2013 European Triathlon Championships, Alanya Turkey - Part 3
Tales From Turkey - Race Week
Wednesday 12th June
The journey to Turkey started reasonably at 9am with a journey to pick up my roommate for the race Hilary Westall. All quite uneventful with a safe arrival at Gatwick until that is we realised the air traffic control strike in France was going to wreak havoc with anyone trying to fly over France!
So we had the obligatory 4hr delay at Gatwick and given that made our arrival time in Antalya midnight this was shall we say a little frustrating!!!?
Thankfully a glass of wine and a bit of retail therapy and before we knew it was time to get on the plane. All goes smoothly and we land in Turkey and get off into some serious heat, even at midnight! Despite being very tired, the heat definitely helped to improve my mood :)
Coaches were all lined up waiting to take us to the hotel about 90 mins away but air con and a small snooze and hopefully we'd be in our hotel in no time. Unfortunately the bus driver has other ideas and we have to stop at a small supermarket/cafe at 1am!? To say we were unimpressed is the understatement of the year. Everything was very expensive and given the time of night and that we weren't that far from Alanya no-one had any idea why on earth we were stopping!
We finally arrived at the hotel at 2.30am (now I was like the living dead!) unfortunately 3 coaches of us all arrive at once and there is one person on reception, what!? Luckily we are at the front of the queue and get to our hotel room quicker than those who were sadly queued up on the street :(
Drama over and we are in our room ready for a big sleep which thankfully with no alarm set we manage to do til 10am!
Thursday 13th June
We wake up to clear blue skies and a beautiful warm day. Excellent start! After a late breakfast, we build our bikes in the hotel room, which thankfully doesn't take too long!
Then it was out for a recce of the swim course. Lots and lots of athletes (mostly GB) already there and saying the water was nice and warm. It looked beautiful, clear and blue but it was a little choppy.
The swim was good, the buoys a little difficult to see with the chop but it felt nice to not be in a wetsuit and freezing cold!
As we walked along the streets towards the registration within 5 minutes hair and swim suit seem completely dry! A nice change from finishing an outdoor session at home and then getting straight into a puffa jacket and warm boots!
Registration doesn't take long and we get a nice bag along with some documents we need for access and to attach to helmet and bike.
The only other pending thing to do is go and recce the bike course. But given it's pancake flat we aren't too concerned about it. After a nice lunch and a bit of a laze around the pool a few of us head off to go and check it out. We find the start easily but the turn around isn't yet marked but we think we know roughly where it's going to be, some cobbles are going to make it interesting at race pace and we are all hoping there is no rain overnight or on race day!
The rest of the day is to just chill out and have my bike checked out by the excellent race mechanics to make sure there is no damage to the mighty midget machine as she is affectionately known :)
This should have been an early to bed night but Hilary and I decided gas bagging til 1am was a much better idea! Oops!
Friday 14th June
After a good night sleep (eventually!) because tonight I doubt I'll get much! We head to breakfast and don't have anything to do until the compulsory race briefing at 12pm. We do manage to get a pre race massage with the lovely therapists and the lovely Sarah Mead from our tri club is there doing her thing. Nice to get a relaxing massage from her for a change!
We all head down to the race briefing and taxis are the order of the day, it's stinking hot and we have to save our legs for tomorrow huh! The standard distance guys and gals are already into their race and we hope that our Oxford Tri friends are having a good morning!
Nothing to shock us at the race briefing apart from how hot the room is with hundreds of us in it!
After the team photo, can you see me (?!!!) we all head back to the hotel for some lunch, tough life!
After a bit more lazing by the pool I head out for a bit of a walk to get some gifts for those who have done me favours with loans of things and also those who are on cat sitting duties as Chris has gone to the Lake District to try some Via Ferrata!
Then it's time for us to go and rack our bikes and go and cheer on the Elite women. It's a very inspiring race and great to see Vicky Holland from GB getting a silver medal. She looks totally controlled and strong on the run when we see her. I hope and pray that I will feel the same! Albeit running at a much slower pace!! :)
Despite this being my first actual attendance at a GB Age Group event I feel surprisingly calm and only a little nervous. I imagined I would feel like a nervous wreck! My coach tells me this is a very good thing and athletes who have felt like this recently have gone on to have a great race. I hope this is the case for me too!
So we go back to the hotel to do the last minute faffing (of which there is always plenty!) and to have some dinner and prepare for an early night as the alarm clock needs to go off at 4.30am!
Wednesday 12th June
 |
| Nice location for a race huh! |
So we had the obligatory 4hr delay at Gatwick and given that made our arrival time in Antalya midnight this was shall we say a little frustrating!!!?
Thankfully a glass of wine and a bit of retail therapy and before we knew it was time to get on the plane. All goes smoothly and we land in Turkey and get off into some serious heat, even at midnight! Despite being very tired, the heat definitely helped to improve my mood :)
Coaches were all lined up waiting to take us to the hotel about 90 mins away but air con and a small snooze and hopefully we'd be in our hotel in no time. Unfortunately the bus driver has other ideas and we have to stop at a small supermarket/cafe at 1am!? To say we were unimpressed is the understatement of the year. Everything was very expensive and given the time of night and that we weren't that far from Alanya no-one had any idea why on earth we were stopping!
We finally arrived at the hotel at 2.30am (now I was like the living dead!) unfortunately 3 coaches of us all arrive at once and there is one person on reception, what!? Luckily we are at the front of the queue and get to our hotel room quicker than those who were sadly queued up on the street :(
Drama over and we are in our room ready for a big sleep which thankfully with no alarm set we manage to do til 10am!
Thursday 13th June
 |
| Tac Premier Hotel, Alanya |
Then it was out for a recce of the swim course. Lots and lots of athletes (mostly GB) already there and saying the water was nice and warm. It looked beautiful, clear and blue but it was a little choppy.
The swim was good, the buoys a little difficult to see with the chop but it felt nice to not be in a wetsuit and freezing cold!
As we walked along the streets towards the registration within 5 minutes hair and swim suit seem completely dry! A nice change from finishing an outdoor session at home and then getting straight into a puffa jacket and warm boots!
Registration doesn't take long and we get a nice bag along with some documents we need for access and to attach to helmet and bike.
The only other pending thing to do is go and recce the bike course. But given it's pancake flat we aren't too concerned about it. After a nice lunch and a bit of a laze around the pool a few of us head off to go and check it out. We find the start easily but the turn around isn't yet marked but we think we know roughly where it's going to be, some cobbles are going to make it interesting at race pace and we are all hoping there is no rain overnight or on race day!
The rest of the day is to just chill out and have my bike checked out by the excellent race mechanics to make sure there is no damage to the mighty midget machine as she is affectionately known :)
This should have been an early to bed night but Hilary and I decided gas bagging til 1am was a much better idea! Oops!
Friday 14th June
 |
| Well they keep saying rest is important! |
We all head down to the race briefing and taxis are the order of the day, it's stinking hot and we have to save our legs for tomorrow huh! The standard distance guys and gals are already into their race and we hope that our Oxford Tri friends are having a good morning!
 |
| Hundreds of Sprint Triathletes! |
After the team photo, can you see me (?!!!) we all head back to the hotel for some lunch, tough life!
After a bit more lazing by the pool I head out for a bit of a walk to get some gifts for those who have done me favours with loans of things and also those who are on cat sitting duties as Chris has gone to the Lake District to try some Via Ferrata!
Then it's time for us to go and rack our bikes and go and cheer on the Elite women. It's a very inspiring race and great to see Vicky Holland from GB getting a silver medal. She looks totally controlled and strong on the run when we see her. I hope and pray that I will feel the same! Albeit running at a much slower pace!! :)
Despite this being my first actual attendance at a GB Age Group event I feel surprisingly calm and only a little nervous. I imagined I would feel like a nervous wreck! My coach tells me this is a very good thing and athletes who have felt like this recently have gone on to have a great race. I hope this is the case for me too!
So we go back to the hotel to do the last minute faffing (of which there is always plenty!) and to have some dinner and prepare for an early night as the alarm clock needs to go off at 4.30am!
 |
| Everyone will now be in bed, hoping for a great race next day :) |
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