Vail and Avon, Colorado

I just wanted to give an idea of what's been going on this week. We drove back from Leadville to Vail to the only campground we could find (Gore Creek Campground). Which is only 15 miles from the XTERRA Mountain Cup race site in Beaver Creek. So far over 400 athletes have signed up for both the full XTERRA distance ( .9 mile swim in Avon Nottingham Lake, 15 mile mountain bike on the mountainside of Beaver Creek, then a 5.7 mile grueling trail run with a bunch of climbing) and a shorter Sport distance XTERRA. The weather has been nice and its supposed to be hot and sunny on Saturday!
We found a sweet camping spot! Here's our clothes drying after hand washing in buckets of water from a nearby creek (I know, very pioneer-ish). We've cooked corn on the cob, veggie burgers, and sweet potatoes on the grill over the fire and its very enjoyable being outside most of the time even when we're not out on a bike ride or on a training run.

On Wednesday, my mom who was a massage therapist for 7 years, gave me a massage to help me loosen up for the upcoming race. The professional athletes, and age groupers alike try to get massages at least once every week as part of their training and recovery program. I don't usually get massages because I used to have a hard time staying still for a while, but now since I'm spending so much of my energy in my training, I may give regular massage a try.

The tiny buildings down below is Beaver Creek Village where the bike-to-run transition and finish of the XTERRA is. Beaver Creek is a ski and snowboarding resort, there are lots of hidden vacation cabins scattered up the mountainside. They have a chair lift running from the village daily for people who don't want to ride or hike up the mountain. The lift takes you approximately halfway up the mountain, then you can pick your own way down on bike or foot.

I'm on part of the bike course, about a mile of climbing on pavement, 4 miles into the bike leg of the race. The dark clouds behind me are the thunderstorms that occurred almost every afternoon the first few days we came here.

As always, I'm feeling ready, almost itching to race! Legs are feeling fresh, lungs are acclimated to the altitude, just feeling good! Will post after the race.