Tour de Europa Stop #3

Race # 3: Hamburg World Champs Series.  By far the most competitive race that I've been in this year.  The swim was interesting, got stuck in the battle, got covered in green (the algae was rampant in the 26 degree water!), came out farther back than I should (coach so not happy with this!).  Didn't panic, hammered on the bike , suffered real bad the first couple laps, we caught the leaders, I found my biking legs and moved my way to the front of the pack, so much nicer through the corners.  Good T2, came out in the front of the race again, hamstrings and back not happy with me, lost contact with the lead runners, felt better the back half of the run, finished off in 17th place, a solid day in a strong field.  Still a little frustrated since I know I can swim & run better than that!

Also check this out: I'm currently ranked #1 for the ITU World Champs Series Best Cyclist Ranking!!  There is some extra prize $ up for grabs at the end of the season if I stay in the top 3! 

Couple pics from Coach Bjoern who, with wife Stephanie were shouting at me the whole race:

Now back in the south of Holland.  Road all the way to Germany today (boarder is only 5km away).  Feeling pretty good today.  London on Thursday.  Race on Saturday.  Again check out: www.triathlon.org/tv for coverage.

Below: A modern windmill overshadowing a classic one on the right:

One last thing:  Check out my new website:  http://www.lisamensink.com/. I'll be posting my blogs from there from now on, so change your bookmarks!  I can't believe that domain name was free...what are the chances?

Til London.

Lisa

Race Day...tomorrow...

Well, it's finally getting close!  The men's race in Hamburg was today and we are on Sunday.  Sometimes I like to watch the men's race before ours, you get to scope the course, see how the race plays out, it gets me focused on my day to come.  But sometimes, it's pure torture, I wish it was me out there racing, not waiting another 26 hours to race!  Today, it was fun to watch and Bjoern, Lifesport coach extraordinaire, and his wife were out, so I had some company while spectating (although, I left them early once I decided my legs had enough standing).  Now I'm ready for my turn! 
Tomorrow's start time is precisely 3:16pm local time.  Why 3:16 you ask, I have no idea, but when the German's say 3:16, you start at 3:16 and I like it!  Except for the fact that I have to wait all day to race!  So you can check out the action on: www.triathlon.org/tv

Back to reading my book and waiting for 3:16 to arrive.
Cheers,
Lisa

Seeing black...and Orange....

Race #2 completed.  Let me tell you, it was easier said than done in the "European heat wave"!  With temperatures soaring into the mid-30's it made for a HOT run!  I had an excellent start in the swim, a solid bike where not much happened and then was first out of T2....I knew it was going to be a hot one, so I figured it was an all or nothing type deal...either I went for it and felt like a million bucks in the heat or I went for it and blew up in the heat.  Well, it ended up being somewhere in the middle, not a great run but not a bad run for the conditions and how I felt (the run course was apparently ~10.5k).  I hung on, just as I started seeing stars and things were about to fade to black, for an 8th place finish!  I also missed out on being Dutch Champion (a feat I have yet to conquer!), a young Dutch girl had a great day and ran up from the second pack to finish 5th overall.  Things are looking great for the Dutch women this season!

After the race I was driven down to the south of country to stay and train with the young Dutch team.  On sunday night we all went to the town center to watch the football game.....here is the sea of Orange....

It was too bad about the outcome, otherwise there would have been quite a party around the country!

Up Next:  The Hamburg ITU World Championship race series event on July 18th.  This one is at a decent time and should be covered live, click here.

Euro Week 1 & 1/2...the Cole's Notes version...

I've been a bad blogger lately!  My apologies!  Here is a summary of the last week and a bit. 

It started off in the Dublin airport waiting 3 hours for a ride that never came, then a ride on the local bus (the milk run to Athlone) and a taxi ride to the hotel, with bike and bags in tow!  There was a bag that was lost, a chat with local police and a lovely Irish couple who had rescued my bag!  Then there was a race which didn't go so well.  My mind & body still seemed to be somewhere in a time zone over the Atlantic.  This lead to a missed bike pack, a transition penalty of 15 seconds for not putting my wetsuit in my box, and a run that felt like Leprecons were hanging onto my legs!  Needless to say, the coaches and I made the decision to stop since I was well back and had 3 more races to come!  Not a easy decision, since I hate having a DNF beside my name, but a professional one.

Now I am staying with my parents and niece in a little town north of Holten (the site of my next race).  We are visiting my relatives who live out here and have come watch me race in Holten before.  I'm feeling pretty excited for the race on Saturday, start #3 and I got a mention on the ITU race preview article.

That's all for now!  After the race it's off to the south of Holland and the BIG GAME is on Sunday, should be fun!!

Hup Holland Hup!

Cheers,

Lisa