Clearwater

It’s only a failure if you fail to learn… That is what a good friend of mine reminded me after my disappointing race at the 70.3 world champs. At first I was not at all interested in hearing any of this crap - I was so upset at how the race turned out and so frustrated that I couldn’t pull it together on the day. But after a few days of reflection and some time chatting with my coach, I am starting to see where I went wrong this year and can now make sure we do not make those same mistakes in the future!

I think there are a number of reasons that can help to explain why the day didn’t turn out as we had hoped... But mostly I think I was just tired! It has been a very long year with my first race way back in early February, I think I raced far too much early in the year and didn't get in enough training early on... Then I neglected to take my usual mid year break and may have trained a little hard these last two months into Clearwater trying to cram in as much work as possible before the race. Bottom line - I didn't give this race the same respect I gave it last year... Lesson learned!

I don’t think I need to go through all the details of the race. I will just say that it was not at all one of my better days. I just felt awful the whole way and never really got going. I did get a penalty at about mile 10 on the bike for blocking & that didn’t help at all. It was a fair call though and just a silly mistake in my behalf – I was riding behind Dede legally and figured I needed to really get going if I wanted to make up any time on the bike… So I pulled out and tried to pass… Then realized I was going nowhere! I just didn’t have the strength in my legs to get around her in the 25 secs they give you for passing. So I dropped back again and bingo yellow card for me and my first ever visit to a penalty box… I think I followed the bike up with a PW (personal worst) run!! But no matter how terrible I was feeling I was going to make it to that finish line no matter what!!!

Congratulations to Joanna and Terenzo who both put together fantastic races!! Also a special congrats to my great friend Richie who placed 3rd – I think he is one of the most consistent triathletes out there and he unfortunately does not always get the credit he deserves!

So anyway I am now in St Croix having a little down time. I am going to do an Olympic distance race here this weekend for fun then I am heading off to Vancouver to visit one of my best friends, Lauren aka Gunz aka Gigi aka Gunnison Groves.. She is one of the funniest girls I know and there is always many laughs when we get together! After that I am going to spend a couple of days back in Boulder before I head back to Aussie for a quick bag drop then I’m off to Phuket for a holiday race with my best friend Annabel Luxford.. Bring it on - I more than ready for some fun times!!

Turkey and Back to the Base!

The last month has just flown by… So much has gone on and I am not really sure where to start. Needless to say this might be a long one….

You may or may not have noticed that I skipped the Chicago triathlon, with a trip to Turkey scheduled the Sunday night after the race, and the strong possibility that I was in for a pretty much forced week off from training, I figured I would be better off finishing off my 4 week training block strong & using the race weekend as a longer weekend of training. With my flights already booked out of Chicago to Turkey, I decided to spend the weekend in Chi town and do a little training with my great friend Keith Norsym (who recently moved from Boulder to Chicago and also just had a baby boy.. well not him but his beautiful wife Tiia – so happy for you both). I did manage to get down to watch some of the race and was so happy to see Becky Lavelle take the win – Becky is one of the nicest girls on the tri circuit and after a rough end to 2007 it was nice to see her back kicking butt again!

The trip to Turkey was for my sisters wedding… Yes she did marry a Turkish man. And no he is not allowed to beat her with a small stick ☺. He is actually one of the nicest guys I have met and I think a perfect match for my sister – they btoh met while working on a cruse ship about 5 years ago. They had a traditional Turkish wedding and it was really cool to be able to see how weddings are done in their culture. I was one of the bridesmaids. Although, when Colette (my sister) told Murat (her husband) that he needed to pick two groomsmen he had no idea what she was talking about… Guess they don’t have them in Turkey. This was pretty much the one thing my sister insisted on, and we were able to bend the rules slightly to have a small bridal party… In Turkey the ceremony is more a formality, the real wedding is what we would call the reception. Just a big party really, with live music and lots of dancing in a circle with everyone holding hands . The music was certainly different -Murat’s family is from near the black sea and their traditional music sounds a lot like bagpipes. It was a lot of fun & a really cool experience!

The trip to Turkey came and went so quickly – it was just busy, busy, busy from the moment I got there, I met my family in Istanbul (so great to see them all again) and we spent 2 days sightseeing – I am not a big fan of sightseeing, but it was cool to check out the blue mosque, I did manage to sneak in a run while in Istanbul and certainly got some funny looks from the general public. I ran in shorts and a t shirt, and while it was very hot, I would not dare take my shirt off!! Then we headed to Ankara where my sister lives and where the wedding would be; I was only there for 2 and a half days, so there wasn’t much time to get all the last minute bits and pieces ready for the wedding. Then it was time to say my goodbyes once again, and I was back off to the US, sad to be leaving but glad to be hopping on the plane where I could hopefully get a little sleep! Fortunately my mum and younger sister (Kalista) were able to spare some time to come back with me to Boulder before they had to head home and back to work.

We met back up in Denver and had 6 nights in Boulder – where I tried to get back into some training before LA tri as well as show my mum & sister around Boulder. It was also my last week in Boulder. So again, it was a rather busy week with packing/sightseeing & training. Then we were all off to LA for the LA tri where mummy & Kalista got to watch me struggle through the race (and oh what a struggle it was –note to self – don’t schedule any more races so close to a family members wedding). Unfortunately that was the end of the holiday for Mum & Kalista, they were on a plane back to Aussie that night ☹


It was so great to have had that time with the family & I was definitely sad to see them leave. But it’s also getting to the business end of the season & I am very happy to be back into training without any distractions at all… And I really mean that – I’m now in our new training base which is in Borrego Springs (inland from San Diego). It is a tiny desert town with really not much going on. But I really love it here – It’s so beautiful with mountains surrounding the town & virtually no traffic at all. Actually there isn’t even a traffic light in the town. I don’t have any internet access, or cable tv at my house, and if I want to get online I have to hop on my bike and roll down to the library. I am here for 8 weeks and am sure I will have some stories to tell about the place in my next blog.

Peace out ☺

Travel and Newfoundland 70.3

With my little break behind me I had just over a week to get my body moving again and somewhat ready to race Newfoundland 70.3. After 5 days off you really don’t lose much fitness at all – what you do lose is bit of strength and some feel… especially in the swim (for me, at least). I spent the weekend doing some longer strength training before the Monday when I had to head off to Baltimore to hang out with one of my sponsors ‘Cerasport.’

Cera products had organized a Meet and Greet with me in Centennial Park (Cambridge) on the Tuesday evening and I had a great time. Ceraproducts are very new into the sports world – they started off by creating oral rehydration solutions for use in hospitals. These solutions help severely dehydrated patients without the use of an IV drip. It wasn’t long before they noticed that there are similar problems with dehydration in sports and came up with the idea to develop a drink for athletes. They are still working on the flavors but are hoping to be on the shelves within the next year. You can read more about the product and order online at www.ceraproductsinc.com.

The rest of the week was spent at sea level on pretty much my usual race week training schedule. I flew out of Baltimore on Thursday afternoon and was supposed to arrive into Deer Lake airport at 12:30am Friday morning. Well that didn’t happen because the flight, unfortunately, was delayed out of Halifax and I ended up arriving at Deer Lake at 4am… sans baggage… Loving travel in the US right now!!

After an hour drive we arrived at my hotel in Cornerbrook. So tired! I just wanted to get the key to my room and get some sleep. The guy at reception was having trouble finding my booking – but finally just gave me a key and I was off to my room. I opened the door and flicked on the light – only to walk in on a guy who may or may not have been naked (sheets covering his lower half – thank goodness). With my loud entry I had woken him up and for a second we just stared at each other. Then I laughed and apologized and was out of there in a flash!!

Back down to the lobby to try get another room – I was too tired to be angry so just told the guy what had happened and he was like ‘Oh. I see. You are not down to check in until 3pm today’. So I gave him a rather filthy look and said ‘Well I am here now mate’!! He found me a room and I was back on the elevator and off into my new room. By this time the sun was rising – so I shut the blinds quite tight, climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep!

My bike arrived later Friday afternoon but still no sign of my bag and, in my infinite wisdom, I had decided to pack my bike shoes into my other bag… So even though I had my bike I couldn’t ride it. I did however pack some running gear in my carry on and was at least able to get a little run in. When my bag still hadn’t arrived by Saturday lunch – I figured it was time to try round up some gear so I could at least participate in this race. I needed a wetsuit, race kit, bike shoes and pedals, plus all the other bits and pieces that you need for a race. Fortunately, with the help of one of the race organizers and some of the pro men, I was able to come up with everything I needed to compete in the race

I was a little sad that I wasn’t going to be able to race in my special Zoot kit and felt kinda bad that I was going to be wearing all these random brands – I had some of Richie’s Team Timex uniform, and a Blue Seventy wetsuit. I was worried that my sponsors would be a bit upset with me – but figured that it was either this or sit on the sideline and just watch. So 8:30pm Saturday night I had my race bag packed and was mentally ready to race in this gear that I had never used before. Then I got a call from the lobby saying that a bag had arrived for me…………… YEAH! I ran downstairs and there it was – Thank goodness! All was well in the end!

After those few days of things going wrong – getting through the race was the easy part. I don’t feel like I need to go into all the details of the race – so here is the short of it. Overall I had a decent race – it was hard day though and at no point did I feel all that great. I kinda knew it was going to be a hard one after having that little break. I went into the race telling myself that this was nothing more than a hard training day. Fortunately I was strong enough to take 1^st place and with that my 4^th 70.3 win of the year.

Now I am back in boulder and settling back into some much needed training. The next race on my schedule is Chicago, but I am really not sure yet if I will race. I have raced a lot this year and am starting to feel like I need to make sure I am getting in enough solid training. I will see how the next few weeks go and keep you posted!

You Have To Start Sometime...

After much procrastination, I feel it is time to start my blogging career. So here goes…

I am actually on a mini break right now, after a slight melt down at my 9th triathlon of the year (4 of which were 70.3’s) in Minneapolis. I figure it’s time to give my body a little rest. I have been racing consistently quite well all year, and while nobody ever likes to race poorly I figure I can cop this one on the chin. Actually sometimes I think it can be a good thing to have a bad race - it really forces you to stop and rethink what you are doing, what your priorities are and gets you fired up to get back on top of things. My original plan was to race Minneapolis then NYC tri and Newfoundland 70.3 three weekends in a row, but after waking up on Saturday and dragging myself through Minneapolis – I realize I may have taken on a little more that I can chew… Definitely a sign that it is time to have a break!! So super coach Siri and I have decided to give NY a miss, take 5 days off and refocus on the major goal of the year…Defending my world title!!!! I am still going to race Newfoundland 70.3 but it will really just mark the start of a good solid training block. Now is the time to really knuckle down and get back into some solid training.

It’s now day 5 of my mini break, and I feel rested & ready to get stuck back into it. The last few days have consisted of a lot of sleeping & eating as well as some quality time on the couch with the odd visit to a café or restaurant to hang out with some friends… It’s such a beautiful time of year in Boulder & it’s nice to be able to stop training for a bit & really just enjoy!

Buffalo Springs Race Report

Among OTHER reasons I choose to race Buffalo Springs because it is one of the tougher 70.3’s on the circuit. This year I think it was a little harder than usual though. We didn’t have the usual Texas heat to deal with but instead copped some pretty strong winds and slick wet roads from the rain that decided to fall mid way through the bike course. This is my 2nd time racing Buffalo - last year I finished 2nd to Natascha Badmann. I was SO close to winning that race – I was 5 mins down off the bike and really went after it on the run, I came to within 100m of Natascha with 2 miles to go. Game over for her right!!! WRONG!!! Unfortunately at that point I had used up so much energy trying to catch up that I really had nothing left to finish the race. Instead, I had to watch as Natascha pulled away for the win and I was lucky just to get to that damn finish before my legs completely packed it in.

I made the decision that day to come back to Lubbock for a rematch, unfortunately Natascha is still recovering from her big crash in Kona. We all wish her well and hope to see her smiling face around the races next year, plus I want to try and beat this living legend before she retires! So instead, I was faced with some other very tough competition in Joanna Zeiger and Joanna Lawn – two kick ass triathletes who need no introduction.

On race morning I was excited to pull on my new custom zoot uni and was fired up and ready for a good fight. I was 2+ minutes down on Zeiger - the superfish, out of the water and had my work cut out for me. My legs were feeling pretty good though, and I was able to catch up to Zeiger and take the lead at around mile 30…. Only to be passed by Jo Lawn a few miles later. I hung tough though and came into transition not too far behind Jo Lawn. With a speedy transition I was able to take the lead quite early in on the run and fortunately held it right to the finish!! I am very happy with where I am at this stage of the season – I really wanted to put together a good performance in Buffalo and feel like I am on track to another great race at the 70.3 world champs in November. Next up is Minneapolis and New York - the first two races in the Lifetime Fitness Series - then Newfoundland 70.3. Three weeks in a row of fun filled adventure… Love it!