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    24hrs of Mayhem

    Oowie wowie. 24hr mtb races are HARDcore. It was a lot harder than I remember too! That might be due to the rule change that each rider on the team now has to do at least 4 laps. The old rule was much kinder to me....2 laps! Tie that in with bugger all to no sleep, and that makes for some very tired cranky people. The other rule change was that all elite teams have to have at least one female.

    A little bit about my team - "USE all stars"

    Some highlights from the 24hrs

    All in all it was an experience. I almost put the word "fun" in there, but think I need a few more days...weeks..or months to people to do that. It was seriously hard. The combination of lack of sleep, eating at funny times and then getting funny tummies, and having to get yourself up for an all out effort time after time was hard hard work. I was truly exhausted after my 5 laps. I don't know how the guys did 9...and yes Sam you did 10!

    I would like to say I will be back again next year, but at the moment it would come out more like Never EVER again.

    My weekend of firsts and records! (and no unfortunately I didnt win the race...but was happy with 2nd!)

    I just got back from a long weekend in Wimbleball, Exmoor where I raced the UK 70.3. It was a very long but fun weekend, and all in all I am "chuffed to bits", as we say over here in blighty, with my 2nd place finish. Cat Morrison had a storming run and closed down my almost 7min lead off the bike with a few miles to go. If she stays healthy I think Cat could upset a few people at Kona this year in her Ironman Kona debut.

    So other my than 2nd place finish, there was a lot of 1sts or records for me this weekend:

    There were also a few not so exciting "not firsts". I lead out the swim with a handy 2min plus lead on the other girlies, and then proceeded to put more time on to them on the bike. I went out onto the run feeling comfortable and strong, but had a feeling I would start to suffer close to the end. It was just going to be a case of whether I would get to the finish line before Cat caught me...meeoow. Some would think that with a 6:30min lead that I would have it in the bag, but I know better. I have been there plenty of times before. Sometimes I can hold on for the win, but sometimes not. That's just the way I like to race. Lay it all on the line and make em chase. It felt great to be racing again, after painful months, and I achieved my main goal for the race which was to get round without breaking another rib. I might possibly have broken a finger....but hey that's a whole nother story :). Wrap me up in cotton wool Mike, I think its going to be one of those years.

    Next up, an nice chill out week at "home" with the parentals, and then Mountain Mayhem on the weekend. I am racing for the USE All stars team, where we are hoping to give a few mixed Mtb teams a run for their money. Let the weather gods be on my side.

    In Honour of "Stat man"

    The last few months have certainly not been dull, that's for sure. I returned from Saipan, broken ribs and all, to Mike and Lucky, and our first temporary housemate Jonny. Jonny Hotchkiss is another British triathlete trying to make his way to the tippy top of the triathlon world. Being a close friend of the "Chrissenator", he decided he would come on over to Boulder to check out what it's all about, so we invited him to come and stay with us. The conditions were, stay as long as he wanted, just no farting in public, and he was in charge of lots of frisbee action with L-dog, with me sidelined for a wee while. Jonny was great company, and we all loved having him here, despite his picky eating habits.estes park trip

    A few weeks later, it was then the arrival of Mary Miilllllerrrr, and Joseph Gambles aka "the stat man". We lived with them for a month or so when we first moved to Boulder. As they too were bunking up chez Mr Chase. Original plan was that they would stay for a week or so, until they found something more permanent. But they too have found a love for Frisbee throwing with the pooch, and so will be camping out in the basement until their return to Oz sometime in Nov.

    Training has been very hit and miss the last 2 months. Not unexpected really, considering my rib was broken into 3 pieces. What I hadn't counted on was a wicked bout of a cold, which returned at least once. Yes, broken rib + sneezing and coughs = a lot of pain. To top that off, I went and re cracked my rib just last week while swimming. I knew it as soon as it happened....as you would, but went for x-rays which confirmed that was the case. The hard thing is knowing what you can or can not do. The doctors seem to say do what I can within my pain threshold???

    Anyway on to the title of my latest update. In honour of Stat man.

    estes park tripLast Sunday I decided to ride alone up to Estes park via Big Tompson Canyon. The rest of the clan would then drive up there and meet me for lunch before a post feast hike up in the Rocky mtn national park. This is probably one of the only times I have ridden alone since I have been here in Boulder. Sometimes it is nice to ride alone, and just crank out a good solid pace the whole way. This is pretty much what I always used to do back in Bath, so it was refreshing to get back into the old habit if only for a day. 1 week previously I had done the same ride with a group of people which included Mr Stat man. Now, Stat man is the proud owner of a new Garmin GPS watch. Anyone who has ever had one will now know why he is now called stat man. Every 5 mins or so we would be informed that's 850m climbed now, our average pace is 33kph, air temp is dropping to 75 etc., etc. Don't get me wrong, they are great training tools, but sometimes you just need to get out and ride your bike and ride it hard til you get where you are going.

    As I was riding along I starting thinking of this, and noticed a few of my own old school stats along the way:

    Take that Stat man.

    Next up for me....well I am heading back to the UK next week in hopes of racing the UK 70.3. I am not yet sure if the body will be ready to race, but I am ever hopeful. I think it will be a last minute decision. The following weekend I will then be back on the MTB to race Mountain Mayhem (24hr mtb race) with a team of studdly guys. Let's hope I can do my share and we can at least be in the shout for the win.

    Thanks for reading. Check back soon for more, or you can follow my twitter for daily updates and pics

    2nd in Saipan again!

    The Swiss miss had me again this morning in Saipan. Renata really does own this course and has now won it 4 years...if not 5 in a row. She totally deserved the win today, and has now brought our head to head battles up to 4-3 (to me just!).

    My race started out ok, and I exited the water in second behind a speedy swimmer on a relay. Andy Noble tucked in behind me, and then passed me on the 200m run to transition. I then passed him back up on the road climb, and was starting to feel ok. Not awesome, but I sort of expected that, as I had put in 3 weeks of great training out here. Once on to the off road sections things where going ok, but I wasn't riding them as well as I had done previously in practice. I was making silly mistakes and I think I put this down to the fact I knew I had 2 of the best MTB chickies out there chasing me down, in Renata and Shonny. Then the shit really hit the fan when I went down a section of the "wireless" trail. Not entirely sure what happened, but before I knew it I was eating dirt and was in a lot of pain down my right side.....and was totally winded to boot! It took me a little while to have the urge to get back on the bike, but I did and as the next male pro wizzed by he shouted "come on, come on!". So I hopped back on and plundered on. I knew that the worst outcome would be a cracked rib, and that by pushing on it wouldn't get any worse. Just might be uncomfortable....to say the least. The rest of the bike course went by pretty slowly. The climbs were hot and every time I got out of the saddle my ribs told me to swiftly sit back down again. On the off road sections that followed I was slow, having lost all the confidence I had....which ain't much :).

    Back into T2 I still held the lead, but was apprehensive as to how things would go on the run. Surprisingly things weren't too bad on the flat, but as soon as we hit the trail and it kicked up or down I was forced to slow jog/walk. Now there is a serious possibility I would have been walking some of those sections anyway, as my ankle stability is pants. Renata passed me with ease maybe after about 25mins out on to the run, and continued to dance her way down the ravine, and proceeded to put another 6 or 7mins into me. Not that I was worried about that, I was 100% focused on just getting to the finish line and getting some ice put on my ribs. Whether Shonny passed me or not, at that point I didn't care. Fortunately for my bank balance, she too crawled her way down the ravine section on the run, being a little wary of an ankle injury she picked up a few days before Maui last year. So I grovelled my way to the finish shoot in 2nd place and Shonny came finished in 3rd. Local gal Mieko, had a similar day to me, also crashing and hurting some ribs, but also stuck it out like a trooper and came home 4th Pro woman.

    On the men's side, fellow Brit and Xterra travel companion Sam Gardner, aka "Sammy the champ" , pulled off the biggest win of his Xterra career, beating a strong mens field which included 2008 US champ Mike Vine, last years Xterra Saipan Champ (and fellow USTS champ from 1999) Andy Noble, and a handful of other top men. Jim-bob Mcconnel, put in a gutsy performance with an ailing Achilles and finished 6th. He just needs to stay on course next year and surely a top 5 will be there for the taking.

    Next up for me - lots of ibuprofen, Ice, and a 30hr trip back to Boulder. Happy days.


    Julie signs with Trek, and the latest from Saipan

    I am writing this from Saipan, after a fantastic week of training. It came off the back of my first race of the season, 1st place in Guam. More often than not you are super motivated the day after a win, and then the day after that something hits you like a ton of bricks. I really didn't feel too bad this time, and will have put in around 35 hours of training this week. It helps when you get some awesomely exciting news like I received this week. trek logo I am super excited to announce that I will be riding for Trek this year. To me Trek is one of it not the biggest and best bike company to be associated with. Most importantly you just know that their bikes are going to be awesome. I have yet to see or ride the road bike or TT bike, as I am obviously still out in Asia preparing for next weekends Xterra Saipan, but I can't wait to get back to Boulder to try them out. Trek also have a great reputation of really looking after their athletes, and a big factor in me being really keen in working with them is that they are really interested in pushing hard in the triathlon market over here in the US. For me this seemed a perfect match, as I want to raise my profile over here now that we are based in Boulder.

    U can see a few pics of me from Guam on the awesome full suspension Top Fuel mountain bike (flickr) - Thanks again to Rich Cruse. Nick at trek tells me that for Maui I will have some even lighter wheels, and they reckon the bike will weigh in at about 21lbs. Now I know I don't know a whole heap about mountain bikes....but that is LLLLLLight...with a capital L...especially for a full susser.

    Anyway as you can tell I am pretty excited about what is in store for this year.

    Back to my trip here in Saipan. As usual the locals are being super friendly. It's hard to go out for a run or a ride without someone shouting "go Julie" or "welcome to Saipan" etc. Anyone following my Twitter will also know I have been eating way too much Subway. So much so that the lady knows what I am going to order as soon as I walk in the door. She has also been sneaking me a large drink instead of a medium :). I have to get those fluids in don't I Mike!

    Tomorrow I move from my home stay (which is about 15 steps from the ocean) into the race hotel, the PIC. My stay here at the "beach house" has been fantastic. It has been nicknamed the teachers house, as 4 teachers rent it out from the owner. They have opened up there guest room to me, and it really has been great. An ideal location, and is quiet. I actually think I am sometimes last to bed! The Hotel I move in tomorrow (PIC) is a super nice hotel, with a 25yd pool, a play pool with all sorts of fun games, and a Lazy pool for those post run swims! There is always something to do there: table tennis, volleyball, etc. etc. If I can't win the Xterra next Saturday I will certainly make sure I win at Table tennis - Renata you are going down! Not that I am competitive though :)

    I hope to add more pics throughout the week, and will keep tweeting away. Thanks for reading and hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather wherever you are (say that fast 5 times with out messing up ;)

    Julie Wins Xterra Guam

    photo by Cruse of Julie in Guam Wow, I had forgotten how crazy Xterra's can be. Don't get me wrong, Maui is a great course. It is hard and hot and everything, but these 2 races out here in Guam and Saipan are ccccrazy. They had me wondering why the heck I do these! Once in race mode though it didn't take me long to remember why - cos I can. How many opportunities do you get to do stuff like this.

    I arrived here in Guam late on Tues night. I had a bit of a marathon trip here, flying a long way around to get here. Denver - Houston - Tokyo - Guam! The room at the Hyatt, care of the organisers and the Hyatt regency manager, was very welcomed! Thank you guys. Wed through to race day (Saturday) where then spent trying to get over some of the jet lag, and trying to acclimatise to the dramatic change in weather conditions. From snow in Boulder, to 30+ degrees and about 90% humidity! We also ventured out on the course to check out both the run and bike segments.

    The run course here is truly amazing. I have never seen anything like it. It starts out pretty normal with about a mile run along a straight flat road (which is hotter than all hell), then you start climbing up off road through long grass for about 10mins, before sliding down a small cliff. First time I did it I spent about 5mins trying to see if there was an alternative way down there......no such luck. You then have a bout 5-10mins of normal running, before the crazy stuff begins. First you drop underneath a bridge into a river and run underneath it. On the other side the waterfalls start. The best way down these I think is to slide....but to try to slide with control...rather than like being on a water slide. At the bottom you then either jump into and across a waist deep section of water, or (as I prefer) dive in and swim. The next 10mins is then spent running, limping, swimming down the river bed through the jungle. Thankfully I didn't see any creepy crawlies...or snakes today!

    Anyway on to the race - It went well. The swim was pretty much as expected, and after about 100m I was out on my own trying to push the pace on. I led out the swim by a few minutes, and out on the bike course I felt pretty strong. That altitude training stuff might actually be working! It took Sam Gardner (1st male pro) about 20-30mins to catch me. We had a bet on to see who would make it too the goat trail first. He had me by a few mins, so I owe him a subway! I managed to stay upright the whole ride...which is a big improvement, and came into T2 still in 2nd overall. Out on to the run, I tried to run hard on the sections that were runnable, because I knew I would be a big wimp on the waterfall/river sections. Jim Mcconnel passed me as I was having a cuppa on the waterfall, and he never looked back.

    I finished off the run ok, and finished 1st female, with Renata Mcconnel in 2nd. Both Renata and I are racing in Saipan, so I will need to get some good training done in the next couple of weeks, as she owns the Saipan course.

    I will hope to be twittering away while in Saipan so if you can follow me on there. Thanks to Rich Cruse for the photo above. I have also set up a flickr picture site so you can see some more pics from Guam. These are a mix of my pics and Rich's pics.

    Thanks for reading

    Sponsorship

    A few of my recent posts have mentioned sponsorship. While not everything is sorted yet, I am delighted to be able to continue to work with a few of my sponsors from last year. Those sponsors are: Blue seventy, Oakley, Brooks, and PowerBar.brooks

    Blue Seventy: Those of you in the Triathlon world will know that Blue Seventy now have the reputation as one of the leading brands in wetsuit and speedsuit technology. Some of the fastest swimmers in the triathlon world wear their products and I am delighted to be wearing their wetsuit and speedsuit again.

    Oakley: Without a doubt they make the best sunglasses and eyewear. They are a great company to be involved with and always seem to come out with innovative and creative new eyewear. Look out for me wearing some funky new shades at the races this year.

    Brooks: I was fortunate enough last year to get introduced to Martin Exley at Brooks UK through Driven to Tri. Brooks make fantastic running shoes. There are no gimmicks with their shoes. It is all about performance. For this year I will be new onto the US team, but will continue to stay involved with Martin and the UK side of things.

    PowerBar: Nutrition is such a big part of triathlon these days that it is important to make sure you have the best products to use. I believe that Powerbar is the leading Nutrition company out there. They make a wide range of products that can fuel pretty much anybodies needs. They also taste bloody good too. You know it’s good when you start craving some of their products when you aren't even training :)

    I thank all these guys for their continued support for this year.

    Julie is Legal

    I am now officially no longer an illegal alien! It's taken about a year in coming but I finally received my documentation for me to move to the US. Not that it really stopped us anyway, as we have pretty much been there since November anyway. But its nice to have everything sorted once and for all. So Lucky Mike and I are now happy and settled in our new pad just outside of Boulder. As Mike likes to say we have pretty much single handedly been fueling the US economy the last couple of months, as we try to furnish our house from scratch. And yes everything is bigger here than in England.....even the toilet paper sheets.

    Training has been going well. I am have renewed my love for cycling. The one that I didn't realize I had lost until a few months ago. I was out riding with my training beatch MB Ellis, and all of a sudden it hit me. I think last year I was riding because I knew I had to. Not because I enjoyed it. I think this was reflected a little in my results last year, as my cycling was not as dominant as it has been in the past. The cycling here around Boulder is just "awesome". Yes, I know how American that sounds, but it really is. And I don't think I have even seen the best of it yet. And that’s just the road riding :). Not much has changed in that respect - I haven't touched a Mountain bike in a few months....but that will change soon enough because I decided to start my season off with Xterra Guam and Saipan.

    I am really looking forward to going back to these little islands in the Pacific. I went there a few years ago and had an amazing time, and I am lucky enough to have been invited back this year. Much like 2 years ago, I will use it more as a warm weather training camp than anything, but look forward to catching up with my Xterra buddies when I am out there.

    Still unable to post anything on the sponsorship front. I can tell you that I have parted ways with Planet X for this year. I really enjoyed being a part of their team last year, but I made the decision to try and find a bike sponsor more interested in the US market, now that I am based over here. It's a bit late in the game as most budgets are finalized late in the year, but I am hopeful my fairy godmother will drop from the sky and deliver the goods :).

    All in all, everything is great. Mike, Lucky and I love it out here. We miss all our friends and family back from the UK, but hope they will all come and visit us sometime soon....maybe not all at the same time though.

    Hello Again

    You would think that since it has been so long since i have updated my website that I would have had nothing to write about. But it is far from the truth. I think there has been so much going on since my last race in Clearwater that to be honest I just simply couldn't be bothered to get on and put everything down on paper (or out there into cyberspace).

    As many of you know since Novemeber Mike and I have started our moved from Bath in the UK, out to Boulder, Colorado. Things were pretty busy for a while trying to get everything sorted but it is all finally coming together. I am a big believer in not trying to think too far ahead, and things will fall in to place if they are meant to. And so far so good. We managed to sell our house just about at the right time, we shipped our all our shit out to sea without them giving us a definitive date of when it will show up, (Looks like it will show up sometime next week)and we are hoping to get the keys too our new house tomorrow. So fingers crossed and that will all go through without any hitches. The only other thing that needs to happen is for me to get my Green card/Visa, but i have an apt at the embassy in London coming up in feb, so that too should be sorted soon enough.

    Since we have been out here in Boulder we have been staying at a friends house. Adam has been super nice and let Mike, Lucky and I take over his basement for the last couple of months. Adam is a crazy ultramarathon runner that has way too much energy for my liking, but he is also a tax lawyer...so who knows that might come in handy at some point! His house is awesome, and is located literally right in the foothills of the rockies in Boulder. The one downside to this is that recently we have had a few incidences with Mountain Lions. I think since we have been here there have been at least 3 mountain lion attacks on dogs right in this area. We even had a deer that had been killed in Adams "back yard". The clever little suckers kill the deer and then cover it up with grass so that it can come back and feast on it later on. We had no idea it was there til i was out playing frisbee with Lucky one day and saw her sniffing at something so walked over to have a look! Wasn't expecting what i saw, that's for sure. Anyway, all is good and Lucky is alive and well and is still seriously addicted to frisbee.

    On the training front things are going well. Altitude sucks at first! After a few weeks of seriously breathing out of my ass on easy sessions, i think i am finally used to it, and find that i am only breathing like an asmatic on the harder sessions. Swimming is different but fun. We swim outside all year round at Flatirons Athletic Club. Its actually not to bad once you are in the pool...its just the getting in and out that is the tricky part when there is snow and ice everywhere. I swim with the masters team a few times a week which can get pretty manic. I hear it gets worse in the summer when everyone and their brother in the triathlon world are here training too. It doesn't get competitive at all either from what i hear! All good fun though.

    The cycling is going to be fantastic here. I say going to be, as with the weather being a little chilly at times ( i think -14F is the record on my car) you cant always get outside on the roads. Also with because of the cold i haven't had the chance to do some of the "real" riding around here. By "real" i mean climbing up in the mountains. This is what i am really looking forward to. I am still managing to get more riding in than if i was back home though, and have been mixing up riding outside when it is above 35F and doing indoor sessions with coach Lessing.

    Running is much like the riding. It can get a little tricky when snow and ice are on the ground, but surely thats why the treadmill was invented. So no problems there. There are some fanastic trails to run on that i know will be great for my Xterra training too.

    Other than that Mike and i have ventured up to Copper Mountain (ski resort) a few times to visit with his Aunt Linda and Uncle Frankifish. Its great to have awesome skiing so close to home (well a couple of hours drive). Mike must be mellowing in his old age, as he actually now lets me ski. A few years back he would have locked me inside and told me it was too high risk! Its not surprising really though as its not like i am Body Miller or anything! ;)

    Oh and lastly there will be lots of change on the sponsorship front, and i will post this all soon. Since i am now based stateside, it seems to make sense to start afresh with sponsors.

    Thanks for reading, apologies for the long break between posts and lack of photos (our camera charger got sent to sea....), and hope to update you all with more news soon.

    Julie

    Quick update from Clearwater.

    Clearwater4th again! Content with my performance, but disappointed with the result. Again I gave everything I could today. I held it together better on the run this year, but still didn't run how I believe, and what my training has shown I am capable off. Joanna was awesome today and was always going to be tough to beat as she is the complete package. Mary Beth had an incredible, and without a doubt her best result to date, and Becky finished off her season in style with a 3rd place.

    It's time for some downtime now. Yippee skippee. It's also time for reflection on the year, and time to start planning for next year. All I can think at this point is that if I really want to win this race that I may have to sacrifice racing in Maui.......but I am not sure I am willing to do that. Hmmmm!

    ClearwaterThanks to everyone for all the support this year. All my family and friends all over the world - you are the best and thanks for all your messages pre and post races. Thanks to all my sponsors, in particular On-One and Planet X for hooking me up with some sweet bikes for this year. Brant the beef jerky is on its way!

    New racekit for Clearwater

    Just a quick update to give those of you back home a quick insight into what i will be wearing at the race on saturday here in Clearwater. Some of you will know that i have been working with Planet X to help design a womens range of clothing to go alongside Spencer Smiths S2 clothing line. Earlier in the year i flew out to Italy with the boss Dave, to meet with Carlo. Everything started out well, and the initial prototypes were adequate but far from perfect. As the season rolled on, the racing took over and the clothing side of things took a back seat....or to be more honest a spot in the boot or trunk!

    In the last couple of weeks things have been resurrected and Dave was on a mission to get fellow Planet X racer Cat Morrison and I in some PX kit for Clearwater. I sent over a brief list of instructions on what i wanted, but really left it in the hands of Carlo the designer.New Suit

    So when i was sent an email from Cat late last week saying it is blue and had sequins....i thought "Holy shit! I have to wear sequins....i won't even wear sequins on a night out!". So i was a little apprehensive as i waited for my suit to arrive - and part of me secretly hoped it wouldn't show in time!

    But i was pleasantly surprised. As you can see from the pic, it certainly is different, and the back is funky and changes in different light. Only time will tell how breathable the material is, especially in the heat, but i will be trying out over the next couple of days to see how it feels. It is also a little shorter in the leg that i would like, but i will find out more later after i try it out some more.

    Other than that all is good. I had a good weeks training last week and felt that i recovered really well after Xterra. I am now fighting a bit of a cold, but hopefully it will be out of my system come race day.

    Mike will be flying out to watch the race, so may well try and post updates during the race. If not you can follow it online at www.ironmanlive.com

    Post Maui reflections

    I am sat here on my flight from Hawaii to Newark. Someone keeps farting, I am freezing cold, and I feel like part puffa fish, part Michelin man. But hey.....it don’t matter....as I’m world champ baby!

    My reflections on my build up to the race:

    As those of u that check in regularly will know, due to illness, and that small matter of selling and moving house, it meant that I missed a fairly important block of training. So as I flew out to Hawaii, after my race in Dallas, I knew it was important for me to get a good couple of weeks training in Maui acclimatizing to the heat. The first 10 days were great, and Mike, Sammy G and I settled back into the same condo that we stayed in last year. We even had a few local residents remember us from last year, and they all wished us good luck for the race. I had a great week training switching out rides on my fancy new MTB, with the trusty ole Time Trial bike. The weather most days was gorgeous, but a little overcast and extremely windy. The temp I think hovered around the low 80’ s mark, which is a little cooler than normal.

    4 days out from the race I then decided to close the door on the barn, as for this race at least that was as much hay as I could fit in there. It was all about resting up the body, and getting the mind ready to rock and roll come race day. Having won last year, it also meant that I could move from our little condo, into the fabulous Maui Prince Hotel (which is where everything with the race takes place)....as they put up all previous champs for 3 nights. I think this worked out really well, as it added a whole other level of excitement to everything.

    I was feeling excited and nervous at the same time. I was anxious to see how I would handle the pressure of being one of the favourites....rather than the underdog.

    Leading up to the race Xterra and Paul Mitchell always hold some clinics with some of the pros leading them. It is a great opportunity for everyone racing to hear some of our top tips for the race...especially the first timers. This year I was invited to be on the panel at both the “art of Xterra clinic” and the champions’ forum. As with most things Xterra, they were both pretty laid back affairs, and great fun to be a part of.

    Anyway...now onto the race:

    I think relief was my first emotion, followed by delight at winning another Xterra world Championships.

    Danelle ran a fantastic race and closed the gap to just under a minute. Shonny held on for a great 3rd place, despite having twisted her ankle heavily in the lead up to the race, and Ms Renata had her best ever finish in Maui (I think?) in 4th.

    After all the media and interviews, it was off to the drug testing room to rehydrate for a few hours so I could produce my 75ml ( or is it 100 now) of urine. And yes it took a long time!

    We then had a few hours to chill out in the room, before the fantastic awards dinner. Kahuna Dave, Greg and Witt are a fantastic team of hosts, and what can normally be quite a dull procedure (of running through all the awards) was a very enjoyable evening.

    Last stop was the costume party. And I am delighted to report that we the Simpons, made it into the top 5 this year. I think if we had worked on a routine for the stage a bit more we might have even won it.....but that would just be greedy right. Great evening, some great costumes, and once again a FantAbulous trip to Maui. Will I be back next year.....you betya!

    Xterra World Champ!

    Maui PodiumWow! What a day. If you've not heard yet, Julie defended her Xterra World title. She will probably write an update a bit later once things settle down. I just wanted to get the result and some pickies on the web. Check them out here

    Twas the day before Xterra World champs!

    One more day til race day. Everything so far seems to have gone to plan over the last 3 weeks, and I am really looking forward to kicking off the race tomorrow morning. I switch back and forth between emotions of excitement and nervousness. One minute I feel like "bring it on, I am ready to rock and roll and open up the can of whoop ass", and the next it's a bit like "holy shit! Has it been a year already?!". I am sure that this will continue all the way up until the start gun, at which point it will be pure adrenalin that takes over, and I will be straight into race mode.

    Maui kit

    Anyone that has raced before will know that these emotions are pretty normal. It is often how you deal with them that can make the difference. I have raced plenty of times now to know what is coming....it doesn't always make it easy though, and there are times where I don't quite get the balance right. I learnt at London this year that sometimes being super relaxed can be a great thing too. Going into this race reigning World Champ means it would be hard to be quite as relaxed as I was then, but I learnt a lot there and feel relaxed, yet psyched at the same time (must be going through a good phase....you wait by the end of this blog I will be shitting myself again :).

    A quick run through of what I have been up to today:

    That leads me til now. All I have left to do today is another Xterra Clinic thingy. This time the Champions forum. I have never been to one of these, so not really sure what goes on! Then it's off to din a lin dins for some last minute carbo-loading and the Xterra World championships Parade of nations.

    I typically like to lay low the night before the race and do my own thing, so I think it will be a quick in and out, and back up to the room to chill out once again before bed time. Lots of feet up time!

    Thanks for all the good luck messages, and for all the fantastic support from all my sponsors making sure I have all the equipment I need.

    One last note so some of you don't worry during the race tomorrow. Mike unfortunately twisted his ankle this morning and so may or may not start tomorrow. He will see how it feels when we wake up and will make the call then. Fingers crossed and all will be ok.

    Oh it's a perfect day

    Yesterday was almost as perfect as a day can get for me. In Maui I am pretty simple to please though. A bit of sunshine, good training, good food, and a bit of hunny time, and i am a happy bunny. This is how yesterday went for me

    In MauiOther than that things are picking up out here. We are slowly seeing more Xterra athletes arrive. It hwas been pretty quiet up til now, which has been great on the training front, but a bit dull on the social front. We have a good group of brits coming out this year too. They must have heard about all the fun we had last year.

    The only thing left to do, other than put the icing on the cake on the training front, is to decide our Halloween costumes for this years post race party. All suggestions on a postcard please.

    Oh and for those interested in following the race, it kicks off at 9am Maui time on next Sunday the 26th. I will leave it up to you to figure out the local UK time as my brain just isn't that clever. I believe you can follow it live online at www.xterra.tv

    7th Place in Dallas

    I finished a disappointing 7th place in Dallas yesterday, and am now honing in on my last two "Biggies" of the year. I am now out in the US, spending a few days in Houston before i fly out to Maui on saturday. My In-laws have very kindly put me up for the week, and Mike has flown off to Seattle for worky work. I am looking forward to getting some good flat miles in on the bike this week (as that is all there is around here). It will be great prep for Clearwater though, as that is also pan Flat. Last year at Clearwater, i was really wishing i spend more hrs training down on my TT bars, so this will be perfect training. Maybe not so much for Maui and Xterra, but i have said all along this year, that Clearwater has been my no.1 focus.

    I am also really looking forward to flying out to Maui again. I had such a great time there last year, and look forward to seeing how the off-road side in me fairs against the best Xterra chickies in the world.

    So now its all about staying healthy, putting some more miles in the bank, and doing something about this pasty skin of mine.

    Xterra Austria win

    A last minute change to my race schedule saw me swap a long haul flight to Chicago, with a short EasyJet flight to Austria to race in the penultimate Xterra on the European tour. The race took place in a small holiday resort (...I think that's what you would call it), in Klopeiner See about 20km from the Austrian/Slovenian border. With a small amount of persuasion I also managed to drag Mike along for the ride too! There was also a good crew of British athletes (and partners) in attendance, with the usual subjects, Sammy G and Little Jim leading the way.In Austria

    Klopeiner See is a beautiful place, and the weather was just about perfect for the 3 days leading up to the race. We managed to get out on the course a couple of times, which helped to settle my Xterra nerves. I had heard that the bike course in particular was pretty technical, so I was a little apprehensive as to how bad it really was. After my second time round I was pretty content with how I was riding it...that was until people started talking about how much harder it would be if it rained. 90% of the ride took place in a wooded area with steep hills, roots and lots of mud! So I left the course on the Friday praying for it to stay dry.

    The competition looked good, and I was looking forward to squaring up next to Renata Bucher. I hadn't raced her in a while, and she is the only girl who has beaten me in an Xterra race. Also on the start line were Carina Wasle a tiny Austria mountain goat who just bounds up the hills, and Anna Bayliss-Scheiderbauer who finished just behind me at the Xterra UK race earlier in the year.

    In the final hours leading up to the race, fellow Brit, and Sam "the mud master" Gardner, had been perfecting his rain dance secretly in his room. Unfortunately for me it worked to perfection. As soon as the start gun went the heavens opened. It didn't take me long to forget about the rain as I focused on just trying to hang on to the feet in front of me. I had a solid swim exiting in about 5th overall, and headed out on to the bike course with a healthy lead on Nicky Duggan who was in second. I would like to say that the first lap on the bike was pretty uneventful, but I would be lying. I had two fairly "awesome" wipe-outs. I say awesome, as I know I caused much entertainment for those spectators that had positioned themselves cleverly. No broken bones though, so I battled on. Other than these two falls I felt like I was riding ok, and I tried to just get through the second lap as best I could.

    Being one of the first out of the water always means that there are plenty of men who zip by me on the bike. Most are kind and let me know they are coming up on me, so I get over when I can. Some even give a few words of encouragement, while others obviously don't care for women who are in front of them and scream and curse if I don't immediately get out of there way! In Austria

    I made it back into T2 in one piece, even if a little bruised, and was relieved to head out onto the run course. The course was pretty flat, but with lots of slippery roots and tight turns and steep banks to run up and down. It was good fun, and I felt like I was running controlled but well, and came across the finish line in first, with Renata not too far behind in second, and Anna in third. It was a fantastic race, and despite the rain I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of it all.

    Mike was the lone US athlete in the field and flew the flag with pride. He had a good race with a couple of spectacular falls. Out of our group, he definitely won the prize for the best war wounds after the race.

    Thanks to the Xterra Austria crew for hosting such a fantastic event. I hope I can go back again next year, as it was a great few days.

    I now switch my On-One Scandal back for my Planet X SL carbon road bike as I put in the last few miles leading up to Monaco 70.3 on the 7th Sept.

    London Triathlon win!

    I went into my race at London not really knowing what to expect really. I had never really targeted this as an “A” race, so was doing it more as a bit of fun more than anything. It’s funny how things work! I was so relaxed going into it. Some may have argued before the race that I was too relaxed. So much so that I was forgetting to do most of my normal pre race prep. After setting up my bike in transition I suddenly realised that not only had I not pumped up my tyres, but I also had two empty water bottles on my bike. Fat lot of good they would do. Thankfully I realised in time to rectify the problem, and I still had plenty of time to do lots of chatting with people before the race.Autoglass pic

    This was going to be my first “drafting” race in over a year. I was excited by the prospect, and was going to have fun on the bike regardless. I really didn’t know how I was going to feel, and didn’t really have a race plan other than enjoy it. If I felt good, then yes I was going to go for it, but if not I was just going to try and get some good TV time for Planet X and other sponsors.

    As it happened it looks like I managed to do both. Out on the bike I was feeling pretty good. There was a group of 4 of us away, and I kept finding myself with a small gap. I tried a few half hearted efforts to break away early on. But nothing really came of them. At least I was making them work hard if anything. Then as we came back towards the Excel centre again a gap opened up. This time they seemed to be struggling to close it so I figured - oh what the heck give it a go. From that point on it was “tickets please…time to get on the Dibens train!”.

    By the time I came into T2 I had about a 1min 30 on the next group of 3, and about 2:30 on the main group. I knew I still didn’t have the win in the bag, as I have been in this position many times before and not held on for the win. So I went out on the run and focused just on me and what I could do to get round as fast as I could. It was only at the last turnaround that I started to really look at, and calculate how quickly the other girls were closing in. At this point I knew it was going to be close to hold on for the win, and by my calculations it could well have been down to a sprint finish between me and Joelle Franzman. Not what I wanted! Luckily for me (and potentially the crowd at the finish…as I have a tendency to puke every time I sprint for the finish), I came into the finish shoot still with a 20 sec cushion and crossed the line first. It was a great day, and for me just one of those days when everything clicked and played into my hands.

    While it was great to be mixing it up in an elite drafting race again, I still know that non-drafting (70.3 and Olympic) and Xterra is what I am all about. Any race like this that I can win is just a huge bonus.

    Thanks Autoglass!

    I am very excited to announce that Autoglass have very kindly supplied me with a flash new car to drive. It all worked out perfectly really, as about a month ago Mike crashed our current car. A deer ran out in the road and the lady in front slammed on her brakes to try to avoid it, and Mike unfortunately rear ended her! Luckily everyone was ok, but the little Focus wasn't so lucky. Thankfully, my manager made a sneaky call over to the guys at Autoglass, and came up trumps. Well done Rich, and a huge thank you to Autoglass for sponsoring me.Autoglass pic

    I look forward to catching up with some of the 500 or so Autoglass team who are competing at London in a couple of weeks. I hope to arrive early enough on saturday to give you a cheer....and who knows some of them may return the favour to me on the Sunday, as i battle in it out in my first Drafting race in while.

    So a HUGE thank you goes out to Nigel and everyone at Autoglass!

    Head official : "No. 39 please stand down!"
    JD: "....who me! Are you @!#$£@ kidding me?"

    Yes, I got busted for drafting! Quite funny really after my post Lifetime fitness race report from Minneapolis. Not too happy about the call, but shit happens, and I know it is all part of the sport at the moment. But live and learn, and move on ....right?

    NY pic

    New York is without a doubt a fun city to visit, and the race they put in is truly one of a kind. I am a little undecided yet as to whether I like it though. To start out with the race started at 5:53am. Now I like to think of myself as a morning person but come on, that is seriously early! I was up at 3:30 to eat a pre race midnight snack, and then hopped on my bike to ride through the city that never sleeps, to get to the race venue. Richard my manager said after the race, "they should almost give you a bonus for just getting to the start line". I had to fight my way through crowds of people coming out of bars and clubs, NY's crazy cab drivers, and all this in the pitch black of night with no lights on my bike! Fun - maybe?

    Much to Mike's delight I arrived at transition in one piece, set up my transition and then walked the 1.5miles down to the swim start. Geez for some people that's enough exercise already for a week! The swim then takes place in the 'oh so beautiful and clean' Hudson river. They claim that the water quality is fine, but you can't help but wonder if you are going to come out of it alive. At least you have the current with you, which helps make it a super fast swim. Not so good if you are a fast swimmer though! I think one year the current was so strong it only took the pros 11 mins or so to swim the 1500m! Stephen Hackett, watch out! To top things off, this year we also had to contend with jelly fish! I remember thinking during the swim that I was swimming through sea weed, and after it felt like I was getting stung, was paranoid that maybe it was super contaminated sea weed...but I think it was really just jelly fish! Despite all that I managed to make a move late on in the swim and lead all the front pack out of the water.

    We then had a long run to transition. They claim that it is about 400yds to transition from swim exit, but for sure it is more like 1km. Having led out the swim, I thought it was only fair then to give the girls a bit of a head start, and stopped to put some shoes on. It had nothing to do with the 3 toe surgeries that I have had, and strict doctors' orders to never run barefoot again...Honest!

    I eventually made it to my bike, hopped on and headed out onto the highway a few seconds back off the front pack. It didn't take me long to catch them and then work my way up to the front. I really tried to put the pressure on early as I didn't want things to be a repeat of last weeks ITU race in Minneapolis. But it wasn't to be. Like last week, I spent a lot of time on the front trading positions with Becky Lavelle. Jodie Swallow, put in a solid bike and stayed with us, making a few appearances at the front, and Liz Blatchford tucked in nicely at the back. About 2 miles or so from the end of the bike, I got pulled over and asked to stand down and serve my penalty. I was not too pleased at the time, to say the least, said a few choice words and then tried to get back to business.

    Out on to the run, with the real race off up ahead of me, I struggled to get going and suffered in the heat. It was hot...and I hate hot....when I am not prepared for it. I struggled though and finished the race in 6th place, just outside the money.

    Oh well, as I like to say "another day, another dollar" .... er I mean no dollar. Next up for me is the National Team relays, where I will be racing for Planet X. I have never done this event before, and I look forward to flying the PX flag, and hopefully our team coming home with the win.

    5th at Lifetime Fitness in Minneapolis - Why no battle of the sexes?

    Minneapolis picOn Saturday I raced at the Lifetime fitness race in Minneapolis. This was the race that used to be the big money "battle of the sexes" race, with $250,000 on the line for the first male or female across the line. Last year they changed the format back to the traditional Olympic distance non-drafting race, with men racing men, and women racing women. The organisers have also reduced the prize money, favouring putting more money into the series. Both of these reasons combined I think have left the race without the sparkle that it used to. There used to be a real excitement about the race, from both the athletes and the spectators, but this year everything seemed a bit flat. Maybe it was because it is Olympic year and all...who knows...but regardless it is still a great race to attend, and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

    The dynamics of the race seemed a little different this year as well. The race is still invite only, and of those invited this year I think 90% were all fast/typically front pack swimmers. This was good in one respect for me - in that it would make it easier for me to swim with the main group...as there were more feet to draft off, but bad in that I knew it would be harder to get out of sight on the bike - more wheels for the weaker to suck! But it's a non-drafting race I hear you say!!!! Yes my thoughts exactly, and those cheating dirty wheel suckers all know who they are.

    As disappointed as I was that drafting was blatantly going on (both in the men's and women's), I also know that unless the officials start doing their job, it is inevitable, and unfortunately part of the sport. It's still frustrating though.

    Minneapolis picBack to the race, I came out of the swim at the back of the main swim pack, and for some reason faff'ed around in transition. Anyone who looked at the splits will have wondered if I had a cuppa tea in there! Out on to the bike, I put my head down and slowly rode my way through and past all the girls. By about mile 4 I had taken the lead. It was obvious that I was riding faster than most of them, and I was hoping that if I could continue to push on I could get out of sight. I also knew that after dominating on the bike here last year, that there were at least a few girls who were going to try everything to stay with me.

    As we passed transition, at about the halfway point, Becky rode up alongside and took the lead for a bit. We then traded the lead for the next 10 or so miles. It was only in the last 5 miles that anyone else had the balls to come up near the front. Becky led into T2 and looked really strong, and I was a few places back having posted the fastest bike split (about 15 sec slower than last year).

    Out on the run, Snowy didn't take long to run away into the lead. Sarah Haskins looked comfortable in second, and Becky and JZ were fighting it out for 3rd and 4th. I wasn't far back in 5th, and was at least closing on the first lap. At about halfway on the run Becky changed up a gear, and delighted the home crowd to hold on for 3rd. As she put it, she had the help of the 2 little angles on her shoulders (please check out www.jennyslight.org they are really doing some wonderful things to help mothers suffering with post partum disorders). JZ held on for 4th, and I came in in 5th.

    Considering my build up into the race, which has been far from consistent for one reason or another, I was pretty happy with the result. I feel like I am not far away from where I was at this time last year. I just think the other girls have raised their game too.

    Next up for me is the NYC tri on Sunday. I really enjoyed my trip to NY last year, and look forward to the 5:53am start. The bonus to starting so early is that you really get to enjoy the whole day afterwards....as we will be done by about 8am.

    Check back early next week for results from NY.

    Xterra UK champ again, and Dibens 1 and 2 out of the water!

    I don't think there have been many times I have managed to win the same race a year later. Something has typically got in the way, like a toe or knee surgery. Thankfully, (knock knock) I have managed to be injury free for almost 2 years now, and I think the results are starting to show that. After doing 2 70.3 races already in June, I was not really looking forward to racing yesterday in Wales. As I have said before, the course there is notoriously demanding, and there is really no where to hide. You just end up suffering like a dog. To top it all off the weather ended up being "bloody awful". It chucked it down all day, and made the course muddy, and slick....but a lot of fun.

    UK xterra pic UK xterra pic

    Of course it was also Mike's big debut at Xterra racing, so both Dibens were waiting nervously for the starting gun. Having led out all the men before in Xterra, just before the start I doubled checked with the race organizer where the swim went. It wasn't totally obvious, as they only had tiny little turn buoys marking the course. The start of the swim is never fun, and what makes it a little tricky for me, is that often a lot of the guys have more initial speed than me. Then as they start to suck wind, I have to make the judgement call as to whether to just conserve energy, or make a move round them and keep the pace high. We hit the first turn buoy with about 5 of us all in a line....and sneaky MD tucked in nicely behind. After we turned the buoy I made a move for the front. I managed to take the lead just before the 2nd turn. Now this is where all the shenanigans began. I new at this point that we then had to hug the bank of the lake and make one more turn before heading to the exit of the lake. So there I was swimming along, and all of a sudden I can see the whole field heading straight to the swim exit. Well whole field minus Dibens no.2!!! So from what I hear everyone cut the course except Mike and I! So really I guess you could have said they are all DQ'ed, leaving Mike and I to battle it out for 1st and 2nd! That's not what happened, but it would have been nice :) They ended up giving us a minute time bonus on the swim, hence we had the two fastest swims. Which I think actually was a little generous...but hey we'll take it. Luckily it had no real impact on the race results...but hopefully it was a lesson learnt by all.

    Once out on to the bike, for both of us, it was just a case of putting our heads down, and settling into our own rhythm and pace. Being faster swimmers, we end up getting passed, quite quickly, by some of the top pro men. You are always tempted to try to go with them, but with climbs ahead of us on the day we had decided to just ride our own pace. The bike was pretty uneventful for me, which is a good thing. Other than during the first 20 minutes or so, it also ended up being a pretty lonely ride as I was in no man's land between the pro men, and the top age groupers behind. It was extremely muddy, wet, and slippery, but thankfully it wasn't cold, so it was all manageable. I had one wipe-out going through a ridiculously rocky section. As I was going through I remember think......ohhhhh this might be slippery....next second I was on my ass. Luckily no one saw. For my second wipe-out I wasn't quite so lucky. I was cruising along the flat grass into transition, and tired to take my foot out of my shoe, and just hit the deck right in front of everyone. I figured all the spectators needed a good laugh to lift their spirits in the rain.

    I had a pretty comfortable lead heading out on the run, which was what I was hoping for. I was really hoping I didn't have to red-line it, as I knew my body hadn't recovered fully from last weekend. It certainly wasn't easy out there, and I have a huge amount of respect for everyone who made it round. Talking to Multiple Xterra World Champ Conrad Stoltz afterwards, he said that this was the hardest Xterra run course by far!


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    July 2008 - September 2007.