A rough swim, a puncture and heavy rain didn't stop #TeamTCUK athlete, Nikki Sommers, grabbing an AG bronze at Challenge Almere-Amsterdam 2017! 

Pre-race

On the whole I felt quite well prepared. I’d crashed my bike a month before and hurt my shoulder, but fortunately dropped a few swim sessions, and the pain settled. I had a busy month at work, with a lot of nightshifts, but managed to sleep enough and get enough training in, without getting poorly. Jon was good at listening to me, and reducing sessions as needed, so that I wasn’t too tired.

I knew I was going to swim and run well, and had PB-ed all of my races this year, but wasn’t so sure about my biking. Last year I did a lot more riding. I guess it is difficult to balance training for an ultramarathon at the start of the season, and then continuing to train for an Ironman. I did know that I had prepped as much as I could alongside my job, and felt strong going into the race.

Swim

Time: 1hr 06min 20sec; a swim PB!

Really rough mass start, with everyone except pros going off at once. Got hit and punched hard a few times (thought I might have broken my jaw…) but managed to keep pushing and find some space. In the end really pleased with my time.

Positives: shoulder wasn’t too painful, raced well and got out ahead of most women. I exited the water feeling strong, and not exhausted before the bike.

Negatives: like a washing machine at the start! I’m used to starting at the front, but this was the roughest swim I’ve done yet; I was really surprised by it.

T1

Time: 04:07

Went really well. Quick transition. I arrived in the tent after two women, and left before them. No fussing around. I wore my bike arm warmers under my wetsuit because of the bad weather forecast; saved me lots of time.

Bike

Time: 06hr 02min 19sec

Grr!! A really frustrating bike! Set off steady, in the rain. Got a flat tyre half way round the first lap and lost 9 minutes changing it. Nice tail wind on the coastal stretch, but tough headwind in-land. Very frustrating to watch everyone overtaking me on the bike whilst changing my tyre.

Stuck to watching HR after flat tyre, otherwise would have pushed too hard trying to make up for lost time. Rode well considering flat tyre, and relative lack of riding this year. Finishing the bike feeling ok. Got my nutrition right; no vomiting, not dehydrated, didn’t bonk.

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T2

Time: 03min 36

Nice and straightforward; no faffing. Changed my socks as soaking after heavy rain on the bike.

Run

Time: 4hr 18min 03sec

Pleased with run time, although would have liked to be closer to 4 hours, but still a good PB. Started well (probably a bit too fast); did first 20k in 2hrs, but then slowed down. I didn’t stop except to fill up my bottle at aid stations once a lap. I ran almost all of it, except for about 100m each lap, out of one of the aid stations.

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I felt really strong, and confident about the run, much better than previous years. Knowing I had trained hard and could do the distance twice over gave me a lot of confidence.

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Post-race

Three weeks post race and I’m feeling ok. I’ve rested a lot, but have been climbing frequently (good to have a change). I started running more this week, and have had three decent runs in the mountains. My legs feel good; not too sore after this. I’ve neglected my bike a little bit, but I’ll get back on him after my holiday. I generally feel like I am recovering well. I’m impressed to get to the end of the season without injury, without being really sick, and to have raced strongly!