Boulder Recruiting Trip

BURRRRRRR!!!!! Ben Collins getting ready to bike in the snow
BURRRRRRR!!!!! Ben Collins getting ready to bike in the snow

A few weeks ago Courtenay got into a graduate program at CU-Boulder. This week they flew here out here to visit, so naturally I drove up from Colorado Springs to spend the weekend with her. I haven’t spent much time in Boulder before this weekend, but I’ve certainly heard plenty about it (more pro triathletes live here than anywhere else in the US). On Thursday I jumped in the water with Dave Scott’s group at Flatiron Athletic Club. The club is pretty cool. Plenty of cardio equipment, frequent yoga classes, open pool time and a well stocked weight room. The swim practice itself was a pretty typical master’s practice. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool to be in the same lane as Matt Reed and next to several other pro athletes (you’ll have to forgive me for not recognizing a lot of ironman athletes), but it wasn’t some mind blowing experience that made me rethink the way I’ve been swimming the past 20 years. Otherwise it was a well organized master’s workout (full range of abilities) with a famous person dishing out the sets to six outdoor lanes (sound cold? it was.) packed with 40 people. Still, I enjoyed myself because it’s swimming (which I love) and it was with cool people in a new place, which makes things interesting.

I also went for a bike ride outside – my first since leaving Honolulu – which was really fun. I did a flat loop to the east, hoping to stay away from the clouds that were hugging the mountains in the west. It didn’t work, I hit snow flurries within the first 10 minutes of the ride. I was stubborn, however, and a by 30 minutes into the ride I was under partly cloudy skies (they say that if you don’t like the weather in Colorado then you should wait an hour for it to change). I got in a great interval session, but on my last effort, as I was rounding the boulder reservoir, I found myself getting dumped on with thick cold flakes of snow. By the time I got back to Rory’s apartment (where I’m staying) my helmet was caked in snow, my bike was drenched and dirty, and my hands were numb. It was totally awesome.

Courtenay finished her recruiting trip today and is spending the evening hanging out with the two ex-boyfriends she has in Boulder while I relax and prepare for a hard weekend of training. Hopefully she’ll make it back here tonight 🙂

Published by Ben

Ben Collins Professional Triathlete

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1 Comment

  1. man, it is pretty ridiculous that as soon as I leave colorado you end up moving that direction. so much for that. maybe that means when I leave copenhagen you will move here! don’t know it there are triatheletes here though, and it is probably too flat for your taste. how is colorado?

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