Thru Endurance We Conquer!

I heard a rumor the other day that Safeway might be pulling Christopher Bean from the stores here in Colorado. I hope it's just a rumor, because Safeway is the most convenient location for me to get my coffee. Christopher Bean is also the most flavorful and smoothest coffee I've tasted. I know that I can get it on-line, but what about people who don't know about Christopher Bean? Maybe if Safeway didn't hide the coffee on the bottom of the shelf, more people would realize how wonderful CB is. Consider sending a product request to Safeway - Save our Coffee!! http://www.safeway.com/ifl/grocery/Product-Suggestions#iframetop

I'm a little late getting this up, but it's been a busy week. The Crested Butte trip was a fun weekend. We stopped at the Angel of Shavano trail head on the drive out so Nick could ride another piece of the Colorado Trail. There was a bear of climb right out of the parking lot, but once we reached the top it was rolling single track the whole way. The view over Monarch pass and the mountain was worth the climb. We decided to stay at the Gunnison KOA for the weekend instead of CB. There are really nice "Kamping Kabins" at the KOA and we know the area well. Things are also quite a bit cheaper in Gunnison then up in CB. Nick also wanted to ride at Hartman Rocks a few times while we were there. The KOA is the most convenient place to stay for that - they host the 24 Hours in the Sage race every year. The weather was perfect every day - except race day. It was cold and wet race day, with clouds draped over the mountains. Rain looked very likely. Nick and I both opted to st...

I got my first triathlon prize purse yesterday in the mail. Much to my surprise, my 7th place finish at the North West Cup on June 6th meant that I won $200.00. I really was not expecting that but its a nice feeling that I was able to at least pay for part of the trip. With a little more experience on the bike, I'm hoping that I'll be able to earn a little more for my racing. It's exciting to realize that my "hobby" could actually earn me some money.

Well, I had to fly out to KC and drive Mom home from her race. Last week was completely taken over with flying out, driving home from Lawrence and then helping her with getting a doctors appointment for her shoulder. The good news is that it was a clean break so she will not need surgery. The bad news is that she's going to be out of commission for the next four weeks at least and out of the water for 10 weeks. She's really lucky - you should see the bruise on her hip. It's huge with multiple shades of green, yellow, black, purple and blue. Her helmet is also in peices. It could be much worse - a broken hip or a head injury. At least a broken collar bone heals easily. After getting her settled, Nick and I headed out to Crested Butte for the fourth MSC race - the Wildflower Rush Cross Country. I'll get a little more information about that race up soon, but it was nice to get away for a while.

If you are an athlete or a frequent spectator - listen up. The race is not done just because the pros are finished. There are still athletes on course and you need to be aware. That means look both ways before crossing the street - especially along the bike course. Thanks to two clueless, idiot spectators my mom now has a broken collarbone and a ruined summer. They walked right in front of her within sight of T2 at the KA 70.3. There was nothing she could - crashed right into them. She lost conciousness when she fell so doesn't remember. Seeing a strange number and the message 'I'm in hospital' is not something I wish for anyone. BE CAREFULL AT THE RACES - even if youre just watching.

The Mad Dash Eight Hour Race for Challenged Athletes Foundation / Operation Rebound was success. I managed to finish 11 laps on the 7.5 mile course, but I needed a hamburger at hour five to make it through the event. I have some photos from the weekend http://picasaweb.google.com/TracyThelen.triathlete/XterraNorthwestCup# up now. The course was a fast, seven-mile loop that shared part of the Xterra course from the day before. The first third of the course was along sandy double track, rolling hills and short punchy climbs. The second third was fast, sweeping single track through thin stands of trees. The final third was the same as the Xterra course – narrow, twisty and rooty single track through thick trees. The laps were running about 30-40 minutes for the men and 35-50 minutes for the women, meaning that in eight hours, there was the potential for plenty of miles. I never got tired of the course, but it was nice that the laps were short. It was also fun watching the shadows chang...

Here's the scoop on the Xterra. This was one of the best venues for an Xterra that I’ve been to. There was the option to camp right in the state park. Given how far the park was from Coeur D’Alene, I opted to camp. Nick and I have all the gear from the 24 hour races, so it wasn’t like I would be missing something like a comfortable bed. Nothing like two thermarests for a great night’s sleep. Besides, I had a friend doing the Gauntlet short course tri, which started three hours before the Xterra. Camping meant that I could sleep in and take my time getting ready while my friend was racing. Race morning dawned slightly overcast and really windy. The sun did come out just before the start of the Xterra. I made pancakes on the stove for my friend and myself, much to the envy of the other athletes in the campground. After breakfast, I got her bike on the car and wished her luck. The plan was to have her drive to the start and I would ride down later. I wanted to see the Gauntlet athlete...

Here are the pics from the races and the trip http://picasaweb.google.com/TracyThelen.triathlete/XterraNorthwestCup # I promise to have the race reports up soon!

Well, this was a good trip and a really great race. I meant to check in more often but just got busy. Camping does not lend it's self to tech toys. I'm very pleased with my performance this time - put together a strong swim, a good bike and good run. I still have a lot of work to do on the bike. I also can't say enough about race venue and staff. I will get the race reports and photos up soon.

Rain. Nothing but rain. Driving through WY is never fun because of the wind. This time there was rain and wind. Almost 500 miles of low hanging clouds, grey and rain. My bike needed some major care after we stopped for the night. Hopefully the weather will clear and I'll get to ride in dry weather.

Ok I just set up my email so I can post more often. I'll try setting up my phone for short updates while I'm out at my next race.

This was really good weekend. I took the tri bike out for long ride on Saturday to make sure the new aerobar setup works well and is comfortable. I've done one other long ride and a few shorter rides, but those were all hilly and it's harder to stay in aero for the whole ride. As is usual for riding out east, there was a strong wind. This time the wind didn't shift, so after dealing with the head wind doing north, I was able to fly down the road going south. Nothing like the feeling of cruczing down an empty road with the wind at your back. Everything was so green out east. We've had a lot of rain in the last few weeks and the fields were full of flowers. It won't last - in a few weeks, the grass will be brown and the flowers gone. Speaking of rain, I was far enough away from the mountains to watch the afternoon thunderstorms attempting to develop. The anvil would start forming, reaching far into the sky, then collapsing. Finally one got together and the storms star...