Last weekend Monkey (my Boyfriend) and I took a vacation to Colorado. We spent two days in Boulder and two days at Copper Mountain with Monkey's brothers and then a friend of mine. I think I need to move there. Seriously. It was heaven and here's why; Cycling in January and then a foot and a half of fresh powder.
A little history: skiing is a sport that is near and dear to my heart. When I lived on the east coast I was in a ski house on the east coast spend every weekend in Killington. I was a winter warrior on the mountain. I loved being up for first tracks. I would barrel down the mountain, ski down closed trails (in search of untouched powder) and when all was said and done it was time for happy hour. There are only two times to drink a bloody Mary, brunch and apres skiing. When I moved to Chicago I decided to sign up for a marathon because I was missing my ski winters and wanted something thing that would get me outside (even if it was January in the Midwest). It was cold and lonely in Chicago. I had been in Chicago for about 6 months, of which I had been working 80 hour weeks for about 4 of those. Work had died down (deal closed on December 31st) and I was bored out of my mind. I was used to Ktown and there really isn't much skiing in the Chicago area. I believe there is a small hill in Wisconsin that has skiing, but personally it's not worth the lift ticket price, or even the gas money to get up there. As a result of pure boredom I decided to head out to the lakefront path and get a run in. When I got home I realized that even though it was 14 degrees and snowing, it felt awesome. I decided to sign up for a marathon that afternoon. I had always talked about doing one and figured May 2009 was the perfect timeline. I ran the Green Bay Marathon and two days later I signed up for a half ironman triathlon. Six weeks after that I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin. If I hadn't missed skiing I would have never made myself go for a run that day or even wanted to train in the winter. For me, Skiing was my life pre-triathlons. I haven't really had them collide since this past weekend.
So here's a little bit more about my time in heaven:
Boulder is home to many professional triathletes. I used to think it was because of the amazing terrain and ability to train at a high elevation. Well, It's also 'cuase you can ride outside in January. We were staying with Monkey's brother who lives on the north side which is the entrance to all the major cycling routes. The first morning we walked to Amante, a local coffee shop. I walked up and outside were at least 10 road bikes leaned up against bike stands and walls. of course I checked out the bikes and the gears to size up the kind of riders that were inside. This only made me start drooling. Sitting on the side of the road was at least $45K worth of bikes. I walked in the door and inside were groups of cyclists in the most obnoxious bike jerseys (and seem to love the most obnoxious ones). Everything was all sorts of matchy matchy. Then I think:
Oh no, I'm a cyclists and but I'm just in jeans and sneakers. These people will just think I'm some blond chick, non cyclists walking into their cafe to drink from their coffee pot. They won't know that I'm as cool as they are . . . Ohhh phew, I'm wearing my Ironman finisher jacket. Not only do they know I fit in, but they know that I AM AN IRONMAN . . . who drinks french press coffee . . . black (ok with splenda in it) SUCK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At a certain point in the coffee shop Monkey had to tell my to close my mouth because I was drooling. I was drooling over the fact that (I know I've said this) but it's JANUARY AND EVERYONE IS RIDING OUTSIDE. I tried explaining it to Monkey's brother's girlfriend by showing her a picture on Facebook of the Wellfit training center computrainer room. I've been riding there since November and I still have another two and a half months (at least) of indoor training.
Later on in the trip we drove two and a half hours west out to Copper Mountain. When we got into the mountains it had been snowing for about three hours. It continued for another 20 hours totalling 18 inches of new snow. All the skiers reading this know that nothing is better than fresh powder. The whole day I was on first tracks. It was phenomenal. The good news was Monkey can ski. I was testing him (this is one of the last ones). He had told me he knew how to ski but I had to see his abilities to understand if he would be able to keep up with me during a ski trip or if he would simply stick to the blue and green slopes. The bad news is I am out of ski shape. Yeh, my legs were burning. I thought that with all the strength training and cycling I've done as a part of my pre-season training I would have a shot at not having sore quads. NOT POSSIBLE. I now remember how I was in great shape when I was living on the east coast. I could rip through a whole slope full of moguls without stopping more than once. This time I thought my chest would beat out of my chest. The altitude (14,000 feet) may have had something to do with it, but I do think most of it was attributed to me being out of skiing shape. 
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