Since leaving my training base in Canberra I have done a fair bit of travelling with the first stop being Auckland. This was supposed to be my first World Champs Series race and I was really excited and looking forward to the challenge.
However it wasn’t meant to be, because as soon as I stepped off the plane in Auckland I started to feel unwell, and then it went downhill from there. I was feverish, nauseas and couldn’t keep anything down, I had picked up some sort of gastric bug at the worst possible time. Having not kept any food down for 3 days we had to make the decision to withdraw. I was so frustrated and watching all the girls race was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but at the same time was really happy for all my training pals racing especially Annie Haug on the win. So fair to say I was pretty pleased to leave Auckland, I had seen enough of the four walls in my bedroom.
The next stop was Sedona, USA for a short bit of training to try and put myself together again in time for San Diego.
I had a huge pick me up as my husband flew out to meet me, having not seen him for three and a half months as he is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan has been tough. However we have both big ambitions and support each other with what we want to achieve.
I managed to fit in a few good sessions before leaving Sedona and so felt confident that I was ready to race and had prepared the best I could.
So next stop San Diego, round 2 of the WCS and finally I was able to make my debut. I felt very proud to put on the GB kit and be given the opportunity to race against the best world. I have been working very hard on the technical aspects of my swimming over the winter and the main goal of the race was to see where I was and hopefully be in a pack. So instead of being annoyed that people were pulling my feet and I was being hit around the head I was actually delighted as it meant I wasn’t last, and I popped out within the big pack.
Onto the bike and although it was not my finest hour being a bit race rusty in the bunch, but the main positive was I exited T2 within the mix of everyone.
The run was always going to be painful, and was probably more of a mental challenge knowing that I wasn’t in my usual run form. I spent most of the winter struggling with a calf injury and have had really limited run training. However at this stage of the year we were really not concerned with how I ran as this hasn’t been the focus. I have come back from running injuries very well before and so several months of good running and I know this will be back on form. In a way it has probably been a blessing in disguise as its given me valuable time to work on the swim. That’s the beauty of triathlon sport there is always something you can work on.
So overall I am leaving San Diego a happy lady, lots to work on but now have a great stepping stone to build on for the rest of the season. Im back in Sedona putting in a good few weeks ahead of the next ITU WCS In Yokohama.
We finished the trip off with a cheeky little visit to the cheesecake factory, thought would be rude not too!
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