Boulder Baby!!!
Well, I made it. I am finally in Colorado and it is everything that I thought it would be...So far. Since I haven't written for a while, I will cover a few different topics.
Before I left Florida, I raced St. Anthony's in St. Pete. This is one of the largest Olympic distance races in the country and it was a great test to test my fitness. In short, we had 3 foot waves throughout the swim that made many turn back, I had to fight to keep from getting sea sick on the first leg. I came out of the water just under 21 minutes and crossed the timing mat, just over. I was very pleased with how things were going thus far. The bike was windy and I felt strong, I knew that I wasn't riding my best, but I came off feeling pretty happy about things. Onto the run. I just couldn't get it going, I felt a bit flat and that my blood sugar was low. I just pushed through and ran the best that I could. I managed to snag the 5th amateur spot overall and a solid race before leaving Florida.
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The drive to Boulder was, well, lets just say it was over 2000 miles and took 4 days. On day two I drove through the area of the south that was slammed by hurricane Katrina last year. It was very eye opening to see the lack of progress in their recovery. Businesses are closed, there is debris everywhere and there are more trucks than cars on the roads. Some areas are still completely demolished and other neighborhoods have blue tarps on half the roofs. I really hope that this area can get the help that it needs to recover and that it is spared another hit from a hurricane. The season starts in only a month.
As I continued on through Texas on day three I had the fun of trying to navigate through severe weather. I managed to miss the weather, but not the Texas State Troopers. 81 in a 70 and only 10 miles from where I was staying the night. I tried to make small talk and explain that it is hard for an older car to hold a steady speed when it is fully loaded down and has a bike on top. He wasn't having it and told me to "have a good night" while handing me my $175 speeding ticket. Oh well, nothing I could do, except not speed on the final day of my trip.
I left on Monday afternoon and after stays in Tallahassee, FL, Shreveport, LA and Amarillo, TX I arrived in Boulder on Thursday afternoon. It was GREAT to be here! The mountains are awesome, there seems to be 1000's of people(literally) that are living my same lifestyle and the community reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Madison.
The only "downer" came after being here, literally 10 minutes. I was parked at the curb in our parking lot, unloading my stuff. As I unloaded, I noticed the parking enforcement driving by and didn't think anything of it. After I had just carried in my last box and was standing in the kitchen, I heard JD shout something from our front porch. The security officer had snuck up to the back of my car, were JD couldn't see him and slipped a boot on my tire. Talk about being out to get people. Oh well, I had to pay $65 cash to get the boot removed. Yeah I know, it seems shady to me too. I am contesting the fine and will keep you all posted on the outcome.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My post is getting a bit long, so I will post more in the coming days, including a few pictures. Here is a quick summary:
The pool is ok, but nothing is nice compared to the National Training Center in Clermont. I have met Michael and Amanda Lovato on deck, both are extremely nice people. I have also gotten to swim next to Dave Scott(an Ironman Legend) who I found out, warms up with paddles!!!!
I have only had one ride up in the Mountains, but managed to find the snow(brrrrr!). The views are incredible and I even got to avoid cow elk on the descent back into Boulder, phew!!!
Nothing special on the run to write about, except that it is hard at altitude! I have been told that it will get better as the days go by.
Thanks to everyone that supports me. My family, friends and sponsors.
Before I left Florida, I raced St. Anthony's in St. Pete. This is one of the largest Olympic distance races in the country and it was a great test to test my fitness. In short, we had 3 foot waves throughout the swim that made many turn back, I had to fight to keep from getting sea sick on the first leg. I came out of the water just under 21 minutes and crossed the timing mat, just over. I was very pleased with how things were going thus far. The bike was windy and I felt strong, I knew that I wasn't riding my best, but I came off feeling pretty happy about things. Onto the run. I just couldn't get it going, I felt a bit flat and that my blood sugar was low. I just pushed through and ran the best that I could. I managed to snag the 5th amateur spot overall and a solid race before leaving Florida.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The drive to Boulder was, well, lets just say it was over 2000 miles and took 4 days. On day two I drove through the area of the south that was slammed by hurricane Katrina last year. It was very eye opening to see the lack of progress in their recovery. Businesses are closed, there is debris everywhere and there are more trucks than cars on the roads. Some areas are still completely demolished and other neighborhoods have blue tarps on half the roofs. I really hope that this area can get the help that it needs to recover and that it is spared another hit from a hurricane. The season starts in only a month.
As I continued on through Texas on day three I had the fun of trying to navigate through severe weather. I managed to miss the weather, but not the Texas State Troopers. 81 in a 70 and only 10 miles from where I was staying the night. I tried to make small talk and explain that it is hard for an older car to hold a steady speed when it is fully loaded down and has a bike on top. He wasn't having it and told me to "have a good night" while handing me my $175 speeding ticket. Oh well, nothing I could do, except not speed on the final day of my trip.
I left on Monday afternoon and after stays in Tallahassee, FL, Shreveport, LA and Amarillo, TX I arrived in Boulder on Thursday afternoon. It was GREAT to be here! The mountains are awesome, there seems to be 1000's of people(literally) that are living my same lifestyle and the community reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Madison.
The only "downer" came after being here, literally 10 minutes. I was parked at the curb in our parking lot, unloading my stuff. As I unloaded, I noticed the parking enforcement driving by and didn't think anything of it. After I had just carried in my last box and was standing in the kitchen, I heard JD shout something from our front porch. The security officer had snuck up to the back of my car, were JD couldn't see him and slipped a boot on my tire. Talk about being out to get people. Oh well, I had to pay $65 cash to get the boot removed. Yeah I know, it seems shady to me too. I am contesting the fine and will keep you all posted on the outcome.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My post is getting a bit long, so I will post more in the coming days, including a few pictures. Here is a quick summary:
The pool is ok, but nothing is nice compared to the National Training Center in Clermont. I have met Michael and Amanda Lovato on deck, both are extremely nice people. I have also gotten to swim next to Dave Scott(an Ironman Legend) who I found out, warms up with paddles!!!!
I have only had one ride up in the Mountains, but managed to find the snow(brrrrr!). The views are incredible and I even got to avoid cow elk on the descent back into Boulder, phew!!!
Nothing special on the run to write about, except that it is hard at altitude! I have been told that it will get better as the days go by.
Thanks to everyone that supports me. My family, friends and sponsors.
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