Hi,
Well I thought this was going to be a podium race for me for sure! I was feeling great leading into the race, swimming, cycling and running well…but no, a mess up in transition cost me the race.
Coming out of the water I was with the main bunch of girls even after nearly choking on litres of water! Jumping onto my bike the right shoe attached to my bike came off…I ran and got it but meanwhile the bunch had ridden away. I was left with five other girls trying to chase for the next 40km. Three of us in the bunch were working very well together and it was looking like we would catch the leaders. However, the girls up the road were working well too and the gap remained the same for 40km’s.
Off the bike I was in about 35th position, totally out of the top ten and only the top 20 get ranking points to improve their ITU ranking. ..so I had some work to do. Having focused on my run for the past year and inspired by Emma Snowsill’s recent performance in Hy-Vee (where she ran her way though the field to win) I thought I should have a crack at the run and see how many girls I can overtake ( I had also done some training runs with Emma Snowsill at a training base in Spain, she asked me if I was a runner, hence I felt I should have a go).
I ran smart, trying to negative split the run. I think in hot conditions like it was on race day the best thing to do its to go out strong but not over the top as other athletes disregard how the heat can catch up with you later on in the run. So I ran a strong 1st 5km then picked up the pace the last 5km and kept overtaking other girls all the time. I ended up finishing 14th! Not a bad result, a 34:50 run split (the course was short so I am guessing a high 36 minute run for 10km) I received some more points to improve my ranking and turned a negative situation into a positive performance. So overall a good learning experience, but a missed opportunity.
My next race is a world cup in Holten, the Netherlands on the 10th of July in 10 days. I am hoping for an incident free race!
Currently I am enjoying living in a French family’s home in Besancon, France, a town one hour from the border of Switzerland. Summer has arrived in Europe and I am having a great time. Off to swimming now!
Au revoir!
Post race treat, Belgium waffels from the Australian Ice Cream Shop
