The Great Week

Wow, the last week or two have been absolutely jam packed. August 12th saw me and the family in Longmont, Colorado for the Junior ITU National Championship. I didn't have a great race. It's alright though, I had been sick two weeks before and hey- your in Colorado- how bad can it be? The race was fun though, getting to line up with about 60 of the fastest juniors in the country. Their were even a few guys from Canada and New Zealand. Because the Elites were racing that weekend as well I had some interesting run-ins with the pro athletes as well.

Like the time my coach and two other teammates from IconOne multisport that were there, walked into the hotel elevator to head down for dinner. I walked in, look up, and realized that I was standing in the elevator with Hunter Kemper! #1 in the world in 2005, 2 time Olympian, ON THE COVER OF THE WHEATIES BOX HUNTER KEMPER!!! Way cool. My friend/teammate kept poking at me and nodding in Kemper's direction as we rode down, I looked back and nodded at him that- "yes I knew who that was." He asked us if we were racing the next day and we replied in the affirmative, then we wished each other luck and went our separate ways.

I also discovered the my coach is good friends with Barb Lindquist, and that she was actually staying in the room right next to me. Its kinda weird to be eating the same breakfast foods as one of the greatest female triathletes in history.

After the race mess was over the family and I headed up to rocky mountain national park to do some camping. I got to do some sweet mountain climbs on the bike. Biking in Colorado is WAYYYY cooler and harder then biking in Texas. No wonder everyone goes there to train. Then we headed down to the Air Force Academy to spend a couple nights were we enjoyed rock climbing at Garden of the gods and I got to work on my mountain biking skill. The Academy was fun too getting to listen to my dad tell all the stories from when he was there. After a late start and a long drive we finally got home to Dallas at 3 am Friday morning. Oh well.

Saturday saw our house overrun with grandparents as they came for my Eagle Court of Honor. That night was definitely way cool as after so many years of watching others stand up there, take the Eagle oath, have that neckerchief placed on their neck, and the medal pinned over their hear, I finally got my turn to be honored with two of my best scout buddies. It was an awesome experience.

Now its back to training and preparing for worlds. I can't seem to kick my sinus infection as today finds me once again hacking up green goo and struggling to shake whatever stuff is clogging my ear, out. But it won't come. So be it. Nonetheless I'm looking forward to a good trip to Germany and some fun times there.