On Sunday I raced in the Moreton Bay
triathlon at Pelican Park, Redcliffe. As you can imagine, after sitting out of
racing with a broken foot since April, I could not have been more excited to
get out there. In fact, I had been so excited all week that Warwick had to
threaten me on numerous occasions that if I didn’t calm down he would withdraw
me from the race!! A little too much excitement perhaps?
Standing on the start line, I knew exactly
what I had to do and had my plan going over and over in my head. For me, the
race was about executing my own day and putting together what I had been doing
in training.
I positioned myself well on the start line
and concentrated on getting to that first turning buoy as quickly as I could. I
did exactly that, positioning myself amongst the leaders by the first buoy. I
stayed relaxed, but unfortunately I let two girls get away from me during the
swim leg. This meant I came out in third position, alongside a kiwi girl.
I jumped onto the bike, forming a group of
two with Sophie Corbidge (NZL) and myself. I knew that we were both strong
riders and could bridge the gap if we worked really well together. I had worked
my ass off in training on the bike over the past couple of months and got onto
the bike with every intention to attack the first 5km before reassessing the
situation. We closed the gap down to 15 seconds after the first lap, but unfortunately
it opened up a little on the second lap. The group behind caught us at the end
of the second lap, jumping off the bike as a group of 5 girls.
I jumped off the bike knowing that I would
have to give everything I had in the run. I still hadn’t been in full run
training leading into the race and was ultimately focusing on my process and
technique. Initially, the run was tough, as I wasn’t used to running off the
bike, with my limited run preparation. However, I built into it nicely and
finished strongly, focusing on executing my own day. I was very pleased with my
focus and dug really deep to get to the finish line.
I had no expectation of result into this
race, as it was my first one back from injury. I was pleased with most parts of
my day and know exactly what I need to work on in the lead up to the World
Championships.
I am looking forward to getting into some
speed work in the next couple of weeks, before racing the Gatorade Queensland
Tri Series Race at Raby Bay on the 14th October.
Ellie xo
