ITU Leeds

It was an exciting day....the ITU Triathlon was in Leeds.

We packed up the panniers to cycle into town from Garforth. I was feeling like death with my cold but there was no way I was missing the day. We arrived at Roundhey Park and I had a little tantrum with R as to where to watch the swim but we soon got over that.

The women's race was off just after 1pm.....I need to watch it on TV but it looked as though two groups had formed and one took a better line than the other. Lucy Hall seemed to have a good one.

After they exited the water, we got the bikes and peddled down into the city centre, locked up the bikes and wriggled into a gap in the large crowd! A breakaway group had formed and was doing good but just had 90 seconds on Gwen Jorgensen which was unlikely to be enough. 

Flora Duffy led out on the run and was pushing hard, with a gaggle of British girls behind. Gwen was moving through fast. I'm a massive fan.....her running technique is amazing, my friend Sandy is her mechanic and she is cool! Still......I'm a fan of Jodie too as she wears her heart on her sleeve and I know what she hasn't got in talent, she makes up for in work ethic. A true Daz Smith coached athlete! 

Talking of coaches, I bumped into Joel Filiol another coach and said hello to him. Rosemary and I watched on the big screen and Gwen eventually caught up with Duffy, passing rapidly and on to victory. I think only Helen Jenkins or misfortune can stop Gwen win in Rio. 

Rosemary then headed off to her brother and sister-in-law's for a cuppa and I went off to see Alex, an old team-mate and pretty decent athlete I'm helping out. On the way I did a few calls...(no rest for a coach) bumped into Nicky who was my tutor on my triathlon coaching course and a few other folk. 

After my finding Alex and having our chat, we headed out onto the course to watch the men's race. Al and Jonny were smashing it as usual. The crowd was going wild too........which was 2-3 deep right round the course. Leeds was going wild. 

I then bumped into Dee, another friend from Manchester and hung with her and her mate for a bit. Rosemary was back on course but I was on the 'inside' bit and she was on the 'outside' so we weren't reaching each other.

It was a masterclass from Al......he wasn't going to lose on home turf. Jonathan wasn't far behind. Royle was 3rd and Gomez wasn't far behind having dug deep! What a great day of racing and an amazing atmosphere.

I eventually got to R and we unlocked the bike for the cycle home. My mood had dropped.....energy levels totally shot after a week of being ill. The rain started to fall heavily too. It wasn't helped that the canal route back to Garforth wasn't ideal for road tyres. It was bumpy and the hard-packed mud had developed a covering of slippery slime........ There was no way off for far-too-far as it was enveloped by motorway and busy a-roads. We toughed it out!

Fortunately, Mummy Byde had dinner on the table, and it involved crumble n custard! I went to bed happy!