Time to bring out the race wheels again!

We are currently living in an age ruled by the use of social media. Text messages, Skype and sites such as facebook are used so heavily by some people that these for some have become the method of communication between two people in the same building, adjacent rooms, and occasionally the same room... As this appears to be the case for a certain housemate of mine, she prefers to read about my life rather than asking me. So this one's for you, Baloo ;P

A fairly spontaneous decision has found me lining up to race the Triathlon Queensland sprint distance champs tomorrow. I had originally intended on racing until finding out the race was scheduled 1 week out from Devonport, one of my focus races for this season. Monday night rolled around and I still had no intention of racing this weekend, that is, until Coach Cath suggested it. After finding out almost everyone was either coming to race or support I couldn't resist and on Tuesday night I entered the race. I'm now looking forward to what should be a fabulous event with a huge turn out from vision and a final hit out before the big race in Devonport!

It is now exactly 1 week until the race in Devonport, TAS and I am feeling super excited! This race is the Oceania championship race but also (interestingly) is the NZ national championships so the start list is packed with Australians and Kiwis. Devonport is a little bit special to me as it is really where my triathlon career I suppose you could call it began. A month after taking up triathlon I did my first sprint distance race at the NSW all schools triathlon. Much to my amazement I finished 7th which earned me the first reserve position on the state team. Due to the withdrawal of one of the girls from the team I was off to Devonport to race in the Australian all schools triathlon 4 weeks later. That year they were trialling the draft legal format for the senior girls’ race. Having never even heard the word drafting before I had a crash course to get my endorsement and hurriedly ordered a wetsuit through the bike shop with all fingers and toes crossed that it would fit (there's no-where that sells wetsuits in Armidale!). Thankfully I had a lot of people willing to give me advice at the Armidale Triathlon Club because otherwise I would have been off to Tasmania with a short-sleeved surf wetsuit! I had no idea what I was doing, riding my alloy bike complete with wheel reflectors wearing a 5 year old helmet with a visor. I was scared out of my wits doing my first ocean swim having never been swimming beyond my depth in open water before (and I used to find swimming the in diving pool at Homebush terrifying!) but I had the time of my life. Literally. That was the day I decided I wanted to be a triathlete. Now, almost exactly 4 years and many many training sessions and races later I am returning to race on pretty much the exact same course as before... Hopefully a little better prepared this time ;)

Ready to race

During the cycle

The start of a tradition of non flattering finish photos...

Getting my medal for the senior girls relay

That was school, but I'm at uni now and as such have a new goal - the World University Triathlon Championships. This has been a somewhat secretive goal of mine ever since hearing about the 2010 world uni champs which were held in Spain. Having taken part in the Australia uni Champs in 2009, I was emailed the application form but did not have a pro licence then which is required to apply. The world champs take place every 2 years so I set myself the goal then of getting a pro licence in time to race at the 2012 championships (I will have graduated by 2014). Since getting my pro licence I have been toying with the idea of applying but have been a little daunted by the prospect of racing overseas. I gained a lot of confidence out of my race a Geelong however and with the encouragement of my parents have decided to give it a crack. The world champs this year are to be held in Taiwan at the end of June with applications due in 2 weeks. I am now waiting til I have my results from Devonport before applying!

Amongst the excitement of training and racing I was humbled earlier this week by a conversation had at training. Nicola was discussing collecting old running shoes to send over to Africa. To us the thought of used runners is less than appealing but for far too many people in the world a single pair of shoes would prevent painful foot injuries, infections caused by these and the soil borne diseases contracted through the soles of their feet from walking barefoot. As pointed out by Dan, while we are busy eyeing off the latest Garmin GPS or buying new carbon components for our bikes to shave off a few grams, thousands of Ethiopians run every day without even a proper pair of running shoes or even breakfast, some aspiring to be elite for national pride but also just to find themselves a way out of poverty. Take a read of this: http://www.ironbridgerunnerevents.co.uk/wukro/

Sobering stuff!!!

Gillian