Overseas with World Cup success
Like always, the weeks leading up to the departure of my overseas trip seem to come up so quickly. Before I knew it I was in the final week before leaving frantically trying to make sure that everything that needed to be sorted was in fact sorted!
My overseas campaign was set to kick off in Chengdu, China for the Chengdu World Cup. This race included a unique format that had a semi-final sprint triathlon on the Saturday and a final super sprint triathlon on Sunday. From there I would travel to Astana, Kazakhstan and spend 2 weeks preparing for the Astana World Cup (Olympic distance). It is always exciting heading overseas, especially when it is such a big trip like this one. I would be packing my suitcases at home in Melbourne and be on the road for the next 4-5 months!
I arrived into China 2 days before the first race on Saturday and tried to settle in as much as I could. The unique lifestyle and language barriers always provide some difficulty when trying to do simple things like going out for dinner. The safest option I had was to go for the basic foods like rice and noodles which I certainly became accustomed to after a few days.
From each semi-final, the top 9 athletes would automatically advance into Sundays A final. My main objective for my semi-final was to be in that top 9 whilst conserving as much energy as I could. I think I raced really smart for my semi, I had a strong swim and was up the front out of the water. I maintained my position towards the front for the bike and on the run I established myself into the top 9 and then made sure I stuck there. I finished my semi in 4thplace and felt really comfortable with high hopes for Sundays final.
The final was set to be a fast race being only a super-sprint (500m swim-10km bike-2.5km run) so nailing the little things like transitions was going to be crucial. I had a pretty good swim start and found myself towards the front around the first turn buoy. Despite the congestion around the first buoy I could hold a strong position and exited the water in 7th place. Behind me was a long chain of other athletes and not long after being on the bike the whole field came together. But we didn’t ease off the pace as all 30 of us zipped around the bike course. Again, I maintained my position towards the pointy end of the bike to avoid any casualties. Unfortunately this hard work of sticking towards the front was undone as I overshot my position in transition 2 and needed to double-back to my bike racking area. I came out of T2 just off the front group of runners. I tried to tail onto the end of them and at one stage I may have just made it but it wasn’t enough to move through those athletes. I continued to fight for the remainder of the run and finished in 12th place. There were some positives to take away from this race however I left Chengdu wanting more and was motivated to improve on this result.
The following day after the race I flew from Chengdu to Astana with my training partner Tamsyn and Coach Danielle. It was a long journey but we were all warmly greeted by the Kazakhstan triathlon federation upon arrival into Astana. For the 2 weeks before the Astana World Cup we had organised to be ambassadors for the event. For this, we spent our time training with the local age groupers and juniors sharing with them our knowledge and passion that we have for triathlon. I also got to feature as a guest on the radio station Orda FM as well as take part in a segment for one of the local Astana tv shows. I had such an amazing time doing all these activities. The hospitality and helpfulness offered from the Kazakhstan triathlon federation was absolutely amazing and Danielle, Tamsyn and I cannot thank them enough for their time.
As race day approached the cold Astana weather became an apparent factor as to whether the conditions were too extreme to race a triathlon. With the water and air temperatures only just reaching 12°C the ITU officials made the decision to shorten the swim from 1500m to 750m. Despite the shortened swim, I was still happy that we got to compete in a triathlon on the day.
Diving into the water for the race was a slight shock to the body. I had never swum in such cold water but after a couple hundred meters all my exposed body to the water went numb so the pain of the cold subsided. I had a really good swim exiting the water in the top 10. I could see that there was a small gap behind me which meant that I was in the perfect position to get into a small breakaway. I had a fast T1 and exited onto the bike in 4th position. Soon after I found myself in a group with 8 others. We all worked hard to establish a lead on the rest of the field. Each lap our lead grew on the remaining 60 athletes chasing behind us and soon we found ourselves with a gap of over 1 minute. At this stage I was feeling confident with how the race was unfolding and looking forward to executing the run. My T2 was really quick and I came out of transition in 2nd place right on the shoulder of the leading Frenchman, Raphael. I felt comfortable and relaxed as I started the first lap of the run and I knew I was in for a chance; I just made sure to follow Danielle’s pre-race instructions of pacing myself. Raphael and I worked together but into the final lap of the run Russian Polyanski bridged up and now it was the 3 of us ready to battle out the final 2.5km. With just under 2km remaining I went for it and tried to gap the other two which was somewhat successful as I dropped Raphael but Polyanski was still there chasing me hard. I kept on fighting and pushed on but couldn’t get rid of him. With 1km to go he attacked and I tried my best to follow but couldn’t hold on. I continued to push and crossed the line in 2nd. I was speechless as I finished, I couldn’t believe the result but at the same time I was so happy. A race that I had executed perfectly right from the start.
I left Astana with amazing memories. I enjoyed my time there and I hope to have the opportunity to return next year. Now I have made it to my second home in Girona, Spain where I will be spending the summer. In terms of my upcoming races, nothing has been finalised however I will likely race some European World Cups and potentially some World Triathlon Series races over the coming weeks and months.
Astana World Cup race video by World Triathlon:
Astana World Cup race video by World Triathlon:
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