Long Runs, Ocean Swims and Cake!

This is the afternoons swimming location. 

Another Queen K long run is over. Thank god as by the end of it I felt like road kill. All was forgotten quickly as the four of us piled into the family car and headed out to do a beautiful afternoon swim at the Captain Cook monument. 

Even though the swim was amazing the cake at the near by cafe was the high lite for me !

Stay tuned 

Memphis x 

Pain and happiness!

Week 1 is in the bag.... I am in pain but only in the good way. This is the best way to get race ready bar none. I have been chasing Luke, Belinda and Justin around this island all week. It hurts a lot but is also so much fun. I can't believe the miles and I am still a little short on those 3. If I tried to do exactly the same as them I would self combust for sure. 

I have to say that the Granger's have one hell of a work ethic. It is really rubbing off on myself and Luke. Old momma and poppa Granger come from the school of "harden the F@$k up and ride".

I read Hillary's article in Inside Tri the other day and had to laugh. Every session with those two is a smash fest. All I can do is hang on and pray. Now I am not proclaiming to be able to hang on however with everyday I get closer to doing so. 

My legs rarely come home without the wobbles. I have turned a dark chocolate brown from the hours in the sun and my coffee addiction is at an all time high. You know you are getting somewhere when the 3 hour Wednesday run session ends with 10 miles an hour interval(@16kms an hour) and you are a bit bummed as you think you could have built up faster earlier. 

Kona is a funny place as most only come here before the race. We stick to the Queen K and rarely venture off the beaten Ironman track. Not any more. Luke has taken it upon himself to ride us all every which way but up the Queen K. Climbs that we never even knew about before are thanks to google maps. Poor Ben Sanson was lost on his first day here. I think the three of them blew him up with about 15 kms to go. ( I had been sent ahead due to my slow climbing abilities so missed the demolition) I hope he made it home in one piece. It will remain to been seen if he is brave enough to step out with Luke the "Dominator" and the "Granger Train" again anytime soon. 

Well its time to head off and cook some lamb cutlets.... YUM! 

Stay tuned 

Memphis x 

Kona Time!

How has it been 13 days since I last visited this blog..... heck I have been busy. In between some gnarly hard core training sessions I managed to do many adult activities. Now get you mind out of the gutter people. I have packed my house, packed 6 months of luggage and moved to Kona. 

I love this place. It proverbially kicks your ass but I love it. You arrive and you are instantly reminded of the islands beauty and harshness all at once. The lava shimmers and the heat warms your blood. You love the smell of the island. I can't describe it but you know it as soon as it hits the nostrils. 

After 1 day of organisation we got right into training. Runs outside are so much harder. The heat and the bitumen test you from the beginning. I know how quickly it makes you strong so I don't complain or even whimper. I love it. It is however about being prepared. After laying out our own aid stations to the energy lab we started our long run today. I love this run. One day I will qualify to race the Ironman here as a pro. I will be more ready for this section of the marathon than any other female... ok the 2nd most ready as Bree has that title covered (she lives here on the big island lucky thing :) 

Luke thought that 3 aid stops between Bike Works and the end of the Energy Lab was too many... oh how he forgets! I made a stance and put them out anyways. 

As it turns out I was right and every time I got to the bottles I checked his and low and behold they were empty. Ha clever Memphis. I knew if I had only put out mine he would have drank them anyways ... leaving me high and dry! Parched as bro!

With my long hard run in the bag I was very satisfied with myself. I had been listening to local radio and had gotten wind of an afternoon market... I love a market! We headed down only to be hit by the long, hard stick of disappointment. It was an arts and craft market. I had visions of Hawaiian BBQ and other fine foods to gorge on all afternoon. Not one to miss a meal we made good of a bad situation and headed to the ever faithful Lava Java. 

As the afternoon set in my stomach was full and the Granger's blew into town. I think Belinda and Justin are stalking us! ha ha. No they are here for Honu 70.3 also. It should be a cracking race as long as both Sam McGlone and Bree Wee are still racing. 

Finally the biggest news in my world this week is the arrival of my super sweet K-Swiss "Venice" high tops. I will drive Luke mad tomorrow and make him take some pix of these fully rad shoes! It has been more than a few years since I buried my last pair and I am ready to bust these bad boys out!

Stay tuned 

Memphis x 

Time to Pack!

The sun is setting on Noosa. No more morning rides without arm and leg warmers. Gossip sessions in the pool have come to an end. The air temp has dropped below 25 degrees so it is time to head off out into the world. 

I downloaded these warmer pix from weeks gone by. 

Stay tuned 

Memphis x 

Busso Half Pix

Busso Half!

Wow what a world wind tour... WA in 48 hours! In , race and back out! 

The coach did not taper me much... not if you include the day of flying. After my biggest run week ever I went to WA with the knowledge that this was not a focus race but I had to race properly. 

The swim was filled with stinger buggers... I feel off Charlotte's feet and was in no mans land. I hate that. Oh well never mind focus on the bike. Out on the bike I felt super slug like after all the IM Japan training but knew that that was no reason to be lazy. I caught up to a speedy girl I came into transition 1 with. She and I rode legally for two laps till we caught 2 other girls. A few blokes went past but they were way to fast to jump on. I was laughing at the age group pack half a lap back. I have never seen such a bunch of cheating drafters but to be fair the race set up did not help their cause. 3 lap courses are a waste of time. 

Anyways back to the pro field. I saw that Luke had dropped Pete and was charging on to what would be a course record. YAY Lukey you are such a friggin stud babe. 

I continued to try to break away but Jasmine refused to let anyone take the lead so I gave up that fight. Off the bike I took the longest time getting my shoes on.... what I was doing I will never know. 

Run time. Well..... I have never been known for my run but this week I had already done 67 kms this week alone before the race. I have been smashing myself in training and really did not get a chance to run fast in China due to the weather. I was determine to run hard no matter what. Lap 1 was a bit uneventful but lap 2 and 3 I put the hurt on myself. I managed to negative split my run and PB my run and Half IM time. 8th pro.  With no taper and a hard race just 2 weeks ago I was pleased with my result. All seems to be going well for IM Japan in June. 

It was super great to see the family this weekend. Thanks for cheering every one. 

Stay tuned 

Memphis x