Our greatest glory is not in never falling...

As the title may suggest, I might have had a little slip up. But before bringing the bad news I'll start with something more optimistic.

If you follow me on Twitter (@LoosyScott) then you will have seen my TT bike, if not...

I can't thank the guys ay Starley enough for their support and I look forward to continuing to work with them. I even got my position fine-tuned in store on the day, brilliant service.

Now moving on to the Grafham Water duathlon. Here I reiterate a great quote my coach told me after the 'incident':

        "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising after every time we fall" 

The 'incident'? You ask. Let me begin with a brief race overview. Waiting at the start line I felt nervous, and little chilly on that cold morning. I'd be running with an injury (my ankle) and I knew it was going to hurt. Because of this my run training hadn't been up to scratch in the weeks leading up to the event. Throughout the first 5km run my ankle got progressively worse but I felt quite good, there was nothing I could do about it now so I had to run through the pain. Coming into transition my ankle was really sore but I knew that cycling doesn't aggravate it. My Mum shouted out my run time to me, just over 21 minutes. This gave me a boost because I did not expect that kind of time considering my run fitness and the pain of my ankle. Setting of on the bike I felt relaxed yet excited to be racing on my new Starley TT! I settled in and overtook a couple of people, feeling pretty good. But then at about 2km things suddenly because a lot harder. It felt like my legs had bonked and my speed dropped. The bike was still moving in a straight line and I hadn't felt or heard anything like... a puncture. It was only when I went over a little rough patch of road that the front wheel swerved a bit, this confirmed what I'd been trying not to believe. "I haven't got a puncture, I haven't got a puncture." Pulling over I prodded the front tyre, damn. All I could do was to turn around and get walking. Upon returning (thankfully only a 2km walk away) I found Mum and got a bit emotional.

Unfortunately I just got served a big dose of bad luck on that day. Made worse by the fact that there will be no team GB duathlon for me this time round. Punctures are just one of those things that can happen to anyone in any race, I'm just glad that I don't have a bad performance (i.e. myself) to blame. It's hard to get over missing great opportunities but with some amazing support from my coach, Starley bikes, Knutsford tri club, friends and family it wasn't hard to start feeling okay. Thankfully I have my running club's training camp to now look forward to in April 2014 as well as the qualifiers for the European and World sprint triathlon championships. 

So to finish on a happy note, I won't be dwelling on the duathlon because I have so many exciting events coming up in 2014 and I know that I need to look forward not back. Training, especially on the bike, is going superbly at the moment thanks to my brilliant coach Hamish Shaw (from Oxygen Addict coaching) for scheduling plenty of turbo sessions and getting me on the super weekend rides with the club. 

Also on Saturday 30th November I attended the annual Northwest triathlon series awards dinner to collect a couple of awards I had won this year. They were the Northwest sprint triathlon overall female champion and female junior champion. These were from the Boundary Breeze sprint triathlon in July earlier this year.

So there's a good update for you. If you wish to keep more up-to-date with me (almost day-to-day) then follow me on Twitter- @LoosyScott

I'll leave you with a parting shot of my bike (what else?!) and if I don't post before then, Merry Christmas!

Stay motivated,

Lucy

Sterling support from Starley bikes

I've recently been looking around for a company/shop that I can work with and who will support me on my triathlon journey. With a passing comment from the KTC swim coach, I checked out Starley (http://starleybikes.com/) in Altrincham.

 

If I were to judge a book by it's cover, I'd assume Starley to have a very good book going. Yet I think the story itself is even better. I found them to be supporting pros like Joe Skipper - definitely worth a try I thought. Also after meeting them I now know that they're supplying all the bikes for a pro tour team - certainly worth a go.

 

Here's the T2 as you'd find it on the website

 

So after a few emails and a meeting I was in the factory store today designing my very own T2! Now I'm not going to reveal the design I've gone for - that's to be kept a secret until I have my finished bike. You'll have to keep an eye out!

 

A bit of custom design going onto it

 

I'm absolutely over the moon to have found Starley and find the ethos of their company and every single one of their team I've come across to be brilliant and so athlete orientated.

 

To have been a part of creating the colour scheme for my own bike (best ideas coming from the Starley team) makes me rather excited and I can't wait to race on it on the 10th November!

 

So mahoosive thanks to the Starley team for their support (and patience with my colour choosing - that took a while!). I also picked up some kit today - absolutely love it:

 

 

Keep your eyes peeled for my post revealing the bike, here's a hint:

 

 

Until then, stay motivated

 

Lucy

The first step towards age-group success

Ouch, that 10km run this morning was rather difficult after the Northerns yesterday. Yet it was expected as, in terms of performance, my race went very well - didn't get overtaken once and only overtook others, happy days.

As I said in my first post, I have recently entered a qualifying race to go on to race for team GB in the 16-19 age-group. Here's how it came about...

 

The process, as some readers may know, for registering, entering and qualifying for a slot on the GB age-group teams can be a little confusing. With a lot of guidance from fellow KTC club mate and TORQ team member Hamish Shaw (you can find his blog here: http://hamishshaw.blogspot.co.uk/ ) I managed to get my head round it all. Unfortunately, I got into it a little too late to be able to qualify for the ETU sprint championships in Kitzbuhel 2014. Therefore I've opted to try for a spot on the GB team in the ETU sprint duathlon of 2014 - the date and location of which are still to be confirmed!

 

The qualifying race is the Grafham Water duathlon (around Cambridge area) on 10th November this year. It is the final of the three specified qualifying races and I choose the last one as it gives me the most time to bring my fitness back up. Fitness that I lost due to a knee injury, runner's knee to be precise, which prevented me from running, and cycling at it's worst, for just over a month. And as I mentioned in my first post, this was the month leading up to the South Manchester triathlon!

 

So that's where I'm up to so far on my quest to becoming a successful age-grouper. I have just over a month to get right back into running and pile on the bike training - my downfall in races. Yet I'm really looking forward to the race, especially if I can get my hands on a TT bike beforehand!

 

After a hopefully successful duathlon, I'll get stuck into winter training and the cross country season with my running club. Areas I need to work on this winter are evident to me, such as building bike endurance and strength and I'm very keen to get going. I especially look forward to the 2014 season as I have my sights set on qualifying for the ITU sprint World Championships in Edmonton, Canada plus making qualification for following ETU and ITU championships.

 

Until then you'll find plenty of posts and updates about training and racing, not to mention a report on the Grafham Water duathlon.

 

Stay motivated,

 

Lucy
 

Northern x-country relays, Sheffield

Just posting a little update about my first x-country race of the season, the Northern relays in Sheffield. And the debut of my new x-country spikes for the winter!

Generally I turn up to relays feeling rather relaxed because, being in a team of three, there's less pressure on yourself. However this time, having only had about two weeks back at run training, I was quite nervous. We had two complete teams, A and B, and one extra runner. I was in the B team on the second leg and anxious because I didn't want to let them down if I had a poor performance.

Time was ticking and the start of our race was soon upon us. In my warm-up I felt really good, no niggles or twinges. This made me more positive about running a good race and I really needed to stay optimistic. One of our A team runners however was running late, so last minute (and I mean last minute!) decisions were made to move our B team, third leg runner into the A team third leg slot. During my leg, I wasn't aware of that decision so when I came in and didn't see out third leg runner set off I knew she must have been moved up.

Photos of myself by my Mum

I surprised myself with my performance, or more so how good I actually felt. I expected to feel 'dead' and lethargic, however I felt springy and energetic and really good up the hills (which made up half the course, no joke!).

Just part of the two long hills!

This thankfully resulted in 'happy endorphins' after the race, and leaving me really happy with my performance in my first race of the winter off the back of not a lot of training. Our A team girls did astonishingly, especially Clara (third leg) who jumped in at the last minute and sustained the lead!

Me on the finishing straight

 All of the U17 girls - I'm B375, winning team are the three on the right!

I'm looking forward to the upcoming x-country races, especially with more run training under my belt!

Now my next post will be on the GB age-group qualifier entry and a little on my winter training goals and what I'm aiming for next year.

Stay motivated,

Lucy

The story so far...

I thought it would suitable for my first post to coincide with the fact I have just entered a qualifying event for the GB age-group 16-19 team. But first, I should tell you about myself, where I've come from and where I want to go...

My name's Lucy and I'm 16 (until 17th October that is!). I was quite active as a child and you will have always found me hanging out with the boys in primary school playing football.

Prior to high school, I flitted between swimming and karate. Progressing quite well in both, I didn't sustain either of them for that long. This I believe was due to my lack of mental toughness, I couldn't hack the 'harshness' of the coaches or intensity of training. However in high schools things took a turn for the better, and I found running.

Throughout high school running became a major part of not only my free time, but my life. I joined Vale Royal AC in year seven, and progressed to running at county level (for Cheshire) in cross-country by years ten and eleven. During the summer, I competed on the track in 800m and 1500m, with a bit of high jump thrown in.

It was in year eleven that I picked up triathlon. I had definitely improved in running but I was/am by no means the best, and with my new-found competitive edge I needed a sport that pushed me further. On little additional training I managed to win my first-ever triathlon, Tatton Park super sprint in 2011. This alone had me absolutely hooked.

From then on, I competed in a few more super sprints and only this year have moved up to sprint distance. My first being the Boundary Breeze sprint in July. With much more training under my belt (mainly down to Knutsford Tri Club for my swimming) I managed 3rd overall female. I was so happy with this result and it also gained me the North West sprint champion title of 2013 (overall female and junior) from the North West senior series. From the series I also competed in the Lancaster duathlon and placed 2nd overall female. More recently, I raced in the South Manchester triathlon and came (a surprise to myself) 2nd. I hadn't run for a month prior to it due to injury, however I did manage a 400m pool PB of 5:52 (9 sec off my previous).

The results from these events really motivated me and gave me a lot of confidence, hence why I am now aiming for GB age-group racing. I will share that process and my winter plans with you in my next post so I don't go on forever on here!

Keep an eye out for updates and tell your friends I'm here!

Stay motivated,

Lucy