Noosa take 5

November 3 marked the end to my 2013 race season which began a long 12 months ago at the very same event, the Noosa triathlon. Noosa is probably the most iconic triathlon in Australia and one I have returned to every year since my first in 2009 (and I'll be back again for my 6th next year!)

The beautiful Noosa National Park

Noosa has not always treated me kindly with a crash in 09, and heat exhaustion in '10 and '11, the latter ending in a rather unflattering DNF 100m from the finish... Every year I swore it would be my last, but as the bad memories faded my determination to return and conquer grew. Four turned out to be the magic number and despite some heavy rain on the bike (which probably helped the not over heating cause) I stayed upright and finished the race in a respectable 11th without needing any medical attention post race. Satisfying, but I was far from done with the race. Last years race report

This year I had wanted a top 5 finish, but on learning of the prospective strength of the field quickly changed my goal  more simply to "execute the race well, and be in the game (rather than making up the numbers at the back of the field)".

A three week crash course on riding a time-trial bike had me lining up on the start line with TT bike I borrowed rather than my trusty Trek roadie "Mad-One" for the first time. To say I was apprehensive to start with is an understatement but it only took a few rides before I worked out how to change the gears...
By race week I was confident on the bike and to my relief could even mount it with some level of proficiency. I also procured a speedsuit from Huub and was excited to find out what all the hype about these suits is all about.

Race day approached accompanied by nerves only the Noosa Tri could induce. I found myself awaiting the start, promising myself I'd never do it again. The excitement caused by a snake swimming through the start line moments before the hooter went off quelled the nerves and before we knew it we were off, happy to get away from the snake. (It's usually the bull sharks that I'm worried about, and the odd jelly fish but a snake was a bit unexpected!!)
The swim was cleaner than I'd expected and I exited towards the front of the field behind Emma Jackson and Emma Moffatt, with Maddi Allen as usual in a league of her own already up the road. The suit worked a treat and with a good transition had me on to the bike in 5th.

Exiting the swim in my Huub swimskin

 

Emma Moffatt and Ashleigh Gentle disappeared up the road never to be seen again for the rest of the race. The rest of the front girls out of the swim stayed fairly close until the start of Gyndier hill 10km in. I hit the bottom of the hill in 4th and was shortly passed by Emma Jackson who had been just behind me. Knowing that it was one of my weaker points and could potentially cost me time I worked the hill, trying to stay in contact with Emma Jackson just ahead. I managed to loose only about 10 seconds to Emma up the hill and put time into the girls behind. We had gained significantly on Liz Blatchford who was in 3rd and on reaching the top she accelerated and Emma went with her. Thinking I would easily catch up once on the flat again I didn't attack the last few hundred meters of the climb as it flattened out. I was then forced to ride my own race watching 3rd and 4th move gradually further up the road as I underestimating the psychological advantage of having someone to pace off just ahead. Rookie error.
Melissa Hauschildt came motoring past me at about the 25km mark from 2 and a half mins down out of the swim but I was well clear of the other girls behind and reached T2 in 6th.

Photo courtesy of Triathlon in Pictures

I had a solid run (albeit slightly slower than I'd hoped for) to finish in 6th. It was exciting to feel like I was actually a part of the race, and not too far off that 5th place I'd originally wanted either!

It's been super fun finishing off the season preparing for a non-drafting race - the different training and race tactics to draft legal racing has kept things fresh. It's been a long 12 months of racing and training, switching focus from the Australian season over summer to the international season during the middle of the year. I am currently thoroughly enjoying having a break but will no doubt this time next week be itching to get into some serious off season training and start preparing for next year!

Check out the race coverage on 7mate this Sunday (10th) at 1:30pm

Gillian

The Euro experience

It's been 2 and a half weeks since I arrived back in Australia from my 3 month stint racing and training overseas and I'm well over due for a blog update!

While in Europe I was based in Aix-les-Bains, a moderate sized town on le Lac du Bourget in Southern France. Being situated basically in the foot hills of the European Alps, there was no shortage of mountains around, including several that featured in this year's TdF - stunning scenery, hell for the legs!

France may be known for baguettes, croissants and crepes, but for me it is the hottest track around, the seemingly never ending climbs and the marathon swim from the end of the lake that stick in my mind! I knew I was in for a challenge coming to train with the QAS squad, and while it was hard I absolutely loved it. "That was my hardest session yet" fast became a theme for me in the first few weeks and I redefined what I thought it was to train hard. Just when I was starting to wonder if I'd ever stop feeling tired again though the track stopped feeling quite so hot, the climbs became rides not grinds, and the lake didn't seem quite so long. Training with some pretty top class athletes was exciting, inspirational and definitely eye-opening!

The life of a pro triathlete isn't all hard work though, and it definitely has its perks. Some highlights for me were:

• The coffee shop rides along the lake to Chanaz

• Seeing my first glacier at Chamonix, Mont Blanc

• Making it to the top of le Revard with my lungs still intact and even getting a view (my first climb up le Revard on my second day in Aix just about killed me, and there wasn't even a view at the top thanks to cloud hugging the mountain top on an otherwise sunny day!)

Aix and Lac du Bourget from le Revard

• Living 400m from the edge of a beautiful lake and being able to just jump in and cool down after a run or on a hot afternoon

• 2 months of almost constant sunshine; we had only 4 rainy days the whole time I was there! Naturally 2 of those days were race days, one the day before I had to fly out...

• Being able to say "Je voudrais ____" with correct enough pronunciation by the time I left that the person serving didn't respond in English. Sadly that's about as far as I got though!

By the end of my trip I was missing everyone back home and I was ready to come home. At the same time it was a little sad to say good bye to Aix which had started to feel like a second home. Looking back over photos I can only marvel at the places I've had the opportunity of visiting this year. It has been an absolutely amazing experience and I'm already looking forward to going back next year!

Salut

Gillian

Geneva

Last weekend I popped over the French/Swiss border to Geneva for the Geneva European Cup. Another beautiful place to visit and one tough race!

This race was back to the more standard Olympic distance of 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. Double to distance of my previous two races.

After being bashed to oblivion in Edmonton and Holten I was relieved to have a relatively smooth swim thanks to the smaller field and longer swim. The pace was high from the start and by the first buoy at 300m the field was strung out in a long line. This meant that wrestling people around buoys and fighting for position was not so much a factor in the swim, but the speed was killer. Knowing that maintaining my position in the swim was vital if I wanted to be in the front pack on the bike I made sure to stick on the feet in front of me and not let any gaps open up, and putting in a surge if any did. I managed to hang on to the front pack through the swim but paid for it as soon as we hit the shore. Unfortunately my fitness wasn't where I'd hoped it would be at and I struggled through the swim to bike transition, something that is usually my strength, and lost contact with the pack.

Swim start

On the long run from the swim to the bike

The bike course was 6 laps of a 7km loop incorporating a steep hill almost a km long. Part way through the first lap I was caught by a group of 4 girls from behind. We worked well together and caught a couple more girls in front who had dropped off the front pack but lost time on the leaders every lap. The hill on the bike played a huge factor in the race, splitting the front pack and spacing out the field. By the 6th time up the hill my quads were cramping and I was well and truly ready to get off my bike!

The 4 lap run was by no means easy either - hot and hilly (albeit flat compared to the ride!). With tired legs it was not a fast 10km but I managed to catch a few girls from the pack in front to finish in 14th. No-where near where I'd like to be but a solid result considering where my fitness is currently at.

One of the real challenges I've had over the past month is getting in any solid training to maintain fitness amidst all the travelling and racing. Now it's time to knuckle down, do some hard work and get back the fitness that's been lost before evaluating where to race next.

Gillian

Holten European Cup

The Netherlands is an amazing country to go to if you like riding a bike. For starters, it's dead flat and the plethora of bike paths/lanes/roads lining almost every single street make cycling a breeze. The place is full of bikes where ever you look and (at least in Holten) there's no such thing as anti cyclist rage!

Bike racks at the station; narrow road through town with bike lanes either side

Flying in from Canada on Tuesday I had a few days to explore the quiet country town of Holten and the surrounding farming area before the race. One definite perk of doing a sport that involves cycling and running is that sight seeing can be done whilst training!

Exploring: an old thatched roof house; cycling through the Holterberg National Park; Pelmolen in Rijssen; a nice cobblestone road; gardens at de Oosterhof, Rijssen

Holten clearly takes pride in hosting this triathlon, a race that has been run annually since 1985, including an ITU race (either European cup, European Championship or World cup) since 2002. This year the event began on Thursday and encompassed the U23 European team and individual Championships, the ITU European cup race (my race), numerous different kids and age group triathlons and aquathons, as well as opening ceremony and after parties! When I arrived on Tuesday the town was already decorated with banners and flags promoting the triathlon, with most of the houses and lamp posts through town sporting flags like such:

The town came to life on race day with spectators lining the streets of the run course. The event had a festival-like feeling with at least 5 brass bands playing along course, speakers pumping out the radio, jumping castles and other inflatable play structures for the kids, and plenty of stalls for tri junkies to stock up on the latest kit.

One of the many bands playing

The race started out at the Domelaar, a lake situated about 10km from town. The swim was 1 lap of 750 meters in the lake, a wetsuit swim. The bike course was then 10km from the lake into the centre of town and two 5km laps from town through the edge of the Holterberg national park and back into town, encompassing some cobblestones and probably the only hill in the whole country. T2 was set up in the centre of town and the run was two 2.5km laps through town, finishing in front of a grandstand area set up for the race.

Holten was an amazing experience but unfortunately I didn't have the race I'd been hoping for and left feeling bitterly disappointed. Despite feeling good early in the week and thinking I'd recovered well from racing and jet lag, it caught up with me coming into the weekend. I woke up on race day feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Knowing I’d pulled out many a good training session at the end of a hard week when I’d been feeling about the same I put it to the back of my mind and prepared for the race as per normal.

Swim start

Once again I was swallowed up in the swim, this time right from the start. I felt like almost as soon as I'd surfaced I had girls swimming on top of me. It seemed like no-one was swimming straight. I had people not just locking arms like my race the previous weekend in Edmonton, but using me to push off – grabbing my shoulders, arms, back. A few times I had to do a few strokes of polo drill just to try and get a breath. Learning from Edmonton I started wide coming around the first buoy and cut in onto the feet in front rather than getting bashed and pushed under and made up a few places. Heading back towards shore it calmed down a little and I made up ground but found myself trapped behind girls not swimming fast enough and with girls either side of me, I couldn’t get around. From what I could see I was in the main pack so didn't worry too much and just maintained position for the rest of the swim. Coming out of the water I felt very disorientated and almost fell flat on my face. Not the best transition I've ever done by far but enough to get me onto the bike still in the main bunch.

As soon as we were on the bike the field split. 3 girls had already broken away out of the swim. A few of the girls I was with put on the pace to catch the girls up the front before they got away. I rode with them but was having difficulty breathing out of the swim and dropped off just before they reached the front chase pack. I was relegated to the second chase pack of about 10 girls watching the front chase pack disappear into the distance. A very frustrating place to be in, knowing that if I'd just managed to hold the wheel for a bit longer I would have made it into the pack where the draft advantage would have been much greater, and the pace would have slowed a little.
I felt pretty rubbish for most of the ride but started to feel better on the last lap. My run was still far from what it should have been but I managed to run with a few other girls in my pack, finishing in 21st.

Again I learnt many things about racing, recovering from travel and racing, the holes in my preparation and what I need to work on for my next race, and next season. Despite having the worst race I've had for a while I really enjoyed the experience of the race and my time in Holten. It's definitely a race I'd like to come back and do again!

Gillian

Edmonton ITU world cup

I had my first taste of world cup racing in Edmonton last weekend.

Being only a sprint distance, half of the usual Olympic distance I knew it was going to be a hard fast race. Despite knowing this I was still taken aback by the speed and aggressiveness of the racing - a clear step up from the racing I've done before and a bit of a wakeup call!

Hawrelak Park

The race was held in Hawrelak Park, one of the many parks along the North Saskatchewan River that runs through the middle of Edmonton. The swim was a 1 lap 750m in the duck pond, which interestingly, had been chlorinated for the event (and strongly enough that you could smell it)! A slightly more unusual format had us doing an 11km loop on the bike followed by two 5km loops. The course climbed in and out of the river valley a total of 4 times through the 21km making it somewhat challenging. The run was then a two lap, 5km climb in and out of the river valley to finish it off.

Knowing that in the past the water had sometimes been above the 20 degree mark I was hoping that it might be warm enough for a non-wetsuit swim this year, although with all the rain I thought it unlikely. Sure enough in race briefing on Friday we told the water had been measured in several places between 17 and 18 degrees - definitely a wetsuit swim. I was then surprised come race day when I went down to put on my wetsuit and do my swim warm up that there were girls warming up without wetsuits on. Clearly I'd missed the memo at check-in as when I asked one of the TOs they confirmed it was a non wetsuit swim! I was happy about this as no wetsuits mean a more spread out field, advantaging the stronger swimmers and increasing the likelyhood of several packs forming on the bike rather than one big mass.

Swim start

  
The third time we were lined up for introductions after a 30 minute delay due to issues with closing the roads we were finally introduced and jogged down to the start line. Before starting I was feeling good and was confident that I could put in one of the fastest swims of the day and come out close to the front. I had a good start and was one of the front swimmers until about 20m in. Then everything turned to chaos and I'm still not quite sure what happened. About 50m from the start and in almost the direct line of the swim was a water fountain. Girls from the left were moving right to get around it and girls from the right were moving left to get the most direct line to the first swim buoy. From there until the first swim buoy I was swallowed in the mass of arms and legs flying everywhere but remained towards the front tucked in behind 4-5 girls in the lead. I don't think my heart rate has ever been so high in the swim and at some points is was impossible to take a breath. All the hypoxic work I had been doing in training came in handy! After being kicked in the eye half losing my goggles and then kicked in the mouth rounding the first buoy, which was a wide 180 degree turn, I was pushed out of position to the outside. Out of the slipstream and taking the longer line around the outside I continued to drop back places through the swim, eventually exiting in 20th. With so many girls of a similar speed packed into a small space, skills in fighting for and maintaining position (including remaining calm when you can't breathe or your arms keep getting tangled with others'!) become at least as important as swim fitness - definitely something I need to work on!

The first hill out of transition really split the field. The front pack consolidated their ~15 second lead, and a few packs formed behind. I took the hill hard, getting away from some of the girls I came out with but not quite catching the first chase pack of 4 girls ahead of me. The pack behind were working well and caught me at about 4km. About half way through the bike we caught the first chase pack but were still losing time to the lead pack. We continued to work well but entered T2 1 min 20 seconds down on the lead pack of 10 girls.

On the high level bridge, one of the landmarks on course

Heading onto the run

I transitioned well and was first out onto the run from my pack. Whether I was lacking race fitness, was feeling the effects of poorly managed hydration & nutrition on the bike, or just wasn't in the right mental state (probably all of the above) I did not have a great run. I finished in 22nd, significantly lower than I had hoped for but on reflection, still not a result to be scoffed at. Most importantly I learnt a lot from the race, and know what to expect next time. It's good to know how my swim, bike, and run compare to the other girls racing at world cup standard. Having been really pushed on both the swim and bike it will help me not to get complacent about my stronger 2 legs in training!
It was definitely a special experience racing in a world cup and I look forward to doing more in the future!

I’m now in the Netherlands preparing for the Holten European cup on June 29.

Gillian

Canada!

It's now been one week since I left the familiar shores of Australia for 3 months of mostly uncharted territory (for me at least). Living out of a suitcase is going to get a bit old but that minor detail aside I'm loving it so far. Before I left I had no idea what to expect from the trip - or even whether I'd love it or hate it (although I was pretty sure it would be the former). I still don't know how the rest of the trip will unfold but the first few big questions have been answered and I feel a lot more at ease now I'm away!

On the way over I was fortunate enough to have a window seat on my flight from Los Angeles to Toronto and saw some of the fantastic geography across the northern part of the USA. Sights like this definitely make you appreciate the beauty of the world!

Despite not doing much other than train, relax and prepare for the race I have really enjoyed my time in Canada. In many ways Canada is so very similar to Australia, and combined with the fantastic hospitality from my homestay family (Canadians are seriously the friendliest people I've ever met) I feel totally at home here. It's funny though how the little differences like no school uniform, the school buses, the vegetation, and of course the accent really stand out and make it interesting and exciting. My impressions of Canada (or at least Saint Albert where I'm staying) so far are: big - big cars, big houses, big skies, big hares, big mosquitoes; friendly (even the traffic despite the big cars!), green, and bad roads... very bad roads!

Tomorrow is my first ever world cup - the Edmonton world cup and I am SUPER excited. I still find it hard to believe that I am here doing what I still only dreamt of doing a year ago, and have wanted to do since I was 8 or 9 years old. Fortunately though, it doesn't have to sink in for me to enjoy it! And maybe to some degree it's better it doesn't until after the race.

The race is only a sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), half the usual Olympic distance. With a hilly technical bike course it will definitely be a fast and exciting race!

The swim course in Hawrelak Park

Until after the race,
Gillian

The China Experience

On Saturday 18th May I did my my first ever ITU Asian Cup and my first race outside of the Oceania region for the year. The race was held in Chizhou, China. I've had many people ask me where that is, and given my terrible knowledge of Chinese geography my general response was "somewhere in China". I have made a minor attempt to rectify that, so for anyone interested here is a map (click to see a larger version).

Having travelled to Taiwan last year to race, I knew the trip to China was going to be a challenge. Dealing with strange food, a different culture and a foreign language is exciting but also confronting when trying to prepare for a race. Accommodation and transfers were provided for us which made things a little easier and I arrived with a couple of other Aussies.

The days preceding the race were spent recovering from the flight, getting accustomed to the food and the Chinese way of life, finding the supermarket to get some slightly more "normal" food to eat before the race, and checking out the race course.

The traffic was totally crazy (trucks, buses, cars, scooters and bikes going here there and everywhere, ignoring red lights and even going up the wrong side of the road!) so with the exception of the course familiarisation the day before the race I didn't manage to get out on my bike before race day. There was also no swimming pool in Chizhou (well, no kept swimming pool... we did find a rather derelict one at a school) which meant keeping any sort of training routine up was difficult. Fortunately there was a really nice park just down the road from the hotel which provided a great place for running.

Willow Park on the QingXi River

The pool; vegie patch on pool deck; pool sign (pretty accurate description)

Not wanting to wear myself out or do anything silly before the race I didn't do much other than a bit of running and sitting around the hotel in the days before the race. Starting to get a little bored I was very glad when race day came and my trip finally had some purpose.

It had been cold and damp since we'd arrived but race day brought the wettest weather yet. Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we had to head down to the race but the roads were still soaked with large puddles (and one particularly deep one stretching across the whole road!) covering parts of the bike course.

With race start at 11:15 I headed down to the race at about 10 with the other Aussie girls. Registration and bike check in China style were very relaxed. Our bike dimensions were checked against a plastic pole and transition was un-manned - anyone could have walked in!

Race area set up

Being ranked 2nd and with Ellie Salthouse who was ranked 1st relegated to last position on the start line for being late to race briefing, I was the first athlete to be introduced and got to choose the first spot on the start line. It's not that big a deal but as I'm used to being half way down the start list it was a good feeling and gave me a boost going into the race.

The swim was a 2 lap pontoon start with an exit out of the water onto the pontoon to start the second lap. Not wanting to get caught up in any potential tussles at the start of the swim I started out hard but was surprised at how quickly I found clear water. When I reached the first buoy I was sitting in behind fellow Aussie Maddi Allen's feet with two Chinese girls beside me and already a gap to the rest of the field. The three girls slowly opened up a gap on me and by the end of the first lap I was swimming by myself. I was conscious to keep my pace up through the second lap hoping to be able to bridge back up to the leaders on the bike.

Exiting the water 50sec behind the lead 3 girls and a minute ahead of a pack of 7, I was well and truly in no mans land. It was an unusual position to be in as in every other draft-legal race I've done I've come out with a pack of other girls around me to work with, and any decision to break away has been made once on the bike. This time I didn't have a choice - I was by myself whether I liked it or not! The 3 u-turns per lap on the bike allowed me to gauge where the others were in the race. I could see Maddi and the two Chinese ahead of me but had no idea how far back the others were, or if they were together or spread out. At the first turn I was surprised to see how large the gap I had was but a little dismayed to find a good pack had already formed and I knew they would be motivated to catch me. The two Chinese riding with Maddi soon dropped off leaving her and I riding solo in 1st and 2nd on the road. I could see the group behind me making groud every lap but with the stronger runners behind me I wanted to stay ahead and was motivated to bridge the gap to Maddi, knowing if we worked together we would stand some chance of not getting caught.

I caught Maddi just before the end of the 3rd lap of 6 and we started working together. The gap to the chase pack still seemed to be decreasing, with my counted estimate of the gap getting down to just over 30 seconds. I was starting to get worried we would be caught before the end of the cycle and our extra efforts would cost us with no advantage to show for it. After a couple of kms of working together though we found our rhythm and the pace started to pick up. We stopped losing ground, and then started gaining. Things were looking up. Confident that the gap might be enough to hold off the girls behind and wanting to gain every second I could before the run, I rode hard right up to the dismount line and had the fastest transition I've ever done.

Maddi and I approaching the bike turn with the chase group in the distance

I felt good as I headed out on the run. I settled into my rhythm quickly at a solid pace but not break-neck to avoid blowing up. Given the speed difference between the bike and the run, what looks like a huge gap on the bike does not look that big at all on the run, and when I hit the run turn halfway through the first lap of 4 I was surprised to see how close the girls were behind me already. I was still confident I could hold them off and pushed the pace out of every turn to try and keep my speed up. I could see I was keeping pace with Ellie Salthouse and Laura Wood who were running together in 3rd and 4th but that Kirra Seidel was making ground on me. I wasn't concerned until the 7.5km turn when I saw Kirra had made up much more ground than she had in the previous laps. I tried to bring it home in the last 2.5km but Kirra was finishing strongly, catching me with less than 1km to go and I was unable to go with her when she ran past. Spent, but happy with my days efforts I finished in 2nd with Laura Wood sprinting it out with Ellie Salthouse to finish 3rd. It was great racing and sharing the podium with girls I have got to know and become friends with through racing and travelling over the past year.

myself, Kirra and Laura

Every race I do overseas is still a huge learning experience, working out how my body responds to travelling, and how to cope with different food, cultures and environments leading into a race. I was really happy to be able to put together a good race under very unfamiliar circumstances, and one that I really enjoyed.

The day after the race I was able to relax a bit and explore the city of Chizhou. A post race banquet was held on Sunday night after the age group race in the Jiarun Gloria Grand Hotel (the race major sponsor) up in the mountain area of Jiuhuashan. It was absolutely stunning driving up there and we got a view of the giant golden Buddhist statue of Ksitigarbha - an impressive sight with the mountainous backdrop.

 
Unfortunately the journey home put a dampener on the trip, with a 6 hour delay in Hefei making me miss my connection through to Brisbane, resulting in a "bonus" 2 days by myself in Guangzhou. It was a scary and stressful experience, especially given I had no way of contacting anyone at home but I'm definitely stronger for it and have learnt a few things about international travel!

It's now just one and a half weeks until I leave for Europe via Canada where I will race in my first World Cup in Edmonton on 23rd June. I'm super excited as it's going to be a great race with a stacked field of 44 women including current world number 1 Gwen Jorgensen, Olympic Bronze medallist Erin Densham, Sarah Groff who finished 4th in the London Olympics, and former world no 1 Paula Findlay among others!

Gillian

Hervey Bay Triathlon

The Hervey Bay Triathlon has been on my to-do list for a couple of years now. I'd heard great things about both the town and the race itself and was keen to make the trip up and see for myself.

I headed up on Friday afternoon to allow time to check out the course on Saturday before the Sunday race. We were greeted with close to perfect weather and the course did not disappoint.

The 1.5km swim was held in the clean waters of Hervey Bay, a nice change from the somewhat muddy canal waters of my last couple of races. Fortunately there's a little more water at high tide for the race start on Sunday as when testing out the swim it was rather a long walk out!
The two lap bike 40km course followed the bay along the esplanade and around Pt Vernon. There's a short, sharp hill coming around the back of the point; nothing to blow your legs to pieces but I was glad I'd worked out what gearing I'd need to used as I saw a few people stuck in their big chain ring half way up! Training on Saturday the marine biologist got the better of me when I got a little excited by the mangroves and had to have a little stop...

The run was a completely flat out and back 10km, following bike/foot path along the foreshore. I must say I really appreciated the fact that the waterfront had a significant amount of native vegetation despite the urban setting (albeit not quite as many mangroves as there should be). Nice one, Hervey Bay!

We were greeted with beautiful weather yet again on race morning. To catch the high tide, race start was just after sunrise at 6:30am. This meant an early start of 4:00am and transition set up under the stars, but a beautiful setting for race warm-up.

Heading into the water to do my swim warm-up

With the relatively small pro field, and the need to get everyone underway quickly before the tide dropped, the pro men and women were started together. I had a less than desirable start, having a bit of a tussle with one of the men who decided they wanted to swim the wrong way and had to stop and swim behind him to avoid getting pushed off course. After that I settled into my stroke and caught back up to the second pack of mostly boys plus Kirra Seidel who was leading the women's field. I slowly worked my way through the pack and managed to lead the pack out of the swim into T1.

finishing the swim

Once on the bike I was overtaken by some of the boys behind me and decided to try and pace off them to gain some ground on the girls behind. I managed to stick 10 or so meters back (being a non-drafting race the legal following distance is 7m) for the first 10km but going around the point on the first lap the gap started to slowly grow and by 15km I was on my own pacing myself. With only 1 turn-around just after the start of each lap it's somewhat difficult to gauge where the others are in the race. I had a decent lead at the 24km mark but was not counting out the other girls having a strong second lap on the bike.

Off the bike into T2

 Keen to get out onto the run fast I ran straight past the run exit in transition and had to be helped to find my way out. An error that I was worried might cost me and would not have been made had I checked the exact position of the run exit, not just noted "it's over in that corner". I headed out hard on the run, not sure of my lead but knowing Kirra could pull back some time on me in the run. At the 5km turn I was surprised to see I had a lead of 2+ mins and was able to relax a little and enjoy the last 5km.

Practicing my (hopefully improving) public speaking skills

It was an honour to be able to come and win one of Australia's oldest triathlons. The atmosphere of the whole event was fantastic. Thanks to all of the locals out on the course who gave me a cheer as I was running past, and to everyone who congratulated me after the race. I've never done such a friendly race before! With such a great course, great atmosphere and great prize money I don't understand why the pro start list wasn't stacked! Thanks and congratulations to the other girls that raced but it would have been nice to see a larger field - the more the merrier, right? One thing is for sure though, I will be back again!

With my last race on Australian soil done for the season it's time to head off overseas. It's now only 1 week til I fly out to China for the Chizhou Asian Cup on the 18th May. The excitement is starting to build but so are the nerves! Having enjoyed my short trip to Taiwan last year I'm looking forward to experiencing a bit of Chinese culture. With just under a week in China hopefully I'll see more than just the inside of my hotel and the race course. I guess we shall see!

Gillian

Plans and decisions: my year ahead

Over the past couple of months my world has turned upside down... Well, to be fair, probably only on it's side... but none the less my plan for the year is rather drastically different from what it was when I finished uni at the end of last year.

My season began with the Noosa Triathlon in November followed two weeks later by the QTS race 2 at Robina and a week later the Kingscliff triathlon. I had a shocker at Robina and decent results in both Noosa and Kingscliff but was disappointed with my times, especially at Kingscliff with only a 23 second improvement on the previous year despite a significantly faster swim.

For the past 3 or 4 years it has been my goal to qualify for the U23 world championships and then one day the elite world championships. Realistically I was never going to be in contention for the 2012 World Champs in Auckland, but I liked to dream I would be in with a chance for London in 2013. Being the Olympic course, and having a large number of extended family in the UK, it seemed the perfect opportunity to aim for. My 10km run time improvements over the 2012 off season were promising and I started the 2012-13 season with high hopes. These hopes were dashed over my first three races and I found myself lacking motivation to train and even to race. Coupled with having just graduated from uni with no job, and still 8 months until I started my honours I felt rather lost. I spent some time reassessing what I wanted from the sport, and setting some new goals.

I decided I was going to have a crack at the half ironman distance. The plan was to do Yeppoon 70.3 in August. It gave me a challenge; something to work towards, and something to keep me motivated through the 2013 off season. I was going to use it as part of my base phase training to build my endurance towards the 2013-14 season and having a crack at making the U23 world team in 2014, my last year in the U23 category. I kept these plans fairly quiet to keep the pressure off, and in case plans changed/I realised how crazy it was and got cold feet.

I ended 2012 on a high winning the Bribie Island triathlon and the QTS race 3 at Raby Bay but still didn't entertain any hopes of being in contention for the U23 team. I was enjoying racing though, and motivated as ever to train hard.

The weekend before my first ITU race of the year I headed out to Goondiwindi with a contingent of Vision Tri Club to watch those who were racing battle it out over the almost half ironman distance. I enjoyed being on the other side of the fence for a change immensely, while at the same time my hunger to give the distance a crack was fuelled.

I headed to Geelong for the ITU sprint continental cup with no expectations of myself (or at least none other than to better my 12th place finish of the previous year), and nothing to lose. I surprised myself in the swim, shocked myself on the bike, and was running in a dream. Finishing 4th I didn't know what to think and it was time for another major reassessment. Needless to say I didn't sleep much that night.

All of a sudden I was more than just another person in the race making up the numbers. A lengthy phone conversation with Coach Cath and observations from the weekend of racing began me on my steep learning curve of the politics of professional triathlon. My eyes have been opened and I'm sure there's much more to learn!

The focus shifted to what I would need to do to qualify for worlds this year. With no U23 selection policy for 2013, and last years being pretty much purely "discretion", Cath and I had not much to go off. I still thought (or hoped maybe) that doing well in the Oceania races would be enough as I had no plans of racing overseas, no-one to travel with, and I was going back to full time uni in July.
Devonport Oceania Championships proved that my race in Geelong was not just a fluke, and with an invitation to join the QAS camp in France I had some big decisions to make. It became apparent that if I wanted to be in with a chance for the U23 team I needed to go overseas and get some world cup results to my name.

Since well before I finished high school I knew I was going to go to university and do a bachelors degree with honours in marine biology. There was no decision to be made. That's just what I was going to do. I did a summer research project last summer to give me a taste of what honours would be like and to get some valuable experience, and I loved it. I loved it so much it made me question my dedication to becoming a professional triathlete. With still another year left of undergrad and then my honours year to go I was able to put any science vs triathlon decisions to the back of my mind. During my last year of uni I found a supervisor I got along well with, and a project that was both interesting and I felt passionately about, having done a mini research project on this during one of my uni field trips. I had planned to start honours in February this year but my prospective supervisor was going to be unavailable for semester 1 this year. I decided that this project was what I wanted to do over any other options on offer and I was willing to defer my studies for a semester. Knowing that I would be graduating with honours in 2014 I didn't bother attending my graduation ceremony for my BSc last year. A decision I somewhat regret now. I was somewhat hopeful that by the time I finished honours I may be good enough to become a full time professional triathlete and race overseas, but I still felt this was fairly unlikely. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be faced with the decisions I have had to make over the past month or so.

I have decided not to go back to uni to do honours. It wasn't an easy decision but I think it was the right one. I am fortunate enough that with the support of my parents I have made the decision to become a full time professional triathlete (albeit with the hope of picking up the odd bit of casual work to help pay for things). I still feel passionately about all things marine and miss uni a little but I don't think science has seen the end of me just yet.

With no excuses for not putting 100% into my training, my daily routine now goes something like "train eat train eat train eat sleep repeat" with the odd extra sleep added in there for good measure. It hasn't been an easy transition (or particularly pleasant at times) but I absolutely love what I do.

The past couple of months have been a huge learning curve for both myself and my coach Cath, to whom I owe a lot for the time and effort (and stress) she has put in to work out what to do! The processes involved in working out a race schedule are not simple! We've had to learn about race nomination procedures, the ITU points system, how many athletes are allowed to race, how athletes are chosen to race, race uniform rules (and how to get replacements), prize money allocation, funding from TA, funding from race organisers... just to chose which races to do, and the list goes on. And then there's sponsorship to deal with! I found myself having made the decision to ditch uni to race overseas but with no idea where to start. The plan has finally been nutted out though and flights (or at least some of them) have been booked.

The Hervey Bay Triathlon next weekend is my last race in Australia for the season before embarking on some serious adventures. I am heading over to China in just under 3 weeks for the Chizhou premium Asian Cup on the 18th May to hopefully pick up a few more points and a bit of prize money. I'm then coming back to Australia for 4 weeks before heading off overseas in June until September. I've taken up the offer to join the QAS in Aix Les Bains, France with the plan of racing a couple of world cups and some more conti cups while I'm over there. I am super excited to get a taste of Europe (despite the lack of mangroves ;-P) and am planning to take this year to learn and enjoy racing without too much pressure on myself. That being said my goal, as always, is to be racing in London come September but with no lack of competition, that decision will be in selectors hands.

The learning continues as I really feel like I have no idea what it actually means to be a professional athlete. Who knows what's in store for the rest of the year but I'm excited to find out!

As mum said to me a little while ago, maybe I should change the name of my blog to "living the dream". But really, I'll never stop chasing.

À la prochaine

Gillian

Mooloolaba number 5

Mooloolaba has not always held the happiest of memories for me, but despite this over the years it has come to be one of my favourite races, if not my favourite race on the calendar. Despite being only 1 week after Wellington, I was eager to come back for my 5th year in a row. That is, until it came time to race. Backing up after Wellington was always going to be a big ask but it was made even more difficult by the fact I came down with a slight head cold mid week. Coming into the race I was not feeling enthused to race, and come race morning I found myself not wanting to race at all.

Due to large surf earlier in the week and the threat of now ex-tropical cyclone Tim, the swim was moved from the beach to the Mooloolah River, swimming around Minyama Island, with a long 500m run to transition. This could potentially change the dynamics of the race, allowing slower swimmers to catch up coming into transition or for a breakaway through transition.

Starting only 1 minute behind the boys the start procedures were rather rushed - lining up in ranking order, selecting a spot on the start line, then we were off! I had a good start reaching the first buoy in 3rd but couldn't sustain the pace and slipped back into the pack finding some feet to sit on. Swimming around the back of the island I could see a small gap opening up ahead. I tried to surge to close the 1-2m gap that had opened up between the front swimmers and the girls I was swimming with but didn't have the kick and the gap slowly grew. I slotted back into our pack and sat in 2nd to conserve as much energy as possible through the rest of the swim. I knew I didn't have my top end spark and I would have to be very smart with how I raced to get through the 40km ride and 10km run.

Lined up to head to the start line

I exited the water in a pack of girls including Jaz Hedgeland, Britt Forster, Ellie Salthouse and Holly Grice. We were 30 seconds down on the 3 strong pack of Grace Musgrove, Laura Wood and Penny Hayes and more than a minute back on race leader Maddi Allen. I had expected the long run to transition to play to my advantage, having gained ground out of the swim in most of my previous races however I really struggled and lost 10+ seconds on Jaz, Hollie and Ellie through T1.

Once on the bike though I found my legs again and caught the girls in front. By 2km into the ride we had caught the front pack of 3 girls and shortly after caught Maddi Allen, forming a pack of 8. Much to my relief, and a nice change from last weekend, the pack worked really well together continuously rolling turns most of the way. The bike being my strongest leg I like to attack and breakaway where possible to get an advantage heading out onto the run. The Mooloolaba course is a straight out and back course however, making breakaways quite difficult as I learnt the hard way last year. Because of this and how flat I had been feeling in the swim I decided just to roll in the pack and not initiate any breakaways. Attacks by both Hollie Grice and Ellie Salthouse throughout the ride made it clear that both of them were keen for a breakaway. If the three of us worked together it was possible we could get away but I wasn't going to initiate it, or go too early in the ride so just worked with the pack to counter the first few attacks. I waited until after the 20km turn around until I attempted to break and work with them. A few quick words were exchanged between us and then Ellie attacked. We opened up a small gap but were quickly caught again by the pack. Another unsuccessful break initiated by Hollie and I decided it wasn't going to work and went back to rolling turns in the pack. It felt odd having been so unaggressive on the bike but it was definitely the right decision.

Coming up the last hill into town I attacked to make sure I would have the best ride into transition. The last few hundred meters of the ride are narrow and technical and I didn't want to be held up at the back of the pack and lose precious time going onto the run. The move worked and I was first into transition. Being a little too enthusiastic I ran a couple of meters past my transition spot but only lost a couple of seconds, exiting T2 in 6th. Grace Musgrove and Jaz Hedgeland took off up the road at a fast pace and I followed after, moving into 3rd position. I had gone out too conservatively in Wellington last weekend so decided to try going out harder at the start of the run to see what I could do. I wasn't able to stay with Grace and Jaz but opened up a sizable lead on Ellie Salthouse in 4th.

Leading the charge into transition

Being a hot and sunny day I made sure to take water at all of the aid stations. I managed to hold reasonable pace and form for the first lap of the run but by the 7km mark I was really starting to suffer. I broke the run down into sections concentration on making it to the turn, the next aid station, and the next, the top of the hill, past the vision tent, down to the finish chute, under the first arch, through the world cup transition and finally to the finish line. My body desperately wanted to slow down but I knew that if I let myself my body might start to shut down...

Heading down the last part of the hill into the finishing straight

That finish line could not have come soon enough! I crossed the line in 3rd, promptly collapsed and was hauled off to the medical tent. A distressing occurrence the first 2 times it happened but after having been here before (and the fact I was still fully conscious this time) I wasn't bothered. I say that, but having a temperature of 40.1 is never pleasant no matter how many times it's happened before. Once my temperature was back down, I'd finished the bag of IV fluid, stopped cramping and stopped vomiting, it was time to head off to medal presentation. Thankfully for me, another competitor collapsed across the line with perfect timing and required the wheel chair just as they were about to force me into it to be wheeled out... I did NOT want to be wheeled up to the podium! Sorry to Grace and Jaz for making you wait! To top off the ordeal I was selected to be drug tested again! Thankfully the drip helped with that...

Somewhat recovered on the podium (although the medics were watching closely to make sure I didn't collapse again)

After collecting my bike from transition area I was a little dismayed by how much fluid I still had left in my drink bottles. When time trialling I usually finish all of the fluid in both my bottles no matter how hot or cold it is. I had obviously underestimated how hard I was working while drafting in the pack and been negligent with my hydration, something I've been very careful about ever since a certain infamous incident in Noosa... No serious harm done this time though, and a reminder to be careful next time!

On the Saturday and Sunday afternoon respectively the mens and womens world cup events were held and it was great watching some of the best in the world battle it out. I particularly enjoyed watching some of the girls I've raced over the past few weeks race in the world cup. There were also inspiring performances in the age group ranks with para-triathlete Bill Chaffey smashing the world record by 5 minutes and legend Markus Hanely finishing his 20th Mooloolaba triathlon at 80 years of age just to name a few!!!

Despite not wanting to start the race I yet again enjoyed my Mooloolaba experience (with the exception of the last km or so and my trip to the medical tent). I'm now having a week off to recover from the intense last few weeks of racing before getting back into some solid training. I've now accumulated enough ITU points to do a world cup and it's time to start planning some overseas races in my bid to be selected into the Australian U23 team for worlds! It's not going to be an easy task though with a strong contingent of Australian under 23 girls including Grace Musgrove who won the Oceania Cup race on Sunday and Natalie Van Coevorden and Charlotte McShane who finished 5th and 7th respectively in the World Cup.

Until next time,
Gillian

Wellington Oceania Championships

After two Oceania races in Australia it was time to head over the ditch to Kiwi land for the first Olympic distance race of the year; the Oceania Championships in Wellington. I have been to Wellington once before, in 2010 to race the junior Oceania Champs and had good memories of a stunning and challenging course despite the dismal weather that year. I remember being in awe of the athletes racing in the Elite/U23 race and hoped that one day I might be able to race in that race.

Racing as a junior in 2010

Upon arriving we were greeted with uncharacteristically good weather (beautifully clear skies and not a breath of wind) and my recollections of the course did not disappoint, looking even more stunning in the sun.

Riding over the course on Thursday evening; the hill

The bike course was a 6-lap course incorporating a 500m climb with a technical descent. A course holding much potential for splitting up the field on the bike and allowing breakaways. I was excited to see what damage I could cause on the bike and hoped to get away with 1 or 2 other girls with a nice lead coming into the run.

Race day dawned with wind and overcast conditions leading to a cool race.

The swim was held in the Wellington Harbour, at a chill 17 degrees - definitely a wetsuit swim. As the junior men and women started 30 and 25 mins ahead of us respectively we were to be finished our swim warm-up and out of the water half an hour prior to our race start. Not wanting to cool down too much prior to starting and debating the benefit of a specific swim warm-up more than 30 mins before swimming, I opted to do a cycle/run warm up combined with some arm drills to get the blood moving closer to start time. It seemed to work.
We lined up in transition for introductions, jogged the long way down to the end of the jetty and lined up along the pontoon ready for the start. Without too much ceremony or waiting around the starter went off, we dove into water and the fun began.

swim start

I've been in some pretty messy swims before but this one would have to be one of the worst! I had a good dive and so started towards the front of the pack, expecting to clash arms a little as people jostle for positions and the pack spreads out but then settle into a comfortable swim stroke. Not so this time, it felt like everyone was trying to swim on top of each other. I had girls grabbing my arms, legs, head, tugging at my wetsuit, kicking, pushing me under, pulling me back... And it didn't calm down, continuing until the first turn buoy 350m out! I'm just glad I'm used to people pulling my legs while I'm swimming so it didn't phase me, but it did make it hard work! After the first buoy I swum up the side of the pack moving up a few positions to sit in the front 3 of the pack and had some clearer water to swim in. Heading back towards the swim exit I moved off the feet I was following believing I was taking a better line (which I probably was) but instead of gaining any advantage and moving ahead I slipped back a few places when I dropped out of the slipstream. I realised my error and moved back into the pack sitting in 7th where I stayed for the rest of the swim. It probably didn't cost me anything this time but could easily have meant missing a break out of the swim. Lesson learnt.

Exiting the water on the pebbly beach it was a long run up to transition, but just as well as I had difficulty undoing the unfamiliar Velcro on my new wetsuit. I wouldn't usually use equipment I had acquired only 3 days before a race but having ripped my old wetsuit in Devonport, I didn't have much choice! Thanks again to Huub and Micheal Wise for getting me my wetsuit at such short notice in time to take to Wellington! It was great to swim in.

My new Huub Aura wetsuit

Kate McIlroy had the fastest transition establishing an early break on the bike. By the end of the first lap of 6 the main pack of 9 had formed and we were 30 seconds down on McIlroy. The pack was not working very well from the start but with some encouragement from Sam Warriner most girls pulled their turns and we started to make up ground. Frustrated with the pace but not wanting to try for a break so early I did more than my share of turns at the front to try and help bridge the gap. The second time up the hill I lead the pack and unintentionally opened up a gap on them. I could see McIlroy only 100m or so ahead so decided to try and bridge the gap, bringing it down to 9 seconds at the start of the 3rd lap. With the added motivation of 2 riders out in front, the pack worked and caught me before I was able to catch McIlroy who we then caught before the end of that lap. In hindsight if I had been more aggressive up the hill I may have bridged the gap and we may have gotten away but I hadn't been expecting to open up the gap in the first place.

As soon as the catch was made the pace dropped and girls refused to take their turns at the front, wanting to save their legs for the run. Being a strong swim-biker, getting stuck in a pack that refuses to work on the bike is not ideal; in fact its really frustrating. I continued to try and make the girls work, hoping to tire their legs by increasing the pace, but probably only tiring myself. In a pack of 10 the draft advantage is so great that it's pretty hard to do damage to someone sitting at the back of the pack without going extremely fast at the front. Once at the front the others didn't not want to roll around me and a couple of times I actually had to sit up, move right over and stop pedalling to get off the front - not a great way to keep the pace up! A few others were getting frustrated with the Sunday morning coffee ride we were going on and attacks came from McIlroy, Abram and myself but no breaks were established. I dismounted my bike at the end of the 40km having expended a lot of energy trying to get the pack to work and trying to get away but with nothing to show for it. Sometimes it's probably just best to sit in the pack and do the same work as everyone else, and this was probably one of those times.

I had a quick T2, out onto the run in 2nd but was quickly overtaken by the others in my pack as they all ran out like a bullet. I stuck to my own pace, not wanting to blow up at the 5km mark and hoping to run a consistent pace for the 10km. I didn't run as fast as I had wanted, finishing in 9th position and 3rd in the U23 category with a 38 min run but it was still a 10km pb and a decent result. My efforts on the bike took their toll; my race tactics did not work but I learnt many a valuable lesson! In the end I enjoyed myself and that's what matters most.

We had some time to kill on Sunday morning before flying home at 4 that afternoon. We rode up Mt Victoria for the view over Wellington before breakfast.

Opening of Wellington Harbour; Wellington airport; Wellington Harbour; Huge gulls at Oriental Bay

After packing up we headed up another hill to the botanic gardens, this time on the Wellington cable car and got views from the other side of town.

I have one more Oceania race left; this time in Mooloolaba on Sunday. After that it's time for a break before working out my overseas racing calendar for the year!!!

Gillian