Triathlon: McIlroy delighted with code switch

Kate McIlroy's eighth placing in a World Championship Series triathlon last weekend was a surprise to a lot of people but not as much as to the former runner herself.

Most people will remember McIlroy as the former world mountain running champion, national steeplechase record holder and 2006 New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year.

Last year, though, after finally succumbing to a painful Achilles injury and missing the Beijing Olympics, the 27-year-old chucked in her successful athletics career out of frustration to pursue one in triathlon.

It was something she had always wanted to try but it was still a bold decision. It already seems to be paying dividends. She's won a race, a low-key ITU event in Texas in May and finished in the top 20 at the world's richest triathlon before last weekend's eighth in Kitzbuhel, in the new elite world championship series.

She finished ahead of more seasoned New Zealand triathletes Nicky Samuels (18th) and Debbie Tanner (24th) and is now ranked 33rd of 83 triathletes on the circuit after four of eight rounds.

"My result last weekend was a surprise to a lot of people and especially to me," McIlroy says from Germany where she is training with the New Zealand team. "When I left New Zealand two months ago, I never dreamed of getting a start in a world championship race this year. I didn't even expect to get in a World Cup race, so this is great. It's gone much better than I thought.

"Since I have been away with the [New Zealand] squad, it's helped me enormously. I'm learning all I can and it has helped me fast-track my progress."

It's a development that has justified Tri NZ's faith in McIlroy after they selected her in the nine-strong New Zealand 2012 potential Olympic squad. London is the ultimate goal for McIlroy, and it's not far fetched to think she might do well in three years' time.

Triathlon is often decided on the 10km run, especially on a flat course like the one expected at London. At last year's Olympics, the cycle leg was ridiculously slow, meaning it was decided in a winner-take-all foot race.

"It works in my favour," McIlroy admits, "but, and it's a big but, I have to be in that lead group."

It means she has focused most of her training on swimming and cycling, as well as the intricacies of transition between each discipline where crucial seconds can be gained or lost. There has been one costly downside.

"I can't run as fast," she admits. "I know what it's like to run fast, so it's frustrating not to be at that level. There are times when I get annoyed but I have to look at the big picture and make sure I work on my swimming technique, which is hard, and just learning how to ride a bike properly."

McIlroy brought limited experience to triathlon - one Weetbix tryathlon as a child is not exactly ideal - but swam competitively until the age of 13 and last year was shortlisted for Bike NZ's Power to Podium programme that scoured all sports in the hope of putting together an elite women's team pursuit cycling squad.

"Testing went okay but my heart wasn't in it to be a cyclist," she says. It is triathlons she's now attacking with zest. "I'm loving it. It's awesome."

It will be even better if she can produce a few more surprises along the way.