Office Space?

TGI-weekend! Sorry I've been slacking on the posts lately, it's been a crazy week trying to work as much as possible, commute to Denver, train, figure out my daily schedule, sell stuff on ebay, etc. Things have been pretty good. I started my internship at Xcel Energy in Denver a week ago and am not racing for a few weeks. YES!

It's been a bit of battle figuring out this whole work/commuting/training deal. I like my job at Xcel Energy. It's a great company to work for, the employees all seem enthusiastic about their jobs, it has great benefits, and my boss is supercool. The commute....not so cool...50 miles a day, stupid traffic... I basically have to get to work at weird times to avoid sitting in traffic for 1+ hours. One time I tried to leave at 7:20 and sat in traffic for an hour and twenty minutes. The last thing I want is to waste away in a tin can sitting in a parking lot of what is supposed to be a highway, and being angst-ridden. I leave my apt by 6 or 6:15AM. The traffic was still busy, but not so bad. I could get off at 3/3:30, get home by 4, and ride after that. I *thought* that was going to work... until I was wide awake every night and it was taking me 2-3 hours to fall asleep for me to get a whopping 5 hours of sleep a night. If I get back from a ride, it takes my body about 5 hours to wind down making me due for actual sleep around 12 or 1 AM. I was trying to go to bed at 10. For recovery, sleep is extremely important. It's just as essential as the actual training itself because without rest, you can't get stronger. Fortunately my boss, Chris, is flexible and he is letting me shift around my hours. He's also letting me work part time so I can go to races. THANK YOU CHRIS! So now I am going to ride in the mornings, go to work around 10ish and stay late(like 6-7). I still have to get up early, but at least I'm not wired when it's time for bed, and the days I don't ride, I can get a few extra hours of zzz's that my body is always begging me for. I am also going to try out taking the the express bus to denver, taking my beater bike on the bus, and riding to work. I think that may be swell. It's like office space at work...tons of cubicles, you name it. I can't help but laugh sometimes.

I've been enjoying my new road bike. It rides SO much different than my old one. The Titus Modena is sleek, stylish, light, efficient, and just plain gorgeous. It also is super smooth on the decents so I can make most guys my bitch. ;) I do wish I knew what was going on with my legs. They really have felt like rotten meat sticks since IHBC. I'm hoping they will come around. Titus really makes some high performance machines and are the best bikes I have ever ridden. This week, I am doing a big week of training since I'm not racing. I wish I was racing today in Nathrop, but 6-7 weekends in a row of racing is just too much for this gal. Next weekend, I'm off to NYC to visit my bud, Lara...aka the first friend I EVER made in my whole life. :) I haven't seen her in two years so it'll be GREAT! Weekend after that I'm off to Silverton to camp with my family...it's been tradition since I was 1 year old. Then the racing starts up again... Eldora MSC, Deer Valley Norba Nat, Blast the Mass MSC or Sonoma Norba(gotta decide...but it's so EXPENSIVE to go to Cali), 24 hr national championships in Wisconsin, Brianhead Norba, Snowmass Norba...yeah, I'll be busy and probably damn tired and broke come mid August! I'm pretty stoked about this 24 hr national championships deal. Tough Girl Productions(the team I did my last 24 hr race with), is being incredibley supportive and giving me the "pro" treatment. They are flying me out to Wisco and paying for everything...can't beat that! I think they are trying to bribe me to be on their team next year...with this treatment it might work!!! These girls are badass because they do every event(DH, Super D, XC, ST, 24 hr)

Well, I'm off to go do a sweet yet torturous 4-5 hour training ride. Can't wait to climb all those hills and check out the view. I'll bring my camera so you can enjoy the views too.