You know that feeling of nervous excitement?! You don’t know if you want to smile or throw up in a nearby bush… That was exactly where I was coming into Sydney. Training had been interrupted by various niggles and I felt I needed another couple of good training blocks before taking on the girls in the big league.

Also a total lack of smaller races or hit outs left me question where my form really was at. But anyways, racing Sydney it was, and I realized I just had to make the most of whatever was to be found in the body.

We couldn’t have asked for a more scenic course or better weather. It was one of these perfect Sydney days with a clear high blue sky, yellow autumn leaved and lots of excitement in the air. The boys were on their last lap on the bike as I made my way into the athletes lounge positioned underneath the steps of the opera house. A light jog with some drills, some cheering for the boys and last advice from the coach before I made my way down to the water and a warm up. High 21 degrees with a clean clear/blue color –quite impressive for a being a major harbor with lots of traffic!

The world kind of stops when you hear the words “athletes take your marks!”… The mind clears everything out – the muscles tense up and the machinery is ready to go. The gun always comes close after and suddenly you are away in an ocean of arms, bubbles and bodies. It’s quite an experience and if it wasn’t for the effort of getting to the first buoy as fast as possible it probably would be quite a cool outlandish experience. For me it’s a matter of do or die. If I screw it up here I might find myself left behind for the remaining of the race.

I managed to find a flow in my swimming and even if I got tangled up a bit on the first buoy I was able to repair whatever damage was made and found myself nicely tucked into the pack. Unusual to WCS races the pace on the bike was never really high and already on the first lap I could tell everyone was going to end up together. Something that would not only be to my disadvantage but also quite dangerous on the Sydney course.

My main focus was to stay out of trouble, get the fluids down and make sure I had a good run into T2. Something I actually did manage very well! I was first into the tricky bit under the opera house which meant I would also be first off my bike and have a clear run into transition area. Reckon I scored some points from mr Coach there!

As running was a bit of an unknown chapter I just try to relax and follow my feet. They had a pretty good idea of what speed they wanted to keep and I found myself leading the pack up the first hill. Listening to the breathing behind me I knew I had a BIG pack on my heels. Coming up on the Cahill expressway we hit a big headwind and I slipped in behind Moffat and Bennet who took over at the front.

“Rhythm Lisa…relax and find your rhythm.”

My breathing started to feel strained and I had the early signs of a tight chest/stomach cramps that I get when I go out harder than what I am conditioned for. Eventually towards the 2nd half of the 2nd lap I was forced to take down the pace. It was either that or run myself into a breakdown a’la Washington last year. I dropped back in the field but my body had time to recover and I got back to breathing through my belly and relaxing the ribcage. Once I regained a nice rhythm I could pick up the pace again and catch up most places that I had lost. Unfortunately not the first four girls; Moffat, Riveros, Hewitt and Adashi who was too far up the road. Instead I found myself running with the next group consisting of Haskins, Harrison, Roberts and myself. Knowing Kate from training and her last race in Mooloolaba I knew she was in some good from and would be hard to beat. I also knew I had to try to go with her in the last downhill section to try and drop Haskins and Harrison. When she then put in a surge trough the last roundabout I didn’t have the legs to respond.

I thought…

Coming in to the blue carpet I was still in contact and found her easing up a bit. Having lost so many sprints last year I really didn’t want to give away another one. Even if it “only” was for 5th place.

I sped up and the legs responded well, the momentum carried me past Kate and over the finish line.

5th place is not a podium but it is not a bad result. I love winning and I love podiums… So this was good for me in many ways. I know my fitness isn’t way off where it needs to be. And I’m now really hungry to move up in the results lists! Give me some more weeks of training and bring on Seoul!

Best thing is happiness doesn’t always have to come from your own succesees. Sometimes it is just as nice to share someone elses… like miss crazy chicka Barb’s…

THANK YOU to CATARINA AXELSSON for taking so beautiful photos!