2015 World Championships Chicago

Well i think after being home a week the jet lag is finally fading and i can muster up the energy to write my race report from the 2015 World Championships in Chicago!

As most people reading this probably know i decided to race both the Sprint and Olympic race as i knew i had the fitness to recover between and hit both very hard. So here is how i felt they went!

Sprint -
Time : 1:01
7th
So after arriving to Chicago on the Monday i had a few days to get over the travel and spin out the legs (after fixing my bike!) and on the Thursday the Sprint was the first race. The swim was a straight line up Lake Michigan and i knew i had to position myself well to avoid the chaos so I moved wide in the holding pen and found a good line. It was strange before the Sprint i wasn't feeling nervous like i usually would i just felt like it was another race and i was ready to go. I had a decent swim, it was nothing special but i was in a good position and feeling relatively fresh onto the bike.

The bike course was pan flat and two loops. At times the course narrowed and was a little technical but i really enjoyed it as you could constantly lay down the power and the speeds were seriously high. I set out to just ride as hard as possible, to keep the power high and work up the field. I knew i was having a really good race and was flying past people, on the second lap it became quite crowded and you had to be aware to avoid some riders and people sitting on your wheel (Brits included..) but i was off the bike in a fast time and ready to hit the run.

Transitions were really big but i used this to my advantage, as a strong runner i would run really hard through transition and i think this helped gain some advantage time. Coming out onto the run i was with one other runner but he set off at a pace i couldn't really hold after going so hard on the bike. So i set off alone and just wanted to really work hard up the field. Once again the run was an out and back and despite the 30 degree temperatures i was feeling really strong. I wasn't sure of my position at all but just kept fighting for more time and pushing hard, as i came into the finishing 800m an American decided to have a sprint finish with me, i knew he was in my age group so really pushed with everything i had to cross the line before him. It made some great photos!

To cross the line 7th felt incredible, the previous years Worlds i was 17th so to be up 10 spots was a good feeling. I was also second brit my 1 second, so that made me very hungry to be top Brit in the Olympic race!