Buda Ist Better!

I have come to the conclusion after seeing a little bit of this very big city, that Budapest isn't so bad! This morning we had the bike familiarisation in the pouring rain which was pretty full on as you can imagine. Hundreds of athletes all riding the very wet and dangerous roads with police escorts (thankfully). I am still not quite used to staying calm when seeing a famous elite athlete. I get starstruck and have no idea where to look. For example, yesterday morning I walked into the lobby after my run and there was Emma Snowsill, casually drinking a cup of coffee. No biggie, just the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist. I am starting to get my head around the fact that they are completely normal people, just insanely fast and super awesome. Yesterday was Mums birthday so we went for a walk around the city. We had been told that we must go to the mall in the centre of town. So we finally found it and it was awesome! I could spend the whole week in there and not get bored. It was kinda strange because it was such a nice and modern building and it didnt quite fit in with the rest of the city. After me and Mum had a bit of a spend up we had a hungarian feed which was very tastey!
Anyway, not long now until the race!I am looking forward to it. I am feeling great and am ready to race.
So from now until sunday after noon at 4.15 my feet will be up and my body will be hydrated. That is all for now my friends,
peace

HHEEELLLLOOOOO THHHEEERRREEE!

Just came back from my run through the streets of Bupapest! I do not take back my comment about the depressing looking people but my view on the city as improved slightly. It is a city of extremes. There are amazing old buildings which look like castles which are then surrounded by dirty, out-dated, high rise apartments. It is like we are stuck in the 1900's. Everything is seems to be dull, gray and ancient. The people like they purchase their threads from a op-shop. There are some very beautiful parts of the city. I discovered one of these while I was running through Margaret Island which is a island in the middle of the river. We are staying the Pest side of Bupapest which is the unfortunate one of the two. My fellow sports women, Rebecca Kingsford and I and venturing out the Buda side tomorrow with our trusty supervisor Stephen Sheldrake. Bupa is the side of which the race venue is being held and is apparently far more spectactular than the Pest side which we are staying on.
I found out today that I am number one on the start list for my race. This means that I get to wear one on my arm which is pretty much the bomb. It has nothing to do with my ranking, I was just drawn out first. I also discover that my idol Emma Moffat is staying at the same hotel as us. So I am hoping she will be willing to share some of her secrets over a cup of herbal tea at the wicked breakfast buffet!
Anyway I have got to go and cook me some kai,
Before I love you and leave you I would like the say a huge shout out to every one who has help me get here. It is much appreciated and I am loving every minute of it!
bon voyage,
Mads

Greetings from Hungary! We arrived here a few hours ago and I am not too sure how I feel about it. It is definatly not what i expected! It is very dirty and busy, with a lot of homeless and drunk looking people. Every one looks depressed. This could have been because it was Monday and the weather was bad or it is just a sad place to live in. We have not seen the whole of Budapest, obviously as we had just arrived. I am looking for to seeing it as every one has told me what a beautiful city it is! We left Siggi very early this morning by train. I am going to miss it! It was so relaxing and beautiful. The training was awesome and I am really hoping that I will be able to go back there next year! So this week I had my first birthday away from home, which was very different but still wicked! My mum was in Siggi so we went for lunch in the village and a walk around town. It was so lovely to see her, it had felt like forever since I had seen here last so her being there made my day. The fruit salad was very nice but I am definatly looking forward to a nice big cake after the race! Not long now till the big race. The nerves are starting to kick in a little and the atomsphere has changed from being very relaxed to a little be more intense. Anyway I shall keep you posted!
Ta ta for now,
Maddie

Less than a week left here in Siggi, Man! It does not feel like I have been here over a week. Today a group of us traveled to Lake Constants which is a lake that is around an hour away from where we are staying. It was really good to go out and be able to see other parts of Germany instead of the village which we are staying in. The weather in the past couple of days has not been very nice. The other day it was colder than the weather in New Zealand. Not ideal. I am really looking forward to going to Hungary and the race! Training is going well besides a small crash a couple of days ago while doing hill reps. I accidentally t-boned Rebecca Kingsford which concluded with a broken wheel and a few bruises but nothing major! 

I am really looking forward to seeing my mum tomorrow! Very excited for my birthday also. As birthday cake does not quite fit into the taper diet too well I am having a massive fruit salad! A bit different than the previous years but should be just as tasty!

That is all! Toodles 

Maddie :)

Aloha, hello, hey, whats up, hallo, good morning, good evening, g'day mate, hi, yo, how's it going, greetings, a wave of the hand.
The past few days have been all training. Although we did go into town today, but besides that it has been swim, bike and run. SO. MUCH. FUN. No, but really, it had been good times all round. I am very much enjoying myself. The weather here is interesting. One day it is amazing and then the next it is raining and very windy. This morning I discovered a new level of intensity in my training. Bike, swim reps are the definition of murder! I am experiencing the life of an athlete and it is wicked. I am off to bed now. I will try to find something more interesting to write about next time! Soz!
Ta ta for now,
Maddie

Today has been a very good day! I felt awesome, despite doing one of the biggest training day EVER! We went for a 100km ride through the valley in Siggy ( short for Sigmaringen). It was wicked, despite the pouring rain! It is awesome riding over Europe and it reminds me of how awesome the sport of triathlon is. We to go all over the show, whether it be running or cycling! I have been for an awesome run in the forest. It is so beautiful, right beside the river. I love it here! Minus the crappy weather but it is soo so so so wicked. I think I have found my new country of residence, sorry New Zealand! We are having amazing team dinners every night and the food here is incredible. I think I have said that.. but I can't stress it enough.  AWESOME! So not much really happens besides training, facebook and skype. Tomorrow is an easy day so I am going to make a trip into town :) WOHO.
That is all for now,
Maddie

Halo!

Guten-Tag! Grüße von Deutschland! (Greetings from Germany)

Here I am, after 24 hours of travel I have made it to Sigimirignen. I have a lot to blog about as I have not done one in quite some time and quite a lot has happened! So on Thursday we had the team event that consisted of a 250 meter swim, 6.7km bike and a 1.6 km run. I was really excited for this event as we were doing it with the auzzies, which was really awesome! It meant we were able to train with them in the days leading up to the race. As well as being super excited to compete with them I was a little nervous, as I knew the auzzie coach expected quite a lot. On the day of the race I was not nervous at all! Which was great. I had a fun nights sleep and I was ready to rock! I had discussed with the auzzie coach to have change in warm up as it was such a short, hard and very very fast race. The shorter the race, the longer the warm up. Ellie Salthouse was the first girl, then Michael Gosman both from Australia. Ellie set us up for the race nicely but we were a little behind the leaders. Michael moved up into 3rd position equal with Europe and then it was my turn. By this time I new that all I had to do was ride as hard as I could, and that’s what I did. I took 40 seconds out of the 50-second lead that America’s team had but was unable to drop the European girl who stuck to my wheel like glue! I tried as hard as I could for the European competitor to run away from me as I new she was a faster runner. I tagged Aaron and he set us off, it came done to a sprint finish between Oceania and Europe. Unfortunately we got 2nd place but it was still an amazing effort from everyone in the team! We gave it everything and that was the result. I was so so so happy and excited! My very first Olympic medal! To celebrate the New Zealand team hit the youth Olympic dance club! Yes, such a thing exists and it is awesome! We boogied the night away (11o'clock) and then the next day flew to Germany! Where I am now. I only just arrived not too long ago. So far I have not seen too much besides the hour bike ride that I went on. But from what I have seen I LOVE! It is so beautiful. It is everything I imagined Europe to be and more! I will post up some pictures because words cannot describe this beauty! And another thing the food is AMAZING! Everything is so fresh. I tried fresh cranberries for the very first time today and they were delicious! I am missing my mum, brother and sister and wish I could share it with them but besides that everything is fantastic. I will try being more regular with the blogs. I am slack, I know.

Peace out!