Well it had been a few years since I toed the line in a 70.3 race, and I have to admit I was pretty excited to be back out there racing one, and even more so in such a high-quality field. I had done my best bike prep ever for a half and had put some considerable training together. I was confident I was fit and ready to rumble!
My race got off to a good start, with a solid swim. Based in the Sydney International Regatta Centre, we had sighter buoys in the rowing lanes the whole way. I must have head-butted at least 40% of them. I was sticking on feet, seeing a nice straight line of us, and thinking how ridiculous and somewhat humorous this was as everyone one of us must be head butting every single one. Playing “Follow the leader” I did not want to move too far off to the side. At least I knew we were swimming straight! I exited the water right where I wanted to be, in the main chase with some of the big hitters and had felt pretty comfortable throughout the whole swim.

Onto the bike, it took me all of a few hundred meters to realise it was going to be a challenging day for me. I felt noticeably average. My power was down, and my legs were heavy. Disappointed, as I had been eager to see what I could do after a great training block, but that is just racing. I switched to a different race plan; you have to roll with it.

Exiting with the main pack with Anabelle, Amelia and Lizzy, all great riders, I sat behind and decided to be sensible and let my legs warm into things. This was the most dynamic 70.3 race I have done. I could see Amelia and Bella up ahead trying hard to surge and burn me off a number of times throughout. I had to stay on my A game. I had to put in quite a few hard spikes in this ride, at one point my Garmin fell off on the bumpy road, while trying to fix this one-handed, and keep up, I had to surge back on. Just as I caught back on Lizzy was
just starting to feel the pinch and dropping off, so I had to surge back around her, the girls up the road also saw this and put the hammer down again, so I had quite a lot of spikes and extensive effort to cover all of these. Coming back into town Anabelle called it a day, and it was now just a duo of myself and Amelia.
Once we reached the far turn around we had caught all but Lauren Brandon out front, but now my attention had turned further back, I saw the time Mel had made up and knew we would be caught on the way back. I had wanted to get off the bike with a bit of a lead on Mel. After pushing for a bit I found myself being left out front, so then just prepared for the bike assault Mel would no doubt throw down when she came past. I knew it would be a hard ride back to town.
There it was! I picked up and hung off the back for a little
bit, but a yo-yo effect down the line got me, and I just lost touch around the 75km mark. One too many surges had burnt my already tired legs. And just like that I gave up a 1.30 lead off the bike.

This is where the real battle began! My most significant threat to the race would no doubt be Mel now when she is on she is a great runner, and you do not become a dual 70.3 World Champ by luck.


Heading out I knew the time deficit but was confident I could still make up that gap. I saw Mel running after the first turn around, and she looked good, doh! I set about chipping away. I passed Amelia and Lauren early on and had put myself up into second. I went out much harder running in this 70.3 than I ever have before, not wanting to leave things too late. I guess my short course mentality got the better of me. I raced harder as opposed to smarter. Around the 9km mark I pulled up on Mel's shoulder and stretched out hoping for a
clean getaway knowing I had run 1.30 into her already, but she hung on. I pushed the pace for the next bit but couldn’t entirely open up a gap, before I settled back a bit concerned of blowing and starting to feel hints already, that I had gone out too hard and closed the gap too quick.

It was a really fun (and not fun) run battle. We hustled for around the next 9km or so with her right on my shoulder. I felt Mel try and pick it up, so responded by trying to edge it up again myself and try to get a gap. No luck. I was feeling the wrath of running the first 11 or 12 km of what I would later see was at 3.30 pace…way to fast and very stupid from my end. It was starting to pinch. There was nothing I could do now though to correct that, but hang tough as long as I could and hope that Mel cracked before me. With a few km’s to go Mel made the final surge, and picked up the pace as my legs were
finally running out of juice. I tried so hard to find one last push to come back at her, but I had carried the burden of taking off too fast in my legs for 10km already, and I had no more left to respond. Mel took line honours running away in the last few kms, for a well-deserved win. I had to settle for second, and by then the finish line could not come soon enough!

It was great to end my season with a Half the whole race was so different to my past half IM’s. There was so much more dynamics going on within the entire race, I felt myself constantly having to cover moves and adapt my race from many angles, and although I got outdone at the end, I enjoyed the tough foot battle with Mel which made it a true test of racing.

Well as the 2017 season edges closer to a close, I had still had one of my favourite races on the calendar to come. The Noosa Triathlon! Iv'e missed racing Noosa the last two years due to injury and other race commitments so was thrilled to have the opportunity to come and race again at Noosa this year.

​The non drafting format of Noosa excites me as it changes the dynamics of normal ITU racing and brings together some of the best long and short course athletes to dual it out over what is almost 'middle ground'.

​I'm not known for my grace in early morning wake ups or starts, but as far as 4am wake ups go, I was actually more spritely and alert than usual for a race start of this hour.
​Starting off with a beach start, diving into the crystal clear waters of Noosa main beach, I had a clean run in, and quickly found myself on the feet of Ellie Salthouse. Happy with this position as Ellie is a good swimmer, and knowing I would struggle to match the pace of the 2 or 3 lead girls I settled in on her feet for pretty much the entire 1 lap swim. Once out on the bike I knew I had work to do, to start reeling myself back up to the leaders. So it was a pretty easy race plan at that point. Ride hard! haha. Unsure what the time gap was to the lead girls, myself and Ellie got out on the bike together to start chipping away. I could see a few girls up the road and knew I was riding time into them revolution by revolution, until they were caught just before the base of hill. Leading up the 'Noosa Hill' climb I realized I had dropped the girls behind before catching Ash and Gillian on the climb who were sitting in 2nd and 3rd. But I didn't want to ease up as I was feeling good, there was still Natalie leading solo out front, and wanted to keep the gap I had earnt on the hill, By the time I reached the first turn around I could asses it was only myself and Ash keeping the pace, and Natalie still to catch up the road.

​After riding hard back towards town, I realized now, it had most likely come down to a foot race for line honours. As I would be racing one of the fastest girls with two feet on terra firma, the run would be fast. I backed off on the last stretch of the bike, and dismounted resembling a baby deer's first footsteps, after forgetting momentarily I was not actually dismounting my road bike,! I lead out of the run for the first couple of km's before Ash put her foot down in a little surge, and pulled ahead, where ultimately she would stay until the finish line. I ran myself into 2nd with Natalie coming in behind in 3rd.

​Noosa Tri is such an amazing event, with 12,500 competitors. To have the opportunity to race such a huge event at home, in such a beautiful location, with some of the best triathletes in the world on the start line is incredible. To add to that I had a good, hard, but very fun race and battle out there. I'll definitely be back :)

Last stop of the season will be 70.3 Asia Pacific Champs in Western Sydney in 2 weeks.

Thanks to WITSUP and KORUPT for the images :)

August 19th 2017 was a good day, I claimed my second World title. That makes for a pretty good day. :)

​This race was one of my major goals this year, and it was satisfying to pull it off and perform when planned.
​Penticton Canada, was the race destination this year, to hold the first ITU Multisport festival World Champs, which included Duathlon, along with Aquathon, Long Distance Tri, and Cross Triathlon.
​Penticton was not what I expected of BC Canada at all! I had envisioned lush green forest surrounding me, mountain backdrops and wild bears looming not too far away. Penticton however is more the desert of Canada. Still very pretty, but warm and dry with wineries and drier folage, based beside Lake Okanagan to replace my lush forests I had in my head.
​But when it comes to racing this suited me just fine. I am an Aussie after all and hot and dry weather is in my blood!

​I dropped in late to Penticton from my training base in the USA, giving myself just over day to get settled. Friday morning was the bike recon and seeing this course only gave me a confidence boost and a smug smile. It was hard...like really hard! a 6 lap bike course with a huge amount of climbing every lap. I knew then and there that this race would be a battle of attrition and strength. You could only win this race if you were strong and could hold your own. I had not expected the course to be so tough prior to arriving, but the training I had done in the weeks lead up had prepared me exactly for this type of course regardless.

​Race day came and I was feeling good. Not amazing I must admit. But it was go time so it didn't matter anymore whether I was ready or not!
​The girls field was small, but not short on quality. We had some very quality runners in there, past World Champs, and I knew I would have to be smart in this race.
​What most people don't know, is that my running prep had been next to nothing. Unfortunately 5 or 6 weeks out from the race I rolled my ankle and was unable to run. No, very not ideal for a Duathlon World Champs! I couldn't even walk let alone run for a while. I managed a couple of key sessions prior to racing to get me as race ready as I possibly could under the circumstances. I had maintained my fitness other ways, and full kudos has to go to my coach for ensuring I kept my fitness up through this period. Whilst I was dummy spitting about being unable to run and prepare for this race properly. He ensured I still never missed a beat on the fitness front regardless to how unconventional it may have been.
​So yes I was nervous about my run form. I was confident I was fit and strong, but I had honestly no idea how fast I could run or if my running legs would be on fire, or fall in a heap. All I knew is that I would have to be smart.

​The first 10km was hot on the pace. Clocking in a 33.30 first ten km! The pace was being pushed by Sarah Dossena and Emma Pallant. I had expected to see these girls running hard, and one by one we whittled down to a group of 3 by the end of the first 10km. Perfect. A small group was best for this course.
​I had a great transition and was out on the bike first and straight up the first of the long climbs. I was feeling pretty comfortable so kept pushing up the hill, expecting the 2 girls to jump on my wheel. Half way up the climb I still had a gap, and it was only increasing as the hill went up. So I made the decision to attack and go for it! It was a big gamble so early on in a race to go off front solo knowing it would be a 40km TT! A little scary. But under my circumstances and prep, I made the decision to go. Sometimes to win something big you have to do something big. So I committed to a TT effort, and it was the best decision I made that day.
​Everyone would be tired after that bike, you had to be, it was the nature of the bike course, and after building a sizeable gap to 2nd and 3rd I was able to run the second run comfortably without any pressure, and without any risk to the great position I had found myself in. I was happy just to get the job done on the second run and be gentle on my poor run legs that just survived the biggest belting I had given them in a while!

​I am ecstatic to claim my second World Title, and to represent the green and gold on the world stage once again.

​Big congratulations to Margarita Garcia Canellas from Spain, and Emma Pallant from Great Britain for second and third place. Everyone earns their keep on that course.

​Lastly a big thanks to all those that make this possible. Coach Cam, my supportive sponsors, those that help with my physio, massage, gym, local tri community, aussies and all those who cheered on the course. Thanks! Trisutto, my training buddies, friends that keep it real, those who take an interest and for all the well wishes, its all appreciated. Family and of course mum and dad that always ride the highs and lows too.

its a team effort.

​Thanks :)

​Flick xx

​Thanks to Delly Carr and Wagner Araujo for capturing the moments below too!

In all my years of triathlon this was the first time I got to race in Canada! I was super pumped to see somewhere new, and its always been a bucket list spot for me to visit. (and go back for that matter!), though i'm more drawn to the beauty of the outdoors of Canada than the big cities. Aussies who share a similar sense of humour with the Canuks also made the place seem so inviting.

I had mixed emotions heading into this race. I was extremely excited for the opportunity to race at the highest level again, but also not really sure what to expect. After a lot of change and a lot of work to improve my weakness, I really had no idea if it was too soon to expect improvement, if i was going to have my a** handed to me, or be leaps and bounds ahead.
On top of that my run prep had been a bit skewed after my run in with a tree root that left my ankle fat and blue and unable to walk just a few weeks prior. Of course after this there is a trajectory of time that follows of time off, whinging, cursing, healing, and building back up to where you left off. You cant alter time and i needed to buy back more of it, but that was impossible, so the run form would be a bit more unknown race day. I strapped it up and just as long as i could get through unscathed it would be a win on that front.

A smaller than normal field fronted the man made lake in Edmonton for a really cool swim around a little island. Just before the hooter sounded i watched a group of ducks swim very slowly across about a meter in front of us! 35 ppl about to jump on their heads! They cant start us now, these poor things are going to die! I dont know what happened to them cos the hooter went and I was off! I wish them luck! It was a pretty stacked swimmers field that always throws more challenges my way. With my new technique thrashing away i was in touch until around the last 200m. going slughtly offline was costly as fatigue was creeping in and i just fell short before the exit.

Fight or flight kicked in, in T1, as the group headed out of transition..Frantic to get on but a few seconds too slow. So the next 20km was a TT chasing the group ahead. After a tough bike for everyone climbing up a large hill 6 times, losing time on the leaders but holding the chase pack meant the race would be finally won up the road, but a good run would move you up the ranks. My ankle did all I asked of it, gave me a solid run to finish 20th, and success in the 'beat your start number game' ;)
But for now its been back to the daily grind to improve.

Flick

Where to even start! Half way through 2017 and I am only just putting my electronic metaphoric pen to paper!
​So summarizing is a massively abbreviated version of start til now.

​My year started out with the broadest spectrum looking forwards I have in many years. Meaning I broadened my horizon of objectives and goals, and really sat down and assessed where I wanted to be, what I wanted to achieve, and potentially how. I wanted a different experience to last year, and went through a rigorous interrogation process of myself and those that would help me facilitate this. Time for a shake up and a change, and a new canvas to play on.

Rewinding in fast forward (if that even makes sense) haha, it was exciting to start working with a new Coach, Cam Watt. Some early season niggle saw me miss the first few races and I did a training camp in Brissy instead.
​I jumped into a few World cups in the deep end coming out of niggle territory so did not see my best performances out of these but great to be back out there racing more than last year!
​I raced in Chengdu World cup China, first up, where I simultaneously won and lost a race at the same time - B final win!
After the race here in China the voyage North continued. I settled back in sunny France where I indulged in fresh lettuce again, and got training ahead of the next World Cup in Madrid in a few weeks.​

I was really excited about the new race course in Madrid, nice hard bike!....until my bike never arrived from the airplane. :( Slight hiccup...ok massive hiccup. First I was worried about the my pre race prep going so pear shaped, until I realized it was never going to arrive on time, and I had to worry if I was gong to be able to race at all instead! (Iberia customer service gets about a 1/10 on this on this occasion) and I actually had no bike to race on at all. Thanks to the help of the Spanish federation however, they sourced me a bike that morning. I'de be lying if I said I wasn't on the verge of pulling out. I had no race gear except my togs and run shoes. The likelihood of a crash on a foreign bike, far from my own bike set up! in someone else's bike shoes, with brakes back to front, made me nervous let alone how on earth I was going to keep up, on that hill on this bike! Somehow I got through it, definitely not the way I wanted too, I had to write that one off, but at least I got to race and saw some run legs creeping back with one of the fastest splits, I guess, I'm looking for silver linings, and I also apologize to the girls I was riding with if I was being a bit twitchy haha, now you know why!

​Final pit stop of the World Cup trifecta was Cagliari, Italy. A seaside town in Sardinia, and it automatically won my affection with pink flamingos, and the way to my heart by way of gelato. :) The Italians sure know how to make gelato right!
​I was fortunate enough to have my own set of wheels this time, which made for a better result, but with some big changes I had made this year, and my previous niggle, I had hurried into these races, before I found my real "groove" again. Though I knew that before I started, I still made time for a little tanty about it post race.​

​A new adventure loomed after Cagliari. I packed my bags, and beanie, and hoodie, and headed up to train somewhere new to me. Up to the beautiful mountains in Switzerland, to St Moritz, with the Trisutto crew. (be prepared for photo spam)
​Well if I had a mortgage it would be sold to go on the cost of living here, but you certainly buy beauty. The place is quite stunning. And an amazing backdrop to train in. Sitting at 1850m, snowcapped mountains, lakes, forests, dirt trails, its quite breathtaking. I wake up every morning and say wow. Except when its freezing and raining then its more a 4 letter word, f&*k. :0.
​Without a doubt trail running is one of my favs. I just love it, and there is a network of running trails here that are just insane. This tied in nicely with my niggle being the past and finally being able to clock up some decent miles to my delight, to go and get lost in the woods!
​
So with running coming back together nicely now, training ticking along well, I ducked down to do a local Swiss race in a place called Uri. More mountains, more pretty lakes, #Switzerland . I got to test out my new Blue seventy Helix wetty, (which was awesome by the way) had a solid bike, and was on target running down the girls to run onto the podium, until race mishap showed its head again and I fell flat on my face. I rolled my ankle, I had stepped on a tree root hidden in the grass running full tilt, and did a land version of Astro boy sliding along the grass. I hobbled my way to finish the race and inspect the damage. I wont replay the verbal dialogue going through my head here, as I had just got my running coming back together, but I knew I was out of action again for a bit, and the stench of chlorine was going to grow rather rapidly on me the next few weeks.

​So there we are, 6 months in 8 paragraphs! I am still up the mountain enjoying my fresh O2 depleted air, paying exorbitant prices for tomatoes, sticky taping my foot together, spending the longest time in a pair of tracksuit pants I have in 8 years, and getting ready to race again! Next race up will be Edmonton WTS.

​Flick xx

Here is just a small slide show of some extra pictures. I thought id should share.

When athletes go quiet, it usually means one of a couple of things. Things are going really great! they are minding their own business, focusing on themselves...or...Things are going really shit! and they want to lay low due to one of a hundred things...or lastly, simply, they are just really lazy at writing. ;)
And yes I fell into one of these 3 categories..maybe all 3 at some point recently;)

I wont dwell looking back on a few months ago for me, because quite frankly, life was hurling lemons from every angle, and though I tried to keep up, I just couldn't make lemonade and even use the spares for tequila fast enough! To the point I oh so nearly pulled the pin on 2016 racing.

​However...without going into whys or hows, I decided not to. Instead of packing it in, I packed my bags, and jumped on a plane to France!

​I was under no disillusion that this was a gamble, and I had taken a few steps back from where I had been a few months prior. It really seemed so overwhelming to have to start over again building back up...again... for the 'I don't know how many-th time' ! To where I had already been. I feel I have recycled this scenario a few too many times than the usual, annual cycle in my last few years, Only falling short with some misfortune just as I'm ready to get to the fun part of racing well! But I would certainly not be alone in this scenario, sharing this fate with many other athletes I'm sure! But I had done so much work before, it seemed such a shame to let it all go to waste.

​I decided to follow this quote. Felicity, "First you do what is necessary.
.
Then you do what is possible.

​Then suddenly, you will begin to do the impossible."

​"St Francis of Assisis"

​SO...I rebooted my training at a place called Font Romeu in France up in the Pyrenees. It is an altitude training center in France. (Above)
​And I loved it up there. The weather played ball with warm sunny days almost every day. I go crazy for beautiful run trails and this place is littered with them! Running up in Font reminds me of running in Alice in Wonderland. I would not have blinked if I saw that big purple cat smiling at me from a branch. It was easy to clock up my run kms there, usually by getting myself lost and running twice as far as planned, ;) Personally I love running like a mountain goat, on technical, ankle rolling, obstacle courses, as much, if not more, than flat 'keep your tendons in tact'  trails. Not every triathetes cup of tea, but you have both to choose from up there and I like the balance of both. So despite the grimace from the lack of oxygen running, I was smiling from the mountain views, flowers, streams and close encounters with 'the worlds happiest cows', to reach a neutral facial expression for most runs.

​Halfway through my stint at Font I had an old friend Thomas, join me, from my very first trip to France! We hadn't caught up in years, so to have him come and join in for some training as he preps for Kona, was also a real bonus!  Naturally he didn't shy away from the kms, being in IM training either, so it worked out well for us both...except for our fights for who got to the couch first afterwards, to watch the Olympics! :) Font consisted of training and passing out in front of the tele to watch the Olympics on repeat!

​So training was going great, and the "necessary" box was being ticked. One thing however that Font also has plenty of, no surprises here, being up a mountain...is hills. Hills are my fave. Long climbs on the bike are my bread and butter. But after getting a little too excited and over indulging on this free bread and butter buffet for a few weeks, my leg machinery, also know as a knee, was getting rather agitated. Unfortunately just before my first race back with a new team I was force to take a small hiatus off the bike and running again. Aside from that first phase reboot at Font went well. Next abode Girona, Spain.

​Being so close to Girona, having wanted to go that way for some time, now was perfect opportunity. I took the scenic route through the mountain and down to oxygen laden Girona to meet Coach Danielle, and her VIS boys. Who were kind enough to let me join in for a few sessions in the pool and on the track. Was great to see these boys gearing up in there final prep to rep Aus at the World Champs the weekend just passed.

From Girona I raced my first French GP for the season with my new team Tri Val de Gray! :) though being forced to sit out biking and running for a week or so, was not my ideal prep for a race back. Plus with only a few weeks full training back under my belt, well, I knew I was gonna just have to suck it up and it was gonna be ugly out there! It was kinda ugly, but with one of the quickest runs of the day, and a painful mere 3 sec swim deficit costing me front pack, it was much less ugly than it could have been. Il take it! Even better Tri Val finished 2nd! go team! :) I know the worst is over and I can only get faster and better than that from here.

​So lastly, Girona. Its a beautiful small city, an hour from Barcelona. Its a cycling hub. I loved the old town, a nightmare for high heals or road bikes as its booby trapped with cobbled streets everywhere! But that's definitely part of the appeal.  Small streets, with restaurants lining its cobbled pavements, old buildings lining streets and the river, chilled people, a safe, fun, and relaxing, atmosphere. It's really quite a romantic little spot! I loved it. Most of my days were spent rolling around getting lost on the bike. I saw a lot, always choosing new routes, riding in the mountains, through the farms, forest, and down to the Costa Brava coast. I got a pretty good feel for the place, as once again, I would often get lost! Funny now, annoying at the time! Was great to have a change of scenery, meet some cool peeps, get my tortilla fix...so addicted, and catch up with a few old friends I hadn't seen in a long time. And of course lay down some more work before my next race! ;)

​Its back to France now, back in the old stomping ground, and I'm really excited to head up to my next race this weekend at the La Baule Triathlon!

​Its been a great few weeks, and thanks to the variety of people who helped out the last few weeks, and the mix of training buddies. The next month will now have a few more races coming up, now I have had some time to lose the wobbly bits again ;)

​Cheers

​Flick :)​