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So how is Blenheim Elite different to the usual  races I’ve done?

After missing the British Triathlon Champs two weeks ago I was so happy to feel well enough to go and race in this event in Cologne, Germany.  Although May has pretty much been a write-off in terms of training, and I had started to feel pretty down as there’s only so long you can keep your spirits up for, I was actually really excited to enjoy some girlie time away with Mum and enjoy the city break.

The European Duathlon was in a small town called Horst in the Nertherlands – the same venue as last year. I wasn’t keen to race at first due to the disappointment of 2013 (4th place – always the worst position!)

Having been back from Turkey for a whole 10 days I decided it was time to pop abroad again for another race! This time it was the Belgium National Championships where I had decided to do the sprint race.  With a nice sociable start time of 1pm (or was it 12pm), I could have a lie in, a couple of bowls of coco pops and a leisurely ride down to the start.

So after achieving my Age Group goals this season it seemed the natural progression would be to have a go at an elite race on the British Super Series Circuit.  I was really pleased to get a start at Liverpool Elite which also counted as the Elite British Champs but must admit did start to think I’d got a bit carried away with it all!

I did it!!! I won! I can’t believe it! I have never had an Age Group medal of any colour before so to finally win Gold is a fantastic feeling (God loves a trier!)  I can’t say I enjoyed the race, in fact it was probably the most stressful race I have ever done.  Winning the British Champs two weeks ago seemed to make people think I was going to win (I am most definitely not used to this sort of pressure), racing under the radar is definitely the way forward!

What a day!!! I don’t really know where to start with this blog post.  I never in a million years thought that I would be a British  Age Group Champion! It hasn’t quite sunk in! I have been fortunate enough to win all my tri races in the UK this year but this one without a shadow of a doubt tops them all.  I think it means even more after the real disappointment in Holland in April; sport has its highs and lows and this was definitely a high!

It’s always nice to support local events and it was great to be able to compete in the Coventry Sprint Tri this year.  I lived in Coventry for 10 years and so it was nice to go back (if not a little odd bombing along on the TT bike down Charter Avenue!!!)   I used to swim with Cov Tri a couple of years ago and run with some of them at Northbrook Running Club so it was nice to see them too, and also my friends from Rugby Tri who were out in their masses as they were using this race as their club sprint championships.

When the gun went off, the speed of some of the men was ridiculous! I’ve never seen people charge off so fast! I was conscious not to get too caught up in the fast pace too early on so settled into my own rhythm.  Although I was settled in about 25th place overall I was aware that I was the first woman which in one respect is a good thing, but in another you almost feel like a sitting duck waiting to be caught!  The course was only 4.5k but nevertheless I was really pleased with my time of 16:43 and felt strong.

This early season duathlon was the perfect way to blast the winter cobwebs away and see where I was at following recent training.  I chose to do the Sprint distance race which consisted of a 5k run, 20k bike and 5k run, all in the beautiful grounds of Althorp.  The race had  initially been scheduled for the 16th February and then postponed due to water logging so it felt like it had been on my mind since forever!!!  It was also an ITU and ETU qualifying race so the standard was pretty high to say the least!!