Acclimation

After weeks of pestering and months of advice to take a vacation before starting work I set foot in Colorado for 10 days of laughter, adventures, sweat, work and fun.  Kim and I headed to Colorado on a Tuesday and were greeted wonderfully by her old friend, Kirk, at the Denver Airport.  We spent a few days and nights exploring Denver before the rest of the DC Tri crew landed at 5280.

The first 3 days were spent in and around Denver with Kim and Kirk.  On Wednesday we woke up to fresh fruit for breakfast before heading out to Red Rocks.  Our plan was to run the "steps" at Red Rocks.  I assumed this would be similar to running stadiums in college - oh was I wrong.  Running the steps at Red Rocks is more like running the aisles.  You run across each row, go down a step, and run back.  We ran slow, with our camel backs, and kept a steady pace. After completing 1 round, which took about 20 minutes we took a break, ran up the stairs on the outside, and back down.  After resting for a few moments we ran up the aisles.  Running Red Rocks was great, we had free entertainment while a young girl rocked out for us, testing out her vocal cords.  She did a little operetta before nail Carly Rae Jaspen per our request.  The scenery that surrounds you is gorgeous and there is not shortage of other athletes around.

While running I didn't notice the O2 deficit much, but after lunch and once back home I passed out for a nice nap.  After I waking we headed to the outdoor 50m pool just down the road, Congress Pool.  The air was crisp, the water clean and I felt great.  My swim at Congress Pool was one of my best swim workouts I've had.  I hope I get into the dirty warm Ohio River next week and feel just as great :)  Kirk was nice enough to drop us off and pick us up, before heading to dinner.

One of our keys for acclimation was hydration, and hydrate we did!  I was constantly heading to the bathroom and Wednesday night I probably set a record for myself waking up about 4 times to use the restroom.  Thursday was a tough day, Kirk went to work and left Kim and I to navigate Denver public transportation on our own.  We walked out to the bus stop, watched 4 buses come and go, and finally boarded or bus to Applewood.  We were heading to Wheat Ridge Cyclery to pick up my rental bike and go out for a warm up ride.  The bus ride was rough, it took about 45 minutes and we saw quite the cast of characters.  We disembarked and walked the last mile to the shop feeling motion sick.  Once in the store I just needed a time out in the AC before taking care of anything.  The shop was awesome, and highly recommended.  I got my bike all set up and Kim and I set up to ride up Lookout Mountain.  We thought this would be a warm up ride.  We went through a rolling 12 miles past the Coors Brewery and through the town of Golden on our way to Lookout Mountain.  The School of Mines, not to be confused with The School of Mimes, is also in Golden.  I couldn't figure out why we didn't see anyone walking around in black and white talking with their hands, and then I realized.  Whoopsie dasiy.  The climb to Lookout Mountain was legit - switchbacks, up, up, and up.  So much for a warm up ride!  Once at the top the view and Gatorade was amazing.  The descent made every pain staking effort to climb to the summit worth it.  Once back at Wheat Ridge Cyclery we left our bikes for transport to Copper Mtn.  and walked over to Safeway for snacks, hydration, and fingers crossed a ride home.

Top of Lookout Mountain

Thursday night we spent downtown at the 16th St. Promenade before the arrival of the rest of the crew.  Denver was a pretty cool city and Kirk's generosity was amazing.  The break from the day to day of training in DC was much needed and the company couldn't have been better.  I'm glad I gave in to peer pressure and decided to head west for 10 days.  We were so lucky to have the opportunity to take advantage of funemployment playing and working out in Denver.  Friday morning brought a whole new set of adventures with more friends, more elevation, big vans, and big mountains outside of Denver.

Thanks for showing us a great time Kirk.