Bella Bayliss's Blog

Embrunman 2010.

Yesterday I raced Embrunman for the 5th time.
I knew the day ahead would be long and challenging, and it was!
We woke up to a calm and dry morning, pheww! As the day before had been a total washout. The race would have had another real challenge to it dealing with heavy rain and possibly snow at the top of the Col!

The girls started the day at 5.50am in the dark. This year with Teresa being there, she took off with the lead kayak which has the light on. And left me in the dark to navigate. Dam. I did try to stay with her but I lost her very quick with the combination of the dark and her speed.

I came out the water with Alexandra Loisson and Isabelle Ferrer. We then seemed to stay pretty close on the ride. Except Ferrer was very fast at decending so would leave me on the technical decents.
I worked away and tried to ignore that Tereza was taking chunks of time from me all the time. My race was most likly to go for second now.

I managed to start the run in 2nd with about 6 minutes in front of the others. But after 21km on the run Ferrer past me and at 35km Loison past me. I held onto 4th in ugly style! My legs were so done.
Well done to Teresa on a strong race! and well done to James on his strong performance too.
Well done to Stephen for his 5th place, Scott for 7th and Brandon on a hard day at Embrunman and his 13th place.

I will continue to work away and aim at going onwards and upwards!

This time last year my lovely Grandad died. He was 96 years old. Last week my lovely Grandma died, she was 95 years old.

I was racing last year so was’nt able to go to my Grandad’s funeral, but I am going to my Grandma’s funeral on Thursday.
This last week I have thought alot about my G+G so I thought I would write a blog about them.

I have lots of lovely memories of them mainly from when Amber (my sister) and I were younger.
They were always fun to be with, there was never a dull moment with G+G!
Grandad taught us to ride our bikes, I remember him taking our stabilisers off and he would run behind us making sure we did’nt fall off!
My Grandma taught me how to do “joined up writing” !
Summer holidays were extra exciting because Grandma and Grandad either came to visit, or we went to their home in Warlingham, Surrey, or we went camping with them in their camper van. Amber and I loved to visit them at their home! We would have fun just hanging out with them, playing golf, tennis, darts and table tennis in their garden, or going to differnet places to walk, swim or ride our bikes.
We would always watch lots of TV at their house (something we did’nt do at our home because we did’nt have a TV! G+G always watched lots of sport, golf, athletics, football, Formula1, tennis, snooker, anything and everything!
I always loved to cut their grass in their huge garden, with their lawnmower! I loved to do that! Even at age 8 and younger! ..we did’nt have a lawn mower at home, our horses and goats would keep our grass short!
Sometimes Amber and I would have a “fashion show” by dressing up in my Grandma’s dresses!
Sometimes we would look ridiculas, somtimes we would look beautiful!

After a couple of weeks staying at their house they would take us home to Scotland. But not by plane or train, we went in their camper van and we would take 10 days or more getting home! They did’nt drive on the moterway, we went on all the little roads and stopped after half a day at a campsite! We loved to camp! Amber and I were young, so little, ..luckily! as their camper van was’nt huge! Amber and I slept in bunk beds up high and G+G slept below us!

More recently, well about 8 years ago, I was visiting them, I knew Stephen so called him to see if he wanted to go for a run! He came round because Stephen lived just around the corner. G+G liked Stephen as much as I did!
They met Stephen a few more times as we would ride our bikes there for a cup of tea in the summer time. Grandad liked to talk to him about running as he used to run a lot when he was younger. My Grandma liked to speak to Stephen about the Tour De France! She loved to watch the Tour and her favorite rider was Bradley Wiggens!

I will miss my G+G. They have always been there for me and we have had so many great times together. It will be sad to be at my Grandma’s funeral. But I do know they both had a happy and long life and now they will be together again.

Thats Ironman UK done now. I am deflated not to have “defended my title”. Winning feels amazing. 2nd is not the same.

However, Congratulations to Yvette Grice on her race, she ran very well so deserved the win.

I came into this race underdone. I started the season later than previous years due to a little operation in December of 09. I then rushed back into training and racing much too fast and gave myself a bit of an injury and that has really hampered my training, so I am not as fit as previous years at this time.
So I suppose I was “wishing and hoping” for a win at Ironman UK. I gave it my best shot with what I had, I swam great, I rode well and I chugged along on the run with the legs I have right now. I thought a 15 minute lead off the bike might be enough of a buffer, but with Evette running at 3 hour pace and me going slowly, that 15 minutes was not enough.

The good thing for me is that I know with more training I will be back to strength again. That will take patience, hard work and time.
I just have to suck up the feeling that I have been so strong in previous years, and right now I am not as strong, it is a hard feeling to deal with, but I know, it is all part of the journey and I know I will be back.

I enjoyed the Ironman UK challenge, it was a tough course and logistically challenging too with the swim, T2 and finish line in different places. But it made it all very interesting!

It was good to see Stephen half way into the run as I got a scare in T2. I noticed his run bag was stil sitting there, I thought “oh no, he has crashed on the bike into a bush, or into a sheep on the road, or ridden into the pond on that sharp corner”
.. what I did’nt realise the volunteers were doing was putting our bike stuff back into the run bag and putting the bag back into line! So Stephen was fine! Phew!
It was really good to see Stephen having a strong race yesterday, his training has been going well and that reflected in his race.
I beleive that soon he will be in winning shape again.

The other person I want to mention in my freind Emma English, Ironman UK was her 2nd Ironman (her 3rd triathlon!) Some of you may have read her IM South Africa race report on TeamTBB
In South Africa she went, 12.52
yesterday she went 12.09 on a more difficult course !!! Emma went 1.09 swim, 6.53 bike, 3.53 run!
Wow Emma!!!! You are amazing! The determination and hard work she has put into her training, every day, since South Africa showed perfectly yesterday.

Today Stephen and I leave for Ironman UK. We are both excited for this special race in our own country. We have both experienced the winning feeling in the UK and it feels absolutely amazing. We are going for “that feeling” again. The huge support we receive really helps us along our way and we are looking forward to the fun this Sunday!

My preparation has been consistant for the past few weeks so I feel happy going into this race, similer to the way I felt going into 70.3 UK.
I am really inspired by Amy who did a great job at Lake Placid this past weekend. Off she went to America, on her own, without Brandon and by using her brain and using the strengths she has, she executed the race perfectly.
What Amy did this past weekend is what I want to do this weekend.

Also racing Ironman UK is my friend Emma English. This will be her 2nd Ironman. Since South Africa she has been training with dedication and consistancy so I am excited to see her race.
You can read her Ironman South Africa race report here, http://www.teamtbb.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=1033

All the best to everyone wwho will be racing Ironman UK this Sunday.

Last Sunday I tried to race Ironman Austria. Normally I would do a report before now but some how or another a week has gone by and I hav’nt said anything about my race. …not that I am too desperate to “write up” my great race! there is not that much to write up about!

I was excited to go to Austria, after my win at 70.3 UK, and remembering how I won Austria in that magnificent fast time last year. However, that is exactly where my mistake started. 2010 is different to my last 2 years but it is only now that I have really realised that.
I am learning that just because I have done the same races for the past few years, does’nt mean it is the correct plan for now. It is not easy to plan the correct race schedule, but what you could try to learn from my mistake is race when you are fit and ready! Try not to race an Ironman when you are not fit and ready. Therefore like my heading says here “its good to be flexible” with your plans. Sometimes the best thing you can do is, not race the race you have planned!

I started my 2010 year differently because I had to have a break in December, but rather than building back slowly I rushed every thing to get back to where I was. I see that was a mistake now, but at the time I did’nt see it.

I have realised my mistake and will take the best path to getting strong again.

So a few words on my race at Austria, it is quite an impressive bad day really!
I got in the water and swam to the start line. Oh dear I thought, maybe there is a stone in my wesuit, but there was not, it was me feeling horrible.!
After about 400 metres I decided to change direction but got tangled up with another swimmer. He got angry with me (understandybly) and punched me in the face. That sort of made me panik! and for the next 300 metres I was paniking and struggling to breath. I really wanted to lie on my back, put my arms in the air and get rescued. ..but that was’nt the way I wanted my day to go.

On the bike I felt horrible for 90km. At 100km I lost concentration and got too close to another cyclist and got a drafting penalty. So sat on the side of the road for 6 minutes and went from 2 minutes down on the leader to 8 minutes down and into about 5th place.
I felt better for the last 80km.

I ran along ok for 13km but then my legs and body quickly began to pack up. It was really horrible and frustrating to begin walking and stopping at 21km while still in 2nd place.
Of course I wanted to finsih my day off but I felt I could’nt.

Our long drive back to Switzerland was not so fun. Even when you have a great race, a 10 hour car drive is painful but after a bad race, ohhhhhh it feels painful!

anyway, back to training now and I’ll race when I am a bit more ready for the Ironman!

2 weeks ago I was not sure if I would be racing 70.3 UK. I had sore leg muscles and maybe they needed more time before I next did a race, but with 2 days to go my muscles seemed to be doing ok, so I went ahead and raced!

From the second the gun went off I had an intence race right till the finish line. Half an ironman gives you not a second to spare! Us girls had a fight out there for who would win this race! Luci Zelencova led the cold swim with Emma-Kate Libury a couple of seconds behind her. Tamsin, Evette Grice and I were not far behind.
The bike ride at 70. UK is very challenging with really steep uphills and downhills.

At the end of the ride, Emma was 2 minutes ahead of Tamsin and I. Tamsin shot out onto the run very fast. I took it a bit steadier, working into the run and giving my poor old muscles a second to adjust from the bike to run! However I was able to keep a nice strong pace from the start till the finish even though the run course also has steep uphills and down hills!
I caught Tamsin after about 3km and passed her at about 5km. I then caught Emma with about 5km to go. It felt really good to have a strong race. I find the half ironman distance more difficult that the Ironman distance so that is why I only do 1 half a year! I would’nt do any, but because this one is in the UK, it is very special to me!
Winning is not easy so I really feel proud and happy to have win yesterday. It feels like a real acheivment.

Stephen and I really enjoy doing Ironman UK and 70.3 UK, the race organisers,
Ali and Chris Boon are good to us and we enjoy the challenging courses they put on. 70.3 UK is held at Wimbleball Lake in Somerset. It is a beautiful part of the world and I really appreciate the challenging course which creates a much more fair race than a flat course.
Once again we stayed with Gillian at her B+B. She makes us feel so comfortable and happy at her home. She has a long waiting list for people who want to stay with her for 70.3 UK, so we make sure we go back every year not to loose our comfortable little room!

Once again I got amazing support this past weekend. Everybodies support really helps me along my way, ThankYou.

Well done Tamsin on your first “pro” race. You were very strong. And well done everybody who raced this past weekend. Your next race will feel easy in comparison!

Here is the latest Press Release on how my charity auction went,

Bella Bayliss Ultimate Triathlon Training Charity Auction Raises £1,250

Through a unique and innovative fundraising initiative, top-level international triathlete Bella Bayliss and her sponsor design and communications agency Logistik, have raised £1,250 for SportsAid, to help support the UK’s emerging talented athletes. Using the auction site eBay, Logistik created a unique opportunity for UK triathlete and triathlon fans to bid over a ten day period, for a six hour professional triathlon training experience in London with one of the world’s best long distance triathletes and, raise money for SportsAid.

With a number of bids and over 330 page views to the eBay auction, the Prize day with Bella Bayliss sold for a whopping £500. But that’s not all!!! Someone who missed out on the bid contacted Bella Bayliss directly and asked to join the training day, promising to donate a further £500 to SportsAid. In addition to this, the bidders are both London based so Logistik has donated the £250 allocated for the winner’s accommodation and travel to the cause, bringing the fundraising total to £1,250.

Tim Lawler, CEO of SportsAid comments; “We are delighted with how successful the auction has been. SportsAid provides a boost to emerging talented athletes at a crucial point on their journey, without which many would be unable to continue in their sport. We couldn’t do this without the support and enthusiasm of local business partners, so we’re both privileged and delighted to have worked with Logistik on this unique initiative and achieve this great result.

“The average SportsAid recipient spends £5,000 per year, travels 650 miles a month and trains 17 hours a week on their sport. As little as £500 a year will go a long way to helping one athlete with training fees, travel to and from and entry into sporting events.”

Founder and Managing Director of Logistik, Dirk Mischendahl, comments on the success of this fundraising initiative; “We are delighted with how successful this charity auction has been and how much money we have raised for SportsAid. The twist in the final moments with the additional £500 donation was extremely exciting too.

“We launched the charity auction as part of a continued commitment to develop and nurture young talent and we are very pleased that the money raised enables us to help up and coming sporting hopefuls. We already support two of the country’s best junior elite triathletes – Vicky Graves and Lois Rosindale – as part of our community engagement strategy, but this result means we are able to help another two young athletes achieve their goal of becoming British sports stars and develop a career in sport. We believe deeply in grass root talent and the UK’s young undeveloped athletes are the future of our sporting success and we should invest in them now.”

Professional triathlete Bella Bayliss says; “I am so pleased that the auction was a success and that we will be able to help young athletes on the road to sporting stardom. Helping to raise money for a charity that financially helped me all those years ago is very rewarding and I am extremely proud to have been a part of. It is a fantastic way to give a triathlete an experience they don’t normally get, whilst helping the young talent of the future. This sort of investment is key to our future sporting success as a nation and I would urge more businesses to see the potential in home grown sporting talent.

“When I was 17 year’s old I received support from SportsAid for a couple of years and I was even SportsAid Foundation Athlete of the Year once too. Having the financial support from SportsAid for those years was so helpful and encouraging and allowed me to strive to be the best I could be and train for a sport that I knew I would be great in. SportsAid helped me get to where I am today and I am delighted to be able to help them continue to raise money to benefit young athletes and give them the starting chance that I had.”

The total money raised (£1,250) from the auction has gone directly to SportsAid to help the next generation of young sports stars. The winning bidder will take their triathlon training experience between June and August.

For those who missed out on the training day auction, 10 limited edition signed and framed photos of Bella Bayliss will be available on eBay, with all proceeds going to SportsAid. Visit www.theironcouple.com to start bidding today.

The race is now done. What a day!
Coming into the race, I was a bit nervous. My coach will be angry with me for saying this, but I kind of felt the “pressure” of being defending champion and knowing my preparation was not where I would have prefered it to be. The training I have in my legs is a bit behind schedule and for the past few weeks I have been dealing with very tight hamstring muscles.

Anyway, like I said in my last blog, I would be “gone like a whippet racing dog” when the gun went off at 7am! …and I was! I had a really strong swim to start my day off (52.37), just 2 minutes behind Hillary!

On the bike I controlled my pace on the bike, so to make sure I would be starting the run with some energy in my body rather than being “done” too early.
There was very little wind on the ride, which is unusual here in Lanzarote! Its been so windy the last few days but yesterday it decided to stop blowing! That meant no nice tail winds, but it also meant no huge head winds too!
For about an hour around the 50km mark I felt like my legs went throo a tough patch, but I seemed to recover from that and felt ok for the rest of the ride.
Catriona Morrison who had been powering on and had a good lead had mechanical problems at the 70km . I dont wish that on anyone, but suddenly I felt back in the race!! However, it was’t the last I would see of her!!

On the run I felt good for 21km. I even took the lead! It felt great and the possibility of wining of a 3rd time made me very happy. But at 21km it is still a long way to go. Unfortunatley I began to feel my legs tighten up (the same tightness I have been dealing with prior to the race)
From 25km I really slowed and had problems, I would see 3 people pass me so I finished in 4th place
However, wth my current fitness my realistic aim coming into the race was to finish top 5, so I did that and I will recieve 3rd place prize money and a great training session to help kick me into form for the upcoming races.

Well done to everyone who finished out there yesterday. I hope the 2 people I saw who had crashed badly at Haria and near the 170km mark are ok.

ThankYou so much everybody who cheerd me on and supported me. I have never experienced such amazing support before.

See you out there racing again soon.
Bella

…and soon I will be GONE!
I will be gone like a racing whippet dog when the gun goes off here in Puerto del Carmen at 7am on Saturday.
I am really loking forward to the challenge of Ironman Lanzarote this Saturday. It is one of my real favorite races. It is challenging, it is beautiful and its fair. Fair because it is so hilly and windy so very little drafting happens.
Yesterday Stephen and I moved from Club La Santa where we have been training since Ironman South Africa to Puerto del Carmen. We are very happy and appreciative of PlayaMar to host us again in their very comfortable apartments which is close to the race start and finish.
I will be giving the race my best shot, although I take into account that I started my racing season a touch later this year so possibly I am not as fit as I can be yet.
I will be getting stuck into the swim, but I do hope that nobody re-breaks my nose that somebody broke for me in the swim at South Africa!!!
I am aiming for a top 5 finish. But of course I will be working hard during the race to keep my body in shape for a podium finish if I possibly can.
All the best to everyone racing on Saturday!
And thankYou to everyone who is already cheering me on from every direction I go!

With the support of one of my personal sponsors, Logistik (www.logistikgroup.com) I am auctioning the opportunity for one lucky bidder to spend one full day with me this coming summer!

Using the auction site eBay, you can bid from Friday 14 May until Sunday 23 May 2010. All the money raised is going towards SportsAid, which is a great charity that supports the next generation of young British sportsmen and women who show potential at being successful in their sport.

From the age of 17 Scottish SportsAid supported me for a number of years. They were very professional and encouraging and provided financial support, which helped me strive to be the best that I could be in triathlon. Since SportsAid helped me get to where I am today I want to help them to continue to raise money to help benefit others, and give budding sports stars the starting chance that I had.

The highest bidder will win,
- A training day with me, which will take place in Richmond, London
- The winner will have to travel to London (UK overnight accommodation before the training day and UK return train travel will be provided up to the value of £250, evening meals not included)
- The training day is a six hour session with me
- The six hours training will comprise of a:
- pre-training coffee break to understand what the winner wants out of the session
- one hour swim at local pool in Richmond
- two hour bike ride around Richmond Park (the winner must bring and use their own bike)
- one hour lunch break for advice and planning, in Richmond
- one hour gentle run around Richmond
- post training stretch and chat
- The winner will receive a unique Bayliss cycling top, courtesy of sponsors Logistik
- Mutually agreed date to be taken between June and August 2010
- All proceeds from this auction will go directly to SportsAid

Please go to our website to bid!
www.theironcouple.com