Rounds 5 and 6 Kellogg's Nutrigian Ironwoman Series

I hope everyone had a fantastic Xmas and New Year break. I spent my first Xmas on the Gold Coast and was treated with the arrival of my boyfriend. 

On New Year's Day we hopped onto a plane and headed down to Newcastle in preparation for the final rounds of the Kellogg's Nutrigrain Ironwoman Series. 

The crowd turn out was the biggest yet and I can't begin to describe the elation I felt when I ran onto the start line! 

Round 5 was an M shape - 2 loop course. I had my best placing finishing in 11th place just missing out on my goal of finishing in the top 10. The girls started with a cracking pace in the swim leg followed by ski and board. 

Round 6 was an eliminator. After the board leg I ran through the first transition at the front of the chasing pack jumping on my ski with 6 other girls hot on my heels. Running into the swim I heard that there was 11 girls in the pack and that one of us was going to miss out. I swam my butt off but in the end I just missed the finishing wave leaving Emma Dick and I to run up the beach for 11th and 12th. 

Having mum, dad and Cody here to support and many other friends it was brilliant to share and celebrate the memories of finishing my first Kellogg's series. 

Congratulations to the overall series winners Liz Plumers and Ali Day it's so awesome to be racing against people like you. 

I gained a huge amount of experience and look forward to trying to qualify for the 2015/16 Nutrigrain series. 

I could not have raced the series without the support of friends and family back home, the people who donated money in my Dreamfunda campaign, Mairangi Bay and Northcliffe Surf Lifesaving Clubs. Lastly to my personal sponsors Pita Pit, Sonic Surf Craft NZ, JM Paddleboards and Rasdex. 

Bring on the rest of the summer. :) 

Rounds 3 and 4 at Surfers Paradise

Rounds 3 and 4 of the Kellogg's Nutrigrain Ironwoman series was tricky. The surf conditions weren't big but tricky enough to cause people a few problems. I gave each race my all but the girls over here are just so fast!! The racing over here is hugely different to back home. I am still gaining experience each race and enjoying it. Although I have finished at the back end in each race i have been in the mix a couple of times.
"Pack Racing" is a big learning curve. In NZ  there are always only about three or four of us going head-to-head but over here there is the whole field trying to get around the bouys at once!

At the end of round 3 it was Liz Plumiers, Maddy Dunn and Bec Creedy who stepped up onto the podium and in the men's Kendrick, Poole and Shannon.

Round 4 was awesome to watch Creedy take the win followed closely by fellow BMD Northcliffe team mate Harriet Brown and then Jordan Metcer. For the men we saw the "Professor" back on top of the podium after a strong performance in the men's race!

After 4 rounds I sit in 13th place!

Special mention yo my super awesome handlers Ben Cochrane and Chill! Also all the Northcliffe supporters and the kiwis back home trying to follow the results online. And to my personal sponsors Sonic Surf Craft, Pita Pit NZ, JM Paddleboards and Rasdex.

It was a tough one

The Kellogg's Nutrigrain Ironwoman series kicked off last weekend down at Smiths beach in WA.

I  had heard all about Smiths beach and how huge the surf was last year. So I expected the conditions to be rough. However we turned up to the beach and it was crystal clear completely dead flat water.

As a newcomer into professional iron racing I knew I was in for a tough few races. These girls are the best of the best in both Australia and the World. To race against them was an experience I will never forget. I still have so much to learn and experience.

Round one kicked off with the board leg followed by the swim and then the ski. M shaped course x 2 continuous. It was fast and tough. I was just out of reach of the main bunch and did most of the course by myself. Finished up 13th place.

Something about the number 13...  Not sure if it's very good luck.... Round 2  was an eliminator and started with ski followed by swim then board.  I was eliminated first round and finished. 13th again. This was one fast race.

I can't wait for the next race at surfers paradise in a few weeks.

Looking back on the last 7 months:

When I look back on Aussie titles last year I didn't even make the iron final. I now look how far I have come in the last 7months - winning 2 world titles and making it into the Nutrigrain Ironwoman series. Earlier this year I had set a goal of making the series in the next 3 years. I am proud to say that I made it a bit sooner than expected.

Going into next year I will be living in the Gold Coast until the end of January racing in the Nutrigrain series and SIQS races.

Follow this blog for the summer if your keen for some updates :)

2014 Surf Life Saving World Champions!! + travels

After 3 and a half months of being away from New Zealand and having a blast I am finally home! I enjoyed every part of it and would gladly do it again. 

My last 3 months started off with living in Australia for 2 months to train for Surf Life Saving.

I raced the Kelloggs Nutrigrain trial just before heading to France for some racing preparation. The surf was pretty testing but with some good ski skills I managed to qualify!! This was a huge surprise but I can't wait to race. First race is in Perth 29th/ 30th of November.

After the trial we flew back to NZ only to turn around and fly to France the next day with the NZ Surf Life Saving team. I had the best Worlds experience I could have imagined with an awesome bunch of kiwis. I loved every part of the trip and am already looking forward to worlds in 2016 in Netherlands. 

New Zealand are now back to back WORLD CHAMPIONS!! I am the current World Board and Line throw CHAMPION. I also bought home 2 silver medals in the ski and ironwman and a bronze in the oceanwoman relay. 

Buzzing after worlds I traveled with my family through France, Monaco and Italy. We saw some amazing sights and had a blast! Following that Kayla and I left our parents and hopped on a train to travel to Munich for famous Octoberfest!!

I finished off my travels by heading to Vietnam with my boyfriend for 12 days.We started off in Hanoi and finished up in Ho Chi Minh.

It is time to get back into some serious training as first race of the series is 29th/30th of November and I'm feeling pretty dam unfit!

Thanks for reading 

Multisport Nationals 2014

So its been awhile since my last blog...


After winning the U20 Multisport Nationals last weekend and placing 4th in the Open woman's race I though it was time for a bit of an update!
So here it goes :)
After not doing any triathlon or multisport races for 2 years I thought it was time to go back and try out my longest race yet! After only 1 month of training which consisted of mostly paddling with 6 mountain bike rides and 3-4 runs a week I decided to give the 3D Multisport a crack. This time I entered the 50km premier race which took me just under 3 and 1/2 hours to complete. I started out with a fair advantage off the paddle and held off Elina and Nic for about half the race. (Which I thought they would have caught me a lot earlier than they did.)
It was a great change to build up my base fitness training in other disciplines but now its time to get back on focus to making the NZ World Surf Life Saving team which gets selected after a team camp in the Gold Coast early July.



Later in June I will head back to the Gold Coast for some warm winter training.

Thats all for now! Hope you enjoyed a quick read.
Cao

Mt Monster

Last weekend introduced the inaugural Mt Monster held at Main beach Mt Maunganui. The event consisted of a 5km run, 1.5km swim, 12km ski and 6km board paddle. This new event showed huge potential for future years and is an important stepping stone for NZ athletes wanting to race the Coolangata Gold.

The female’s race came down to a sprint finish after 2hrs 40min of racing between Katie Wilson and I. I used every last bit of energy that was left in the tank along with determination to get up off my board and take the win by 3 seconds. The event challenged me both mentally and physically as I experienced many cramps in my legs both in the ski and board.

A huge thank you to my parents getting involved and being my support crew to help me out during the race. Another thank you to Sonic Surf Craft for the awesome gear to paddle on and the bright colours to help my parents spot me while out on the ski leg. And to Balance Nutrition for the gels and electrolytes used to top up my energy during racing. 

Congratulations to the men’s race winner Cory Taylor another fellow Sonic team rider who won by over 5 minutes.

Latest Update: Gold Coast

I have been back living and training on the Gold Coast for the past few weeks. I've met some really cool people and had such a blast. No colder than 25 degrees each day!! Yes I have really bad tog tan lines. But luckily no rashie tan yet!!

Racing
2 weeks ago we raced up at Maroochydore and I had some great racing making the ski board and iron finals. Finishing about 6th place in the ski and board final.
Also experienced some crazy tennis ball size hail and watched it smash car windows and dent panels on cars. Unfortunately both my board and ski were damaged with the hail too.

Last weekend a van load went down and raced at the Coffs Craft carnival. I had such an awesome time and placed 2nd in the long distance ski, 2nd in the board, 3rd in the ski, 2nd in the iron woman and 1st in the board relay. All 2nd behind Bonnie Hancock!!

Still have over 2 weeks left of soaking up the sun and training hard in the Gold Coast. I will return to NZ to start a job as a paid lifeguard and race the Mount Monster!!

Sad to say I will no longer be sponsored by Subway. After 3 years I am very thankful for their help. I have been able to represent NZ in both Triathlon and Surf Life Saving and travelled to Budapest, China, Adelaide, Japan and the Gold Coast.

Special good luck to all the Kellogg's guys racing this weekend.