Noosa 2012

Due to missing some early season races with field trips and illness my race season this summer started later than usual with the Noosa Triathlon held on Sunday the 4th November as part of the Noosa Triathlon and Multisport Festival.

The Noosa triathlon has developed into a nemesis for me over the past three years. My previous three experiences at Noosa have been less than pleasant with a crash in 2009, and dehydration and overheating in both 2010 and 2011. Last year I had been determined not to end up in the medical tent attached to a drip after the race as in 2010 and made sure I drank lots the day before the race and during the race. Despite what I thought was much better preparation than the previous year, my race last year ended 150m shy of the finish line when I collapsed. I don't remember anything between about 250m to go and coming back to my senses in the medical tent covered in vomit and cramping like crazy with a very concerned mother and coach looking on. Although there are several amusing stories that came out of that day (including me falling off the wheelchair) the whole experience really scared me and I decided I didn't want to do the Noosa Tri again. Needless to say a few months down the track when the impact had faded a little I decided I had to give it another crack.

Fortunately 2012 was my year and for the first time ever I enjoyed the Noosa Triathlon, an event that is the favourite of many a triathlete, and as I finally can see, with good reason.
Noosa always attracts a good field and this year was no exception with the first seven women across the line all having world championship or world cup victories to their names. After having my pro licence for a year now the novelty of racing with such awesome athletes from around the world has still not worn off!

The swim was fairly uneventful and I got a solid start, exiting the water in 5th position with Ellie Salthouse. I had a good T1, despite my helmet and glasses being accidentally knocked to the ground by Felicity Abram, and worked my way into 4th position by the end of Noosa Parade. About 5 minutes into the cycle it started to rain and by the time I reached the "Noosa hill" it was raining quite heavily. About halfway up the hill I was caught by the likes of Ashleigh Gentle, Felicity Sheedy-Ryan and Caroline Steffen who I had a minute on out of the swim. Those girls sure know how to ride bikes! The majority of the Noosa bike course is straight so not too treacherous in the rain however coming down the hill was a little scary and there was major carnage on the roundabouts coming back into town, particularly in the elite men’s field. Having previously crashed on wet roundabouts in other races I was possibly over cautious but I was not going to fall off my bike, I was finishing this race no matter what!

The run has always been my weakest leg, and was the part of this race I was most nervous about. By the end of T2, however, I knew I was going to have a good run. My legs felt (relatively) good off the bike and I was ready to fire. I made a conscious decision to race hard but also remember to enjoy myself and got a real buzz smiling and waving at everyone I knew as I headed out onto the run.
Ellie and I had maintained about the same pace on the bike and she had 15 seconds on me out of T2. For the first 2km or so I concentrated on my own pace and keeping a high cadence but when I sensed Ellie was slowing a little I focused on trying to catch her, chipping away at the gap slowly but surely. I managed to catch her just before the run turn and put in a surge as I passed her to make sure she didn't come with me. From there on it was back to focusing on my own pace and making it across that finish line fast and strong. The last few hundred meters of a race is always amazing, but this one was particularly special. I was so relieved and so happy to be crossing that finish line and proving to myself that Noosa is no different to any other triathlon I have done.
I finished in 11th position, a result I am happy with given the strength of the field and was awarded the Luke Harrop Memorial Bursary for being the 1st U23 female ranked outside the top 50 in the world.

Heading out of T1

Grinning like a cheshire cat on stage

A big thank you to everyone who supported me and wished me well in the lead up to this race and on the day; it meant a lot to me and helped me get over that mental barrier. Thanks to Greg for hand delivering my pump which I had left at home in Brisbane when he came up for the race, to my awesome coach Cath, who I’m pretty sure was more nervous than I was, and especially to mum and dad who drove up from Armidale the day they arrived back from Scotland to take me to Noosa and watched me race. I’m glad I managed to pull it off for all of you! :)

Gillian

P.S. There’s some exciting news coming soon!

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

Packed and ready to go!

Seven weeks ago I was panicking at the thought that the Uni World Champs was less than 8 weeks away. I was feeling slow, unfit and had very low self esteem. It is now less than a day until I leave for Taiwan and although this seems like just yesterday, an awful lot has happened and changed since then. Thanks to tremendous support from Cath (my coach), everyone at vision, my housemates, my family and my friends I have somehow pulled through this semester in one piece, faster, fitter and leaner than I was before. Many prayers have been answered!!!

Since finishing exams a week and a half ago I have been able to focus on preparing for Taiwan (with the minor distraction of a 21^st birthday thrown in there) and it has finally sunk in that this is real! I am so excited I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

Doing a triathlon on my first bike, with my first swimmers and first helmet at my 21st

I fly out of Brisbane on Wednesday morning at 6:30am and arrive in Taipei at 9:45pm that night. Although it will be a very long day I was very relieved when these flights were booked as we were originally on an overnight flight with ridiculous stop over times, taking more than 24 hours to get there!! Thursday will be spent assembling our bikes, getting in some training to get our legs moving again after the flight and getting the official accreditation done so that we’re allowed to race. After lunch on Friday we have a chance to familiarise ourselves with the course before the opening ceremony at 4pm. My race is at 8am on Saturday morning, with the men at 10:30am. The closing ceremony will then be at 6pm that evening followed by the farewell dinner. We fly out at 1:30pm on Sunday so it’s a short trip but it should be an amazing few days.

The start lists came out at the end of last week and I was pleasantly surprised to be ranked 11^th out of 44! It’ll be the largest field I’ve ever raced in by far and should make for a great race (see start list here). The course is a 2 lap swim in the Dong-shan river, followed by a flat but technical 4 lap bike and a 4 lap run along the river. Maps

I have finally finished packing and miraculously my bike weighs in at 23kg exactly on my scales (let’s hope the Qantas scales say the same!). Travelling with a bike sure has its challenges, leaving almost no weight allowance for any clothes, shoes and other racing equipment as my bike + case alone weight 18kg!

Packing my bike

The weigh in

Packed and ready to go!

The team profiles have been added to the unisport website and can be seen here. Unfortunately I’m not sure there is anywhere you can follow live timing but the results should be up here shortly after the race is finished. I won’t have access to my phone while I’m over there but I should have email and facebook. I’ll try and keep you up to date on the happenings but I anticipate I’ll be quite busy enjoying myself, taking it all in and getting ready to race ;P. I do promise to take lots of photos though and I’m sure there will be an excessively long blog post to follow as soon as I get home. For now though, I’m off for one last session in the pool before I leave.

See you on the other side!