Adventures on the East coast!

It all began on Tuesday morning at 5am! I ran, I worked, I swam, I worked, I biked, I worked, I got a killer massage that felt absolutely amazing but left bruises everywhere on my legs, I had some delicious dinner at Allen's, I packed by bags then drove to the airport at 11pm! I swore to myself after taking a red-eye flight last year I would never do it again and guess what, I did it again! I had a 1:15am flight to Hartford, CT with a layover in Atlanta. I arrived in CT at 10am. After getting absolutely no sleep, I felt like a complete zombie. I then had to find out that Southwest lost my bike and had no idea where it was and that it wasn't there responsibility to track it down or replace it because it was flown on miles...seriously? Since I wasn't going to make Boobs (Matt Boobar) and his wonderful girlfriend wait, I told them just to call me when it arrived. We then made our way to Middlebury, CT to visit Keith and the Timex headquarters. After a delicious lunch and lots of chatting, we headed down to the park nearby for the Pat Griskus Sprint Triathlon. I had every intention on racing but after not sleeping in 2 days, that wasn't bound to happen. Instead, I played cheerleader with Tristan and watched all the Timex boys kick butt. After being transported from Midway to Manchester, my bike finally arrived in CT so we picked it up along with Mr. Will Kelsay on our way back to VT that evening. It was a long and rainy drive but we finally made it. I ended up sleeping almost 10hrs that night. That never happens!

The next morning Matt and Kate showed us around the Stratton Mountain School where they work, live and teach. Pretty cool. We then drove to Sugarbush, met up with Branden and got to preview a bit of the mudfest we were going to race in. It had been raining for the past 3 weeks and the entire course was completley underwater.

In Conrad's post, he says he wasn't sure whether we were supposed to swim or bike on the course :) After lots of walking and playing in the mud, it took us over 1:45 to go 10K. I was not having such a good feeling about this race to begin with and this definitely didn't help. After a good dinner and another solid 9hrs of sleep, I woke up feeling much better. I went for a quick 30min jog that felt great. Branden and I pre-rode the final part of the course which was 80% ridable and actually quite enjoyable. Once we reached the ski resort, we decided to ride a loop of the run course. BAD IDEA. The entire 5.5K loop was soggy grass and mud that went up and up and up...750ft of up per lap as a matter of fact. Becaues of the steepness, we ended up pushing our bikes most of the way and by the end, my knee was in absolute agony! I briefly thought about getting a flight home but figured I'd just go with the flow and hope that my knee felt better on Saturday and even better for the race Sunday!

Just when things started to dry up, we got hit with a massive storm the night before the race! The more mud, the better...let the dirtiest person win :) After a good swim, I jumped on the bike and spent the next 2hrs hiking and falling on wet roots and giant puddles of muck. I couldn't run my bike like most people as it absolutely killed my knee so I just went with it. The run hurt even worse so again, lots of walking. I finished and that's all that matters. More on the actual race later.

Afterward, we had a great lunch with the crew at the mountain then headed down to go cliff jumping in the river. It was a bit chilly but lots of fun. Conrad even brought out his fishing stuff! We then headed to Warren for some bread, cheese and coffee. After packing up the bikes and such, we met up for a fun dinner then an early morning...we all had to catch 6am flights out of Burlington which meant 3am wake up calls...UGH!

4th of July in Crested Butte

What an adventure!!!

After a bit of a miss communication about who was picking up who and when and a few minor housing issues, we finally got on the road. It was an easy drive but mostly in lots of thunderstorms with big downpours! We weren't really sure where to stay Thursday night, but we knew we wanted to be close to the 'Bay of Chickens' at the Blue Mesa Reservoir - wherever that was! After driving around, we finally decided to setup in a small area that didn't have a 'no camping' sign, but didn't really look like a legal place to camp. Oh well, it was late and raining and we just wanted to sleep. Sure enough, at 6am, we hear the forest ranger outside telling us we needed to be cleaned up in 45min as we were in a 'no camping' area. Blah, blah, blah. We packed up the tent, but stuck around to make breakfast and enjoy the views while we waited for the big group to show up for a nice open water swim. I wasn't sure if I was in the right area, but knew I was close. I eventually saw a huge group swimming towards us in the water so quickly got ready and threw on my wetsuit. Because I was hurrying, I ended up pulling my wetsuit too hard over my shoulders and ripped the seam :( Ugh oh. That's never a good thing, but I didn't let it get to me and jumped in to have fun in the water. Allen drove around the bay while we were swimming and took lots of amazing photos. Oh, it was soooo nice and fun :)

After a good breakfast at the Smith Cabin in Gunnison, we all headed out for a group MTB ride at Hartman Rocks. We split into a male and female group and all had a blast. The guys hammered themselves into the ground and the girls worked on their technical skills with Coach Jenny :)

Post ride, Allen and I drove up to Crested Butte and found a killer place to set up camp. It was quiet and absolutely beautiful. We made chili and corn for dinner and smores for dessert...mmmm good!
After a short run on the dirt road the next AM, we met up with the girls in town for a big ride in CB. Allen joined the ladies for a kick ass long ride. The weather, the terrain and the company were absolutely PERFECT! A late lunch downtown CB to watch all the drunk people for the 4th was icing on the cake and exactly what we needed.

The next morning was very relaxed. Nico, Allen and myself headed back to Hartman rocks for an easy ride which was super fun. Afterward, we quickly packed up and headed home. Unfortunately the only paved road out of town was closed so we ended up turning around and taking 3 dirt passes home. During the drive we not only hit the crazy holiday traffic the entire way but had to wait behind a huge herd of cattle that was being moved.

A 4.5hr drive turned into a 7+hr adventure and lots of PB&J eating :)

The good, the bad and the ugly

Monday evening, I finally got to see Allen in over 20 some days. We've both been racing like crazy but unfortunately on completely opposite schedules :( After kicking butt and taking names at the Tour of America's Dairlyland stage race, him and his teammates drove the entire way back from Wisconsin and arrived late Monday night!

Staying on the good side of things...My brother and dad also drove a full day on Tuesday from Michigan to Boulder. They're heading out to the Edward's Airforce Base where my brother will be interning this summer and employed full time in February of 2010! Jerry is growing up so fast and it's really scary :) Even though they got in late Tuesday night and I only got to have a quick 45min breakfast with them in the AM, it was so nice to see both of them and they got to check out my new pad.

As much as I hate complaining and posting negative things on here, sometimes I just need to vent...Yes, I attempted my long run on Sunday. It was great until about 40min then it just got progressively worse and worse and worse until I blew up and walked back to the car :( No worries, I'll get over it. After purchasing a $165 saddle for my MTB so I don't have any more 'saddle issues', I went to put it on my bike only to realize that my carbon seatpost is almost 2 inches above the max insert line on a carbon frame...that is a big no no. I called around everywhere but bc the post is so specific to the bike, no one had it in stock. I got on it anyway and strolled over to Shep's to make sure an easy spin wouldn't break it but he said it's possible but should be okay for just a road spin. Apparently the ride just wasn't meant to be as my knee started to absolutely kill on the ride. What?!? This never happens. I eventually got home and just lost it. Seriously. I have done everything with the damn knee and it doesn't seem to want to heal whatsoever. I ended up getting a doc appt for Tuesday morning.

This is when it gets even worse. I went to the track early Tuesday morning to meet up with Neal and his 'Tri' group for a little trainer/track session. This is normally one of my favorite workouts but I haven't been on track since, oh, about October of last year, and with the state of my knee, who knew what would happen. The workout was 4min hard on the bike followed by a fast 600m run. The bike went great and the run was absolutely awful. I haven't run that fast in forever and despite no knee pain, I couldn't run to save my life and was getting just stomped on by the others. Talk about feeling like crap. Eventually the knee pain came as I was cooling down and my appt was right after the session so I marked it all up to show Dr. Paul. After much discussion, we decided to do another round of cortisone shots in a different area and see how that goes. Another surgery may be possible if it's 100% related to the IT band, but we're going to see how I react to this shot first. UGH.

The absolute worst is the fact that I took my powertap unit off my bike as I was putting on my car after the track session and completely forgot to pick it back up since I was rushing to get to the doc. Guess what? It's not there anymore...and one, it's not a cheap piece of equipment, two, it's something I use on a daily basis to train with so waiting to see if it was turned in somewhere is gonna be a big pain in the butt. Ahhh, when it rains, it pours, right?!? It's a good thing Allen and I are heading to Crested Butte today to get away and play in the mountains together for a few days. More on that next week.

Happy 4th of July everyone. Be safe with those fireworks!!!

A whole week in Boulder!!!

I can't even remember the last time I spent an entire week back home in Boulder. It's been so nice getting back into training, setting up my new place, seeing all my friends and just enjoying the mountains.

After I got home from Arkansas, I had two welts on my leg that kept getting bigger, itchier and eventually began to puss. Everyone kept telling me it was just a spider bite and not to worry, but after listening to Tingle, I took my butt to the doctor. I ended up bringing home a nice case of 'Rhus Dermatitis', more commonly known as poison oak. I am on antibiotics, antihistamines, topical creams and pounding benadryl like it's my job. Cross your fingers it doesn't spread any more than it already has!

Today I participated in the 2 mile open water swim at the Rez. It was a fundraiser for the Boulder Aquatic Masters Team and a great opportunity to play in the water and hang out with fun people. It was an absolute blast. I did a big mountain bike ride right afterwards then a short run when I got back. Other than not bringing enough water, having some saddle issues on the bike and forgetting to put on sunscreen, it was a great day. If the knee cooperates, I plan on doing a long run tomorrow morning for the first time in a very long time! Cross your fingers :)

XTERRA South Central Race Report

June 20th, 2009

Little Rock, AR
6th Pro Woman

Swim - Let me just start with saying that it was 87* at 8:30am and we didn't start until 10am! By the start it was in the mid 90s and freakin' HOT! The tiny body of water we swam in was not only murky and filled with who knows what, but it was a refreshing 88*. That's warmer than bath water! My plan was to swim as easy as possible and try my best not to overheat. I did just so and the funny thing is that I actually swam faster than I ever have. I really focused on the new things I learned during my swim stroke analysis and really stayed long and strong versus fighting the water and trying to catch up to the other packs. I was super excited and now have a much better outlook on swimming :)

Bike - Although I swam pretty easy, I was still exhausted from the hot water and the insanely hot air temperature. The course was really rocky and bumpy and really worked your whole body. My plan of freezing half my hydration pack the night before and filling the rest full of water to dilute the sports drink/calorie concentrate was an absolute disaster. The thermal pack didn't allow the bladder to melt and I only had a small amount of water and no calories! Talk about a bad time not to have fluid or sugar!!! At that point, I was already so hot that I just put it in cruise control with the goal of simply finishing the race. The two loop course was actually really fun, but the heat just made it 10x harder.


Run - As I was coming into T2, I saw Will soft pedaling into transition. He told me he had overdone it, crashed a few times and wanted to wait to run with me because all he wanted to do was finish too. WOW...talk about a teammate! By this point, it's already noon and well over 100*. The first 2 miles of the run were completely exposed and false flatish uphill. After that, you have a 300-400ft full body climb/hike up these crazy cliffs. Had Will not been with me and brought a water bottle, I honestly would never have made it. I was going off course, I was falling backwards, I was completley dilerious! At the top, we traverse for a good mile or so until you start to descend back down through loose, rocky switchbacks. I finally got my legs turning over, but was still suffering like a dog. The final part of the run consisted of another 300ft climb (a little more gradual) but very exposed. I almost cracked, but Will saved the day again and kept reassuring me I could do it. After another technical decent on the 'rock quarry', we hit the forest for a mile or so and to the finish...THANK GOD!

Finish - Holy crap that was hard. I am so proud of myself for getting through it and NOT going to the med tent! Yes, that is a huge step for me as I'm usually the first to head over. This isn't the first time Will has run with me in a race and helped me to the finish line and having a friend/teammate like that is absolutely priceless. Thank you sooo much Will and if I could do the same for you, I would in a heartbeat.

Fun in the South

I know I already mentioned the ride in Tennessee with Dan, Mike and Craig, but I stole a few pics from Dan so you could take a peak :)

Above is a small pic of our clinic we did at Craig's shop...lots of fun!

After a hot run from Craig's place Wednesday morning, I headed back to his shop to have a swim analysis done in their endless pool with Dan Powell. I had never swam in one before and it was really neat. The underwater footage was even cooler. I now have lots of things to work on over the next few months to really get my swim in gear!

Later that afternoon, Will, Mike and I got back in the 'Silver Bullet' aka Will's minivan, and drove down to Little Rock, Arkansas. It was a pretty uneventful drive other than the temperature gauge reading over 100*. We knew it was going to be warm, but not that warm. When we finally arrived at the course around 7:3opm, it was still 97*. The combination of the heat, bugs, little light, stiff legs and no gloves didn't make for an enjoyable pre-ride, but it was good to check out the course. We eventually made our way to a grocery store then to our homestay. Since the temperature didn't get any cooler on Thursday or Friday, we did as little training in the heat as possible and lots of resting in the AC.

Today's race went better than anticipated and I actually finished without going to the med tent :) Let's just put it this way - it was well over 90* when we started at 10am and it just got hotter and hotter and hotter. Although the water temp was 88* (which is warmer than the water Allen shower's in), I still had one of my best swims EVER. I tried to go easier and my time got faster...hmmm, maybe I'll try that next time! The bike was fine other than my camelback not unthawing and I didn't have enough fluid. Then if Will hadn't stuck with me on the run/hike, I might not have made it back. Big thanks to him for doing that. He didn't have the best of days but waited to run the entire course and finish with me. Such a rockstar! 6th overall for the day and very tired. I have a 6:30am flight Sunday morning to Boulder and cannot wait to get home.

XTERRA Atlantic Cup - Race Report

June 14^th, 2009

7^th Pro Woman

After the crazy travel debacles and my stress levels beyond healthy, I went into this race with absolutely no expectations. Not only was there a potential for duathlon because of high water levels, this is probably the most technical course in the series and Erin ≠ technical!

The Swim – Yes, we did have a swim and it was absolutely hilarious. Although the current wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been the previous two days, it was still flowing pretty well. I honestly had to swim at a 45* angle just to keep myself from drifting down river. Even though the water was way higher than last year, there were still several gigantic rocks through the swim that just come out of nowhere. When your head is submerged in the James River you can’t even see your hands much less anything in front of you…ugh, so disgusting. I ended up having a killer swim coming out 2^nd with a pretty good gap. This was the best swim finish for me ever so I was super stoked.

The Bike – My 2^nd place lead didn’t last long. Over the next 30 minutes, just about every person behind me came flying by like I was standing still. I was excited I didn’t have any fit issues, but I still didn’t feel very comfortable or confident on the new bike at all. This is not my kind of course with lots of technical sections and windy, narrow trail. Luckily, I only crashed once but did ride very conservatively and SLOW as crap! I’m definitely looking forward to some good training and practice on the 9.9 once I get home and really dial it all in.

The Run – I knew the other girls in front were pretty far up there so I decided to just throw down as hard as I could for the first part of the run that is flat and straight. After climbing up the Mayan Ruins (a section of 2-3ft broken down stairs that go straight up and require full body use to get up), I got right back into a fast pace. As soon as we jumped into the final technical singletrack, I completely hit the wall. I might have run a bit too fast during the first 4 miles or maybe just didn’t eat enough during the bike, but all I know is that my pace slowed to a screeching halt and the technical sections seemed much harder than normal. I hate to say it but my knee was totally killing me too so that definitely wasn’t aiding the process of getting me to the finish line any faster :)

The Race – In the money Baby!!! Although this was yet another frustrating and nothing resembling ‘perfect’ race, I was happy with it. I had a great swim, learned a lot about the different things I need to do on the bike and gave the run the best effort I could. Racing week after week is really hard without having much base from the winter, but it’s such a great experience and with a healthy body, I know it can be much better!

And the fun rolls on...

As always, a full race report will be posted soon, but the Atlantic Cup in Richmond Sunday morning went well. I was 2nd out of the water with the crazy current, got absolutely destroyed on the bike, then had a decent run but blew up at 30 minutes after going out a bit too hard. Finished 7th and in the money so no complaints here :)

We had planned on doing a short spin before hitting the road for 10+hrs to drive to Tennessee but woke up to pouring rain Monday morning. After getting 6 bikes, 5 people's luggage and 3 people in seats packed into Will's van, we set off for the long haul. I couldn't help but snap this picture of Mike Vine...after spilling gas all over the place because the pump didn't stop on it's own, he came back to the car with a huge can of Natural Ice and a few bags of popcorn. Absolutely hilarious.

On another note, Allen sent me this picture of 'Erin's Spinach Garden' the other day!!! That's probably the coolest thing EVER! It's too bad I'm not home for another week to eat all of it. He said there's no way to consume the amount of greens per day at the rate they are growing...I beg to differ. I might turn into a giant spinach leaf when I get home :)

After a swim and bike near Craig Evan's place, Will Kelsay, Bruce Gennari and I headed to his triathlon shop to do a transition clinic presented by Timex. We had a huge showing with about 60 people and lots of great questions and interaction. We gave away tons of free swag and hopefully left the audience with lots of great tips on how to quicken their transitions and be as speedy as Will :)

The Disasters of Traveling

In my opinion, flying is by far the best option when it comes to traveling as I can’t sit still very long so driving just doesn’t cut it for me. However, flying isn’t always as simple as it seems. After a big storm hit Dallas Thursday, 80% of their flights for the day were cancelled, including mine to Richmond. Luckily Josiah and Rife were on my flight so we were able to get a hotel together for the night. American Airlines paid $200 toward the room and we fronted the other $100 to stay in the Gaylord Texan (a spectacular 2000 room palace) for the night.

We spent the better part of the evening trying to find a way to Richmond since we didn’t have a confirmed flight until Sunday because everything was overbooked and we were in the 30th+ position for standby. We got to the airport in hopes of getting on the first flight out to Richmond but no go. After numerous phone calls, Josiah finally got a flight to Washington Reagan and Rife and I miraculously got on a flight to Washington Dulles. Both airports are 3+hrs away from Richmond, but the chances of us getting on any of the direct flights were slim to none. Any opportunity to head East, we were taking :)

After sitting in traffic for 4hrs, we finally made it into Richmond. We had a bite to eat at Bottom's Up Pizza downtown and unfortunately watched the Red Wings lose the Stanley Cup Finals in game 7 :( Bummer.

XTERRA Northwest Cup Race Report

June 6th, 2009
Coeur d'Alene, ID
8th Pro Woman

This is the first time I have ever had an afternoon start and although it was a bit awkward, it was kind of fun and definitely a new experience.

The Swim - Brrrrr and holy waves! We were told the water temp was around 55*. The worst part was that it was really windy which made for some super choppy water. No worries, I got through it just fine...slow, but safe. I did, however, learn a big lesson on the day. I knew the run from the lake to transition was on really rocky and steep terrain and because I didn't have any other shoes other than my race flats, I thought it would be a good idea to bring those down and put them on to run up. As I put one foot in, I filled it up completely with rocks and sand and remembered that Will told me to be careful of that because I didn't want any debris left in my shoes for the actual run section of the race. After realizing that it would be nearly impossible to get all the rocks out before the run, I decided to just carrying them. Ha...what a stupid move that was. Talk about disoriented! Trying to get your wetsuit off with one hand while running up steep, rocky stairs after swimming in freezing cold, choppy water is probably the hardest thing EVER!

The Bike - The first race on my new bike!!! Hell yeah it’s flashy, fast and beautiful, but let me tell ya, without the correct fit, it doesn't work well at all :( Because I had only done 3 rides on it before the race, I didn’t get a chance to dial everything in and I ended up being way too stretched out. I felt my lower back tighten up immediately after the first short climb and couldn’t get it to calm down afterward. Standing up on the pedals and thrusting my hips forward helped pop some things back into place, but having all the power coming from my back and not my legs definitely didn’t help me get anywhere fast. I swear one of these races everything will be just fine and I’ll be able to hammer and thrash my legs are much as possible…haha.

The Run – You’ll all have to see the video footage of this, but literally within 3 minutes into the run, I tripped and face planted right into a huge pile of rocks and sliced my ‘good’ knee right open. I didn’t think twice about it and got right up and started running as fast as my little legs would go. I’m not sure if it was the adrenaline pumping through my veins or that my ‘bad’ knee is starting to heal, but I honestly had no shooting pain throughout the entire run which was a first! Other than the blood gushing out of my right knee and the pain of running a super technical trail, the run couldn’t have been any better. I definitely wasn’t the speediest on the course, but I wasn’t the slowest either and I actually felt like I was ‘running’. WHOOOAAAA…this is good!

The Race – Things are finally starting to come together. Every race has been better and better and I can only imagine it will keep going in that direction. I am learning from the big girls and once I can get some consistent training in, I have a feeling the latter part of the season is going to kick butt! As for the venue, it was absolutely gorgeous and fun to be part of an inaugural race. Thanks to everyone who helped us out and a big thanks to Phaedra who hosted all of us at her wonderful home :)

Timex Clinic - Trek Store - Boulder, CO

On Tuesday evening, 8 Timex athletes who reside in Colorado did a ‘Smorgasbord of triathlon’ at the Trek Store in Boulder. Not only was it great to see some of my teammates that I hadn’t seen since camp, we also had a great turnout. Each of us presented on a different topic and had great response from the audience.

Even though it was raining, I did bring the BMW out with the new bike on it :)

I would like to give a big thank you to The Trek Store in Boulder. Every employee there is absolutely amazing. They have consistently been bending over backwards for us and have provided such great service both bike and customer related. If you ever need anything from a local shop, definitely head over there. I promise they’ll get you all hooked up and ready to roll. Click on the logo above to check out their website!

News from Farragut, ID – XTERRA NW Cup

Farragut State Park is an absolutely gorgeous place located just north of Coeur d’Alene. Although, it’s a bit far from any major airport, it was a great venue for our new Cup Series this year.

The water was really chilly so using hoodies were a definite must. However, putting it on and running around like a moron totally wasn’t. I guess that’s why you love Will :)

Branden, Will and I set out for another pre-ride Friday afternoon after they changed the course around. As always, there were lots of good laughs and guess what…

I didn’t crash on the pre-ride!

However, both Will and I did manage to leave a little (or a lot) of skin on the course race day! Will tagged a tree and I apparently ‘still can’t run’ and face planted into a pile of rocks 3 minutes into the run. It didn’t slow me down too much as I pulled off a great run considering the last 6 months.

Oh the sexy legs...

The real excitement of the day was in the men’s race. Dan Hugo got his first win after having several 2^nd place finishes and Branden came in 4^th for his best overall finish in a Championship race! Great job boys :)

Like every race, the ridiculousness that follows the events is never normal. This time, we threw a bowl of semi-hardened oatmeal on Craig’s rental car, ate several pints of ice cream, consumed several cases of beer and played a little Guitar Hero back at Phaedra’s. Let’s just say getting up for an easy spin pre-flight wasn’t the easiest!

Fun Times in Portland, Spokane & Coeur d'Alene

After arriving in Portland on Monday morning, Will and I got picked up, had a bite to eat then headed right out to Hagg Lake to pre-ride the XTERRA Portland course. Although I was completely exhausted and have a hard time training right after traveling, it was still super fun with lots of good laughs. You can check out all the great footage here. That night, we headed to a cool bar to give a presentation to the Portland Tri Club where we might have brought some roadies over to the off-road world!!!

Tuesday was full of training and another presentation at the Gecko Triathlon Club. Wednesday was a bit more chill with an easy swim in the morning and a 'fun run' with the Ironheads Triathlon club in the afternoon. We topped off the evening with a delicious BBQ at our homestay's parent's place and lots of good conversation.

Justin, Matt, Will and myself packed our four bags and four bikes in a small Subaru and drove from Portland to Spokane early Thursday morning.

After arriving, we dropped our stuff off at Ms. Phaedra's (another Timex athlete) and jetted out to the XTERRA Northwest Cup race course to pre-ride. Check back on Erin & Will's Adventures soon...the helmet camera video will be up!

Moving, traveling and winning!

Let’s just say that Sunday was probably one of the most stressful days, EVER! From moving everything I own and cleaning my old place to getting my new bike all tuned up and packed for our upcoming adventures, it was complete madness. Sometimes there just isn't enough hours in the day to get everything done! I did, however, manage to fit it all in and still get about 5 hours of sleep before waking up and heading to the airport. You will get a full report with video later this week, but Will Kelsay and I will be putting on a series of clinics in the Portland area over the next 3 days. Also, I know all of you are excited to see pics of the custom painted new Trek Top Fuel 9.9 SSL, but you’re just going to have to wait! FYI - The few that have seen it haven’t stopped drooling!!!

On another note, I have to mention the big win Allen had this weekend at the Hugo Road Race. He’s been due for one for a while and with a kick ass sprint, he finally got it. He should be super proud of himself because it was a tough field and a brutal course!

On the winning note, you know I can’t get away without mentioning how freaking awesome my Red Wings are doing! 2-0 over Pittsburg!!! I told you the Cup was coming back to D-Town :)

XTERRA Southeast Cup Race Report

May 23, 2009

9th Pro Woman

Back in Bama Baby!!! I'm not sure I could have topped my day here from last year by taking the overall amateur title, but it felt good to be back on a familiar course and remembering all the good times from the previous year. After the extreme heat from 2008, we were so fortunate to have temps in the 70s with a touch of rain near the end :)

Swim - The pros were given a 30 second head start because we were not allowed to wear wetsuits and the age groupers were. I immediately got into the group with the lead women and felt very comfortable right away. About 400m in I took about 20 or so strokes without sighting because I felt like I was right in the draft but when I looked up, I had veered straight left. DANG! I tried as hard as I could to catch back up, but no luck. I swam the rest of the first and second laps solo. I came out 4th woman by less than a minute, but definitely worked harder than I should have and could have been right up there had I just looked up...next time!

Bike - Oh the bike! I love the bike part of the race and I love this course. I know the terrain wasn't my forte with lots of tight turns, roots, and power bursting sections, but it's still fun. I was actually kicking butt for the first 12 minutes or so until my hips completely locked up, AGAIN. My saddle didn't slip so it wasn't because of that, but whatever it was, I lost all power and ended up spinining the entire rest of the course. Was it because my saddle was set too far back after the debacle last week? Is it because I don't do enough short and hard intervals? Is it the transition from swimming to biking? Neal and I are investigating the problem and will soon have it all figured out. So needless to say, I got my booty handed to me on the bike. However, I did ride 'Blood Rock' like a champ :)

Run - The course here is very interesting. The first 2 miles or so are the same as the bike course and super fun. Once you pop out of that section, you hit a fire road for 30 seconds then jump right back into the woods where you go straight up and straight down until the finish. I'm really not kidding when I say straight up and down either. I didn't have too much pain in the knee during the first section so I just cruised, however, once I hit the technical hills, there was a lot of power hiking and hesitation while trotting down. Steep terrain is not my knee's friend right now. Like last year, I totally used a few trees to pull myself up and not fall on my butt coming down. My time was still slower than the other girls and my run fitness is non-existent, but it's not far off.

THE RACE - I'm happy and pleased nothing disastrous went down. My transitions were way faster than last race and I feel like my knee is getting better every week. I still have lots of training to get in and lots more racing to do before I'll be in top form, but it's getting there and I'm excited to test it out at each of my upcoming races.

Back home for a week!

It has honestly been nonstop since I arrived in Boulder Sunday afternoon. Right off the bus, I delivered a my rent deposit for my new house which I will be moving into on Sunday, then headed right over to Allen's parent's place for his brothers' graduation party. We enjoyed some delicious food then hit a few golf balls into the open space and played volleyball for the majority of the evening.
Memorial Day was somewhat uneventful but got in a good spin on the bike, cranked out lots of work and had a fun BBQ with some friends at the Krughoff household while Allen worked on our super sweet garden. It rained on and off most of the day so altering between crocket and card drinking games was most of the entertainment. Oh, and I made cookies and homemade granola with my girl Jamie :)

Since I won't be around much of the summer, or at least for long periods of time, I froze my membership at the Flatirons Athletic Center and joined the Boulder Aquatic Masters program so I could do open water swims at the Reservoir and swim at Scott Carpenter (a 50m outdoor pool). My plan was to go swim at the Rez Tuesday morning but realized Will had my wetsuit in his car and he was driving back from Alabama. Wednesday, I went to swim at 7am at Scotty and the pool temperature was 66 degrees. Yes, Will still had my wetsuit but I jumped in and tried to stick it out anyway. After 1300m, I was told to get out as my face and lips were turning blue! It's okay though, because I got in a solid day of training after doing repeats up NCAR on the bike then heading over to short track and running off that...ouch.

With the intention of swimming at the Rez this morning, I woke up at 5am only to see a tornado of wind outside. As much as I love battling waves while swimming in open water, I think I'll pass and bring my wetsuit to Scotty :) I have another doctor's appointment for my knee today so hopefully everything goes smoothly and I haven't beat it up too badly over the past couple weeks! With the big move and a few road races this weekend, I'll be a busy girl, but stay tuned for some fun updates from the clinics in Portland next week.

The Wings go for the Cup 2 years in a row!!!

Hell YEAH!!!! The Wings finished the Blackhawks off in OT last night to advance to the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals :) The Penguins better watch out, because my boys are on fire right now!

A quick update from the South

After smooth travels from Michigan to Alabama on Wednesday afternoon, we started out the 2009 XTERRA Southeast Cup adventure out in style with a delicious steak dinner from our homestay - Jerry Ryan. He is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and hosts as many of us silly athletes as he can fit into his beautiful home.

'Ya just gotta watch out for the dawg cuz it'll bite y'all's feet right off'

The weather has been on and off as far as rain, but with the temps being in the 70s, we couldn't ask for anything better after last year's high 90s! I took a huge digger during the pre-ride in the section above, known as 'Blood Rock' and gave my left wrist a nice big bruise, but other than that my knee has been feeling exceptionally well. We had another big dinner Thursday night and a delicious pasta feed Friday before the race on Saturday.

Race day came super quickly and it was another fun day. As always, a full race report will be up soon, but after a good swim, a crap bike and a super solid run considering the situation, I am pleased. It's all going to come together one of these days and I cannot wait : ) We had some good results in the house - Branden 8th, Will 9th, Emma 5th, Danelle 7th, Erin 8th and Blake 1st in his age group!

I don't have any pics to back up our margarita pitcher drink fest afterwards, but you can only imagine if the pics from last year look like this!

XTERRA Midwest Cup Race Report

May 17th, 2009

9th Pro Woman

Where to start? It was the first race of the season, my first race as a professional and first time running over 30min in a very, very long time! Considering those factors, I went into the race with absolutely no expectations.

The swim - No only was it a brisk morning (32 degrees), the water temp was only 61 degrees...brrrrr! No worries, the faster you go, the faster you'll warm up, right?!? Haha, that was my plan of action. The start went well and I was able to settle into a decent pace after getting around the madness of the first 200 meters. I always forget how intense the beginning of the swim is, geez! I didn't have the best of swims (5th woman), but was pleased that I didn't go off course and beat Will Kelsay out of the water. He'll claim in was in front of my at one point, but it was only during the run section between loops :)

I told myself that this race was all about smiles so that's what I attempted to do :)

The Bike - T1 was absolutely hilarious as I had not done one transition practice nor taken my wetsuit off yet this year and it took me absolutely forever to get my crap together. This is where Will got his revenge...man, he's fast getting out in and out of transition. At any rate, this was such a fun bike course and I was really excited to get out there. The first part of the bike was super fast in tight trees with absolutely no sunlight. It was still really chilly and my hands and feet immediately went numb. The 2 creek crossings per lap didn't help warm the feet up much either! I was really hoping to get a killer ride in and either walk or trot the run, but the harder I went on the bike, the more my hips kept cramping up and I couldn't apply any power whatsoever. After coming through the first lap slower than my practice lap the day prior and feeling way more exhausted, I was really frustrated. I figured it was because I was cold and my muscles weren't firing, but about 3 minutes into the second lap, my saddle completely slipped and the nose pointed straight up. It had obviously been slipping the whole time pushing me backwards which was why my hips kept tightening up. I spent the rest of the lap pushing it back down every time it would slip up...which was every couple minutes! As I mentioned earlier, this race was about smiles and I immediately let it go because it wasn't worth being upset.

At least I didn't hit the big mud pit on the left of this picture before a creek crossing, stuff my front tire and fly straight over my handle bars and submerge myself face first into the creek. Seth Wealing had a fall similar to the dude below but unfortunately it wasn't captured on camera!

The stories from the guys behind him are absolutely priceless though!

The Run - T2 was even more comical as my feet were beyond numb coming off the bike. I was lucky to have the bike to hold onto while running into transition, but once I racked my bike, I fell right over attempting to put on my shoes! I hobbled out on the course and miraculously ran/trotted the entire course. Quite slowly of course and definitely not pain free but I did it.

The finish - Yippee, I finally made it. Because I wasn't even certain I would finish, I was thrilled. Deep down, I felt a little bitter as I wished I was healthy, fit, fast and running without pain, but I know it will come soon enough and Worlds aren't until October. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day and it was so nice to have the support of my parents, little brother and grandparents! Thanks everyone :)

Erin & Will's Adventures

So here it is! This is what you have all been waiting for, I know it! Will and I have been working hard to get this site up and running and promise to have regular updates to keep everyone on their toes! Please let us know if you have any suggestions about how to make it better or if you would like to see any additional footage, information, etc. Thanks for all the support :)

http://erinandwillsadventures.blogspot.com/

Fun with the family!

I don't come back to Michigan very often, but when I do, it's always nice to spend time with the family. My wonderful grandparents (above) were great hosts over the weekend and cooked some mmmm delicious food!

I went golfing for the first time in probably 4 years with my parents and little bro which was absolutely hilarious. I can't believe I was actually good at this sport back in the day!

Yes, I am alive!

The last couple days have been incredibly busy but lots of fun. After a crazy travel day on Thursday, everyone finally made it to my grandparent's place in Battle Creek, MI for a delicious rib dinner. We pre-rode the XTERRA Midwest Cup bike course and did a quick swim Friday afternoon then had another giant feast at the grandparent's place. I'm pretty sure my grandpa grilled over 50 burgers that night...mmmm...soo good. After a rainy morning on Saturday, the weather finally broke and we headed back out to the race course for a little swim, bike and run race prep. The bike course was by far one of the most fun courses I have ever ridden with lots of turns, burms and creek crossings. Since I'm only in town twice a year (if my parents are lucky), my mom's side of the family took that opportunity to take loads of family pictures later that night. Whoooaaa.

Since I'm not 100% physically, or mentally for that matter, I didn't want this first race of the season to be a big deal so I've kept the possibilities a little on the quiet side. I wasn't even sure I would participate at the MI race as my knee has been giving me quite a bit of grief but I made the ultimate decision on Saturday afternoon. I'll post a full race report later, but all you really need to know is that I finished and I'm very happy about it. It definitely wasn't pretty, but I did it.

Not only was it absolutely amazing having Jamie Whitmore stay with us, she did a phenomenal job announcing and continues to be one of the biggest inspirations in my life.

My little bro Jerry and my cousin Warren also made it out at the wee hours and helped out tremendously with some stellar video you will be seeing shortly.

And as always, Will and I were there representing in style :)

Lara's Bridal Shower

Saturday afternoon was Lara Cooper's (soon to be Lara Edwards) bridal shower at the Dushanbe Tea House downtown Boulder. I have always heard of this elegant restaurant but never actually been inside and I was quite impressed! Click here to learn all the history behind it and what kind of cool things it has to offer :)

Where have I been?

Not running pain free, that's for sure...

Things are not going as well as they were initially with the whole knee recovery and I'm starting to get really frustrated. I started with a few short runs last week that went great then after a 3omin run, my calf cramped up to the point of agonizing pain. Because of my blood clot history (yes, I had a clot in my right leg in 2005 that was a total fluke after an ankle break that has been haunting me since), the Dr. sent me directly to the ER Friday morning to have an ultrasound done to confirm I didn't have another clot - NEGATIVE. I have been giving the calf some serious massage and if it felt good when I woke up this morning, I was instructed to try another run. It felt good so I decided to test it out. The first 10min were great then I suddendly started getting the same shooting pains in the side of my knee that I had pre-surgery. I stopped for a bit to let it calm down then started up again. It wasn't but minutes later that I stopped, turned around, and walked home. I hate complaining and it's never fun to listen to negativity but this sucks and I'm so over it. Neal has been great in helping me deal with everything since the beginning but I'm starting to snap. I just want to freakin' run...ahhhh!

On a more positive note, I am riding well and made $40 at a bike race in Denver yesterday afternoon :) Whooohooo

Where has Allen been?!?

RACING of course...

He was in Bisbee, AZ for the Vuelta de Bisbee April 24-26, then back up to New Mexico April 29-May 3 to rip Lance Armstrong's legs off for the Tour of the Gila! Hehe.

Because he did kick Lance's butt on the second stage, I did drive all the way down to Colorado Springs at 11pm on Sunday night to pick him up and drive ALL the way back into Boulder. Yes, I was absolutely WORTHLESS the next day and actually fell asleep at 7:30pm in my clothes and slept that way the whole next night...how about that for being a nice girlfriend!?! Just kidding, he deserves it!

The 2009 XTERRA West Champs

Yesterday was the first regional race of the season. No, I wasn't there, but everyone else was and had a great start to the season. It was really sad being back at home while the crew was racing without me, but as I've mentioned before, I'm okay with it. I'm getting stronger and stronger on the bike each day and with time, the running will come too.

Check out the link below for the pro race report.

http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_article.cfm?id=2415

Meet Shep...

...or Andrew P. Shepherd if you want to be super formal. Shep is one of the most amazing people in the world and one of my best friends. There isn't anything Shep wouldn't do for me (or most people for that matter) and there's no better feeling knowing you have a friend like that. We have both been very busy lately and there has been a lack of 'Erin and Shep Time' so we decided to change that. We took a nice spin the mountain bikes and got all caught up on life. During that ride, I realized that there is no way I would be doing what I am right now if it hadn't been for Shep and his insane amounts of patience.

You see, the first time I got on a mtb, I threw the biggest temper tantrum you could imagine and wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, I hated it. However, since Shep is so great at teaching, I started to come around and learn a thing or two. If it wasn't for his stupendous guidance and did I mention patience?!?!....I'd still be kicking my bike on the side of the trail saying "F*** this, I quit. This is the stupidest thing ever. I don't get how I can be so fit on the road and suck so bad at this. I want to go home". Yes, you're laughing, and it's funny...but it's for real.

I have matured so much over the last 2 years and have learned that you can't always be good at something right away and that perfecting MTB skills takes lots of time, years in fact. I am only a few years in and have come to grips that I am nowhere near my peak and that the future is my friend. I can say that after I clear a super technical section or ride something super smoothly, there is no one I would rather hear 'Hell yeah Erin, you're riding so well, I'm so impressed', from than my best bud Shep. It makes me feel so proud because he's the master behind it all and deserves every ounce of credit :) Shep, you're the BEST!

The New Madone!

Here she is...the new road ride. She is absolutely amazing and rides sooooo smoothly! I'm still getting used to the double click Sram shifting, but I can tell you that I will NEVER ride another bike without a compact crank...FABULOUS! Trek did a good job on this one :)

It's playoff season!!!

...and my Red Wings are rockin' out strong sweeping Columbus in the first round! I'm not going to get too cocky yet, but I see another giant cup coming back to Detroit this year :)

The Pistons on the other hand...not much to talk about there. They have pretty much sucked it up since the trade of Billups and Iverson. You definitely don't want my two cents on that situation as I would go on forever. Let's just say it was a TERRIBLE move. If the Stones don't get their booties into action today, their golfing season starts much earlier than expected. If you care to watch, it's on ABC at 3:30pm EST.

Just one of those days...

Yesterday was supposed to be my 'January 1st' of the 2009 (i.e. the start of my training/racing season). I got the go ahead to ride and swim easy so Neal and I decided to just start from the beginning so that I can have a fresh mental attitude about everything. It was sooooo exciting to finally see workout sessions on my schedule and I had a super fun day planned out.
It all went out the door when I drove up to the club to swim and do yoga and found out with was closed a day earlier than I had expected. Ugh. I drove my butt over to the North Boulder Rec Center where I paid a hefty price just to flop around in an indoor pool. I also paid another dollar because they don't have towels like FAC...that peeved me off even more so I just took the towel...bad Erin, bad Erin! Aside that, the swim was decent and it felt great to be back in the water. My arms felt like jello but it will come around soon!
I put my old Specialized (my very first road bike EVER) up on Craigslist Sunday evening and surprisingly got a few responses right away. I met a couple over at Vic's after the swim and wabam...sold. It was definitely a sad moment to see it go, but that's one less bike to have kickin' in the garage :)
After that, I was super excited to go spin around on my new bike since it was in the high 60s and gorgeous out. I got all geared up and took off for an easy spin. I was having the time of my life out there and I LOVE my new bike. Everything was going smoothly until I made a sharp left turn into a subdivision and boom...I slide right out on some sand in the road that was leftover from the snow storm. Luckily I was fine and my BRAND NEW bike only suffered minor scratches and blood stains, but DANG! I have some nice road rash, a few big bruises and some torn up clothing, but it's just the fact that it was my first ride on my new machine!!! At any rate, I didn't freak out and just let it go. I am, however, really sore today.

To top the day off, Allen had not been feeling well at all. He chilled out at home most the day and did some gardening and cooked me a delicious steak dinner, but went to bed feeling pretty crappy :( Guess who woke up with a super sore throat and runny nose this morning?!?! Yes, it's my own fault, but it was inevitable.

Oh life...always so unpredictable :) Hehe.

More fun...whoooaaaa

Sunday was a great day in Boulder! Not only did it stop raining and snowing, but it was almost 70 degrees, sunny and aboslutely perfect!

Zeal Optics put on a 5K run for Jamie Whitmore starting at their headquarters and it was a huge success! Tons of people showed up to run and I was having a blast just hanging out and mingling with everyone. Yes, I would have loved to be running, but it's okay...soon enough. Check out this site to see the race flyer.

Later that day, Jenny and I went for a nice walk through the CU campus. I hadn't been there since I graduated 3 years ago this May...holy crap I'm getting old! Anyway, the year after I left, they completely remodeled the Leeds School of Business and I finally got to take a self guided tour through it. Pretty nifty!

A Really Good Day!

Not only did the above 2 things show up at my door yesterday but Tingle was 2nd at the Rage Tri in Las Vegas and the little monster and I cooked another delightful dinner :)

The Trader Joe's goodies came from my momma who is the absolute best. You ask her to send a care package from TJ and this is what you get!!! WOW! The bike I'm on is my new Trek Madone. We built it up (90%) then transferred my bike fit measurements over to make it just right. When it's 100% done, I'll take more pics so you can see how beautiful it really is.

Updates from 'The Bubble'

I've been somewhat of a scatter brain lately since I haven't been forced to be super regimented with training, working and life in general. It's kinda fun and I've been doing lots of random things like house shopping, gardening and cooking.

A couple of days ago, we planted every vegetable seed under the sun in the above Aero Garden then went to Home Depot and bought several wooden barrels. So once germinated inside, we can transport all the 'to be' veggies outside. It's been quite the adventure with lots of research and planning involved but we're having a good time and if we get one of the 15 things we planted to grow, we'll be stoked! And no, we did not hit up Bed Bath and Beyond on the way home.

We have also been doing our fair share of cooking but the salmon, wild rice and green beans with garlic, onions and toasted almonds the other night was definitely the winner of the week.

On another note, I got my stitches out and I'm on the path to a much quicker recovery than I thought. No, this is not coming from me, but my doctor and coach! Light spinning and swimming early next week have already gotten the OK.

Not that it matters too much since I can't go out and ride/run all day anyway, but come on...why in the world are we getting pounded with snow again in late April? Boulder, by far, has the weirdest weather patterns, or lack there of, EVER! It never seizes to surprise me :) I bet it will be 80 and sunny all next week :)

HAPPY TAX DAY :)

For most accountants, today is probably the most anticipated day of the year in both a good and bad way. For most, it marks the end of tax prep season which is a huge relief but at the same time, it's the most important and stressful deadline of the year.

Luckily, I had everything done and filed a few weeks ago so today really isn't that big of deal...pheww

On a separate note, I found this article below pretty comical! It shows how Tax Day has become a Protest Day and that American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies -- dubbed "tea parties" -- to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending.

Check out this link below for the full story.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY :)

Today was my Mom's birthday and I just thought everyone should know :)

The big 5-0 was last year and she came out to get her shiny new Trek bike but this year she stayed back in MI since I'll be there in just one month. Hope you're day was splendid and you had a wonderful dinner with Dad last night. I love you.

Happy Easter!

Not only do I love the cool cards and gifts associated with all the different holidays, I love the fact that each celebration completely justifies my ridiculous consumption of candy and chocolate!

After heading to the 'Children's' mass at First Pres, Tingle and I raided several grocery and drug stores looking for random items to make Easter baskets with. Although we didn't find the egg dying kit we were looking for, a set of glitter glue pens, singing candies and giant chocolate bunny ears were quite satisfactory. While devouring pancakes and chocolate, we decorated Easter buckets and hard boiled eggs for Denny and Allen. Very entertaining.

Along with the cards pictured above, I also received this 'Ginormous' egg from Jon, a chocolate bunny and beautiful orchid from Allen's parents, and a delicious dinner with Allen and his dad at the Cork restaurant in town. Although it was cold and rainy, it was a fun-filled day with lots of good times. Hope yours was the same :)

Timex Camp and 'The Surgery'

As always, most of the things that happened at team camp last week in Cali cannot be discussed publicly. However, I can assure you that they were all in good fun and no one was injured! Haha. Check out Rachel Ross's blog to see the wonderful impression Will Kelsay made after I got him on the team...what a moron!!! Also, visit the Team Timex Blog for other great athlete postings. I'll post more photos when Tingle gets her crap together and sends them to me :)

Yes, yes, yes, I know everyone is curious as to how the surgery went and good news...it went great. I made a really dumb decision and attempted to do a hard bike trainer session at 4am the day of surgery because I couldn't eat anything after 7am. Not only did the workout go horribly, I didn't feel very well afterward and my plan to eat a huge breakfast before 7am went straight out the door. I was able to get in a little food, but not much, and by the time I had surgery at 3pm, I was about ready to bite someone's arm off I was so hungry. I normally can't go more than 2hrs without food or drink and making me go more than 8hrs is worse than the pain of the surgery itself! So of course I was out cold for the procedure and when I woke up, I was nicely welcomed by Catherine, Allen and a delicious treat from Jamba Juice. According to Allen (he's the one who spoke with the doc), they found something that starts with an 's' that was irritating the jointline and they were able to remove it, smooth it out and hopefully illeviate all the pain I was getting while running. They also drained the fluid from the under the kneecap and bursa along the side of the knee as well as clean up all the torn tissues in the surrounding areas. When I actually talk to the doctor next week, I'll post a much more accurate report of what 'actually' happened during the surgery.

As for now, I've been sitting on my booty with my giant compression sock doing nothing and not enjoying any of it. Okay, that's kind of a lie. Yesterday, Allen and I took a 2+hr adventure to the grocery store and Target that killed my armpits from crutching around everywhere and made a fun dinner with Merci, Ryan and Collin. Today, I went into FRG just to hang out for a bit.

I'm trying really hard to be patient about letting it heal, but damn, it's no fun when all your friends are out training all day and you can't go play with them :( I'm going to start doing lots of upper body and core stuff today so I plan on coming back with some killer strong arms and beautiful 12-pack...haha...we'll see how far that goes!

The week in a nutshell

I got a little side tracked on posting pics from Moab so here are a few...






As excited as I was to race Koppenberg last Sunday, it was a good thing it was canceled! The infamous 200m 17% grade dirt hill was so sloppy that it looked as if it were covered with a foot of peanut butter...no joke. Instead, Tingle and I had a very enjoyable long ride with some great chatting and lots of catching up.
Although I haven't received either of my new bikes yet, I wanted to get both fits done on my older frames and translate the measurements before the knee surgery on Wednesday. Larry at BCSM did the MTB fit on Monday and the road fit on Wednesday. The positions are much less aggressive than my previous 'TT' style of riding and I'm having a bit of trouble finding my power, but I'm not worried, it will all come together soon enough.

We're supposed to have another big storm move through tonight and tomorrow so the 1pm flight to San Diego for the annual Team Timex Camp might be quite interesting. We attempted to fly out today in order to miss the weather, but apparently everyone and their mother wanted to do the same thing and everything was full. If all goes to plan, Tingle, Denny and I will be in Carlsbad from Saturday to Tuesday doing what pro athletes do best - party like rockstars! I'll do my best to provide updates here but the Timex Blog will have full coverage so check out the link on the right!

Winter finally came!!!

Just 3 months too late...

Seriously, we get 60s and 70s all throughout January, February and most of March then BOOM...we get the biggest snow fall of the year! It was total deja vu of my freshman year of college (2003) when we got 36 inches in 2 days during the last week of March. The funny thing is that it happened on a Thursday night and this storm hit during CU's spring break on Wednesday and Thursday too...SCARY!

Honestly, we really need the precipitation and fortunately it has put the mindless plan of training myself into the wall before this surgery on hold...at least for this weekend :) I do still plan on racing Koppenberg tomorrow so stay tuned to see how that all pans out!

Knee surgery it is :(

After resting, no running, cortisone injections, lidocain injections and lots of other therapy, the extreme pain in my left knee has not subsided thus making the last resort and unfortunate must if I want to start running again. The recovery is anywhere from 4-8 weeks depending on what is found and repaired during the procedure. More details to come.

Click here for more info on the process.

I'm heading to the desert

That's right folks, I'll be driving out to Moab this morning to get my mountain bike on with some great friends for the next 4 days! Stay tuned for crazy stories and fun pictures.

I PROMISE I'LL TRY TO KEEP THE BIKE RUBBER SIDE DOWN :)

Training Peaks Blog

The software I use to track and log my training does a daily blog on some of their athletes and somehow I was chosen as one :) Check out the link below for the article and click on the logo above for the company homepage...

http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/2009/03/trainingpeaks-member-profile-erin-kummer-xterra-triathlete.html

My FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR!!!!

WHOOOAAAA for being Irish!

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY :)

Road Racing?!?!

Hmmm...the one and only time I have raced a road bike was back in 2006. It was a complete disaster and well, I haven't had the desire to even think about doing it until now. After watching Allen race like a rockstar week in and week out, I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. Although Neal really wanted to me to race in Boulder on Saturday, I chose to spectate the CU Crit instead and watch the big boys throw down. A top 10 finish for the little monster was well deserved!

Sunday was my turn to shine...or not. I packed up the car and drove out to Greeley while the boys rode the 2.5hrs out there. I got a good hour warm up on the trainer then lined myself up. I'm not going into details but it was very hard, annoying, frustrating and interesting at the same time. I definitely need more practice and some sprinting legs for that matter but it was a great experience and I somewhat look forward to doing it again. And just maybe, someone will actually come watch and take a picture or two. Until then, you're just gonna have to stare at Allen's cute ass :)

Anyways, after that was all over, I got to set up the trainer and do my cool down while watching the men's race. It was very exciting and Mr. Krughoff nailed the sprint after bridging up and brought home a solid 5th place!

Beer Butt Chicken Anyone?

Okay, it's actually called 'Drunken Chicken', but the above title is way more amusing. Almost as amusing as watching Allen defrost the stupid thing and make ridiculous chicken noises!

At any rate, the entertainment of another great game of scrabble with Ryan and Mercedes along with the whole cooking process was the perfect compliment to a great day. After nailing an intense cycling session, there's nothing better than relaxing with friends and enjoying some good food and laughs :)

Running in the dark?!?

Until this morning (and not by choice), I hadn't trained in the dark since probably my junior year of college! Although it felt a bit weird, I kind of enjoyed it! Not sure how I feel about this whole daylight savings bit though...not only did I lose an hour of sleep, my morning light just got pushed back another hour! GEEEZZ! Okay, lame post, I know. I really don't have much else to write about other than how I've been getting my but kicked by Neal on the bike, watching Allen kick some butt racing his bike and hmmm...riding outside in the warm sunshine almost everyday :) Oh yeah, I've been swimming lots too.

No...the knee is not doing well and I will report more when I know more.

Birthday Dinners, Bike Racing & Cooking

On Friday evening, we headed over to the Krughoff household for Allen's belated birthday dinner. We had a wonderful meal, a fabulous dessert and good laughs all around.

Saturday afternoon we all drove out to Ft. Collins to watch the CSU Oval Criterium. The Rio Grande Team was all there and looking mighty speedy on the course.

Allen was also looking pretty good as he blew the field away to win the first prime and worked his little booty off to catch the break and finish 4th in the final sprint.

After a big day on Sunday, we put the new kitchen appliances to work and cooked some amazing food. Allen grilled up a nice Hawaiian dish with fresh pineapple on the cast iron skillet and I whipped up some black bean hummus in the new food processor! Mmmmm....there might have even been some cookies and cream frozen yogurt for dessert :)

This is what happens when you can't play all day

I mean train all day...

Two cortisone injections later...

...the hopes of running in the near future have actually become a reality!

After some 'not so pleasant' news from the MRI, Dr. Matt decided that he would inject the bursa in my IT band and the outer side of my knee with cortisone in hopes to reduced the swelling and alleviate the pain. After a few pokes and a quick 5 minute test run this morning, I've been instructed to give it two weeks to settle in. During this time, I am supposed to run 30min beginning on Sunday and increase the duration by 5 minutes every other day. If the pain does not subside then it's under the knife I go. Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck!

Big Bike Rides, Long Car Rides & MRI's

We ended our training trip with a big ride on Saturday morning. Allen set out with Benny and I mapped out a 6hr route of my own. It was a beautiful day and an awesome ride. Lots of climbing but the more the better, right?!? It was brutal, but we finally packed the car up after the day, said our good byes to the best hosts EVER, then went to bed at a fairly early hour!



The 4am wake up call wasn't too bad but I knew the next 17 or so hours were going to be tough. I started the adventure by crankin' out the first 4hrs. Because we switched driving every tank (4hrs or so), it didn't make the 16hrs all that bad. We even made a quick stop at Best Buy to get a phone charger and swung by the lodge at Vail to pick up some snowshoes. We finally made it home, jumped in the shower then went directly to bed...long, long day!

I woke up super early yesterday morning to get some work done for a client before heading to my MRI at 9am. Yes, my knee is still an absolute disaster and I'm not talking much about it because I really don't know what's going on other than it hurts like mad when I run and only when I run. The MRI took much longer than anticipated and was very unpleasant. Loud and obnoxious noises when you're tired and hungry do not bode well together. After that I made the rounds to more clients then finally cracked and headed home for a LONG afternoon nap. Woke up to eat and do a little work then back to bed.

Ready to find out about the knee and get back into the swing of training...