Part 1:
For those of you that follow me on social media, you’ll know I’ve already made the yearly migration
to the Wizard training base in Vitoira-Gasteiz, Spain to escape the Australian winter. My trip last year
was unfortunately cut short, but this year I’m making up for it by spending longer here than ever
before (hopefully).
I write this as I’m on the plane to my first German Bundesliga of the season and honestly, travelling
again is about as riveting as I remember, but it’s surprising how quickly you can slide back into
familiar patterns.
I’m definitely looking forward to racing in Germany again, I’ve always had a good experience there
and it’s a good way to get back into racing without the pressure of ITU racing.
This weekend will actually mark my third race for the season as I competed in two Basque races last
weekend in Getaria and Bermeo. If there’s one thing I can say about the Basque is that they sure
love their hill climbs on the bike! Both were sprint distance races and both essentially took you out
of the water then straight up. And by straight up I mean the climb in Getaria was 3km long, before a
fun descent then easing off into the finishing flats. That didn’t even come close to the bike course in
Bermeo. Never climbed a mountain in a race before but I was greeted with a course that went; 6k
up- 6k down- U-turn at the bottom and go back up again. Annnnnd back down the other side. To be
fair, both courses had the most beautiful views at the top, although to be less fair, I didn’t get a lot
of time to appreciate it.
For me, the aim of both races was just to get back into the swing of racing again, trying to focus on
fast starts, urgency in transition, keeping the pressure on on the bike (which the courses actually
helped a lot in that respect) and then seeing how I felt on the run. I was happy with how both races
went and pleased to report I got the win in both, as well as being the first girl in the 13 year history
of the race in Bermeo to beat the boys to the line, with the males being given a 10 minute handicap.
One of the best memories I will take away is the atmosphere of the crowds in Getaria. It felt like the
whole village came out to cheer on the competitors, and out of transition I couldn’t hear myself
think. But it was the final kilometre to the finish line through the twisting old school streets of
Getaria, where the stone buildings are built right up to the road with the narrow cobblestoned
streets that will one of the coolest experiences I have had the opportunity to be involved in. So many
people packed themselves into the tiny space and it felt a little tour-de-france esque with the
crowds encroaching in as you ran though. Absolutely loved it!
Besides racing, I’ve also had the chance to experience a bit more the Basque lifestyle after staying
with local triathlete, Esti for the last three weeks. A massive thank you to her for everything and for
basically doubling my Spanish vocabulary. Although considering the extent of my vocab beforehand,
I would have been a little worried if I didn’t pick up on at least a little ;)
Part 2
I am now on my home from the Bundesliga team’s race in Buschhutten, Germany where I am
pleased to report that my team, TV Komet Lemgo claimed 3rd place. The race consisted of teams of
four athletes, beginning with a 4x 300m relay in a pool, with the first three members waiting for the
4th to finish their leg of the swim before all four immediately transitioned onto the bike. During the
bike leg, each team can only draft from their own team members, effectively becoming a team time
trial of 24km, before getting off and running 5x 1km loops. The finishing time is based on when the
3rd member of the team crosses the line, so only one athlete from each team can be dropped.
The other three members of my team consisted of youth and junior German athletes, whilst many of
the other teams consisted entirely of elite women so I knew it was going to be a hard race.
Fortunately, our team was chosen based on their ability to run fast so I knew if we could hold off the
other teams on the bike leg we were in with a good chance of a podium. As the strongest of the four,
it meant I had to do majority of the work on the bike, something I knew about well in advance. I was
actually really excited for the opportunity to push myself and not be able to hide; the other athletes
were relying me to push the bike and then keep pace during the run leg. We started off strong,
coming out of the swim in 3rd place, from there I was really happy with how well the girls worked on
the bike. The weakest cyclist was their best runner so I made sure to do her share of the work on the
bike as well as my own so that she would be fresh for a fast run. We managed to hold off the
advances of the teams behind and came off the bike still in 3rd place with the team including Anne
Haug and Sophia Saller not far behind. I let the girls set the pace for the first lap so I knew how they
were feeling and then from there just made sure to keep the pace up when it started to drop, by the
last lap we were down to 3 athletes with Anne and Sophia’s team closing in, but with a bit of
encouragement and some slight pushing (an acceptable and expected way of helping the struggling
athletes in the team) we held off to take 3rd behind some strong teams. Whilst it’s not a major race,
it was a nice indicator of my current form and shows I’m heading in the right direction in my return
to racing. I know I still have a long way to go, but I’m pleased with the progress.
My next race will be another local Basque race in Gorliz.
Tamsyn