Bali Super League Qualifier


What an experience Bali Super League was!

Day one began with a 1.6km run time trial as Stage one of the Equaliser. It started in alphabetical order and 10 seconds apart. I was the last one to start, so I did my best to try and minimise any time loss to the other girls ahead of me. I ended up coming in with a time of 5.51, setting me back 41 seconds behind the leader for Stage Two of the Equaliser later on in the day. 



A few hours later was when Stage Two began. The format for this race was a continuous 2x (300/5/1.6). I got to the athlete's lounge an hour before the race to warm up and set up my transition. About 20 minutes before my race was due to start, I did a big swim warm up to ensure I had a strong swim as I knew I had some time to make up. The waves were crashing right on shore where the sand was, almost like the same consistency of quick sand, not to mention the strong rips and currents, so I had to put my open water swimming abilities to great use. All the ladies lined up in order of our run splits from earlier in the day with the fastest at the front. The horn sounded and the first few were off. When it came down to me I knew I had to be tactical and time my running into the water well. I saw a wave about to crash so I ran in and timed it well so that the wave just took me straight out to sea. Unfortunately, some of the others in front of me were caught by the wave which allowed me to catch up and make up for lost time. I had a strong swim and got onto the bike where I just felt smashed from the run earlier in the day, not to mention the intensity of racing and the humidity. I had no one to ride with so I had to stick with going solo. I did what I could and came into transition after completing the five laps of the 1km and very technical bike course and headed out onto the run. Unfortunately I only managed to hang in for one lap of the run before suffering the dreaded elimination flag due to the 90 second rule. 



After Day One's performance I was sitting in 8th place overall, so I focused on recovering and fuelling my body for Day Two. I had a great feeling about the next day.

Day Two was an Enduro format, 3x (300/4/1.6) continuous. Once again I went to transition an hour prior - doing all the usual pre race activators and then headed to the swim start 20 minutes early for another decent swim warm up. The Enduro format suited me a lot better as it was a mass start and that's what I perform well in. As per usual when we were called to the start line, I positioned myself on the far right as I knew the current was dragging to the left so all I had to do was aim straight and the current would pull me right over to the first buoy. It wasn't my greatest swim but I was in the main pack and it was quite hard to overtake, so I sat in. Running into transition I had a few girls around me so I was able to work with them on the bike and have more of a chance to sit in a little more to save the legs a little. I ran off the bike and stayed as strong as I could, not losing any places. Bare in mind with this format two people get eliminated each leg, as well as the lapping out rule and the 90 second rule, not to mention if people pulled out as well, there were always going to be two people getting eliminated regardless of the above rules (hope that made sense). Anyways I hung in there and made it to the second round. Swimming after running is quite difficult, but I felt alright after about 100m into the swim, caught up to a few more girls and swam in just missing the rip. I came out of the swim and was riding solo as there was only six of us left in the race. Coming into the run leg I realised that I was in a top five placing and I was over the moon! I ran as strong as I could and again, hung in there and made it to the final swim leg. I was smashed by the time it came to this swim and barely made it around the course as the current had picked up more. After exiting the swim leg, I again suffered the dreaded elimination flag but as I said, I was over the moon to have come in fifth place for Day Two! 



I was not expecting to perform this well, finishing in fifth place overall! I may not have qualified for the Super League Championships but I wasn't expecting to, it was just such an amazing experience and to see what the body is capable of doing in such fast and intense racing when there's no time for rest. A massive thank you to the Ayodya Resort for the accomodation, BCA Bank of Indonesia and all the other sponsors and a special mention to Super League for this opportunity and the spectacular event!

Also a special mention to my coach Stuart and the squad at Eclipse Performance Centre for always believing in me and pushing me everyday.

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