Memorial Day Weekend Recap

Greg and I were both in town for the long weekend which is crazy for starters. There was a local 3-day race in town called the Superior Morgul Classic. As the inaugural event, it was great... great racing, great town support, great weather, great fans! I really hope this race sticks around for years to come.

I will recap with lots of pictures. Frankly, it is the only way I can remember the hectic weekend.

Friday night started with Street Sprints- about 300m uphill from a standing start. I took the win. That's what us trackies do!

One of the juniors, Danny Hiller, that Greg and I mentor also won the sprints for the Cat 3 men. Here is a photo of us in our leader's jerseys. Yes, he is a junior. Actually only 17 years old and he's got some talent on the bike!

The town of Superior (right outside of Boulder) put on this weekend festival and race. What would a festival be without a beer tent. Oskar Blues? None better.

This was taken in the morning while volunteering. Not a bad view with the mountains in the background. There was perfect weather all weekend.

Oh, on top of the racing, I volunteered about 8 hours over the weekend for the race organizer.

Saturday: After volunteering in the morning, we had a crit in the afternoon. Racing was quite a bit frustrating since I felt like I was at a disadvantage without any teammates. I raced hard, really hard but only could manage 4th. Even though the course had a big old hill in it, I really enjoyed racing on it.

It was a long day already and I rushed home to soak my legs in the Boulder Creek. It's like taking an ice bath and great for recovery. I caught this guy flipping his boat. Oops!

That night we went to Nick and Megan's house for dinner. Not a bad view from their back porch! Greg made a vegetarian feast with all fresh ingredients from that morning's farmer's market. There was a wild mushroom salad, a heirloom tomato/cucumber/onion Greek salad, and a giant white bean salad. Nick fired up the grill and added some chicken sausage and grilled fresh rustic bread and topped it off with fresh berries for dessert. Good food, good friends, and good times!

Sunday: The famous Morgul Bismark road race! Torture for me but an honor to race on such a historical course. Here is a view from the bottom of "the Wall" which we climbed 5 times. It is 1 mile long and parts of it are up to 12% grade. Ouch!

The fans were out in full support on Sunday. If Lance Armstrong gets his way and there is a Tour of Colorado some day, then this course will surely be part of it. The local fans are only getting warmed up.

I have changed my attitude towards hills in the past month. Although I am not yet to the point that I am super fast uphill, I don't dread them like I used to.

The race went as predicted. Up the wall for the first time, the pack splintered. The lead pack ended up with 12 of us. Eventually, I got dropped from the main group but the torture was that I never lost sight of them. So, I basically TT behind them for 2 hours. The closest I came was literally like 50 meters and the furthest was about 1 kilometer. I guess it was good because it kept me working hard. I ended up 9th on the day and was pretty happy with my fitness- mentally and physically that day. Results- 1st- Anne Samplonius, 2nd- Jessica Phillips, 3rd- Alison Powers.

The overall podium at the end of the 3 days- 1st- Robin Farina, 2nd- Megan Hottman, 3rd- Meredith Miller (not pictured), 4th- me, 5th- Alison Powers. Local Colorado racing is pretty damn tough sometimes!

On Sunday morning before my race, I showed up to encourage the juniors who were racing. I am so proud of all of my Flatiron Flyers. Every time I am around these kids, I smile. Below is one of my buddies that inspires me.

Monday was chill for me but crazy for Boulder. The Bolder Boulder is the 2nd largest 10k in the country. Ironically, 2nd only to the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. I am proud to say I have run both of these several times. But, Monday, I just watched.

Below is a picture I stole from Nick taken from Folsom field where the 54,000 runners get to finish. What a view! I LOVE BOULDER!

Boulder also hosted the Boulder Creek Festival where all those 54,000 people and their friends/families go to wander and eat festival food. There was everything from Ferris wheels to teeth whitening. No seriously.... weirdest festival tent there.

That's a lot... but there is so much more to catch you up on! Check back soon.