Well another year and another Australian Ironman has been run and won. Unfortunately it was not me that took the win, but I can still happily report that I did have a very solid race and was able to secure second place yet again. This was my eigth time lining up at the Australian Ironman and my fourth time coming home in second place.

I had spent five weeks training for this year's race in Thailand with my training squad- Team TBB (the bike boutique). I was very happy with the way my preparation had been going and could see improvements in all three disciplines. I was really excited to see how these improvements transferred to racing.

I decided to kick things off nice and early this season (and get rid of the excess kilos put on over the holiday period) by racing at the inaugural ORCA CHALLENGE WANAKA on the 20th of January in Wanaka, New Zealand. This was to be the 'sister' race of the QUELLE CHALLENGE GERMANY and the first official 'Challenge' race outside of Roth, Germany.

Well, first of all I must apologize for the lateness of this race report, but I do have a good excuse- firstly, we only just arrived back home on the Sunshine Coast on Monday after taking a bit of a break in Kona after the race and then in Sydney catching up with family and friends. And secondly, I decided to sneak in another race over the weekend- yes I am a sucker for punishment!

Well you could possibly say that I am one happy lady at the moment. For those of you who didn’t know, I raced and won Ironman Canada last weekend. This was my 20th Ironman Distance race and my 4th Ironman title, but definitely my most significant as I was finally able to beat Lisa Bentley to the finish line. For the past five years Lisa has run me down at Ironman Australia and I was finally able to ‘turn the tables’ and win on her home turf- sweet justice I say! The rivalry between Lisa and I has been fantastic not only for the sport of Ironman but also for me as an athlete. I have so much respect for her. She is a great athlete and always gives 100% so I know if I want to finish ahead of her I have to be 100% on my game.

Well another Quelle Challenge completed- my third now and another second place to add to my collection of a first(2005) and second(2004). I have to admit that I am a little disappointed with my second place as I desperately wanted to win again after experiencing the finish line last year but at the same time I am also happy with my race- a new PB over this distance- 9:10:27 and a new cycle PB, and the fastest bike split of the day- 4:54:21.