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Just sitting here on the plane home from Devonport now, I thought while it’s still fresh I’d do a quick recap of the past two weeks of racing.
Like with most events that are a few months away on the calendar, the start of the 2019 Paratriathlon series has snuck up and come around a lot quicker than I expected.
After what would be best described as a very laidback training and prep last year, I was pretty interested to see how I would shape up after a solid few months with a proper routine and training load.
The season started off with the Oceania Championships being held in Newcastle on the last weekend in February. A great opportunity for us Aussies to get some very welcomed points to add to our international rankings, and work on race processes and practice for the bigger races to come.
Might as well get stuck right into it I guess? Off we go at Newcastle, and found myself having a pretty good swim, holding the front from the start and managing to come out first. A little victory but nonetheless a victory.
The bike course was a bit tough, with strong winds coming off the beach and a few little climbs that made it interesting. What also made it interesting was the last minute scramble to get some sweet new race wheels onto my bike for the week of the race. Everyone has pre race rituals before a race, whether it be food, music, warm ups. Mine seems to be bike fits, changes or issues unfortunately!
Getting off the bike in T2 was not my smoothest transition, firstly going down the wrong chute, then having to do a U-turn, then trying to go out on the run in the wrong direction…twice.
Once I finally got out onto the run course I definitely wasn’t feeling very fresh. My legs felt like they were made of lead! Well one of them was feeling like that, the other felt like carbon fibre. Also it was pretty warm out there, and at the moment running in the heat is not my best friend.
Finished up with some bling for 2nd place, and a few things to work on and think about over the next 6 days before racing at the Devonport World Cup the next week.
Fast forward through a full working week, some light training and some good sleep and I found myself back in Devonport for the Paratriathlon World Cup. After a DQ last year for a rookie error I was looking forward to seeing how things panned out now that I at least knew one more rule than then..everything goes in the box!
With a stacked PTS4 field of guys from all over the globe coming to compete this was my first real test of how I would shape up.
I think the locals down here would’ve called the weather a heatwave, but the mid 20’s weather moved Devonport up a notch in my books.
Swim again went really well, holding on to some feet (or foot) for the start then pushing on to come out first of the water again, a great boost as the race went on.
Out onto the bike and things felt a lot more comfortable and enjoyable, I reckon it had something to do with the last minute adjustment to my brakes first thing in the morning. The pre race ritual lives on!
Coming off the bike in 4th place, and I knew I just had to run my own race and focus. After having to run the same course last year on my normal leg, getting to run it with Cash was like a breeze. Well actually far from a breeze but you get me.
I managed to hold my own and finish up in 4th on the day and absolutely stoked with the result. To have been competitive and amongst it with some of the same guys that towelled me up last year was a great boost, and whilst I didn’t win, personally it was a big win for a me and huge boost going into the rest of the year.
There was a point as I was heading to Devonport, where I realised i’d missing seeing 3-4 live shows that week I wanted to, a boys weekend in Byron Bay that I was really getting a bit of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) of what my mates we’re doing.
But after the results last week and especially yesterday, I’ll happily miss many more for weekends like that!
Thanks to @dellyphotoninja & @pappigo for photos 1 & 3 respectively.