Full Maui Report

The week prior to this year’s World’s Champ felt different then in previous years. The uneasy feeling I usually suffer from was only there once in a while when thinking too much about the placing. I was not concerned about my competition of 26 other Pro girls and I felt confident to conquer the intimidation of the course. I actually got really excited to push myself to the limit and beyond. In addition, I wanted revenge for Xterra Nationals in early October, which did not go very well.
The days before the race were very cool, Haleakala was covered in clouds and a cool wind was present from Thursday to Saturday. Sunday then, there was no single cloud and it was the hottest day of the year, according to a lady I talked to at the hotel reception later on Sunday.
My goal was to place 10th in this 2008 World Championships. My race strategy for this year was to “just make it through the swim, see the light at the end of the tunnel on the bike and then smoke on the run, going right into the medical tent for a well deserved iv.” It almost went exactly as outlined. Almost.
I had a very good swim start, battling my way to the first buoy within the leading pack. It was not until the 2nd buoy that the mass spread out, which was quite impressive. I pushed hard from one draft to the next during the first 750 meter and then settled into a good draft for the second 750. I beat my time from last year by 3 minutes.
The first part of the bike was without anything major happening. I felt strong on the bike heading up Haleakala and faster then I thought I found myself at mile 12.5, on the bottom of Ned’s climb. Ned’s climb is a 1 mile section covering 800 ft of climbing. No shade, no wind, just brutal heat pounding down. I felt like the aid station on the top of that climb handing out ice cold water was more welcome then Santa Claus when I was 5 years old. That aid station is the landmark telling you that you are on your way back to transition. And that feels like a million dollar win at that point! I was crushing down the plunge, took the corner at mile 15, cramped when I intended to accelerate, had to dismount (or rather fell off my bike into kiawe thorns), stood up and passed out. I found myself lying in the kiawe thorn bush and wondered how I got there. I stood up again and was quite dizzy with my legs cramping. I decided to walk my bike to loosen up my legs and to avoid more severe cramps. I lost about 7 minutes with having to slow down like this. Fortunately I felt better after a while got back on my bike and rode a steady pace to the final downhill section towards transition.

Coming out of Transition felt actually very speedy. My cramping was gone and the legs felt good enough to get a 55’ run in. I felt strong like this for first 2 miles, a stretch called “Marsh of Death”. It is all uphill with no shade. (there is no shade on the entire course, so that I don’t have to repeat myself again.) Then coming into mile 3 I felt trashed. With my body trashed, and me getting more and more dizzy and feeling uneasy, I decided to run with my mind. I have done lots of self-hypnosis prior to the race and was able to forget about my physical condition. I am not sure what exactly happened all the way to the Makena beach, a half of a mile sand run on the beach. I was pretty zoomed in and all I told myself was, “Go on. Go on. Go on.” I figured as soon as I get into Spooky Forest I’d be fine enough not collapsing before running through the finish. I remember crossing the rocks and lava stones close to the shore leading to the finish, were I got passed by another Pro. I finished 1 minute behind her with a time of 1:03 and went right into the medical to get 2 iv’s. I made a smart choice on the bike, which allowed me to recover enough to go out on the run and there was nothing left crossing the finish line. I am happy with my result.
The most satisfying thing in this event was that so many athletes recognize my name and follow my results throughout the year. I have been able to reach out to the age-groupers and motivate them.
I want to again thank the people who thought about me during the race and I would like to special thank the following people who supported me throughout the year:

Dr. Mike McMahon:
My coach who encouraged me to go Pro and who made frequently sure that I stood focused on what is important. It is fantastic to work with him.

Rory Seiter, who puts on my website. Very special thanks!

Beau Miller, my personal tire advisor!! You are hired for another year, Beau!

Gene Murrietta, for doing a  fantastic photo shoot and for being a rescue-host for Nationals

My friends and athletes:
Pamela and Juan, Eric Applebaum, Reneau Kennedy, Blair Barklow, Mark Want and Tim Kutara, who frequently gave me encouragement and words of motivation for my races.
My parents: for listening and supporting my craziness!
Team Planet Sun:
Great gear and great patience from John O’Malley
Squirt Lube:
Dewet Marais from Africa with the best bike lube there is!
Skins Compression: A necessity for a Pro, especially when traveling and flying.
Jama Nutrition: Thanks to Marty, who provided me with energy loaded and natural food that actually tastes so good that you want to go out and train just to be able to eat the energy bar!
Right now I am in recovery. Total recovery. My liver values are 5 times higher then what is considered “normal” and I still feel nauseas. I hope that by Halloween I will be able to party a bit and celebrate the end of the season.

The week prior to this year’s World’s Champ felt different then in previous years. The uneasy feeling I usually suffer from was only there once in a while when thinking too much about the placing. I was not concerned about my competition of 26 other Pro girls and I felt confident to conquer the intimidation of the course. I actually got really excited to push myself to the limit and beyond. In addition, I wanted revenge for Xterra Nationals in early October, which did not go very well.
The days before the race were very cool, Haleakala was covered in clouds and a cool wind was present from Thursday to Saturday. Sunday then, there was no single cloud and it was the hottest day of the year, according to a lady I talked to at the hotel reception later on Sunday.
My goal was to place 10th in this 2008 World Championships. My race strategy for this year was to “just make it through the swim, see the light at the end of the tunnel on the bike and then smoke on the run, going right into the medical tent for a well deserved iv.” It almost went exactly as outlined. Almost.
I had a very good swim start, battling my way to the first buoy within the leading pack. It was not until the 2nd buoy that the mass spread out, which was quite impressive. I pushed hard from one draft to the next during the first 750 meter and then settled into a good draft for the second 750. I beat my time from last year by 3 minutes.
The first part of the bike was without anything major happening. I felt strong on the bike heading up Haleakala and faster then I thought I found myself at mile 12.5, on the bottom of Ned’s climb. Ned’s climb is a 1 mile section covering 800 ft of climbing. No shade, no wind, just brutal heat pounding down. I felt like the aid station on the top of that climb handing out ice cold water was more welcome then Santa Claus when I was 5 years old. That aid station is the landmark telling you that you are on your way back to transition. And that feels like a million dollar win at that point! I was crushing down the plunge, took the corner at mile 15, cramped when I intended to accelerate, had to dismount (or rather fell off my bike into kiawe thorns), stood up and passed out. I found myself lying in the kiawe thorn bush and wondered how I got there. I stood up again and was quite dizzy with my legs cramping. I decided to walk my bike to loosen up my legs and to avoid more severe cramps. I lost about 7 minutes with having to slow down like this. Fortunately I felt better after a while got back on my bike and rode a steady pace to the final downhill section towards transition.

Coming out of Transition felt actually very speedy. My cramping was gone and the legs felt good enough to get a 55’ run in. I felt strong like this for first 2 miles, a stretch called “Marsh of Death”. It is all uphill with no shade. (there is no shade on the entire course, so that I don’t have to repeat myself again.) Then coming into mile 3 I felt trashed. With my body trashed, and me getting more and more dizzy and feeling uneasy, I decided to run with my mind. I have done lots of self-hypnosis prior to the race and was able to forget about my physical condition. I am not sure what exactly happened all the way to the Makena beach, a half of a mile sand run on the beach. I was pretty zoomed in and all I told myself was, “Go on. Go on. Go on.” I figured as soon as I get into Spooky Forest I’d be fine enough not collapsing before running through the finish. I remember crossing the rocks and lava stones close to the shore leading to the finish, were I got passed by another Pro. I finished 1 minute behind her with a time of 1:03 and went right into the medical to get 2 iv’s. I made a smart choice on the bike, which allowed me to recover enough to go out on the run and there was nothing left crossing the finish line. I am happy with my result.
The most satisfying thing in this event was that so many athletes recognize my name and follow my results throughout the year. I have been able to reach out to the age-groupers and motivate them.
I want to again thank the people who thought about me during the race and I would like to special thank the following people who supported me throughout the year:

Dr. Mike McMahon:
My coach who encouraged me to go Pro and who made frequently sure that I stood focused on what is important. It is fantastic to work with him.

Rory Seiter, who puts on my website. Very special thanks!

Beau Miller, my personal tire advisor!! You are hired for another year, Beau!

Gene Murrietta, for doing a  fantastic photo shoot and for being a rescue-host for Nationals

My friends and athletes:
Pamela and Juan, Eric Applebaum, Reneau Kennedy, Blair Barklow, Mark Want and Tim Kutara, who frequently gave me encouragement and words of motivation for my races.
My parents: for listening and supporting my craziness!
Team Planet Sun:
Great gear and great patience from John O’Malley
Squirt Lube:
Dewet Marais from Africa with the best bike lube there is!
Skins Compression: A necessity for a Pro, especially when traveling and flying.
Jama Nutrition: Thanks to Marty, who provided me with energy loaded and natural food that actually tastes so good that you want to go out and train just to be able to eat the energy bar!
Right now I am in recovery. Total recovery. My liver values are 5 times higher then what is considered “normal” and I still feel nauseas. I hope that by Halloween I will be able to party a bit and celebrate the end of the season.

Maui

I know you guys were waiting for my post here, so I just want to give a quick update on what is happening. I have been feeling miserably nauseous since race finish. I passed out for a couple of seconds after a bike dismount, but was able to get back on the bike and do the run, which felt all fine. I went to the doc early Tuesday morning but nothing is unnormal (racing Maui is slightly unnormal I guess). The doc said I might just have suffered a heat shock.  I am happy to have finished the race in 16th place. I will post a more detailed report soon! Thanks for all the txt messages and good-luck emails that I have received. I tought about all you guys when I was out there and it helped me to stay focused and not just give up! Mahalo!