Warriner is out of the water after hand injury

Following a horrific cycling accident last year which prematurely ended her 2009 race season, Whangarei triathlete Sam Warriner had another run-in with the bike at the recent Contact Triathlon Series race at Takapuna, leaving her with a sliced palm and fractured wrist.
During the swim-bike transition at round six of the Contact Series, Warriner went to put her race number waist belt on, but noticed the other competitors were not putting theirs on, and had started their cycle leg already.
She dropped the belt which got tangled in her front wheel, so she took the wheel off to retrieve the belt. Once on the road, she noticed her wheel was loose, and she bent down to tighten it while moving. Her hand got caught in the spokes, and her bike forks snapped. The spokes sliced her palm, and a bone in her wrist was fractured, Warriner said.
"It was just a silly decision on my part," she said.
Thankfully, it was just a "minor hiccup" and it has not disrupted Warriner's training schedule too much, despite not being able to swim for another week because of the stitches in her hand.
"Obviously I was very upset last weekend when it happened. But now I'm feeling very positive about it all ... I'm still able to bike and run so I'm just doubling up the training there, which is good as my next race is a 70.3 (2km swim, 90km bike, 21km run), and that's where you need to be strongest.
"I didn't think I would, but I'm enjoying the challenge - and just thought 'well, this is what happened Sam, you just have to deal with it.' Usually, I'm so focussed on the swim training and I get so uptight about it ... so it's nice to concentrate on the bike and run for a change." Swimming has always been Warriner's weaker discipline, she said.
With the support of her doctors and osteopath, Warriner said her hand felt like it was healing nicely, but she had to be wary about moving it too much so the wrist could set again.

On March 27, Warriner is competing in the Oceanside 70.3 race in San Diego. Last year, Warriner was stung on the ankle by a stingray during a training swim before this event.
 From San Diego, she heads into camp with coach Siri Lindley in the Californian dessert to train, and compete in several events over six weeks.
On April 18, she will race in the New Orleans 70.3, followed by the St Croix 70.3 on May 2, and on May 9 she will do the Olympic distance Rev 3 race in Tennessee before flying back to New Zealand.
In July, she will race the second half of the Olympic distance International Triathlon Union World Championships Series in Hamburg on July 17, London on July 24, August 14 in Kitzbuehel, and at the series grand final in Budapest on September 8.
"I'm an athlete who goes well off a bigger base, which is why I am doing the 70.3 races. I want to be fittest and at my peak for those key races of the ITU series," she explained.
 The third annual Sam Warriner Triathlon was called off at Marsden Cove due to a tsunami warning in place for the entire east coast of New Zealand after a huge earthquake shook Chile.
Yesterday Warriner was set to MC the race named after her, but following a half-hour race start delay, Civil Defence wardens said the coastal area must be evacuated.
Triathlon organisers are looking at another date to run the event, yet to be confirmed.