It’s come to end of another awesome summer with heaps of great times to look back on! Most recently was winning the Motatapu Xterra which was my first off road triathlon and first race of that length. I wasn’t sure what to expect or how I would handle the race but I am pretty happy with how it went. After the 2km swim I was feeling very average on the mountain bike and was lucky my legs came to life again on the run. This was definitely my favourite part and my Merrell Bare Access shoes felt awesome, they are definitely the best trail shoes I’ve had.

Crossing the finish line and holding up the tape was pretty cool, and winning some prize money was a bonus, I was fizzing. I had done the MTB 3 times as a junior and after deciding at the end of last year to make the switch from cross country MTB racing to triathlon, it seemed like the perfect challenge.

I have loved competing in my first season of triathlon over the past few months. It was a hard decision at the time to switch focus from MTB to triathlon as I had some fantastic support from the NZXC Torpedo7 academy team. What I learnt from the team has no doubt transferred into triathlon racing. Training for triathlon has so much variety and I really enjoy having more people to train with in the way of swim squad and running. I spent a couple of months in Wanaka working and training over December -January which was great. There is no place I’d rather be with great people to train with, hot weather and scenic places to go in every direction.

In Jan and Feb I competed in three of the National Sovereign Triathlon series races in the 20-24 age group. These races were great fun and I learnt so much from them all, there is definitely a lot I can improve on for the future. All of these races had some good competition which I find really exciting and motivating after MTB racing where there are often very small fields, especially in the girls. I came 1st in the South Island Champs in Wanaka, 1st in the National Standard Distance Champs in Wellington and 2nd at National Sprint Champs in Kinloch. These results combined meant I was age grouper of the year in this age group for the season.

It’s been a great few months and I am now really looking forward to Xterra nationals in Rotorua in April, followed by Mountain Running Nationals in Queenstown in May. Then getting stuck into the swim training over the winter! The main goal is to improve my swim and run up to a level where I can be competitive in elite triathlon.

For now, it’s back into Uni and fitting training in around it all. This is my third year of Physio School at Otago and so far it is pretty full on! If study allows I will aim for the Xterra world champs in Hawaii in October.

I couldn’t have done any of this without support from the Skeggs foundation, Torpedo7 (in particular the Dunedin store and Racers Edge in Wanaka), Devon the mechanic at T7 Dunedin, my parents, friends, family, coach Olly Shaw and now Tammy Reed. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!