Wednesday I had a break from finals and did a “triathlon day.” My roommate Kam Holbrook and I went for a 28 mile bike ride down to the Sedona overlook off of highway 89A. Awesome views. After the bike ride and a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, I headed to the pool to get in 1800m. I swam a ladder of 50, 100, 150, 200, 150, 100, 5o. Pretty tough. Ate some more food then went for my last run with the team until next season, an easy 7 miler. I was beat.

89A going into Sedona

View from Sedona overlook

Me and Kam

Thursday I went for an easy 5 mile run in the morning wtih teammate Joe Withers (he had his last race of the season on Saturday so he was tapering) and then 1300m in the pool before my final. I made it to my final with about 5 minutes to spare. I think I still got an A?

Friday, my girlfriend Tina and I headed out to summit My Humphrey’s (12,633 ft). There was still a lot of snow on the trail and we got lost several times on the way up. Tina unfortunately got light headed and seemed to suffer some altitude sickness at around 11,600 feet. She told me I should go on, so I made it to about 12,100 feet before realizing that I had just left my girlfriend all alone on a poorly marked trail over 11,500 feet above sea level. I still got a great view. Next time we will make it all the way up together.

Tina and I before the hike

Butterfly

So close to the summit

Agassiz peak

Looking West

Saturday I finally made my way back home to Simi Valley. It is always nice to be back home. My parents and I enjoyed some great food at Limon’s Latin Grill (Flagstaff, Az isn’t known for its sea food) then we watched some old home videos.

Yesterday my sister and I made my mom breakfast before she had to leave at 9AM to catch a plane for business. Then I biked up to Challenger Park and ran through Bus Canyon. Everytime I am come back to Simi, it seems like this is my first run. The runs here are just as hilly as I remembered. I biked back home after the run, dropped off my running stuff, and biked for another 13 miles or so (probably ~22 for the day).  Yesterday was the first day I tried using the aerobars… I actually felt pretty comfortable in them, although I think I still need to make a few adjustments to make me more aero. It can be a little sketchy when cars are zooming by a couple feet away and I’m trying to tuck into a good aero position. I’ll have to practice more.

I finished off the weekend with a Mother’s Day barbeque with family. I ate a lot of food and enjoyed some good beer. Life is good right now.

Since I am running less right now, I have found some time to get into the pool a few times and in the weight room. Each session in the pool is better than the previous, which is encouraging. I can only hope this trend continues and my progression doesn’t stagnate. I did a measly weight session with teammates Will Porter, Kam Holbrook, and Myles Kloer. Kam and Will have been encouraging me to “get my swell on” with them. Three exercises later and we were off to dinner. Sadly, I have been quite sore from benching 115 lbs and curling 25 lbs. Ouch.

In 5 days I will be done with finals/projects and preparing to hike Mt. Humphreys with my girlfriend. More on that to come…