Wow! What a great course and the spectalors on the run were awesome. The course was a lot tougher that a lot of athletes expected. Two loops of a hilly bike followed by a rolling run added to the difficulty.

Race morning we were greeted with chilly conditions and the Lake temperature being in the 70's created a pretty specular fog. Any other race it would not have been possible to swim but this course was unique in the fact there was an unwater cable that made navigation a breeze. Althougth it took a little while for me to find it on the way back. Luckily I swim straight...well I think I do anyway. I did have a few thoughts going through my head that this could be the longest 1.2mile swim ever if I did not find the cable or land at some point.

I exited the swim in 3rd place and while I was enduring the morning crispness and my feet were pretty much number at least there were plenty of hills on the bike to warm me up a little. It took we a little while to get up to speed maybe from the cold or the slight fatigue I had in my legs from training pretty hard leading into this event. I caught one competitor and got passed by one so as I transition from the bike to the run I was still in 3rd.

I found my legs pretty quickly on the run but my feet remained numb for a few miles before they actually thawed out. My main concern apart from catching the leaders was to see how much time Pablo had pput on me during the bike as his wave started 10mins after mine. At around 8km I got to see the two leaders running side by side. Which actually spurred me on to try to pick up my pace. Then I was motivated even more when I saw Pablo at around the same point I had seen the leaders. Darn he had a great bike and made up a chunk of change on me. So now I was really motivated to push even harder.

The next chance I saw the leader was with about 3km to go and we where around the same time gap but I had definetly closed the gap on 2nd. But I did not quite get the opportunity to catch 2nd as the finishline loomed a little too quickly.

So all in all I was happy how I felt and very excited to be back on the Podium. Even though Pablo cruched me on the bike I did out swim and run him.:)

Wow! What a great course and the spectalors on the run were awesome. The course was a lot tougher that a lot of athletes expected. Two loops of a hilly bike followed by a rolling run added to the difficulty.

Race morning we were greeted with chilly conditions and the Lake temperature being in the 70's created a pretty specular fog. Any other race it would not have been possible to swim but this course was unique in the fact there was an unwater cable that made navigation a breeze. Althougth it took a little while for me to find it on the way back. Luckily I swim straight...well I think I do anyway. I did have a few thoughts going through my head that this could be the longest 1.2mile swim ever if I did not find the cable or land at some point.

I exited the swim in 3rd place and while I was enduring the morning crispness and my feet were pretty much number at least there were plenty of hills on the bike to warm me up a little. It took we a little while to get up to speed maybe from the cold or the slight fatigue I had in my legs from training pretty hard leading into this event. I caught one competitor and got passed by one so as I transition from the bike to the run I was still in 3rd.

I found my legs pretty quickly on the run but my feet remained numb for a few miles before they actually thawed out. My main concern apart from catching the leaders was to see how much time Pablo had pput on me during the bike as his wave started 10mins after mine. At around 8km I got to see the two leaders running side by side. Which actually spurred me on to try to pick up my pace. Then I was motivated even more when I saw Pablo at around the same point I had seen the leaders. Darn he had a great bike and made up a chunk of change on me. So now I was really motivated to push even harder.

The next chance I saw the leader was with about 3km to go and we where around the same time gap but I had definetly closed the gap on 2nd. But I did not quite get the opportunity to catch 2nd as the finishline loomed a little too quickly.

So all in all I was happy how I felt and very excited to be back on the Podium. Even though Pablo cruched me on the bike I did out swim and run him.:)

A few weeks ago I tagged along with fellow Pro Trathlete Luke Bell and his wife Lucy to Cedar City, Utah for a training camp at Altitude. We were lucky enough to stay at Paula Newby-Fraser and Paul Huddle's wonderful very spectular home above the city of Cedar City.

Cedar City sits at 6000ft while the P's home was 8000ft and we got to climb up over 10,000ft. Yes, there is not as much oxygen compared to sea level just in case anyone out there wants to know.

Our first run we were given verbal instruction on how to find a nice 40mins loop. Apart from the face we were running at 8000ft plus we found a trail but definetly not he one we were suppose to be on. My heart was beating so loud as Luke and I climbed up this very rocky and steep section. Although going up it was extremely hard I was hoping we were not going to be going back down the same way. But luckily we found the road at the top of the trail so having gone throught that fleeting moment of "oh my god we are lost" to thank goodness we don't have to back track.

One of our rides was just as memorable..it started off nice and early with a 60mins ride to the base of a 12mile mile climb. No problem it's only 12miles and I have a 25 cog on my rear wheel and Luke had a 23. An hour and half later wishing I had an even easier gear I made it to the top and well worth it as the view of the red rock canyons was amazing. I did find out later that the following week after I had left Luke decided to borrow my wheel as the 23 cog was not so much fun.:)

I also did get lost on another run and hyad to ask for directions. Funny this was that I took look a similar run a few days later and made a right turn instead of the left from the last time and I somehow mangaged to be in the same spot as where I got lost the last time...go figure.

 

It had been quite a while since I had competed in a 70.3 Ironman distance so I was definetly looking forward to seeing how it would turn out. It would also be interesting to see if all the short course racing I had been doing over the last few months would help.

Race morning the biggest challenge apart from having to get up at midnight California time for a 6am race start was that the swim course bouys had been blown all over the water because of the storm the night before. It also meant a very choppy swim was ahead.

Also the prospect of getting up so early almost made me wish I was a coffee drinker...No not really.:) I always find it quite amusing to watch other athletes the morning of the race frantically looking for there morning coffee fix.

The swim start was delayed a little as the life guards straightened out the course. Which just meant being nervous a little more longer.

Once the start gun finally fired I pretty much did not see anyone until the first turn around on the run as I had a pretty decent swim in the choppy waters and lead out of the water.

Once on the point to point 56mile bike I was passed by a few Pro Men early as I had past them in the swim even though they had a 2 minute head start on the women. I had "Eye of The Tiger" in my head entire bike route. I had absoluetly no idea where anyone else was during the bike.

So as I transitioned from the bike to the run I had to wait another 7 miles on the run before I knew where anyone else was. Finally I got a split as the first turn around and I had over 3 minutes and was feeling strong. The run course was a pretty tough 2 lap course which had a 7% climb each lap. Navigating the 7% climb seemed a lot easier than the pounding your quads got on the way back down.

With the steps of the Rocky movie as the back drop of the finish line I had grand thoughts of running straight through and up the stairs Rocky Balboa style but my legs had other ideas so I settled for just the finishline tape. As they say winner are grinners and I was very happy to take the victory. Desiree Flicker had a strong run to finish 2nd while Heather Jackson rounded out the podium

Top five professional women’s results are as follows:
1. Michellie Jones, 4:23:56
2. Desiree Ficker, 4:27:21
3. Heather Jackson, 4:33:39
4. Kim Loeffler, 4:36:53
5. Suzanne Zelazo, 4:40:57

A special Thanks to BrandyB's Mum Patti for looking after us all weekend.:)
 

Jones, an Ironman World Champion, dominated the women’s field today. Leading out of the swim and bike, Jones held off second place finisher, Desiree Ficker, who posted the fastest women’s run split of the day, and Heather Jackson, today’s third place female.

Top five professional women’s results are as follows:
1. Michellie Jones, 4:23:56
2. Desiree Ficker, 4:27:21
3. Heather Jackson, 4:33:39
4. Kim Loeffler, 4:36:53
5. Suzanne Zelazo, 4:40:57

Pretty much Atlanta lived up to it's famous T-shirt inscription Hotlanta....103 degrees and extremely humid...yep it was hot enough to fry some bacon and eggs on the road. At least we got to start just before 7am so not quite that hot but almost.
A small but very, very talented elite group of pro's toed the start line.

Mirinda Carfrae, MJ, Kate Major, Pip Taylor and Sam McGlone

Alfac thought we needed some extra incentive to race hard by putting up a swim, bike and run cash primes. Sure we do..:)

Pip Taylor exited the water a few seconds up on Mirinda and I. But they both put the burners on the first part of the bike..my legs thought otherwise and my burners did not kick in until 15km in to the 30km bike. So as Pip and Mirinda battled it out on the run I was happy to get the second fastest run spilt of the day over one minute faster than my time in 2007 and 3rd overall. Mirinda won the battle on the run with Pip taking 2nd. Sam and Kate took 4th and 5th. I was most impressed with Kate's performance as she was coming off racing an Ironman less than a week ago.

You can see us all ripping up the course on the 2nd of August on NBC.


To me this is what Triathlon is all about.....it is why I have been competing for so many years...the grass roots of recruiting first timers into our sport. I absolutely love the atmosphere in the Transition and the anticipation at the Swim start. I met so many wonderful women over the course of the weekend. It was an honor to meet so many wonderful women and be given the opportunity for them to share a little of their lives with me. Since the race I have has so many great comments on my Facebook page.

Thanks so much for the invitation to participate in such a fantastic event. The race was well organized and very safe and really challenging. The volunteers were so enthusiastic and extremely helpful. The awards were great especially the Iron Girl necklace. So for anyone thinking of doing a Iron Girl race I highly recommend one.

You can do all the training in the world but nothing is better than racing. Since my last event was the Memphis In May Tri two weeks ago it was time to squeee in another event in between Memphis and the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon on June 14th. So it was time to transform myself into a Duathlete for the OC Duathlon. Yes, I know I am a Triathlete but sometimes it's nice to be a Duathlete every now and again as well.

So at 4.30am Saturday morning we headed out the door. It was actually raining on the drive up to Orange County. Racing in the rain is OK especially if it starts after the start.:)
Plus I had already washed by bike and it was nice and clean.

Phew no rain at the race venue. Luckily we got there early as I had a little trouble getting air in my front wheel. Thanks to Pablo he quickly got my valve undone so I could put pressure into it. I was in a little bit of a panic for a few seconds. I am not sure if that is a good way to get the adrenaline going before a race. I get nervous easily enough already.

My goal for the rain was at least make Pablo hurt a little but he really put the hurt on me. The first 5km everyone went out really hard. I felt like Timmy turtle rather than a hare but as the story goes I was in lead well before the first mile(first female). Luke Bell was crushing everyone on the first run and at least I could still see Pablo.

This would have to be one of the hardest 40km's I have ridden or maybe it was the 5km run before hand. The first 6 miles were uphill not a lot of fun after running hard. At least that meant on this out and back course you could fly back home to the transition.

Ah the second run....this is why Duathlons are much harder than Triathlons....the legs remember the fact you have already run hard.

So to say the least the finish line was a welcome site and although Pablo crushed me and finished 6th overall(Luke Bell was first) I was happy to be the 1st female and 15th overall.

We made a mad dash back home so I could make the Expert Panel for Rock N Roll San Diego Marathlon and sign autographs at the Newton running booth.

Revenge will be sweet June 14th back to being a Triathlete for the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon.

Why is the Memphis In May Triathlon different to any other Triathlon....because it is a time trial start everyone goes off at 10 second intervals and the pro's go last 2 hours after the last age grouper swimmer.

So while every other triathlete was eating breakfast at 4am I was still snuggled under my comforter sound asleep.....I wish I was as I would much prefer to wake up early eat, drive the race and go. Instead I had to think about what I was going to have for breakfast and what I was going to have pre-race beside my normal vanilla Gu and MotorTabs. Then warm up while everyone else was finishing....yes I know that's how the age groupers feel all the time.:)

Another reason I wanted to go to Memphis apart from the fact I had not done this race since 1994 was to enjoy the BBQ. So a trip to Corky's was on the agenda post race of course.

So at 10.30am all the Pro's went off at 10 second I went off in 29th position with only three girls behind me and a lot in front. The hardest part of this race was not knowing where anyone was and quickly calculating how far everyone was behind or in front.

I was a  little disappointed with my swim as my 20 second competitior caught me pretty quickly in the swim. It happen to be Pip Taylor the current Australian National Champion so I knew I would have my work cutout.

Besides Pip I caught quite a few competitiors on the swim and the bike so it was a matter of seeing how Far Pip had on me. The only point I would know would be at the turn around. So when I quickly caught a glipse of her on the run for a splilt second I thought I may have a chance. Of course I had to do a quick calcaulation to see how much I would have to beat her by if I did happen to catch her. But I think she was doing similiar calcualtions because it seemed liked she put the after burners on for the second half of the run.

So I settled for 2nd place. Actually I was pretty happy for my bike and run....the swim ahh...maybe we can make it an Biathlon instead. Oh I wonder if Pip would agree.:)

Did see Elvis...of course...on the run..or was I dreaming...

Thanks to my homestay Bill, April and Chase.

Next tour stop June 14th The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.

Thanks Pablo for coming to my rescue.;)