Hit and miss at the ITU Grand Final

I’ve just got back from the beautiful Gold Coast in Australia after coming third in the ITU World Champs Grand Final. As expected, it was a tough and closely fought end to the series of eight races that took us all over the world, from Hyde Park last month to Spain, Germany, Austria, the US…

I have to say I was really pleased with my third place at the Grand Final. I felt my overall performance was pretty good although my second transition (from bike to run) was a disaster! My bike fell on me and I couldn’t get my shoes on. And I knew we were going the wrong way in the swim after the first buoy but thought it better to stick with the pack than go it alone. I didn’t feel great at the start of the run (the bike was hard!) but, as time went on, I began to feel better and better and got on a real charge to pass Sarah (Haskins) on the last lap which made it all worth it.

I have to say, Emma Moffatt is an extremely worthy winner – she was on top form, despite having been injured so recently. It was a close finish for her and Lisa. I was getting a lot of encouragement from the Brits in the crowd - shouting out that I was catching the leaders - but I couldn’t quite get up to them. And my third means that I come fifth overall which is great because I started the season a bit late after a good, long break after Beijing.

I’m having a few easy days before getting back into training ahead of the LA Tri early next month. Dallas finishes my season later next month – then a couple of weeks completely off before it’s back to work with the start of winter training, with my Suunto Red Arrow, of course. J

Thanks for following my blogs, guys. Hope you found them interesting!

Helen x