After years of working in the corporate world, Australian triathlete Sarah Crowley has really had to learn the art of relaxation and letting things go, in order to excel as a professional triathlete. It has paid off.  

She finished 3^rd at the Ironman 2019 World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, for the second time in recent years. 

In this interview, Sarah talks in detail about her race in Kona his year, including the fascinating battle she had with Great Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay in the closing stages. 

You’ll hear some useful thoughts about how and when to make the pass during a race and how she paid the price for pushing too hard when she initially went past Lucy.  

She also talks about the communication that goes on between the athletes during the race, how she will be spending the off season and why she'll be heading back to school.  

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INTERVIEW TIME LINE*

*interview times, not the whole episode

00.00  On ‘horse days’ aka boxing yourself up like a race horse and having a proper rest day (getting up at 2pm!)

02.00 Learning to relax, not care so much and letting things go after going from full-time work to full-time triathlete over the last few years

04.30 Landing in Kona for the 2019 World Championships feeling relaxed, in brilliant shape and knowing she had a job to do.

6.00 Lining up next to Alistair Brownlee ahead of the Ho'ala Ironman Training Swim and surprising herself winning the women's event

08.30 on finally having confidence in her swim, after years of people telling her she couldn’t swim

10.45 Why she wishes she had lined up next to Lucy Charles Barclay at the start of the swim.

12.00 Communicating on the bike and trying to drop Anne Haug with Jocelyn McCauley and how everyone was waiting for Daniela Ryf to come through

18.00 Why she let Anne Haug go past her on the run and why she tried to hold back at the start and stick to her own pace

21.00 Losing her vision on the run at 25km

23.00 The motivating words she got from Anne Haug saying she too could pass Lucy Charles Barclay

24.00 Why she attempted to make the pass on Lucy too soon  rushed through an Aid Station and paid the price when the Brit came back past her to take second place.

26.00 Fascinating insight into how to pass and how the ‘surge’ just didn’t happen when she went to overtake Lucy to go into second place

27.00 the one kilometre that she had a bad patch under pressure from Lucy Charles-Barclay.

30.30 Disappointed and frustrated to finish in third place, but excited to know that she is in touching distance of winning Kona.

33.00 why she did Noosa triathlon and how she got into shape for it so soon after Kona and why she is heading to Arizona to validate her Kona slot for 2020.

35.00 her plans for the off-season

37:00 on learning German, why she parked it and why she wants to get back on it and race in Germany again next summer

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