Phew…it’s been a big few weeks of racing!
Last Sunday I raced in the Murray Man Long Course Tri, followed by Ballarat 70.3 a
week later. Ballarat was never part of my original race plan for 2014, however
when the opportunity to race arose I knew I had to take it considering I was
feeling fit and race ready. I was a bit apprehensive doing two long course
races back-to-back since the last time I did this was three years ago and I
swore I’d never do it again. However, I knew if I raced smart at Murray Man and
did what I had to do and nothing more to make the podium, and then recover well and eat
properly during the week, I would race well come Ballarat. It was a
gamble…but luckily it paid off and I finished 2nd place Pro Female
in both events.
A quick recap of Murray Man…the long course
tri (2km swim/80km cycle/20km run) was held in the Riverland district, a short
2.5hr drive from Adelaide. Dad made the trip over from Tassie to watch me race
which was great, and we drove up together on Saturday morning. Luckily the
temperature on race day was a lot cooler than the 38 degrees we got in Adelaide
on the Friday.
The 2km swim was held in the calm waters of
Lake Barmera. I exited the swim in equal 1st place and set out on the 4 lap
80km cycle course. I rode fairly consistently, finishing the bike in 2nd
place, about 3 minutes off the lead. I was hoping to put in a strong run to try
and bridge across to 1st, however the legs were feeling super flat
and I knew pretty early on that the goal would be to hold onto 2nd
whilst minimizing any damage for next weeks race, which I managed to do.
The following few days I made sure I
focused on eating a lot, sleeping well and kept training every day. The temptation
post-race is to take a few days off training, however I recover so much better
if I do a few light training sessions in the days following a race. By
Thursday I was feeling sharp and ready to race again, so it was off to
Ballarat!
I spent all of Friday driving across from
Adelaide to Ballarat. Then Saturday morning I went down to the IronKids event
to hand out medals at the finish line to all the young kids racing. It’s so
great to see children at such a young age getting into triathlon and loving
every minute of it! Saturday afternoon was then spent chilling out and getting
everything prepped for Sunday.
Finally race morning rolled around and we
were greeted by chilly temperatures, a bit of rain and some wind. The race
start was moved 2hrs later due to the cold temps, so we had a leisurely start
time of 8.30am. Two minutes after the Pro Males went off, the Pro Female field
were sent on our way for the 1.9km swim in Lake Wendouree. Again, I had a good
swim, exiting in equal 1st place. I had a quick transition and lead
the bike for the 1st 10km, when Melanie (eventual winner) came
rocketing by me. I remained focused and kept pushing hard, knowing that there
were some strong cyclists and runners behind me. I was really pleased with my ride, and
exited the 90km bike course in 2nd place. I wasn’t sure how my legs
would feel after last week for the 21km run, however I felt pretty good and
apart from a sluggish few kilometers from the 8-12km mark, I ran well and
managed to hang onto that 2nd spot, which I was stoked with.
It was
so great to race in Victoria again and the support on course was incredible. It
was an awesome event and I will definitely be back again next year! A big thank
you to Alex and Laura for their race day support and to the race organisers and
volunteers at both Murray Man and Ballarat 70.3 for putting on such great
events. Also, shoutout to Jane from Vital Core Physiotherapy for keeping my body in
shape these past few weeks!
For now it’s time to let the body recover
before finishing off the year with a few local races in Adelaide. Thanks for
reading J
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