Winner in Yokohama World Championship Series Two wins in two weeks!!

I won't stop dreaming! This has been the best 2 weeks of racing for me.
A special day, racing in the first major sporting event in Japan, on the main island Honshu, since the devastation of the Earthquake and Tsunami back in March this year. It was close to home for me because I am from Christchurch which was also hit by a devastating earthquake on 22.02.11 where 181 people lost their lives. At home, the city centre is still closed and many things still need to be fixed. My parents have lost their house and I know it will never be the same.
Before the race start, we stood for a moment of silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

The race began in the harbour in the dock for the cruise ships. The water was a warm 28deg. Helen Jenkins had a fast swim again, as she did in Lausanne together with Lucy Hall. I exited 40seconds back in the chase group. We didn't work together, but a few strong turns at various times bridged the gap in a couple laps and then the chasers behind caught and it was a great big chaos pack. It was about 32deg and humid as, so the bike was just a formality to finish using the least amount of energy possible. My run in Yokohama was a target I had had for myself. To be able to pace myself for a 10km, as there is no secret, I like to follow. I hadn't run a 10km alone out in front since Gamagori in 2005. I was told after I won there, that triathlon was not that easy and that kind of race doesn't happen often. It is 6 years on and both times were races in the Japan heat. There is no other feeling like it. The feeling of everyone chasing you and the uncertainty of; will anyone catch me?

I ran out hard, it didn't cross mind in that first lap that I should pace myself. I didn't think about the heat or to run in the shade and follow the others. I took the tangent to the first u-turn. It wasn't until the 5km that I thought about the time gaps, about tipping more water over my head and keeping my cadence high. Thinking kept me going. It started to get really hot those final km's. I could only see Emma, in 2nd place, at the u-turn just once each lap. My first glance back was on the last lap. At the corner off the road with probably 300m to go I began to celebrate my win, removing my sunglasses this time and slapping hands. The Japanese crowd was so excited, it made it more exciting for me and so cool to see. It was cool too, they lined the exit of the athletes area to continue their congratulations, shaking hands and taking photos. 

Pray for Japan!

I would like to write a few extra lines of thanks. I love all of your emails, facebook comments and tweets. I appreciate all of your support. Thank you Mum and Dad and all of my family back home in Christchurch and all of my family in Hartlepool and around England.  Thank you to my sponsors Adidas, Milani and Sram who have been so supportive and have kitted me out with all the latest clothes, the best shoes (Supernova Glide and Adizero Pro), the best and nicest bike (Milani N109 made in Italy), and the best bike components (Sram Red, Zipp 303 wheels) and mechanical support.


Click here for full Yokohama results 

A photo with Keiji ISHIKAWA a Japanese voluntary member. He was so friendly, he remembered me from 2 years ago.

2011 Grand Final Win

Everything came together in Beijing last weekend in the Grand Final of this year's World Championship Series. And my whole season of consistency paid off with a World Championships Silver Medal.
In Beijing, I exited 2nd pack out of the swim about 12seconds back but managed to make it into the lead group up the first hill on the bike. From there, it was a matter of working together and forming a big enough lead to not be challenged on the run from the group behind. I had heaps of help from Kate McIlroy, which made it a lot easier for me. She was unsure if she could finish the run because of her two last races, but she did this time and had her best result all season, in the mix for 3rd, and finished with a 6th place.
For me, onto the run I made a quick transition and it took Helen Jenkins 1km to catch me and take the lead. I managed to follow her this time. I was on my toes the whole time, not knowing if she had extra like she did in London this year. On the last lap, I knew I had to make the first move. So, on the small downhill, with about 1km to go, I overtook her. First, she came with me, but I pretty much did my sprint down to the u-turn with 400m still to run. It was an amazing feeling to see the finish line tape and to grab it. I loved that moment. And also seeing Laurent's face after the finish, then I got tears in my eyes. I really loved it.

With Melanie, Kisses from Laurent and David!

 Champagne on the podium! with Melanie Anneheim, Helen Jenkins and Sarah Groff.

Click here for full Beijing results

Bronze at Sprint Triathlon World Championships - Lausanne

Lausanne is a beautiful destination with a challenging course and it had amazing weather over the World Championship series weekend. It was well into the 30s for our race which made it just a little bit harder! It was my first sprint race against a World's best women's field. It began fast with a 750m swim in clean clear Lake Geneva. I wanted to reach the turning buoys in a good position which I did, but lost a few positions on the 300m straight back to the shore. I exited the water around 10th position and settled into the main pack. The 500m hill on each of the 4 laps was tiring for everybody, there was a lot of heavy breathing around. It took our group almost 3 laps to catch Helen Jenkins who rode off solo after she exited the water ahead. The race for the places began on the run and the pace was on from the beginning. I managed to run behind the leaders, with a red face and sometimes with my eyes closed. I took on no water for the 5km. I just kept pushing until I had crossed the finish line. I would've liked to have had another gear to push into like Barbara Riveros, but I didn't. I was pretty happy to run down the finish chute in 3rd place though, back on the podium.

Massively dehydrated from Saturday and pretty tired, I raced the first leg of the Team's race on Sunday. It was more of a fun race, so much easier because it was so much shorter and with a much smaller field. New Zealand finished in 10th place and straight after a shower, it was into the car for a 4hr drive back to France with Laurent.
I am to race in the French club team's triathlon in Tours on Sunday, and one week later travel on to Beijing for the Grand Finale. I am 4th in the World rankings, just 1 point from 3rd!
It will be ALL ON in BEIJING!!

 

Click here for full Lausanne results

QUALIFIED FOR THE OLYMPICS!!

Thank you to everyone for your cheering and support if you were at the race, in front of the TV or the computer and also for your continued support for every race.
The only word that needs to be said after the London World Championship series event over the weekend is QUALIFIED!
A top 10 finish in this Olympic course rehearsal race meets the Triathlon NZ criteria for the 2012 London Olympic Games. I finished in 6th place, 20 seconds from the winner Helen Jenkins from the UK.

I am pleased with my race and am excited, now 1 year out, to be racing in the Olympic Games next year. I felt in control, in touch with the leaders during the swim and the bike, then expended everything I had during the 10km run. I really pushed myself to the limit on the run course around the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park. I have to mention the obstacles, which they really are, all around the 2.5km loop. They built wooden boards over the speed bumps, put pieces of bouncey plastic over the grass and put wood underneath then covered the finish straight with blue carpet. I know it upset my rhythm during the run as it did for everyone, although I really enjoyed the challenge of this course. On the first lap of the run, there were still 20 girls in touch with the leaders who had a chance. But by the 5km mark, we had spread out a bit more, with some girls falling back and others finding their rhythm and moving up. I made my first move up at 4km and was in the lead group of 5. But at the 4.5km Helen Jenkins made her break, which was enough to run away with the win. I found myself in 3rd for a while, but then was caught by Anja Dittmer, who I ran with for the next laps. She had the speed in the last km and the sprint to cross the line in 3rd, just 5 seconds ahead of me.

I would like to congratulate Helen, Gwen and Anja for their podium finishes and their Olympic qualifications and also to Sarah Groff who qualified! too.

I am the only NZ triathlete to have qualified here in London. The next qualifying opportunity for the rest of the team will be Sydney in April 2012 and for the men since no one finished Top 10 will have a second qualifying opportunity in Beijing, in September 2011 too.

Click here for full London results

Celebrating with Sarah and Sara (and my Aunty Christine behind us) after qualifying. But had a quick stop to make at the drug testers before I could open the champagne from Aunty Caroline and Uncle Peter.

Now, 5 days after the race, I've got that feeling when I wake up that I'm still tired. Laurent makes some noise with the blender downstairs to tell me "it's time to get up!" so I do, and I train. This morning we went for a 2.5 - 3 hr loop ride and came back in 2hrs 25min! with a few sprints too, so the legs still have it. But this feeling, it's a lazy feeling knowing I worked so hard for one goal and now it's done.
Lausanne Sprint and Team World Champs in 9 days.
Gonna keep going.

4th in Hamburg - Aussie 1, 2, 3!

I went to Hamburg wanting a good race but not really knowing if I would. It isn't the best to think this I know but I hadn't been able to train properly for a week, so Laurent advised me not to go. Laurent had always planned to rest in July for the London qualification and The Tour de France came to Montpellier on Sunday, so there were plenty of reasons to stay. But me being stubborn wanted to race, so I went.
I felt rested when I arrived in Hamburg. I did my own thing, trained when I wanted and relaxed in the hotel.


It was a wetsuit swim, and I felt like I had a good start, but I arrived at the buoy the same time as the majority and I got pushed really wide around the first turns. From then, it was a struggle to swim with so many people around. I made it to the swim exit in about 40th. I hopped on my bike behind a long line of athletes strung out in single file. I picked up places, one by one and didn't let myself drop from anyone's wheel. Quickly enough, during the first lap I rode up into the first group and 35 athletes stayed together for the 40km. I stayed safe during the bike saved myself for the run because I knew from last year how flat and fast it was. This race was no different. I had decided I didn't want to run like I did in Madrid and blow up the last k, so I ran behind as much as I could. Emma Moffatt really dug in at 6km and split herself from anyone else. I tried to run with Emma Snowsill in 2nd but when Emma Jackson ran past us. I had nothing to go with her. I could only run for 4th, letting the 3 Emma's fill the podium.

Click here for full Hamburg results

Bronze in Sydney World Champs Series

The 2011 season is underway and in Sydney I put in a big effort the last time up the Macquarie Street hill to run my way to the bronze medal. A lot of things went right in the race, including a great start on the swim which put me in a perfect position out of trouble and I stayed in the front pack for the 40km bike. There was an unfortunate incident where a group of girls came crashing down just out the corner of my eye, the crashing of the bikes noise gave the worse feeling. Most of the girls got back up and luckily no one was injured badly. The run was really hard because it was very erratic at the front. I always stayed up the front where the pace was on then off then back on, all over the place really. And adding the downhill then uphill into the mix, it really took a toll on my legs. It's a nice start to the season to finish on the podium. Now it's a long flight to France and the European summer!