So, Tartu European cup. I went into this race with little expectations, and looking forward to another race, after my rather average result in Holten. So a course reccie showed that the race would be very interesting. It would start with an upstream swim in the river, against a current where it was difficult to make any headway, and then onto a technical bike course before a simple run.

Race morning came around, and the weather looked perfect for racing, fairly cool, but dry. However, during the women’s race, the weather started to take a turn for the worse, and by the time we were lining up on the start line, there was a thunderstorm, flooded roads, and a bunch of very soggy spectators. Before we set of, the race organizers told us to take it steady out on the bike!!! That was ambitious…

I was ranked about halfway down the start list, and hence started halfway along the pontoon. Starting the swim, and I slipped on the blue carpet, meaning I ended up behind before I started. Fortunately I kept my calm, and swam right over to the right hand side, as this was furthest out of the current in the river. Fortunately after the first lap I emerged out of the water much further forward than I was hoping. Throughout the second lap I worked my way forward and came out of the water in a good position.

Through transition I just missed the first group, hence rode hard until a small chase group caught me. I sat in for a lap, and then the second time up the hill I tried to jump across to the lead group, however I didn’t quite have the legs, but as I was doing all the work on the front of the chasers anyway, I worked hard and rode the remainder of the race on my own.

By the time the run came along, several parts of the course were flooded, but a solid 15:55 run on an accurate course saw me into 11^th place, and my best result to date in a European cup.

Once again it was then onto rest and recovery – as I had the Jenson Button triathlon the next weekend. An exciting format of heats and then finals meant I was looking forward to this one.

A good heat for me meant I felt good going into the final, and so I proved, as I led out the swim, and into t1 first. Throughout the bike, I made a few tactical errors which nearly cost me a place near the front, however I managed to pull myself back into contention a couple of times, and came into transition with 4 others. Onto the run, and I knew there were some strong runners around me, and as I lost my bottle on the bike, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay with the pace that was set early, so I immediately settled into my own pace, and finally crossed the line in 4^th, a great result, but more so, I was pleased with how it had felt.

A great end to a solid block of racing, now into a couple of weeks of hard training leading into London, and the final parts of the season.