Name: British Super Series Finale, U20's Festival
Date: Sunday 6th September 2015
Venue: Mallory Park Racing Circuit, Leicester, England
Distances: Swim: 750m, Bike: 20km, Run: 5km
The final race of the year was the also the final race of the British Super Series. It was the last test to see how I faired against the best in Britain again. On the bike there were 7 laps of 2.9km each which was draft legal. Draft legal rules mean that if you were to get lapped you would be pulled off the course and this, for me, was a real possibility. The swim was also two laps in a rather shallow lake and the run was 4 laps. In the familiarisation the day before the water was cold and we found that the bike had added technical features including some extra chicanes and a dead turn or two, which slowed the course down. This was a relief to me for sure.
Entering the water, it was definitely warmer than the day before. I placed myself in the mix with everyone else and took the inside line on every buoy. This meant the shortest route, however it did mean I took a few kicks to the stomach and a few tugs to the feet. I came out of the water and was told I was 1:30min behind the leaders. I was very happy with the swim and set off on the bike to get into a group.
Unfortunately I discovered that there weren't very many groups on the road. I was picking off people either on their own or with one other person but they were not racing at my pace. I finally reached a group of three on my third lap and started working with them, however one them shouted to us 'we are going to get lapped'. I was not going to let this happen so I accelerated away from them and set off to catch more people. I felt very strong, the strongest on the bike all season, dropping people on the small climb and on the descent. I finally found someone who was willing to work with me and we were together for about two laps. I came to the bell and found out that most of the people I had overtaken behind me had been lapped, including the guy who said he would. My effort had paid off and I was still in the race dismounting with three others who we had caught.
I set off on the run feeling a bit tired after such a hard effort on the bike. The three others I had entered T2 with got ahead of me straight away, but after a lap, I felt my legs get into running mode and upped the pace to try to catch them again. In the final lap I saw two people within my range and I was determined to catch them. I caught one half way round and had a sprint finish with the second person and got them to take 31st place. Leaving absolutely everything on the circuit I was incredibly happy to have finished and in a position where I can add some more points to my ranking in the British Super Series.
Looking back at the race I think I pulled it out of the bag for sure. Beating people that are normally further ahead I was so happy. The hill climbing training in Spain earlier in the summer definitely had an impact and helped me on the bike course. I must thank Pedal Potential for supporting me. They are a great company giving financial support to young athletes in their chosen sport and have been a great help. Thank you so much!
As I said, this was the final race of the season. I will now have a few weeks off to rest, relax and recover and look back at my season and evaluate it. I shall sit down and see what options are best for me and then get stuck into a long winters training ahead. I'm definitely looking forward to it and seeing what I will be able to do next year.
Race Times
Swim: 9:30mins
T1: 00:55mins
Bike: 36.21mins
T2: 00:27mins
Run: 18:51mins
Total: 1:06:04hrs
Date: Sunday 6th September 2015
Venue: Mallory Park Racing Circuit, Leicester, England
Distances: Swim: 750m, Bike: 20km, Run: 5km
The final race of the year was the also the final race of the British Super Series. It was the last test to see how I faired against the best in Britain again. On the bike there were 7 laps of 2.9km each which was draft legal. Draft legal rules mean that if you were to get lapped you would be pulled off the course and this, for me, was a real possibility. The swim was also two laps in a rather shallow lake and the run was 4 laps. In the familiarisation the day before the water was cold and we found that the bike had added technical features including some extra chicanes and a dead turn or two, which slowed the course down. This was a relief to me for sure.
Entering the water, it was definitely warmer than the day before. I placed myself in the mix with everyone else and took the inside line on every buoy. This meant the shortest route, however it did mean I took a few kicks to the stomach and a few tugs to the feet. I came out of the water and was told I was 1:30min behind the leaders. I was very happy with the swim and set off on the bike to get into a group.
Unfortunately I discovered that there weren't very many groups on the road. I was picking off people either on their own or with one other person but they were not racing at my pace. I finally reached a group of three on my third lap and started working with them, however one them shouted to us 'we are going to get lapped'. I was not going to let this happen so I accelerated away from them and set off to catch more people. I felt very strong, the strongest on the bike all season, dropping people on the small climb and on the descent. I finally found someone who was willing to work with me and we were together for about two laps. I came to the bell and found out that most of the people I had overtaken behind me had been lapped, including the guy who said he would. My effort had paid off and I was still in the race dismounting with three others who we had caught.
I set off on the run feeling a bit tired after such a hard effort on the bike. The three others I had entered T2 with got ahead of me straight away, but after a lap, I felt my legs get into running mode and upped the pace to try to catch them again. In the final lap I saw two people within my range and I was determined to catch them. I caught one half way round and had a sprint finish with the second person and got them to take 31st place. Leaving absolutely everything on the circuit I was incredibly happy to have finished and in a position where I can add some more points to my ranking in the British Super Series.
Looking back at the race I think I pulled it out of the bag for sure. Beating people that are normally further ahead I was so happy. The hill climbing training in Spain earlier in the summer definitely had an impact and helped me on the bike course. I must thank Pedal Potential for supporting me. They are a great company giving financial support to young athletes in their chosen sport and have been a great help. Thank you so much!
As I said, this was the final race of the season. I will now have a few weeks off to rest, relax and recover and look back at my season and evaluate it. I shall sit down and see what options are best for me and then get stuck into a long winters training ahead. I'm definitely looking forward to it and seeing what I will be able to do next year.
Race Times
Swim: 9:30mins
T1: 00:55mins
Bike: 36.21mins
T2: 00:27mins
Run: 18:51mins
Total: 1:06:04hrs
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