Season starter in Mooloolaba.

First reactions post Mooloolaba was disappointment, but reflecting back now, it wasn’t so bad. Athletes can be their harshest critic. Preparation had been mixed and a little conservative on the running front. I had confidence in my swim and a rough start made for a bit of a battle the whole 750m. I definitely didn’t have the swim that I had envisioned. Racing is a whole different beast and although it’s so easy to get frustrated, every racing experience is one which I learn from, especially lessons learnt at the start of the season.

Onto the bike, it was on. Thankfully I exited the water with Andrea Hewitt and we were able to work together to bring join with the main pack. Once we were there, we both went to the front and joined Paula Findlay, determined on chasing down the fast swimmers who had got away from the start. Mooloolaba is a tough little course and it felt so good to bridge up to the leaders before the run.

In scorching hot conditions, we entered t2 ready to take on the new 4 lap 5km course. The first few steps felt horrible and it didn’t really get too much better. I felt as though I found my legs a little more towards the end but the race was already over. In hindsight, I couldn’t have expected much from my run and I was so grateful to be out there racing in front of an Aussie crowd, even though I feel disappointed I couldn’t have put on a better performance.

I came across the line in 10^th and second Aussie behind Moffy who placed 6^th. Gwen outclassed all on the run to take the win in impressive early season form with Katie Hursey in 2^nd and Ai Ueda in 3^rd.

Thank you for all the support and I hope everyone who participated across the weekend had a great time in the Sunshine State.

I’m now looking forward to kick starting my World Triathlon Series campaign in Auckland in 3 week’s time.