Way to go Luis! You can find more of these on ST site, if you dare!

I had a great race today. Our own Jordan Rapp won this race 3 years ago in its inception. Today was beautiful, I enjoyed every minute of it. If you are looking to get your a%& kicked next year, http://www.americanzofingen.racesonline.com/ is the race for you. Beer afterwards.

I can’t feel my legs and am looking forward to some pull buoy drills next week. Ha ha!

Congrats to everyone who raced Kona, you all did so well! I was glued to my computer most of the day! I was jumping up and down when Alex crossed the line, that was so cool….someday I will be there!

Follow all timex athletes racing Kona live today Oct. 13, at:

www.ironman.com

Well, this weekend was a journey back in time to my first love of endurance sports– mountain biking. The Wigwam Ultimax challenge in Sheboygan, WI, www.wors.org,  was the first race I had ever done back when I was about 15 years old. Since that time I have ridden the same trials and done the race probably 7 times now. In my glory years of mountain biking I won the PRO/elite race in back to back years.

Since taking up triathlon, I haven’t ridden the mountain bike all too often. Although I still try to hit the dirt with some of my training partners back home on occasion: www.tristanschouten.blogspot.com, http://b-matter.blogspot.com. I had originally planned on just spectating this year, but on my way driving to the race my old Coach Rob Boldt www.pcwcycling.org called and said he heard I was coming. Well he convinced me to race about 1.5hours before race time!! This is the most last second race I have ever done. So I got home, pumped up the tires and shocks in the Trek Fuel EX mtb, threw on some lycra, and headed out for a warm-up ride to the race (which is conveniently only about 1 mile from home).

At the race it was definatley fun to see some of the old gang that I used to mix it up with in the dirt on a semi-weekly basis. I joked that they were lucky I didn’t have aero bars on my mountain bike. The fun thing about this race is that it has the biggest $$ payout in the midwest so all of the best riders show up, and there are some good crowds around the course (needless to say I think a few people were surprised when I pedaled by). On the first lap, I was reminded why I am better on the road, when my left shoulder decided to become really good friends with a nice Pine tree. After that I needed to get it a little more under control in the singletrack. During the race I was told that I was sitting about 15th position, which I was pretty pumped with. But on the last lap I absolutely ran out of gas and dropped to 22nd overall at the finish (12 minutes behind the winner). (I guess I shouldn’t have ran 7 miles in the morning– at that time wasn’t expecting to be racing). Overall a great workout, but my body is definatley paying for it today.

Well, here I am in Hawaii.  Enjoying the beautiful island and the warm temperatures - it was getting cold in Northern California.  It snowed the day before I left.

In six days I have the hard job of cheering on the athletes from the sidelines, but I don’t mind too much.

At Ironman Louisville my pedal come off my bike at mile 107.5 I couldn’t find it, so I pedaled the rest of the way with one leg.  I couldn’t help but laugh the entire way into transition.  I am still not sure how a pedal comes off a bike.  It probably cost me two places in my age-group and an entry into Ironman Hawaii. 

Then two weeks ago someone loved my Women’s Specific Design Trek Equinox so much that they broke into my house and stole my bike, my Bontrager Aeolus race wheels, and another set a race wheels. 

So, I conclude I was not meant to race at Ironman Hawaii and that is just fine by me - I needed a vacation anyway.

Day 1:

I ran into my teammate Alex - he looks fit and ready to go!  Good luck Alex!

I think I saw Tamara riding her bike on Queen K Highway, but I’m not too sure, she was going too fast for me to verify the sighting.

I also ran into Carole, I am pretty sure she has had better days, but that is a story she will have to tell you.  Get well soon, girl!

Here is just one more finishing shot of Kona….

An awesome interview with Rachel from Slowtwitch…

 http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Slowtwitcher_Rachel_Ross_talks_65.html