Busier than ever...

Going away for a week during tax season is not the grandest of ideas...However, the trip was amazing and it was worth every second of it :)

I've been running around like a madwomen since I got off the plane trying to get things in order with all of my clients. Big thanks to Tom for taking me to the Pistons/Nuggets game on Monday evening where the Stones definitely rocked the house here in Denver! Super fun game. I'll try to stay up to date with posting, but I apologize in advance if I don't...it's crunch time in the accounting world right now and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep and recovery as well...

Mt. Lemmon...A Success!!!

After 6000 feet of climbing, almost 5hrs in the saddle and 82* weather, this was the perfect ride to end our incredible week of training here in Tucson, AZ!

It was pretty crazy climbing to a ski resort with snow...kinda odd in AZ

I do however, have to comment on the lessons learned from this trip...

1) Don't bring your TT bike to ride when you haven't been on it in 4 months. I might not be able to feel my lower back for the next week.

2) Ride more than one hill that is longer than 5 minutes before you come unless you're okay with feeling like crap climbing for a week straight.
3) Pack running and cycling shoes as well as a swimsuit in your carry on...airlines lose shit
4) Even though it's convenient, sample packets of recovery drinks just don't cut it...Grape Cytomax is disgusting
5) Boulder really does have some pretty cool people to hang out and train with...even outside the bubble :)

Running, Swimming, Biking and Eating is FUN!

Did a 2hr run in the hills of Saguaro National Park, swam 3K at Udall Pool, then rode several hours up and over Gates Pass...it was amazing!

Then it was time to pig out and get Blizzards at Dairy Queen and pick up some 'Take 'n Bake' pizza for tomorrow's dinner after the big climb up to Mt. Lemon!!!This is what happens when Tingle gets a hold of crayons while waiting for our pizza...

This is the finished product...notice the blue thing in the middle?! Yeah, that's another bull, this time with utters. We've already made a pack to take her to specialist when we get home. We're thinking a head doctor :)

I have decided to post all the pics from the trip on Picasa so click here for the updated album. Since they don't have video capability, below are some of the videos we took today. Enjoy.

An Interesting Day!

Not much to talk about other than the usual swim, bike and run training. Yes, I did use the word 'training' and yes, that is what we're doing down here even if we're not being paid to, and I bet we're having one hell of a better time than be being sick in Boulder. Had a marvelous BBQ with Cisco's sister and family as well as our wonderful landlords so I'll just tell the story with pictures...it's way more fun that way :)

Dinner last night

Tingle loves her broccoli

Yeah, not sure what was going on.

I don't think Denny was too excited to go running this morning

I know I sure wasn't...

Tingle is the artist of the group.

It goes on all day...

This is the 'original' bull with a vagina...

This is what happens after 12 rum and cokes...

Denny and I were getting our yoga on

We were attempting to sneak up on Tingle...

...we decided if we can't see her, she can't see usGotta love the bikes
BBQ at our place...The boys are such good cooks :)

Fajitas and good laughs all around!

Today's Happenings from AZ

It was another fun and exciting day in Tucson with the clan. For Denny, Tingle, Marky and I, it started with a solid 30min run to the pool, swim 3.5K, then run 45min back home. Tingle and I have named this workout the 'Dash, Splash, Dash'. We will be participating in several more this summer so if you're interested, let us know :)

Billy is the most inflexible person I know...but he's trying!

After making a delicious breakfast/lunch, we headed out to Oro Valley to do the Oracle/Biosphere ride. A bit breezy, but a great long ride to somewhat shakeout the tired legs. Everyone is doing great and enjoying the warm weather and superb company. Tomorrow we plan on doing the Mt. Lemon ride but we'll have to see how cold it is up there first...fun fun!

No comment...we just saw it in the parking lot. We almost bought a sausage.

Denny playing in the car while waiting for Mark to buy M&Ms...

Tingle before the ride...don't worry, we'd never let her drive, just pretend.

JZ before the Oracle ride

This was a pretty cool view from the Biosphere!

Mark has official been named the 'Cookie Monster'. He likes sweets...lots of them!

Day 1 & 2 of Tucson

Where to begin?!?

Well...it all began with a bit of a late start from the get go. Since Tingle decided to pack the morning of, she wasn't exactly ready when we got there...no I'm not blaming you dear, but we hit a bit of traffic on the way to the airport which would have been avoided had we left much earlier. We made it to the parking lot about 55min before our flight hoping to make the 45min cutoff to check bags and get on the flight. After sprinting across the airport, Laura and I were able to check in without any guarantee that our luggage would make it. Denny on the other hand got moved to the next flight out but made it to the gate in time to fly standby on his original flight and eventually got on! We were sure that this was a sign that our trip was off to a good start...

Erin, Denny, Laura - the travel clan

Hmmm...yeah, maybe for everyone else! Laura got her luggage from the original flight then we went to pick up the rental car and go back and get our stuff that was supposed to be on the next flight into Phoenix. Denny's was, but mine, not so much. Grrr. Because I checked in late, they told me it was my responsibility to come pick up my bag when it arrived and they didn't even know when that would be (the earliest would have been 6hrs from then). Tucson is a good 100 miles from the airport and there was no way that was going to happen. I explained the situation and they were kind enough to promise to deliver them that evening when they finally got in. YEAH RIGHT! After getting to our kickass house and meeting up with Mark, we went for a short swim at Univ of Arizona where I borrowed a suit, cap and goggles from Tingle then hit up Trader Joe's for some good eats for dinner. I spent the better half of the evening on the phone with Frontier's customer service getting absolutely nowhere but still had a fun night nonetheless. Ended up sleeping on the couch tossing and turning all night hoping the delivery service would eventually call...nope.

Billy's outfit was hilarious...

Finally got up this morning and attempted to contact Frontier again...no go. Everything was closed. Borrowed some running clothes and a pair of shoes from Joanna and went out for a nice run with the clan which felt great. When I got back there was a message from the delivery company saying they were going to deliver my bag within the next 3 hours. Since we had to return the rental car anyway, we decided to get everything ready to ride and just drop off the car, pick up my bag and drive to our destination all in one trip. Smooth as butter :)

Gotta love changing in the parking lot...at least I have my stuff :)

Went for a great 4hr bike in the desert which ended with a pretty hefty head wind. Packed up and headed to the pool to wrap up a solid first day of training. Stopped and got some Baileys, wine, food, etc and grilled a delicious dinner when we got back.

The boys on the ride - Mark, Billy & Denny

Post ride - I was trying to stick my feet in Denny's face!

We've been debating what the plans will be for tomorrow. Whatever it ends up being, I'm sure it will be a blast. Stay tuned for more craziness :)

The Tucson Clan

Sexy Ladies - Tingle, Erin & JZ

Craziness can sometimes be goodness...

What?!? Not sure if the title makes any sense, but then again, I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night after an absolutely insane day of running around trying to get ready to leave this morning for a week of training in Tucson. Wow, did that come up fast :)


At any rate, I was able to somewhat accomplish almost everything I needed to get done before Tom, Jon and I headed to the Red Wings vs. Avalanche in downtown Denver. The game was super fun resulting in the Wings kicking their 6 game losing streak and laying it pretty damn hard on the Avs for a 4-0 win! As always (I attend this game on an annual basis), there were probably more Wings fans there than there were Avs fans and I'm pretty sure the Colorado players weren't the only ones going home crying...It was pretty embarrassing how badly they were out-skated, out-shot, and of course, out-fought :) For some good entertainment, click here to see the video of Aaron Downey kicking the living crap out of Lapierriere...oh what fun :)

Getting picked up by Denny in just a few short minutes to head to Tucson so stay tuned for more exciting news as well as some pics from the photo shoot last weekend!!!

Fun on Valentine's Day

Waking up to 6 inches of snow after a 67* day is always fun...but it's even more fun when you know you have an easy training day and a fun evening ahead of you :)

The clan headed out to the West End Tavern last night where Bob Stone, or should I say 'Uncle Bob', bought each of us ladies roses to compliement the occasion! As a friend, mentor, motivator and employer, he's probably one of the most amazing people I have ever met! After a few rounds and some food there, we ended up at the Rio...oh the Rio! We met up with Jen and had some good times. Melanie got pretty silly and it was quite an entertainment. Click here for some more fun pics from the night :)

64 degrees in February!?!?

This is why I love Boulder! Of course there is a 100% chance of snow tomorrow, but having the opportunity to ride outside for hours in shorts for just one day is amazing. Below are pics from our ride yesterday at the Rez. They're from my camera phone which is why the resolution sucks, but you get the drift...freakin' gorgeous :)

Tom, James & Catherine

A good shot of the flatirons and Catherine's ass!

More photos and much needed rest!

You'll have to check out Shep's Blog for a better recap and some good pics from our second day of playing on bikes, but all together, it was a great experience. As mentioned in my previous post, we were very fortunate to work with a professional, yet super cool photographer (David Pahl) and an awesome and wicked creative art director from Ripcord (Chris Thomas). After going through thousands of pictures of us, he probably never wants to look at our faces ever again...haha! I sure hope that isn't the case. At any rate, good times, good laughs, can't wait to see the outcome.

As for the much needed rest, I took both Friday and Saturday completely off of training which NEVER happens. At the time it was making me very irritated and bitter, but after the first 15min of my long run on Sunday, it was worth every second of rest. My body never felt so amazing on a long run and my legs couldn't have been any stronger on the 3hr ride afterward.

I learned a huge lesson this weekend and for those of you who try not to believe it like I used to, maybe you should rethink...REST & RECOVERY IS A KEY NECESSITY TO REACH YOUR HIGHEST SUCCESS. It sucks while you're doing it, I know, but after it's all said and done, it's worth the healing so you can get back out there and feel refreshed and rejuvenated rather than stale and tired :) Think about it!

Photo Shoot Round 1

As I sit here and drink my coffee at 4am in the morning, I figured I might as well start writing so I don't get behind again on the posting :)

Friday was the first of a 2-day photo shoot with photographer David Pahl. It's for some company's annual report and the object is to tell some sort of story through cycling. Cool.

Well the uncool part is that the models, i.e. me, have to bike around in circles or stand still in the freezing cold with very little cycling gear on all day. Okay, it's really not THAT bad, but it's cold. Today we have to be at the site at 5am for a headlamp and sunrise photo which leaves us with a small window for the perfect shot. Joy, joy :) Oh, and did I mention I can't train all day...grrrrrrrrrrr! Geez, I sound like such a brat. It's good though. I need some time off before I head to Tucson and train myself into the ground.

On the flip side, the very cool part about the shoot is everything other than being there at the asscrack of dawn in the cold and not being able to train. The people are fantastic, this is a killer opportunity to establish a relationship for future shoots and well, yes, the pay is quite nice too! I must get going, but I believe the models will be receiving some digital photographs of the shoot, so I will be sure to post them once I get them.

Off to the brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr wind and cold :)

The beloved 'FELT DA' has found a new home :)

=

Yep, it's gone...but to a wonderful family and kick ass marathoner :) It was definitely a little hard to let it go, but it's one less bike to hassle with right now and some extra cash to help me get through the race season :) Enjoy the ride!