Rainbow Beach Double Triathlon and QTS # 1 Raby Bay Triathlon

Race - QTS # 1 - Raby Bay Triathlon - 17th September 2017
​Race Result - Female Race Winner - 14th Overall

Race Report
This first race of the Queensland Gatorade Triathlon Series was defiantly a season opener and a great way to finish the school term. After a week of exams, I was so excited to compete and focus on something I enjoyed. 

Swim
In the swim I was following a bit of a zig zag, not making my worst leg any easier but was able to stay within 30 seconds of the leaders (also thanks to the wetsuit). The canal is good to swim in as it doesn't get too choppy, unless you run into a boat, which I nearly did. But non the less it was a god swim. My first transition was slow as usual, but the effort of removing the wetsuit made it even slower. But hey, you live and you learn. 

Cycle
On the bike I dug in deep to maintain third and catch up the girls in front. The tail wind on the way out was great out of transition and the little rise half way through the lap was definitely an advantage for me. I was able to gain a place by the end of the third lap, putting me in second and putting more time into the girls behind. Into the headwind I used my gears (Toby would be proud) and was able to find the goldilocks gear into the headwind, which helped me immensely. 

Run
Off the bike I was within 45 seconds of the leader, so I went for it on the first lap of the run. To be honest I probably went too hard in that first lap. Although, I was trying to catch the $250 in front of me, so I had a lot of motive. Luckily, my legs held strong and I was able to get into first before the end of the first lap and just hold off second place. It was a good, tough race. 

The rest of the SCTA / Protector Aluminium athletes did awesome and there were countless top three places from SCTA in each age group. Congratulations to all that raced! The hard off season work is paying off. 

Thanks to Mizuno for the shoes that carried me on the run once again and Vorgee for the epic goggles. Shout out to Unique Health Products for supplying the pre and post race nutrition to keep me going. I live for those CLIF bars and gels. And of course thanks to all the SCTA sponsors for supporting the club.

Walking to the race start this morning and listening to the motivational music, smelling the coffee and eggs and hearing Toby and Noel commentate again made me realise how much I have missed the atmosphere and excitement of racing. 

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Race - Rainbow Beach Double Triathlon - 2-3rd September 2017
​Race Result - Female Race Winner

Race Report
The only way to describe rainbow beach triathlon was 'great fun'. The weekend was full of great experiences right from packing the bags to the trip home. It was the first time I've raced without my main crewman dad, so it was up to me to be a bit more independent.

Race # 1 - Saturday
The Saturday was good to blow out the cobwebs and open up the weekend of racing. Although I was one of the last off the line, my swim was unexpectedly strong and I was second out of the water by 7 seconds. This was a major confidence booster for me. My mount onto the bike was slow and ungraceful (due to my lack of practice and bike skills), but non the less the past few weeks of hard hills and long rides proved useful and I was able to get into first, putting a large gap into second place. On the run I tried to relax, despite the gruelling hills. The hill work we had been doing up point Cartwright also proved helpful as I was able to extend my lead. I ended the Saturday on a high.

​Race # 2 - Sunday
My pre-race routine from last year still proved worthy as it set me up well for both the Saturday afternoon and again on the Sunday morning when I went through the motions. Thankfully, not everyone on Saturday raced on Sunday so the field wasn’t as stacked, but again it was a good race. The choppy swim, bumpy ride and hilly run made me appreciate every other course I’d done. Everyone who raced enjoyed the laid back vibes and the atmosphere was great. All the SCTA crew did awesome and congratulations to everyone that raced.

Shout out to the SCTA boys took out the top three places for the fastest overall males. The SCTA crew had a great bonding time being cooped up in a small house together and many new friendships and creative nicknames were made.

I would like to thank Vorgee for supplying the awesome race goggles, Mizuno for the flying new kicks, Unique Health Products for the nutrition (CLIF bars, nuun, CLIF bloks and CLIF gels), that kept me going throughout the weekend and all the SCTA sponsors for giving me this opportunity as the 2017/18 scholarship recipient and for supporting the crew. All in all it was an awesome weekend to start the 2017/18 season.