True Love: A Girl & Her Saddle

Posted on May 19, 2014 in Ramblings, Rants

True Love: A Girl & Her Saddle

There is one tiny but all-important piece of equipment that holds the majority of my weight for the majority of an Ironman.  That is my saddle.  Saddles are a very personal. In fact, it may be the most personal decision you make in the sport. For me there is only one. It is the Cobb Fifty Five JOF. I have been racing triathlon since 2006 and when I started I didn’t realize how vital this one small piece of equipment is to being comfortable and fast on the bike.  So, tried many of them – and I struggled. I recall having to tilt my saddles downward or swapping them every few weeks just to recover my sore spots. In 2011, someone introduced me to John Cobb, and I rode my first Cobb Saddle. The revelation was immediate. It was different. My “delicates” were happy. In the past three years, I have always used the Cobb PLUS saddle and I loved it.  But, I kept testing.  Jon recommended that, because of body and the way I am positioned on the bike, I should test the new Fifty Five JOF model. I immediately felt that is was the best fit for the way I am positioned on the bike now. It’s amazing how much a simple decision like this one can affect results. So, while I know the decision is personal, I encourage you to test as many saddles as you can and never overlook this vital piece of equipment.  It is really the one thing between you and the road for all those hours of training and racing.  You should love it the way I love the Fifty Five...

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Me & My SKINS!

Posted on May 19, 2014 in Training Updates, Uncategorized

Me & My SKINS!

I am so excited to be working with SKINS in 2014 & beyond.  I bought my first pair of SKINS on a trip to race my first ITU world cup in 2006.  The race didn’t go that well but I did come away with an amazing pair of compression tights that I still use today! The way I train for Ironman makes recovery crucial without my SKINS I wouldn’t be able to back up the consistent training day in day out! Read my SKINS partnership announcement: http://endurancesportswire.com/skins-compression-announces-partnership-with-american-professional-triathlete-mary-beth-ellis/ Learn more about SKINS: http://www.skins.net/en-US/index.aspx Visit my fan page to enter to win a pair of SKINS so you can recover like a...

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Absorption

Posted on May 14, 2014 in Race Reports

Absorption

The race in St. George left me empty and not sure how to feel.  While I wasn’t terribly upset, I also wasn’t incredibly happy with my performance.  I like to take some time to reflect before writing a blog. I was so impressed with the ladies with whom I had the opportunity to share the racecourse last weekend that I would rather start with their performances.  In brief, Meredith Kessler was a class above – and showed it all day.  From the gun, she took charge and controlled the race pace, leaving the rest of us to try to keep up.  Jodie Swallow is always an aggressive competitor and as I expected she was out front and fighting as usual.  But, she also showed something I haven’t seen before. She showed patience and tactical acumen that will serve her well in her Ironman races: Frankfurt and Kona. Heather Wurtele showed that her stellar form at the start of 2014 was no fluke as she battled on her own all day and didn’t give an inch.  I venture to guess if we backed off a hair that she would have flown in to taken the title.  Julie Dibens always impresses me, and she’s one of the toughest, hardest working ladies I have ever had the privilege to train alongside.  I have no doubt that she will continue her rise back from injury, and I expect to see her atop many podiums in the next few years.  And, then there’s Bek Keat who showed that she is one of the toughest ladies mentally and physically.  After a bad day on the bike, she battled back with the fastest run of the day, showing her resilience.  The rest of the top ten — and event top 15 — includes a who’s who of current and future triathlon stars.  It was on the best women’s race mid-season that I have ever seen. As for my race, the swim was solid.  I was happy to exit the water in the lead pack with some of the top swimmers in the sport.  I know full well that in the swim, anything can happen, and I know that even if training is going well it doesn’t always translate in open water.  On the bike, my legs felt mediocre and I struggled all day to find my rhythm.  Whether I am not as good as the other ladies or if I just had an off-day, I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to dictate the pace, especially on the climbs where I like to be aggressive.  Onto the run, my best wasn’t good enough whether my legs were sluggish or my mind wasn’t focused, it wasn’t enough. My best netted only a 4th place finish on the day. In reflection, the race gave me plenty to absorb.  While it is only May, this race was a perfect...

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Injury-Prone My Story

Posted on Apr 15, 2014 in Ramblings, Rants

Injury-Prone My Story

This post was written for Witsup.com and appeared there in March.  Note from Stef at Witsup that appeared at the start of my piece: “No one has said “whoopsidaisies” for fifty years and even then it was only little girls with blonde ringlets,” (Notting Hill – 1999), UNTIL, a multiple Ironman champion admitted to having a propensity for being a klutz.  Said multiple Ironman champion, Mary Beth Ellis, is one of the, if not THE toughest cookies on the triathlon circuit. She started the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii last year with a broken collarbone! They don’t get much more Tonka-Tuff than Ellis! However, while she is tough, she is also accident prone. Here she shares a few injuries and incidents that are a little left field, but we’re sure a few of you have encountered as well… I have a dirty secret. Here goes. I am a klutz. I have had more than my fair share of injuries from the legit breaks and strains (which I won’t discuss in this article as I’ll leave that to the true medical professionals) to the bizarre triathlon battle scars. In this article, I’ll touch on the minor, trivial, and often absurd so that you can hopefully learn something or at worst just laugh at my travails. Swimming injuries When lane lines attack – My run-ins with the vicious lane line span from a minor dust-up to a near death collision that left me beached like a whale on its rotund body. I tried retaliating by takin down the lane line with my paddles, but I still lost. I ended up doggie paddling away a torn up mess. Next time I’ll show up to the pool with a knife and threaten to cut it – surely that is enough to intimidate any recalcitrant lane line and keep it in its place. When fellow H20 users attack – I’ve been on the receiving end of a severe bashing from a fellow swimmer in a shared lane and in the open water.  To avoid this, pick the lane without the crazy tall windmill swimmer whose arms span seven feet if possible. If not, then practice your open water swim skills in the lane and pull your arms in tight every time you pass your lane mate/foe. In open water training or in a race, there is an easy fix. Just swim away from the aggressive bashing swimmers. In a long race, it pays off to even stop and swim to the other side of the course just to get away and not spend four kilometres getting hit every stroke. When UFOs attack (unidentified floating object) – The “funniest” swimming incident for me was being hit in the open water by a sailboat. Yes, a rogue sailboat! It cut through our swim pack and made a beeline for me. The centerboard left a nasty hematoma...

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Ironman Melbourne: G,B,U!

Posted on Apr 1, 2014 in Race Reports

Ironman Melbourne: G,B,U!

Another Ironman means it is time for a race report.  Instead of dulling you into a stupor with the play-by-play of race day, I will dazzle you with a quick recap of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Good: The first “good” was the amazing on course support race day.  It was so incredible to have so many friendly faces out there on race day, including my husband Eric, my coach Siri, my Cervelo support super stars, Lesley and Jason, Chris from Rudy Project and everyone else who was out there cheering all day.  I know that I, for one, enjoy suffering so much more when there is such an amazing atmosphere, and Melbourne really delivered. The second good was the venue, which was an amazing urban race with a bit of everything.  I loved the ocean swim and the run course was the most scenic and unique I have ever had the chance to do.  While the bike course wasn’t my favorite, the women’s race was clean and the road was clear which made for a very safe and fair race. The third good was the volunteers and Ironman Asia Pacific support staff who made the trip and race go smoothly. Thanks so much to the volunteers for taking the time to help out and make the event a success.  And to the organizers who took care of everything we needed before , during, and after the race. Final good was the coffee…. Seriously. No, really, it’s good.  The coffee in Australia is amazing! I am in withdrawal now.  I am blaming that as one of the contributors to my delayed blog. The Bad: The first bad would have to be my mid-run chub-rub.  This was a bit annoying but nothing that some aid station Vaseline couldn’t fix.  You have to check out my Witsup interview here for more on that one. The second bad would also be missing one of the most exciting men’s Ironman races ever.  I didn’t get to see any of the action as the point-to-point run course left us out of the loop. (And my husbands updates were, well, spotty at best.) The Ugly: The first ugly was losing my “ghetto bento” (plastic baggie attached to bike stem with electrical tape, which Cervelo has been begging to replace for several years now) with all my race calories in the first 2km of the bike ride.  This led me to have to rely on only my two bottles and whatever I could grab from the aid stations.  While I couldn’t get quite as much fuel as I needed on the bike, I managed to get in as much as I could at the start of the run to curb the calorie deficit to make it to the finish. The second ugly was doing an Ironman in March.  I would prefer to wait...

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