Blogs

Tue, 23 Aug 2011

Lausanne Sprint Champs & Gold for Team GB in the Relay!

By Jodie Stimpson - Vision Fitness Ambassador

Since racing The Virgin Active London Triathlon I have to say it's been a long, hard slog for me, and I have been having to push myself hard over the past few weeks, so I knew this would be a tough weekend for me.

I flew out on Thursday morning with my Mom and Dad, to arrive on the Thursday afternoon for the briefing on the evening. Business as usual and then it was off for dinner with the GB Squad!

My race started at 3.06pm, with the men's race kicking off at 12.51pm, so the men took to the stage first and with Al and Johnny Brownlee taking the show yet again. Jonny had a stormer of a run winning the race, with Alistair coming in in 3rd place. Well done to all the GB guys, you really set the goalpost for the women's race.

There was a big field in the race with around 75 athletes to start. The pontoon was full, but I got a good start and had a good swim, and with a bit of tough digging in at the beginning of the bike I was in the lead pack with the machine Helen Jenkins working off the front. We went up the first hill and my legs didn't feel good but I was holding in there, I could see Helen on the 3rd lap and even though my legs felt shocking, I tried to bridge across to Helen but looked over my shoulder and there was a long line of women! The rest of the bike was just trying to hold on, but my legs were having a hissy fit and were refusing to place ball. Going into T2 I got myself in a good position on the front row, only to end up on my arse (thanks to a certain athlete) and having to go back and get my bike which was lying behind me on the floor. This obviously did not put me in a good position to change into my trainers, and as I looked down a saw a lovely gash in my foot and on my leg! Nice chain markings to add to my useless legs! So out of T2 and I was chasing a very fast running pace, so that along with the combination of my legs feeling like they had added about 2 stone in lactic acid into them, this was NOT good.

I crossed the line in 18th, which I was really disappointed with, however I'm learning that you need to be 100% fit going into these races or you won't be 100% happy with your result. Learning curve . . .

After a shaking up from coach Michelle it was onwards and upwards to have some fun in the World Championships Relay, and with the label "Dream Team" of the Brownlee Brothers and current World Number 1, Helen Jenkins, I had to admit I was feeling the pressure of not letting the guys down. So I was up first, and onto pontoon, I had a good start to the swim, and apart from my teeth being embedded in Lisa Nordens arm, I came out ok, and was just off the back of the leading pack, but with a tough push again I grabbed onto the back, and all that was going through my head was "the guys are going to kill me if I don't get in that pack"!

Phew I was in, but the pace was not letting off and I was lactating to the absolute maximum and getting off the bike it didn't ease up. My legs just did not want to go round, but again all I could think about was not letting the team down, and then I heard Tim Don shout over the barrier "Every second counts!" I think I passed over to Johnny in 8th position, with a 15 second gap for him to catch and he did amazing and before he got to the bottom of the hill he was back with the leaders and passed over to Helen in 1st place. Again Helen showed why she is World Number 1, in and out of the water with a gap and there was no looking back, even with the SWISS, FRENCH, and GERMAN team hunting her down in a group of 3, and she passed over to Alistair with a 10 second lead. So over to Alistair for the final leg, and by the time he had got to the top of the hill on the bike he had made the gap stretch to 18 seconds and then finishing the run with 15 seconds clear to the Swiss Team who finished 2nd and the German Team in 3rd.

The relay was an awesome experience, and was so much fun, I really hope it makes the 2016 Olympics! I had an awesome support group in Lausanne yet again and thank you so much to everyone who was out there and to everyone watching back home.

Now I am going back home to recover, and to get ready for Beijing, the WCS final, looking and searching for the speed and pace, wish me luck . . .

Jodie
xxx

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