European Triathlon Championships – Dusseldorf Germany
So the quality just stepped up another gear! Deva was strong but with Dusseldorf being close and relatively easy to get to, the quality of the field really was the best Europe had to offer.
So off we went on our road trip, fellow athletes from Humber tri, Craig and Jamie, with all our gear, onto the ferry in Hull in Jamie’s dad’s VW camper van, all pimped up.
I always stay in Air b and b accommodation to keep the costs down and this has resulted in some interesting places, this fell into that category nicely!! Basic is an easy way to best describe it I think. It’s location, well, great if you where on a stag do but as the music went on throughout the night, we shouldn’t have been surprised to see a busy street with people still drinking at 7 am as we emerged in our shorts and vests for a run session the first morning haha. Yep we were squarely in the middle of the night life. 
After a day sorting out admin, pre-race briefs, bike and run reccies, transition check in and of course eating we managed to get some ear plugs that sorted us out for the second night. Race day and gain we dodged the revellers as we all went down to the start early on the Sunday morning.
We had reccies done the previous day, we knew about the looooong run to transition then the long run out and we also had done our homework on the bike route. I had the advantage of watching most of the waves go off as I was in the last but one wave. This allowed me to pick what I thought would be the best starting point from the floating pontoon.
I had one of the biggest waves of the whole event with 50 of Europes best to try and overcome. My swimming is much better than it used to be but I am still not able to get out of the water with the front pack. The swim went well, a few lose arms and feet making contact but nothing too bad, however the time of 13:26 doesn’t indicate it, this was because as we got out of the swim we had to climb 5,000 steps before running 400m to T1, so additional time was added before we crossed the timing mat.
T1 was the longest I have ever come across, you couldn’t see the end! But you also couldn’t go wrong. I came out the swim in 26th place in my category and immediately wanted to try and make up time on those faster Phelp like swimmers. Up the 5,000 steps, double stepping then onto the blue carpet all the way around to T1. I had a good reference marker for my bike so no issues with that, then out of the wetsuit and a barefoot 500m run to exit T1, on a cobbled road!
Over the mount line and I was a little over zealous as I leaped like a gazelle, clearly too high only to come crashing down to earth like Teresa Mays election campaign, hitting my seat hard and towards the back forcing the seat to tilt up at the front, a quick manual adjustment and I was down into the TT position and away.
By this time the rain that started for the first wave had now stopped and although puddles remained throughout the course the road was mostly dry. I knew where I needed to slow down and where I could continue to keep the power down around the course but due to numerous crashes, marshals were rightly blowing whistles to try and slow me down as I approached bends. Whilst I approached cautiously, I knew the course and it was as the European Championships so I was willing to take reasonable risks.
So after hammering the bike like a crazy Englishman, coming in in 33:07 and 8th in cat, I entered T2 at speed and was quickly into my trainers and away.
Now my running is ok and improving as the season goes on but again it wasn’t at its best, but boy did I save the best until last!!
The run was 5k so pretty much an all out effort after a fast bike, how far into the red you can go and hold it is the best way I can describe it. Within the first 2k I was overtaken by about 3 or 4 guys who I recognised from my category, annoying but I was pretty much red lining. Due to the run coming back on itself in parts and 2 laps, I was aware of other guys who were in my cat and chasing me down!
Push push, into the last km and 2 guys caught and passed me, one a Belgium guy and one a Brit, both of whom were in my category. I tagged onto the Brit, a guy called Darren Bell and I tried to sit on his shoulder, this worked momentarily but it wasn’t long until he started pulling away so I was left keeping pace with the Belgium. I knew the end was approaching so dug deeper than miner to stay with my rival, with 200m to go and only about 50m in front. The noise then rapidly increased as we approached the blue carpet with 100m to the finish. I could hear people shouting my name and the cow bells from Alice’s parents ringing, this helped me pick up the pace for the final run in.
As I hit the blue carpet I was flat out, legs screaming, heart screaming and head wondering what the hell I was doing but I ignored all the signs to slow down as I knew it was nearly over.
I overtook the Belgium with about 80m to go and could see I was catching Daren. Still some 20m ahead but he was coming back to me, keep pushing I told myself, right through the line any good coach would say! It was within the last 30m, I could hear people shouting, ‘he is coming’ clearly supporters of Daren. As I came passed him with only about 10m to the line I knew he wouldn’t be able react and I crossed the finish line like I was in first place and I had won it on the line. In my mind I did, well that battle at least. It looked against all odds at one stage but as I often tell others, never ever give up!
My final position was 16th in Europe, on reflection I am pleased with that and especially with the way I finished, still more work to be done though.
The rest of the team did a great job also within there own races with some strong efforts by all. We celebrated this on the evening with traditional German food and beer before having a night on the mojito’s.
It was a pleasure as always to share the journey, pre and post races nerves, laughs and good stories with fellow club members Craig, Jamie and Becky. Well done all.
What’s next? Well a quick recovery as I have a World Championship qualifier and National Championship all rolled into one the following weekend at Ripon, both these factors will ensure a top class field will be on display once again.
Thanks to my sponsors for your continued support.
3 times harder! 