Race morning, I was lying in bed waiting for the alarm to go off and listening to the rain outside. Traveling west to race is great because I always sleep well and actually wake up early. We had been in New Zealand for almost a week preparing for the New Plymouth World Cup. It had been a nice time in the small coastal town with dirt running trails and a volcano in the backdrop. Come race day, the forecast was all rain and thunder. This was an “early” race for short course athletes, the women started at 11am. I was rooming with my teammate Gina and we basically ate breakfast and headed to the course. The moment we left the hotel on our bikes, it felt like a downpour. We were completely soaked, all we could see was gray sky in every direction, the roads were empty, and we just looked at each other like “thank goodness we’re at least doing this together”.

Fast forward to getting ready in the athlete lounge and we keep being warned about a supposedly oily corner on the descent. I haven’t had many world cup race opportunities the last couple years. I flatted out of Huatulco World Cup last year where I’d hoped for a good showing. So I knew I needed to stay upright and make it to the finish of this race. I won’t race again until May and wanted to make the most of this one.

We eventually line up to be called out to the pontoon (or in this case a carpet on the beach). I was the top ranked athlete at the race, which means I had my pick of the starting positions. After years of feeling like I was drowning amidst the World Triathlon rankings, it’s pretty cool to see my name show up at the top of some start lists. The flip side though, is that it’s kind of like wearing a billboard that says I should be able to compete at the front of the race. I’d tried hard to build my confidence in the weeks leading up. It’s been a number of years since I’d raced this early in the season. Over winter, my coach held me back from pushing too hard too soon, plus I had some time messing around with bike fits, and a strained flexor digitorum muscle in my leg really reduced run training. So all in all, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Everyone on my side of the line-up didn’t hear the announcers say “take your marks” and the gun came as a total surprise to us. A handful of us all got off to a late start, and I dove into the water envisioning my parents cringing on the beach where they were watching. My parents had lived outside for two months, bike packing the length of New Zealand, and finished their trip watching the race.

I got out of the water further back than I would’ve hoped, but with a good transition managed to solo my way up to the lead group just before they hit the main hill on the course. This course was definitely one of the best that we have on the world cup circuit. It’s hilly with plenty of corners which makes it easy to keep the pace on and string out groups. Another group from behind also managed to catch on later that lap, creating a large front pack rolling around together. But with the nature of the course, I couldn’t tell exactly how many riders it was. I really only knew who the four or five girls trading turns at the front were. I felt like we did a good job of keeping the pace on the entire ride and even though I do think it was a course that someone could get away solo on, nobody seemed to have extra watts left to give. All the Kiwis appeared to be loving the home race and were riding very well. On most laps, it was Nicole van der Kaay setting the pace on the downhill and everyone else just strung out following wheels.

I had a good T2 and hit the run course first, which meant I had a chance to run on every person that would pass me. I was not sure what to expect on the run. For one, I still didn’t totally know who was in our pack because it had been so strung out. Also, there were a lot of girls in this race who have historically had great runs, but weren’t in top shape towards the end of last year. The three who eventually ended on the podium passed me in a group and I pretty quickly knew I couldn’t run with them. Sophie Linn, a friend and sometimes training partner of mine, came up next and we ran together for more or less the entire 5k trading back and forth. I was surprised to feel ok running since I’d only done a handful of run workouts so far. At some point in there we were caught by two others and I eventually finished 7th after a rough sprint to the finish.

While I definitely hope to improve from here, any race where we keep the pace on from start to finish is satisfying. Going to a destination location like New Zealand doesn’t hurt either. Luckily I also think there’s a lot of room for me to build fitness before the rest of the season. It looks like the women’s short course field is going to be really strong this year and I’m doing my best to be ready for it.