Episode 73 Featuring Julie Gadsden

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On this Episode we chat to Agegroup athlete Julie Gadsden who is a member of the GB Agegroup Team and competes in the 70-74 agegroup.

Julie tells us "I had no interest in sport at all throughout school and all the way up to the age of 40 – though I did a lot of sailing and also eventually took up mountaineering.  I decided to try to start running around the age of 40 when I was commuting to work in London, just to save my sanity.  I managed about 50 metres before collapsing in a heap – but persisted and became a very slow social runner.  (It turned out I had asthma, which explained why I always hated sport at school.)  I used to ride a bike so I entered a local sprint tri relay event in 1994 and then my first solo sprint race in 1995.  I was always extremely slow but enjoyed the social side of it – and just the sense of achievement.  I did a few local events – some standard, some sprint distance – up to around 2000, when I took a break for around 10 years and focussed on running (slowly!)."

" I retired in 2011 (at the age of 60) and decided to get back into triathlon, now focussing entirely on sprint distance.  I entered the local race in Petersfield (Hampshire) and shortly after joined Petersfield Triathlon Club.  I bumbled along happily, becoming ever more involved in the club, until I went to a triathlon training weekend in 2015 and ended up signing up with a coach (Jo Lewis of Tri50) to see if I could be a bit smarter with my training.  Jo persuaded me I could have a go at qualifying for the GB age group team (which I didn’t know anything about) – I thought she was probably mad!  But she got me to the start of the World Sprint Tri Championships in Rotterdam in 2017 (qualifying by the skin of my teeth).  And since then it’s become something of a habit – competing in Glasgow, Lausanne, Valencia and Munich).  Along the way I qualified as a Level 2 triathlon coach and had a couple of years of coaching myself and a year or so ago I signed up with Ade Bungay of Goal Specific Coaching who is now coaching me.  The highlight of my triathlon journey so far was getting third place in Munich last year in the 70-74 age group (I am now 71)."

"I always try to view the international events as something to enjoy – but I do work myself hard in the training to get myself there in the best form I can.  As a retired scientist I enjoy learning more about the research which underpins training and performance, particularly for the older athlete.  This year some friends from my club persuaded me to throw my hat in the ring for the Aquathlon teams, and I have been accepted for the World and European Aquathlon Championships (Ibiza and Menen) as well as the Sprint Tri events in Madrid and Hamburg.  There are some astounding athletes in the older age groups, so my aim is to stay fit, train hard and just see where it gets me."

Hope you enjoy Julies story as much as we did.

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