Happy New Year! I hope you had a great festive period and new year, and also that you got right back to training on January 1st to clear any fuzzy heads.
On Boxing Day myself and my family drove up to Scotland to visit family and I had the chance to get a couple of steady runs in. Even though it was extremely windy (as in blow you sideways) and rainy, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed getting out and taking in the lovely surroundings. I wouldn't find it hard to go running or cycling in a place like that.
Also in the last couple of days I have finished the Brownlee brother's book (a Christmas present): Swim Bike Run, our triathlon story. I must say, if you haven't read it then you are really missing out. For one, I must admit, I rarely read. And two, never have I finished a proper book in 5 days. Not only is it an amazing insight into the lives of two of the best in the sport but I found it very inspiring and motivating. So if you haven't got a copy, you know what to do.
In this post I'm going to look back on 2013 (briefly hopefully) and later I shall post about my plans for 2014. We're going to go right back to the very start...
January-March
I started the year, just like the year before, with lots on cross country races. However an ankle injury (still undiagnosed) decided to stick with me for all of them, yes every single one. This ruined races like the Northern championships, the Inter Counties and the English Schools. After all the cross countries finished I took a fortnight off running and hey presto, the injury disappeared. For now....
April
This month was much more enjoyable than the previous three. Firstly my running club (Vale Royal AC) headed off to Portugal for a two week training camp. Although rather brutal with two sessions a day, including a sweltering track or XC course set, I had such an amazing time out there. A big plus was wearing a crop top and shorts or a bikini most of the time = an extensive tan!
Two days after returning from Portugal I had the Lancaster duathlon to race in, my first ever duathlon. A 5km run, 20km bike (hilly and windy!), and 5km were to be covered in glum and drizzly British weather. I managed 2nd place female, which did surprise me but made me very happy indeed!
Finishing straight of the Lancaster duathlon (do I look tanned?)
May-June
Dreaded exam time at high school. With nine exams to nail, it was certainly a stressful period. Some I felt more confident in than others, but that's like triathlon disciplines right? You've just got to try harder.
When exams had finally passed we had our high school prom and then a very long summer holiday to enjoy! But before you could relax, results day came around. I was extremely nervous when collecting my envelope and my reaction to seeing my grades was to burst into tears. A bit dramatic but I got 10 A*s which put me in a good mood for days.
Final high school concert in prom gear and playing the drums (not my normal instrument!)
July
My first ever sprint triathlon: Boundary Breeze. Excited? Yes. Nervous? Too right. I remember racking my aluminium road bike near top end carbon TTs with deep section wheels. All of which I was familiar with because I've read about them and looked at them and wanted them.
The swim was non-wetsuit, I was happy with that. I came out of the water in second place, 'how did I do that?!' I thought, and then out of T1 in first place. 'Okay lets see how this goes.' Two women passed me fairly quickly, the sound of carbon wheels thumping past. I came into T2 in 5th then out in 4th. I had 3rd place in my sights straight away, 1st and 2nd were too far ahead to catch now. Catching 3rd at about half way I held the position to come in 3rd in my first sprint triathlon. This race also won me the titles of Northwest Sprint female and female junior champion. Something of a triple whammy there. From this event I knew, I really liked this sport.
On the bike at Boundary Breeze
August-September
Surprise surprise another injury. My knee this time. Thankfully this one was easily diagnosed and easy to treat yet not so easy to recover from. In my case of "runner's knee" I had to strengthen the VMO muscle of my right quadricep specifically. Unfortunately due to the high impact of running it required a lot of strengthening (and some kinesiology tape). After 4-5 weeks the injury had gone yet I had a triathlon to do, South Manchester sprint. After 4 weeks of no run training, I was a little anxious. In the race I clocked a 400m pool PB (5min 52sec), an average bike, and a run that was 5 minutes slower than what I could've got if I was run fit. Still the former two disciplines helped me come home in second place, a promising performance for my second sprint distance. This was my last triathlon for the year.
Also in September me and Mum went down to London to watch the World Triathlon Grand Final. It was amazing, enough said!!
Meeting Jodie Stimpson!
Me and Mum meeting Lisa Norden!
October
My 17th birthday!
November-December
This month saw the Grafham Water duathlon end badly with a puncture (from glass I found upon inspection of the tyre). So no GB team for now.
The Northwest regional triathlon awards were held at the end of November where I picked up my trophies for my result at Boundary Breeze in July.
Now remember I said my ankle had disappeared? Well it's reappeared. Two physiotherapists and a doctor haven't been able to reveal this weird injury, hopefully a recent MRI scan will shed some light of the subject. I have an appointment soon to look at the images.
On a more positive note, in December my tri club held it's annual swim gala (the first for myself) and awards party. What I learnt from the gala is that I cannot do breaststroke, I cannot sprint but I can certainly do 200m freestyle. It was great fun all the same.
Finally we have of course: Chirstmas and New Year, and both were wonderful, happy celebrations.
This picture makes it look like I'm half decent at butterfly
The Northwest awards night
Well that's my year, rather briefly outlined. It's definitely had ups and downs; injuries came and went yet my triathlon performances kept my motivation high. I'd say 2013 was the year I started to take triathlon seriously, stepping up to sprint distance and trying out duathlons too. Now with my coach Hamish from Oxygen Addict tri coaching, my tri team and my running club, I hope to make 2014 very successful and I'm ready for the challenges.
I will post again soon about what I have planned for the 2014 season but until then keep that winter training going and read the Brownlee's book.
Stay motivated,
Lucy
