OK before I hear the gasps of shock that I have finally gotten around to writing another blog, I must apologise for being what can only be described as "a serious slacker'. I have so many great photos from my time in Boulder and I had very good intentions of posting them here with some great blogs but somehow the time just flew by and before I knew it I was boarding a plane bound for Roth, Germany. But fear not because I am back and I will be posting all of my pics and some new ones from my time here in Europe.

After spending about a month in Boulder training and loving every single second of it, I have now flown to Germany. I will be spending the next month here in Europe- I have 'Challenge Roth' this weekend, followed by two weeks in Verbier in Switzerland- stage 19 of the Tour de France finishes in Verbier and the next day is a rest day- gotta love that!!! I then head to Antwerp for the 70.3 at the beginning of August and then it is back to Boulder to train up for IM Canada- busy- yes, but wouldn't have it any other way. 

But for now I am trying to get myself mentally prepared for Challenge Roth- this will be my sixth time racing here and I have to say- it is probably my favourite race in the world. I have had the same homestay family all of this time and they are just like real family to me now. 

Unfortunately it has not been a great start- we arrived here on monday afternoon and on tuesday morning I went out for a ride. I must have only been ten minutes into it when my world came crashing down around me- a car decided to turn left right in front of me and the end result was me in a muddled mess on the ground. I was sore everywhere and honestly I think I was in complete shock- I just couldn't believe it had happened to me here in Roth. The driver was obviously in shock too as he got out of his car, looked at me on the ground and then turned around, got back in his car and drove off with not so much as a word. I could not believe it- how could someone, another human being, leave someone lying in the middle of the road like that??

When it finally clicked in my head that he was not coming back, I scrapped myself off the ground, took a look at the parts that hurt the most, cringed when I saw the state of my left hand, winced when I felt the lump on my left leg and then swore black and blue when I discovered that my brand new Fi'zi:k cycling kit was completely destroyed. Of course I checked out my bike from front to back- amazingly not a scratch on the frame itself- well that was because I took the brunt of the collision. But I pulled it together and managed to make my way back home. I was then driven straight to the emergency room at the hospital by race director and good friend- Felix and my husband Justin. They were so great and managed to somehow keep me calm- no easy feat under normal circumstances let me tell you. 

Once at the hospital I had a great team working on me- after x-rays and ultrasound it was determined that there were no broken bones or torn muscles- just loads of bruising and road rash. My fingers were badly sprained and I think the most painful thing was the removal of my wedding rings (I would not let them cut them off) so they had to be pulled off over all of the swelling- they looked like pigs trotters by the time I got to the hospital so I could not even watch them attempt to pull the rings over all of the swollen skin. 

After what seemed like an eternity at the hospital I was finally allowed home. I must admit I was not coping with the incident well- I felt sorry for myself and couldn't understand why it had to happen to me. Justin let me sit in misery for about an hour and then he decided it was time to snap out of it and just accept what had happened and move on. It was not the end of the world, nothing was broken, I was OK and life would go on. He was right- this was nothing compared to what others have had to endure. I gave myself a good kick up the bum and went about trying to limit the damage done and look towards what could be done from here on in so that I could make the start line on sunday.

Well it is now three days since the crash and each day I am feeling a little bit better. I had an allergic reaction to one of the pain killers so had to return to hospital the next day for a couple of hours, but after a shot of cortisone I was almost back to normal. Today I was able to mange a 30min run, 3kms in the pool and 45mins on the turbo- a long way from an Ironman but a start. At least I now know I will be on the start line and the next goal is to make it to the finish line. 

I will keep you updated on my progress but things are looking a lot better for sunday.

Tomorrow is another new day and lets hope I wake up tomorrow with a little less swelling, and a bigger smile on my face :)

When things do not go quite as planned

OK- well it has taken me a while to get my 'Rev 3' race report up- and there are a few valid reasons for this. Firstly, I have done so much travelling since I left Kona that I hardly know what time zone I am in let alone what day it is. I do not think I gave it quite enough credit just how big the United States of America is, how many hours of flying it would take to get from Kona to Hartford, Connecticut, the 6hr time difference between the two States and then my final two flights and another time change to get to my final destination- Boulder, Colorado- I get tired just thinking about it
Secondly, nobody wants to write a race report when the actual race wasn't, well lets just say, wasn't exactly what I had hoped for. Now lets get it straight from the start- the race itself was nothing short of amazing- Heather Gollnick, her husband Todd, Charlie and everyone who was involved in getting the inaugural Rev 3 race up and running should be commended- it was simply an awesome event. The actual course was back to 'grass-roots' triathlon- one loop swim, one loop bike and an out and back run course that was one of the toughest I have done in a while ( it was definitely on par with the run course in Honu minus the heat). It was such a tough and honest course. My race, on the otherhand, was nothing short of abismal. I am not going to make excuses- not my style, but I just felt flat all day and just didn't have the strength needed to do well on the course. It was, however, unbelievably exciting to watch some of the best gals in the sport go head to head in a thrilling race. Watching Rinny, Natasha and others pushing themselves to their limits was all inspiring and has really motivated me here in Boulder to pick it up a few notches.

My homestay family in Woodbury (nextdoor to Hartford) were just wonderful and did everything in their power to ensure I had a great day of racing. Unfortunately I could not repay them with a great result but I have promised them that I will come back next year and try again :)

Well- lessons were certainly learned- no race is a complete disaster. There is always something that you can take from the race and use at a later date to your advantage. Yes- it is hard to see this immediately after the race (all you want to do is crawl away and hide) but give yourself a few days, a couple of easy sessions on the bike where you let your mind wonder and it is amazing how one can put it all into perspective.
Time to move onwards and upwards. It has been exactly 12 weeks since my surgery and I am starting to feel the strength and fitness come back. I have completely changed my scenery from the vast and endless views of the blue waters of Kona to the equally spectacular views of the mountains in Boulder, Colorado (I think my pics show the contrast quite well). I thoroughly enjoyed my time training on Kona but I am just as excited to be here in Lyons just outside of Boulder. I have always loved training in the mountains- I spent the last three years training in the Swiss Alpes. This season I opted for the Rockies. I haven't been to Boulder since 1996- that is 13 years ago!!!! Justin and I came here so that he could prepare for his first attempt at Hawaii. I came along for the ride. Honestly, back then, I thought Ironman was for crazy people (by the way I have not changed my mind about this, I have just joined the crazies).

Coming back here now brings back so many great memories. When we were here in 1996, I got to train with Greg and Sian Welch, Mark Allen and Julie Moss, Chris Legh and Christian Bustos (who we nick-named 'Chilli-dog'). It was so much fun and really set the ground-work for my passage into Ironman- I just didn't know it yet.
We have been lucky enough to stay at Chris and Sarah Legh's house out in Lyons- it is such a great little town- it is at the base of all the great climbs and the town itself looks like it has not undergone a facelift for at least 50 years. But that is just how I like it- no distractions, just good, hard training. The view from the house is amazing, as you can see from my pictures. There is just something so tranquil and fulfilling about waking up and looking out over the snow-capped mountains- you just want to get out there and ride up every single one of them.

I have been here now since Monday and have already managed to make my way to the top of a few of them- typical me-cannot wait, must do it all at once.
Tomorrow Justin and I are heading up into the clouds to do a 15 mile trail running race- it starts at 9000ft and continues to go up. Justin is going to race it, I am going to 'run' it- and I use the term 'run' very loosly. I am looking forward to the challenge and the view- I am sure it is going to be nothing short of spectacular.
After the run we are heading over to Greg and Laura Bennett's house- they have just moved into their new pad and it is so cool- I will have to take some pics. It is BBQ time and I can't wait.

Will let you all know how the run went- I will have lungs the size of Pharlap by the time I finish.

Honu 70.3

Alright- finally I have a bit of time to get my race report done- I must apologise for getting this to you all so late but I have been a little busy flying over to the mainland and then all the way across to the other side of the country- I honestly had no idea just how big this country actually was! But I am now settled in Woodbury, Connecticut- I have replaced the heat and humidity with the cool and dry air and the mongoose with the squirrel and am trying to get my head around the fact that I am going to be out there racing again on Sunday. My good friend Hillary does 'the double' like it is nothing, and by the double I mean double ironman. I, however, am about to attempt my own version of 'the double'- the double half-ironman. I am definitely expecting to hurt but I am going to enjoy the challenge that is for sure. I think I am just so happy to be back racing again and happy that my surgery is finally behind me and I am well on my way back to full fitness.

OK- now for Honu- I have to start by saying that I honestly had the BEST time training in Kona. It is such an amazing island and the training is as close to perfect as you can get. I really believe it helped me on race day as even though it was definitely hot on the run, I never felt like it was getting on top of me. I would be lying if I told you I was confident going into this race- I was as nervous as if it was my first time racing. I really wasn't sure exactly how my form was- yeah I was fit but was I race fit? My surgery was on March 10 and even though I knew I was fully recovered from the procedure, I was unsure if I was actually 'race-ready'. Honu was the perfect race for me to test this. I had a great swim, not such a great start but after about 400m I started to get into my groove and exited the water with Sam. Once we got to T1 I could see local favourite Bree wee leaving- she had a great swim but it was good for me to have someone to chase. I caught Bree early on in the bike ride ( I later found out that she had been sick before the race and had to eventually pull out but I know she will be back just as strong as ever). I felt good on my new Ceepo- I had only done a dozen or so rides on it but it felt perfect. I did notice that I was definitely lacking a little strength on some of the inclines and during the later stages of the climb into Hawi (we had a shocker of a head wind up there), but other than that, I felt pretty good. I have not been able to do much strength work since my surgery so I did expect to suffer a bit but I will be based in Boulder from next week so plenty of time for some serious strength training.
I dismounted the bike in first place and wanted a lead of about 5 minutes- that is what I predicted I needed to hold off Sam. Unfortunately I did not have the cushion I wanted. As I left T2 I could hear them calling Sam in off the bike- she was only about two odd minutes back. I won't tell you what I muttered under my breath but it wasn't pretty- nobody wants the likes of Sam McGlone that close behind them and even though she is still on the comeback after injury, I would never discount her- she is a World Champion, an amazing athlete and above all, a really great chick!

So, if I wanted this title I was going to have to fight for it on the run- not something I usually like to do or something that I am particularly good at, but I have been doing a heap of training with Luke McKenzie and he has really helped me to not only improve my fitness on the run but also my confidence. Justin has also been getting me to do a lot of running time-trials over different distances and this has definitely improved my running. At every turn I could see that Sam was making up small amounts of time on me and each time I would try and run a little bit faster. It was honestly one of the toughest run courses I have ever done. Most of it was around the golf course so not only was it incredibly hot as there was no shade, but it was also unbelievably humid as they had watered the greens that morning (just to make it that little bit harder for us all). You just could not get into a good rhythm- up and down, over grass, onto paths, back onto grass, loads of turns, through a couple of dark tunnels, we even had a switch-back to contend with but I think this actually worked to my advantage in the end as the run was more about strength, stamina and survival rather than pure running speed.
I was actually able to open my lead up by about the 10th mile. I now had about a 4 minute lead so was able to enjoy the last few miles- I always love being able to relax a bit towards the end (not that it happens all that often) and really take in the atmosphere and the crowds- it was so much fun. It felt great to cross the finish line in first place and to have the fastest run split of the day- now that never happens. It was a great race and one that I definitely want to return to again next year but only if I can snare the same homestay as this year- they were awesome and made my stay in Kona unforgettable.

My new Ironman Hawaii ride- Part I

OK- so on Thursday we decided to go on a bit of a biking adventure. I wanted to do something completely different to the usual. I wanted to go exploring. When I am here for the Ironman in October I am totally focused on the race and rarely do I venture off the actual race course. But this was my time to play and I wanted to see what the island of Kona had to offer- I can tell you now that I was not disappointed.
We decided to begin when Lava Java opened its doors- it was going to be a long day in the saddle so we wanted to make sure we were properly hydrated for a day in the sun-(make mine a triple shot please).
We then made our way out along the Queen K and basically followed the Ironman race course all the way to Hawi- we were happy to discover that the winds were not blowing on our way from Kawaihae to Hawi, in fact it was close to perfect conditions.

Before we knew it we had made it Hawi and this is where the fun would begin. I had to take this pic of 'Luke's Place'- seeing as Luke was with us- he has promised to shout us dinner here before we leave.

I have really only ridden along the Queen K and so I have no idea what type of riding is actually out there. Justin, on the other hand, has done plenty of riding and has discovered some amazing roads and has gone on some great adventures. Luke has also done loads of training on Kona and has ventured off the beaten track many times- he was aptly given the title of 'ride captain' for the day.

When we left Hawi we took a right turn up the Kohala Mountain Rd. Luke had warned me not to go too hard too early as it was a long way up to the summit- he was not kidding!!!

We just kept going up and up and up some more. But the view all the way up was worth all of the pain my legs were encountering and then some.

This was my first really long ride on my new bike- the Ceepo Venom. It felt great and I honestly could not have been happier with the way it was feeling or handling (except I was hoping it would climb just a little faster so that Luke and Justin were not able to drop me up Kohala Mt. Rd). But not to worry as it descended beautifully and I was back on their behinds before they even realised they had dropped me :)

My new Ironman Hawaii ride- part II

We made our way up and over Kohala Mountain Rd. from Hawi- this is an awesome climb and peaks at 1086 metres! Now that would certainly sort out the little drafting problem we seem to be having at the World Champs these days :) The views from here have to be seen to be believed- truly amazing. I do not normally like to stop mid-ride- training is training right, but I just could not resist these views.

How fantastic is this! You could see for miles- the Queen K seemed to be so far away- I could not believe how far we had climbed. You could see actually see the Queen K snake all the way back to Kailua.

We descended down to Waimea and had our second and last stop for the day before heading back to Kailua. We took the Mamalahoa Highway all the way from Waimea back to Kailua. This highway was the original road used to access the north end of the island before they built the Queen K. It has been resurfaced and is a great alternative to the Queen K. It basically runs parallel to the Queen K but inland, however, it is a lot more undulating (translated= a whole lot tougher).

We took this road all the way back to the very top of Palani Road (now I mean the very top- not just the little hill we run up in the Ironman). How much fun was it descending down Palani!! A great way to finish an epic ride. Total ride was 183kms- just perfect!

Luke, Justin and myself then rode back to where we were staying and I made everyone the obligatory protein shake- extra thick and extra cold- then we just lay back and took in a good morning's work. Now I cannot wait to do it all over again -ahhhh life is good.

KONA- I just love this place!

Well I know many of you are going to be so envious of me when you look through my pics in this blog- yes I am back on God's land and the great thing is I get to live here for the next two weeks.
We arrived here on Kona last Sunday and as soon as I planted my feet down on the tarmac I knew it was going to be a great two weeks of training, culminating with the Hawaii 70.3 race on the 30th.
The weather has been amazing since we got here- not too hot and definitely not as humid as it is for the Ironman World Champs in October. Really the conditions are simply perfect for long, hard training days.
We have been lucky enough to have been set up with a great homestay while we are here- Linda and Bill Greentree. They live in a lovely house just a little way up the mountain but still very close to town. They both love their sport- Linda is also a triathlete and has raced the Ironman World Champs here, while Bill runs marathons. They have been so wonderful and have made our stay so easy. It has been fun swapping stories about the Ironman and also learning more about the island of Kona itself. When I am here for Ironman in October I really don't do anything outside of training specifically for the race so I have really never observed what the island has to offer- believe me there is so much more to this place than just swimming at the Pier, biking along the Queen K and running along Ali'i Dr.
There are trails everywhere and some amazing climbs (check out my next blog on this).
But I have to admit my first training session on the Monday was a big swim at the local pool- It always takes me a while to get used to swimming in a 25 yard pool again- we do not have any pools of this length back home in Australia and it always takes me one or two sessions to get the timing right. My head seems to spin a bit after that initial session with all of the tumble turning but I am used it now. The pool here in Kona is great- clean, warm and free and you get to work a bit on your tan while you swim :)

Of course nearly every session either begins or ends at the infamous 'Lava Java"- but not both (although I definitely could). The best thing about coming here outside of Ironman is that there are no 'never-ending' lines at Lava Java- it is basically straight in, order and eat- just perfect! Yes I do like having this beautiful place all to myself and not having to share it with 2000 other 'out of town' athletes.

We actually decided to include the Hawaii 70.3 this year on our race calender as our good friends and training partners- Luke McKenzie and Amanda Balding, who have been coming here for a while to train and race, told us to give it a go. I have really been enjoying training with them both and Luke has been a great training partner for me on the bike (yes he kicks my behind) and also fun to have at the pool- I say 'at the pool' because anyone who knows Luke knows what an unbelievable swimmer he is- so for me to say 'swim with' is certainly out of the question, even if wearing pool buoy and x-large paddles!

Well it is now Friday- a long swim and a massage are on the agenda for today- oh and of course a quick trip to Lava Java will be slotted in there somewhere. As you can see from the above picture- it is another perfect day in what can only be described as paradise- the sun is shining, the dolphins were out again and life is pretty good.

Next blog will show pics from our 180km loop that we did yesterday on the bike- what an amazing ride it was and the scenery was to die for. I was really happy with the way my Ceepo felt- this was the first long ride I had done on it and it passed with flying colours.

mission accomplished- well almost

OK well I have to admit it has taken a few days longer than first anticipated, but finally I have a (almost complete) brand new bike. Justin and I set about building it up midway through the week and apart from some missing Zipp Vuma Crono cranks, a set of Zipp 303 clinchers complete with Powertap, and bar tape, it is ready to rock the roads of Noosa. These missing bits should arrive on Monday, so baring any unforeseen incidents with customs, these 'bits' should be on my bike by Monday avo. That means I get to break the new machine in during the hardest ride of the week- yeah I know probably not such a smart idea, but I am so confident about this bike (and the bike builder) that it does not worry me.

First thing to do was to install the headset, attach the rear derailleur and the front and rear brake calipers (all running components are the new Shimano Dura-Ace). I would love to tell you all that I did these things- but I would be fibbing. Justin is a genius and a perfectionist and that is why he is doing most of the building and I am doing the 'getting of coffee and making of lunch'.

Usually when I get a new frame for the season I take it straight down to Bob at 'Coolum Cycles'. He has been my mechanic since I moved up here years ago and he always does a great job. But Jus and I decided this year that we wanted to do it on our own. We still made a trip down to Coolum Cycles to show Bob the new Ceepo frames that we are so proud of.

Next up was to attach my brand new Fi'zi:k Antares saddle to the seat post. I have not used this particular model from Fi'zi:k yet but it looks amazing.

Then Justin assembled my new Oval Concepts aerobars- they look soooo good- carbon everywhere- even the special aero stem top cap- love it.

Once that was complete Justin cut down the steerer tube to size and I (yes I) was able to thread the gear and brake cables and my new bike started to come to life. There had been no cursing, no screaming, no nagging and no criticizing- quite amazing really. Everything was coming together perfectly.

My tiny, little Ceepo was starting to look like a super-fast machine!

By the end of the three days of building 'Grip' was well and truly over it- I don't think he quite understood what all of the fuss was about and he took a stance- 'no more building until I get taken for a long walk'.

So as soon as my cranks arrive we have the bottom bracket to install, the cranks, drink cage, Powertap monitor and bar tape to go on and then mission accomplished. I will have the final pics up in the next day or so.