Succussful TNT Weekend!

The triathlon group of Rocky Mountain Chapter of Team In Training had their events this weekend....what an amazing bumch of people.

First we started at the Holiday Inn Select in Denver (Cherry Creek) for an Inspiration Dinner - complete with pasta and motivation for the team. We heard the story of Rachel, one of the Team members who is also a lymphoma survivor. 10 months after finishing her chemo/radiation treatments she is participating in a triathlon. Amazing.

Crashed at Anisa's place, on of the TNT staff members who was also a team member. We had to get up at 3:45am to get to Loveland ~5am. Race started at 6:30. Yeah, that's early! All the TNT folks made it through the race - about 20 of 'em - and they even had great racing weather - overcast skies but no rain! Back to Denver in the early afternoon and I went for a run around Sloans Lake. My first run since Kansas and it actually felt pretty good! Then a hot shower and a nap was in order. Dinner at Wynkoop Brewery with MacKenzie (another TNT staff person). Had the Railyard Ale. Not bad, but I've had better. Food was pretty good, though!

Back at Anisa's one more time - she and her boyfriend had rented a movie (Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio) and I of course fell asleep watching it. Back to bed as Sunday was to be another early start.

Only had to get up 4:45am on Sunday, as the race didn't start unti 7:30am! Another great day for racing, but this time it was sunny. But boy did those mountains look fantastic heading over the final ridge before you drop down into Boulder. They must have gotten some rain the night before. The clouds were low in the mountains, the foothills were amazingly green, snowcapped peaks in the background, and the early morning sun from the east gave a magical glow. This is why we live in Colorado!

All the TNT folks again finished the race with huge smiles on their faces! I'm really proud - it was the first triathlon for all of my folks this weekend and they did fantastic! They all raised at least $2400 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We really appreciate the effort they put in to their fundraising and their training! GO TEAM!

It was a hot day in Boulder (well, 80s is a hot day with that strong sun). The course has not much shade - pretty much none on the run, but everyone did great. After the race I took my bike to ride the Boulder Peak bike course, as I will be racing that next month. It's got a killer climb on it - Old Stage Road. Here's the ride. The starting elevation is about 5200ft at the reservior and within 7 miles you are at almost 6400ft. On the steepest part of the climb I was going about 4mph. That's a 15:00min/mile pace - you walk that fast. I was in my smallest gear and only slogging through at about 40rpm. Heart rate made it into the 180s. But it was a gorgeous climb, saw a couple deer out there and everything was just so green! The view from the top was amazing (can't believe I actually thought to look around - I was breathing pretty hard!) Then there is a speedy descent down back to hwy 36 and the rest of the course is also pretty fast. Now that I know I can survive that hill, I'll be more confident going into the race. Now if only I wasn't a wussy descender! At least they do have a speed limit (35mph) coming down the hill to make it safer for all. I'm sure you could hit 50+mph and that's probably not safe for 1200ish athletes, some of them not skilled at descending.

Made it back home in the afternoon and now I'm ready for to be off work the next two weeks!