For 2016/17, I decided on a season of short triathlons.   This was going to involve around 8 races and a fair bit of travelling.  But it was also a completely different mindset for training and racing!

 

My goal?  TO QUALIFY FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN EUROPE!!

Sprint  750/20/5

Standard 1500/40/10

 

EVENTS:

Moana Sprint

Canberra Sprint

Tasmania (Seven Mile Beach) Sprint

Canberra Standard

Tasmania (Devonport) Standard

  

followed by…… WORLDS IN ROTTERDAM IN SEPTEMBER!

Yep that’s right, I qualified.  And had a blast!!

I’d ended up having knee surgery in July – with the even in September – it was going to be close!  But I just needed to get around.  I was never going to win, so I just wanted to soak up the atmosphere.  

The event was a blast.  We had a holiday beforehand, travelling from London through France, Switzerland and Italy, before flying up to Amsterdam.  A few days there, and it was down to Rotterdam for the big show.  

After weeks of stunning weather, it broke, and we had rain and cold all the lead in days.   The course prep ride was miserable, rainy and freezing – but it was a ret insight into what was going to be a technical and challenging course as it was a combination of roads, footpaths, bike paths, bridges and cobblestones.   Quite the party! 

Transition was split – with T1 over near the swim on the other side of the river, and T2 near the finish line.  Race morning involved a long walk, a ferry and a long walk to T1 to check in gear (bike done the day before) and then a walk back to the swim.  

SWIM:  I was really happy I’d trained in the cold water at home as the water was a chilly 16 degrees.  Other than that, uneventful.  I did a PB in the swim, but the very long run t Transition as epic.

The bike was interesting.  It had stopped raining and was warming up, which was good as it wouldn’t have been pretty dangerous otherwise.

My rental bike went well, and then it was off on the run.  I had a few hiccups at the start with having left a get in my shoe…….

I took it easy as I’d not long had knee surgery, but it was a funny little run with multiple laps around a part.  The cobbles were hard to run on, but it was great day! 

On the plane on the way home, I thought, what now? click here to find out