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For me, the 2016 Melbourne
International Track Series was not only a great break through
but also a relief that I had set a new PB - something I felt
was a long time coming.
On our 'pre-race' I knew I was tracking well, we had
practically gone straight from the airport to the track and
due to the banks steep transitions and completely different
shape to the Super-Drome in Adelaide I was a bit sketchy but
was also able to pull out a pretty respectable flying 100
which is always an awesome feeling coming into a competition –
knowing you have the fast legs you've been training so hard
for.
It came to race day, the nerves were on, my incredibly
dedicated family/cheer squad had assembled in the stands and I
was as ready as I could ever be, for the first time in a long
time I lined up for that qualifying satisfied with my prep, my
lead in and where my mind and body was at – ready to rip it.
My racing that followed had plenty of scope to learn and
improve, which at the end of the day is where I am at in my
development on the Australian sprint scene.
Unfortunately, like many other athletes that week – the
freezing cold conditions got to me and I came down with a
nasty virus on the Thursday night and had to push on through
the rest of the week not feeling great, which was very
annoying, but another challenge I was determined to overcome.
Caitlin Ward in action in the sprint. Photo: © Con Chronis
I drove in on the second qualifying day with my car telling me
it was 5.5 degrees. As you can imagine, the thought of wearing
millimetres of a lycra speed suit today without my usual
training layers on top of it wasn't very appealing. I pushed
forward and got as warm as humanly possible to pull out at
11.310 which ended up to be temperature and condition
corrected to just as fast as my 11.1 I rode 3 days earlier.
I had a bit more of my sprint head back and felt I gained a
lot of positives out of this meet. Only narrowly missing out
on the semi finals and was able to push some of Aussies best
sprinters all the way to the finish line.
The final day saw a velodrome filled with very tired athletes
and I was very happy to have made it, virus and all to the
last day of racing. I challenged myself to try something new
and different to my usual keirin tactics which didn't pay off
in the first keirin competition however I was very proud to
come away with a very close third with Kaarle McCulloch on the
final day of ITS Melbourne.
There was a lot of pressure on me for the week long
competition and I am really proud of how it went overall.
There were many positives including a podium finish, and two
fast qualifying times which make me quietly confident and
super excited for the upcoming season and the lead in to the
next Olympic cycle. |
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