January Blog Update ~ Kicking off Fresh

 January Blog Update ~ Kicking off Fresh

Hi Legends & Welcome 2018!

 1 month gone already, can you believe it! How are those new year’s resolutions going, or was it more a case of new year, same me? Whichever the case, I hope the summer holiday vibes are still lingering & leaving you energised & pumped to kick start 2018!

I was very lucky to be able to spend 10 days over Christmas & into the New Year at our family’s “second” home at Seal Rocks, on the NSW Mid north coast, staying at our Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage at Sugarloaf lighthouse overlooking the incredible lighthouse beach. It’s a place I cherish & certainly seaside views you can’t not be in awe of, with a sunrise over the water & lighthouse beam guarding overnight! The place is very special to me, with my whole family together which is rare these days! (something I wish I knew as a kid growing up, you take it for granted having everyone living under the one roof as the “normal”) 

It’s turning into a (very important 😉) annual ritual for me & the family to take a breath, get away from the hustle & bustle and recharge the batteries for the busy new year ahead! It’s certainly no break though, its training as normal up there, with 3-4 sessions a day, making the most of the backyard ocean pool for open water swims, the great Myall Lakes National Park with its extensive run trails & mountain bike fire trails, a backyard gym set up & some quieter roads for the longer km rides! I love the change of scenery for training, it’s very refreshing & compliments the work this time of year!

Avantiplus Narrabeen & myself organised a great Scott Mountain bike- the Spark, for my dad for Christmas, so I could take on the trails with Dad, and possibly a few surf checks & Single Fin Coffee Food truck stops for their famous coffee & Nutella croissant up at Seal Rocks, too good to resist! 

Heading home to Sydney the second week of January to get back into routine & continue building up my early season base. Returning down to my Southside training base group again, kicking back into some track work, moto pacing, (Um, ouch the legs forgot how much that stings after a break!) Friday Night Sutherland Cycle Club Crit Racing & long bunch rides. A great group environment & welcoming me back into the HPT High Performance Tri weekly training environment!

I love this time of year with a pretty perfect Summer balance, just before the early season domestic season racing & travel kicks off, I get my time at home to see friends who are still on leave from work, enjoy the Sydney Summer with daylight savings evening perks squeezing in the most of the day, yes that means afternoon Trail horse rides & swims at the beach to end the day!

Mum, Dad & I headed away to Melbourne for 2 nights to watch the Australian Open of Tennis, getting Mum & Dad tickets down for Christmas, a tiny token of thanks for the huge amount they do for me but it was brilliant quality time together. I'm very close with my parents so it was awesome to be able to sit in awe at the Australian Open of tennis watching the Quarter finals, enjoy some fine dining at Melbourne (ChinChin was a winner) and coffee hunting! Roaming the famed Melbourne lane ways and enjoying a swim, run & gym session down here! 

My only race for January was the famed Wollongong Australia Day Aquathon which is turning into a reoccurring season starter, my 6th in a row this year & my first time sneaking onto that prestigious podium, lining up with a world class Wollongong Wizard international squad of athletes, with big names like Gwen Jorgensen winning multiple times in the past, and Ash Gentle taking line honours in 2017. 

The race consists of a 900m harbour 2 lap swim, before transitioning onto a 7km mixed surface run. This year the run headed up the hill out of Wollongong harbour, onto the grass & pathway towards Puckey’s Park, before looping back onto the trails and turning for home around the big grass oval again & back up over the hill towards the harbourside finish shoot! 

I got a clean break away in the wetsuit legal swim and was able to exit the water with a slight edge on the field, with a quick transition I was off onto the run, chasing down the men ahead who started 20 mins prior to us women, & waiting to hear the breathing of another female down my back. Like I said, having raced 5 times prior, I had my fair share of experience in being run down by some World Class runners, so was pleased when I passed half way in the lead! Its very early season, so running at “pace” doesn’t feel too great, nor too fast, but working hard I tried to jump on the speedy tail of Ash Gentle as she passed through the trails. The 2017 ITU World Champion runner up, Ash, ran away to take the Australia Day line honours very deservingly & I was happy to stick hard & take runner up & my first podium. A pleasing sign for the very early season & a great way to start my 2018 racing calendar! 

Lets hope in a month or 2 so the trisuit won’t feel so tight & running won’t feel so tough, or at least ill be getting places a little quicker for the same effort haha. 

The Australian domestic & Oceania season kicks off early this year, starting the following weekend, the first weekend of February in Glenelg- South Australia. 

Here I’ll be racing my first Triathlon for the year in the Oceania Sprint Champs on the Saturday afternoon in the South Australian Heat, and then backing up on Sunday morning to compete in the first Oceania Elite Mixed Team Relay event. As some may know, very exciting news for the sport of Triathlon moving forward, with the addition of this event to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo & sooner still at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, another Triathlon Gold medal up for grabs! 

I absolutely love this style of racing, short, sharp, critical & furious, no room for error & rewarding those who get the little things right and done Quick! I’m very excited to line up in a team Sunday morning & complete in my first Oceania Mixed Relay Team event, hopefully us Aussies can get the edge over our friendly Kiwi rivals!

 Stay tuned for next months Update, I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the action plus keep you up to date with the next 7 weeks straight of racing after that (yep you read that correctly, 7 weeks straight of travel & racing! #ATHLETELIFE)

Thanks for the read,

Get out in the mornings & evenings while we have the most daylight hours, for a walk, cycle, swim or run! It’s the best way to start or end the day on a good note & I promise you won’t regret it!

Em. X