Challenging China

Sorry to all those who looked out for my blogs over the last week. Both Facebook and my blog site are blocked sites in China, so I was unable to update you all.

I had a wicked time in Beijing, China at the Triathlon World Age Group Champs held in the county, Champing. We arrived one week before the race to check out the course and acclimitise to the conditions. The first few days we spent being tourists visiting Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall and my personal favourites, The Olympic venues: The Birds Nest and The Water Cube. I managed to sneak in a bit of shopping at the Silk Market also. 

Once up in Champing we struck extreme security measures being enforced by the Chinese. Entry to the venue was via one point only but access to that point was difficult due to road closures (even when racing wasn’t on) Our bags were scanned daily and our buses had police escorts.  

Training was interesting especially when we cycled 9km of the 10km course to then get turned around and made to go back because we weren’t allowed through the security check point. I was probably lucky as some of the other athletes were made to wait for two hours out on the cycle course while the Chinese athletes were training. 

The opening ceremony was a highlight. We walked down the centre of Champing (population of 1.6 million). The main street was blocked off and we were cheered on by about 50,000 locals. It felt so awesome, like we were royalty.

Race day was horrible. We woke at 4am to pouring rain and cold. The swim was non wetsuit as the water temperatue was 24°C. I started strongly with a great swim coming first out of the water. I learned after that my swim time was the fastest of all the other Sprint Age group athletes, both Male and Female. I felt strong on the bike and finished the bike alongside the American athlete who was a very strong runner. I felt my lack of running over the last 5 weeks especially in the last 2kms, but despite my stress reaction I finished 2^nd overall.

Congratulations to my fellow NZ athletes (Fran, Sam, Troy) in the 16-19 category.  We took out 2^nd and 3rd in the Men’s and Women’s division. 

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for their good wishes and congratulations. To my family who travelled with me to support me and to SUBWAY and BALANCE NUTRITION who supported me along the way and helped me to my second placing.