News update

A lot has happened in the past month so here are a few updates.


As I mentioned at the end of my last blog post, I have some exciting news to share. I am ecstatic to announce I now have my very first sponsor, Injinji. Injinji make performance toe socks for running and other activities. As anyone who knows me well would know, I love these socks. I swear by them and never run without them. I used to get terrible blisters on and between my toes every time I ran. I tried Vaseline, tape, bandaids but nothing helped. It got to the point where on a long run up Mt Coot-tha I rubbed 2 layers of skin off between my toes and had to walk down the mountain barefoot. I was then recommended to try wearing Injinji socks by Brett Sweeney who I was training with at the time. They completely fixed the problem and I can now run without getting any blisters at all. It was a strange feeling at first having individual toes in my socks but I quickly got used to it and love the feeling of freedom and control it gives my feet when I’m running. You don’t try and use your hands when you have mittens on – you wear gloves, so why try running with all your toes in one compartment. It makes sense, right? ;)

My personal favourite - rainbow stripes ;)

I am looking forward to developing a relationship with the team at Injinji and learning the ropes of being a sponsored athlete. Hopefully this experience will also help me gain other sponsors in the future! Thanks to mum who initiated the conversation about sponsorship while we were buying socks at the Noosa expo. Check out my new sponsors tab

While up in Noosa for the triathlon, the UQ sport annual blues awards night was held and I was awarded a University Blue for my achievements in triathlon this year. I was very flattered to receive this award and quite disappointed to miss the ceremony.

Collecting my blues award from uni

I also completed my uni degree so come my graduation in December I will be a qualified marine biologist! Uni has been stressful and hard work at times but I will miss it. Not for too long though as I am planning to come back in second semester next year to do honours.

Tomorrow I have a short sharp hit out at the Gatorade QTS race 2 in Robina. The shorter distance of 400/15/4 will be a shock to the system after not having raced anything shorter than Olympic Distance since February this year but it should be fun. I am looking forward to it as the Gatorade series races are always well organised with a great atmosphere.
Next up is the Australian Uni Champs as part of the Kingscliff triathlon on the 25^th November. This is a fantastic race and I would highly recommend it to anyone!
To finish of a solid 3 weeks of racing I’m excited to be heading home to race in the Armidale Triathlon Club December race. I missed out on racing any of the Armidale club races last year and was rather disappointed so am making sure I can make it back for at least 2 this year! This race will mark 5 years since I first dabbled in triathlon with my mountain bike, togs, and a pair of soccer shorts. I am looking forward to catching up with the people who got me into this crazy sport in the first place!

Gillian