AND JUST LIKE THAT IT’S OVER IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE….

Written by Jacqui Slack on .
Flash back to November 19th 2016 ITU World Cross Champs, Australia and to be honest another disappointing performance from me with a 7th place finish and in need of sometime to reflect on my racing. After this I made a decision not to race for 6 months and to focus on our coaching business and our wedding. Of course I was still training and I was loving it, I finally feel settled here in Wollongong, I have wonderful friends, some super athletes that keep me on my toe’s and a gorgeous fiancé to share these moments with I am one happy gal. I thoroughly enjoyed planning our wedding and every week it came closer to our families uniting gave me so much excitement. It was hectic from the day I picked my maid of honour up from the airport until right now the 2nd April when I finally have some of my own time to write a blog.
Taking a little time to reflect on the last few months of training. Massive thanks to @livcycling_aus for providing me with the optimal equipment to perform at my best come race day, stoked to be riding the Liv Obsess 27.5 #xterraworldchampionship2016

Taking a little time to reflect on the last few months of training. Massive thanks to @livcycling_aus for providing me with the optimal equipment to perform at my best come race day, stoked to be riding the Liv Obsess 27.5

As I didn’t plan to race any triathlon races before our wedding I flung myself into something new. The National Cross Country MTB series put me hugely out of my comfort zone in every way possible, every race made me more nervous than I’ve ever been before, it was new, I was out of my league, the course’s were technical and I wasn’t fully prepared to get my arse handed to me by crazy fast junior’s but wow once that start gun went you couldn’t get the smile off my face. It was fast, furious and whilst I only just scraped inside the top 10 on a couple of occasions I crossed the finish line like I had won the bloody race, there was so much satisfaction for doing my best that I was over whelmed by excitement and so proud of what I had accomplished. I am certainly hungry for more but my heart ultimately lies with off road triathlon. Overall I finished 12th in the national series which I thought was pretty good but room for improvement as always.

Maannn that hurt....exhausted but still smiling at the end of rounds 1 & 2 @mtbaust XCO. Hungry for more, keen to make improvements bring on rounds 3 & 4 @livcycling_aus #livbeyond

Maannn that hurt….exhausted but still smiling at the end of rounds 1 & 2 @mtbaust XCO. Hungry for more, keen to make improvements bring on rounds 3 & 4 @livcycling_aus #livbeyond

3 things I learnt from these race’s:

  • If you want to be on the podium you have to nail the start but to do this you need to practice and be capable of pushing 700 watts out of the gate – not something you can learn in 6 weeks
  • You need to learn to race and to do this you have to race, take risks, step up and not be afraid to fail, it takes time and patience, you wont get better by saying “o il try this next time” – just get stuck in!
  • You don’t have to win to feel a sense of achievement, honestly I felt more elated after finishing one of these races than winning some triathlon race’s, I put this down to being so far out of my comfort zone.

Wedding Time What can I say it was the best day/week/2 weeks of my life we had a ball from start to finish it was relaxed, romantic and everything I had hoped for. A massive shout out to our family and friends for helping put everything together each and everyone of you played a special part in making this day everything Ben and I hoped for. Official wedding photos to be released soon watch this space…        17741354_10158539701015594_2132569843_n

What’s next So many exciting things happening for b&jracing we have the best sponsors whom continue to support our journey, massive thanks to Red Industries, Liv and Giant Cycling, On running, Flight Centre Sports and Events, Champion Systems, Schwalbe, Spearman’s Cycles, Amanzi, Nuzest, Stages and Greepers who are all keeping Ben and I in top notch equipment, travel and nutrition to perform at our best come race day we feel extremely lucky to have a world class team around us.   We have some new b&j racing apparel arriving and a new website to be launched very soon.
As for racing Ben is competing in the Xterra Asian tour (Saipan, Phuket, Philippines, Malaysia) and I will join him for the last 2 races in the Philippines and Langkawi which is the Asia Pacific Championships.  I’m also very excited to race Xterra New Zealand next weekend where I will join 3 of our b&jracing athletes to take on one of the best races in the world, if you haven’t yet been the Rotorua trails are out of this world.
Love Jacqui Allen ; )