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
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