I am back at my family home in the London now after spending the past week at the biggest track competition of my career as of yet. The first round of the UCI track nations cup in Glasgow. It was pretty surreal to be back in the UK competing, but this time round as part of a different nation. I just wanted to make the most of the experience but this meant I made a few mistakes along the way.
Although last year I rode in the Junior World and European championships representing Spain, the jump up to Elite is quite considerable. My emotions were all over the place and my nerves definitely reached an all time high which unfortunately had a negative affect on my performance. I found myself in near tears before the start of my individual pursuit from all the pressure I had put on myself. For me, I think it was a matter of feeling confident in my ability and in the preparation I had done for what I was about to do. But a lack of preparation and prior practice meant that it would be my second ever complete 3km individual pursuit. With the IP it is all about consistency and pacing and I still have yet to get this right. As it turned out, in comparison to my first IP in Portugal where I went too easy at the beginning, this time round I went too hard. This meant as the laps went on my lap times got slower. My main goal for this year is to perform well in the IP at the Under-23 European championships, so there is still time to work on my pacing.
The other race I took part in was the team pursuit, where I raced with Tania Calvo, Eukene Larrarte and Naia Amondarain. We managed to achieve a new Spanish record while also beating several other countries. A good step in the right direction and hopefully with some more practice as a team we can continue to improve and get new PBs.
I realise now the great achievement that stood by itself, was the fact I made it to competing with the worlds Elite best. But being put in such an intense atmosphere I felt consumed by my nerves, unable to control them. I know now that it is a matter I have to work on so that I am ready if another incredible opportunity arrises.