World University Championships, Taiwan

Well, I made it back from my first overseas race and am pleased to say I survived :) (always a good start)
It's now been two and a half weeks since I raced and I've enjoyed a nice break from all things triathlon but am now back into it.

The first part of my journey over was mildly eventful. When I arrived at the domestic terminal at Brisbane Airport I heard the announcement that the QF to Sydney at 6:30am left from the international terminal not the domestic terminal. I then rushed to the international terminal by taxi as the shuttle bus drove staight past me, got abused and overcharged by the taxi driver for wanting to go such a short distance and arrived to discover there were two Qantas flights to Sydney at 6:30am and my flight did leave from the domestic terminal. Fortunately they put me on to the flight leaving from the international terminal which ended up being convenient as I didn't have to change terminals at Sydney. I met up with Matt Brady and Adam Rudgley the other Aussies in Sydney. The rest of the trip over was pretty much uneventful appart from our last flight being delayed by an hour so were even later than planned, arriving at the hotel at 1:10 am. When we landed in Taiwan the temperature on the ground was 29 at 10:40pm!!! I was shocked when the pilot told us the temperature as I didn't even know it was possible to be that hot that late at night. Fortunately the shuttle bus we took back to the hotel was well airconditioned as was the hotel so I could ignore the heat until the next day. The shuttle bus was pretty cool with huge seats, lacey headrest covers and gold curtains with tassels.

Inside the shuttle bus

It was an interesting experience travelling in an Australian uniform. I had several people asking me if I was going to the Olympics (I wish!), lots of good lucks and a few strange looks. Felt kinda cool ;)

In Hong Kong

I met two of the Canadian girls at breakfast on Thursday morning and was then invited by their coach to tag along with them at swimming training that morning as the boys were still in bed and I was on my own. We caught the shuttle bus to the pool in Luodong at 9am to do a short session then headed back to the hotel. It was so hot my arms felt the heat every time they came out of the water! A real shock coming from the middle of winter, even if it was only Brisbane winter.

Pool in Luodong

Back at the hotel I met up with Matt and Adam and we got our accreditation done and collected our race packs - the biggest race pack I've ever seen: Bag, cap, swim cap, timing chip, bike stickers, helmet stickers, tattoos, race number, badge, keyring, gum case, cycling gloves, t-shirt, muesli bars, tourist map, restaurant guide, cycling map, goggles, cool spray, a tie, and the race program!

After lunch I reassembled my bike and headed out to ride over the course with Matt and Adam at about 2pm. I was beginning to adapt to the heat by then as although it was 34 degrees I didn't feel too bad out on my bike. Just before dinner I headed out again for a run along the run course but with the heat still well into the 30s and my legs still feeling a bit flat from the flight it was a real struggle.

On Thursday night we went out to the night markets in Luodong. It was an interesting experience with the stalls selling all sorts of unusual foods some of which smelt amazing, others slightly repulsive.

The opening ceremony was held on Friday afternoon in the park where the race would take place. We all lined up behind our country signs with one team member carrying the country flag.

Country signs for the opening ceremony

I was lucky enough to get to carry the Australian flag!

Waiting to walk across stage

Following the introduction of all the countries, the FISU flag was raised and the athletes oaths taken. There was then a cultural performance by a group of local girls dancing and drumming

We were then seated for the speeches and the opening ceremony finished with the release of streamers. They sure liked their flashes and bangs, releasing steam on stage every time another person of importance was introduced.

Race day turned out to be even hotter than the preceding two days. The water temperature in the Dongshan River where we were swimming had been measured as 27 on Thursday morning, 28 on Friday morning and then 30.5 before the women's race and 31 before the men's on Saturday morning!
Setting up transition at 7am was torturous in the heat. despite still being early in the morning it was over 30 degrees and the sun was very strong. Usually I take my time setting up transition, making sure everything is just right but this time I set it up as quickly as possible to get out of the sun as the heat was starting to make me feel unwell. I decided to change my warm up plan because it was so hot and just do a swim warm up. I usually do a run warm up and then a short swim but wanted to keep my body temperature as low as possible for as long as possible. After my warm up it was straight to the ice bucket and some shade to try and cool down before being introduced to the start line. We were introduced by our name and country in rank order and ran down to the start line to choose our start position on the pontoon.

Lined up for the start

The swim was 2 laps, running along the pontoon and diving back in at the start of the second lap. I had chosen a good start position and got off to a pretty good start. The temperature soon took it's toll however and I vomited from the heat during the first lap of the swim. From there on in it was a survival race. 30.5 degrees is ridiculously warm water to be swimming in and the fact our caps were silicone didn't help, keeping the heat in! I made it through the swim coming out just off the back of the second pack. The run to transition was about 300m long and by the time I got to transition the pack had a 20 second lead on me. Not wanting to push too hard and risk overheating too early in the race I got into my rhythm on the bike and joined the girls just behind me to make the third pack. I think everyone was feeling the heat as our first lap on the bike was pretty slow - barely above warm up pace. I was feeling pretty horrible on the first lap an took my turns but didn't push the pace at all and making sure I drank plenty of water and gatorade. Fortunately I managed to get my body temperature back down a little during that first lap and started to feel a bit better. By the end of the second lap a good sized pack had formed and the pace had increased slightly but unfortuntely as seems to happen all too often people were not willing to take a turn and the pack was not working. We lost about a minute per lap on the leaders as there were only 3 girls in our pack doing most of the work. Julie Rechel from the USA and I decided to try for a break through the technical section past transition but she got trapped around the turn and I was left out on my own and pulled back into the bunch after a few hundred meters. It was too hot to risk putting too much effort in to trying to get away from the bunch so we just worked in the bunch for the rest of the ride.

Going for the break

I had a good transition and was first out onto the run from my pack. I set out on the run at a steady pace just wanting to finish. After feeling so bad in the swim I had been doubtful I would manage to get through the ride but now I was onto the run a feeling better there was no way I was not going to finish! I usually concentrate on pushing my pace and maintaining good technique whilst running but this run was very different. Focus was 100% on getting to the next aid station and how I would best use the water and sponges to keep myself cool and hydrated to get through the run. It was a pretty slow race but probably the hardest I've ever done given the conditions. I finished in 21st which was a bit further down the field than I had hoped before the race but I was not at all disappointed. In the end I was just so happy and relieved to have finished!

Finished!

The podium was taken out by Alexandra Cassan Ferrier of France, Yuko Takahashi of Japan and Paola Diaz of Mexico. The French team proved to be strong taking 1st and 2nd in the mens also and winning the mens team classification.

That afternoon we took a ferry along the Dongshan River to the National Center for Traditional Arts. I was pretty tired after the race but determined to do a little touristing before having to head home! I'm glad I decided to go cos it was pretty cool. There was a small temple, shops full of traditional toys, arts, crafts and confectionery as well as displays of hand puppets and various ornaments. The two girls who had been the guides/translators for the Australian team showed me around and explained everything. It was pretty cool getting an insight into such a rich and different culture.

Making barley sugar candy

Some of the hand puppets - they were really cool!

With my two guides

The closing ceremony and post race dinner were held at the hotel that night. It was a great chance to spend time with the other teams, try some interesting food, get heaps of photos and do a bit of uniform swapping! We were seated on a table with some of the Singaporeans and Taiwanese.

Australia, Canada and Austria

All in all it was an amazing trip and one I won't forget! I met some awesome people and had some amazing experiences. Can't wait til the next time I get to venture overseas!!!

Gillian