What a trip! Just what the Dr. ordered! 6-16-11

Just pulled back into town from a really cool trip which involved lots and lots of camping (with way cool people), some races including Mar doing a trail half marathon in CO, rafting down the Animas, swimming at the most beautiful place (pool)  in the world, and also driving on some of most scary roads the camper and suburban have ever been on.

The trip started with the trek to Show Low, AZ for the Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival. We would be going with our good friends, The Medina's, and helping them celebrate their 6th wedding anniversary. My bro's Steven and Danny would be there as well as Kori and Scott, our friends from Elephant Butte. Joining us later, due to forced evacuation from their original campsite was Terry and JD. All in all it made for a damn cool camping experience with lots of cool folk!

After our usual stop in Pie Town for some pecan pies we were off.... into the smoke... Little did we know it would turn into the biggest fire in the history of AZ forest fires! We made it to Fools Hollow Lake where we would be staying for the next 4 nights.

The races went off as usual and the water colder then f###, as usual, and as usual which tends to be the case there I freaked out just a little bit in the swim??? I guess the combination of the cold water, the elevation, my sleeveless wetsuit, due to the fact that it seems I have "out grown" my full suit, and starting a little too hard left me with a 4 minute gap to the main comp! I never really made much up the rest of the race and finished 11th overall. My run did feel pretty good and I took that little positive into the next day's XTERRA race. I was a little disappointed with my overall placing because I knew I should have finished in the top 5 (more on that later). The next day we were up at 5 again for a chilly swim start which was actually an hour earlier then the day before! Better swim, still had some in the tank for the bike, and had my best run split there in 6 years!! I actually felt like I was racing where as the day before it was like I was only going through the motions. 11th overall yet again, only this time I was pleased with the result. The only person who passed me on the run was my bro Danny (who has a wicked fast run and usually posts the fastest run split of the day...pro's included)! 11th was the best I have ever placed the XTERRA especially after racing the day before, so it really left me with a better feeling then the olympic race.

Funny thing is that after the olympic race I was talking to a friend of mine. I was telling her (J) that I was cool with my placing and its ok to lose to someone every now and again... WTF was I saying, I kinda think that was what she was thinking as well?? I guess because I seem to have gotten pretty "at ease" in my life that I almost forgot how to use that fire inside me that has gotten me to this point. My job for the better part of the next few weeks was to chill on the hard training (still train though) and find that part of me that wanted to beat the living shit out of anyone I faced, keep up on the swim, kick their ass on the bike and let them try to catch me on the run...Sometimes it worked and a few times I was pretty jacked starting the run, but at least I felt I was racing like MIKE! Out on my run today it occurred to me just how much it bothered me when a dude passed me on the bike and called me by name as if to acknowledge he knew me and now he was going to blow past me...NOT AGAIN! My homework assignment is complete, I will do the workouts it takes to make sure I am not stepping stone someone measures themselves with by beating me, I will do my best to let them measure by how close they get!! With that being said, I will now get back to the fun stuff...Happy Place, Happy Place...:)




Everything felt forced on day 1



Steven is getting good at photography

The Hardware :)

So we left Show Low and headed for colorful Colorado! Next stops would include places such as Durango, Pagosa, Silverton, Telluride, and perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been...Ouray. We pulled the camper up and down some treacherous passes, took the suburban 4x4ing, went river rafting, hot springing, and basically just had a blast (did what Dr. Jaclyn ordered)! We were gone for 15 days and it was definitely one of the most memorable vacations on record. Huge thanks to the Medina family, my bros Danny and Steven, Kori and Scott, and my 1994 GMC that never says quit!

Mo and Levi rafting on the Animas

Mar and little man

Partners in crime :)



Messing around in Ouray...The most gorgeous place on earth!



Silverton

This made Mar really happy!



My view as I swam my laps in the Ouray hot springs... everyday



Campfires are allowed in CO and Salud.

The mountains in Ouray are very dangerous

Very proud of my Suburban....yet again!!