With Motala firmly ticked off, Roz can now focus on the next task in hand - Ironman Copenhagen. There no rest when you're a triathlete! Read on here...
Well I survived the World Long Course Triathlon Championships in Sweden! I felt pretty unprepared given a virus had wiped me out for a couple of weeks just before it. I was also pretty nervous at swimming 4 km when I had missed so much swimming due to my neck injury in the early part of the year. Therefore I wasn’t too disappointed when the swim was shortened to 1.5km due to a combination of the cold water temperature and low air temperature.
Longer swims definitely break the field up though and being fairly average in all three disciplines, I often get a good start by a longer swim. I was pretty disappointed with my bike leg. It started well but towards the end of the second lap my neck was fairly unhappy for me to be down on the tri bars. The constant discomfort meant that more often than not I sat up to relieve the aching and I seemed to lose my focus and lost a lot of time on the third and final lap. The field was also busy and it was impossible to keep fighting to get to the front of the long line of triathletes without risking staying too long in the draft zone.
The wind had picked up and it felt like a constant, uncomfortable battle. Lets just say I was pretty happy to finally reach the dismount line and was looking forward to working hard on the run to make up some places. The run was fantastic, three 10km loops along the edge of the magnificent Lake Vattern, through woodland and back to the town of Motala where fantastic support awaited from the spectators. I felt strong, ran well and clawed back a lot of my lost places.
I was honestly happy to reach both the start and finish line of this race - the competition was fierce and with 60 world-class female athletes in my age group, I was delighted to finish in the top half of the field and actually within a couple of minutes of a couple of the other Team GB ladies that I often have a close battle with. It was another fantastic experience to be a part of Team GB and I would recommend anybody to do it if you get the opportunity. And if you are thinking “I am not good enough” - don’t! I would never have dreamt all those years ago in 2009 that I would ever be able to qualify but I have and every year since so don’t hesitate and give it a go!
On my return I was looking forward to focusing on getting on the tandem with Alison, my blind friend. Unfortunately a gardening injury has resulted in an injury to one of Alison’s leg muscles so running and cycling are off the agenda for the time being whilst her poor body heals itself. No reason not to swim though! We went to a swimming pool together for the first time last week and spent over an hour lapping the pool. There is definitely no stopping her there and her ability to be able to swim in a straight line without being able to see is incredible. The swim leg of our triathlon is going to be no problem! In spite of not being able to run, Alison still goes to Park Run each week to marshall and hopefully in a couple of weeks we can get back to running ourselves.
My next focus is Ironman Copenhagen on 23rd August. All my training since Motala has been going well and I am planning a full distance Aquabike next weekend (3.8km swim & 180 km bike) as training for the big day. The following week I have the Prudential Ride 100 which I cannot wait for. I did this ride two years ago and it was an absolute blast!
Roz's next blog will be posted on Wednesday 19th August. Read her June post here.
