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Well the weekend didn’t begin as I had planned. As I went to leap out of bed (OK maybe not leap) I almost fainted with the pain that shot through my neck, back and shoulder. I certainly wasn’t expecting that! A frantic call to my physiotherapist Ellis had me on his table at 8:30 getting an emergency session and my back taped up so I could compete later that day in the Dextro Energy Triathlon in Hyde Park. I was trying not to think about the fact I couldn’t turn my head very far in either direction or that raising my arms above my head made me see stars.

I had been working in Bulgaria all week so I wasn’t training and this coupled with bad chairs, working off a laptop all week, bad pillow and flights meant I had upset an old injury. I crashed off my commuter bike around 6 years ago and was at the time carrying a laptop in my back pack which I landed on and the corner of it fractured my scapula. I also did some serious nerve damage to my arm and neck and managed to turn my whole lower arm black and blue with a very impressive bruise. It took about 2 years for the feeling to properly return to my forearm, and there is a still a small part I have never regained feeling in. Every now and again the injury flares up and reminds me not to neglect my core and weight sessions which seem to hold it at bay.

I checked out the elite women’s results for some inspiration (well done Helen!) and got down to Hyde Park nice and early, easy when I live less than a 10 minute ride, got registered and set up in transition. As it tends to be with bigger events the transition times are long due to the simple fact you need a big space to store so many bikes which means unlike the elites, the age group transition area is a bit of a hike from the water, in this case a couple of hundred metres. The Dextro Energy out does every other race (except maybe ironman) in terms of organisation. Transition is very smooth and well run with clear directions that you need to go in so there isn’t any chance of collisions and people not yet racing are kept out of the way. I really like this as transitions are my strong point so I tend to go through pretty fast so it makes it safer for everyone as we are all going in the same direction.

As part of my mental preparation pre race I always walk the transition, even if it is blindingly obvious where to go in and out and make sure I can recognise where I need to go to. Things can look a bit different when you are running and a bit light headed after the swim so I count racks and know exactly where I am racked. Losing time through not being able to locate my bike is not a situation I want to be in!

One of the most challenging parts of the race was pulling my hair back and getting my swim cap on. Putting my right arm up was agony but from prior experience I know that once I got going in the swim I would be OK as the adrenalin would take over. I was the first in the water so I could do as much warm up in the water as possible and positioned myself at the far end from the bank to avoid any trouble. The starting position was that everyone was lined up along the pontoon and had to start with 1 hand on the pontoon. This is really great as it eliminates that awful kick, punch, swim over each other start which I dread. I got onto some strong stead feet and drafted until the first turn where the pace always slows as people are funneled through the bend. I liked the way the turning point was actually 3 large buoys so it wasn’t a tight bend which can cause a pile up. I ended up in a group with 2 other people post bend and we quickly dropped one from the group on the long side of the course which I would guess was around 900m. The other girl and I stayed together for the majority of the swim until around 100m to go she picked up the pace and I couldn’t match it with my lopsided swimming to compensate for my lack of range of movement on my right side.

Over to transition along some carpet to protect my feet (these kind of details make the £80 entry fee worth it to me!) and onto the bike which didn’t go to plan, pushing my bike over all the lumps and bumps in transition had dislodged my shoes which I had positioned with elastic bands. No big deal but I didn’t get the flying start I usually do.

The bike course for the Saturday race was contained within Hyde Park and was several laps. As counting laps is not my strong point and I don’t use a bike computer so I had The Dutchman counting them for me. I was in quite a bit of pain with my neck and back and every time I pushed it to race pace I got stabbing pains down my right side. I was doing an OK pace but was getting frustrated at not being able to really go for it. When I heard the ‘go to transition now!’ call I put in one last effort in an attempt to gain a few seconds.

The run was by far the most painful part of the 3 disciplines and as hard as I tried I couldn’t get any speed going without significant pain. I settled into a decent pace for the first 2 laps and then gritted my teeth and speed up for the last 1.5km. It wasn’t enough to win, but it did get me 2nd place in my age group which I was thrilled about. It validated that all the hard work this season has paid off and even with major issues I could still get a great result.

Well done to the organisers of the Dextro Energy Triathlon, yet again a world class event and it proved we are ready to host the games next year. If you are a triathlete and haven’t taken part in the Dextro, I would strongly urge you to give it a go. It by far provides the biggest bang for your buck and you get to race in the heart of London. Very special indeed.

Happy training.

Cx