As wiggle continues to fuel its passionate support towards triathlon the bloggle now brings you the exclusive diary of GB Elite triathlete, Andrea Whitcombe. You can keep track of her training & results getting a true insight on what it takes and how it feels to be a top triathlete with a busy schedule of competitive events building up to the Beijing Olympics next year. You might even learn a few tips and pointers! To start off, Andrea reflects on her performance at the Euro Championships last weekend.

Hi I’m Andrea Whitcombe and from now on I’ll be posting regular snippets on the Bloggle site about my life as a pro triathlete.

 At present I’m dog sitting whilst my parents are on holiday, nursing a sore mouth from having a tooth out and recovering from the disappointment of missing a medal at the European Championships last weekend. I finished 4th again (for the 3rd time)!

To be honest I’m gutted as I was so close to a medal and I wanted it badly. It all came down to a sprint finish and I thought I could out-kick Kate Allen (Athens Olympic Gold medallist) and Nicola Spirig (Switzerland) to grab a silver or bronze. Unfortunately I was wrong. The biggest shock was Kate Allen as she really hasn’t shown any form all year and she’s older than me!

Preparation leading into the competition had gone well. Two weeks previous I finished 5th in the Des Moines World Cup which I was pleased with as it was my highest World Cup placing so far this year and it was the richest triathlon in the World! I had also completed one of my best turbo/run sessions on the Tuesday before so knew I was coming into good shape.

The Europeans was my first experience of Team Tactics. We had a plan but unfortunately the plan didn’t really benefit me. My hope is that this experience will help to produce the best team for the Beijing Olympics to win a medal.

Andrea