Well it has been a very busy first week here in Europe. Arriving last week on Tuesday after two days of flying, to then drive 1000km to Aarhus, Denmark, leaving 3am Friday was taxing. I did have an enjoyable few easy training days in between though in some record Germany heat for this time of year. Reaching 42degrees for two days! When my host from Germany, Thomas and i arrived in Aarhus Friday afternoon it was cold and pouring down with rain. Although i am use to this weather in Dunedin i did not much feel like racing in it. Saturday was not much better but when race day Sunday arrived things were looking up :)
Race morning Thomas dropped me at the swim start (he was also meant to be racing but had to unfortunately pull out due to a foot injury) then headed back to the city to park up. The sea was looking rough and i was looking forward to getting the swim over and done with as well as the crazy long and interesting transition one!
After 400m or so of swimming by myself i found some feet to swim on. Yay i was not alone. I have to say it was the strongest i have ever felt in a swim so was a little shocked to find out how slow my time was. Hopefully the course was a little long as sure looked it. Thanks to a few weeks swimming under Gennadiy Labara with his squad before i left New Zealand i felt like my technique in the open water had improved and instead of thrashing my arms around like a windmill i was taking slower more quality strokes. Maybe the 4.30am wake ups were worth it :)
Out of the water i found myself right beside Bella Bayliss and Lisbeth Kristensen. Up the million stairs we all went, through the grass, change tent, up another hill, to the bikes and ran with them finally to the road. I had a shocking transition with using my road shoes i couldnt get in to them on the bike, so a mixture of running with them in my hands and running through mud and stones with them on my feet i had finally got to the road, but lost the other girls.
Within 5km on the bike i had passed Lisbeth and another girl Kathrin Walther who had passed me in transition and caught back up to Bella. We soon dropped the other two and remained together for the rest of the 90km ride swapping positions along the way. With the three lead girls Camilla Pedersen, Jodie Swallow and Michelle Vesterby up with the men and the time gap ranging from 6-10mins, it was somewhat a lonely ride with no one around Bella or myself. A really good tough honest bike course. Lots of hills, corners and windy.
Off the bike and it was time to run. Bella took off straight away and i knew my running ability was far from near so i tried to just get in to a solid rhythm, while trying not to let the girls behind me close in. Starting the run i had a lead of around 8-10mins over the 6th girl. The run consisted of three 7km laps, combining flat and hills, road, off road and a 400m running track! After the first 7km my feet started playing up and every stride was burning through my arches. By the end i felt like i was almost walking but yay the finish line came and i still had around 6-8mins on 6th place to finish 5th overall.
Was pretty gutted with my run but with a few months of battling injuries, DNFs, and a big traveling week all and all the race was a success and a good start to my time here in Europe.
Back at home base now in Germany and ready to get stuck in to some training before the next race.
Big thanks to my coach Keegan Williams and Gennadiy Labara for helping me with my swimming.
Also to my Primary Sponsor ACTIVE ELECTRO for making this trip possible, PHYSIOPLUS getting me ready to go, R and R SPORT and THE SHOE CLINIC DUNEDIN for keeping me geared up.
