Only 4 more sleeps.

Only 4 more sleeps till I pack up and abandon Luke. I am off on a "solo" adventure to IM Wisconsin. Well I am not sure how solo it actually is when you are meeting up with BFF Hillary and Mr Cat. Not to mention the K-Swiss crew and Guy Crawford but you get my drift. This will be the first race in ages I am off to on my own.

Before I go I must pack up all the ludicrous amounts of stuff I have collected here and put / send and pack it all into whatever categories I deem suitable. I will also hold one last dinner.... Luke, Matty Lieto and Conrad are going to be sitting down to a good old Aussie Lamb roast.

Now one does not like to brag but in this case I will. I am a fabulous cook. Quite frankly lamb is my specialty and I will be pulling out all the stops when I whip up this amazing last meal. I will take some happy snaps of said meat when I make it but in the mean time it is Tuesday so not only do I have to go shopping for all the trimmings but I also have to squeeze in the final sessions before I head out of here.

Stand by to be amazing....

Memphis x

Bend .... How I love you.

Well it is now 3 weeks till IM Wisconsin and I am training the house down. I have been in the proverbial box on numerous occasions. What box you ask? The agony box, the hurt locker or the House of Pain. All are basically the same place.

The training here is amazing but it is quite the lonely road as I do everything myself. Well kind of. I go to the pool with the boys but don't swim in their lane for obvious reasons. I do the same sets it just take me a little longer. I run my long runs out on the trails at the same time as them only I have to run longer. And a little slower. My friend is my MP3 player and I have spent a small fortune on downloads of late. The Dead Weather keeps me rocking along and my mind of the mountain lions that have been recently reported in the area.

My long rides are the same as Lukey's but once again we ride separately but on the same routes. I have managed to make friends with some cool people at the gas station @ Prineville. They think I am crazy and find it funny that I ride 112 miles all by myself. Luke always reaches the gas station before me and the bloke there takes delight in telling me how far ahead he is. And how many chocolate milks he drank.

All in all this place makes you both physically and mentally strong. It will remain to be seen if it makes me fast. One can only hope so.

I am meeting back up with BFF Hillary Biscay and her better half Mr Cat (Maiki Twilsik) in IM Wisconsin and am super excited to see what kind of cheering antics our GCM will get up too. He has a lot to live up to after Hills and I donned the bikini's in Lake Placid. See previous Blog.

With the final push towards IM I thought I would send out a huge thank you to all the amazing sponsors we have. The have sent us out so much stuff so that we can work our butts off out here.

K-Swiss for all the amazing shoes we get to run in. Sorry I am a klutz and tear up a pair every other week as I stack it out on the trails. Also for all the super cool clothes I get to train in day in day out.

Powerbar for all the delicious treats that save my life frequently.

Scott for the fastest dam bike EVER. And the super rad matching kit. If a girl must wear Lycra then a girl should match.

Smith Optics for all the pairs of sunnies I try my best not to drop or loose. I am pretty sure I can also thank you guys for wrinkle prevention.

Zipp, 3T and Sram your stuff makes us go super fast while being super comfortable. You can't believe how much my ass appreciates that @ the end of a 6 hour ride.

Blue 70 you keep me warm when the water is cold and up here on the mountain that is actually alot. You also make me fast when I need it the most.

IM Lake Placid, Mr Cat and promises kept.

Hillary waiting for Mr Cat.

Are you going our way?

If you zoom in our butt cheeks say "GO CAT"

So I felt as though I should write a blog in dedication to a promise made and a promise kept. Once upon a time Miss Hillary rang Memphis and suggested that when we were in Lake Placid supporting our friends Mr Cat and Kate B we should spice things up a little. Hills suggested we cheer in bikini's. "OK I am in." was the reply. Now this sound all good and well but one must take into account a few variables. First Lake Placid is not know for it's sunshine and heat on race day. More like torrential down pour and sideways rain. Clearly this was going to be a chili day. Second I had just spent 6 week in active recovery and on a European eating extravaganza. I was most certainly NOT bikini ready but a promise is a promise. You can not let your best friends down over a bit too much cheese and wine.

I was a spotter for the women's race and was escorted around LP by motorcycle rider Jim :) Thanks Jim. Out on the run I caught up with Hills and we applied the body art in the form of a magic marker. The messages of support were appreciated by not only Mr Cat but all the boys on the course. Actually some of the girls loved it also. At one stage the race coverage lost all stats as most of the spotters had abandoned the race to come see the bikini aid station.

In the end Mr Cat was not to win but man he had the best cheer squad out there.

Hillary I never break a promise and we had a whole lot of fun doing it so anytime anywhere I am your girl. Next stop IM Wisconsin.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Europe 2010

I loved riding here. It was so beautiful. Valle du Jour.

The day Lance fell and lost his chance at the tour.

The lead boys about 2km into a 15km climb.

The beautiful lake we ran around every day in Valle du Jour.

Chris Horner our local Bendite.

The early morning was filled with people trying to get a glimpse of Lance.

Memphis found a Frenchie friend.

Our hotel. Quite charming really.

I have no idea how I put 3 kgs on during this trip.

At the top of the climb the jumbo TV was awesome.
A gift for JJ.
After climbing all morning we deserved this burger.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

Once again I seem to have abandoned you. This usually happens when I travel too much and train heavily. In this case it is both. Since we last hung out I have been to more countries than I care to remember and have swam,rode and run more that I can recall.

I will do my best to bring you up to date.

Post Morocco we headed back to Spain. Spain to London to see my bff Clare and her man. Stopped off at the Glastonbury festival. Returned to Spain said a sad goodbye to the Marbella crew :( and headed to Italy France and Switzerland for work.

There was a load of training and some Tour du France action. Cadel slapped his race number on my ass. I thought I was going to be able to help him to victory but disaster struck the next day and he crashed. As did Lance. The fairy tale was over for this year. But I have a memento that is now stuck on the front of our wedding planner book ha ha ha. I am not your average bride.

Valley du Jour was awesome. I burnt off loads of the calories I ate in Italy. I fell in love with Italy all over again and pestered Jimmy to let me buy a vineyard. Sadly he did not approve. Apparently we don't have enough money just yet ha ha ha. A villa in Tuscany is not in our budget....but one day he said.

Post Scott Switzerland and 3t Italy adventures we headed back to the trusty old "Turtle". A small oversight on our part was leaving the old girl in Florida. A 3 day world class road trip followed. I think we broke the world land speed record for a Ford Econoline.

We arrived in our mountain home of Bend and I have never been so happy to unpack the suitcase. However before I knew it the hand luggage was re packed and I shot over to NYC for IM Lake Placid. My girl Kate Bevilaqua came 4th and qualified for Kona. No one deserved it out there like her. She has been traveling the long road back from a horrible injury. Not once have I heard her whinge or cry. She just kept fighting her way back and got just rewards with a Kona slot. Welcome back from Siberia love muffin.

I came across a bit of a glitch in NYC and missed my flight and Jimmy's birthday. He was not a happy camper but quickly forgave me after I spoilt him rotten on my late return.

Now I am just 5 and a half short weeks out from IM Wisconsin and boy I am excited. I have been loving the massive rides and trail runs here in Bend. Not to mention the 50 mt outdoor pool. YAY. Memphis is home sweet home.

On other amazing news Best Girl Hillary Biscay got engaged to Maiki "Mr Cat" Twelsik. Well done kids well done.

Kristian and Charlotte Manietta are knocked up and are having what I predict to be the worlds cutest baby. I have already picked out a nickname for him/her. I will call their child "Lofty" for I have no doubt that he/she will be of great height.

Well that's it for now but I will post some pictures of these adventures very soon.

Stay tuned

Memphis x