WHEN Peta Cutler made her return to triathlon 10 months ago her goal was simply to build her fitness - as it turns out she did so much more than that.
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So impressive was her return that come this Saturday, Cutler will line up in the 2019 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France.
While Cutler did have an ambition of representing Australia at worlds, she certainly was not expecting to qualify so soon after returning to the sport.
She had stepped away from triathlon for two years after giving birth to her son Jack.
"I did my first race back in November which was Western Sydney. I got third and then I went on to Geelong and won my age group there," Cutler said.
"That gave me the invite to the worlds.
"My goal was actually to just get some fitness back over the next 12 months and then try my hardest, if I could, snag a spot next year for the worlds in New Zealand. So this is a bonus."
The Geelong event, held in February, saw Cutler win her division by almost three minutes as she covered the 1.9 kilometre swim, 90km bike leg and 21.1km run in a time of four hours, 51 minutes and 22 seconds.
With the top two finishers qualifying for worlds, Cutler scored the invitation to Nice.
She flew out for France on Monday and come Saturday Cutler - who will wear bib 1215 - is one of 280 women who will compete in the female 35-39 years division.
She will face a 1.9km non-wetsuit swim in the Mediterranean Sea, a 91.3km cycle, then a 21km run along the legendary Promenade des Anglais.
While it was the cycle leg which was Cutler's real strength at Geelong - she was the eighth fastest female outright as she averaged 36km/hr - in Nice that discipline will present her biggest challenge.
It features a 9km climb at an average 6.6 percent gradient to reach a 962 metres altitude.
"It's definitely going to be challenging, but that's the exciting part, to do something different and something new because most courses are flat and fast for the cycle," Cutler said.
"There will be close to 16,000 metres of climbing in the first 40 kilometres of the bike ride.
"So of the 90 kays, the first bit is a steady 40 kilometres of six to seven percent and the steepest parts will spike up to 16 percent.
"So the bike's the tough part, there's the climbing and then the descents - what goes up must come down."
To help her prepare Cutler spent her Saturdays riding 'the Euro' - the Bridle Track.
She worked on getting strength in her legs, but admits she is still not comfortable with descents. It means she plans to approach that part of the course with caution.
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Cutler has set herself no goal other than to finish, but she does hope to inspire others to take up the sport.
"I'm really, really nervous," she said.
"I've got no expectations, this is a privilege to be a part of and I'm just going to enjoy every minute.
"To finish is to win and I feel like I've already won by getting an invitation to it and being a part of it.
"It shows anyone can do it, you've just got to believe in yourself."
Cutler's race gets underway on Saturday.
