Ingrid & I decided that I should race my first World Cup race this year so we could see exactly where my weaknesses were and how far I was behind the top women in the sport.  As Gamagori in Japan was one of the local races on the circuit, June 09 was the big day.  As it happened, the race drew one of the toughest field’s of the circuit with most of the top twenty in the world ready to tow the start line.  I felt a real mixture of excitement and nerves in the days leading up to the race.  I hadn’t had a chance to do any special preparation for the race as we only made the decision to race 3wks before and I had been doing other races so it was definitely going to be a suck it and see experience.

I finally recovered from my cold on Thursday, which was a relief and I still can’t believe how long it has taken.  It has made me realize how much you need to look after yourself in race season as a simply cold can have a big effect yet alone something more serious.  I had taken lots of rest this week so I wasn’t sure how I was feeling and planned to have a good hit out on Saturday to wake myself up before the race.  Luckily I had some airmiles, so both Ingrid and Cookie could come with me.  As this was going to be as big a mental challenge as physical, it was very comforting to know I would have them both there for support.  I was looking forward to having Ingrid there to analyze my performance and watch the other athletes as she had only be able to see me at local races before.  We all headed off on Friday afternoon and arrived in Nagoya at 10pm to be loaded into a huge bus for the three of us and set off for Gamagori.  It is about 1hr from the airport and a fairly sleepy town by the sea.  After dragging our bikes and gear down the narrow street to our hotel, as the bus wouldn’t fit, we were finally shown to our rooms.  In typical Japan style, you could hardly swing a cat in the room and Ingrid was in fits of laughter as Cookie and I had the smallest single bed you’re ever seen to share! We agreed to meet at 8am the next morning for a ride round the course and the only thing remaining was to locate some drinking water for the night.  I spent the next 15mins slotting coins into the drinks machine in reception and tasting cans to find one that resembled water as I couldn’t read any of the labels – attempt #4 was Ok and I wearily stumbled back upstairs to bed.  

I woke to sunlight streaming through the window and quickly jumped out of bed to put our bikes together as I had to be back for bike & uniform check at 10.30am. The first person we saw that morning was Carol Montgomery off for an early morning run. It was going to take some adjusting to think of these stars I have admired for ages as simply other athletes to race but then this all part of the learning experience.  The weather was gorgeous, not as humid as Hong Kong but hot.  Surprisingly, I managed to find the course easily having competed here two years ago at the Asian Championships and we were able to work out the route without too much difficulty.  As we stopped for a quick map check another athlete pulled up on her bike to ask the way, it was Barb Lindquist. She is someone who I have admired for years as she came from having a weakness in her run and worked incredibly hard to come through as one of the best triathletes in the world.  She has always come across as a nice person during interviews and after spending some time with her over the weekend is one of the nicest people we have ever met.  This is one of the great things about our sport, many of those at the top are very down-to-earth, friendly people.

We spent about 15mins working hard turns on the course and practicing the corners, my legs were feeling good so with that we headed back to the hotel.  I did a quick 20min run off the bike as I hadn’t done any running this week.  By this time it was really hot and I made a small wish to God that it would be hot the next day as I felt I would be able to cope better than some of the others coming from Europe.  I think I was most nervous about the bike & uniform check as I knew they would be really strict on tri-bars and also logo’s on your race suit.  I was so worried they wouldn’t let me race for some reason that there was a huge sigh of relief when I heard “No problem – Next.”    It was quite daunting stood in line watching all these famous names and super fit bodies wondering around but Melissa Aston (who I had met the previous weekend) popped over for a chat and soon put me at ease.

By this point we were all starving so we headed off to the supermarket to stock up on the way back to the hotel.  After a plate full of great sushi, it was soon time to be thinking of biking down to the course again as there was swim practice from 2pm until the race briefing at 3pm.  There was already a real buzz in the air when we arrived, if you have never raced in Japan before I would recommend it.  The races are SO well & professionally organized, it makes you feel special just being there and it is the same for the age-group races.  I was keen to get in the water and test out the dive start from the pontoon.  The swim is held in a power boat lake with 2laps so you have to run onto the pontoon at halfway and do another dive which is two opportunities to loose your goggles!    The first dive went well and I felt really good in the water, which immediately eased my nerves but then I tried a second dive and lost my goggles – Great!  This pattern repeated itself where I would have a good dive followed by a bad one, eventually I managed a couple that were acceptable and decided that was enough.  The race briefing was more an ITU update from Les McDonald than the normal style of briefing followed by selection for the start positions.  Athletes go to the front in order of ranking and select their pontoon position, the top 10 names are blacked out until the end however you can see the position of those from 11 onwards and pick you start accordingly.  I felt I had a reasonable position (10 in from the end) and near to a couple of the slower swimmers.  With all the excitement for the day over, we cycled back to the hotel to get everything organized for the next day.  Daniel from Hong Kong was also racing after a good result in Ishigaki a few weeks earlier and Ben was travelling with him.  We joined them for some dinner that night in a local Japanese restaurant and the food was excellent.  

My prayers had been answered when I hopped out of bed the next morning and it was already really hot at 8am when Ingrid and I went for a walk down to the beach.  One of the benefits of racing in the afternoon, is that you can have a good breakfast and you have time to let it digest.  I stuck to the tried and tested rice pudding and fruit and before long it was time to cycle down to the race.  As we turned down the road, the wind hit me – where had this come from?  I couldn’t believe it, I know I asked for sun but when did I mention wind!  I already knew there was a strong possibility I may be either on my own or in a very small group on the bike so was expecting to work hard.  The wind could have a serious impact on my race as this would make things very tough if you were on your own.  In a World Cup race you will be pulled off the course if you are about to be lapped by the leaders.  As the bike course was 7laps, I knew it would be close as I expected to be 3mins plus behind the likes of Hackett & Lindquist, if I managed to be able to enjoy some draft in the swim.  I knew my swim was going to be my weak link and this was one of the main reasons I was doing the race to see how far I was behind the field but I still hoped to be able to find another athlete to swim with.  

When we arrived at the stadium, the age-group race was in full flow and the stand was already close to capacity so there would be plenty of crowd support!  Ingrid and I headed off for a bike warm-up and some sprint’s having eventually found a piece of road that wasn’t closed for the race.  We had a section under the stand to store all our gear and prepare our transition area as we wouldn’t be able to set-up until 11:10am and we had to be at the starting ceremony at 11:45am.  After everything was stowed, Cookie and I headed off for a run warm-up and my legs felt really fresh and much better than on my run the day before.  At this point I had to leave Ingrid and Cookie and started to get really nervous but luckily everything happened so quickly I didn’t get too much time to worry.  Most of us did a lap of the swim as a warm-up and were soon be ushered under the stand ready for the announcements and walk to the pontoon.  As I walked onto the pontoon in one of the last positions (based on ranking), I wondered why everyone was running…….Oh well, I better run too. I soon found out we were already under starters orders and the horn had gone almost as soon as I had found my spot.  I had prepared myself to swim for my life until the first buoy at 300m when I had been told things would settle a bit into groups.  Things were going Ok and about 30m out I found myself swimming stroke for stroke with another girl as the main pack had gained about 6m on us.  At this point, I decided this was silly and I should slot in behind her and enjoy the draft.  Wrong!  I don’t think I had realized how fast we were swimming with the effect of the pack in-front and must have also mentally eased off and when I looked up she was gone!  I couldn’t believe it, and to top it off there were thousands of people watching my mistake from the stands and big diamond vision screen behind the lake.  Oh God, at this point I just wanted to stop and cry but then I remembered Rebekah Keat last year being last out of the water and still finishing which gave me hope.  I put my head down and have never swum so hard in my life, every muscle in my arms were screaming.  The only consolidation was I had my own personal canoe – maybe they were worried I was going to drown!  As I came up to the pontoon for the end of the first lap I could still see a small group ahead.  Then came mistake #2 – I lost my goggles in the dive!  There was no way I was going to stop in front of the whole stand and put them back on so I decided to swim to the next big buoy at 300m and then I could hide behind it and get them in position……this was beginning to sound like a day with Wallace and Grommet!  As I finally emerged from the water, there was an almighty cheer from the crowd and I was reliably informed the loudest of the day from a number of people – fame at last!  As I ran to transition I didn’t think I would have the energy to jump on my bike but encouraged by the energy of the crowd I flew through T1 and was soon speeding out onto the course.

I knew I must be miles behind but put my head down and pushed harder than ever as I was determined to make it to the run.  I came out 4.5mins down on the lead group, which consisted of Hackett, Harrop, Lindquist, Reback, Gibbs & Taomina followed by a couple of other packs containing some big names like Ashton, Montgomery, McMahon and the next girls were 1:20 ahead of me.  The course was a technical out and back in an industrial estate, which looped through the stadium every lap, which meant I could see how much the packs were gaining on me.  The blood started to get to my legs by the end of the first lap and I was able to maintain a good pace despite the wind.  After a few laps, I started to gain on the three girls ahead of me, which gave me some encouragement and I was determined to real them in.  I could also see another pack ahead of them who were also not making any ground, which was frustrating as I knew I would not be able to get to them but was moving as quickly.  Every time I came through the stadium Ingrid and Cookie were screaming encouragement and lap times but they knew it was going to be a tight call.  I could hear the helicopter behind me filming the lead pack and it was as though it was chasing me and I was in some bizarre game of cat and mouse.  On lap 5 I caught and passed one of the Japanese girls and could clearly see the other two just up ahead but I could also see the lead pack not far behind me.  I gave it everything on the next lap but was pulled over with 500m to go and only about 15m behind the other two girls who got through as the lead pack started to unclip and slow ready for transition.

I sat slumped over my handlebars exhausted and disappointed for a few minutes and then headed back to transition.  Cookie had come out to find me and gave me a huge hug, making me feel much better and I was so glad he had been able to come with me.  When things don’t go according to plan, you really need people who care around you.  Having both Ingrid and Cookie at the race definitely made it easier to come to terms with the fact I hadn’t been able to finish and to gain positives from the race to use for the future.  It was great to be able to watch the rest of the race live with Loretta comfortably taking the win followed by Hackett & Lindquist.  The men’s race was really exciting and it was amazing to watch all the action at such close quarters.  Greg Bennett came through on the run to take his first World Cup win followed by Bevan Docherty.  Daniel had a disappointing swim being 50seconds behind the lead pack and also had to work hard on the bike doing the majority of the work in his pack of six.  He eventually finished in 36th position in a time of 1:57:06 and will be looking to boost his ranking at the next ITU race in Korea.

A couple of hours after my race when the adrenaline had died off, I felt completely drained and realized how hard I had worked.  After all the races had finished, we went for a bike cool down on the way home to try and clear some the stiffness in my legs.  Even the smallest bump felt like Mount Everest and I was relieved to get back to the hotel only to realize we had to pack our bikes ready for collection in 90mins!  After a quick shower, we headed off to the official hotel for the awards dinner, which was a casual standing buffet and a chance for everyone to mingle and chat.  We had a really good evening and made some new friends which would make it easier the next time I traveled to a World Cup race.  The race provided me invaluable experience and has enabled us to plan my training and racing focus for the next year.  It also highlighted that my focus really needs to be swimming, swimming and more swimming……….I will grow fins!