Lois Rosindale Wins Windsor Sprint
Hi i thought i would some up Junes month of racing, i had 2 really pleasing races at the beginning of june. Firstly was the Blenheim triathlon; this is a sprint race in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. I did this race last year, as it was the junior national championships, its a great setting, and one of my favourite races. Last year when i raced it was scorching hot, and yet again this year was exactly the same, however for me it didn’t really matter as my race was just after 9am. Last year there was a seperate race for junior elite and senior elite competittors, however this year,both juniors and seniors raced together. I preferred this, as it meant i could get into a bike pack with some of the senior elites. At the beginning of the race, i was quite confident that if i had a good swim, (which i thought i should as i had been swimming well) i was on for a good result. The swim was a long straight course up to a buoy, then a left hand turn down to a second buoy, and then into the finish. I had quite a good swim, and was reasonably happy with my position coming out of the water, but with a 400m run uphill out of the water to transition, i knew i could catch a few people before i got to my bike. I had a good transition, and jumped on my bike with a few people not too far infront of me, I worked hard on the bike for the first km or so, and overtook a couple of people, but still wasn’t in a pack. I knew there were a couple of good cyclists behind so i eased up and waited for them 2 catch me up, as they were just behind me. Now there were 3 of us working together, sharing the work, we were in the 2nd pack; there was jodie swallow out on her own in the lead, then a chase pack following her, and we were the pack after that. Coming in off the bike, the pack infront of us had a good lead on us that would have been too difficult to make up. When i got on to the run, i started off well, and overtook one of the athletes in my group, and started runnig with the other, i ran well for the 1st lap, but on to the second lap, my legs felt tired and i slowed slightly. I ended up coming 7th overall and 1st junior, which i was pretty pleased with. It gave me confidence however, that my racing has improved this year.
My second race in June was the Windsor sprint triathlon, the week after the Blenheim Triathlon. I entered the sprint race not knowing how i would fair with the strong current in the river Thames, or the fact that it was only a week since my race at Blenheim. Getting up at 4am ready for the race wasn’t easy, but once i was there i couldn’t wait.The swim was tough due to the river current, but i had already planned my tactics, and straight away i moved to the far river bank to get away from the current as much as possible. I had a great swim, and overtook many people from the waves infront. I had the fastest sprint swim of the day. Once i was out of the water and onto my bike, i just put my head down and spun my legs. the air temperature was very cold and i couldn’t really feel my legs but i just kept on plugging away, overtaking the men infront all the time. When i got into T2 it took me a while to get my trainers on as my hands and feet were so cold, and the longer bike had taken its toll a bit on my legs, but out onto the run i js relaxed and pushed myself as much as possible, as due to there being 2 waves of women, i didn’t know whether i was in the lead or not. In the end i had a really good run, and was really happy with the result. I won not only the womens event, but the whole sprint race aswell, beating all the men. I really wasn’t expecting it, but i knew i was in good form after my race at Blenheim.
