Liverpool,London and the u20s festival

In my last 3 triathlons of the year I have been making improvements, Liverpool I was top 20, London top 15 and in the U20s festival I was 12th. Improving my position coming out of the swim and managing to stay in the front pack on the bike has helped me to finish higher and I am starting to get used to the longer distances which I struggled with at the start of the year and now with my season over I have a lot of analysis and changes to my training schedule to make.
This winter I am planning to race in cross country, cyclo cross and swimming galas but I will mainly be putting in a lot of training to get even stronger.

JBF sponsorship

Thanks to JBF( the jack boericke foundation) for sponsoring me and helping aid the financial side of my sport, they have really helped me to carry on progressing in the sport and i look forwards to a long partnership with them as a foundation athlete!!

Trinity Triathlon

At the trinity school in south london i raced in the earliest starting triathlon this year,
i arrived at 5am, signed on, set up in transition and began warming up at 6am,
the race was a very confusing one with 6 laps on the bike and 7 laps on the run.

i was the 2nd to go on the swim which was 300m, i went out hard averaging 1.06 per 100m and caught the swimmer ahead of me, i then had one of my best T1's of the year coming out in 1st, i hammered the bike and stretched my lead over 2nd place and then after a good T2 went into the run with good legs finnishing with a fast run.

i felt strong throughout the race and won another London league race, this has boosted my confidence and helped me gain experience for the bigger races to come.

West-GHS national qualifier

On the 21st of june i raced in my 3rd ever 10mile time trial in the national 10mile qualifier, to qualify i had to be in the top 3.
The course was very hilly and slow with a strong headwind for a lot of the race, i didnt know what to expect in terms of the competition because i had never done it before, however when i saw the national champion turn up i realised it was going to be tough,
i got talking to the team manager from one of the uk's largest cycling teams ( catford equipe-banks) and he gave me a lot of invaluable advice for training and my future,
i had a good 45minute warm up on my turbo before being set off 10th,

the course was 2 laps of a 5mile circuit and my first lap was just over 11minutes, i realised that if i could keep it up although the 2nd lap was longer i would beat the fastest time from last year so i kept pushing harder.

Across the Finnish line my time was 23.39 which although 45 seconds off of my best time, put me in 3rd position where I stayed, i had qualified for the nationals!!!
1st place did the course in a time of 21.58 and 2nd place in 22.45 which meant I was not far off the national champion, I am very much looking forwards to the nationals where i can compare my times to the fastest junior cyclists in the country on a very fast course and go for a pb, I will be aiming for 21.30.
Thanks to zone3 for providing my glasses and for JWCT for helping pay for my racing bike and other equipment.

Blenheim triathlon!

On the 14th I had the Blenheim triathlon which was hosted in  Blenheim palace, the venue was spectacular with the amazing views of the lake and palace,
I had a good warm up and a pre-race massage from my masseur jaqui gordon then went and positioned myself at the swim start behind a fast looking swimmer, the start was frantic and fast as always however i was pulled along by the other swimmers around me and ended up very high up.

 Leaving the swim i was in the front pack in the top 15 however going into transition i had problems finding my bike and ended up just behind the 2nd pack having lost about 30 seconds

On the bike i caught up to the 2nd pack and managed to pick a few people off before going into the 5km run where i was crippled by a stitch due to having worked so hard on the bike.

Although disapointed with my run and transition  i can learn from my mistakes and be happy about the bike and the swim! I spoke to Zone3 whilst at the race who sponsor me for my amazing wetsuit and trisuit which helps me perform to the best of my abilities in the swim

London aquathon

On the 30th of may i raced in the London aquathon for the 2nd year in a row, my swim was not great because i positioned myself poorly and ended up taking the turns wide however i had a spectacular run, this is a good sign of improvement finnishing 24th. After the race i met up with my sponsor (Zone3) and discussed the future!

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Generation Ucan sponsorship!

I would like to thank Generation Ucan for sponsoring me with nutrition and post/pre race drinks
I look forwards to racing with the benefits of their drinks!

Wales-Llanelli gateway triathlon!

On the 16th of may I raced in Wales for the first time in the European qualifier race
going into this race i had not had any open water races for the season and was nervous about the distances as this was my first full sprint triathlon, I decided to use a Ucan pre race drink to provide me with energy throughout the race as I had to be up so early for the race I hadn't been able to have a full breakfast.
From the start of the swim i was being battered by older, more experienced athletes and within 200m i was mid pack. However i was one of the closest to the side of the lake where it was most shallow and found myself scraping my hands, knees and feet against the bottom of the lake, a few times i had to stand up and jump back into the race due to the depth.
Once out of the swim i worked hard to catch everybody up from near the back of the race in about 30th and managed to gain 15 places, going into the run i was in 15th and managed to stay in this position.
Having finished 35th at Loughborough i was surprised to have finished so much further up despite being the youngest in the age group!
Thanks to my sponsors zone3, Ucan and JWCT.

Crystal palace triathlon!

today (10/05/15) was the First of the London league triathlons of 2015 for me, I went into this race knowing i had worked hard and had tapered well for the race, 

on the swim i was the first to start( in order of time) i had the fastest swim by 4 seconds and was 30 seconds faster than last year! once on the bike I powered my way up the hills and despite my mind yelling to slow down kept pushing right the way round, i was over 30 seconds faster here again than last year.

On my run I quickly settled into the rythm and picked up the speed half way round

for the first time this year I felt strong on the run and managed to get a 1 minute 30 second improvement from last year! this gave me a massive 2 minute improvement over all

and my first win of the triathlon season!

thanks to Zone3 for the race suit and glasses

and thanks to JWCT.

Hog Hill GP road race!

I took part in a 1 1/2 hour Crit at Hog Hill, This was a race with adults and some very strong juniors

after the first few laps of getting used to the pace and the people in the peloton around me i worked my way to the front and sat in until the 10th lap, by this point there was a 2 man break away, Up the hill i went for it, 100% and attacked, i got away and held a 12 second gap...for about 30 seconds, before the leaders of the peloton started to work together and close me down, after this i fell back into the peloton before giving it all i had in the final sprint securing a reasonable 23rd out of 70 riders and 5th junior which i was very pleased with

this was great preparation for the Crystal palace triathlon and the European qualifiers the week after!

London Mini Marathon-2015

Today(26/04/15) was the London mini marathon, i had great prep going into this race having been training with my new training partner and felt great on the day, despite a early start....5am :(
In the pens everybody was a little bit jittery but the majority of my team knew each other so we kept each others spirits up and nerves down!
Before i knew it i was standing on the start line at the 5km to go mark for the London marathon staring down the road with goosebumps from nerves or the cold i wasn't sure, but this was going to be an interesting race!
I stood next to my training partner on the line and as soon as the klaxon sounded blasted off the line straight into the front group, i stayed there for roughly 300m before settling down at a pace i knew i could hold for the 5km, eventually i found myself with somebody i recognised and stayed on there shoulder before overtaking, with 600m to go they kicked but i stayed close, with 300m to go i kicked and managed to pull away and secure 17th position- the highest i have ever come.
i got the time 16.06 for 5km a new pb by 1 minute and 30 seconds
i was delighted and I'm really looking forwards to the summer!
thanks to zone3 and the Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust for support and funding!

Loughborough Performance Assessment day!

I was invited to a performance assessment day on the 11th and 12th of April which took place in Loughborough, a limited number of athletes from this assessment day where then asked to race in Wales in the European qualifiers, i was one of them!

The swim went well on (Saturday), i went out in a 1.08 for the first 100, then averaged 1.12s and finished with 9.48 for 800m which i was pleased with as it was my first 800m timed ever. this gave me a good place to start for the following day which would be the bike and run.

The next day (Sunday) i started in 35th position, starting just ahead of a mass of people who had similar swim times i found myself in a good group for the bike, however the wind was very strong and i was not prepared well for the winds force and ended up being blown out of the group and once out of the group the wind made the bike part of the day hell, i narrowly avoided being lapped out (unlike almost half of the field) and got onto the 5km run which considering the conditions i was well please with, i finished in 31st position and was chosen to race in Wales on the 16th of may!
as always thank you to my sponsors Zone3 for the glasses and The Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust for helping me get there with funding!

BRING ON WALES!

Sportsaid and Dave aitchison fund

I have been rewarded with funding from Sportsaid and the Dave Aitchison fund which has helped me a great deal for this year so I would like to thank them publicly for this financial aid.

National Duathlon Champs- rockingham 2015

Today was the national duathlon champs and as a junior i now had the challenge of a race twice as long, twice as far and twice as hard as i was used to. The conditions were shocking with gusts of 60+KM/H making the bike....interesting... the run began fast and stayed fast with me running just off the front pack and as the race stringed out I had a few GB athletes in my sights, numb hands made my transition slower than i would have liked but I was efficient and focused going onto the bike. On the bike i realised quickly that it was safer on my own that in a group, which meant any groups I over took sat on my wheel then got dropped, until I found a nice group which i managed to settle in with.
with the wind and rain beating at me i was very happy to have my zone3 sun glasses on!
going into the final transition and run i was well placed in the 3rd group of the race having picked up a few more, however on the run i quickly realised my body was not responding, i picked up the pace towards the end and finished in 25th which for a first year junior and most likely one of the youngest in the race was pleasing
As always thanks to my sponsors;
Jaqui Gordon my masseuse who treated me before and after
zone3 for providing me with sunglasses and my race suit
and The Jeremy Willson charitable trust.

Zone3 video

This is a video about zone3 and what they stand for
as well as showing off their great kit.
give it a watch and see what its like to be a triathlete and what triathlon is all about!

English Schools Cross country champs-Nationals!!

On the 18th of march i took part in the selective cross country-English schools.

For the last 4 or 5 years it has been the biggest race in terms of amount of runners I have taken part in and a big part of my winter training to see where i am going into my first multi sport event.

This year i finished almost 200 places higher than ever before, beating many rivals and finishing first for my county by 60 places also closing the gap between myself and the leader from 3 minutes to 1 minute 15 seconds. The race has made me very hopeful going into the first race of my season

the British Duathlon Champs at Corby! stay posted for my race report and as always thank to zone3, The Jeremy willson charitable trust and a new sponsor my amazing physio and masseuse Jaqui :)

Training camp-Spain

From the 14Th to the 28Th of February I was invited on a training camp-my first- with London Triathlon with West Midlands triathlon and even a group of GB athletes being out there at the same time. It was a great week of tough sea swims, Long painful rides and hard runs but it was amazing to mingle with some of the best in the country and to learn what it takes to make it in the sport.
I made some great new friends and finally had a chance to try out my new Zone3 sun glasses in the sun of Spain! Bring on the season!

Middlesex Schools

I had the best race of the year at harrow, Middlesex schools 2nd place! a silver to add to my bronze medal from counties!! I started the race running with the older U20's expecting to be dropped instantly but somehow stayed up there, on the second slightly shorter lap i started to drop but managed to stay with a group of u20s just behind the top 3, as the race went on i got further and further ahead of second place and with a strong finish beating the rest of my group i finished in 2nd, with a silver medal and a very muddy back!

Lea Valley junior winter series-road race

Today I had my first junior category road race, I had a great start and positioned myself well in the bunch, there were a few attacks early in the race but I worked hard with the rest of the Peleton to chase the attacks down.
On the 5th out of 12 laps I attacked.
I managed to surprise them and get 50 meters before anybody realised i wasn't in the peloton any more however without anybody to work with and with a group of 7 riders all of whom were both older and more experienced than me, the gap was soon closed.
up to the final lap the race was a game of cat and mouse between single riders and the peloton, there would be an attack and it would be closed then another rider would attack, it looked like it would come down to a sprint.
on the final lap everybody spread out coming up to the final hill i opened up with 300 meters to go, maybe a bit early, 3 people over took me just before the line and as i went over another rider snuck past me,
however for my first junior race and the youngest in the race i was very pleased with my overall performance. thanks to zone3 for my glasses and jwct for money towards the bike i raced on.

Middlesex county champs

I took part in the Middlesex county champs cross country in Alexander palace at the weekend and came 4th which I was delighted with because I am the youngest in the age group, however I missed out on bronze by just seconds. it was a tough race with a very large hill however I am glad I did it as it will help me with achieving my targets for this year.

ZONE3 sponsorship

zone3 has made me one of their ambassadors for the 2015 triathlon season!
I look forward to receiving a great wetsuit and tri-suit for 2015.
The Jeremy willson charitable trust has also sponsored me for the 2015 season and helped to pay for most of my race gear.
I also have a great masseuse and physio on board as of 20/03/15 named Jaqui who will help to keep me in peak condition.