I have realised very quickly that Xterra triathlon is the branch of triathlon that I truly love! In the days leading up to the race the rain in Maui, and especially the northern tip of the island was tropical to say the least. People were riding the course trying to gain some knowledge to save those vital minutes on the technical sections and coming back with bikes and themselves covered in Maui mud from head to toe, but regardless of this there was one thing you could see on everyones face their big white teeth as they smiled through the mud! The race organiser (Big Kahuna Dave) kept saying welcome to the family, bit of an odd family, but Im happy to be part of it none the less.
So race day came, the days leading up the race had been much dryer but none of us knew whether the course would or wouldn't be the mud fest it had been in days gone. One thing we did know standing on the beach, was that the surf was really kicking!
Still every athletes smile seemed to get bigger, including mine, this was the first time I was competing in such a big race and I was so excited to start!! Off goes the cannon and the Pros rush forwards, soon to be smashed back by the wall of waves, "keep going under them I was saying to myself" Days before we had been practising the entries and exits into the water but the sea was a mill pond in comparison then. As I neared the last few meters I felt a wave building on my feet, here we go kick and surf it in like you'd practised! This did not go to plan, it completely swallowed me up and I didn't know which was was left, right, up or down and filled my new Zone3 Swim Skin with sand! After I'd recovered I excited the water in 18th position leading out the second group with some big bike names, perfect!
The bike is usually somewhere I make some places up so my goal of a top 20 finish was looking likely. Unfortunately my legs had other ideas! I was riding well but I just couldn't get the legs firing, I even remember shouting at my legs telling them to wake up! The bike course in Maui is Brutal the first 10 miles are basically all up hill in the baking heat, so I was so grateful for the Giant XTC's lightweight frame. Names that I would normally be catching and dropping were doing the same to me, but I just couldn't get into that race rhythm! The only positive I could really take out of the bike leg was that I knew my legs would be fresh for the run, I came off the bike in 29th with lots of work to do on the run to get that finish I wanted. I also knew that there were a few Brits ahead of me who I needed to catch! I hit transition and a quick change later, lo and behold my legs had turned up! I just had three miles uphill to get over first, the same first part of the bike course so I knew how tough this was going to be. I soon started to make my way through athletes, that was until Mr. Budgie Smuggler as I'm now calling him caught me! I continued going through the field but I could not catch this guy and I could not let him beat me, we came out onto the last 500meters onto the beach we had started the race and it was so hard running through the soft Hawaiian sand I could see him in front of me but just couldn't quite catch him. I entered the finishing chute to an amazing atmosphere and a place of 22nd.
As I said I had wanted a top 20 finish but for my first professional World Championships I was well chuffed with my race. This year was all about experience really which will hold me in good stead for next year where I will be back for a top 10 performance!
Finally as always and especially for this race, a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has supported me throughout this year, I really couldn't have done it without you! I was so humbled by the amount of messages that I received when I was out there, and everyone was appreciated. Finally a massive thanks to the sponsors that support me and I look forward to carrying on work with you next year;
As I said I had wanted a top 20 finish but for my first professional World Championships I was well chuffed with my race. This year was all about experience really which will hold me in good stead for next year where I will be back for a top 10 performance!
Finally as always and especially for this race, a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has supported me throughout this year, I really couldn't have done it without you! I was so humbled by the amount of messages that I received when I was out there, and everyone was appreciated. Finally a massive thanks to the sponsors that support me and I look forward to carrying on work with you next year;
- Racetime Events & Johnny Nicols
- Zone3 Swimskin
- Giant Advanced SL XTC
- Skechers Performance
- Torq Fitness
- Bike Science