The track championships were held in Galapagar, Madrid on a concrete indoor velodrome, as are most of the velodromes in Spain. This means it is slower than velodromes made of wood but still made for some great racing.
I managed to get a few really good results during the championships, getting second in the individual pursuit and sprint, and then first in the 500m, elimination and team sprint. For my first track championships here, this really gave me confidence about my form, getting podiums in 5 out of the 7 races I raced in. I even broke the national IP record, but that was shortly re-broken again a couple of heats later by Ainara Albert, who beat me to first.
I could say i did too many races because by the end of the week I did not feel my best in the last race of the program, the points race, which I had hoped to have done better in. I underestimated the intensity of sprint and from what started as an activation of the 200m for the Individual pursuit on the Thursday, led to a full day of racing on the Friday, involving the IP final, match sprints, scratch race and 500m. It has been a while since I have had to endure long days of racing, spending the majority of the day, either on rollers or the track so it is going to get some getting used to again.
Although it was tough, I really enjoyed getting back into track racing and to get some jerseys and medals out of it was the icing on the top.
After the successful couple of days racing, I was presented with the opportunity to represent Spain at the European track championship in Apeldoorn. I am beyond pleased and I cannot express my thanks enough to everyone who has helped me over my years of racing. From everyone at home at Herne Hill, my family, and most recently my coach Cesar, who dedicates so much time into helping me. This is a great milestone in my career, being my first ever international race representing Spain and I hope I can gain as much experience as possible from it. Not only is it an incredible opportunity to race, but I will also get to see all my friends on the GB team. It will be quite strange to represent a country different to the one I was raised in but this time I have spent in Spain, I have slowly adapted and I am gradually feeling more Spanish.
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