Liverpool - National Elite Sprint Champs
From about three weeks in the build up to what was a main focus point of my season, training ha been going really well and almost perfect! I was feeling confident and rearring to go!
The Race - front row on the start line ready to attack the swim! Had a good start, no real punch ups and got out hard. I felt I had a good swim putting myself in a good position to ride with decent people. T1 wetsuit was off helmet was on. I take my bike out the stand and one of my rear break blocks was solid on my rear wheel, so I haven't even left the blue carpet, I stop, move my breaks, sprint to mount my bike. I get on, feet in I see people to chase, get on to and work with. Every time I tried to accelerate I was just going no where. I originally thought, my legs really can't feel this bad then I look down to my breaks and they were just touching, I hadn't cleared them enough. So I stop, again, loosened the breaks and adjusted them. By this point I was riding with the back marker motor bike. A DNF or a LAP next to my name will never be an option for me; even if this was the lowest point of my traithlon career. So I just accepted the situation stuck my head down, stuck to/adapted my mental strategy. Before the end of the first lap I had caught two guys stayed with them for about a km but they werent able to work with me well enough, I dropped them at the start of lap two. From there on it was solo. Team mate, Jamie happened to be the next guy up the road. On lap two I had closed down the gap to about 15 secs. Annoyingly the gap wouldn't close no matter how hard I pushed on in the last 10km. With about a lap and three quarters to go Jamie was working with another guy, so I guess that could be a reason why. Anyway, off the bike T2 couldn't have been any better. On the run I was running to try and make up some places I felt I ran pretty well and felt better then I though I would.
Overall I was pretty gutted with a mechanical and wasnt able to show a true reflection of my form. You know you can only control so much. Time to go away and focus for my final race of the season in Scottland for the Under 20s Festival.