2011 in review

2011 was not only a very eventful year, a very busy year, but also (to me) a successful year. Off course there are always things that could have gone better but I like to look at the entire picture.
I stayed injury free, I learned to sleep on command on airplanes and I am able to pack my bike box in 5 min (in a hotel lobby).

January

JR leaves for Germany (for work) while I stay in the US. 8 weeks without my hubby :-( Since I cannot sleep alone in a house I...well...just don't sleep at night. Instead I sleep during the day. The first 2 weeks turned me into a zombie but then I learned to live with it. Best part is that he is in the same city as my family and I am not :-(

February

Cycling season in AZ starts. After spending most of my time on the TT bike I entered the Avondale crit and broke off the front in the first corner and managed to lap the field by myself...LUCKY :-)

Ragnar Relay - I got to spend 30 hrs (or a total of 200 running miles) with 6 other people in one car. I had no idea who they were before the trip. The race was so much fun, we didn't sleep the enitre time, the van was most likely very stinky (Kelly and I did shower!!! Unlike the others :-) and we ran many many fast miles!!! And, the most important part: we are now friends and are looking forward to Ragnar 2012!!!

March

MIAMI here I come. My frist trip to Miami. I had a lovely homestay that showed my all of Miami. What a great city. I raced the 5150: after an OK swim (not last) I had a great ride and a great run (36:XX). 7th place in a very strong field. Great start to the season.

The weekend after I travel to the other coast: Superseal Triathlon. One of my MUST DO races. I went there to defend my title but also to go FASTER ;) Mission accomplished. I am now the proud owner of 3 Paddle Trophies with the Unit coins of the Navy Seals. I will be back and I really want a 4th paddle!!! 7 is the record ;-)

April

Marquee Triathlon...turned into a Duathlon. Oh well. Wave start with the boys in my age group. I managed to outrun them on the second run and finished 2 nd overall (one guy was 20 seconds in front in another wave). Probably the most nerve wrecking race, since I got chased by guys for 6 miles :-) Winning the female overall.

Phoenix Triathlon - cold water in Lake Pleasant. Great local race with a tough run. 1st place. Yippie.

USAT Duathlon National Championship - 1st place!!! The first 5 k was pretty uneventful, hilly, slow course. The bike went fantastic and I got into T2 in 1st place with a 2 min gap!!! It was super exciting to run through the finish and getting to hold up a banner!!! This race ment a lot to me: I got no sleep the night before the race thanks to a random midnight WADA Anti doping visit. I drove down to Tucson at 3 am, because I still had to register :-) Unfortunatelly I was not awarded the National Title because I was not released by Germany. I still got to stand on the podium as the winner of the rac and I got to represent the USA at Worlds in September. YEAH!!! Oh, and I am now released from Germany and only starting for the USA. If I decide to start at German CHampionships, I will be in the results as a foreign elite...that sounds strange ;)

May

Rio Salado Triathlon -...how many events have I done now? 1st place!!! Whohoo!!!

Tempe International Triathlon - this time Sprint Distance...to recover from the races :-) First place :-) It is always nice to have a travel time of 15 minutes to a race.

Memphis in May Triathlon - WOW, what a great race and what a great homestay. AND, what an eventful trip :-) Always something with me. I had the clever plan to do a 24 hr trip. Fly there, race, fly back. I never have the time to see a lot anyways, so I flew to Memphis the day before the race, arrived there just in time for the pro meeting, had a great dinner with my homestay and her friends. Damie (my homestay) was also racing so in the am we took off and went to the race. Her race was in this huge thunderstorm with lots of lightnig. She was so brave and finished very strong. By the time we raced the race was delayed for 2 hrs??? I think. It was still lightning and I almost peed my pants because the lightning was so close!!! The streets were flooded so I didn't see the dismount line (even though an official gave me the instructions to dismount before the curb, which I did) and I ended up getting a penalty :-( My first one EVER. The steet was flooded...the line was under water, invisible when you come charging at XX mph!!! Oh well. 8th place in a stacked field. I had a great race and flew back immediately after. Then I got to spend a night in the Chicago airport because of the same storm. Wonderful :-) Did you know that the Chicago airport closes from 12 until 5 am?

June

GERMANY - So exciting and a wonderful, uneventful trip. I raced 2 races with my family as my cheer-group. 5150 Germany and 5150 Austria. Both great races in great places. Germany went well and I ended up 5th, unfortunatelly I got sick right before Austria and had to race sick :-( 6th place in Austria - First time ever that I had to walk during the run because my head was hurting so bad. It was still fun. Great race and the location is absolutely fantastic!!!

For one week I led the 5150 World Ranking :-) YEAH!!! I have a print out as evidence. I am now qualified for Hy Vee, the 5150 Championship where the 30 best females in the world will battle each other for over 1.000.000 $ of price money.

July

I still wanted to race the Boulder 5150. ROADTRIP!!! A no pressure race (since I had already qualified). OK race (side ache on the run, probably from the shallow altitude breathing, oh well, that can happen to anyone). 8th place!!!

Mountainman Sprint Tri - 1st place. Local races are always fun.

August

The temps in Phoenix are getting rediculous and by now I am honestly sick of getting up at 5 am every day to get everything in before we hit 117 degrees.

JR goes to Italy for work and...what the heck...I am going for a week to escape the heat :-) It was supposed to be a swim/run training camp, unfortunatelly all the pools were closed in Italy due to a holiday and I wasn't allowed on the US base (because we didn't bring our marriage license :-(...German athlete starting for the USA in Italy unable to train due to not being allowed on US-Italian soil...makes sense, right? Oh well, I enjoyed being in Europe, ran 2 times a day, picked fresh fruit (figs, peaches,...off the trees after every run. PERFECT. The week went by way to fast and I was back in 117 degree Phoenix.

No racing!!!

September

Big month for racing:

Hy Vee and Worlds!!!

I was really excited but unfortunatelly my first full year living and training in Phoenix left me drained. My body was tired, we now had 50 + days of 110 plus degrees. So what to do...I decided to just enjoy the last 2 races and soak in all the excitement that comes with Championship races.
Positivity is key!!!

Hy Vee was a blast. We got spoiled. Our goodie bag was as big as my bikebox (kind of). We had our own little flag carrier that came with us to the start and the race was on. The flood gates were open and a lot (3050 cfs I heard) were pushing into our faces. Good for fish and fast swimmers, not so good for ... me. But, I made it here and all I had to do is enjoy. I had an amazing bike and a wonderful run soaking in the crowds and the great course. I finished 27th, NOT where I wanted to be. The swim just killed us "non-fish". But hey, I didn't sign up for an always-perfect triathlon!!!

Next up: Spain!!! Amazing Trip with a great friend. My family flew to Spain and we had an amazing time there. It was a ton of fun to represent the USA. AHHH!!! I ended up 16th on day one and our relay finished 8th on day 2 (where I had one of my fastest runs ever). It was a blast!!! I hope to be back in 2012!!!

October

No racing. I decided to take a good off season after racing much and for long. I am out cheering on people at Phoenix races, helping with clinics and just doing lots of stuff at home that I neglected during the season.

November

I did absolutely no racing but I started training again. Enjoying the nice temps in Phoenix.

Grand Canyon Hike for Thanksgiving - which was EPIC!!! Havasupai Falls to the Rapids at the Colorado. What a great trip. 5 days of sleeping bag, nature and drinking coffee out of a metal cup :-)

I also got to watch my first IM. IM AZ. Impressive to see all the people, all ages, all abilities, all smiles (almost). It got me thinking: when will be my first one?

December

Swim, Bike, Run - lots of it but no intensity. Enjoying the weather and looking forward to a visit from my family for Christmas!!!
We explore AZ and do a lot of sight seeing. Christmas was so much fun!!! Family here = Angi happy.

Maybe I should get back to racing:
New Years eve - 2 races? Why not?
Resolution 5 k in the am: A true cross country course (slow and hilly but awesome!!!). I finish 2nd overall behind JR, first female in a 18:30. Yeah. I haven't run this fast since college.
After a BIG New Years eve dinner of cheese, olives, bread and wine JR and I run the Midnight Madness Race. 3 miles in Phoenix. During the warm up we were wondering the following: why do 2 races in one day? And who had the clever idea to eat cheese and drink wine before a run?

I finish the 3 miles in 16:54, the fastest I have ever run a 3 miler. EVER!!! It felt great. That gave me a PR by a LOT. And I mean almost one full minute.

2011 is over and I am looking forward to 2012. I am so thankful and happy everything went the way it went and I can't wait to race my first race of 2012: PF Changs Halfmarathon followed by some 70.3, some 5150, some local running, cycling and triathlon events, Duathlons, trips to foreign countries and much more.