Tauranga's Hannah Wells in action. Photo / Supplied
Tauranga's Hannah Wells in action. Photo / Supplied
For most people a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and a 21.1km run are three separate events but for Tauranga's Hannah Wells, all together it's just one small part of her professional triathlon season.
The 28-year-old started the season off with the Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast Triathlon event in August,when she scored herself a third placing.
It's also the event she made her professional triathlete debut in the half iron distance the year before.
This weekend, Wells takes on another challenge.
She has entered Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney, voted No 1 for overall athlete satisfaction, which means she will, for the second time in a matter of months, complete the half Ironman course of a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and a 21.1km run.
The two events are just months apart, which means Wells has been working hard to prepare.
Hannah Wells. Photo / Supplied
She trains hard during the week, which can include a few running sessions a week with her partner Nick Berry, who was the first person over the Tauranga International Marathon finish line in September, completing the 42.2km distance in two hours, 37 minutes and 42 seconds.
Having a partner who has similar interests is obviously handy but Wells' dedication to her training is all her own. A few weeks out from tomorrow's event the professional athlete spent between 20-25 hours a week in training, tapering off for the last week.
She also completed local running events, which supported her own training, including Tauranga International Marathon's half marathon in September when she was the third woman to cross the finish line and more recently the 15km Omokoroa Coastal Challenge, in which she was the first woman to complete the course with a time of 1 hour, five minutes and 40 seconds.
Wells says she enjoys taking part in local events because they are enjoyable and it also supports the organisers in their efforts.
Her training is also juggled with her fulltime work as research fellow in Massey University's engineering department, so it's no surprise her days consist of early wake-ups and full-on days.
Wells says she decided to turn pro last year because it seemed like a natural progression.
She had been doing a lot of age-group races and was doing well in them.
She placed third in a Coast to Coast event behind two professional athletes and had scored first female placings in events such as last year's 3D National Multisport Championships and the Lake Wanaka Half Ironman in 2016 and 2015.
These are just a small amount of the long list of accolades Wells has achieved in recent years.
She has spent the past year learning as a professional athlete and building on her own strengths.
