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!

Nationals Race Report

This year’s USA Xterra Nationals was supposed to be my main race. I did awesome in the overall US series, placing 5th overall with being close to 4th place.
Nationals took place in Incline Village, Lake Tahoe, altitude of 7000 ft +.  The whole week I had troubles sleeping and even doing lots of mental relaxation, somehow I didn’t find my inner center.
What I wanna say is, my race was not as good as I expected it would be. Nevertheless I ended up being 8th in the overall US Series, which is awesome for a first year PRO in the field.  

 Here is an update on the race:
The week was sunny and warm prior to the race, leaving the trails dusty as never before. Grinding up the steep flume trail was comparable to digging in a sandbox, which made the climb very challenging. Since being a triathlete involves dealing with challenges it did not really bother me too much. Nor did it bother me that Lake Tahoe had a swell of 5 feet waves and freezing temperatures. Since I am a good swimmer, the worse the conditions the better. However swimming in a lake with 5 foot chop is somehow more difficult than doing so in the ocean. By Friday night a snow storm came in, leaving the novice athletes competing in the shorter Xterra Sport on Saturday with a swim cancellation and snow on top of the bike course. I saw people heading out in jeans on their bikes because they were not prepared for the cold.  I bought a hat and winter gloves for my race on Sunday.  Sunday morning: the water of the lake was as calm and clear as a mirror. The sun came out around 8am. The water in Lake Tahoe was still absolutely freezing!
My swim was smooth and well done. I felt a bit dizzy toward the end. Was a bit weird. Altitude I guess. The swim is 3-4 minute run away from transition, which let my cold feet feel like stones by the time I got to my bike. With my feet and fingers frozen, my transition took a bit longer.  The bike was a struggle from the very beginning. I felt like I had a flat tire in the rear. As soon as I pushed harder to not slow down my stomach got upset. I felt like puking and pooping for the entire ride.
 What I was stoked about was that I did do all the technical sections I had practiced when visiting Lake Tahoe in August. I came into transition with Amber Monforte. I knew I still had power and energy for the run, so I pushed hard from the beginning. I still did not feel my feet, they were still so cold and stiff. After 10 minutes the feeling came back. I must have injured my right ankle on the bike, since it was swollen quite big and hurt a lot. I kept my pace though and gave all I had left.
 What I learned during this event was, that I still need to figure out how far in advance I have to go into altitude. It was nice to meet and see Blair Barklow racing on Saturday, one of my athletes. I was also cool to hang out with my sponsors: Dewet, from Squirt Lube, Marty from Jama Nutrition. Thanks to Gene, who let me stay at his place and gave me a ride to and from the airport, and thanks to the support of TeamPlanetSun, which provided me with Uvex sunglasses, Ultimate Direction hydration systems, Moeven Sleeves and Sugoi race apparel. Special thanks go to Dr. Mike McMahon for his motivational comments and patience on the phone!

(Photos thanks to Gene Murrieta)

Na Wahine Picture!

 

This is at the awards ceremony for the Na Wahine Triathlon. Check out my Skins recovery compression tights. They are awesome!

Na Wahine Race Report

Last weekend was the Na Wahine Triathlon, a sprint distance triathlon only for females. I have not done this race in the last few years so I was excited to participate this time. The entire female elite crew would show up: Bree Wee, Rachel Ross, Tanya Bettis and other fast girls, and some dark horses.
The swim was an out and back at Queens Beach. Everybody who stayed farther off the shore was lucky because of the low tide and shallow reef half way into the race. I got out of the water with the 3rd best swim time, only a couple of seconds behind.
The bike transition was fast and it was easy to get into the bike split. I had only a little lactic acid build up in the first couple of minutes into the ride, which allowed me to push hard up Monsarrat. I was able to get close to Bree Wee, however suddenly my saddle went down and I was either pedaling like I am on a kids bike, or standing up and trying to get my seat back up to a somewhat rideable height. Spectators might have thought, "why does she fumble around at her inseam during a race?” Anyway, I was focusing on pushing as hard as I could in the situation I was in. That is what I got really good at while racing so many races as an Xterra Pro: not to freak out when the bike breaks down. On an offroad course little technical challenges have to be expected and dealt with. I cranked up my pace for the last couple of miles coming into transition and gave it all on the run. Due to my hamstring problems and lack of run training I was not really sure how the run would be. As it turned out, it was fast. I had the second fastest run time of the day, only 30 seconds behind Bree. Although I have been limited to DWR (Deep Water Running) for the last couple of months, it feels good to see what the body can do, when there is no limit set by the mind. It was a fun race, one hour of hard fun. What made me most happy on that day, however was that so many people know me by name, follow my blog and my website. (Thank you Rory for keeping it updated!) I was able to talk about my coaching services to many women and it feels good to be there, sharing my excitement for this sport. It is awesome to see their faces and their eagerness to be a triathlete. I remember when I first did this triathlon in 2002.  It was one of those races where I knew I will one day be at the top.

Xterra Mountain Championship Report

The day before the race as I went to the Xterra Expo for registration I was lucky to got hooked up with SKINS. Check out their video at here. He hooked me up and gave me the skins pants and the long sleeve top. I wore them for the rest of the day and my legs felt light and strong when I hit the bed. I also was glad to have the skins the next day, since it was quite windy and chilly until the sun came up over Pineview Reservoir. The water temperature was border line and so I was hoping and praying that it would not be a wetsuit swim. That is because decent swimmers don’t get as much benefits wearing a wetsuit than average swimmers do. My prayers were heard, no wetsuit for the Pro’s but optional for the age-groupers. That was good news. But since it would be a mass start of 700 people, with amateurs in Wetty’s and Pro’s “naked” the chaos was quite intense. Good “naked” swimmers with moderate “Wetty” swimmers just don’t mix that well.
After the swim, a climb of 3000 ft was to be beaten. Unfortunately, I lost my energy drink bottle 10 min into the ride. I decided not to push all out to conserve my energy in order to be able to complete the bike and head out strong on the run. The bike was mostly single track with only one technical section. I came in 5th into the transition at Snowbasin reservoir at 6000 ft. As soon as I was heading out on the run course I made sure I get one flask of energy drink down. And this is not the first time that the hydration belt from Ultimate Direction saved my race. If I did not have had it, I would not have had any energy source for the entire run except a tiny cup of Amino Vital at a couple of aid stations. However I had suffered because of the lacking fueling on the bike. I held my 5th place until 10 minutes to the finish line. I felt my quads locking in and cramping. I was eager to get on the podium at this race, meaning being top 5. Bummer. However, I am still proud of being 6th place, placing right behind XTerra greats that have 5-6 years more experience then I do. Thumbs up! Great race, great people, great support! Life’s good!