Jun 15 2009
Thank goodness for the van!
Photo from Jon Rainford – many thanks – others in the gallery!
It’s Monday morning at 9.30am. We are just in the door having returned from UK 70.3. 820 miles in the van and 70.3 miles self propelled over the past three days. The van was definitely the hero of the story this weekend: official team HQ in a field at Wimbleball for 70.3 UK: feeding station, stretching station and sleeping station. It also meant that by the time we reached the Lake District at 12.30 am on the way home last night that we could call it a day and park up before completing the 400 mile journey back this morning. I’ve got a 10am massage appointment to keep…!
It was a fun weekend from start to finish. A “home” race meant that Richard (my husband) could come to support me and generally take care of me all weekend – driving, cheering, mechanicing, cooking – so it was great to be able to repay his commitment to the cause with another win on the 70.3 circuit :-)
It was a beautiful day in Wimbleball, so calm and still that the mist had descended and the start was delayed by an hour. By the time we set off I was feeling a little sluggish and did not really enjoy the swim. However, I think that I was around 2.5 mins behind Julie coming out the water, which is pretty much what I would expect. After climbing the Everest hill into T1, 3 pro women hit the bike together (Bella, Abigail and me). Abi talied off after about 3/4 of a lap leaving Bella and I together until the second lap when I pulled away on the hills. The entire course in Wimbleball is a hill fest – sharp climbs that are impossible to conserve energy on. Having a 27 cassette at least meant that I could try to save my legs. Meanwhile at the head of the course, Julie was (in her trademark style) making the bike look like a walk in the park, putting minutes into Bella and I. Trying to stay positive when the gap is exponentially growing is tough but I know that to have a decent run, I need to ride consistently and I beavered away. Hilly bike courses can do strange things to your legs and it was more than a relief to jump off the bike and run into the change tent feeling not too shabby in the old pins department. Jules was ripping it up 6 mins down the road, so I had my work cut out. If you think that the bike is mean at UK 70.3 you should have a laugh at the run course. It’s the full monty: X – country for the most part – trails, gravel, grass. And then there are the hills: little ones, big ones, fat ones and skinny ones! A hill for everyone! After the first lap the gap was down to 4mins, but I was still not convinced that I could catch; after the second lap it was 2mins 30s and I realised that it was game on. The only problem now was that I had to try and ignore the call of mother nature to go and fertilize the bushes. I needed all the time I could get to catch Julie. With about 4km to go I caught and passed Julie and was able to click off the remaining Ks to the finish. A big smile and a special kiss for husband Richard as I ran down the finish shute. A thousand thanks to him for making the weekend easy for me and, as always, endless thanks to all my sponsors who keep me training, racing – and winning ;-)
Hopefully some photos to follow when I get them.
