First World Champ's

So the 29th August will be etched/scared in my mind forever, I have come to terms with what happened but it took 2 weeks of awesome European food and beer and of course a couple of awesome surfs in Spain.

Pic 1: At the afterparty with two very special people

Pic 2: Surfing in Spain, small but so much fun!

Race Day

I think every triathlete can agree that the worse part of race day is waiting for the start of the race, well as we were the last wave off the race started for me at 12pm! This meant getting down to the race start, organising my transition and then standing around in 30 degree heat for 2 hrs contemplating the day to come. This is probably coming across wrong; I was extremely happy to be there and was blessed to have the support of numerous members of my family and team mates. The location was AMAZING and it was a very well organised event….. the rant will now continue…. Once the cannon fired the still pristine lake of Zell Am See had now become a washing machine and swimming in a straight line proved to be a battle.

Pic 3: Last wave of the day! What a beautiful place!

There was one girl that took off out the front and me and another girl were just behind her. On the day I thought I would save my matches and not fight to keep up with the lead girl but in hindsight maybe I should have trusted my abilities and gone with her, lesson 1. Regardless, I was out of the water 2nd and ran through to transition; all I have to say about my transitions is lesson 2.

Pic 4: Coming through transition

Onto the absolutely amazing bike course, seriously this was the highlight of the day and was just a thrill from start to finish, easily the most enjoyable 90km’s I have ever ridden. Oh how things can change so quickly!! The hill was great because it really broke up the riders and the descent was so much fun, looking at my garmin data I was flying, pushing over 70 km/hr! Oh and then there was the CRAMPS! The first alarm bells went off in the last 2kms of the climb (35km in = less than half way through the bike) where it kicked to 15%, I had managed to catch most of the girls that went out too hard too early and had to push through the cramping to the top. Through the downhill and the flats the cramping was manageable and I could enjoy the race. I was able to come in from the bike in 2nd but I suspected my day was going to get ugly!

In T2 it took 3 attempts to get my shoes on as the cramps had well and truly settled in by this point. I took 2 salt tablets from my ‘fanny pack’, as it is affectionally named by my team mates, and went to war. At the next aid station I was throwing water over my head and taking on anything I could. I then went to grab some salt tablets from my ‘fanny pack’ and I was shocked/devastated to realise they had dissolved, lesson 3!

Pic 5: Only the start of the sufferfest!

After this the run is hard to remember, funny how your body blocks out pain. However I remember at 1.5km’s a girl from Perth on my age group that I have competed against before came past me and said ‘come on Kerry’. Although I definitely couldn’t go with her, she had an awesome day and ended up 2nd, it was one of those moments where you are reminded of the amazing companionship and support that the athletes have for each other. I also remember cramping from my toes to my hamstrings and it was relentless, right to the finish line! Then there was the water works, Im not a crier but this race was something that had changed me it was definitely the most painful race I have done and im still not actually sure how I got through it! In my mind I was just thinking of all the support I had got from my friends and family and I didn’t want to let anyone down.

Pic 6: My peeps :D so lucky to have so much love and support! dont know if i could have finished without you by myside!

I am proud of coming 12th but very disappointed I wasn’t able to show what I was capable of and had trained so hard for months before to achieve. Sitting down and looking closer at my nutrition plan I was definitely short on salt and my carb intake showed that I also was in a massive carb deficit as the powerbar drink provided on coarse was extremely diluted, lesson 4!

This sport is still a massive puzzle to me but hopefully I am one piece closer to working it out. Some of the best advice I have gotten in my life is to never quit anything on a low and ‘don’t stop dreaming because you had a nightmare’. So im back again with my dreams and slowly trying to chip away at this enigma they call triathlons. Thank you all for the support you seriously have no idea how much it means it me and I cant promise that this rollercoaster is going to stop but you can be sure that I’ll be riding it with you all the way and won’t give up till I have achieved what I am capable of!

Pic 7: Seriously the support and encoaragement I get from this guy

Last but definitely not least a huge thank you to Luke (my rock,) Mum, Dad, Amy and my family that travelled over for the race, team mates, Tri coach Mike Gee, swim coach Steve Gleeson, 32Gi Sports Nutrition, Joondalup Sports Remedial Massage and Bike Force - Joondalup your support and belief in me pushes me through these tough times and most of all, makes everything a hell of a lot more fun :D!

Pic 8: Greg from Joondalup Sports Remedial Massage kept me going through the most full on training block I have ever done leading into this race, a huge thanks!!