Blogs

Mon, 11 Apr 2011

Sydney WCS - 2nd Race, 2nd Crash!

By Jodie Stimpson - Vision Fitness Ambassador

The start of the 2011 World Championship Series . . . well lets just say did not go exactly to plan, but I am not disheartend as it’s a stepping stone, and I am looking forward to jumping onto a bigger lily pad.

So the race, well the lead up first of all was fine, Michelle didn’t let me do much at all in the days prior to race and I felt like the prep had all gone well and I was really excited and ready to race to see where I was.

I started as number 29, and going onto the pontoon I noticed that the field was split, half the top girls on the right and the other on the left, I was stuck, so I gambled and randomly decided to go to the left, as I thought there was a bit of a current coming over and didn’t want to get pushed over, but in the end it didn’t really make any difference, as I had a shocker of a first lap. At one point I looked over to my right and saw clear water, which might have been a good thing, but then I realised that the rest of the field was in front of that clear water...

I got around the first bouy and found myself of Helen Jenkin’s feet, so I knew that she wasn’t in her usual position either, but I couldn't moan, Helen’s feet are always good feet to on, and when we excited the water from the first lap we had already made up some ground. I dived back in, and all I could do was try and swim through and to be fair I had a pretty good 2nd lap, and moved up and out of T1 just short of the lead pack, and I managed to bridge across quite quickly.

On the bike I found myself going from the front of the pack, to the middle of the pack to the back of the pack, and then back to the middle of the pack, there was nowhere to go!! This is not a good way to be riding, inexperienced riders cutting in and out made me feel a little uneasy and one thing I will say is that I for sure need to get more practice in sitting in a better position in the pack - a learning curve. The bike group was extremely twitchy, with about 30 or more riders doing 180° turns, and all I can remember is about halfway through on lap 2, I saw Sarah Groff come down from her bike and someone scream "AAAAARRRR!" and unfortaunaly for me, I was sitting behind Sarah. It was one of those times where things happen in slow motion and you just can not do anything about it at all. I saw a bunch of girls go down and then someone took me out and I went (yet again) sliding across the pavement, flying over Helen Jenkins and Sarah Groff on my way down. Fair play to the girls that carried on, I saw Helen afterwards and looks like she came off just as bad - if not worse - than me! And for the girls that couldn't carry on, I feel for you, nobody ever wants to pull out of a race, and after Mooloolaba all I could think was "I'LL FINISH THIS RACE IF IT KILLS ME!". So i jumped back on my bike and saw red mist going into Time Trial Mode, I stuck my head down, gritted my teeth and could hear Michelle shouting out at me time splits from the lead pack. It started at about 32 seconds and was going down, which was great becasue every time I heard I was getting closer it kept me pushing on and on and then the next thing I knew I could see them in the distance, and once I could see them, I knew I could reel them in get back in with the group and by the 5th lap of 8 i was back with them!

I tried to stay out of trouble, and entered T2 at the back of the lead pack and I could see the girls already had a gap on me, and you just can't do that with these girls, they are too good. I tried to storm out of T2 but for whatever reason it just wasn't meant to be, and it was far from being my best run. However, I was determined to cross that finishing line at whatever position I ended up in. 23rd . .  is my 2011 starting point, not where I wanted to be and I will say it is not where I will be finishing come the end of the year. Yes, it's a starting point and I am looking forward to my next race, which I THINK will be Yokohama, if the race is on.

I'm heading back home in 6 days! I'm soooooo excited to see my family and friends now. I think it's fair to say that I've missed them so much, and it's true what they say . . . "There's no place like home".

Thanks for those who tuned in, it means a lot, love you guys and see you very very soon.
xxx

For more information about Jodie Stimpson - Great Britain Triathlete, visit www.jodiestimpson.co.uk.