triseries Huskisson Pro Series Race Report and Results

At Trizone we like to talk to the triathletes that are not yet winning the big money or maybe are the top age groupers going around. This week we spoke to Siobhan McCarthy who came third in the pro series race in Huskisson last weekend.

Up and coming short course triathlete, Siobhan McCarthy raced in the second round of the pro series at the Elite Energy triseries in Huskisson last weekend. After posting the fastest run at the 1st round Siobhan has shown that she has some really good potential. Siobhan raced at Nepean the week and said that she struggled to get back to a relatively normal state. “It took me until Thursday last week to feel anything similar to normal and knocking any energy I had left out of me was Saturday morning’s mammoth session in preparation of Canberra Half – I was exhausted, so thought it was the day to just enjoy racing, and try and get the little things right”.

“I wanted to have a good swim, so that I would have girls to work with on the bike. Coming out between packs I took a risk and waited for 2 girls to catch up and we worked together to catch the others ahead of us. By 10km on the bike we had caught all the girls excluding Lisa Marangon who outclassed us all on the bike. With the bike usually being my weakest leg, and being told by best friend Matilda Raynolds that I had to work on the bike, and don’t be afraid to – it was great to have found my legs and felt strong on the bike”.

On the bike Siobhan and Elyse Foster worked hard to catch the girls in front! They eventually caught Regina Wright – Regina and Siobhan tried to surge a lot to split the pack up but the group ended up coming into transition together.

“I got off the bike in a great position for a good run, but my shoes were too tight, and I struggled to get them on. I wasted well over a minute doing this which probably cost me second place. Being 8th out of transition, I knew I had some girls to catch. I tend to like running from behind, but after an absolute shocker in T2 – I wonder what I could have done and I got out quicker”.

Bree Jones is a great runner and Siobhan expected Bree to go with her “and she did. Siobhan surged and was able to gain a comfortable lead fairly quickly on the run.

Siobhan has been racing a lot lately and it has taken her a little while to find her feet again, after a few shockers including Noosa. But learning the limits of her body and what it can do is helping her progression a lot. Given that this time last year Siobhan had only done one triathlon she is progressing well.

“Racing every weekend is throwing my regular training routine out a bit. But I am learning so much, making fewer mistakes and trying new tactics. Like not wearing goggles – which means I never have any excuses about not being able to see, or goggles getting water”.

Siobhan is Racing Kurnell on Sunday as a nice little hit out and then heading straight to Coogee to do the 2.4km Ocean Swim. But what she is really looking forward to right now is cheering her Dad on in Busso IM before attempting her first half ironman at in Canberra on December 12.

Finally “The Shimano Pro Tour is such a great series, giving us younger athletes to practice the skills that we need to cut it at ITU level one day. Elite Energy put on another awesome race, and pumped for Nowra in January!”.

And the final words go to Mitch Robins who had a fantastic win and made a brave attempt to back up in the Olympic distance race an hour later. Unfortunately he made the decision to pull out after suffering cramps. It would be unkind to point out that Lisa Marangon did back up to win the Olympic distance race so I wont.

Micth Robins: “Last Sunday I was on the road again, down to Huskisson on the South Coast of NSW for round 5 of the NSW Pro Tour, and also an Olympic Distance triathlon. Mark Emerton and his crew at Elite Energy always put on a great race, and I always enjoy competing at these events. The race for me went great, I had a personal best swim, and felt very relaxed on the bike. It became pretty obvious with the slow pace of the bike ride that it was going to come down to a super fast running race, which it did. Scott Llewellyn and I ran the first 2km like we were stole something, although I was able to open up a small gap of around 20 seconds by the finish to claim another win”.

“I attempted to back up one hour later in the Olympic Distance race, and although I managed to exit the water in 2nd place, I noticed pretty quickly that I was in trouble with cramps and sore legs from the first race. After 20km on the bike I was going backwards, so I decided to pull the pin and save myself some damage. Still had a great weekend, and always very happy to get another 1st place in a sprint race after winning a Half Ironman 2 weeks earlier”.