Well a busy two weeks! From sunny beaches of Palamos Spain, to  the Cote d’azure,  sparkling Lake of Geneva, Switzerland, then up to the breathtaking (literally) views of the mountains of Alpe d’huez, add some road tripping between destinations and a visit from one of my best friends from home, training and racing at each pit stop, and it has been all systems go, and fair to say I definitely needed a few days R & R. Lucky coach Landers was on the ball, and was one step ahead already.

Palamos spain was destination 1. A cool little city which staged an awesome World cup course! The water was a beach swim in beautiful clear water, a technical, hilly and challenging bike course through the city made for great spectating, as did the run. Food is great in the Cataloni region, though I’m pretty sure every restaurant sported exactly the same menu! But good food it is, and I would definitely return back here to race again...Even if it is just for some potatoe tortillas! J As I just start to get the gears in motion again, this race was my  first I have started to feel  I was getting a bit of my swagger back. I knew it would take a few races, and there was the hint of it shining through to finish 8th.


No time to waste, home, a tout suite! To have an exciting two day visit from my mate from home, some more food and although I promised not to kill the basil plant they left me, I think I may have drowned it when I left to the
Alpes! L in fear it would die in the hot summer St Raph heat, I think I went a bit overboard in the watering, maybe just showing my mothering skills definitely still need some time yet!...oops !” Basilico” is currently in ICU, I will keep you posted on his progress…:)

Off to Geneva, for the European Cup next! Fond memories from a win here 2 years ago, I was lucky enough to have some déjà vu here and run away with a win again. Two from two I can’t complain! And always nice to share a
podium with my friends Charlotte and Anne, good day out for the crew from St Raphael!

 Now to save the best for last! Alpe D’huez triathlon 4 days later! Geneva is one tough bike course to start so what better way to cap it off than race up Alpe D’huez a few days later! A sensational race I recommend to everybody! But come prepared for it, there is no hiding out there!

The Alpes are stunning. No two ways about it. The views, the sounds, the smell, the trails, the fresh mountain air..(or lack of) either way, high from lack of O2 or the environment? It’s  so relaxing up there! So much so I felt I was put into a sleep coma for the few days leading into the race, or some physiologists may argue their crazy science saying it may have been the altitude, meh? J It’s definitely tough on the body to go up for only a few days as I felt I was swimming with a wheelbarrow tied to my ankle, nearest flat ride is a 10% incline mountain, and an easy jog is at 1900m altitude with only up and
down to choose from, it’s just a matter of which you want to come first! Either way, it was very cool to be up there and it’s places like that I feel so privileged to be able to do these things. Needless to  say
come race day you  curse the altitude, hills, and privilege, as you suffer up the mountain, but the reality
is its worth it :)

So a quick spec on the course for those interested, you swim down below in a 14 deg lake, ride around town before making
the 14km climb up Alpe D’huez, and capping it off with a 7km run at altitude. Guaranteed to make your legs jelly, it’s an amazing course and I will happily be back again to tackle the course. 3rd again this year, I would like to win this race…I’ll be back!

xx

After delux and healthy eating in Japan, to withstanding hunger
post travel for only so long until I cracked and broke the seal of my parting
gift from a good mate Wendy, the bag of chicos was the sustenance I did not need to gear up for round two, triathlon. French Gp St Jean De Monts!

In summary the weather was horrid, all the things you would expect from a summer sport..NOT! freezing wind, pissing down rain, ocean going bezerk, and a bike course made for Mario Cart trying to suicide,
there were plenty of faces who thought bed was  much nicer place to be! However luck should have it the rain cleared up at least and majority of competitors managed to keep skin where it was supposed to be. A tough tough swim where I would have just loved that old rubber ducky to come and have pulled me out for some reason, left a field in chaos out of the water. Back in the swim, I felt surprisingly better on the bike than expected, (maybe it really was all the new bike!), then reeling in a few places on the run I finished in 10th, and the Girls from St Raph, Bec, Caroline, Anna, and Camille pulled the team home to 5th, narrowly missing fourth by 1 point! Ouch!

 From one beach of Winter back to the way a beach should be to sunny St Raph, im settled, had my dose of raped carrots and flans, boobs out on the beach, and reprogramming  a manual gear stick into the brain, to drive on the right side of the road, to
which I might add zeros stalls at this point, Touch wood!, and planning my day trip to cheer on the lads at “le tour” down the road. #Eurosummer

Flick

So its been a while since the last update, …ok quite some understatement that is! I’ts been a long while!, and I am going to use the excuse it’s just to raise anticipation!

After what has been quite an emotional 
and far from ideal Summer this season for me for a number of reasons in
the bubble of triathlon, I have left behind a challenging, to say the least, few
months and have arrived in sunny Europe armed with some old and new warriors on my side, to try and help me put the past behind, progress, and make 100% of what I have at my disposal.  Is it ideal?, no, but is it impossible? Most definitely not!  And apon arriving in the beautifully warm and inviting Cote d’Azure, in my little town of Agay, France, which has become my second home, I was filled with a smile of warm summer again and the excitement again to get amongst it
head first in this place that I really love.

 This was all post a quick little stop over, in Japan, Gamagori for the ITU Asian cup. After hardly racing at all this Summer, and then struggling with a minor injury in the weeks leading up to departure, I was about as nervous as racing as I have been in a long while. Knowing that form was not where I’m capable of is a mind set hard to block out race day, but I will never
shy from the competition and my biggest aim from this race was to asses exactly where I am at, get some racing under the belt to fast track me back to where I wanna be, and what better place to do that than a country with $4 sushi! I think
between the three of us aussies, Tim George, and Sascha B-E whose last name is just too difficult to spell late at night J we ensured the business of the supermarket was secure for another year!....though they might vouch it did take a number of attempts to get the sense of direction right to find the entrance..

 Anyhoo after doing all the usual prerace prep, posing at the pool for photos, press conference in jibberish, yada yada, race day was hot and humid, as you would expect in Japan. Bit of memorabilia here at this race, I think this may have actually my first ITU podium! About 6 or 7 years prior! And our ITU helper had the memory of Yoda and remembered myself racing here all that time ago AND that I was a vegetarian! Way to make you feel welcome!

 Tough race conditions, was prepped well filled to the brim hydrated thanks to Shotz sports nutrition, and it was time to shock my poor body into asking the questions again why on earth I do Triathlons…they hurt! A real solid first lap swim saw me enter lap two on their feet, then maybe I need to learn to dive a few meters further but a little lacky band suddenly
was on stretch! Now thoug the bike work was lacking a did have the joy of breaking in my new bike! Thanks to the hot efforts of Felt and Cyclemania the Felt F2 is my new favourite ride! After a hot long day and a boot up the bum
back to racing I was happy to continue my happy memories of Gamagori with a podium 3rd place finish, and some horrid red tan lines as proof, for the record not to be recommended with plane travel!

 Touch down Cote de Azur, and super excited to head to my first
French Grand Prix with my new team as of this year, Saint Raphael Triathlon!