Part 2Did you know that Mark Cavendish was the only GB track cyclist at the Bejiing olympics to go home without a medal? He withdrew from the tour in 2008 to get into shape for the madison at the games. He and Brad Wiggins were reigning world champs in this event, Brad Wiggins already had bagged two medals and they were expected to clean up. However, the race didn’t go to plan and Wiggins could not deliver, his body was just too tired from his recent efforts. That night after the race Cavendish sobbed till he fell asleep….Just look at what he has done in 2009!Michael Phelps had had a very mixed year following the Olympics, looked off form in Rome this year….then pulled off the most amazing race I have ever seen….Disappointments teach us how to get stronger, how to grow and how to really enjoy the successes when they happen.As a coach I encourage my athletes to file race reports..it helps them to reinforce all the good points of the race ie what went well. It helps them to understand what they might do differently next time and what things they might want to train in the future.On Saturday what went well - My preps were as good as they could have been. Jimmy ensured my pre race week was perfect and I am really grateful to him for the amazing support. I was on the start line of the biggest race in the triathlon world, I am immensely proud of that. I swam a good swim in the toughest group of triathletes I have ever been in the water with! I rode the strongest 112 mile bike ride i have ever done. Germany was faster but on a much easier course and in much easier conditions. I lost 3 to 4 mins in the confused state getting off the bike and getting over the timing mat!I am really proud of my ride.What would I do differently? Maybe get out here even earlier although I am not sure if that would have changed the medical state I was in, I think I was just unlucky on the day there. Maybe make sure I got some solid proper food at the top of the course?What have I learned? That I love triathlon, I love IM distance and I am not done with this course yet. It is a tough course, not the profile, but the conditions and I would be on my TT bike next time. That health comes above everything else no matter how devastating that may seem at the time. That I have completely brilliant family and friends!!Time to come home now, rest and recover, set the new goals (some already set) for next year and get excited about what next season will bring.Thank you all for taking time to read this blog and sharing this adventure with me.Signing off, Paula.

…..well the blog at least!Sadly my journey to Kona did not end with a triumphant run along Alii Drive to get a medal and a garland of flowers. It ended in the medical tent having been diagnosed with abdominal ischemia - basically the heart stops giving the stomach blood because it is shunting to other parts of the body.But onto the race….Woke up really excited and very nervous! This was the biggest day in my tri career and I was hugely honoured to be on the start line with so many fit endurance athletes from all over the world.It was amazing to be close enough to see “Macca” setting up his bike in transition and to wish Chrissie Wellington well as she walked past me…what a race she had!!The gun went off at 7am,we were off! What a scrum! I swam very wide but still got battered every which way! thats what is going to happen when you put alot of severely competitive athletes of similar swim ability in a restricted piece of ocean! Before I knew it we were at the turn point and not a fish in sight! I was surprised that even on the way back I got well clobbered when normally the field spreads abit…hey ho.It seemed like the swim was over in a flash and into the change tent where I got my bike bag and some sun cream put on me(as it turned out,nowhere near enough!).Onto the bike and passed the crowds who were going bonkers with excitement.A brilliant moment. Saw Jimmy, gave him a wave and set off…the first part of the course loops around the town with some very wooshy corners which I apparently took at speed….It is a fun part of the course. I settled onto the tri bars, prepared for the bike leg,checking my heart rate,eating my banana and having a swig of fluid.For the first part of the course you are on about 40 miles of straight, undulating highway. At this point I was going well, averaging between 16 and 18mph, spot on for me. The HR was looking good and the nutrition was going in well, with the right amount of carb per hour for me. The wind was against us but ok and no worse than a day on Lanzarote. I was pleased to turn off the highway and onto the climb up to Hawi. The road twists up for abit and is much like riding in Kent. The Pinny was brilliant here, she is such a versatile bike and I started picking off a few people who had passed me on the highway. I was looking forward to my bagel at the special food station at the top of the hill…The second half of the climb got tough into the wind which had picked up. I had set myself a target of reaching the top of the course in just over 3 hours, I was just off this but still happy with the ride.The top of the course is where the trouble started. Despite yelling my race number, no one got my food bag. In hindsight I should have stopped,got off and got it myself but was going well, I had food on the bike so the bagel was not essential..would have been nice though! I was shocked that the wind had changed and found myself working really hard to get OFF the climb. When I reached the bottom, I got the first stomach pain. I sat up, slowed up and hoped it would pass. every time I got back on the tri bars I felt sick so had to sit up. Now on a course where good aerodynamics are essential this is not good. I felt ill when I tried to give myself any nutrition and knew I had problems. Earlier this week I wrote about race visualisation and the “what ifs”. I knew the stomach had shut down and could not put anything in, I knew I had to make it back. You can see the bike splits drop off at this time. So nothing went in for at least 60km back. I got back to transition, was helped off the bike, sent to the med tent and evaluated and diagnosed…30 mins later I still could not drink any water and made the toughest, hardest race decision I have ever made - to put my health first and withdraw. It was without doubt the hardest thing for me to have decided, it was absolutely the the right thing to have decided too. To say I was devastated is a huge understatement…end of part one.

Awake at 3:29 (woohoo) -so quite a long wait till the tea and coffee arrived in the lobby!Todays agenda was to tweak the bike gears,tri bars, to swim and to run.After yesterdays’ reports of big fish sightings I was pretty nervous this morning about getting into the waves. I am such a wuss at times! No choice but to get in so thats what I did. Ended up being a nice swim. There was quite a chop on the water today and swimming back was quite hard work, I could feel myself being lifted up on the swell and pushed back out again!The morning was spent doing domestic bits and pieces (and saw the Bayliss’ doing some shopping in the supermarket too!).Headed out for a run later in the afternoon, it was cooler and the breeze wasn’t quite so hot.Ran the course in the opposite direction to Monday and the road follows the coast which again meant there was a nice breeze off the ocean and some nice shady parts. The run felt much better than Monday too.I can feel myself getting more tunnel vision as the week goes on, its like looking down a funnel where your focus closes in on one point. I am thinking about nutrition for the next few days and keeping hydrated too.Tomorrow is a complete rest day which I am looking forward to. My legs are getting the heavy tapered feel now and I am hoping tomorrow will give me that twitchy feeling when you want to get on with it.I have to report at this time that US tele is not great, way too many ads and I will be writing to the BBC about providing iplayer outside of the UK!!! Fortunately I have Mark Cavendishs’ autobiography to occupy the feet up hours - very entertaining!

Awake at 4am(!!) having slept all night for the first night since being here. Felt much better for it and less jet lagged.The objectives of today were to get registered for the event and to suss out the top of the bike course.The ocean was very different today, it was overcast and the water was much more murky as a result. The swell was much bigger today too and the swim felt like harder work to yesterday. Just a short swim today - 20 mins then out for brekkie and to get signed up for the race.Quite glad it was a quick swim today as there were shark and manta ray sightings by other triathletes today!! Apparently there are dolphins playing in the waves too….It was quite a moment when registration opened and it was very efficient once it did. Firstly you are weighed,  apparently you are weighed after the race too so they can establish if you need help rehydrating after the event. Then you fill out medical forms and various waivers and collect your race pack. I am athlete number 836.So now Kona is full of tagged athletes and suddenly the race is very very real.The ride today took us up to Hawi at the top of the bike course. The road up here is quite different to the highway and it is very pretty and much greener. It is rolling and much like riding in Kent( apart from the different temperatures of course). I very much enjoyed the hour ride spinning the legs and thinking about gear selection for this section.The afternoon sped by and at 4pm we all gathered for the parade of nations. As Team GB, IM UK sponsers Tri UK issued us with very cool team T shirts along with a goody bag. We followed Phil Graves in the classic car up the sea front road in the parade. Felt very proud to be amongst a load of ironmen (and women).The eve concluded with tea at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restuarant, very good food!Tomorrow I get to run again…fun, fun, fun!

Awake at 4am(!!) so as soon as the sun came up we got into the ocean to check out the course. The water wasn’t quite as warm as we were expecting but it was crystal clear and teeming with fish swimming over rocks and beautiful coral. The water got deep fairly quickly but was so clean and clear you could see all the way to the ocean floor. We swam out for 15 minutes into the gentle swell, the water getting busier and busier as more triathletes got in for an early swim. After 15 mins we turned and swam back to shore. Sighting wasn’t quite as simple going in as the swell cuts across the bay obscuring the vision more. The highlight of the swim for me was seeing a family of stingrays passing right under me as I swam - absolutely amazing.After breakfast we headed out in the car to drive the bike course, all the way up to Hawi and back. The road is long and undulating to hilly in places. The latter part towards the top of the course and turn point is hillier than the first part, with legendary winds and we saw Chrissie Wellington on a training ride on this section of road.The bike course on Lanzarote is full of changing terrain and scenery; here it is mainly unchanging so I set about mentally dividing the course into sections. For me, having defined sections of the ride keeps it managable. The return section shows mileage signs back to Kona which is nice to see!Today the wind did not seem too wild but the weather was blisteringly hot and I am very aware of how important hydration and nutrition will be on race day.Back from the bike course reccie it was time to go out for my run. It was 1230 and at the height of the heat of the day.Part of the run course goes up onto the same highway that the bike course is on. It has no shade and no respite from the sun. It was tough running to say the least and the breeze reminded me of having a hairdryer blown in my face! I was pleased to get back and cool off!Treated ourselves to a visit to Jamba Juice, a great place which sells fantastic juice combos - Jimmy had the pomegranite pickup and I had the strawberry energiser - kind of sums it all up really!Finished today off with a drive along the first section of the marathon and caught the stunning Kona sunset in the trip. I now know what I am looking at doing on Saturday and they don’t say this is a tough course for nothing!

After a very long day travelling (we had to keep going back over the same time!) we arrived in Kona in the pitch dark and were told that my bike was still in San Francisco…So we drove to the hotel and after buying some water went straight to sleep…Woke up at 5am which I was quite pleased with and to my immense delight found that the lobby supplied tea and coffee between 5am and 7am. My prime objective today was to get my bike back. It is surprising how incomplete you feel without your bike!The day got hot very quickly and by 8am the heat was already quite intense. I walked down to the sea swim start and there were hundreds of extremely fit and healthy triathletes getting into the ocean.I opted for a recovery pool swim at the Kona Aquatic Centre which is a free(as far as I could tell) 50m outdoor pool laned off. It was good to get in the water and move after being squashed up in planes the previous day. Had a good swim then went to find lunch,but not before we went to Wal Mart to purchase a mountain bike for Jimmy( more later).After lunch I chased United Airlines to find out where my bike was. Fortunately she was at Kona airport so we drove up to pick her up. Once back the bike got put together and off Jimmy and I went to do my first bike session of the week…me on my race Pinarello and Jimmy on his newly purchased Mongoose mountain bike! We got onto the IM course which is basically all the way up one side of the island on a dual carriageway then back again. It is undulating and very exposed. I suspect that on a windy day it will be very very hard work. Wind wasn’t too bad as we set off and I can say that this ride was probably the only one I shall ever beat Jimmy on! He said afterwards he had had a tough old workout! I was pleased with my session and pleased to have got out onto the bike course.tomorrow the Expo opens so will be looking at any new kit out there!

After the week in Lanzarote I have had a manic week at work culminating in the Vo2 Cyclo sportive on Sunday. It was a great day and the event will definitely become a regular in the cyclosportive calender.I am starting to taper and it hardly seems like 5 minutes ago that I came back to training! I am getting excited about travelling to Kona, I am definitely in uncharted territory though. I have never done 2 x IM distance events in one year before plus a 1/2 IM and several very long brick sessions!  I became aware today  again of how exciting triathlon is - I have been competing at triathlon since 2000 and triathlon is still taking me to new places geographically, physically, mentally and emotionally. I said before IM Lanzarote that it was the biggest race of my life - I am now nearing the biggest race of my life. It will be so cool to be in the same race as most of my triathlon heroes and I will be proud to finish it. I think that it is normal to worry about whether you have done enough training at this stage and you just have to trust that you have and that whatever happens you will enjoy race day.So…a couple of runs, a couple of bikes and a couple of swims left before I go on Saturday….hope to be able to post some cool pics and the news on facebook and twitter when I get there.Thank you to everyone who has wished me well and given me such amazing support since May, I have appreciated it all.

So with bike unpacked and reassembled, I was excited about day 1 of the training week. It dawned cloudy,humid and windy and as I set off it occurred to me that this week might be different to previous weeks out here. The tri season is coming to a close for many and I had a thought that I may not see so many people out on bikes.This proved true as I only saw 3 cyclists in the first hour! My first ride took me from Masdache(where I was staying)- Yaiza-Timanfaya-Tinajo-La Santa and back (59 km).Memories of the big day in May came flooding back as I climbed up to the camels, across the lava fields to Mancha Blanca.It was at Mancha Blanca where Mum, Dad and Jimmy had been cheering me on for the first part of the bike course so have fond memories here.I dropped down into La Santa village and popped into Pro Bike and had a quick chat and a kit reccie! As I climbed back out of La Santa the weather was getting hotter and hotter and I started to really enjoy the familiar roads and sights. It is a very dramatic landscape and as you ride across the island you realise that it is an island of extraordinary beauty.First ride done, I stood in the pool to cool off the legs and got ready to run. The main road through Masdache is fairly straight and undulating so running was a fairly simple affair of out and back either towards Yaiza or Teguise. I ran for 40 mins and I was pleased with the pace.Day 2 - the first sea swim….Drove down to Peurto del Carmen early in the morning for a sea swim. Found that the sea temp was warm enough not to bother with a wetsuit. Felt I was being very brave as I am not the bravest sea swimmer on account of the fish….Stayed close to the beach as I was swimming alone without a spotter and obviously there were all those fish…..Got a good 30 mins in swimming up and down the shore line and decided then I was outstaying my welcome….The bike session was just a short one from La Santa across the volcano fields (20km) which consisted of 30 mins of climbing followed by 25 mins flying across the National Parc de Volcanes. It is like being on a motorbike if you get the wind behind you up here! Once again I was struck by the sheer beauty of the place(see facebook photos) and was sad to see a pile of plastic bottles thrown by the roadside.On Day 3 after another early sea swim(where I was the only human around!), I did a drive up to the north of the island with the intention of riding home from the top of Mirador del Rio, the hight point of the north. The views from this mountain top are amazing and I went into the observation point inspired by island artist Cesar Manrique. My friend arranged to drive the car and I was to ride back to Masdache. The 45 km ride took in Arrietta, a nice seaside town-Tahiche-Mozaga-La Vaguetta- Masdache. The La Vaguetta- Masdache road is the bumpiest road I have ever ridden on in Lanzarote and it was on this road that my gear lever snapped so I rode home on a fixed gear….Fortunately the nice people at Pro Bike were on hand to fit a new cable and send me back out. Day 4 - Race Simulation Day 3.Dawn broke cloudy with some spots of rain,needless to say I was not impressed with this!Got into the sea and swam. I saw the largest fish I have seen in these waters and I so wish they didn’t scare me so much!It has been pointed out to me that they might not be so happy about having humans sploshing around in their back yards either!It was going to be tricky doing a true race simulation here as my accommodation was 30 mins drive from the beach so I drove back and kitted up pretty swiftly and got going on the bike. The sun was coming out at this point and the weather hotting up. I covered some good distance and the riding was as challenging but as awesome as ever. I did 100km in the 4 hours which pleased me and headed straight out onto the run. I ran 12km in 1 hr 10mins, my pace was steady but ran out of drink on the run and felt very dehydrated.The weather had turned cloudy once more and was very humid so great conditions to practice in. It was a tough day but I was pleased with it overall.I felt quite sore on Day 5 as I got up and prepared for another run. I had decided to run the IM run course as it would be very measurable in terms of pace. I wanted to run on fatigued legs and see how I would fare. It was, again, a strange sensation of covering the race route from May and I was reminded of the sights,sounds(and smells from the restaurants!) of the race. It was motivating run despite being quite tired throughout and I was pleased with the 17km I put in.Day 6 and the last training day I was set to do a 3 hour bike. I was planning to climb up throughLos Valles to the windmills but upon getting up I was presented with rain. I looked over to the climb and could see the top of the mountain was covered in mist. I decided on another route as I didn’t want to get to the top and descend through mist and rain which is cold. So my route ended up being Masdache-Famara-Soo-La Santa-Tinajo-Mancha Blanc-Timanfaya-Yaiza-Masdache (70km). A lovely rolling route despite the wind and rain. Famara is one of my favourite areas - it is a desert type landscape all the way to the wild Famara coast( a surf haven). When it is hot at Famara it is really hot and can be pretty brutal to ride up from the coast.However, this day it was raining and I was travelling down towards the coast. The road sweeps round to Soo then down to La Santa. The wind was pretty strong as I rode up to and through the National Park and I was blown about as I descended down across from the camels.It was a case of head down and grip the top tube!At Yaiza  the rain stopped but the wind got up even more and the last 45 mins were fun!Off the bike I felt a little sad as it was my last session of the week. I love training here and training on my own all week helped me learn more about the island. When you only have yourself to talk to( and answer of course) you become more aware of your surroundings, the topography and what roads lead you where.However it was a really useful week and I hope it has helped in my final preps.

 The Vitruvian is a fabled race in the triathlon calender - it has won race of the year at the 220 awards for several years on the trot. It is a race I have wanted to do for a  few years. I entered it last year but just did not get there for a variety of reasons so I was determined to do it this year. It fills out quickly so early entry is required and when I entered back in February it was my intention that this would be the race to end to my season this year. However, as things have turned out it became a perfect session for race simulation number 2.My expectations of this race were exceeded. I have done the Dambuster race( standard distance) at Rutland water (the same venue) so I had an idea of the race routes (basically 2 x everything!). Rutland water is some of Englands nicest open water we swim in, always a tad cold but not foul tasting! The bike route is stunning, rolling (including the famous Rutland Ripple hills) but with some amazingly fast sections too. The run takes you out across the dam of the water(which is always challenging due to the cross winds) and the return run has a nasty little ’stinger’ as you approach the finish.The day before the race was very windy so I packed quite alot of warm kit to wear for the bike section. With a 7am start on an Autumn morning I wasn’t going to risk being frozen!We arrived at the race venue at 5am,before dawn, along with the other competitors (1000 total). I was pleased with the decision to rack the bike the eve before as I could see people trying to sort bikes out in the dark in the field car park. Dawn was just breaking as we made last min preps in transition. Transition closed at 6am so we had to be in wetsuits(unless you had a supporter who could look after kit) and out for the race briefing. The first wave was at 6.20am just as the sun was rising and this was Jimmy’s wave. The reservoir looked stunning as the sun rose above the water. My wave wasn’t till 7.10 so it got a tad chilly waiting by the water but it was very exciting to see the first waves off.When it was my turn to start there were still guys from the earlier waves in the water so we got mixed up with slower swimmers from the earlier waves…made for an interesting swim!After 1 lap you get out and run along the beach a small way and back in for the second lap…always cool to hear the shouts from the crowds as you do this. The second loop went ok and felt I had had a steady swim, well within myself.Out of the water, I had a rubbish T1, I was very cold and could not get my wetsuit off one of my legs!Then I had to get socks, gilet and mitts on(don’t normally bother with all this!). I was trying out compression socks so it was fun getting them up over wet calves! Once out on the bike I set up the garmin and settled into a nice pace, thinking about keeping the cadence high and not letting myself get carried away too soon. Kept an eye on my HR too as it would have been easy to think I was doing the standard distance course just the once and pelting off! I had a very solid bike and kept my pace pretty much for the second loop. The second loop was noticeably windier which was great on some sections but really tough on the final run in to transition…a little hill into the wind!T2 much quicker than T1 and off on the 2 x 10.5km loops across the dam and back. I mentally broke the run into the following sections..1. just get to the dam, 2. just get across the dam(with a cross wind), 3. just get to the church turning point(into the wind), 4. just get back to the dam(wind with you), 5. just get back across the dam(very strong cross wind!), 6. just get back to transition, 7. do points 1 to 6 again! I was aware my running has not been as I would have planned with the various problems I have had so wanted to make sure I ran all the way, albeit slowly. It was a slow run and I was disappointed but I did not want to do any further damage at this point. As it happens I have bruised something on the top of my foot so am icing and elevating today and dorsi flexing the foot is a no no!Jimmy had a brilliant first try at this distance, he enjoyed it and is looking for 70.3 events next year!He came 89th out of 1000…not bad for a first time!As a race I would thoroughly recommend The Vitruvian - it is extremely well set up,organised and marshalled. The feed stations were well manned and nothing ran out - there were even portaloos on the run course.The commentators make a great atmosphere and their energy is amazing as they announce every one finishing. They had commentators at the turn point of the run right on the other side of the dam - often turn points of races are lonely places but not so here. It really does help to have people cheering you in the last painful stages of the long races.For me it was another very valuable training session as I approach two very big weeks of training before tapering. Lanzarote will be a testing week of big volume training. It will be the first time I have trained on my own there and I will digging deep on the long tough bike rides and runs out there. Perfect preparation!

I have become addicted to the long range forecasts of Lanzarote and Hawaii this month…Lanzarote as I am going there in just under two weeks for the big training week and Hawaii for obvious reasons!Both are looking pretty warm so it is a little shocking to be training in this autumnal weather! On Sunday the ever generous Richard drove myself and Jimmy(with bikes so we could ride home) to Bexhill where he was competing and we were cheerleading for the team.The drive was very early,we set off at 5.30am…..and we saw the dawn as we drove down. It is an odd feeling when you are just supporting, you know you are going to an event but you don’t have the colly wobbles going on! We commented on how the season was on the turn as we saw mist hanging over the fields and the leaves turning golden.I had had a slightly easier week this week following on from the big brick session last Sunday so was feeling quite perky after a brisk 2 hour ride and short run on Saturday. The aim of the session was to ride home from Bexhill to get another fairly long ride.As we cheered our teammates on the weather took a turn for the worse and it was pretty chilly when we got onto our bikes mid morning.I would like to give a shout out to Stefan, Glenn, Richard, Oli and Paul who all competed at Bexhill and all put in brilliant performances.My good friend and GB team partner in crime, Claire, met us at Bexhill and kindly guided us through Pevensey marshes. I am sure this area in the sunshine is beautiful……however,we seemed to be on the edge of a long downpour the whole way through! Claire rode with us till mid Sussex where she turned off for home and Jimmy and I continued in the blustery, wet weather. The course was very undulating(4,330 ft of climbing) and tough riding.It was good to get home,get dry and get the compression tights on. Another longish ride under my belt and I am starting to feel my long distance endurance legs again.On Monday, although I was due a day off, I went for a long run as I hadn’t got as far as I had intended on the race simulation session. I wanted to do this to do a run on tired legs and for some mental prep too. It turned out to be a great session and has boosted my confidence no end.  I have also been very careful to follow recovery protocols and to treat “niggles” with respect and feel this has helped with prep a great deal.Today I did a shorter run and got thoroughly soaked….it is indeed autumn!