In Roth with Chrissie

Went down to the pool today for a wee swim with none other than Chrissie Wellington, Ohh how i love to name drop.
Nah.. seriously , it was a good session and Chrisse owned me, i blame German beer and my lack of wetsuit....oh and having no muscles... ( i guess you can see the picture)

later we went for a ride on the bike course and got rained on about 5 times. ideal.
Good day hanging with the champ!! sorry no bike pic's as of yet... the rain and camera's don't really mix well.

She is looking crazy fit and ready to rock.... im scared for the pro men...
G

IM Frankfurt , and another blueseventy win

In yet another exciting day of racing in Frankfurt, Blueseventy’s own Timo Bracht set a course record in winning his second Ironman European Championship, while Sandra Wallenhorst won the much-anticipated showdown with Yvonne Van Vlerken to take the women's crown in Frankfurt.

Bracht used a blazing 2:43 marathon split to run his way to the men's title today, passing Eneko Llanos with seven km of the marathon remaining and flew into the spectacular finish here at historic Romer, setting a course record with his 7:59:16 finish. Bracht had started the run with last year's champion, Chris McCormack, about three minutes behind Llanos, who had remained ahead of the two men after the swim and through the entire bike ride. Bracht looked like he would have to settle for third after the 2007 Ford Ironman World Champion surged away from him and caught up to Llanos, who finished second to McCormack here a year ago after dueling with the
Australian through the marathon.
























Just when it looked likeMcCormack was goin to run his way to another win here in Frankfurt,
he suddenly stopped because of cramps. Bracht flew by McCormack and surged past Llanos into the lead. McCormack hung on for third, followed by Andreas Raelert, who had led for parts of the swim and bike today before slowing dramatically at the start of the marathon. Raelert,
competing in only his second Ironman, gathered himself and finished a solid fourth. Rounding
out the top five was Mathias Hecht.

1	Bracht, Timo	10/3/1	34/MPRO	00:47:45	04:24:51	02:43:06	07:59:15
2	Llanos, Eneko	2/1/2	33/MPRO	00:44:59	04:24:24	02:47:21	08:00:21
3	Mccormack, Chris	11/4/3	35/MPRO	00:47:46	04:24:52	02:46:59	08:03:05
4	Raelert, Andreas	1/2/4	33/MPRO	00:44:56	04:26:38	02:48:10	08:03:29
5	Hecht, Mathias	3/5/5	29/MPRO	00:44:59	04:27:34	02:55:23	08:11:56

Normann Stadler

I arrived in Germany safe and sound, I know alot of you were worried. hmmm
Anyway on to more important news.

Today Normann Stadler came in to see us , it's just over a week before his start at Challenge Roth,
He looks fit and relaxed.
The new addiction to his family a baby boy seems to have mellowed him out. He is a very proud dad.. this relaxed Dad is definatley looking like he's ready to roll next weekend.

Everything seems to be working in Stadlers favor this year, He has a new team ( commerzbank) some great teams mates, a solid training block and a quiet baby that likes to sleep. What more can he ask for ? it's a perfect build up to Challenge Roth.

I think this is one of the first times i've had a normal relaxed chat with the two times IM world Champion. It's hard to get a relaxed man , when you meet him right before the biggest race of the year (KONA)
But this time round we found ourselves talking about other athletes and generally gossiping. (as triathletes do) all good stuff though!!!
A really nice guy, who happens to be damn fast.... i guess thats an understatement... but you know already...

I was going to talk smack to him and tell him i was going to ride him off my wheel, but we all
know i would have just looked like an ass...maybe next time.
I should be meeting Normann again early next week, so i'll keep you posted

Cheers
Guy

Photo's Normann, Guy and Normann

PS: that cut on my nose, was an unfortunate accident, i had a bad dream and woke up suddenly , got a fright , then slammed my head into the side of the couch. Nose bleed and everything. Haha, kind of funny in hind sight. only in hind sight mind you!!!


s

Pac Crest

Ouch ouch, I have some really bad burn lines!!
My white winter skin didn't really enjoy the 87 degree weather....
I worn sunscreen , but it really didnt work.

in short it was a hot day.
Matt lieto was out to defend his title today , however due to a hematoma he calls francis he sustained during a bike crash at 70.3 Boise. It was Marky V that won todays race, leading from start to finish!!

i have two massive blisters under my big toes... Ouch!!... i'm thinking of naming them, they are thats big
Guy

Bend , OR

Just turned up to Matt Lieto's pad in Bend Oregan, What an amazing place. Not that Matt wants me to tell any-one. He likes his town the way it is....whoops

We are racing Pacific Crest half Ironman tomorrow , so hopefully the altitude doesn't kill me. I'll keep you posted on that one. Ran for like 100 meters today and it wasn't pretty... I'm more than a little concerned .. Ohh well , it's looking to be a cracker of a day tomorrow and the break pads aren't rubbing on the bike... so things aren't all bad. lol

I'll post my pain after the race.
Thanks for letting me stay Matt. aka Mr Nice ( he doesnt know where he got that label)

G

Picture : Matt Lieto fine tuning

I need a lift

Any-one going to Pacific Crest half from Seattle?..... if so .............please can i get a lift...... please

IM CDA

Well its 11pm and i'm a bout to shoot down to the finish line and watch the last of the finishers
come in ,

But i thought i'd quickly update you .

Conditions looked great this morning , light breeze and the temperature was cool but not freezing... Shame i can't say it stayed like that.

The pro swim start was at 6:25am and the age groupers at 7am .
first out of the water was Flanagan and then the main group of contenders including Rhodes and Pontano.

Kate Major and heather Wurtele were close only seperated by a few second come the end of the swim. It was dark horse Tyler Stewart that came from behind and rode 4:59 to take a demanding lead heading out on to the run. This lead would prove to be too much for Major and Wurtele to close and Stewart came home for her first IM Win ....A surperb victory for a talented lady.

The mens race was an interested affair , Bryan Rhodes lost his pedal and contact with Potano .
Pontano then went on to take controll of the race and never looked back .
American TJ tollakson had a great swim , bike , run combo to come in for second place and rounding out the top three was the funny man "Max Longree" from Germany , who ran his way through the field to finish on the podium.

Congrats to every-one for a great race and toughing it out in those cold conditions

I'm off to the finish.
More to come in the next few days. More Photo's and blogs...


Wicked


PS: I had a media pass for the event and was shooting , after some encouraging words from my boss " ie: don't die" i was out on the back of a massive motor bike. going silly fast...."loved it"