes. I eyed up the two longer wider climbs as it was the place where I needed to make up time and tried to roughly memorise the course.

Pushing hard on the less technical parts of the course

Race morning arrived and I was nervous, not as much for the race itself though. I was nervous that mentally I would still be weak, I was nervous that I hadn't recovered enough from last season and that I wouldn't be able to push myself. Nervous that I wouldn't enjoy racing and finding out that may be that dream of becoming the best athlete I possibly could be, was not what I really wanted. I always get really nervous before a race, its something which affects my performance and I have to work on it, but never for these reasons. I wanted it so bad in 2012 and 2013 that I pushed myself through all sorts of pain and I wondered how much of that hunger was left in me. There was only one way to find out.

The organisers of the event did an amazing job, there was a very relaxed friendly atmosphere, instructions were easy to follow and before I knew it I was on the start line with the other girls ready to go. It was a small, but like always in these kind of events, quality field. Off we went and as always I got spat out the back at the start, I didn't panic as I was very aware I didn't have a fast start in my legs at the best of times but definitely not this early in the season. I tried to relax find some rhythm in the first bit of single track and waited patiently for the first climb. When it arrived I attacked and pushed as hard as I could. It felt great to be able to ride myself back to the front of the group. I tried to make use of the non technical parts as much as possible and pushed hard to make up for mistakes I might make on the technical riding. The course had a very nice flow and to my surprise I managed to ride quite smooth through the single track for a triathlete!! One lap to go and I started to feel the accumulation of lactic acid in my legs from the weeks training. The joy of a "training race" you never feel fresh at the start line! When I reached the finish I was very happy with the day, not because I came home in 2nd place, because lets face it the big guns were missing in action, but because I loved the race and although the faster crazier XCO format hurts like hell, I enjoyed pushing my boundaries again! The realisation that this is what I wanted and regaining the joy of racing made me very happy.

The whole day was very well organised, watching the kids race must have been one of my favourite moments of the day and I was very impressed with how smooth everything went. A big thank you to the organisers of the first round of SXC series in Forfar for a great event, I have already signed up for round 2!!

After a big break the 2014 Season has finally started!!