Snowy conditions have made it pretty tough going in January - I've seen a lot of my turbo trainer!!

I intend to train in Bloemfontein for 10days before heading back here to Cape Town for a couple of days while a friend races here, and then my final 10days will be spent in one of the triathlon ‘mecca’s’ of the world – Stellenbosch. I’ve never been to South Africa before and I’m really excited to be here and get stuck in to some great training, whilst experiencing something new.

A few days before I left the UK I spent some time in Loughborough at the EIS labs doing some run testing, blood testing and respiratory testing to pin down some figures on my profile, on exactly where I’m at and what I need to improve on in order to be in top form come race season. I haven’t done any sort of testing in years but I think having these numbers to work from can only be beneficial as I make my preparations for the season.

Respiratory testing in the lab

Right, I’m off to catch my connecting flight. Let the SA adventure begin!!

Vix x

I’ve had to suffer a couple of cold (understatement…) rides but essentially it’s been business as usual. In Swansea we’ve not seen any snow and in fact not much ice, so training hasn’t been too disrupted. A couple of rides have been moved onto the indoor trainer, and I have been frequenting the beach for early morning runs rather than the paths, but my Saucony Peregrine’s seem up to the challenge!

All the rain has meant that the park we normally run on for our sessions has been so waterlogged that not even my Kilkenny spikes have been able to cope! We had been resigned to the track (my poor calves!) for a couple of weeks until this past Saturday when we finally managed to get back on the park and get muddy again!!

Speaking of getting muddy… I plan to race my first proper cross country in more than 5years this winter, so watch this space!

Not much else to report from a cold Swansea,

Wrap up warm and take care if it’s icy or snowy where you are!

Vix

The most lame excuse I’ve had would be that ‘nothing has been happening and I have nothing to write about’ as, frankly, that couldn’t be further from the truth. So, let’s have a brief run down… call it a top ten of life events over the last part of the year!

1) Stockholm World Relay Champs.
After the Olympics and taking some downtime in the ten days after the race, I was unsure whether I would be in any shape to race in Stockholm, but eventually decided that with a slightly weakened field I could get some points for the WTS and then race the World Relay Champs the next day. The individual event exposed my lack of fitness (and health… I was coughing like I had the black lung and racing on antibiotics) and I struggled from start to finish for a very average 18th place. The following day in the relay I was joined by Will Clarke, Non Stanford and Jonny Brownlee. I had the first leg and felt the sting of lactic from the first ’til last minute! I wasn’t in great shape and I just simply tried to hold on as close to the front as possible to help the other three stay in contention and bring home the win. The other three were phenomenal. Will moved up a few places by the handover to Non who brought us up to second after a storming leg. With only Germany ahead I was stood at the handover point with Jonny and relayed the difference to him as 26seconds. The subtle nod, and slow smile that came across his face told me all I needed to know. He was going after this win and he would get it. And of course he did. Pretty comfortably in the end too. So, as incredible as it sounds, I became a World Champion – with a little (or a lot of) help from my friends!

Myself and Non celebrate with Jonny at the finish line in the pouring rain!

World Triathlon Mixed Relay Champions

2) Back in training – Take #1
After Stockholm I headed home to re-pack my life and set off on yet another round the world adventure. First stop was Sedona, Arizona for a 4week stint of training before the final two World Series races of the year – Yokohama and Auckland. If I’m honest, this was probably one of my least favourite training camps. I was motivated and ready to get stuck in after Stockholm but for several reasons I ended up struggling the whole month. My health was still below par – after another set of antibiotics I was still not 100%, and things were changing rapidly within the ‘D Squad’. I was getting the feeling my time as part of this famous and respected little group might be coming to an end. Initially that was a scary and confusing prospect, and something I tried to push to the back of my mind but as the month continued I couldn’t help but feel the decision had already been made for me.

3) Yokohama WTS
Honestly, a bit of a washout and one of my worst ever trips. I arrived in Japan in decent shape, if not exactly lifetime best. I don’t have an amazing track record in Asia, but last year I’d had a reasonable race here so was hopeful of a repeat. The day I arrived I had a call to say my Grandad had died. He’d been in ill health and at 94 it wasn’t exactly a total shock, but was still a sad and emotional time. The next day I started to get some distress with my stomach, possibly due to an encounter with fish, which I can’t eat. After 2&1/2days of this I stood on the start line feeling pretty awful and dejected. It was only a stubborn resistance to accepting I wasn’t well that saw me start the race when really I should have been in my hotel room recovering. I made it to 7km on the run before I totally ran out of steam and withdrew. Not a fun experience!

4) Calling it quits
As soon as I made it back into my hotel room in Yokohama I started to think about finishing my season there and not going to Auckland. Given the struggles of the last month, and with a new illness to get over on top of that, did I have it in me to push on one last time and head to New Zealand? Auckland is an incredibly tough course and having raced there in 2011 I always said I wouldn’t go back there unless I was in great shape. The thought of racing there after Yokohama had started to fill me with dread and I knew in my heart I just wanted to go home, take stock and reassess where my future lay. I ended my season 3weeks early, and in hindsight probably a month too late, but it was definitely the right decision.

5) Taking stock and big changes
After taking a few days to chill out, relax and recover from laboured health and jet lag I started to openly contemplate my future. For three years I had been under Darren’s wing and we had succeeded in so many ways. Life in the D Squad was like a secure little network, a safe environment but if I was really honest with myself, I hadn’t actually improved in the last two years. Initially my improvements were massive, but after the first 12months I had spent the next two years battling to get back there, instead of moving on again. The atmosphere and work ethic of the group had always been great but with some of my closest pals leaving the group this year I knew things would be different in the future anyway. Add to that Darren’s obvious (and understandable) professional need for new challenges and stimulation, it was becoming clearer and clearer that I should leave. We have parted on good terms, I will always be grateful to him for turning my triathlon career around, but we had come to the end of the road. Better to end it there than end up in a bitter break up!

Myself, Kate, Anne and Darren earlier in the year - part of the DSquad

The Squad as it once was. Many happy memories and a bit sad to be moving on, but of all those in this pic, there is now only one person left in the Squad! Time for something new!

6) Back in training – Take #2
After two weeks off I was coach-less and working on a new set-up but decided to get back into training. This lasted a grand total of one and a half days before I realised I simply wasn’t ready for it yet. 2012 had been a massive year, I’d barely had a break at the end of the 2011 season and I still wasn’t fully healthy. If there was ever a time to take a proper break it was now, at the end of an Olympic cycle, so I decided to focus on finalising my new training and coaching set up and in the mean time I spent my days visiting friends, partying (there hasn’t been a huge amount of that in my life in recent years so I made up for it this autumn!) and most importantly, relax for a further two weeks to be fully refreshed once I properly started training again.

Enjoying Halloween with some friends. Their outfits were better than mine!

7) Full circle
Once my decision to move on was finalised, I had to work out where to go next. I quickly decided that I wanted to work with a run coach. I had several options but the thing that I kept coming back to was that I wanted to work with my old run coach from when I was a junior athlete. I have included several other coaches… more as advisors than anything I guess, but the foundation for the programme is based around my running set up. All of my new coaches are also old coaches of mine so I guess I have come full circle!

8.) Back in training – Take #3
With everything in place I started my new training programme and so far I’m really enjoying it. I’m training with several different groups of athletes, and travelling a fair bit each week, but at the moment it’s manageable, refreshing and enjoyable so life is good!

9) December madness
December has been a pretty nuts month. At the beginning of the month I could barely run after some mean spikes caused disproportional damage to my feet (16minutes of running made one large blister and one hole in my heels!) but by the 15th I had just completed a ten day camp in Fuerte Ventura with British Triathlon where I’d amassed my biggest ever training volume. My running was back on track and I’d surprised myself with how much cycling I had managed. The day after I landed back in the UK I went to Sports Personality of the Year which was a brilliant show and such a great experience. I had an amazing seat in the second row right behind Mark Cavendish and Jessica Ennis. I was more than a little star struck! Two days later I hopped on a plane again for a short break in New York. Thom and I have friends in NYC so we did a little sight seeing, a little shopping and a little relaxing which was great – we haven’t had a proper holiday in over three years so it was definitely appreciated! Arriving back into Swansea at midnight on the 23rd December made for a slightly manic Christmas Eve but somehow I got everything done!

Poor foot! So quick to be damaged, so long to heal!

On top of the Rockafellar Centre with the Empire State Building and Freedom Tower in the background

Enjoying some Christmas decorations near Times Square

10) Looking forward
Ok, so this hasn’t happened just yet, but we’ve started making plans for the 2013 race season. Initially I was looking at heading to Auckland to kick off the 2013 season in early April, but we have now decided that I probably won’t race the World Series until Madrid in June. Hopefully I will be able to fit in some more French Grand Prix racing and domestic races with a less busy international schedule. I don’t need to chase points next year and the overall World Series will take a back seat. Instead I will look at focussing on one or two races, get some more variety in my racing and do the races I want to do rather than the ones I have to. Who knows, I may even make a return to Cross Country over the winter!

OK, so that’s it! That’s whats been happening… it’s been quite a few months! In fact, it’s been quite a year. It’s New Years Eve and this time last year I was recovering from my best friends wedding (sounds like I was watching the movie, but it was actually happening!) and heading up to Loughborough to celebrate the New Year with friends before heading to Australia on New Years Day. After a less than perfect 2011, my hopes and dreams for 2012 seemed a long way away and I remember thinking that things were sure to get a lot harder and a lot more intense before they got better. Sure enough, it was a stressful and taxing year, and I didn’t quite achieve everything I wanted to, but to come out the other side as an Olympian and a World Champion courtesy of the World Relay Champs has made 2012 a pretty successful one I’d say!

With a new beginning I hope to tick a few more things off the ‘to-do’ list in 2013

Happy New Year everyone, may 2013 be a corker!

Vix x

So, where on earth do I begin?! There is so much to say and to document about the past two months , it has been the most incredible time. This may be a long blog, so I hope you are sitting comfortably with a cup of tea!

Being selected for the Games was amazing, a dream come true. What everyone (hopefully!) now knows, but might not have done at the time is that I was selected as a domestique to increase Helen’s medal-winning chances. I’d always hoped to be selected in my own right and have the chance to be in my absolute peak shape for the Olympics, but I accept that I didn’t fulfil the selection criteria and so was always at the mercy of the selection panel.

It did take a little time to adjust to my role. There were some changes to my training with an obvious increase in my cycling volume, a decrease in the amount of running I was doing along with some other more subtle changes. At first I desperately wanted to continue running as I was before selection, but I came to realise I had a job to do and this was ‘my bag’ for this Olympics. Helen had a shot at winning the whole thing and I didn’t. I was going to a Home Games and the best outcome for me would be contributing to Helen winning a medal.

Relaxed pre-race!

The three of us – me, Lucy and Helen – got on really well and during our training camp together we really bonded, had fun and made strategies for race day. We knew Helen was struggling with a knee injury, and that she hadn’t been able to complete the amount of running she would have liked, but she was fit, swimming and biking really well and she felt her run fitness was not far off her best. We were in with a shout of bringing home a medal for the country and it was exciting and fun to be a part of it.

Being called to the start

The race day itself was a massive mix of emotions. The excitement and nerves before the race were replaced with frustration and a bit of panic in the swim when I found myself bogged down in the crush of athletes. Our strategy was to blast the swim on Lucy’s feet, forcing a break where a small group got away, but unfortunately myself and Helen had really disappointing swims. Lucy did fantastically, but we, for some reason, could not get clear of the girls we started next to, as it seemed we all seemed to slowed each other down and ended up in the ‘fight’ much of the way. We still came out high up the field, but the break had occurred in front us. We hopped onto our bikes next to one another and soon realised a lot of the stronger runners whom we’d hoped to stay away from with an enormous amount of effort in the swim and on the bike, were right with us. As we began the pursuit of the few girls up the road the race took another bad turn for me as I lost my back wheel around a greasy corner at Buckingham Palace.

A girl crashed in front of me and in avoiding her I turned sharply (there was reportedly an oil slick there) and lost my rear wheel, hitting the deck and sliding across the ground. I righted myself as quickly as I could but not quickly enough to get back into the pack and when the chasing group came through I tucked in. As there were some good runners in that pack I was not going to contribute to their speed and assist them in catching Helen’s group, so I just sat in and waited. Having not done a huge amount of run training I didn’t expect to run well, but then we had always planned for me to be absolutely shattered by the time I reached transition! As I was relatively fresh I ran solidly, buoyed by the amazing support from the crowd, and came in 26th – 5th girl from the chase pack. Still, that was not the aim of the day and my individual result was always irrelevant as we were shooting for a medal for Helen.

Part of my amazing support crew!

As I crossed the line that mix of emotions came over me again. I learned straight way that Helen had finished fifth and my gut reaction was disappointment. Not for me, but for her. She had worked so hard and been in such great shape earlier this year, but her injury had come just at the wrong time and being fractionally off 100% was not good enough to deliver a medal. Sport can be so amazing, yet so cruel and I knew she must be gutted. I was frustrated in my own performance having not swam to my potential and then being involved in a crash meaning that I couldn’t do the job I was selected to do. I was also pretty sore; now that I had finished and the adrenaline was subsiding, I noticed the blood dripping down my leg and felt the pain in my elbow. We faced the media as a team and held it together although we were all a little upset.

Another couple of my supporters!

I was then faced with another emotion as I learnt that my training partners Lisa Norden and Sarah Groff had finished second and fourth respectively. Having trained with those girls virtually every day over the past three years, I can say that as much as Helen deserved to be on that podium, those girls earned their top results too and I was incredibly happy and proud of them.

My regular training group - Me, Kate Roberts (22nd - also after a crash), Lisa Norden (Silver), Anne Haug (11th) and Sarah Groff (4th)

I have now been home for just over a week after spending 8days in the Olympic Village and attending the Closing ceremony. I had the most amazing time in London and now that I am back to reality I have had a lot of time to reflect on the race and the Olympic experience as a whole. Competing in a Home Olympics was once-in-a-lifetime and whilst it didn’t go to plan, I can say i was a part of something truly special. We gave it our best shot of a medal for GB and didn’t work out, but at least we gave it all we could. Sport, just like any aspect of life, involves risks. If you don’t dare to risk anything you can’t expect to achieve greatness. Look at the boys… they went in with the same approach as us and came away with two medals. Being there that day to watch them was absolutely incredible, and hugely emotional. I feel like it was a piece of triathlon history that I got to witness at close quarters.

The GB triathlon crew before the closing ceremony, minus Stu Hayes

The amount of people who turned out to support us (and the boys) in and around Hyde Park was just insane. The atmosphere incredible. i’ve never experienced anything like it and highly doubt I ever will again. It’s a shame the result wasn’t better, but my Olympic experience was only mildly tarnished by that. The race, and the whole Games in fact were phenomenal. So well organised, so brilliantly spectated, supported and I will never forget it. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to watch, everyone who cheered me along even though my day wasn’t going so well ,and for all the hundreds of messages of support both before and after the race. I have been genuinely touched by the volume of messages and by peoples kind words.

I’d also like to thank the people who got me to that start line. My Coach Darren has played the biggest part – as I have often said, he really has transformed me over the past 3years. I’d also like to thank my friends, family, previous coaches, and my wonderful sponsors; Look, GE, Saucony, Sram and Orca, who all helped get me to London to fulfil a dream. Thanks to British Triathlon and the support team did a phenomenal job of making our Games as smooth as possible, facilitating everything we needed and keeping the environment fun and relaxed.

The girls

I think the biggest thank you of all has to go to the people of Britain, with particular mention to the Games Makers, volunteers and all who made these Games great. I feel so privileged to have been a part of the Home Olympics and truly believe we showed off the best of our amazing country. I have never used the word ‘proud’ as much as I have this month! To the people who secured us the bid 7years ago, to those who planned and built the venues, to the people who gave up their time to help out, to everyone who came to watch and got behind each and every one us, THANKYOU!!

The D-Squad and extended family. Another selection of the support crew! Thanks guys

Ok, essay over! I should get back to readjusting to normality!

Vix x

The chance to be an Olympian is rare and special, but the opportunity to be part of a home Olympics is, truly, once in a lifetime and words can’t really describe how satisfying, exciting or incredible it feels.

I’m obviously totally ecstatic to be part of Team GB and to achieve my life dream of competing at an Olympics. It has genuinely been my life’s work and for the past 20years – since watching the Barcelona Games on TV as a 6year old, I have known that I wanted to be a part of the Games.

My athletic journey has been a varied one and not always straight forward, but it has given me, without question, the best and most memorable experiences of my life. It has shaped who I am and I think I am a better person for having quite literally, grown up immersed in sport at both recreational and elite level.

I was a swimmer, a cross-country runner, a track runner and a modern biathlete before I found triathlon, and as incredible and rewarding as any of the successes I have had in any of those sports has been, making the Olympic team overshadows them all, because really they were all just stepping stones to this goal.

The hard work, the sacrifice, the blood, sweat and tears are completely worth it and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the people who have got me here and shared the journey with me, through the good times, but more importantly, through the tough times.

My family and network of close friends have always believed in me and their support in the darker moments kept me going in this pursuit. You are the people who got me into sport, encouraged me, funded me before I could fund myself, allowed me to pursue this sport as my day job, understood when I was tired and grumpy, or when I couldn’t come to the party, organised your wedding on a date to suit me (true story!), picked me up when I was down and never, ever stopped believing in me. This selection is for you guys.

My coach Darren has transformed me from a very average athlete, into an Olympian, by teaching me so much over the last three years and I owe him a debt of gratitude that I’m not entirely sure can ever be repaid. I will try though…

My training partners are second to none, they are all incredible athletes and inspiring, motivating people to be around every day. Not to mention that they are also all close friends of mine now, and without them I doubt I’d be the athlete I am today.

To my sponsors; Look, Sram, GE, Orca and Saucony. Thank you for your continued support and belief in me – it is great to have such a team behind me and I couldn’t do what I do without you.

I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank everyone for the hundreds of congratulations and well-wishes I have had since the announcement was made, with a special mention to the contact I’ve had from the other GB athletes who have missed out on selection. In a time when they must have felt crushed, they have all been incredibly supportive to me and I won’t forget it.

It is incredible to have so much public support and I will give my absolute best on August 4th to do myself, and everyone else proud.

It’s been one hell of a ride, but wow, it’s been worth it!

Thanks once again

Vix x

Madrid WTS does not really hold the best memories for me. Last year I turned up not in the best shape and was, quite rightly, punished for it on this tough course. I was injured, hadn’t been running or riding enough (due to the injury) and heavy. Madrid put me in my place and I struggled home in 22nd position. This year, given what is at stake, there was no option in my mind other than to make peace with the course in Casa de Campo.

Since San Diego, things have been great. I didn’t really suffer with any jet-lag on returning home from the States, and managed to get a really solid week of training in. I then took some easier days to freshen up and by the time we hit the start line on Saturday I was more than ready to go.

At swim familiarisation the day before the race with training partner Anne. Photo courtesy of Petko Beier

A 5.46pm start is a new one on me. I like afternoon racing, I like the chilled out morning, the time to get nervous, to feel so ready to go that you can hardly sit still. When I get that feeling I know I’m ready to go. But there is a difference between a 2pm start and a 5.46pm start! By the time we arrived at the race site it felt a bit like we were heading out for dinner! Ah well, I guess we were simply embracing the Spanish way!

I was wearing no.3 this weekend, partly courtesy of my San Diego result, but mostly due to some of the top contenders not racing either this race or some of the early series races that count to the accumulated points total. Still, it was nice to have such a good number and start position on the pontoon.

Not sure what I'm doing here... but I'm having fun!

The start itself was a bit of a shock – the tannoy system was obviously not set up to reach the far side of the pontoon. The only reason I knew the horn had gone was because all of the girls to my right began to dive in. It ended up working a bit like a stagger affect with those of us on the left side hitting the water a second or two after the right. The adrenaline rush was enough to kick start me and I had a great swim, reaching the first turn bouy at the same time as some other great swimmers and settled into the second row behind the two leaders. I stayed here for the rest of the swim, and after a quick transition was onto my bike right at the front of the race.

T1 - photo courtesy of Delly Carr

The bike section was fairly uneventful. We had a small opportunity to make a break go on the first lap, but with only a couple of girls wanting to push the pace, we were caught by the second group within a lap. We were now a group of over 20athletes and at this point I knew that wasting too much energy at the front of the pack wasn’t going to help my running legs and without the chance of a breakaway I decided to race smart. By the end of the bike section we had been joined by a few other girls, including my training partner Anne Haug (GER) who was hunting her own Olympic spot, needing a top 15 to do so. Apparently she had time-trialled up to the lead pack, dragging some others with her, but with little help from anyone else. She then went on to run incredibly well and finish in fourth – her best ever finish, and most importantly securing her Olympic spot. She didn’t win, but the way she went after her Olympic dream means I wouldn’t hesitate to say that she had the performance of the day. Having trained with her for the last 9months I have to say she totally deserves the result and I’m so pleased for her.

Out on the run next to Anne. Photo courtesy of Petko Beier

Back to my own race, and once we hit the run I immediately felt comfortable and my legs found a rhythm early. I tucked into a big lead group and waited for it to start pinching. There was a lot of surging in the first two laps but each time it slowed down again I caught back onto the pack. Once the pace started to ramp up, we were a group of seven and I was the first to drop. I wasn’t on the limit but knew that to go with the pace would only hamper my running later in the race, so I hung back and let the group go. Not long after, another dropped from the pack and I caught her quickly. I spent the second half of the run racing with the home favourite Ainhoa Murua for 6th/7th place. Rounding the final corner into the home straight I was ahead and the crowd went mad! Oh yes, I was running with a Spaniard. In Madrid. I tried to use the crowd, but frankly, I was spent and pretty much running through treacle! Ainhoa overtook me in the final 50m to the cheers of the home crowd. I finished in 7th, having lost the sprint finish but won my own personal battle with Madrid.

The finish!! Photo courtesy of 220 Triathlon

Having seen the results I can see I’ve improved from two weeks ago. I was also closer to the front of the race and felt better in the latter stages of the run (last 200m excluded).

So now I have a 5th in San Diego and a 7th in Madrid. Is that enough to send me to the Olympic Games?? It’s been a late charge after a rough 2011, but I can sleep easy knowing I finished on a high.

For now I sit and wait. The decision will be made this week… I may even know in 24hours time. When I know, you will know… keep everything crossed people, I’ll update you soon…!

Vix

With that in mind, I raced in Sydney nearly five weeks ago and still haven’t posted a report. I also raced in San Diego under a week ago. I think you can tell which race may have gone better..!

I’ll start at the beginning….

So Sydney WTS was the first major hit out for the year and the first opportunity to make a bid for Olympic selection. I was feeling ok in the build up – not perhaps quite on top form but not bad at all. The day itself brought a wetsuit swim which was a bit of a surprise, and even though I prefer it non-wetsuit I had a good swim and great T1 mounting my bike in third position.

On the bike in Sydney. Photo courtesy of Victor Lee

I felt great on the bike too and even though our lead group didn’t work well enough together to stay away from the chasers, I felt strong and ready to run. Another good transition and I was out onto the run near the front of the 45strong group. Things then started to go wrong… I can’t really explain why, but my legs just disappeared and I just couldn’t push on. It was a struggle the whole way and after a soul-destroying 10km I came home in 38th place. Not the race I wanted or anticipated!!

After Sydney we had to re-evaluate things, and we had to do it quickly. There were under 4weeks until the next chance to prove myself in San Diego and clearly we had some work to do. I sat down with my coach the afternoon of the race and we formulated a plan of attack for the 3week block of training we had, once you take out the travel days and taper around the race. With the incentive of a home Olympics at stake and the mantra ‘come out swinging’ in mind, we set to work.

Me, Kate, Anne and Darren after a swim

Those three weeks were spent in Sedona, Arizona and we worked really hard on couple of key areas. It wasn’t entirely without incident as I did spend a week on antibiotics, but I arrived in San Diego knowing that I had put together some good training and feeling hopeful of turning things around from the heartbreak of Sydney.

Heading out for a swim session in Sedona. Photo courtesy of Lisa Norden

So, San Diego was the opposite of Sydney in that we had expected a wetsuit swim but on the day were pleasantly surprised to hear the call of 20.8C water temp… no wetsuits. I was feeling good in the warm up, and ready to give it all again.

Being called down for the swim start

After another good swim I exited the water fourth and ran hard through transition – it felt like we were sprinting, but there was a sense we could split the pack so there was no looking back. I hopped onto my bike to hear a crack… uh oh! As soon as I put my feet onto my shoes I could feel that my seat post had slipped down – the crack must have been the clamp breaking. My saddle was now nearly 2.5inches too low, which feels a lot more than it possibly looks… my knees were around my ears and I felt like I was riding a toy bike!

Riding in my slightly unorthodox position

The pack was driving hard to make the breakaway stay and I wasn’t sure how I would fare with my unusual, and less than efficient, cycling position, but after the first lap I settled in and realised I would be fine, and could even take some turns to try and help keep the pace high in the group. The group of 8girls put in enough work to put over 2minutes into the rest of the field who were virtually all in one huge chase pack and struggling to work cohesively to catch us. I haven’t enjoyed riding in a group that much in ages. It was an amazing feeling to hear the time gap go up each lap and I kept finding myself smiling as were riding!!

Leading the pack into T2

As we approached T2 I knew I could hold on for a top 8 position, but with a podium place being the ultimate prize I wasn’t sure if I’d done a bit too much work or whether my legs would be a bit too cramped from the seat post fiasco to run at my best. I made sure I was first in and out of T2 and then settled into my running straight away – I was surprised with how good my legs felt. There was a lot of chopping and changing of run position on the run, but I found myself running for fourth/fifth most of the way. With 1500m to go I was seven seconds from third place, but I was suffering badly by this point and my legs were beginning to fail me. With 800m to go I lost touch with fourth place, and just about survived my way to the finish line in 5th place.

Crossing that line was a really bittersweet moment. A podium finish would have been infinitely better for my Olympic selection chances than 5th, but after a pretty rough 18months without a great result to show, to equal my best ever result in the World Series was amazing. It is also great to know that we turned things around in a relatively short period of time and that there is so much more to come. My run legs are definitely on their way back, so I’m positive for the up-coming races.

Next up is Madrid in just aver a weeks time – our last chance to prove our worth to the selection panel for the Games. I know I did a good job last weekend but I also know that this race is far from over and it’s so important to back it up in Madrid. For now though, I’m one happy athlete and I get to got to come back to the UK this week for the first time since New Years Day so there has been lots to smile about in my world.

All that remains is to say thanks for the amazing volume of kind words and messages I’ve had since the race. It’s great to have people in your corner!

Cheers guys

Vix

Mooloolaba is located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and is a notoriously hot, humid, hilly and hard race. When we arrived on Thursday to the most incredible storm you would be forgiven for thinking that whoever claimed this place was the Sunshine Coast should be sued for false advertising. This was no ordinary deluge – there was some significant flash flooding including to the ground floor of our apartment building and car park. We were lucky to get the car out without flooding the engine. At one point we were practically floating and water was gushing in through the doors. I thought our little Hyundai might turn into a submarine – it was pretty scary! Cars were abandoned all over the roads, which were largely closed and people had to wade home through knee deep water. Insane. Luckily normal order was resumed from Friday onwards and the freak weather didn’t affect our races.

Great pic taken by Celine Scharer showing the incredible scenes in Mooloolaba last week!

Anyway, back to the racing. As this was my first hit out of the year and given that my main focus lies with the World Series races where I hope to perform well enough to secure Olympic selection, this race was always to be treated as a hit-out and a warm up for the later races. Still, I am in good shape and aimed to give a good, solid performance to blow the cobwebs and see where I’m at. I believe the words Coach used were ‘let’s do a competent job’.

My reaction after the race was that I had failed quite abysmally in this area, although now I can see that I actually performed solidly, bar one small hiccup. Ok, I can’t lie, it was quite a large hiccup and did cost me the front pack and a top 10 result. But it also taught me a pretty invaluable lesson and although frustrating, no harm has been done. Basically, after a great start, reading the waves and wind well, I was swimming near the front of the field in about 4th/5th place. We approached a marker buoy on our way to the far turn buoy and I mistook it for the turn can. I turned sharply and by the time I had realised and then rectified my mistake I had a lot of catching up to do!

No.14 setting up transition

I swam full out for the rest of the swim, making up many places and eventually exiting the water behind the lead group, but in front of the main pack. I knew i was swimming well before this race, and I guess this goes to prove that I am – I had been completely comfortable before I made this error and then swam my way back into a reasonable position. Unfortunately I didn’t do enough to get back in contact with that lead group and so ended up in a large chase pack on the bike. By T2 the gap between the packs had stretched to 1minute30. I had a great second transition being both first in and out onto the tough four lap run, essentially comprising of 8 uphills and 8 downhills. My hill running has improved a lot and although I think I can run better than I did on the day, I still ran a lot quicker than I have done on this course before.

On the run on the first of four brutal laps! (photo courtesy of Brett McDonald)

I finished in 13th, by no means a bad result and a good hit out. Barring my mistake in the swim it was a solid day out. Of course, I am hugely frustrated at myself and disappointed for making such an error, but in the scheme of things this race wasn’t massively important, doesn’t count towards Olympic selections and we never intended for me to be on top form for this one. Still, you always want to show what you are capable of and I guess I didn’t quite do that on the day.

Right now I am back in Canberra, fine-tuning a few things in the lead up to Sydney World Triathlon Series race on April 14th. One thing is for sure.. there won’t be any navigational issues there!

Vix

In 3weeks time I will have just finished my first race of the season in Mooloolaba so it’s all coming around pretty quickly!

I’ve done a couple of run hit-outs in the past few weeks – a 7.8km cross-country race and a 5k track race. The cross country was really fun, being a three-lap handicap event where your start time is adjusted for both age and gender. My finish time (minus the handicap) was 26.18 which was certainly better than I expected and was enough to bring me home as second fastest female. I’ve often said it’s easy to speculate how training is going but you just can’t tell until you get out there and race, so this little event gave me a nice boost and the confidence to know we are on track for the upcoming season.

Lap 1 of the cross country - running with training partners Lisa and Anne

The 5k track race was the ACT State Championships – an event I won last year. After the cross country I was feeling confident that I could improve on my PB of 16.46 and thought I could possibly break 16.30. I ended up running the entire race (after the first 500m) solo, despite there being 35 athletes (male and female) on the track! Everyone else was either way too fast, or somewhere behind me, so I plugged away trying to hold my pace targets. I struggled quite badly in the fourth kilometre but came back well at the end to post a 16.34 which I am pretty pleased with. I know that sub 16.30 is possible and I’d love to see what I could do at peak fitness in the middle of the season – still that’s just the track runner in me getting curious… mid season I have much more important and relevant things to think about than what I bust out for a 5k on the track! As pleased as I am with these races, I know that there is no use running fast unless you can do it off the bike, in a race that matters, so I’ll save any celebrations for an event that matters!

Myself and Lis with our prize money for 2nd and 3rd place

Last weekend I took a little break from Canberra and jetted off up to the Gold Coast to catch up with Hollie Avil and some of my other friends who train up on the Sunshine Coast. It was great to have a couple of days away and a change of scenery to recharge the batteries for the final push into the season.

Apparently this was the only pic we took of my visit to the Gold Coast. I'm sure you'll agree both myself and Hollie look exceptional...

This week it has been back to ‘business as usual’ and despite the worst weather I have ever experienced over here we have plugged on and got the sessions done. I had never seen Canberra so wet and I have lost count of the amount of times I have been soaked. There are flood warnings for the local area and the normally empty waterways that run through the town are over flowing. My normally dry run trails have become interspersed with dozens of flowing river crossings and I’m not sure my shoes will ever be dry again. I didn’t see a single soul on my ride yesterday and got more than a few ‘beeps’ from passing cars – I’m assuming because the drivers were impressed with my dedication as opposed to them being annoyed with me for getting in their way…! I like to think I am a hardened Brit who can handle these conditions and so spent most of this weeks rides repeating this mantra to myself, along with singing the chorus to ‘singing in the rain’. Doesn’t mean I won’t moan about it though!

Still, as the song/saying goes, the sun will come out tomorrow, and as I sit here writing this I can, for the first time this week, see a glimpse of blue sky.

That’s all for now

Vix

The week before Xmas
Manic. In a word. I don’t really know how I managed to do all my shopping, all my training, travel from Birmingham, to Gloucester, to Swansea, to Angelsey and back to Gloucester all in 5 1/2 days. But I did It was all great fun and despite the madness it was so nice to spend a little time with those I love the most.

Xmas
At my parents house, the way I have done it for 25 of my 26 Christmases. Call me one for tradition, but that is the way I like it! Long run on Xmas day followed by delicious Christmas dinner and countless hours playing on my new Mac – lucky girl

The week after Xmas
Once again, manic. The travel itinerary this time was Gloucester to Cambridge to Loughborough to Heathrow in 5days. Getting to see lots more of my nearest and dearest and celebrating some big events was great.

Wedding
My best friend got married on the 30th December so being in the UK for that was amazing. Sometimes it feels like you miss so many events that matter with the job we do. I would never complain about the lifestyle triathlon has given me or the opportunities it has presented, but things like Grandparents 90th birthdays, Parents 35th wedding anniversaries, nieces births and mates weddings are sometimes sacrificed. I made a speech at the wedding. I am not known to be a shy speaker, but I can confirm I was shaking the whole time. Still, it was a fantastic day (and evening!) and after being absent for so many of the preparations it felt good to be able to help set up the hall, generally help out and be really involved!

NYE
The day after the wedding was New Years Eve so I went up to Loughborough to stay with Hollie Avil and celebrate the New Year with her and many other friends from my time at university there. It was quite fitting that I celebrated in the New Year surrounded by friends and fellow athletes who all have equally high aspirations for 2012 as I do.

NYD
Repacked my life and flew to Aus. After a crazy couple of weeks it was almost a relief to sit on a plane and not do anything for a while! That being said, Christmas was actually really refreshing in that I got o do some more ‘normal’ things, got to see everyone I miss for most of the year and just feel that my life was a bit more balanced for a while! Even though it was busy, I really feel like I turned up here refreshed and ready to go again.

My birthday
Last week was my 26th birthday. Apparently that now means I am in my late twenties…. but you know what? Really not bothered. I can’t claim that I won’t change my tune at 30, but for now I honestly believe that although it’s a bit of a cliche, age is just a number. Pretty sure I’m still 21 inside! (I think my dad may also still be in his early twenties for that matter!) I had a pretty standard day of training and then we all went out for dinner in the evening. It was delicious, but also quite embarrassing as after the squad had sang ‘happy birthday’ to me, the waiter made the whole restaurant do it too as apparently the first time wasn’t loud enough (and I hadn’t gone red enough)!

So that’s whats been happening. It feels nice to be settled in over here and be fully into the swing of my training. I don’t need to remind anyone how big a year this is and I have big aspirations and big targets to try and meet so it’s on with the grind!

A bit late, but Happy 2012 guys!

Vix x

PS – sorry there are no pics for now, but if I can get hold of some I may do a ‘pictures only post’ soon