Girona Living + European racing
Once again I have well and truly settled into the European lifestyle as I base myself here in Girona, Spain for my summer. The extra sunlight on these warm days allow me to stretch out my training and avoid the early morning wakeups. While here in Europe, I typically start my first training session at about 8am which is either a morning run or a ride. I swim during the middle of the day mainly because it is so hot outside that you wouldn’t want to be running or riding! Then my last session gets finished later in the afternoon, sometimes as late as 9pm. The great thing about these long summer days is that you have more daylight to complete the training sessions and when you can spread them out it gives the body enough time to recover between the tough ones.
One of the main things that I have noticed about staying in Girona from previous years is the increase in athletes here, whether it be triathletes or cyclists. Each year there seems to be a considerable increase in people wanting to come to Girona and make use of it as a training location. And I don’t blame them with some of the most picturesque training locations being right at the doorstep of Girona. I think that it is great that more and more people are having the opportunity to come here and realise its beauty. I am a fan of it, even though I may be a little biased!
Before leaving to Europe, my coach and I sat down in Melbourne and outlined some key races that we wanted to target while. However my success in the Astana World Cup opened up some racing opportunities that initially we had not considered. One of those was to act as the travelling reserve for Triathlon Australia in the Nottingham World Triathlon Series Mixed Relay. Although this did not mean that I was racing (since I was the reserve) it allowed me to gain some valuable insight of the logistics for the mixed team relays right on the sidelines. It is certainly a format of racing that I would love to be involved with, especially since it is now included in the program for the Olympics.
Since I had travelled to the U.K for the mixed team relay, Danielle and I made the decision to race the World Triathlon Series in Leeds. This was not in my initial race calendar, but once again my results in previous races had opened up these opportunities and we decided to go for it.
With Leeds being one of the most difficult courses on the WTS circuit, it was always going to be a test for myself. My swimming has been coming along really well recently and this showed as I exited the water towards the front of the main group. However on the bike I was exposed by poor positioning and an inexperience to the fast racing that is needed for WTS races. Despite my struggle on the bike I still managed to put together a reasonable run performance. I crossed the line in 36thwhich wasn’t quite the result I would have wanted however I feel that I had learnt plenty from the race.
My next few races that I had lined up were non-ITU races for my French and Italian teams. It is always a pleasure racing for my French GP team, Sainte Genevieve. I have been with them for a number of years and each year I return to meet the same familiar faces. I competed in both the Dunkerque French GP where I finished 9th, and the Paris French GP where I finished 15th. Racing in Paris will have to go down as one of my most memorable races with the transition zone and run finish right under the Eiffel Tower. Racing in front of such an iconic monument was amazing and I hope to be able to do it again!
I also represented my Italian Team, The Hurricanes, for the second round of the Italian GP series in Pescara. Our team manager Max Di Luca gave us some amazing hospitality for our time in Italy and looked after us better than we could have ever anticipated. I think anyone that has been to Italy before knows just how well they can cook a pizza or pasta and Max made sure that we embraced this with some long meal sits (which I thoroughly enjoyed!) It turned out that all these extra carbs helped for the race as I succeeded for the team and won! My win also helped The Hurricanes stay on top of the team’s ladder. I really enjoyed my time in Italy racing the Italian GP and I am sure I will be back in the future.
After representing my French and Italian teams I had a couple of weeks to prepare myself for my next main race which was Hamburg WTS. I have always heard people talk about Hamburg WTS as being the best race on the circuit with an exciting course packed with spectators. So to have the opportunity to race in Hamburg for the first time made me really excited. Each year the start list for this race is loaded with the best athletes from around the world so turning up underdone was not an option. After racing Leeds WTS I had been able to work on some of weaknesses that I needed to improve on and felt more confident with my ability to be there for this WTS racing. I had a strong swim and once again came out from the water towards the front of the main group. On the bike I did my best to be in the right position to stick with the main group. Admittedly, I did find myself working hard to keep up, but I was there and managed to still be there with the group at the end of the ride. I felt that this was a big improvement from Leeds WTS and was something for me to take away and be happy with. Unfortunately on the run I struggled with some stomach issues and it became a battle to make it to the finish line. I didn’t give up and made it there however I was a bit disappointed with how the race turned out as I wanted more from myself. Nonetheless I still had plenty to take away from my race in Hamburg.
Since racing in Hamburg I have had a couple of weeks to settle back into my Girona routine. The days have been getting hotter and the training has been building back into full swing. It feels good both physically and mentally to have these weeks between races to focus on the training as I prepare for my next races.
This weekend I will be in London to race the London Mixed Relay for Team Australia. This will be my first mixed relay racing experience, something that I have been looking forward to doing for a while now. We have a strong team and I hope to contribute my fair share for a great result.
Following London I will have a couple more weeks in Girona before racing in Switzerland for the Lausanne World Cup. This is one of my target races for the season and I look forward to being in top shape to give it my best!
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