Flora Duffy admitted that her build up to her Mazatlan ITU Triathlon triumph in Mexico was far from perfect, citing school work as the chief distractor to her preparations.Duffy, who is currently studying at the University of Colorado, spent the week before the triathlon sorting out her class assignments and rearranging classes in order to make the trip, as well as missing a mid-term exam.Reflecting on her impressive victory, Duffy said her preparations weren’t what she had planned, but was thrilled with the win nonetheless.“I’m really happy with how the race went, minus almost being hit by a jet ski (during the swim),” said Duffy. “It was a stressful week leading into the race because I had to rearrange a bunch of classes, hand in assignments early and miss a mid=-erm.“It was all worth it to cross that line first although I didn’t feel that great racing, so I’m happy to pull off the win on an average day.“I worked hard with three other Mexican girls on the bike and established a two minute lead over the next group. I was happy about that because it gave me one less thing to worry about. It was really hot so I didn’t want to go off too hard on the run and then blow up.Duffy posted a time of two hours, eight minutes and six seconds, 32 seconds quicker than her nearest rival Paola Diaz of Mexico.She emerged from the 1.5 kilometre swim in first place in a time of 20:05, then finished the 40km bike course in 1:08.53 before completing the four laps of the 10k run in 37:57.Duffy was also given a 15 second time penalty on the run, but still managed to win the race, which forms part of the Pan American Cup.Next up for Duffy is a World Cup event in Monterrey, Mexico on May 7. “This is my third race of the season, I did an ITU Sprint Triathlon at the beginning of March in Clermont, Florida and also an Xterra in California, in which I came second,” she said..“The Olympics is the main goal so I will be racing ITU World Cups and ITU World Cup series races all year.“The Pan American Games in October is another goal.“I wouldn’t say I have found my top form again-yet. I am finding my feet again.“It is a long road back and I am taking steady progress down it. “