It started of 2 weeks before on the Saturday night and I had just got home from a long day of supporting at the HUUB Relays. I was getting ready for bed when I heard my mom's phone ring. I didn’t think much of it and carried on with what I was doing until I heard her shout my name from the bottom of the stairs. I sat down at the table and looked at my mom. I was very confused at this point because it was 8.30pm at night and couldn’t figure what could be so important that somebody would have to call at that time of night.
It was in fact coach Mel calling to say that I had been chosen to be on the West Mids team to compete at the IRC. I was so shocked kinda like my dad when he finds he has no rum left in the fridge! Anyway, I was told that I would be filling in for another girl as she has broken her collar bone and couldn’t compete which was unlucky for her but very lucky for me. We finished the phone call with Mel and started to tell some people the news.
The next 2 weeks were filled with stress, excitement and going back to dreaded school. I had to make sure I had some last-minute training in place to make sure I was ready enough. Thanks to Phil that happened as I did some transition practice on the Monday. Swimming with a wetsuit on in a swimming pool when its summer is not ideal. I was having to get in and out the pool but at the same time showing my mom how it should be done!:). Now I was ready to go. Until the Friday before the big race I wasn’t feeling myself and felt ill at school. At the back of my mind, I knew if a miracle didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be competing on the Saturday. Lucky enough for me with a BIG nap and some food I was definitely feeling 90% better. That afternoon we packed everything up and headed off to Malory Park. It was finally starting to hit me that this was real and not some dream I had.
We arrived at Mallory Park and started setting everything up. We were parked right near the race track so when I would wake up in the morning, I would have a great view of the race track I would be racing on once again. Dad had made an amazing risotto like usual for tea and I was really hungry. It was like déjà vu because this is what happened when Mom and Dad were racing two weeks before. That night we enjoyed our tea, got attacked by moths and bobby long legs again and had a good time before the IRC on the Saturday
I woke up at 6.00am and got ready to go and get registered. I got registered and started to sort my transition stuff out. Everything was sorted out and now for the worst part waiting... TS3 girls weren't off till last so I got to watch the others go off first. Now it was time to go to the holding pens and wait for our turn. I did a wetsuit swim on my 1st race. My swim went well and transition was ok. I ran out of transition with my bike and went off. Around a quarter of the way round the track I changed my right-hand gear but it wouldn’t go through. It caused me to come off the track a bit. I manged to stay on my bike and finish the lap. I came to the dismount line and came off coming back into transition. Somebody had put their stuff on my space so when I came in I couldn’t find my spot and I ran past it. I thought oh well to myself and put my bike and helmet on the rack. I was pleased with my run as I felt strong.
It was not my best performance but not everything can go my way all the time. Now I had my down time to recover and refuel myself. A shout out to my mom and dad though for making it happen. It was great having them support me. I had my recovery food which was my Pot noodle which was amazeballs as I would usually say. We headed back down to the track knowing I had to do It all over again. The 2nd race went better than my first thankfully. I swam in my tri-suit not wetsuit this time and the water was
definitely cold!
It was a great experience and I am grateful for the opportunity but for now I'm just going to stick with having fun and enjoy with what I love doing best.
Isabel Bradshaw
