Beijing International Triathlon

After my race in Edmonton, I headed to Mont Tremblant to watch the 70.3 World Championships and to pick up a very special parcel. I received my very first Felt IA time trial bike with thanks of course to Felt and also SRAM, who did the build with sram red 22! A few days later, Josh and I were headed to Beijing to compete in the Beijing International Triathlon which was being held in the Fengtai district. After a fairly choppy swim, we got to ride on some of the smoothest hot mix I have ever ridden, although the bike course was certainly a challenging one with a considerable amount of climbing and a tricky descent! The 40km bike was followed by a gruelling 10km run which included over 600 stairs. It was a great experience and it was such an honour to be invited to to such a professional race, I hope to be back! 

Check out the race footage (in 2 parts) below. 

Part 1(https://vimeo.com/111577767 ) 

Part 2 (https://vimeo.com/111561484 )

Thanks Rocky Arroyo for the pic 

Part I Commonwealth Games and Edmonton WC

I had written a blog a few days after I had competed at the Commonwealth Games, although obviously it never made the cut. Reading back on my words, I thought you would probably not appreciate the long and tedious recap of my racing experience. It was probably exactly what I needed, an opportunity to vent and share my thoughts, even though I was essentially just talking to myself!

But now I better put something together before I take on my last few races of the season!

I had an amazing experience at the Commonwealth Games, but the result itself was most certainly disappointing. We raced on the first day of the Games and the Scots were having some unusual weather, the sun was out and it was actually hot! We were all prepared for a wetsuit swim but apparently miracles do happen, because they weren’t needed on race day. I was with the front group of girls after the first lap of the swim and when we dove into the water for the second lap, a few of us lost touch of the group and the gap grew considerably over the next 700metres. Lucy Hall was setting a fast pace and I knew that I was in trouble considering how small the field was. On the bike I was isolated with Kate McIllroy, and she had 2 teammates up the road, it wasn’t looking great for me. It was difficult to keep my head in the right space after getting time splits each lap, each lap losing time to the front group. I never gave up and although pulling out would have been easy, it wasn’t going to happen. When I got off onto the run, I actually felt quite good considering the ride. I was about 3 and a half minutes down, and it was a very lonely 10km run. I ended up catching a couple of girls at the end and finished in 9^th .

Awesome to witness Micheal Shelley win the Gold in the Marathon

We had a few nights at the Athletics. Highlight was Usain Bolt entering the stadium. wow. 

After Glasgow and 2 weeks of fun cheering on my Australian teammates, I headed to Bend in Oregon to prepare for the World Championship grand final in Edmonton. I can’t thank Heather Jackson and Wattie enough for welcoming me to their home for my time there! Bend sure did blow me away and it was the biggest highlight of my trip. I felt as though I was getting fitter each week after Glasgow and for me and my running, there was no substitute for time! I ended up heading into Edmonton feeling fitter than I did before Glasgow.  It was also great to finally meet my coach Cliff English and have him there in the final stages of my Edmonton preparation.

Closing ceremony with Dan

On the bike in Bend with Heather

Running in Bend with Cliff

I won my first ever World Cup in Edmonton in 2011, so I was definitely happy to be heading back. Once again, my swim heavily dictated my overall result. I was feeling a lot more confident after some good weeks of swimming training and the fact I would be around a lot more girls than in Glasgow. I had a mid pack swim, nothing disastrous at all, but it still turned out to be a lonely 40km time trial. There were two packs chasing each other in front of me, and one big chase pack behind me. Yes, there I was stuck in the middle. Unfortunately, being the Grand Final, there were races within the race and it turned out that Gwen had called upon super swim/biker Sarah Haskins to help her out on the bike. So while I was riding solo trying to catch, Sarah was time trialling in the second group trying to pull Gwen to the front group. Mmmm, not good for me!

A fun bike sesh with the group before I left for Edmonton. 

I got off the bike with a few girls who sat on my wheel all day, and surprisingly I felt pretty good. I knew I was in good run shape, but unfortunately there were just too many girls up ahead for me to pull off a result which I would have been satisfied with. I ended up in 18^th and with the 3^rd fastest run split…but hey, that means nothing if you’re not in striking distance. In saying that, I do walk away with some confidence for next year. Since March/April this year when I started working with Cliff, I have not been injured, and that is a huge step forward for me. Patches of missed training from injury problems were catching up with me and it feels so good to walk away from the ITU season with some CONSISTENCY. I didn’t race much and my results on paper were not fantastic, but I have a foundation to build upon for next year and that makes me very happy.

Edmonton

TBC…….

Part II

Asian Adventures Beijing and Philippines.

Hamburg

For the last couple of months I have been based back on the Gold Coast focussing on my training for Commonwealth Games. After a rough start to the year, I wanted to be settled at home to get some consistent training under my belt with my new coach Cliff English. It was a perfect opportunity for us to work together and establish a solid coach athlete relationship. I am very grateful for his support and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at home training. I also underwent a solid strength and conditioning program and I definitely feel healthier, fitter and stronger than I have in a long time. I am in one piece and have no injuries holding me back, which is always a good feeling.

Early morning swim squad at Miami. Winter sunrises at home are simply awesome

Thanks to my beautiful girlfriends and family friends who gave me a fun farewell party :) 

The time had come to race again and I was eager to get back into it at Hamburg World Triathlon Series race. I had not raced since Cape Town, which was about 2.5 months ago, so I was definitely feeling the nerves. Hamburg is a favourite race destination of many of the athletes and I have great memories from each time I have competed there. It was my forth year back to the course, my first experience being Junior Worlds is 2007 when I was 16. The crowds were just as passionate as I remember each year and once again they came out in huge numbers to support us all, it’s a truly special race to be a part of.

I have made previously made the mistake in coming to Europe without enough time for my body to recover from the travel and to adjust to the time zone. I made sure that this didn’t happen again and I was settled into Girona at the start of July. I am very thankful for the help of Emma Snowsill in helping me organise my stay here in Girona with Moffy and Kirsten Sweetland. We have a share apartment and we all love our first experience of training in Girona.

We are staying in old town, Girona. 

Sunflowers

It was a Saturday race in Hamburg and all the big names were on the start line. It was going to be a great test and I knew it was going to be a fast race, and I was most certainly right about that. My ranking coming into the race was terrible and the traffic around the first bouy was HECTIC, to say the least! I came out of the water mid pack and had some time to catch up on the bike. It seemed as though the front pack was riding hard and aggressively through the flat and technical course through Hamburg City.  The group that I was with slowly dropped in numbers in the chase and I was very pleased to catch onto the front pack on lap 3. The bike went super fast and I was convinced we had another lap to go when I saw some girls taking out their feet from their bike shows. Turns out I was wrong, and in a terrible position coming into t2, oops.

Out on the run and I had some time to catch up from my poor effort coming in and getting out of T2. We had a significant sized group coming off the bike and 5km isn’t much time to separate us all that much. I found my rhythm and start to make my way up through some girls. I was running with Sarah Anne Brault from Canada the whole 5km, but I pulled away from her in the final stages to come across in 10^th place.  Gwen Jorgenson took away the win and I was extremely pleased for Emma Jackson in second and my roomie, Kirsten Sweetland in third!

The race was over before I knew it but I am very satisfied with my result. It was a true test of speed amongst the best girls in ITU at the moment and it was perfect preparation for Commonwealth Games, which is coming up ridiculously fast!! I’ve unpacked here in Girona, to only leave again on Sunday for Glasgow. I am extremely excited for what lies ahead for me. It will be my first major Games which will no doubt bring many new experiences and memories, I can’t wait to be apart of team Australia!

The individual race in Glasgow in on the 24^th of July (the relay is on the 26th but the team hasn't been picked) and I will be staying in the village until the closing ceremony on the 3^rd of August. I will be venturing to as many events as possible to support the rest of the Australian team so be sure to check back in as I will be sharing some of my Games experiences on this blog.

Reflecting back to the very start of the year, I wanted to better my 2013 season and remain injury free. I said I wanted to string a consistent 6 weeks of training together, something I was unable to do in 2013

It was a somewhat turbulent start to 2014. A couple of months into the year my former coach, Craig Walton, decided to move on from his coaching role. I crashed in Auckland to end up finishing 20^th and then made the huge trip to Cape Town only to be disappointed again. The feelings I experienced out on the 10km course were some which I had never felt before, even compared to times where I had only just returned from injury.  Confidence was low but I knew I was much better than the athlete I was at the time. Running is my strength and when I don’t do that well, it’s not a great feeling. The few weeks after Cape Town I battled some sickness and initially had to take some complete rest.  That is all behind me now and I am currently working on those goals I had at the start of the year. I am injury free and currently stringing some consistent training together- It feels great.

After Auckland I raced at Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon at home on the Gold Coast. It was a great morning celebrating Luke's life, and a bonus to come away with the win with Melinda Vernon second and Gillian Backhouse third. 

On our way over to Cape Town we were able to get a view of Antarctica , very cool!

After Auckland I was picked to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games in July this year. I had been thinking of the Games for a couple of years now, so to be named in the team was a big relief and obviously a huge honour.  Since the announcement, and my race in Cape Town, 2014 is shaping out to be a little different than previously planned. I pulled out of Yokohama and I also won’t be racing Chicago. The Commonwealth Games only comes around every 4 years and I do not want to let this year go past without doing all I can to produce the best possible result in Glasgow. I am still very young in the sport of triathlon and I have many years ahead of me to focus on the series.  I knew I needed a block of consistent training, especially to get some running done. It has also been a great opportunity to get further acquainted with my new coach Cliff English, and I'm throughly enjoying the program. 

Australian Triathlon Commonwealth Games team. Ryan Bailie, Dan Wilson, Aaron Royle, myself,  Emma Moffatt , Emma Jackson 

Celebrating Mothers day at home on the Gold Coast

Thanks to the great guys at SRAM, I have some new SRAM red 22 for the year! I can’t wait to show you what bike it has been fitted onto!!