I'm convinced taking it easy makes you more tired!

So the last few days I haven't really been feeling quite like my peppy self. I've been super lethargic and unmotivated. I've been taking 3-4hr naps during the day and unable to complete all of my training sessions...is it the tapering blues or am I really getting sick? My mother always seems to think I get like this the week before I race because of nerves, but I'm still convinced it's because of all the tough training in the heat. Anyway, I actually felt a little better this morning with a decent track session but we'll see if I can keep it together on the bike later this afternoon.

Other than that, life is pretty good. I've been having an absolute blast zipping around on my motorcycle and spending some quality time with Shep :) If there are any requests as far as things people might want brought back from Colorado to Michigan on Thursday, I need to know now...so please let me know! Well, must get back to work and try to figure out the disasters with American Airlines...DON'T EVER FLY AMERICAN - THEY SUCK!!!! I'm totally not kidding!

T-one week!

One week from today I will be racing in Benton Harbor and hopefully kicking some serious butt. My training is right on target and I'm feeling super strong so it's time to execute.

On another note, here are some more random pics for your enjoyment from the bike ride the other morning and me screwing around on my motorcycle in a parking lot practicing turns. What fun :)

Yes that is my ass, and yes, it is hot!!! Up and up we go...

I am soooo happy, you have no idea!
Cruising in the parking lot

So exciting :)

Vrroooooommmm!

Holy Crap, I did it!!!

Yes, people, I bought a motorcycle! After a stellar day of training in the hills with Shep, we went and picked up the new beauty. Now I just have to find time to get on and practice so I can pass the driving test!!!

Me attempting to be funny while climbing...hmmm, not so much!

Come on, you can't tell me this isn't the coolest thing you've ever seen!

Fits like a charm...oh baby, oh baby!

Scooter OUT, Motorcycle IN!!!

Oh yeah. Little Miss Erin got her motorcycle permit today and thanks to A-Shep, she is now looking at purchasing a motorcycle instead of a dinky scooter! I mean seriously...why spend the same amount of money and get something that goes WAY slower!? It just doesn't make sense.

Sorry Momma, sometimes you've just got to go with the flow...and this is one of those times :) Riding a motorcycle is no more dangerous than me flying down any of the canyons on my bicycle going 50+mph! As a matter of fact, it's probably way safer!!!

Check out the possible new ride Shep and I are going to see...pretty cool, huh?

http://boulder.craigslist.org/mcy/379680237.html

We're almost there!!!!

After tomorrow, it is supposed to drastically cool down here in Boulder. We might even see the 60s in the evening! Let me tell you what a difference sleeping that will make.

As for other news, it's a little over a week until I'll be back home in Michigan visiting my family and hopefully having a superb race in Benton Harbor. The training has been going well and I'm really due for a killer effort.

Still working on the scooter situation :-) Stay tuned...

Holy Moly it's HOT!!!!!!!

I'm not going to complain, just inform.

IT'S BEEN IN THE HIGH 90S AND 100S THE PAST FEW DAYS AND I'M SERIOUSLY MELTING AWAY.

Onward. My girl - Joanna Zeiger - absolutely crushed the Boulder Peak yesterday after coming off of the hardest and longest running block of her life! 21 straight days of intense and long running and then goes and cranks out a win on day 22...she's such a super star! The Boulder clan definitely represented as well with Matty Reed taking the win for the men, Steve Hackett second and Paul Matthews third. My roommie and good buddy Jake also had great days kicking butt as well!

As for me. I've had some decent training but have gotten a little more fatigued than planned due to the heat. Hopefully I will be able to handle it a little better this week now that I'm more used to it!

Going forward...

...maybe with a few steps backwards, but at least I'm still going! When it rains, it pours and unfortunately I feel that I am stuck in that mess right now. However, I am having (or at least trying) to have a good attitude bout it and move forward with everything.

I don't need to get into detail, but during a 'test set' on the bike trainer yesterday morning, my powertap decided to go (even after replacing both batteries) right in the middle. Talk about frustration. Anyway...I'm over it now and about to enjoy a lovely morning on my bike OUTSIDE :)

Still working on the scooter situation, but I have made progress!!!

At least I'm getting miles...right?!?!

After picking up my car and putting $1200 on my credit card this afternoon, the only positive thing I could think about was the fact that I was getting an additional 1200 airline miles on my Frontier card!!! Haha...how ridiculous. At least I had a killer interval ride in the mountains this morning and a decent swim afterwards :)

Stay tuned for exciting updates because little Miss Erin is buying a scooter instead of a new car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An infected toe?!?

What the hell else could go wrong these days? I mean seriously, a broken car, an infected toe, a dead powertap...it's just never ending!

Anyway, last night was probably one of the most heinous nights of my life. I was in so much pain from my toe throbbing that I didn't fall asleep once. I got up several times contemplating whether to go to the hospital, take some vicodin I have left from my blood clot, wake up my roommate, call my parents, scream as loud as I can...just about everything and anything was passing through my mind.

When 6am finally came, I got up, my toe was swollen and flaming red, still hurt like crazy, but sucked it up, put on the running shoes and went to run Simon's hard intervals at the rez. Oh yeah, let me tell you how painful that was...not that the intervals themselves hurt bad enough, I could feel my toe throbbing as I was running...ridiculous. Needless to say, when I took my shoe off, it was not a pretty sight leading me to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics. Wasn't able to get the swim or bike in this 'arvo' (slang Aussie term for afternoon) but got lots of work done and a little relaxation while soaking the foot in hot soapy water which I was instructed to do.

Alright, enough babbling. I'm headed to bed so I can get some good riding done in the mountains tomorrow morning :)

The start of a new week!

All things considered, this weekend was not nearly as bad as I had expected (not going to the race, car problems, etc, etc.)

Although I didn't actually get in the exact training I would have liked, it was still a decent weekend (in the crazy heat - AGAIN) and I was able to get a lot of things accomplished. One being completely detailing my car which took forever. I didn't realize how long it takes to clean, wash, vaccum, wax, and Armorall a vehicle. Well maybe it's because mine hadn't had any of that for hmmm...over a year perhaps!!! Anyway, it took all day and by the end I was totally pooped.

On the car side of things, I have been getting very interested in VW Golfs. Yes, a little hatchback with good gas mileage. I think it would be a good car for me. Going to talk to the local dealer today after I get a million and one things done for all my clients before hand.

Enjoy the sunshine everyone...and smile, because when things don't always go right, a good laugh and giant smile always feels SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good :)-

Soooo much better :)

After an amazing 4.5hr ride at 10,000+ft yesterday morning, a stellar afternoon swim with Chriso, a great dinner at Chilis and a fabulous 2 hour run this morning, I feel like a new person!!!

I put my car up on Craigslist yesterday and have already been getting responses about it which is great news too. After a good breakfast, I guess I should try and clean it up a bit so I can have people come look at it. Hopefully more good news to come :)

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - My Savior!!!

Well, where do I begin?!? If everything was going as planned, I'd be on the road and driving to Utah for the XanGo tri this weekend...however, I'm not. I'm sitting here drinking my coffee and explaining to everyone why Ben & Jerry's ice cream is my new savior!

The trip had already begun on a sour note with everyone bailing on me (once again) to drive out there. No worries - it's only a 6 hour drive and the race director said he would take good care of me once I got there. The part that blew the entire trip was the fact that my car wasn't sounding quite right on Tues and Wed so I thought I'd be safe and take it in for a quick check up just to be sure I wouldn't get stranded somewhere in the middle of Wyoming by myself! Good thing I took it in...bad news for poor little Erin.

Let's just say that there is over $3000 worth of problems with the Jeep (none of which I could even begin to explain) and it is totally not drivable for any substantial distance. So, needless to say, a few unexpected tears were shed last night and an entire tub of ice cream was eaten. Thankfully Chriso was there to help keep me sane, but man, what a night.

Since I had been tapering for the race all week, I'm pretty rested up and without a strict schedule to follow for the next 3 days, I think I'm just going to take the opportunity to do whatever I feel like doing. Yeah that's right. Since I was already planning on taking the day off and not doing any work for my clients, I think I'll do just that and head up in the mountains with my bike for most of the day. I think a good LONG ride in the hills will be good for me at this point. And when I return, it's time to look for a new car!!!!

Hell yeah baby...I'm getting rid of this stupid piece of crap Jeep and getting a Subaru. Stay tuned for updates on that and maybe a few pics from my epic ride this morning.

Stay cool.

Finally some cooler weather!

And what better way to make use of it than to sleep all day. Yeah, today was not exactly a planned rest day, however, after coming home from work and not feeling so great, a long nap in my cool room felt AWESOME.

It's all part of the taper for this weekend's race :)

T minus one week til Utah!

...and I am ready to kick some ass! Oh yeah. After another killer session today, I'm so ready to rock that race to pieces! Check out the website for more info.

XanGo Echo Triathlon

What a 4th it was!

Stellar early morning swim with the Aussie clan, enjoyable shakeout run afterwards, then hit golf balls with my friend Jeff for the first time in a LONG ASS time!!! It was really weird holding a golf club again and getting the swing back, but was somewhat exciting. It was not pretty by any means, but I think a few more trips to the range and a few rounds here and there will hopefully bring it back quickly!

Had a great BBQ at Billy and Lara's new house (which is unbelievably amazing) even though Pete and Brad almost tried to cook on a grill that was leaking gas!!! No worries, we used the neighbor's instead :) I then headed up to my friend John's (from Justin's Nut Butter) to watch the fireworks from the top of Boulder. Holy Crap...it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. We saw about 8 different city's fireworks all going off at the same time from where we were watching!

Got going early again this morning and headed up to 10,000+ft on the bicycle. Let me tell you how much fun doing intervals from Lyons to Ward is!!!! WHOOOAAA. I'm waiting to get on the massage table right now and get a good rub from Merci since my back is about to break...oh the joys of having a massage therapist as a roommate :)

I've only half melted.

It has seriously been an absolute inferno here in Boulder over the past couple days. And when I mean hot, I mean over 100 degrees and scorching.

Although it has been tough, I've been able to get in some serious training. Despite the lack of sleep from not having AC, the constant dehydration from the dry heat and difficult training sessions, things are progressing very well. The numerous trips to the creek and good recovery have been very super helpful.

After today's bike/run/bike/run/bike/run session of sheer intensity in the middle of the day, I have so much more confidence going into the Olympic distance race in Utah on July 14th. Even though it did almost kill me, I'm super happy I was able to see where my fitness is and how it has improved since Baja.

Tis the season for BBQs and last night we went over to the Byrn's house for a killer party that had some mmmmmm delicious food. Tomorrow we will get to check out Lara and Billy's new place and grill for the 4th and watch some good fireworks. Hopefully I'll get some good pics :)