Emily Patch - Triathlete

A question I often get asked as an athlete is "What got you into triathlon?" so to start my blog this month I'm going to go back through the years to properly answer this question. 1. My swimming background From an early age my parents had always taken me swimming but being the fussy child I always was, I hated water! I hated getting water in my eyes and would never go into the deep end of the pool. For many years my parents had to bath and shower me with great difficulty as I wore goggles as they tried to wash my hair.  Before I had school swimming lessons my parents wanted me to be able to swim properly so decided to book me in for some one to one swimming lessons at our local pool where I managed to swim 50m in my first swimming lesson and then 100m in my second lesson. The problem now was getting me out of the water! A few months later I was trialling for my local swimming club (Louth Dolphins Swimming Club), being awkward as per usual it took me a while t...

Today is International Day of Happiness so I'm going to share my happiness by updating my blog on the things that make me happy and a quick update on my training :D Yesterday I started my 2016 season by doing Clumber Park Duathlon and I cannot put into words how happy I was to be able to race. Thinking back to last month when I was so weak I couldn't even carry the bread in the supermarket for my mum or open the car door myself, I am so happy to be back racing. I stood on the start line with a grin across my face while everyone else was looking serious and ended the race with a smile just as big. The saying you don't know how much you love something until you can't do it has never meant so much to me as it does now. I am so happy and grateful for everything in life and I'm so happy I've got the chance to race again. I completed the event in 1:20:57 which I am pleased with considering I'm still building up my fitness and it was my first duathlon. Raci...

I'm pretty sure my February blog is supposed to be about how much winter training I've been doing and how I'm getting ready for my first race which is only weeks away and I really wish it was, however my last two months have consisted of 23 visits to A&E and my GP surgery. But many scans, tests and various medications later I am on the mend having solved the problem. I was allergic to my plastic retainer causing my throat and tongue to swell and so that I struggle to breathe, a very rare allergy. So the good news is I am well and back training again! YAAAAY! So thats the bad news out the way and I can talk about the positives. Firstly I'm going to start by announcing my sponsors for the 2016 season which are Swimzi, High5 and Zone3, I am very thankful for there support this year and will be tweeting, blogging and instagraming about their products throughout the year, to read about my new Swimzi products you can click on the sponsors link above. Training ...

In May 2015 I successfully started off this year’s triathlon season by qualifying for the World Championships in Chicago 2015 and the European Championships in Lisbon 2016, competing in the sprint distance events. With the lead up to my first International competition held in Geneva in July 2015, I structured a set race programme around my A levels to compete in various triathlons every two weeks to enforce race tactical practice. New Louth Triathlon Club Tri-suit To gain a faster swim transition I needed to improve on my technique in removing my wetsuit.  To implement my improvements and get used to open water racing I entered the 2015 Delta Simmons Aquathon Series held in Lincoln every month.  Still overcoming shin splints and working to the advice of my physiotherapist the first two rounds proved to be a bit of a struggle, running through pain. I managed to achieve a second place in the first round and gruelling third place in the second round. With months of dedicat...