Teva Mtn Games

We enjoyed Vail Satrday, as we always do in June, when it looks like July in Breck due to the lower elevations, and nicer gardens, thanks to all the money over there. Helen had a great run in the Spring Runoff 10K trail run. 5th overall (2nd in her age group), beating a couple members of the US Natl Mtn Running team. She had on Saturday morning done a 5hr training run, and she has a cold from Alina too and felt like crap, so she wasn't exactly well rested for this shock-to-her-system 10K run. But nonetheless she killed it and made some super-lithe-and-serious-looking trail runners look like turtles out there. I think the DHs were the hardest for Helen. She always crushes the climbs, like any good Colorado runner. Alina and I got to hang out and tour Vail Village, pretending like we were rich and famous. She really enjoyed the free orange mochas from Starbucks, though all she really did was eat the whip cream and suck on the mocha-and-cream flavored ice. Alina was rocking her Poison Spider sweatshirt, though it is still too big for her. Luckily Helen kicked it at the end, as the 6th place woman was flying down the cobbles and almost nipped Helen at the line. Even though this was just speedwork for Helen and she was not rested for this one, she was still bummed not to have placed 4th for some cash. That's Helen, always wanting to be in the money. Things in Vail are greening up nicely; one day we're going to come back and check out the Betty Ford gardens. Afterwards, I spun around town and east Vail to warm up for the hill climb. After a cool start off the ramp. I was flying east out of Vail Village on the frontage road, but soon an approaching t-storm kicked up the wind and I felt like a mosquito in a hurricane. We dove under I-70 a couple times and then I didn't recover well as we headed through East Vail. As we got on the old highway, I did feel great and was happy to be in the big ring (53x21) for a lot of the next mile. Not having ridden this before, I thought we were going to the top of Vail Pass. Soon I saw a 1km to go mark, and I realized we weren't going to the top, and that I'd better start pinning it now to minimize the losses. I ran a 35:56. Not very good. Maybe I could have shaved off 30secs had I known how short it was, and where the finish was. But that's not much of an excuse. I don't ride my road bike often, and it showed. My Open Pro Record wheels felt super nice and light. After the finish line I wasted no time and descended back to catch the bike path up to Vail Pass. After 30 more min of climbing I was at the top of Vail Pass. Another hour or so later, soaking wet (but not cold surprisingly), I was back home in Breck. Pretty fun day for the whole family, and Helen and I both got to get in some little tests.