Brasil 2010

Jimmy getting his Brasil on!

This is a beautiful outlook from the run course.

Swim Beach.

T1/T2

Someone told me that this run course was flat but we run UP this little gem.

The finish line is starting to take shape.

I think Maiki has a smaller butt than I do... bummer!

Hillary and I did not stop talking all ride.

Espresso no?

Well after the epic flights I am surprised at how great we pulled up. I was worried we would be out of wack but strangely not!.

The first day was a small swim, bike , run. Getting to know a new place is always fun. Jimmy took us on a wild goose chase and his penalty was 2 flat tires. I suggested it was that he was too hefty (joking he is skinny as a rake) and he blew his wheel out.

The course looks super fun and beautiful to boot. I am not even sure the pictures do it justice.

The biggest news was today Hillary and Maiki arrived straight from last weekends IM Lanzarote. They are nuts. Well Hillary is nuts as she is racing again this weekend. Maiki is not so crazy and he is watching/ cheering. It has been so great to see them again. I saw Hillary in Malaysia a few months ago but it has been since Hawaii since we have seen Maiki. I can not believe how much his English has improved. It is not even so much his vocabulary but his comprehension of the fast USA/AUSSIE conversations. Yeah Maiki .... thank godness really as Hillary's German is still zero.

Only 4 more sleeps.

Stay tuned

Memphis.

In Transit.

Not all super long plane trips have to be painful. Today we arrived in Miami after the overnight from our Hawaiian home. Bye Hawaii, Hello Freaks of Miami.

The best bit about this place is the architecture. No seriously the beaches are beautiful but the people that walk and stalk along here are just plain hideous. Today Lukey and I walked around Miami and spent a few hours tanning on the beach. In our three weeks in Hawaii we never once took a day to lay on the beach.... too busy training. I realized that I had some god awful tan lines. Truthfully I am quite proud of them but in reality they are NOT sexy.

A couple of hours in the sun and we felt like we were getting a little crispy. We headed over to the main drag for some lunch. We spent the next hour and a half killing ourselves at the Miami posers. OMG there were all shapes and sizes and more camel toe than one girl ever needs to see in a day. At one stage the tears of laughter were rolling down our cheeks as the parade of weirdo's who thought they were the shizzle kept strolling past.

I did not have the guts or could not stop laughing long enough to get a snap of this dude that looked like Hulk Hogan's Dad. Just like HH only older. He though that walking the beat with no shirt, over developed steroid muscles , fake tan, grey hair and full body grease was sexy. I nearly fell of my chair.

If you are looking for the newest trend apparently denim cut off shorts are back in a big way. So what you say, well the girls of Miami like to leave the button and the zipper undone and they roll them down. Yeah so what , try no underwear and your landing strip showing THAT'S WHAT!!!!

Now we are back in yet another airport and we are living in hope that this next flight we are not situated near any one like we were on the last. The pleasant lady behind us on the last flight seemed to have an extreme gas problem, along with her snoring she was a treat.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Trying out the new race kit.

Today I took the IM Brazil kit out for a spin. It fit like a glove and is super comfy. K-Swiss are killing it with our custom kits for the pro's this season. I think the last two team kits are available on line. www.k-swiss.com. If you want to order some stuff my personal friends and family code is BALDING10-02 and you can use it to order stuff for 40 per cent off this month.

I just bought my dad a spiffy new run kit and shoes so you will see him prancing along Alii drive in October.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Swimming with Dolphins!

Hawaii Camp 2010

Another beautiful afternoon.

I love sunsets!

On my way up Hawi.

A pit stop to re fuel.

Kickin it with Jimmy.

Before our morning open water swim.

Brining in the EPIC5 boys Jason Lester and Rich Roll. 5 Ironmans in 5 days on 5 Hawaiian Islands. EPIC !!!!!!!

It has been 2 weeks since we got here. My my time flies when you are smashing yourself. Not only have we been training the house down but we have been getting the finer points of the wedding sorted. VERY exiting! Here are some shots from the last two weeks.

Things I love about this place.

Powerbar is the best... do you think we have enough stuff for 18 days? At least we don't have to re order in October.

Big George's Gym Pacific Island Fitness

1. Board Short runner. Big hunky island boys running along Alii in board shorts. No Lycra here. Just tribal tats and boardies.

2. An abundance of coffee. Every where.

3. Sunsets. Amazing really and it's not till you get back here that you realise how much you missed them.

4. Swimming with dolphins in the AM. Magic, you have to do it in Kona bay to know the thrill.

5. Pacific Island Fitness. Big George my man. Every visit we go straight to PIF and get a membership. I freak the big Island lads out. They see me come in and 2 and a half hours later they walk by asking if "I am still on there?"

6. Fresh farmers market Pineapple.

7. Warm weather. It's never cold here.

8. Costco.... bulk buying at it's best.

9. Care packages from our amazing sponsors. They understand that it is impossible to travel with everything these days and they send stuff ahead. Bless them

10. Our Kona family. All the beautiful folks that live here and make us feel at home.

11. Free pool admission.

12. 2 stops in 50 miles and polite drivers who understand us.

13. Sushi sushi sushi.

14. Bikini's are considered appropriate clothing at every venue. As I love a bikini this suits me down to the ground.

15. Scooters are the quickest and cheapest way around the island. With petrol the price that it is makes this an economical solution and a great hairdryer to boot.

Our second home.

After the rain of Noosa it was awesome to get back out in the sunshine and heat.

MMMMM Lava Java!

Coffee here is unbelievable!

Who's a happy Jimmy?

Leaving OZ is bitter sweet. We packed up our beautiful little unit, kind of, and left it in Stephy's good hands. We packed the bike bags and a carry on and headed to the airport.

I still laugh as I think about my first trip to the USA so many years ago. Oh the crap I packed that first year that I never used. A massive case of clothes and shoes. These days I still have trouble with culling the shoes down, I am spoilt by K-Swiss and have far too many options. However the clothes fit into a small overhead roll on suitcase. Yes six months, 3 continents and wedding to attend ( my own) and I have managed to get packing down to a fine art. Actually we get spoilt rotten by our sponsors and the send stuff for us all over the world. With out that we would be stuffed.

A quick pit stop in Sydney had us waving goodbye to Alice and Adrian and heading back to our other island home, Kona.

I love this place. It is such a rad town. Today was my first full day back out in the winds of the Queen K .... how I love you winds. The training here is perfect for IM lead up. Time trialling and hard road runs along with swimming with the dolphins = happy girl.

Clearly we had a coffee... but now off for a swim

Aloha

Memphis x

Leaving home....

Guy with his prized catch!

Pete was stoaked with his fish.

I spent the first 40 mins rigging all the first timers up.

Oh the serenity!

In our final few days before we headed back overseas we had the McKenzie family up for a day of fun fun fun! Crickey how quick did that 5 months go!!! Anyways a day out on the river with Vicki , Pete , Jac and Guy (the other future McKenzie) was super fun. Here are the pics of our fishing expedition. Just a quick reminder of the days score :

Amanda x 3 fish

Pete x 1 fish

Jac x 1 fish

Guy x 1 fish

Luke and Vicki = ZERO fish

Enough said..... actually no it's not ... I am an AWESOME fisher person!!!!!!

Stay tuned for Hawaii Adventures next week

Memphis x