Sydney

I have just arrrived home from Sydney after competing at the first World Triathlon Series (no longer called World Championship Series) event for 2012 and major selection race for the London Olympics. With a mixed preparation I was very happy to finish 10th overall and 2nd Aussie behind the winner Erin Densham. That makes it 3 top 10's in 3 World Triathlon Series starts (London, Lausanne, Sydney) which im pretty stoked about ;) I haven't seen so much as a picture which would suggest I even raced Sydney but my family and a friend flew from the Gold Coast to watch me, I had lots of friends cheering  from their tv sets and I received many kind messages....I am so grateful!!

Stay tuned, a proper blog of the weekend is to come.

GC Commonwealth Games

On Tuesday the 3rd of April it was exactly 6 years to the opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. We had  a small photo shoot at the Southport Pool and I was Joined by London Olympic swimmers Brenton Rickard and Cameron McAvoy, Olympic Cyclist Sara Carrigan and one of the Commonwealth Games Ambassadors.  I have a new found respect for the sport of diving as we climbed the stairs to take some pictures from the 10m platform in order to capture the amazing Gold Coast backdrop. It definately looks like a big leap down to the water and I'll remember that when I watch that event at the Olympics! 

It's extremely exciting for an athlete like myself to know that I have a major championship in my hometown in 6 years time, I'll be 27years old and hopefully competing in front of my friends and family. I definately didn't think that when I was taking a few extra pictures at Southport park that I would end up on the front page of the Bulletin!

Gold Coast Bulletin

Helping out at the 'Superkidz' race at Mooloolaba Triathlon weekend

Never too much open water practice

I'm flying to Sydney today for the first round of the World Champ Series. For all the Aussies, the race is live on On HD....the women jumping in the bay at 7.36am so tune in. I've also taken a big step in the world of social media and caved into Twitter, follow me if you like https://twitter.com/#!/AshleighGentle   I'm not too boring ;)

2nd best in Devonport

The first thing I'm going to admit about last weekend- is that it felt LONG. Devonport Oceania Champs was my first Olympic Distance triathlon since London WCS race last August and the finish line couldn’t come fast enough! I went into the race with a far different approach to Geelong, I felt rested and relaxed, eager to put together a good performance. 

Emerging out of the water amongst the main group I had athletes to chase and wasted no time getting onto my bike and straight into a time trial in pursuit of the athletes in front.  After lap one, once some had dropped and we’d picked up others in front, I was in a bit of a Kiwi sandwich with Australian counterpart, Natalie Van Coevorden.  With New Zealanders, Nikki Samuels and Teresa Adam and Aussies Erin Densham and Emma Jackson up the road, I wanted to be in that group but it wasn’t going to be an easy task. This task became exceedingly formidable once the Kiwi coaches started telling the New Zealand girls in my group to sit up and not do any work, especially once I had worked hard to get the gap to the front 4 to 30 seconds. After Nikki Samuels broke away from the other 3, it confirmed what I knew from the start. The New Zealand team didn’t want any more Aussies near the front of the race, with the automatic third spot for the Olympics for the country who took the Oceania title.  

With the race being parallel to the coast line, the headwind which we had already battled on the bike was relentless on the run. Every time I chased down and passed one of the lead girls, I tried very hard not to look back. Congratulations to Emma who took out the victory and I was very happy to come in 2^nd place after a solid bike ride, with Erin Densham in third. It was a hard, honest race, perfect for my lead up into Sydney WCS. There is still something new I’m learning from each of my racing experiences... more to improve, more to come, in time. 

Rocket Science Sports were the swim sponsor for the Devonport event and if you haven’t seen their latest gear, follow this link, more good things to come in 2012 from RSS.

http://www.rocketsciencesports.com/

Thanks to the local Gold Coast paper for this write up before Devonport ITU Oceania Cup yesterday. Very happy to be able to produce a satisfying result and secure 2nd place after a solid bike leg. Awesome to be able to be part of the Aussie swept podium with Emma Jackson and Erin Densham...a little race report and pictures to come soon :)

21

My 21st birthday was on Saturday although I started celebrations prematurely the previous weekend with 7 of my girlfriends at Meccabah in Broadbeach. We had the most amazing banquet of Moroccan food and I was so fortunate that they were all able to celebrate with me. They are not athletes themselves but are always so supportive and understanding, organising catch ups around my big training days and races. I ended the night after I won $95 dollars on the roulette at the casino (on number 21), ready to spend an 1hour and 40minutes in the hills of Nerang forest with Emma, Liz and Daniela the next morning. That run was the start of a very big training week. I did a few new things and surprised myself when I was able to consistently back up from solid sessions, definitely not easy but I am satisfied. I’m going to be expecting more of these tough weeks - minus the dumbfounded look I have given Craig a few times recently :) New challenges always await and I’m happy to keep learning. 

The rain pelted down on the morning of my birthday so Emma and I were relegated to the AIS gym with ergo and treadmill the flavor of the morning. A cafe stop and swim later I was able to relax and was totally spoilt. 21 is pretty special and although my plans to Mount Tamborine with Josh were ruined by the rain, I had a great day.

University begins this week, time to get organised! 

 Mother

some lovely friends

21

Thanks Josh

Home-made cards are the best!

Thanks for reading.

Geelong

I am not stupid, I have realistic expectations. I do not expect to break away in the swim behind Teresa Adam and Emma Moffatt but I certainly do expect to be in the main pack. Despite some rough and tumble and arm locking with a couple of other particularly aggressive 'not to be named' athletes, I am not making any excuses for my underwhelming position coming out of the swim....just some extreme frustration and disappointment from within myself. To be completely honest I came to the start line quietly confident in my progressing pool swimming and some new found skills I’m continually learning from my coach Craig Walton, king of swim/bike in his day...which wasn’t that long ago! Due to positive reinforcements in training across all three disciplines, I came home from Geelong particularly disappointed, feeling that my race was not an indicator of how I have been training. I started the year in Geelong last year with a sub-par result and my year got better each race, so let’s hope that happens again. I’ve got my first race of the season out of the way and I already know some things I will do different leading into Devonport- which I will get more rest heading into anyway. Because it’s an Olympic year, I guess everyone gets a little bit more intense (even crazy perhaps ;). People will be continually making judgments about ALL athletes, I am lucky that my Mum, Dad, Craig, Josh, friends and family all believe in me so I’m very grateful and I don’t have to worry about others. I am ready to have a successful and enjoyable season.

Congratulations to Emma Moffatt and Liz Blachford, Gold Coast counterparts, who placed 1st and 3rd respectively, great to see them both on the podium. Despite some of the terrible Geelong weather, flight cancellations, tedious travelling and a not so great race, it was made a whole lot better travelling and rooming with Moffy, one of the best athletes in the sport but always fun for a laugh.

Thank you for reading.

Race Time

At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to gain the support of Milani Cycles, an Italian based bike company. The company origins go back to 1927 when cyclist Natale Milani started creating his first frames. The family history continued in 2005 when Natale's son, Celeste, decided to build the business up and create a modern company. All the frames are handmade in Italy, with a passion behind the business that you don't always see with the massive manufacturers.

Considering the promptness of Celeste Milani, it’s hard to believe he lives thousands of kms away, working away in his Italian factory. When my rear Ambrosio wheel was damaged in transit, Celeste had another shipped to me in under a week, no stress! The bike is now ready to go for my first race of 2012, with my last ITU race being in Lausanne for the WCS....it’s been a while! Emma Moffat and I have been training together under the guidance of Craig Walton and we will all head down to Geelong tomorrow to begin our season. Its finally race time and I’m excited.

Wish me luck; with people like Moffy on the line, you know it’s going to be a very fast race.

Ciao