Freddie Leith Athlete Ambassador

Freddie is a young triathlete who has his eye set on the GB Age Group team as well as completing long distance races. He talks to Sundried about training and racing.

Have you always been into sport?

Yes, since the age of about 5 I have ridden horses, competing in various equine sports. This has taken me to some amazing places, including competing at an international polocrosse test match series in Zambia. Since joining university, however, I discovered the sport of triathlon and have been hooked ever since!

What made you decide to enter the world of triathlon?

When joining university, I wanted to find a new sport that would be both a mental and physical challenge, and triathlon has been just that. Ever since my first few training sessions I have found the sport allows me to push myself to be better in sport than I thought I was capable of.

What’s been your favourite race to date and why?

One of my favourite races has to be the BUCS duathlon. I love the flat and fast course round the Castle Combe race circuit. Alongside that, the team spirit shown by everyone on the day is unreal.

And your proudest achievement?

I think my proudest achievement has to be my performance at the Cotswold Classic middle distance event. This was my first half-ironman distance event and the feeling of crossing the finish line after months of hard training was just amazing.

Have you ever had any racing disasters/your toughest race yet?

I’d say the biggest disaster I’ve had was racing the Exeter half marathon while already being injured - it lead to a painful race and having to have >6 weeks off running. But a good lesson nonetheless!

How do you overcome setbacks?

One of the most important lessons I learned during my time competing in polocrosse was the concept of ‘focus on the next ball’. Time spent thinking about the mistake you made is time wasted. I try to incorporate this into my triathlon career, seeing setbacks such as injury to be not a problem, but a chance to focus on something else. Thats the beauty of triathlon - chances are your injury won’t stop you from doing all 3 parts of the sport!

What advice do you wish you'd been given before you started competing?

I think the thing I wish I had been given earlier on was the importance of injury prevention and not overtraining. It is so easy to go from zero to a hundred in terms of your training without realising the increased risk of injury and not realising until its too late.

What are your goals?

Still being relatively new to the sport, my main goals are to keep pushing myself to improve my current PBs. Further to this I hope to compete at an age group qualifier later in the year, and in the long run I’d like to compete at ironman distance events.

Who do you take your inspiration from?

Apart from watching the inspirational performances from the obvious big names in triathlon, I take my main inspiration from watching regular people achieving big things in the sport. This ranges from watching my teammates rising from beginners to age group athletes, as well as drawing great inspiration from my sister managing to come back from spinal injury to run the London marathon two years running. All these performances inspire me as they show that anyone can achieve great things in the sport.

What do you like about Sundried and what’s your favourite bit of our kit?

One of the main things I love about Sundried is their ethics and sustainability. In this vital time for our planet, I feel it is vital that everyone does their bit, and Sundried does just that, using recycled and renewable materials.
In terms of my favourite kit, I find the running shorts and vests to be the most comfortable I’ve ever owned. Im also loving the Sundried barefoot shoes at the minute, adding a bit of variation into my training!