Auckland and Gold Coast Recap

Well since I last wrote both Auckland and Gold Coast have taken place,

And for different reasons I am quite happy with each race.

WTS AUCKLAND

WTS GOLD COAST

 I shall begin with Auckland since it came first,

Last year this race had been one of my worst.

This year I really knew what I was getting myself into,

And felt prepared for the steep hills we would do.

Race week it was nice our squad didn’t have a long way to go,

All we had to do was hop on a ferry with our bikes in tow.

Leading up to the race there was quite a bit of inclement weather,

But I don’t think our race conditions could have been better.

For the swim I had picked an end position to have clean water,

I got out with the front pack, keeping my legs in a constant flutter.

It was awesome knowing we’d found faster and made quite a gap,

Unfortunately, the chase pack still caught us the third lap.

Feeling really in control for the entire ride,

I felt this was a bike I raced smart and in that I took pride.

With my Brooks PureFlow I got out and onto the run with the front group,

To start doing 4 times the 2.5 kilometer run loop.

 I don’t really know when I knew I was going to be on the podium again,

I was just trying to keep the run easy for as long as I possibly can.

Knowing that girls were coming up behind me reeling in their bate,

It was awesome getting to high five Tommy as I came down the final straight!

And having my sister in law, Barbara was also really sweet,

Especially since it was her 30^th birthday, it made it extra neat.

We celebrated by going to the Sky Tower for dinner,

Followed by Giapo’s ice cream, always a winner!

 

NEXT STOP

TO GOLD COAST WE HOP

Then onward we went to Gold Coast to race,

Spoiler alert, I ended up in third place!

I was able to start all the way to the right,

Therefore I never had to be part of the fight.

Thank you Wybrand Du Toit for the awesome pictures!

 I got passed near the end of the first lap by a few,

So just got in position to stay on their feet during lap two.

I came out of the water with the leaders,

And together we began the 40 kilometers.

This bike was deceivingly hard and I didn’t feel great,

Sometimes finding myself in the dangling position I hate.

But throughout the ride I could #seehappy through my SPY glasses,

Holding on to put time on the athletes chasing in masses.

However I had a good spot coming into transition,

Unfortunately shoe application is not where I glistened.

I had a hard time putting on my shoes and came out of T2 a bit behind,

I tried to get into a groove but it was hard to find.

Wybrand Du Toit

This wasn’t a feel good race at all,

My goal was to hit the finish line before I hit the wall.

I tried to stay close to my teammate Sarah True,

So that I could finish on the podium too!

Thank you Korupt Vision for the photo!

Last year at London WTS Gwen and Sarah went 1-2,

And I knew if I had been healthy being on the podium was something I could also do.

I wanted to be a part of an all-American podium sweep,

The fact I got to be a part of it at this race makes me want to leap!

Such a cool experience to listen to our national anthem play,

With all three of us proud to be a part of the U.S.A.

My Off the Front Multisport and Team Psycho teammates also did quite well,

The women’s U.S. is on fire if you can’t tell.

And in other news my Coeur girls are dominating all over the place,

Now I am off to Cape Town, South Africa for the next race!