Geneva

Last weekend I popped over the French/Swiss border to Geneva for the Geneva European Cup. Another beautiful place to visit and one tough race!

This race was back to the more standard Olympic distance of 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. Double to distance of my previous two races.

After being bashed to oblivion in Edmonton and Holten I was relieved to have a relatively smooth swim thanks to the smaller field and longer swim. The pace was high from the start and by the first buoy at 300m the field was strung out in a long line. This meant that wrestling people around buoys and fighting for position was not so much a factor in the swim, but the speed was killer. Knowing that maintaining my position in the swim was vital if I wanted to be in the front pack on the bike I made sure to stick on the feet in front of me and not let any gaps open up, and putting in a surge if any did. I managed to hang on to the front pack through the swim but paid for it as soon as we hit the shore. Unfortunately my fitness wasn't where I'd hoped it would be at and I struggled through the swim to bike transition, something that is usually my strength, and lost contact with the pack.

Swim start

On the long run from the swim to the bike

The bike course was 6 laps of a 7km loop incorporating a steep hill almost a km long. Part way through the first lap I was caught by a group of 4 girls from behind. We worked well together and caught a couple more girls in front who had dropped off the front pack but lost time on the leaders every lap. The hill on the bike played a huge factor in the race, splitting the front pack and spacing out the field. By the 6th time up the hill my quads were cramping and I was well and truly ready to get off my bike!

The 4 lap run was by no means easy either - hot and hilly (albeit flat compared to the ride!). With tired legs it was not a fast 10km but I managed to catch a few girls from the pack in front to finish in 14th. No-where near where I'd like to be but a solid result considering where my fitness is currently at.

One of the real challenges I've had over the past month is getting in any solid training to maintain fitness amidst all the travelling and racing. Now it's time to knuckle down, do some hard work and get back the fitness that's been lost before evaluating where to race next.

Gillian