by David Epstein

Click on the article below for the full page

The article from Sports Illustrated can be downloaded here

And so it was with a smile and a high spirits (not the alcoholic variety) that I travelled from Boulder to Gilford, New Hampshire for my third consecutive race at the Timberman 70.3 Festival. I arrived on Wednesday evening and, as always, stayed at the wonderful Gunstock Inn, complete with its indoor pool, fully equipped gym, gigantuous breakfast/brunch/lunch buffet and amazing views over the Lake. I hit the pool on Thursday morning, and quickly realised how nice it is to actually be able to breathe properly when swimming at sea level – as opposed to feeling like you are sucking through a straw at 5000ft in Boulder. I was however slightly perturbed when a girl in the adjacent lane proceeded to race me. Being beaten is never good for one’s ego. Especially if that girl is 7 years old. Anyway, nursing my bruised ego I took the Slice out for a 3 hour spin in the afternoon – spinning being rather difficult given that the Timberman course has a number of hills of the 7-9% variety. There is however a flattish section which would be incredibly fast was it not for the Grand Canyon like crevasses that scar the road. Other drivers must have though that I had consumed some of the ‘great (alcoholic) spirit’ as I swerved in and out trying to avoid a ‘wheel down crack’ debacle (narrowly avoiding getting hit by a passing truck with 50 precariously balanced porta pottys on the back. Could have been messy).

My Thursday night television viewing (‘Cake Wars’ and Wife Swap’ – very intellectually stimulating) was put on hold when I received a visit from the anti doping officials. It’s great to see the WTC upping the ante when it comes to testing – this time they took blood as well as urine. Friday was my rest day, but was full to the brim with a long massage and excess consumption of breakfast buffet staples. The evening was spent at the Champions Dinner where I gave a little speech and had the opportunity to meet some of the age groupers that were racing over the course of the weekend.

Now Timberman is not just a 70.3 – it’s a complete Festival – with a live music, previously live lobsters, a kid’s race, a sprint race, a sprint to the carbo loading dinner and an even faster sprint to the pro panel. Here Andy Potts interrupted the proceedings with an embarrassing ‘Guess Chrissie’s body part’ competition. Anyway, the quiz basically amounted to Andy waving the ‘body part’ photo from the latest ESPN magazine and the first person to guess the part won the signed photo of that part. Somewhat worrying was the fact that my upper thigh was mistaken (including by a doctor) for my calf and my knee. (According to the mother of the 7 year old girl who raced me in the pool I had also been the subject of a family game of Pictionary. The daughter had drawn me. Her brother had to guess who it was. His guesses were Mr Potato Head and An Alien. Fabulous).

Like last year one of the highlights was having the chance to speak at the ‘Make a Wish Foundation’ ceremony. Make a Wish is a not for profit organisation that grants wishes to children with life threatening illnesses – see www.wish.org. It truly is an amazing charity, and the small gathering was held to thank the athletes who were racing to raise money for the organisation. It was an absolute honour to meet some of the fundraisers, and to help raise the profile of the Foundation and its great work. If ever a child dreamed of meeting a professional triathlete I would jump at the chance to make that wish come true.

Race day dawned at about 4.30am. Overcast skies, but no rain, faced us all as we prepared in transition. As always the pro field was full to the brim, with Dede Griesbauer, Caitlin Snow, Heather Jackson, Angela Neath and a host of others. The men’s side was no different – a hotbed of athletic talent including defending champ Andy Potts. I met a wide variety of people in transition. One man came up to me ‘and said – this is my first 70.3 chrissie. What tips have you got for me?’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him that 6am on race morning was a tad too late to be asking me for ground breaking advice. So I offered the following pearl of wisdom. “Use Vaseline”. I didn’t hang around to watch him apply my tip.

With a water temperature of 71 degrees my TYR Hurricane wetsuit was the order of the day. The women went off two minutes behind the men. My start was pretty sub optimal – largely due to the fact that the water was only about 2ft deep and so we had to dolphin leap for about 10 meters. Dolphin leaps are not my forte and looked more like a beached whale. Luckily I hit deeper water, and managed to get into my stroke and onto Dede’s feet. About two thirds of the way round I decided to try and hit the front, and by some small miracle came out of the water first.

I jumped on the Slice and had a strong bike, managing to avoid any ‘wheel in crack’ accidents, and rode into T2 feeling pretty sprightly. Onto the run I felt good, and managed to hold the same pace throughout the half marathon. The Timberman run course is two out and backs, and the course is lined with spectators – especially hundreds of kids – yelling, cheering, eating, playing music and generally having a ball – even the rain didn’t dampen their spirits. What I find equally amazing is the amount of athletes who expended some of their precious energy to shout words of encouragement to me – I hope I was able to put medals round the necks of at least a few of those who cheered for me. I crossed the line first in 4hr10 – to defend my Timberman title, run 5minutes faster than last year and break the course record was so incredibly special. Last year I scattered Jon’s ashes at this race site, and once again I was able to roll across the line in his memory.

And the day didn’t end there. A post race urine drugs test was the first port(a potty) of call and then I proceeded to devour half of the post race buffet. A culinary heaven, centred around bagels pizza, pasta, cold meats, cheeses fruit, salad, ice cream and cakes to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the race. And from there I rushed back to the finish line to meet and greet many of the age groupers as possible. It was slightly dispiriting to be told by a WTC official that I should stop putting medals around people’s necks as I was causing a jam in the finishing chute. I ignored him.

Despite this one individual and his ludicrous suggestion the Timberman 2010 experience was fantastic. A first class pro field, the best post race food, superb support from volunteers and spectators, and importantly heaps of interaction between the pros and the amateurs throughout the weekend. Congrats to Andy for the win, to Angela and Heather for rounding off the women’s podium, to the wonderful Richard and Maureen at the ‘home from home’ Gunstock Inn and all morning, all you can eat (and I did) breakfast (www.gunstockinn.com), to Amber and Robbie and the rest of the race massage team (www.vitalkneads.com), to Myles at MC Cycle and Sport (www.mccycleandsport.com) for making sure the Slice was ready to rumble – and of course to Audra, Keith, Alex, and the rest of the Timberman crew. Lake Winnipesaukee – or ‘Smile of the Great Spirit’ – I couldn’t have named it better myself.

Some more photos at

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=60063&BIB=28&S=230&PWD=

The weekend-long journey will culminate, if you choose, with a sprint race on Sunday morning with over 1500 other women doing the US Women’s Triathlon only a few short minutes from the hotel.

And what’s more……GOTRIbal is partnered with Girls On The Run San Diego, a non-profit organization that encourages pre-teen girls to develop self-respect, leadership and healthy lifestyles through running. A portion of all the registration proceeds will go to support Girls On The Run San Diego.

So what are you waiting for?! Find out more and then go ahead and register on www.gotribalnow.com

http://www.gotribalnow.com/special-events/gotribal-conference-and-retreat-2010

or

https://www.raceit.com/register/default.aspx?event=1196)

This press release can be downloaded here

Berlin – Zur Motivation hatte Sandra Wallenhorst ihr Handy mitgenommen. Wenn sie schon am Tag des Rennens in Roth stundenlang auf dem Rad trainieren sollte, dann doch wenigstens mit Liveticker aus dem Internet. Und so pedalierte die Europameisterin im Ironman-Triathlon vor sich hin und bekam jede Zwischenzeit ihrer Kontrahentin Chrissie Wellington angezeigt. Doch was sie da sah, war alles andere als motivierend. Denn als Wellington in Roth nach 3,8 Kilometern Schwimmen, 180 auf dem Rad und einem vollen Marathon ins Ziel lief, da zeigte Wallenhorsts Handy eine schier unfassbare Zeit: 8 Stunden, 19 Minuten und 13 Sekunden, Weltbestzeit, verbessert um rund 12 Minuten.

“Ich habe gedacht: Jetzt macht es keinen Spaß mehr”, sagt Wallenhorst, die bei ihrem Titelgewinn in Frankfurt 9:04:27 Stunden unterwegs war: “Ich kam mir auf einmal so langsam vor”.

Tatsächlich ist die 33 Jahre alte Britin in ungeahnte Sphären vorgestoßen. Eine Zeit unter 8:30 schien nach ihrem Rennen im Vorjahr, als sie in 8:31:59 Stunden die alte Bestmarke um fast 20 Minuten unterbot, zwar nur eine Frage der Zeit zu sein. Aber selbst Wellington schien ob ihres erneuten Leistungssprungs schockiert: “Ich wusste, ich bin gut drauf. Aber eine solche Zeit hätte ich niemals für möglich gehalten”, sagte sie.

Das verblüffende an ihrer Leistung aber ist vor allem, dass sie langsam selbst den weltbesten Männern Konkurrenz macht. Nur sechs Profis waren schneller als sie, der Rückstand auf den Sieger Rasmus Henning aus Dänemark war geringer als ihr Vorsprung auf die zweite Frau, Rebekah Keat (8:52:10) aus Australien. “Wenn sie so weitermacht, müssen wir demnächst drei Kategorien führen: Männer, Frauen und Chrissie”, scherzt Europameisterin Wallenhorst.

Doch nicht überall kommen die Auftritte der Britin gut an. Im Lager der Männer schweigt man zu dem Thema, ein bisschen argwöhnisch betrachtet man die Frau, die sich anschickt, ihnen Konkurrenz zu machen und die jeden Zweifel über ihre Sauberkeit mit einem unwiderstehlichen Lächeln wegwischt – zumal es bislang keinerlei Hinweise gibt, die sie mit Doping in Verbindung bringen. Acht Tests waren in diesem Jahr negativ. Sie selbst sagt: “Ich kann in den Spiegel schauen und weiß, dass ich sauber bin”.

Eine wirkliche Erklärung für das Phänomen Chrissie Wellington hat trotzdem kaum jemand. “Beim Ironman handelt es sich um eine Belastung im extremen Ausdauerbereich, dort haben Frauen körperlich weniger Nachteile als bei Schnelligkeits- oder Kraftsportarten gegenüber Männern”, erklärt Klaus Pöttgen, der Rennarzt beim Ironman in Frankfurt. “Wellington zieht im Training Männerprogramme durch, ist im Bereich Wettkampfernährung perfektioniert und kann sich offenbar auch mental voll darauf einlassen”, sagt er.

Letzteres mag auch an ihrer Zeit in Nepal liegen, wo sie von 2004 an 16 Monate für eine Entwicklungsorganisation arbeitete. “Die Zeit dort hat meinen Blick auf das Leben verändert, die Menschen dort haben andere Probleme”, sagt Wellington.

Im Himalaja entdeckte sie schließlich ihre Liebe zum Radsport, wenn auch erst zum Mountainbiken. Weil sie in ihrer Jugend bereits geschwommen war, lag der Schritt zum Triathlon nach ihrer Rückkehr nach London recht nahe. Bei ihrem ersten Wettkampf allerdings musste sie gerettet werden, ihr Neoprenanzug war vollgelaufen. Über solche Anekdoten kann sie heute nur noch lachen, ihr erstes Profirennen über die Ironman-Distanz 2007 gewann sie genauso wie alle weiteren Langdistanz-Rennen danach. Die vergangenen drei Jahre siegte sie bei der Weltmeisterschaft auf Hawaii, in diesem Jahr wird ihr vierter Titel folgen. Ihr letzter Motivator ist die Uhr: “Ich will beweisen, dass der Unterschied zwischen Frauen und Männern im Ausdauersport gering ist. Jemand muss den Anfang machen”, sagt sie. Und fügt an: “Ich weiß, dass ich noch schneller sein kann”.

Wellington remains unbeaten over the Ironman distance

Triple world champion Chrissie Wellington has defended her Challenge Roth title, setting a new world record.

The 33-year-old from Norfolk finished in eight hours 19 minutes 13 seconds, 12.46 better than her 2009 race.

Wellington, named an MBE in this year’s birthday honours list, has become the first woman ever to complete five sub-nine-hour Ironman races.

She finished the event in Germany over half an hour ahead of Australia’s Rebekah Keat, and was 7th overall.

Wellington told BBC Radio Norfolk it was still a big surprise to improve on her time at last year’s event.

“I really didn’t think it was possible to break the record that I set last year,” she said.

“To do so and to do it so definitively has been incredibly overwhelming. I think I’ve even surprised myself.”

Wellington remains unbeaten over an Ironman course, the long-distance discipline of triathlon which comprises a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon run.

Despite having won three times at the event’s spiritual home, the World Championships in Hawaii, she says Challenge Roth is right up there with Kona when it comes to fanatical support.

“There’s no other race quite like it, the crowd support is a lot like the Tour De France, there’s people five or six rows deep lining the bike course, and again on the run,” she said.

“That makes it really extra special, it’s that support that gives us the energy that we need to perform.

“I’m really proud to have broken the record once again here.”

Now I’ll focus on some light training and recovery, then I’ll get back in to it Chrissie Wellington

Rather than retiring to enjoy a massage or a bath, Wellington then enjoyed her usual post-race custom of remaining to hand out medals to as many finishers as possible.

“That takes its toll, dancing on the finish line, but I feel good, now I’ll focus on some light training and recovery.

“Then I’ll get back in to it and it’s all systems go to prepare for the World Championships in Hawaii,” she said.

The World Championships are held at Kona, Hawaii on Saturday, 9 October, with Wellington aiming to equal Paula Newby-Fraser’s record of four consecutive titles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/triathlon/8833707.stm

Last years Challenge Roth was one of the most special days of my life.  And returning to this small, sleepy Bavarian town truly felt like coming home. I arrived a week before the race, and made myself at home in my wonderful little apartment. Complete with a little tv. For me to watch the Tour. In German. I understood a few words. Like ‘Lance and Contador’. Sehr Gut. I watched my ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ dvd (a record breaking 7 times) instead.

Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for other road users), I was presented with an amazing Audi A6 from Feser Joachim (www.autohaus-joachim.de) to drive around in. Slightly more upmarket than the tank sized Dodge Caravan that I rent in Boulder. My Audi felt slightly strange in that it didn’t have a metre long crack in the windscreen and the brakes actually worked (I tend to brake using use the Dodge’s front bumper). My first stop was the amazing 50m open air swimming pool in the centre of Roth, where (when it comes to swimming attire) all the local men seem to want to pack as much into a small space as they possibly can. Banana hammocks seem to be the aquatic haute couture in Bavaria. Second stop was the bakery. Putting nuts into dense brown bread is a wonderful invention and I feel should be replicated the world over (nuts into banana hammocks is another matter though).

The few days before the race were busy with drug testing (more about this later), the pro briefing, the press conference and the Erdinger party – where myself and other pros jumped at the chance to wear the lederhosen and dirndl.  The latter is rather like a corset – which, although attractive in appearance, renders breathing almost impossible. I spent much of the evening gasping for air and turning a delightful shade of rouge. In addition to fancy dress, we also had the opportunity to partake in a few local games. One of which was the famous, and extremely entertaining, ‘hammering nails into a piece of wood contest’. Belinda Granger and I went hammer-head to hammer-head. Belinda’s guns were clearly far superior to mine and she managed to break the World ‘Hammering Nails into a Piece of Wood’ Record by 30 seconds. I was determined that come race day I would get my own back 

Throughout race week I was repeatedly asked ‘can you break the world record?’ Having already lost the Hammer/Nail contest I presumed they meant the ironman distance record that I set last year. In reply, I heard myself mouthing the words “I want to try and win the race in the fastest time possible – and so yes that means trying to break the record”.  But inside I have to say that I was less confident that it could be done. Last years conditions had been perfect and whilst my preparation hadn’t (I was suffering with shingles) I really didn’t know how much faster i could go. I actually said to Belinda before the race – if the record goes it will be by seconds or a minute at most. What do I know?!

So, race day dawned early. I was up at the crack. 3.20am to be precise. Enough time to devour my Cream of Rice and a strong cup of the black stuff before heading to the swim start for the 6am kick off.  I was really happy with my swim.  It was the first outing for my TYR Hurricane wetsuit and it worked like a dream. I was determined go out hard from the gun and set myself up for a good race by coming out with the faster swimmers. At about half way I found myself in the front of a pack, pulling a train of boys around the buoys. Now, as many people know I am rather navigationally challenged, and I was slightly concerned that we would end up in the North Sea, but luckily I managed to stay on course and popped out of the water in 50minutes. I must have been so excited about the swim that I totally forgot to pick up my bike bag in T2 and ran straight into the change tent. It was then that I realised my mistake – uttered a few unladylike profanities – and ran the 50m back to the bag.  All captured on film. No wonder people call me ‘Muppet’.

I hopped onto the Slice (now nicknamed ‘Queenie’ after the MBE and the Queen K) and felt strong right from the start, overtaking Tereza after a couple of kms. The bike course at Roth is amazing. It’s not flat by any means, and has some cheeky climbs that make you work, but the descents are long and fast, and aside from a small section the roads are closed. And the surface. Like a baby’s bottom. Smooth as silk.  Like last year, climbing up the Solarerberg absolutely blew me away. The crowds were huge – five or 6 people deep – and making a noise that could perforate eardrums. There were whistles, clappers, banners, flags, beer glasses and a few bodily parts being shaken. It was hard to keep my eye on the job. Especially with the shaking body parts. Even harder when it turns out that those parts belong to members of your family.

I came into T2 with 4hr36 on the clock and a beaming smile on my face. Having taken inspiration from Dorothy in Kansas I decided to wear the latest Brooks T6 racer in a delightful shade of rouge. Just to match the new racy red TYR tankini and shorts. Chris de Burgh could have written a song about me.  My left hip was actually hurting on the first part of the run, probably due to my bike position – which still needs a bit of tweaking. I managed to override the pain part of my brain, and instead focused on getting into my stride and soaking up the energy from the huge crowds. I took inspiration from my new Greepers laces which had the slogan ‘live it: love it’ on the toggle (www.greepers.com). It must have worked because after about 5km the pain wore off and I felt like I was running much more fluidly – living and loving everything. My family and friends popped up periodically along the race course. All that energetic, shaking of body parts clearly required a huge amount of carbo loading as they always seemed to have either a wurst or a beer in their hands. My dad usually had both. After all…when in Rome……or Roth…..

I went through the 21km point in around 1hr22 which was about 3 minutes quicker than last year –  and, although I faded in the second part of the marathon, I knew at about the 30km mark that I had the victory and could really enjoy the last few kms of the race. This year the course had been changed slightly, ending with a loop through the centre of Roth. The crowds were huge and the noise was deafening as I closed in on the finish line. I had realised that I was under world record pace, but it was only in the last km that I realised that I was going to break my own record so definitively, and only as I rounded the last corner could I see the time – 8hr19. I crossed the line, rolled in memory of Jon and sank to my knees. I had finally found what I had been looking for since I became a professional triathlete. The seemingly elusive perfect day. The words of the song are so true……..

“people wait a lifetime for a moment like this”.

I take great pride in what I achieved at Roth – to have won, and have broken the world record again, is something that will take weeks, months, years to truly sink in. All the pieces of the jigsaw came together to create a perfect picture – that of the finish line smile. But this victory is not just personally gratifying. I hope that women look at me, and other athletes, and realise that there are no limits, that anything truly is possible with hard work, determination and passion. To plunder the words of Eleanor Roosevelt “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do”. I try and live my life by that motto. Challenging what people think is possible and hopefully proving that we can all achieve more than we could ever have dreamt of.

Of course, as with any ground breaking performance the inevitable questions arise. They are never directed to me. More whispered in the background, or implied in conversations with those who know me. They ask how it is possible to do what I did without the use of performance enhancing drugs. I don’t believe that silence is golden – and my brief response is this. I got into this sport almost by accident. Not for money, for glory or even for world records. Simply to see how good I could be. I had a talent that not even I knew I had. It took a few special people to help me realise that talent and hone me into the athlete I am today. But I devote my life to this sport. Putting my heart and soul into fulfilling my potential – mentally and physically. It requires sacrifice, hard work, determination and an ability to look beyond the physical boundaries that others set for you. I look in the mirror and I know that I am clean. I have never, nor will ever, take performance enhancing drugs. I don’t need to. What you all saw last weekend is the real me, putting my heart and soul on the line to test my limits and show that the bar can be raised.  This is a wonderful time for women in sport. Please, let us celebrate that.

As always I want to finish this blog with some words of thanks. First of all to Alice, Felix, Kathrin and the rest of the amazing Challenge Team (Heiko and massage man Peter also deserve a special mention), for putting on such a wonderful event year after year. I can’t think of any other race in the world where the race director and his family stand at the finish greeting each and every athlete as they cross the line. Their passion for the sport shines through and is what makes the race so incredibly special.

A huge thank you to the Roth community, to Herr Weigel for letting me stay in his ‘wunderbar’ apartment, to Susie and Sjakk for hosting my family for the second year, to Fritz Buchstaller at Radsport (www.radsport-buchstaller.de) for his expertise in all things bike and so much more  – and to the thousands of volunteers who give up their precious time to help behind the scenes. The atmosphere at the Volunteer Party on the Monday night rivalled that of the finish line, and I saw first hand the energy, commitment and enthusiasm that they have and which enables us to realise our dreams.

To Bek, Belinda Tereza and the other pro girls – and all the pro men – for pushing me every step of the way.

And thank you so much to my family (especially my mum, dad, brother Matthew and cousins) and friends that came out to watch/drink beer/eat sausages. Your support means more to me than you will ever know.

Challenge Roth gave me something I never thought would be possible. The perfect day. And for that I am so truly grateful.