We are off, the 2014 season has begun...

"You don't need fancy gear, be nice to newbies, ride your bike a lot and Yorkshire is a fantastic place to cycle" 

Words of wisdom from Lizzie Armitstead, talking at a free event organised by Leeds University recently.

Having spent many an hour stood on the stairs, fielding off “what are you doing Suzie?” from the other tenants in the flats while completing calf raises with a back pack full of veg on my back and rolling my calves on a foam roller my Achilles has grown stronger and racing for 2014 has commenced.

First up, team Alba Rosa Cycle Club girls raced the first Criterium race of the year at

York. It is best to describe Crit racing as; fast and furious. You need elbows out, nerves at the ready, lean low into the bends, senses as sharp as a fox and wear warm clothes (even if it’s sunny, March is still chilly, I learnt the hard way in my short sleeve jersey!). I was purely using York as a bit of Crit non drafting practice for the British Elite Duathlon Championships, coming up this Sunday. Harbouring no personal ambitions, I instead designated myself sacrificial lamb, aka lead out girl for our strongest cyclist and fellow triathlete Seonaid. The plain was simple, make it hard for everyone, drill the pace from 5 laps out and Seonaid to kick for the win. Well it pretty much went to plan, minor a scare at lap 2 where Amy forgot to turn the corner and got closer than she would have liked with the grass verge and wooden fence, splitting the pack in the process, unfortunately I was behind Amy so ended up off the pace, thanks to Danica we pulled ourselves back to the front pack, normal service resumed and Seonaid finished like a boss taking the win, with 5 Alba Rosa ladies in the top 8  it was a successful day out. #albagirls

Next up Dambuster Duathlon, a standard distance duathlon (10km run, 40km bike, 5km run) I have been a regular at Dambuster Duathlon and triathlon for the last 2 years. My goal was top 5 overall and to win my age group. Previous years results have been…

2012= 4th in age group, 13th overall

2013= 2nd in age group, 8th overall

2014= 1^st in age group, 5^th overall

Dambuster is always one of the most competitive age group races in the country, acting often as the British Age Group Championships and World qualification race. Having almost got hypothermia last year through my poor wardrobe choice I dressed up warmer this year! Goal achieve, I didn't turn blue in the cold this year and I managed to upgrade to the big plate, winning my age group and placed 5th overall. Especially satisfying due to the limited running I had achieved beforehand, the 2nd run was a matter of mind over matter as I urged myself not to stop and walk due to an incredibly painful stitch. So another year another couple of places higher in the rankings, it is still on my bucket list to be 1st overall.

Did you get dressed in the dark?

"Nice outfit Suz, did you get dressed in the dark!?"

Antony commented on the cycle club forum, under a picture taken from an Alba Rosa Sunday ride. OK so maybe my outfit was a mix of clashing fluorescent colours, but in sub zero arctic like temperatures, fashion points were the last thing on my mind. Warmth, the only thing on my mind when getting dressed that morning!

Winter priorities are warm clothes and bright bike lights at the moment, for those pre dawn and post dusk winter rides.

"When's the next Blog Suz?" I was asked while riding the 1st reliability ride of the year, 80km in reliably British winter weather. Only good thing is the post ride shower....all you winter cyclists know that feeling of getting into the shower, still fully dressed as your hands don't operate to even un-clip your helmet  let alone take your socks off. It takes at least a full 5 minutes to regain feeling in your hands to be able to slowly undress under the hot water.

Happy 2014 everyone! My blogging contributions have been as reliable as ever! I could claim many an excuse, changing jobs and having to give back my laptop has left me writing with ink on parchment paper (well tapping away on the library computer!) Being  evicted by the landlord on 31st Dec, I think the number of muddy trainers and bikes in the garage had just tipped the balance from acceptable to "what the hell are you doing to my house"! He wasn't a cross country runner!

So with a new year brings a new job, new flat and new challenges. So here are some of the key events from the last few months, in no particular order:

Christmas is a great time to hone new skills, bit of golf and a bit of igloo building were high on my agenda... variety is the spice of life and all!

 When a sportive is called "Mills Hills" That means there will be plenty of hills and mills, generally more hills though. I think a more appropriate name would have been "Mills, Hill, with lots of Hills and a few more Hills sportive"8 

You have got to love Strava for giving you nice little cups afterwards, it's like a virtual mum saying well done and a pat on he back!

Usually at this time of year I am trudging around muddy fields enjoying the delights of cross country running, not this year though as I attempt to fix my Achilles that gave me grief over the summer months. Now with the advances of sports medicine, rehab can be a very scientific process. Well for me, this is definitely the case. As you can see, i fill up my state of the art backpack with heavy vegetables, a kettle bell, bags of rice and load it onto my back and begin my complex calf raising exercises! No frills Achilles rehab!

 So while some traditions such as cross country running have been broken, only the second season since I was 13 that I have not run around the British countryside in winter conditions in vest and hot pants. Other traditions over the festive season stayed well and truly alive. Boxing day is much about running races as it is eating left over turkey in the Richards household. This year was no different. Clevedon 4 mile road race, along the sea front was the destination, a chance to catch up with old Bristol Athletic Club team mates, training partners, coaches and friends. Most importantly a chance to beat my brother, a feat i have never managed before. He always gets the better of me, this was my year, I knew it. Race day comes, its icy, he conveniently has no deicer, so is late and decides to support aka shout abuse from the sideline. Scared of getting chicked by his little sister!? Sibling rivalry will have to wait till next year!

End of season rest and relaxation (well sort of!)

2013 season done and dusted!

“Take a break, don’t train, eat what you want, do what you want” 

These were Lou's instructions for the 4 weeks post London World Triathlon Championships.

What joy! The snooze button on the alarm clock got a breather from the usual 6.01am thumping it receives.The omelette pan was left dormant as the oven received it’s first pizza to cook in a while, the hoover even got an outing in my bedroom. Four weeks away from the routine of train, eat, work, eat, train, sleep was a beautiful experience. When you have 4 weeks off the normal training routine, what do you do?

In no particular order of significance

Lend a hand to my parents and brother who have all moved houses in recent weeks. I had not realised the multitude of skills needed for house removal service; reassembling washing machine, cleaning previous owners dog hairs from behind every kitchen unit possible, rewiring electrical cables, squeezing sofa’s up stairs, and impossibly narrow gaps, packing and unpacking, it's like giant game of tetris!

“As well as grades, our task is to prepare pupils for life beyond Thornhill, to be decent civilised human beings, if we don’t achieve that, we have failed” Jonny Mitchell, Headteacher

As someone who rarely sits on the sofa, yet alone turns the TV on, it has been a pleasure to watch Educating Yorkshire. As an employee of Education Charity Teach First, the pupils at Thornhill are typical of the fantastic youngsters we work with  across the country.

Jonny Mitchell, the HeadTeacher impressed me deeply with his individual approach to each child and focus on wellbeing. Who saw the final episode with Musharaf? I definetely had a tear in my eye and lump in throat when Musharaf took his English GCSE speaking assessment. Watching how the power of listening to music helped him speak fluently, overcoming his stammer. If you didn't see it, you can see it here

So much of a child's success is due to the care and attention of their teachers, believing in them and never giving up on them. This was strongly exemplified by Mr Burton. 

Victoria Beckham’s Autobiography “Learning to fly” proved to be a surprisingly great read. “If success is about talent and hard work, you Victoria are going to have to work very very hard” Victoria recalls her childhood dance teacher telling her. And hard graft is exactly what this incredible lady displays in bucket loads. As someone who grew up with the Spice girls phenomena, I knew sporty, posh, scary, ginger and baby as "girl power". The book reveals a lot about their success and Victoria's life with David Beckham and the ferocious media attention. I have nothing but admiration for Victoria Beckham following reading this book.

In contrast "The social animal" by David Brooks is currently keeping me busy, a fantastic book and one that really makes you think. Highly recommend it. Thanks kathz for putting it on my radar. 

Weekend breaks, what do these words conjure? Long lie in's? romantic meals? cosy hotels? lazy days by a wood burning fire? long pub lunches? Sounds amazing, so me and Adam embarked on our first weekend break (that didn't include a race!) Friday night; me, Adam, the Micra, two mountain bikes and a bit of Lycra trundled up the A1 to Askrigg, a small village in the North Yorkshire Dales. So one could say our weekend break didn't really follow the norm and "lazy days by a wood burning fire" didn't really apply! But we had a lot of fun.

We got some stunning Mountain Biking in, the Howgill fells providing some great descents...

and some pretty steep ascents!

but we were rewarded with some absolutely cracking views

the guide book did say "slightly overgrown"

We left on Friday night in a car, we arrived back on Monday on the train, on bikes with no car key, house key, wallet or phone! Lesson 1) It's best to keep the car key in a zipped pocket! 2) When in a spot of bother, local people will always look after you, though eating dinner in the pub in lycra and arriving down for breakfast the next day in the same lycra and everyone knowing we were locked out of our car having lost the key on the fells was slightly embarrassing!

                            Train journey back to Leeds to retrieve the spare car key (somehow hoping to get into the house without the house key....thanks Sam for coming to the rescue!)

 The note Adam found on the car when he arrived with the spare key....!!

Some R&R has been had, some different sports have been enjoyed and I have been trying to fix my niggling right Achilles that restricted my running at the end of the season. Big shout out to Sarah Pitts, who has been doing a great job explaining mobility and working her magic on my aches and pains. If your in Leeds and you have a niggle go see Sarah, you won't regret it. http://sarahjpitts.co.uk/ 

I guess it's time to crack on with the new season training, unpack the thermals, bike lights and woolly gloves for some winter fun!

Bish Bash Bosh London hosts a cracking World Champs

In no particular order, things I learnt during the World Triathlon Championships.

1)    You cannot ride a Boris bike between midnight and 6am. Health and safety must have recognised drunks + bikes= not good combo!

2)   If said Boris Bike is unavailable and you were relying on it to get to a race, at a very early time of day, transport options are limited! Jumping on the back of another bike can be a stellar answer, not so stellar for the riders legs!

3)   Aero helmets are not standard cycle wear, especially cycling down Oxford street.

4)   Oxford Street is not ideal for cycling.

5)   Oxford Street is not ideal for anything, unless you like queues and traffic jams!

6)   You can get around extortionate London Hotel prices by staying in University accommodation, a breakfast fit for a king and a ping pong table, basically an all inclusive resort!

7)   1000s of supporters in Hyde park create an incredible about of noise and support- especially if you are wearing a GB tri suit and have your name plastered across your bum.

8)   If you decided to run Park Run the day before an event as a warm up , you should probably tell the organisers  that you plan to stop after 4km, potential to mess up the result of every runner behind you is very high!

9)   The best deli near Hyde Park can be found in Mayfair, next to the furry Ferrari! Seriously people in Mayfair have furry cars!

10) Only when your bike shoe falls off as your attempting to jump on your bike in T1 you realise you should have done a bit more transition practice! But, you do help add amusement to “carnage corner” as the mount/dismount area became known!

16^th/ 77 in 25-29 age group at World Triathlon Championships. Hoping for a top 10 but on reflection the standard this year was considerably higher than previous years, so places maybe don’t give a true reflection of performance.  This is how the break down looks and a comparison to the winners time.

	My time	Winners time	difference between winner time and my time
Swim (shortened to 750m due to water temperature)	12.00	11.20	40seconds
Bike 40km	1.08	1.05	3mins
Run 10km	39.51	35.54	4mins
Total	2.06.27	1.58.27	8mins

I gave it everything in the race, the athletes that beat me, were better than me on that day, fair enough. The fields were full of classy athletes, incredible to see so many age group athletes recording faster bike and run splits than those in the elite race!

Nice to be able to travel to a championship, on the train with your bike and backpack

Lifts were a little tricky to negotiate, especially when your room was on the 8th floor!

A huge thanks to everyone who came to support, I heard your voices loud and clear and when the legs started to tire in the last few kilometres your yells of encouragement helped me keep pushing onwards. Tanner, Drew, Team DB Sam a big thank you and great to catch up post race, Bex and Herne Hill massif, You truly have  fog horn voices! loud and clear I heard you on the bridge! Alison thanks for the yell and Seonaid your shout of “This is what you train for” on the last lap of the run really did help, cheers guys.

Bike Transition in the early hours, synonymous with race day, happy to not be doing this for a while

As they say, that’s a wrap, the 2013 season is all over. Time to rest my weary body and mind and think about the 2014 season.

Good luck to anyone still racing and for everyone who has finished their season have a well deserved break.

11 days until the World Championships!

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

-Steve Prefonataine

Auckland Oct 21st 2012, The World Triathlon Championships took place. In 11 days the annual World Triathlon Championships returns for 2013. This time in London on last year’s Olympic course in Hyde Park. 

Auckland was my 1^st experience of a World Triathlon Championships, an incredible experience. I finished in 18^th place in the 25-29 age group and 3^rd British athlete. A result that has motivated and propelled me for the last year, through snow; freezing temperatures, numb toes, early morning swims, abstaining from eating my favourite treats, distinct lack of booze and constant washing of smelly training kit.

Since Auckland this is what has happened….

• 292 days of training
• 274 hours on the bike
• 154 hours of early morning swim sessions
• 18 races from muddy cross country to road races, crit races, duathlons and triathlons, all over the country in all types of conditions from snow to heat waves.
• 7 ½ pairs of swim goggles (i can't help loosing/breaking them!)
• And a ridiculous number of omelettes eaten!

and in pictures….

A year ago in New Zealand...how time flies, the race, after party and a spot of bike touring to relax post race.

Training day after day, week after week in all weathers

All that training requires some fuel! Cafe stops are essential (only a few scones!)

All in an effort to be the best I can be for London in 11 days time, No pressure!

Am I ready? Yes I can honestly say I have consistently trained well since returning from a spot of bike touring in New Zealand, post last year’s World Champs. I honestly believe I have done everything possible to be as ready as possible. Last weekend I competed in the Club Relay Championships, in Nottingham, Leeds &Bradford Tri Club had a host of teams competing, our team finished a very creditable 5th in the mixed teams and my splits showed a year's training has paid off, in some areas more than others( i have done some bike training, honest!)

         

        2012 Club Relays                         2013 Club Relays

               9.29                   Swim:                 7.41 

               24.24                 Bike                   24.52

               20.19                  Run                    17.55

So the training is done,  I now just need to sort out when and how I will travel down to London, where I will stay and what the course is like, minor details…

A few pieces of final inspiration….

Diana Nyad becomesthe first swimmer to swim from Florida to Havana crossing the Florida Striats without a shark cage, her first attempt was in 1978, at the age of 64 she completes her dream!

The joy of running just shines through in this great video by Chris Connell highlighting the simple brilliance of Park Run.

Get ready for london! Great promo video to wet the appetite 

Good luck everyone competing for Team GB in London