About
Claire Hitchings, 39, lives in Kemsing, near Sevenoaks in Kent. She lives with her husband Anthony and son Jamie. She started mountain biking in the ‘90s and met Anthony on a mountain biking holiday in Morocco four years ago. He convinced her that she would like road cycling, so she bought a road bike and hasn’t looked back - dabbling in a few time trials, hill climbs and sportives with West Kent Road Club. Having previously swam and run, this led her to start sprint triathlon in 2007 and join 7Oaks Tri Club. She's now totally addicted!
My first tri was the 7Oaks Sprint Tri in April 2007. Possibly one of the slowest T1s ever!
In the days leading up to a race I always shave my legs, rest two days before and do a bike-run brick with some short race-speed efforts the day before.
To celebrate a triathlon win I prompt Anthony to take me out for a meal.
My background is in sport science - BSc and a PhD in adherence to fitness training in elite athletes. I worked as sport scientist with England Netball for 10 years. I also have a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and now work for the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.
My coaches are Dr James Hopker (run and bike), Mike Wake (swim), Martin Paine from TriSport Coaching UK (technical) and Anthony Hitchings (transitions)!
My sporting heroes include Nicole Cooke, Chrissie Wellington, Rebecca Adlington, Mark Cavendish and Victoria Pendleton.
The training session I hate the most is a really hard swim session that leaves me nearly drowning.
The best training session is hill reps up Toys Hill. I feel like Daley Thompson training twice on Christmas Day, knowing that very few other Mad Muppets will be doing the same.
My most treasured tri possession has to be my Time Trial bike. A Terry Dolan acquired whilst heavily pregnant at a very good price - my tummy was too big to reach the handle bars so it sat for months in the lounge before it got its first outing.
The best thing about training is rest days and eating after a hard session!
My favourite pre-training food is homemade fruit crumble. This is also my favourite post-training food and a 4-portion crumble can often disappear within a day!
My proudest pre-triathlon sporting moment is playing netball for the British Universities Netball Team.
My most memorable day on the bike was a trip to follow the Tour de Fr
ance with my bike club, West Kent Road Club. I decided to try and keep on local legend Reg Smith’s wheel descending a Col. Awesome!!
The worst thing about triathlon is competing in the cold! I'm also not a fan of 4am wake-up alarms!
The best thing about triathlon is the sensation of speed on the bike.
If I wasn’t doing triathlon I’d be trying to get more bottle and technical skills to be a mountain bike racer.
Team Hitchings comprises Anthony - my husband, Jamie - my son, Jim & Bridie - my parents, Ros & Dave - Anthony's parents, and Aunty Anne - Jamie's Great Godmother.
