Finding form is a piece of cake
CUTTING loose and cutting cake may prove the perfect tonic to kickstarting Bay Wildin-Snedden’s Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series.
In her first full year in the series, the Surfers Paradise ironwoman has clocked results of 16th, 14th and last at Bulli a fortnight ago, the most disappointing of the lot according to Wildin-Snedden.
But a refreshed attitude and reframed mindset has the 20year-old primed to attack the second half of the season.
“So far, my results haven’t really been matching my training and the sacrifices I’ve been making,” she said.
“I expected to be in the mix up the top there a little bit more often but I’ve been pushed out the back a bit.
“The last round, I’ve been training really hard going into these rounds and I ended up coming in last and couldn’t really pinpoint what affected my racing so much.
“I was very disappointed and on the Monday coming back, we flew back and on the Tuesday I didn’t want to go to training and then you go and get through it and never regret going to a session.”
Wildin-Snedden, who balances training with studying dental technology and prosthetics, also works at a local cafe and has been slowly chipping away at slices of chocolate cake this week after spending much of the year avoiding such temptations. It’s all part of her simple plan to take a marginally less pedantic approach.
“I’m learning every time I race,” she said. “You have to pick yourself up after each round and dust yourself off.”
No matter where she finishes tomorrow at Surfers Paradise, the Sunshine Coast product can be trusted to do the very thing she trains for.
When she was racing in under-14s, Wildin-Snedden was involved in the mid-race rescue of a lifetime.
“The surf was huge, absolutely pumping and this was before the days where they would call off a carnival because it was too big,” she said.
“A girl popped her shoulder out in the race and everyone else left but I was like ‘but this girl is not OK’ so I went over to her and stayed with her.
“Ali Day and Josh Minogue paddled out and brought the girl in but it was such a weird experience because this girl’s shoulder was out of its socket.”