Gandy Dancer

Living in Boulder I always appreciate the natural beauty and opportunities I have been given to train in such an amazing place. I kicked off my day with an early morning yoga class which I have been attending twice a week since November in an effort to increase my flexibility. There were only two of us attending the session so it was like having private yoga lessons! I followed the yoga with my strength training and my body is adapting to the new routine. I love being in the gym and the other dimension it adds to my training. With the recent snow I opted to mix things up a bit with my training and do some skate skiing this afternoon at Eldora Mountain Resort (www.eldora.com). After an easy spin on the CompuTrainer and some lunch I headed up the canyon with my roommate, Pete, who is an excellent skate skiier. Today was my first time out this season and I was surpised how comfortable I felt on my skiis. I was thinking to myself, "Wow, I may just get in my first skate skiing session without falling." This thought crossed my mind just as we headed down a steep technical section of trail called Gandy Dancer...I soon found myself dancing face first into a large pile of soft powder! It was a hoot to get on the skiis and fly through the wooded trails at 9,000 feet. A killer day was capped having dinner with friends at one of my new sponsors BD's Mongolian Barbeque (www.gomongo.com). Their food is awesome and healthy of course :)

Keep it smooth...

Christmas Surprise

Despite an hour delay departing Detroit Christmas evening my flight to Denver still managed an on-time arrival - way to go Frontier (www.frontierairlines.com) We, my friend Erin and I, had the standard wait for baggage, but no big deal. Upon getting to my car I was stoked to not see my car buried or blocked with snow from the snow plows. I hopped in and went to start my trusty Jeep Cherokee Sport. Dead. No turn over. Nada. Zip. Zero. Nothing.

We hopped back on the shuttle to return to the terminal so we could catch the RTD bus into Boulder. When it was all said and done I found my head hitting the pillow at 12:50 am. Sweeet!

Yes, my car is still sitting in the DIA parking lot with hopes of getting it sorted tomorrow.

Keep it smooth...

Whew!

I left late Tuesday evening for Detroit and fortunately missed the big snow in the Denver/Boulder area. It has been great seeing my family and a few friends back in Motown. We celebrated our family Christmas yesterday. Having 11 nieces and nephews makes for plenty of laughs and excitement :)

Training has been steady with a swim and run emphasis while in Michigan. I opted to leave my bike in Colorado this year. I must say I am awfully spoiled to swim outdoors year-round in Boulder...I forgot how stuffy some indoor pools can be.

Hope you and yours enjoy a very Merry Christmas!

Keep it smooth...

Warm & Windy!

The past several days have been unusually warm here with temps yesterday reaching the upper 60s. Along with the warm temps though have been some crazy winds...gusts up to 50 MPH which have made riding a bit interesting at times! A couple of days ago I was riding smack into a head wind coming on a flat section. I laughed upon looking down at my Ergomo and seeing my blazing speed of 9.6 MPH and watts at 200. No sense is fighting the winds! Tomorrow it is supposed to snow with a predicted high of 30...life in the Rockies.

While cycling along the rolling terrain of Boulder County one can see an array of wildlife...prarie dogs, fox, deer, snakes, hawks and eagles. Heck this past summer someone actually ran into a bear during the Boulder Peak Triathlon. Yesterday I was riding the rural roads north of Boulder and came across a herd of cattle in the road. Fortunately they were not aggressive and seemed pretty content on just going about their business.

Keep it smooth...

Over the River & Through the Woods

After a decent week of snow we have had some warm temps which in turn has made the trails a bit mucky. I ran over a portion of the CU cross country course recently...well really I was a slipping and a sliding! It's all good though as it adds a fun dynamic with the goal of not landing completely on my bum.

Earlier in the week I had my run blood lactate test done at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine (www.bch.org/sportsmedicine). It revealed what I pretty much knew...my run fitness is a bit down. Not a huge concern though as my pace at LT is the same as this time last year, but my HR was a bit higher. Over the next four weeks I will continue to focus on some serious base training with strict HR ranges on both the bike and run.

Christmas is approaching and I have done absolutley squat for my gift-giving. I'll be traveling next week with my friend Erin back to the Motor City. I only have one gift to buy though as my family has a traditional gift-giving deal. This year I have my brother-in-law and the guy has every tool known to man. I'm sure I"ll think of something. One year I gave him some compact fluorescent light bulbs...seriously no joke and he loved them! My parents are adamant we do not purchase anything for them and instead have expressed gratitude for a donation made to a charity if we feel so inclined.

I wish you all a very safe, healthy, happy and blessed Christmas season!

Keep it smooth...

My Backyard!

After spending last week indoors for all my rides on account of the hearty winter weather we had in Boulder, I was soooo happy to get outside and ride today. Pictured at left are the Flatiron Mountains which are part of the Rockies. Yes, I am one lucky son of a bisquit to live in such a beautiful place!

My good friends Erin, Pete & I hosted a holiday party over the weekend and it was a hoot! Great food (by gourmet chef Bradford Heap of LeChaunticler), super sangria & jell-0 shots (compliments of Joanna Z. & Mark), entertaining white elephant gift exchange and lots of laughs :) It's always refreshing to mix it up with folks outside of our sport. I have a strong inclination December is going to simply fly...plan to be home in Michigan to visit my family over Christmas...with 11 nieces and nephews it is always interesting.

My 2007 schedule is pretty well set and I'm stoked about my new partnership with Jelly Belly's Team Sport Beans/NTTC! (www.nttcracing.com) While triathlon is most definitely an individual sport (minus the hacks who find ways to make it a group effort) I'm looking forward to adding a team dynamic to things this season. We have our team camp in early February and it will be great to meet my teammates. The last few weeks I have been in a sudo prep mode in getting myself set for more structure and specificity with my training. Tomorrow I am making another visit to the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine for my early season LT bike test and next week I'll get in the run LT. The tests will give us (me and Zane, my coach) some solid baseline numbers for my current fitness.

Outside of training I have been busy sheduling talks. Last Thursday evening I had the pleasure of speaking at Colorado State University on the topic of "You are what you eat - physical & spiritual fitness". It was a good change from my typical message.

Need to hit the rack...want to be rested for my test in the morn!

Keep it smooth...