Can I just say it feels BEYOND good to be back at home knowing I don't have any more significant trips lined up in the near future? Trust me, I love a bit of travel and getting away to do fun things, work things, etc., but it usually means giving up on quality training, falling behind in some things despite my best efforts and getting out of my routines. I'll admit, I am a creature of habit and I love when I get in a groove at home of doing quality work and consistent training, having good home-cooked meals, getting the rest I need, wearing comfy clothes 24/7 rather than "real people" clothes, etc.
Yesterday was my first full day back at home since before Mammoth. Can you guess my priorities? Ride my bike for a long time (and climb lots of hills, about 4k worth), catch up on work, cook, bed by 9 (in that order).
Backing up, though.... Mammoth! I will say those two days of snowboarding bliss were worth the lack of s/b/r. I needed that. And all that training in altitude I talked up prior? Yea, not so much. We did do a run at 8,000ft when we got there, but that was it. The long days of snowboarding and the snowy conditions = no additional training. I did jump into a freezing @$$ pool one afternoon though. Does that count as training for cold conditions? We caught it on video; check it out below. My cousin joined me (sort of)...
As for the snowboarding, it came right back to me and it was a freakin blast. I love that mountain, and being there reminded me of all my past trips and that I actually used to snowboard a ton. I was so stoked to be back at it and maybe even went a little "too gnar" at times? For example, I stayed true to being a total tri geek by wearing my Garmin and got to find out some cool stats -- like how we got up to ~32 mph going down some runs. That's fast. But I wonder how fast it is compared to really fast boarders? I can say, though, we were in control and not being stupid. Oh yea, side note, we DID wear helmets. No question about that! And turns out I have a big noggin? John and I wore the same size helmet! I knew my noggin was big, but, man! haha.
Big noggin crew.
In love with this mountain.
Oh yea, we also "laid out" in the snow haha.
Four pairs of socks. Toes still froze.
The two days we boarded couldn't have been any different, either. The first day we were there the conditions were ideal -- sunny, great snow, not too crowded. We boarded from opening to just before they closed, maaany hours. It was a jam-packed day! Then the second day a storm rolled in and it was insanity -- snowing like crazy, freezing, low visibility, windy -- yet full of pow pow and fresh tracks mmmm. We still put in close to a full day minus the frequent stops to go thaw out. Eventually my hands were so jacked that I had to have others have to help thaw me out by rubbing my hands. It was sheer pain.
Going for the alien look on day 2.
Fresh pow pow.
It got really snowy.
Then just like that I was in LA for Endurance Live, which was a blast. It drew a fun crowd of people I usually only get to see at the races and related events. Of course, our Endurance Planet crew had a killer time sitting together and hanging out too.
Luxurious LA hotel living.
I see it as "glass half full" aka multitasking at its finest!
Wondering around not really knowing where the party's at.
My Endurance Planet main men -- Ben & Lucho!
Lucho gets star struck in LA.
I get star struck too :)
And now, back home! Whew, thank goodness!!!! I'm realizing February will end up being a not-so-great month of training due to all the randomness that went down, but that's life. I plan on gettin busy now through most of March leading up to Oceanside. In fact, today I am expecting a little surprise to arrive that starts with an S and ends with a V.
That said, I literally just got the text that it's on its way home!!! Yee hawww!!!
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