I had a reasonably quick change over and set off on my bike ready for the 83km, (3 lap bike leg) ahead of me. I rode hard from the word go and was surprised with how quickly I found a good rhythm. With the bike leg being my weakest leg, I was determined to stick as close as I could to the lead girls. Towards the end of my first lap my right aerobar and arm pad decided to undo it self so I rode the rest of the ride trying to hold it in place … (For some reason these things only ever happen in a race and I thought why now of all times, but there was no way I was stopping!!). The course was very undulating so it felt great to be able to punch the hills like I never have before. I have been really working hard on my bike strength over the last 6 months, and it was great to be able to ride 8mins faster than I did last year.
As I came in towards the end of the bike leg I knew I was going to have to run tough as I could already feel that my legs were heavy, (especially from riding into a headwind that got stronger and stronger by the third lap of the bike). I heard the announcer say that I was 4 mins off the pace of the current race leader, Rebecca Keat (last year’s winner and current Australian Ironman Champion), 2 mins behind her was 2nd place and 30 seconds ahead of me was 3rd.
I fumbled in transition and couldn’t get my running shoes on quick enough so lost myself a little more time than I should have.
The start of the run was terrible as my legs felt awful and the thought of running 20km was not a great one. I knew I was going to have to dig deep and that’s what I did. My goal for today was to get on the podium so I put my head down and got on with the job. After a few kms into the run leg I moved into 3rd place and I started to find my running legs … I was heading to the 5km turnaround and could see that I wasn’t too far off the pace. When I was then to hear that Bek Keat pulled out of the race, I was ready to really give it all I could to get the win. It was great to receive so much support from fellow athletes on the course and all the supporters who were screaming for me to dig deep. I have to say that I pushed hard for the last 10km and gave it my all, but hats off to the English girl who ran well till the end.
It was the best feeling to see that finish line as I truly felt like I could barely lift my legs off the ground. I was so happy to get second place but to then be told after I had crossed the line that I was the new Australian Long Course Champion was truly something special. I hadn’t even thought that this would be the case as the race winner was English. It had to be my lucky day- a 10minute PB and an Australian National title!!!
Thank you to my super coach Grant Giles, for helping me to continue to reach yet another goal in my triathlon career. This is my third season in the sport and to look back to where I have come from in that time is just amazing.
Big thanks also to my family, friends and Turrmurra Cyclery for all of your continued support along my journey to date. I am looking forward to the Australian Ironman Triathlon in Port Macquarie on 6th April!