Recapping 2013

My 2013 Triathlon season started with, in the back of my mind a huge personal goal. Do ironman WA.

I was excited for the long year ahead as for the first time I had a coach (bonus, I actually have two) Kate Bevilaqua and Guy Crawford and some real triathlon related goals.

I wanted 2013 to be my year and wanted to give it a real crack which meant dedication.

It started off with a simple program to get into the routine of training again and making sure this worked and balanced with everyday life - work, family, new puppy, my house! 

Having understanding coaches who work programs around your life and appreciate sometimes triathlon just has to come second was important to me and this balance and understanding proved successful.

I was excited to get my first program.

Kate had me doing some ATTA time trials, something I had never done before and found this intimidating. Surprisingly I actually quite liked these and really started enjoying the bike, especially as the start of the year I found myself with a late Christmas pressie, my new Trek Speed concept, which I LOVE!! WAMC runs also featured in my program and again, I loved these.

My main training group were the boys, Andy, Mark, Jono, Sean and Mark, and of course Kate and Guy. The days spent training with these guys were always more enjoyable and had many laughs.

My early 2013 season consisted of:

01.04.2013 – ATTA 80km TT

                         2.17.52.                                 35.6km Avg.                                         5^th Female

21.04.2013 – Goldfields Classic OD

                         2.16.34 – Swim 24.03 Bike 1.10.27 Run 42.04                            3^rd Female OA

                     - Karri Valley Long Course

                         3.21.13 – Swim 27.09 Bike 1.56.15 Run 57-51                            1st female 18-24 AG

I celebrated my 24^th Birthday with the:

11.05.2013 – Busselton 70.3

                         4.51.34 – Swim 30.40 Bike 2.35.43 Run 1.41.10                        4^th female 18-24 AG  27^th Female OA

I was really looking forward to Busselton but due to a slight foot injury unfortunately found myself water running 5 weeks out. On race day missed nutrition on the bike caused me to struggle through the run but I was pleased with a PB. I also learnt the importance of getting nutrition right, which was important in IM.

A break after Busselton saw me travel to Cairns to watch Andy finish his second Ironman, Ironman Cairns which inspired me for my own IM in just under 6 months’ time.

When we arrived home after a holiday in Port Douglas winter had hit. Kate and Guy had left for America, Andy had finished his IM and I was doing a lot of training solo. Dark mornings, cold, wet and lonely. But that's IM.

I had further ATTA TT’s and WAMC events in my schedule:

14.07.2013 – ATTA 20km TT Champion Lakes

                                33.30 – 35.km/h Avg.                                                          11^th Female

04.08.2013 – Pancake Run 15km

                                1.05.00 – 4.20 Avg.                                                             7^th Female & 26^th OA

01.09.2013 – Lake Gwelup 10km

                                41.22 – 4.08 Avg.                                                                 1^st Female. 10^th OA

06.10.2013 – Fremantle Half Marathon 21.1km

                                1.26.36 – 4.05Avg                                                               3^rd Female. 30^th OA

The Freo Half Marathon was the day I realised I wanted to win. I was so competitive in my head. I wanted to be number one! I ran hard, it was windy and it hurt! I also realised I had gained some mental strength.

I had learnt to push through my body issues with an ongoing injury and not let this stop me anymore as it has done for all my runs so far.

October is still my highlight and from here to this day have been the most exciting months of my life!

Mid Oct I had my usual Thursday 45min run, but today was different. Andy took me to work, picked me up and he decided we would run at South Perth. After a measly 2km he was 'tired' and told me he would meet me back at the car. To my surprise, as I had nearly completed my run and at the car I passed Andy on the foreshore with a little picnic. And a short 10 mins later I was proposed to!! We left the next day to Singapore for a short weekend trip. Don't worry, Kate knew all about it and I still had some short training sessions to do!! 

From here Mandurah 70.3 was round the corner.

10.11.2013 – Mandurah 70.3

                                4.39.51 - Swim 27.05 Bike 2.32.48 Run 1.35.39              1^st 18-24                          11^th Female OA

I also qualified for Kona, Ironman World Championships, which was so exciting, but scary as I had not yet finished, let alone started an ironman! I gained some real, real confidence. I was IM ready, bring it on. 

I was a little sick before ironman, and still am a moth after the race. 

08.12.2013 – Ironman Western Australia

                                10.00.57 - Swim 101.30 Bike 5.23.53 Run 3.30.24         1^st 18-24                           18^th Female OA

I achieved my goal at ironman. I finished in 10.00.57 and was 1st female 18-24. I wanted a top 3 split for the swim, bike, run in my age and finished with the 2nd fastest swim and fastest bike and run splits. 

I wanted a top 20 female age group place and finished 18^th  female overall! This also qualified me for Kona but since I took my spot at Mandurah this rolled down to second place.

Lastly, I finished of the year with two age group course records at both Mandurah 70.3 and Ironman WA which is pretty awesome!! The icing on the cake. Speaking of, I ate plenty of this for the following few weeks after IM, regaining some much needed fat on my now super skinny frame. I eat like an elephant so the Christmas period was perfect timing and I ate my way through all sort of awesome food.

After trading my one piece for a bikini, no lycra or a pair of running shoes on since I crossed that finish line the four days after the 26th December found me in some pain! More so than IM!

GKEndurance had organised a small training camp for some athletes including myself, Andy, super Ruth and of course Kate and Guy. This consisted of PAIN! I didn't even train like this for IM.

This was followed with the WAMC New Year’s Eve fun run where I participated in the 4km.

31.12.2013 – New Year’s Eve Run 5km

                                15.39 -   5^th Female             3.55Avg

As I took off I thought I was going to die!! Every single little muscle ached and I thought my quad was going to explode!! But it was fun. Kind off.

I was spent after and 2 weeks later I think I'm still trying to recover!

I am back training now and hope to regain some speed for the next race, Challenge Melbourne in just a few short weeks. 2nd February. Stepping up an age group, mixing it with the big girls!! Bring it on!!!

Mandurah 70.3

Race day was finally a few days away & was the most calm i have ever been during race week. Excited actually!! Really excited! Ready to R n R.
Andy and i packed Friday night, with Henry our boxer pup 'unpacking' for us as he picked things up, out of the room and ran outside with them.
A good nights sleep found me waking up early as usual so I got my pre ride and run done before heading off at lunch time to Mandurah.
Checking into transition it was hot!! Tomorrow was going to be tough!!

Race morning.

Transition done, wetty on, good luck kiss from my now fiancé! and off to the swim start with Kate, Mum and Dad feeling excited. I had a quick chat to Guy before I entered the water and wasn't really nervous but felt a big expectation on my shoulders due to a bit of pressure I had put on myself. I have never stood at a start line with my personal goal to win my AG although the ultimate goal was to get a good hit out for Busso IM, but i wanted to be first!!



I positioned my self just behind some quick toes for the start. The gun went and we were off. It was fast and I pushed hard to get some clear water before the leading 5-6 girls pulled away. A good, comfortable solo swim and i has happy to exit up those stairs with out stacking it. I reached transition with one girl in my age at her bike. I had a quick friendly 'chat' before cya… i was out of there leaving T1 to my 'screaming' fans, Mum and Dad!!
I pushed hard out. It was windy. Real windy. I was thankful to reach the turn around and to have a tail wind pushing me on the return. At one point I could see this lanky giraffe running in the distance… it was Guy and he cheered me on!! The turn around heading out onto the second lap was great and again lots of support which i appreciate so much. The second lap, more pain out, joy back :-)



I ran though T2 like there was no tomorrow!! Put my shoes on to run out but quickly realised i had collected some prickles in my socks and wiped them off to clean them out!!
I felt good on the run straight away. Comfortable and in the zone. It was hot though and I really felt that. Water, Ice, water. I think the aid stations where my highlight!! By the second lap I still felt strong so I just went for it, trying to finish strongly. I heard a motorbike next to me, initially seeing the bike from the corner of my eye thinking they are keeping an eye on me for drafting. After remembering I was on the run I realised they where filming me running and i felt a little like a rock star!! Seeing Kate and Guy with 2km's to go was great. Im so grateful to have them cheering me on and I loved every second of their support.

It felt like forever running up the small return before heading down to the finish line but i could not stop smiling!!!
First in the 18-24 AG with a 4.39.51 and proud to be 4th Female amateur across the line today. Super, super stocked!! And yes, a spot to Kona which i quite happily took. :-)



I went straight through the recovery area out to find my mum and dad an other family friends that came down to support. Its their support that is the highlight for me and gets you through these tough days. I will never forget how proud my mum n dad were as they ran looking for me to give me a huge hug!! It was awesome :-) Then time to cheer on Mark, Andy and Kate. :-) A long day in the sun!!

Andy had a great race getting back into some training after many months off after IM Cairns. My twinny 2nd with a spot to Kona also and my sister finished her half in a great time. I'm super happy for her. My remaining IM training buddies had a great day and thanks to Jono, Sean and Macca for pushing me on these training days which reflected in my race result today!! 
GKE. awesome coaching, awesome training, awesome friends = awesome result. Couldn't be happier :-)