MEMPHIS ON THE ROAD

An olympic race in Sardinia!

2011-06-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

Holy brown cow that race was short and tough. A quick race recap the day before another race tomorrow!

Sardinia 11 Olympic race was upon me before I knew what was happening. A long flight across the seas from Brasil to catch up with Luke and my beloved Sardinia Tri Campers.

All things were amazing in Italy and I got to toe the line at one of my favorite races. Last Saturday turned out to be quite the race with over 25 pro's lining up. ITU/Olympic distance is NOT my specialty but I was keen for the punishment just 6 days post IM Brasil. I rinsed out the race kit and polished the trusty steed. I racked her and placed the recycled non pee Kwicky Blade Lites (clearly did not drink enough in IM B but thats another story) into the transition @ 12 pm. Race kick off was set for 2 pm. Bless the Euro's and their afternoon races.

The race went as follows:

Swim ... awesome swim and came out 4th just behind some of the ITU chickas!!! Clearly this was going to be the days highlite.

T1... mmmm may have to work on this one as got passed in T1 for 5th place due to being so slow.

Bike... Out on the rollers I was feeling fine. As we entered the hills I felt the sting of IM bite me in the ass but managed to hang on and ride quite well. That is until the descents. Ha I was comical with my TT bike and my 808 front wheel but who gave a crap if those ITU chicks where eating time into me as I Nanna'ered my way down the windy mountain (mental note work on descending) I was having a blast and I was in Sardinia for gods sake.

Smashed it back over the rollers into town and came off the bike exactly where I started ... in 5th SCORE!!!

T2... once again I did my Ironman transition. Minus the socks of course. Not amazing one might say medium.

Run... Mental strength came to me in a whole new way. I have never been in any triathlon in the history of my triathlon adventures and not gotten passed on the run. However today was not going to be like any other day. Top 5 got paid and come hell and high water I was going to finish in the top 5.

The run was horribly hilly but the old diesel IM engine got going and I did my 10 kms with a grimace on my face but a desire to succeed in my heart. I ran like I stole something and got across that bloody up hill finishline in 5th. Wahoo winner winner chicken dinner. I managed to sit down on the side of the road and spewed my lunchtime carrots everywhere to everyones horror. Not my finest moment but I had a grin a mile wide. Who knew pain could be so fun when it only lasts a few hours.

Lukey and I walked my tired ass home to Villasimus and talked about how many espresso's my massive 100 euro pay check would buy.

I know what you all are thinking... why bother for 100 euro's but it's not about the size of the pay check. It's about the size of the heart and the size of the fight in the girl. On this day I was the richest one out there, a prize fighter and I made myself proud to know I did my absolute best. Carrots and all.

Another day is coming to the end here in Italy and tomorrow is the 70.3 Pescara race. Heck I have lost my mind but how much fun is insanity!!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Big Girl Pants

2011-05-31T23:24:00.000-07:00

Well time fly's when you are having fun. Going into Brazil I had 4 full weeks under new coach Siri and 1 week in Texas watching Lukey but still training and one week taper.

I knew I was swimming well and running well but I had no idea how the old bike would go post ribs and crash. Turns out the day was comical to say the least but I learnt more about myself and my ability to push than ever before.

Here is the days recap.

Swim : 58 mins. Sounds great, was good but absolutely bloody terrifying. For the first time in a race I was scared shitless! I got the bejesus kicked out of me and I honestly thought "Oh crap I am going to drown" Some not so chiverous (spelling) gentlemen decided to pull me down and nearly drown me but I decided that this was not how the Memphis Story was going to end.

I gathered my composure, grew a pair and got going.

I ran through transition like a woman possessed. I jumped on the trusty Scott steed and bolted out of the gates. For all of about 1 mile. I could not believe that after 2 years of nothing suddenly the ass cramps were back full force. Within 2 mins I was lying on the ground screaming my lungs out in pain. My ass had locked up (stop laughing) and I could not peddle a stroke. I stretched and cursed and watched a million people go by. I prayed to someone I don't even believe in and begged that they went away. After what seemed like eternity I got back on the bike and rode off ... for another mile. Repeat above paragraph but add more expletives.

Take 3 ..... I actually got going this time and rode off gently. Positive mind positive thoughts. I hate to think how long I was groveling on the road side for.

I managed to ride the next 70kms with no problems. Siri had told me to be diligent with food and drink and take care of myself out there and the day will be mine. MMMMM easier said than done but I took this thought with me all day. "I am grateful to be here. I love my bike. I am loving this day" It actually worked as even when I stopped for the last time with cramps I kept my mind in a happy place and did not let it get to me.

Not even as I was pulling out onto the road and the peloton of riders came past did I get upset. Not even as this idiot draft marshal stopped me to hand me a penalty did I loose my cool. I did point out that if everyone was passing me as I had bearly started peddling I was clearly not the one who should get stung. I took it like a man and refrained from unleashing some seriously abusive Portuguese.

I finished the ride in 5.21. This will not be my official time as my Garmin does an auto stop thing. I shudder to think what it actually was on the clock.

Into the penalty tent for me. 5 long painful mins. My oh my. Big girl pants and positive thoughts. I was about to unleash my best run ever. Nothing was going to get me down. I was grateful to be here.

We all know my long hideous history with running. I suck lets be honest. Well I did until I changed my attitude and started to love running. I know I hear you all sniggering and thinking "Yeah right" but I actually do love running now. So I strapped on the K-Swiss's and bolted out the T2 tent.

4.50's to 5.05's all the way through lap 1 (19kms). Up and down the giant wall of a hill which I had decided I would walk prior to the race. It is freaking monstrously steep. Come race day however I said "Screw you wall of a hill" I ran the whole dang thing with the words of Siri ringing in my ears. I got to the point from last year where I blew to smithereens and charged on with a smile. I am loving IM Brazil right now.

2 small 10km laps to go. I could feel the body giving way slowly to the cramps but the mind was rock solid. 2 x 10kms just aint that far I kept saying. My calves were screaming for me to stop and stretch but I was honestly too scared to walk. One step of walking only leeds to two steps so the Big Girl Pants were pulled up and I kept on running in this weird wonky way. "Dont stop! Dont walk!" "Push harder" "Run faster." These were my mantra's. I had not worked my ass off in Kona for a month to be walking. Those days were behind me.

In the end I hobbled my way through the next 10 kms. The last 10kms were a bit of a blur as I just kept smashing myself. Clearly I was getting slower but in my head I was trying harder than ever before. I did a few 5.15 kms in the last lap but slowed due to more quad and ass cramps for the final 4 kms. My finish time was 10.37.

Officially the day was a disaster but in the past if the day was a disaster then I finish in 11 and a half hours. This goes to show that even when everything goes wrong we can always endure more than we think we can and we can salvage something from the giant mess.

I know that in spite all the cramping and mental road blocks I actually won the battle. I did not win a prize or prize money but I won the right to hold my head high. It was not the greatest day but dam it as it was not the worst. I found that I have a mental strength back that I feel like I lost a long time ago. One of my objectives of training with Siri is to regain the fighter within. Racing changed after an incident a few years back and I know that until this weekend I have been too frightened to hurt myself again. I am so fired up to get out there again. Pain is my friend again. Mental strength is not something that shows up on race day, it's something you practice in training.

I am sitting in an airport on my way to meet Luke and I feel as though I have reclaimed the fire with in. I am proud of my efforts over the weekend. I am not scared to fail any more. I want to be a better athlete. I will be. This race has shown me that the old me is back. Big Girl Pants are for fighters.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

When life gives you lemons ... make lemonade!

2011-05-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Since my last blog months ago there has been a life overhaul. Somewhere in April I turned 30 something. For my birthday I bought myself a present. A coach. Not just a best friend whom loves me and has helped me write my own programs (Belinda you are the best friend a girl could ask for) but a real full time nazi!!! Jokes, my new coach is no nazi but she is a wealth of knowledge and so passionate she instantly rocks your world. She has had me on her plan for the last 5 weeks and my god I had no idea I could work this hard and feel so good.

Siri has an amazing squad out of Borrego Springs and Santa Monica CA. A bunch of my friend are with her and we are a perfect fit. Even though I just spent the last month in Kona with Lukey I got more out of my training and myself than I ever imagined.

The ribs have healed and I am fit as. I am so looking forward to Brazil. I will fly down to South America with the other BFF Hillary Biscay on Monday. However before this happens there is a little race called IM Texas to watch.

Husband and super duper tri trooper Luke has a massive race on Sat. I will be virtual spectator and live twitter'er (is that a word) all day long.

Drop by his live site www.lukemckenzie.com/live to see all the action

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Crashing

2011-03-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well sadly I totaled the beginning of my season by having a pretty bad wreck. 3 weeks ago on Saturday I came down hard. I broke 2 ribs and did some pretty bad deep tissue damage. I won't complain though as I thought at the time I broke my pelvis so it could have been worse, much worse. I am getting better by the day but sitting on the sideline for the first 3 races I had planned for the year sucks rotten eggs.

IM NZ had to be canned, as with Abu Dhabi and Puerto Rico 70.3. It of course is no use crying over spilled milk so I have picked myself up and flown everywhere to support the hubby. I have weaseled my way into better seats on silly long haul flights to the best of my ability. I have cheered for my friends in 2 of the gnarliest conditioned races so far this year. (if I was going to miss out at least the races were horrible rain @ IM NZ and scorching hot sun @ Abu Dhabi.)

The saddest part of this all was the total destruction of my beautiful Scott Contessa. I had to throw her out after she was smashed to smithereens. I do have the greatest sponsor in the world and they have sent me out a new one to our next training camp. Also I can now say that the helmet needs replacing as it did a great job of protecting the noggin but cracked open on the ground and is now completely useless .

As the scabs fall off and the pain diminishes I am reminded yet again of how lucky I am to do this. I have the greatest life in this community of triathlon and am more than ever so grateful to be out here every day following my dreams.

I will be back.... slow and steady but back for IM Brazil.

Stay tuned
Memphis x

News for the NY

2011-02-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

WWow how time has flown. I could regress and look back over the last few months and tell you stories of what's been going on but most of you have seen my Twitter or Facebook so I wont bore you with the re hashing of Christmas / NY / Jan floods and Perth adventures.

Let me just summarize by saying by the time I got to training in the last week of November I was in for some trouble. I had to pay the piper. The off season/wedding extravaganza was in forced due to Luke's injury and man o man did we get FAT!

Fast forward to today Feb 10th and I am just 4 weeks out from the beginning of a new season. I am very excited. First up will be IM NZ. Have not been back for a few years and am excited to go see the land of the long white cloud again. Straight after I race there it is off to the wonderous new land of Abu Dhabi for Lukey. I have entered the half race but I am not sure how I will pull up post IM so we will see. Also just one week after Abu Dhabi we jet over to San Juan 70.3. I have always wanted to visit Puerto Rico. My dear friend Enid lives there so I will even have a mini cheer squad.

My business ABM Sports Management is doing great. I have a bunch of new athletes and it is all very exciting. First up to race will be Jessica Jacobs. She is my super mum extraodionaire, an ex army officer who will be racing in a marathon this weekend.

A whole bunch of ABM athletes will be packing up and going to Abu Dhabi. Luke McKenzie , Belinda Granger , Jess Jacobs and Paul Matthews are all going. I can not believe how quickly this season has come around. Very exciting stuff with the new WTC points system.

I will keep you all posted of this seasons adventures and hopefully we will have some super exciting news re the show soon.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Bad Memphis but happy Memphis!

2010-10-30T20:21:00.001-07:00

Cruzin' in Kona on my Scott Sub 10!

Out in the saddle on the Queen K!

On the Queen K with Bridesmaid Alice who was also racing.

Getting ready for the big day!!!

A sneaky champers before the ceremony with my girls!

Bridesmaids Alice and Summer!

The wedding party!

Girls getting girly!

Jimmy and memphis get hitched!

Well what a busy month.

After a broken wheel @ 30kms in IMW I had to abandon my race. I was really bummed but I went back out and cheered on all my friends. It was great to see fellow K-Swisser's Joe Gambles and Gina Crawford take down the wins. I also had the chance to hang with BFF Hillary Biscay. I had a stopover in Chicago and that meant one thing. A massive box of Chicago mix popcorn. Post race Matty Lieto, Maki , Hillary and I smashed that thing.

Only a week later and I was off to Cancun to a half IM race. I was entered and fired up but could barely walk with a slice in my foot. I entered, I finished but hell it was not pretty. I finished in a terrible time but dam it I started so I was glad to finish. Lukey on the other hand had a blinder and finished 2nd to the other Luke, Luke Bell. In a blink of the eye we jumped on the plane and headed to Kona to prepare for 2 of the biggest days of the year. First for Lukey was the Ironman. I was going to chase the race by spotting for the lead women. Then on the Tuesday following the race we would be getting married.

With 10 days to go disaster struck and Luke could not walk. He was in bed for two days with cronic back pain and was not even able to sit up. Slowly over the next few days we came to the sad realization that he would not be lining up this year. He was shattered. There were tears but then he realized that he something bigger to look forward to. The Wedding.

Race day came and went and my god what a day it turned out to be. As everyone by now should know it was a double Aussie win with Macca and Rinsta taking the top spots. Chrissy pulled out before the start with illness and showed everyone that in the end she is in fact human. Luke got a chance to ride around in the lead control car and leant more than he ever imagined. My other 2 athletes Belinda and Kate had a great but not super day. Both were just happy to be out there and enjoyed the Hawaiian atmosphere.

All the family had arrived and we were fired up to celebrate in a way you can only imagine. We partied like rockstars and had a blast. With everyone coming from far and wide. People from Perth, Sydney, England and the USA. I have added some pictures to commemorate what a great day it was. A small group of us headed to Vegas to continue the party for 4 more days.

Finally we are home. Back in our little apartment and man it feels good. Sadly my bike is missing and I am gaining, gaining around the middle that is. I am looking forward to a long hot summer of hard training here in Noosa with all the family. Belinda and Juzzy are building the GAC (Granger Aquatic Centre) in their back yard. I know where I will be.

I will post some great pictures of the Great Aussie Summer Adventures.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Cows and Corn.

2010-09-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Ironman Wisconsin is here. I am in a fabulous homestay with Bethany Collins. She is adorable and has a bit of a menagerie. She has 1 dog and 2 cats. They are fantastic. I love them and they come and sleep with me in the spare room. I am of course covered in fur.

Another high lite of this trip is that I will be racing with BFF Hillary Biscay. YEAH!!! She is completing the triple like a wild woman. Challenge Copenhagen, Ironman Louisville, Ironman Wisconsin. HECK.

Madison WI is beautiful. Very country. Cows and corn everywhere. I went for a ride of the bike loop the other day and took some of these shots. With only 2 more sleeps I am ready to go. Sans Lukey of course. He is in Bend still training up a storm for Hawaii which is only 4 weeks away.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Only 4 more sleeps.

2010-08-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-08-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-08-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

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

Morocco

2010-06-24T01:28:00.000-07:00

On our day off post X Challenge we headed to Morocco for the day. It was beautiful and interesting and super full on all at once. After hopping off the super speedy ferry we meet up with Abdul our taxi driver/tour guide for the day. He was a lovely man that live in Tanger his whole life. He spoke 5 languages and knew all there was to know about Morocco. Well the North anyways.

He showed us around Tanger and told us the history. Then he drove us to Assilah a beautiful seaside town. I absolutely loved Assilah. We stopped for lunch and I had a fish tanjine. The spice was amazing.

After lunch we strolled the streets and took 1000 photos. Here are a few.

Overlooking the city of Tanger.

The ladies of the alleys of Assilah.

Look left look right but dont forget to look up. A colorful roof top garden.

Painted doors are every where in here.

Out of the old city and into the streets for a market feel.
Sitting down for fish tanjine.
Another beautiful door.
And another.

This dude parks cars on the side of his other job. Over at Scott he is Monty's Boss.

Moroccan bread oven.

This mosque was built in 1355.

A box of kittens in the street that I wanted to bring home. Clearly I was not allowed.

Sunset over Tanger.

Luke enjoying the sunshine and some hummus.

After Assilah we travelled back to Tanger. Tanger is an amazing place but really full on. In a way going to Tanger is like going to Baja Mexico. Yes you are in Morocco but quite frankly it is not real Morocco. I would have loved to travel to Marrakech but sadly it was too far south. We just did not have time.

Would I recommend you go to Tanger? Yes I would but I would not stay there long. Half a day is more than enough. Get out and see more of the real Morocco.

Now we are back in Marbella and back to training hard.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Training in Spain.

2010-06-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

So with Scarlet dead and Lukey put to the sidelines Lu and I headed for the hills. On our bikes of course. Our fearless leader Gaston took us out for a fantastic ride up into the mountains and through a town called Ojen. I did not have the camera as I did not want a sulking Jimmy back at home. The ride was amazing and beautiful and we sweated up and down for 3 hours or so. I don't want to know how many meters of climbing... too many to think about.

The running here is awesome too. Lu and I have been belting up and down the waterfront on this perfect running path. It is only about 9 kms long all up but plenty long enough for us. Up back up and back... you get the picture. Lu is training for IM Regansburg. I am pushing her. She and I are the perfect pace together as I am just getting back some long miles and she is keen to run a sub 4 hour marathon. After a 15km session on Wed and a swim/bike combo Thursday we headed off to Tarifa. The idea was to help set up the X Challenge race that both she and her partner Jamie run. Somewhere in the days leading up we all decided that it would be a grand idea if I entered. HECK !!!!!

My previous mountain bike riding is as follows.

Once 14 years ago I rode a MB and hated it. Once last summer I rode down hill in Sun Valley Idaho and nearly killed myself but loved it. Since then I rode to the shops once to get OJ for the salad dressing but thats it. By Saturday I was on Jamie's bike in Lu's shoes and practicing on the SUPER EXTREME course.

Sunday I rode to the race start and that was my preparation. I know what you all are thinking.... OMG she is going to die.

The race started @ 10 am (gotta love the euros) and it was 1500mt swim. I swam well and came out 8th or 9th overall. This was my shining moment in the race ha ha ha. Off on the bike and I managed to crash in the first 10 mins but not badly at all so up and off again. I was passed by 1 girl straight away and she was uber good. I was not going to be seeing her anytime soon. I was having a blast and just doing my MEMPHIS thing. I am happy to report that I did not fall off again. However loads of people went flying past me as I ride like a grandma on the descents.

Lap 1 went by with out too much incident and I ate my gels like a good long course girl does. I figured before the race start that this might take a while so I packed a small buffet in my pockets.

Strangely I did not realize that it was 2 loops so when I got to the right hand finish turn I tried to insist in english that I was done and the volunteers tried to explain in spanish that I was in fact NOT done and had to loop around again....holy crapola. Ok I was in over my head but I was having a great time so around again I went.

Lap 2 was really fun as this long course girl came into her own. I passed half the field back. For 3 reasons.

Reason 1 : Everyone out there did not know how hard this course was as it was the first year and no one packed food so people were bonking left right and centre. I had 4 gels and a packet of chews so I was like the cat that got the cream. Stuff you " MR Fly by me like I was standing still on the downhills." Who's hungry now?

Reason 2 : Clearly everyone does not do 180kms on their mountain bike in a race so this odd distance of 45km (normally 30 in Xterra) was more than they had trained for. Love a good pair of IM legs.

Reason 3 ; My arms were so sore I could no longer put the brakes on so I went down the hills 3 times as fast on the second lap. I like to think I was a work in progress and was learning on the job.

Sadly 5kms from the end of the bike leg my wonderful adventure ended. My bike broke and I was out of the race. But the good news was that I had climbed back into 4th place so I felt awesome and would do it all again tomorrow.

I hitched a lift with the red cross sand dune buggy back to town. I had the best day trying something completely new and exciting.

Tarifa is an awesome place and we had a wonderful few days racing, training and god help Luke .....shopping! I picked up some fantastic gifts for my girlfriends and we walked around like a super tourist taking pictures of all the amazing buildings.

After packing everything up Luke and I decided to spend the next day in Morocco. I will have to write a whole new blog for that adventure. In the mean time here are some pictures of my awesome X Challenge Tarifa race and Spain in general.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Walking through the streets of Tarifa

The entry to the old city. Very lovely really :)
MMMM Tapas!

The old castle near our house.

The view from our roof. That's Morocco over there.

Post run happiness.

Out with Kaya and Tricky for a sunset run.

The run turn around on Sunday.
Jimmy running much faster than moi.
Out for a ride on the new Scott named after our friend LU.... Luciana.

Jimmy and Luciana heading up the hill.
One side of the beach is the Med...

And the other is the Atlantic.

Memphis is actually in a bit of a panic really.

Memphis talking a big game at the front of the start line.

Awesome swimming Memphis.

Ejecting the wetsuit.

Having a bit of a chat with the camera guy... Jimmy.

The finishline that never was for poor Memphis.

The wine was calling post race.

Italy to Spain and a tragic accident.

2010-06-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

One might have thought that the fact that Germany smacked us 4-0 in the football would have been enough. Oh no the Germans decided to put the boot in with a 12 hour delay and a completely smashed Scott Plasma LTD. Luke was horrified to open his bike box and discover that Scarlet had been smashed to pieces. Air Berlin shame on you. I have had a scratch or 2 in the past. I have even seen a small dent and this is the price you pay for traveling with bikes but this damage is unbelievable. Honestly this damage is so shocking and I warn viewers to look at the pictures below at their own risk.

Luckily for us we have the world greatest sponsor in Scott and Frank the AMAZING has sent Luke a new frame as of today. It should be here by Friday and built by Monday.

Scarlet will be sorely missed as she was a 2x Ironman Champ and she had gumption. She was beautiful and she knew it but she was classy and graceful in her acceptance that others would always stare and ogle her. As we sadly strip her down for spare parts we say goodbye to a fabulous lady. Thanks for the rides you were great :)

We will post new pictures of the new ride with her new name as soon as we can. In the mean time it is swimming and running for Lukey Boy. Marbella is turning out to be as beautiful as Lu and Jamie had promised.

Dear Zipp , any chance of a new one this one might not pass safety standards.

Yes your eyes are in fact seeing and folded in half carbon fork.

A top tube with a hole in it is not very aero.

Yep the other side of the folk was also snapped in half.... NICE ONE AIR BERLIN !!!

Stay Tuned

Memphis x

More of Sardinia.

2010-06-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from Sardinia Triathlon Camp 2010.

OMG here starts the eating festival.

Luckily we spent most days riding the most magnificant coastline.

I am not sure what I am going on about here but let me give you the tip... I am not giving directions.

Memphis hard at work.

The roads are perfect and so smooth.

The view was rubbish....not!

Are you having fun yet Jimmy :)

The boys on the track.

The other butt belongs to Marcello ... his english was awesome! We talked the whole climb.

This is where the swim sessions were held.

Clearly the water is perfect.

Transitions practice.

I love you Daniele Demartis.... Sardinia really is the most amazing place in all the Mediterranean.

Training in Sardinia

2010-06-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Looking over the square at night in the old Town of Caligari.

Double Daniele!!!

Vanessa, Luke, Elisa and Carlo at a traditional Sardinian dinner.

Titsiano raced his first olympic race and was awesome.

Luca you are a super star.

Four of my favorites. Carlo (the Tim O'Donell look alike), Marchello, Manu and Fabio.

Jimmy wins again!

The ladies I met before the race :)

Luke , Dani and Alessandro. Alessandro is pulling his model pose.

Holy Brown Cow thats a big bottle he has there.

Elisa, Vanessa and I at the after party.

That is not my Mojito I swear.

I love you guys and can't wait to come back next year!

Happy campers!

Luca spoilt everyone with bubbles.

Wow what a great week in Sardinia.

Luke and I got invited to Sardinia for a training camp with the Triathlonpoint.com team about 6 months ago. We gladly accepted the offer after googling Sardinia and discovering that we had in fact been invited to paradise. The camp was a week long with an olympic distance race at the end of the weekend. Daniele Demartis and his beautiful girl Elisa picked us up in Cagliari. They were so cute as they were shy about their ability to speak english. I of course busted out with all my italian, all 15 words. After loads of smiles and help from Vanessa the official translator we headed off to Villasimus.

Villasimus is a beautiful seaside town. Tiny really but amazing. We spent the next 5 days swimming, riding, running and talking with 15 of the best Italian's you could ever meet. I fell in love with this group and had one of the most rewarding times in all my triathlon adventures.

Daniele did an amazing job of organizing the camp with his partner Guiseppie. We laughed a lot and taught the team a few things along the way.

At night Luke and I headed out to explore our village. We enjoyed the local wine and food (perhaps a bit too much but hey you only live once) in the town square and practiced the language. I am truly in love with all things Italian and I have posted a few snaps for you to look at. I only hope that you all get the vibe.

We were nothing short of spoilt rotten by Dani and Elisa and we had a blast with them both. Along with Vanessa we became a little family for a week. Every time we headed out somewhere we took along 1 or 2 of the camp members for a bit of one on one. The boys (= my friend Maire who came to camp from Germany) were the best and I can not believe how good a time we had in spite of the broken english/italian.

Saturday came so quickly and we found out at the last minute that I was not allowed to race on my TT bike. Oh well I had to become the head cheer leader and commentator in english. Watching the boys race their hearts out and cross the line with huge smiles made my year. I will never forget how much fun 15 men can have in lycra. Racing for the love of it is alive and well in Italy.

Of course this was to be our last night and so we all headed out for some drinks together.

Thank you so so much Dani, Elisa , Guiseppie, Vanessa for arranging a fantastic camp.

A special shout out to my friends for life Alessandro, Maire, Marcello, Fabio, Luca, Mimo, Manu, Titsiano, Carlo (charles), Max, Massimo, Carlo, Sam and Gabriel. May we meet again soon.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

2010-06-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is the only race photo so far.

I love the twins , Justin and Jason.

Hillary and Maiki waiting for the awards. No wine yet.
The top 10 girls minus the winner ... she had to go home early boo.
Top 10 men, please note the extra hansome guy in the middle.
Jimmy is a 5 time IM Champ.

The after party dinner started with a meat extraveganza.
I found some lovely young Brazillian girls to hang out with Joe. He got nowhere.
Now this is what I call a race director. Carlos the Great!
Rodrigo and I danced all night and then climbed to the "Christo" together in Rio.
Ladies who dance.

Carlos I love you and I can't wait to get back next year.
A vista in Rio.
Amazing views.
The party is this way.

Sand castles are HUGE in Rio.
"CAT" dry food only.
More meat on a stick.
I love Fernanda, she is the world's greatest host. We can never thank her enough.
A Favela.

In here we ate, we drank and we danced the Samba.
23 times Hawaii Fernanda.
The love birds. Hurry up and hit that s*@t.
The Christo, getting a face lift.

Don't look down Memphis!

IM Brasil

2010-06-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

WOW what an amazing event.

First I should mention a MASSIVE thank you goes to Kenny Glah and his Endurance Sports Travel. Kenny had us completely taken care of from the second we landed. Now normally I love the travel and adventure that a new country brings however in all honesty Floripa would have been a struggle with the language issues. Taking into account the logistical worries of transporting the both of us and our stuff I am not sure I would have managed. Yes even I might have had a hard time as nearly NO english is available. In saying this Ken has put together the most amazing tour with literally hundreds of competitors traveling with Endurance. This tour experience was nothing short of FANTASTIC. Everything was organized and well planned out. From the transport and hotels to the after party Ken and his team were unbelievable.

Now onto the race report. I will keep it short and too the point. Good swim, 2 loops in a nice timely fashion = happy girl. Great bike also 2 laps. Super comfortable and no drafting issues as the course was very well thought out and extremely well marshaled. I was passing heaps of men on the second lap as the Brazilians had a tendency to go way to hard on the first lap. I loved this bike course. Rolling and fast but honest. Now for the run. First 9 kms perfect. On pace feeling AWESOME. Then the hill. I should mention the incredible wall of a hill that was presented to us can not be underestimated. It is EPIC but quite short really. Not too much trouble going up it. After the 1 km hilly section it is flat again and I was slowing a fraction but nothing to panic about. 5 or so kms on the top flat out and back section went without event. The back down the wall of death. Heck I feel as though this may have been my undoing. Well maybe a bit on the previous out and back but I will never know.

As I ran down the hills and back to the flat I actually felt ok but as soon as it leveled out I fell in a screaming heap. Not straight away but over the next 3 kms I was in a daze. Perhaps not enough food, perhaps I cooked myself on the bike a bit (I dont think so ) or perhaps I just ran too much on the tready in my build and my legs suffered. By km 18 I was cramping in my hips and hating my life. I struggled on for the next 15 km. At km 36 I kind of came out of it and ran a little better but not great to the finish line. I finished in a very respectable time but I was very unhappy with my run.

I will live to fight another day. It is coming together but sadly slower than one wishes. I will not give up. I love the fight and feel as though things are moving forward. My coach is amazing and she and I have come along way in this last year. For this I thank her. Thanks babes!!!

On a much more positive note Lukey CRUSHED them. From start to finish he had a perfect race. Amazing. I can not say enough of how amazing he was. I was so proud to hear he lead off the bike and won in a course record time. Also Miss Hillary completed the double, Lanzarote and Brasil. The poor girl had a sprint finish with Donna.... this could only be described as a nightmare when doing an Ironman. She finished in 4th and should be super proud of her amazing achievements over the last 2weeks. She is super hardcore.

I will post pics later as I am starving and must go eat. Also a post race party recap :)

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Brasil 2010

2010-05-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-18T02:07:00.000-07:00

Hawaii Camp 2010

2010-05-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-07T01:14:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-05T17:54:00.001-07:00

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....

2010-05-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

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

No news is good news.

2010-04-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well not much to report on the training /racing front. Just been putting down some amazing running, swimming and biking for IM Brazil in about a month. I was going to go to Busselton for a half IM which would have been super rad as it is practically my home town race. Sadly I had to can it for two main reasons. 1st my teeth have been giving me grief and I have had to do a root canal on one of them. Boo. Secondly the "super coach" thought my time would be much wiser spent smashing myself over here @ home rather than taper and travel to West OZ only to pack up and head to Kona days after getting back. All in all we figured I would loose a week to a week and a half of solid training. Not ideal for IM Brazil. Let's face it I have had some pretty shitty races lately and I really want to get my shit together this season.

On a totally different note I am excited to report that the wedding dress arrived and I no longer have to fear that I will be naked at our wedding in Kona in OCT. Actually everything is booked and organized. I am pretty pleased with how it is all coming together. I have sent the prized dress back to mum to look after as clearly one can not shove a designer dress into a bike box for 6 months and drag it across 4 continents and expect it to look any good on the day. She will no doubt take extra good care of it.

Lukey and the boys have got their finery and will look very dashing. Adrian the groomsman will be keeping me company this weekend while Luke heads over to the Busso race. Actually there are some pretty good reasons for him coming to visit. Firstly we don't get to see each other during the year while I am away so clearly there is gossip and an oyster to be had before we leave. Secondly he can come up with a small back pack and return to Sydney on the same flight with us and help carry our luggage as those thieving bastards at the airport wont let you pre purchase any more than 20kgs so they can double charge you on over weight. Wankers !!!!! Well I have out maneuvered you!!!!! This is no doubt the first small win of the travelling season of me verses all airlines world wide.

Lastly I am happy to report that the fishing rod and tackle box I got for my birthday has had its first work out. Thank you baby as I know how much you detest fishing and yet you bought it for me as I love fishing. Sadly Luke's angling abilities are a little sketchy. Amanda - 3 fish Luke - 0

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Singa's and beyond !

2010-04-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

Newtown Night Markets...where the beer is cold and the fish is spicy!

Did Joe eat some spicy fish?

Lucky the beer will cool us down.

Here is a few fun one's from our days in Singapore.

Jimmy finishing a massive day in China!!

Taking the win!!!

After 10 days in Singapore we headed to China for Jimmy's redemption. Nice work Jimmy!!! After all that tough racing we headed to Bali for some much needed R and R.

Stay tuned Memphis x

Finally a new card reader!!!

2010-04-05T20:55:00.001-07:00

Luke and his Best Man to be "Sparra"

Ado the other Groomsman in the pool after 14 Mai Tai's!!!!

Sunset Lukey!

Sunset Joe!

This place is RUBBISH!

Here are some belated photo's of the boys in Malaysia. I finally found my card reader on the same day as I bought a new one....mmmm. Seems that Lukey had taken a liking to it and had hidden it in his camera case along with my SD photo card. Oh well now I have a back up.

Next will be more shots of Asia!!!

Stay tuned Memphis x

Home Sweet Home

2010-04-01T03:21:00.000-07:00

After a quick trip down to Port McQuarie to watch the IM we are finally home. Training has been a blast this week as Alice (Bridesmaid @ upcoming wedding) is here and has been my training partner. Loads of laughing and talking. Today I took her out for a nice 4 hour ride that turned into a 6 hour epic ride. After smashing 8 shots of expresso we made it home... all be it a bit soggy. I got lost... was talking to much.

I still have not located my photo card reader. If I can not find it tomorrow I will buy a new one so I can upload some classic snaps.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Asia Smash Fest

2010-03-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have been in Asia for the last 2 weeks and not only have I raced twice but I have been on 8 flights and helped two of my athletes (ABM Sports Management) get over the line first in two IM's and a 70.3. Very exciting really. Belinda was amazing in IM Malaysia killing the field. She won by god knows how much and I was stoked to see her hubby Justin in 4Th. Luke had to pull out with an upset stomach. I lost my sox's in transition somewhere and failed to have a back up pair... shame on me. I struggled through. I finished that dam race that has kicked me in the ass so many times. I ended up with a massive blister but dealt with it with the help of good friend Jamie Vigary. He encouraged me to struggle on and I got there in the end. an 8Th place I think but a very crappy time.

Before we knew it we were back on he plane and off to Singapore. There we stayed with awesome Stephen Locke and his wife Clare. Locke runs K-Swiss Asia and not only put us up for 10 days but showed us how great a town Singapore is.

On Thursday we packed up again and headed off to China. Luke Belinda and myself were down for the 70.3 but with Luke unable to do Malaysia we switched him to the full Ironman. Macca was down along with Joseph Major and Chris McDonald. It was not going to be an easy race. Some people might think that Asian races are "Soft" as the fields are usually only 15 or so but let me give you the tip Asia is brutal. The weather here is hotter than hell and the winds can get right up as well. People can say what they want but when you see 1st , 2ND and 3rd place all collapse across the line you know people are not soft. The medical tent was packed and half the field could not finish. Soft my aunt Fanny.

Lukey took it to Macca and put 6 Min's into him by half way on the bike. At 100 kms he was out and Lukey was charging forward. Only Joseph Major could get him now... well if he could make it in one piece. Joseph is known for his run but Lukey held onto his 10 min lead and crossed the line for another well fought, hard earned victory.

I did the 70.3 and had an awful swim... no excuses just plain terrible. I rode the same as last year only with some massive winds. I was very thankful not to have been doing the full, let me tell you. I ran 10 Min's quicker but the weather was not as hot as last year.

I came second and rate my race as a C+ not good but not bad. I was schooled by Belinda G who came in 44 Min's ahead.... what a super star she is. 39, just won IM Malaysia and backs it up with that race. No wonder she is my coach.... you wanna learn , learn from the best.

With Luke's 4Th IM title packed neatly in his suitcase we had to fly out the very next day. Sadly we missed awards as we were unable to change our flights. It was a bummer but we could not do anything about it.

Right now I am sitting up on Ubud mountain with the IM Champ.... well he is tucked up in bed with what I suspect is a stomach flu coming on.

A huge thanks to all my sponsors... K-Swiss, Scott, Blue70, Powerbar, Sram Red, Smith without you all living the dream would be impossible.

I will find my photo card reader soon and add photos but till then

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Air Asia is average!

2010-02-26T02:43:00.000-08:00

Jac McKenzie was much nicer than the cranky guy in KL!

Ado and Memphis getting excited.

Joe the camera man and Jimmy.

Sparra and Jimmy!

Our flight to Malaysia was pretty good .... well except for the part where I had a fight with the counter guy. He did not want to listen so I bent the rules and won the victory.

At first he insisted we pay an extra 540 MR which was a complete rip off.

I moved half of our luggage around amonst the 4 of us and stuff him. We got away with a mere 220 MR .... take that cranky airline bastard!!!

After arriving late on Wednesday we settled into our hotel and got up early for a beautiful ride. Malaysia is really cool and I highly recommend this as a destination race. Especially if you want a trip on a budget. Great people , great food and very reasonable prices.

We tracked down the best man to be "Sparra" who is also here trying to get a AG Kona slot.

Will keep you posted on the all the happenings. Tomorrow is race day... cross your fingers!!!

Memphis x

A bit late but whatever.... better late than never!!

2010-02-26T02:30:00.000-08:00

My packing is down to a fine art!!

"Wolf Pack"

Jenni Jenni

The door handle came right off...it was a bit of a shock... but it might have been the wine!

In our last few days of Noosa training we moved our house guest Jenny Fletcher into our wee little flat. She had been staying down the road officially but due to my cooking had spent most evenings at ours.

On our last night Jen took us out to the local bar for pizza. Was loads of fun.

By the time we get back from our Malaysian adventure she will sadly be gone :( But never fear as we have some of these happy snaps of our "Wolf Pack"

Oh well gotta run off to Ironman Malaysia...

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Memphis is a happy GM

2010-02-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

My beautiful friends Summer and Aaron had a beautiful baby girl today (Feb 14th ) in the USA today. I hear she was in labour for about 17 hours.... Holy smokes that sounds hard core.

I have been asked to be the GM (God Mother) and am so fired up that Jacqueline Joy has finally arrived.

This picture is of me doing the JJ dance.

Stay Tuned

Memphis x

2 weeks and counting down.

2010-02-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

Jimmy loving the day at the beach!!!

Everything has been done. Now it is time to recover from the massive training days and taper the training back.

Most days we are too buggered to do anything or go anywhere but to training. Strangely today's 2 hour run felt like a stroll in the park. After weeks of massive long runs this was weird. We get to the markets and felt OK.

Since I felt so fresh and dandy I suggested a trip to the beach. Apparently the rest of the country is either flooding or sweltering in a heat wave. Not here in Sunshine beach. Here it is perfect.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

A Banana Smoothie saved my life.

2010-02-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

In our house here in Noosa I am the Master Chef. Now this sounds like I have tickets on myself but as Dede G once said to me "you have to hang your hat somewhere". I like to hang mine in the kitchen.

This is the last hard week of training and everyone is in the hurt box. Today after run intervals followed by Max's killer swim set I was FAMISHED. I came home and in my delirium I made what might have been the world's greatest smoothie.

I drank it so quickly I forgot to take a picture but we all know what it looks like so I will simply list the ingredients below.

This particular smoothie was made for 3 people.

In a large blender :

4 x medium banana's (taken out of fridge, must be cold)

5 x heaped vanilla ice cream musashi protein powder ( a Powerbar product )

1 x squirt of blue gum honey

3 x teaspoons of magnesium powder.

2 x Yakult live enzymes bottles

2 x MASSIVE scoops of low fat ice cream.

2 x glasses of low fat milk

Blend and serve in old school metal milkshake tumblers.

OK now I am ready for my nap.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Training Hard 3 weeks to go !!!

2010-02-06T01:57:00.000-08:00

Training is going really well here in Noosa. Lukey boy is ripping us all apart. Belinda is scarier than ever as she now has 2 working quads. Everyone is in full flight and I am getting fitter by the second. Today we went on an epic 6 hour ride. I held onto the big kids which also includes Mirinda Carfree who was 70.3 world champ 2 years ago. I got dropped up the big climbs but only by a bit. About 40 seconds or so later I dragged my ass back up to the group. I clearly was busting my butt whilst they were crusin but this time last year they would probably not have even let me go with them as there would have been no chance of me keeping them with in the same post code.

These last few months has seen a real shift in my attitude to training. When the going gets tough Memphis sucks it up like a big girl. No more short cuts and lame excuses. Go hard or go home as my old boss used to say.

With 2 and a half more weeks till we leave for Asia I am fired up with the news that Adrian will be coming to watch Ironman Malaysia also. Mum and Johnno bought their tickets months ago. Now the whole crew who was there to see the shit show that was Malaysia 07, will return and hopefully see what they came to see the first time. Me complete the toughest show on earth. If you missed those details from Feb 07 look on the old post lists and relive that little gem NOT!!!!

Anyways time to cook dinner and sleep.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

A quick trip to Sydney with the kids!

2010-02-03T04:26:00.000-08:00

Alice and Memphis!

Ado and Sissy!!!

Funny photo's in the car!!!

I love Ado!!

Sisters!

After landing in Sydney I got to spend the day with Ado, Alice and little sissy Sarah. Lunch at Sushi E..... then finally home to Lukey !!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Benji, Ramstine and the PCH!!

2010-02-01T22:31:00.001-08:00

Memphis at Boogies.

Benji and Rami.

Ohh la la ladies!!!

Ok a less glamourous Memphis at Neptune's Net.

Ben waiting for his fish taco's.

MMMM Fish Taco's

Look hard Mojito's in the crowd.

My final night and day in LA was spent it with the good peeps Benji and Rami. Both of these outstanding creatures work at K-Swiss. Ben and I have known each other from way back when I was in Timex. We used to see each other at races and toilet paper each others trucks. Shaving cream and toothpaste was the method of note leaving. Those immature days are behind us of course now ...well kind of. For my final night i went out with him and Rami to an epic place called Boogies. OMG what a hoot. Silver foxes every where and we were the youngest by at least 15 years. Loved it.

The next morning Benji and I dragged ourselves out for one of the best rides in Malibu. From Westlake we went up and over Petreo and down to the PCH ( Pacific Coast Highway)

We decided that on this ride we were hungry and we stopped into biker bar Neptune's Net. The fish taco's were AMAZING. Mojito got a little overwhelmed by all the horse power but she held her own in the line up out the front. If you squint you can see her in amongst all the Japanese super bikes and Harley's.

After the fish tacos a 16 mile climb up Mullholland Rd and then it was time to head back to Ben's and pack for the final time.

Nearly there Jimmy !!!!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

We are with the band.

2010-02-01T22:17:00.000-08:00

Memphis and "The Visionary"

Mike and his awesome band!!!

The Doors meets The White Stripes!

Final supper with my girls!

Last night out with Maire... the no longer a marathon virgin !!!!

One of my very cool friends from San Diego "The Visionary" invited me to go out to a bar and watch her awesome husband and his band play. Now I am not going to lie I was not expecting too much as they were the warm up band for the warm up act. However I was super stoked on the fact that these guys ROCKED!!!! Mike (Mr Visionary) was fantastic. I was well impressed. There was a few adult beverages had and loads of dancing. I will be sad to say good bye again but with last night spent out with friends at a great tapas bar I will bid farewell to my home away from home. Here are some pix from the last supper also :) Tomorrow I head back to LA to see my boy Benji Harper.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Riding the 101.

2010-01-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

As night falls.... SD I love you!

Magic!

Stop sight seeing Memphis!

Encinitas!

Riding the 101 is like coming home in some ways. It is where it all really started for me. A trip to the USA with a friend to see what real training was like. I had never done a half little lone a full Ironman. I rode this highway like woman possessed. I loved it. Luke was around here somewhere but I had yet to meet him. We may have passed each other on the highway but we will never know.

It is winter here of course but even in winter it is beautiful. I was so glad I got to take "MO" out here for a ride.

Here are some snaps from my ride today!

Memphis x

Snow one day sunny San Diego the next!

2010-01-28T11:48:00.000-08:00

Me and Bogee and the prized medal!!!! Very cool!

It is snowing I swear... the weather lady used the term "flurries"

The Master Chef Bill and second chef Bogee.

The master piece!!!!

This country is HUGE. In the last few days I have been all the way across it and back.

San Diego, Houston, Tampa, Washington, Knoxville, Chicago, San Diego.

What a 48 hours. I had to do some work but you know me I managed to fit in some play!!!!

I arrived in Knoxville after a world wind meeting in Tampa. I was staying at friend and Olympian Bill's Schmidt house. Bill competed in the Olympics in Munich. Not only did he compete but he won a bronze medal. Bill is rad and super fun. He picked me up in the freezing cold. As in snowing cold. I have only seen snow like twice before, OK maybe 3 times. We headed out to the market to buy massive steaks for dinner and I made him take pictures of me in the snow fall as I am a massive dork.

Dinner was cooked buy Bill and Bill's super duper dog Bogee. He is ten and fighting fit. A lab.

After dinner Tony arrived to give me a much needed massage as I was still walking like a retarded crab and needed one desperately. Tony also went to the Olympics for 800 mts. So basically I was a bit Olympic fevered and made the boys tell me all the amazing stories of their experiences.

After the massage another glass of red took care of the jet lag and I went to bed. Yet another 6am flight and I arrived back where I started just 48 hours earlier... San Diego.

It is 2 pm now and I have a date with "MO"

Stay tuned

Memphis x

The Marathon!!!

2010-01-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

Dinner the night before with the knocked up chicks !

Maire our marathon virgin before the de flowering!!!

Wow what a great marathon course! It was hilly and challenging and fun. Kind of.

I arrived with my friend Maire early and OMG it was freezing. I was NOT prepared for how cold it was. I had come from 95 degree weather in Australia and had arrived run morning to 40 degree with icy winds. I still did not think much of it as I did my warm up. The problem was we were all in the starting corral for about 7-10 mins getting freezing again. I stood with my pace group as the gun went off and was super excited.

We took off at the perfect pace and headed out. In the first mile there is a steep medium length hill. As we headed up I felt a slight grab in my right quad. No fear I figured it was cold and it would warm up and go away with in a few miles. I was in my tiny tri shorts with a singlet top and a flimsy long sleeve top I planned on taking off later. Mile 2,3,4,5 were fine I found my rhythm and was really enjoying myself. I was ignoring the quad tightness that was getting tighter but not to bad. As we took the side road I took a quick loo break and took the chance to try to stretch the quad. Holy cow I could not lift my quad backwards. Never mind I was running really well till now so I just started running again and slowly closed the gap from the break back to my pace group. Mile 8 saw a massive long hill out the back of Carlsbad. It was not particularly steep going up just really long. As I reached the top I could feel the other quad tightening and strangely the right one loosening. Weird. Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me.

Last year so many things went wrong in my racing I think I got a little soft in the head towards the end of the season. I had pledged that this year rain hail or shine I was going to hurt in every race and give 110 per cent no matter the challenges. Seemed like this race was going to test my resolution.

Mile 9 saw the other side of that long climb. I was starting to have real quad cramps and the weather was NOT getting any warmer. The descend was giving my legs hell. I was unable to run in my normal stride and I was loosing my pace group by just a touch. The highlight of the down hill was seeing Maire heading up looking amazing and strong. As this was her first marathon I was so impressed with her. She was still with her pace group also. Go Maire!!!

Miles 10,11,12 was a battle I did not want to stop for any reason but eventually at mile 13 I had not choice. I stop near a pole to try and stretch my quads. Both were a mess. I could not pull my ankle to my butt with out screaming like a banshee. It was so painful. I tried not to let it get to me and as soon as I felt some relief I was off again. No actual walking per say just stopping for stretching. That was the mantra.

Miles 14,15,16,17 saw me on the side of the road stretching numerous times more.... I lost count. I started to wonder if maybe I was dehydrated. Just in case I asked people for salt. Eventually one lovely man did. I swallowed them down and hoped for the best.

All day no one ran past me while I was moving. If I was standing still then yes I got passed but I was holding 8 min miles anytime I was moving which was good. Every step in mile 18,19,20 and 21 was agony. All I was thinking was that pace group 3.35 had not yet passed me so I had only lost 5 mins off my desired time. A testament to how hard I was running when moving.

Sadly mile 21 saw the 3.35 group go past. I was determined to stick with them but as mile 23 rolled around I lost them. The stopping to stretch was my only option. I was thumping my quads and praying that they could keep going. Mile 24 has you back in the thick of Carlsbad with all the crowd and I think that helped but somehow right behind me was 3.40 group. CRAP!!!

I held onto them until that descend into town. You remember the one from the beginning. I came down the hill running as hard as I could and as it flattened at the bottom my quads gave out and I hit the deck. How crazy just .7 of a mile to go and I was in agony. A lovely lady picked my sad ass up off the ground and I limped in over the line.

3.44 and I have never been so proud of myself for putting the hurt on my body like that. It hurt for all the wrong reasons but I made it and with a personal best. While I was honestly aiming for a 3.30 I had amended that to 3.35 after seeing the course. So with all the stopping and pain I feel happy with what I achieved out there. Once again the lesson is never never ever give up.

About half an hour later our marathon virgin Maire arrived. She looked amazing and so comfortable. She was awesome and I was so proud of her. Crazy German.

I was going to pay the price for this and within 2 hours of finishing I was a walking mess. I resembled a retarded crab. Sort of a weird sideways crawl. No rest for the wicked though as tomorrow morning at 6 am I am off to Tampa. Heck this could hurt more than the marathon but I doubt it!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Mo ... My new ride!!!

2010-01-23T13:27:00.000-08:00

The hot new paint job!

MMMM Carbon fiber!

Scott USA are ROCKIN!!!

Clearly this is not my new saddle position!!! I need to get the seat tube cut and a few adjustments but I am ready to roll!!!

Adrian from Scott USA is my hero! He knew I was coming state side for this marathon and sent my new bike ahead for me. Normally we just get our new frames sent to OZ as we get our Sram and Vison parts sent out there also. The bike build normally happens at home with Bob doing all the hard work. This time however I am going to be in the USA for a week and Adrian was kind enough to send a complete bike to me here in SD. I am so excited to be able to ride while I am here as Ironman Malaysia is coming fast.

That bloody race has kicked my ass twice now and god dam it I am going to finish it this year even if it kills me!!! I was really worried that not riding for a week could hurt my preparation a lot.

Never fear Adrian has saved me. After getting a $350.00 estimate from a local bike shop to build it ... they could shove that where ever it fits.... I asked A Man to help me. Last night A Man and I (mainly A Man) put it almost completely together. Now I can take it up to B+L Bikes and get them to finish it off. I should have asked them in the first place but was trying to give the new local business some support. MMM well I never, $350 as if.

My New Contessa is sexy as!!!! I love her. A Man thinks I should name her Mojito or Mo for short. I like it !!!!! Mo she is !!

Tomorrow is the marathon so I will let you all know how that goes!!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Avoiding rush hour and road side naps.

2010-01-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

I think I ate a whole cow!

Marie, Sum Sum, A Man , Memphis group hug!

A Man and I ... he looks so serious with the new hairdo!

After a great morning but an unobtained swim set I headed south to San Diego. I know this drive well and could do it blind folded... well almost!

I only packed one actual CD and listened to it the whole trip. With Lisa Mitchell blasting from the rental car I made my way down the 405. I was making good time but was getting sleepy. Crap!!! I knew I was going to have to pull over for a nap. Road safety first!!! I pulled up just 10 kms away from where I wanted to get to. Amazing really. My body clock hates me right now. I laid the chair back and made a pillow out of clothes and got some zzzz's. After waking up I drove the last 10 kms to Frog's Gym and went in to do the session.

Frog's is kind of posy with tons of girls in designer lycra who prance around and bend over a lot in front of MASSIVE guys who have more muscles than brains. It's kind of funny actually. There are a lot of pervy old dudes too. Not a lot of actual sweating and working out for these women. So here I am in my running shorts, bra top, knee high compression sox and K-Ona's belting out my 40 min run on the treadmill. Sweating it up and minding my own business. I got a few strange looks about the sox but hey I had been in transit and had no intention of getting cankles ( fat ankles and calves). I left happy with myself that I had managed to stick to the program in spite of no Jimmy waving the whipping stick.

Dinner time was at a steak house. I had been eating salad , fruit and sushi for the last 48 hours as these are the best options when flying. Somehow in the past I have been able to gain 2 kgs on a flight. I think it is all the soda, red wine and cheese I previously decided lived on when travelling. Now I was dying for real food. Summer , Aman , Maria and I all stuffed ourselves at Saska's. Saska's was so good and the steak was as big as my head.

After dinner we headed back to Summer's house where Aman and I will attempt to build the new bike. I will let you know how that goes!!!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

LA with JF

2010-01-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

Ivette and I .... this is her Blue Steele pose!

Jen F , David "Boot" Bond and Memphis in K-Swiss!!!

Laurel and her amazing new season samples. I am so sad I am not sample size!!!Surely something can be done about this Laurel!!!!

Jenny in front of herself !!!!

I was happy to finally arrive in LA. What was meant to be a early dinner turned into a late night affair. I finally picked up friend and fellow K-Swisser Miss Jenny Fletcher. She had been patiently awaiting me at a Peet's Coffee for like 3 hours ... ooops! We headed out for a dinner at a yummy Japanese place. After stuffing ourselves we headed back to her house to get some sleep before our scheduled 6.30 swim. Now I had all intentions of getting up for this session but considering my long day of flying and not getting to be until 12.30 it was looking a little shaky.

The alarm went off and I pushed my way out of the haze only to do the math and realise that if I did indeed get up it would actually be 11 pm for me on my time. Clearly this was unreasonable and I went back to sleep. I don't think Jen minded either as it was torrential rain and gail force winds outside.

The day got underway at about 9 am and we headed off to the K-Swiss head quarters. There we caught up with all the usual suspects and raided the goodies closet. A must if the big boss ( Erik V) is down in OZ for the Australian Open Tennis ha ha. I went in to see Laurel my favorite K-Swiss designer and she had so many super awesome shoes coming out it is amazing!!!! I hate that sample size is a 7.5 as I am a 8.5 boo. That bloody Katya Myers gets all the breaks with her tiny 7.5 feet :)

After we smuggled out the good stuff I had to make a break from the big smoke and head south to the homelands of San Diego!!!!

Let's hope I make it before the rush hour.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Memphis on the road... SOLO!!!

2010-01-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

Me and my K-Swiss Tubes waiting in the Airport.... We miss Jimmy!

I have packed my bags yet again. However for this trip I will be SOLO!! No Jimmy and no bike!

I am headed back to the USA for 10 days. There is a whole bunch of work to do on our not so top secret project. I will reveal all after this trip but very exciting.

In true Hillary Biscay style I have snuck in a marathon. After last years pitiful ending to the season I kept the running up all off season and harassed the poor people at Active.com to let me in the Carlsbad Marathon. Finally I was let in but sadly it was due to a lovely lady being injured. Get well soon Kelly!! I will be competing with my friend Marie. She is a crazy German girl that has just gotten into triathlon. Her coach is non other that Peter McKenzie.... Luke's Dad and considering his success with coaching Luke, Jac and Guy over the years I am expecting great things from her. She wonders when in her life did a marathon become a "training day ". She will be awesome.

As I write this I am in San Fransisco transit area. The plane ride over was pretty funny. I felt sorry for the poor fellow who had to sit next to me. I think I talked the first 4 hours straight. Turns out he is from a small country town about 70 kms away from my home town. Newdegate has a population of about 200 and so does his so the chances of running into each other was pretty slim. He did not seem to mind the endless chit chat. Us country folk like a chat.

The storms are in and there are delays. I am hoping for the best but you never know. This is my first winter in forever. I had to send the sweaters/jumpers out to be dry cleaned as they hadn't been used for 4 years...seriously. Ugg boots and scarves heck my tan will rub off by the time I get home.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

A quick trip !!!

2010-01-17T02:48:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend Luke and I headed south to Melbourne. We were shooting a TV ad for K-Swiss. It was a blast. We caught up with Erik, Terenzo and Kel. It was a fly in fly out affair. However I am happy to report a Serena William's sighting and a quick exchange of hello's as we left the hotel. A brush with fame. She is a massive woman. I would pee my pants if I had to attempt to return a serve from her. The Australian Open starts tomorrow and sadly we missed all the action.

Noosa is getting busy. All the Euro's and people from the colder areas of the world are arriving. No one loves riding in freezing weather. So unless you live in Hawaii, Tuscon or Florida the chances are you are looking for a winter escape. Over the last few years a lot of our friends are heading here.

I will keep you informed of the exciting trip coming up next week and will find the camera cable soon I promise.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

More of NYE and visitors.

2010-01-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

NYE with the boys!!!

Oh dear Mina and I are at it again.

SO gangsta!!!

Site seeing... searching for waves!

Family!

At Byron Bay!

Hippie Chick... at Nimbin.

Ladies who lunch!

I was sent through some of these classic christmas NYE pictures.

I have been playing around with the color of my blog. I have had some complaints so I am going to change it again .( winks and smiles at Phil :)

Hopefully this one is better.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Happy New Year.

2009-12-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

2010 came around so fast. 2009 was a good and a bad year rolled into one. No more looking back only looking forward I say.

The new year was rung in with amazing friends here in Noosa. A picnic down on the river was super fun. I cooked a giant leg of lamb. Souvlaki style. The mint jelly was even brought out in a social function. Heck I must really like these people.

I woke up on the 1st day of Jan without a hangover. A good sign. We headed down to main beach for an ocean swim. Out to Teatree Point and back. The water was a little rough. I flipped around like a bit of a wounded seal however I still made it there in good time. The trip back gave me a little love kiss across the body and face by a blue bottle/stinger type creature but hey I won't complain as I also got to see one of the local turtles.

I am fired up about the beautiful weather here and the training that is happening. So as I dive head on into a new year I want to send out a quick but heart felt thank you to all of our amazing sponsors and friends for with out you all we would be no where.... THANK YOU so much.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Christmas Photo's

2009-12-29T23:52:00.000-08:00

Guy and Jac

Luke with his Secret Santa gift.

Happy Jac, Sum Sum, Memphis on chrissy morning.

Guy wearing his secret santa gift.

Sum SUm ,A Man and JJ.

Dinner ...Yum!

The dinner table @ the Grangers.

Pete and Nev.

Christmas and other goings ons !!!

2009-12-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

The end of the season came to a close. We finally made it home to our beautiful little apartment only to leave again for WA just 3 days later.

We headed west to watch Happy Jac (Luke's baby sister), Alice ( my bridesmaid in Oct) and her sister Caroline all race IM Western Australia. All of them were terrific on a super scorcher of a day. Happy killed it with a PB, Caroline was amazing with a IM Debut of 10.30 something and Alice came second in her age group and got one of those very sort after kona slots :)

A quick trip around the south saw us catch up with everyone and 5 days after we got there we were back home again.

This year it has been great to be home so early and back into training with Belinda and Justin. We have the best community here. Everything we could want. The weather has been great. Well there has been a couple of rainy moments but hey I wont complain.

Finally the other huge news has been Christmas. My best girl Sum Sum and her man Aaron arrived early Christmas day. Sum is 7.5 months pregnant and her baby JJ is enjoying her first trip down under. I am going to be her "GM" (God Mother) so I have been loving hanging with them. Breakfast was at our house and Luke's family and Happy's boyfriend Guy came up before we packed the car with everything including the dining table and chairs and headed to Belinda and Justin's house for Lunch/dinner.

What a fantastic afternoon as we had Kristian and Char and her folks also. Belinda's Pop was there and he is an old cracker of a bloke.... so funny. Belinda's mum and dad got through all the yummy wine I brought with me. There was even a late drop in by Simon Thompson who is up for a training week.

With all the food and drink it has been straight back into it. i think we will be riding down to Byron Bay tomorrow. That should melt some calories.

Will post pics tomorrow :)

Till the new year take care and stay tuned

Memphis x

Our Apartment in Florida!

2009-11-06T19:07:00.001-08:00

This is me all sweaty after our run.

It was the night before!

2009-11-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

I have skipped a blog.... the blog of us returning to the mainland and doing a bunch of cool stuff. I will get back to that after the race.

It is the night before IMF and I am sitting in bed eating Ben and Jerry's ice-cream with Jimmy. This is the last step of pre race preparation. The only thing left now is sleep and race!

We have been given an awesome home stay apartment right on the gulf of Mexico. It has a great balcony which we watch the sunset every night. I love this race. Last year I crushed my PB and finished in 10.09. This year I have trained my butt off and I am sure the I can better that.

A late entry by Luke has meant that I won't have the full support crew that I did last year. However he has been put on strict instructions to cheer from the other side of the road. Now most races Luke is all business and does not give me even a smile. This race is for fun and a kind of experiment for him so no excuses for not sending some love and cheer over to me.

I have had so many people send good wishes and I know that I will think of every one of them tomorrow. I am so blessed as I get to do what I love and I love what I do. No matter what happens tomorrow I will be smiling at the end of the day!

Run Jimmy Run ( I love you ) then get your butt back out there and cheer me over the line!!!!!

Stay Tuned

Memphis x

More of the good stuff!

2009-11-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

Our super cool windsurfer friend Phil had us at his amazing hillside home for a few days in Maui. Magic!

Joe had his little house outside on the farm.

It was cold up the top of the mountain!

Jimmy rode as Memphis tapered!

It was so darn windy this day but it is all money in the bank for Florida IM.

They were serving cups of HTFU out there!

Some Pix of late!

2009-11-03T21:32:00.001-08:00

Joe and I eating the yummiest shaved ice ever.
A happy girl watching sunset after a MASSIVE day of training!
The ride to Hana was amazing... so was the banana bread!
Ok the ribs we pretty good too .... Heck!

The beach in Hawaii.... awful I know!

Hillary and I looking twelve while sitting under a table ???

A day at the beach in Kona in between sessions.

Me and the coach!

Here are just a few happy snaps taken over the last few weeks in Hawaii.

Stay tuned more to come!

Memphis x

Hawaiian Time

2009-10-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Good lord where does one start when she has been so neglectful. Perhaps race day.

Race Day was EXCITING! Luke had a great day even though he may say he is a bit bummed he did not make the top 10. 15Th is still super awesome! A huge year of racing and slightly cooked legs did not stop him from trying to go with the big boys on the bike. Yes he paid the price a bit later but you never find out if you have it if you don't go see. He could have sat in the pack and ran a few minuets quicker but he got off and had another go for the first half of the marathon. He learnt so much and I am so proud of his awesome efforts. Good job Jimmy!!!!!!

Post race was the K-Swiss party. Super duper fun here. Our afternoon started with me coming good on my Opus One bet with Sam M. I said if she got top 5 we would crack it. She did so we did. The wine was amazing and the party just got started. I high jacked the front door in my drunken stupor and rightly so got punted off by Erik. Bless him for putting up with me for that long anyways ha ha ha. I actually pulled the party pants off pretty early as training had to be done the next day.

Training and more training happened on the big island before we headed off to Maui on the Monday after. We arrived at the 10 day Maui headquarters and settled right in. Actually we got separation anxiety from Belinda and Justin. We all met up and had a blast over the next few days. I was of course training the whole time and had a great sag team of Joe and Luke every day. More miles were clocked off in spite of a nasty cough the plane had given me.

Somewhere in there was this little race Luke entered called Xterra. However if you want to hear about that shimozzle I think you should head to his website for the classic and funny recap of the race that never was.

Today is Wednesday and we are finally packing up from Hawaii for the final time this year. I think we have spent nearly 11 weeks here in total. No wonder this blog has gone on to Hawaiian time. Tomorrow we head over to the mainland. It will be a long trip back to Louisville KY where we left the Turtle. From there we head to Florida with a few quick stops on the way.

Some good people from the South have extended the hand of friendship and we are heading off to Tennessee to watch a collage game. It will also be Halloween and that means a costume party. I love a good dress up.

I will do my best to get my act together on this blog ....

Until then

Memphis x

2009-10-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

OK I have been crap... sorry.

Kona is crazy! I managed to hold it all together training wise till yesterday ( Thursday) but then I had to adjust due to support crew duties!

Luke is ready! I am so excited to watch him race. After a smashing year for us both this is just cream on the sweet cake of life that we enjoy. For some Kona is the be all and end all of their season. All their eggs go into the Kona basket. For us Kona is a place to try out race strategies of the future against the best in the world.

One day Luke hopes to win this race. However for now he is just happy with coming here as fit as possible and with no pressure. He will give everything he has and will know that he can take risks to learn. He is swimming like a freak and riding better than ever. After doing 3 Ironmans to improve his marathon times he comes here hoping to put it all together. I know he is capable of a top 10 but so many things can happen ... both good and bad.

The field is amazing and everyone is pumped up. There will be about 7 guys truly capable of winning and at least 25 guys capable of going in the top 10. What will be will be.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Summer Twist and JJ. Summer has come out to support us both for the last 3 years. She is a super fan and sister forever. Our mutual buddy Marie is here also and the 3 of us will be uber supporters on the long day tomorrow.

Vicky and Pete ( Luke's folks) are here to cheer and we will all be holding our breath for about 8 and a half hours. Go Lukey!!!!

Good Luck to everyone , Stay safe and Stay tuned :)

Memphis x

Hawaii Training

2009-09-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

While I would normally have a bunch of cool shots and some funny stories to post unfortunately in this blog I do not. I am on the couch, hot, buggered and training like a crazy person. I am getting into HEAVY training for IM Florida while every tom, dick and harry in town is heading into taper for the big dance. I promise to get my ducks in a line and write something worthy of your time soon. Just not today!!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Back in Bend

2009-09-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

A week and a bit later we are back in Bend. Now I am not sure what happened in the week that we were away but someone turned the thermostat down and I am not happy about it. I actually recovered quite well and drank my way back into training. Red wine will heal all. After a 3 day break in Vegas visiting 3 of our awesome friends we flew home. I would go into details but as you all know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!!! ( A massive thank you how ever goes out to our beautiful hosts)

We landed and no longer had the "Turtle" as she is parked safely in Louisville awaiting our return. After we picked up the little hire car and drove to Matt and Lea's house with a quick stop by our Bend parents "Lady B and Big Daddy" to pick up all the mail and goodies sent by our awesome sponsors.

The little house on the hill was suddenly very full. Matt , Lea, Luke , Milli the dog , Clyde the bobcat and myself. At least there are plenty of people to keep warm. This morning I left to go ride and it was 9.30 am and a mere 49 degrees. HECK! I looked quite the sight wearing Matt's warmers... Matt is 6 foot 2+ and I am 5'8.

Apparently there was a light dump of snow up at 7000 ft last night. Time to go I say. Hawaii here we come!!!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Happy Father's Day !!!!

2009-09-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

Today is father's day here in the USA !!!

A big HFD to my daddy Jim Balding!!!! Hi daddy I miss you and I love you x x x x He is super awesome and I don't get to see him a lot as he lives all the way over in Perth Western Australia!!!

Sorry we don't get to hang as much as we would like. At least I know you are in good company and Wilma is keeping you on your toe's.

See you at Christmas!!!

Love Memphis x x x x

aka Amanda (sounds so serious)

aka Mandy (yuck)

aka Grub (an oldie but a goodie)

aka pain in your ass (probably the most used when describing me as a youth)

Ride Memphis Ride!!!

2009-09-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

IM Louisville!!

2009-08-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

What a place and what a race!

We arrived at our home for the next few days ... the KOA !!! Our KOA is run by Ben and Thomas. They welcomed us with that southern charm. People from the south are awesome. The know how to look after you. They also have a very cool drawl when they speak. I think I may use it for a while.

We set up camp and then headed out over the next few days to do countless interviews and some course recognisance. First thing we noticed was how tough the bike course was. Holy smokes someone needs to re write the race guide. Try hills, hills and more hills. Rolling course my ass. At least they got the run description right ....flat.

We got all the serious stuff like interviews out of the way and went to see the kids at the K-Swiss booth. Love those crazy peeps. They were busy selling a truck load of shoes but had a few minutes to have a quick reunion.

Luke and I spent the day before the race setting out our stuff and relaxing. Late in the afternoon we dropped the bikes off and then headed back to camp to get a good nights sleep.

Race morning came so quickly. We both threw down the standard breakfast before donning the Lycra and heading to the race start. There are a few unusual things about IML. The first is the river. MMMM not the cleanest water but at least it was 89 degrees. Warmer in than out. Also a sneaky late entry by my old Timex team mate Viktor Symetzev (Spelling). He had the pro men buzzing as he is a 6 time IM champ with a kick ass bike/run combo. Pre race it was all Luke, Max and Raynard as favourites. Luke and I knew Viktor was a massive danger though and it was going to be an interesting day.

The gun went off and we got underway. I was in a great group early and held onto some fast feet. As we headed around the 5th buoy I was starting to feel the strain. I just was not fast enough to hold on and the girls got away a bit and I was out on my own. This was not too bad as at least I was not pulling the second pack as I find my self so often doing. At about the 3 km mark someone came up on my inside but I was tiring and strangely could not go with. I got out in 1.04 a little outside my 1 hour goal. Mental note to myself.... more pool sessions Memphis.

Not wanting to stick on things I cant change I headed out of T1 with fire in my legs. On the bike I quickly got into it and felt great. All the hard work was paying off and I was riding really well. I passed one or 2 heading into the 30 mile point. I was told the one and only Fernanda Keller was just ahead. She is amazing. She was trying to get her slot to Kona for the 23 straight year in a row. She is a legend and can still mix it with the young girls. Even if she is in her 40's. I rode up to her and told her to snap out of it and get riding because she was not going to get a slot if she rode like she was. She fired up and smiled and said "you are right" She is one hell of a rider and we both got going. We managed to drop last years winner Mariska Kramer pretty quickly and passed a bunch of other girls too. All was going great and we were making good ground until 90 mile and at the bottom of the last climb I got a dam puncture. F*ck!!!!

The worst part was that there is meant to be a gap in the glue directly opposite the valve so that when deflated it pulls off but if the dickhead who glued it on (some random bike shop who did it for me before my last race) does not do that it is impossible to get off. After screaming expletives while on the side of the road for 5 mins my race was saved by some amazing man who stopped and interrupted his day to help me. It turns out this saint was non other that one of Hillary's athletes. God bless him. He is a doll and I can never thank him enough. I still owe him a beer :)

5 more mins and I was back on the road. Tyre fixed and anger pushing the peddles. On the results it said my bike split was 5.35 with the flat but on the clock I rode 5.25 so I was very pleased. My bike legs had decided to show up.

I got done with the last 22 miles and headed into T2 with a marathon to run. I was pumped up and ready to smash myself. Over the last few months I have worked hard on my run. Really hard. I have a bad habit of getting tired and running up and down on the spot. My stride shortens and basically it all goes to crap. My new and improved cadence and forward lean would be put to the real test now out on the hard road. It is on thing to do it up in Bend and another thing entirely to do it after the swim bike.

The first 21 miles we terrific. The next 3 were bad. The last 2 were shocking. However in the past when I fall apart I go over 4 hours. Way over. Not this time. I was just 3 mins short of my personal best. 3.54. Progress is happening. I look back now and see that smashing the final 22 miles on the bike hurt me. I can't believe that I still managed 10.41 and did not loose my shit after the flat. I can get a little rattled with that stuff sometimes. Amateur stuff really.

Anyways enough about me. How about my man Lukey!!! What an incredible race he was out of the water behind super swimmer John Flannagan. He took off after him on the bike, made the pass and spent the rest of the ride solo. He built a massive 7.5 min gap out of T2. As I entered the run course I saw him meters ahead making the turn for his second lap. He looked amazing and ran the race of his life. Viktor Symetzev had to pull out the run of the year to catch him. A 2.43. Viktor caught him at mile 23 and Luke refused to give it up. He picked up to Viktors pace and held onto him for the next 2 miles running side by side, stride for stride. With 1 mile to go the Ukrainian picked up the pace and broke my man :( In the end he took the race over Luke by 30 seconds.

Had Viktor not been a late entry the result would have been very different. However I think that by Viktor being there and pushing Luke so hard it took Luke to a new place. A place that he had not been to yet on the run. I am so frigging proud of him and suspect that in spite of the 2nd place I believe that he learnt more than he ever would have if he had won by 13 mins.

Sometimes the loss in a tight battle makes you a bigger better athlete for the next race.

Now it's time for a little r and r in Vegas.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

More from Speedway ...

2009-08-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

MMMM Pulled pork!!!

MMMM Ribs

Earlier when we were making healthy options!

Doing the podcast at Zipp!!!

Speedway Indiana

2009-08-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

Jimmy, Go Pro and Memphis!

The Brick Yard

Nice lycra kids !!!

"Go Pro" just a few days before our visit.

Sweet lord, Baby Jesus..... maybe I am picking up some of the south! What a wicked awesome day we had today. We rolled into town an hour late due to the fact that we crossed a time line and no one in the car realised. We headed to Zipp World Headquarters. At Zipp we have the coolest sponsor ever. Greg "GO Pro" he is a sweet young thing ..... that's the south getting to me again.... who has just gotten his pro card. He is super awesome and showed us around the factory. Zipp makes the fasted wheels in the business and what an amazing place. They banned us from taking any cool pictures unfortunately. Top secret stuff you know. He showed us the whole process of carbon fiber wheel making and I was very impressed with the intricate hand made process. Who would have thought!!!!! Not me. We sat down with some of the media guys and did a cool web live pod cast. I will add the link when we get it :)

Anyways after the tour we strapped on the lycra and headed out to the local park ride.... Go Pro is not yet allowed out on the open roads after face planting it off his bike the other week and loosing some teeth. Ride done and a huge salad to refuel we headed back out on the road for the final leg to Louisville KY. But not before stopping at the world famous Indianapolis "Brick Yard" Speedway.

Some how on the way we got hungry again. We tried really hard to take the sandwich Subway option but as we pulled up to the exit there was trouble on the side of the road. A sign saying "Real Fresh BBQ" Heck no that was too good to pass up. Hell we were in the South and lord knows that you don't get better BBQ than in the south. Clearly not a healthy choice but hell I love BBQ. Ribs and pulled Pork sandwich. Yum.

Back in the car and over the state lines to Louisville we go!

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Kansas Pix

2009-08-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Classic!

Some wildlife!

Boulder to Kansas!!!!

2009-08-29T05:03:00.000-07:00

After driving through religious billboard country.... apparently "Jesus will save me" and "Jesus rescues and pornography distroys " mmmm, we got us to our next training stop Lawrence Kansas. The home of Basketball. This is a cool little town where Pip Taylor and hubby Justin lives. The a one of the few places in the States that embrace the 50mt pool. We had a good chat and catch up before heading out to the pool. They took us unto town for a awesome sandwich to refuel and then we pulled on the K-Swiss trail shoes ready for a run. Justin road the MTB while guiding Luke and I through a river trail. We were back in some humidity which was a welcome change from the dry mountain air. It was a quick stop. But a fun one. Only one more pit stop before Louisville now.

Sun Valley to Boulder CO

2009-08-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

After escaping with our lives from the boys at Scott it was a quick trip across the car park to Chopper at Smith. We love Chopper. Basically he is a man/child. Man because he is married with 2 kids and holds down a job but child as the day we visited him he had just done nine holes of golf that involved large quantities of beer. My kind of fellow really.

Chopper has taken care of Luke for 10 years at Smith. They make the worlds best and coolest glasses. We managed to rumble him for some racing brand spanking new ones and even left him with a massive order of casuals. Not sure if later in the day when the booze will wear off weather he will put the Kibosh on it but hey you can't blame a girl for trying.

We packed up and rolled out of there riding off into the sunset. Colorado bound.

My coach and dear friend "Mina" lives in Boulder with her beautiful husband better known as "Coconut Bum". We stopped a few nights at Greg and Laura Bennett's house. Bless them they threw a BBQ that grew and grew till there house was filled to the rafters. Some hard sessions at altitude was in order. I loved it except the asthma went nuts. Never fear. Mathias claimed to see a bear while out riding with GB. Very exciting !!!!!!!

Sadly we said goodbye to all our great friend in Boulder and rushed out of town.... late again ha ha ha Jimmy tries to make me a schedule but I can never keep it with all the chatting needed.

Never fear plans were made to meet up later in the year.

Off on the road again

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Safe at the bottom!!!!!

2009-08-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

With only minor cuts and bruises!

Sun Valley Fun and Games!

2009-08-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Walking back from my Hot Springs YAY!

"Nanna Baldo" actually going quite fast!

Fun Fun Fun!

"How far up are we going?"

Bend to Sun Valley Pix

2009-08-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Somewhere just out side of Bend

A Pit Stop

Nearly at Sun Valley

No the Turtle did not break down... Amanda has the bladder of a small child!

On the road!

2009-08-27T06:14:00.001-07:00

Wow this road trip is epic... it all started out in LA a few months ago but really got going last week in Bend OR. We headed out of bend on the Wednesday afternoon after picking up the last of the road trip supplies. Luke took the driving on as usual ( he dominates the drivers seat until he can't keep his eyes open) however I have been know to take a nap or two in the past so whatever.

We crossed through Oregon pretty quickly stopping at Boise. I was hoping to catch dinner with Kate Bevilaquia (fellow west oz pro, she is a future IM super star) but the time line got a bit screwy and we were running late. The search for a Red Lobster ended in tears as we had to settle for Denny's. Red Lobster is a chain food restaurant that I love. Denny's is NOT.

The next day bright and early we headed out in search of Sun Valley. Now for those of you who are not familiar with the USA Sun Valley is the first ever USA ski resort. Needless to say it has loads of old money mansions which sadly stay empty for the majority of the year. Clearly they could be loaned to triathletes and Mountain bikers who need a summer training centre but hey the rich like to have things available at all times :(

Sun Valley is so cool in the summer. Scott USA ( our rad bike sponsor) lives there. Adrian and Scott Montgomery run the show. Scott was out of town but that didn't mean that Adrian rocked our world with a little Idaho lovin'.

First up was a down hill mountain bike ride. MMMMMM it has been 13 years and a broken arm since I last rode a mountain bike. Holy Crap Batman. First of all I was not expecting to be taken all the way up the chair lift to 9000 ft only to be told that the "easy" trail down was sheer cliff face.

Most of you that have seen my life's progression through the years know that in spite of the awesome athletic nature of this job I am in fact a complete "UN CO" (un coordinated person) and have no descending skills at all. This was going to be trouble. As it turns out "Old Nanna Baldo" was not as bad as first imagined. Apparently there has been quite the development in 13 years and these down hill Scott MTB machines are AWESOME. They kind of take all the tricky maneuvering out of it and instead you just trust the tyres and fly over the rocks and debris. No longer do you weave and wonder when you will fall flat on your face. After getting the hang of things I was having a blast. Further up ahead the boys were getting into all sorts of mischief. Luke actually came to grief early. Real early as in the carport before we left. He was trying to jump a concrete gutter. His mental ability WAY out weighed his physical ability. HA HA HA.

Anyways back out in the wild.... Luke had come a second "gutza" falling and collecting some gravel rash. The gravel rash had no effect on his mood as he had a grin from ear to ear. I was of course thinking that Adrian had just broken "The money makers" but to his credit no serious damage. Once at the bottom of the mountain I could see why everyone goes all nuts over mountain biking. I am now addicted and have put claims on the bike we were sent just a few weeks ago.

After such an exciting day we went to one of my favourite places...The HOT SPRINGS :)

Adrian , Luke , Joe and myself went out for hard earned pizza at a little cool place in town. Drank some red and talked some shit.

One might think that after the day before, with all the spills and bruises the boys might settle down a little but alas NO. The Pee Wee 50's came out and we all went dirt bike riding. Now this I can do... but on a regular sized dirt bike. I could not stop laughing as the boys took yet another tumble. Both of them looked like clowns on mini bikes. Luke limped out of there wondering if perhaps he took it just a touch too far.

More on the Adventures of Jimmy and Memphis tomorrow ..... Pictures will be added in a jiffy:)

Stay tuned

Memphis x

The Jimmy and Memphis Turtle!!!

2009-08-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Look at the sweet new stickers on the Turtle. She is ready to take us across the USA to Louisville KY. It looks rad.

We took her to Hula Man over the weekend and had to rush home late last night so as these sweet new stickers could be put on early this morning. Just hours earlier Jimmy won his 5th race for the year.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

3 weeks till IML

2009-08-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Wow how time flys. It is only 3 weeks till Ironman Louisville. I have been loving life up here in Bend OR. Long runs are like no where else. The bike riding has been great. Bend is one of the few places in the USA that have a 50 mt pool that is not chopped in half.

But all the training aside we are so lucky to have awesome people to hang with. Matt (lieto) and Lea returned from Lake Placid adventures a week or so ago. We have had a few cook outs and tonight is Pad Thai night. YUM

When we first arrived in Bend we were double booked on accommodations and Matt and Lea bailed us out with the loan of there house. I am hoping that they will bring Clyde the bobcat to dinner tonight. If they do I will post pix. I like to encourage Lea to drink her weekly quota of wine when she comes over. Matt is not so easily led astray. We will see though.

I can't believe it is just one week till we pack up and head across the country to Ironman Louisville. Both Luke and I will be racing. Luke was not sure until now but he is training like a freak and is really looking forward to the challenge.

Before then we have a sneaky race so I will post the weekends adventures soon.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

NYC ....and a huge surprise!

2009-08-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wow what an amazing few days in NYC. I planned a few days away for Luke as it was his birthday. We flew in early Tuesday morning donned some running gear and headed straight out to Central Park for a run.

Now I have been to NYC before but the only time I saw early morning was when I stumbled out of a nightclub only to be blinded by the crack of dawn ( or the 2.5 liters of vodka Adrian and I had drank) I had never made it into the park... well not that I recall. It is amazing.

We had a beautiful run and worked up quite the appetite. After checking into our room we showered and headed out for lunch. Sushi Samba was a sushi fusion place down in the Village. So good. We wandered around, window shopped and then parked ourselves at a little wine bar and people watched.

I had booked dinner at Nobu so we headed home and put on our best party clothes. The birthday dinner was AMAZING!!! We were a bit sad that there was no cheese on the dessert menu so we went on a late night mission for a cheese plate. New York really is the city that never sleeps and serves cheese till dawn ha ha.

Early the next morning we got up and missioned back to the park to work off all that food. After the training was out of the way we were starving. Can anyone else see the eating thread here? Off to one of my favourite places...Grand Central Station Oyster Bar. This place is a must for oyster lovers. 3 dozen oyster later and we went to Tiffany's to buy a necklace that I had been wanting for ages.

Now this is when the story takes an unexpected twist. Luke suddenly was on a mission to take me to strawberry fields in Central Park. Now it was raining cats and dogs but I love the Beatles so I was totally in. We headed into the park and on the way I took my shoes off and started to splash around in puddles. As we headed to the destination in the rain I was having a blast singing "Strawberry Fields". As we got to Bow Bridge the sun came out and there was no one else in the park. Luke asked me to marry him and I couldn't believe it but had the good sense to say YES!!!! He put my beautiful ring on and the rest of the day was spent saying "Oh my god were getting married" Very cool. Best day ever!

Clearly we were famished after all that excitement so we went for our engagement dinner at Fatty Crab. Now I am not sure if anyone else will agree but we thought that Fatty Crab was even better than Nobu.

The mini break came to an end and we had to fly back to Bend. Of course not all went smooth and it took 17 hours to get back with all the delays. Rubbish!

Now we are back into super hard training and loving it.

Will keep you posted on all the news

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Biting the Dust!

2009-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

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

Our Lani at Dawn's.

2009-06-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

I think I am one of the cats.... they strut along this railing every night.

Final Days !!!!

2009-06-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Time has flown here on our adopted island home. A month has gone by faster that you can imagine. So much solid training has been done in preparation for Ironman Japan. I am pumped.

We leave on Monday for Goto and I am very excited. Firstly I am so ready to race. Secondly Luke is on FIRE!!!! 3rd Miss Hillary will be there and I miss her madly. Especially now that Belinda and Juzzy have gone to the dark side and left for their new home Boulder. (Bend is where it is at...they just don't know it yet)

I will be sad to leave our amazing home stay Dawn. Not only is she a wonderful flat mate she is also our masseuse. Here in Kona you won't survive without a tip top massage lady. The Kona training rips your body apart with the harsh elements. Body work is the key. I have dragged my sad, pathetic, tired ass onto her table countless times over the last month and passed out. Only to wake up a new person ready for another brutal day. So a massive shout out to our girl Dawn. We love you Dawn.

The vog has been pretty good of late so we are enjoying some beautiful clear, hot final runs and rides. I have some funny news. I know I have been working hard as I am seeing the underside of 60kgs for the first time in decade. HECK! Maybe I will now no longer be the fat athlete. Nice!

Finally over the weekend I did a super sprint trip to San Diego to buy a new camper van. This one is a much upgraded but same style van as the one we have cruised in for the last 3 years. She is red and goes faster. I dub her the Red Turtle "RT" I am really looking forward to doing some miles with her soon. I would never have been able to wrangle a super deal and make her ours unless I had the endless support of or sista "Sum Sum". I flew in to SD at 11.30pm and she rallied to pick me up, drove me everywhere the next day to my meetings and then threw me back on the plane all with in 36 hours. Our family in SD are amazing. Sum, A Man, Jaz, April, Peter, Rory, Claudia... you are the best! See you soon.

Stay Tuned

Memphis x

HAWAII IRONMAN 70.3

2009-06-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

My race went a little something like this ....

Swim... a little slow but ok.

Bike .... ride ride ride ..... bumpity bumpity bump. Crap a flat! Fix flat. Ride ride ride, bumpity bumpity bump. Crap tyre flat again with valve situation.

Race over! 1 hour spent hanging out with super awesome volunteers at aid station waiting for SAG to take me and my injured stallion back to transition.

I had 4 mins to spare and then in came Crowie , Chris and Lukey. Yay Luke another fantastic result. You are on fire baby!

Belinda won the girls! First race back from leg surgery and another win for the season. Go B!

I got instructions from coach to long run the very next day. All good in the end as I would rather have all flat tyres this weekend and not in Japan. My quota has been filled for the year and I have moved onto a full on last 10 days of Ironman training.

Stay tuned

Memphis x

Hawaii weekend

2009-06-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Final dinner with the worlds best homestays!

At post race dinner with beautiful Irene and Belinda.

I had to have one Mai Tai before we leave.

Post race beach adventure

No more Wine for us ... NOT!

and the winner are ....

Where's my prize?

Long Runs, Ocean Swims and Cake!

2009-05-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-03T04:02:00.001-07:00

Busso Half!

2009-05-03T03:38:00.000-07:00

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

Summer's End BBQ

2009-04-25T23:48:00.000-07:00

Well all good things must come to an end. Summer is finishing up and our people are scattering all over the globe. Noosa misses Hillary and all the others that have come to the train in the haven of Noosa. The weather is now amazing but we know it will change quickly. Kristian and Lady Charlotta are having the "end of summer bbq" tonight.

Belinda, Juz, Luke and I have bought out Dan Murphy's. We are feasting on Mahi Mahi! I will be taking photo's and posting them later.

Our long National Park runs are nearly over. As sad as we are to leave our beautiful little house we will be back in November. In the mean time the Kiwi's will be visiting and making good use of it for their build up for Kona. I have yet to tell Gina about Albert our community carpet python. I am sure she will be fine ha ha ha .

One more quick trip to West OZ next weekend for a half IM. I am getting ready to feel the PAIN dealt out by Bek Keat. It will be nice to see Sissy before I head OS.

Stay Tuned

Memphis x