2009 race season starts on Sunday!

Alright, so a month has passed and I am officially a delinquent blogger now. But, I'm back and the season is literally upon me!

This weekend I head down to Hobart to race at Australian Sprint Nationals. It will be a quick hit out to see where my fitness is and to assess what else needs to be done before the bigger races get close. I have made a lot of technical changes to all of my disciplines and I am looking forward to focusing on racing technically well and letting the chips fall where they may.

I have done a massive run block over the last month which is exactly what I needed. My body didn't always appreciate it but it was a great mental and physical challenge for me. I haven't spent much time swimming just yet, so I'm actually a bit nervous about how the swim will go, but seeing as it is a wetsuit swim, and 1/2 the distance, there is hope!

I've also been working on closing up some deals with a whole bunch of new sponsors for this season. I have a great team behind me now, some old and many new, and I'm looking forward to representing them and their amazing products this year. My team this year includes: Asics, Felt, Spinergy, Garmin, Blue 70, Skins and TYR. In the tough economy, I appreciate their support more than ever.

Training in Australia has been amazing. The training group has grown and we now have 4 boys and 6 girls here training hard in preparation for the season. It is a good balance of athletes from all over the world and everyone brings something unique to the table. We have been really luck with the weather so far as the temperatures have been in the mid 40's down in Melbourne (which is roughly 105-110 Fahrenheit) and there have been cyclones and floods up north of here in Brisbane. Good on global warming to mess with everyone's weather! Most days here it is between 26 and 30 which is warm enough to get us acclimated for the hot races during the year but cool enough that we can still push hard.

On top of the training hours, I have picked up a part time job at a small cafe in Palm Beach called "Genki Cafe" to make a little bit of money to help pay the rent, food and coaching bills. It will be a challenge coupled with long training days, but for the time being I need to do it to keep this dream alive. I enjoy spending time with the other people at the Cafe as many of them are from other countries and it is good to have something else to focus on outside of triathlon once in a while.

I will say, though, that I am starting to get excited to head back the US in May and June to do some racing back on my home soil! But, there is much more to come from here before then. I have put my name in for the Mooloolaba World Cup at the end of March and am waiting to find out if I will be given a start from the ITU. My sister will also spend her spring break over here with me which will be fantastic as I haven't seen her (or anyone from my family) since Beijing back in August. And, of course, with all of that there will heaps more hard training to come, which I cannot wait for!