Most Recent Athlete Blogs
Saturday 19 Apr 2014 Admin
I always knew it was an ambitious early season schedule Guy and I had in place but it excited me! The idea of it, the challenge of it, why not?? I can back up Half Ironman’s pretty well, lets see how backing up Ironman’s go!
Although I was mentally ready and excited for Challenge Taiwan, I should have realised something was up when I actually fell asleep at 8pm the night before the race and slept the entire night through until the alarm went off! Normally, that never happens! I am so excited/nervous and full of excess energy that I normally only sleep a few hours.
I was relaxed as we headed to transition and everything was organised ready to go! I got in a good swim warm up and felt good in the water. I was a little concerned about over heating in my wetsuit but was just going to have to see what happens! I ended up having a solid swim and was really happy with it. I was able to hang on to some feet the first few km’s but unfortunately fell off the second lap and then...
Friday 18 Apr 2014 Hillarybiscay
#64 is here! I arrived in Taitung just in time for some carbo loading on sweet potatoes…
And to remind myself a little bit of the course here at Challenge Taiwan . . .
The swim is in, like, world’s largest swimming pool!
Scenes from the run course . . .
Lots of it is along this old railway trail with lots of funky turnstile-type situations which are a bit tricky to negotiate when tired . . .
As promised, here are a couple places you might be able to follow some of the action tomorrow, beginning at 3PM PST (Friday).
Challenge Taiwan’s twitter
My Facebook Page
Also, for more on why tomorrow is such a big day, read here on witsup.com, and here on Triathlete.com.
And in case you missed it, here are some top tips on mental toughness from me and the other pros racing here tomorrow.
Friday 18 Apr 2014 Michelle
I have made a decision, which without a doubt will have an impact on this year – both good and bad.
But why?
I am in progress – 2013 was my best year – both personally and sports-wise! I got named as elite athlete of the year, which I am incredibly proud of. I have myself to thank – but also my support base, consisting of a very understanding family and a coach, who has believed in me all the way through – even when nobody else did.
So now the questions is, how you can live up to a year like that?! I of course want more! The risk of disappointing oneself is huge, cause how can 2014 become just as good as 2013?!! There will be a high focus on me now – the expectations from the surroundings are huge. The eyes are on me – What are my plans? – In which direction am I heading towards? – Can I live up to my own statements?
I have made a decision. Every day – every week – every year – has to offer new challenges. I have...
Friday 18 Apr 2014 Michelle
Jeg har truffet et valg, som uden tvivl vil have indflydelse på dette år – både på godt og ondt.
Men hvorfor?
Jeg er i fremgang -2013 var mit bedste år – både personligt og sportsligt! Jeg blev bl.a. udnævnt til årets elite atlet, hvilket jeg er utrolig stolt over. Jeg kan takke mig selv, men også mit bagland, bestående af en meget forstående familie og en træner, der har troet på mig hele vejen, også når andre ikke gjorde det.
Spørgsmålet er så, hvordan man igen lever op til sådan et år! Jeg vil jo selvfølgelig have mere!
Risikoen for at skuffe sig selv er stor, for hvordan bliver 2014 mindst lige så god som 2013!!!
Der vil være stor fokus på mig nu – forventningerne fra omverdenen er også store. Øjnene er rettet mod mig – Hvad er mine planer? – I hvilken retning bevæger jeg mig? – Kan jeg mon leve op til mine egne ” udmeldinger” ?
Jeg har taget en beslutning. Hver dag –hver uge –hvert år – skal byde på nye udfordringer. Jeg har de seneste 2 år lært rigtig meget om...
Friday 18 Apr 2014 Dirk
I am excited to announce that I will be back in Roth this summer to defend my title! I was able to fulfill my childhood dream of winning this European classic race last year, and I am really glad to be able to make this race a priority in my calendar again this year. Competing in Roth is an experience that cannot be compared to any other. There are a lot of emotions that come up when I think about pushing up that crowd-filled Solarer Berg, or entering the epic finish area, completely surrounded by spectators in the triathlon stadium. This year is bound to be even more impressive, as the folks at Challenge are pulling out all of the stops for the race’s 30th birthday.
Right now, I have been spending some time back home in Luxembourg, in order to get myself back in working order after the race in Melbourne. Although I had initially planned to do some cross country skiing at the beginning of the month, plans have change slightly. Winning in Australia took it’s toll on...
Friday 18 Apr 2014 Dirk
I am excited to announce that I will be back in Roth this summer to defend my title! I was able to fulfill my childhood dream of winning this European classic race last year, and I am really glad to be able to make this race a priority in my calendar again this year. Competing in Roth is an experience that cannot be compared to any other. There are a lot of emotions that come up when I think about pushing up that crowd-filled Solarer Berg, or entering the epic finish area, completely surrounded by spectators in the triathlon stadium. This year is bound to be even more impressive, as the folks at Challenge are pulling out all of the stops for the race’s 30th birthday.
Right now, I have been spending some time back home in Luxembourg, in order to get myself back in working order after the race in Melbourne. Although I had initially planned to do some cross country skiing at the beginning of the month, plans have change slightly. Winning in Australia took it’s toll on...
Wednesday 16 Apr 2014 Ben Hoffman
Not a lot to say on this “race,” as it lasted only about 1 hour before I suffered a puncture around mile 14 of the bike and did not finish. I had a very strong swim and came out right where I needed to be, but after trying to make a move with super cyclist Starky around mile 10, I came out of a sharp right turn in Camp Pendleton and heard the dreaded hiss for the second race in a row. I felt good and was sitting around 9th/10th, but with a world class field like that one, it was essentially over when I flatted. To add insult to injury, I flatted again at mile 38 after continuing on with intent to finish.
Still a joy to return to the Southern California landscape, see good friends and connect with sponsors. I was able to salvage things a little by surfing with friends and having a great dinner with some of the Zoot crew. I will be back again to have a crack at the classic California race!
Wednesday 16 Apr 2014 Jenny Fletcher (noreply@blogger.com)
The Cannes International Triathlon was AWESOME!!! I loved every moment of being in beautiful Cannes, France!!The Cote D' Azur also know as the French Riviera!! With the glamour of all the boutique shops and five star hotels, walking the Promenade de la Croisette, nibbling on croissants while sitting at a street cafe sipping an espresso, to the breathtaking Mediterranean coastal bike ride I was able to experience, and staying in the Majestic Hotel!!Loving the coffeeMajestic Hotel RoomThe Cannes International Tri was an experience of a lifetime- racing one of the most incredibly put on organized races I have encountered with a beautiful 2 loop swim in the Mediterranean waters, a demanding hard bike ride with over 4000ft of climbing in 80km and crazy technical descents with tight corners navigating through the Maritime Alps, and a 4 lap run course on the famous Croisette... it definitely is one of the best races I have ever experienced. A strong group of athletes at...
Wednesday 16 Apr 2014 Hillarybiscay
A flight between San Francisco and Tokyo means that I finally have time to blog—nothing like being trapped inside the the metal death box for 10 hours! I thought I should check in because race season has snuck up on me and I’ve had people asking where and how to track the upcoming action.
I’ve got some fun –and a bit scary—adventures on tap, but first a little recap:
I must say it’s been awhile since I’ve felt so out of “race mode” and I have gone longer than this (since Ultraman in early December) without racing before . . .This year I think the difference has been the all-consuming nature of “work” that, while triathlon-related, usually has nothing to do with facilitating my own race prep.
Luckily, though, one of these jobs got me out for a friendly intro back into race mode last weekend at the Tempe Town Lake—site of many fond Ironman Arizona memories. I had the opportunity to do a 4K open water race (open water/ wetsuit action is not something we have out in Tucson!) followed by...
Tuesday 15 Apr 2014 Andrew Starykowicz
Yes, we all have highs and lows, what goes up must go down. So when I returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico last week I knew there was only one place to go after winning last year, defend my title and be complacent or lose and nothing is more hateful to this American!
I got my biopsies back from my stomach and learned that there is an issue and I am going to need a whole bunch of tests done to figure out what may be causing the illnesses I have experienced over the last few years especially leading into Oceanside 2 weeks ago and Bilbao Triathlon last spring, but we will save all that for May. Yet it has made for some great photography:
The problem is that I cannot take the prescribed steriods that “normal” people can take and still race this month at 70.3 San Juan and Wildflower because it takes a month to get cleared for a TUE through USADA. This means HTFU and gut it out.
The swim start at San Juan was perfect, I started next to a human missile in the deep water and the rest...
Tuesday 15 Apr 2014 Haley
I didn’t know Frank Guinn. But he knew me
Or at least the internet version of me, which I like to think is somewhat similar to the real thing.
I didn’t know Frank, but I knew of Frank. His coach had mentioned him, and how excited he was to be coaching a firefighter. Just like me, Frank was from Atlanta, a Dynamo Multisport coached athlete. And just like me, Frank was in New Orleans last weekend, excited to race 70.3 miles through the Crescent City.
Frank’s wife Kimberly gave the most amazing pre-race speech. She said the last thing Frank would have wanted was for anyone to shed a tear on his behalf. She encouraged us all to race hard for Frank. She told us about the brotherhood of firefighters, and how she saw that same family dynamic in the triathletes standing on that start line. She told us about her brother Andrew, who from his hospital bed, was already making plans to race again. I didn’t know Frank, but I know Frank’s three little girls have an...
Monday 14 Apr 2014 Amanda Lovato
After Valentine was born, I really wanted to commit myself to writing about how our lives are transforming and how Valentine was changing and growing. Finding the time has been a challenge in itself. I felt inspired and had a few minutes…I wanted to share a few thoughts from the past couple of months.
Michael and I have been busy growing our different businesses. Michael had a job in Cabo this past March announcing-YOU ARE AN IRONMAN and translating Spanish to English and English to Spanish. For those of you who did not know, ML is fluent in Spanish. He has lived and has studied in Mexico and Spain. In his previous life, he was a High School Spanish teacher. Right now we are taking bets to see if Valentine first words will be in English or Spanish. Michael only speaks Spanish to Valentine. (Her sitter is a native Spanish Speaker who only speaks Spanish to her too).
A week in Mexico sounds divine especially if you want to escape snowy and cold Colorado in March. As organized and as...
Sunday 13 Apr 2014 Julia Böttner
Mallorca und BerlinAndreas Raelert tritt beim Thomas Cook Ironman 70.3 Mallorca an – Michael Raelert möchte seinen Titel beim Ironman 70.3 Berlin verteidigen Rostock. Mit großer Motivation starten Michael und Andreas Raelert in die neue Saison. Lange Trainingswochen liegen hinter den Raelert-Brothers, nun möchten sie im Mai offiziell den Startschuss für ihr Triathlonjahr 2014 geben. „Wir sind sehr gespannt und fokussiert auf den Saisonbeginn“, blickt Michael Raelert voraus, „wir haben uns im heimischen Norden gemeinsam auf die kommenden Wochen vorbereitet.“Andreas Raelert wird am 10. Mai beim Thomas Cook Ironman 70.3 Mallorca das erste Saisonrennen für das Team Raelert-Brothers bestreiten. Im Jahr 2011 hatte er die Erstauflage des größten europäischen Ironman-70.3-Wettkampfes gewonnen, bevor 2012 sein Bruder Michael in Alcudia gewann. Im vergangenen Jahr belegte Andreas Raelert den dritten Rang beim hart umkämpften Thomas Cook Ironman 70.3. „Wir möchten auf Mallorca für unseren...
Friday 11 Apr 2014 Conrad
Newsflash: New Zealand is stunningly beautiful! After a few long flights from CPT, JHB, Sydney to Auckland, we stayed right on the water (above) for a few days with Princess Hotstuff’s friends. During high tide I swam in the estuary and channel amoungst the boats. Water was surprisingly warm.
Unpacking some cool new toys. The Specialized Compak AirTool travel pump for tyre and suspension is not only long overdue for traveling, but also beautifully engineered from all aluminium. LOOK S-track pedals & since we’re in the “worlds best fly fishing country” travel fly rod.
Brand new bike: I chose the Specialized Sworks “Epic” over the “Epic World Cup” model. This bike has a bit more suspension, the handling a bit more stable, and if I need to, I can put a double chainring on there.
First things first, I pre rode this legendary course a number of times. The Billy T single track is incredibly fun, and I wish the whole 25km bike course...
Thursday 10 Apr 2014 Noreply@blogger.com (rappstar)
(Reposted this after getting so many requests for it. Specialized moved to a new platform and it was lost.)
As much as you might read the title and expect that this is going to be a compelling (or fluff) piece on why you must buy a Specialized Tarmac SL3, that is not actually the case. Though, in the words of Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking
Thursday 10 Apr 2014 Noreply@blogger.com (rappstar)
Dominating some pretty rocks. © J. Prasuhn 2014
(Based on actual events. So names have been changed due to poor memory...)
Team Rappstar Elite Team Member Jordan "Rappstar" Rapp kicked off his 2014 season with a dominant 15th place finish that saw him besting the entire age group field and crossing the line a commanding *FOUR* minutes ahead of (women's) winner and (women's) course
Wednesday 09 Apr 2014 Jaimie Jacobs
Jaimie’s Blog March 2014
‘Challenge’ – a call to someone to participate in a competitive situation or fight to decide who is superior in terms of ability or strength.
2. a call to prove or justify something.
My BATEMANS Challenge
I always cringe when I read the words “race report” from a pro athlete. Why? That’s a good question – it just sounds so boring, so flat, so opposite to ‘juicy” (plain).
It’s a ‘report’ – now that says it all!
Why not title it “my sweat and tears” (corny I know) or “my emotional carnage”, or “my natural high”, or “sea of lycra” (well this could attract a TV spot at least, throw in the chamois cream aspect, & its now soft porn:).
Where is the info re what the athlete did before the race? Best food/coffee stop en route to the race perhaps? There is ALWAYS some drama in getting to the start line.
Where is the personal gritty stuff that could actually provide some relief to the rest of us.
Like the brand of chamois cream that works best?
Or the trick to...
Wednesday 09 Apr 2014 Tim
Wednesday 09 Apr 2014 Jenny Fletcher (noreply@blogger.com)
I forgot how much Olympic distance hurts... but I absolutely loved being back out there pushing myself and racing.Race # 2.One week after Oceanside70.3Purpose: To work on SPEED.... Ouch....Result: Mission Accomplished.Summary- NEED TO WORK ON OPEN WATER. My pool swimming and how great I feel in the water right now...did NOT translate in the open water. Swimming hard and going no where. This is where I lost soooo much time. Swallowed in the swim.T1- Not bad. (thanks Lou for the picture of me running through T1)BIKE- pushed hard. Didn't feel great ever. Wasn't in the legs on this day, but totally happy because I gave it all I could. I know where the time was mostly lost and that was in cornering. It was like an ITU race and I haven't been working on cornering for a while. Easy improvement for the next Olympic race I do.T2- meh... lots of traffic to weave through in transition to get to bike rack...RUN- Hey I may have not been speedy in the eyes of the Olympic distance world, but...
Wednesday 09 Apr 2014 Haley
Big thanks to Nick from TriJuice for capturing this great shot of me charging out of the Sea of Cortez and leading the pro women’s swim at Ironman Los Cabos!
(Bonus, if you want to see what happened immediately after I hit the deep sand on shore, check out the sixth pic HERE, and try not to laugh!)
My full Ironman Los Cabos race recap is in the works (Spoiler alert: I had a great race and finished 5th!), but in the meantime, I wanted to share a few “in case you missed it” links from the past couple weeks!
#SMASHCabo Results!
While Alyssa, Anabel, and I all had GREAT races in Cabo, the real winners were Steve and Stephanie! Steve actually had the closest guesses for BOTH Anabel’s Bike time and Alyssa’s Run time! VERY impressive considering the number of entries!! Stephanie managed an equally impressive closest guess to my swim time!! Hopefully Steve and Stephanie enjoy their SMASH prizes, and thanks to everyone who played!! If you didn’t win, you can...
Wednesday 09 Apr 2014 Admin
Two blogs in two weeks. Whoah! ‘m in danger of becoming a regular blogger. It was tempting to brush my visit to Galveston last weekend under the carpet. I don’t really want to shout about my DID NOT FINISH. It’s a result I am finding hard to swallow but my 24 hours is up: time to stop beating myself up, feeling sorry for myself and get my butt in gear for the next one.
I’ve only not finished a couple of races in my life and they were under very different circumstances. The first Ironman UK in 2008 and the major difference there was that not finishing was the plan. I had a running injury so had decided to leave my Ironman debut to later in the year at Ironman Florida. However, I wasn’t able to transfer my race entry to another event or year so being the spend thrift I am, I decided I would use it as race experience and do the swim and bike. Even then I found it really hard to stop: I was literally pulled off the course by my coach. The second was IMAZ in...
Wednesday 09 Apr 2014 Andrew Starykowicz
In February I worked with the Orca crew to develop a few 75-105 second video clips to help improve your training. This is the first video…
Click here to view the embedded video.
If you have recommendations for future videos, post it!
Train Smart,
Andrew
The post Pedal Perfect appeared first on Andrew Starykowicz.
Tuesday 08 Apr 2014
It’s been one week since Ironman Cabo. In case you didn’t hear the great word: I WON!!! Holy freaking bananas: it’s not every day you get the opportunity to win an Ironman!
Tuesday 08 Apr 2014 Admin
Thank you so much to Gani Pinero for these incredible images from the race! Please do not take these off my site, ask and I can direct you to Gani! Thanks:)
In my last post I wrote about my swim from last Saturday’s Oceanside 70.3 race… finally got down some words on my bike and run. As I posted in my last one, I grabbed my Cannondale Slice from the rack and sprinted for the transition exit, so excited!!!! haha. Heather Wurtele was about 15seconds up by this point and I could see her down the stretch of road ahead of me. I started riding and pulled my feet into my bike shoes knowing there wasn’t much time before that short, steep, kicker of a hill right at the start of this race. I got up it and saw Wattie and Cliff on my right. They were yelling that there was only 15 seconds to Heather and then about 2:30 to Meredith Kessler and “the lead”…also meaning Julie Dibens. What!?!?!! Under 3minutes to them? Not bad! Considering what phenomenal swimmers...
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