Racing and Recovering…. Last weekend’s 70.3 race in Mooloolaba was an awesome trip! Along with having a solid race and feeling good physically and mentally, spending time with family and friends was a lot of fun and it really helps me to enjoy and share the full triathlon experience that I love. I knew my training had been solid and consistent and without setting too many targets I was glad to come in around the 4 hour mark, showing improvement across all disciplines in the race. The most positive part for me was that I felt good in the race and faired very well against some top age groupers who will be racing in Hawaii.

Leading into the race the weather had been a bit dreary on the Sunshine Coast, Ethan had been a superstar on the travel over there and we were all quickly settled in our accommodation next to transition. I hadn’t had a big taper into the race (which I like) and I still had a few issues with tight lower back and glute, but on race day I was quickly into my race zone and felt controlled and strong. The rolling swim start seemed to work well for me, I could swim my own pace and I was passing a lot of people as the field got split up quite quickly.

On to the bike and the flat course wasn’t providing too many challenges for most riders so disappointingly, large groups were forming. This was the first time I really have been in a situation like this and I had to respond with and a lot of surging to keep riding to the front of groups before getting spat out the back as people re-passed. It was frustrating to have to concentrate on this rather than just riding, so I just tried to relax and get back to T2 unscathed.

It was starting to heat up by the run, so I tried to stay relaxed and control my pace, heart rate and body temp as much as I could overt the first 5km (good advice from Coach Bruce). With 2x 10km laps and a hill in and out of town I just locked into a comfortable zone (didn’t watch pace much) and was surprised how good I felt by the start of lap two. I knew I must have been working my way up the field but with the rolling start it was hard to judge overall positioning, but by the finish I knew I must have gone well coming in just over 4 hours. Now it’s time to recover, stay healthy and get the last bit of work in before Kona.