Swimming with World Champion and double Olympian, Katy Sexton!

I’m not sure what I else I expected, but wow Katy swim’s fast! Mind blowing-ly fast.

Last Saturday, Katy and I met at the Guildford Spectrum Leisure Complex and started the set doing 8 lengths front crawl as a warm up. I obviously wanted to make a good impression so I attempted to swim at a decent effort-level to avoid being categorized as a “loss cause”. What actually happened… me thrashing-about in the pool trying to not look slow, while Katy effortlessly glides through the water and laps me in the process.

Posted by allisonloosley

My first DNF in Triathlon

The Monster Triathlon just isn’t my race. Two years in a row… Year 1 – DNS (did not start), Year 2 – DNF (did not finish)…

Last year I came down with the flu a few days before the race and was unable to compete. This year I planned on racing the Monster Triathlon as my main focus race and my last triathlon of the season… There’s nothing worse than dedicating time and effort in training and then ending up with a big fat DNF!

The last time I got a DNF was in rowing when I raced at the Royal Canadian Henley with Becca. We were in the under 25 women’s double final and the collar on my oar wasn’t fastened properly; it slipped right off at the 1250m mark leaving us unable to finish the race; equipment malfunctions are the worst!!

So what happened this time? Well here’s the very short race report and a few silver linings from the experience…

Posted by allisonloosley

Thorpe Park Sprint Triathlon Race Report

THE SUMMARY

I had a disappointing swim performance but because of it, I was really motivated to push myself on the bike and run. Overall, I am so pleased with the result — I finished third of all the women which is a major milestone for me, my first podium in triathlon!

Total Time: 01:21:07

Gender Position: 3 / 42

Category Position: 2 / 15

More detail on my race below and on what’s coming up next!

Posted by allisonloosley

My First Olympic Distance Triathlon

Bewl water triathlon – 8 aug 2015the Summary

In the middle of no where. A foggy start. My first 1500m open water swim since ‘the episode’. A busy bike course. A hilly run. And one thankful Allison for having some amazing support on race day.

Total Time: 02:45:16

Gender Position: 9 / 51

Category Position: 4 /13

Posted by allisonloosley

Toronto Triathlon Festival

The Toronto Triathlon Festival is a qualifier for Age Group World Championships. To qualify you need to finish top 3 of your age group (mine being F25-29). Even though I knew I’d be punching above my weight trying to qualify, I really wanted to give it an honest effort.

I raced the Hyde Park Sprint Triathlon three weeks prior to the Toronto Triathlon to benchmark my progress, and didn’t get a huge amount of confidence… I finished the race in 1:27 – 2 minutes slower than my first triathlon at Crystal Palace, 10 minutes slower than I was hoping for and I managed to come off my bike at one point.

When I looked at last year’s Toronto Triathlon finish times… the top three times were 1:11, 1:14 and 1:17. My aim became a) finishing in sub 1:17 and b) praying that faster athletes don’t show up to the race – if that happened, I might just qualify!

Well I certainly gave the race a good honest effort. I finished in 1:16, which was my exact target but I ended up 5th in my age group… this year the top three times were 1:09, 1:10. 1:10. I had no chance! Motivation to train train train train – need to get my swim and bike times a few minutes quicker.

Posted by allisonloosley

Today I raced my first open water swim event.

I signed up for the 1500m race, borrowed a wetsuit and made my way to Dorney Lake for the race.

I found out about the Eton Open Water Swim after speaking to a few members of Tri London at the Crystal Palace Triathlon a few weekends back. It seemed like the perfect segue from pool swimming to open water swimming – without having to worry about transitioning, cycling and running after.

I thought I had prepared myself quite well earlier this week by going for a swim in an open air Lido to test out the wetsuit and get familiar with the cold water… well it definitely didn’t hurt but I was still completely and utterly shocked 100m into the race today.

Shocked by… the cold. the compression. the commotion. and the conditions.

Posted by allisonloosley

Take the risk… Try something new

I have made some pretty bold and scary goals for myself this year. One being starting a healthy living blog and the second being training for Triathlon. At such a high-level, both are extrememly intimidating and overwhelming.

A willingness to take risks is ingrained in my approach to life… but it doesn’t make the action of taking risks any less scary!

I am shifting from simply living a healthy lifestyle to documenting it in a way that is helpful and inspiring; and for Triathlon, I am shifting from just running to also swimming and cycling

Do something scary. Take a risk and try something you suck at, or something you’ve been avoiding.

Posted by allisonloosley

No more posts.