Same Game, Different Country

You know you're in the Netherlands when your sitting in a garden like this.On Wednesday I travelled from Witten to stay with some family for a few days in Eindhoven. This is the second time I have visited the Netherlands and I love it, it's a very homely sort of country. This is a land where bikes are the rule of law, and it's pretty cool to see peletons of people riding all day to get around. Cars even give way to bike here. I went for a ride and passed a military base, and even a platoon of soldiers in full combat gear gave way to me :) But having the right of way isn't the best part about riding in the Netherlands, it's the fact that the place is as flat as fiddy's cap.

I also got the chance to swim in the Van Dan Hoogenband pool, but the most important thing was I got to revisit the public viewing for the World Cup (Netherlands vs. Cameroon in Eindhoven).

So when my first team bows out disgracefully, I get to cheer for my second team which modestly won all their preliminary games. I am afterall a Dutch citizen :)

So today I am crossing the border to Belgium where I will race this Sunday in Brasschaat.

Keep it real!

River Times!

A lazy Sunday afternoon swim on the chilly Ruhr. 2 Aussies, 2 Germans, and a boat.

I actually still have a bit of the Ruhr in my ears, and a bit of whiplash to go with the attempts to get it out. Any suggestions on how to remove the parasitic Ruhr would be appreciated.

Take it easy,

Josh

Soccerwho's???

Germany takes their football pretty seriously to say the least. The whole country is going mad, and I have never seen such nationalism before, even in Australia. It's quite remarkable! The Socceroos ultimately fell dismally to the German juggernaut on Sunday 4-0 in their first game of the World Cup. The embarrassment that was surely felt by the Socceroos was tantamount to the embarrassment felt by us Aussies currently living in Germany. We watched the game at a public viewing in Dortmund amongst 20,000 Germans, and we only spotted 2 other Aussie flags in the crowd the whole night (unless the others put theirs away in shame). We were however able to claw back some credibility with our cheers. This is one I led on the crowded train home after the game...



We also had someone come to our team flat to interview us for the local press, and this is the article they came up with. I don't know what it says, but I have my suspicions they are taking the piss out of us for being confident about our Aussie side.

Here's some pictures of the viewing at Dortmund!

We went home to catch the run leg of Des Moines, and all I can say is that I'm glad the Aussies carved up there.

Rediscovery

I was going through a few things, and came across some lab testing from the beginning of the year. Have a look if you're interested!

Now that Jimmy 'Boss' Seear has left camp in Witten for new pastures in France, I've been left to my own devices here in the kitchen. Here's my go at a vegetarian lasagna. It was ok!

 Kane and I sucked it down with some German beer and ice cream to boot!

Also for fun, you know the food is bad at McDonald's when the cooks are wearing industrial grade face masks...

Madrid WCS

Today was probably my toughest day in the sport. I knew that I was either going to go into the race firing, or completely underdone. My week in Morocco wasn't a very pleasant experience, and I think my well being was on the way out. There were times in my hotel room where I found myself close to packing my bags and heading home. I was counting down the hours until I left for Madrid, hoping that it would all turn out fine in the end. Nevertheless, lessons have been learned.

Madrid is the kind of race where you need to have your preparation perfect, because the course is utterly relentless. Despite having the best middle distance runner ever, Morocco definitely is not a place for athletes. There was simply no place to train and my form slowly withered. I tried to convince myself that this would be good to embrace as a taper, but I was proved wrong today. The swim actually felt easy, and I swam 2nd on Polyanksy's feet quite comfortably. We immediately had a little gap on the bike, but as soon as we started rolling consistently I could feel myself cooking. The hill every lap made sure the deal was sealed, and I knew my race was over by the 3rd lap. Even sitting in the bunch when we were caught, I simply could not recover, and I eventually accepted my fate on the run. All in all, a very tough day. However I think I have exited with a renewed motivation to train, and I can't wait to get back to my base in Germany. My next race will be in Brasschat in Belgium at the end of this month, and I'm looking forward to getting some good work in before then.

Take it easy,

Josh

Morocco Continued

I can see why Africa bleeds fast runners; the race on the weekend was bloody tough. For those who don't know it was a sprint distance, which felt very familiar coming from the Bundesliga's. I swam hard on the front and managed to get a nice little gap with 2 other Aussies, Gareth Halverson and Shane Barrie. We stayed away for 2 laps of the bike course, until we were met by some bridgers. The course was pretty relentless, and an 800m downhill pretty much meant it was imminent our little trio got caught by the main pack of 12 or so guys. We sat tight until the run, which is were the tyranny began. The 5km course was over 3 laps. Over those laps, you were either running uphill slow, downhill fast, or into a headwind. Did I mention it was stinking hot? It was impossible to find a rhythm and I doubt anyone felt great out there. I think the winner splited home in 16:55. However it was a great little scenic race, and a great experience. I think the crowd in the Liberation Circle was bigger than what I saw in at the Sydney World Champ, and I'm sure it was a once in a lifetime thing for those Moroccan's to see. I hope they walked away with a warm heart.

I am still in Morocco, literally hanging out to head to Madrid for this weekends race. Training has been hard, but I managed to find a good little ride loop along the coastline, and up a nice little climb. Here's some pictures :)

I also got to witness an urban football game, Moroccan style.

Josh