Subsequently, the results from the elite men's race have been amended with Roca Dalmau now as the gold medallist, Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales (ESP) will move to silver medal position and Benoit Nicolas (FRA) will be awarded the bronze medal.  All other athletes in the 2011 Gijon ITU Duathlon World Championships men's elite race will also move up one position.  All prize money will be adjusted accordingly. 

1.	Roger Roca Dalmau	ESP		01:51:22
2.	Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales	ESP		01:51:29
3.	Benoit Nicolas	FRA		01:51:30
4.	Sergey Yakovlev	RUS		01:51:35
5.	Matt Russell	USA		01:51:36
6.	Richard Hobby	GBR		01:51:45
7.	Philip Wylie	GBR		01:51:47
8.	Alessio Picco	ITA		01:52:06
9.	Ilia Mazhukin	RUS		01:52:12
10.	Nicolas D'Harveng	BEL		01:52:23

Where has January gone? From celebrating the New Year to celebrating us as Australians, it has flown past. For most of it, I enjoyed my time in altitude. Lacking the presence of oxygen, this did not faze us. We trained hard and co mpleted long days pushing ourselves with everything we had, with the aqueduct of freezing cold water being our reward. We were lucky enough to have a few visitors including AIS dietician Greg Cox, Pete Kerry our massage therapist and comedian and Lisa who took some great shots of us in action. Felt a little overwhelmed with a photographer popping out of the bush! We learnt about healthy cooking, food we should be introducing into diet and important foods necess ary to enhance and maintain performance.

NSWIS testing arose again to see how we were all travelling after our altitude camp and I was happy to see changes in my aerobic capacity heart rate and VO2 max. A few days ago we had a presentation done by Kell and Kristie on self confidence and social media. Both these have given me a new insight and help me reflect on myself and change of things I do in my training and skills that I can incorporate. 

Australia Day Aquathon, my 4th year in competing, I had gotten a 4th, 3rd and a 2nd.. a win would be nice. Feeling good after coming down from altitude I wanted to make the most of it. Getting a good swim start and continuing this I got a 30 second lead over the other girls in the swim and wanted to keep that for the rest of the race. I told myself never to look back, keep on your toes, pop and to continue to think what Bobby had told me to work on. Holding my lead, I was happy to get the win for the day and now train hard for NZ. 

This month as a group at NSWIS, we have been speaking about being 75% athlete and 25% person. For example, we can all run a 400m race but the first 300m is our physical fitness, that last 100m is the person who finds that confidence, persistence and positive self talk to push themselves to the end. This has definitely got myself thinking about my mental skills and I am happy to be in such a supportive environment at NSWIS, with my coach, my parents and my training partners. 

I watched a video this month by Jan Frodeno. He gave me a good insight into what I see triathlon as. Triathlon gives us an identity- something that we love doing day in day out. It gives us an honest measure in life that we go against ourselves and others with the day being either being brutally honest or brutally wonderful. It gives us great feelings of the strengths and weakness of ourselves but overall we do this sport because we enjoy it. I am happy to say my training is going well and I hope that the next few races I can develop and learn as an athlete moving up into under 23 for 2012. 

Winning Challenge Wanaka in 2011 meant the world to me, so to come back and defend the title, against the strongest pro mens field ever assembled for the race was a huge occasion. The Challenge series directors were even calling it one of the best ever pro mens field assembled for any of their events world wide with multiple Ironman champions from New Zealand with Kieran Doe (Ironman Canada champion) and Bryan Rhodes (4 x Ironman champion); from Australia with Courtney Ogden (2 x Ironman Champion) and Aaron Farlow (Ironman UK champion in 2011 setting the course record); and then the Europeans Jimmy Johnson (DEN), Marc Pschebizin (GER), and Petr Vabrousek (CZE) all with a handful of Ironman and Challenge series victories.

Pre race media conference - from left, Aaron Farlow, Courtney Ogden, Jamie Whyte, Bryan Rhodes, Kieran Doe.

Last year we woke up to strong winds, and this year wasn’t any different to start with. The north-wester was already cranking at the crack of dawn and the lake filled with white caps ready the for the 6:30am start.

The pre race talk came from Doe and Rhodes. They are both exceptionally good swimmers in the world of Ironman racing and made a pre race call to pair up and help each other through the 180km bike leg. And that is how it played out through the swim and the early stages of the bike. I exited the 3.8km swim in 4th place with Ogden, 3:40 down on the front pair and 50 seconds down on Farlow and had put some good time into the other contenders. The swim felt great in Blueseventy’s new Helix for 2012. We will see big things from this product in 2012.

Exiting Lake Wanaka in the Blueseventy's new 2012 Helix

On to the bike and I was feeling great from the get go. I immediately dropped Odgen, who is a renowned runner, so it was good to get rid of him early. I settled into good rythym on the Cervelo P4 and was pushing some solid numbers on my SRM power meter. It was also my first time racing on F6R and F9R Fast Forward race wheel combo. It was the perfect wheel set for the conditions. So the chase began.

The early stages of the bike via Glendu Bay

Early time checks to the front showed I was holding a 3:30 gap. However the big move was coming from Farlow, who after 50km had rode himself up to the front. I was pretty happy with how I was feeling at this stage. I was riding the best I ever have in an Ironman and was banking on Farlow’s big effort to jump across so quickly, to hurt him later in the race. The front group of three soon become 2 when Rhodes punctured. From 60km all the way to 120km on the bike the time gaps hovered between 3:30 to 4 minutes. Then we hit the big head winds along the Tarras flats. 3:20, 3:10, 2:55, 2:30. After battling away for 140km I was finally starting to make some dents in the lead. Then I got the call that Farlow had dropped Doe. I continue to catch Doe, but Farlow found another gear for the final 30km to Wanaka and re-extended his lead to 3:30 by transition.

The Cerveloo P4 and Fast Forward wheels made a perfect combination for slicing through the Central Otago winds making it back to T2 with the 2nd fastest bike split of the day.

I was pretty happy to be back in Wanaka. The Central Otago winds and the heavy chip seal make for a pretty hostile environment for riding a bike. It takes it out of you and wears you down. It makes you hungry but you are too nauseous to eat anything. The small hills and undulations become a blessing, giving you a chance to temporarily change your position and get out of the saddle for a bit. What a way to start a marathon!

Hitting the run I always had in the back of my mind the big effort Farlow made early. It has to hurt him in the last 10km. I knew that Doe had fell off the pace towards the end of the bike and would be hurting. I past him about 6km into the run. He would hold on for a comfortable 3rd place. I controlled my pace well the first lap on the run. Through the half way point I had run a 90 minute split which was good considering the off road nature of the run course. But I had dropped another 2:30 to Farlow, now 6 minutes down. I tried to extract more pace from myself on the second lap but struggled to find another gear running into the big head wind. I was still hopeful of making inroads on the last 10km and to make a move if he was to fade.

The Challenge Wanaka run course, 80% off road and stunning views. Has to be one of the best in the world!

But fade he did not. With 10km to go his lead was seven minutes. My solo ride was catching up with me too and chase mode slowly changed to survival mode. It was a tough pill to sallow but that was becoming the reality of the situation. I was not going to defend my title.

When you have been through everything you have for the past eight hours, realise you can’t get to the front, you have got 2nd place stitched up and the thought of Ironman New Zealand in six weeks time, the body and mind are looking for a break. I was hurting big time and considering the situation decided to ease up and just try enjoy the experience for the last 5km into town. I made an effort to thank every volunteer and as many supporters as possible on my way to the finish chute. The volunteers make the event possible and the spectators make it exciting. Without them it would just suck, so they deserve all the thanks I can give them.

The finish chute experience was equally as good as last year. I never thought finishing 2nd could feel as good as this, but it was a mixture of emotions. I was very proud of the way I raced and the crowd was treating me like a champion, but at the same time I had fallen short on my goal to go back to back.

The Challenge Wanaka finish chute...well worth the experience!

I had had a perfect build up, was in the best shape of my life, raced as good as I could of, or maybe a slightly faster swim could have paired me up with Aaron for the start of the bike? Either way I was cleanly beaten by the better athlete on Saturday. He laid it on in all three disciplines and I could not come up with any answers for the way he raced. He is a top athlete, the current Ironman UK champion and course record holder, so there is no overwhelming disappointment in falling short to a guy like this. But if I am to win here again I will need to continue working on my arsenal as an Ironman athlete. The race really reinforced some important fundamentals about the sport and I learnt plenty from finishing 2nd. Things are continuing to head in the right direction, so I will just keep working hard and will be back for the top spot again in 2013.

I was very fortunate to have Fiona greet me at the finish. She has been a key part of the training machine for the past month down in Queenstown. She is incredibly understanding of my commitment to the sport and makes it possible for me to continue training and racing. She too had a successful day finishing 2nd in her age group for the half ironman event held in the morning. Well done Fee!!

Also a big thanks to:

• Coach Gordon Walker for doing an amazing job in getting me in the best possible shape. Enjoying every minute of training under this guy. Big year for him with coaching the NZ kayaking team to London Olympics. All the best matey they are in great hands with you!
• My parents for providing a fantastic training base at their home in Queesntown.
• To dad and the team who kept me informed all day of the time checks to the front.
• Matt King, my secret training weapon down in Queenstown. Congrats on the 2nd place overall in the Half Ironman.
• Neki Patel at One on One Physiotherapy, and Rebecca Whyte and Rosanna at Peak Performance Massage in Queenstown for keeping my body in tune while down south.
• And all my sponsors who have been incredibly generous with their product support leading into the event – Cervelo New Zealand, Fast Forward wheels, Blueseventy, Hammer Nutrition, Nike, Oakley, Biosport, Vittoria tires, ISM saddles.

…And if all that wasn’t enough, immediately after finishing and a couple of post race interviews it was straight back for a shower and getting suited up for groomsman duties a great mates wedding in Arrowtown. I went through survey school at Otago University, flatted with him and then worked at the same firm in Auckland as Josh Munro for several years.  I was very fortunate that despite me doing an Ironman and missing the wedding service, that we still wanted me to attend the reception as a groomsman. An incredibly top mate, now a very happy husband to the beautiful Anna Munro and father of young Nico. Was great to be a part of your day guys. Look forward to hauling up a few Blue Cod with you this week.

Within one hour of crossing the finish-line, three interviews completed, showered, suited up and ready for the drive to Arrowtown for the wedding!!

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement leading into the race and all the kind comments post race.

For the moment a big week of recovery is planned, maybe with a spot of fishing as mentioned above. Chat soon.

With an overall increase of 15 per cent, prize money from the eight series events and the year-end bonus pool will total $2.06-million (all funds USD).

"Across the board we are seeing tremendous growth in our premier series - from spectators to participants to sponsors to broadcast partners and now with prize money for our elite athletes," said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member.  "On the back this growth, 2012 is poised to be the greatest and most exciting triathlon season to date."

The Grand Final in Auckland will feature a $270,000 prize purse while the prize money for every other series event will be $170,000. Also, each race and the Grand Final will also now award prize money down to the 20th place, whereas in 2011 only athletes who finished in the top-15 claimed prize money.

Athletes will vie for an additional $600,000 in the year-end bonus pool which pays the top 30 ranked women and men - up from top-20 - at season's end. This figure is up from $500,000 in the 2011 season. Overall, it means that there is an increase of $260,000 to the overall pool, up from $1.8-million to $2.06-million.  Finishing the year atop the series rankings will not only earn an athlete the coveted title of "ITU World Champion" but also net $60,000 of the bonus pool.

The 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series kicks off on 14-15 April in Sydney, Australia.  With eight events in eight different countries, the 2012 ITU World Champions will be crowned at the Grand Final in Auckland, New Zealand on 20-22 October.

The ITU World Triathlon Series was launched in 2009, expanding the former single-day World Championship race.  Points are accrued throughout the season and athletes who win the overall series are crowned the ITU World Champions.

Click here for more on the ITU World Triathlon Series

Monthly Report-December

Falls Creek never lets me down in the unexpected adventures and experiences of training and everyday life. I was hoping my legs would survive and get me through what ended up being a 135km week of running. I was pleased and satisfied with sessions I got through and was happy that the other girls were there to help me through them. We were luckily enough to get a run in with Steve Moneghetti, a famous Australian long distance runner who definitely showed us who was boss when he dropped us running up a hill.  Bobby McGee also made a visit to us, going through the essential drills for triathlon and one on one session with him. I got some great feedback from him, allowing me to implement it into my daily training environment. The girls and I have been in the kitchen cooking together every night and successfully made 14 dinners together without killing each other. 

Coming back home for my birthday and Christmas for a little downtime was short lived with a 5km TT on the track and a 16km max aerobic run. I wasn’t expecting too much from track and did not feel that great on the day but was happy with the overall result after such big weeks before hand. The 16km run I felt much better and more comfortable trying to think about what Bobby had been telling me about running more on my toes and letting my shoulders drop. I want to thank Shane Barrie for helping my get through the last couple of kms when I swear my legs were yelling at me to stop running.

A new experience to end the year was riding on the velodrome in Wollongong on track bikes- bikes that have no brakes and pretty much scary in general. By the end of our 3 sessions, I enjoyed it thoroughly, learning new skills and important concepts that are necessary for that kind of training. It is actually an intense workout, with Jamie constantly reminding us of the intense natural of French Grand Prix. I even decided that I was talented enough on the rollers to try and get on the backwards- not my smartest moment. I always received my new bike this month, thank you to Spearmans Cycles and Giant Bikes for the 2012 TCR. It has been riding beautifully on the long rides that we have been doing over the time we have been home.

Triathlon NSW has been apart of my development in the triathlon world and we were luckily enough to be involved in a few sessions with them. Riding and swimming with them was a great experience as I saw their strengths and weakness. I loved the swimming set on Monday as it was the first time in ages I have been pushed in a race pace swim set. I even got one of the boys to say I was swimming too fast…looks like I beat him to the first buoy in a race. 

It is now a new year. A time for new experiences, new expectations, new dreams and new resolutions, mostly to stay upright on my bike but to also see what I can achieve this year. I am currently back up in Falls Creek now till the 24th of January before heading back down for Australia Day Aquathon at Wollongong Harbour.

Following the elite men's race, Wiltshire's unsafe and unsportsmanlike conduct during 2011 Pontevedra European Championships was investigated.  The ITU Executive Board-with the exception of members from the British and Spanish federations-voted to impose a six-month suspension against Wiltshire based on violations to the ITU Competition Rules (2.1 a.) (i), 3.3 a.) (i), Appendix L 6. and Appendix L 7). 

Wiltshire filed an appeal against ITU in CAS on 10 August 2011 to challenge the decision of the Executive Board.  The CAS panel reviewed video evidence and heard testimonies from Wiltshire as well as from on-course technical officials and the race referee.  The panel concluded that Wiltshire did in fact violate ITU Competition Rules with reference to "repeated unsportsmanlike conduct" and that the Executive Board had the right to sanction Wiltshire with a suspension.

Furthermore, the panel decided the 6-month suspension was not evidently and grossly disproportionate as Wiltshire had contended.  As a result, Wiltshire's appeal was dismissed and CAS required the appellant to pay ITU the amount of 2,500 Swiss Francs as compensation for this legal process.

ITU is strongly committed to maintaining the integrity of the sport by ensuring athletes are competing within the competition rules and with a high degree of sportsmanship.

It’s been a great first half of the Triathlon season for me.  Although I haven’t done many triathlons I feel things are right on track for an even better 2nd half of the season.  My season started off on October 31st with a win at the Sri Chimnoy sprint race in Canberra in a time of 58:21.  I followed up with another win in the first TACT race of the season a week later, which included a pool swim as opposed to swimming in Lake Burley Griffin.  Both races were low key but good to come out on top.

On December 16th I headed off to Queensland with the ACT Junior Squad for the first ITU event of the season at Runaway Bay. The event included 3 swim races, a Lemans style crit race, running races over 1k, an aquathon, and 3 short triathlons.  I’ve never done any ITU races so wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew that I was in good shape as I had set some running PB’s and had been racing well in local crit races leading up to the event. 

The first event on Day 1 at Runaway was a 50m, 100m, and 200m swim races with a short rest in between.  Times were added up over the three races to declare a winner.  I swam PB’s in all three but only managed 36th out of 64.  In the crit race I was able to place 1st in my heat of 32 but unfortunately final places were based on time and even though I won my overall place was only 20th. About 2 hours later we had a 1k heat followed by a final if you placed in the top 3 in your heat.  I treated my heat like a final as I really wanted to see what I could do.  I was able to win my heat in a time of 2:37 which was the fastest qualifying time.  In the final I ran well but didn’t have it in the end but still placed 11th overall out of the field of 64.  To say the least after the first day I was pretty exhausted.  

Day 2 saw me place 20th overall in the Aquathon which was a 400m swim/2k run, 14th in the Super sprint 300/6k/2k, and 11th in the Ultra Sprint 200/4k/1200m. These races were fast and furious and unfortunately swimming in the pool I found myself doing a lot of chasing but I was very happy with the day. With all the races if you placed in the top 16 you received points at the end of the day I was placed 18th overall.

Day 3 I raced in the B final and had a really good race as my running saved me.  I lost my cycling shoe coming into transition and lost several seconds and with the races so short I was worried but today’s race had the longest run at 2.4k on the track and I proceeded to run down about 9 guys in front of me and recorded the 4th fastest run split on the day and finished 2nd overall in the B final.  

I was invited to attend the Triathlon Australia Development Camp that was held for 3 days after the racing and it was great learning from some of the best coaches in Australia.  They were all very helpful and I learned a lot.  It was also great getting to know some of the guys that I will be competing against in the future.

The next race is coming to Canberra at the end of January.   

Showtime has ceased for the year, and since my last blog post in August I have been super busy with training, racing, camps and countless high-stress time-trials.  I have to say I’ve (almost) loved every second of it.  Since it would take more than a novel to properly write about each section of my life for the last 6 months, I’ll neatly wrap it (with a bow) into a concise timeline of how it all went down. 

August: 

Cane to Coral Fun Run – The race was a 15km fun run in which I finished 3rd in a time of 57:04 minutes.  I had a great race, battling with Brisbane marathon runner Helen Stanton and a local athlete Anna McMurtrie for 13 kilometres.  It came down to a sprint over the last 2km with Helen taking the win, Anna in 2nd, and yours truly rounding out the podium.

Botanic to Bridge Fun Run – An 8km fun run which started at the bottom of an 18% hill climb (why wouldn’t you be keen to enter?!).  Once again I had a great dual with Helen Stanton.  I lead the first 4km before Helen made her move on another small incline through the centre of town.  Helen had too much of a gap on me coming into the downhill finish, but I was happy with 2nd in a time of 28:42 minutes.   

September & October: 

Triathlon Queensland Selection Time Trials – Two selection time trials were held incorporating a 1000m swim time trial in the pool and a 5000m track run time trial.  I had a good selection trial in both September and October making the 2012 Triathlon Queensland Talent & Emerging Talent Squad.  I was especially happy with my first 1000m swim trial doing 12:53 minutes which was a big improvement from last season.  Below is a photo of the first lap of the 5000m track run at the second selection trial (I’m the little one in the black shoes, tucked in neatly, trying to conserve some energy in the ‘2pm in the afternoon’ heat).   

Noosa Triathlon – I had a fantastic time heading back to my home town to race my first non-drafting professional race.  I had a solid race finishing as the 10th Elite Female in a 2:10:51minutes, and was happy to get some TV time coming out of the water with girls like Emma Jackson and Kate McIllroy.  \

November: 

Queensland Triathlon Series Race 2 – I headed to the flat and fast Robina Parkway for the second race of the very popular Queensland Triathlon Series over the 400m/15km/4km distance. Racing in the Open Female division, I was well positioned out of T1 in 3rd, but lost some ground over the 15km cycle leg to enter and exit T2 in 4th position behind Holly Grice, Danielle DeFrancesco, and Brittany Forster.  I was on the hunt, and by the 1km mark I had caught and passed both Dani and Britt, with Holly not too far in front.  As we moved into the 3rd kilometre I passed Holly on a small incline and didn’t look back, keeping both my leg cadence and arm turn-over super high till the finish.  I crossed the line in 1st, happy with my overall race, but particularly with my 14:27 minute run split.  However, my excitement was short-lived, as 30 minutes after I had finished the race (and had even given the post-race interview), I was informed that I had been disqualified for a drafting infringement (not happy at all).  After an intense hour’s debate with officials, the decision remained the same, so I accepted the DQ (no point in arguing a case if the outcome was going to remain the same).  Below is a photo of me pre-disqualification.  At least I still got to take the tape, hahaha.  

Triathlon Queensland Talent & Emerging Talent Squad Camp – I headed back down to the Gold Coast the weekend after the Robina race to take part in our first camp for the 2011/2012 Season.  We were based at the Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre for a 2 day camp with Head Coaches Kim Beckinsale and Brian Harrington.  The first day of training was pretty full on, with the majority of our time spent on the cycling track, in the 50m pool, and up at Paradise Point to finish off the first day with some intense swim/runs.  The purpose of the camp was a focus on speed, and by the end of the first day we were smashed, sunburnt and ready for a little down-time.  Luckily a few of us managed to find the sneaky ice-bath & spa combo back at the super centre, and spent our free time bonding with large chunks of ice (hahaha, Dani!)  

The second day saw us wake early for a tempo run and some specific running drills, before hitting the brekkie bench to fuel us for the remainder of the camp.  We finished off at around mid-day Sunday, but not before splashing and dashing around the sports super centre in an assortment of mini-triathlon’s at MAX intensity.  Red-faced and sweat-covered, I was happy to have a little kip in the glorious 18-degree air-con on the way home.

December: 

National Talent Academy Selection Time Trials – I made the trip down to Brisbane on the 1st day of the month to compete in a 5000m track run time trial (yes, another one!) in order to better my time of 18:31 minutes set at the Triathlon Queensland Trials in September/October.  Taking part in these trials is a good measure of potential in a certain discipline, as well as an opportunity to track improvement in each discipline.  Normally this would be accompanied by a 1000m pool swim time trial, but since I had already surpassed the 13:02 minute mark to be eligible for selection into the National Talent Academy twice in both September and October, I decided instead to nominate my best time for the swim, and focus instead on improving my run time.   The day was dismal to say the least with a massive storm sweeping through Brisbane about an hour before we started.  Brisbane also decided to turn-on the air-conditioning and fans all at once, and by the time we started our time trial it was damp, pouring rain and freezing.  To my surprise, and delight, I ran my best ever time finishing in a 17:47 minutes.  It felt fantastic to finally be able to just flick a switch and get a 44 second personal best time out of it   The run time to make for the NTA still stands at 17:01 minutes, but two more time trials are coming up in January and February 2012, so we’ll see what a few more weeks of hard training will do.

Queensland Triathlon Series Race 3 – My final stop on the 2011 calendar was Raby Bay in Brisbane over a 750m swim, 20km cycle, and 5km run.  Once again I found myself quite well positioned in the swim leg, exiting the water alongside Madison Allen, Brittany Forster, and Gillian Backhouse.  Only problem was that the four of us were already 50 seconds down on the brilliant open water swimmer that is Danielle DeFrancesco.  Onto the cycle leg Dani held her position in 1st with a strong cycling performance, with Gillian riding into 2nd, and me entering T2 in 3rd position.  I heard the commentator call ‘1:50 minutes down on the leader.’  Tough task at hand, but most definitely not impossible.  I went hard from the start onto the run, and found the lovely zone between stinging and comfortable that I have become well acquainted with over the last year.  Sadly, it was only a 5km, and although I put a rather large dint into the leaders for a short run, I ran out of road, and crossed the line in 3rd.  I finished only 12 seconds behind Gillian in 2nd, and 45 seconds behind Dani, who took her first ever triathlon win. (Well done Dani)   I was very satisfied with my race, especially my run time off the bike (17:58 minutes).  Raby Bay was a fantastic way to finish the year, and I picked up a little prize money as well.  Below are the race results of the Top 6 Female and Male finishers. 

OPEN FEMALE SWIM CYCLE RUN OVERALL   

1. Danielle DeFrancesco 8:05 34:37 18:53 1:01:37   

2. Gillian Backhouse 8:54 34:28 18:46 1:02:10   

3. Chloe Turner 8:57 35:24 17:58 1:02:22   

4. Kym Jaenke 9:31 35:06 18:51 1:03:29   

5. Annelise Jefferies   10:11 36:21 18:01 1:04:34   

6. Brittany Forster 8:52 35:40 20:38 1:05:12  

OPEN MALE SWIM CYCLE RUN OVERALL   

1. Ben Shaw 8:21 30:55 16:20 55:38   

2. Nicholas Hull 8:27 31:27 15:52 55:47   

3. Kenji Nener 8:25 31:53 15:58 56:18   

4. Bryce McMaster 8:23 31:56 16:23 56:43   

5. Dylan Holdsworth 8:56 32:30 16:45 58:13   

6. Braden Ludlow 8:54 32:28 17:05 58:29  

To wrap it up I would like to say a big Thankyou to my fantastic sponsors…

As well as…

Jason Crowther (Head Triathlon Coach – Atlas Multisports Coaching)

Colin Robson (Head Swimming Coach – Cotton Tree Aquatic Centre)

Carla Doyle (Head Sports Massage Therapist – First Place Massage)

Mum & Dad - #1 Supporters

CT. Signing off for 2011. xoxo

 I wrote this straight after Canberra 70.3:

Maybe I shouldn’t be writing this straight away but I’m sitting in my hotel room, waiting for my mate to come back from the first race I haven’t finished.  So I really have nothing better to do! 

My training had been solid the past 5 weeks with my new start in NSW. I have been loving the training, the coach and the other athletes. So I was feeling great heading down to Canberra, aside from the normal taper week sluggishness, which is always to be expected. Arrived late Friday night and after a great night’s sleep, had an hour ride on the Saturday morning and was done for the day. Registered, racked my bike, attended briefing then smashed an amazing pizza and Mcflurry and hit the sack. A terrible night’s sleep but after a good one on Friday I wasn’t tired getting up this morning, just raring to go! 

The forecast was for rain but when we were setting up in transition it looked like the perfect conditions. Off for a longish warm up jog my legs were feeling great. Cutting it fine as I seem to be doing a lot lately, I got down to what I thought was the swim start to find out it was another 200m swim back towards transition and I had 5mins to start time!! Whoops!!!! Made it there with 2minutes to spare!  I wanted to stick with Nicole Ward and Michelle Wu in the swim. Lisa would be out in front with the men no doubt but I came out in front of Michelle at Yeppoon. Unfortunately I lost their feet before the first buoy and was swimming solo the rest of the way. Still only 1min down and could see them running to their bikes as I ran up to transition- that’s okay!!! A bit of friendly banter with my Canberra roomie though…. Was nice to chick a pro male!!! Sorry Adsy, had to add it in ;-) 

Out on the bike and I was flying! I haven’t felt that good in the bike leg since probably my first 70.3 back in 2009!!!! Today was going to be the day! I felt it yesterday and it was turning out that way. My goal for the bike leg was to catch Michelle, because Lisa would probably hold her lead off the bike but Wu had potential to run her down for the win. And soon I was ticking them off- I had a feeling I was in about 7th position. The rain was coming down hard at that stage- so much for the good weather! By about 10/15km I’d caught and passed Nicole and another girl and could see another up ahead. By about the 40km mark I’d collected her too. Great 3rd place!! Down the sharp/ technical decent and I felt a little wobble but I was going pretty gun hoe and the roads were slippery. After the downhill was a short sharp pinch which I got out of my saddle for and the wobble got worse- FLAT- are you kidding me????? AGAIN????? Yup, sure enough my front tyre was losing pressure. Off the bike and tried the pit stop which lasted about 100m, off again to change the tyre, back on the bike for 10km and then wobble, wobble, flat again. All over red rover! Outta all my tools, pit stop, gas. Game over. 

So there’s nothing like 3 flats in 3/6 races since August. And no- it’s not the wheels and tyres, thanks everyone for suggesting the obvious! The first two races with flats were on tubular wheels and so I went back to clinchers (because I KNOW I can change them!) and they were great for the 3 races in the USA, however today they weren’t able to withstand the rubbish that had been washed onto the road from the rainy weather. 

I have nothing else to really say about it all. Congrats to Lisa for holding off Michelle for the win and to Nicole for 3rd place. X-tri: wonderful event as always. I just want to be able to do one of them properly one day! Maybe Singapore in 2012? 

So wrapping up a very disappointing 2011. I want to put it behind me and forget it ever happened really. Things that I have learnt: 
-          Yes I’m still a hard arsed angry b***h: still finishing two of the races where I had flats (Yeppoon and Japan 70.3) 
-          I am having a crack and it’s not easy. Being a pro athlete is not at all glamorous when you are not quite up there (YET!). Sponsorship is NOT that 
            easy to acquire and hearing ‘No’ 50 times a week is a little soul destroying and you question your chosen path. I am pretty much broke right now 
            and scrapping through life, but that’s ok (I think!). 
-          I am learning to takes risks- I have left one life behind and all I know, moved interstate to a new place where I knew no-one to start something 
            completely new and different (but am now questioning why I didn’t do it at the start of the year!) 
-          That I am blessed to have a mother that is my biggest fan and supporter out there. 
-          To have a few sponsors that are taking a chance on someone who isn’t yet one of the big hitters; Mizuno Australia, Enervit, Compressport, Allez 
            Sport Mooloolaba and Cyclezone Mooloolaba. Your support makes life that little bit easier to handle at the tough times. 
-          That after today I am on the right track. I would love to have found out where my run legs were at and just how much of a dent I could have made 
            on the second half of the bike but that’s something I’ll have to wait to find out. 
-          And lastly: listen to your bodies! No-one knows it better than you! If your body is telling you owie, don’t do a session just because it’s written on 
            your program. Missing one session it’s going to make or break you. Better to miss one afternoon than a whole season! 
-          And things could always be worse: I’m attending the opening of Katie’s bench on Mooloolaba hill this Thursday. I still miss her terribly. 12 months 
            ago I bet she never expected NOT to be here. 

Merry Christmas to all. 

2012 can’t get here fast enough! 

Rachie signing out for 2011 xo

Getting back into the swing of things... was my body ready for it after the lazy days with some days the most exercise being the walk up and down the 20 steps of stairs in my house. I was ready and excited to find out. This month we gradually started to ease back into training focussing mostly just on our aerobic capacity and strength conditioning work.

Earlier this month, we had testing at NSWIS. This involved testing our VO2 max levels on the treadmill but more importantly analysing our running technique to be able to run faster and more efficient. This then helps us to incorporate strength and conditioning work into our everyday environment to get those magic golden glutes! We have a great team at the NSWIS that help us sort out not only our physical issues but also the mental and issues outside the triathlon world like university. I applied for a new degree for next year with distance education as this would allow me to finish a degree earlier and take it away with me overseas. 

As its time to start getting serious again,  I am currently in Falls Creek in altitude just over the border of NSW. It has been fairly fresh up here with it not reaching over 10 degrees yet. Falls Creek especially this camp is not over doing it as being at altitude means you have less oxygen to breathe whilst training. Every morning we have a routine of testing that we must complete to check if we are hydrated, our weight, oxygen levels, haemoglobin and our training diary. This place is like a home away from home. Although we are in isolation from the real world, it’s great to be running on the trails in the fresh air and in such a elite environment.  I enjoy getting out of our house and going to the gym everyday for our session as it is something different to what we usually do and a important component in our sport. The pool at Mt Beauty has been abit chilly so I have been wearing a speed suit for each warmth- it might even make me a tad quicker beating the newbie Grace in our 66m butterfly challenge.

It will be great to go home as 3 days after we do I turn the magic 19 years old and have Christmas to look forward to with the family. My room is also getting a renovation which I am excited about to see when I arrive home