European Championships Bilbao - Helen Pickett

In 2019 I unexpectedly crossed the finish line of Outlaw X 2nd in my age group and subsequently qualified to race with team GB at the Euro…….2020 cancelled, 2021 cancelled and suddenly its 2022 and my place had rolled over.

Spain was the venue so climbing and sunshine were the perceived order of the day – or so I thought!

The lead in wasn’t great, my first endurance ride with 1000m of height gain caused me a major panic that I would never manage the heigh gain, which according to the athlete guide was 1200m over 51 miles. Cue a panicked conversation with Paul (who was sunning himself in France at the time), me hoping he would agree that I couldn’t do it so I could gracefully withdraw – how wrong was I? Result of the conversation – ride up Snowdon twice in 48 miles (just over 1000m of height gain) three times a week for two weeks with very clear power targets and the chance to really surprise myself by nailing it every time.

Then came a final tune up middle distance at Shropshire triathlon, most relaxed I have ever been leading into an event, false confidence maybe? 5 minutes into the swim and I couldn’t breath so had to stop, asthma or panic – jury is still out on that one.

So headed out to Bilbao with swim confidence at a low as I knew it was an estuary swim, salty and probably murky with half of it against the flow. I have apologised to Paul, but I know I was an absolute pain in the backside with lack of self belief, panic and a desperate search for a reason not to do it. However the decision to take the motorhome over 5 days before the race and ease myself gently into travelling and being away was a great decision, all food brought from home meant I could have been in the UK (apart from driving on the right, still warm lakes and sunny riding and running!).

Communication from both the race organisers and the GB team manager were sadly lacking, Friday arrived with lots of unanswered questions along with a briefing which focussed on how you could get a penalty and that the water quality was fair. No information on swim entry or exit, whether roads were closed, how junctions were managed, whether we could wear jackets as it was forecast to be very wet……….panic now at ‘very high’ and a very patient husband trying to keep me sane and balanced.

Unusual feeling as we headed to bed after climbing the 419 steps back to the van from registration, (not sure nearly 8 miles walked the day before a race is ever a good idea, never mind the steps…….) as it wasn’t an early start, kit was sorted and we had to rack by 12, but not race until 3, lots of sitting around. The motorhome was pummelled by rain all night and when we woke you couldn’t see Bilbao below and there was water everywhere, but the forecast was for it to brighten up so think positive. Back down all the steps, bike being dutifully carried by my husband/Sherpa and into transition – chaos! Bikes packed on one rack, no room to get wetsuits off, then collect bike before running 650m metres or so to bike out……..which was also where your run kit was, never mind the dry kit which went to the finish – over 2km away! And breath, we are all in the same boat.

A fortuitous café overlooked the transition area and soon was full of anxious triathletes, but clean toilets and coffee for my Sherpa, plus me off my feet and trying to damp down the increasing nerves. Waiting around for 2.5 hours to start is not ideal in terms of food, drink etc.

Wetsuits on (in the café!) and head to transition, during the less than helpful briefing a slide was rushed over telling us to stand by our bikes to await swim start, so we all headed to the start only to be told to go to our bikes and wait to be called, I am now feeling sick as the nerves and anticipation have built to such a level. Fortunately they were super efficient getting us in the water so I really had no time to look at it and I was in, strategy was to count breaths to stay calm. The water was salty, dirty and I kept getting hit by sticks and leaves…….just keep counting. 200 breaths was 500m, then just under 200 more and we turned at the bouy – straight into the incoming tide! It’s was now 250 breaths to 500m and seemed to go on forever, I am now swallowing water as it’s a bit choppy, more so as we got closer to the final turn as we had a bit of wind over tide (I’m told it was horrific the night before with standing waves!) finally the pontoon – no ramp! You had to haul yourself out ‘beached whale’ fashion onto the pontoon which was above you, first attempt failed, second was less than graceful as I rolled onto the pontoon, get up and run.

T1 – it was crazy at the bike bags, but I held my space, wetsuit off, shoes and helmet on and go, slight moment of terror when I thought I had forgotten my bike before realising I hadn’t reached it yet 🤣🤣🤣. 650m run with bike and a slippery wooden bike out – mount and go. After such poor communication the cycle route was actually well marshalled and our lane always closed to traffic, head down, get on the power. Lots of standing water and no way you would draft, apart from the fear of penalties you couldn’t see for spray from the wheel in front. Power was coming nicely, cheeky little climb to wake you up a couple of miles in, then settle on the bars as you anticipated the first climb at 20k, 4.5km with 275m of ascent (just what I had trained on). As we approached the climb I realised I had already done part of it on my pre race ride and settled into maintaining 200w plus. This is the point at which a congratulated Paul’s genius……..I overtook cyclist after cyclist with none passing me, power being uncomfortably maintained, but knew I could recover on the descent. Trying to pick off anyone with an F50 on their calf (til I realised some of the were aqua bikers….) Unfortunately many of those I overtook then flew past me on the descent, but it was wet and I am not the most confident cornering downhill at speed, so discretion and staying safe was my aim, plus the next hill was 8km long – plenty of time to reel some back in. Speed humps also hampered the descents, but before I knew it the rain was easing and I was tackling the longer climb, less height gain, but kept giving. Once again lots of overtaking and this time I had the chance to leave some behind as we headed for Bilbao.

Into T2, bike racked and 650m to run gear, forgot to put my helmet on my bike so just ran with it to the run bags and stashed it (felt like a bit of a Wally…). Trainers on, race belt on, grab cap and go – 9 times past the Guggenheim museum. As an out and back course, I knew that anyone I saw coming towards me was clearly ahead, so watching out for GB ladies (would never have known the Spanish or German ones) I was trying to work out where I was. I had hoped for a top ten place, with a top 3 GB spot. On my first lap I thought I saw 3 in front of me, time now to run relaxed and hope it was enough. One shorter lap to the finish, turn and run 4 longer loops, loop 2 saw me buddy up with another runner, I was keeping a pace I had never done before and hoped if I could hang on to her I may finish with a PB. Support from the crowd was absolutely amazing and just lifted your spirits and passing Simon (husband/Sherpa) with him saying ‘you are doing really well, I mean really well’ left me confused, as far as I had been able to tell there were 3 British ladies ahead of me and I knew my swim had been slow. I passed him again and he said ‘6th overall and 2nd brit’! Now it was time to really grit my teeth and try to hold my pace. My new running buddy and I kept the pace up and suddenly we were heading home, past the Guggenheim, past the crazy music man, over the bridge and under the arch – 1:37:01 – half marathon PB (ever in my 53 years)!!!

6th in my AG, 2nd Brit, 3rd fastest run in the AG and GB suit well and truly christened! Not so keen on the baseball cap, prefer a race t shirt myself, but it was done, now just the small matter of the 2k back to transition and the 419 steps back to the motorhome to consider, on very tired legs 🤷‍♀️

And an apology to Paul, I had been an absolute nightmare leading into this and he absorbed, didn’t react and reassured – exactly what a good coach does! I went into the event in the best shape of the season and produced the best result I could on the day, one which I am proud and happy to have achieved (would have preferred my SEC suit though) – onwards no upwards to 2023, after a 3 week break in the motorhome – off chasing the sun!