Race Report

I went into Ironman Australia feeling relaxed and confident in my ability to swim, bike and run well.

The swim was great. I felt good in the water and was able to stick with the lead group of guys to come out of the water as first female in a bit over 49 minutes.
Onto the bike and wow, what a head wind! I was mindful not to go too hard as in past races I have really felt the pinch in the last 80km. Caroline Steffen came flying past about 10km in and I had no choice but to watch her go up the road. I stuck to my plan, ticked off the kms and shovelled the GUs in. the second lap seemed to pass by much quicker than the first and before I knew it I had finished the 180kms in 5hrs23, above my target time but considering the conditions I was happy.
Starting the run was a strange feeling. I felt quite stiff but my pace was under target. I tried to slow back to my target time and relax into it. A few kms in and I was feeling ok. Again, focused on keeping well fuelled and holding my form, I ticked off the kms. With 4km to go I was still comfortably in second place and gave it all I had left to clock a 3hr22 marathon. My family were in the finish chute and I happily high fived them before celebrating across the line in 9hours38mins25sec.
It was so fun to be able to share this moment with them!

Thank you so much to my fantastic sponsors - CBD Cycles, Fairbrother, Total Performance Sports, Brooks, 2XU, Engine, GU and Ryders - I could not have done it with out you.

Ironman Australia 2nd Pro Female

Stoked! Fastest swim and a solid bike and run for a good day out....will write a wrap up soon, I promise.

Check out Adam's take on the day at:

 http://sports-tragic.blogspot.com/2011/05/everyone-can-be-ironman.html

Getting in as much sleep as possible, on the way home from a day at work!

The countdown begins...

It's now only 4 weeks until Ironman Australia! The past month has flown by with the regular routine of sleep, train, eat, work, train, eat, sleep..... Training is going well and I've clocked up some milestone kms so  all is on track....

Coles Bay 100

I had a great race at the Coles Bay 100. The 100km was made up of a 2km swim, 80km cycle and 18km run. I felt good in the water desipte a bit of chop and exited the swim 1st female and equal 4th overall. A smooth transition and I was onto the 2 lap bike course. I rode hard, feeling strong seeing how long it would take for any of the guys behind to pass me. The bike was pretty tough with some undulations and a bit of wind. I held off the chasers with a small group coming into T2 just behind me. Another smooth tranistion and I was onto the run. The run was a 3 lap course with a hill and a section on the beach. I managed to lap the rest of the women's field and crossed the line 4th overall.

Beauty Point

Round 3 of the Tasmanian Triathlon Series was held at Beauty Point. It was a 750m swim, 30km cycle and 5km run. I had a good swim and despite falling over in transition on the way to my bike felt pretty good. Once on the bike I was ready to go hard but didn't feel quite right. By 20km I realised I had a slow leak in my back tyre and stopped to fix it. I got off the bike and had to run extremely hard to catch young gun Hannah Geelan who was out in front. I finished with the win which gives me 3 from 3 for the series so far.

State Aquathon Champs

The Aquathon Champs were held by LTC at Trevallyn Dam on Saturday afternoon. I didn't have the ideal preparation with a 150km ride over hills that morning but it ended up being a great training day. The 1000m swim, 6km run was a challenging course, quite choppy in the water and a hilly, cross country style run. My legs were heavy on the up hills but the down hills were fun. I managed to hold for second place.