Xterra Czech 4th

I was not feeling that great in the few days leading up to Xterra Czech. All week I had been very tired from Mountain Mayhem the week before (where Julie Dibens and I finished in the 2nd Elite team), which speaking to the other guys on our team was the general feeling.

The weather had been awfull with storms so torrential that 12 people in the Czech republic were killed.

As the gun went for the swim I got badly swum over and ended up missing the front pack and getting stuck behind loads of age groupers swimming loads slower than me.

Onto the bike and again I felt sluggish initially, not really reeling in people for the first 5km. Then we hit the serious off road and I began to feel better. It was super wet and muddy and very slippery, making the bike leg into 1 hr 45 minutes long for us leaders. I had no idea which position I was in until I returned to transition 2 and saw only 4 bikes there. Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all?

Heading out on the run I just felt better and better. Soon I was up into 4th place with Michael Wiess (Xterra Austria champion and 2nd at the world champs in Maui) one place ahead of me. Unfortunately I couldn't quite catch him and I finished in 4th, equalling my best European tour finsh ever and improving my series ranking into the top 6.

I am back in the UK now for 10 days, before I head over to the US for Vermont and Colorado rounds of the US series.