Another Chapter - Still Learning the Hard Way

Sorry it has taken me so long to get the inspiration to write this, it is always hard to express disappointment with a relatively good result! Everyone that knows me closely from triathlon racing and training will, not agree with, but understand my disappointment. On the other side, I so greatly appreciate people that have given me the harsh reality check I needed by putting my result into perspective (I placed 7th in my AG).

Pic 1: Pumped and ready to roll!

After the race, realising what went wrong and having to explain it to the multiple people I have in my corner took a lot out of me and to be honest I didn’t think I would be able to write a race report. I was so relieved after getting it off my chest I didn’t want to talk or think about it anymore. Triathlons are commonly mistaken as an individual sport and this is very far from the truth! Although there are hours upon hours that I spend alone riding, running and swimming, on my quest to be the best I can be I am certainly not alone. There were some brutally tough times through this recent training block and I have had to lean on my husband, family, coach, teammates and friends multiple times. Honestly without them being there to reassure me that ‘everything is ok’ I can’t be sure I would have made it through! Throughout this process I have learnt so much about myself and how I treat myself internally. The curse of a driven athlete is their drive to be the best and the harsh harsh critic that lives in their head. As Luke put so simply ‘my head is greatest weapon and my biggest enemy’ and this is something I am working hard to control.

Pic 2: The Dream Team!! You guys were amazing, so much love!!

Anyway back to the race…. Leading into the race I had been improving in all of the 3 disciplines, coping (borderline) with a serious training load and working on my race mentality. I was ready to race and fitter than I had ever been! But by no fault but my own I screwed up my nutrition, now I know I sound like a broken record and to the great frustration of my support team I forgot that I needed to take gels on the bike! I thought I had remembered my race nutrition plan and obviously I didn’t! This resulted in bonking at the end of the bike, running well the first 5kms off the bike, then running the next 10kms zig zagging, looking for fly’s and walking every aid station, then coming good and pushing strong through the last 5kms. I truly thought that I would not see the finish line but when I was within 5kms, I had got my s*** back together (thank you aid stations) and after seeing a leg amputee giving his all I was inspired to give every last bit I had to get me to that god forsaken line! Two rules I take into racing and training is, always finish what you start and never finish without giving your all! Lucky I know how to hurt cause these two rules have forced me to go to some seriously dark places and this race was no exception.

Pic 3: So many lessons learnt (best part of the day, after crossing the finish line, was having beers with the team after the race! There was blood, sweat and tears through the tough winter training and Ill never forget the bonds we made)

Lastly I’ll leave you on two cheesy quotes/ideas that got me straight back on the horse after worlds (after the post-race compulsory partying period) – “You can’t beat someone that never gives up” and “only you can decide how good you are or can be, the moment you give up you have decided that that is the best you can be and all you can achieve, no one has that power but you!” The more I learn about this sport and the incredible athletes within it I learn that everything great takes time, consistency and long term dedication and that is exactly what I intend to do!

To the future, I am racing Race Around Rottnest this weekend (16/10/16) which is a race I love (no hypothermia this time) and 70.3 Thailand at the end of November, to see how I cope with the heat! I am also lining up a few 70.3's next year and really looking forward to racing the Local WA races, I love the atmosphere and racing with all my teammates. Bring on summer!!

Special thanks to: Mike Gee (Pursuit Coaching) and the Blackfins and Pursuit Squads, Greg (JSR Massage), Steve Gleeson (Swim Coach), Rob Sutton (Tineli), Nick Kitis (32Gi) and the incredible amount of people who believe in me!