Biting the Dust!

Training in a new environment can have some teething problems. 

Bend is one of the most amazing places to train. However every time you come back here you have to get used to certain things again. While 3000 altitude is not much in some standards it is most definitely note worthy. Out here it is a warm at 85-90 degrees but unlike Hawaii it is bone dry. The air is hot and harsh. I have taken to leaving my race drink bottle set up on my training bike. I am constantly "Parched As".

I have been having a jolly good time chasing Luke around on my bike. Loving the hills/mountains and all the incredible scenery. My ass is shrinking and my lungs are growing. The outdoor pool is so beautiful and for the first time in the USA we are swimming  50's again....YAY! I am possibly the worlds worst tumble turner. When I flip turn I look like a retarded seal. I can do it but it is slow and funny looking. So the less turns the better. 

The running here is out of this world. I can not think of a better place any where we have been to run trails.  Yesterday  I took off for my long run with a stolen Camel Back ( thanks Lea). I seem to have missed placed mine and running 2 hours in the dry heat without any water did not sound like a safe idea. I was about 1 km into it when I realised that I left the scooter keys back with Jimmy and turned to go get them. About 500 mts back I suddenly took a nose dive into the dirt. Crap now I was covered in dirt and bleeding. All the mosquito spray I had applied earlier had attracted large amounts of dust and debris. If I washed it off I would get eaten alive so I had to continue back to Jimmy looking like a Yettie. He took one look at me and asked if anything was broken. A quick check confirmed that the run would continue. 

Unfortunately for a few unassuming hikers they got the fright of there lives as they saw a crazed dirty Aussie runner crashing through the woods. Some how I always get a bit off track. I realise I have gone wrong and usually turn right back to the river and charge through the bush. Some how the only other people out there are always on that exact bit of path and nearly have a heart attack as I appear out of no where... bloody and sweaty. 

2 hours later I was happy to be cooling the legs in Deshutes river.  Starved and smashed up I headed home to get ready for Jimmy's Birthday dinner. 

This afternoon we are heading off to NYC for two days of wine, dining and Central Park running! I love birthday week.

Stay Tuned 

Memphis x 

Bad Blogger

It is official I am a bad blogger. In my defence until 2 weeks ago I never had my own computer. I do now so that excuse has run out. 

Is it OK to condense 1 month and 3 races into 1 blog? I guess so. First things first Ironman Japan. 

It was such a thrill to see Miss Hillary after way too long. Luke, Myself and Hillary got our little family back even though it was only for a few days. The race had loads of good points and a few bad. Not one to dwell on the bad I will move forward. After a comedy of errors I finished off strong with a 13 min negative split marathon. All ended well with me coming in 6Th place pro and in the money for the first time. YAY you gotta love a pay check!

Bigger news is that Luke won. He is so frigging awesome I can not describe it. Ironman win number 3 .... STUD!!!!

We had a blast and went to Tokyo, had flights cancelled and sang Karaoke. That's the short version.

Next stop was Bali International Triathlon. This is a super fun destination race that we love and hope never to miss. My mum came to watch and we lived it up in the luxury of the Four Seasons. The race was so much fun and I improved my time from last year even with Ironman Japan the week before. A 3rd place behind some speedy Olympic distance girls was fine with me. Luke won again .... SUPER STUD! 

Cocktails and shopping , more cocktails and more shopping with my beautiful Mum. I never get to spend very long with her so I cherish these little moments...Thanks for coming all that way to see me Mumma Bear!

We sadly left Bali and headed back to the good old USA! It was the first time we had hit the mainland this year. Hawaii was as close as we had gotten. Forth of July was spent down in San Diego with my USA sister Miss Summer Twist. She has been in my life since I first started coming to the USA in 05 and my life has been enriched so much from knowing her. Once again she opened her home and let us crash while we got our new car and trailer ready for the year. Luke and AMan (sum's fella) did some spiffy renovations to the "Turtle" and made her ready to take on any USA road trip. 

We spent the next week invading the Bond residence in Newbury Park. We love coming to the "TO" area as the riding is amazing and we get to see so many of our "People". 

We caught up with Erik, Ben, Ivette,Johnny Hot Stuff, JTO and many many more at the K-Swiss head quarters. 

After all of this we finally hit the road with the short trip to the Napa Valley and a half IM thrown in for fun. 

Race day came and went with some disaster struck camping (sorry Corbin's) and Luke getting car sickness. I had an OK race but felt the effects of IM Japan or really the effects of light training after IM Japan. I did improve my half IM run split so I was happy with that. 

Finally we have arrived in our summer training base Bend OR. 

I will post more on this later as if you have actually managed to get through this epic catch up blog you are probably as tired as me. 

Take care 

Stay tuned...next time this blog will be filled with pictures and funny bits I promise.

Memphis x