I'd pretty much written off my season due to a crash at a training day on the 28th July. I had low range of movement in my leg and suffered soft tissue damage to my ankle which for the first week was impossible to walk on. I was gutted. Considering so far my season had been nothing but ups and a lot of downs, this topped it all off. I obviously had no choice but to pull out of Liverpool (British Champs). I could hardly walk, let alone swim-bike-run. a few days before Liverpool I was walking fairly okay and was able to swim. I decided to watch the race at Liverpool to show my support. As my race set off I couldn't help but shed a tear knowing I should have been battling the gruelling conditions like everyone else.
The day after my dad asked me about Nottingham. What about it? there wasn't much point in me racing... I had scabs all over my leg, a flimsy ankle and my bike was away being repaired so I didn't have the best chance of good training leading up to the race. But I remember just how desperate I was to race at Liverpool and how much racing means to me. So, I gave it a lot of thought and my leg would have been better the week leading up to the race so up to then it was just giving myself the opportunity to train and to get moving again.
Another bump in the road: my swimming squad had finished for the two weeks as a summer break so this meant public swimming making up my own sets with the old lady who also thought she was a 'fast lane' swimmer. However I just had to get on with it, as I really didn't have much more choice.
I got back running which was quite shaky. My calf was really, really tight so this didn't help at all and I had to finish sessions early. Cross training and treadmill runs were done and I had my bike back 4 days before the race, in which I did 1 turbo session.
But none of this mattered because all I wanted to do was race. I love racing. The atmosphere and the thrill of it all. So race day came and I was really quite relaxed and ready. Everyone was more than surprised to see me kitted up with bike in hand and some thought I was crazy. But honestly the pains had gone and there wasn't anything to stop me now from racing.
The swim for me was quite good. I found it quite a slow pace which I was happy with, and managed a top 3 out of the water. My T1 was quite slow however managed to make front pack and god knows how I managed to stay with the pack for the entire 4 laps. I apologise to Kate and Meg for my lack of contribution, however my legs were about to drop off any minute which showed on the last element - the run. My crash happened because my shoe unclipped whilst dismounting, so this made me extra cautious of my dismount this time round. In T2 I racked and my bike bounced off which made me panic. So try number 2 and it stayed, then moving on to my shoes I was fiddling with them for which seemed like a lifetime. I was last out of T2 in my group. My run really wasn't my aim at all and I just wanted to finish the race. This made me relax too much and when I was caught by team mate Sarah, I realised I had to start moving if I want this top 10 finish. I was being chased down by an italian and it came down to a sprint finish which I won, and overall, I finished 7th.
I took 7th with a huge beam on my face, I couldn't actually believe I did that after all the trouble. I admit the field wasn't big however its quality, not quantity and the girls were absolutely amazing out there. They always say don't do the 'what if' but really, if I hadn't gone too slow out on my run then who knows? If I was fit, who knows? But I'm taking everything in my stride and feeling so positive about the winter training. So I'm happy with my race, yeah it would have been nice to have been top 5 after hanging on for dear life on the bike but hey, I wasn't even going to race, so I really can't complain! My run I admit was shocking, but I can only get faster I suppose.
A long blog, but this is my official season ender and it has (surprisingly) ended on a high for me.
the wetsuit has been put away and is being replaced for the gloves and head warmers. Will keep you updated on the winter training season
Leah x
