atlas, leftovers and leadville

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."
~Chinese Proverb

it has been a crazy last few days. last week ended in a flurry of running, meetings and getting ready for the atlas ride. atlas was a LOT of fun. i got to catch up with many texas 4000 riders, sponsors and supporters who i hadn't seen in awhile because they don't live in austin and meet many new faces, including lots of 2009 rider parents. its always fun to meet people's families!

the start of the ride found me other 2008 riders discussing how we hadn't ridden in awhile and how our jerseys are much cooler than this year's team's. the atlas ride offers two routes. one is 52 miles long and the other is 70. they split at rest stop #2 and join back up at rest stop #5 and follow the same last 16 miles or so to the finish. i rode to rest stop #2 with todd, david, evan, ivan, ivan's professor, jeff and a few others. it was great to be riding with them all again!

while most of the alum and current texas 4000 riders decided to go the shorter route, david and i took off on the 70 mile route. we rode at a pretty good clip and laughed about how big the small hills seemed. i haven't been riding since about february due to all the running, but i felt great (strong) on the bike, which kind of surprised me.

as david and i rolled into rest stop #5, we saw a couple 2008 jerseys who had gone 50 miles and wondered who they would be. it turned out to be todd and lauren, and i suddenly felt like i was having deja vous. last year, i had ridden the last stretch (rest stop #5 to the finish) of the atlas ride with todd and lauren, and i happily joined them for the last segment this year.

atlas 2009: (left to right) me, troves, dan, todd and daniel

the above picture is from the finish line activities at atlas this year. ivan, evan, julio, kasaundra, stella and i were the only people from the 2008 rockies route who were there. ivan, evan, stella and i did some pushups for everyone at rest stop #2. it was bummer there weren't more of us there, but it was great to spend time with those who were. its amazing how geographically spread out we've all become in the last year!

the rest of the day was spent relaxing, chatting, going to hancock springs and finally camping under the stars. we woke early the next morning and cooked breakfast for the 2009 team, shared a ride dedication with them, taught them the haka and then sent them on their way.

lots of memories have come flooding back in the last few days. its been crazy to watch this year's team and think that its already been a year since my team and i set off on our own adventure. thank you again to everyone who was part of that experience. i'm grateful for your influences in my life.

last week was a recovery week in training, and i'll be back to the usual this week. this time though, i thought ahead and cooked dinner last night so i have leftovers for a couple nights and a few other things i can whip up quickly for dinner. it stinks to come home late and hungry and have to figure out things to make!

the last bit of exciting news is that i will be going to the leadville training camp in two weeks. basically, this is running camp for grownups. i'm going to with a bunch of other people from austin. we're heading to boulder for a couple days where we'll run 30-40 miles (in two days). then we'll drive out to leadville, co for the official training camp. leadville is located a couple hours drive west of denver in the middle of the rockie mountains. the city sits at ~10,000ft. elevation (fun fact: leadville is home to the highest elevation airport in north america). the first day of camp we'll run 26 miles and the second day we'll cover 21 miles. all of the running will be done on trails at 9,200-13,000ft elevation. i am ridiculously excited...and fully expect to be ridiculously tired by the end of it.