As summer comes to a close here in Australia, I am slowly casting my sight overseas to the warmer countries. It isn’t long before I begin my trip to the other side of the world and I certainly am looking forward to it.

I have had a quieter summer of racing here in Australia as my focus has been to work on training, getting my body fit for the year of racing ahead. I feel that I have achieved this and I am very happy with my progress. The numbers on my TrainingPeaks (where I log my training) show that I am far fitter than I have been in previous years which gives me a lot of confidence leading into my upcoming events.

My three main races this summer have been Devonport Sprint Oceania Champs, New Plymouth World Cup and St Kilda Oceania Champs (Olympic distance).

Racing in Devonport has been a common theme over the past few years. The course there suits me quite a lot with a swim in the ocean that has the potential for some surf, a ride with a very steep hill and a reasonably flat run course. I returned back to Devonport in hope of repeating my win in 2016 and going one better than my last year’s second place finish.

My idea of a surf swim was almost non-existent on race day as the ocean was virtually flat. I was still able to get a quick start off the line and found myself rounding the swim turn buoys in first place. On the return back to shore I settled on another athletes feet to bring me back towards transition.

One thing I feel I have improved a lot on is my urgency to get through the transition area quickly, which is what I did in this race. I slipped my wetsuit off over my feet, put my helmet on and was out onto the bike in first. It wasn’t long before a front group formed on the bike and this group stayed the same for the 4 laps. Going up the hill was certainly steep (as expected) but my legs felt strong and I felt I was recovering well through the rest of the course. Onto the run and I quickly established myself towards the front of the race. It was me and fellow Australian, Brandon Copeland, running together as we extended our lead on the rest of the field. I felt relaxed and comfortable for the better half of the run but I couldn’t quite close out the race and finished in second, a result which I was satisfied with and which I feel shows the training I have completed.

Following Devonport I had about 5 weeks before heading off to New Plymouth, New Zealand, for my World Cup race. New Zealand is a country that I always love returning back to and I realise how much I love it once I am there. The field in New Plymouth was a bit stronger than that in Devonport since it was a World Cup. Like my race in Devonport, I had a strong swim and exited the water in the front group. There were about 8 of us in this group however we didn’t manage to hold off the fast moving chase pack. So our front group of 8 soon turned into a large group of about 25. Once that happened, my main priority of the ride was to make it through with doing as little work as possible to save my legs for the run. I made sure to maintain my position towards the front to avoid any casualties and came into T2 right where I wanted to be, at the front. It didn’t take long before there was a group of 8 of us running together on the run with a couple of athletes just off the front. We ran together as a group in anticipation for the final lap of the 3 lap run where we all knew it would be a big fight to the line. I tried to break the group with a couple of surges but it wasn’t enough as some of the stronger runners took off. I crossed the line in 8^th place which I was quite happy with. This is my best World Cup result to date and a great step forwards in my development.

My final main race of the summer and my most recent, St Kilda Oceania Champs, was one I was looking forward to because it is a race that is only 20 minutes from home in Melbourne. Once again my swim proved to be my strong point as I came out of the water in second position. We had a small gap on the rest of the field but once onto the bike the group turned into about 10. The bike course was really flat with straight roads which meant that everyone was exposed, including our group to the chasing group behind. After about 15 kilometres on the bike we were caught by the chasing group which made for a large peloton of about 30. I made sure to stay safe on the ride and dismounted into T2 towards the front. Out from transition I found myself in a leading pack of runners with about 6 others. I stayed with this group for most of the first lap of the run but fell off pace which meant running solo. I was able to hang tough and crossed the line in 5^thplace.

Now my preparations have begun for my overseas campaign of racing and training. The final weeks before leaving is always a bit frantic with trying to organise all the logistics of the travel making sure that everything is done before leaving. But I am excited to begin my trip in under 2 weeks, starting with a World cup race in Chengdu, China. From China, I will continue to travel through Asia into Astana, Kazakhstan where I will spend a couple of weeks training before competing in the Astana World Cup. This will be a fun experience and will satisfy my curiosity for different and interesting places. Following the Astana World Cup I will continue to my European base in Spain, Girona, where our training group will be living once again for the sunny Spanish weather.

I am yet to decide my European racing schedule with my coach but for now my focus and excitement is on my Asian World Cup races.

With the year of 2017 officially behind me, I am looking into 2018 with fresh eyes and a big motivation to achieve my new goals. At this time of the triathlon season, the main focus for me is to get through a ‘base’ phase of training that includes a few more hours of low-intensity work. I really find this time necessary as I feel that my body reacts well to this type of training and often find myself coming out feeling fit, strong and ready to tackle races.

I have now been in Girona, Spain for a little more than 2 months and there is no doubt that I am still loving it here. I find that it offers the perfect location to train. We have a nice 50m outdoor swimming pool and also the lake of Banyoles that is only a 15 minute drive away for open water swims. For riding, there are endless unused roads to choose from and the further you ride and more adventurous you choose to be, the more options you are presented with. Then for running we have some lovely forest trails to run along, all of which are gravel paths meaning the impact on the body is a little less harsh. Again, there are many run trails to find since the old train lines (known as the Carrilet) have been covered and turned into paths to use for pedestrians. So as you can imagine I am in no shortage for places to take my training to!

Obviously, I am not only here in Girona to train, I also have some races which I have been taking part in. My most recent trip was to compete in two races, one being the Tiszaujvaros (Tizzy) World Cup in Hungary and the other, the Astana Asian Cup in Kazakhstan.

My lead up into the two races came together quite well. I knew that Tizzy would most likely be a hot race and thankfully for me Girona had also been turning on the heat with temperatures usually reaching mid-thirties each day. With my coach Danielle, we had done some extra work on the bike since we felt that getting a bit stronger would also help me with my running off the bike. We had also been doing some open water swim sessions with the American triathletes from The Triathlon Squad (coached by Paulo Sousa). I found these sessions really helpful as they had some stronger swimmers that could help push the pace. I was happy with the work I had done in the weeks prior to my racing and was ready to get going!

This was my third time racing the Tizzy World Cup. The format of the racing in Tizzy is slightly different to the contemporary triathlon having a semi-final sprint distance race on Saturday and a final sprint distance (where the best 30 athletes from the semi’s race) on Sunday.

I was ranked second in my semi-final amongst some other strong swimmers. This was a good thing as it gave the potential for a swim-bike breakaway and since it was the semi-final I needed to finish inside the top 9 to secure my spot for the final. I had a fairly strong swim coming out of the water just off the front group of 4. Behind me there was a larger group which I eventually dissolved into. We all rode well together to catch the front group and came off the bike together as a group of 12. Onto the run my legs were feeling surprisingly good. I felt in control of myself and could work to establish a position near the front. Once I knew that I had my position secured all I needed to do was make it to the end. I crossed the line for my semi-final in 5^th position. I was happy with how I went, my body felt strong and I was excited to race on the Sunday for the final.

Out of both the days of racing, the final on Sunday was the one that I needed to perform best at. The post-race stiffness was quickly overcome by a light swim in the morning to wake myself up. Tizzy puts on the World Cup really well; each year there is always a massive crowd there to cheer the race on and this year was no different, which makes a great atmosphere and really motivates you.

Getting out quick in the swim was going to be crucial for the final since the first turn buoy was only 100m from the start pontoon. I had a clear start off the gun but as everyone converged towards the first buoy things started to get messy. I got held up a lot around the buoy and unfortunately this was the part which let down my swim sending me towards the back of the field. I exited the water and I could see that I wasn’t in an ideal position being in the second main group. Throughout the 20km of the bike, our group rode really well and each lap we saw the time gap to the front group slowly decrease. With 3km remaining on the bike we finally caught the front group and a moment of relief rushed through my body knowing that the race could be saved. I had a smooth transition from my bike to run and exited amongst the rush of other athletes. Through the first kilometre of the run I moved my way up towards the front of the field and soon established myself at about 5^th position. I was feeling comfortable with the pace that I had set and I concentrated on holding my form together. As I approached the halfway mark of the run I began to fatigue and slipped through the field a little. I tried to stay strong and hold myself together finishing up in 14^thposition as I crossed the line.

I was reasonably happy with how I performed. It was a solid outcome yet there was room for improvement.

From Tizzy I made my way over to an unfamiliar part of the world for me, Kazakhstan. I was actually really excited to be visiting Astana as it was somewhere that I had never been but I knew it would be very interesting. I had also done some Googling to see what I would expect, and the images of the city made me even more excited!

I arrived into Astana 4 days before the race which gave me plenty of time to settle into the new city and recover my body from my recent racing in Tizzy. My initial thoughts on the city were ‘wow’. Everything was so extravagant with the architecture having a slight futuristic feel to it, something which I anticipated from my recent research of the city. Moreover, the people in Astana were really friendly; they were always asking how I liked their city and whether I would come back which made me feel a like I fitted in a little more.

The race took place in Triathlon Park which had a purpose built running and cycling track adjacent to the Ishim River (which is where the swim for the race was).

My main objective for the race was to try and take it out hard in the swim and hope that I could form a small group to ride with and stay away from the rest of the field.

Since I was ranked number one, I could select my starting position on the pontoon. I went for the spot on the end which meant I only had one person next to me. I had a great start and could get into clear water straight away. I was able to stay out in front for the whole swim but I could tell that there were people close behind me, I just wasn’t sure how many there were. I came out from the water with a small lead on the next person and I soon realised that there were three of us that could form a group as we exited out of transition1.

We all worked hard through the initial stages of the bike to try and distance ourselves from the next group. I felt like I was pushing the pace and the hard work was paying off as we increased our lead up to 55 seconds. I had worked hard on the bike yet I still felt ready to execute the other third of my race. My body was feeling strong and I felt in control.

As I exited transition 2 I opened up a small lead to the other 2 competitors so I tried to extend my lead. I could maintain about a 15 second lead to the person behind me and continue through to the finish. It was a huge relief to cross the line in first and I was thrilled to be doing so.

I left Astana with happy memories. I had executed the race to how I wanted and as a result could win which was the plan. I had also really enjoyed my time in the new city and would love to return to race again next year if it fits into my race calendar!