Week 1 & I have survived!!!

I haven’t written for some time due to a couple of reasons:

1) I haven’t been racing nor planning on much of it for the remainder of the year (at this stage) &

2) I have been making some decisions and changes that needed to be finalised before I opened my mouth about them publically!

After China and yet another poor performance but  giving nothing less than 100% to my program & training it was time to reassess what I was doing. After a couple weeks consideration I decided the best thing for me to do would be to move on from Lennox Head and Gilsey. We parted amicably and I have no questions about the success he is seeing with his male athletes, it just hasn’t worked for me. I have been, I have tried & I have learnt lessons, but I’m not getting any younger and when someone asked me what my short term goals were my answer being  “first of all I want to be the athlete I was 2years ago” I knew I had answered my own question of what next.  

So what next??? Well first of all I wanted to go home. No, not back to Roma (never ever!), home being the Sunshine Coast. So a hopeful email to my wonderful old employer Adam in hope of some work- check- I will be back working at Warana Sportscare (Physiotherapy) 3 days/ week starting December which is when I will officially move back. Next a trip back to start moving my stuff back which (coincidently!) happened to fall on Noosa triathlon weekend. With no desire to race I really enjoyed the weekend there catching up with good friends & family, training on the awesome QLD roads and running around Noosa national park, cheering on my friends racing and enjoying a few drinks at the after party.

It was great to get to the expo and not be stressed about resting my legs the day before the race. It was fabulous to catch up with so many of my sponsors. Ed from Cannondale showing the world the newly released sexy Slice RS, Neville from Ryderseyewear who got me into a pair of Leader shades, the boys from Allez sport & Johnny and Sarah from Cyclezone- who deserve a big congrats on tying the knot up there yesterday!

The after party was to be my last hurrah as Monday saw the start of ‘my shot’.

Well the good news is I have survived week one! I had exchanged a few emails with Sutto the past 6weeks or so and with the change of circumstances in my coaching situation I have been started on his elite development program with the ever thorough coach Matt Koorey. No leaf has been unturned in the prep towards this new start. I am overwhelmed with Matt’s dedication to individualising the plan to me. The beautiful thing is it’s simple, it’s stuff I know that has worked well for me in the past and it fits with me and my life. With that part sorted, it’s now up to me. Give it everything I have got and see where it gets me. Not much more to it than that than head down butt up!

So within a month I’ll be back on my beloved Sunshine Coast, back to a very flexible convenient working environment conducive to my sport & surrounded by my friends and family. The past twelve months I have met some great friends down here. I will really miss my incredible housemates (& the best landlords ever!); Ben & Amy. They have had me in their beautiful home since March and have become my closest friends here in the northern rivers area. Ben is the most considerate bloke I think I’ve ever met- putting up bike rack in the garage a week after I moved in and doing all the ‘blue jobs’ in the house for us girls. Amy has introduced me to TV on the net  J, got me addicted to the x-factor and has gone out of her way to introduce me to her friends and include the outer- Towner in everything. I’m so excited for your wedding next month! Pip & Justin have looked after me to no avail: been my ears to vent upon, feed me on numerous occasions, take me to Byron for swimming and breaky on a Sunday and have shared insight and connections that they both have in the tri world- I am in debt to you! Clare, Georgia, Clayto, Aimee, Lukey & Skinner- you guys haven’t gotten rid of me that easy either!

Unsure as to racing plans at this stage. You will know when I do!

Rachie xo

China- the land of the horn happy

I forgot what this place was like. This is my 3^rd trip to China and the rigmarole that you have to go through just to get entry! That entails sending your passport, invitation letter and a 5 page form about your immediate family and what they do just to get your visa! Never the less, me being little miss organised had that sorted a month ago. So I jet seted again on Tuesday morning. It felt like I had just got back from the USA and already I was off to do my ‘test’ event since having a wee sabbatical in July. With a layover in South Korea, I might just be converted to now doing that all the time. Breaks up the trip, great dinner and breakfast and the most incredible gym I’ve seen in a hotel- about 10 treadmills and I was the only one there for my morning run! Next it was onto Weihai which is a Chinese city on a peninsular only an hours flight due west from Seoul. I was met at the airport by ‘Susan’, one of the English students from Shandong university whom volunteer at this event each year so to practice their English skills. Any trip on Chinese roads raises my heart rate like a training session. They don’t stop for anything- we were driving on the opposite side of the highway to overtake someone, honking at any vehicle we passed- I’ve never heard anyone be so horn heavy, veering in front of people left right and centre and generally cruising at about 160km/hr. There is also the allowance for buses to drive in the opposite direction on one way streets! Taking in the scenery quickly reminded me where I was- a guy pulled up on the side of the highway in full view of traffic relieving himself, at a red light a driver in the adjacent car appeared to spew out his window, only to be then pointed out by Susan the ‘Happy Gates’ which is Weihai’s symbol. HAHA!!!!

Arriving at the hotel, I settled into my room, considered going for a swim but decided to face what I have feared the most about the trip- putting my bike together! I’m happy to announce that all is as should be J I then went for a walk to stretch my legs and pick up some supplies. I love the way that you are looked at in these ‘rural’ towns in China. Fish out of water that’s for sure. I even got a naughty finger shook at me by some guard in a glass box I was going to take a photo of!

Day 2: Still running on Auzzie time so was awake at 3:30am (which is 5:30am at home) and at 4, 4:30 etc until my alarm went off at 6:30am. Got some breaky in- the Chinese do this rice type porridge which I absolutely love so was hanging out for it! Off on a ride to see just how lost I could get over the course. I must admit with the help of google maps that I’m not too bad at navigating! Lets just say sometimes it’s better not to know! I remember looking at the bike times from last year knowing that they had changed the course from 2 laps of 40km to 4 laps of 20km and wondering why they were so slow last year compared to when I raced it in 2010. Now I know! The start of the bike laps sees a quick climb from T1 and then meandering through the edge of the coast line hills- then a couple of descents along the ‘bathing beach’ before a false flat through a tunnel and then a HUGE climb back into town before finishing the lap back at transition- repeat 3 more times! I think it took me an hour to do 20km- which included some stops to check my map and dodging some of the normal Chinese road hazards. I had to laugh- I almost collided with a local cyclist who didn’t look as he rode onto the road in front of me- later when I was pulled up to cross a road, his mate road ahead to take a photo of me as he pulled up alongside and I think he said “nice meet you” to which I replied “you tried to kill me” and rode off! All in all probably only 3 near death experiences during my 2hour ride. A local radio interview, some chill time, a swim in the 25m pool a km up the road, more chill time and then an arvy run. All in all a good day.

Day 3: after breaky I set off to do an hour and a half on my bike… well that was the plan. After one lap of the course I was a nervous wreck with multiple near death experiences so I thought it better to wrap myself in cotton wool in my room rather than end up in the ED before Sunday. Back to bed seemed like a far better option than road kill. A swim and a catch up with some other international athletes that I’ve seen often on the Asian circuit. Uniform check and the welcome dinner which included the famous ‘sea cucumber’ soup which is a delicacy in china- ewwwww!

Pre race day and got my ride/ run in early and feet up and more Grey’s anatomy. The field was looking stronger than the men’s! We had 9 women in the race whereas them, only 7. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced that! A little swim in the ocean before some dinner and then off to bed nice and early. I was really excited as I felt fresh and ready to go.

With a late start of 9am it meant I got to get up at an attractive hour. Had some breaky and a coffee and made sure all was ready to go. I headed down to the race with women’s favourite and my good mate Caroline Steffen and fellow Aussie Aaron Farlow. Bike set up, warm up run and test of the water temp and we were already being called to the start line. As I was running down to the beach I rolled my ankle hard on the carpet. Anyone else would have ended up with a bad sprain but in times like these I am thankful for my lax ligaments meaning that it was fine by the time I got to the beach. With the water almost 24 degrees it was non- wetsuit which wasn’t in my favour. Still out of the 3 disciplines swimming is probably my strongest at present- and it showed. With the horn, we were off in a mass start of all pro and age group athletes. It wasn’t too bad as I managed to find clear water quite quickly but was then worried I had missed feet. Soon enough however I was swimming stroke for stroke with Caroline Koll (south African athlete). She’s usually a little bit ahead of me so I was happy to be pushed along and kept focused with her by my side. 2 laps of 1.5km and it flew by! I managed a time of 44mins which is 3minutes faster than my wetsuit time 2years ago. Even managed to chick a couple of pro men! I came out of the water in 6^th about 4mins down on the leaders. Onto the bike and I really thought today was my day. I was aiming for under 3hours for this bike course cause if I haven’t made it clear enough already- man it was hard! Up and down, false flats and then the big hill towards the end of each lap. I knew two girls were behind me and could see 4^th, 5^th & 6^th infront of me on the first lap but then by the 2^nd I was on my own. I came off the bike still in 7^th and was hoping that the ride would have killed some of the run legs in the other girls. Unfortunately it was my legs they had killed as I was passed in the 2^nd lap and had the slowest run time but managed to cross the line in 8^th. Caroline had an amazing race and was already halfway through her 2^nd run lap when I got onto my 1^st! Those chicks in Hawaii in 3 weeks might need more than good luck to get her! Still 8^th meant a little pay cheque and some travel money and one hell of a training day. Funnily enough my time would have placed me 3^rd at the event last year.

A few more realisations were made as unfortunately my journey towards my goals aren’t moving as fast as I’d like. I’m now back home with a few little goals I have to aim for over the coming couple of months. On and up!

Rachie xo

Yum yum- sea cucumber soup!!!

My 'Mint' Slice

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Many of you know that on my return from the USA I opened my bike bag to discover that the bottle cage on my frame had been knocked out of the frame, taken a sizeable piece of carbon out of the frame. My nightmare of a trip continued even once it was over. Now in retrospect it’s been a good thing that happened for two reasons:

1)      Cannondale came to my immediate rescue with a lovely new green, black and white Slice- Hence the name ‘Mint’ &

2)      I was partially compensated by Qantas (couldn’t believe it!)

 I fortunately had been in contact with Ed Waterston, the new marketing manager of the Australian branch of the Cycling Sports Group in regards to sponsorship. So on hearing about my situation he came to my rescue, sent a new TT frame up to Johnny and the boys at Cyclezone Mooloolaba to build my new stead. And build her they did.

Last weekend I had to spend a day in Sydney to attend a Physio related course so made the most of the trip and took the time to go and meet Ed & Lucien at CSG. With most of my sponsors interstate I rarely get a chance to meet many of my most important supporters face to face. It was great to hear about the future plans and goals in regards to ambassadors and sponsorship that Ed and his team are working towards and I’m really excited to be a part of the future of Cannondale within Australia. I have been riding their bikes since 2009 and am happy to keep my rear end on them. Also having the support of John Carey and his team at Cyclezone Mooloolaba  is invaluable as they have always kept my equipment running smoothly and been more than generous in support. Even living south of the boarder I still make the drive to them if need be.

I also had the opportunity to catch up with Annie Rogers, from OSHE, earlier that week and she was kind enough to give me the new 'So Sensitive' skin care range which I absolutely love. Definitely have a look at her site online, where you can order products if you are interested in trying them: www.oshe.com.au

So since being back from the USA I have enjoyed a couple weeks break- partially forced due to the lack of a bike. Getting back into training wasn’t as horrendous as I expected, although freshness appears as fake fitness! I have had a few minor interruptions to the training with a cocktail party in Brisbane, my trip to Sydney and learning to again manage my part time Physio job and the training. Everything has now fallen back into routine and I’m now back in my normal life of eat, train, sleep, work and looking ahead to the future.  A big part of the last couple months has been having some proper treatment on a few ongoing niggles that I had during my USA trip. As a physio I am quite a big hypocrite about managing injuries. It also involved sitting down with Gilsey to identify a couple of training errors that potentially could be contributing to have these ongoing issues and coming up with some good solutions to these problems. For the first time since moving down here I finally feel I’m on track and am really looking forward to the last few months of this year.

Next up I’ll be heading to china to compete in the Weihai ITU long distance triathlon on the 23rd of September. I raced in Weihai in 2010 with a good result (3rd) and hoping to show some improvement this time around. For the remainder of the year I will be racing around Australia and perhaps a couple of Asian races thrown in there for good measure.

Stay tuned…..

Rachie xo

Disney movies and remote control helicopters!!! Oh and 2 more 70.3s in a week.....

Over a week has passed and I still haven’t posted my Rhode Island report and before I knew it Racine 70.3 was over too so I’ll whittle it all down to one post and try not to waffle on too long.

I had rather large misconceptions about Rhode Island 70.3. I thought it was a flat course- bike and run- let me tell you it is not….

After leaving Austin, always sad to leave my wonderful friends, the Pak’s, however happy to leave behind all the bad food I have been indulging in over the past 3.5weeks, I made my way to Providence. My first night was spent at the Hilton downtown with a refreshing run along the river bank that afternoon. It was so nice to be able to get out for a run at 4:30pm without facing the overwhelming afternoon Texan heat. In Austin I found it almost impossible to do anything other than swim after 1pm due to the +40 degree heat there. Found that out the hard way- after what I think now was a couple of bouts of heatstroke!

The next day, after getting incredibly lost on my morning ride trying to find the race course, I managed to find a 25m (!!!) pool for my afternoon swim, followed up by a well needed massage. I was then picked up by my homestay family and taken to their lovely home, about 20mins south of the city. There I met Dan’s wife Joanne and their daughter Susan (who wonderfully gave up her bed for me!) and their eldest son John, not to forget their elderly dog, Sasha, who obviously rules the roost! Both Joanne and Susan were volunteers for the event and Dan himself was also competing. We went for a lovely meal and then home for a much needed 10.5hour sleep! I woke up the next day with the normal pre-race lethargy which I have learnt not to put any emphasis or meaning to. Feeling heavy with my pre-race training has come to be the norm and doesn’t necessarily determine how I feel come race day.

I had been warned that this particular race is a logistical nightmare (Thanks Pip!!)….. That it would be without an awesome homestay family. To put it bluntly- it’s a pretty hard race to access if you are an out-of- Towner:

-          Briefing and rego are at the convention centre in the middle of town- that is close to T2 where you put your shoes in the day before

-          The issue is then getting out to T1 about 10miles out of town to rack your bike- your option (as a pro) is to do this on the Saturday (which I chose) or to do it Sunday- HOWEVER, if you chose to take the shuttle bus to the race start you cannot take your bike on, and riding out the 10miles may not be what you want to do at 3:45/4am (due to the 6am start!).

-          To get back from T1 on Saturday (if you don’t have a car, I still haven’t even attempted driving in the US!) you would have to catch a city bus back…….

Thankfully, due to the wonderful help of Dan- Saturday’s schedule wasn’t an issue- rego, briefing, set up T2, set up T1- all done before 1pm! Home for an afternoon nap before my chicken fried rice, mint-choc- chip ice-cream and early bed. A horrible night sleep with the looming 3:20am alarm clock, not to mention a 2:15am visit from Sasha the dog, I probably only managed about 4hours sleep and was thankful for having my afternoon nap! Somehow I still felt kind of rested come 3:20am Sunday morning! Breaky down and at the race by 4:15am. Everything ready to go, warm up done in good time and down to the swim start with 20minutes to spare. I have never been this organised at a race! The swim is in Olney Pond. It’s a freshwater pond and I felt it! A non-wetsuit swim and within 200m I was once again in no-man’s land with two girls slightly ahead of me. I did manage to pass one male pro whom we gave a 2minute head start to! Into T1 in 7^th place, not the start I was hoping for- onto the bike and moved into 6^th by the 5km mark and into 5^th by the 10km mark. That particular girl didn’t like that so after 10km of cat and mouse she got a little break on me so I was back to 6^th. By 40/50km mark I could see Caitlin Snow and seemed to be catching her, just before I came around a corner to scare a Lama who’d gotten out onto the road!!!! Random but made me laugh!!!! I knew that Caitlin would most likely run for the win so this was a good position to be in. Every time I thought I was getting closer the space would open up between us again. By about 70km I’d lost sight due to the course becoming quite technical- lots of narrow roads, corners, ups and downs, bumps and holes in the road. I think I not only lost focus in this section but my legs where becoming heavy and slow. The last 5km saw another girl catch and pass me which pushed me back to 7^th. This girl would also most likely run to the podium. Into T2 after a little bit of a disappointing bike leg I didn’t know what the run had in store. Having been struggling for about the past month with some sciatic nerve issues and after my dismal run at Buffalo Springs 70.3 the run was always to be a concern. The run is also hilly- well the 1^st and 3^rd quarters of it! Up the first hill I’d be passed by another and was now pushed back into 8^th place. 21km is a long way and anything can happen. Towards the 8km mark I could really feel everything in my right leg tightening- hip to my hammy and then my right foot felt like it was broken. I have been trying to hold myself together in multiple ways for running the past couple of months. I wear a sacro-iliac joint belt to hold my unstable pelvis together and tape both my feet the night before a race (and always tape my right foot before any run session). I hate relying on these supports but probably wouldn’t be able to compete at present without them. I was able to push the urge to stop out of my mind knowing that sometimes in the past the tension eases the further I run. By the halfway point it wasn’t a major concern and knew that if I put one foot in front of the other another 8^th place would be what seems to be the norm at the moment. 9^th was quite a ways back.  Ticked off the miles, stuck to my pace and nutrition plan and before I knew it was running up the finish chute, un-be-knowns to me 7^th was only 30seconds ahead and I’d been putting in time to her!!! Dam, if I could have just pushed myself that bit harder I could have broken this frustrating run of 8^th places in my 2012 70.3s. 8^th NZ 70.3, 8^th Busso 70.3, 8^th Buffalo Springs 70.3 and now 8^th Rhode Island 70.3. Still I suppose, not too bad for racing in the USA. And it is an improvement on the results I had here at the end of last & I was in a lot better state at the end of this one than 2 weeks before in Texas.

I then headed off to Wisconsin to meet the wonderful Ellis family. I cannot believe how lucky I have been with homestay families in my time travelling the world.  I was met by Mary at the airport and travelled to their home on the south side of Racine. There I met her husband Gary, her daughter Luci (8) and the ever energetic Henry (5). They live in a beautiful home on a large block with multiple veggie gardens and a major bike trial at the back of their yard. Gary took me to the incredible 50m!!!!!!! indoor pool each morning and I ran along the shady bike trail in the afternoons. Riding was a little rough with corrugations across the roads everywhere I went. I enjoyed the most incredible home cooked meals and multiple Disney movies with the kids. Normal pre-race routine and once again the weather was HOT!!!! 4:30am start to race morning was a nice welcome after the 3:20am the weekend before. Bike racked, warmed up and headed to the race start losing my swim cap on the way. The lake was cool but perfect temp for a comfortable wetsuit swim. At 7:03am we were off. I knew Dede and Missy were good swimmers nad they put a gap on the rest of us quite quickly. I could see Christie to my left and was being roughed up by another swim on my other side- grabbing my wrists and hitting me with her arm and then swimming over the top of me….. I saw Christie swim out wide and although I was going to try and stick with her thought better of it and swam my line. I never really saw her swim ahead and I swam shoulder to shoulder with the basher until half way when I dropped back to sit on her feet. I came out into transition when a bystander told me I was leaving transition in 5^th- what????? I thought we were in 3^rd & 4^th, but I’d obviously missed Christie swim ahead. The basher passed me straight out of transition and I knew that she was a stronger biker than me. After about 10km I realised I wasn’t alone and another girl passed me. I had nothing left in my legs- the 4^th race I have started in the past 6weeks and it was showing ! My legs felt flat, heavy and tired like I was trying to do a long ride after a heavy week’s training. The 90km was hard and hot and I couldn’t seem to get enough fluid in- I hardly ever take water at the bike aid stations but I took bottles at each one. Once again trying to keep focused on my nutrition and not get too upset about not putting time into people and riding scared, trying not to be caught! I made it into T2 in about 8^th place- I couldn’t believe I was on my way to another 8^th. Running out, my legs felt okay and I tried to give it all I could to finish off my final USA race. The run was fairly uneventful- basher was fading fast and ended up pulling out which moved me to 7^th, however I was too far down on the other girls to change that any further. I really thought I had run better than my time showed but I think it was a display of accumulated fatigue over the past 6weeks/ 4 70.3s. Still it was nice to break the run of 7ths and see some improvement in overall time. I walked away from the race and forgot about it in a matter of minutes.

After the race the Ellis’ their friend came over who was hosting another Aeromax athlete, Joey and more awesome home cooked food was consumed- BBQ & brownies- perfect recovery food!

Since the race I haven’t thought about triathlon. I went on a shopping spree at an outlet mall, we went to a ‘swimming party’ and I packed my bags to head back to Australia.

I have had a great trip to the USA. Although it hasn’t seen me overly happy with my race performances or me demonstrate what I think (and know from the past) I am capable of. Training and racing away from your bubble of security is always hard. Racing in the USA was never going to be easy. Living out of a suitcase and on the generosity isn’t that glamorous. I feel so guilty each time I met complete strangers, stay in their homes, eat their food and have them ferry me around new towns/ places. Thankfully I now have many new friends across this country that I am sure to keep in contact with and hopefully return to see in the years to come.

What I have to keep reminding myself is that I have time….. I am still relatively ‘young’ in this long distance sport and I’m still relatively ‘new’ to this sport too. Not to mention setbacks I’ve had in the 5years of competing with unfortunately repeated injuries. I have been told you need to do the sport for 5years before you actually learn how  train and race so I am seeing the next coming years as the next block in my career.

For now I’m heading home. No training this week- mentally I need a week off the thought of it. I have decided to amend my race schedule for the remainder of the year. At this stage I won’t be coming back to the USA in September as previously planned. I will be heading back to work as a Physio 3 days/ week to begin with and cut down on the racing over the next two months. The rest of 2012 I am planning to focus my racing over the Asia- Pacific region.

I need to thank multiple people who’ve helped me on my travels over the past few weeks; Pip & Justin, Collin from Sunflower Outdoor & bike (Lawrence), Cheryl Denton, Liz & Kent Dobbins, Bliss, Minsok & Hanna Pak (my 2^nd family!!!), Dan & Joanne & family and the wonderful Gary, Mary, Luci & Henry Ellis for making my final week in the USA very entertaining and a brilliant insight into parenting and the fact I might keep triathlon as my baby a little long ;-)

And of course to my awesome sponsors for their continuing support:  Mizuno, Enervit, Ryders eyewear, Orca, Oshe, Allez sport & Cyclezone and as always Gilsey for his ongoing patience and guidance from afar!

HOME TIME!

Rachie xo

Texas and Buffalo Springs

Well i made it to Austin- after a cancelled flight with a relatively unscathed bike! It was so wonderful to see my amazing friends Bliss and Minsok Pak and their daughter Hanna. They have become like my home away from home and I should name them as my title sponsors as they not only open their home to a moody, crazy triathlete (even though they both are too!) but show me the sights and lights of Austin and Texas and feed me like a cow in a feedlot!

I love coming back to Austin. The riding is great, challenging and hilly, I have two 25 yard pools close by to swim at which always have lap lanes- i rarely have to share and the Pak's home is only about a 2km run from the Lady Bird Lake running path (which has options of 3, 5 & 7mile loops. This time here it's HOT HOT HOT! Today is forecast to met a max of 105F which is almost 40degrees- not only that but it's humid.

So once arrived and settled I treated myself to a new SRAM wheelset- I am in love with these wheels and you don't realise how bad the ones were that you were riding until you get something new and amazing! They glide like butter! Minsok assured me that i was removing my 'bad ju-ju' and history of flats getting rid of the Zipps which have ended two of my past 4 70.3s! No more flats...... or so i thought.

Off the track of tri for a bit.... I have definatley been getting my fair share of texan culture! Minsok and Bliss took me out to their REAL Texan ranch- about 45min drive out of Austin. This cute little cabin on 600acres of land with their 30-40head of Angus cows. It was great- we 'grilled' steaks, drank some great wine and took a sunset stroll down the paddock to annoy the cows. In Austin, once again, i have been shown the best places to eat in town- frequenting my favourite 'wholefoods' having orginated from Austin. Last night after dinner we went down to the South Congress bridge to watch the bats come out at dusk- not as spectacular as i expected as have been told that there are 1.5 MILLION bats that sleep under that bridge during the day- after about an hour of watching a few flying rats we lost interested so traded it for Margaritas at the Hula Hut! Wow- never been one for Tequila but after realising real Tequila isn't all that bad I was taken home to be given a real lesson about Tequila:
1) there are many different kinds- primiarly 3- white, yellow and dark yellow (i think they have names for each...)
2) they are made from the blue agave plant and ONLY from the western Mexican state of Jalisco
3) that you are supposed to drink it on the rocks and sip it
4) my favourite is Don Julio blanc....... &
5) Tequila in Texas doesn't taste like Tequila in Australia!!!!!

Ok now to the race..... ugh.....

Buffalo Springs 70.3 is in a town called Lubbock- it's about a 6 hour drive north west of Austin- was a big couple of days in the car. Although it was actually a little cooler in Lubbock the air was super dry. We arrived Friday afternoon and had dinner at JJJ's with another ex-pat Texan from Korea, Brian. Saturday morning we headed out to Buffalo Springs lake for a pre-race dip, ride and whilst the others ran i watch the sprint tri! The rest of the day was relaxing, going to race briefing- which wasn't really a briefing at all- i don't think anything about the actual race was touched on!!! And then some amazing gluten free pizza finished off with ice-cream before bed! The next morning i was pretty pumped to go- however this sinking feeling of fear about the potential of another mechanical and DNF.... my track record has been horrendeous the past 8months with things affecting my race which are completely out of my control. Nice early start, setting up transition around 5:30am- getting my warm up done and all my pre-race rituatls! It was a wetsuit swim and although the air was cooler the water had to have been boarderline temp for a wetty swim. The start of the race was very casual- Mike Greer (race director) with a megaphone saying 'Ready, set, go!!' By the first bouy i was boiling! But swimming shoulder to shoulder with Amanda Lovato- I was hoping to stick with Jess Meyers but she got away with the front girls but i was pretty happy to stay with Amanda as i know she is one of the consistent 70.3 competitors in the USA. Around the second bouy and Amanda started to swim a little off course but by the next bouy a race guide had steered her back to me. We came out together at the end of the swim a fair way off super fish Amanda Stevens and about a minute back from Jess Meyers. Onto the bike and Amanda and i spent about 90% of the ride together- even though i was in front a lot of the time, she was spot on at keeping her legal distance. We passed one girl early in the ride- which put us in 4th & 5th & Jess Jacobs flew past us just after the first U-turn but aside from that we were riding at about the same speed as a couple of the girls up the road. The last 10kms saw the wind pick up and me lose Amanda. I was stressing that the other girls would be passing me soon as I felt as though i was going backwards. Around the 2nd last corner and my front wheel did the big slide wobble- (insert bad bad words here)- ANOTHER FLAT TYRE!!! New wheels, new tubes, new tyres- what the???? Slow leak again- pit stop in- no wonder i was losing time the past 5km into the wind- a flat tyre doesn't help. Still this time it probably only cost me a minute and with my run performance, it wouldn't have altered the final result. Even though the question is always raised about the mental effect it has on the rest of the race. Made it back to T2 and set off on the run- another girl passed me about 1km into the run and by this early stage- i was in no form to go with her. Ticking off the miles, up and down some pretty hefty hills, and out onto a very lonely flat, straight, exposed 6mile stretch with very poor aid station supplies. Passed by another and another- I had gone from 4th at one stage on the bike, back to 8th now on the run and even worse overall as some age-group women were now passing me :( Fighting urges to walk, I kept putting one foot in front of the other. The last 2miles were the longest 3km of my life. Every corner i thought was the last one to the finish line- and every one that wasn't i wanted to break down in tears.

But i finished- in a very ordinary fashion. My legs were toasted- i was helped to the medical tent cause i couldn't even stand up any longer, even though my head felt fine. A bag of IV fluid did the trick and my legs came back to me. I collected my bike as Minsok and I waited for Bliss to finish up- a quick turn around betweeen showering, packing the car, a massive burger and we were once again on the road.

I have to take a couple of things away from the race- I was happy with my swim coming out equal 4th, my bike was almost back to where it used to be up until the flat and my never say die mantra was strengthened by battling through one of my most dismal run efforts ever. And i finished which is more than i can say about Kansas 70.3 two weeks ago.

Right, think i'm now due for a good race don't you think? Anyways we'll see whether or not that's the case in two weeks. For now my focus is recovery recovery recovery and then putting together a week of good training before i head to Providence for Rhode Island 70.3. In the meantime enjoy the pics!

Rachie xox

Morning ride along Barton Creek Blvd

Cycling hazard!

On the Texan Ranch

Sunset on the ranch; Bliss & I

The cabin on the ranch

My birthday present to myself- new SRAM wheels!

28th Birthday brunch at the 4 seasons

Wind farms across West Texas

Triple J's- Lubbock: Brian, me & Minsok

My title sponsors! Minsok & Bliss

8:30pm & waiting for the Austin Bats

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila....FLOOR

Not the start i was hoping for

Will keep this super brief:

- arrived in Kansas Monday night
- 1st thing Tuesday discovered my seat post clamp is broken
- take it to the bike shop where they also find cracks in my handle bars, likely due to travel
- new bars Thursday and jimmy up job on the clamp
- Friday: clamp not doing its job and seat post is still slipping down
- unreal bloke (Colin!) from sunflower bike shop drives to Kansas city to get a cannondale seat post clamp, puts it on Friday night and then finds cracks in my 404 zipp front wheel, not good to ride/ race on....
- borrow a front wheel from the wonderful Kent & Liz Dobbins so was feeling as though all that could go wrong had and now all I had to do was race well and put all behind me!
- race day: all seemed to be going well race morning- set up T2, set up T1, warm up jog, warm up swim and then we were off
-swim: choppy but nothing like busso! Swam solo for 90% of the swim coming out somewhere mid field- around 7th or 8th...
- bike: passed by one girl and passed one myself within the first 5 miles.... It was pretty windy out there on the beautiful rolling course- cross winds, head winds, tail winds! Around the 45mile mark one girl passed me and my bike was feeling wobbly- oh no not the dreaded flat tyre demon coming back to haunt me! Ah nah I thought, just the tri-spoke wheel and the wind playing on my mind.... Until the 50mile mark where it became evident that my back tyre was losing air fast.... Off my bike to try the pit stop- it went in but was it enough? Next I had the wheel off as another girl rode past me- crap!!!! Changed my mind about changing the tyre and went to put gas in it to top it up but I couldn't unscrew my gas canister holder- insert lots of obscene words here..... Took my chance on what was in it and rode back to T2
-run: knew I was so much further down than I anticipated to be at this stage but 13mile is a long way.... At mile 3 it started to come undone- gut started churning and I started looking for toilets every 5minutes. At 6mile I pulled to the side of course to talk with Kent & Liz (in tears!) about the problems I was having- started to walk off and then changed my mind to see if my gut would play the game. By 7.5miles I was walk/ jog with tummy cramps stopping me.... That was it, I was done. Gave my enervit to some poor bugger who was suffering with cramps and I walked to finish line and handed in my chip.
- aftermath: I had to weigh it all up- continue, burry myself in a hole and not only screw up this race, but potentially also Buffalo Springs 70.3 in 2 weeks or pull the pin, recover quickly,  get a solid 10days training in, try to sort out nutrition issues & smash up the next race (hopefully)!
-as for Kansas 70.3-awesome race, incredible people, I have unfinished business here- I'll be back next year.
- thankyou especially to Cheryl for having me stay the week and Kent & Liz for ferrying me around and being the supportive adopted parentals for the weekend! Big shout out to Colin from sunflower bike & outdoor- you put my mashed Cannondale back together & I owe you big time!
- Austin tomorrow, Buffalo Springs 70.3 in 2weeks & fingers crossed for no more bad luck! 

 

Rachie xoxo

Not in Lennox anymore Toto

I have made it to Kansas- it’s hot, hot, hot. I’ve been told it’s ‘humid’ but it’s nothing like Asia so I don’t think it’s really that bad :-S Maybe it will hit me Sunday!

Only just making my connecting flight to Kansas city after waiting in the Dallas customs line for 2hours I was greeted by the lovely Kent and Liz Dobbins who , thanks to Pip Taylor (& Justin), have done nothing but gone out of their way to make me feel at home and help me around the beautiful city of Lawrence. So once home and rested I set out on my bike towards the bike course. As I got a couple kms down the road I was thinking- geez my quads are working hard and this seat seems a bit low??? I realised my seat post had slide almost the whole way down and that the thread on the seat post clamp was smooth…. Bugger….. Back home and down to the awesome guys at Sunflower outdoor & bike to order me a new Cannondale seat post clamp. Okay- the bike problem that usually happens pre-race has happened. So I headed off to the pool for a swim in the sun- I have definitely chased summer! I was greeted by a text after my swim telling me that the boys have found some cracks in my handle bars- oh..... I said a few explicit words here….. Back to the shop where they showed me the couple of cracks and residual flex that was now in my bars- not safe to ride on that’s for sure! So straight up in the USA I’m now having to buy new bars & break levers, a new stem to fit the new bars and replacing my seat post clamp. Every time you think you’re getting ahead you take 4 steps back. Thank god I upped my credit card limit before I left!

Well at least it was found now rather than having my bars snap mid race, me crash and end my USA trip prematurely. So I am without bike- enforcing rest and lots of swimming and running on the awesome dirt track levee bank, whilst trying to contact my insurer to get this sorted, all the time crossing my fingers I will have MY bike come race day.

None the less- I have a wonderful homestay, Cheryl. Many thanks for having me stay for the week. Lawrence is a lovely city with leafy streets with houses you’d expect Dorothy to live in! The pool is a 5 minute walk from where I’m staying and the levee for running 3mins down the road. Liz drove me over the bike course yesterday and I must say it’s a fair but really fun looking course- the whole thing runs like a roller coaster. I’m really excited to race this weekend, though it appears to be quite a competitive pro women’s field. Racing in the heat will give me a good warm up for Buffalo Springs 70.3 in 2.5weeks as I hear it is a scorcher.

Will keep you posted on how Kansas 70.3 goes this Sunday. You can follow my race at ironmanlive.com

Rachie xo

Noumea- take 2.....

The Noumea International Triathlon is one of my favourite races world wide- up there with Phuket Tri/ 70.3 and my home race Mooloolaba. I raced it for the first time in 2010, where I placed 3^rd behind Jo Lawn and Caroline Steffen. I was supposed to return last year; however 6 days out from the race was when my pelvic stress fracture showed up. I scheduled this race into my calendar as soon as I was racing again. Noumea is a relaxed race with a great atmosphere, amazing local support by the noumean people which always hosts a great international field with outstanding hospitality shown to the pro athletes. Sometimes it’s hard to remember you have to race during your south pacific get away.

The race is set on the water front of Noumea. We caught a Thursday night flight over where my good mate Johnny Polson, Taylor Cecil and myself were greeted at the airport by ‘Richard’, who loaded us into a van to take us to the hotel. Previously this was a big bus which took the best part of an hour and a half to get to Le Surf hotel. This year it took us 20minutes….. I was happy to survive the 140km/hr trip to the hotel! Straight to bed and up the next morning for a nice roll around the race course, followed by a swim at the pool. After 9 weeks of 40hours of work/ week on top of all the training I was just happy to spend most of my time in bed.  I have also been struggling with my dodgy knee over the past week. A long history of meniscal injuries and a ruptured ACL at the age of 9- followed by two surgeries and 2 patella subluxations, I know it’s likely that I will be visiting my orthopaedic surgeon again sometime down the road. With training and then standing on it all day it thankfully settled pretty quickly with me being able to finally rest it between trainings.

Very quickly race morning rolled around. The conditions couldn’t have been more ideal for race day. The ocean was glassy, clear and the perfect temperature- the swim however was carnage! From the beach start to the first buoy I found myself amongst arms, legs, being pushed under, swimming over the top of others and mouthfuls of salt water. I moved far right and found clear water- once around the first buoy I was swimming alongside Matilda Raynolds- who I anticipated would be my main competition for the day. I pushed pretty hard coming in on the first lap to break away from Matilda and try to close the gap to the two girls just ahead of me. Surprisingly I actually managed to do just that!!!!!! I wasn’t too far behind them as I made the lengthy run into T1. Onto the bike and into the lead within a km or so- I was feeling pretty good but knew I had to really try to get a good lead to try to hold on for the win. With some recent adjustments to my bike position I was feeling the best I have in a long time on my Cannondale Slice. There wasn’t a breath of wind on the three lap course which made for a very fast 40km. I could however see that Matilda was eating into my lead slightly each lap. I came into T2 with maybe 20seconds to spare; I didn’t know where my 10km run legs were at or what Matilda’s run form was like. ‘Just focus on your own race Rach- just go!’ Straight out of transition I dropped my gel- dam! On the 4 lap run, I could see my lead dwindle and at around the 4km mark I was passed for the lead. Still it’s not over til the finish line is crossed! So I did my best to hold my pace, stay focused, try to extend my lead from 3^rd place and keep the distance to 1^st at a minimum. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful- aside from seeing my good mate Johnny power out in front to take the win in the men’s race.

I crossed the line in 2^nd. Pretty happy with my effort as it’s all improvement. So now with a 3^rd and a 2^nd here- only one more spot to move to in 2013! It’s my 2^nd Olympic distance tri in the past 18months- they hurt a lot and you don’t get much opportunity to enjoy the day or the course! Doing these ‘short’ races, no doubtedly, help me in the 70.3s in the coming months.

A big thanks to my awesome sponsors; Mizuno, Enervit, Orca, Ryderseyewear, Allez sport & Oshe who were all printed up on my spunky new suit! Also a special thankyou to Sandra who does a wonderful job looking after us here in Noumea. Off to pressos tonight and an early trip home tomorrow. I have 3 days of work left before I head off to the USA for the next 6weeks. My first race stateside will be Kansas 70.3 on the 10^th of June. Can’t wait!!!

Rachie xo

Katie Menzies (NZL), Matilda Raynolds (AUS), Rachael Paxton (AUS)

Tempting fate, man flu, swimming like a world champ and a glimpse of how it should be……

Never boast about having a iron immune system! Last weekend in Busso, my mate Bec came down with a pretty nasty cold and here I was saying ‘I never get sick’….. Comes back to bite you in the rear end! So after a nasty red eye flight home, arriving at the Goldie airport at 6:30am Monday morning, slapping myself in the face to keep myself awake to drive home, 2hours of sleep, back to work at midday I knew this week was going to be a struggle just with that. Then Wednesday morning I work with a bit of a dry throat…hmmm……

Then Thursday it got worse, and then Friday it was worse again…. I could still train but I felt very, very ordinary. I don’t do sick therefore I reckon I had a bad case of man flu!!

At least I’d look the part with my new Orca suit having been printed up….. However unfortunately all the logos peeled off when I tried it on!!! Below is a pic of how I SHOULD have looked on Saturday! Thanks to Mizuno for the Friday arvy delivery of new shoes- including the spiffy new Wave Ronins- I absolutely LOVE them!

I did consider sitting Byron Tri out as I did wake up Saturday morning still feeling quite sniffily and with a head full of lead. Still it was my (now) home race, only 25km up the road and a beautiful day. What’s only 2hours of pain???? Once again, like all races I seem to do of late, it was a stellar women’s field: Melissa Rollison, current 70.3 world champion, Sarah Crowley, previous ITU specialist, and the speedy youngsters Courtney Gillfillian & Paige Single.  

The ocean was pristine in comparison to Busso last weekend. A non-wetsuit swim for the pros- we were off 1minute behind the boys. I was really happy with my swim, staying shoulder to shoulder with Mel  the whole way- great start being alongside the girl who’d no doubtedly win! I had a great T1 getting out quickly and managing to hold Mel off for the first 2.5km before she came flying past. Two girls up ahead, first one, then second one passed…. But my time in 2^nd place was short lived as Sarah was moving faster than Mel on the bike and passed me before the turn around. The bike leg is now only 36km so I knew that I’d have to really put the hammer down to extend the gap to Courtney who is a good 5/10km runner…..

Off the bike in 3^rd and was hoping to hold my podium position. It’s amazing how much better the legs feel after only 1.5km swim & 36km bike in comparison to 1.9km swim and 90km bike!!!! Running hasn’t been going as well as I hoped since my stress fracture and I’m still prone to flare ups which sees me back in my pelvic brace to get through the run training I need to be doing. I have previously run a 37 off the bike but at present I’d be happy with 4min pace for the 10kms. I was focusing on holding form, keeping the turn over going as quick as I could and trying to look as though I wasn’t hurting. During the 2^nd lap, my heart rate was telling me I was sick, but I was thankful it was the first time that day. I managed to hold Courtney off until about 7km when she came past in good form. I knew I couldn’t match her pace but didn’t let it sway my focus. I felt pretty good on the run and no real signs my body wasn’t handling the intensity of an Olympic distance tri (well with the brace holding me together!) Crossed the line in 4^th only about 20seconds behind 3^rd…. Think I really needed those 4 extra kms on the bike!!!! All in all considering how awful I have been feeling I’m really happy with this result. This is how I should be racing 70.3s! I just need this type of form/ performance to cross over to the longer distance. But at least I know it’s in there!

Thanks to all my wonderful sponsors- love the new Orca tri suit- sleek and comfy and the new Ronins from Mizuno. Have had a large shipment of delicious enervit bars- the lemon cream is awesome- one of those and a gel before I set off! And as always my Ryders sunnies never let me down! It was great to also have Annie from Oshe out there supporting me from the sidelines and the wonderful Dave Chick from Allez Sport Mooloolaba out there on the race course making the podium in his category. And of course thanks to Gilsey for coming out to support all of us from the squad.

Now to get my health on track, get a few more weeks of training in before setting of for the USA on the 4^th of June. First up there will be Kansas 70.3, but I may have time to fit one more race in this month ;-) will keep you all posted!

Rachie xo

What I should have looked like......

Buster 70.3

I’m a little bit frustrated with having to write something along similar lines to the last few 70.3s I’ve raced. I’m trying my best to stay positive with my training and racing but it’s hard to do when I feel as though I’m hitting my head against a brick wall.

I set off to Busselton 70.3 this weekend after a PB at Julia Creek sprint tri, a fantastic training block with minimal upsets, a proper taper and impending excitement about the race ahead. Even with a field of Australia’s best female 70.3 athletes, I was egar to see where I was standing amongst these girls. With an overnight stay in Perth I picked up fellow Aeromax athlete Rebecca at the airport Thursday morning , after a couple stresses where my USA trip had been charged twice to my credit card and my cash for the weekend put down on the car rental deposit, not to mention the wrong car being given to us too, we manage to stuff both our bike bags in the Barina sedan and made our way south to Busselton. Arriving with good time I got my run/ swim done that afternoon before having dinner with my lovely friend John Polson.

Pre race day was fairly straight forward with an easy ride and a swim in the crisp water, we didn’t venture far out due to the recent worrying shark sightings in the area. All the formalities done with rego, briefing, bike racking, an early dinner and an abnormally good sleep, the next morning I was excited and felt I was really ready for this one. Race day saw the impending rain clearing, however the chop had really picked up and the ocean was murky and rough. With a 1minute buffer to the pro men, we were off at 7:01 into the choppy ‘sharky’ waters of Busselton. I lost the feet of the main pack around the first buoy and was left with two girls tapping on my feet for the rest of the swim. They really shouldn’t have followed me as a fatal navigational error was made around the 3^rd buoy which saw me swim in the wrong direction to the final turning buoy. Realising my mistake a few hundred meters too late and I had to swim back out to sea to make the final turn back to the beach. I ran into T1 with two other pro girls and left in 6^th place.  7^th passed me about 5km into the ride, but I thought if I could use her to pace me I might be able to make up some lost time. It is a course where you can see other competitors at the furthest turn around. At this point I was about 4minutes down on Michelle Wu and a little more on Lisa, who was leading. 4 girls were still behind me at this point. At the beginning of the 2^nd lap I started to feel a little weird. I would describe it as dizzy or lightheaded. I didn’t feel right, that was for sure. I had kept up my nutrition so it wasn’t a lack of carbs/ sugar but I felt faint. I pushed on- either it would pass or I’d pass out and crash! At the last turn around I’d lost a little more time to the girls in front and Bec had put some into me. Not long after Bec flew past me at 100miles/ hour and I was left felling weak in her wake, even though my head had come good. Still never say die…. Onto the run and I felt as good as I can going into 21km of running after 1.9km swim & 90km ride. I plugged away, being passed by one girl and catching the girl who passed me early in the bike. I could see an exciting race playing out amongst the leading females, tinged with a pang of disappointment that I was too far back to be in the mix. I crossed the line in 8th in a 4:43- better than NZ but still with an extra 13minutes that never used to be there.

24hours later and I’m still struggling with the frustration of it all. The training, the lack of performance in the racing and asking myself what I’m doing so wrong. The training seems to be going great guns, but the difficultly I’m facing is transferring it over into the racing. I know somewhere in there is the athlete I have been in earlier times and even one better and maybe I’m trying to rush things with my return from injury. Perhaps I need to lower the standards and expectations upon myself at this point to allow myself the ‘time’ to return to racing, after all there’s still not a day or race where I don’t feel the ‘ghost’ pain of my injury lurking in my pelvis. And if it weren’t for my ever so attractive SIJ belt I have to wear when I race I fear my career would already be over.

Okay so there it is, my vent and my frustration with myself. Still I’m allowed the time it takes to write this to wallow. Put it in the bank and move on, as a friend had once said to me: ‘there’s no training like racing’. A day to chill in Perth with a little ride and swim, home on the red eye and back to work at midday tomorrow- YUCK. A few days of freshening up the legs and backing up to race my now ‘home’ race of Byron (Olympic) Triathlon this coming Saturday. Watch out for me in my brand spanking new race suit!!! Thanks Orca!!!! (had to lose a couple of kgs to squeeze into it!)

Thanks again to my wonderful sponsors; Mizuno, Orca, Enervit, Ryders, Oshe, Compressport and Allez sport and a big thankyou to Gilsey for copping the above on a daily basis.

Rachie xo

Not your average dirty weekend!

Every year I say it’s the last time, yet every April I seem to see myself make the journey to outback Queensland to take part in the Dirt’n’Dust triathlon in Julia Creek. A weekend long festival including; Australia’s best butt competition final, PBR rodeo, race meet with a red claw luncheon and the most unique triathlon race, I think, worldwide. Now being my 3^rd time back to Julia Creek it’s like going home- I run into many people I have met throughout the previous years- like Thelma and Louise (aka Deb and Jess) and local legends like the weekend’s mascot- Fred.

The ever wonderful event organiser, Margie Ryder, outdid herself yet again- not only with the entire weekend but for the royal treatment she shows me each year. This year organising flights, bussing me from Mt Isa to the creek, putting me up in the living quarters of the Catholic Church (Haha!!) and backing me to reclaim my title….. Even though I knew from the outset that that was going to be a one in a million!!!

Up until the Thursday the field was looking very light on, that was until one of our Olympic hopefuls, Emma Jackson, made for a last minute entry L Still that is triathlon and in the muddy creek, epic headwinds on a bumpy road and a seemingly long 5km run in the middle of the hot hot morning, anything could happen.

Race morning as usual was freezing! Even though it’s enviable for the temperature to soar into the mid to high 30s it’s always fairly chilly at 6am in Julia Creek. Into town to get numbered, set up T2, do a quick interview with ABC radio, load our bikes onto the cattle trucks and then bussed out to Eastern creek where the trucks were unloaded and our bikes were set up in a dusty dry T1. With 30athletes being left behind in town, race start was pushed back about 30-40mins which meant by this time it was sweltering! The gun was off and I found myself not too far back from the front swimmers but swimming on my own, leading out just ahead of local legend Max Feagen but a minute down on Emma. I felt good on the bike pushing well into the wind and ever so slowly putting time into Emma. I was hoping to come into T2 first but unfortunately ran out of real estate, closing the minutes gap to only 10seconds. I knew that I was nowhere near Emma’s speed on the run leg and unless she passed out from the heat knew that the race was on for 2^nd….. Luckily enough 3^rd was daylight. Next the goal became not to be lapped by Emma! Seeing her blistering through the run, putting 3minutes into me and passing the leading male (her on her 2^nd him on his 3^rd lap) shows why she’s one of the best women in the world right now. 2^nd was to be mine. I was happy with my race and a one minute PB on this course. It just confirms I am NOT a sprint athlete as I am not fast enough with the swim and run legs, though it’s great to be able to race a girl who has the potential to be on top of the world one day, and she’s a nice one at that.

After the race was done and dusted it was off to the races for lunch and finished the night off with the rodeo. Well let’s just say finished off Sunday morning at 5am after dancing all night at the concert in the dust!

Now to get strict, put my head down and focus hard on the next 6 weeks of training with some racing in order to get prepped for my trip to the USA.

Special thanks to Sally Eales for my ticket to the luncheon at the races and the VIP treatment at the rodeo, Margie for another amazing weekend away and needless to say this will be my last time at Julia Creek….. well that is til next April ;-)

Rachie xo

Dirt and Dust- Fred the mascot!

Race morning in the creek

My old friends Thelma (Deb) & Louise (Jess)

Toilet frogs!!!!

Naturally Beautiful with OSHE

I am very excited to announce a new sponsor. OSHE is a local company here in the Northern Rivers area (specifically Bangalow) owned by a lovely lady by the name of Annie Rogers. Annie was kind enough to get in contact with me, enthusiastic to help me along my athletic career. Upon meeting with Annie not only was her passion for her work in the area of skin and body care evident but also her desire to give back to the local community. All her products are natural and organic, free from harmful chemicals.

My skin is something that is continually neglected with my busy lifestyle. I spend plenty of time & money tending to my body in the means of physiotherapy or massage (and self dry needling!!!), maintaining and replacing equipment and of course training, but skin care has been one of the last things on my to-do list. Your skin is your largest organ and with the amount of exposure and damage I constantly put it through day to day it’s amazing mine is still alive. From the sun to chlorine to sun to salt water to sun and rarely replacing the moisture that is constantly behind sucked out of it…. Annie is helping me make a change to this!

I highly recommend that you take a look at Annie’s website and products. You can see that a lot of time has been devoted to making a skin care regime as simple as possible but very specific to different skin types out there. www.oshe.com.au

On another note, I am taking a little sabbatical from racing- No I’m not injured! May to the end of the year looks to be shaping up to be on hectic period. So from now until May I have decided to go back to balancing full time Physio work and fitting in as much training as I can around it. I’ve done this well in the past and during those times actually raced some of my best races so I’ll be very interested to see what happens. Next up will be Busselton 70.3 early May. Until then,

Rachie xo

Still not an Ironman!

So back at Wellington airport where I last wrote my blog. What a disappointing trip to NZ. Okay- so I did have a lovely time with my wonderful homestay family- Anna, Jon & Harrison Winn. They kindly opened their home to me during my stay in Taupo- ferried me around to multiple race briefings/ meetings/ bag drops/ bike drops/ bike pick ups/ to the swimming pool and kept me entertained with their son Harrison (4) who has more than enough energy to do an ironman himself.

I arrived late Wednesday night and went to bed. Got up Thursday and did a couple small training sessions and attended race briefing. This is when we first learned of the so-called ‘weather bomb’ scheduled to hit Taupo on Friday night and continue into Saturday which was supposed to be race day. They were predicting wind gusts up to 120km/ hr which had potential to stir up lake Taupo and in turn cancel the swim portion of the race. Atmosphere was tight and we were called back on the Friday afternoon for a weather report and what the decision would be in regards to the Ironman on Saturday: which was the Ironman was to be cancelled and in its place a 70.3 would be raced on the Sunday. Same prize money & same Kona points would be on offer for the pros. This meaning I would now be eligible for Kona as NZ 70.3 would classify as an ironman! I didn’t know what I should be feeling about the fact that the race I’d been training for the past 9-10weeks was now not going ahead, and as I’d race 2 long course triathlons in the last 4weeks I lost all pre-race nerves and anxiety about Sunday’s event. I shouldn’t have……

Sunday saw a large improvement in the weather conditions but the cold remained. Lake Taupo was still quite choppy and had dropped in temperature down to 15 degrees. I was still quite prepared for a chilly bike ride having packed a vest, arm warmers and kindly been loaned gloves from a friend. Race start was a late 7:45am which meant I could sleep a little longer and set up in daylight as well as get a longish run warm up pre race. I am not a fan of pro men and women starting together which was the case on Sunday but wasn’t going to be for the ironman. I think that the strong female swimmers love it but when it’s still a work in progress for me I usually suffer with it. Cannon went off and I quickly lost touch with the first and second packs and was swimming in no-man’s land with a pro male tapping my feet for the entire 1.9km- it took me over 30mins (when the last two races with 2km swims have taken me under!) and I came out in 6^th place. Rushing T1 to try and get dry clothes onto wet limbs, I left the gloves behind and set out on my bike. The wind was still present but not in the slightest of ways it was the day before. I was about 2mins down on Kate Bevalaquia but the others were out of sight and I had a pro female about 1min down on me. All was going ok during the ride, there were some large male age group packs out on course but seeing the TO’s were giving 3min penalties on the spot meant that the few that were out there, remained stationary for 3mins every time a penalty was given meaning the drafting was pretty rampant. Eventually the two girls behind me were dragged up and at 60/65km I kinda hit the wall and the wheels on my race began to fall off. Trailing by a minute or so into T2 things just went from bad to worse during the run leg. The legs wouldn’t turn over; I lost more and more time and had one of the most disappointing run splits I’ve had in a long, long time. Energy/ nutrition weren’t a root of the cause and I can’t explain why this happened. Potentially too much of a taper and not doing enough in the lead up, potentially all the training over the past couple of months and two races compounding to complete fatigue. Either way, hard- arse here preserved as always making sure the finish line was crossed, in a very unfashionable way. We won’t go into times, I was 8^th pro female, but we won’t talk about overall placing either. All I can say is thank-god it wasn’t an ironman!!!!

Thankfully good mates of mine from Lennox were also in town: Luke and Lisa- Luke being my training buddy who did his should one week out from the race and Lisa who started the race was kicked in the face in the swim and ended up pulling out with a black eye! So in essence it could have been much worse. We went out for multiple drinks Sunday night to wallow in our self-pity- not really, lots of laughs and I went to bed feeling much better thanks to them.

So to set another goal, realign my focus and move forward I will definitely be heading to Singapore next week to compete in the 70.3. I’m excited to get back there and see my 2^nd family the Smiths and race somewhere hot and humid which I know suits me far better. After that a little bit of down time from the racing side of things to train my butt of for a couple of months before planning a longer overseas trip.

Rachie xo

En route to TAUPO!!!

Well it’s almost here. It seems like yesterday I caught up with my new coach Grant to plan my start to 2012. I had been training with him for about 2months at that stage and seen my flat mate finish off an Ironman block and lead 90% of the men’s race at Ironman Busselton. I had severe race envy that day tracking friends through that race and also Phuket 70.3, which is probably my favourite race in the world.  So I set about thinking which Ironman I would make my first. I didn’t have a lot of racing planned for early 2012. I thought that racing multiple heavy weights in the sport at Melbourne would leave quite a bitter taste in my mouth so looked abroad. New Zealand was first up on the IM calendar. Close to home, relatively cheap to get to and at almost the most ideal time of the year for me to race and recover from an Ironman in the lead up to my 70.3 season. 

Grant was enthusiastic that it was realistic, only ever giving people a 9 week ironman block- which meant starting exactly that 3 days later. I picked 2 long course races 2 and 4 weeks out from NZ which I wasn’t to back off for but use as purely prep for NZ. That was hard- one- putting the ego in the cupboard and not performing to the ability I know I have and two- physically so tough when you feel sub-average at trying to push through a 4+ hour race. However two 3^rd places and a little coin still weren’t bad results. If I can keep my run of 3^rd places through to Saturday I’ll be more than chuffed!

The block has been ideal. I think I called it quits during only one ride where the weather conditions of torrential rain became dangerous and sketchy. Aside from that and many other wet rides, exactly like what Taupo can put on race day, my training hasn’t missed a beat. Sure there have been days where I’ve been in a foul mood and rather than jump out of bed with a smile on my face, drag my tired, resisting body to Geroge my nesspresso machine, to push me out the door. A lot of the training has been egged on purely by scaring the hell out of myself of what’s to come this weekend.

This time last week I was on an emotional and mental rollacoaster, finding myself in the middle of my last long run in the cane fields screaming at the top of my lungs. It’s funny how all those feelings of apprenhension, nervousness and worry can be shifted in a single second.

So out riding with the crew on Saturday morning- last longish efforts/ longish ride before the taper. I had been training a lot with one of the other blokes; Luke, as him and his partner were both booked in for NZ IM too. Having raced it himself last year and done a few IMs before (and very well at that!) he’s been a great source of knowledge, encouragement and advice in the lead up. So we’d finished our session and were rolling easy for a little longer around the riverbank. It’s a narrow one lane road, but relatively quite with minimal traffic. We did however this morning encounter a big bus oncoming but as traffic doesn’t move quickly around here we were able to go single file onto the grassed shoulder to pass the bus. The boys manoeuvred around the bus a bit faster than me leaving a 10m gap. As I tried to close the gap up ahead a dog ran out between them and ran straight into Luke sending him over his handle bars- him one way, his bike another. I dodged the crash and stopped thinking that he’d landed on his back and seeing him get up straight away I thought- oh he’s ok, until he said ‘my shoulder’s gone’. A very large AC- joint disruption (well actually a grade 3 which is in turn a dislocation) and what I thought was potential a clavicle break (how it wasn’t I’ll never know) and all he could say was ‘there goes 10weeks of training’. In that second my fears were replaced by the appreciation of the privilege that I still get to race this weekend and how unfair it was that someone who had trained just as hard as me (if not harder as Luke holds down a full time job as well!) as well as safely and cautiously, doesn’t. So since then I have wrapped myself in cotton wool and changed my mental state within my race prep.

I know Saturday will be the hardest race I have ever done, although let’s just say I’d much rather be doing an Ironman than racing that Abu Dhabi race again. There will be a point I’ll reach which will be the most further I have ever swam, ridden and ran before- this will be my first marathon too! So aside from finding some deep down inside to get me through it, I know someone will be spectating that would have given anything to have been out there as well.

So that’s about it. I’m at Wellington airport en route to Taupo to stay with a home stay Anna and Jon Winn, thank-you for opening your home to me. Tomorrow is a pretty busy day with training, massage, rego, briefing and trying to get some recovery and sleep in there. Friday a little bit of moving and racking the stead and then all set to go Saturday. Only 8 pro girls on the start line, but a pretty stella one at that. I am the last seeded pro- being the rookie! Prefer to fly under the radar.

New race suit printed and ready to go, however with the wet forecast with a temperature range of 9-14 degrees it may be covered most of the day so I don’t freeze!

So I will report back when I am an ironman (hopefully!!!!)

Oh and thanks G-banger! Game on ;)

Rachie xo