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