2015 World Championships Chicago - part 2

After the Sprint race i had a day to recover, get the feet up and start focusing on the next race the Olympic distance, for me my preferred distance and a race where i knew the field would be bigger if not stronger. I actually felt surprisingly good after the sprint, i feel i almost needed the hard hit out to get the travel and fatigue out my system!

Olympic race. Time: 2:00:1
9th (1st Brit + European)

If i wasn't nervous for the Sprint i certainly was for the Olympic i'm not sure if it was because i now felt i could be up there because of my result in the sprint or what it was! The swim course was slightly different, we were to go down the lake before doing a turnaround and swimming all the way back up, a strange swim map and it lead to a really tight starting pen.

The start of my swim was a disaster, i was completely caught up at the back, being battered, pulled along and someone even made a grab for my timing chip. I just didn't have time before the horn to get in a good position and i really suffered. The first 500m were just not going to plan, i couldn't swim at a hard pace and i was stuck between so many awful swimmers. Fortunately after a bit of a dig i managed to find clean water and start to pick up my pace and gain control of my race. The swim as it was in the Sprint was long and it felt that way, coming out the water i was quite dizzy from the waves and the battering but knew i had a lot of work to do.

The bike course was different again, still two laps but this course took us underground in tunnels around Chicago with some really technical corners and bends and some seriously fast sections. As there was no wind underground and it was warm air it was seriously fast on the bike. I had my good friend and fellow Brit Dan near me on the bike and we both pushed off this, hammering it hard and gaining a lot of places on the field. Again i was feeling very strong on the bike, my numbers were high but i knew i could keep it controlled and still run well. After the first lap i just decided to open up, hammer down the power and just go for it. I figured if i ran out of energy or couldn't handle it then so be it, but it was world champs and time to go.

Off the bike i thought i was up there again, maybe top 20 but i couldn't tell. I started the run in my usual style of going out hard. At the beginning of the run i was with a super tall American and a Canadian, both who were strong runners but who i soon dropped as they were putting me off my rhythm. I was then running with a really strong runner (Jordan a Brit) and a speedy Mexican and we began to really push the pace and chase the field. Coming into the dead turns i would sprint in and out of them to gain some time and not loose momentum. The second time i did this i was able to drop Jordan and it was just me and the Mexican. I soon came past my friend and who was first Brit Angus and then i just had to hold on for dear life. I had a lap to go and part of me felt good and the other part was exhausted. But it was now all or nothing, the last stretch and i let everything out on the course.

To finish 9th was massive for me, i really felt i had a solid race after the swim and did everything i could to lay it all out there. I was also the first Brit and that was also fantastic. I turned up to Chicago in the form of my life and was so happy to have two solid results after a long hard year. I worked very hard to get in that shape and even with my mid season blip im proud i managed to come back and get that result.

Thank you for your support and especially to my coach Graeme and parents.