Week 10 - Australian Long Course Championships

This weekend I competed in the Australian Long Course Triathlon Championships held at Husskison, NSW. Husky is a small seaside town located about 2 hours south of Sydney. After placing 1st at the Victorian Long Course Champs a few weeks earlier, Josh and I decided that I should travel up to NSW to compete in the National Champs.

Arriving in Canberra on Friday, mum and I hired a car and made the trek to Husky, where we were welcomed by our awesome home stay family Cindy, Ellen and Isabel (the Jack Russel).

As the sun began to rise on race morning we all knew that it was going to be a tough race in hot conditions. It was a non-wetsuit swim for the Pro's with water temp being 23.5 degrees. The relatively small Pro Female field was packed with some notable racers including Michelle Wu, Nicole Ward and Matilda Raynolds.

I had a great swim and exited the water up the front. After a quick transition I got out onto the bike course in 1st place, where I was soon joined by Raynolds and later on Wu. The 83km bike course was made up of 3 laps. The first half of each lap consisted of a slow gradual climb with the second half being undulating. I managed to stick with Wu and Raynolds until about 15km to go, where I then started to feel the effects of the hard riding and heat and unfortunately lost contact. This was the move that would prove to cost me the race, however it is these races that I learn the most from!

Entering T2 I was about 1min30sec down off the lead two girls. I was expecting to feel pretty heavy on the run, however once my legs hit the ground and I got some more nutrition into me I started to feel strong and went about trying to make up as much ground as I could. I managed to come within 50sec of second place, but ran out of road, crossing the line in 3rd place Pro Female, with Michelle running strong to take the win by 2min 30sec and Matilda claiming 2nd. The aim of the race was to podium, and while I wasn't on the top, it was still a good race in which I learnt a lot.


Having only competed in 2 long course events prior to Husskison, I am still learning the in and outs of endurance racing. I have put in some really solid training over the summer months, and with another long course race under my belt I am looking forward to a great upcoming season in the US.

I am living the dream and it all wouldn't be possible without the support of my sponsors Malvern Star, Peak Bike Hub, Brooks Running, Giro, Selle SMP Saddles and Team Barefoot.

A huge thanks to my Mum for travelling with me to Husky and looking after me...number one support crew! Also thanks to Cindy and Ellen for opening their home to us and Elite Energy for putting on a great event.




For now it's time to eat, sleep and recover in time for the final round of the Victorian Gatorade Series next weekend.

WEEK 9 - Food for Thought

One of my more favoured past-times is eating. When I am not think worldly thoughts while out training, I am regularly envisaging what my next meal will be. I often return from sessions famished and head straight to the cupboard. Last week was a prime example - I hunger flatted majorly on my ride about 15km from home. I was in all sorts as it was about to start pouring down rain, so I had to ride quick to beat the downpour, but I was sooo hungry that even pedalling was difficult...ah the dilemma. The motivation to get home was the reward of a crunchy bowl of corn flakes at the end (because that was literally all that was in the cupboard). When I finally made it home (dizzy head and all) and dumped my bike, I downed the bowl of my favourite cereal without even taking off my helmet. Almost instantaneously my energy returned and I could once again think intelligent thoughts...disaster averted.

Cornflakes and honey are my number one food at the moment. I have a habit of consuming the same food religiously for weeks on end, until there comes a stage where I can't even look at the food let alone eat it. I often find that because I eat more than the average person, it is quite a task to constantly think of foods to eat, therefore being the very reason I will consume copious amounts of the same food until I can no longer. So cornflakes is that food at the moment. It's sad because I know there will be a time when they'll have to leave my life, but for now we have a pretty good thing going on.

When looking for a snack I try to pick foods that taste good, are cheap, will fill me up, and have some nutritional value (the latter often lacking). At the moment my 'vogue' foods are the trusty cornflakes and honey, choc honeycomb muesli bars from Aldi (soo good, but so not good for you), bbq chickens (they've almost reached their limit), white bread cheese toasted sandwiches (supporting the lack of nutritional value dilemma I face) and spaghetti bolignaise (I don't think I'll ever tire of a good spag bog).


Other foods that have been done to death and therefore are no longer on the menu include porridge, milkshakes (made entirely of just milk), tinned tuna, tinned chicken, protein powder, red capsicum (weird), fish fingers, muesli, egg+rice+soy sauce (used to be a favourite lunch item), eggs on their own (which is very disappointing as I really did used to enjoy a good egg and they are very good for you), Cheerios, Le Rice, apples and Continental pasta packs.

As you can see , there in no consistency in the type of foods that I obsess over. Once I find a food I like, I will stick to it until my taste buds have had enough. It is quite possibly not the best eating habits to have, but gone are the days when I would come home after a hectic day at school and dinner would be served on the table, so one must do what one must do to survive the daily rigours of hunting, gathering and cooking for oneself. As such I must be off to make some dessert (vanilla ice cream with milo on top...mmm!)

On other unrelated notes, I start back at uni tomorrow (part-time Nutrition...very appropriate), and have just updated the news section on my website, check it: www.madeleineoldfield.com

Until next time,

Eat an Aldi choc honeycomb museli bar...you will never look back.

WEEK 8 - Another week...Another Blog

For this week's blog I have decided to put my "serious" hat on and blog about something that is actually relevant to everyday life.

This week I did 72% of my training on my own...therefore giving me a large chunk of time to think random thoughts. For the majority of the time when out training I just sing the same song over and over and over in my head, or repeat lines from The Hangover. However on the odd occasion I do in fact think intelligent thoughts relating to issues facing the world...who would've thought!

After seeing the images of pain and suffering that all New Zealander's are currently experiencing as a result of the earthquake, got me to thinking of the power that mother nature possesses and the impact she has had on society in the past 6 months. It's as though mother nature has gone "screw you world, I'm going to belt you with blow after blow after blow and see how you stand up." Beginning with the floods in QLD, NSW and VIC, Cyclone Yasi in northern QLD, bush fires in WA and most recently the earthquake in NZ.

Each time I watch, listen or read about one of these disasters I have to think how lucky I am. I often think that if I were to fall off my bike tomorrow and break a leg then my world would fall apart. However after seeing what these people are going through and the hardship they are facing really puts life into perspective and makes me realise that I am so lucky to be where I am and doing what I am doing. It is so easy to get caught up and forget that there is more to life than swimming up and down following a black line, or riding endless km's, but when it comes down to it, what I am doing in triathlon is all just fun and games. If I were to have a shocker of a race or roll an ankle, then I would still wake up the next morning and life would go on as normal. However for all the thousands of people who have been affected by the recent disasters, they are the one's who will wake up and their world is changed forever. They are the people who will have to fight everyday and will go "screw you mother nature, we will fight back."

So the moral to the story is don't take things for granted. Be thankful for what you have, and don't take life too seriously!


Until next time,

Spread the love...

(Phew that was deep!)

WEEK 7 - Website Launch

After countless weeks of slave labour on Sam's behalf I decided to announce on radio tonight (SEN 1116 AM) that my website would be launched at that precise moment...giving Sam all of 10 minutes to work his magic and make it live, pronto!! So check it out at www.madeleineoldfield.com - it includes schedule, results, media, sponsors, pics and latest racing news.

All is still on track for reaching the milestone 52 blogs in 52 weeks!

Until next time,


Sam is the MAN!!

WEEK 6 - Falls Creek Long Course Triathlon

When I crossed the finish line in my first Half Ironman at Shepparton in November I swore I would never do one again! However I soon forgot about the pain and managed to find myself on the start line of the inaugural Falls Creek Long Course Triathlon this morning.



I was really excited to be competing in a race at such an amazing location. For those that don't know, Falls Creek is located in the Victorian Alps, 1600m above sea level. It truly is one of the greatest places on earth and we were all so lucky to be competing there.

I had been up to Falls Creek a month earlier and had done some training over the course, so I had a fair idea of what I was in for come race day. The course is brutal, starting off with a 2km swim in 15 degree water, followed by a super hilly 80km on the bike, and finishing off with a 20km trail/cross country run. The course alone is tough enough, however we had the added bonus of altitude to contend with. This was not your average race, and I knew that the strongest athlete would come home with the goods at the end of the day. I love tough racing, so couldn't wait to get started.

I had a great swim and came out of the water in 2nd place, about 2min down from ITU racing specialist Liz Blachford. Close behind me were Michelle Wu and Nicole Ward. I managed to have a super fast transition and went about trying to catch Liz, which I did by the end of the first lap (of three) on the bike. We were soon accompanied by Wu and stayed together for the remaining 2 laps. Coming into T2 I knew that I would have to have one of my best ever runs if I were to beat these girls, as they are both amazing athletes and have a number of titles to their names.

I managed to get out on the run course first and just focused on holding a constant pace and getting my nutrition right. As the k's ticked over I started to feel stronger and stronger and knew that if I let my lead slip now then I had missed a great opportunity, so I put all I had into getting to that finish line in the top position. I was super excited when it finally came around and I crossed the line in First Place Elite Female and Victorian Long Course Champion.

This was a breakthrough race for me. I was really looking at giving it my all out there today and putting in 110% effort. I knew that it was time to step it up and I had to start mixing it with the big girls, especially if I want to have success in the USA this year.

This would have to be one of the greatest triathlons I have competed in and congratulations must go to SuperSprint and Falls Creek for putting on such a fantastic event. If anyone is looking for a challenging race in one of the best locations in the world, then Falls Creek Long Course is a must for the 2012 racing calendar. Also, well done to all the other competitors out there today, just to get to the finish was a huge achievement!



I must say a massive thanks to Mum, Dad, Sam, Barb, Colin, Susannah and Coop for their race day support. Also to my amazing sponsors in Malvern Star, Peak Bike Hub, Brooks Running, Selle SMP Saddles and Team Barefoot.

The biggest thanks must go to my coach Joshua Rix, the support, belief and advice he has provided me with is second to none and the future is exciting!

Until next time,

Take it easy...

Tri Zone Race Report

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WEEK 5 - Expect the Unexpected!

The one thing I have learnt during my four years of triathlon is that racing very rarely pans out as planned, and today was to be no exception on this theory (the day that I have that "perfect" race will be the day I walk away with the $250,000 winners cheque and a Hummer at the Hy-Vee Triathlon, Des Moines).

I had envisaged Gatorade #4 at Portarlington to be a good lead up race to next week's long course race at Falls Creek, where I could practice my nutrition strategy and have a good hit out.

The race was switched to a duathlon format (2km run/28km cycle/8km run) due to the downpour in Melbourne the day before. My race plan was to get a comfortable lead on the first run, get out of T1 first, have a smooth bike leg, then once I had secured the lead on the final run I could back off and save the legs for next week. However, of course this was not meant to be!

All was on track coming into T1 after the first 2km run. I had that lead I wanted and I was feeling good. Then things started to go a little pear-shaped. For some reason (who knows what) I decided to keep running PAST my bike out of transition and up the stair climb (thinking that this was still part of the first 2km run). No officials were directing me otherwise so I just kept on running. It was after about 1min that I realised no one was following me. I was looking around mighty confused asking officials where to go. No one had any real idea. That's when I saw all the girls head off out on the bike...not good I thought! Eventually finding my way back into transition I was now about 2-3min down on the lead girls and had run an extra km. I was mighty pissed off (to put it nicely) and thought momentarily about giving up and calling it a day. However, I've never had a DNF and don't plan on having one in the future so I had to make the split second decision to refocus, find my bike, have a smooth transition then get out on the cycle course and go as hard as I could for as long as I could.



As the kilometres passed by I managed to catch up to some of the Elite girls until I had caught the main group. I was pretty relieved to have caught them, however there were still a few girls up the road.

Coming into T2 I made sure I had a good position so I could have a fast transition and get out onto the run course as quickly as I could. The first 1km of the run felt pretty crappy, I couldn't catch my breath as I think I was just running on adrenaline. However I told myself to calm down, breath deeply, be patient and just "run how you know to run" - nice and relaxed. I managed to get the lead at the 2km mark. Then at about the 4km mark I made the decision to back it off and conserve as much energy as I could for next week. This probably cost me the overall win as top age-grouper Bev Thomas went flying past, however my goal was to secure the Elite win and get the pay check to pay next weeks rent!

In hindsight (all though I definitely wasn't thinking it at the time) this kind of race was what I needed, something to challenge me physically and mentally. These are the races I learn the most from about myself and it gives me the confidence to know that I can handle whatever is thrown at me during a race.

Thanks must got to Stephen and Robyn from Team Barefoot for providing fantastic team support over the weekend and also to my sponsors Peak Bike Hub and Malvern Star for providing me with a well oiled machine, Brooks Running for super fast shoes and my most recent sponsor Selle SMP for a super comfy saddle.

I will now be taking a fairly cruisey week this week in preparation for Falls Creek next Sunday.

Also, Kudos to my big sister Laura for coming 715th in her fun run today in Hobart...it must run in the family!

Until next time,
Don't get lost...read a map