No tags yet.
Hey gang! Long time no read! Obviously there’s been a bit of a gap since my last race and blog in September last year. I will try to catch you up the best I can without going on too much of a rant.
It was great to get home from my first European summer and get straight into a little off season break for a few weeks. To be home with family and friends enjoying some time on the couch was a great way to settle back into Melbourne.
The last few months have been a bit different than I have previously. I’ve taken on more work at my job, whilst not allowing it to get in the way of my number one priority which is triathlon. It’s definitely had its ups and downs but I’ve managed to keep my head afloat. The odd nap at work never goes astray either!
Behind the scenes I’ve been working to obviously try help fund what I’m doing, as work alone doesn’t unfortunately cut it. I was really lucky to have been funded for a new race bike in 2018 by an anonymous sponsor who I owe a lot to. That bike did a great job, got to see some great places, and unfortunately was involved in a few too many crashes than I’d care to mention.
So it was time to move on, and luckily I was awarded a grant by Australian Paralympian Dylan Alcott’s foundation, the Dylan Alcott Foundation. The foundation helps aid young people with disabilities by funding grants for sporting equipment necessary to help them try achieve their goals. Now I’m no spring chicken, now officially in the back end of my 20s, but I scraped through.
I was successful for a grant through the great work of the Alcott family, and Foundation to help get me a brand new Time Trial bike for competition and a new road bike for majority of my training. Beyond grateful for their support and understanding in where I once was, and where I want to be one day.
I’ve had a few local races, but nothing too exciting, just mainly building up to our Paratriathlon Oceania Championships in Newcastle on Australia Day. It was a race I had been looking forward to for a while, as things had been going pretty well and uninterrupted in training, and I was looking forward to seeing how it all played out.
Whilst I didn’t feel 100% come race day, I know from past experiences that it all means very little, and everything changes when the gun goes off.
The swim was pretty uneventful with such a small start list, it was clear water all the way from the start to the finish for me.
Coming out onto quite a tight technical course on my new Giant Time Trial bike, and new race wheels courtesy of the DAF and Giant Ormond, I was looking forward to seeing how it went on an empty road. Nothing like 50 speed bumps and 15 U-turns in 20km to make sure you’re doing everything possible to stay vertical.
It wasn’t my best ride ever, but far from my worst. Onto the run we go.
I was really hoping to capitalise on my run this year, after a few solid months of running consistently, something that evaded me for most of last year due to consistent niggles and issues. Hoping was about as close as I got unfortunately. A very painful 5km followed, having nothing from the start of the run, and just having to grit it out in a very messy fashion and just try to finish.
I ended up coming 2nd on the day, but I was pretty let down with how the day had unfolded. I had higher expectations on myself, and know I have another gear, I just couldn’t find it on the day. That’s sport.
I was a little bit sour about the race for an hour or two, but later it was about realising it’s just one race of many for the year, and I did the best I could with what I had on the day. Time to reset, rebuild, and get ready for my next race of the year.
Again as always, thanks to all the people behind the scenes that help make this all be a possibility, I wouldn’t be anywhere without my Team.
Cheers.