It’s been a while since I last made a post on here, so I thought it was about time a gave you an update into what I’ve been doing and what’s happened during these last few months.
Its been a difficult few months for me since having salmonella back in April. I had managed to build myself back into a decent level of fitness that would allow me to be in with a good chance of making the European team at the qualifiers in Llanelli. I was feeling confident on the start line knowing I had done all I can to get into the best possible shape I could be in considering the circumstances. I had a really good swim and came out the water in third place. It was the first time using my new Yonda Ghost 3 and I loved it, it felt so quick in the water and came off really quickly in transition. I soon bridged across to the lead two on the bike and was feeling quite strong. A front group of 6 or so riders soon established itself and we built up a good lead on the chasing pack. Heading into the last lap I was feeling pretty strong and was ready to run hard off the bike. But then that’s when it all went wrong. With around 3km to go my rear skewer had managed to work itself loose somehow and my wheel dropped out. It turns out my wheel had been rubbing for the majority of the race, so I was having to work much harder than I should have as well. I had to stop and lost contact with the leaders. I tried sorting the problem as quickly as I could but I lost a significant amount of time. I knew it was going to be tough to make it back on with the time I had left, but I time trialled hard and made it back into T2 just as I was caught by the chasing group. Transition 2 didn’t go much better either, as I fell over twice on the wet grass trying to rack my bike. The first lap of the run was horrid, mentally my head had gone and I was suffering as a result of the time trial effort. I started to feel better on the second lap and was making in roads on the leaders, I thought it was possible for me to still make a top 4 finish but I just ran out of tarmac and ended up finishing in 6th place which wasn’t good enough to qualify for the team. This result has taken some time to deal with and settle in. I had planned a lot of my season around the championships, and not being able to race there due to something occuring that was out of my control was a big disappointment. I knew I had the ability to achieve a strong result at Europeans but sadly it was not to be this year.
I didn’t have much time to dwell on the race, as I was quickly back into school and revising hard for my final few weeks of Alevels, and the never ending exams that my school were setting me. During this time I also picked up a few minor injuries. The stress of balancing training and schoolwork finally caught up, resulting in a trapped nerve in my lower back, causing significant pain in my hip to the point where I couldn’t walk. This set me back a few weeks which was very frustrating after the already tough start to the season.
These factors have meant that I have missed a lot of races this season, however I was able to the Eastbourne Triathlon which is one of the best events I have ever done. It was well organised and an added bonus that it was on my doorstep. It was god to do a race with no pressure and purely for fun. I had a strong race and came away with the overall win. I would definitely recommend this race or any race run by the Xbourne team, they are well run and in amazing locations.
A few weeks ago I raced in the British Mixed relay team championships as apart of the South East team. This is my final year in the South East academy and it was good to help the team to a British Junior Title as we dominated the junior competition and finished 4th Overall, only behind Loughborough and the two National Triathlon Performance centre Wales teams.
In the next few weeks I am racing in the British Champs where I am hoping to have a strong race and try and qualify for the World Championships in Bermuda. I’m not too sure what races I will do after due to the challenges of covid, but hopefully I still have a few more races left before I close off my junior season and enter the U23 ranks.
Hamish
I stayed in the front pack for the first lap and tried to stay out of the wind as much as possible. After the first lap, the pace slowed slightly and everyone bunched up. We were nearing the long hill at the back of the course and I knew this was going to be a key moment in the race. I positioned myself on the inside just before the hill, meaning I had space to move so I could get the best line. As soon as we hit the hill there was a surge in pace and the group quickly splintered. Halfway up the hill, the group had quartered in size to around 6 of us with one person just ahead. By the top of the hill, I found myself in 4th place, around 10m behind the leader and with 5 other strong runners. This part of the course was very challenging with sticky mud covering the whole course. Every step I took I would just sink into the mud and have to drag myself through it. We then had to negotiate another hill caped in sticky mud. I was still in 4th place but there were now two people just in front of the group of 3 I was in. 
I was starting to struggle now, the mud was sapping energy every stride I took. However, I knew I had to try and close the gap to the leaders. Towards the top of the hill, I pushed on and we entered into the extra loop. This loop was flat and fairly dry, meaning the pace increased. I had managed to drop the two in the group and I was now focusing on closing the gap. 
I came out the loop in 3rd, I hadn’t managed to close the gap but I had put in some distance between myself and 4th place. We now had around 800m to the finish, and I really started to push on. The last 400m or so was all up a gradual hill with long grass and more mud. The gap behind continued to grow and this time I was closing on 2nd. Sadly I had left it just too late, but I crossed the line in 3rd place, just 3 seconds off 2nd! Everyone else in the Kent team also had really strong races and we ended coming first in the Team race! I was so shocked to finish 3rd at the British Champs, but I knew i had had my best race. I had prepared really well for the race, so I was extremely pleased with the work and to finally get the result I knew I was capable of.
Hamish Reilly Tri 