Greetings from Koblenz, Germany!!!!!

Well, I did see Flogging Molly a couple weeks ago, and it was great!  (hence the inspired blog post)

The theme since then has been Flogging Sonya. I’ve been running about 20 miles a week trying to train a little bit for the Teva Games 10K(you know, so I won’t need a wheelchair when it’s over), as well as sticking with the bike, and keeping balance, strength, and self-reflection going with yoga a couple times a week. Fatigue was starting to set in, but it was definitely planned. I’m here in Germany for about a week (STOKED!!!!), meaning my training will be a little spontaneous and sporadic depending on time = REST! I’ll be doing a bit of running by the river, some mountain biking later this week, enjoying Germany culture, and working from the Ergon mother ship!

I completed my training days leading up to this trip with a big day on Friday (Boulder Trifecta – 6 mile run, yoga, and a short bike ride), pre-riding part of the Gunnison Growler Course at Hartman Rocks for 3 hours on Saturday, and racing the Nathrop XC US Cup race on Sunday. When I got on that plane Monday afternoon, I didn’t feel like a slacker!

Here are a few photos from Gunnison. It was a beautiful day, and we just missed a massive hail/groppel storm in town.

Yo boyz!

And a quick report on Nathrop. I was expecting an MSC race, and because it’s a C priority race, I didn’t look into it much further other than paying my entry and checking my start time. Turns out it was a race that once step below a national, and all the big dogs were there. It actually made me laugh…oops, not the best race to show up to already worked. It actually went decently well despite it all. I felt pretty good, but I was definitely feeling my running muscles. Part of my quads, my hips, and my IT bands were aching during the whole race. It’s hard to push the power down when your hips don’t work! I like to think that even though it hampered my race a little bit, it’s going to boost me up for my overall fitness. The race was 4 seven mile laps totally about 28 miles. The course is a pretty fun power course. There were two hard sections – the short climb and the 5-7 min ride (I think it was that long?) along the fenceline into the wind. I had a great time and even though it hurt like hell, I made myself keep my head up (maybe even too much as I was ogling the beautiful collegiate peaks all around me)

I ended up 13th which isn’t spectacular, but my goal was to have fun and get in a good workout. Mission accomplished! Thanks to Sinjin for handing bottles and moral support! It was great to see my friends riding strong out there and to enjoy the sunshine at 7-8000′ after all the rain.

Photo from Cycling News of the start:

Me and Yuki post-race. He got 15th and was only 6 minutes off 1st. YUKI IS FLYING!!!

I’m going to the Offenburg World Cup as team support and spectator this weekend. I CAN’T WAIT! I think I’ll get to ride the course (not race) too. It’s going to be an experience I’ll never forget! I’ll be posting some pics of Koblenz in a couple days. Hang tight!