Conrad Stoltz is uploading photos to his flickr.com account from Kona, Hawaii. His fiancée Amber Monforte (web.mac.com/AmberMonforte) will race Ironman World Championship tomorrow.

More info on Ironman World Champs will follow…

After much pre-race talk last night I compared Odyssey to entering a war zone…. You pretty much put yourself out there and just hope that you survive to the end. The war is not with the opponents it is with yourself – with your body, your mind and your heart… Today we won!

We started at the Old Hermanus Harbour at 12h00 it is a difficult time to start as you have had breakfast but are not quite ready for lunch. It was very exciting – I am sometimes even too excited to concentrate on all the pre-race small talk. It was great – we have come along way to get here and it was really exciting to finally be lining up with the other soldiers.

We started towards the middle of the crowd – I know what happens when I start in the front – I defend my position and try and keep up with those around me which is a big NO NO in a race like this… I did joke that if there were other girls ahead we could do the exact time and finish behind them… did I tell you we were not meant to be competitive today oops – it was tough holding back – running by our heart rates pulling the reigns in on one another from time to time.

We did this training run a while ago and I was lucky enough to get a piggy back on the water crossing – when we got to this part of the route I cheekily tried my luck and asked a fellow runner – who sweetly obliged – we arrived to the other sides with cheers and elderly ladies responding to what a gentleman he was – so that that runner who ever you are a very big thank you!!!

However the next river crossing I was not so lucky… They mentioned a river crossing as the mouth of the river had been opened due to recent rainfall. Just as we got closer I told Viv to hurry and get us a boat – we had just gained position on a ladies team and I did not want them to cross the river first (oops not meant to be competitive)Viv was laughing whilst I was trying to negotiate who would take the front of the croc – turned out they were all tied together and we had to put life jackets on and climb across about twenty… this was not easy holding running shoes in hand – however after a while I managed to put my running shoes on my hands and crawl quite quickly – note to self if the run gets tough can crawl quite well!!! Viv scraped her shin but is a real toughie and only cried for a few minutes – nah she never cried! She is tough as nails.

We then arrived to feeding zone where Viv challenged me to a burping competition after letting out a monster belch – she even threatened to do the next one over the microphone – the commentator found this quite amusing and so did our supporters!

The beach run goes on for hours so we decided to listen to music – we were probably shouting to one another by now – because as our fellow runners know – we do not shut up! We passed another ladies team – not that it matters as we were not being competitive after a while we had the next ladies team in our sights – this is where the battle started – instinctively you want to go for the kill – to hunt them down and end with a sprint finish and the glory of the day… but we were not racing instead we were warming up for four days of running afterwards. Viv was very good at checking my heart rate and slapping my wrists as I started charging a little too fast. We finished fresh and were surprised with a 5^th position and later were informed that the top 5 ladies team finished within the top 25 teams – well – we were very happy with day one.

We are being teased for having showered together at the end – there was only one cubicle and we were freezing!

Our friends Moira and John – Mojo also finished 5th mixed team. We have decided to go up a position everyday.

I am not sure when I will blog again but hope to find a computer at the campsite tomorrow… Bye everybody – we are about to face our biggest day – please think about us!!!! Viv is also being tracked by polar so you can check our speed and kilometers and her heart rate – please tell me if it goes higher than 160 cause that means she is lying to me!

Lastly a very big thank you to John Morison for allowing us as guests to his house and to Viv’s Steve for being an amazing second.

This last week was meant to be a taper week – one of recovery. Well it was…. But only for running. This has probably been the busiest week this whole year and one of conflict and confrontation, deadlines, overtime and early mornings. Ideally I always wish to be inside a little pre-race happy bubble where I get to relax and focus on my race and that alone… however, I do believe life mirrors race conditions and anything can happen so it is best to be used to keeping a clear head and soldiering on no matter what the conditions so perhaps this was just some mental training and preparation for what lies ahead – I joked with my staff that the race week would be more relaxing than what I had experienced this last week.

I awoke on Saturday morning and the entire right hand side of my neck and arm were stiff, knotted and tight. Saturday was a great day – My very good friend Andre had got back from the States and invited me to watch him race Clanwilliam triathlon – this is the biggest triathlon festival and is the first race of the Season – a race that is usually high on my list of priorities. A race that had me very stressed last year after I realized 2 hours into my journey there I had left my kit outside my lift at home and had me driving 6 hours before arriving back at the start 10 minutes to spare before the race and to top things off my cap tore at the start of the swim – last year I was stressed and angry at the start. This year, I had my toes in the water at the start and heard the count down feeling more relaxed than ever as I shouted words of support to my friends who were racing. I loved watching them race and was feeling great having done a little run with my race partner Viv prior to the start.

I decided to come home early and not stay for the prize giving and the party that always gets out of hand… I needed to be home and settled and relaxed. I treated myself to a roast chicken and some veg and put a heat pad on my neck and got an early night and slept really late…

Sunday I started packing and went for a run with Cape Odyssey runner 2007 John Morrison who went through all the things that we would be requiring for our race. I just recently found out that I need a sleeping bag – thanks goodness for that.

We had our Wishbone benefit party. It was great seeing friends and family and those who had bought shoes for the kids - we even managed to recruit a donor by pushing him up the hill on his bike whilst running past him – he surprised us at our party with a generous donation towards the shoes. We were privileged to be entertained by Embo – this was arranged by Bongani. We had these amazing youngsters dancing and singing and taking us through lovely stories with there actions – wow I hope we have half there energy for our race. It would be amazing to have them at our finish too.

Fast forward to the night before the race… my week is behind me I have done all the things that I needed to do I cannot believe it all behind me now all I have to do is fit all of my packing into the tiny bag that they have issued us with – they should have given us dimensions before we packed… hmmm usually when I go away I get asked at the airport how many people are traveling with me… this is all that I am stressing about at the moment.

We managed to get through to the registration and briefing with a few minutes to spare – it was very exciting seeing all the other athletes and organizers. We are currently staying at friend John Morrison and I am so relaxed I could almost just stay here until Sunday and give the race a miss… we have all indulged in a glass of red wine – a “super food” as Moira says.

It is quite sad we are all currently bent over our computers downloading tunes and emailing our buddy list and comparing how many friends have accepted – yes competitive in every sense of the word we are.

Thanks to all friends who called, emailed and smsed today you are all in our thoughts and we hope to make you proud…

I am going to sign off now… Viv has just about finished cooking and I need to download the latest Cold play – goodbye everybody we hope you join us on our exciting journey…

South African Xterra triathletes Conrad Stoltz and Dan Hugo are dominating the US Xterra scene by placing first and second at Xterra US standings after Xterra US Champs at Lake Tahoe, Nevada race yesterday.

As two top placed at US standings Conrad profited by 14 000 us$, while Dan took “only” 7 000 us$ - I think mentioning the cash is important as a stimulant for people who consider this sport - it is not like tennis or rugby but it is not as bad as we thought - there is cash!

Conrad obviously had a bad race, and Dan was not in a great mood either.

You can read Conrad’s race report at ConradStoltz.com and see Dan’s race report at DGHugo.com.

Next race is the big World Championship at Maui on October, 28th. Conrad has won it three times, we will see if Dan can start his own streak. I believe Dan has it in him, just needs to digg deep and get super angry. I am sure this kind of motivational text does not help at all and even sounds retarded, but I felt like saying it.

In any case Xterra should move to South Africa completely as it seems to be a trully South African sport - I do not know if South African athletes were ever so dominant in any sport.

Stay tuned…

“Amawele Wishbone Warriors” Nicola Lockhart and Vivienne Fenton are taking part in “Project Wishbone”, our challenge is to complete the “Cape Odyssey”, this is a 5 day trail race that covers 206km and it is done in teams of two - in return we would like to raise funds for 206 pairs of running shoes for kids at 5 underprivileged schools. Amawele (Irish and South African registered charity) hopes to join forces with the JAG foundation and set up running clubs in these areas - we would like the children of the future to become part of the wonderful world of running and be out there keeping fit, healthy and achieving new goals rather than being influenced by crime, drugs, sex and depression some of the side-effects of boredom and idleness.

New Balance have gone into partnership with us and are offering shoes at less than half price - for only R125.00 you can sponsor 1 pair of shoes and you and a partner will also automatically go onto the guest list for the :

Project Wishbone Support Party
Date: 5th October
Time: 5.30pm
Venue: Synergy on 7
Address: 7th Floor Mandela Rhodes Place, Wale Street, Cape Town. (opposite Cathedral)
Theme: “Amawele” : TWINS

I only had the privilege of becoming a runner in my twenties and had not run 5km prior to this. Since becoming involved in this sport I have become part of a “different breed” I find the love and passion that I experience through my sport has influenced other areas of my life allowing me to be more focused and achieve goals that once I thought were never possible both on and off the sports-field - I would love to pass on this gift to others and am very proud to be part of a project that supports this. Our entry has been covered and money raised will go exclusively to the shoes.

If you would like to support our project, please log on to Amawele.org to buy a pair of shoes and electronic transfers can be done to:

Amawele South Africa Schools Twinning Project
First National Bank, Long Street, Cape Town 8001
Sort Code: 201709
Account Number: 62187063301

I hope that together we can achieve our target of a pair of shoes for every kilometre… for those wishing to make a smaller donation we will be selling entry tickets at our support party for R50.00 please RSVP if you will be attending. Please ensure that after a payment has been made that you fax/email a confirmation to ensure your name on the guest list and if you supply us with your email address we will also keep you updated with our progress in the race. Fax Nicola: 086 613 0274 0r email vivienne@amawele.org

Please could you forward this email to anybody else that would be interested?

Project Wishbone
Make their dreams come shoe

Much love and thanks

Nicola and Vivienne Amawele “twins”
Dressed by NOTOR!OUS clothing

Suncoast Olympic Distance race took place in Durban Yesterday and a lot of the fast boys were out to show off there winter training fitness when we got to the beach for the start of the race. Team Whasp where also there with their new kit and even a few new faces with Michelle van Zyl and Tanielle Mandy joining the team so 3 girls in total along with Samantha Ferreira.

The boys only had Collin and David Hadenham in team colours. With almost perfect conditions the swim got off to a blistering quick start, Sean Dias was off the front, previous winner of the midmar mile and Jeff Norton giving chase, these 2 swimming just over 16min for the 1500m swim, David got out the water in 6th place and headed onto the bike with the rest of chasing left chasing hard just inside the top 20.

Onto the bike and i was feeling good and decided to push the pace, with my new Specialized TT bike and Zipp wheel combo i was flying and was just checking my heart rate on my new Suunto T3 heart rate monitor to keep it at around 85% of my max.

It was hot out there and the women were all close, we had 2 pure life athletes out front and the then 2 past winners of the even and then the 3 whasp ladies.

Onto the run and in our new Puma Silver races and New Orca Trisuits we all settled into our running pace and tried to close down the gaps ahead of us.

David ended the day with a 9th place with Collin coming in 13th, which i was happy about considering i haven’t had the greatest winner, Samantha finishing first of the team girls in 5th place which is a good result for her followed Michelle and Tanielle.

So a good days racing was had by all and we now have good yard sticks to use for the next race in 4 weeks time.

Thanks for all your support and we looking forward to great things. We took and a lot of pics and am waiting for them all to come through this week.

Bravo to Kate Roberts and Marie Rabi! Olympic triathlon is one of the toughest races to qualify for and also one of the most cometitive races. Just to earn a spot in that race in Beijing is an exceptional result. It is hardly important weather someone was few minutes before or after - to be there, to qualify for it, is amazing.

I am saying this because I know so many athletes who could be there but do not make it and I know how hard it is to get into that race.

Also I am especially impressed by Marie Rabi with whom I did a longer run last summer (my winter) in Stellenbosch. She presented herself so modestly and in such a relaxed manner, I would have never guessed that her goal for this year was the Beijing Olympic triathlon. It is great to see someone so relaxed. At least this is my impression for that long run we had together during which I mostly suffered in the back.

Congratulations again to South African women’s triathlon team!

See the official results here.

Check out Mari Rabie’s website MariRabie.com and Kate Roberts website at kateroberts.co.za.

Do not get me wrong - I loved the experience. I met some really inspiring people and this alone was worth the trip yet it was only a small part of my time there. The race report I wrote on IronCrazy.com focuses on the race itself and sports elements, but I enjoyed the week in Klagenfurt so much.

Besides the support that I got from my family, girlfriend and coach, it was also amazing to meet Milos Kostic in person. Milos is Ironman World Champion in M65 and meeting him in person just puts everything in a new perspective. I will soon start working with him on his internet presence so I hope more people can learn about him and be equally inspired as I am. Also I met Richard Stoutner, a friend of mine with whom I worked in Rome in my other life, back when I was fat and busy, and now we met again almost a decade later, both doing an Ironman Austria. This race has put us all together and this was great.

However these are my personal experiences which I focus on on my other blogs, IronCrazy.com race report is a sports race report, it talks about rules, clothing, numbers… Take it as one side of the experience.

In essence I am glad and thankful for any day when I can walk to the bathroom so any Ironman race is a celebration of this super cool thing that happens to us every day - moving, thinking, doing stuff… whatever… it is great. (I am not religious and I am not on drugs!)

Read the race report here.

The Bonitas Girls Triathlon Team has been busy since their amazing triathlon world’s experience. Our official results were posted two weeks ago unfortunately I believe that they were unable to track those athletes that did short laps and some of those results still remain. This information was recently disclosed to me by a Canadian friend that I met at worlds.

The good news is that the Bonitas Girls Triathlon Team has continued racing wherever possible. Due to unfortunate travel arrangements I recently experienced the humiliation of not being able to get on the last flight the night before South African Duathlon Champs and therefore missing the race. I did not let it get me down and after being on Standby for three flights 17hours later I managed to get on a flight in true Diva style (I was rushed last minute with airport staff running across the airport with my bags – loading me onto my own bus with pink seats and hurtling towards the airplane at great speed to ensure that I got on the flight)

I was privileged to spend the week-end with my very excited sister, her husband and my nephews. I do not know who was more broken hearted- me for missing my race or my proud nephew who never got the opportunity to support and watch me race. He is 7 and is my biggest fan in the family. I was also very privileged to share in the celebrations of my podium top friends Bonitas Girls Triathlon team-mate Martha Koekemoer who was 2nd in her category, Michelle Williams my friend and Dorm-mate from Duathlon Worlds New Castle 2005 who was 1st and my newest friend Michael Davidson from Tri-Worlds Vancouver who was 3rd.

Just when I thought things could not get worse I nearly had another hit and miss… I drove to Knysna with my friend Joanne and stayed with Michelle Williams for the week-end of the Knysna run. I was initially going to do the Marathon but having had a break and some overseas travel after Worlds I decided it would be wiser not to so I downgraded to the 21km.

I still managed to wake up early and see Michelle off. To kill some time I even dyed my and friend Joanne’s eyelashes – one of those things a woman has to do before a race I left early – just after 5am as I was aiming to get on the buses that stopped running at 6. I got into my car and…… nothing, the battery was dead – we were staying in Sedgefield that is about 30mins from Knysna. You can imagine my horror after having driven 5 hours the night before. The streets were dark – nobody was awake in the neighbour hood. I tried calling taxis, friends my friend’s brother who stayed close by but had no luck. Luckily the day before I had got a Garmin Nuvi – navigator for driving.

In the pitch dark I followed the voice prompts to the highway( I was even chased by a dog). Dressed in my fluffy pink hat and scarf I walked three kilometers in the biting cold, I stood on the pitch black highway trying to wave down cars to no avail… They could not even see me. I noticed a car parked at the garage opposite the road and believed this to be my last chance. I went running towards it. After initially being terrified of this crazed woman waving her arms around at the car window I was let in and fortunately this kind couple from George gave me a lift with them to the bus stop to the race. She confessed she had seen me running toward the highway and then to her car and she thought I was being chased and was trying to make my get away in her car.

I arrived just in time to hand in my tog bag with my Notorious Pink outfit and line up for the race. I still managed to run a PB of 1.32hr placing me 2 minutes behind fellow Bonitas Triathlon team mate Sara Louw who also ran a PB and almost broke 1.30. My friend Michelle managed to double my time in the marathon taking away 1st place for the 2nd consecutive year – what a legend – our friend Justin Gray from Duathlon Worlds Oz also finished with a top 10 on the 21km.

In hindsight things could have gone horribly wrong for Michelle – she had initially booked a flight with com-air and I would have collected her from the airport and we would have driven together to do the Marathon – fortunately for her the airline went under and she was forced to take her car and drive from JHB. Had she flown she would have been the victim of a dead car battery and I cannot imagine feeling responsible for her not making her race – it would have been a disaster – so sometimes when you do not understand why things do not go your way – trust me, everything happens for a reason.

Our most recent Victory was last weeks Hout Bay Challenge. There was some stress the week before the race. I had to do my Garden Route sales trip twice, Martha was leaving her job and Sarah resigned. At the end of our stressful week we were all looking very forward to our Friday evening social arrangements and nobody wanted to start the race first and compromise their Friday nights parties – (yes, 3 social animals and athletes) or their sleep. Thanks Martha for making the sacrifice.

We raced as a ladies team – there were three very tough legs that consisted of rock climbing, navigation and some running in between. Martha started with an amazing finish early in the filed just behind individual lady runners Jeanie Bomford and Tatum Prins. I took over and managed to maintain our position and pass some of the male runners that were starting to tire. It was quite disorientating with low visibility due to cloud cover. Even though I had trained the 2nd leg the week before I could not see 2 meters ahead or behind me and there were no visible landmarks such as sea or land.

I stayed within following distance of the man ahead of me and after losing him to a quick visit in the bushes had to wait for others to catch up as I was not braving the race alone. It could have gone horribly wrong had I been lost as unbeknown to me I had dropped my cell phone at the start of the race.

I finished strong and felt amazing – what an invigorating race – Sarah took over and after taking a few wrong turns and losing some time she still managed to maintain our lead and we finished 1st ladies team and we even managed to smash the existing record. So we are all felling great and the team morale is fantastic at the moment – well done Pinkies and a happy birthday to our youngest team mate Sarah Louw who celebrated 2 days later!

Martha Koekemoer and I recently took part in the Durbanville Dirty Du – I took part in a mixed team and Martha the Brave did the entire event alone finishing 2nd place out of the ladies. I had a great 1st run finishing 1st lady and my cyclist Paul Tyler turned out to be so talented that I was not even waiting in transition by the time he returned. We lost a little time in transition but still had a strong finish a few minutes behind the first two male teams.

I have officially started training for my next big goal “The Odyssey” and am very fortunate to have been treated to my first pair of trail running shoes compliments of New Balance – a very big thanks to Gratten Rippon and Mark Copson for helping me.

This Sat we are going to support our sponsors at the Bonitas ladies race 9 August…

Bye for now

Nicola Lockhart

Mari Rabie (marirabie.com) and Kate Roberts (kateroberts.co.za) will take part in Beijing Olympic Women’s triathlon race on 18th August, and Hendrik De Villiers will take part in Men’s Olympic race on 19th August.

Mari and Kate have just finished a final training camp under the guidance of South African Olympic coach Libby Burrell (libbyburrell.blogspot.com) and with the help of Erhard Wolfaard (erhardwolfaardt.com), Elena Meyer (elenameyer.com) and Benita de Witt (BenitadeWitt.com).

Read more at benitadewitt.com and libbyburrell.blogspot.com