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