I am ready to go Down Under. Literally.

Where is the whisky?

I am ready to go Down Under.
Really. No, not really ready, but at least almost packed. Finding out that I will be charged $500 for my luggage for a 1.5 hour flight from Sidney to Brisbane, made me research other options for TWO DAYS. And I found an option. Applause. Thanks. I will pack my bike box with a complete roadbike and a MTB frame, so that it is 28kg. I did handcraft a special bike box so that they will fit. I will pack 2 luggage pieces with 20kg. The bike of 28kg will fly for free to Brissy. The 2 bags I will dropp of at a Post Office in Sidney, one needs to be repacked and one will already be packed into a carton of 105cm x 30cm x 40cm. I made it myself, as you can see in the picture to the right. Yes. All that work was nuts. But that will safe me 460$. !! I am genius. But still I have too many possessions. Please email me at sumarion@web.de and buy it. Thank you. (I can further deal with it in September, when I am back on Oahu for vacation.)

As for all that don’t know it already, I am moving to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on Sunday. Most of you don’t even know how I ended up here, so here is a quick input.
I have a degree in Biotechnology (BT). The BT school required high school and abitur for entry, but they made an exception for me because I was among the best 5 in school, ever since I entered school. After getting my degree I worked in Freiburg at the University as an assistant in Biotechnology.
(the picture shows Kaiserstuhl, training site of me and Jan Ulrich). I was cutting and damaging and changing DNA in bacteria and did radioactive tests. Somehow really interesting, but somehow I found myself spending most of my time exercising in the gym or running or googling everything exercising. A co-worker of mine qualified for THE IM and it was a big deal for me at that time to know somebody to enter the Hawaii IM. (she was not even that good..). So somehow I was admiring those triathletes in town and decided one day I will do that. Time went by for a year and ½ and job was not challenging enough. I decided to do something more hands on. Rescuing the rainforest (a childhood dream job). Finding out more about this adventure, I decided that I don’t want to rescue the rainforest but instead devote my energy and knowledge in BT to researching the coral reef and its bleaching. That meant: University in Townsville, famous for its work at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. So how would I get there? They needed me to have a BA, then would be able to come. Or at least, they said, I need an internship in Marine Biology. So that is what I did (easier said than done, believe me). I searched for an internship. It took me 1.5 years of proofing and daily paperwork and organizing a paid internship with InWent. I applied and was accepted at several universities (Malaysia, Phuket, Bangkok, Phillipines and Hawaii). I chose Hawaii, printed a picture of Coconut Island of Kaneohe in front of my worksite and suddenly I found myself in Hawaii. I didn’t know anything nor anybody about Hawaii. Except Kurt Chambers; a triathlete whom I met online while searching for a place at craigslist. We did not end up becoming roommates, but he said I should go to masters at UH. So I slowly got into triathlons. Then I had crash on a particular guy, and decided I would train as hard as I can with the goal to impress him. I trained and did not enter any race until I knew I would be top 3. I never ended up dating that guy, but that is how I got stuck with triathlons. I seem to be good at it. But in my heart I am a gymnast and dancer. So more into fine motorik stuff. That is why I love doing swim drill session. More fine motoric, you know.
After the internship (1.5 years) I went back to Freiburg, Germany not meant to come back to Hawaii. But I kept training off road triathlons, like a pro. I trained a lot. Xterra Germany was right around my corner in Titisee and I for the Worlds in Maui in October. I packed my stuff and planned to stay for 1 month in Oahu. Once there, however, I decided I am gonna stay, I would go back to school, change my major to Exercise & Sport Science and live in Hawaii for a couple more years and then go to Australia. This time, Brisbane Uni of Queensland, most famous for its degree in Human Movement Studies and their accomplishments on the Olympic level. Living Hawaii changed my life so insane much. I have been here 7 years and looking back, I feel like this is my home here. Since being here, I have been dominating the triathlon szene and became 2x World Champion, raced Pro, did an apprentice with Dr. Mike McMahon, and developed my own coaching business. Never would I have dreamt of getting so far. But as the saying goes, “reach for the stars, … [I forgot the rest of it]. . Anyways, I love what I do, I love Hawaii and it is breaking my heart to leave. I still can not believe it, it is not accepted by my mind yet. But it is time to grow more, to nurture and challenge my personality and grow educational and career wise. It will be all good. Signs are present that all is meant to be. You will see, just follow my blog and my life.
It has been truly insane intense here, especially the last 2 years. I will miss Hawaii and all my close friends. Please don’t forget about me. Some tears are rolling down my cheek right now. Hug Pleasee..?! Thanks.
When I left Germany for Hawaii, I somehow knew how great it will be. I postponed my entry to UQ 4 times, as it never felt right to leave Hawaii. Now I am due. I have the same feeling for Australia. The lesson I learned while in Hawaii; just be nice and smile and put on a german accent.

Cholo’s Swim

The men’s winner is a 20 year old followed by a 14 year old kid. The women’s was won by a 17 year old. Amazing. I was 6th woman. I had a very good race. Paced myself well in the first third, did a few good sprint escapes to the next draft and stood strong and focused for the finish. It went by quickly. I was glad it was not longer, because of my tingly sensation in my right arm. I had an accident in 2004. I crashed into a van and broke my right wrist in a complicated manner. Ever since it gets numb when swimming longer than 25 minutes. The entire arm gets tingly and I don’t know where it is or what it is doing (stroke wise). Not fun. I mention this because I would swim hours in the ocean, but because of the discomfort I don’t.
Amazing also the scenery of this second swim race of the North Shore series: Waimea Bay. When I first ever went to Waimea Bay, there was a group of 10 or so dolphins outside the bay. I swam out and there were directly underneath me and jumped around. It was stunning. Even during last years event, there was a large group if Spinners, not shy of the mass of people.
I love Hawaii!

4th of July, Hawaiian Style

To me, 4th of July is a day like every other. I am not American, so I don’t really get that psyched about it. The only thing why I care is that I can’t really ride my bike because the streets are crowded with people randomly walking and crossing the street, parades and closed street sections. Shhhucks. I consider myself lucky to have beach access as pools are closed. All in all, I did what I usually do.
The evening I spent by myself at the house and watched the fireworks from the lanai. I like the pictures I took. I included a palm tree leave to proof that there are indeed fireworks in Hawaii (to all my German fans, who still believe I nourish myself from coconuts and self caught fish.) Although the fireworks here in Hawaii are only a 10th in size than the ones in Germany. I can live with that. I'd just blow up the picture a little if I feel the need. Which won't happen.

Childhood Memories

My sister’s family and my parents went to Italy with “The Kids”. They sent me a couple of pictures and this one to the left is my absolute favorite. It shows what my family is up to. My mom is an offroad runner and supports me doing my triathlons. Looks like she is setting the foundation for Sara Mia and Elisa to become good swimmers. Thanks Mom!! I’ll do the rest of the coaching in a few years! My sister and her husband Gerard are pretty cool. I like them a lot and I miss them. I miss The Kids, too.
My parents took us (my sister Michaela and me) to Italy every year until we were about 6 years old. I have vivid memories of that time. I could write pages about them right now, but will limit it to one. Whenever you went to the supermarket to by stuff (we usually bought Italian white bread, broshuto, salami, jam and juice) you got a Gracie-sticker. When you had a certain amount of stickers, you got a blow-up water ball. I got the nicest one, with some sort of Little Kitty on it, it was white and pink and just very nicely painted. One day it was windy, I was in the ocean playing and the ball took off. I was about 4. (I now wonder where my ‘guardians’ were. Swimming in the ocean with 4?) Anyways, I ran back to the beach crying. Our beach towel neighbors sun (at this time around 11 maybe) tried to chase after the ball but no luck. Sure I got another ball, but not that nice one as they ran out of those. Coming back home from the vacation, I wanted to get into a swim club, because next time I wanted to get my ball back myself. I was angry for a couple of days, because this neighbor’s boy claimed he is a good fast swimmer, his parents telling me he was Freischwimmer (‘Free Swimmer’) certified. That did NOT impress me at all. At age 4 I was Freischwimmer. You can become “Freischwimmer” certified when you go to the lifeguard at the pool and swim 50 yards without stopping. You then receive a Freischwimmer iron-on that you can put on your swim suit.

Last Sunday I raced in the first swim of the North Shore Swim Series, from Sunset Beach to Pipeline. In the summer, the North Shore is the nicest place to swim and snorkel. The ocean is calm like a lake and the visibility goes 30 ft and more. It is incredible. At the same location in winter time, the North Shore becomes the Big Wave Surfer's paradise with waves up to 30 ft (Hawaiian measures).
The swim race was a good excuse to drive to the other side of the island. I did not pay the entry fee, as I was showing up late. (Thanks to my friend Don Eovino, for giving me the T-shirt. The T-shirt was part of why I wanted to race, awesome cool looking t-shirt this time!)
So I showed up late, because I had a hard time getting out of bed and I did not taper either. In fact I was at the end of a 3 week high quality training block. In other words, I was “nicely fatigued”. It was part of my plan to show up at the race, just to make sure I have people around me that would push me, which would give me another good hard effort swim before going into recovery week. The women started first, with men starting 5 minutes later. It was the first time they started the women first with the reason that last year, the women over-swam the men. I was skeptical at first. It means less chances to draft, but also better chances not to have to swim over 70% of the guys. As the starting gun went off, I was in 2nd place, holding the position for about 15 minutes. Two girls of the age of maybe 17 or 18 zoomed in and got in front of me. I worked with one of the girls, because I thought her swim suit looked good and because I did not “race”- race. I thought I work with her to keep her in the front. That was a good experience, as usually I don’t “teamwork” like that when racing. But those teenagers are impressive for sure! They don’t kick hard or hardly do any kicking. Their body position is awesome; they just glide through the water with no effort at all. Very inspiring to see them swim. Swimming efficient by reducing drag is called streamlining, which I teach my athletes during Swim Analysis. After a while I looked up and checked where all the people are. I was in 4th position and no one else was in sight, but a big crowd about 25 yards behind us. That was a big surprise. I mean, those athletes are pure swimmers and last year I was somewhere in 10th place or so. I finished “unofficially in 4th place. Sweet. Having no expectations when racing is great!

burn calories "on the go"

I think one main factor why Japanese people are usually more skinny is that they always engage their whole body when talking. This one pretty woman was ordering a skim latte and "also an ice cube on the side, ja ja ja" while she was bending her torso like a chicken picking for corn. That is exercising right there!

My Ford Escord. I love hating it. Hate loving it?

My white Ford Escord is a '94 and it is getting old. The last 1/2 year it got a valuable internal make over. Silicon boobs, in other words. It's old, but looks and feels good due to some mechanic surgery. It got a fancy water pump, a new generator, new break pads, and some other new parts which i don't remember the words. OR maybe comparing it with Silicon Boobs is not a good one. Because i don't think they look good and i can't imagine that ice-pack gel like knobs feel good. And compared to silicon boobs I really believe that my car feels the touchy-touchy I sometimes give it after it is getting into the "hot" range. Giving it touchy-touchy is not always easy. it lacks its damper. and that sucks. Makes me a bit furious.
But my white Ford Escord is a tough, good running car. And it is the car of choice when it comes to jump-start Ferraris. Ferraris are the most beautiful, hot, elegant, powerful, awesome cars there is. A black horse- simply fascinating. I could just sit in a beach chair and look at it. Black horse or white donkey, I know about the hassle of not having a car. And I am very thankful that I can drive one. And because i love Ferraris so much, i drew one. Came out cool.