2nd - 4:13:12

     swim    26:01  (6th)
     bike    2:18:48 (2nd)
     run    1:25:14 (1st)

The pro men took off for the start of the Cozumel 70.3 with the women following just 1min later. Most races tend to separate the 2 starts by at least a few mins now to avoid the significant impact it has on the outcome of the women's race. I'm not sure why the start times needed to be so close together for this race, but that's what they had decided so I was prepared for it as much as possible.  The siren went off and I followed Daniella Ryf at the start as we flew down stream to the first turn buoy at around 400m. The swim course was clearly marked with red sighting buoys every 100m and then big yellow turn buoys on each corner of the rectangle. This  makes life much easier for me. I went around the two end turn-buoys and began the long stretch of the swim course back up-stream into the current. This swim course is one of the most enjoyable, with the crystal clear waters below like being in a big aquarium. Everything went well in the swim, I felt good and swam well (for me). I swam 1.30min faster than last year and got out of the water only 1.30min behind Daniela Ryf, a strong swimmer and former ITU triathlete so I was pleased with that.

But then as I prepared to mount Ronny Mac, I heard Jared yell '4:15'. What the hell...! Over 4 minutes down on the leaders? I've never been that far down, that cannot be right. It wasn't until after the race I learnt that the 4 lead females managed to come out of the water in the lead mens pack. These girls put a full minute into some of the best male pros (former top ITU swimmers) by the time they exited the water. They must have had an almighty breakfast this morning!

I knew I had my work cut out for me. Not only was I a whopping 4:15 down, but the leaders might now have an opportunity to ride amongst some of the mens packs. This could make things difficult. I got straight into it and pushed hard into the head wind on the straight, flat, dead roads of Cozumel...the one and only road around Cozumel. As I came up on Daniela and passed straight by I knew I was riding well. Daniella is a great rider (she had the fastest bike split at Hy Vee and one of the fastest at Vegas).

After Daniela, I didn't see anymore competitors until the last out-and-back section near the end of the bike course where we head out part-way around the island then u-turn back to T2. As I was heading out I saw the lead men heading back. Not long after, I got my first glimpse of the lead girls heading back. I tried to count how far I was down - it was still a long way. Maybe even more than 4 minutes now.

This year we didn't have bike catchers at T2 like last year and T1 and T2 are in different spots so no-one had seen the transition set up until now...mid-race! We had to rack our bikes under the shopping centre car park. It seemed pitch black after being out in the sun for a couple hours. Sunnies on were not a good idea. The smooth concrete was wet as it'd been raining and it was super slippery. I heard Jared yell out about 3 or 4 times to be careful as almost everyone before me had slipped on it. I was super careful. Even with the warning I slid around but saved it and luckily stayed on my feet.

Jared popped up again as I ran out of T2, this time calling out '5:30'. Whoa, what's going on today, I thought. I just rode my butt off and lost time? I had a really good ride, rode faster than I did last year and the weather this year was nowhere near as kind. I was in third place by now. But the girls ahead were on fire today.

Onto the run I felt pretty ordinary. The weather was starting to get pretty hot and humid by now. Maybe it was the tough ride, strong winds, flat dead roads that all did it. Maybe my motivation wasn't as high coming out of the World Champs being just 2 weeks ago. Or maybe the body had gone into holiday mode from kicking back in beautiful Cozumel. Whatever the case, it didn't feel that great. I kept trudging along in pursuit of girls up the road. I caught Jodie a few k's in just before I passed the Coral Princess Hotel and Resort (our hotel) at about the 4k mark. All the hotel staff were out on the road yelling my name and taking photos. I passed by them four times in total and each time they were all there cheering and screaming "Go Melissa"! It was just what I needed out on the 'quieter' part of the course. I eventually made it to the finish line in second place. I had a good swim and bike but it was not fast enough to get the win today.

After I had finished, Jared and I watched the age groupers get smashed by the crazy thunderstorm that quickly rolled through. The run course was flooded in no time and we watched the timing chip mats float away off the road. The wind was super strong but still volunteers and spectators remained on course standing in ankle deep water to cheer for and help out every single athlete. 

With the rain bucketing down we hailed down a cab to drive us back to our hotel. The little Mexican man was very helpful squishing my bike into is tiny matchbox car. The steering wheel was the size of Stuart Little's. The rear vision mirror looked more like a travel makeup mirror. And the small bucket seats we sat in were like water slides. We we literally sitting in a puddle of water. When we arrived back at our hotel the staff were there to greet us. After a quick shower we were in the hotel restaurant when Pedro and Jose, the managers came down with a congratulations flyer he had printed up for me. Race photos plastered all over it and a voucher for both Jared and I to receive a free couples massage in the hotel day spa. They also gave us a nice bottle of wine.

We stayed a few more days in Cozumel and each time we stepped out of our room it was like we were high rolling celebrities. Everyone would congratulate us. The hotel staff all knew us by name. We had photo shoots with all the staff as well as many of the guests. And the morning we left the entire hotel crew were out the front to see us off. We got a cheer and a clap as we walked down the red carpet... I mean lobby stairs. They were such a friendly and amazing bunch of people. I can't wait to return again next year!

I'm standing on the bank of Lake Las Vegas ready to enter the water. It's the 3rd time I've been in this exact spot. My 3rd World 70.3 Championship. My 3rd year in the sport of triathlon. I have a good idea now of the pain I'm about to put my body through for the next 4 1/2 hrs. This makes me a little nervous as usual, but otherwise I'm excited to be here on start line fit and healthy and ready to go. The sun has just started to make some light for the day. The American national anthem plays as everyone stands in silence while the rains continues to fall. The announcer calls the pros into the water. Here we go.

As I scull on the start line, I psyche myself up for a fast, explosive start. With many of the ITU triathletes switching to Long Course this year I expect the swim to be even faster than usual. The cannon goes off and I go as fast I can. This year, I decided to position myself far left to stay out of the chaos and get a clean start. I'm in clear water for a 100m or so before somehow I'm in the washing machine. It soon thins out and I find myself in clear waters again. Which means the faster packs have already left me behind. Somehow I manage to find myself in clear water for the majority of my races. Maybe I subconsciously really prefer swimming on my own. It's not the fastest way to get through the swim leg and definitely not the most economical either.

I get to the exit ramp, pull myself up onto my wobbly legs, take off my pretty pink Blue Seventy goggles that match my black and pink Blue Seventy speed suit...and try to get running. Along the 600m run to T1 I hear that I'm about 3.20 down on the leader. I stay calm. 2min was the dream but 3min was more what I expected. I get to my bike and throw on my new Specialized Evade helmet with magnetic buckle. Yep, magnetic. You know how ya always struggle to get the clip done up fast when you're in a hurry. Well, not anymore!

There's congestion on the mount line as Shivvy and I approach so I keep running past the girls and mount my bike a bit further down the road. I've got somewhere to be people! The first few k's are uphill, through some roundabouts, and then through some narrow turns under a pedestrian tunnel to the other side of the road so I play it real safe here. This is one of the very few technical parts of the course so I don't wanna stack it. Half way up this first climb out of transition I see Jared and he tells me I'm 3:10 down on the leaders and in 13th position. That's ok for now.

The rain continues to fall, keeping the temps cool. I count down from 13 each time I pass another competitor until I get to 4th position. From here I can occasionally see the lead three together far ahead in the distance. It looks like four of them with a bunch of media bikes around them. Either one of them is a male pro or I've miss-counted somewhere. The bike course rolls up and down long, gradual hills through the National park in the desert so at parts you can see a long way ahead. I really like these type of hills. I can get into a good rhythm, sometimes staying down on my aeros, other times I'll sit up on my hoods and push my weight back and get into a high cadence spin. As I'm approaching the turn around, just over 40km in, I get a chance to see the lead group clearer on their way back. They're not too far ahead. I should catch them soon. 

It wasn't until I exited the National park though, at 68km that I finally caught them. Maybe they had picked up the pace after seeing me go past. There was a male on the front of the group, three girls in the middle and another male on the back. All evenly spaced. This means, according to the rules for me to make a pass I have to pass the lot...all in one go. I cannot slip anywhere into the pack as I'll breach the drafting rules. I don't like sitting in a group as I worry that just a small loss of concentration could mean getting a 4min penalty. I drop back quite a bit just in case and cruise for a little while taking stock of how I feel and deciding what to do. I soon see the male on the back drop back and move far right. He's allowing me to pass him and slip in behind the girls. I make the pass and notice the 3rd girl seems to be dropping off the back of the group much further than the 12m. There are motorcycles all around. Media and I'm guessing/hoping draft busters as well. As I pass the 3rd girl I am not 100% sure how close the 12m zone is to 2nd so to remove the risk I go ahead and make the rest of the passes up to the front to take the lead from the male pro on the front.

It's now just under 20km to go for the bike leg. Mostly slight uphill. I keep powering on, feeling good. Feeling strong. I take a left turn and get a quick glimpse over my shoulder. Annabel is still on but Lisa and Svenja have dropped. 4km to go and I see a sharp right hand turn ahead. Last real turn on the bike course. I can't make up too much more time from here...be safe...get around...get to T2. The media motorcycle is on my left. 3km to go I hit the turn...I mean really 'hit' the turn. In slow motion, my wheels slide away from under me, I hit the deck and slide into the path of the motorcycle.  He manages to stop and swerve enough to miss me but roll up and over the side of my disc wheel. Panic floods my brain and I instinctively yell "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t... get off". I quickly pick up my bike and jump back on back in pursuit of Annabel again, too afraid to even check if Shivvy's still in working order. A million thoughts start rushing through my head... "do I have a flat, are my brakes jammed on, is my wheel buckled...". And then a minute later "will I be able to run 21km?". I get back behind Annabel and stay there while continually getting in and out of my saddle making sure nothing cramps from the impact of the crash. As I'm approachingT2, Annabel quickly jumps off her bike into the penalty tent to take a stand down penalty (this means you have to get off your bike, put both feet on the ground then you can get back on) so I come into T2 back in the lead.

As I upend my bag and throw on my socks I'd planned to also put on my Compressport calf sleeves (new rules last year say we cannot swim in our calf sleeves anymore) but my legs are still wet from the rain plus I want to minimize the amount of time I stop to avoid my hip cramping up from the crash. I leave them behind and get out of there as quick as possible.

Three nice hilly laps would follow. Down 1mile, u-turn, up 1mile, weave past transition, up another 1mile, u-turn, down 1mile, sharp 180deg turns down a ramp, passed transition then repeat two more times. At least it's spectator friendly. I feel pretty good. I don't seem to be sore from my crash, or at least I'm not allowing my mind to believe that. I'm focused, on a mission to get to the finish line in first place. I don't take in much of the surrounds , I don't want to divert my attention from the job. Each lap I'm extending my lead but I still can't relax until the finish line is in sight. I've crashed before like this and had to DNF after my leg starting tingling, seized up and went numb. I get to the top of the last hill, u-turn and start heading down. Downhill all the way to the finish. Finally, I'm pretty confident at this point I have it in the bag. I begin to acknowledge the cheering spectators, the enthusiastic age group athletes and my lead bicycle who congratulates me before pulling off just before I take the last turn into the finishing straight. The smile on my face goes from ear to ear. The feeling is amazing. World champion! And the first time any female has won two world 70.3 Championships. I'm stoked! I'm so happy! Words cannot describe... I DID IT!

    
     2nd 1:58:30

     Swim  21:20   22nd
     Bike    59:27   2nd
     Run    34:52    1st


As I'm setting up my bike in transition the black and white striped official does his rounds - checking our helmets for the CPSC sticker, meaning it has passed the US safety requirements. European helmets won't suffice. Specialized had just sent me the new Evade aero road helmet. Tested in the wind tunnel to be just as aero as the longer TT specific helmets but a lot lighter and with much more ventilation. I was keen to try it out as were many of my Specialized competitors. The stripy dude looks in my helmet but no sticker found. Damn! I look to my left, Angela Naeth has the exact same helmet, sent from the exact same place, California. How can this be?

Long story short, 20minutes before race start and I'm still in transition trying to get a helmet. The rest of the pros are on the other side of the lake at the final check in tent waiting to be announced one by one to the start line. 15minutes before race start Eric comes running from the Specialized truck, helmet in hand. I quickly show the official, put it on my bike then run towards the water. At this point I no longer have time to run around the lake dodging all the spectators and age group athletes. So I run down the T1 swim exit chute and dive into the water, volunteers/marshals wondering what the hell this girl thinks she's doing diving into the wrong side of the lake minutes before the race is about to begin. I was wondering the same thing. I quickly swim across the lake, run up the sand to race start and make it just in time for the final intro's. My heart is definitely pounding/warmed up!

As I stand on the blue carpet near the waters edge I look to my right then to my left. There are a handful of familiar faces, my usual long course competitors. But the rest...no idea who they are. This is because I'm racing a 5150 - an Olympic distance 'non-drafting' race. A lot of these girls are ITU-type racers, i.e. super fast swimmers. ITU style racing is also known as a wet running race. You need to be a strong swimmer, know how to sit in a pack on the bike, then be a gun runner. Luckily here the bike is non-drafting cos Shivy and I will have some work to do. 

Bang! The gun goes and I run down to the water. Two strokes of slapping people and being slapped then...they're gone :-( I get through the 1500m lonely swim. I run up the swim exit in 23rd place. I'd like to say there were over 100 pro women in the race but there wasn't. 27 started. Emma Moffat and crew were 2:35 ahead already.

40km on the bike goes super fast! I hardly have time to eat or drink. I'm on a mission to catch as many of these girls as possible. I pass one then another then another...until time's up...pencils down! 40km done. Dismount and put Shivy back in his rack. I felt great on the bike, clocking over 40km/hr average. But I also clocked over 40km/hr a few weeks back in the Boulder 70.3 where I rode 90km. Maybe some more work on my Computrainer will help with that top end speed.

I quickly throw on my Adidas runners, ITU style - no socks! But with Vegas just next week I've got fixomull tape all over my feet to avoid blisters. I grab my GU gel and visor, Scody race belt and take off - back on the chase. I start running girls down but I'm a bit nervous - can I hold this pace? I haven't done an Olympic distance race since Nov 2012 in Noosa, but even there I crashed and couldn't really run properly because of it. I decided on 3:30 pace to start. It feels quick, a good 15sec/km quicker than 70.3 pace but it also feels manageable. Every km split almost spot on. I'm reeling more and more girls in but at 6km I'm still only up to 6th place. Jared gives me another split "50seconds to 2nd place". I have to pick it up. My legs are actually feeling really good. I can get 2nd! I pass another girl just as we turn into a strong head wind. She jumps right on my feet. Not like a runner comfortably 'tucking in'. I mean RIGHT on my feet, clipping my every stride. Never had that before. I zig zag trying to get her off so I don't get tripped. A slightly stronger surge and the tripping hazard is gone. Three more to go to get into second place. I see my next target just up ahead. I pass straight by and zero in on the next. Make another pass and look up for the 2nd place girl as my Garmin beeps '9km' done. Only 1 km to go...I'm running out of k's. Emma Moffatt is too far ahead to consider the win, but 2nd place is still within reach. "Please don't be short" I say to myself...thinking of some of the ITU run courses where the women miraculously run 31-flat for '10k'.

     1st 4:12:49

     Swim   27:22     (5th)
     Bike     2:21:39  (1st)
     Run     1:20:48  (1st)

Zip lining down Gunstock, climbing on the Monkey Trunks fort, jumping out of the sky onto a giant air pillow or maybe riding the water dodgems. This is what's running through my mind prior to race start. Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire is an amazing place. I had no idea of its beauty before I arrived. Our arrival wasn't all smooth sailing though with our 9am flight from Denver being cancelled and the next available flight to Manchester Airport not leaving until 5:30pm arriving near midnight. That'd be almost 10hrs waiting in Denver airport then with the drive out to Gilford, it'd be the early hours of Saturday morning before we get our head on a pillow. Far from perfect prep. We had to come up with some other plan. So instead, we flew to Boston on a 10:30 flight. We changed our rental car pick up from Manchester to Boston and drove two and a half hours to Gilford. We grabbed dinner along the way and managed to get to our hotel just after 9pm. It was worth it when we saw the place in daylight Saturday morning.

Sunday morning I got a good warm up in the clear waters of Lake Winnipesaukee prior to race start. As the horn sounded I took off fast, quickly jumping on someone's feet. I didn't need to sight at first as the water was so was clear I could see the kicking feet in front of me. The girl I was sitting on soon slowed so I went around her to discover I'd been dropped from the pack. I surged ahead solo till I caught the group of 3 girls at the first turn bouy (~600m). I would spend the rest of the swim with this group (trailing the amazing super swimmer Amanda Stevens). As I practiced sitting on feet (something I unfortunately very rarely get to do) I realized just how much easier it is. I started to think maybe I can go around the girls and try to minimize my gap to Amanda. But once I moved wide I realized I'm not going any faster than them so I tucked back in and conserved energy. 

Four of us came out of the water together, trailing Amanda by almost 3mins. On this course, out of T1, there's little time to put your feet in your bike shoes before hitting the first climb. It's maybe a hundred metres from mount line to the climb! The first climb is around 6%. I got into a good rhythm and pulled away from the other girls on the hunt for Amanda. The course is full of rolling hills, some quite long so even though I was still a couple of minutes behind at 30km I could actually see Amanda up the road. She had a couple pro men (that she probably smoked in the swim) near her but her bright orange Rudy Project helmet stood out like a neon light bulb. Another 10 or so km and one of the pro men dropped off and I passed by. Just when I thought I was closing in, Amanda would disappear around a corner. At 53km I finally made the pass. It was then back up the long gradual (maybe 2%) climb. I couldn't drop Amanda and at 58km she took back the lead. Another few km's and we hit a steeper incline so I passed again and started to slowly pull ahead. 

With about 20k to go, the urge to pee was becoming too great. I was now officially busting! I couldn't save it for the run - there's no way I can pee while running - and I didn't want to waste time in a porta-loo. And if I hold on I might get stomach pains. I HAVE to go. It's pretty hard to go when your pushing hard though. I need to relax. With less than 15km to go I approach the top of climb, the other side is straight down! Perfect. I get up some speed before throwing my weight forward over my bars to fly down the other side. I can now stop pedaling and relax!

Onto the run I had only around 45seconds lead. This was only my third IM 70.3 distance for the year, my first being Geelong early in the year after I crashed out in my previous race and was still sore, and my second was two weeks ago in Boulder at altitude. The rest of my races this year have been all odd distances. So, what pace could I run? What pace was I capable of? This was the main reason for racing Timberman 70.3. I wanted a good hit out before Vegas, to see what pace felt comfortable. 3:45/km was the benchmark I was after and it felt good. I ticked off the km's - super even and in control. A few friendly spectators offered some advice along the way "you've got it, relax, enjoy it, take it easy". I guess mentally I could relax but I still wanted to keep a solid pace to the finish to make a good session out of it. To make sure the pace would be fine all the way to the end and to see how I pulled up after. The run course was nice, two out and back laps with rolling hills throughout, tall trees on either side, lots of spectators and I think one of the loudest, happiest bunch of volunteers at the aid stations. My Garmin beeped '20km' just as I hit the '12mile' marker. That's not right. 1600m to go? You tricked me... My Garmin measured the course to be an extra 610m long. At least we know we covered the distance on this one! Definitely putting this on my list again for next year. Loved the course, the atmosphere and especially the location!

   

    1st    4:04:36   (course record)


    Swim  6th  27:26
    Bike    1st   2:12:16  (bike course record)
    Run    1st   1:22:38

If anyone knows Boulder and their water safety policies you'll know that it's almost impossible to get a 'safe' warm-up done before the race while 2000-odd triathletes attempt to warm-up in the one available 40x40m roped off box. Chaos. I tried it! I then opted to jump up and down on the spot instead, swinging my arms around like wind mills in an attempt to replicate some sort of swimming movement. This year however it was a beach start instead of deep water. I much prefer this. Just that 10m run down to the water followed by some dolphin dives helps me get warmed up before it's head down for the next 27 or so minutes.

The pro men took off first with the pro women 3min behind. The race organizers not only changed the bike course to one 90km loop this year instead of two laps but they also sent the age groupers off 10min behind so as to not interfere with our race. GREAT ideas! As I began swimming, I found myself sandwiched between two girls who I wish swapped sides before we started. The girl on my right wanted to go left and the girl on my left wanted to go right. I just wanted to get outa there. After a few hundred metres I finally pulled ahead. Pheeww! Clear water. But clear water it was indeed. I couldn't see anyone up ahead. Damn! How far behind am I? I panicked a little thinking I was 5 or so minutes behind but I also enjoyed just swimming in clear, still, open water on my own. No bashing. No trying to follow someone. Just me on my own practicing my own sighting. And Boulder definitely did a good job with plenty of sighting buoys. 

As I ran out of the water and into T1 I listened nervously to Barry on the mic who was about to announce how far down I was. Just before he said it I was saying to myself "3 minutes, please say 3 minutes" but in my head I was sure it was going to be 5. After all, I had Amanda Stevens, I think the fastest swimmer in long course triathlon in my race as well as 2012 IM and IM 70.3 World Champ and super swimmer also, Leanda Cave. Barry continues "...and Mel Hauschildt is now in T1, Mel set the bike course record last year here, she is definitely one to watch and she is... 2 1/2minutes down on the leaders". My face lit up. That was music to my ears. I jumped on Shivy and took off up the road to catch them. The first 8km is all a gradual climb - just around 2% but enough of a climb that if you bolt out of the water and smash the first 8km you could really put yourself in a hole for the rest of the ride. As I was only 2 1/2minutes down it was easier for me to control myself at the start. 

At 18km I passed Leanda on a small climb. I felt great, still on my bars, powering up the climb. Leanda was up out of her saddle. This gave me a confidence boost that I was riding well. At around 35km I saw Jared and he yelled out 40seconds. "40seconds" I thought... "to who?". I assumed Amanda must be further up the road than that...it must be someone else just up ahead that I can see. But at 41km I passed Amanda and then saw the lead motorcycle up the road. I'm in the lead? Awesome! What to do now? Either relax a little and try to make the run easier by being fresher off the bike? Or push the bike hard and make the run easier by having a good lead? I opted for the second option. I tend to think I run the same off a hard bike or a steadier bike anyway. I may as well get a good lead.

The bike course was great. The roads are smooth. There are nice rolling hills and the scenery is beautiful. It was just me out there on my own. No age groupers to contend with. Just me and Shivy in the fresh, thin air of Boulder. The only part where I could see my competition was an out and back section we did to make up some kms. A gradual climb up Niwot St before a sharp u-turn back down. I saw I had a decent lead but kept pushing the pace. As I jumped off Shivy and ran into T2 Barry's loud cheerful voice was again beaming from the mic. "Wow! Our first female into T2 is Mel Hauschildt, not only did she catch up 2 1/2 minutes, she put another few minutes into the next girl! And this isn't even her strongest leg, just look at her, she's a runner!" Barry was awesome. If you were ever going through a tough patch he was sure to get you out of it by making you feel great.

Helmet off, socks and shoes on. Salty the Yeti (my trusty 'dessert' GU gel) in my pocket, visor and race belt in hand. And I'm out of there. Boulder 70.3 run course is one of my favorite. The only bitumen you run on is in and out of transition. The rest of the run is all dirt/gravel trails. I love it. One of the big reasons I love training here in Boulder is for their awesome dirt running trails. So we head out of the Reservoir over some rolling hills on a dirt road where you'll spot just as many top pro triathletes spectating as there are in the race. A u-turn and then back into the Res via some narrower gravel trails and then along the water back into transition for another lap. I had my Garmin 910XT flashing km splits to me so I could control my pace. Also out on the course was the great photographer Timothy Carlson who would apologize for interrupting me as he'd take several photos of me running. I couldn't help but smile at him. Jared would also pop up and instead of telling me how far down I was he didn't know what to say... "your just out for your Sunday long run". I kinda laughed to myself... so maybe they're not catching back up I thought.

The last 2km was probably the toughest mentally. It's where I do my 2km reps in training and it's dead straight. You can just see the end but it drags on forever. Finally I see the chute... That's when you get this extra burst of energy, like you could just keep going. The crowd somehow does that. The waving arms all hanging over the barriers hoping to get a high 5, the commentator screaming over the mic. It's an amazing feeling. I crossed the line in 4:04:36, 12min 51sec ahead of Leanda in 2nd and with a new course record. A bike course record and the perfect way to start the US season after arriving to the States just a few weeks ago.

Jared was at the finish... again no idea how. I last saw him 3km out. He's just a show off...must've ran back faster than me or taken some cross-country short cut somewhere. Also there waiting was my awesome Boulder Homestay hosts who have helped me out since my first time here in 2011. Jevgenij and his young son Teo, who, by the way destroyed the field in the IronKids the previous day!

A big thanks to Eric from Specialized for getting my bike ready to roll! GU nutrition for your awesome nutrition out on course as well as the whole IM team - race organisers, officials, sponsors and volunteers for doing such a well-polished job. Thanks Barry for your commentary, Jared for...where do I start...coaching, massaging, looking after me! My manager, Phil Stoneman and all of my sponsors for your tremendous support!

    1st 4:42:38

    Run 1st 35:18
    Bike 2nd 2:39:46
    Run 2nd 1:20:37





I arrived in France Tuesday, 4 days before the world champs. It was cold, a lot colder than I'm used to. But nothing some warm clothes and a wetsuit wouldn't fix (or so I thought). There was some talk that the water was cold and that the swim could possibly be reduced or cancelled. NO WAY! I thought to myself. I've been training hard for this. I flew all the way to France to compete in the World Long Course Triathlon Champs - 4km swim, 120km bike, 30km run. I want to do the full course, the accurate distance.

On Thursday I went to race start for a practice swim in the lake where I'll be racing on Saturday morning. Standing on the sand with my wetsuit on, neoprene cap plus silicone cap on, a jumper and jacket over top and still in socks and shoes, I was shivering uncontrollably. Jared said "you don't have to do this". How will I do it for 4 whole kilometers if I can't even jump in now. I stripped off and dived in and it felt like I'd face planted straight into a cold hard rock wall. I swam like a stiff robot trying to avoid any water getting into my wetsuit. After a few strokes my frozen face was so sore that I had to start doing polo. I gritted my teeth and told myself to just make it to the first buoy. I got a little over half way there before I started to panic... What if I can't get back? What if I freeze out here? I can't yell to anyone cos my mouth is too frozen to get words out. I turned around and tried to get back as fast as I could. When I reached the sand Jared was there to put my jackets back on me. I didn't remove my neoprene cap. I was shaking like crazy and couldn't move my fingers. Jared had to put my shoes on me before throwing me in the car with heaters blasting. I didn't get out of my wetsuit for over an hour. I lasted less than 5minutes in the water. Maybe I wouldn't mind if they cancelled the swim after all.

That night at race brief we were informed that "the swim is cancelled, it will now be a duathlon". I didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. I guess I was a little of both. Disappointed that I couldn't put the training I'd done to the real test. I'd increased my Sunday long runs, I'd worked on longer race pace runs off the bike. 30km is a big jump from 21km (IM 70.3 distance) and I was up for the challenge. I raced this same distance 6 weeks ago off my normal 70.3 training and I was really looking forward to seeing how much I'd improved. I'd also been doing swim sessions in my wetsuit in preparation for almost an hour in it. BUT... I was very relieved I didn't have to get back in that water.

Race day arrived. I was prepared. I'd ridden up the mountain pass earlier in the week and I'd ridden 3 out of the 14km down. I knew how many layers I'd need. I had long tights, arm warmers and three jackets on for warm up. I started the race in arm warmers and a vest on over my race kit.

The first leg was a 9.5km run. I'd planned to sit on around 3:30/km pace. Minus the two very steep hills where I'd naturally slow a little. I was wearing my new Garmin 910XT which came in handy because It's been some time since I've done a "running race". How fast should I run? How much should I save for the rest of the race? The first 10km felt very comfortable and I entered T1 with decent lead. I upended my bag in the change tent and all sorts of goodies fell out. Now, for the hard bit, remembering the order to layer them on. First I started putting my bike shoes on, then the full Specialized booties over my bike shoes so I had to sit down to zip them up. They took a while. I had practiced this over and over but when under pressure with cold fingers it always seems to take longer. Next I threw my Scody thermal jacket over my arm warmers and vest. It was then I saw my leg warmers. Damn! I needed those on for the descent but I couldn't take my booties off, they took too long to get on. I left them. Then I put my full fingered gloves on. I threw a muesli bar in my pocket, grabbed my helmet and awkwardly ran in my bike shoes through mud to my bike. I fiddled for a while with my helmet clip as I'd completely messed up my dressing order. Helmet before gloves cos I can't feel properly with gloves on. Then I fiddled around for even longer trying to zip up my jacket. By the time I got on my bike I was in second position. Camilla, who entered T1 about 1min 40 behind me was now in the lead by 30seconds.

The 87km bike leg started with a slight climb out of town. I caught Camilla at 10km and took the lead. I worked hard on the bike for the first half but couldn't drop her. On a few of the corners I would peak over my shoulder to see if she was still there...she was. At the 45km mark we started the steep part of the mountain pass. From here, it was almost 10km up at an average gradient of 10%, topping out at an altitude of 1250m. And freezing! The last few k's to the top, we were in thick clouds and my Rudy Project sunnies started fogging up. I tried to take them off to see where I was going but they were wedged under my aero helmet. I grabbed a new bottle at the aid station on top of the mountain, refilled my fuelselage and prepared for the long, chilly, 14k descent down the sketchy switchbacks on the other side of the mountain. I couldn't see a thing. Not more than a metre in front of me. Camilla had come right up on my shoulder. I had try again to take off my sunnies for the descent. I pulled on them but they didn't budge. I tried again a little harder but this time my sunnies slipped through my fingers and I dropped them. Bugger!

I was now chasing. Camilla was flying down the hill like a demon possessed. She'd approach the switchbacks like they were nothing. I followed her lead but by the bottom of the descent I could only just see her in the distance. We powered over some rolling hills and I tried to keep her in sight but my legs felt like they no longer wanted to co-operate. Was I toast from the climb? Or were my quads frozen and seized up from the descent? I still don't know. I tried to pick up the pace but it wasn't happening. Camilla was long gone. The last 20km was technical with slightly wet roads. I hoped I wasn't losing too much time as I saw how good Camilla was technically.

As I approached the dismount line I had to think for a bit... I had booties on, I couldn't slip out of my shoes. I un-clipped and stepped off my bike then ran the long way to rack my bike (a lap and a half of the entire transition area...a long way). Boy was it hard running in bike shoes after jumping off a hard bike ride. I racked my bike then got confused as to which way to head to get my T2 bag. I back tracked a couple of times before spectators helped me out. As I began running still in my bike shoes I saw there was still quite a way to go so I ditched my bike shoes and helmet and threw them back to land under MY bike. I put my Adidas Adios runners back on and made my way to the change tent. One jacket off. Gloves off. Visor on and GU gels in my pockets. Damn! I had no pockets. I didn't think to check my new Aussie race kit before race day. I put my gels down my pants.

The final leg was a 20km run. Soon after I started the run Jared called out "3min down".
That's some work to do. I felt terrible. My legs were like heavy stumps. I could hardly move them and my splits were showing that. I plodded along almost convinced I could not catch Camilla. The run course was awesome. Nice dirt trails with beautiful green trees on either side. The first 10km went rather quick because of the tight trails and continual turns but it didn't help the fact I still felt terrible and I wasn't catching Camilla as fast as I'd hoped. The split Jared gave me at 8k was still about 1min 30 down. Jared popped up again at the 12km mark at the top of the 2nd last hill and told me I was still 1min down. I thought "It's all over, second place it's going to be". Then he yelled "you can still win this". It was then that something finally triggered in my head.

The next 500m these are just some of the thoughts that ran through my crazy brain -  "Pull ya finger out Mel, you can do this. Your not going home with a silver medal. You didn't come here to come second. Your going to regret this if you don't get your act together, you're not buggered, you're being soft. If you think you're hurting, ask Camilla how she's feeling. Chrissie can win an IM from minutes down with a torn pec and gravel burns down half of her body. Pick yourself up and DO SOMETHING!". I took off. And my cyclist (the guy that leads the second place getter) knew it. Everyone knew it. People/other competitors started yelling at me "you can catch her, she's only just up ahead, you've got this". I went from shuffling along at over 4minutes/km to 3:45 pace. At 14km Camilla was just up ahead. I threw my vest off so that my Aussie uniform was showing. Camilla and I exchanged some friendly words before I took the lead. I passed by Jared for the last time at 1k to go, gave him a smile and thought to myself "I hope he can get to the finish line to see me win the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!".

                1st    6:14:49

                Swim    1:00:10    2nd
                Bike      3:04:49    1st
                Run      2:07:06     1st


Seconds before race start I give the dog that is standing right in front me on the start line a nudge in the backside to move over a little. I'm in Koh Samui, Thailand!

I dive into the beautiful, perfectly still, warm water and start swimming out following the 'lane rope' on my left. Yep, finally! A race where we have a lane rope. The swim is 4km, two by 2km loops with a 140m 'Australian beach run' in between. The entire 2km loop is marked out by a continuous rope with small buoys every few metres and larger buoys on each corner AND half way along the straights. That's what I'm talking about. These guys know how to make me feel comfortable in the water. As I'm swimming out for the first lap Michelle is next to me. Four more up ahead (Liz, Caroline, Carrie and Belinda). I'm a bit slow off the mark again but I soon catch up to Carrie and Belinda and the four of us exit the water together to complete the first lap. I dive in first out of our group for the second lap and now I'm feeling JUST like I'm in a pool. Nobody in front on me, nobody kicking me. I get into a good rhythm and start reeling in Caroline. I catch her by the final straight and we exit the water together with Belinda just on my feet. As we run up the beach I look to my right, I'm coming out of the water with Caroline Steffen, what the! Then Jared yells 1:30 to Liz. WHAT the...! Liz usually puts over three minutes into me in a 1.9km swim. In transition I take my time - I've never been in this position before - what do I do?

Caroline, Belinda and I jump on our bikes together. I sit up for a bit to see how the girls will attack this. Usually I jump on my bike and get straight into it....head down, powering up the road making up the time I've lost in the swim. They seem to be dawdling a bit here today though. They know what their doing I think, so I give it a bit longer. I start to get a little worried that we are dawdling a little too much and Liz is getting away so at 18km I take the lead and reel in Liz. Within 10km I'm right up on her. Ok, maybe they weren't dawdling. Maybe I was just getting a bit ansty riding with people. Now what? The four of us ride together. This was something different to what I'm used too. I sit up and take in the scenery, munch on my muesli bar, watch the spectators yelling out as we ride past, watch for the buffalo, dogs, and chickens that seem to pop out of nowhere.

We go through the first lap, Whits' deep voice blasting from the speakers and volunteers everywhere. I'm getting a little too comfy for racing so at 65km I take the lead and pick up the pace. I get down on my bars. My new, super low, custom-made Specialized aero bars. After a few minutes it's straight up a hill, probably the longest and steepest one on the course. Nice! As I get to the top I can't hear any gears changing behind me. Where have they gone? Instead of looking back I fly down the other side and then keep the pressure on when I hit the flat. I hit an aid station and they all start clapping. I pass and the clapping stops. I listen carefully but no more clapping. I keep pushing the pace. Three against one - keep on it.

As I rack my bike in transition I'm told I have a lead of 4:40. Whoa... Nice! I start to quickly put my socks on while standing then I realize... 30km run. Relax. In transition the adrenaline is pumping and my main thought is always to get out of there as quick as possible. But not today. If I do that I'll probably bolt out way too quick. It's as hot and humid as hell and this will be my longest ever run. I sit down!

I slowly put my socks on, then my shoes. I get up and grab my cup - yep, we were told in race brief that we have to carry 'our own cup' and the aid stations are 'do it yourself'. I load my GU gels into my pockets - four of them, just in case. I'm lucky to take one in an IM 70.3 race. I jog out as I continue to tell myself RELAX! I get to 6km before my Garmin loads up so I have no idea what pace I'm on. But after that I just start ticking of the kms. There's aid stations every km. And no I'm not still carrying my cup anymore. There is in fact water, coke and electrolytes in cups that the volunteers are handing out. I take a drink at EVERY aid station. Most aid stations water in the mouth then another over the head. At half way it's now water in the mouth, followed by coke in the mouth then water over the head. You couldn't pay me to drink coke on any other day but boy did it taste good today!

At 14km a feeling comes over me I always hope won't. I need to go to the toilet. I have the camera motorbike with me. There's not a toilet in sight. In fact no porter loo's for the entire 30km run course. Next thing, the camera bike finally scoots up ahead (to take footage of a buffalo beside the road). I look behind - no-one. Up in front - no-one. Thick bush either side. I use my pit stop as a quick recovery. Mentally and physically. I don't rush it. I jump back on course and feel like new. Well not quite. But mentally the run starts again which means - 16km! Not 30km.

What goes through your head when running for over 2hrs (after already having swum 4km and ridden 120km)? Is this ever going to end! I go through good periods and bad periods. My Garmin beeps every km and I'm right on goal pace - this isn't too bad. Then mentally I fall in a hole - this is hard! I can't do this! I want to stop! Then beep - 4:13! Still on pace- I'm feeling good. Only 10km to go. I've got at least a 5minute lead. Then I flip... Am I gonna make it, it's still a long way to go, why would anyone want to do this? I chuck a gel down - you're all good! I'm talking gibberish to myself the entire 30km. Finally I'm approaching the last aid station with 1km to go. All the other aid stations I'd slow down and get the fluids in. This one... I practically stop. I gulp the WHOLE cup of coke. Followed by a cup of water. I am soooo hot and thirsty! I continue on,  burping for the next few hundred metres. Then what I've been waiting for ALL day - the finish chute. That awesome blue carpet. How GOOD is that blue carpet. The crowd cheering on either side. The local kids running in behind me. Then Whit screaming over the mic "...and here comes our winner... Melissa Hauschildt...". As I throw the banner up over my head I'm hanging out for someone to throw a cold bottle of water over me. 6hrs 14min and 49seconds. #didnotdie

    (3km/200km/20km)
 
    1st      7:20:29
 
    Swim      41:17    5th
    Bike     5:17:45   1st
    Run     1:16:42    1st


As I sprint down to the water and dive in I find myself with the leaders. I'm swimming right next to Tenille Hoogland. She edges ahead a little and I jump on her feet. This pace feels ok so I put my head down and just concentrate on following the bubbles. I veer a little to the right and accidentally end up on someone else's feet. I keep following what is now a big pack. But as I look up to sight I see Tenille and another competitor far left. Damn! I drifted off her feet and onto a following pack. She gets away. I follow this pack for a while before I decide to pass them and catch up to the next. I soon get onto the next group of girls but the leaders are long gone. As I enter the beach and run around for my second lap I find myself diving in first from my pack. Sighting is hard. There is only two buoys, one on each corner of the triangle. Soon a couple girls pass me so I can now follow. As we turn the last buoy and head for shore I pick up the pace but again I find myself out in front and I cant see a thing. I have two other athletes swimming next to me and we are all trying madly to sight. At one point I think the three of us were all doing polo frantically searching for landmarks. 

I emerge from the water and run to the change tent. I'm in 5th. Tenille, Michelle and Caroline are 3 minutes ahead. I need to work hard on the bike and catch Caroline. So off I went, powering down the road. It might have slipped my mind I was riding 200km today and not 90km. The road headed out 40km into the desert to the YAS F1 circuit where we then ride 3 laps, each around 6km. I passed Tenille on lap 2 and this gave me a lot of confidence. I expected Tenille to be first out of the water (she was, just seconds ahead of Caroline). Riding around the Formula 1 circuit was awesome. The only problem was finding your way out. Lap 1 I looked for an exit (so I'd know where to go later on) but couldn't find one. Lap two I carefully scanned the perimeter for a way to get out and again failed to find it. Lap three I was gettig worried that I wouldn't be able to get out. When I thought I'd nearly completed my last lap I was yelling out to every photographer and official "where do I get out?". The ONLY point on all three laps that I thought could possibly lead out was a road off to the side saying 'pitstop'. I took it and luckily it was right. I had no-one in front of me to follow. I weaved my way back out and was soon up to 60km. Now the race begins. 

We start heading back in the direction of the finish and have a massive tail wind. This was nice after a head wind the entire way out. I thought I could make up some serious time here. Maybe my competitors won't know it's such a strong tail wind and won't keep pushing hard. I put the pedal down and cranked it up to 48km/hr and sat there. I kept watching my speed to make sure it didn't drop. When I was approaching the turn around - 75km in, I was shocked to see Caroline just up ahead. From here we have three laps of out, back. Each lap being 32km. I u-turn and head straight back into the headwind where the speed drops down to 34-35km/hr. I can see Caroline and I madly try to chase her down. I catch her just as we approach a slightly twisty point in the course before we u-turn again to head back. When I finally catch her at around 85km I roll right up to her through the twists and turns and go passed her to take the lead. I stay in front for the next 32km loop.
 
As we head back with the tail wind again to complete two laps, Caroline takes over. Not very often (only at Abu Dhabi last year) am I in a position to sit in (legal distance apart is 10m) so I'm still not confident of how far back to sit. Again, I play it safe and sit at least 15m back. We have the draft busters as well as camera crew with us almost the entire time. I'm still working hard and several times I get dropped but I manage to keep grinding my way back to within 15m of Caroline. We u-turn again and head out for our last lap into what is now a super strong head wind (the wind usually picks up throughout the morning/day). Caroline is too strong and drops me at an aid station. I frantically pedal to try and get back on. We still have 50km to go. I can't afford to get dropped. There is still so much further to go. I work my butt off but Caroline is pulling further and further away. I lose sight of her and now all the camera men leave me as well. I must be way behind now "they don't even wanna stay with me" I think. When I approach the final u-turn I see Caroline way ahead. Crap! What have I done.

The next 20km or so is now a tail wind so I use it. Caroline saw she had dropped me "hopefully she thinks I'm cooked". I crank up my speed again and hit 48km/hr. Our last lap with Caroline leading was around 44km/hr so I'm hoping she is only sitting on that pace again. Its not long before she is back in sight. We then climb up this small bridge. Caroline jumps out of her saddle and I stay seated on my bars and power up it. She is now so close. I keep working hard. The next small climb we do the same and this time I get right up on her. Finally I'm back on. I sit in for a whole 5 or so km before I get dropped again. Damn it Mel. Get back on. Sometimes I think I ride better chasing than I do 'trying' to sit in - maybe I panic that I'll accidentally enter the draft zone. Fat chance of that when I'm too afraid to even sit 10m behind.

I see Caroline pulling further and further away AGAIN. It's now 20km to go. Lots of time can still be lost so I work my hardest to get back on. At 185km I'm back again and Caroline seems to be tiring. Thank god! Cos I'm wrecked. THEN... Out of nowhere I get almost paralyzed in my right quad with cramping. I never cramp (only time I've ever cramped was at Vegas last year when I went into the race sick and obviously dehydrated). I jump out of my saddle to relieve the cramp but we are now heading back into a head wind so it seriously slows down my speed. I quickly sit back down but the cramp comes back. This time in my left quad as well. I jump up! Sit down! Jump up! I watch helplessly as Caroline pulls away from me. I sit back down, get back on my bars and start pushing hard determined to not let her get too far away. I feel the cramping coming but I decide to stay seated and try and push through it. It doesn't go away. Both quads are now seriously cramping as well as my right hip flexor so I jump back up. The last 15km was a nightmare. How much time will I lose? Will I even be able to run when I get off my bike? I pushed these thoughts out of my head and just kept focussing on that dismount line. 2km to go... This was the longest 2km of my life. Can't it just be short a couple of kms, c'mon I HAVE to get off this bike. Nope, dead accurate! 200km.

Finally, I jump off Shivy and land on my paralyzed stumps/aka legs. I awkwardly run my bike into transition. I hear the commentator say that I am 1:20 behind Caroline. As I start running I notice I'm not cramping at all but I hardly feel like I'm running. I can't feel my legs. They're completely seized up. But they're not cramping! I see Jared at 3km and he yells out 31seconds down. What! Either someone has a time wrong here, Caroline is hurting more than me, or I am actually running a decent pace. I had no idea what pace I was running, I couldn't judge it AT ALL cos I couldn't even feel my legs. I forgot to turn my Garmin watch on when finishing the bike so the satellites took a few k's to load up.

I could now see Caroline just up ahead so I backed off a little, hoping I'd feel my legs soon. We passed through 6km and Caroline was only seconds ahead. At 7km I was right on her heels sitting in for a bit. I don't think she knew I was there. I was tucked right in and I land really quiet on my feet. Jared was just up ahead and I wondered if he'd yell anything out. He didn't. I tried to hide a little longer but then... BEEP BEEP! My Garmin tells me a 1km split. Caroline looks back to see me sneaking up on her shoulder. Thanks Garmin... I have to pass now. As I take over, Caroline nicely says "good job". I felt guilty passing her so instead of putting on a small surge I kept it steady and gave her the chance to tack on to me. But I can hear her slowly dropping off. As we get to turn around with 10km to go I start to feel a little better. Maybe because I'm in the lead and my dream of winning such a prestigious race is now looking even better. Anything can still happen though... 10km on tired legs... Who knows...

As I approach 13km Jared is there again... I yell out "how far do I have?". I could see at turn around I had some distance on Caroline but I wanted to know in time. That way I can judge what pace I need to run the remaining 7km. Jared knew exactly what I meant and yelled back "I can't see her". A little later "I still can't see her". A little later "1 minute, 1second". That's how precise he is. I quickly did the calculations and based off what I was running Caroline would have to be running at least 10sec/km faster than me to catch me. 

5km to go and I was getting excited. I'd really extended my lead now and started to feel alright. I hadn't experienced any cramping on the run. To win here in Abu Dhabi would mean so much to me. This is one of my major goal races this year. I wanted to win it so bad that I turned myself inside out to do it. 2km to go and I think I had a smile on my face. I was hurting but I was happy. I wanted to cry, I wanted to laugh, I couldn't believe I was going to do it. It was such a long day and here I was... Now 1km from the finish. As much as I was hurting I actually didn't mind that last km dragging on and on and on. In a weird, twisted way I wanted it to last... As I hit the red carpet I didn't know what I was gonna do when I crossed the line. Hopefully stay on my feet. I started waving to the crowd and then I grabbed the banner and thrust it up over my head. I held it there for a bit then threw it down and put my head between my knees. My legs were shaking. I made my way to the ground where I sat to do the majority of my interviews. My bum was sore, my quads were dead. But I was over the moon!

    

    1st  -  4:11:20

    swim  -  26:23
    bike  -  2:21:43
    run  -  1:20:34


Standing on the start line next to Canadian athlete, Tenille Hoogland, who is staying with my husband and I for two months, I look across to see the mass of men also on the start line. In the US, men and women start separate. Here, no such luck. This isn’t good for me. I’m up against Olympic bronze medalist Emma Moffatt and super fish Anna Cleaver. Also up there in the swim will be Tenille. An alarm goes and we all bolt down into the water, I’m in a great  position, right with the men so far. But then… we are called back. False start.  

Bang! This time we are off for real. I run down, dive in then start madly turning my arms over. I look up… where is everyone. I don’t panic, I’ve been in this position before, only almost EVERY race. It’s all good. I see splashes up ahead and I work on chasing. I turn the first bouy and pass a lone swimmer. I then work on the pack up ahead. About ¾ the way through the swim I catch the pack. It’s a big pack and I try to pass - left, right, through the middle. I find myself wasting energy trying to get around them to I sit in for a bit. As the shore line is getting closer I pick it up and run out of the water at the front of the pack. 

I mount my bike in 5th. Emma and Anna a good 3:30 up the road. Tenille 2min ahead. Perfect! Well, far from perfect but that was what I expected. I had a clear race plan here and so far it was on track. I visualized just how I wanted it to go. Obviously I sometimes get side tracked and dream a little - seeing myself come out of the water next to Emma! But anyway, back to reality! My plan for the second transition was to get off the bike at least 1min in the lead. I really wanted some sort of a buffer going into the run.

Three weeks ago in Auckland I crashed out. I was unable to finish and spent the afternoon in hospital. The next week I could hardly run. My butt was broken. My hip was a mess. Luckily my husband is a physio and every night I was on the table getting treatment.  1 week out from Geelong my manager Phil mentions this race. By now I’m running ok but anything too fast sends stabbing pains into my glut. I’m keen to race, to get a good hit out before Abu Dhabi but I’m not so keen on backing off training. Abu Dhabi is a 3km swim, 200km bike and 20km run. I need to get some long rides in. So I decide to race but my taper will be two days (one day to fly and one day to check in and get ready to race). I continue to pump out some big rides - 200km from Brisbane to Sunshine Coast Friday then another 200km back on the Monday, less than a week out. I attempt a fast run session on Wednesday and my butt is not happy with it. Oh no! I’d just booked my flights that morning. More treatment and I’m back on my bike so I hit the hills on Thursday.

Back to Geelong - Out on the bike I move into third after not too long and work on chasing down Emma and Anna. I can see I’m gaining on them with some out and back sections but I’m not gaining fast enough. 1 of 2 laps down and I think to myself “I’m not gonna catch them” but then I tell myself “I HAVE too… DO SOMETHING MEL!”. It was like I flicked a switch… before I knew it, I was approaching a long hill and I could see both girls climbing up it. I passed Anna mid way up and came up on Emma towards the top. I didn’t want to just roll past incase they tried to latch on so I put on a surge and made a clear break. I had about 30km to go… now I have to
get that 1min buffer.

As I dismount and head out onto the run I find myself in the lead by well over a minute (I later find out 1:46). Now I just need to take it easy and build into it. Any faster than 3:45-3:50/km could trigger the stabbing pains in my butt so I’m on strict instructions to keep it under control.

 The run is two laps of the gardens with a few out and backs so I can see my competitors and then a 3km loop out along the water then back to the finish at the end. I hit 4km and Emma is closing in. By 6km she is very close and I’m getting worried. But I’m clocking every km and I’m sticking to my plan. The conversation starts running through my head, “I’m running 3:45's, she’s gotta be running 3:35-3:40… she CAN’T hold that...can she?...she is.” I try convince myself that 3:35's is too quick. I so wanted to increase my pace just a little but I held back and for good reason. One. I could flare up my butt and not finish or Two. I might blow up. By 10km Emma is 9 seconds behind me. Ok, be prepared for the attack Mel. Instead of thinking about increasing my pace, I was now preparing myself to jump on when she passes. From here I’m not sure if I slightly picked up the pace or Emma started to fade but one thing I knew… my lead was slowly extending again. With 3km to go there is no more sighting your competitors so I put on a surge for home at that point. I took off and didn’t look back. I crossed the line for the win in 4:11:20, 1min 16ssec ahead. This was Emma Moffatt's (Olympic bronze medalist) first time racing over this distance. She is an amazing athlete and one to watch out for if she decides to step up to the 70.3 distance for good.

While I was in Geelong I stayed with my good friends Kristy and Brandon and
their little new bub Baxter. They put both Tenille and I up, ran us around, cooked us delicious meals and were at the finish line to cheer us on. My whole trip went as smooth as possible thanks to them. Also at Geelong were some of my sponsors, Scody, Specialized, Blue Seventy and Compressport. Thanks for the cheers and thanks to the whole Specialized crew who made sure my Shiv was in tip top shape. Also a big Thank You to USM and Ironman for putting on a fantastic race and in such a beautiful location. The race officials, sponsors and volunteers pulled off yet again another great event. And finally, a big thank you to my husband and physio Jared and my massage therapist Bruno for getting me to the start line after seriously hurting myself a few weeks prior.

I can't say there were too many positives to take away from my Auckland 70.3 race besides the x-rays being clear of any significant bone damage. That part was good news I guess. For this reason I didn't have much intention of writing a race report. That was until I came accross more and more 'interesting/creative' stories others had come up with for how my race unfolded. Some that I found were; she crashed out and didn't make it to the run leg, made it to 5k from the finish then pulled out, had cramps, strained a muscle, pulled out from head/neck pain, fell over on the run and hit her head. A popular one seemed to include a bike crash rounding a slippery corner. I even had one person confidently let me know how I'd blown up on the run leg from going out too fast.

So what happened?? I came out of the swim about 3.30 down on the super-fish swimmers up front, jumped on my Shiv and headed out onto the roads. The bike course was technical, windy and wet with a few speed bumps thrown in for good measure. Heading out along the water I couldn’t stay on my bars, the wind was almost picking me right up and tossing me off the road. I survived the first 50k loop of the course, over the Auckland harbor bridge, through some roundabouts, over some hills and back over the birdge. The next section of the course was a straight, smooth (well, almost smooth) stretch of pitch-black bitumen. The mist was beeding on my clear-lense Rudy Project sunnies from the drizzling rain. "2 minutes down" Michelle Wu's mum yells out. I'm down on my aeros pushing hard above 40kph when it happened...in slow motion from my angle.
 
My front wheel dropped into the pothole, I instictively gripped harder onto my aero bars as my back wheel lifted into the air. As the front end dropped away, the right side of my handlebars smashed into the pavement and slid along the road. My elbows were first to make contact, just before my right hip and ankle smacked the ground. Finally my head flung back and hit (thank god for helmets) and then Shivy somehow flipped back over and landed on me giving me one massive cork in my left quad. I was in pain. Usually it doesn't really hurt when I crash while the adrenaline's pumping like in a race but this one hurt me in a few places. The cork in my quad made my leg collapse when I tried to stand. I felt like I’d broken my ankle. My forearm was dead and useless for a little while and I had a splitting headache. It seemed like I was down for a little while before I could get my senses and check over my body making sure everything was still attached. Once I could focus I climbed back on my bike. If the guys that helped me get back on are reading this - thank you so much. Before I was even ready my bike was back up standing, my bottles were back in and it was all ready to go.

The next few km’s were slow. Once I started pedaling other places started hurting. My right gluteus medius in particular and I my elbow was too tender to put on the aero bar pad. I thought about it for a bit and convinced myself it's just like ripping a band aid off...you've gotta go all in and do it real quick, so I gritted my teeth and pushed my elbow down hard and got racing again. “6 minutes down” was the next call I heard. “Damn!” I thought. “All that hard work…down the drain”. 40km to go.

I racked my bike back in T2 in 4th place and the pains through my body didn't seem as bad as an hour ago. I just had a killer headache still. Soon after I started running, my head pain went away (maybe as other pains started to move their way up the priority list in my brain). I got some confidence and thought maybe I can get through this. I moved into 3rd after a few km’s and 2nd was only about 2minutes ahead. I got to about 6km when my body started playing up. It started with stabbing pains in my right glut med, then progressed to shooting pain across my sacrum. It didn't take long for the pain to started radiating down my right leg. At this point it was painful but I could still run. It was when the pain changed to weakness that things became very difficult, my ankle had gone weak, and it felt like it was going to give way with each step. I tried doing running drills, high knees, butt kicks, quick feet to try 'wake things up' again. It was kind of helping. I looked like an idot but I was moving forward. If I could just get back to transition I thought, maybe I can get one of the medical staff to manipulate my back, trigger point my glut med, something, anything.

By the time I got back to transition for the end of the first lap I could barely feel my right leg. At some stages it was completely numb, others it was tingling. I’m asking every official/volunteer I pass “where’s the medical?”. They all just told me to carry on. I kept looking and asking but was funnelled through the course turn-around and back out for lap 2, now about 11km down. I stopped at one of the barriers and hung my head over it in disappointment. The friendly spectators asked me what was wrong and I quickly told them and before I knew it one of them - Andrew Mackay - took off to find medical while his mate was helping me out with some stretches. At this point I was still in 3rd place. As much as Andrew tried, he had no luck with finding medical either so I tried to carry on … few more running drills, stop… stretch… run… stop… game over!
 
An hour later I was laying in the medical tent getting some treatment on my hip when I started to get really drowsy. I mentioned it and the sore head when asked and before I knew it I was in a neck brace staring at the cieling of the ambulance. I spent the next few hours at the Auckland hospital. I was released back out to the fresh air again at 3:30 in the afternoon, back to the hotel, got cleaned up, went to the awards ceremony, then had dinner because I was starving! So that’s how my race went down (so to speak)!
  
I’d really like to thank everyone who helped me out throughout my race. Unfortunatley I didn't make it to the finish, as much as I tried, the body was shutting-up-shop piece by piece. In a day like this it really shows as competitors, just how much we are all in this together. And how much others (while still competing themselves) are willing to lend a helping hand however they can to fellow competitor in distress. For this I'm so grateful to all those who helped along the way. Firstly the guys that helped me get back on my bike (and they eventually put out a cone at the pothole after a couple others crashed after me). Then there were all the friendly and generous participants who offered me salt tablets thinking I was cramping. The competitors that stopped to walk with me. Andrew and his mates for trying to get me some medical attention. And then the medical staff and the ambulance crew that helped me at the end. Tim from Compressport who picked me up from the hospital. And thank you Liz Blatchford for patching up the wounds all over my body the following day. Also, I’d like to send out a special thanks to the ‘Dream Team’, A youth tri squad in Georgia who made up this small 'get well Mel' clip (below) within minutes of hearing I was lying in hospital! These guys rock!