Angi Axmann

2012 Sponsors

2012-01-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

First of all I have to say a HUGE thank you to my support team for 2011. Every single one has been a huge part of my season, whether it was during training, racing or in my "normal" time. I am looking forward to 2012 and am excited to work with the following companies again:

http://www.durapulseperformance.com/

Nick has helped me get through my year injury free despite the long season, many races and all the travelling. Durapulse is a great company - my trainingplan allowed me to race a long season and have many PR's in 2011. Nick is great about adjusting my training quick, which is important when you realize for example that there is no open pool in Aviano, Italy (like when I was there). Durapulse also has a great team in Phoenix; my teammates always put a smile on my face and help me push myself during our "friendly" battles on the track.

http://www.irongearsports.com/

My triathlon store in Phoenix. Iron Gear has not only supported me for 2011, but also the entire AZ Triathlon community by sponsoring many AZ Triathlon events. Also Iron Gear made it possible for me to race the relay event at the Duathlon World Championships (I had to change my ticket by 24 hrs to be able to do the relay and Iron Gear took care of the changing fee) - THANK YOU. I am very thankful for all their support and look forward to an even better 2012. Stop by their store in Mesa and check out all their equipment for swimming, biking and running.

http://www.skinstrong.com/

Skinstrong is an incredible company. Not only do they help me transform any bike seat into what feels like a pillow (thanks to SLATHER), they also help me prevent blisters from my shoes and friction from my uniform or wetsuit (thanks to SLIK DUST and SLIK). The people behind Skinstrong are so friendly and helpful. Their products are affordable and are a great addition to any endurance atheletes equipment. Skinstrong is very important to me because with back to back racing I cannot afford having hot spots on my skin or blisters on my feet!!! Thanks for the support in 2011 and the future!!!

www.lazerhelmets.com

The Belgian Headcase that has keept my head safe and comfi for the last 2 years. The technology that Lazer uses allows the helmet to tighten evenly around my head. I had a lot of trouble finding a fitting helmet before I discovered Lazer. Their helmets are comfortable and most important they fit. My choices: Genesis and Tardiz!!! Looking forward to year 3 and more to come.

http://www.endurancerehab.com/

Endurance Rehab helps me recover faster and stay injury free. Their therapists KNOW athletes, not only because they have worked with many athletes from all sports, but also because they are athletes. I am looking forward to another year of their support, wether it is hands on or in the recovery boots. Check them out!!!

I am very excited to add on some new sponsors in 2011:

http://www.zootsports.com/

I am very honored to become part of the Tribe. In 2012 I will be part of the Zoot Ultra Team, consisting of a great group of companies (Garmin, GU, PR Bar, Zipp and, off course ZOOT). Zoot has me covered from Wetsuit to Recovery Products, from Shoes to Arm Warmers. I am really looking forward to working with them and being part of the Zoot Ultra Team.

http://www.bhbikes-us.com/

I am really excited to be working with BH as my bike company. I will be riding the GC Aero TT bike and the RC1 as my Road Racing Machine. The company originated in Spain and the US headquarters are right here in Phoenix. The bikes are not only top quality but they also look fantastic!!!

http://www.bicyclehaus.com/

Bike Haus will be my Road Team for the 2012 season. I am really excited to be the female Bike Haus representative on the AZ road circuit. And they carry BH bikes :-) Brilliant!!!

http://www.tptherapy.com/

Trigger Point Therapy will also help me stay healthy in 2012. Their products are great quality and easy to take on any trip. The TP Massage Ball is perfect for airplane - foot massages or glute releases.

Thanks for your support!!!

Off course I also wouldn't be able to compete and train at this level without the support of my husband JR, my family in Germany and my friends (PAM, wanna go do a race in Texas?) :-)

2011 in review

2012-01-04T20:32:00.001-08:00

2011 was not only a very eventful year, a very busy year, but also (to me) a successful year. Off course there are always things that could have gone better but I like to look at the entire picture.
I stayed injury free, I learned to sleep on command on airplanes and I am able to pack my bike box in 5 min (in a hotel lobby).

January

JR leaves for Germany (for work) while I stay in the US. 8 weeks without my hubby :-( Since I cannot sleep alone in a house I...well...just don't sleep at night. Instead I sleep during the day. The first 2 weeks turned me into a zombie but then I learned to live with it. Best part is that he is in the same city as my family and I am not :-(

February

Cycling season in AZ starts. After spending most of my time on the TT bike I entered the Avondale crit and broke off the front in the first corner and managed to lap the field by myself...LUCKY :-)

Ragnar Relay - I got to spend 30 hrs (or a total of 200 running miles) with 6 other people in one car. I had no idea who they were before the trip. The race was so much fun, we didn't sleep the enitre time, the van was most likely very stinky (Kelly and I did shower!!! Unlike the others :-) and we ran many many fast miles!!! And, the most important part: we are now friends and are looking forward to Ragnar 2012!!!

March

MIAMI here I come. My frist trip to Miami. I had a lovely homestay that showed my all of Miami. What a great city. I raced the 5150: after an OK swim (not last) I had a great ride and a great run (36:XX). 7th place in a very strong field. Great start to the season.

The weekend after I travel to the other coast: Superseal Triathlon. One of my MUST DO races. I went there to defend my title but also to go FASTER ;) Mission accomplished. I am now the proud owner of 3 Paddle Trophies with the Unit coins of the Navy Seals. I will be back and I really want a 4th paddle!!! 7 is the record ;-)

April

Marquee Triathlon...turned into a Duathlon. Oh well. Wave start with the boys in my age group. I managed to outrun them on the second run and finished 2 nd overall (one guy was 20 seconds in front in another wave). Probably the most nerve wrecking race, since I got chased by guys for 6 miles :-) Winning the female overall.

Phoenix Triathlon - cold water in Lake Pleasant. Great local race with a tough run. 1st place. Yippie.

USAT Duathlon National Championship - 1st place!!! The first 5 k was pretty uneventful, hilly, slow course. The bike went fantastic and I got into T2 in 1st place with a 2 min gap!!! It was super exciting to run through the finish and getting to hold up a banner!!! This race ment a lot to me: I got no sleep the night before the race thanks to a random midnight WADA Anti doping visit. I drove down to Tucson at 3 am, because I still had to register :-) Unfortunatelly I was not awarded the National Title because I was not released by Germany. I still got to stand on the podium as the winner of the rac and I got to represent the USA at Worlds in September. YEAH!!! Oh, and I am now released from Germany and only starting for the USA. If I decide to start at German CHampionships, I will be in the results as a foreign elite...that sounds strange ;)

May

Rio Salado Triathlon -...how many events have I done now? 1st place!!! Whohoo!!!

Tempe International Triathlon - this time Sprint Distance...to recover from the races :-) First place :-) It is always nice to have a travel time of 15 minutes to a race.

Memphis in May Triathlon - WOW, what a great race and what a great homestay. AND, what an eventful trip :-) Always something with me. I had the clever plan to do a 24 hr trip. Fly there, race, fly back. I never have the time to see a lot anyways, so I flew to Memphis the day before the race, arrived there just in time for the pro meeting, had a great dinner with my homestay and her friends. Damie (my homestay) was also racing so in the am we took off and went to the race. Her race was in this huge thunderstorm with lots of lightnig. She was so brave and finished very strong. By the time we raced the race was delayed for 2 hrs??? I think. It was still lightning and I almost peed my pants because the lightning was so close!!! The streets were flooded so I didn't see the dismount line (even though an official gave me the instructions to dismount before the curb, which I did) and I ended up getting a penalty :-( My first one EVER. The steet was flooded...the line was under water, invisible when you come charging at XX mph!!! Oh well. 8th place in a stacked field. I had a great race and flew back immediately after. Then I got to spend a night in the Chicago airport because of the same storm. Wonderful :-) Did you know that the Chicago airport closes from 12 until 5 am?

June

GERMANY - So exciting and a wonderful, uneventful trip. I raced 2 races with my family as my cheer-group. 5150 Germany and 5150 Austria. Both great races in great places. Germany went well and I ended up 5th, unfortunatelly I got sick right before Austria and had to race sick :-( 6th place in Austria - First time ever that I had to walk during the run because my head was hurting so bad. It was still fun. Great race and the location is absolutely fantastic!!!

For one week I led the 5150 World Ranking :-) YEAH!!! I have a print out as evidence. I am now qualified for Hy Vee, the 5150 Championship where the 30 best females in the world will battle each other for over 1.000.000 $ of price money.

July

I still wanted to race the Boulder 5150. ROADTRIP!!! A no pressure race (since I had already qualified). OK race (side ache on the run, probably from the shallow altitude breathing, oh well, that can happen to anyone). 8th place!!!

Mountainman Sprint Tri - 1st place. Local races are always fun.

August

The temps in Phoenix are getting rediculous and by now I am honestly sick of getting up at 5 am every day to get everything in before we hit 117 degrees.

JR goes to Italy for work and...what the heck...I am going for a week to escape the heat :-) It was supposed to be a swim/run training camp, unfortunatelly all the pools were closed in Italy due to a holiday and I wasn't allowed on the US base (because we didn't bring our marriage license :-(...German athlete starting for the USA in Italy unable to train due to not being allowed on US-Italian soil...makes sense, right? Oh well, I enjoyed being in Europe, ran 2 times a day, picked fresh fruit (figs, peaches,...off the trees after every run. PERFECT. The week went by way to fast and I was back in 117 degree Phoenix.

No racing!!!

September

Big month for racing:

Hy Vee and Worlds!!!

I was really excited but unfortunatelly my first full year living and training in Phoenix left me drained. My body was tired, we now had 50 + days of 110 plus degrees. So what to do...I decided to just enjoy the last 2 races and soak in all the excitement that comes with Championship races.
Positivity is key!!!

Hy Vee was a blast. We got spoiled. Our goodie bag was as big as my bikebox (kind of). We had our own little flag carrier that came with us to the start and the race was on. The flood gates were open and a lot (3050 cfs I heard) were pushing into our faces. Good for fish and fast swimmers, not so good for ... me. But, I made it here and all I had to do is enjoy. I had an amazing bike and a wonderful run soaking in the crowds and the great course. I finished 27th, NOT where I wanted to be. The swim just killed us "non-fish". But hey, I didn't sign up for an always-perfect triathlon!!!

Next up: Spain!!! Amazing Trip with a great friend. My family flew to Spain and we had an amazing time there. It was a ton of fun to represent the USA. AHHH!!! I ended up 16th on day one and our relay finished 8th on day 2 (where I had one of my fastest runs ever). It was a blast!!! I hope to be back in 2012!!!

October

No racing. I decided to take a good off season after racing much and for long. I am out cheering on people at Phoenix races, helping with clinics and just doing lots of stuff at home that I neglected during the season.

November

I did absolutely no racing but I started training again. Enjoying the nice temps in Phoenix.

Grand Canyon Hike for Thanksgiving - which was EPIC!!! Havasupai Falls to the Rapids at the Colorado. What a great trip. 5 days of sleeping bag, nature and drinking coffee out of a metal cup :-)

I also got to watch my first IM. IM AZ. Impressive to see all the people, all ages, all abilities, all smiles (almost). It got me thinking: when will be my first one?

December

Swim, Bike, Run - lots of it but no intensity. Enjoying the weather and looking forward to a visit from my family for Christmas!!!
We explore AZ and do a lot of sight seeing. Christmas was so much fun!!! Family here = Angi happy.

Maybe I should get back to racing:
New Years eve - 2 races? Why not?
Resolution 5 k in the am: A true cross country course (slow and hilly but awesome!!!). I finish 2nd overall behind JR, first female in a 18:30. Yeah. I haven't run this fast since college.
After a BIG New Years eve dinner of cheese, olives, bread and wine JR and I run the Midnight Madness Race. 3 miles in Phoenix. During the warm up we were wondering the following: why do 2 races in one day? And who had the clever idea to eat cheese and drink wine before a run?

I finish the 3 miles in 16:54, the fastest I have ever run a 3 miler. EVER!!! It felt great. That gave me a PR by a LOT. And I mean almost one full minute.

2011 is over and I am looking forward to 2012. I am so thankful and happy everything went the way it went and I can't wait to race my first race of 2012: PF Changs Halfmarathon followed by some 70.3, some 5150, some local running, cycling and triathlon events, Duathlons, trips to foreign countries and much more.

Grand Canyon 2011

2011-11-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

Every Thanksgiving JR, me and our friends Pam and Shannon are going away...away from eating and eating and eating (even though that can be fun too). We try to escape to the Grand Canyon for 4 or 5 days. The first year we did it was epic. Last year was absolutely great and I wasn't sure if our adventures could get any better. But this year was FANTASTIC.We were 6 people, Pam, Shannon, Kris, Mindy, JR and me. We hiked from the rim of the Grand Canyon to Havasupai, slept there over night before the best hike I have ever been on started. We hiked down Mooney Falles...and I mean climbing with a 40 lbs backpack:

...then we entered no man's land (it actually belongs to the Havasu Tribe, but I mean no man's land as far as " no one is out there"). The hike takes you through vines in a narrow canyon. On our 12 mile hike we had to cross the river 8 times (that is so much fun). The water is abnormally blue due to the minerals. It looked so warm and inviting, but in reality it was cold. At least the outside temperature was nice.

The mixing of blue Kool aid and the chocolate milk of the Colorado. We made it!!!

Getting water. Don't fall in :-) There is no coming out unless your an Olympic swimmer!!!

JR enjoying the calmness of the Canyon :-)

The sun was teasing us. It was always close but we didn't get to touch the beams. So we searched for them.

And then it happened...PEOPLE. 5 rafting boats came. Canadians, they have really impressive boats, but floating for 20+ days would be really long...and how would you train?

Cooking one pot meals. I brought 1 lbs of spinach and 1lbs of broccoli and cauliflower. Broccoli made the cut, spinach made the cut...cauliflower NOT...that stuff smells bad (even if it is fresh).

And then the goatsheep...aeh I mean mountain goats aehhh mountain sheep came. They inspected our tent and left us some surprises. We were not sure if that means "welcome" or "get out of our territory".

Back to mooney falls.

This trip was sooo much fun. DO it if you ever have the chance.

Next up: Training starts back up. I was going to race a local triathlon and a halfmarathon last weekend, but got sick (not from the trip :-). On Wednesday I get to pick up my new bikes and I am so excited...but that deserves its own post!!!

Off season fun

2011-10-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

After taking my mind off of triathlon for 1 day...I wanted to get back at it. Luckily for me I had many opportunities over the last few weeks to be an "I am training/racing...but I am really not" athlete.

Example number one: The Durapulse IMAZ clinic

Since JR and many of my Durapulse teammates are training for IMAZ, Durapulse offers clinics that include a long OW swim, a long bike and a transition run (and then some BBQ and laughs). I was so happy to be "helping out" at the clinic. It was great to see the pain of training for an IM (and secretly it made me want to do one :-)...

I skipped the 6 am OW swim at Roosevelt Lake (because I really do not enjoy swimming there...there are some very scary looking trees underneath the water) and watched our gear instead :-)

After their swim I jumped on my bike and rode with my teammates. It was a lot of fun to help them get through the 120 mile ride in 100 degree weather. I truely enjoyed helping them, no matter if it was getting ice for them at gas stations, riding with them to keep them entertained, teaching how to change a flat fast, ...it was a lot of fun.

At the end of the day I tried to help 2 of my teammates to get through their run...and since I only rode 70 miles I was a lot more cheerful than them.

All of them did very well, they are ready for IMAZ!!!

Next adventure: Run for Maggie's place

The day after the clinic JR and I decided to race the Run for Maggie's place. It was a no brainer: a race in town, only 10k, the entry money goes to a good cause and we get to see our friends.

Let me tell you: it is harder then I thought to try to run fast after taking some time off. Luckily I found a good rythm and finished in first place. JR won the men's race (after an epic day of training the day before)...very impressive!!! He is ready for anything from 70.3 to IM, from 5 k to 26 mile races :-)

Aaaaand onto the SOMA triathlon:

Well how can I not do this one.

Check out the sweet Lazer Helmets :-)

I entered SOMA with 2 of my Durapulse Teammates as a relay. Since I was the runner I got to cheer for 3+ hrs before I actually had to go run. It was a blast. The SOMA course is very spectator friendly and we watched and cheered the entire morning (we were really loud cheer-ers).

JR came off the bike only 15 SECONDS behind the male PRO leader!!! WOW. He had an amazing swim and bike (even though he has only been in the water...5 times this YEAR!!!) I wish I could do that. The run got hot. It was 104 out there. I started running and decided I would just cheer and not look at my watch. I felt great!!! And fast!!! At mile 6 I couldn't resist and looked at my watch, that was when I realized I was on pace for a sub 1:20 Half...and then my brain started telling me to take it easy...Maybe sometimes it is better not to know how fast you are running. The second lap I cheered even more, because a lot of people were walking. I tried to motivate everyone to at least shuffle or slow jog...I think it worked in most cases!!! I ended up running a 1:25 which made me very happy because I had not ran over an hour in 5 weeks.

It was the end of the season for my frineds Pam and Shannon (who both finished VER well at SOMA) and JR and I joined them for a great dinner.

I felt a little guilty, because all I had done all day was the 13 mile run. They were out there for 4+ hrs...

I am excited for the next few months. I will be entering bike races and running events in the Phoenix area. Phoenix in the winter is great. Perfect weather, lots of races = Happy Angi.

My work here is done...

2011-10-13T16:57:00.001-07:00

my 2011 Triathlon season is officially over. Done with racing, done with traveling, and you know what? It feels good, but it also feels strange. On my flight home I was already thinking about what I could do next, but once I got back to Phoenix reality caught up with me: my body needed a break :-) I was tired and exhausted, but I wouldn't change a thing about my 2011 season. I accomplished all my goals and I had some good PR's.

A few weeks have passed and I did what I wanted :-) When I felt like riding I rode, whenever I felt like running I ran (no watch, no HR, nothing)...the swimming, yeah...I didn't really feel like that at all :-) Until today!!!

Phoenix is finally cooling down and we can actually be outside (almost) all day (we have a few more 100 degree days left). The nights are very nice, in the 60's. Perfect for sleeping with the window open. Now can it please be like this all year?

I am competing, aehhh, I wanted to say participating in a Halfironman relay in 2 weeks. I am the runner :-) I am really excited, no pressure, just fun. Then I have a few Halfmarathons planned for the winter and a trip to Germany for Christmas.

You might think now that I am in my off season I have tons of time for everything...WRONG. It seems like my days are filled with work, work, spoiling JR (he is getting ready for IMAZ) and ...SEARCHING for my dog Jack:

Jack with his shoe collection.

On Tuesday, Jack disappeared. We searched for him for 7 hrs!!! We expanded our radius constantly, searched in the neighborhood, alleys, EVERYWHERE. We had the enitre neighborhood looking for a lost Springer Spaniel. JR and I made flyers and they were posted on every corner. We live close to a mountain preserve and we all know that a lost little puppy's chances of surviving a night in the desert are pretty slim (coyotes are always hungry). It got dark and I was still cruising around on the scooter, yelling into the preserve when I got a call from JR. Jack was returned!!!

It turns out that our neighbor had Jack. The entire 7 hrs!!! While we were searching everywhere, throwing our socks and his toys in the street so he could sniff his way home. She said she wasn't sure if it was our dog...and she didn't know that we were searching for him (hmmm...let me think, my dog is nowhere to find for 7 hrs...should I search and be worried???) We have no idea what they were thinking. Jack most likely never even left OUR yard!!! It was a crazy and strange story, but we are just really thankful to have him back.

I didn't do it :-)

It has been an eventful two weeks since I came back from Spain.

I am very thankful for what and where I got to race this season. It was epic to be everywhere (it seemed like) and being able to have a home, a family and working (and I do not mean training by that...Work work :-)

I am already looking forward to 2012 - it will be a great season.

SPAIN!!!

2011-09-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

Spain was a ton of fun!!! What an experience going to a World Championship race. I got to Gijon about a week before the race after 33 hrs of travel. We were tired. Sleeping until 1 pm the next day felt absolutely great!!!
Good enough at least to put on the running shoes and explore the coast. We ended up running for a long time, but we just couldn't stop, the scenery was beautiful. We found a 14 km trail along the coast with lots of up and down running. Here are some pics from the trail:

Back in Gijon we decided to play in the tide pools. Spaniards eat sea urchin we learned (luckily only from October to March :-) We are long gone then...

Touching funny things that decide to grab your finger!!!

In Gijon people live a crazy but smart life. It seemed like they worked from 10-12 am, then they go on siesta from 12-5 pm. Then they have coffee and after coffee at around 9 pm they have dinner. We walked around town A LOT, and we saw many strange things including:

This is a healthcare store. Notice the cigarette in the skelleton's mouth? mhhh...

And this would be ham. For 39 Euros you can have the entire leg!!! What a deal :-) Not sure if customs would be happy with that.

And this is what you do when you have a leg: you just take ham off it whenever you are hungry...

Gijon beach - VERY good bodysurfing here in the mornings when the waves were big!!!

Race site: A velodrome...well, it used to be a horse track and then they turned it into a velodrom. 430 m

The age group bike course...This summer I had the opportunity to bike in Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain...and the winner of the most scenic and friendliest drivers award would be SPAIN. Here the course takes you through an Eukalyptus forest.

This is what I saw during my OW swim...nooo, off course not. This is what I saw at the Gijon Aquarium :-)

Here are some pics of the local specialties...I have to admit, it wasn't the prettiest food I have ever seen...here we go: Fabada, Pulpo, ... it all gave me nightmares...the food was so fresh that I ended up dreaming about food walking off my plate...

This part of Spain is not big on noodles, and it seems like they do not eat veggies AT ALL...or salad...or anything that could possibly have vitamins in it...

OK, enough of the food pics and back to the country side:

Super cute little fishertowns everywhere, and noone spoke English!!! GREAT!!! What an advanture!!!

Imagine your neighbor would live this close!!!

Not so sure how they get the laundry back in the house :-)

Then on Friday I finally got to meet my teammates. This was my first official competition for Team USA!!! I am so glad I finally "belong" to a country :-)

I got to meet the German team at the pre race meeting, but when I tried to talk to them they just stared at me...and then at my uniform...and then at me again...It was pretty funny. They were so confused that I had no accent :-) Hihihi!!!

Saturday rolled around and I felt ready to race. My plan was to go out in a 36:XX, bike strong and run the last 5 k all out. Well, I kind of went off plan when I started the first 2.5 km out with the 33-34 min group...and it went downhill from there. After you go out way too fast there is not a lot of hope for recovery. I finished the first 10 k and hoped I would get in a group on the bike. I would get to a group, ask them to work with me, but I never had luck. I think I passed 3 groups and never stayed with them...So I did a 44 k TT :-) The cornery course was a lot of fun!!! I hopped off my bike and was in no man's land, no one to catch anymore. I finished 16th place. I was super sore from the hard TT effort!!! WOW. I hadn't felt that in a while. I have to admit that I was disappointed but realized soon that this is the life of an athlete. Not every day can be a 110 % day. The next day was the team competition: 2k run, 7 k bike, 1 k run. I was the third runner and I think we were in 8th place when it was my turn. I ran as hard as I could for the first 2 k...and I actually came super close to my college running times!!! Yeah!!! On the bike I caught a group and then decided to try to drop them. SUCCESS. One more km of running and I handed off in what I believe was 3rd place. What a fun race and what a good day!!!

Sunday night I drove back to Bilbao without getting any sleep after the race. I hopped onto the airplane and was back in Phoenix monday night.

The trip and the race was a great experience and I cannot wait to go back and represent Team USA again. France 2012!!!

Viva Italia

2011-08-22T08:49:00.001-07:00

What a trip. I got to spend the last week in Italy, visiting JR. I got greeted by beautiful weather and great food. We spend the week in Budoia, a small town about 1.5 hrs north of Venice, at the base of the Dolomites. Why I didn't bring my bike I don't know (actually I do, it is called bike fees). This area is a dream for any cyclist, Roadie or Mnt bike rider.

I spend the week focusing on running, napping and exploring the area by bike. On Sunday we took the train to one of the most impressive cities I have ever visited. Venice. Venice was built on a bunch of small islands, therefore the canals and all the bridges. How they built all of the churches and museums is a mystery to me, especually since some buildings were built in 9 B.C.!!! There are no cars in old town Venice, so everything is explored by foot or boat. Here are some pics that I took on our walk through Venice:

Shoes made with old bike tires :-)

The streets of Venice.

How did they built those houses?

The famous Rialto Bridge (I liked the smaller ones better :-)

Tiny walkways between the houses.

Aehhhh, what the...?

Giant crusie ships cruising through old town Venice on the Grande canal...crazy...only in Italy.

Mhhh...Pizza...luckily I am not gluten free...Italy is NOT the country to be in when you are gluten free...Pizza and Pasta everywhere :-)

The view on my run in the dolomites.

Icing the legs made us understand why nobody was in the water...FREEZING!!!

VESPAS everywhere!!!

My running route through the fields.

Lots of options to stop and eat grapes, peaches, figs, bell peppers, tomatoes...pretty much everything grows in this area!!!

Off course the week went by way to fast and Saturday morning it was time to fly back to the US. The trip turned into a 29 hr trip thanks to a poor goose that lost its life in our engine during take off in Venice. We lost one of our engines about 10 min into the flight, but luckily the pilot got us back on the ground safely. After standing in line for 4 hrs I got new tickets and was on my way. In Chicago we had a minor set back when the airplane lost its computer system while we were on the field ready to take off, so my arrival was once again delayed...Finally at 1 am Sunday I made it to Phoenix, but off course my luggage was gone...at that point I wasn't even worried anymore. I slept for 3 hrs and got up at 4 am to make my way out to Skull Valley to race the AZ Roadrace Championships, 68 miles in 110 degrees. I felt amazing until about mile 55, where I faded bad. It might have been that the 2 bottles of coke were wearing off...my caffeine/sugar high came to an end 10 min too early :-) It was still a fun day and great practice!!! Next up: Trip to Des Moins!!!

The calm before the storm...

2011-07-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

The rest of July and the entire month of August will require NO travelling for me (except for the occasional trip up to Flagstaff)...but travelling is ON for the month of September...

I earned enough points on the 5150 series to end up 7th overall in the ranking, which means I have secured my spot for the HyVee Triathlon in Des Moins, Iowa. The race has the biggest prize purse in triathlon. 30 women will be at the start line and many of them are world class ITU racers...and that is where I am going the beginning of September... then I will spend a few days at home, switch out my TT bike to my Roadbike and make my way over to Italy for a week of training before heading over to Gijon Spain to represent the USA at the Duathlon World Championships...and then I will make my way back to Phoenix...

Booking all those tickets, making sure they don't overlap, making sure my bike will make it every where I go will be entertaining and might be more challenging then the race itself :-)

Happy training and travelling!!!

A weekend in Flagstaff

2011-07-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhh, Flagstaff, our old home. Even though it is only a 2 hr drive to Flagstaff, JR and I have not had the time to make it up there this summer. AZ is pretty amazing. In Phoenix you can train all year round, it just gets very hot in the summer (40 days of over 100 degrees now?)...but if you want to escape the heat, Flagstaff is right around the corner.

Last weekend, JR and I and part of Iron Gear Sports and Team Durapulse drove to Flagstaff to compete at the Mountainman Sprint Triathlon. Off course JR and I cut it a little close and we were one of the last ones in transition. Fortunately I got a super spot...thanks to two very friendly triathletes who made more then enough room for me.

Steve, the man in charge of Iron Gear Sports getting ready to go fast on his P4:

JR got a not-so-great spot in transition. But it turns out that this spot doesn't slow him down.

Lazer Helmet fits, ready to go.

I had my personal Sherpa for the day. My friend Pam, who did not race (she competed in a 200 mile ride the weekend before). She was SO helpful. She even zipped my wetsuit for me WHILE I was running to the swim start (no way, not because I cut it close...just because I like to run in my wetsuit...). Also it was super great to see Coach Nick and the Durapulse crew come up to Flagstaff just to cheer on their athletes. Now that is what I call a TEAM. It definitely motivated me to go faster!!! Thanks for cheering!!!

The swim was very nice. Calm water, 71 degree temperature. I am still trying to get super fast in the water. The only way to get faster is to go out FAST and try to hold on :-) I ended up 3rd out of the water with a, for me, very satisfying time.

I raced hard on the bike, unfortunately I was stopped once by one of the volunteers. She thought I was doing the super sprint (which started ahead of us) and she tried to convince me to turn around at their turn around...after a complete stop and some explaining I kept going. The run was a nice out and back. Racing at 7000 feet makes for some really short breaths :-)

Here is JR's race prep and race. JR does this new method of training. It is called the super taper. You pretty much taper for ... lets say 6 months...and then you go out and race :-) JR has been very busy with work, so his workout time is limited. He went to the pool maybe 3 times before the race... he runs with me, but hasn't done any speed training. Yet he goes out and comes out of the water in 7th place, bikes his way into 1st/2nd (they were in T2 together)...then on the run he realizes he never picked up his timing chip and just jogs his way into 2nd place overall. Oh did I mention he hasnt' been in a wetsuit since June 2010?

I am so excited to see JR race IM AZ this fall!!! What a great athlete!!!

This was race 13 of the season for me. NowI have 1.5 months to become a fish in the water and 2 months before I have to run like I am being chased by a cheetah :-)

Heat escape

2011-07-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

4th of July comes around and it is...

120 degrees :-) Time to leave the city and escape to higher elevations. JR, his family (who were visiting from Minnesota) decided to explore the Camp Verde area. We went to a place called Pin Bull Ranch. Only an hour away from Phoenix it is the perfect destination for a day trip. But we went there to stay overnight. We put up the tent, played a little in the water and learned some new card games.

Jr's sister and one of the daughters went to catch a lizzard while we played cards...and they really caught one. No way. I have no idea how they got one of those speedy animals...the lizzard found a new home in a cup for a few minutes before they released him again:

...something was wrong...that lizzard looks funny...ooops, he dropped his tail!!! No worries, JR found it!!!

Pam and Shannon joined us for our adventure. The next morning JR, Pam and I went for a run and explored some trails. The trails here are beautiful. We are definitely coming back for some more!!! We had to cross the river probably 6 times during our run, but I didn't mind. The cold water feels so good!!!

Pam surprised us with Pancakes after the run!!! That is my kind of camping:-)

Jack loved the adventure as well. Until his paws hurt from the hot sand and he decided he didn't want to walk anymore...soooo spoiled:-)

We went back to Phoenix for a few days before we left for Colorado. I was ranked 4th in the 5150 standings and Boulder was the last race for the series automatic qualification. Top 20 get to go. So I was pretty sure I would not drop down 16 places. BUT...since Boulder is within driving distance (hahaha 14 hrs), I decided it would be a good chance to get away from the heat, take my husband with, take my puppy with and explore all the beautiful places this part of the US has to offer.

Are we there yet? 14 hrs feels really long!!! We got to Boulder and attended the Pro meeting. The field was stacked!!! Then we were off for a small shake out run to hopefully shake out the 14 hrs on our butts :-)

Race morning... The race started at 8:45, perfect time. No need to get up at 4 am. I slept like a rock. How come long hours of driving make you more tired?

Setting up transitiona nd checking out the area:

It was nice going into the race with no pressure. I had my points and I was doing this race just "for a good workout". I just love racing...this was race #14 for the season. At the start, chatting with Julia Grant, who I also raced with in Germany. It is funny to see people in one part of the world and then you meet again only a few weeks later on a different continent.

I held on to the front pack until 750 meters and then I was on my own...:-( someday I will be up there!!! The bike ride was beautiful with a steep climb. I love climbing. Unfortunately there was a really long and not so steep downhill as well. I have a pretty small chainring and ran out of gears immediately. Mhhh...I tried to be aero like the flying Scottsman, but 10 miles of no peddaling is no bueno...

The run was great. 1 mile out, 1 mile back, times 3. Great way to see if you are moving up or not.

I finished in 8th, which was OK, but not satisfying :-)
We took off to get back to Phoenix on Monday morning. It pretty much started raining when we started driving :-( Oh well, at least we were in a car. We drove through Leadville, Gunnison to Durango where we spent the night. It rained so much that there were mudslides on some of the roads we drove on. Colorado is such a pretty state!!!

Ouray, Colorado. Start of the Imogene run. I have to do it someday!!!

And I have to ride up this road on my Roadbike!!!

Jack didn't care too much about the beautiful scenery. He prefered sleeping :-) It was good to get back home after being on the road for 5 days. Driving is nice, but flying to races is a lot easier on your body.

This weekend we are off to our old home Flagstaff to race the Mountain Man Sprint Triathlon...and then...I guess the next stop is Des Moins for the Hy Vee Triathlon and then Duathlon World Championships in Spain :-)

Hot summer

2011-06-30T17:21:00.000-07:00

Summer is here. 110+ days every day...for the next 3 + months... my least favorite time of the year. I do not like getting up early. Unfortunately right now I have no choice but to set my alarm to 4:30 am or else I will be frying in the sun during my workouts.

I have been taking a short mid season break from racing. After 11 races in 13 weekends I thought it would be better to safe some of my energy and fire for the second half of the season which includes really important races. My trip to the Duathlon World Championships is in the planning and it looks like I will be spending some time in Aviano, Italy and then go over to Spain for the race. I am ranked 4th in the 5150 series right now, so my trip to Des Moins, Iowa for the Championships is in the planning as well. There are 2 more races this weekend, Boulder and Zuerich. I am going to race the 5150 Boulder this weekend. It is a good chance to get out of the heat and enjoy some cooler temps, as well as going on a roadtrip with my husband and my dog :-) Off course I am also going there to take some points home and keep my spot in the rankings :-)

With the temps going over 100 degrees, little desert critters decide to come out...ahhh...this one is the one I found last year. Only one all year...that is kind of OK with me:

But then this one decided to live in my vegetable garden WITH HIS/HER BABIES!!! That is NOT OK. I mean, look at it. If those babies would grow, I would have a family of 20 scorpions living in my vegetable garden. No way.
So I made JR do this:

Hit it with a hammer. And then I felt bad. Poor guy.

Off to pack for the 14 hr drive to Boulder. 5150 Boulder Peak Triathlon, here we come!!!

Germany

2011-06-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

Where to start. I had a great time in Germany and the 3 weeks went by way too fast. The first week I was a little sleepy at around 2 pm every day because of the time change, but I was hoping that would disappear by my first race on Sunday.

It was so much fun to see my family. They completely spoiled me and made sure I had everything I needed. My mom even went swimming with me in the...here we go...65 degree COLD water our local 50 m outdoor pool had to offer. Let me tell you, 65 degrees might be nice in a wetsuit, but it is really cold while training. Some days I couldn't feel my fingers anymore after only 1k.

On the rainy days I took my dad's mountain bike, went out in the forest and came back like this:

Here is a picture of the trail (which is as wide as a road) just outside my hometown:

On Sunday we drove to Darmstadt for the 5150. There was a lot of good competition. I started my triathlon career in the US, so I only knew my competition from magazines. Nicole Leder started 2 places in front of me and Radka V., the European ITU star was immediately in front of me at the start. It was a dive in start, I was hoping I wouldn't loose my goggles :-) I tightened them super tight and was successful. No lost goggles. Unfortunately after Lap 1 my head was hurting from the pressure :-) My own fault. I better get good at diving in case there is another race where they make the decision to turn it into a dive start 30 min before the race again (but I have to admit I like diving).

I was pretty satisfied with my swim. Onto the bike I couldn't feel the power I usually have...probably because it was 2:30 pm...=naptime. My watts were a bit lower then I would have expected and I have to admit I did not like my bike time, but for that day it was all I had. With 10 k to go I started to wake up, but 10 k is not a lot of k"s to make up time.The thunder and rain started as soon as I got off the bike. It was 4 lap course, I tried to close the cap to the girl in front of me on the first 2, but realized that we were going about the same speed. I was in 5th place and 6th place was too far behind me to catch me, so I just ran to make sure I hold my position.

After the race in the rain with my parents. I got a nice amount of points for the 5150 ranking.

Jenny Fletcher (6th place) and I were the only 2 ladies who had done 3 races in the series now, so for one week I got to lead the world rankings :-) I made sure I printed out a copy of that!!!

Funny :-)

I did a few more workouts during the week and felt great. On the track I ran faster times then expected, I felt strong on the bike, I was ready for the Klagenfurt 5150 on Sunday. But then on Friday night I started to feel sick...headache, sore throat...Saturday morning we were debating about even driving to Austria for the race, but we said we would drive and turn it into a vacation in case I couldn't race. The normally 6 hr drive turned into close to 10 hrs because of traffic. On many spots the alps are too steep to build roads over so you have to go through a tunnel. Our tunnel had a car-train we had to get on. Unfortunately we stood there for 3.5 hrs to wait to get on the train (well, I slept the entire time). Here is what it finally looked like to get the car on the train:

12 km through the tunnel, a few more miles to drive and we were here:
I went to the pro meeting, but disappeared really fast again. I did not feel good.

I am usually very careful about racing sick. I know the damage that can be done to the body can be big. Here is the reason why I raced: The field was weak (there were 2 athletes that I knew would take one and two for sure, but the rest was no superstar-field). Before I got sick I felt like 3rd place was definitely do-able on a normal day. But we are just humans and no machines. Sunday I woke up and decided to go for it. I would get points for sure and prizemoney. Even if I finished last. Here we are at the start of the race:

The lake is the most beautiful piece of water I have ever swam in. The water was so blue and the canal swimw as so clear.

I felt weak on the swim already and my stomach juices decided to say hello during the swim too. Here is a picture of the leaders coming through the canal:

Me running through transition:

The bike was a beautiful course. It would have been perfect. Some hills, some flat parts. But I didn't feel good and just made sure I would finish the race...very frustrating to race like this, knowing how you can normally race.

Onto the run. I was in 5th place with 3rd and 4th not too far ahead. I tried to push, but I felt weak. At one point I actually walked through an aid station and grabbed a coke, hoping the caffeine would help get rid of my headache. I am not sure if I have ever walked in a race :-)

On the bright side: Klagenfurt 5150 is a great race. The area is beautiful, the spectators are very nice, the bike course is great and, off course the water is beautiful. My parents cheered the entire day and also cheered me up after the race. The next day was a little rainy and we drove back home...

The last week went by really fast. I barely did any training, instead I made sure I spend quality time with my family and made sure I would get healthy again.

Tuesday morning the anti doping agency decided to ring the bell (very thankfull they came at 6 am and not at midnight like last time). This time I had a double test: blood and urine :-) And I was able to pee after only half a bottle of water and only 30 min of waiting :-) SUCCESS!!!

Time went by way to fast and on Friday morning I was on my way back to the US. I got to Phoenix and had just a little bit of trouble adjusting to the 100+ degrees :-)

I went for a long run today and had to built 3 water stops into the run. I am really looking forward to the "warm" pools here...no more frozen hands.

Travel time - Germany part I

2011-06-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

For the Memphis in May Triathlon I attempted a new kind of travel. The in-n-out travel (no In n Out Burgers in my bags). I flew to Memphis on Saturday and home on Sunday after the race. That was the plan at least.

Well here is how it went, including the mistakes I made:

When travelling at 4 am, no breakfast is NOT a good idea. I thought I could eat on the airplane, but a Clif Bar is just not enough...

When travelling through lunch time, bring a snack just in case...I thought I had enough time to get a sandwich in Charlotte, but we had a delay and therefore I had to run to the plane that got me to Memphis...no sandwich...again, a Clif Bar...not enough for lunch either.

I got to Memphis and got picked up by my very nice homestay. We built my bike on the way to the Pro meeting, listened to the rules and went for a ride/run. Sweaty but happy we went to April's house (homestay coordinator and very good cook) for delicious FOOD.

The next day was one of the craziest days in Triathlon that I have ever seen. A HUGE storm rolled in and half way through the start of the age groupers thunder and lightning was everywhere...I hid in the car and was still scared of getting hit!!! Damie, my homestay is so brave. She did great out there and even rode a flat for 5 miles!!!

We started with an hour delay...after sitting around without food or water or a blanket. I am not sure where my race mode and my battle instinct went but it seemed to be gone for the swim. I got on the bike and was just worried about crashing or getting hit by lightning in this storm, so I rode careful. I still managed to get a sub 1 hr time, which I was super happy with.

The run was very scary again, with lightning everywhere...I have been in storms before, but this was the scariest thing I have ever raced in. I got 8th place and was really happy with it!!! Turns out that the same storm was the reason I had to spend the night at the Chicago airport a few hours later. JR got me a room (it was paid and I had a confirmation number) and when I arrived they told me they no longer had the room...soooo...soaked from the rain I went back to the airport to sleep on a bench. Nice.

I couldn't leave Chicago until noon, so I even missed work. But I got to meet some super nice people who were also stuck and I tried pretty much all the coffee places at the airport!!! Yeah!!!

At home I unpacked...then packed. For GERMANY!!!

The flight was great, Continental/United are great with bike boxes. I went for a run and felt great after the long flight...the forest and the endless trails are great. I have been a runner for a long time and I have to say no matter where I tried different trails (Spain, Italy, Switzerland, USA, ...) Germany has the best trail system!!! No single trail, but the best trails for a "normal-terrain" runner like me.

I have tried the pool as well...multiple times...in hopes it would get warmer. It is 65 degrees in the water. Today I did a 1500 m TT and I wasn't able to feel my left hand anymore after 1000 m :-) Ooops. The good part is: The pool is very empty. Usually in Germany the problem is all the people swimming in the pool...I have had 20 people in my lane before. At 65 degrees, even German's stay out (except for the 3 in my neighbor lane with wetsuits on).

On Sunday I get to compete at the Germany 5150. As of now we are not a lot of people in the race, but the 6 that I saw are super stars in Europe. I have to admit I am a little nervous, but VERY excited to race. The work is done...all I can do is go hard and enjoy!!!

Good puppy!!!

2011-05-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

I love this dog!!! He is more human then dog. We have so much in common. We both:

love napping

can go from sleeping to running in 3 seconds

are a little afraid of water

like shoes (he for chewing, me for running)

and much more. The napping part is our favorite :-)

I took Jack on my run yesterday. He is not the best listener (it works 1 out if 3 times :-). The snakes are out in the Mountains in Phoenix this time of the year, so I am always worried we will run into one. Yesterday we ran into coyotes. 2 of them about 20 meters in front of us. Immediately I yelled: Jack, stay!!! (Thinking, as good as he is listening to me, we will see what happens). But to my surprise he waited and did not go after them!!! Yeah- good dog. Coyotes are a little scary...they were about the same size as Jack...and two of them...but everything turned out good. He got a big reward at home (and probably didn't even know why :-)

Now back to last weekend: The Tempe International Triathlon

I competed in the sprint triathlon, because I wanted to get a speedy workout in before Memphis. The race was not very well organized, or maybe they just had a lot of bad luck putting it on. The start was delayed by 45 min (they kept telling us 5 more min, 5 more,...so we were standing around half in the water for 45 min). I had to swim around a boat and a kayak in the race (I am not even sure why they were in the middle of the course)...the bike was pretty uneventful. Onto the run I was in no mans land. I started 3 min behind the guys. I had 3 guys in front of me, but out of sight. I tried to follow the cones, but some of them were for car traffic...hmmm...not really sure how I am supposed to tell which are which...I ended up going the wrong way once on the way out. On the way back, on the other side of Tempe Town Lake we had to cross a bridge...too bad it was a little unclear WHICH bridge we have to run on...I asked a guy who was cheering and he said: I think you are on the right one :-)

Eventually we all made it to the finish!!! I heard from a lot of people afterwards that they went the wrong way at some point of the run.

The Phoenix Triathlon Community is amazing. Everyone is so friendly and there are so many racers out there. It was great to see how many people did the back to back weekend Triathlons (Rio Salado and Tempe International)!!!

Weekend fun...and another race :-)

2011-05-13T09:49:00.001-07:00

For some reason my last blog post about the Rio Salado Triathlon and the Barnhardt Trail hike disappeared. I am hoping it will re-appear but until then, here are the pics of the trail again:

USAT Elite Duathlon Nationals

2011-05-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. The original plan was to drive to Tucson on Friday, to be there for packet pick up and bike check in. Bike check in got cancelled due to high winds, so we ended up driving the 2 hrs south in the morning.

I went to bed at 10 pm, with my alarm set at 3:30!!! Uhhh...that is in the middle of the night. At midnight I heard a doorbell...oh no, what the heck.

I am glad my friends were staying with me or I would have called 911 immediatelly when I looked out the window and saw those two mysterious people in front of my door...I opened the window and all that came out of me was: do you know what time it is? Then they pulled out some ID and said: Angela? We are here from the WADA. Can we come in?

At midnight??? OK, I guess. I was sure I could pee, but when they said I had to fill a certain amount in the cup, I wasn't sure anymore. 1.5 hrs and 5 glasses of water later I finally could go. We sat around for 1.5 hrs and I got to ask all the questions I wanted about the Anti Doping Agency... did I mention this was between midnight and 1:39 am?

Back to bed with 1.5 hrs until my alarm would go off...but now that I drank so much water I constantly had to pee...at least I was well hydrated for the race, right?

Pam was so nice and drove me to Tucson. I set up transition, went for a jog, got to catch up with Tucson Elite Triathlete Teri Albertazzi, who I hadn't seen in a while. It was nice. I really didn't know what to expect for the day, but I guess it is out of our hands anyways...the training is done. I was nervous standing on the start line with all those great athletes, but somehow I (off course) found a story to tell :-) I actually think this is the part where someone asked me if I am eligible to become the National Champion and I said: yes, the rule book states that I count as a US national since I had been in the country for more then 3 years...more about that to come

The gun went off and we didn't mess around. Nicole LaSelle set the tempo high and we were all pretty close together going into T1. I actually think we were 4 people hopping on the bike at the same time.
The bike was 2 loops. I passed Nicole, she passed me back. I passed her right before the first turn around and somehow the gap grew. When I got off the bike I had a 1:50 min lead. But in my head the rest of them were RIGHT THERE...A 1:50 lead can shrink easily. You never know what happens in a race.

Off I go...

I managed to stay away and finished in 1:34:10, 1:59 min before Nicole. It was so much fun holding up a banner for the first time crossing the finish line. A minute later I got asked a whole bunch of questions - ahhh...that was a new experience.

JR- I WON!!!

After the race I got asked if I wanted to go to worlds...are you kidding? YES!!! Spain, World Championships? Off course. Before Pam and I rolled out of the parking lot I wanted to make sure that they counted me as the National Champion...I asked the person in charge and he said: sorry, you are the winner of the race, but you are not being awarded the National Champion Title...wow, that was disappointing and a little shock. I asked him about the rule, that clearly states that I can be the Champ if I had lived here for 3 years...Well I have been here since 2003, am a legal alien, have a house, a husband and a dog (:-) in the US, started my triathlon career here, work here,...due to a hidden rule that states that I needed to be released from Germany (I am still trying to find it) I do not count as the National Champion...

It was still a ton of fun and am super happy about the race, the result and how the day went!!!

I am still hoping this will be resolved and I get to go to Spain and race at the World Championships :-(

We stayed until awards, and I kept searching on my phone for this rule until my battery died...

At awards being called up as the winner of the USAT Elite Duathlon Championships

The race was a ton of fun. I am glad my one week-no-racing week is over and I get to compete the next 4 weekends again!!! Only 4 more weeks before I pack my bags to go to Germany, visiting my family and racing in Germany and Austria!!! Exciting times!!!

Open water swimming

2011-04-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

Like most people I fear something in open water. For some it is waves, others are afraid of the darkness in the water and would rather see what is down there, for me it is FISH. I have never had a bad experience with fish, but they just freak me out.

I can block it out during races, but it takes a lot to get me in a lake for practice (I think the words OCEAN, PRACTICE and ANGI will never be in one sentence!!!).

Yesterday I had my scariest swimming experience ever. Phoenix has a bunch of beautiful lakes. Lake Pleasant is my favorite for racing. And I might actually consider going there for training. It is mostly calm (except for last week's race), the water is beautiful and there is no stuff...aka..see weed, sticks,...we also have Bartlett Lake...maybe my 2nd favorite one. Then there is Saguaro Lake. It looks beautiful, but the lake is surrounded by cliffs and that freaks me out a little.

We had a tri clinic at Lake Rosevelt yesterday. The Lake is beautiful and I believe it is the biggest Lake in AZ. One end looks very nice, the other end is big fish habitat as trees were flooded there...there is no way we would swim there...I thought. Off course I was wrong and as we put on our wetsuits to go into the foresty lake I already started to freak out. Who knows how big the fish can get in there!!! It seriousely is like a forest in the water and you have to find your way out to the swimmable part. It was scary. I held onto the kayak until I thought we were out of trees. And the I touched one!!! I started screaming!!! This swim was crazy- everytime I finally put my head unter water I saw another scary looking tree. And every once in a while you would touch one...SCARY. I was so happy once I was out of the water. From now on I will really appreciate clean, big lakes with no vegetation in them!!! I promise!!!

Phoenix Triathlon

2011-04-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

2k swim - 20 mile bike - 8k run = Phoenix Triathlon...long swim, GREAT :-) But hey, you can only get better at something if you keep trying, right? Week number 5 of racing rolled around and I have to say that the nervouseness was way less then at the first race of the season...actually it felt a little bit like "just" going out for a swim/bike/run.

Pam and I arrived at the race with plenty of time to set up our transition. It was crazy windy out there (the picture doesn't do the real conditions justice!!!). We started the swim and I saw one guy turn around after only 100 m. I like waves, so to me it was fun. It makes me forget about my fish fear and helps me think I am on the beach body surfing :-)

I made a bad goggle decision and had to stop 3 times to clear my goggles...Lesson learned. I got out of the watre in 4th and I have to say this was the most fun I have ever had swimming in open water. I love waves!!!

On the bike it was a lot of up and down and up and down. No highlights, except for a dead donkey on the side of the road :-( Poor donkey. I passed the girls in front of me and just settled in a good pace. It is always fun to race at Lake Pleasant, the course is very hilly which makes it a good workout.

Onto the run: I had 5 guys in front of me starting the run. I wasn't planning on going after them, instead just racing my own race. At mile one I passed 2 guys and I was in 4th place in the mens :-)

The run was VERY hilly and walking the course would have been NICE :-)

At the finish with Nick.

Pam and I after the race.

The FLAGSTAFF crew. Sad, but I am now considered a Phoenician...It was great to see Chris and Ryan at the race!!!

My DURAPULSE crew.

Successful day at the race.

The rest of the day was full of fun, non triathlony things. Shopping, good food and a match of tennis. Pam and I got our butts kicked by Mr. Tennis. It was him vs us...we held him off for a while before he used his tennis tricks to show us how it is done. It was so much fun. I am still sore from playing (three days after) :-)

Sunday we went to Tucson for the Old Pueblo Criterium. My race was 50 min. We all stand at the start line when I realize...aehhh...my rear brake just fell off. That might be a problem. As they were doing call ups (yes about 1 min from race start) I tried to find a tool to fix it. Luckily I was successfull. The race was very uneventful. I had no legs to try to get away, I was very tired from training and racing (the 3 hr workout the day before the triathlon might have been helpful with that). I just held on and tried not to hit the pavement (cyclists are kind of mean...I had a few close calls, but thankfully I was able to rescue myself). I ended up 7th in the field sprint, 8th overall and I was seriousely just happy to finish. I love crits: I love the speed and the corners and the attacks. Hopefully I can do one soon with fresh legs.

Next weekend is a weekend off racing but with a lot of training. It will be fun and help me get ready for Duathlon Nationals coming up soon.

Marquee Tri...I mean Duathlon

2011-04-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

The swim at the SuperSeal Triathlon almost got cancelled...due to high E Coli levels...but the morning of the race they announced that we would have a swim. Now I am in the Valley of the sun, preparing for my race last Sunday. It rained all day Saturday, so that...tataaaa...the city couldn't allow us to swim in the water because of possibly high E Coli levels. The Marquee Triathlon turned into a Duathlon. Like at SuperSeal I had mixed feelings...but I think there was more happiness then sadness involved ;-)

I warmed up for about 5 min (note to self...more warm up needed :-) and then started the race with the men's elite/under 40 wave. We went out at a nice pace, so that I finished the first 3.1 miles in 18:09. I went into transition with 2 guys, and I believe there were 3 more guys in front of me, but I wasn't sure. At this point I was just hoping to have a good race and not get left in the dust by those guys.

I was somewhere in lala-land on the bike. I passed a few guys and one guy passed me, which made me think: oh yeah. We are racing...I have to push a little harder. Sometimes I have a hard time focusing on the bike. It feels fast, but once someone goes by me I realize that I have more gears left and I can push harder. The bike went by fast and it was fun to ride on part of the IM Arizona course.

I got onto the second run and saw 2 guys in fron of me. I caught one about .5 miles into the run. He was funny. He told me he is a swimmer, duathlons are really not fitting for him :-) I told him to come with me and we can push each other, but he decided not to. At mile two I caught the first place guy. I decided to pass him and keep the momentum going-because I knew I had some good runners behind me and needed that cushion. At mile 4 I looked back for the first time...and saw that one guy was closing in on me. The gap got smaller and smaller and the feeling of knowing you are going to be swallowed up is not fun. Your mind tries to mess with you :-) You can't do it...oh yes you can...no...yes...At mile 5 I turned my brain off and pushed hard...I must have looked back 20 times in the last mile and it seemed like he was RIGHT THERE...but I held him off and finished the race with a 37:XX run.

I found out later that there was one more guy in the 40 + wave who finished ahead of me, but I am super happy with the result. I have never been that far up in the men's results!!! Here is Coach, happy to see I was holding off the guys...if you could zoom in on me you would see that at this point I was still worried about getting caught :-) This might have been the first time Nick saw me without a smile on my face!!!

Happy but glad it is over :-)

Time to get ready for this weekends PHOENIX TRIATHLON as well as the Old Pueblo Criterium.

Next weekend will be NO racing (after 5 races in a row), before I make the trip down to Tucson for Elite Duathlon Nationals.

Race # 3 and my new partner in crime: Quarq

2011-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

After SuperSEAL I wanted to go out and train immediately again. I am having so much fun racing and training that it is hard for me to rest. But I know it is good for me. I am glad I have a great Coach who helps me and makes the rest-day-training-day decisions for me...

After taking it easy for a few days we decided to race this weekend in a local race. Local races are nice because you get to know other athletes in your community, which I think is very important. I raced in the Iron Gear Sports Mesa Sprint Triathlon. With 3 hard training days right before the race I was not sure what to expect - I was just really tired :-) But the race went really well and I had a lot of fun. Sprints go by so fast!!! I ended up winning the race and, for the first time in my tri life I managed to win the OVERALL (men and women). Next weekend I will be competing in another local race, the Marquee Triathlon. It will be a competitive race with many of our very fast AZ racers. It will be great preparation for Duathlon Nationals and my upcoming trip to Germany.

SPONSOR UPDATES: I am very lucky to be representing Quarq this year. Quarq is owned and developed by very nice and smart people, Jim and Mieke, who I got to know during my time in Spearfish, SD. I am very happy to be able to collect and analyze my riding data from now on. My network is amazing: with the help of Iron Gear Sports my Quarq powermeter will be on my bike by Wednesday and Nick and I will be able to analyze and fine tune every workout from now on.

2 weekends, 2 races...from Florida to California

2011-03-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

The 2011 season has started. For me, with the very first 5150 race in Miami followed by the SuperSEAL Triathlon in San Diego... Miami was a great experience. I was about to race with some of the fastest women in the US, mostly women that are also racing on the ITU circuit. The race was downtown Miami...swimming in the bay, biking between skyscrapers and running along the shoreline. The weather was perfect and the water was...well, for me (aka mediocer swimmer/wetsuit lover) ...a little to warm at 72 degrees. NO WETSUITS ALLOWED ...in shark town... Once you were in the water there was no coming back out until the gun went off which ment a 5 min warm up was enough for me. The current and the difficulty to sight in the water left us athletes all over the place. I was in a group of 3 but after the first turn the other 2 went off course, so I was by myself for the entire swim...

Venue of the 5150 Miami

I hopped on my bike and started passing about 3-4 females. The course was very much like a criterium, which is great for me, unfortunately the turn-signs were too small to see, so I was not able to go into the corners full power. There were 270 cops out there keeping us safe...which was great!!! Somehow a guy with his coffee cup still managed to walk out in front of me, but luckily I was able to avoid him :-) The bike felt great!!! After an interesting T2 (I was led the wrong way and had to jump the barrier to get back to the bike racks) I started my run and felt great. I passed one girl within the first mile and then I was in no mans land. I ran into a cleaning crew which appeared out of nowhere:-) No worries...I tried to run my own race at a good speed. With about 2 miles to go I saw an athlete about 400 m in front of me but since we were going about the same speed I thought there is no way of catching her...I turned around the last corner and we had .2 to go and she was RIGHT THERE...I started sprinting but missed her by 2 seconds...GRRR...I ended up 7th place with a time of 2:02 and was very happy!!! My splits were: 21:XX swim, 1:01 ride (new PR) and a 36:XX run (new PR) - I could not have asked for more for my first race of the season. Here are some pics from Miami:

STARFRUIT PICKING!!!

My vist to the groshery store...HUGE avocados...

Finger Bananas :-)

Giant Papayas!!!

Miami was great, what a beautiful city. Luckily I was there during the NON HUMID season:-)

A few days later I started my trip to the other side of the country...San Diego. Race # 2 for the season...SuperSEAL. This race is absolutely great. The venue is great, the race is very well organized, the spectators are amazing and everywhere (!!! HUGE MOTIVATION), the course is safe and the entry fee goes to a good cause!!!

Here we go...see you later Phoenix...

...hello Coronado...

We arrived in the evening, went for a run, checked into the hotel and visited the hot tub :-) We decided to get everything done early the next morning so that we could relax in the afternoon: packet pick up, ride, run and some ocean fun...I mean...icing of the legs:

It was unclear until race morning of the race would turn into a duathlon due to all the rain they got...mhhh duathlon...no swimming = happy Angi...but at the same time I wanted it to be a Triathlon because you can only get better by trying and trying and trying.

Pre race icing in the bathtub :-) A MUST the night before the race!!!

The race start was at 8 am. I was (for some strange reason) up at 4:45, which ment for once I would actually eat my breakfast 2.5 hrs before the race (which left me hungry during the race). We rode the 6 miles in the dark to the race site, racked our bikes...sat around and watched the Sprint Triathlon start...and then it was finally time to race. The start was a run in start with the guys so there was lots of fighting going on :-) I have no splits yet, but my swim felt a little slow and I was 6th female out of the water. On the run to transition my calf was hurting to the point where I thought there is no way I will run (calf needs a massage). I jumped on my bike thinking: Just bike hard and then see what happens. I biked into first place by km 20. T2 was fun, with me and 2 other girls all being together. Everyones feet where frozen (next year I will NOT forget my toe warmers). I started running and felt pretty good, so I decided to go a little faster at each mile. I ended up winning the race in 2:03:XX which is 2 min faster then last year. SUCCESS!!!

Not only was it a great race for me but also for Pam and Lizzy!!! Everyone is happy :-)

Thanks to Iron Gear Sports I was able to race on these good looking race wheels :-) AND I am happy to add a third paddle to my wall of paddles. This trophy is the most beautiful trophy!!! I hope I can add a few more - I have lots of wall space to fill :-)

I will treat my body VERY well for the next few days before I return to racing at a local race in Mesa on Sunday :-)

Day 1 in Miami

2011-03-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have been to Miami for 24 hrs now and I like what I see :-)

After a crazy 5:30 am airport drop off by JR I was on my way to Miami and didn't arrive until close to 8 pm!!! I think it might be faster to fly to Germany in that time. The airport in Dallas was FULL, with flights that got cancelled and spring breakers everywhere!!! Flying into Miami was great (you have to understand that I have never been to Florida). I saw the Everglades :-) They go right to the outskirts of Miami!!! Who knew. Everything here is in happy colors: the thousands of different plants growing here, the houses, decorations, even the street's pavement is light colored which seems happier then dark pavement.

My homestay is very very very nice. I went swimming today (NO NOT IN THE OCEAN), rode my bike around the beautiful neighborhood and went for a run where we saw Starfruit, Guava and all kinds of other fruits :-) It felt like vacation!!!

Tomorrow is Saturday and we are off for a bike ride in the Florida keys followed by a run. Then a meeting and the bike drop off and then it is alrady time to get ready to race :-)

Pics are coming soon!!!

ready or not...here comes the season

2011-03-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

My 2011 is kicking off next week with the 5150 Miami. I am super excited to start the season, even though the first race is always a little scary...As far as I know it will be a non wetsuit ocean swim, followed by a hot bike and run.

The weekend after that I will be taking off for San Diego for a most likely pretty cool wetsuit legal ocean swim :-) Ahhh...that is what I like to hear...

I have never visited Miami, but I am looking forward to it. I only "know" Miami from watching Dexter and Burn Notice...it looks like a lot of fun!!!

A very nice family from the Ndorphin Triathlon Team is taking me in (THANK YOU, check them out at www.ndorphintriathlonteam.com). I would not know what to do by myself in a city that I have never been in before, so I am really thankful!!!

Phoenix is warming up like crazy. We are going to have 90 degrees as a high almost every day this week. But no complaints here, this is wonderful to train in compared to the snowy, slushy
roads in the places I have lived before (Flagstaff/Spearfish).

Ragnar with Team Durapulse

2011-02-27T17:16:00.000-08:00

The best team out there:

Ragnar:

197 miles

12 runners

Wickenburg to Tempe

Do you wanna run Ragnar? Sure, count me in. Friday morning 6 am came around and I met my team. At this point we were 12 people, mostly strangers to each other. We split up into Vans of 6 people each, us being Van 1 which ment we were running for the first 6 legs before we got a little break.

Nice to meet you Ken, Steve, Chris, Carey and Kelly. Little did we know what the next 30 hrs in one van would turn into...

Here we go, navigating our way to Wickenburg:

Here we are before I took off for my first 8.5 mile run. Everyone was happy and refreshed.

I ran the first 4 miles with a guy from a different team, but then he got tired and I said ADIOS. As I made my way to the first exchange I was wondering why the van hadn't passed me yet...there was no other way then this road to get to the exchange...mhhh...I got to transition and waited...for about 15 minutes. There were lots of teams at the exchange, everyone super excited since it was the very first one :-) And everyone kept asking : Where is your team? Mhhh, not sure, but I was 100 % sure they would come eventually ;-)

I have to admit that I was there a little early. You have to turn in "predicted" times and I decided to run a little faster then that time. So it was not their fault.

After I handed off the bracelet to my teammate, the remaining 5 of us laughed for about an hour about the exchange-accident.

We switched off and switched off and cheered out the window and had a TON of fun. The first 6 legs went by so fast and we handed off to Van 2. Time for us to...sleep? get some rest? NO WAY. Time to get...

...some coffee. We wanted to cheer for every Durapulse athlete out there (we had 3 teams), so we had to stay awake and we made it our mission to be the loudest, happiest and most cheery people out there.

With that much action going on in the van it was no surprise that the van soon looked like this:

Poor Ken, who provided us with the Vans...We decided to use window crayons not only for the outside windowns but also for the inside of the van...where else would we write down notes from the trip, right? The van was great!!! A comfy companion for 30 hrs. Stuffed with 6 pillows and 6 now sweaty runners, food for 6 people and much more. Ken tried to keep it under control by looking in his secret mini-van-mirror.

At 9 pm it was our turn again to run and I was so thankful that I was runner 1. I had 7 miles in Sun City before I handed off the bracelet. Our last runner went off at around midnight. We were for sure the loudest van out there, I think everyone else gave up and went to bed:-) NOT US. We went back and forth to see if our runners needed anything and to motivate them!!! Now that is Team Spirit!!!

We ended our legs in Anthem and took a shower and a attempted to take a 1 hr nap. Mhhh...50% successful before we got back up at 5 am to drive to the last leg. There was no time for breakfast, but my sweet teammates offered to get coffee for me and have it ready after my run!!! Whohooo!!!

We got done running our legs at 11 am on Saturday and now it was up to Van 2 to bring it home to Tempe.

The unbelievable part was that our coach's team consisted of only 6 people (for 197 miles). They started 6 hrs !!! later then us and managed to pass us at noon on Saturday!!! It is amazing how far people can push their bodies, especially on no sleep!!! CRAZY!!!

Ragnar is a super fun event and if you ever get the chance to do it: DO IT!!!
We ended up 7th in the race and we are on a mission to take 1st place next year. We were the 2011 masters of Roadkill -athletes that started earlier then us- (what the heck? Roadkill? Street Roadkill? NO- runner roadkill :-) We passed 130 runners with our team and van 2 120!!! 250 roadkills for team Durapulse!!!)

By the end of the 30 hours none of the 5 people in my van were strangers anymore. Actually, I have been without them for one day now and I think I miss them already :-)

VOS weekend

2011-02-13T16:27:00.000-08:00

It was really hard to take a week off of training :-) I guess I am addicted. I was "staying-in-bed-sick" until Tuesday morning...on Thursday I attempted to go for a ride...that lasted for about 20 min before I got a headache. I ran for about 30 min, but my HR was really high. Grrr...one more day of rest. Friday evening I went to the pool and felt surprisingly good for being out of the world of exercise for one week.
This weekend I watched the Valley of the Sun Stage race as my team was racing and I was soooo jealous - but I totally loved being the supporter/spectathlete/cheerleader :-)

The hardest part was watching the Criterium. Stage Races have a great variety of events -VOS had a TT, a Roadrace and a Crit. I like the TT, like the Roadrace but LOVE the Crit. Oh well, there will be lots more races in the cycling world that I can do.

Unfortunately two of my teammates crashed at the Roadrace and ended up in the hospital (yes, I know, I feel guilty complaining about being sick...small fish compared to a crash like that!!!)There was a crash 10 min into the Cat 1,2,3 race- I hope everyone involved heals fast!!! My two teammates are tough cookies. They both showed up at the Crit today to cheer (one with a sling around her arm due to a broken bone in her shoulder, the other one with a cast one her arm due to a fracture in her radius)...and let me tell you, they cheered LOUD. They did not complain once...VERY IMPRESSIVE!!! I hope they get better very soon.

How much more can I sleep?

2011-02-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling sick for the last 3 days, and I have slept a ton. I actually managed to fall asleep WHILE my friend talked to me (ooops). Today I found out the reason for the sleepiness: Acute sinus infection/flu symptoms and a fever...yeah, that would make one sleepy. I finally went to Urgent Care to take care of this so I can be up and running (literally) ASAP.

This last weekend was supposed to consist of Crit racing and a Trail run/race, instead it turned into nap, waiting room, bed...sleeping through the superbowl (I did see the half time show and...well...lets just say I will stick to my Ipod for listening to the BIP:-) Maybe they were just nervous...)

Here is to getting healthy and strong and a season without any more interruptions!!!

Goodbye 2010 and hello 2011

2011-01-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here is my review of 2010:

January

...a snowy time in Flagstaff. It was my first New Years in the US, we had a great evening with lots of friends at our house. I got to mix some german cold weather drinks :-) and everyone seemed to be very happy...

...Jack loved the snow...

...Pam took me back country skiing and it was GREAT...

...January was a tough month for training with all the snow...

February

...Tucson Bicycle Classic...after a great TT my second day ended with a crash on the last kilometer. The field was together and we were screaming down a hill...and then I hit a hole...wheel broken, frame broken, stitches, got cactus spines removed from my leg with a lovely scapel...

April

...SUPERSEAL...my favorite Triathlon... Pam and I had a great roadtrip and a great homestay...

...lots of fresh fish eating going on in the 4 days...

...and even snorkeling...

ALSO: made an offer on a house AND wedding preparations are running...

May

...great party before our wedding at TRIBE and after that a few drinks...

...wedding dress testing with stitches in my leg (you should have seen the eyes of the salesperson...thousands-of dollars dresses and a bloody leg :-)

...and then we got married on May 7th BUT CINQO DE MAYO is our real wedding day (when we were married in the courthouse)... the wedding was beautiful..and I was so glad that my family made it through the snow storm :-)

June

...rainy Flagstaff = awesome cyclocrossing...

...also Jack learns how to swim :-)

...also moving to Phoenix just in time for summer :-) Yeah...

July

...back to Germany for ANKE and JENS's wedding!!! It was beautiful!!!

August

...Checking out the trails around Flagstaff...BEAUTIFUL!!!

November

...hiking the Grand Canyon for 5 days!!! WOHOOO...

December

...Christmas in AZ...my parents and my brother are here :-) too bad the weather decided to be under normal :-( ...

...Sven volunteered to catch fish in the Grand Canyon...

...after 3 days of snow we finally got to hike back out with him...

...I loved having my family here!!!

Hello 2011:

I have a lot planned for 2011 and everything seems to be on track. Racing starts next week (and I am glad to be racing again) with a Criterium in Phoenix. I even have a trip to Germany planned in August and it will involve lots of family time and 3 races :-) I haven't raced in Germany for a long time!!! Also I am trying to figure out what field to get my Masters in...but...it has taken me 2 years to decide already so no promises that it will be figured out this year :-)

The main thing for 2011 is to stay healthy, happy and injury free - not only for me but for everyone!!!

To a great 2011!!!

And the cross season came to an end...

2010-12-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately...

I love the cross season. AZ Cross did a great job putting on fast and challenging courses (even without mud!!!).

Last weekend were the State Championships. We had 2 AZ guests from New England (and our 3-4 usual women :-). Off course they thought it was way to hot to do cyclocross. There was a tiny but of mud on the course (it didn't even splash) and I thought it was funny to warn them..."there is a little bit of mud over there..." They just looked at me and one of them said: "Where?" She had just raced Cross Nationals in Oregon and I guess the course was just covered in mud...

The race was super fun (as always). I had to promise JR that before the 2011 cross season will start I will have functional brakes (who needs brakes...I have 4 on my bike, but only one works, there was another one that worked but the piece holding the break together fell out during the last race :-) OOOps...AND I will get brake pads too...(his usual before the 2010 races was: There are no pads left...I have never seen brakes that worn out...he is funny)

Oh well, the season is over-til next year cross bike.

Time to bake some cookies!!!

70's and sunny in December...

2010-12-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

The Phoenix live is not so bad afterall :-) I rode my bike in shorts today and the forecast for tomorrow is sunny and 70's...IN DECEMBER.

I have ridden my bike more this week then I have ever done...mhhh...yes, I think that is a true statement...OK, maybe except for one or two other weeks...or a training camp week...

However I have never done two hard days in a row-before this week :-) THAT IS A TRUE STATEMENT

After 2 years of self coaching I finally have a coach!!! I am so excited not having to try to create a plan for myself anymore...even though I have a degree in Exercise Science, I believe it is nearly impossible to coach myself...rest day? Who needs a rest day? 4 races in 4 weeks? Sure!!!

So...I got to meet Nick. Nick is a great coach - nice (and mean when it comes to specific workouts), focused and observant. I always had a coach as a runner. First in my club in Germany, then in college. I trust my coach and do not question what he has me do-because I know that he has a reason for every day's workouts!!! Having a coach allows me to focus on doing the work I need to do.

Nick had athletes competing at IM AZ and he was out there supporting them all day (and my rockstar friend/teammate/first-time-IM-finisher-and-kick-ass-athlete Teri http://www.teritwarkins.blogspot.com/ who competed in IM AZ said: he was everywhere...with good advice).

His bussiness is called Durapulse (http://www.durapulseperformance.com/) and is at the same location as TRIBE Multisports - which means: as an endurance fan like me, you can spend ALL DAY there!!! Super multisports store + training + science + spinning + core +... and fun people.

What you can find at Tribe/Durapulse is one of only 7 USAT certified performance centers in the Nation (if you want to read more about it go to: http://www.usatriathlon.org/resources/for-athletes/usat-certified-training-and-performance-centers ).

I am super excited to be training under Nick's guidance and racing with Tribe Multisports in 2011.

Thanksgiving in the Grand Canyon

2010-11-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in the Grand Canyon is a tradition for us (since meeting Pam and Shannon :-)...this year we decided to pack our bags for a 5 day/4 night trip. JR and I got most of our equipment only a week before the trip...so we got to do a few pratice hikes in the Phoenix Mountains and that was it...we filled our packs with books and went out the door...one person even asked us if we are camping out there :-)

Then Wednesday arrived and we went up to the Grand Canyon...and SNOW!!! We turned into phoenicians now, so 10 degree nights didn't sound too good...brrrrrrrr...down we went.

We had a great crew with us. Pam and Shannon off course, Susie and Brian, Shaula and Tom. All really great people!!!

Water refill...JR and I decided to say no to this one as it was close to an old mine, where we saw a: "Do not enter, Radiation warning"-sign...but maybe we would have stayed warmer drinking that water :-) Here is the rest of the crew filtering water:

We dropped in elevation and the snow disappeared. The views in the canyon are beautiful!!!

First night: Hance creek. We cooked our dinner, built the tent and went to bed at 7:30 pm :-)

The mornings were always the craziest. We were still cold from the night, hands frozen trying to take the tent down, making coffee, and packing our gear...

Along the Tonto Trail we went. The views were again amazing...and they gave me goosebumps...some of the drop offs are sooooooo steep!!!

We spent the second night at the Cottonwood Creek...again: beautiful!!! The best part is that we barely saw any people. It was Thursday, which also ment it was Thanksgiving. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with Smoked Trout (Brian caught it a few days before in the Colorado River- and yes, he is allowed to do that:-) , Mashed potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing, Red Cabbage and Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Bars :-) Yummm..hiking in style!!!

The next day the hike felt a lot easier as we had eaten many pounds of food the night before...oh did I mention we had a few Nalgene's full of wine?

Look at the drop off right next to the trail...see the little people walking? Yah, that is where we walked. It wouldn't be bad if they would have built the trail even (hello? what were those guys in the late 1800's thinking?) The trail is slanted, with a nice angle towards the drop off...no twisting ankles here...

Only 5 more miles to go...

Grapevine Creek, we are trying to stay warm with hot beverages: tea, coco, bailey's, jameson's,...you name it, we had it!!!

Our morning view into the Nalgene bottles...NICE...we dropped some water on the ground and a second later it was frozen...that might give you an idea what the temps were like....

Last day: sore sore sore...Massages very much needed!!! Not sure what was in pain the most: lower legs, quads, back? Mhhh...

Sunday morning: the storm is rolling in. Noone slept as the wind was CRAZY!!! We had to put our rain cover on twice even though it was hammered into the ground!!! It was great...I love storms!!! And snow :-) Bring it on...

The hike out. 3 miles to go...we better put these on:

Yeah, somewhere back there is the Colorado River:-)

Pam on the final stretch:

The hike was great and I am so thankful that we get to do these adventures!!! The Grand Canyon is a beautiful place.

I am so excited for Thanksgiving 2011 and new adventures!!!

My camera doesn't do the views justice-it is truely an amazing place...check out Brian's pics at http://bhealyphoto.zenfolio.com/ . He is a great photographer!!! His pics show how it really is!!!

Did I ever mention the cave of doom...I mean dome? If you like caves, there is a huge cave system 3 miles off the rim...it is super scary and I was out of there within the minute...Thanks to having watched "The hills have eyes" and "The descent"...you can follow this string in the dark for around an hour and it leads you from "room" to "room" and eventually you come out ona cliff ...that is what we heard...not sure if I will ever be up for that...

SKINSTRONG

2010-11-12T18:01:00.001-08:00

Skinstrong is keeping my skin strong in 2011!!!

I am really excited to work with the nice people from SKINSTRONG next year. Their product is not only great but also affordable!!!

Go to www.skinstrong.com and check out their products. They are in the process of developing many more great things and I am looking forward to using them. The SKINSTRONG SLIK is my absolute favorite: after many years as a runner (collegiately and as a triathlete) you would think that my feet are used to running and I wouldn't get any blisters or sores anymore...yeah...right...I guess I have very sensitive feet, but I have sprayed the Slik on the heel of my foot and have not gotten a blister. Even better, it can be used on ANY body part. I have used it in open water swims under my race suit and my wetsuit on the really tight spots and it has work there better then anything else...the spray is easy to apply, you don't need a lot-unlike other products.

Another great product is the SLATHER - I am looking forward to all those riding miles in the winter in AZ :-) The SLATHER is a great tool for cyclists as well!!!

And at 9.99 $ the product is very affordable, which is what athletes, especially triathletes need (with the entry fees for races increasing and increasing, and products getting more expensive).

If you want to try it out you can go to the homepage and shop right there!!! Add to your shopping cart and it will be on its way.

Also, the product was developed by athletes for athletes. They have been competing in IM events, cycling, running, ... they know where we hurt. And on top of that they are super nice people, always happy and very supportive to athletes like me.

Thanks SKINSTRONG for letting me be part of the journey!!!

2010-11-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

Winter is coming...Phoenix is cooling down to a low of 58 during the night now :-) (which is pretty much the nightly SUMMER average in Flagstaff) This morning the pool was steaming during morning practice, and I have to admit, it was chilly whenever my arm was out of the water...brrr...I am excited to see how training at 5:30 am in an outdoor pool feels like in December/January...

JR and I spent last weekend in Flagstaff for Cyclocross race number 1 and 2. I had two fun races with 2 W, but JR had 2 races with a lot of bad luck. In the first race he got rear ended and lost his chain completely...then it just kept jumping and skipping...same the next day, so he had to pull out and we discovered that his chane was actually broken.

I am still working on getting my foot healed up (sleeping with "the sock").I am back to building mileage in running, but have to take all the precautions...taping...PT...icing...stretching...exercises...the good thing is that the "limited running" gives me time to improve my swimming!!!

Jack had one of his friends over the other week and they had a ton of fun digging holes and playing.

This little guy was hiding in the yard...AHHHHHHHH...so I had to eliminate him :-) Hope it was the first and the last dinosaur-looking animal I will see in my yard.

Friday night the Endurance Rehab team went Go Kart racing. Here is a shot of the men's podium...noooo, there was no fighting or bumping involved...not during the race and not after...

I am very excited to start planning the 2011 season. It looks like I will kick it off with the National Wintertriathlon Championships in January. Also I am hoping to get to race in the Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix which involves all out racing for short distances!!! Sounds GREAT!!! They just had the kick off race last weekend in Oceanside and I think it is genius to bring a race format like that on the race circuit. I am really looking forward to all 5 of the races next year!!!

No more resting

2010-10-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

My puppy is turning into a water dog!!! Finally.

Springer Spanies are not only supposed to be water dogs but also bird hunting dogs. For the first year of Jack's life: water...not interested...birds...not interested...oh and bringing things back:really not interested!!!

But since we moved to Phoenix he has been loving the water!!! I swam at Bartlett Lake the other day and JR was standing on shore with Jack. I was about 200m from shore and all of the sudden Jack decides he wasnts to come see me :-) Good boy!!!

Also he loves ot go in the pool all of the sudden!!!

We are still waiting on the bird interest!!!

On the dangerous animals in the desert side:

I saw my first scorpion...CREEPY...he was in our yard hiding under flour pots...a few screams later he was gone and I am hoping not to see any more!!!

On the training side:
Things are great!!! I am getting my mileage up on the bike(thanks to all the great group ride you can do in Phoenix), in the pool and RUNNING!!!

Last week I went to the weekly rides from GAINEY VILLAGE, with the Tuesday ride being 2 hrs and the Thursday ride being 2.5 hrs...then on Saturday I rode the BOS ride, which was just over 3 hours with lots of power (60 guys and me:-)...but it was not enough for the week. On Sunday JR and I drove to South Mountain and did the South Mountain ride, which includes about 45 min of warm up, 1 hr of all out sprinting (and I couldn't resist to attack), then a 7 mile climb up SOuth Mountain and another 45 min back to the car...so on Monday my legs were a little tired.

I also did my first Temporun yesterday and it felt great!!!

The rest season in Phoenix is up and the built phase has begun. The season here in the valley starts in December with some Halfmarathons and continues to build from there with running and cycling!!!

And not to forget:
The AZ CYCLOCROSS races start NEXT WEEK!!! With a 2 day event in Flagstaff!!! WHohoooooooooooo!!!

Finally...Fall has arrived

2010-10-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

It has happened...temps are down. Life is back to normal (almost...the alarm still goes off at 5 am).

Saturday and Sunday where the last hot days with temperatures of 106 - which made the Tour de Scottsdale a little harder then usual. I decided last minute to race the Crit on Saturday. I was sick for a week, but I could not pass on this-a crit in my town? I AM IN. Well, two laps into the race I realized it might not have been the smartest idea:-) I took one hard pull to help out my teammate and I was in no man's land...Megan was in front, the rest almost one lap behind me, so I just stayed where I was. I felt more sick on Saturday night again, so no racing for me on Sunday. Instead I was in the feed zone supporting everyone :-)

Eric (JR's teammate) flatted with about 10 miles to go. Since it was a charity race (haha) there was no wheel support...JR gave Eric his front wheel and off he went to win the race!!!

Made me wonder if that would ever happen on a female team :-)

Today (Thursday), I finally felt better and was able to go out to the Thursday group ride. It was fun!!! And a beautiful 65 degrees!!! Aftrewards I was off to get scraped at Endurance Rehab-it is amazing what they have done for me, they have been scraping me for about 6 weeks now!!!

I might even attempt to race at the Prospector Triathlon this weekend!!!

Have you ever noticed...

2010-09-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

...in the cycling world...

That guys on a group ride do pretty much ANYTHING to not get outsprinted or dropped by a female? It is pretty funny actually.

When there is a car coming from the front guys always yell "car up" in a military tone...more like a "carrupp" where as women always sing "cahr uhup"...I wonder why...

That riding with a "triathlete group" is equally as good as riding with a "cyclist group"? The cyclist group allows you to go FAST the entire ride and learn new ways of attacking, but it is more of a constant all-out-or-get-dropped ride...the tri group is good because the groups slow down a lot after an attack/all out effort. It is more like intervals...stop and go and stop and go...there is also more slamming on the breaks going on which teaches you to react quickly which is really important at all times on the bike...

...just some observations...

Last weekend were the state TT championships. I got my bike out, ready to race. Not sure what to expect after some time without intervals/hard efforts on the bike or on the legs...but this is all part of becoming a better athlete:

And I am off...20 k out 20 k back. There was barely any wind, the pavement was ok, perfect for racing...

Unfortunately my strength only took me 20 k and then I settled into this pace where my HR was low, but my legs couldn't push any harder...still it was a great day for practicing (even though my time was not what I had hoped for)!!! My adductors were sore like crazy and it was a good feeling.

Next weekend I am competing in an open water swim on Saturday and a climbing TT on Sunday (11 miles of climbing). Practice practice practice. Racing always helps me get in great shape!!!

After we came back from the group ride our puppy was sooooo happy to see us:

Even though we were only gone for 2 hrs :-)

AZ is finally cooling off-just in time for me to start running again!!! Perfect. I am excited to be able to train through the "winter". And I am excited to harvest some Grapefruit, Oranges and Tangerines out of the yeard soon!!! Yummmmmmm...

Cross Vegas...MAYBE?!

2010-08-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

After taking all this time off of running I sat down and looked at what is coming up in the fall...I would have loved to compete at the USA Elite Nationals, but with 5 weeks off of running and the race coming up on September 25th, there is no way that competing would be smart.

Being smart about injuries is really important. Instead of cranking up the pace, I will ease into it and hope that I can race in October, November and then take a smaller break and maybe try some January/February 70.3 races :-) (The beauty of living in Phoenix...)

I love cyclocross. Not sure if I mentioned that before :-) I got introduced to it in 2007...I went and watched a race and without ever trying it I bought a bike. What a great sport. It is like an all out 800 meter run (which is what I ran in college) combined with hurdle jumping (I am the 2005 National Champion in the Steeplechase in NAIA) combined with a ton of fun (which is what I like )...The only difference is that the bloody taste and the muscle fatigue last for about 40-50 min instead of only 800 meters :-)

In 08 I raced in Europe at 2 races, but the course was so muddy that, with one bike, there was no way of competing well. So I just had fun. (The pro's have 2-3 bikes which they rotate every lap, so they don't get mud stuck everywhere).

In 09 my bike was in Germany and I was in the US :-(

In 2010-I am back on my cross machine :-) I am trying to race cross vegas this year (September 22nd!!!). I hope I can pull it off with the help of USA Cycling (need a special license for Cross Vegas). Cross fingers :-)

JR and I tried out the nearby City Park which is perfect for cross practice:
Sand with barrier
Grass
Mud
Water (sometimes)
Short steep hills
Benches (to jump over)
Lots of trees

Then in October I am hoping to be back in Tri racing (Dallas, Miami?, Amica) full power.
And, not to forget, the local AZCROSS races :-)

Time to get crossing.

ROADIE AGAIN!!!

2010-08-24T08:51:00.001-07:00

I am back on a Roadbike!!! Yeah!!!

I have not ridden a roadbike since my crash back in February!!! Then last week Tribe provided me with a new one:-) And it is amazing to be back on it. THANKS TRIBE!!!

I had a chance to push the peddals really hard today at the 2* a week Gainey ride around Paradise Valley. It was fun to shift WHILE standing up on the climbs. What a different feeling. It is hard to go uphill in a group on the TT bike (attacking doesn't work that well if your shifters are out there in the front:-)

Also I got to try out my legs on a straight part to see how much they have in them-not 100 % but it is a beginning :-)

Now I am back at building distance and then I am ready to race Roadraces again!!! Just in time for the Fall-Phoenix season to start!!!

Eigugemoldo

2010-08-20T16:25:00.001-07:00

Picture time- before leaving for Germany I got "scraped" for the first time...Let me tell you, getting scraped is really fun. I cannot describe the pain ..but if it helps me get back to training and racing: sign me up!!! This is what the leg looks immediately after scraping...by the time I was in Germany for the wedding it was dark black and blue :-)

Day 2 in Germany: THE WEDDING!!! Here is the beautiful bride Anke and Jens working on chopping up a tree in front of the church.

And they did it!!! Good work Mr. and Mrs Axmann!!!

After the church they hopped into their wedding-transportation: A VW bus with a sunroof. SWEET!!! We drove straight through the city and honked like crazy!!! Whohoooo-just married!!!

The location for the reception was perfect. Nicely decorated, great food and tons of cool peeps.

Lil'man can now already crawl!!! Next time I see him he will be able to walk!!!

Since I only stayed for one week, time just flew by. Back in Phoenix JR and I escaped the heat and went up to Flag. It was raining as the Monsoon season has started and Pam and I decided that it is time to get muddy on the cross bikes!!! And yes, we had to walk with our bikes over the shoulders for up to 1 mile inbetween :-) It was so muddy that cars and 4 wheelers turned around...but not us...have...to...keep...going.

And every once in a while we ended up in this:

I think it is time for a blog post!!!

2010-08-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

After taking over a month off from updating...lots of things happened in the last month...here is the quick version (pics will follow off course :-)

- moved to Phoenix in May, put an offer on a house

-June, July nothing special, temperatures went up, we were still waiting to hear back from the house

-Plantar Fascia starts to hurt and gets ignored (off course I don't want to take time off)

-Plantar Fascia hurts really bad...I guess I am taking time off

-time to start treatment at Endurance Rehab (scraping :-)

-trip to Germany for my brother's wedding, which was beautiful!!!

-JR closes on the house while I am in Germany-yeah, we are homeowners!!!

- coming back to the US just in time to help pack and move

-floating the Salt River-really fun thing to do while in Phoenix!!!

-catch a cold from the Salt River :-( Out for 3 days...

-2 more weeks of now running, then I am hopefully "healed"

That is about all that happened in the last month. I have a ton of pics to download and post!!!
It is super frustrating not to be able to run...hopefully soon. I am trying to stay optimistic!!!

4th of July weekend

2010-07-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

I love the 4th of July...mostly because everyone has a day off and we get to do fun stuff :-) Like going on a river/hike/camping trip with the puppies.

On the way to our destination we were packed into a truck...puppies very excited. I am glad they decided to stay on Pam's side!!!

Once we got to the trailhead we hiked downhill for about one mile:

And then the trail turns into...a river. I am so thankful that Pam let me wear som water-hiking boots. They were great!!!

The water was super clear and freezing cold but at the same time very refreshing when hiking in 90 degree weather.

Yeah, we made it. Out of the water after about 1 mile and onto...another water trail. This are of AZ is just beautiful. It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere (the bearpoop everywhere was a little scary...) but yet...you are only 2 hrs away from Flagstaff.

Once we made it to our campside we went exploring without backpacks. We found...more bear poop. And two bear homes aka nests. SCARY.

Dinner was...as usually when JR, Shannon, Pam and I hike...just like in a top restaurant: Orzo with Shrim, grilled Bellpepper, Asparagus and goat cheese.

We spend the next morning exploring and playing in the water before we had to head back the trail, back into civilization. Jack was a swim-wimp before this trip, but for some reason he turned into a water dog now...Come on...throw that stick one more time!!!

The puppies were very sleepy after their adventure... (before/after pics :-)

I have to admit. I was a little pooped too :-) It was so much fun hiking out there.
We are now back to our normal life in Phoenix. Temps are still rising, which makes it really hard for me to train. I even struggel in the mornings. I guess I am just not a warm weather person...or maybe I will get used to it. The weather has also left me sleepy at any time of the day. Let's hope summer goes by fast (never thought I would say that)...and hopefully I will get some good training adn racing in in the second half of the season!!!

Buffalo Springs 70.3

2010-06-30T09:27:00.001-07:00

Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon is done :-) It is kind of strange that my first 70.3 of the year is at the end of June!!! But with moving and getting married and traveling to Olympic Distance races and Duathlons...it has been a busy year.

2 weeks before Buffalo Springs was forced to stop running thanks to a foot problem...but I went to Texas anyways, to try out where I am with my swimming and my cycling. So my friend Pam and I sat in the car, drove for 12 hours and landed in Lubbock, TX. What a drive. It goes from pretty mountains with trees...to hills without trees...to flat without trees...to flat without trees and cow poop smell :-)
It was nice to get there 2 days early. Usually I get in the day before and out the day of the race. We settled in our hotel and started searching for...a pool off course.
After 10 unsuccessful calls to a variety of pools (for members only...what...what is lap swimming?...we are not open for the public...) we decided to ask someone at Texas Tech to let us
in as guests...and we were successful!!! On the first attempt.
The pool was great with lap swim and super fun diving bords and a slide and a lzy river. Which we, off course, had to try.

Well, Sunday morning came around and the race was on. It was a non wetsuit swim with a beach start (2 new things for me :-). We went off and I found some feet to draft off, but then those feet decided to let the group in front go. I swam as hard as I could for about 2 min and caught up to the group in front of us. 26:30 min later I was out of the water with about 5 people :-) Success!!! Even though I was the only person without a swim skin (OK, what is the deal here...they totally give you an advantage...and they will be illegal shortly...so why are they even legal now?) but my Kiwami suit was great!!! Take that swim skins!!!

Onto the bike: I felt great, pushed hard, was very careful on the downhills (too much bad luck lately made me be careful) and I had the 4th fastest bike time!!! Yeah, my swimming and biking are great right now.

Onto the run, I felt good for about 3 miles...moved up a few spots...and then my foot started hurting...I started compensating and pretty soon (around mile 4-5) my hamstrings were TIIIGHT...I was shuffeling/stretching and even walking for the next 9 miles. So frustrating. I hate getting passed and not being able to respond. Especially since I have a running background. Oh well. I finished in 10th with a 1:47 half. Good news is that I know what I can normally run and believe that would have put me into 4th place which is a great success.

Pam PR'd on this awesome course which has a very tough 13.1 mile run at the end. On a flat course she would have PR'd by 20-30 min for sure!!! She did great in all 3 events!!!

After the race we sat in the car immediately to drive back to Phoenix so that I could be at work the next day :-)

Ouch...if you think your hamstrings are tight after a 70.3 try sitting in a car for 12 hours after doing a half :-)

It was a great trip with lots of fun!!!
Here are a few pics:

Jack playing in the water before leaving.

Flagstaff on fire.

And again...

Cadillac yard in Amarillo, TX.

Lazy pool. Not sure how I ended up under the mat :-)

Pam's diving skills.

Oh oh, here we go...

At least the landing is soft...hopefully...

Recovery time is coming to an end now and I will be working on getting my run/foot better again.

Phoenix is getting hotter and hotter so JR and I are escaping to Flagstaff for the 4th of July!!!

Where has time gone...

2010-06-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

The middle of June already... here are the quick updates:

1. still waiting on the house...shortsales...
2. Phoenix is getting hotter...and hotter...and people tell me this is actually a nice June :-)
3. can't wait to race in my first 70.3 of the year...

OK, now here is the full story:

The wait on the house is incredible, but we knew what we were getting into when we signed up...if we can close by the end of this month we will get the tax rebate which would be GREAT!!!
I was hoping to go do the Liberty Classic with Team Colleen - www.teamcolleen.org. Unfortunately I couldn't get my UCI license and I had to stay at home. I would have loved to represent at Philly with some great Teammates!!!

Instead JR and I went to the Deuces Wild Triathlon in Show Low, AZ. The race was very fun but sooo hot. I was excited to race against my batteling buddy Katie-she is an amazing athlete who knows how to fight!!! We rode the "legal" together until she flatted. From then on it was just me against the clock :-)

The run was incredibly hot (guess I am not a Phoenician yet). I ended up running my slowest 10 since...I can't even remember...but broke the course record by a few minutes. JR took home the 3rd place overall male trophy!!! Great comeback...After 5 years or so out of the sport.

We spend the next weekend in Flagstaff. BEAUTIFUL!!! Lots of riding, not so much running :-( My foot has been hurting so I took a few days off...

Thanks to Endurance Rehab I am back into full training and getting ready for Buffalo Springs.

It is getting hotter and hotter here in Phoenix. We hit the 100 mark almost every day, but everyone tells me we are still lucky. Usually it is way over 100 every day...let's hope it stays the way it is:-) FOREVER:-)

Going back up to Flagstaff this weekend for some good training again before taking off for Texas on Wednesday!!! CAN'T WAIT. 2nd time in Texas:-)

Pics from my busy busy busy weeks :-)

2010-06-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

Busy busy busy

2010-06-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Life down here in Phoenix is very different. I love sleeping in but down here you have no choice but to get up early to hit the track or to ride a bike. It just gets too hot!!!

I have to say that I am enjoying it though. I finally get things done. By 9 am I am done with my workouts, then I go to work and at around 9 pm I am in bed to recharge for the next day.

Unfortunately we are still waiting on our house. But we are not giving up on the thought that we can move in by the end of june.

Racing down here is great too. I finally don't need to search for a hotel anymore :-) Or get up at 2 am...

I competed in 2 local races lately the Tempe International Triathlon and the Tribal Triathlon and one out of state triathlon the Columbia Triathlon.

Tempe International Triathlon:
I had an OK swim, go onto the bike and rode the 2 laps with lots of corners like a crit. Katie Ellis was in front of me (as usualy she comes out of the water in front of me), but I gained every lap on the bike on her. Unfortunately she crashed going around one of the tight corners and was out of the race. This is always sad, because she is such a great competitor. She can push herself really hard and therefore make me work really hard. Good thing was that she walked away with roadrash only. I got on the run and finished the race in first place. It was a lot of fun to have the entire Tribe crew out there cheering. My team, Tribe, also won the award for "best looking team"!!! We totally deserved it :-)

The next weekend I went off to the Columbia Triathlon jn Maryland. The start list was the following:
Natascha Badmann
Margie Shapiro
Rebeccah Wassner
Laurel Wassner
Desiree Ficker
Amanda Lovato
and...ME
The lake was super tiny and full of algae. The water temperature was at 68 degrees (which is right at the cut off for wetsuits for Pro's). Race morning it measured 69!!! WHAT!!!??? No wetsuit...=bad for Angi. Everyone (except for me) wore one of the "thin wetsuits" which I thought where illegal in 2010...but I guess not. The gun went off and even going as hard as I could, I could not even stay with the "swimmers" for the first 100 m. I swam with Natascha Badmann for the entire swim which was very cool :-) I hit her on the head a few times too...sorry...I came out of the water and jumped on the bike. Since it had been raining all night/morning, the transition turned into a mud field!!! After about 10 min on the bike I was approaching a roundabout. Unfortunately I must have had a leak in my tires and ended up sliding on the pavement because my wheel didn't grab. Yeah, more roadrash. My race was over which was very unfortunate. Not only did I travel around the US to get there, but also if I would have finished in my "normal"speed, I would have won around 1000 $ which I could have used for more travel.

On my trip home I got chosen to be in the naked scanner at the airport!!! Yeah!!! Since my hip was swollen they kept asking me what I have in my shorts. I told them I crashed, I have nothing in my shorts. I don't even have pockets!!! So I got padded down by a lady who kept going over my roadrash...trust me...it is just a swollen hip!!!

Not that that was enough bad luck. I arrived in Phoenix, just to find out that US Airways failed to close the bike box right after inspection and now the box is broken. The claim is in the mail, but who knows if I will ever see a reimbursement.

I jumped right back into training on Monday to prepare for the most recent race. The Tribal Triathlon. My favourite race in AZ!!! 1000 m swim, 23 km hilly bike and a 3.6 mile trail run. This was the 4th time I had done this race. The first time was when I was still a college runner. I PR'd by 2 min on the course and won the race. After the tri I jumped back into my wetsuit and completed the 2000 m open water swim. It was a great day of training, racing and being around fun peeps!!!

The day after the race was a long ride which was really fun too.

Monday I had a long run. JR and I found a great area to run at. Reach 11. It is a 12 mile trail system in Phoenix with non rocky trails, mostly flat. Perfect for intervals and long runs. And some of it is shaded. It is great!!! Who knew that Phoenix has this much to offer for athletes?

Wedding weekend

2010-05-20T08:45:00.001-07:00

Wow, long time since I wrote last. After my last post things got CRAZY!!! We moved into a small apartment (waiting to hear back from the bank about an offer we put down on a house), and only one day later we flew to North Dakota to get married :-)

Pam and I got to Fargo and...it rained.
The next day we drove to Jamestown and...it snowed.
We wanted to go swimming...but the beautiful 50 m pool that Jamestown has is CLOSED to the public. So instead we went running and running.
The day of the wedding...it had snowed again. JR and I went for a run in the slush and then we were seperated to get all dressed up (non sporty this time).

Pam spend about an hour making my hair curly and I truely think she should have been a hair stylist since she did the most amazing job EVER!!!
My wedding was supposed to start at 6 pm. I looked at my watch and it was 4 pm and I still had not heard from my parents who flew from Germany to Minnesota the night before. 4:15...nothing...Pam started to ask: what if they don't make it? No parents=no wedding!!!
4:30 pm, I get a call...they made it!!! Yippie!!! I have to say that I was surprisingly calm even though my parents were...somewhere:-)
At 6 pm, JR walked down the aisle, then the flower girls, Pam and Jim, then my parents and me. It was a great wedding and if I could find my cable for my camera I would publish some pictures, but the moving thining...
Afterwards we had a BBQ with lots of salads, wine, beer, dollar dancing, and a TON of fun!!!
After the official part was over we took the Minister and my brothers and went downtown Jamestown (4 bars total I think).
It was a fun night and we stayed until we were asked to leave. The best part was that our Minister was a little tipsy and he fell over :-) LOVE IT!!!

The next day we spend discovering Jamestown with my family. They are so much fun!!! Too bad the time went by so fast and we had to say goodbye the next day already. Back to work in Phoenix.
My mom, dad and brother took off for a roadtrip to Chicago and my other brother, his wife and baby came to Flagstaff/Phoenix.

The wedding was super fun!!! Everyone had a great time.

Pics to follow once I find the cable.

FUN weekend

2010-05-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

The move has happened. I am reunited in Phoenix with JR, but unfortunately away from the most flexible/up for anything super friend Pam. :-) and :-(

Moving is a pain in the behind...I cannot believe how much stuff we have. But it is all under Pam's house or in our temporary apartment.

After Friday's move JR, Pam, Shannon and I went to swim. The arms were tired. All this packing and carrying things is a tough workout!!!
Saturday morning we went to participate in the SAGUARO LAKE OPEN WATER swim put on by DCB Adventures who always do a great job!!! We competed in the 2000 m Wetsuit swim and it was great practice!!!
After the race Pam and I biked back into town (2+ hrs) to check out all the roads with bike lanes and there are a lot :-)

Then it was off to my bridal shower :-) It was held at Tribe which is great that Kevin allowed us that. Pam and Janet came up with funny games and I got to hit my first ever Pinada (no idea how how to spell it). It was great!!! We had great people there including Lizzy who I hadn't seen in OVER A YEAR!!! It was great-and I found out that we only live 56 blocks away from each other...which is like NOTHING (that is what I was told hihihi)!!! Yippie!!!
After great food and great fun we went downtown Scottsdale for a Martini which tuned into 1 Martini and some shots of, for example Hazelnut Cream and Espresso Liquor...yum...but dangerous.

Since the entire group consited of athletes (4 Triathletes, 2 Cyclists, 2 Runners)...we decided to go home before we even got to midnight:-) Got to love how crazy we are :-)

The next morning was great as well. We hiked up Camelback Mountain, got a fantastic view of all of Phoenix, hiked back down and went to the original Pancake house!!! The original one as in the very first one in Phoenix!!! It was very good food!!!

Now today is another crazy day:
Early morning run followed by some packing, followed by more running, a swim and a team meeting at Tribe. Then tomorrow I am off to North Dakota for JR and my wedding. The weather forecast said 65 and a 0% chance of rain for next Friday, but then it got changed today to 45 with a 30 % chance.

Dear Weather.com employes. Please make up your mind and don't keep changing it!!!

ATOMICMAN DUATHLON RACE REPORT

2010-04-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

Another adventure. This time the journey took me and my friend east...to White Rock, New Mexico. A 6.5 hr drive away.

I had heard about the Atomicman Duathlon before and wanted to race it last year, but the drive was too long for one person :-) Especially me...2 hrs of driving = sleepy!!!
The race offers a cash prize for the win, and also a 500 $ bonus for breaking the course record...mhhh...I looked at the record and thought: Looks doable :-) I checked out the girl that had it and she is a GREAT athlete...so then I thought: why the heck are the times so slow?

Well, I found that out when I looked at the course:-) The run is a 2 loop 10 k, followed by the toughest 40 k bike I had ever seen in a multisport event, followed by another 5 k...
The running loop consist of a downhill of about 5 min followed by a 15 min uphill (felt like there was more uphill then downhill in that race ;-)
The bike is beautiful, it goes up and down and up and down and down into this canyon and back up on the other side (they are definitely NOT rollers, because you CAN'T "ROLL" on the uphill :-)...then followed by a 6 mile climb, then back the other way.

The race director and the entire town is super friendly!!! I had an offer for a homestay, but since we were 2 people we decided to camp instead of invading someone's house. We camped at the Juniper Campground, the weather forecast said 40 degrees as a low...yeah, right...we woke up and our tent cover was frozen, our water bottles were frozen and our handlebars and seat :-) And the NUTELLA!!! We actually had to heat the Nutella up to be able to have breakfast:-)

The race starts at a nice time: 8:30 am, so no stress :-)

The gun went off and the legs felt...OK. Not great but OK. I ran the first 10 k and was 2 MIN!!! behind my "goal time" for the course record. I jumped on the bike and felt OK again. It is really hard to find a rythm on this course. Constant shifting followed by thinking about getting out of the seat or staying in? I got to the turn around and looked at my watch and thought: there is no way I will break this record. I am pooped:-) But my 2010 attitude is that I just do the best I can without worrying or freaking out. And I kept going. I got into T2 and started running/or is it called...speed walking? I ran but felt sooo extremely pooped. IT WAS GREAT!!! My legs were done. I kept looking at my watch and realized I had a shot at making it, but I would have to go fast...the results from the years before show that everyone raced about one min/mile slower on the second run...including me. And now I know why. Because this is the toughest race!!! I ran around the last corner and realized that I ... wait a second... I am going to break the record!!! I finished 1.5 min under the old record. YIPPIE!!!

This doesn't happen a lot, but I didn't know if I could walk one more step!!! This might have been the toughest race I had ever done!!!

My friend finished 2nd in her agegroup and did great. We were both in a lot of pain after the race, but it was soooo worth it :-)

The people in the town were super nice and hung out with us for the longest time. We found out that the town has the most PHD's/Population in the US, because of all the secret weapon building that is going on.

This race is great. If you ever want to feel like throwing up, sitting down and walking due to being exhausted: go do the atomicman duathlon. Or just do it if you want to do a well organized race in a beautiful area with nice people!!!

Superseal San Diego

2010-04-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Whenever I have the chance I go to this great event!!! The SUPERSEAL TRIATHLON in San Diego.

I entered this race last year as a tune up race for Oceanside and I just had to go back. A great race, great organization, a great race director, great volunteers, great spectators, an ocean swim, ...what else does a triathlete need. Unfortunately the race is 8 hrs away from Flagstaff, so I had to convince my wonderful friend Pam to go with me. She is always up for adventures and she said yes without even thinking about it!!!

We drove to San Diego on a Friday, so that we could swim, bike and run on Saturday, as the race was on Sunday. We stayed at a great homestay!!! They were sooo firendly and lived ina perfect location (15 min to the race). Saturday we tried to go swimming at Balboa Park...but the pool was closed. Pam saw some water in it, but I could stop her from going in all the way.

So we decided to have breakfast first...well...I ate, she called pools:-)
While she was talking on the phone this bagel mysteriousely disappeared...

We decided to give up on the pools and pick up our race package. And on the way there we decided...well Pam decided, I was still thinking about it...what a great idea it would be to swim at the race site.

OK...still thinking...

I ACTUALLY SWAM IN IT!!! That has never happened before that I went into the ocean to swim (not boggyboarding)...and it was great. I got to test out my new Sailfish wetsuit for the first time and it is great!!!

Then we went on a bikeride to test out our gear. CEEPO TT Machine: Check...LAZER HELMET: Check...

Race day- we got to the race WAYYY early. But it was good. The women's elite rack was completely empty, and I was excited. A great parking spot:-) Then I ralized that all the other Elite women had racked their bike on the men's elite rack because it was a better position. WHAAAT??? After asking an official, I racked my bike on there as well. He said all or none. And I completely agreed:-)

The race was great, the swim was fast and there were no waves and no floating things. The .5 mile transition was great as well as have figured out now how to safe my legs for that. I got onto my speedy bike and posted the fastest female bike time and a 2 minute improvement from last year (even though it was more windy this year compared to zero wind last year). Onto the run and I couldn't even feel that I had biked. I ran a PR as well and finished 4 min before the 2nd Elite Female. It was a great race!!!

Pam got 5th in her agegroup out of 25 women!!! She had a personal best by 6 minutes!!!

And don't forget that we still have snow up here and training is limited!!!

After the race we decided to go snorkeling at La Jolla (MAYBE:-) While Pam snorkeld around, I played life guard in full gear:

Then I went in too and saw some super orange fish. They were great!!! And the seals slept and slept:

We got some dinner at a Fish "hut". IT WAS SOOO GOOD!!! Being close to the ocean is great!!!

YUMMMMMMMMM...after that we went to bed and hoped that we could swim one mroe time on Monday, but it was a rainy day...so we decided to leave for sunny AZ.

It was a great race (again) and I cannot wait to do it again!!!

Can Spring come now...PLEASE???

2010-04-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is April and we are still getting snow. I got up early to teach my Runner's Conditioning class on Tuesday and actually thought about just wearing a T-Shirt and a Windjacket...then I looked outside and saw this white stuff :-( And the reading on the thermometer: 20!!!

BRRR!!! I am glad that I am the instructor and I don't HAVE to do all the exercises :-)

2 more days and I am off to San Diego. Hopefully the weather there is nice. I started my "normal" training back up this week, so there won't be any tapering for the race. It will be a high quality workout with a hopefully good outcome.

My triathlon team, the NAU TRIJACKS, are in full prep for Nationals, which is coming up in 2 weeks. They put in some really hard work. Unfortunately they had a lot of bad luck with the weather, just like everyone in Flagstaff. Temporuns in 4feet of snow is impossible and on top of that they had to battle the lack of treadmills do to Rec center reconstruction...but they will do great!!! Running in the snow, even if it is for the easy runs, made them tough. Most of them already PR'd in their first race, no with 4 more weeks of quality in their legs...I bet they will do GREAT!!!

JR and I are getting ready to move...boxing up things, selling things on ebay, you name it. It reminds us every time of how much we dislike moving (what a nice way to say it:-)

Starting off the tri season

2010-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

First race of the season is done. I couldn't resist...I had to enter a triathlon...even if it is a sprint with a pool swim :-)

Watching Havasu last week made me want to race. So I swam for 1500 m on Friday and did a 2 hr ride on Saturday and decided to enter the Sprint Triathlon at Vistancia (Phoenix) on Sunday.

Timing was a little off, as we thought Vistancia is close to the Interstate. It turned out to be about 30 min away from the interstate and I arrived at the race about 10 min before my start :-) At least it was a small race, which means that the transition never closes.

The swim consisted of a 400 yard pool swim, it went by fast, very fast. But I have to admit that I felt the lack of swimming for 14 days.
The bike went by fast as well. I think that all the racing bikeraces really helped get me fit and fast.
The run was a 5 k run that felt a little long. Looking at everyone's time I am pretty sure it was longer then 5k. But I had a great time and was happy to be out there. I could feel a lack of speed work, which will be added to my training soon.

I ended up taking first place for the women and second place overall men and women. It was a great racing weekend.

Now I am off to more househunting. Next race up is the Superseal in San Diego.

Back to work

2010-03-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

10 days of no swimming...7 days of no riding...=a lot of free time.

I am so excited. The stitches are out, I am patiently waiting 24 hrs until the little holes close, and I will be back in the pool tonight. Off course still taped up, so that the scap can really heal, but at least something :-)

Yesterday was the first ride where I had no pain bending my knee and on top of that it was a beautiful day in Flagstaff.

It is amazing how much time you have in theevening if you don't swim Master's from 5:30 until 7 pm...

But I am ready to get back into serious training. No tempo for the last 10 days makes you feel SLOW!!!

On the other hand, I am really thankful that it only took 10 days-there are a lot of things that take you out for WAY longer and I was really lucky!!!

JR and I are driving down the hill to look at houses tomorrow. I hope we find something we like in a good location (aka close to a pool and a track :-).

4 weeks until the move.

My first stitches :-) EVER!!!

2010-03-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well...it happened. I was in a bike crash...at the Tucson Bicycle Classic.
Day 1 was a TT:
Same as the weeks before I was unable to ride outside before, but somehow I managed to finish 3rd behind a girl from Colavita and a TIBCO girl.
Day 2 was a 40 mile RR. I tried attacking, others did too, but noone got away. It cam down to the last few km. On the last downhill everyone was a little jumpy and wanted to get in a good position. I was riding next to a girl, saw a huge hole in the road and yelled :HOLE...she must not have heard it and I had no choice but to hit the hole at around 35 mph. And off I flew into the ditch, which in Tucson consists of gravel and cacti. I went for a while (seemed like forever)in the dirt until I tumbled over rocks and crashed. For some reason I thought my nose was gone because it felt wet. I touched it and it was just water and dirt mixed. Nose was still there :-) Funny what your fist thoughts are. The motorcycle judge came and wanted to get me an ambulance but I told him I am fine:-) I got up and a nice lady got cactus needles out of my leg. I couldn't feel my shin and my hipbone, but the only thought I had was to finish...I got a new front wheel and rode to the finish. My bike ended up having only a few scratches, but my wheels are ...hmmmm... in bad shape (hello wheel sposor? anyone?).

The rock I hit poked a hole in my shin, but I didn't think I needed to go get it stitched...but if it is still bleeding after 6 hrs, a trip to the urgent care might not be bad...

3 stitches and 14 days of no swimming. She said I can run if I can handle the pain.

I was very lucky, not a lot of road rash!!! I ran on Tuesday, but it felt a little stiff and I can feel an empty space under the stitches...but I made it for 45 min.

Thursday I tried riding...ended up being 25 miles of standing because the knee is stiff...

Yesterday: success-2 runs. Today: success-2 runs!!!

I went and watched the Lake Havasu Triathlon on Saturday and I really really wanted to compete!!! I cannot wait to be able to get in the water again...never thought I would miss swimming...

JR and I are moving to Phoenix the end of April. Just in time for summer, but we sure will enjoy the nice all year round training!!!

Hopefully I will find a swim team and great training partners.

I love my team!!!

2010-03-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

Escape to Phoenix # 4 (or so):

Saturday was a great day. Drive to Sedona to get some riding and running miles in: 20 min run followed by a 1.5 hr ride, followed by a 30 min run. It was beautiful. Pam and I discovered a great trail to run on and also some great streets!!!

After the ride JR and I went straight to Phoenix for the San Tan Crit. We actually had a lot of women registered for the race:-)

As always (not sure how this happens) JR and I ran little bit late. 25 min before my start we arrived at the race. I ran to registration, ran back, put on my jersey and had to go to the start line. Nice warm up.

Allsports GPS AZ Women's racing (aka the Tribe team) was great. The plan was to attack and attack and attack. The third attack was mine. Somehow I managed to get away by myself and the gap grew and grew. My teammates did a great job of staying back (I know it is the hardest thing to do in a race to do the minimum amount to work...especially with this team...there are soooo many strong ladies!!!).

I ended up racing 33 out of 45 min by myself. My head was about ready to explode, but I kept reminding myself that the other teams have to work as hard as me just to catch up. I was very happy to hear "5 laps" to go. All of the sudden, on the last lap I saw the field in front of me-could I possibly lap them? Why not try:-) I ended up lapping them before the last turn onto the finish. It was sooooooo much fun (but also very painful!!!).

My team is just GREAT!!! I am so excited to race a lot more races with them.

We decided to drive back up to Flagstaff instead of racing on Sunday because the forecast said it would rain (or snow up here).

This was the first Sunday in a long time where we stayed at home. It was wonderful...caught up on a lot now.

Next week we are racing at the Tucson Bicycle Classic, a 3 day stage race. The week after that is the Lake Havasu Triathlon-first Tri of the season!!! I can't wait!!!

North End Classic-racing agains the men :-)

2010-03-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

My original plan was to attend the Desert Classic Duathlon in Phoenix last weekend. Unfortunately my Foreign Elite License from USA Triathlon has not made it here yet, so I ended up travelling to Yuma with JR for the North End classic omnium.

The women Pro, 1-2 were supposed to race Saturday afternoon, but I decided to register in the morning. I got to registration at 8:30 am. I looked on the list of races because they mentioned that things had changed. I told the lady I would like to do the womens Pro,1-2 race but my categorie was not on the list :-( I was then told that my categorie was cancelled. Great, I drove for 5.5 hrs to find out it got cancelled.

The the lady told me that I could race in the women's 3-4 race...??? Mhhh, usually it is not allowed to downgrade but oh well. She said they will just combine all women.

The race started at 9:20. That ment about a 10 min warm up.

We were about 15 women. After a few laps of racing I went for it and soloed. I won 2 primes and the overall...just to find out that my race didn't count. The official told me after the race that I am not allowed to race with lower categories :-( No gifts and money for me...

The only thing I could do was race with the Cat 3 guys-mhhh OK :-)

The crit was super fast, the corners were taken completely different then in a girls race. I think there were 3 crashes in the race, luckily not with me in them. I ended up 4th in the mass sprint, with 17 riders in the field. Whohooo.

The next morning I found my picture in the Yuma Sun http://www.yumasun.com/sports/steinbrecher-56628-race-knew.html

Unfortunately they put the wrong name/race under the picture. Still, 1/4th of a newspaper page with TRIBE and CEEPO looks pretty good.

Day 2 was a circuit race on a very flat course. I was a little scared to race with the guys in that one because I thought they would go go go. Turns out we "played" for about 45 min. Sprint and slow and sprint and slow again...The last lap caem and I thought: screw this I am going for it. I took off and TT'd as hard as I could and got away from the guys. I finished with a big gap in second place (one guy got off the front in the first 10 min and we never saw him again).

I ended up 3rd GC, here is a picture, hope you enjoy the pink in the men's podium:

JR's team won everything they enterd and looked very strong!!!

We drove back to Flagstaff after the race and got home at midnight. Today is an easy day now, and if the weather stays this beautiful, maybe I can actually ride outside tomorrow!!!

North Dakota adventures

2010-02-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

JR and I got to ND Thursday evening. If you think you are in a cold place...come here and try ND!!!

We watched a women's icehockey game which was super fun to watch and very impressive.

Yesterday was a treadmill day with 11.5 miles on the treadmill. I think even if I would wear everything that I brought with me, I would still be cold running outside.
JR has been working like a crazy man on restoring our VESPA (soooo cute...it is metallic blue and silver and we will ride it for our wedding :-)

The pool here is amazing. It is a 50 m pool. Unfortunately it is only open Wednesday and Sunday for the puplic, but you can bet to find me there tomorrow. The best part about this huge pool...not the underwater radio...not the 1-person per lane thing...it is completely FREE. But to be honest, I would prefer it if the pool would cost money but be open every day!!!

Wedding preparations have been going well. Friday, May 7th it is. It will be more like a get together of Families (mine includes 7 people, JR's about 70). It will be fun.

Now I am off to hit the treadmill again, this time not soooo long, but with weights afterwards.

Valley of the Sun Stage Race

2010-02-17T09:45:00.001-08:00

TT, RR and Crit...with a bunch of REALLY good riders, like the Metromint and Simple Green Girls...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

JR and I drove 3 hours straight to get to the TT, out of the car and onto the bikes. I actually managed to warm up for about 20 min, then it was GO time for the 14 mile TT. I tried to go all out. Plan worked. I was really sore and tired that night. I ended up 4th place, which I was more then happy with. My new CEEPO likes to go FAST!!!

RR: 57 miles with 40 women. Pushing...not cool. I realized how much I love Triathlon during this race. There was a lot of "illegal" stuff going on, from crossing the yellow line to pushing. The entire field ended up staying together (maybe because we got neutralized 4 times!!!). Just like other girls I tried to attack but everything got chased down. Doing a Halfironman seems easier then this 57 mile ride. I was pooped!!!

Crit: Last stage. By this point everyone is (hopefully) tired. 40 min downtown Phoenix, the Crit was fast and scary but SUPER FUN!!! You could tell that this was a big race with really good competition. The race was sooooooooooo fast!!!

Nothing changed in the overall and I ended up 4th overall and best Cat 2 rider :-)

Now we are back in Flagstaff, working a lot and preparing for a trip up to North Dakota. If I think Flagstaff is cold, I can't wait to get to ND :-)

McDowell Circuit race

2010-02-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

As the weeks before, I escaped to Phoenix for some good training and racing. Saturday was an easy long run (which I think I should always do before races...seems to make me feel great for raceday :-), Sunday was the McDowell Circuit Race.

JR spend the weekend racing in California, so I got a ride from Pam-THANKS!!! We had a super nice homestay with our friend Janet and her husband Fin. Pam and I explored the Fountain Hills region during our run and came to the conclusion that there is NO flat spot, uphill, downhill...

Sunday was an early wake up day, Pam's race was at 7:30 am. We thought we had plenty of time, but off course we ended up being ready 15 min before her race :-(

My team, TRIBE/Allsports GPS, looked great out there!!! Our teammates are really nice and really support each other. The Cat 4 race was a big pack finish, with only a few people off the back. One brave TRIBE lady got away during the race and soloed for a few laps, but unfortunately the field caught her towards the end. She did a great job out there!!!

After the race I went for a 1 hr ride to loosen the legs with my teammates. Then Pam and I went back to the house to eat and shower (you always have to smell good when you race, right?).

Our race was at noon with the 1,2 and 3's combined. The majority was TRIBE ladies, which was a nice view at the start. My teammates had asked me if I wanted to sit in and they would do all the work and I would go at the end, but I was not sure if I had what it takes to win against the other AZ teams. So we agreed to all attack many times and whoever gets away gets away.

There were 4 primes in the race, I won the first one against another lady from AZ, and thought...mhhh...legs are feeling pretty good :-)...My teammate Megan went for the 2nd one and got it. Then, in lap 4 I went for the 3rd one, got it and opened up a gap. Now in Avondale I made the mistake and sat up and waited for the field. Not this time. I put my head down and tried to stay away. Coming around the next lap I saw the 3 to go sign. Oh oh...I kept looking back but it seemed like the gap didn't get smaller. I went and went...and ended up winning by what Pam said was about 45 sec. Approaching the finish line I took my hands off the handlebars to celebrate and was hoping that I wouldn't loose balance (hihihi, that would have been a finish)... It was great having teammates who were making sure that noone came after me. We have a very strong and powerful team for 2010 and I am very excited to see how the cycling season will develope.

Next week is the Valley of the Sun Stage Race where me and my team will do our best against riders from AZ but also from other states.

My week and the Vulture Mine TT

2010-02-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

I can handle the cold. I actually like the cold...and a little bit of snow...but NOT ice on the roads. Riding outside is impossible. I actually road my bike to work and ended up sliding through an intersection. Luckily there were no cars.
Running is 50/50. No running in the mornings or at night, possibly from 12-3 pm :-)

Now what did that mean for last week? A TON of swimming. And off course when I am attending every practice there is, it is IM week. Butterfly here, backstroke there. My arms were hurting. But I loved it.

Saturday JR and I went to Sedona for some warmer riding and running.
Sunday we drove to Wickenburg for a 20 k TT.
The TT was one big uphill, one bog downhill, turn around and back again. No flat spots. I went out hard and tried to maintain the pace. My arms were the only things really really hurting, and it was not from pulling on the handlebars. It was from all the swimming:-)
I won the TT on my sweet Ceepo bike!!! What a great bike!!!

Next week up:
Sedona 5 k
McDowell Crit

Departure to better weather

2010-01-24T20:42:00.000-08:00

Departure to better weather-this weekend was supposed to be the first training weekend, with a TT on Saturday and a Crit on Sunday...The TT got cancelled due to bad weather and JR and I would have been unable to escape the snow anyways because the Interstate was closed. Instead I did a long run, partially on the treadmill, partially on ice. Then we decided to drive to Phoenix in the afternoon when the streets were open and I ran another 5 miles and enjoyed the weather.

Good prep for a crit? Probably not, but this is all training. Sunday was beautiful. I was at the crit ALL day and my race was, off course, the last. Only 3 girls showed up, so it was clear that noone would break away. I had a good gap after the first prime, but decided to wait for the other girls, which I think was a mistake because I had a good gap on them...oh well...that might be why I am not a cyclist... I won the second prime as well. The third one my teammate went for, so I ended up blocking the other girl (mhhh, I wasn't sure if that is the nice thing to do...but this is a race :-)

The final sprint was unfortunate. I switched into a bigger gear for sprinting...clong clong clong...thank you chain for NOT shifting and helping everyone get away...so I caught up, rode into second, looked over and saw that my teammate had first place covered. We went one-two and had a great workout.

Now please chain...work next time in the final sprint...please!!!

This week: lots of swimming...next weekend: running race, crit and TT if possible!!! I love racing, it gets you in great shape!!!

Picture time

2010-01-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went to Phoenix for the awesome Women's Bike clinic that TRIBE put on. Two days of pack riding, TT, cornering, nutrition, strength, stretching, ... Off course it also included some good food in Scottsdale and some walking around looking at art. This was my favourite store:-)

Home again. Jack da puppy LOVES rice, corn, carrots...he wasn't sure about celery. My puppy might be more human then we think...

Yesterday it started snowing. Forecast:3-7 feet!!! Here is what came down yesterday and today. The fence is almost gone:

Running outside might be a challenge with snow up to my hip:

Jack loves it:

Here is a video of Jack making a trail for me:-)

Oh, and: Never put Birkenstock shoes on a heater, even if it is set for 60isch degrees. They come out looking like this:

San Diego

2010-01-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

Last week JR and I went to San Diego for a 5 day training camp. JR got to meet his new teammates for the 2010 season.

The weather was great - it rained before we came and now that we are gone it is raining again. Perfect timing.

We didn't get the chance to ride outside much (2 times :-) this year in Flagstaff, so it was nice to ride in shorts and short sleeve shirts. Day one was a 3 hr ride with the boys. They all talked a lot, therefore the pace was perfect for my first outdoor ride. In the 3 hours we never really left the city... after the ride I went running in Balboa Park, seeing a TON of other athletes. People in California LOVE to be active...it seems like...and they love to hang out at coffee shops :-)

On the program the next day was a STONE Brewery tour (JR's sponsor), followed by a 4 hr ride from Escondido up Palomar Mountain and back.
That day all the talking was done and the guys decided to go for it-oh oh- we went over the first 5 mile hill, which seemed really steep, and then back down to the valley were Palomar Mountain starts. I held on to the guys... CAN'T SHOW WEAKNESS...

I have heard a lot about Palomar Mountain...17 mile climb...nice grade...I heard a lot of people say that Mountain is a bit$h...turns out I really liked it. It is long, but since it is not super steep it is a really nice ride. We went really hard, and it was a great day going up the hill. Now girls always take a break and I thought that I could take pictures on the way down for sure. The views are just beautiful...but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. No break on top, no breaks EVER. We turned around, went downhill...then they decided to go a different way home.

My thought: THANK YOU GUYS. Then I don't have to ride that 5 mile hill again...yeah right...ends up we went over Cole Grade...a steep little sucker...only 15 min of pain, but holly $hit. The guys put down the hammer and my legs turned into jello...but I made it. It was great training...back at the brewery, out of enrgy and very pooped I decided a transition run was not going to happen. I am so glad I went with the guys, I am glad I held on and fought...there are not a lot of chances to ride with Cat 1 guys only.

Next day:
Long run in Balboa Park. Nothing special, just saw a lot of strange characters.

Sunday: Another day on the bike. This time we went along the coast with a coffee break at Pannikin's...one of the greatest coffee shops EVER.

I was so close to the coast and guess what...I didn't go to the beach once. I guess this is what happens when you are busy training :-)

It was great to try out my new CEEPO Mamba Roadbike. Uphill, downhill, corners, fast and slow...this bike is great. Light on the climbs, stiff on the downhills. I am very excited to try out both the CEEPO Roadbike and TT bike next week in the Vulture Mine TT and the Avondale Crit...LET THE SEASON BEGIN!!!

What have I been up to?

2010-01-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Mhhh, after getting back from Germany, I got to play in the snow in Flagstaff. My friend Pam took me Backcountry skiing. FUN. I am so glad she takes me on all those crazy adventures like hiking into the Grand Canyon for 4 days, going to swim behind a waterfall (Fossil Creek), or like this time hiking up a hill with skis and then skiing down. Sounds fun, right? Here is how it went-Pam putting on "skins" on the skis:

Then we started hiking up the hill on skis. It is so much fun, because you don't slide back a bit. Here I am with Sunset Crater in the back. By the way the thing sticking out under my shirt is an Avalache beeper-I also learned how to use that and let me tell you, it really makes you feel safer if you are in the middle of nowhere.

The view towards the Grand Canyon on the way up:

The view towards the San Francisco Peaks. I asked multiple times where all the animals are and I had to find out that Mountain Lions don't sleep through the winter. I wonder if they are hungry...

We made it. 2.5 hrs of hiking up, let me tell you, it is exhausting but GREAT!!! Lunchbreak in the snow. Once we unclipped from the skis and took our first step we realized that the snow was VERY deep...My leg disappeared...and then I fell over...:-)

The way down was awesome but went by way too fast. It took 2.5 hrs to go up and 20 min to go down. If you have the chance to try it out go for it. What a great feeling to go somewhere on skis where noone has been before you that day!!!

After we got home we got ready to celebrate the end of 2009 and the start 2010. We went downtown to watch the "Pinecone drop" (it actually just lowers and it also went down a minute too early)-and before we knew it it was 2010!!!

2010 so far:

I went down to Phoenix to pick up my sweet new ride, my new CEEPO TT Bike, which got put together at Tribe. I also got to see my CEEPO Roadbike which I will be picking up this Saturday!!! Yippie!!! While I was at Tribe, JR called to tell me Jack, our puppy is not doing too good. He had thrown up. We thought maybe he ate something wrong. I left Tribe with my bike, received some gear from CEEPO and Sailfish, and I was on my way home. On the 2 hr drive JR called to tell me they went to the vet. Result: Jack has parvovirus, which can be deadly for puppies. Jack has all his immunizations, even the ones for parvo, but I guess he still got it somehow.

Day 2: Jack doesn't feel too hot. Throwing up, no food, no water, antibiotics and IV's.

Day 3: Jack is doing better in the morning. We go to the animal hospital twice a day for IV's. He didn't throw up for 8 hrs now!!! Yippie. If he makes 24 hrs, he is probably winning the fight. A little bit over 8 hrs...Jack throws up. He spends the rest of the day on the couch, can barely walk, because he is weak. We decided to put him in the hospital over night, so he can get the IV every second.

Day 4: We visit the little one...man he looks so sad in the isolation parvo room. Noone to play, but his tail goes crazy when he sees us.

Day 5: Jack is back!!! We took him back last night an he is now doing great. Here is Jack jumping on JR at home, he is so happy:

See his cool looking tape? Blue army tape:-)

He kept his "special-diet food down" which is great!!! Parvo is very hard to kill so we had to bleach our entire house and even our garden!!!

We are so happy that Jack made it, but it will take a while before he can run with me again :-(

Friday is my birthday, but I will be spending half of it going down to Phoenix. I am attending a 2 day bike clinic in Phoenix, put on by TRIBE!!! It will be a great clinic with lots of riding, testing and learning!!!

I can't believe I might be riding in shorts!!!

Oh, this is Jack right now...stretching and sleeping at the same time...smart puppy!!!

...about Germany, Christmas, strange flight and the USA...

2009-12-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Two weeks go by so fast. I can't believe Christmas is now already over and I ma back in the US. Germany was very exciting, I got to see my family again!!! And the family grew. Here is the youngest in the family- Philipp:

He is such a cute little guy. The top is the nice Philipp, the lower one is the Come and play with me Philipp :-)

Crazy, I am now an Aunt and my mom and dad are now also grandparents. And my brother is a dad? Mhhh. Little Philipp is really fun!!!

I am excited to see if he can already crawl the next time I see him!!!

We got a nice layer of snow, we were excited to have a white Christmas, but then mother nature changed her mind and gave us rain on top of snow. So we had a rainy Christmas, but it didn't stop us from going for walks and doing what we wanted to do!!! Christmas was great. On the 25th, my brother, his wife and Philipp came and we had a big as$ turkey...and it barely fit into the European oven:

By the way: in Germany we celebrate Christmas on the 24th in the evening because that is when the Angel brought Jesus into the world, right? Why do Amricans have a Santa Claus? Did he visit Jesus the next day? I am trying to figure out what Santa Claus's role is:-) He comes in Germany on the 6th of December...The only theory I have is that it takes a while to travel to the US, so he didn't get there until the 25th...mhhh?

The 26th of December came way too fast and there I was standing in line to fly to the US. Unfortunately someone tried to blow up an airplane going to the US the day before, so the security lines where HUGE. We got "hand-searched". The security people also questioned me about the "powder" I had in my bike box-which turned out to be Croation seasoning that I brought for my neighbor :-)

Stuttgart-London:

I was nice enought to switch my seat with this guy, even though I didn't even say a word :-) Mhhh, you are welcome...even though...I think I got switched...whatever, seat is seat. The flight attendant was so happy that I switched, she handed me 4 bottles of wine :-) Hahaha. I thought: great, this is going to be a great flight to the US.

Then the guy and the lady got in a fight and he almost got arrested. They were calling each other names and he grabed her by the arm...action on that airplane...

Then, going through Security again in London I am being told, that I have to give up my backpack, because of the detroit incident we were only allowed on bag on the plane. Good bye wine.

Then this:

My flight is the Phoenix one. This picture was taken at 17:00 so guess what: the Miami flight for example had a 3.5 hr delay. They did extensive searches with sniffing dogs and having everyone being "hand-searched"again. Plus you had to dump out all your stuff and they searched for weapons and powder, even in books and under my watch!!! :-)

Then the newest rule: One hour before landing in a US city, noone is allowed to leave the seat to go anywhere, not even the bathroom. No blankets over your legs, no books, no music, nothing allowed on the floor, no pillows...Mhhh. I was wondering what people do who have to go...and then this man gets up. And the flight attendant warns him...you better sit back down. He goes: but I have to poooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Mhhh, nice rule until someone HAS to go. After one minute of back and forth talking they escorted him to the bathroom... CRAZY!!!

But we landed safely in Phoenix, and I got picked up by JR. The man was on TV the next day!!!

So much for now:-) More later...

The stationary swimmer

2009-12-14T14:00:00.001-08:00

I prepared for my trip to Germany this time and bought a stationary swimmer. It is basically a stretch rope that gets connected to my feet and then you can swim in the deep water, in the kids pool, in a lake,...wherever you want but you never need more then about 5 ft in length of water. Cause you don't move. It is like an endless pool just cheaper :-)

I have to say. Best money I have ever spent!!! Today the pool was crowded so I went in the kiddie pool, got hit by a ball just once. It was great. I swam and swam and swam. On monday I swam also, but I swam 2k in the lane and then I used the stationary swimmer. While I was in the lane I was taking a breath to the left and realized there was a guy swimming next to me with a NEON YELLOW THONG...grossssssssssssssssssssss...I have clear goggles so I got the FULL view of butt and thong. Did I mention it was neon yellow? Like a highlighter!!!

Only in Europe...

Back to today:

What else did I do today?

I woke up at 3 am and was UP. No more sleep for me. Then later at 8:30 am my mom and I went shopping until around 6 pm :-) FUN. I love shopping with my mom!!!
We got lots of Christmas shopping done. And lots of people watching-hihihi.

Now it is time for be and I hope that today I will sleep a little bit longer.

GERMANY

2009-12-12T01:09:00.000-08:00

I made it. After a 9 hr flight from Phoenix to London, a 5 hr layover in London and a 2 hr flight from London to Stuttgart- I MADE IT!!!

I actually managed to sleep for 4 hrs without waking up on the long flight. And that haappened even though I was in the middle-squeezed in between two guys. They were funny. This one guy was flying for the first time and he was going to India. He chacked out everything-his light...my light...my neighbors light...his headset...his pillow...his blanket...he actually waited to start his dinner until we started ours :-) What a funny guy. The other guy was also flying to India.
If you fly to Europe and land in London you get super funny people on the airplane. Every culture you can think of on one plane!!! FUNNY!!!

My family picked me up from the airport and now we are all very happy!!! We tried out my brothers new car in the rain-then snow.

I love Christmas time!!!

Now I am off for a run in the snow (not like Flagstaff snow :-).

The puppy grows way too fast!!!

2009-12-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

WHy do they grow so fast? Jack was about 10 lbs when we got him, he is now 20 lbs :-)
He just started loosing some teeth, he has lost 4 so far, but the new ones are already showing again. Here is a picture of him. I wish he could say the letter S :-)

He played all day yesterday with a big white German Shepard and another big dog. They got along so great, it was awesome. Jack learned from them. And then they all took a nap and Shea and Jack cuddled like mom and son. (Or is ack in love?)
Today he was tired. We got our puppy-walking-mileage up to 3 miles in the morning and 2 at night on some days, most days just 3. Today we made it about 1.5 and he slept the entire time at home. He is pooped. This pillow used to be ours but obviousely it is his now :-)

Here he is doing his favorite thing ever: Traffic control. He looks at cars and people and makes this tiny bark everytime a car drives by. It is the cutest thing ever!!! I think JR might have to build him a little platform next to the window.

I hope that he still knows me when I get back from Germany. And I hope he is still little.

Grand Canyon Trip

2009-12-01T09:41:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving.
We had a 4 day trip into the Grand Canyon planned. My friends Pam and Shannon invited us over to their house before the trip to have a "small" thanksgiving dinner and a packing-the-backpack session. The "small" dinner turned out to be: an entire turkey, roasted corn, cheesy potatoes, home made asparagus and spinach soup and the most delicious salad ever-spinach salad with roasted squash and goat cheese. Yummie.

Well I guess we didn't have to worry about starting the hike on an empty stomach :-) We pulled out all of our gear. JR and I realized how little we own for hiking. Here is what we have: one sleeping bag, boots, 2 army backpacks (which are actually really great for hiking), plastic forks-which were after the first dinner Tridents, and after the second dinner Bi-forks :-)...that is pretty much it. Thanks to Walmart which is even open on Thanksgiving (hihihi), we got us some cups as well :-)
Pam and Shannon provided us with everything else, which was such a big help. Also Pam was the one who made the idea of hiking in there real, she got the permit and everything. Thank you guys so much for taking us with!!!

While we were at their house Jack got to learn how the big boys rule, he decided to do the same and ended up getting treats. Here is circus director Pam and her wild animals:

Next morning. All packed up. I thought about just sitting in Pam's backpack :-)

Here we are at the Grand Canyon. Excited to start our 4 day trip down into this huge canyon. With the temperature changing from freezin to hot in no time I was happy to have my armwarmers. No stopping for me, I can take those warmers off while walking :-) And I can even leave my backpack on!!! We all looked happy - off we go to our first destination: Hermit Creek.

Not sure how, but JR managed to get ahead off us and even have time to climb up boulders and take off his boots before we got there...

Hello there cathedral stairs...Best invention ever: ARMY PANTS. You can slide down steep and rocky stairs without destroying them and your butt.

And we made it. It was nice to get out of the boots and taking the backpack off after about 6 hrs of hiking mostly downhill. We refueled with some FLUID, put up the tents and "made" some water. It was great to learn how to pump and filter water out of the smallest creek.

I was prepared to live off rice and beans for a while down there, but here is what we had instead:

...and broccoli and mashed potatoes. Mhhh!!! Next morning: we were happy people, just a little sore :-)

And off we go. Next stop: Granite Rapids. All the way down to the Colorado River.

Just down the hill and we are there. The views in the Canyopn are just amazing.

And we are there. After searching the entire beach for the best camp spot, we realized that we were the only people!!! THE ONLY PEOPLE!!! No rafting boats, no other hikers. Just us, the water, the rocks and some beavers that decided to come out at night and nibble on the bushes.

Oh, and one little mouse that decided to jump into Pam and Shannon's tent at night and scare the sh&^ out of Shannon as he realized that whatever is touching him is NOT his wife :-)

Instead of Steaks we had Burritos. Chicken Parmesan. We enjoyed them. We knew that we were out of fancy food now and that we had to live off dehydrated things for the next two days. It was well worth it packing steaks and burritos in a 30-40 lbs backpack and hiking into the grand canyon with it...right Shannon, Pam and JR :-)

Could there be a more beautiful campsite then this one? Let me tell you, sand makes a nice mattress.

The next morning was a little rainy at the bottom, but looking up to the rim, we realized that this rain is way better then the snow that the rim got.

We hiked up the creek to the monument campground where we stayed the last night. What a great place with lots of little caves, perfect for waiting for the rain to go away and playing cards.

This is the riverbed we hiked...

Next mroning: early start. We got up with the sunrise and started moving. Good bye colorado river, hello civilization.

View from the top of the cathedral steps.

Only 3 more hours!!! Yeah!!!

Lunch break on top of this crazy plateau.

Yummi, Knaeckebrot with honey!!!

One last set of steps (it only went like this for about 1 mile :-)

And we made it!!! Yippie. It felt great to finally take the backpack off, knowing that we don't have to put it on anymore.

Recovery Sock

2009-11-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

In 2010 I will be biking, running, recovering and travelling in great socks from The Recovery Sock - http://www.recoverysock.com/.

The Recovery Socks come in great colors (bright green and pink, but also blue, black and skin color). Also you can get the matching arm warmers!!!

For running I will be using the Vitalsox, which feel so great-they are a great tightness, the seam is invisible = no blisters for me; and are a perfect cushion between my skin and the shoe!!!

For Traveling I will be wearing their Travelsox, so that I am ready to go no matter where my destination is.

So go ahead and check it out:
http://www.recoverysock.com/

El Tour de Tucson 2009

2009-11-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

What a fun event. Well, I didn't stay for the event itself, but I was there for the expo, which is FUN!!! 3 days of representing and meeting tons of people. It was a fun time. I met so many new people through my friend Rachel who is a Tucson native. I have to say...Tucson might be the best place to train (at leats in the winter...not sure about the summer, where the temps get over 100...). There are so many fit people in Tucson, great trails to run on, and a pool on almost every corner!!!

We decided to drive back to Flagstaff on Friday night, which brought us to our homes at 2 am...sleepy.

But that was the only way we could make it to the weekly group ride on Saturday morning and just like always it was worth it.

My plans for the next month are made:
Hike the grand canyon for 4 days, get a lot of swimming in before leaving for Germany for 2 weeks.

Lazer Helmets

2009-11-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to be representing LAZER Helmets in 2010. Check out their homepage for the good looking and safe helmets!!!

The helmet's shape is very aero and looks great. On top of that they come in really cool colors.

www.lazerhelmets.com

Thanks to my sponsors for a great 2009 season!!!

2009-11-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

The 2009 season was great and thanks to my sponsors I was able to race a lot and enjoy my first season as a professional. I learned a lot, had a ton of fun, no matter if it was in my first ITU experience, 70.3 races or the local Arizona races.

Hopefully next year will be just as much fun, with a lot of big races and a lot of fast times and of course a LOT of great results.

Thanks again!!! It would not be possible to spend the majority of my day training and recovering and to travel to races all over the US without my sponsors.

Busy busy busy

2009-10-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

First of all:
This is Jack. Our new puppy. He is a springer spaniel and the best puppy in the worl :-) We have had him for about a week now and he is potty trained, can do 3 tricks, walks on the leash and doesn't chew on things other then his toys!!! And he is only nine weeks old!!!
He might be the smartest puppy in the world ;-)
We originally wanted to name him Steve-Steve is our friend who introduced us to springers!!! But Jack just did not loock like a Steve.

On the training front:

I have been so busy with working and then felt like I was getting sick the beginning of last week. So I cancelled the Longhorn 70.3 and the SOMA Halfironman as well.

This week I am working every day, probably including Saturday, so I am not sure if I will start at the AMICA Championships in Phoenix on Sunday, even though I would love to.

But what I can tell you is that I am already really excited about the 2010 season. It will includes lots of great racing and training. More info coming in the next few weeks.

Fall is just great!!!

2009-10-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Mhhh, the smell of leaves when you are in the forest-GREAT. Even though in Flagstaff we have mostly Pine trees, there are some Aspens and those are changing and letting go of their leaves right now. It is beautiful. I have to take picture of Snowbowl and post them later.

Right now is the time of the year where I wish I would have a MTB, so I could ride in the forest :-) But that would add another bike to our "bike store/house". Maybe in 2010.

This week has been very exhausting with training and working a lot. I now know why it is either or. Either work full time and don't train full time or work part time (like me starting next week) and train full time!!!

But I love work. Again I learned so much and it was so interesting!!!

I have 2 more weeks until the Longhorn 70.3. Like I said, I was really exhausted by the time Friday rolled around, my feet were hurting and I wasn't so sure anymore if I should go to Austin. BUT then I:
1. watched Kona
2. got all fired up
3. had a great TT long ride/workout
4. had an awesome long and fast run

Now I feel confident again, and I am ready to book my ticket. I am super excited about going to Austin.

2 more races and the season is over. That is crazy, this season went by sooo fast!!! But I have to admit: I am already hungry for the 2010 season :-)

Not sure when exactly my season will start, but here in AZ you can end your season with a Triathlon in December and start back up with the PF Chang's Halfmarathon in January!!!

Off to take a nap, so that I can go out later today and enjoy the sunset on top of Snowbowl.

USA Cycling certified coach

2009-10-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

I am now a USA Cycling Certified Coach!!! Whohooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Payson Halfmarathon

2009-10-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

I started training at the Flagstaff Medical Center as a PT Tech last week. It was a full time work week, with a full time training week. I did all my training early in the morning and after work at night. Since the sun is starting to go down earlier, I had to jump on the bike right after work, instead of relaxing for a second. It was a stressfull week, but I loved every second of it. Work is really great and training is so much fun. But I have to admit, by the time Friday rolled around I was almost ready to back out of running a halfmarathon :-) But the training plans said: HALFMARATHON RACE. No backing out now. It really helps that I have my friend Pam, who is ALWAYS up for crazy things like getting up at 4:30 to run a half or getting up at 5am to do a long ride :-)

So at 4:30 am the alarm went off and I thought I would be tired, but going to bed at 9 pm and 4 shots of espresso really helped :-)

I picked up Pam and off we went to Payson, AZ. Pam had asked me about the course when we first came up with the idea of running it and I said: There are like 2 little hills, it is not that bad.

OOOPS. The race went up and down with the lowest elevation of 4000 ft and the highest being 5150 ft.

The first seven miles were all uphill with about.75 of a mile at 12 percent (we didn't think it was thaaaaaaaaat steep, but a guy who has ran it before told us). After that it is super steep downhills and some uphills again. We actually decided after the race that the downhills are harder and slower to run then the uphills. You had to focus on every step to prevent knee injuries (it sure would have been nice to ride down those hills on a bike :-)

I ended up winning the women's division by 4 minutes and getting 4th overall men and women. The great thing was that the number one man was actually in sight until mile 10!!! That was a great fealing. The winning men's time was only 3 minutes faster then my time. Whohooooo.

It was definitely the toughest halfmarathon I have ever done, but it is great practice for the rest of the season and I am glad that we did it.

Here is Pam finishing up her Half:

Me at awards:
Today feels like a real fall day: it is cold, rainy, leaves are falling. I love it. And the best part: It is a recovery day with just and easy swim :-) Yippie.

JR and I are going to get a Pumpkin for our door today!!! Exciting!!!

Nathan's Triathlon

2009-09-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

...after returning from the Splash and Dash on Thursday night, I ended up driving back down to Phoenix on Friday afternoon for the Nathan's Triathlon :-)

The race was in Tempe/Phoenix, and the predicted temperature was 107!!! degrees.
I spend Saturday getting my bike checked out by the TRIBE Crew, and they did a great job - the shifters worked great.

I heard that about 4 professional females will race in the event, but when I went into transition on Saturday evening to put my bike on the rack, I was THE ONLY ONE on the rack. Confusion confusion confusion.

After a little "research" I found out that Katie Ellis (a local pro) is also competing in the race.

My friends Pam and Shannon and I had a hotel room about 2 blocks away from the start: PERFECT!!! No searching for parking!!!

We got up and got going.

My race started at 6:46 am and the mixed elite wave was fast!!! We swam right into the sun, I just followed feet, because I wasn't able to see any bouyes.

I raced without a watch, so I had no clue if I was fast or slow (as it turned out all the times were slow, because the course was about 400 m longer). I jumped on the bike and started passing a lot of the Sprint Distance Triathletes. I have to say it was a little chaotic out there with that many people (1600 is the cut off). Many people also didn't know that you shoudl stay on the right unless you pass athletes. Mhhh...
I thought my time was pretty slow, because the effort-level didn't feel too high, but I ended up having the fastest female bikesplit by 2 min. (13th fastes in the guys race).
I passed Katie Ellies with about 5 km to go and was hoping to keep it like that until the finish.

The run felt great!!! The first lap was just awesome and I felt really fast. But this is Phoenix and it is hot, so going into lap two I got a little thirsty. I kept dumping water on myself, and tried to drink as much as I could, but ou know how much you actually get into your mouth :-)

I finished in 1st place overall females, including pros and amateurs, and 8th or 9th in the guys (pro and amateurs). Too bad the race announcer didn't see me cross the line about a minute ahead of Katie. So he announced her as the winner, but it ended up being right on the results.

RED ROCK RACING did a great job putting on the race and taking care of our equipment, us and all the spectators.
I can only highly recommend the events they are putting on.

After the race we drove back to Flagstaff immediately, I kept falling asleep the entire time. Early wakeup calls do that.

I am planning on racing in a Halfmarathon next weekend. It will be great training for the upcoming Longhorn 70.3.

HAPPY TRAINING!!!

Splash and Dash

2009-09-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Pam and I made our way down to Phoenix (again) to get some good training in by competing in the Splash and Dash. It consits of a 1000 m swim and a 3km run. Phoenix was, as always, HOT, but it is getting cooler everyday and in the evening at 6:30 pm, when the race started, it was actually really nice. The water was warm though (84 degrees), and most people swam without a wetsuit. We started 2 min behind the guys, but after about 400 m we had caught up to some of them. The next 600 m were like a washing machine, with people all over, going left right, doing breast and backstroke :-) Luckily I got a good line and a good stroke going and I was out of the water first. The run was a 3k out and back and I finished it in 10 min, which makes me think it might have been a little short. But then again, with all the modern technology they should beable to measure the course down to the centimeter :-)

After the race it was back up the hill to Flagstaff, just so we can drive back down today for the next race.

It was a lot of fun, and great practice for this weekends Nathan's Triathlon. I am really excited to race as the course is completely flat swim (hahaha), bike, as well as run. Time to test out the speed. I hope the temperature will stay under 100 degrees.

JR will be competing in the Pines to the Mines, 80 mile, MTB race sponsored by PAY and TAKE. I bet it will be a lot of fun. Hopefully next year all the events will be on different weekends and then I can race a MTB race as well.

Off to do some packing for the weekend.

Some great training days...

2009-09-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

Friday night JR and I drove to Phoenix for a Saturday morning swim race in Saguaro Lake. I haven't been in my wetsuit OR in a Lake/Open water for some time now...mhhh...actually I can't remember the last time :-) Well it was time!!!

Squeezing into the wetsuit when the outside temperature is 100 degrees is a great warm up.

Then it was off into the lake which felt really nice. The gun went off for the 2 k wetsuit swim and I decided to go the shortest distance instead of following this guy who went a little off course. Turns out that I should have drafted off him. I was all alone and it would have been great draft training. Oh well. I enjoyed every second of the swim. I finished second (behind the guy) overall and first in the women's division!!! Whohoo, I won my first swim race!!!

The race organizers (DCB ADVENTURES) did a great job putting on the event. WHat a great way to get a good effort in!!! Thanks a lot again for the great venue and the support. I can't wait to race the next one!!!

My friends Pam and Shannon had a blast too. With the boats making HUGE waves, it was great practice of sighting and breathing when you go up and down :-)

Here they are after the swim:

It was nice to have JR at the race helping us get ready for the swim and being there after the race. THANKS JR!!!

Good bye Saguaro Lake!!!

Yesterday I enjoyed a long ride on my Parkpre TT bike, all by myself, only listening to music, which by the way is a very interesting combination if you put it on "shuffle all songs".

This morning I ran with JR. It was my long run. I was a little scared to run with him. HE IS FAST!!! But I didn't show weakness and ended up having a great run.

Now I am off to the pool. For a LONG workout.

I am already looking forward to the appointment I have with my pillow at around 9:30 pm :-)

DCB Adventures - Saguaro Lake OW Swim

2009-09-18T10:36:00.001-07:00

DCB Adventure puts on great races, including this weekend's SAGUARO LAKE OPEN WATER SWIM.
You have the option of entering the 2 km wetsuit, 2 km non-wetsuit, 4 km wetsuit and 4 km non-wetsuit swim.
This is great preparation for athelets who train for Olympic Distances, Halfironman or Ironman distances but also for athletes trying to get used to open water swimming.

Thanks DCB for providing us with such a great race!!!

For more information about this weeks and upcoming DCB Adventure Open Water swim visit:

http://www.dcbadventures.com/DCB/AZOWS_3.html

Aunt Angi and Uncle JR

2009-09-15T07:21:00.001-07:00

Whohooo, my brother and his wife just had a baby!!! Everyone is super excited, because it is the first baby on the Axmann-side of the family!!!

That makes me an aunt :-)

WELCOME LITTLE PHILIPP!!!

Updates

2009-09-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

What have I been up to and where did time go? It is already September!!! Over the last few weeks I have been getting back into the pool as often as possible (after it was closed for 3 weeks), I have been building my running miles and I have taken my TT bike out of its 4 week retirement.

With the AZ TT Championships coming up next weekend, I thought it would be good to practice on the TT bike :-) I am thinking about running a 10 k race up here in Flagstaff the day before the TT, it would make it a great training weekend.

I am super excited to start up with triathlon's again, with the Nathan's Triathlon coming up the end of September (AZ summerbreak is OVER!!!). Not so stoked about swimming in Tempe Town Lake without a wetsuit...the water is not exactly nice-looking.

Something crazy happened yesterday: WE HAD OUR FIRST FRESH SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS!!!

Also yesterday it was my brother Sven's birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Ich vermisse Euch alle ganz doll und I au will Bananenkuchen :-)

Fossil Creek Adventure

2009-09-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Checking out what is swimming around in here :-)

Pam showed me all the native fish, they decided to swim with us but disappear for the pics!!!

Me swimming against the current.

Pam swimming against the current.

The "Pool".

Unbelievable clear water, it was 20-30 feet deep depending on the season.

A huge spider, but I googled it, not dangerous!!!

The rope workout!!!

Inside a waterfall!!! Looks like in the jungle!!!

Pam and me!!!

Looks like paradise.

Scout!!!

This is one of the most beautiful places I have EVER seen. And it is in the middle of the desert in AZ!!! CRAZY!!!

Skull Valley Road Race

2009-08-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

JR and I had an early trip down to Skull Valley (2.5 hr drive) on Sunday morning for the Skull Valley RR. It would not have been that bad, but we stayed up late after work and packing everything, so we only got around 4 hrs of sleep.

We got to the race at around 6:30 am. My start wasn't until 8:10, so I took a nap. I WAS OUT!!! It was crazy, but I am glad I set an alarm or I would have slept through the race.

The 90 km course is an out and back. The first 30 km are rolling hills and thanks to the TRIBE Team, the racepace was between 45 and 49 kmh on the way out. After a steep decent, we saw the cone for the turnaround. I went to the front, turning first, when I realized this guy from one of the catgories starting in front of us cut right in front of me. I had to unclip in order to avoid a collision and came to a complete stop. No worries, I thought as the rest of the field went around us. "Riders are not supposed to advance at the turn around or in the feed zone", which came up right after the turn. Yeah right, I just wish people would follow rules. About 4 girls attacked in the feed zone and I was stuck behind the rest. They got around 500 m ahead of me and I had to dig very deep on the now steep uphill to catch up. There was no neutral water in the feed and JR and I had no feeder. I caught the girls (good to know that I climb good at the moment), but realized at the top that we still had an hour to go and I was out of water. I tried to make the best out of it, but the 95 degree temps and no wind didn't help. I tried to prepare my body for 30 km back to Skull Valley with no water in 95 degrees. With 20 k to go, I was not able to pull through anymore :-( I had to let the small group go and TT back to town, but still finished in 6th place in the Pro, 1, 2 field.

Dehydration during a race is no fun (but I learned my lesson), as you get a headache first and then you just feel like throwing up. I tried to go a little harder on the hills, but every time I tried to put out a big effort I could feel the acidity in my body building.

I finished the race, got a great day of training in. Realized I climbed so hard that my trizeps were the most painful muscle in my body:-)

JR won the race for the 4th time, but this time was very special as he has had not a lot of time for training this week and he won in a solo breakaway!!!

Too bad I didn't have enough water, we had a great group going. But as I said it was GREAT TRAINING.

Back home I napped and still managed to sleep for about 9 hrs at night- I was pooped.

This morning I enjoyed the nice and cool Flagstaff weather during my long run. The pool opens up again today and I am really looking forward to a nice swim this evening.
In about 2 weeks I will be joining the Flagstaff swim team, so that I can built speed over the fall and winter for my 2010 season.

Fixing flats

2009-08-18T16:13:00.001-07:00

The wheel I have been riding makes some really squeeky noises...after about 4 weeks of training with it and probably "keeping everyone around me entertained" it was time to ride a different

wheel. The only other one I found in the garage that was free (aka not on any of the bikes) was one that has had a flat for some time. Time to fix it. Thanks to my sponsor GENUINE INNOVATIONS it was not a problem at all. Today I used the GLUELESS PATCH KIT. It is so easy!!! So now I decided instead of carrying a tube around with me I will just take the tiny kit, my CO2 and the inflator and I am set.

Ready to go I enjoyed the beautiful day with NO smoke from wildfires in the air (yesterday was a day on the trainer, because it was so smokey-fire 13 miles out of town).

I am slowly getting ready for the second half of my race season, which will consist of the Skull Valley RR this weekend, the Nathan's Triathlon in Phoenix, Longhorn 70.3 and some more.

I am really excited for the remaining season but can't believe that it is almost September and that the season is almost over.

Off to go running now.

Longhorn 70.3

2009-08-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Just got done registering for the Longhorn 70.3. Austin, here I come once again!!!

Pool closure-what to do?

2009-08-03T15:02:00.001-07:00

Flagstaff is a great place to train. One of the greatest in the world.

BUT: there is only one swimmable pool here. The NAU Pool. And every year the pool gets closed for cleaning at one point. This time it is the 2 weeks before Elite Nats. What to do? The plan was to swim a lot before it closes, which I did-so far.

This morning: Alarm goes off. Grumpy...grrr...too early...BUT I am a dedicated athlete and I GO. Get to the pool, change into my swimsuit. The guy checking the water goes: "I would not go in there." I say:"Aehhh, OK." I keep walking towards the water-I will swim. About 5 people have already started swimming. I am ready to go in. Then: the Chemist guy comes running (which means a lot, because I have never seen him running, and there are signs saying NO RUNNING all over).

He waves at us and says:" Noone go in there. Get those people out."

He said the measurements showed that there was NO chlorine in there, which equals Bacteria heaven.

I was so glad I didn't jump in yet. He also said it must have been like this since Friday (I swam twice after that).

So I went back home and did dryland exercises, which I know already, will make me way more sore then swimming.

They are shocking the pool which will take some time and then it closes-GREAT. I am not sure where I will swim. My friend mentioned that Sedona has a stream where you can swim against the current. Like a natural endless pool. I will definately try it!!!