GEORGIA HITS RESET AFTER HECTIC FIVE YEARS
PENCIL in Georgia Miller’s 2019-20 Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series results for any other summer and there’s a fair chance she would have been standing atop of the podium claiming her second series crown.
But the 2019-20 summer was unlike any other.
After battling each other in the same age group growing up, Noosa ironwoman Lana Rogers won the first three rounds of the series and never finished lower than third to claim her maiden crown.
Compare Miller’s most recent summer with her 2018-19 series win and statistically the Northcliffe ironwoman was better in 2019-20 but not even three podium finishes, one win and two fourths were enough to topple Rogers.
“For me, I feel like I had a really consistent season and I was on the podium multiple times and if I had the results I did this season last year, I would have won the title,” Miller, 24, said.
“Lana was on fire every single round but it was still awesome to win at Surfers.
“It was really tough racing and extremely close between the top four so I think it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next year.
“It depends a bit on when we can all go back to training considering the state of things at the moment.”
The “state of things” of course refers to the COVID19
crisis that forced the cancellation of the state and Australian championships.
The decision made in March brought the season to an abrupt end but Miller has found a small silver lining in the chance to rest her body.
“It’s been a crazy five years for me obviously starting at Newport (in Sydney) and training like crazy there before moving away from my family to the Gold Coast,” she said.
“I’ve was all guns blazing last year and didn’t miss a race or a training session then went straight into the Coolangatta Gold and the Nutri-Grain series.
“I’m trying to take advantage of that rest because it doesn’t come around too often and it is nice to have a sleep-in as well.”
Beach swims, at-home workouts and dragging her boyfriend, Olympic kayaker Riley Fitzsimmons, out on runs have become the new norm as the couple prepare for their big isolation activity – moving house.