WTS Yokohama

For the past month I have split my time between home in Campbelltown, Wollongong and Canberra. Training has been building every week and I have been able to incorporate some downhill running back into my program which I found earlier in the year really worked for me. We have been working really hard behind the scenes and I came into Yokohama looking forward to being able to demonstrate that. Last year Yokohama showed I was able to perform under some tough conditions and I was confident of a good result this year.

I was relaxed on race morning and I knew what I needed to do to put myself in a good position. Not racing Bermuda, my ranking had dropped to 8th but it still gave me a good choice on the pontoon to have some good swimmers around me. The swim was pretty rough and I got caught up in the mess until the second buoy turn to come back into the pontoon. I started to move around people and move up in the field. The second lap pace got even faster and I had to close a lot of gaps . I exited the water in 7th place and had the agenda to hustle and make the most of the first few kms on the bike as there was still a gap to the first few girls out of the water.

 

I didn’t have my feet in my shoes for about 2km to ensure that I was definitely on the group. The first few laps I actually thought I had a flat tyres as my legs felt so bad. I knew I just had to stick in there and get settled. We had two silly crashes in our group from bad skills and it once again reinforced the need to keep myself in a good position. At about 3 laps in we caught Flora and Katie Z and the intent of our group settled once Flora wasn’t really working. I was, however, focused on good runners in the chase pack.

My T2 is something I am not proud of as my sunnies got tangled. This small error panicked me and I lost about 10 vital seconds and had to play catch up. This fourth component of triathlon is something I definitely need to be more dominant in. I felt like I had good rhythm for the first run lap then I could feel the elastic band break. The run was a big mental game for me and I am disappointed I couldn’t show where I feel I am now in my training. I ended up 14th, knowing what I need to do to improve on this next race.

The races that aren’t completely perfect are the ones you learn the most from and I learnt from this race. I am excited for Leeds and the rest of the season to demonstrate what I am fully capable of.