Monday, April 16, 2012

Bronze Sydney World Triathlon Series

Another podium to complete a great start to my 2012 season by running my way to another bronze medal after claiming bronze in Mooloolaba a few weeks back.
The day began with a wetsuit swim, 9th position out of the water and onto the bike in a large pack of athletes. I had one of my slowest bike-run transitions, so it took about 1k for me to make contact with the front runners of the race once I got my running rhythm. It is always hard at this time of the year to feel great at the start of the run. I have a lot of running km's in my legs but not so much of the fast stuff yet, so I was excited to be in the top 3 at the 5km mark half way through the run. Erin Densham AUS is in particularly good form for this time of year; I haven't seen that type of racing from her since 2007/2008. Helen Jenkins GBR was too strong on the final lap also. I wore the new Adidas Adizero Hagio, bright yellow shoes, which felt light and kinda bouncy because of it's soft sole. They were a good choice on this course with a lot of false flat running.
My highlight of this inner city Sydney course is racing in front of the Sydney opera House. In 2010, 2011 and now 2012 with great results SILVER, BRONZE, BRONZE, very pleased!
This first World Triathlon Series race doubled as the final qualification race for the New Zealand Olympic Triathlon Team. All other NZ women finished outside the Top 8 which was the automatic selection criteria. Now it is up to the selectors to choose the best team. Congratulations go to Kris Gemmell who qualified his spot on the NZ men's Olympic team with his 7th place.