The great journey!

It all started after a refreshing swim on Tuesday morning…not!! Realistically, I needed to get a swim in so that I would not forget to swim over our 2 day journey down to Texas:)

10.5 hours of fun in the truck with Gregory, our bikes and my “dog” (a stuffed toy, that I “make-believe” is real because I cannot have one….) First two hours were great!! Driving south, a beautiful view of the mountains to the West…it was a nice start…until our immigration lawyer called…

Long story short, we spent a bit of time in Trinidad to print, sign and fax some last minute documents to the lawyer in Denver as my visa was about to expire in about..umm, 12 hours:) Disaster was averted and we crossed the New Mexico border.

New Mexico has some beautiful terrain; it was really nice to drive through, and then we hit Texas…

I must say, Gregory did pretty well; he had healthy buckwheat waffles for breakfast, a ham sandwich and apple for lunch and then we crossed the border….

Dairy Queen, hot dogs, and chocolate bars almost capped of the day….we did however finish off with the Olive Garden with some healthy choices.

We made it to Lubbock to have a good night sleep and then it was off again!! This was after I managed a short treadmill run while watching “Alien vs. Predator”..nothing will beat that experience! What a trip!

Tuesday was a much shorter day on the road (7 hrs…and that was with me driving with the lead foot:) We finally arrived!! It was such a relief! I cannot sit still and I think I spent more energy staying occupied in a vehicle for 2 days vs. completing an Ironman:)

So, not to rub it in or anything, the weather is awesome!! Thursday I arrived to the swimming pool (outside) in shorts and a t-shirt at 7 am!! Then managed a bike ride in shorts and a short sleeved jersey!! Oh, and I can breathe…altitude sucks (in a good way)!

Yesterday my good training buddy from Houston arrived. He is amazing!! Less than ½ a year ago he almost lost his life taking on a semi with his Cervelo!! Needless to say, the semi-truck won the battle, but Mitch faired/recovered amazing…what a miracle!! We had our first ride together since last summer today. It was a lot of fun! I miss riding with Mitch, he always keeps a smile on my face… I can’t wait for him to come back to Boulder this summer.

So, tomorrow, I have a “rest/easy” day before I try to ‘hammer’ a ½ marathon on Sunday. I also have friends with big expectations regarding my “pre-race” run ritual…more of that to come....

Cheers!!