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Liz Blatchford plans to jump into Ironman Melbourne

Blatchford aims to qualify for Kona 2013.

Great Britain’s Liz Blatchford changed her racing focus towards racing non-drafting events in 2012 after a controversial decision that left her off the British Olympic team in June. Last year, Blatchford hit the podium in three 5150 events and notched her first 70.3 win at Boulder. The 32-year-old went on win in Ironman 70.3 Cozumel and proved that there is life after ITU racing.

This is what Blatchford said about her jump to Ironman racing on her website today:

“I’ve been holding out a while to write this blog but it’s with great excitement (and a definite amount of fear!) that I am announcing I will be doing my first Ironman in Melbourne in March. After making the switch in 2012 to racing 70.3s I knew Ironman was in my future, it was just a matter of when.
I have watched Kona for years now and like many of you out there have felt incredibly inspired. Knowing I was getting closer to this path I decided to take the plunge and try to get there sooner rather than later. So I will be aiming to qualify for Kona in 2013. Without having raced either Vegas or Kona (hence no points) I know I have a considerably ambitious task to qualify and then also perform well in my first outing in Kona. However, I am truly excited by my new goals. Aside from Kona, I also want to race Vegas 70.3 Worlds and HyVee 5i50 Champs in 2013. For me, Kona will undoubtedly be the most difficult to qualify for.

So right now I am 5 weeks back from a month long holiday in somewhat of a hurry to get ready for Auckland 70.3 Asia Pacific Champs on Jan 20th and then Melbourne in March. Even though it is still triathlon I feel there is so much to learn, so many miles to swim, bike, run and plenty learnt from years of ITU racing that I need to let go of. To guide me on this path I have decided to start working with Mat Steinmetz. Mat lives in Boulder and I will be basing myself there for the warmer 6 months of the year.

Exciting and motivating times for me, bring on 2013.”

Liz Blatchford at Ironman 70.3 Cozumel