“I was gutted to miss out on the Gisborne champs but I’m really excited about competing in Mexico,” Reid said.
His first race since surgery and a layoff of almost three months could not have been tougher — a Continental Cup race over the Olympic distance at Weert, in the Netherlands.
“It wasn’t only my first race back, it was my first as an under-23 triathlete,” he said.
“It was an Olympic distance race — 1.5-kilometre swim, 40km bike and 10km run . . . double my normal distances.
An eye-opener“It was a real eye-opener in many ways and let me see where I was at with my training.
“My coach (Stephen Sheldrake) has always emphasised that it’s one step at a time. I’m a bit impatient and want to got out and smash every race I run.
“The races were open races and not just for u23s.
“Stephen has been on at me to be patient, telling me that I need to hold myself back, especially early on in the run, or I’ll pay for it later in the race.
“He was right. I did OK in the swim and bike but blew it on the run with three kilometres to go.
“I was running with another guy and thought I was OK but when he took off I couldn’t go with him and ended up 25th. I just hit the wall.”
That lesson and Sheldrake’s advice proved invaluable to Reid in Holten, as he secured his spot in the national team.
“Even though I met the qualifying criteria, it wasn’t until I received confirmation from the u23 selectors that I knew I was in the team for Mexico,” Reid said.
“I’ve always known that the run is what I need to work on and the two races in the Netherlands and the one in Hungary confirmed that.
More consistent training“The plan is to get in more consistent training. The three-month layoff didn’t help and then while I was overseas I had problems with my shins and missed a couple of days being ill . . . I’m not sure what it was; I just didn’t feel good.
“Now that I’m home I’ll be able to prepare better for Mexico.
“I heard that the course suits the runners so I’ll be concentrating on running, building up stamina and speed.”
Before leaving for Mexico, Reid and the New Zealand team hope to spend time on the Gold Coast, training.
“That’s not definite but we are going to Clermont Florida for 10 days before travelling to Cozumel to put the finishing touches to our build-up.”
Reid said that travelling around the Netherlands, Hungary and France (for training) had made him more aware of the threat of terrorism.
“While we were in France there was a bomb scare and it makes you think more about what is going on around the world, but if people don’t travel then the terrorists have won.”
