08/09/08

The Olympics are all over and I'm home! It flew past so quick and I'm now having a break from training.

It feels strange to be resting, all of this year has been so focused on the Olympics. From starting in points races in South America to World Champs all the races have had a purpose or a goal orientated toward the Olympics whether it was gaining ranking points, getting selection or aiming for gaining the third women's spot. So its so nice to be at home just relaxing, not having to rush out the door training and not have a specific goal.

The whole Olympic experience was brilliant but the race didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Our preparation camp was in Korea on an island called Jeju. It was a good camp, good conditions to acclimatize to the humidity and heat and I did some good training. Then we moved on to Beijing. The Olympic village was amazing! It was so big, its so strange to be in an environment with so many athletes from different sports around you, I was always trying to spot famous athletes!

The triathlon venue was about 45 minutes from the village, the transport was well organized. The course was pretty tough but I was feeling quite confident that I could handle it and perform well as my training was going well and I was cycling strongly. The day of the race I was quite nervous but no worse than normal, I had a good start of the swim and reached the first buoy in the top three, I then tried to push the swim on but I didn't feel great, so tried to keep on the feet of the girl in front. On the bike I really wanted to work hard and hopefully reduce the large pack, I knew to get my best result I'd need it to be a hard bike because I'm not as fast as some of the girls on the run, but hoped I'd be stronger on the bike. We went up the hill the first time and I didn't feel great I just felt flat, like I had nothing in my legs, I tried to stay near the front of the bike pack in case any breaks went then I'd be able to go with them, but I was unable myself to make anything happen! I had a bad second transition as my trainer folded in on its self, but it really had no affect on my race because as soon as I started running I felt awful, I really tried to keep motivated and thinking I'd start to feel better but it never happened. The good thing was although it was very hot I didn't feel it so at least our acclimatization camp worked! I'm still disappointed, its my worse race of the year and it was the most important! I did enjoy the experience and competing in front of such a big crowd with good British support was enjoyable! My parents were there too after completing a seven day trek on the Great Wall for Meningitis Trust, so it was good to go and see some sights with them after the race. I also went to watch a lot of events, the athletics was amazing we had great seats in the athlete stand! I was planning on doing a couple more races but my Achilles tendon flared up a bit after the race, so the doctors told me to take my break now. After my last couple of years problems with my tendon I wasn't taking any risks so decided resting was the best thing to do!

The Olympics has been a massive learning experience, its made me realize how much I want to get to London 2012 and perform! So after my rest i'll be getting back into training with a four year plan in mind. I'm really excited about being able to put together an injury free winter of training of the injury disruptions of the past few years and I'm excited about seeing how I can perform off a consistent few months of training.

I'm getting married at the end of October so I have something to keep me busy at the moment while I'm off training, I'm really excited about it as we're getting married in Florida and have some close family and a lot of friends coming too so we'll have some fun! I just need to buy a dress now!

I've had such a fantastic year and there are so many people who have helped me, I wouldn't be able to do what I do without these people. My family and friends, coaches Marc and Rick, manager Richard Downey, Steve, Sian, Cath and Bernie at Welsh Institute of Sport, all the kids I swim with at Bridgend Swimming club, especially Craig for all the long sessions sat on his feet and coach Phil Meluish, all the runners on Thursday nights and coach Steve Brace. And all my sponsors who provide me with the financial support to be a fulltime athlete and fantastic kit to train and race.

Helen

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 25/07/08

I'm about to head off to Korea for the pre Olympic camp, currently trying to get organised and packed so it isn't a last minute rush before I leave.  I am sorting through my mountain of Olympic kit for what I need to take and getting my bike all packed up.

The past few weeks of preparation have gone well.  I had an easy week after returning from my trip to Canada and America, then the Olympic team was officially announced at a press day in Hyde Park which was so nice to have confirmed.  Then I got stuck into training again!  I have felt pretty tired but put in a lot of quality work with sessions in the heat chamber to simulate Beijing conditions - not the most pleasant sessions!  I was planning on racing national champs as they were in Wales and I haven't raced nationals since 2006, but looking at my plans into the Olympics it didn't sit quite right with training.  So I did a little local race instead, as a training race.  It was good fun as a lot of friends competed and watched, and we went home for bacon sandwiches after the race!

I'm looking forward to getting to Korea now and doing the final preparations in the heat and humidity, and then on to Beijing three days before the race.  I'm looking forward to staying in the village and being part of being Team GB.  As for the race, I'm a little nervous but just excited to be competing and racing in such a big event.

Helen

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 25/06/08

Life doesn't stand still for too long though.  From Canada we headed to Texas for the heat camp and on to Des Moines World Cup (...as originally planned!).  I was feeling a bit tired heading into Des Moines, they'd had massive flooding in the area and where we were going to race was completely under water! The race organisation was amazing and they moved the race to the other side of town last minute.  I went into the race just looking to have a solid result and see how I went in the heat. I ended up 3rd!  I was really pleased as I was feeling a bit tired before the race.

There is full race report on triathlon.org

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 10/06/08

World Champ!!

I can't believe I'm writing that I'm now World Champion!
It is such a shock to me. It was a last minute decision to go to worlds, but i'm so glad I did! The race was in Vancouver, Canada.

The race was pretty extreme conditions, the water temp was about 12 degrees and air temp a bit colder. This worked to my advantage I think, as i'm abit more used to training in the cold weather than most of the athletes.

It was a beach start with a short run into the water but it was quite shallow so a long run through the water, I had a great start (thanks max! from sunshine beach SLSC!) and quite comfortably got into the front group, I came out of the water 4th then it was on to the bike. I felt pretty good straight away, Sarah Haskins, USA attacked hard up the first hill and broke up the pack, she was riding incredibly strong! I was finding it hard to sit on her wheel. She then pushed it really hard up the hill on the 2nd lap and it was just me that managed to hang on to her. I didn't realise it was just the two of us for a while. After a couple more laps she tired a bit and I did some more work on the front for the 2nd half of the bike. we both worked really well together. The gap grew on each lap, but it wasn't until the gap was about a minute that I thought we would stay away.

My second transition was slow! I struggled to get my feet in my shoes. Heading out on to the run we had two minutes lead. I knew there were some really fast runners in the pack behind so if I blew up after such a hard ride or didn't have good legs I would be caught. I tried not to think about it and just ran as hard as I could! Me and Sarah ran next to each other for the whole way, it wasn't until the last run turn with about 2 k to go, someone shouted 1minute 30 to the chasers, I knew then we wouldn't be caught and it would be silver or gold. I'm not a great sprinter so I was trying to break away before the end and sarah did a couple of times too.

I started sprinting from just before the last corner and transition area, the whole time I kept thinking Sarah was coming up behind me, I couldn't believe it when I crossed the line! I still can't and its two days later!

The support on the course was awesome, there were so many brits there watching and it helped me so much.

A big thank you goes to my teammates Liz, Kerry, Abbie and Ness, they were in the chase pack and didn't help with the chase which allowed our breakaway to get away. I'm disappointed we didn't achieve our goal of gaining the third Olympic spot, but with all the injuries last year I think we did our best to get ithe spot but ran out of time.

All the support staff for the weekend made it easy for me and helped so much, and well done to all the other athletes that raced.

Thanks to Marc, Barney, Ed, Jo, Hat, Rich, Michelle, Darel

x Helen

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 01/06/08

After Madrid World Cup and gaining Olympic nomination, I made a decision not to race the Worlds Championships and get some training in, then fly out to Texas for a British Triathlon Heat Acclimatisation camp followed by Des Moines World Cup, which was a race in humid conditions so similar to Beijing.  So that was my plan!

However, I had a phone call a week and a half before World Champs and I found out that if I raced them, we - as a British team - had a chance of gaining three spots for the Olympic Games. We currently only had two - it's all down to rankings and points and due to a lot of injuries last year, not enough British girls were racing and we weren't high enough in rankings. So I decided to go to Vancouver and compete.  

Click here to see Helen's video diary

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 29/05/08

I'm very happy writing this blog... I just found out a couple of days ago that I have been nominated for the British Olympic team! Nothing is official until the end of June when the team is announced but I have made the selection criteria!

The selection race was Madrid World Cup. I came 2nd!! I am pretty shocked I didn't expect to do so well. The day of the race was not great weather. The selection had been decided to be in Madrid because of its course similarities to the Olympic course in Beijing, also because it would be quite hot at the end of May, again similar to Beijing. The course had a long hard hill on the bike which was like Beijing, but the weather didn't work out! It was cold! It felt more like a summer in South Wales (a bit drizzly and cold!).

The swim went great for me, I had a good start and got some clear water, I didn't get stuck in the fighting of the main pack. I came out on the first lap 2nd and then pulled in front on the 2nd lap to exit the water first. There was no gap on the swim and we were all in a long line exiting the swim. The first time up the hill on the bike I just went up as hard as I could, the current World Champ Vanessa Fernandes was working hard with me. We got up the hill and I looked around and there were just a few girls left! We worked well together in our small group and put time into the chasing pack every lap. The hill on the bike course was tough, I was riding with some very strong riders and it has hurting a lot! The selection criteria was to be in the top 8 and first two Brits. Also in my group was Hollie Avil, a young British athlete who has been in great form this year. I knew heading on to the run to qualify for Olympics I needed to run a sensible run, not go out too hard and fade at the end, but stay in the top 8 and not let any Brit but Hollie pass me! Hollie and I wished each other good luck before heading out for the 10k run. Once I started the run I didn't think about any of the selection stuff, I started to feel great running so just went for it. It wasn't until I was coming down the finishing straight I thought about my position! It was so good crossing the line. I had some family there and it was great to have their support while racing and at the finish!

I can't quite believe it, after all the injury problems last year I didn't know if I'd even make the start line for Madrid.

Helen

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 21/04/08

I'm back from Australia and have settled into some hard training at home. I came away with a 13th, 13th and 14th in my first three world cups for a year.  My aim was top 15's in all three, so I made my goal.

Afterwards I really wished I had done better, but after thinking about the training I have done and the road back from injury, I have to be happy with my results.  The important thing is I have now made selection for the Olympic selection race in Madrid which is on the 25th May.

So now it is all go for then.  I'm training hard and really enjoying it.  It is great to be back home, I'm training with my local swimming club which is producing some really good young swimmers, some competing for GB junior teams, so they are keeping me working hard in the pool.

I'm back to doing some sessions with my local running club, it is such a good motivation for me to train in a group doing effort sessions again.  I've been doing my easy runs with my favourite training partner... my chocolate Labrador, Barney!

Biking is going well, apart from the rain!  I'm doing some sessions in the sports science lab simulating the Madrid bike course which is tough.  I hope it all pays off in a couple of weeks.

Other than the training, not much else is going on at the moment, it's all eat, sleep, train!

Fingers crossed for next few weeks.

Helen

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 23/03/08

I'm writing this blog from my home in Australia.  Well, I've been out to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for about 5 years in a row now, so it almost does feel like home!

I'm staying with some good friends and fellow triathletes and I have a great swim squad and bike group to train with.  The sunshine coast has had one of its worst summers ever with a huge amount of rain and storms, but luckily it hasn't been too bad since I've been here.  Only a couple of rides have been done in the rain.

My training has gone really well over the past few weeks, I think the change of scenery from training at home, and some new people to train with, has really motivated me and I've done some really good sessions out here.

I'm in the final week now before my races.  The next 3 weekends I'm doing 3 World Cups!

I've never done three races in a row before so it is going to be a challenge.  After not racing last year I need to gain some ranking points, so the aim for the races is to put in three good performances to hopefully confirm my place in the Olympic selection race in Madrid in May.

The good thing about these races is I can line up on the start line knowing I couldn't have done much more.  Coming back from injury I may not be in my best ever shape but I have stuck to a sensible rehab plan and allowed my body to recover.  I'm feeling a bit nervous now!

Helen.

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 18/02/08

I've just finished up a really good block of training for February and I'm all set to go out to Australia! I can't wait!  I have left it a bit later to go out this year due to me racing so early in the season.  I'm looking forward to getting there and training with a good group of people and doing the right preparation for the first world cup races of the year.
 
I went on a training camp in Aguilas in Spain this month with a couple of the other British girls.  We had great weather for the camp and did some good hard riding. There was more of a bike focus for the first 5 days of the camp then it switched to swim, but I think I gained a lot of fitness from the training and me and the girls pushed each other during the sessions and worked well to get some good work done!

While we were there it was the town's annual carnival which we went to watch one evening! There was float after float of women, children and some men all dressed up dancing in lots of feathers!  It was entertaining and provided a welcome distraction from the hard bike miles we had been putting in!  I then flew home a day early to be home for my sisters 21st birthday!  I had missed her last 4 birthdays as I'm normally in Australia!
 
So now it's all focusing on getting the training in and staying fit and healthy until 28th of March when it's Mooloolaba World Cup!  I'm looking forward to doing the World Cup circuit again and hope I can start the season off with some solid results!

Helen

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 23/01/08

I've just been to South America for some ITU point's races and I won both!

I had a very problematic 2007, with lots of injuries and only one race, which put me in an awkward position for 2008. This year is the Olympic year and with Beijing in August I needed to get out there and race.  Firstly to get some ranking points to put me back in contention to make the Olympic team but also so I remembered how to do a triathlon, as it's been so long since I raced!

To go and win my first races was a bit of a shock to me!  As I had a running injury I have worked really hard on my swimming and biking, so my plan was to go to the races, swim and bike hard and see what happened on the run.

The first race was Vina Del Mar, Chile. The conditions were perfect as it was a bit cooler than expected, and after a winter in South Wales I wasn't really acclimatized for a hot race.  The swim was changed last minute as one of the buoys had broken in the sea, so it was quite long which worked in my favour.  I had about a minute lead out of the swim so decided to go for it on my own on the bike hoping to have a big enough gap on the run to hold off the other girls.  I'd traveled out on my own so I had no one to give me timing splits, I wasn't aware how big the gap was until the last lap of the run when someone said I had a 3 minute gap!  So I eased off and enjoyed my last lap and the finishing straight where there was a big supportive crowd!

Then it was off to La Paz, Argentina. I finally made it there after a much delayed flight, missing a bus, having to find a hotel in Buenos Aires at midnight then an 8 hour bus trip!  La Paz was hot! The girl's race was at 3pm in the afternoon and about 35 degree heat.  With the same field as the previous week in Chile, I was hoping to win again but unsure as to how I would cope in the heat.  The race went pretty much the same way, except I found it harder as the bike and run course were both quite hilly.  I was so pleased to win again, and the crowd was even bigger than the first race, the whole town turns out to watch the race.

I'm so happy to start the year with some wins.  I'm hoping this is the first step for this year, it's on to the World Cups next and then the Olympic selection race in May. It was a tough year last year, watching all the races when I wanted to be out there! So just to get to the selection race this year will be an achievement.  So hopefully no injuries for this year and I'll see what happens!"

 

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