In Copenhagen i was lucky enough to have Jan as my home stay and also help from Uffe (last years home stay) which made getting to all the necessary things during race week easy and stress free. Also great support crew on race day.
On to the race.
The swim was amazingly good for me! I made a conscious effort right from the start to try and swim as fast as i could and hold on as long as i could to avoid swimming alone. It worked and i exited the water in 54mins. Although i still managed to swim off course again like last year although this time because i was following the others in front! Second out of the water with Daniela Ryf leaving us for dust.
photo: Martin Paldan
On to the bike with Sophie Goos, i tried to keep her in sight and it worked for around 70km, even taking the lead at one stage but my technical skills in the rolling suburbs with all the corners was rubbish and i lost touch. Was definitely a very windy bike ride with no real tail wind break for very long but i was enjoying it none the less. Apart from a nagging feeling that my brakes were ever so slightly rubbing every time my wheel turned! Which was a lot! Definitely miss not having my Cycle World Dunedin guys here to keep my S Works Shiv in tip top shape. Bike and wheel got a bit of a knock on the flight over and was not playing nice. Second and final loop of the bike i was really starting to feel the struggle in the legs…maybe the wheel or maybe the fact i was having a shocker nutrition wise and had ran out of drink twice with over 30mins each time no fluid! Rookie mistakes or blonde mistakes, take your pick :)
photo: Martin Paldan
Was a lonely ride other than passing a few people on their first lap and it was pretty hard to tell where the other pro women were. In the last 10k i nearly had a big crash with a few road barriers blowing over and when i quickly moved to avoid them a lady on a MTB came at me from one direction while a car from the other! A big back wheel fish tail, a lot of swearing and me somehow staying upright i was on my way to T2. I was really looking forward to the marathon part for once in my life but my legs had a whole different idea of what was going to happen!
As soon as i took off on the run in 3rd place, i could tell my legs were not going to do what i know they are now capable of these days. They were so heavy and cramping from my butt to my calf! I kept thinking any minute i was going to fall over. About 6km in to the run i could see 4th place Mareen Hufe wasn't too far behind and i really needed the toilet. It was far too early in the marathon for the non toilet option so i made a pit stop and by the time i was out she had moved in to 3rd. The second half of the marathon was very slow for me although i kept a consistent pace. It was now all about just getting my aching body to the finish line and not losing any more places. It wasn't my fastest time but am happy with a PB in the swim and bike.
Congrats to everyone that raced. It was a windy, wet, sunny day!
Meant to be flying back to New Zealand today but coach Keegan has thrown a spanner in the works and instead i have changed my flights to London! Couple of weeks to hang out with my good buddy and fellow Iron distance racer Sara and then on to Challenge Weymouth for another Iron distance event. Nothing like spicing things up.
