I’m a British Citizen who emigrated in 2009 to the Canadian Rockies to run a luxury Bed and Breakfast (www.cinnamonbearlodge.net) in Fernie, BC, with my husband Jason.  To keep me sane, I also race Age Group Olympic Distance, and now Half Ironman, triathlons – and LOVE it!

I started in this crazy sport in 2006, racing a local Sprint distance triathlon in Western Canada, where I was living for the year.  As an ex-competitive swimmer, I was first out of the water and felt like I’d won the Olympics   Having not done any training for over 20 years, I then went backwards fast!  Suffice to say, I had an old steel tourer that wouldn’t change gear, I wore mountain bike shorts over my swim suit which kept falling down as I ran, and the laces on my shoes kept coming undone – and on top of that it was snowing!  At the end, Jason thought I was going to die!  But from that point on, I was hooked…..

After moving back to the UK at the beginning of 2007, I intended to train and race.  The training didn’t quite happen due to my work at the time, so I just turned up to races, gave it my all, and then keeled over!  Miraculously, I qualified to represent GB in the 2007 Age Group World Championships in Hamburg.   I hobbled in in 67th position in my age group, but this really did now give me the impetus to get training and give this sport my best shot.

When I got back to the UK, I signed up with my coach, Michelle Dillon (2 time GB Olympian) – Michelle has since provided me with a fantastic personalised training schedule and never ending personal support.  Since working together, Michelle has turned me from 67th in the 2007 Worlds in 2hrs 52 mins, to 10th in the 2009 Worlds in 2hrs 17mins, missing bronze by 85 secs!  Not a bad turn around….  Check out Michelle’s coaching website at www.teamdilloncoaching.com – I can’t recommend her enough

I’m lucky enough to be sponsored by Newton Running and www.gearandtraining.com who both help me out with kit – anyone that’s involved in triathlon knows it’s a hideously expensive sport, so all help is hugely appreciated!!  Check out their websites.

My website will hopes to show a little insight into my world of training and racing, and where I can, provide a bit of info on websites etc that help me along the way too.

Happy reading and hope you enjoy it.

Cheers

Cath