Triathlon Internationale Villacidro, 7th June

Only one week after the Xterra European Champs, the athletes met in Villacidro and got the chance to again compete against each other. I entered the race with a lot of confidence and excitement. I was in the leading group out of the water and led the bike for an hour until Carina
Wasle passed me on the major climb. She had gotten 3rd the week before. I chased her and unfortunately took it a bit too fast on the downhill. I flew over the handlebars and was fortunate that neither me nor the bike was broken. However, I cut and bruised my left quads pretty severely and it took a lot to go through the pain for the rest of the race. The run was even steeper than Temecula. Brutal! But this was to my advantage, because I am a good runner and climber and I was able to run to my full potential. Despite the pain in my left leg, I managed to keep my position, came in Second and even leave Renata Bucher (2nd at European Champs) 6 minutes behind me! I am very happy with this result!

Xterra Italy Race Report, 1st June

Pronto! Bravo!!

With Glycogen levels topped off from the worlds finest pasta, I took on the field at the recent XTERRA Italy and European Championships on the island of Sardinia. Coming off my incredible second place Pro Debut, I once again faced a field of some of the world's greatest triathletes including Sibylle Matter, Renata Bucher, Carina Walse and Swiss pro Andrea Huser. All said and done, I crossed the finish-line in 5th, but a 2 minute penalty issued to Andrea Huser, who finished 25 seconds ahead of me- brought me up to 4th place overall! The killer shot of me at T1 is compliments of Riccardo Giardina/ XTERRA ITALY!

I had an awesome swim, 3rd place out of the water. I was able to hold my position for a while on the bike, but got passed by as my chain came off on the trail. Carina Wasle chased me and caught up. We were battling and passing each other for the remainder of the bike, with her coming into transition first. My legs were not as loose as they should have been and the run was a hassle. A 1.5 mile section on the beach did not make me feel any better. Just shortly before the finish line Andrea Huse showed up and passed me about 800 yards before the finish. However she go a 2' penalty penalty for unzipping her helmet prior to racking her bike, which put me on the 4th place. Hard race!