The hot weather is on it's way!

The past couple days have been so nice and cool here in Boulder. Even though I got completely soaked on my long hill ride Wednesday morning, it felt so good to be cold! However, starting tomorrow, it's supposed to be back in the high 90s and 100s. Oh yippeee :) Definitely had some great training the past couple days and I'm pretty sure whatever illness that attacked me for the past month has finally run it's course.

On another note, I picked up another accounting job with a great physical therapist here in Boulder. Just a few hours a week, but a great opportunity and a great connection especially if I need any work throughout the season.

Lastly, June 27th was my daddy's 50th birthday and what better way to celebrate than with a whole bunch of cows in the front yard with a sign that says 'Holy Cow, Tom's 50' for everyone who drives by to see! HOW AWESOME :)

ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!!

The Chinese Crested dog 'Elwood' appears at the 2007 World's Ugliest Dog Contest Friday, June 22, 2007, in Petaluma, California. Elwood, who weighs in at just 6 lbs and was rescued as the result of a New Jersey SPCA investigation, has won the title of World's ugliest dog of 2007.

World's ugliest dog contest?!?!? You have got to be shitting me!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!

The Ups and Downs of Life

So Wednesday was a great day but might have been a little too much exertion in the heat because Thursday was pretty much a disaster. It was about 100* in my room Wednesday night and I wasn't ever able to fall asleep so there was no way I was doing any kind of training that morning. As a matter of fact, I was pretty much out of commission for the entire day and did pretty much nothing except eat and sleep.

Friday, however, was another killer day. Great 2hr easy spin with Chriso in the AM, solid swim in the 'arvo' (yes, I'm starting to pick up on the Aussie slang), then a great trail/hill run at Shanahan Ridge right afterwards in the heat of the day. Another good soak in the creek and a chill evening at home.

Saturday - crap day once again. Couldn't get motivated in the water in the morning for a hard swim, so I cut it short and hoped a good breakfast would be the key so my big bike/run session. WRONG. My good breakfast just made me more sleepy. Got in bed at 10am and woke up at 2pm to 97* temps. No way was I doing a long ride in that crap. So I just sat at home and ate everything in sight until I finally got moving at 6pm for an easy jog. Went out to the bars later on with some friends which was fun and great to get out.

Today - woke up and headed out for my 4hr bike at 8am. Wish I would have left a little earlier as when I got back around noon, it was already 96* and I was completely wiped and decided that rather than put myself in a hole for the day, I would do my run later on in the evening when it cools down a bit. Re-hydrated and met the boys at the pool for a great recovery swim. Now just waiting for some storms to pass so I can get that final run of the week in, eat some pizza and ice cream and play some trivia games with the clan :)

The creek is my new best friend :)

Went out for a killer hill climb with some hard intervals from 6:45am to 10am and when I got back, it was already 85 degrees! When I got in the pool at 12:30, it was 95 degrees...swam like a fish and then proceeded to run directly from the pool with JZ at 1:45pm in at least 98* weather for almost an hour. BRUTAL...almost passed out in the shower when we got back I was so overheated.

There was no question that after a tough day on the legs and in the heat, sitting in the COLD creek for a bit would be a good idea. Well it definitely was and we totally found the best little spot to park ourselves. The first 5 minutes were so incredibly painful and freezing, but after everything went numb, we ended up chillin' in there almost a whole half hour. When it was time to get out, our legs were so cold and hard to move we could hardly get up. I tried to pull Jo up and out of the water but slipped on a rock and my flip flop got caught in the current of the water and got away faster than I could move to catch it...booo! Oh well, they were from middle school anyway and used solely for the pool. It was pretty funny though!

Good day, good times!

The final stage is complete!!!

The last item on the agenda in order for me to become a 'Real' Colorado resident was to register my car here and have Colorado plates put on it. Well a couple hundred dollars later, a vin verification, an emissions test and waiting in line forever, I'm officially done :) And Dad, for your sanity and verification, I will post some pictures of the plates so you know that I did truly get it done!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Daddy's Day to all you dads out there...especially to the GREATEST dad ever...yes, that's you Mr. Thomas Kummer! Love ya and wish I could have been there to celebrate with you!

Great weekend of fun and training including a little mountain biking this afternoon up in Nederland in the 95* weather. Luckily at 8800 feet it doesn't feel THAT bad. However, the ridiculous amount of ice cream I did eat afterwards to cool off didn't feel that great :)

Getting better and better everyday which is making life a lot easier. Now I just need to concentrate on keeping hydrated so I don't get worn out from the hot weather hitting Boulder over the next week. Alright, off to bed so I can get up early to pick JZ up from the airport.

Oh how it's nice to be home.

Although I still haven't been feeling 100%, I cannot even describe how good it feels to be back in Boulder and sleeping in my own bed :) I've been slammed with things at work and trying my best to relax and recover as much as possible, but regardless, there is no place I would rather come home to than here! The weather is beginning to warm up quite a bit (80s and 90s) and that 'summer feel' has finally come around. Always looking for people to come visit, so if you're up for a little trip to the Rockies, let me know!!!

Adventures in Mexico

I suppose I will continue from where I left off last time in San Diego.

After being treated like a princess at the Zeiger's, I was dropped off at the San Diego Airport at 9:30am on Thursday morning. The boys arrived at 10:30am and we all sat around chatting until 1:30pm when we went out to meet the bus. We easily found the bus but were immediately told that we would probably not be leaving until 3:30 or 4pm as we had to wait for the rest to arrive. Not a problem, I've only spent the last 2 days there, what's a few more hours going to do? Naturally, the people we were waiting for had delays and didn't arrive until later which meant we didn't even leave San Diego until 5:30pm!!! But we left and we were on our way to Mexico.

Not too bad of a drive...the first part of Mexico was quite interesting though. Very run down and a little frightening. However, the last 45min into Ensenada were absolutely gorgeous with rolling hills and the scenic views of the ocean. Once we arrived at the host hotel, everyone was split up into 6 different hotels throughout the city (some 30min away with no transportation) and taken there individually. Luckily, I had arranged a homestay (Dina and Rodolfo) through a Timex teammate and they came and picked me up right away. It was a quick drive to their house (which was less than a mile from the race site/host hotel) and when we arrived I was introduced to their two children - Daniella (11) and Isaac (8).
















They were absolutely adorable and had made a giant welcome sign and put water and chocolate next to the beds.

















I was staying in Issac's room which was probably the coolest room I have ever seen. His cousin had painted all the Mario characters all over his walls and it looked so real!


























I was still feeling very under the weather from the travel and being sick in the prior weeks. I was still very congested and coughing quite a bit. Because I wasn't really 'in my element' I wasn't really able to eat/sleep/train like I normally would. There was not very many places to go riding in the area and the one 45min ride I did do, I was pretty sure it was going to be my last ride ever. The roads were super rough and the people there are not very fond of you riding along side them and don't mind buzzing right. To make a long story short, I was hardly able to get in any training from Thurs until the race on Sunday which was a little frustrating.

The Race - 60s and overcast (perfect racing weather). Stomach definitely not right in the morning and unfortunately wasn't able to get anything down. The 1 loop ocean swim was quite intimidating as we all know my current ridiculous issues with salt water and swimming. Although I swam incredibly slow, I got through it. The 1 loop bike would have been a perfect course for me with all the hills and climbing, however, with horrible nutrition and being sick/dehydrated leading into the race, I cramped up completely at about mile 5 of 56...right as we were starting to climb. Luckily I had a 12/27 cassette and was able to just sit and spin. I would have for sure fallen off my bike had I needed to stand because there was no way my legs were going to do that. The rough roads and numerous people passing me didn't make it much fun, but after the last big decent, I finally started to loosen up a bit and was looking forward to shake things out even more on the run. As always, the first half mile or so is a bit of a struggle, but this time the struggle didn't seem to go away as much as it normally does and I remained incredibly tight and cramped going out further on the course. As I got several kilometers into the first loop, I kept seeing people running in all sorts of directions. They were stopping to ask where the course went all while screaming and totally freaking out in Spanish. The course was very mis-marked with a smaller loop inside of a larger loop and no one had a clue where to go. Honestly, it was probably the most hysterical thing ever watching all these people getting frazzled. I knew my race wasn't going to be what I wanted it to be so I just went with it. I'm pretty sure I ran the right course and maybe an extra kilometer or two, but being there watching the madness was priceless. Needless to say, the run splits were not counted in the overall times due to the poorly designed course.

At the end of the day, things were alright as I got my slot to the 70.3 World Champs which is what I came there for. Nothing else mattered. Rodolfo (my homestay) also got a slot and him and his wife Dina will hopefully be staying with us in Florida this November!

The trip overall was quite an experience. Mexico is an interesting place and traveling under the conditions I was (and still am) in was a big challenge. I met a lot of really great people and have some really funny stories to share and remember. Still waiting for pictures from Gavin and race shots so check the website in the next few days.

What a Day!!!

Where do I start?

Well yesterday was an interesting day...after not sleeping at all from coughing all evening, I woke up feeling like absolute crap. Got in my car to drive to work and turned around to come home after getting 10 seconds down the road. Yeah, it was that bad. I got back in bed for another hour and then finally got up to figure out the madness of all the travel logistics for the shuttles to and from Baja. By that time, I should have already been done with the law firm and half way through my track workout. Obviously this was not happening. As I was sitting on the couch chatting with Merci and emailing the race director, a huge package of goodies came from Ben for helping him ship some boxes and everything started getting a little better from there, but still super hectic .Went to the track with the roommate, got some stuff done at work, got in a mini swim, went back to both jobs, got on the trainer, packed the bike, got a massage and went to bed around midnight to get up at 3:3oam! Lucky for me, Merci reminded me to grab my passport last minute...holy crap, could you imagine my ass trying to get back from Mexico without a passport?!? Thanks Girl.

Alright, so today...woke up at 3:30am. Catch the 4:30am bus from Boulder to the airport. Get on my 7am flight to San Diego which arrives at 8:25am (yes, we acquire an extra hour). Head to the 'Commuter Terminal' which is where the bus from Baja is supposed to pick us up at 1:30pm. I know, lots of time, but I had a lot of work to do so I figured it wouldn't be that bad. Well, apparently, that is the terminal with NOTHING in it...there aren't even jet ways, Internet or even a small snack shop...it was going to be a long day. Luckily I brought a whole bunch of food with me and I was able to have a guy watch my things while I went out for a run along the ocean which was quite nice. After getting back, it was almost 1:30 and time to catch my ride down to Mexico. Well at least that is what I thought and what the email I received last night told me! I waited outside until 2:30 and finally had Ben call to see what was up. Apparently there was some miscommunication and the bus wasn't coming until tomorrow at 1:30pm. BRILLIANT!!!! Stranded at the San Diego Airport!!! I can't even rent a flippin' car because I'm not 25...what a mess. Hero of the day (Joanna's mom) came to pick me up around 5pm (8.5hrs later) so I could stay the night over there and catch the bus in the morning with everyone else arriving from Boulder. Best part is that my bike box doesn't fit in her car!!! Of course it doesn't, so I went running around the mini terminal I had been at all day looking for some rope so I could bring my bike back with me. I found some and I am currently sitting at the Zeiger household about to enjoy a nice homemade meal!!! Let me say this again...what a day!!!

It's a NEW week!

After getting lots done yesterday in preparation for my trip on Wednesday, I feel a lot better about things...I'll feel much better when the race director confirms everything with me :)

Physically feeling better each day, although the mornings are always the roughest so I'm not quite up to par yet. However, enjoyed a nice cup of coffee (on my new manual coffee filter...so cool) and am about to head out for a quick spin on the bike before work. Still have lots to do today, but should be a great day!

Hope everyone had a great weekend Thoughts of a fast recovery are being sent your way Katie. Feel better soon!!!

Staying Positive!

Even though I am still pretty sick and going through rolls of toilet paper a day getting all the crap out of my nose, I'm really trying not to get down on myself. It's been a really rough two weeks trying to get better, but I'm sure that once I get down to Mexico next week, everything will fall in place and I will be able to race well and have a great time with everyone down there.

Did I say Mexico next week?!?! Now that I think about it, it's only 4 days away....whooooaaaaa!

It's time to get better...

Still sick and not liking it at all. Apparently this stupid illness is taking a little longer to get over than I thought.

Training has been hit or miss and it's definitely making me a little worried as I am racing in only a few days. Hopefully the forced rest will be all worth it in the end.

On another note, the Pistons need to start gettin' it in gear. One more loss and they're gonna be out golfing with the Red Wings!