Check out these posts

Amber on day 5 of Trans Rockies Run. Broken(?) hand, cut knee and “crazy socks.” (and Avia AVI Stoltz trail racing shoes ) Too bad the event was “too short - really got going after 3 days…”
GORE -TEX Trans Rockies run. 6 Days, 120 miles, 25 000ft of climbing, 200 2 person teams. Amber [...]

After 3 long months of hard work demolishing my house (while packing away some hard training) I spent a week on my parents farm to say good bye to them and Africa before hitting the US for some serious racing.
Because internet in Africa is slow, expensive and hard to get, this story [...]

Oh yes, we spent a few hours in Cape Town. Here are some pics of the Pavilion 50m salt swimming pool, on the ocean side. (Where I have swim lessons)
Stunning…
Sea Point, with Lions Head on the left and the pool in the right:

Amber took her entire years’ vacation (from nursing in Reno) and is visiting me in Stellenbosch. Apart from the obvious- no snow!- we are having a great time*, delicious food & coffee in town, good training and cool people - even my friends…
* despite the building going on in the house.

Thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web, triathlon has gone viral! Even in Vicenza, Italy…

Amber Monforte - record setter new
Written by: Timothy Carlson
Date: Fri Aug 14 2009
Proving that a demanding job doesn’t have to stand in the way of remarkable athletic accomplishment, full-time nurse and Xterra veteran Amber Monforte decided to try her first three-day, 320-mile, swim-bike run Ultraman this August and walked away with the Ultraman Canada women’s [...]

“When the three-day, 520-kilometer test of swim-bike-run endurance was over, Xterra regular Monforte made the biggest impact. Monforte finished fourth overall including the men in a time of 25:36:49. She out-paced runner-up Barbi Brochu, who set a fastest swim time of 2:42:41, by 1:39:11. Monforte’s record time beat Tracy Preston’s Ultraman Canada women’s record of [...]

We are taking a short vacation and taking the scenic route home via Olympic park in Washington,  ( I forgot to pack the tent, so we slept outside) and down the Washington and Oregon coasts.
We cant do much site seeing as Amber is so sore from her race, she can barely walk…

Read about Amber’s Ultraman [...]

Amber with our friend and crew Graham Bartlett getting ready for the swim.
Amber had an amazing day. I paddled the support boat next to her and knew right from the start she was flying. Swimming had always been her Achilles heel, but today her stroke was perfect with a snappy turnover. Was fun to watch. [...]

Amber warming up for Ultraman Canada. Its scorching here- around 100F. About 36C. She is feeling good and ready to go. 3 days of racing.
Day 1: 10km swim, 90Mi swim
Day 2:180 mi bike
Day 3: 54mi run.
Total: 10km swim, 418km bike, 84km run
Here is how the cattle guard should be ridden. On the smooth, narrow strip: [...]

Amber and I were riding through a tree lined Reno street. I think I shifted my hands from the brake hoods to the bar tops, and in that split second my front wheel hit a short, stubby stick in the road. The handle bar wobbled, I grabbed at the wobbling bar, missed, and fell on [...]

 
Amber always loved going long. But this year she redefines the term “long.”
Early 2008 she took a huge plunge and quit her nursing job to race the US and European XTERRA Series. Oh yes, and Ironman South Africa and Kona. Placing consistently she finished 5th Pro woman in the US Series for which I think [...]

I know “fun” and “flying” is an oxymoron nowadays, but this was the best flight of the year. Our flight from Kona to Maui. Andrew the pilot is trying to squeeze 1x XL Specialized bike box and 1x XL Tri All 3 Double case into those small little bins under the belly of this “plane”. [...]

I started XTERRA training at 4 years old when single speed and white tires were all the rage.
I’m in Maui, Hawaii. It has been my birthday for almost 24 hrs and, it will keep going for at least another 20 hrs. Thanks to Facebook, I have been getting birthday wishes from folks in Australasia [...]

I couldn’t figure out what the squeaking sounds were, till the dolphins were right next to me. They hung around for a while and swam amongst the 100s of other swimmers - delighted squeals piping up everywhere…

Amber in familiar territory- Kona start line. Its her 3rd Kona IM. Her best time was 10hr40 in [...]

Amber @ Lake Tahoe

photos by Rich Cruse photography

by Rich Cruse
What a weird, weird day.

Amber and I needed to get out of the condo and daily town life, so we headed up the Cascades and camped at the foot of Broken Top. We camped and trained at 2000m, (the same alt as Tahoe- XTERRA USA Champs is in 2 weeks) enjoying the nice weather and the changing colours of [...]

Amber and I are in the thick of hectic training for the big races of the year. Yesterday she did a 6hr ride (WHY?!? - see why below) and I did a 4 hr ride with a short hard run off the bike. We met up along her way in Sisters, just outside our home [...]