London Triathlon Race Report: Coached Athlete Beth Hodge
Coached triathlete Beth Hodge raced the London Triathlon a few weeks ago, check out what she had to say! 
So I had finally found the nerves and the encouragement from Coach Mark to enter an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run), something that I had keenly avoided ever since taking up the sport. Aside from the general 'stepping-up' and capability fears (having only done two full sprint distances), I wasn't really looking forward to the London Triathlon as an event. I had heard mixed reviews in the lead up, too many people in waves, a boring run, smelly dock water for the swim, and stairs into T1?! What on earth was I about to do?
Happily, all of my fears about the 'terrible' London Triathlon were quickly dispelled. The atmosphere on entering the Excel hall was electric. Being in an 8.30am all female wave had allowed enough time to get up, have breakfast, do a final kit faff (following the 10 previous day before kit faffs) and get to the venue without having too much 'worry' time. The wave compere was geeing up the girls, and it just so happened he was from Barry! I felt quite at home and ready to race. Not knowing what to expect being the first Olympic race, I was here to enjoy it, and to see what happened.
So into the water of the London Docks (which was a tad smelly, yes) and the hooter sounds. Having done a handful of continuous 1.5km open water swims I knew I would handle it. It was good to have this practice behind me.
It was a difficult first half of the swim, as we were swimming towards the sun so it was tricky to see the markers. There was a certain amount of trust put in the other swimmers around me, and for once I wasn't too afraid to get in the mix and draft whilst trying my best to sight. It worked pretty well, with only one elbow to the head and one face grab... The race was so friendly the girl who grabbed my face even said sorry mid swim! I soon got into the rhythm and before I knew it the swim was over, and was on the red matting. Wetsuit off, into plastic bag and towards to dreaded steps!!
T1 went reasonably smoothly, it's certainly the truth that practice makes perfect, memorise your spot, I do a practice run in from the end of the rack whilst racking, and the most important lesson i've learnt, less items means less faff...
The closed road bike course was fast and smooth, with a few 'hills' (bridges!) thrown in for good measure. It was brilliant cycling into London past the O2 arena, towards the city sky scrapers, and then alongside the river past the London Eye towards the Big Ben turnaround point. Had a slight memory loss as to how many laps/ turnaround points I should have been doing but sorted it by asking someone from my local Triathlon club, Windrush. Note to self, really study the course before hand.
Sharp ramp into T2 shocked the legs (and my lungs!!) and then onto the run. This was to be the real test, I'm not a natural runner (nor swimmer, or biker...) and you just need to ask Mark to see how much I try to avoid run training. I was surprised at how ok my legs felt, I was expecting all sorts of problems (cramps, heaviness etc) but it was all ok. A true reflection of training and preparation. It was the mental strength that needed to be called upon at this point. I had in the few weeks before the London Triathlon started doing my runs without music, and this has helped immensely, you can get into the rhythm of the run which helps with pacing no end.
Just as it was starting to get a tad tough, (as in the moment when you wish it would end) I heard a male voice from the sidelines shout "come on Beth!". It was a fellow Whittle-fitter, Craig Patterson, cheering me on wearing the familiar blue Whittle Tee to boot. It was a welcome boost and between Craig and my two friends who had very kindly come to cheer me on throughout the whole event (including a silly early wake up call), they gave me the energy needed to get the race done!
Before I knew it I was into the Excel and running towards the very fancy red carpeted lit-up finish line with a massive grin on my face. I had raced an Olympic Triathlon, and lived to tell the tale. I was aiming for a sub 3 hour race, and came in at 2:40. Work works.
Next stop, Mallorca, October. The Challenge Paguera half-iron distance awaits me (1.9km swim/ 90km bike/ 21km run). Nervous? Yes. Confident? Most certainly. However I've got a great team around me. Within the space of 8 months I will have conquered my first full Sprint, Olympic and Half-Iron distance guided by Coach Mark and with the support of the rest of the Whittle-fitters and friends and family. I'll never be an elite, but what I do have is an immense sense of achievement, confidence and enjoyment which grows week on week, a year ago I would have dismissed ever being capable of doing any of this. Tidy!
Well done Beth, great race! Onwards and upwards!
