Danskin Triathlon

Yesterday Laura and I did the Danskin Triathlon.  It's the third time I've done it and it's fun because it's all women and a lot of first timers.  It kind of boosts your confidence, especially after my race last weekend.  

It was only a 400 meter swim I think (they thought the water would be too cold to do the usual half mile), bike 10.5 miles (also shorter), and run 3.1 miles.  Laurie decided the day before that she would do even though she hadn't been training for it.  But nevertheless she did amazing!  She's such an awesome athlete!  Her run time after the swim and bike was only 23:44 which was four minutes faster than mine.

Me after the swim.  I was so excited to see that Chris and Ross made it before the start.

Me heading to the end of the bike.

 

Me at the end of the run.

Laurie during the beginning of the run.

Laurie racing to the finish line.  She's going so fast she looks like she's flying!  :o)

Laura, Me, and Kim another nurse I work in the ED and CCU with.

Laura and I showing off our muscles.  ;-)

Ross and Laura

Chris and I

Laura and Kody

My stats:  Swim 4:22, Transition 1 2:41, Bike 35:32, Transition 2 2:26, Run 27:32, Total 1:12:36, Overall rank 96/1611, Age group rank 18/177.

 

XTERRA Buffalo Creek Triathlon

Last weekend was the XTERRA Buffalo Creek triathlon.  I went up with Molly, a friend I met a couple of months ago for an XTERRA practice.  I was so glad she was with me.  I was very nervous.  I was afraid I'd be holding everyone up on the downhills, but it wasn't bad, thank goodness to my slow swim.  :o)  The race consisted of a 1 mile swim, 20 mile mountain bike, and 5 mile trail run.

Molly and I before the start.  It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful location!

Molly in the transition area getting her stuff ready and her wetsuit on.

The race turned out much better than I thought it would.  It only took me four hours and nine minutes and I thought it would take me over five.  The swim was terrible.  I thought I was going to drown, especially the first part.  It was so cold and I was hyperventilating, not to mention it was muddy from everyone running in and it looked black for the first 50 feet or so.  I was really tired and thought I wouldn't be able to make the second loop, but it was a lot easier after I got used to the water.  I actually felt really good during the bike, maybe the best I've ever done mountain biking.  It felt really good to know that nobody was waiting for me.  :o)  I beat my previous weekend's pre-ride ride time by over 30 minutes and I felt fairly confident on the downhills.  I think it's partially because Chris's mom woke up early with me that morning and gave me a really nice prayer before I left.  :o)  The run was tough.  I was sooo tired.  I walked most of the uphills, especially the steep ones.  I think I bonked.  I was super tired and felt like I couldn't go any harder.  I was soooooo happy to see Chris and Jason at the finish line.  My legs were so tired the rest of the day but I felt fine the next day.  Looking back, it was fun!  :o)

My stats:  Total 4:09:16, Swim 39:22, Transition 1 4:12, Bike 2:31:08, Transition 2 2:39, and run 51:57.  I came in 69th out of 85 women and 14th out of 18 in my women's age group.  At least I wasn't last and kind of had fun doing it.  ;o)

Chris' Motorcycle

Chris has wanted either a scooter or motorcycle for over two years now.  With the gas prices so high, we decided now would be a good time.  He got a Lifan dual sport bike (cross between a dirt bike and motorcycle).  It goes up to about 65 mph so he can ride it on the highways to work and gets somewhere between 80-100 mpg.  Much better than his Jeep Cherokee's 15 mpg.  And he loves it!  He's taking lessons and should be able to ride legally this week. 

Catching Up- June in Review

June is such a wonderful month!  But a busy one.  We had the pleasure of Chris's mom's (Sharon) company for three weeks.  She did everything with us; parties, get togethers with friends, went up to the mountains, and even helped Chris with the house.  Here are some pics from the month.

June 8th was Chris's Birthday!  We had a BBQ with some friends.

When everyone was gone, a couple of Chris' other friends joined us for more food and Cranium.  Fun day!

My sister Laura just started mountain biking.   She came to my XTERRA preride the week before the triathlon and kicked butt.  She was faster than me going downhill and did awesome!

Laura after a long uphill.

Babies have the cutest smiles!  Jordan getting ready for a wedding.

After dating for over six years, Brooke and Tim decided to tie the knot.  It was a beautiful wedding overlooking a golf course.

Colorado State University Friends: Alyssa, Megan, Brooke, and me

We had a BBQ with some friends from church: Adam, Audrey, Lily, Ashlynn, and Michelle.

We got an awesome deal on doors, so we're replacing all of the doors upstairs.  We wish we could've done the downstairs too.  We'll never get a deal like that!  Now after almost two years we have doors on our closets!  Here's Chris working on them using his new Dewalt tools which he loves!

Chris came to church with us on his mom's last Sunday here!

These are ladies from church Sharon met last year when she went to church the first time by herself.  They've remained friends although they've only seen each other a couple of times.  They are Lou Anne, Betty, Debbie, Sharon, and me

Chris and his wonderful mom the day before she had to go home.

I love going on picnics, so the day Chris's mom left we took Jason to one of our favorite areas and had a picnic.  Jason loves the water!  There were lots of people and dogs there so we had to keep him on the leash most of the time.

I'm finally getting caught up on everything.  Happy Summer!  I LOVE summer!

My 10 Year High School Reunion

A couple of weekends ago I had the opportunity to go home for my 10 year high school reunion.  I grew up in a small, beautiful town in southwestern Colorado called Ouray.  It's referred to as the Switzerland of America.  We moved there from Fallbrook, California when I was about three years old.  The population of Ouray is still about 800 because luckily there isn't much room for growth.  It's snugly nestled between mountains.  There are no stoplights, no fast food restaurants, and only two paved streets in the town.  When I was sixteen I moved to Golden, Colorado to live with my dad.  After I left I realized how absolutely gorgeous it is and how lucky I was to have grown up there.  When people ask where I'm from and I tell them Ouray, I almost always get an "Ooooh, I love that place!  It's so beautiful!"  And I must agree.  It's great for hiking, camping, jeeping, ice climbing, and Telluride is about 12 miles away as the crow flies for the best skiing in Colorado!  And luckily for me, my mom still lives there!  But enough about the town.

Here's the view as you're driving into Ouray from the North.  It's taken from the house we used to live in.

This is the view (not a very good one) of Ouray looking North.  There are some beatiful scenic overlooks but I didn't think to do that.

It's hard to believe I graduated from high school ten years ago.  It was soooo much fun seeing everyone!  Even though I didn't actually graduate from there, I still got to go.  There were 12 of the 21 people from our graduating class which is a pretty good turnout.

Our freshman class photo.  Thank goodness we've become more stylish.  :o)

And here's our class during the reunion:  Selene, Kelly, Damion, Anne, Bryanna, Me, Chena, Tracy, Michael, and Brie

Another picture without the glare.

Brie, Anne, and I hung out Saturday before the dinner and went to baby bathtubs.  It was really fun!

I also got to spend some quality time with my mom which was wonderful!  Although I missed Chris being there, I had a blast!

Mountain Biking Season in Full Swing

This past week has been full of fun mountain biking!  I bet you're hoping that I won't be posting every single ride we go on this summer.  And fear not, I won't!  :o)  Just some of the highlights.

Deer Creek Trail

Boys just don't get it.  I told Chris and Jay that I was dying going up Bear Creek Trail, and still they decide to take me on Deer Creek Trail which is steeper than BCT and much more technical!  I was definitely very tired.  It was even hard going down because of all the rocks.  I need to get in shape!  This is the only time I was smiling during this ride.

This is the studly, one and only, Christopher Michael Long going down the most technical section of Deer Creek Trail.  Needless to say I walked.  It's actually a lot harder than it looks, although he did make it look easy!  If only I could ride like him!

Buffalo Creek "Extra" Big Ride

What a beautiful day for a ride with Chris, Jay, Cyndi, Jose, Micki, and Heath.  The first couple of miles were a killer climb that took 1.5 hours,  but luckily not technical.  The downhill after that was great!  We did of course get lost, which added another 600 feet of climbing, ouch!  It's funny, Chris has done plenty of orienteering and has even helped instruct it.  But he still manages to get lost several times a year during our already epic mountain bike or back packing adventures.  He keeps saying he's not going to lead anymore but no one else is willing to accept the challenge.  I'm not sure if I actually bonked, but I was definitely super tired and my legs were sore afterwards!

Chris and myself, Jay, and Heath wondering if the top would ever come.

What a cute picture of Micki and Jose!

Trader Joe's in Santa Fe

On May 20th we had the pleasure of flying to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The reason for our destination: Trader Joe's!  And it was as fabulous as ever!  I LOVE that place!  We stocked up on dry items and spent almost $100!   Next time we're bringing a cooler.  If any of you aren't familiar with Trader Joe's, I'm sorry but you're missing out!  It is the GREATEST grocery store in the world!  I'm not sure how I would describe it to do it justice.  Their website: http://www.traderjoes.com/ describes it as "your neighborhood grocery store" and is that but so much more.  They have almost everything you could possibly want and much more, and it's quality food.  They assure that their products "contain NO artificial flavors, colors or preservatives; NO MSG; and NO added Trans Fats. In addition, ALL Trader Joe's private label products are sourced from non-genetically modified ingredients."  They also have a wide variety of natural and organic foods that seem to be much cheaper than at Wild Oats, Whole Foods, or Vitamin Cottage.  They have the yummiest snacks, desserts, corn bread, sourdough bread, etc.  In fact I don't think I've ever had anything I didn't like.  Unfortunately we don't have any in Colorado.  I heard the reason is because they sell liquor and are open on Sundays, and Colorado has some kind of law that grocery stores can't sell liquor on Sundays.  So far I've been able to go about once a year (of more if I'm super lucky) in California.  But now that Chris is working on cross country flying hours, hopefully we'll head down to New Mexico more often!  Okay, enough about Trader Joe's.  If you're lucky enough to live near one, check it out!  :o)

The flight to Santa Fe was as smooth as can be, about two and a half hours.  I don't really remember even one bounce of turbulance (Although I will admit that I was sleeping during part of it, imagine that!)  I got to fly the plane for about 15 minutes.  It was a bit harder than I had expected but I was starting to get the hang of it towards the end I think.  Now I have even more respect for what Chris does while I check out the amazing views and sleep.  ;o)

The flight back was a bit more turbulent but still beatiful and fun and always an adeventure in the turbulance.  What a fantastic day!  :o)