I Made Worlds!!

The final points tally is in...and I made the USA Triathlon Elite World Champ team for 2007 in Hamburg, Germany! Race date is September 1st. Now it's time to get down to business!
Well, I've been getting ready for this race for quite some time...I took a nice mid-season break after the Pan American Games and I've been back in the full swing of training for over a week now.
Tomorrow morning I've got to be awake much earlier than normal for our training session. Cliff has the OTC group doing a bike-run brick session at the Garden of the Gods Park. The park road is one big loop and it's is entirely one-way traffic...so it is relatively safe for us on our bikes. If we get out there between 7 and 9:00am, it's even more safe because there is little to no traffic on that one-way road! The run segments of the brick workout are done on a gravel path that winds along the edge of the park.
There should be a relatively large group of triathletes out on the course tomorrow...the OTC has been flooded in the past week with junior and under-23 athletes. They have come into town during their summer break to acclimate to altitude before the Longmont Triathlon in 2 weeks. Our elevation in COS is just over 6000 feet...Longmont is a scant 5000 feet so those of us with almost three years of acclimatization should fare pretty well against the pour souls who fly up here from sea-level a few days before the race!
I will be participating in the Longmont race on August 12th. I spent a few hours on this computer yesterday taking care of my pre-race preparation. First, I submitted my name to USAT so they can register me through the ITU. Second, I registered with the actual race so they could take $110 from me! After that, I spent a few minutes on some search engines and Google Earth finding the race site and calculating the closest hotel. After picking out a few hotels within range, it was time to find out which ones had a room for the one pre-race night and how much they were charging.
Of course I missed out on the early-bird specials...like the home-stay options that the race director set up...and all the hotel rooms that were blocked off with a low 'triathlon price'. Fortunately, my new Marriott rewards card came in handy. I plugged in my new 'member number' and up popped an available suite at a very reasonable price! So I went back to Google Earth, plotted the hotel and mapped the distance to the race site and the pre-race meeting. Nothing was over 7 miles away so I finally had my winner!
The women's race is going to start at 1pm on Sunday...let's all hope that it is cool and overcast...and there is going to be a lot of competition on the start line. This is the place to live if you want to be a top American triathlete and I'm pretty sure I'll be standing next to all those women that live around here...Laura Bennett, Sarah Haskins, Jasmine, Groff, maybe even some long-course stars that want to dabble in a shorter race.
The Longmont race is also the fourth stop for the '07 "Haul to the Wall" series that I was runner-up in last year. I'm definitely not in the 'runner-up' position yet...far from it...because the other races have been strong fields as well. First, there was National Champs in Hawaii (I got 4th)...then the series went to the Des Moines World Cup (where I finished 17th). The third stop was in New York on the same weekend as the Pan Am Games (no points for me). It will all come down to the fifth and final race in California at the end of the season. They are awarding 'double series points' at that race and crowning the series champion afterwards. Maybe I can pull out another 'runner-up' position or (fingers crossed here) the whole kit-and-kaboodle!

It's All About The Kids

IronKids is in town! We've got a little over 100 kids registered for tomorrow morning's race over at Palmer Park. It was great to see the crew again and run around like crazy helping with all the set up. I actually got stuck on 'sandwich' duty for a while...I whipped out 60 PB&Js on IronKids bread in about 20 minutes! Great invention...that Goobers stuff where they sell peanut butter and jelly mixed together in the same jar:)
On to another subject regarding kids on bikes...I just read in the newspaper that LANCE is coming to town. Mr. Armstrong himself is going to be in COS on August 9th giving a talk for a charity called Kids on Bikes (created by his coach's wife to provide new bikes to kids in the COS area and encourage them to be active outside)! So, one single ticket to the Dinner Gala at the Broadmoor is $150! I'm so tempted...I want to go and actually see Lance in person for the first time...and to hear him speak would be doubly special. Triply special would be to help a really special charity that is right here where I live!
I'll spend the next few days thinking it over...well, just thinking about the cost of the event...and maybe I'll be posting a photo of me with Lance next month!
Tomorrow morning in Salford, England is the next Triathlon World Cup...I've got a few friends over there competing and I wish them all the best of luck. Usually, I can wake up in the morning and check the European race results...but tomorrow I'll be up VERY early (around 5:30) to head back to the IK race site and start helping the kids get their gear set up. The race start is at 8:00am...they should be finished by 10:00 and with awards after that, I'm hoping to be back in my room for a nap by noon. I'm missing out on the prescribed training session tomorrow...3 hour group ride starting at 10am...so I hope to dig up enough energy to head out on my own in the afternoon (weather permitting) and get the workout completed!
I talked to my whole family today...at separate times...and caught up with their activities. Dustin called me from the departure lounge at the Gainesville Airport to tell me that they had no TVs with the Tour coverage and I just HAD to tell him what happened in the most important stage of this year's tour (quick summary...NOTHING changed!!...I hope that didn't ruin it for you:). Duster is heading to summer Swimming National Champs (I'm not even quite sure where they are...see how much I'm paying attention) and the meet starts on Tuesday...GO DUSTIN!
My parents were up to the same-old, same-old. Mom is getting packed this weekend for her summer trip down the Grand Canyon; she heads out west on Monday for a two boat trip as Sally's swamper. Dad is taking care of my Angel...yes I talked to my bird on the phone...and he's also biking up a storm (making me look lazy).
I declined this evening's dinner-out with my friends...they are over at Phantom Canyon Brewery but I had to stay in and get ready for a big day tomorrow. Usually, I'm the first one to say 'yes' to getting out of the OTC but today wasn't that day. Instead, I'm slowly catching up on my emails...you will be happy to know that my inbox that grew to 96 emails has been whittled down to a manageable 31...and working on this blog just for fun!

IronKids Approaches

The time has come...the first IronKids race of 2007 is this weekend in Colorado Springs! The race site is about a half mile down the road from the OTC...at Prospect Lake Park. I'm so excited to see the kids racing again on Sunday morning. I'll also be working on Saturday at the race-regristration...and visiting with the IK staff that I haven't seen since last year!
Since I just remembered that all this stuff kinda takes up a lot of my weekend...I'll have to move some workouts around to fit them in before and after the race! But I'm not worried about missing a workout or two right now...I'm exhaused after just one week back in the training thing. Along with a bunch of my support-staff, I think that I am VERY low on iron and it is affecting me in many ways...drastic mood swings, always being tired, not being able to sprint, constant unmotivation...these things have been going on for a long time. I have a blood-draw scheduled tomorrow and I will finally get an answer early next week!

Newest GREEN Stuff

I've been surfing the Internet for more and more sites about the environment and ways to reduce our impact on it. Since I'm into the 'Green' thing now, I would rather be half-way educated on it rather than just jump on the bandwagon.
So, here is a photo of some insane guy that just swam 1 kilometer at the North Pole to bring awareness to global warming...the water temp. was -1.8 degrees Celsius...he spent just over 18 minutes in the water!

Back to my own world...I broke my hot-drink mug today! I was hanging it on the hook by my door (apparently didn't hook it good enough) and when I let go, it crashed to the ground and now it's in my garbage can in about 20 pieces! Can you 'recycle' ceramic stuff? I'll have to look that up on line before my garbage gets taken away!
Thanks to our sponsorship from Hammer Nutrition...I was able to order my first Patagonia clothing. I chose some running tops that were screened with the Hammer logo. The Patagonia tags attached to the items encouraged me to visit their website. They aren't just about outdoor clothing, they are all into the environment...and some of their clothing can be sent back when you wear it out and it'll be recycled into new clothing!

News From Home

On Friday night at 10:50pm, my time here in Colorado (I had been asleep for an hour), I got a phone call from my brother bragging that he had already purchased his copy of the 7th Harry Potter! Fortunately, I had already pre-ordered a copy from B&N and it arrived in my mail box the next day.
I sat down yesterday at 3:30pm and read the entire book (stopping only for a quick 30 minute dinner in the cafeteria) and finishing it at 1:10am this morning!! Great story but sad that the Potter saga is officially over. Maybe people will pick up on it like the Oz series and just continue to write their own versions in the future...Okay, enough about Potter stuff.
More news from home...Dustin also called me the other day to say that he was out celebrating with Matt Norton (a younger DBS swimmer that I have watched grow up in the pool). They were out partying after Matt made his first National Champs time-cut during a time-trial at the JOs meet in Gainesville! I think that Matt is a Senior in High School in Port Orange...and he's heading to UF to swim for the Gators next year! Congrats MATT!
Also at the JOs meet in Gainesville last weekend was my young friend Carly who is a HUGE Gator fan. She sent me some photos from the meet...and they brought back many memories of my own days swimming in that pool!
News from my new home here in COS...the Boulder Peaks Triathlon was today (in Boulder, duh) and a few of my friends went over to race. I just got a 'results call' from Mikey who went to watch and cheer, not race, and he said that Sarah Haskins got 2nd, Jasmine got 3rd, and Matt Reed won the men's race! Way to represent COS!
Also racing recently was my friend Leanda Cave (British athlete) who used to train with us in COS...she has moved from Olympic distance to long-course racing and just won herself another World Championships in France at the ITU Long Course Worlds!
The Austria World Cup triathlon was this morning and results have already been posted. No Americans did 'fantastic' but a few of my friends had decent finishes...the American women's finishes this weekend and next weekend at the World Cup in England determine if I will be on the USA World Champ team for the race on September 1st in Germany. I am not going to be scoring any more coveted ITU points between now and the decision day...so my fate lies in the hands of other people's results (you try waiting calmly without being able to affect your own fate)! Hopefully my previous results this year were good enough to keep me in the top-6!

HARRY POTTER 7!!!

I thought I'd write a quick post before I disappear for about 5 hours in my room without moving.
I just got ahold of my copy of the seventh Harry Potter book...and I'm going to read the whole thing before dinner!
Also...I know that some of my photos from Pan Am's are not showing up on my blog (just white boxes). I'm working on reloading the photos but they are revolting and not uploading...and since I've got some very important reading to do...it'll be a few more hours before those photos show up:)
Later...

Sightseeing In Rio

Boarding the train that will take us through the National Forest and up to the top of the mountain for a great view of Rio and the Redeemer Statue.

Riding the train through the National Forest...beautiful plants and fresh air!

And we get to the top and we are in a CLOUD! So the whole view of Rio was non-existent. I could see my hand in front of my face but not much further than 10 feet! I never saw the top of the statue...just what you can see in this photo! It was cold and kinda pointless, but the train was fun and I can say that I have been to ONE of the new 7 Wonders of the World (6 more to go)!

Julie and I riding the train back down the mountain...we got front row seats to look out the window during the steep descent.

Pan American Games Race Photos

The massive finish line stretched across the three lanes of road that we raced on...also notice some of the huge crowds that were watching!

The women's medalists...USA, USA, Canada! Go USA!

Andy getting his Gold medal in front of HUGE crowds of people. They went wild when the Brazilian athlete got bronze!

The view from my hotel window on Copacabana Beach...we swam in the ocean there in the left of the photo.

Pan Am Games Photos

Arriving at the airport in Rio...we were lead out to the buses along a path of ROSE PETALS!

The USAT team getting a introductory tour of the Pan Am Games Village...notice the cool view we had of Rio in the background (that was also right out our window in the dorms).

The Athlete Village housing buildings...all different colors, about 10 stories high, set in groups of 4 (each group had a pool). There was one road that ran in a circle in front of all the buildings and past the dining hall and one huge fence that ran the same way around the outside of the whole Village!

A sweet summary of the security at all the openings of the Village...imagine the Pizza Hut delivery guy trying to get in with our food on Friday night:)!!

Starting the "Ketchup" Process

I'm BACK!!!! In more ways than one!
I'm back in the USA after traveling for 24 hours from Rio on Monday night!
I'm back from feeling sick and very weak after being ill last weekend!
I'm back from taking a break from training after the Pan American Race.
I'm back to being motivated and happy!
I'm back to responding to emails.
I'm back to writing on my blog!
It feels so good to be feeling positive again and motivated to do something! I get really lazy when I'm burned out from training and racing...it's really easy to tell because I watch more TV than ever and I've already talked about my whole "non-replying to email syndrome". It's going to take me a few days to officially catch up on all the things that I have put off for over a month...I've got letters to write, papers to file, photos to upload. But I'm already looking forward to the process.
I'm actually trying to take on more things...I'm looking for something to DO! Usually, there are quite a few hours in my day that are unaccounted for and I would love to be more productive. That's how I got involved with writing for the USAT magazine and IronKids stuff. Now I'm asking everyone I know that has a 'real' job...and I'm offering my services to them. I am open and available to do things like paperwork, organization, writing, planning, etc. All those menial tasks that normal people hate to do because they always have to do them...I'm asking my friends and local support staff (like my nutritionist, coach, USAT staff, etc) if they want to pile anything on to my plate!
I've got 6 weeks until my next BIG race...Elite World Champs (IF I make the team...I will officially find out in two weeks) on September 1st in Hamburg, Germany. In between then and now I've got a lot of training to look forward to...and one local triathlon in Longmont, Colorado that I'm going to do just to keep my race mentality on the front burners! After the World Champs, the plan is to travel to South Korea for a two week training camp/staging base for the Beijing World Cup on the 16th (also IF I make that team...find out sometime soon)...and the Beijing race will be our first Olympic Trials race (first American across the line is automatically on the team)!
And since both the Gold meals at the Pan American Games went to Americans...both the men and the women are guaranteed at least one slot in the 2008 Games. We know that we are going to earn the other two as well through World Champ finishes and World Rankings...but at least one is in the bag!
Again, after Beijing, my race schedule is up in the air...I will make some decisions based on how I feel and how much travel funding still remains in the bank:) Other than racing myself...I'm looking forward to cheering my brother on at the USA Swimming Summer National Championships. I'm not even sure where the meet is going to be held...I just know that Dustin has been training his butt off this summer in G-ville and he's going to rock in all his events!
Right before I headed to Rio, my Dad got off the Colorado River after an 8 day trip through the Grand Canyon (his 6th trip). He's back at home catching up on work, doing some crazy long bike rides, and getting back to the real world. Later this summer both my Mom and Dustin also have trips planed down the River! I'm so jealous...but I can't justify just leaving my life and training for 10 days and risking getting injured in the middle of my season...it's the price I have to pay! I'll just have to live vicariously through Dad, Mom, and Dustin's stories and photos:)

Departing Brazil

I'm in the Rio airport...getting ready to fly back to the good'ol US-of-A. The Pan American race was yesterday on Copacabana beach...my two USA teammates (Sarah and Julie) and I were successful in our break-away-plan. We got out of the water with a nice 25 second lead and then we worked really hard for the whole 7 lap bike to stretch our lead to 2 min 40 seconds. It came down to the run and Julie and Sarah pushed each other to the finish line (Julie - gold, Sarah - silver).
I managed to hang on during the run until the half way point when the chase pack caught me. I finished in 10th place...not a bad showing for my first Pan American race...and not bad for being sick all week leading up to the race. I did my job here...helped my teammates get the gold medal (and that means our country is guaranteed at least one slot in the next Olympics). Now I'm looking forward to getting home to take a REAL break for a couple of days.
I am officially finished with my 2007(a) season. My 2007(b) season starts in September at the World Championships in Germany. I've got about 6 weeks from now til then for some great training and some fun breaks!
The flight to WashingtonDC is boarding...I'm off to DC and then Denver and then good 'ol COS!

Ready To Race

This is my last few minutes in the Athlete Village. We just brought all our bikes and bags down to the ground floor. The coaches and staff are packing them up in a truck and at 2pm we are loading into a bus headed for the beach. Tonight, we will stay in the nice hotel on the beach (get some good food and sleep in a comfy bed) and wake up in the morning within rolling distance of the start.
This will be the first time in a long while that I will be able to watch the men's race before competing myself...they start at 8am and we start at 10:30. Hopefully any and all the kinks in the race course will work themselves out and our race will be perfect!
Its sad that I don't get to watch any other sports...the volleyball and gymnastics are on local TV...but I won't get to watch anything in person other than Triathlon! Such is life!

RIO, BABY!!!

Made it!! One heckofa long trip...but we arrived safe-and-sound in Rio today. Loaded onto some buses and had a police escort all the way to the Athlete Village. Right when we checked into our rooms we all voted on headed for some food right away...unfortunately, the Cafeteria is NOT amazing:). The food is actually kinda scary and I'm already looking forward to moving into the hotel on the beach so that I can eat good food at restaurants.
Everone who arrived today from the USA is waiting on our bags to be delivered...they were brought here on another truck and taken through security. As soon as everything arrives, we can finally get some training, build our bikes, change clothes, shower...all that good stuff:)

Blogging From The East Coast

I'm sitting in a room somewhere on the George Mason University campus...using the computers for the Pan Am athletes...checking in with the world and saying that "I'm on my way to RIO!"
Yesterday, the day started semi-early with a 6:30am shuttle to the Springs airport...a 8:30am flight to Denver...an 11:14am flight to Washington, D.C...a short bus ride to the University to check in and get some chow. I went for a short run with some of my teammates (Sarah, Julie and Nate) around the campus...I won't go into details about how miserable the run was with the combination of east-coast-HUMIDITY and the remains of my weekend sickness...but it was just enough to get the blood flowing again after a day in the air.
The meals here at the University are fantastic, kinda just like the ones I'm used to at the OTC. That could be because they brought the OTC cafeteria staff here to make sure that we had good, healthy food for our layover:)! Unfortunately, they did not pack and ship a bunch of the amazing Hilton beds out here...we were stuck sleeping on the plastic mattresses in the dorms from the mid1950s! But, I had a decent night of sleep because I stayed awake the entire trip from COS...not one second of napping on the plane for this girl...I knew it was going to be hard enough sleeping on the East Coast and I wanted to make the transition as smooth as possible (it worked for me from 10pm until 7am when my alarm went off).
I got up this morning and with a campus map in hand, jogged down to the GMU track for my short running workout. It's really really really nice to be at sea level!! I just wish I could tell a difference from altitude but my lungs are filled with gunk from my cold...but at least I'm starting to feel more like myself on the roads and more positive about the outlook of the race this weekend!! After my run and a quick shower, I headed back to the dining hall for breakfast and then joined all the other triathletes and the swim team for the "Team Processing Meeting" where they went over some protocol and told us to conduct ourselves with pride because the media is "always watching":)!
We finished off the morning in the 'outfitting' room where we got a small laundry basket full of red, white, and blue Nike gear. The Opening Ceremonies outfit isn't very exciting, just a red shirt, khaki golf shorts, and some hideous white sneakers (you'll get a picture of it afterwards:)! After individual and team photos, we all headed over to the pool for a team practice...busted out 3000 meters (my first real swim practice since Friday morning so it was nice to stretch out and loosen up!) and then came back to this building for lunch in the Ciao Hall.
Other than catching up with my emails and blogging this post, I've got nothing but relaxing to do until the 5 pm buses back to the airport. The flight is a red-eye, 10 hours, with one stop in San Paulo before we reach Rio. We arrive around noon and bus straight to the Athlete Village to check in, get our credentials, and hopefully find some time to build our bikes and get a short spin to re-start that blood flow!
Some other things that have come to my attention...there are about 30 women on the starting list for our race (about 37 men). The water is going to be warm enough for no wetsuits. We race on Sunday the 15th...women start at 10:30am (that's the latest update we've been given).
The next post will be from Rio! I've decided not to lug my heavy laptop with me on this trip...and it's working out just fine because the USA team is always provided with computers and Internet access (no need to throw my back out for nothing:). Apparently, the new 7 Wonders of the World were announced last week and the big statue on the mountain top in Rio just made the new list so it will be my first 'check mark' on that list. If things go as planned, I will also be able to check off the Great Wall of China in 2 months when I go to Beijing to race (the Wall also made the new list).

Really Bad Timing

10 days later is all I needed...but getting sick yesterday was NOT the best timing!! The day I got back from Rio would have been perfect...or even during the travel home, I could have handled that if I knew it was instead of RIGHT NOW!
I woke up on Saturday morning and knew I was sick with a head/throat cold. I was also really tired so I spent most of the day catching up on sleep (after I woke up to my alarm at 6:30am for swim practice...I went back to sleep from 7:30 until 2pm!). I managed to get on my bike for an very easy and incredibly slow 1 hour bike ride and then I spent most of the remaining day watching the Live Earth concert on TV.
After I had eaten some dinner at 7pm, I tried to stay awake as long as I could...and I made it to 8:30pm because my eyes were burning up. Well, surprise of surprises, I spent 6 hours last night with a fever...alternating between hot sweats and cold sweats. I managed to stay pretty hydrated and I took some Tylenol in the middle of the night. I think both of those things helped the fever finally break around 1 or 2am this morning. So I had a couple more hours of strange sleep before I finally rolled out of bed at 8:30am...my first 12 hour night in a LONG time!
So, instead of doing the 300 repeats on the track right now with the rest of the team...I'm slowly moving around, doing some laundry, and packing for Pan Am's. I think I will be able to find some energy later today to maybe go for a jog or a swim...can't forget how to do those things one week out from the Pan Am race!!

Cancel That

BUMMER! Timmy promotion party has been bagged/canceled/postponed/delayed!
Cliff is totally SICK and we can't have the party at his place so there will be no delicious barbecue catered by Sara and Jaz...we are very sad. And I also have a TON of random vegetables sitting in my room because there is no where to put them (remember the 24 EARS OF CORN that I bought at the farmers market!).
Jaz and I still drove over to Whole Foods this afternoon because we were bored and we wanted to look at all the yummy things that we COULD HAVE purchased and prepared and served and eaten...but we just walked out with a cup of coffee and hot cocoa.
Other than that, today was pretty chill. We started with a really easy swim practice in the outdoor pool...ended it with some games of leap-frog and sharks-and-minnows. After breakfast and some relaxing (I finished a James Patterson book I started yesterday...sometimes being a super fast reader isn't fun because I have to keep getting new books) I met with Bobby McGee for some running drills and mental skills. While Jaz met with Bobby, I had a massage and a sports-nutrition meeting to prep for the Pan American Games trip.
My Dad got off the Grand Canyon yesterday afternoon...welcome back to civilization...and called to say that it was another fun and beautiful trip (of course that just made me even more jealous:). Both my mother and brother have trips down the river this summer...I just get to keep traveling to one race after another, no relaxing eight days floating down a big river!

Green Goodies Catering

Welcome to the new site for Sara and Jasmine's Catering Company. We are a bit new in the business...but looking forward to catering for you:)!
We don't actually have any experience beyond feeding ourselves and the random baking and cooking escapades that any young girl did in the kitchen with her mom's help. But we've got a passion, an idea, and our first job looming in the near future!
Timmy O'Donnell , one of my tri-training-partners here at the OTC and a Naval Academy graduate, has just been promoted to Lieutenant! This Saturday he is throwing a party for his friends and family at our coach's house. Instead of being a guy and trying to do the whole food arrangement himself...he is the first customer of "Green Goodies Catering" (he is also the creator:).
Jasmine and I have arranged a beautiful menu that is very Tim-like and very up-scale to reflect the importance of this party (he's a Lieutenant for pete's sake). It's also a completely GREEN affair meaning natural, organic, and local. We planned on doing all the shopping at the Whole Food's Market down the road, but during our morning bike ride, I spotted a Farmer's Market right down the street.
After our workout and breakfast, Jaz and I rode bikes (very greenish) to the market and picked up some beautiful ears of corn, onions, basil, cherries, peppers, cucumbers, etc. If you have ever thought of transporting 24 ears of corn in a backpack while riding a heavy bike up a hill...I suggest that you re-think this genius idea...I'm still sore...but it will be all worth it when I have some fresh sweet corn on Saturday night!
Tomorrow is a very light training day, just a swim practice in the morning (doubly special because it's in the out-door pool) and a 90 minute session with Bobby McGee, special running and mental skills coach. After we are finished, Jaz and I are going to finish the food shopping and then spend a few hours over at Cliff's house doing some prep-work for the big affair.
OH YEAH...did I forget to mention that Green Goodies Catering also needs to use your kitchen and cooking supplies to do the catering because we don't actually own any kitchen utensils or have a kitchen of our own! Just a minor detail in this brilliant idea...but refer your friends because we are going to be booked solid really quickly:)

Fun Things Not Mentioned

Last week I did quite a few fun things that I have yet to mention.
On Friday afternoon, Jasmine and I were both finished with our workouts early in the day so we decided to drive north to the Chapel Hills Mall for some relaxing shopping therapy. We managed to spend about 45 minutes in the mall and go into a total of two stores. I barely spent any money because my main purchase was in Old Navy with a gift card I still had from last Christmas! The few $$ that actually came out of my pocket were to add to my ever-enlarging nail polish collection:). Now I've got dark green, purple, silver, and pearly-white! It is anyone's guess what I choose for the Pan American Games...I think I should actually go patriotic and do something with red, white, and blue!?!
The mall trip was cut short because neither of us were really excited about anything we saw in the stores. Instead, our interest was piqued by an item we noticed earlier in the day during swim practice in the out-door pool...the large gas grill that any resident athlete at the OTC can use!! So Jasmine and I left the mall and headed down the street to the Whole Foods grocery store...we loaded up with the ingredients for a fresh dinner for two (we phoned all the other guys at the OTC but none of them were interested...losers:). I picked a pre-seasoned spicy hamburger patty while Jaz chose a fresh salmon-burger...and a yummy sea-salted loaf of bread for our bun. We also loaded up on a bunch of fresh cut vegetables to cook in aluminum foil on the grill.
All we had to do when we got back to the OTC was ask the chefs in the cafeteria if we could have some olive oil, foil, and cooking spray...then we lugged all our stuff to the pool deck and had a fantastic time grilling a delicious meal! The weather was perfect, the sun was just setting, and the lifeguard had some good tunes playing...I LOVE Colorado Springs...I just can't wait until I'm doing that exact same thing in MY OWN backyard soon!!
It might not by my OWN backyard...but the Reed family is having all the triathletes over to dinner tomorrow for a 4th of July party. I ran a bunch of errands this afternoon and one stop was the grocery store again to pick up a bunch of fresh fruit to make a fruit-salad to take to the party (I never want to walk in empty-handed!). The rain was pouring as I made four different stops...the grocery store...a local bike store for some new pedals (not a cheap 5 minutes)...the Salvation Army Thrift store to drop off some old clothes that I pulled out of my over-crowded closet...and Walgreen's to drop of a used printer-ink-cartridge for recycling.
Speaking of RECYCLING...today was a very GREEN day for me. I made a point to ride my bike down to the shipping building to mail my Aunt Jan some books. I guess mailing her some books also prevented her from purchasing the same books herself. I continued to use my ceramic coffee mug at all meals (it's become an easy habit, I just pick it up when I leave my room:). For the first time, I took a cloth bag into the grocery store to carry my items out (instead of the paper or plastic option:). I recycled an ink cartridge and a HUGE stack of old papers that I found in my school binders hidden behind a shelf.
I just looked at how distracted I got from my original post idea (fun things I've done) so I'll just summarize the rest...Saturday night I went out for dinner and drinks at a Mexican restaurant with a bunch of friends and Monday afternoon I rode over to the Velodrome to watch the little Junior National Track Cycling competition (those little kids are strong and fast)!!

New Discovery: I'm Quite Lazy!

I haven't done much during the past week other than show up to my scheduled training sessions, eat in the cafeteria, and sleep some crazy hours (sometimes at night and also lots during the middle of the day)!
Since I am willing to forgive myself, I hope that you can as well. I've got plenty of reasons why I was lazy and why I had a right to be lazy. They all start way back at the beginning of June when I started on this month-long-travel-race-train-repeat-repeat cycle that I just finished. I was on super-mode for the whole process of traveling and racing every weekend for three weeks.
Life was easy. When I got home, I threw everything into the washing machine, dried it, and then repacked it. There were always three days in the middle of the week where I would build my bike, ride it a few times, and then repack it for the next trip. All my hotel and travel arrangements were meticulously scheduled and prepared. It was a routine...a very busy, complicated, worldly routine...but a repeating routine no matter what!
Last Monday, I arrived home (after my best race ever) and once I finished my routine things...there was nothing else to rush off for. My next race is still over 13 days away...I travel on the 10th...so I was actually hanging out in limbo! Unfortunately, it wasn't a limbo where all those procrastinated things are finally accomplished...it was more like a limbo where I just didn't even want to think about the things I needed to accomplish.
My email inbox usually sits with no more than 10 emails that are waiting for a reply. Even with all the travel and racing last month, I was on top of my communication with friends, family, etc. (Yes, there are many, many hours spent sitting in a hotel room doing nothing but relaxing where these little things get accomplished.) But, right now, after one whole week in this 'limbo' I think my inbox is pushing 75 emails that are waiting for replies. I know that this inbox-thing might sound weird to some people, but lately this has become a way for me to measure how productive I am (also, how often I post on my blog...notice the large space between this one and my previous).
I sat down at the computer more than once and tried to get started, but my efforts usually got me nowhere except out of my computer chair and over to my bed to take a nap:)! I will also explain that these naps lately have also been pretty productive. After my last race in Edmonton, I only had about 20 days until the Pan American Games race on July 15th so there was no time to take a break. I have just completed a very hard week of training (even though I was in 'limbo' mentally) and I'm looking at my training schedule for next week with a grimace!
Not really a 'grimace'. I always look forward to a training challenge and this next week is going to be something that tests my ability to stay focused. I don't have a lot of hours scheduled on my training plan, but every single workout is asking for high intensity at some point. We started this morning with a 5000 meter swimming workout. I haven't made it that far in a long time. The main set was 3000 meters (400, 300, 200, 100 on 1:20 pace, 3x) and I swam with Hunter Kemper who was pushing the pace from start to finish! Tomorrow the intensity continues with a morning treadmill workout with supplemented oxygen (like sea-level air), a mid-day bike session with race intervals, and ending with an afternoon jog!