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News: 
 
My New T shirt:
Anti doping is a subject that I feel very strongly about so when the opportunity to be on the Irish Sports Council Anti Doping Board came up I grabbed it with both hands. yesterday a package arrived for me with various 'Anti Doping' advertising kit in, this t shirt is my favourite.
 
July 2010:
July has been a busy month. I have raced every weekend in a different country. I wouldn't advise doing this but due to injury in 2009 and at the start of 2010 I really haven't raced much at all since 2008 so needed the race experience. My first outing was European Champs, in Athlone. What with this being a home race and with my poor showing in Madrid I wanted to have a good race. I set myself goals for each stage of the race so that I wouldn't get too carried away and worried about the final result. I wanted to have a good start and get to the first bouy right up there and with space to actually SWIM - in Madrid swimming (if you could call it that) around the bouy was a nightmare and I did not want to repeat this experience. I made it to the bouy in 3rd and had plenty of space, wohoo goal one achieved! I made it out onto the bike in the front pack and we worked well to extend our gap on the second pack. Going out of t2 and past the dreaded penalty box I saw my number! I was a bit surprised but tried not to think much about it. I decided to take the penalty on the last lap so that I could not loose the group I was running with, however Chris Jones told me to take it on lap 2 and as it was a new rule I was unsure as to whether he was saying I HAD to take it on lap 2 or just advising me so I did what he said. I lost the people I was running with and struggled a bit for the last 5 km but this was probably as much to do with fitness as it was the time penalty. My goal on the run had been to not get detached and try to work off people, I have developed a habbit of just running at my own pace which I need to get out of. I did manage to run with people for the majority of the 10km so I think this goal was partially achieved - could do better. I came 26th, not brilliant but what with the time penalty and lack of racing practice not bad.
 
Next up was Holten World Cup. I am lucky enough to be on the ITU Development Team and this race was a supported race, Brilliant. I love these supported races as there is a real team spirit. It was very very hot in Holten, the car said 36 degrees. I had a good swim and bike (goals one and two achieved, I was in particular on the swim aiming not to loose places on the second lap, I lost only 2). In the run I had a great first 5km and up to 7km felt ok but then died spectacularly and must have lost about 10 places in the last lap. I have to say I was just glad to get across the finish line without fainting, the heat had really got to me. I finished 22nd, an improvement on last week but still not what I want.
 
For my third race in this block I headed to Hamburg WCS. I was pretty nervous about this race as I had heard nasty things about the swim, we have to go under a tunnel 3 times and as its dark and narrow it is said to be very rough under there. So goal number one was to not get involved in any fights in the swim and keep out of trouble as best I could. I was really pleased to achieve this, I messed up my T1 though and had to fight to get back in pack 1. The bike was brutal. There were 9 corners a lap and 8 laps, the roads are narrow and what with Bryan crashing the day before I knew I was going to have to be careful. I concentrated well and got in the right positions in the pack on the corners, I was very pleased with this section, on lap 2 I thought I had nothing left but I recovered well and felt strong again by the end. I headed out onto the run determined to better my last two weeks races. I felt good for the first time in 2 years! I was still off the pace of the leaders but it is important to me to have a good feeling on the run, when I feel this way I know my speed is coming. I ran with a girl who had run 2 minutes faster than me in Athlone and was also closer to others that I have been marking myself off. I placed 29th, whilst this doesn't sound great it is an improvement and the girls races are now so close that girls one to ten were all within a few seconds of each other.
 
London WCS was the last stop on my mini tour. By now I was feeling pretty tired and had only 5 days between Hamburg and London. I mis judged my training and was still feeling tired on Saturday, not good. I got very beaten up in the swim losing my left goggle for the first 750m. Out of the first bouy I must have been about 60th! I swam around people easily though and managed to get just back on the back of the first pack. T1 was worse than Hamburgs with another girl cycling into me as we exited. I am now pretty bruised. Once I managed to recover form this and get back on my bike I was only 13 seconds off pack one, try as I might however I could not catch up. I just didnt have it in my legs, by the run I was in pack two and 90 seconds down, pretty rubbish. I was hoping to feel good on the run but it just wasn't happening. Lots of people were pulling out and I seriously debated it but I believe that you don't learn anything from not finishing a race so I pushed on and finished off the race.
 
I have had a couple of easy days and am now back into it and building up the fitness for the next block of races.
 
 
Nokia Windsor Triathlon:
Yesterday I raced the Nokia Windsor Triathlon. This was my first Olympic Distance triathlon back in 2006, I found it so tough that I have not raced the course since!
 
The swim was interesting to say the least! I was sat in with the lead 4 girls on the way up to the turn bouy feeling comfortable but decided to try to be clever at the bouy and take a wide line to stay out of the currect for as long as possible, this turned out to be a bad move and I lost time on the lead 3 girls, however luckily for me they took the wrong line on the way to the exit and I was able to come out of the water in the lead! On the bike I was in the lead pack of 6, we worked well together and gained a lot of time on the chasing packs. I had a good t2 and headed out onto the run in first place! However my running still isnt back to where it should be and I dropped back into 4th for the finish.
 
Madrid World Series:
A bad day from start to finish is probably to best way to describe my efforts at the Madrid World Series race last weekend. I was ranked 54th out of 67 entrants, a ranking which reflects the fact that I spent 90% of 2009 not racing due to various injuries and also my current position on the world triathlon hierachy.
 
The Madrid swim is known for being a bit of a bun fight, this years event was definately not an exception. After about 200m I was feeling pretty good but then what appeared to be all 66 of the other athletes jumped on me, it was like being a tadpole surrounded by 100s of others. There was no where to put my arms but on or under other people, I ended up doing breastroke for about 200m around the first bouy then deliberately swum wide to find clear water. I spent the rest of the swim overtaking people and ended up 20 seconds behind the pack. I time trialed the first lap and a half but no one would come with  me and I couldn't make the jump by myself so had to settle for what turned out to be the second pack, not a place I wanted to be. On the run I had a good first 5km overtaking some of the guys from the front pack but then fell twice over empty bottles on the course (how do you fall on the run?!) this put me off my rythmn and I have to say I was very glad when I crossed the finish line and the race was over.
 
Onwards and upwards is really all I can say!
 
 
 
Dunkerque FGP:

2/3 of a good day....

Today I raced my first triathlon of the season. This is my first post in a long while so here is a little background from my winter. Although I had a good start to the winters training I fell in the ice and bruised my sacrum bone meaning that I could not run for all of february and half of march. This set me back somewhat and I made the sensible decision to postpone my start of season until mid may. Giving me 8 weeks of running under my belt. I have been running well in training although still feeling a little heavy as my muscles get use to taking the work load back on.

 

2 weeks ago I decided that I needed a big biking week, I entered two bike races over the weekend. The first was a 40km crit and the second a huge 80km hilly road race (I was the only female with 60 men, not fun up the 16 hills enroute). On the last lap of the crit race I was involved in a crash, I thought I was fine and was able to get back up and finish the race. I went on to race on Sunday but after about 60km had a very sore lower back. I thought it was just the volume of cycling so did not investigate much into what was causing it. Two weeks later I am still struggling with this and so am off to the super physio, Deirdre, in Ireland on Thursday. I hope that she will sort me out before my next race in Madrid in 2 weeks!

 

Despite this I decided that I would be wise to race in the Dunkerque FGP today, I didn't want to go into Madrid World Series without having raced. Having seen my physio in England, Sabreen at Active Physio Clinics, she told me that I had the biggest downslip of my pelvis that she had ever seen. However the good news was that although it would interfere with my form I would not injure myself further by racing. So of I headed to Dover and then onto the Ferry to France.

I was racing today for the first time in my 2xu Project X wetsuit, it is brilliant, I had a great swim and exited into transition well into the first pack, 4 seconds off the lead swim time. The bike course was quite technical with 15 dead turns and on the first lap I missed a break where 7 athletes got away. Although we fought to catch up it was not possible and I exited onto the run in 9th place. Here is where it all went a little wobbly. I ran well for about 1km (no where near far enough!) and then concentrated as best I could on holding form and keeping my wonky pelvis turning over. By all accounts the wonkyness was not all that noticable when I was moving, however it saw me lose 14 places and a quick check post finish saw a 2cm discrepancy from left to right. Heres hoping super Deirdre will set that right in a few days time! Here are a few pictures of the fun and games today...

 

Huatulco World Cup:

Huatulco is rumoured to be the hardest race on the ITU circuit. Last week I travelled to Mexico to find out if this was true.

The journey itself doesn’t set you up too well for a race. I had to make three connections, I missed my flight in London, well the Virgin staff missed me.  So things didn’t start off too well. Never the less I arrived in beautiful Huatulco on Tuesday. I rode, swam and ran on the course in the lead up to the race and could see that this was definitely going to be a tough race. The main challenges were the bike course – 8 laps including a 20% hill on each, and the heat.

Race day loomed and slightly dubiously, with visions of everyone ending up in the ambulance on drips, I lined up on Huatulco beach. The swim went well for me and I came out in the lead pack, for the first 5 laps the hill didn’t seem as bad as in training and I got up it ok staying with the group. After this things started to get tough and I had to fight each time to keep up. All the same, I made it onto the run still with the leaders. For 5km I felt good and held onto 4th place. Then things started to get tough, the heat was getting to me, I could feel my eyes wanting to close and when they did this I would lose my sense of balance. I focused, kept on pushing – both to stay upright and get to the finish line, all the time people were dropping off. A large number of girls had pulled out during the bike leg and now more were doing so on the run. On lap three I remember seeing the ambulance taking someone off in a stretcher, not a usually sight at a World Cup triathlon but more something you would expect to see at Kona. I crossed the line in probably my slowest time ever for an Olympic distance triathlon but in my highest place finish in a World Cup, 7th. Going into the race I knew I needed a top 10 finish to stay on the same funding level so it was a great relief to get this placing.

During my time in Huatulco I have been lucky enough to be part of the ITU Development Team. This means I was supported by 2 coaches, a physio and a bike mechanic. All of which have made the trip so much easier. I would like to say a special thank you to Jeff the bike Mechanic who found me a 25 cassette when my 27 SRAM wouldn’t fit my wheel and Diana the physio for getting my body to just about stay together long enough to get through the race. It has been a year of being injured for me and I will now spend the winter getting things right. Also thank you to Libby Burrell for managing our team and to Gail for always staying positive and getting me up the hill each lap.

I will now take a few days off and then get back into training towards the back end of the month. So far it has been one day without training and I am already missing it!

 
Hong Kong Pictures:

 

My coach Chris Jones in the gym supervising one of my run sessions with the compulsory Swine Flu mask

 

The HKSI coach Kevin Clark during the night time bike race.

 

October 31 2009:
Today is a very special day, it is exactly 1000 days until the London 2012 Olympics starts. Although it feels like only yesterday that I arrived back from Beijing and began my winter of injury over a year has past. I am now much fitter and stronger and very excited to begin my campaign for London 2012. However I have one more race of the 2009 season to crack first.
 
I am now at the end of my time in Hong Kong. Training here has been brilliant. I would like to thank everyone at the HKSI that has made it such a successful trip. Especially Ruth Hunt who organised my stay here and Kevin Clark who has looked after me and pushed me on through all the hard training sessions. Thank you also to all the athletes here for accepting me into the group and to Daniel for the Nike Cake - always thinking of his sponsors!
 
 
October 23 2009:
I am at the Hong Kong Institute of sport at the moment training in the heat to acclimatise for the World Cup in Mexico. Things are going well and I now have a good block of training behind me.
 
I raced last weekend in the Asian Premium ITU Cup and placed 4th. I felt good on the day but struggled a bit with the heat in the latter stages of the run. I'm hoping that three weeks out here will mean in Mexico I am strong right up to the finish.
 
Due to the results from the tests at SINI my training has changed significantly, I now have a lot of big blocks of work at just under threshold pace. It is tough for me as it is what I am not good at but I can see I am getting stronger. We took lactates again on a run session on tuesday and they have already dropped from what they were 2 weeks ago in SINI. Chris tells me that usually it takes about 8 weeks to see a change so I am lucky that I am responding so quickly.
 
The set up out here at the HKIS is brilliant. The athletes live on base in a hostel and eat all their meals in the canteen. There is physio, massage, psychology, MRI, DEXA, blood profiling etc all done on site. There is also a track, lots of tennis courts, gym, swimming pool, and 8 compu traininers and 3 portable SRM machines that I have seen, I expect there are many more hidden away.
 
Pictures are to come once I get my computer fixed :-s
 
October 2 2009:
Making friends with pain:
 
For the last week I have been in Northern Ireland at the Sports Institute, or SINI as those in the know refer to it. It is a great place, the facilites and staff are all wonderful, friendly and extremly knowledgeable. Nevertheless the last week has been rather unpleasant from a pain point of view, I was there to undergo sports tests to find out training zones etc. This then allows my coach, Chris Jones, to plan my training much more specifically.
 
I raced on Saturday in La Baule, France. I then flew back to London on Sunday to drop off my bike etc - they have an SRM bike in SINI so I didn't need to take the bike, excellent, its always much nicer to travel without a huge coffin like box. On Monday morning I headed onto Belfast. When I arrived I had 2 hours before the first test, a bike sub max test. The word 'sub max' makes you feel all cosy, but don't be deceived this wasn't going to be easy. I had to complete 6-7 stages on the SRM with lactates and RPE's - rating of perceived exertion, taken after each stage and heart rate and oxygen inspiration and expiration taken continuously. You have to wear a funny Darth Vader mask for this. After the sub max test I had 10 minutes to recover then it was back on the bike for a ramp test. Every minute the wattage goes up until you can't keep on pedalling. Post race and travel 10 minutes didn't feel like anywhere near enough but I got back on and with the help of Declan, Ricky, Andy and D - the super SINI testing team, I managed a fairly respectable wattage.
 
 
I was back in on Wednesday to do the same but on the tredmill. Warm up for 10 minutes then 4 minute stages on the tredmill, hop off for bloods to be taken then back on with the speed increased by 1km per hour. I didn't manage to go for as long as I would have liked on this test. I have only been running properly post injury for 2 months now and haven't managed to build up a strong enough base. 5 months off is a long time. This test was really important, it showed me where I was lacking and will allow me to improve. I then had a similar ramp test for which I had to wear a harness incase I fell over! The tredmill is set at around your tempo pace and then every minute the incline is increased. There was a mirror in front of me so I could watch my technique, believe me by the end it was not pretty! However the results showed that my technique is actually more efficient at faster speeds. Strange but true.
 
The general consensus from the tests is that I am too anaerobic. Whilst some of this will be genetic it is also likely to be due to me missing the whole of the winters training with multiple broken bones. Winter is the time for the long slow miles which builds up your base and aerobic capacity. I am looking forward to my new updated training plan to work on this. I will be back in touch to let you know what it is like.
 
Many thanks to all in SINI for making a tough week very enjoyable.
 
August 22 2009:
Once again appologies for the lack of posting. For some info on what has been going on in the last month please check out http://www.triathlonconsultants.com/emma-davis.htm.
 
Today I completed my 2nd World Series race. Last week I raced in the London Dextro Energy World Series Triathlon (my first triathlon of 2009 and first in almost a year!) I had a good swim and bike but struggled on the run. I have only been training properly for running for about 4 weeks now - 3 weeks at the London race, and so really shouldn't have expected much. However it is a long time since I have felt that bad on the run in a triathlon. I decided to be pro active and with Chris' guidance have done a couple of quality run sessions in the week between London and Yokohama. Although it is still very early days I feel that I am progressing, my technique felt much better this week and I was able to hold pace. I am still not back to my 2008 form I can see that I am moving that way.
 
Anyway back to the race today. The main thing to say is it was very hot and very humid. The reports say 40 degrees and 100% humidity. In the swim there were big jelly fish, not so nice but I managed to get away with just one sting. I got to the first bouy in 3rd place but after a bit of a fight and loosing my hat diving back in onto the second lap I slipped back a little. Going onto the bike there was a small breakaway ahead of me, my group worked well and we caught them at the beginning of the third lap. I did my best to sit in the group and spin in a high gear. Onto the run I was determined to run better than last week and hold pace with the other athletes. I managed to run with one of the Germans -  she ran 2 and a half minutes faster than me last week at London, a good sign that I am making progress.
 
I finished in 18th place, I tried to drop the german numerous times on the last lap but made my final break a bit too early, I just don't have the fitness quite yet but I will.
 
July 18 2009:
Well it has been a very long time since my last post. Alot has happened, I found out in March that a knee injury I had sustained at the end of 2008 had progressed to three fractures around the knee. This was both good and bad news, I finally had an explanation for the pain in my knee but also put a definate stop to my training for a considerable time. Injuries are an unfortunate evil of being a professional athlete and definately something I find hard to deal with, luckily for me this was another chance to practice.
 
With a great deal of support from my family, coach Chris Jones and physio Deirdre Burrell I managed to get throught the very dark days of the injury and went on the Irish training camp to France back in May. I was still undergoing a lot of rehab and was on a limited run training program consisting mostly of drills to re learn how to run. After being injured for 5 months is turns out you sort of forget how to even walk normally. Never the less it was great to be back training with the group.
 
This weekend is as I'm sure lots of you know is the weekend of TriAthlone. I have been struggling with niggles as I get back into training and for the last few weeks have had a bad back, due to this I wasn't expecting to race, however I love racing in Ireland and so came to an agreement with Chris to swim, bike and run 1-2 laps of the course. So this afternoon I lined up on the pontoon for my first race since novemeber last year. It turns out I have sort of forgotten how to race, it took me 700m of the swim to get going and then the first 20km of the bike to settle into that! Not so good but I loved being back out there and have definately had a kick to push even harder in training to get myself back into the shape I know I can be in. I can't wait for the next race, I will definately be more ready for it!
 
Congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend and many thanks to those who helped organise and run the event.
 
February 22 2009:
I am very excited to have been awarded an ITU Scholarship. I would like to thank all those involved for their help and support over the coming year.
 
November 1 2008:
 
Conchman Triathlon Grand Bahama
As the weather turned cold Richard and I decided to head out to the sun to avoid the winter bugs for as long as possible. Initially we headed to Santa Monica, the training here was pretty good, lots of hilly rides and run paths and tough ocean swims. We were using the trip to recce the area as a possible training base for early 2009. If we can secure the use of a pool and find a couple more off road runs it will be a great place to start off the season.
 
Soon it was time to head over to the Bahamas where we had entered a race - the Conchman triathlon. We had arranged to stay with a friend who lives in Nassau in exchange for motivating him to train for and complete the race. The day before the race we took the short flight over to Grand Bahama, got settled in and checked out the course.
 
The race was really well organised and extremly safe. We had police escorts on the bike and life guards in the swim. With over 100 people competing in the race the day was a definate success. There were entrants from all over the globe - America, France, Italy and of course England and Ireland.
 
The men set of 2 minuted before the female wave. I set myself the target of catching as many men as possible by the end of the 1km swim leg. I managed to catch all but 3 which I was pretty pleased with. I headed out onto the bike and got my head down. I managed to catch 2 more men and headed onto the run with just Richard in front of me. I held my position around the 5km's and finished first women and second man!
 
Our friend - John Kane, had a successful day too completing his first triathlon and pleasing the race sponsors - Sands Beer, by crossing the finish line with a beer in hand!

 
I am now back in the cold UK for a couple of weeks before heading off on an Irish training camp to Spain.
 
 
 
September 7 2008:
Strathclyde Corus Super Sprint Eliminator
 
I decided at the last minute to enter the Corus Super Sprint Eliminator in Strathclyde. I thought it looked like a fun race. However with a chest infection it perhaps was not the best plan.
 
I felt a bit rough after the flight up but decided I was in Glasgow now and I may as well have ago. The water was very cold and about 150m into the swim I debated pulling out. I could feel my chest wanting me to cough and knew if I did it would be game over. I managed not to and went into T1 with the lead pack. My transition was shockingly bad and I ended up time trialling the bike. I went onto the run and settled into a comfortable pace, I ran down a couple of girls and crossed the line in 3rd. Top 10 and 5 fastest losers qualified from each heat for the final.
 
In the final I had a better swim and was 3rd at the exit ramp. However my T1 was to be a problem again. I stood up but missed the matting and hit the mossey ramp. I slipped and fell. By the time I had got back up and got my wetsuit off, I’d missed the pack again! I couldn’t believe it, to be 3rd in the water but still miss the pack is pretty shocking. I time trialled the bike again with some help from Rebecca Milne and managed to over take some riders. I was pleased with my run, running with Andrea Whitcombe into 7th place.
 
I am now back home and will be practicing my T1s!

 
 
August 26 2008:
Olympic Experience and Race Report:
Today is my last full day out here in the Olympic Village. I fly back tomorrow morning to Dublin with the rest of the Irish team. I have had a wonderful time, met lots of amazing people and learnt a great deal.
The training camp in Matsue, Japan went very well. The facilities were great and Richard and I got a good block of training in. The weather was also good, mid 30s everyday. As a result I headed over to Beijing knowing I could have done no more to prepare myself.
 
A few days before we flew I crashed my bike and damaged two of the joints in my back, this affected my glute and although the physios worked hard to fix it there was not enough time and the best I could do was to put it out of my head. Luckily during my bike warm up it didn’t flare up so I was happy enough on the start line.
 
On race day, the 18th August 2008, I was understandably pretty nervous. The race venue is an hours coach journey away from the village and the only coach left at 7am. I like to have a stretch and run in the morning before breakfast on race day so I woke early at 530am and got on with my pre race routine.
 
The coach journey was a bit of a hassle but I put some ear plugs in and settled down to sleep for a while. When we arrived at the venue everything ran the same as at a world cup but 15minutes earlier. It was great to have Richard with me until 30 minutes before the race started. He handled everything perfectly, nothing was a problem for him. He knows how I am before a race and is good at controlling my nerves .
 
We lined up as usual in race number order and were called out onto the pontoon. When the gun went I was pleased and anxious to get going. Initially the swim went well and I was leading for about the first 300m then things started to go downhill. I am not sure why as training had gone really well. I had been doing pb sets in Japan and both Richard and I thought I was in good shape. We  have spoken about this since the race and have come up with a few plans to improve my swim and get it back to how it was at the beginning of the season. We will try these out when we return to the UK and see what works.
 
Never the less I ploughed on and exited the swim with a couple of girls just off the main pack. My transition didn’t go well, the racks were not the usual ones we use in World Cups and my back wheel got stuck, I lost valuable seconds and as a result missed the pack. The girls I had exited the swim with made it in.
 
On the bike I worked hard and we managed to catch quite a few of the girls in front. My back and glute was a problem but as there was nothing I could do about it I just got on with the race and ignored it as best I could. Onto the run I had a good transition and lead my pack out. About 1500m per lap of the run was on blue matting, under the matting was a temporary metal platform. This reflected the heat and a thermometer read 47 degrees!!! I felt pretty bad on the run after working hard on the hilly bike course - as I’m sure did everyone else. 
 
After the race lots of athletes were being stretchered off and 20% of the field didn’t finish. I finished 5 places above my ranking which although I obviously wanted more is not a bad result for my first year as a fulltime athlete.
I am taking a little break now and letting my body recover. I have pushed it hard this year and picked up a few injuries which I have been managing, now is a good time to get over them. Hopefully it won’t take too long and I will be back for a few more races before the season is over.
 
Thank you all for the support and good luck emails you sent me, I did the best job I could and will be back in 4 years time fitter and ready for another shot.
 
July 15 2008:
Richard and I flew out to Dublin last Thursday for the Olympic Team announcement. Training in the UK I haven’t really been exposed to all the press that goes along with being selected to race in the Olympics. Although the photo shoots and interviews were great fun I think it is probably a good thing that I have been slightly removed from it. It has allowed me to focus fully on my training and just get my head down.

After the team announcement we headed off to Athlone. We spent the next few days familiarising ourselves with the course and the area. Race day dawned slightly less windy and a little sunnier than the previous couple of days. The race wasn’t scheduled to start until 15:30, a lot later than the usual 10am gun. All day I was itching to go, finally 14:00 arrived and I headed out on my bike to warm up. I set everything up in transition and got ready and warmed up.

The start was a little delayed – someone had parked a car on the bike course, and as a result when we hit the water I was a little stiff – as I’m sure was everyone else. It took me the first lap to get into my stroke, on the second lap I took the lead and managed to get a small gap on the rest of the field.

Through transition and onto the bike the cheering was immense. On the bike I got into a group of three with Lenka Zemenova – the eventual race winner, and Jenna Shoemaker. Jenna and I worked well together increasing our lead on the chasing pack. We headed out onto the run two minutes ahead of the next group. The cheering from the crowd really spurred me on, I lead for the first couple of kilometers but then Lenka made a kick and I couldn’t go with her. The course is very tough and I really had to push to get through the race and hold onto second place. It was a great training race.

I would like to thank Glenline Telecoms – my new sponsor, their help made it much easier to afford the trip over to the race. I met with Mark Foran the managing director on the Monday and we went for a quick swim. Best of luck to all the Glenline team racing the NYC triathlon. Also many thanks to all the crowd who cheered me on, as I have said the support from all of you is invaluable and really very much appreciated. Finally thanks to the Triathlone team for setting up and hosting the race, it was a great weekend. Richard and I will be back to race again next year.
 
July 9th 2008:
Irish Times have awarded me Sports Women of the month for June. Click here to read more.
 
June 22nd 2008:
Paris French Grand Prix:

Last weekend was my first experience of the French Grand Prix circuit. I am in the St Avertin Sports 37 team. Green and black are our colours - I like the green! The weekend was great fun. The girls in my team are lovely and the manager is too.

French racing is very different to World Cup racing, as we lined up on the freshly prepared pontoon we didn’t know where we were suppose to be swimming. There was a white bouy so we guessed around that and back the way we came in, luckily we were right. I had a good swim up to the half way point but then struggled in the crowd. I exited in 8th place. The bike was dangerous to say the least. Very twisty and turny and with lots of reckless riding by some girls. I kept near the front of the pack, although this meant I had to work harder than if I had sat in the group it also meant less risk of being involved in a crash. I headed out onto the run and knew straight away it wasn’t going to be a very fast day. I had done some hard run sessions the previoius week and not tapered as I wanted to use the race as training, as I result my legs were a little heavy. Never the less I hung on for 7th place, not bad in a field of over 70.

The other girls in my team also put in good performances, Jenny Cooper, 20th, Taryn Mc Léod, 38th, Sabrina Godard, 41st, Aurélie Gauliard, 45th and 60th Katerina Dudkova. We were the 7th team on the day and moved up one place in the series results to 9th.
 
 
June 9th 2008
World Championships 2008:

Vancouver was my first triathlon world championships, in addition to this it was the last Olympic qualifying race. Obviously there were a lot of opportunities on Sunday 8th June and thus a fair bit of excitement and nerves.

The weather in June in Vancouver is always a bit risky ranging from balmy summer days to torrential down poor and near arctic temperatures. We experienced the latter. The water was reported to be 12 degrees and the air no warmer. It seems no one has told the weather this year that triathlon is meant to be a summer sport. The age groupers bore the brunt of this with most of their racing becoming a duathlon, not exactly what you expect when you turn up to the World Triathlon Championships. Obviously safety is paramount and the race organisers were doing their best to ensure no one was injured but I’m sure this doesn’t really make up for the frustration of training for one event and being told at the last minute that you are to race something completely different.

Luckily the weather was a little better on Sunday and the elite races remained full Olympic distance triathlons. We set off onto the swim with a long run into the icy waters, I suffered in the cold and had a poor swim. I headed out onto the bike and worked hard with Lisa Norden to catch the girls ahead of us. We gradually picked all but two off - Helen Tucker and Sarah Haskins. I was by now very cold - as, I’m sure, was everyone else. People all had different ideas on how to best keep warm some had put on extra layers under their tri suits whilst others put on jackets on the bike, I had tied gloves and arm warmers to my tri bars. I was able to put these on during the bike leg and was very glad of them. A couple of girls kept their swim caps on under their helmets and one had put cling film on the outside of hers. I’m sure we all looked quite odd but the precautions were necessary and despite them we were all still freezing cold.

Heading out onto the run my legs were numb but I could feel them gradually thawing so I knew things were going to improve. During the last 2 laps I was able to pick off some girls and came in 15th.

With Olympic points races now over I can take a short break from training - much to my annoyance. It is only day one and I am struggling to not head out the door and train. I know my body needs the rest but my head doesn’t want to take it. I shall endeavour to stop myself from training too much over the next week but will still keep things ticking over.

I would like to thank all the Irish supporters who were out on the course on Sunday. The support was amazing. Seeing the Irish flag - being flown by Neil, the team Physio and Bike Mechanic, 200m out from the finish gave me the strength to put in a last sprint and hold off the pack of girls on my heels. Congratulations to all of you who raced in the tough conditions.

 
June 1st 2008
 
May 26th 2008
Madrid World Cup marked the last World Cup before the closing date for Olympic qualification. Consequently the start list was particularly packed and unusually there were more women in the race than men. Madrid was an Olympic qualifying race for both Germany and Great Britain. Great Britain had all of their 5 spots open for the taking whilst Germany were down to placing their last 2 athletes.

Spain has been having some very cold wet weather in the past few weeks, Sunday the 25th , race day, was no different and dawned damp and cold at only 8 degrees. The lake was 17 degrees and therefore definitely a wetsuit swim. We lined up at 10am in the usual wetsuits and swim caps but also the not so usual woolly hats, gloves, jackets, shoes and socks. In spite of the extra layers I was still cold.

Madrid is renowned for being a rough swim. The first buoy is only 300 metres out and marks a very sharp left hand turn. I made it to the buoy in the group but already very bashed up - I like to think that this is not deliberate by other athletes but as my goggles were torn off just before the end of the first lap it was hard to believe this 100%. I managed to secure one goggle back to my face and then on the run between the laps the other. By now it felt like I was having one of the worst swims of my career and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I swam hard in the second lap and managed to pass a lot of people and get safely back into the front pack. As we headed out onto the bike the lead group was made up of about 20 athletes, however on the first climb someone dropped a wheel and 6 athletes managed to break away. We were able to organise ourselves enough to chase down one of the riders and unfortunately another got a puncture meaning that she was swallowed up in our pack after changing her wheel. Despite attempts to close the gap we were loosing time each lap. Both the German athletes were in our group and were intent on just watching each other, not wanting to waste energy chasing down the leading 4. One of the British pulled out due to the cold and a few other athletes were involved in a crash. All of this reduced the size of our pack and our chance of catching the breakaway. I lost my chain at the bottom of the hill on one of the laps but was luckily able to get it back on before I was spat out of the back of the pack.

We headed out onto the run a lowly 2 minutes and 40 seconds down! By now I was very cold and struggled to get my trainers on. After the torn ligaments in my toe only 2 weeks ago I wanted to make sure that my shoes were on properly so that I didn’t re-injure the toe.

This weekend I was lucky enough to be part of the Team BG scholarship, we had a physi0 with us and he helped me with the niggles I had picked up due to my crashes in Lisbon. Thanks to him I was able to run freely and even out sprint Joelle Franzmann - one of the German athletes racing for an Olympic spot, for 10th place.

The points I have received for my result in Madrid have moved me up in the Olympic rankings and improved my potential start spot for Beijing. With only one race left before qualification is finalised I am very tired but also extremely happy with how things are going. I wasn’t expecting much this weekend so another top 10 finish is extremely pleasing.
 
May 10th 2008
Returning from South Africa on Monday things started to go wrong, my bike did not make it back in time to go on the plane on Wednesday out to Lisbon. Slightly annoying but no problem I thought, I will use my time trial frame. I had been considering trying it out in a race for a while anyway and now was as good a time as any.
 
I landed in Portugal on Wednesday and set about getting ready for the Championships. Very quickly race day arrived. I went through my usual pre race warm up routine. As I began my bike warm up it started raining, the roads were oily and I had been warned that a lot of the Junior Women had been crashing. I was cautious and took things easy, never the less on the first dead turn as I swung in my rear wheel swung out and I ended up on the tarmac. I got back up, fixed my brakes which had got locked on, straightened my break leaver and off I went just a bit bruised. Luckily Gavin Noble’s coach, Gordon Crawford, was around and found me some ibuprofen to get rid of the worst of the pain from the crash. At least it had happened in the warm up and not the race I now knew just how slippy it was out there so I shouldn’t be crashing in the race… or at least that was what I thought.

I finished setting up in transition and got on with my swim warm up, my left hip was a little sore but I thought the race would probably help to loosen it up.

I lined up on the pontoon and off we went. The swim was very rough - probably one of the worst I have done, in the first 100m or so my hat got ripped off and I received multiple hits to the jaw and eyes. Luckily with all the racing I have been doing lately I am quite use to this and just kept swimming and looking out for clean water. I exited the water in about 5th place and went out onto the bike with the lead pack. On the second corner the surface goes from concrete over metal and gravel onto cobbles, my back wheel once again slid out from under me and I was back down on the floor, I swore to myself grabbed my bike and got back on. Luckily the bike was still working and whilst my front break was rubbing that was the worst of it. I rode back into the front pack with Lisa Norden and Nicola Spirig, so nothing lost I had a few more bruises and a harder bike ride to contend with now but I was back where I started. In the crash I had lost my drinks bottle and after a few laps was staring to feel dehydrated, I asked around and was able to get a few sips from other peoples bottles, Maria Czesnik saw me doing this and gave me her spare bottle. This was extremely kind of her, racing is racing and I would have completely understood if the girls had refused to give me any liquid, after all I crashed, it was my problem not theirs. I was able to repay Maria later in the ride by giving her my gel - she had lost hers earlier in the race.

After 40km we had stayed away from the chase pack and lost a few riders to crashes or just bad cornering. I was very glad to get off the bike and onto the run. As I put my trainers on and started running one of the toes on my left foot started hurting, I assumed I had just got my shoe on wrong so kept going. My legs were pretty sore from all the bruises and I didn’t feel I was able to run very well but managed to hold it together for 16th. In my first ever championship race this isn’t too bad and with all the complications I feel it was a pretty good result. When I crossed the line and took off my shoe I could see there was something wrong with my toe. It was swollen and blue. I have had it x-rayed today and it is not broken which is great so hopefully a few days of TLC will see it back to normal.

I must say that the Irish supporters and age group team out in Lisbon were amazing. There were lots of flags and cheering. It is such a great help to have people out there supporting you and really did help to push me on. Hopefully out in Vancouver I will have a less ‘eventful’ race and will be able to do a bit better for the Irish contingent. I hope you have all had a great race out there today.
 
May 4th 2008
I am now in the middle of my second block of racing of the 2008 season. Earlier today I competed in the Richards Bay ITU Triathlon World Cup. I placed 9th, one place higher than my last week finish.

I picked up a bit of a cold on the way over here and was worried that this would affect my race, luckily it seems as though I got away with it and hopefully it will have cleared up by next weekend.

The race really didn’t go to plan, the bike packs merged and we went onto the run as one massive group. This sort of meant that we may as well have just done a 10k road race and not bothered with the first two disciplines. With lots of good runners in the race I wasn’t expecting a very high placing. Never the less I stayed positive telling myself that I was running well and kept pushing on. I think sheer determination and adrenaline got me through. The finish was very close with me finishing one second behind the French girl in 8th and only 9 seconds behind 6th place.

9th is a new PB for me in a World Cup. It also means that at the moment I have qualified for the Olympics! I just have to defend the place until after the World Championships on June 8th in Vancouver. There are 3 more qualifying races - Lisbon European Championships, Madrid World Cup and World Championships. I’m sure that defending the place will turn out to be just as hard as earning it but at least for the moment I am on the list which is a lot more than I could say this time yesterday.
 
April 26th 2008
Writing this I am sitting in my rather strange hotel room in Korea. It is wierd for lots of reasons; the half used tooth paste: the multiple pairs of platic slipers: the millions of duvet covers they give you but no sheets and the tiny tiny towels, but mainly it is wierd because I have a round bed - whoever says triathlon isn't an exciting sport obviously hasn't stayed in the Tongyeong World Cup race hotel!
 
Today I managed 10th place, a new pb.
 
It is surprisingly cold and windy in Korea for this time of year. So windy infact that they had to shorten the bike course as one section was over a bridge that would have had a serious cross wind and would have been too dangerous.
 
I had swum on the course on thursday and friday and decided not to do a swim warm up before the race today. The water was officially 15 degrees but it felt more like 13. If I get cold it is game over in the swim for me, I just don't warm up so I opted for lots of arm swings and band work as opposed to venturing into the water. By swimming the course the previous two days I had worked out that there was quite a strong current and thus it was beneficial to start at the far end of the pontoon. I managed to get the second slot in. This worked out well and I exited the water after 1500m in 3rd place, 10 seconds clear of the chasing pack.
 
The bike course was very hilly and two main packs quickly formed. Despite numerous attempts by differing parites to break it up the group I was in stayed as one and we went onto the run as a group of 16. For about 7km I held onto 8th place, I gave it everything I had but had to settle for 10th. I was aiming for top 12 so am very pleased with the outcome. The points it will provide me with will be a great help for my olympic quest.
 
I am off back to the UK early tomorrow morning and then its out to Richards Bay, South Africa on wednesday for the next race. 
 
April 6 2008
Another weekend and another tough race.

Whoever chose the New Plymouth course had really decided to make it as deceptively difficult as possible. I had ridden around the bike course and run the run route in training and thought that it seemed like it was going to be quite a nice race, well it turns out I was slightly wrong.
Just as the Australians do the New Zealanders really go to town with the triathlon. There are races Friday, Saturday and Sunday; a firework display on the Saturday evening and a post race party on Sunday night. In addition to this all the athletes in the World Cup race receive a gift from the Mayor of Taranaki.

As we were lining up in transition before the race we were treated to a rendition of the traditional Maori Kapa Hakka. This was great to see firsthand and extremely motivating. We were then announced onto the beach. For once I had quite a good ranking number and as a result got to choose a good starting point. This really does help as you can end up having to swim a lot further if you are forced to start at one end of the starting board rather than the other. I had a good swim exiting second on the first lap and then getting into transition with the lead pack. The second lap turned into a bit of a street fight so all the strength training Richard and I have been doing over the winter really paid off.
 
The bike course was both hilly and technically with two dead turns per lap and lots of 90 degree corners. Right from the word go the pace was on. From my – limited, experience this is unusual for a women’s World Cup but is hopefully something that we will see a lot more often in races to come.

 
I had a good second transition and exited onto the run in 3rd place at the front of the first bike pack. My legs were still feeling pretty tired from the previous weekends racing and I definitely did not enjoy the 10km’s. The course was once again challenging consisting of a 7km undulating lap and then three 1km laps through transition, each with a hill climb. Although tough this was a great set up as it meant the spectators could see the whole of the last 3km, the constant cheering was great motivation to battle on through the pain. I managed to hang on for 14th place, one place higher than last weekend.
 
I’m now ranked 90th on the Olympic rankings, having moved up 57 places in the last two races. In order to qualify for Beijing I need to move up another 7 places. As you get higher up the list it gets harder to overtake people as the point gaps become larger, however I am planning on racing 5 more triathlons which count towards Olympic selection so things are looking positive at the moment.
 
March 30 2008
Today was my 2nd race of the season and my 1st world cup of the year. It was hosted by the town of Mooloolaba on the Sunshine coast. As only the 3rd World Cup of my entire triathlon career and rumoured to be the hardest Olympic distance course on the circuit I was understandably quite nervous. Mooloolaba is a one lap sea swim in the surf followed by a 7 lap bike - in which we go up and over the same hill 14 times! Finally the run is 4 laps up and over the same hill. So that means going up and down the infamous hill 22 times, not exactly my idea of fun!

They really make a weekend of it over here with a 5k dusk run on Friday, both children’s tri races and a criterium bike race on the Saturday all rounded off by an age group triathlon, open wave and finally the World Cup on the Sunday. Whilst this creates a great atmosphere it makes it rather hard to warm up as the streets are either closed or absolutely rammed full of cheering crowds. Never the less I woke up early on Sunday and managed to wind my way through the swarms of supporters and athletes to the harbour where I found some quiet roads which I used for both my run and bike warm up. Very soon it was 11:20am and time to start the race.
Standing on the starting board we were about 50m from the surf. The years of chilly cross country races – and running with ‘you elbows out’ as my school sports teacher taught us came in handy and I got a reasonable start. Once we were swimming I managed to battle my way past a couple of athletes to get comfortably into the front group where I stayed throughout the swim. After a tough transition I had a bit of ground to make up, all the crit races we have been doing paid off and I made it into the front pack again. After a couple of laps with a few more athletes making the break the group became too large and as a result didn’t really work together, nonetheless we managed to hold off the 2nd and 3rd packs. The run was really very tough. After the first lap my quads and hamstrings were burning. We were either sprinting uphill or battering our legs on the downhill. I kept pushing and managed to hold off a lot of world class competitors to come in 15th. This is my best result in a world cup and means that I am moving up in the Olympic rankings. I now meet the criteria to race in the 29th Olympiad in Beijing in August. However this doesn’t mean I am guaranteed a place just yet, I need to get high enough up the rankings to be one of the lucky few that will be selected for Beijing from this list.
On Wednesday I am off to New Plymouth, New Zealand for the next World Cup. Apparently this is a flatter course so will hopefully suit me a bit better. For now I am concentrating on recovering so I can get in a few good sessions before next weekend.
Once again best of luck with training and racing to you all and a belated Happy St Patricks day!
 
March 23 2008
At the 2008 TCR I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Tri 247's Annie Emmerson. Click below to view the interview.
 
March 19 2008:
During the few hours between training sessions I decided to compile some of my photos from training and racing over here on the Gold Coast. I then went a bit further and animated them into a short movie. Click on the link below to check it out. I hope to keep these short videos going throught the season.
 
Gold Coast training and ITU Triathlon Oceanic Cup Animation
 
March 1 2008:
Today, Saturday March 1st, it was my first triathlon of the 2008 season, The Gold Coast ITU Triathlon Oceanic Cup. I lined up this morning at 11 am on the Southport Beach. It was a scorching 35 degrees again, not so good for those of us who up until the last two weeks have been use to training in near arctic temperatures. I had a strong swim leading for the first 600m then settling into 2nd place. I exited out onto the bike to find one of my bike shoes was broken. I tried various ‘on the go’ quick fixes without any joy and resolved to ride the 40km as best I could with one good shoe. Luckily for me the pace wasn’t too fast and I stayed in the front pack taking my fair share of turns on the front. I was very glad when the marshal shouted one lap to go and hoped off into transition ready for the 10km run. I headed out in 2nd place behind Emma Moffat and closely followed by Felicity Abram. After about 4km she got the better of me and I had to settle for 3rd place. All in all a successful day in the office.
 
February 22 2008:
I flew out to the Gold Coast last weekend to get in some warm weather training before the season starts up. I have been staying at the Sports Super Centre in Runnaway Bay with Richard. It is a great base as everything is right there, the 50m pool is only 47 steps from our room and the gym and track - both bike and running, not much further!
Although the summer here hasn't been that great - lots and lots of rain, the weather is holding out for us at the moment and it is scheduled to be 36 degrees tomorrow!
Training has been going well, as they say life is always a lot better with the sun on you back and a tail wind and I've definately got the first half of that for the moment.
 
February 17 2008:
Name On Kit will remain open thanks to the help of xterra triathlete Jim Mcconnel. Kit will still be printed on and to the same high standard, however if you have any special requests such as logos please email ahead.
 
February 3 2008:
Name On Kit will be at the 2008 TCR at Sandown park next weekend. They will be offering on site, on the day printing on Saturday and Sunday. This will be your last chance to get your suits printed up before April 2008 as Name On Kit are closing their doors for 2 months. Make sure you get in early to guarantee kit back by the end of the day.
Any kit recieved at the NOK office after Friday 8th February will not be printed on.
 
January 27 2008:
I have just returned from my first training weekend in Ireland. I had a great time meeting the rest of the team and TI staff.

The camp was run by Chris Jones and Gordon Crawford. They have worked together for years and have a great system going. During the weekend we did a couple of swims, runs and conditioning sessions. Saturday was the most challenging of the days with a long threshold swim in the morning and a threshold run session after breakfast. On Sunday we concentrated on speed work in the pool and mostly on technique down at the track, completing lots of neural exercises and run through’s followed by an easy jog.

The weather was extremely kind to us, remaining sunny and surprisingly mild all weekend. All in all a great weekend and an excellent chance to meet the rest of the squad, I hope there will be many more training weekends to come.  
 
January 6 2008:
Welcome to my website. I will do my best to keep you all up to date with recent news of races, events and training here. If you have any comments or questions please click on the contact icon and send me an email.
 
I hope you have all enjoyed the festive season, best wishes for the rest of 2008.
 
Emma Davis