This race marks 1-year racing in the professional category. I battled for 13th and in the overall context of things I am happy with that except for the swim, missing the second pack.
After Busso, I had all of December off for some much-needed R&R so I really raced off of 5weeks of training so I have to be realistic of what I was expecting. Here is how the day unfolded.
The Swim
I had a solid start off the mark and was on my feet for about 400 meters when a couple of kicks put me off and I found myself in no man’s land. It’s been a frustrating ordeal working on my swim leg. There have been times where I feel great and swim bad or feel terrible and swim well or swim faster in the pool but not in the open water.
Working on weaknesses is never easy so ill just have to keep working away at it and trusting in the process.
Out in 26th
Onto the bike, I road HARD out to point Henry with a couple of guys with me but being 1min back from the 2nd pack is a very hard task to make up. There are not many athletes who are strong enough riders to make up that gap so I either need to become one of them or swim faster if I want to be in the game.
After riding much of the 90ks solo I managed to come off the bike in 19th
Onto the run leg, I knew I was going to have to go out hard to make up for lost time and then try and hold on. I managed to catch up to a group of guys at the ripple side on the first lap and slowly overtake and hold them off fighting my way back into 13th place.
As I said earlier taking into account my limited preparation for this race I am mostly happy with it. The reality is you can’t be at your best for every race but racing underdone I think is important for your development. Otherwise, you can’t be happy with the 13th, but I can look at the whole picture and how I fought for that 13th and be happy with that.
Thank you to everyone who braved the very cold conditions to cheer me on! It was the highlight of my day seeing so many friends on there! And thank you to my sponsors for sticking by my side during this very difficult part of my career.
- Giant Bikes Australia
- Electronic Signage Australia
- Anker Concrete
- Mizuno Running Aus
- Xterra Wetsuits Aus
- Cannibal
- Hammer Nutrition Aus
Images from Stef Hansen (WITSUP), Jaimi Joy, and Maddy Kate.