Hot Springs, I love em!

Randy and I have been in tour guide mode for the past few days. His sister, Jodi, came to visit and we have been trying to show her as much of Colorado as we could. Yesterday while I worked out, they did stuff in Colorado Springs: Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, Manitou, Old Colorado City, Gold Camp, Helen Hunt Falls, and Cheyenne Canyon. Then we hopped in the car and made the trek down to the Royal Gorge. We finally finished the day by arriving at Nathrop, home of the Mt Princeton Hot Springs. Today, I got up and had an amazing run up into the mountains. I saw over 100 deer along the way, most were in groups of 20 or so and were standing just feet away from where I ran! And I even got to run through some snow and up some very challenging inclines…but I knew I had a reward waiting for me: the hot springs!!! And, oh what a super reward they were! I think that is one of my favorite places to go chill out and relax. Randy and Jodi both ended up getting fried, they are so RED!!! Since they were burnt so badly, we headed out early afternoon and decided to drive up through South Park and Breckenridge. I’d never been to South Park before and was treated to a picture with Mr. Hanky :) We made a stop at Beau Jo’s in Idaho Springs…the best pizza ever! And then spent a few dollars in Blackhawk before heading back home. Whew, that was one busy weekend! Now, its time to get packed up for my trip to South Korea.


Randy and Jodi Chillin Out...and getting fried!


The awesome road I ran down...up into the mountains!


Time to play...notice my fun SPLISH suit!

DOG BITE!

So for those of you that know about my fear of dogs…you know I’ve gotten better ever since my parents brought good ole Mr. Bailey into the family. I remember the first time they brought him home as a small puppy, and I was terrified! There is a funny picture of me sitting on the couch with him on my lap with an ‘I’m scared to death’ look on my face. Well, my terror has returned…thanks to the dog bite I got last week!
I was headed out the door for a run on the first nicer day of April (we’d had snow/freezing rain for a few days and it was finally sunny and in the 60s.) As I started my run, I was thinking about just how lucky I am to do what I do. Then I turned into a neighborhood and kept on smiling as I ran up the road. I saw a dog and owner walking up in front of me. They were walking along the left side of the road. The dog was on a leash and doing normal dog exploring in the yards. He looked back and saw me once or twice as I approached. I ran wide around them almost on the opposite side of the road and before I knew it, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye and felt the teeth dig in my hip. Oh My GOSH, I just got bit! It’d broken the skin (and torn up my running pants!) and was bleeding! The owner tried to calm me down and kept saying she would be glad to help out. But, there was NO WAY I was going near her dog again!!! So, I hobbled back home as it sunk in what had just happened. Why does this stuff always seem to happen to me? I ended up spending the evening taking pictures and gathering information for insurance, calling animal control, and getting a tetanus shot. Tetanus shots are not FUN! Didn’t hurt at all when they gave it to me…but boy it sure did get sore.
I woke up the next morning and could not lift my arm. “Geez, I am a wimp, “ I thought. I attempted to go swim, thinking the movement would help. Wrong! It just hurt worse and worse , I was swimming lopsided, and every time I pushed off the wall and attempted to streamline, I was reminded of that dumb dog. Well, I woke up the following morning an d my arm felt even worse. I was in excruciating pain, then I looked at my arm and it was red and swollen and hot to the touch. Great, just great, just what I needed. So, another trip to the minor emergency clinic since that is where I received the shot. And yes, sure enough, I’d developed cellulitis where they gave me the shot. Arrrrggg! Right then and there I decided that is the end of my bad luck streak. I have tons of Good Luck coming my way, yippee!!!

More Snow!!!

Today was another snow-filled day! It snowed and snowed and snowed, about 5 inches, until 3pm....then the sun decided to come out, so most of it melted. Then around 6 it started snowing again and we got a few more inches! Supposed to snow another 3-6 inches overnight tonight. So I am guessing that Pikes Peak will look beautiful in the morning, if we can see it. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures :)

As for my foot...its healing like a champ. Unfortunately, I didn't get any gory pictures when it was really deep and bloody...but that is because I've been good and have kept it covered and padded. I just got it cleaned up and here's what it looks like tonight:

STEVENS BIKES!

I am so excited to announce my new bike sponsor for 2009: STEVENS BIKES! This is an awesome bike company out of Germany that is now taking the world by storm! Stevens Bike riders took several gold and silver medals at the cyclocross World Championships. Check them out at: Stevens Bikes

I will be riding the Crono TT and SLC Team Road in 2009. I absolutely love these bikes...lightweight, smooth, and FAST! And best of all...my name is plastered all over them :)

After another day off yesterday...I was looking forward to finally getting on my bike today. However, the weather had other plans...as I woke up to huge snowflakes coming down like crazy. I thought, what the heck, I'll get out and ride anyways!

HAPPY EASTER!

Crutches!

Wow--I knew I hadn't blogged in awhile...but didn't realize it had been since February! So much has happened! And, now I'm on crutches for the first time in my life. (Hopefully not for long!) I raced at the New Orleans 70.3 race this weekend and sliced my foot coming out of the water. I went ahead and finished the race and finally got a peek at the damage following the race. The good news: it's not infected! The not so good news: I can't put any pressure on my foot or get in the water to swim. The gash is about 3 inches long and is pretty deep considering there isn't much tissue on the bottom of your foot...its cut down to the muscle, so that is why I have to stay off of it! Maybe with my reduced training load I'll be able to do some 'catching up' on my blog :)

Other than the foot, New Orleans was awesome! The race was tougher than expected...yes, it was WINDY! The race organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job and it was so much fun to hobble down Decatur St in the French Quarter to cross the finish line in front of Jackson Square! After the race, I was able to enjoy some New Orleans cuisine. I had etouffe for the first time, YUM!!!, and jambalaya, and red bean and rice. We also made a stop at Cafe de Monde...the well-known French coffee and beignet house. The beignets were a mix of funnel cake, donuts, and powedered sugar...delicious! What a treat! After the sugar high, I crashed for the night and woke up still starving, so we headed to Camellia Grill for some chili covered omlettes! YUM, YUM, YUM!!!