Does this look familiar??

WHO DAT?

Look what I chased today out in the rain in Boulder. May be no big deal for all you boulder-ites, but for little ol me from po-dunk Louisiana, it was cool.

OK, so I chased him for a little while, but it didnt last. that sucker was smokin! I want a little moped to draft off of :-)

I rode long today in Boulder again at the 5430 course and the rain set in at about 50 miles. we had a late start due to salty's lollygagging before we left - and then i got a flat before the ride - no doubt from all that damn gravel on the shoulders of the roads here. so we got a late start, and i knew the rain was comin... it was a long cold 40 miles after that, but i survived and had to thaw out a bit when i got to the car. how's that? numb toes and hands in JULY??

WEEK 1

Week 1 in Colorado

-12 miles of swimming (thanks to the cooler water temps)
-270 miles of riding hills (thanks to the rocky mountains)
-40 miles of running some of those same hills at any time of the day
(thanks to the less humid drier air up here)
-LOTS of sleep
-LOTS of good fruit and other eats
-LOTS of sleep...oh, did I already mention that?

that about says it all. So far, so good.

Boulder

Day 7:

5430 course brick

We drove up to Boulder this morning to ride the race course and do a little run. what a beautiful course - and FAST! there are just a few turns on the bike and one section that is primarily downhill for oh, i dunno, 6 miles? maybe more. after the bike, i went out for a run on the course, and well, thats gonna hurt for sure. i ran uphill for at least 2 miles in a dirt road, then back. they say it's flat or downhill after that for 4 miles, but im not sure i believe them :-) ....then we do that loop again in the race....yeah!

after that, we went to eat in town then came home to chill and watch the tour. an exciting day in the alps, but i wish lance could have gone off the front with the leaders....

i ended up with a terrible headache and called it a day after that. hit the rack early again.

Days 5 & 6

Colorado Continued...

Day 5:

I have been swimming every day since i arrived, taking advantage of the cooler water temps. Sunday started with a long run in the morning which was very difficult I might say. I didnt feel good to say the least, but i chalked that off to altitude, and continued on to complete my timed workout. The dry air at 5:30 am was almost chilly and comfortable the entire way. I think i sweat a bit towards the end, but my hair and clothes were mainly dry! There was no need to hydrate as much either, but my body is still on auto mode, wanting to stop or slow for water every couple of miles...i need to fix that up here. I guess with the heat excuse back home, i have trained myself to have some bad habits. must fix those....

After my run, I went out for an ez recovery ride with theresa and salty which was supposed to be 2 hours, but a flat and a spare issue cut that ride short to about 1:15. fine by me! then an ez swim to stay loose...

Day 6:

Today was an ez day - got to sleep in and chill most of the day. which transleates to laying around a lot and watching the tour de france. training for the day included weights ans abs followed by an ez 1hr run in the afternoon, then an open water swim.

as soon as my feet hit the water, the thunder roared, so i stood there in the rain instead of getting in the water. call me a wuss, i dont care, but i opted out of the swim at that point. having been too close to call to lightening in the past, no swim is that important to me!

I felt a little guilty about the swim thing, but it has passed. i will be in the water plenty in the next few weeks...so there.

T and I raced home for dinner. I picked up this pizza from Papa Murphy's here in Fort Collins - and I must give them a thumbs up! I've never heard of this concept - but it makes perfect sense. they make the pizza for you right there - fast - then you bring it home and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes and voila! and it was GOOD! faster than anywhere else - and fresh.

13 hours of sleep...

OK, so my first training day here wiped me out! very humbling :-)

I was so exhausted last night, i hit the rack at about 8pm and didnt get up till 9am this morning! I cant remember the last time I slept that long. Today will be an easier day with a long swim and a recovery ride for a couple of hours.

I'll check in later

c

Escape from the Louisiana Heat

2009 Trip to Colorado

Last year, it was a couple of weeks. This year, it's 4 weeks, and not a moment too soon. we have had record highs in louisiana and the ability to effectively train high miles in those conditions just doesn't exist. I have noticed a huge effect on my speed and recovery ability through June - Slow and Long - and realized, I needed to get the hell out of there for a while and get some work done. Heat is one thing. Humidity is something else. and record highs with a drought and high humidity (go figure that one out??) and the morning heat index before the sun rises is in the 90's...and the pools so hot that swimming 2k is all you can do in slow motion because the water temp is 86 or 88....day after day...well, it's tougher than i am. I had to go. Now I realize why all the pro's live in Colorado :-) I never said I was smart ...hehehe

Day 3

I'm starting on day three because day 1 and 2 were driving days and they were pretty boring to say the least. The highlight of the drive was having books on cd from the library, so I got to listen to a really good book by John Grisham, then some smutty piece by some lady author I've never heard of. It's better than a soap opera! I'm not finished it yet, so every time i drive somewhere, i get a little more smut :-)

I was greeted by Salty and Theresa and the bucky and the casey and all the house cats one could want. I immediately unloaded the car in the mid day sun (and I would like to add I did NOT even break a sweat doing that !) ans popped my bike on the stand for a good cleaning. boy did she need a bath. nice and shiny now. it was a laid back evening after a nice swim in the cool water if an indoor pool at the club right by the house. i swam 4k like it was no problem - not once feeling like a slug in mud. it was awesome!

This morning I slept in...something i rarely get to do at home always needing to be up by 4 or 5am. I got up at about 7, and mozied downstairs to catch the start of the Tour and get my things together for my first ride in Colorado. I was a bit weary of it since i live in the altitude of, well, ZERO, and now I am at over 5,ooo - but I have been here before, so I figured I would survive it is I was conservative. The catch was that I have not been riding too many hills back home (that would have required a 3 hr drive round trip - that would be TIME, and a lot of gas $$, both of which I just don't have these days)
So I braved my first solo ride through Horsetooth Canyon, and made my way towards Rist Canyon, but turned around at about 6,400 as the climbing and the thinner air were spiking my HR so high, I was wondering if I would recover to not only finish the long ride, but to be able to train tomorrow too :-) plus, I was alone, and I didn't want to get into any trouble out there in no mans land.
I made it 82 miles, and feel pretty darn good. When I got home, I got to see the end of the Stage today and saw Hincappe almost make it yellow. bummer. I will hit the pool later for a recovery swim of about 3k, then eat a good dinner and see how I feel.
Not a bad day 1 so far. Did I mention the weather? oh, man, it's nice. even when it's hot, it's not :-)