Hellooooo Utah

Okay I'll admit, I need to be more positive. Reading my last post it is evident that many of my updates are of me just wining. No one wants to read that! So here we go, A positive update!

It's official now. I live in Logan, Utah! Not in a million years did I ever think that I would live in Logan, Utah but here I am, ready to make the most of it. Brianne and I moved into a quiet apartment last week as she continues her research job and I am continuing to just look for a job. Logan is located in the beautiful Cache Valley at 4,500 feet so it resembles (to a degree) an alpine valley in the Alps. The Wasatch Mountains are to the west and the Naomi Wilderness is to the east. Throughout the valley and surrounding foothills are miles of quiet roads PERFECT for cycling.

I have a wonderful girlfriend who supports and encourages me to pursue my dream and make the most of it. Now I live in an area great for training and which is centrally located surrounded with other like minded people. Everything I sacrificed for so long is finally coming together. Although if I had a little source of income that would be nice. I will worry about that later...

I am not going to beat around the bush. I am here and I am ready to make the the move into triathlon's elite ranks. I know I have what it takes, it will just take some time to fine tune things that only come with experience. Already this week I have felt enormous changes in my cycling and my run. Just how much stronger I can get, I will find out this fall as I will jump into a couple Olympic triathlons and perhaps even a half-ironman. I cant decide on either the SOMA half-iron or the Austin 70.3. Stay updated as things can only improve from here. I am ready for the journey. Game on!

Cooling off in Beaver Creek, Utah after a run at 7,500 feet.

More Set Backs

I am not sure where to begin other than simply stating I am slightly angry. For the last six months I have been deep in thesis work up to my eyeballs. I knew these last months were going to be the toughest and I was literally told to put my other life passions (life) on hold. I knew all the chaos and hysteria associated with being a graduate student would not last forever so I buckled down, and proceeded to get to business. The sooner I finished, the sooner I would be free. I locked myself in my room with only journal articles, Microsoft Word, and my research results. It was a physical and emotional, long, dark, lonely, road to say the very least. I only appeared about three times a day to get food from the kitchen and maybe once more to go look at the tomato plants outside in the garden. Brianne left in early May and I was left to finish completely on my own. At that point I began loosing all concept of time and date. Seeing people and engaging in any kind of conversation was difficult due to my isolation. I began dreaming about my thesis too. The graphs and tables were always translucent shimmering pages that floated around my room and the worst part of all, none of the results were consistent! Then I would hear my advisor say in a deep slow tone (kind of like Darth Vader), "Adam..., what do these results mean to you?" It was awful. Meeting deadlines like that can not be good for your health.

Finally it was over. I finished my thesis. But my joy and relief was short lived because in exactly two weeks time, I would need to defend it. This was the finial of all finals. Anyone can do the work and write a paper but you also need to show that you know your shit too. In those last two weeks I studies my statistical print outs, journal articles, and potential responses to questions I would likely hear as if my life depended on it (which it kind of did). It all came down to this. My defense. I either pass, or don't. But ironically, throughout all those butterflies and mayhem the tiny little fire, as small as it was by then, was still burning for triathlons. Then, finally, after two years and catastrophic emotional trauma, I passed, I was free!

That very first weekend I did the Ruidoso Sprint Triathlon and had more fun than I ever remembered having in a triathlon. Although I still enjoy preforming well and kicking butt, my love for the sport now greatly outweighs my desire to be the next hot shot super star. It doesn't matter anymore to me. I just love to get out there with other motivated driven people and have a good time.

After the race I swam and ran a couple of times and rode a whole four days in a row. I felt fitness immediately flowing back into my muscles and I was getting seriously stoked for my new rediscovered life. Then, on the fifth bike ride something horrible happened. I got off the bike and my bum was burning as if a chile pepper went down the wrong tube. Nothing was relieving the pain and it was getting worse and worse. At the end of the day I was just about ready to go into the emergency room. I couldn't take it any longer. It turns out I have hemorrhoids. How the hell do I have hemorrhoids?! I am only 25 years old? Don't only old people get hemorrhoids? From what I gathered, sitting for long periods of time, a poor diet along with lots of coffee is the perfect remedy to fire up them hemorrhoids. Just what the life of a graduate student consists of.

So that's the story. I don't know what to do now. Riding the bike is just too painful, running is too risky (at the moment) but swimming is okay so long as I limit my leg movement. Hopefully things start looking up. At least I am done with school now. Its funny, I have all the time in the world finally but here I am, back on the old lap top typing away.

Ruidoso Sprint Triathlon

I decided to do this race about a week before it kicked off. Talking around with some Race Club friends it appeared that several of them were going to do it and encouraged me to sign up too. There was even a cool cabin I could stay in. The whole weekend sounded like loads of fun and I took the opportunity to register and kick of the tri-season! Unfortunately as race day drew closer I found out that everyone who was going to the race was abandoning ship like it was on fire. No way was I going to pull out of yet another triathlon because my friends were all getting a bad case of "cold feet". If I had to go alone and do it on my own I would. However, luckily Pietre and Deanna were still heading up to Ruidoso for a wedding and offered me a spot on the floor of their cabin. Their efforts over the weekend pretty much saved the day and allowed me to (surprisingly) have a good race.

New Mexico, I learned the other day, has the lowest percentage of open water of any State. This is the reason why the majority of triathlons here are done backwards. It is impossible for 200 people to start in a four lane 25 yard pool so we run first, then bike, then swim. I don't really like it in that order because I have to hold back so much on the run and by the time I get to the swim I am pretty well trashed. But it is what it is and everyone does the same thing.

The run began at 8:00am sharp and immediately everyone shot out of that starting area like a quarter mile nitromethane fueled drag race. I didn't want to use it as an excuse but seeing everyone take off like that and leave me in their dust I couldn't help but remember that in the last couple of months I could count the number of times I have biked or run on one hand. Yep, I was definitely in over my head this time.

The run was 3.5 miles long and around 7,000 feet in elevation (along with the rest of the course). After a half mile or so the run entered a single track trail which circles a beautiful little lake before returning to transition. Entering the single track trail, it seemed as if the race's level of fury dropped several notches. "Blast!" Everyone went out too fast as usual and now I am stuck behind them. That was okay, I didn't really mind, I needed to hold back anyway because I was unsure how biking at such elevation and on such noodle-like legs would work out. Each opportunity I got however, I went around a runner or two. No big aggressive moves, but I kept moving up throughout the whole run leg.

Close to the end of the run I inched up on this rather buff looking dude who was obviously working very hard. I hung back ten feet or so just watching and waiting for the transition to show. Suddenly this fellow just starts weaving all over the road and begins coughing. Then he slows and bends over at the side of the road allowing us to get a pretty good idea of what he had for breakfast. Although I am still a little unsure of what breakfast foods are green.

Finally the run was over. I ended up coming into transition around sixth or seventh but most importantly, I still felt pretty good. I was not breathing hard or cramping or having any regrets on what I ate for breakfast like my friend over there (who is my new hero by the way). I was excited to start the 10 mile bike section. The first half is almost completely up hill and the last half, a white knuckle screaming decent on windy mountain roads.

I passed two competitors soon after leaving transition and I appeared to be making up some ground. I didn't feel super strong but I felt aero after making some adjustments on the ol' Cervelo. Since this was a sprint and the first five miles were completely up hill I couldn't waste time if I wanted to gain more ground. I adjusted myself back into aero position, put my head down, and dug my legs into the pedals causing my hamstrings to scream mercy and calves to burn. When the discomfort became too great, I got out of the saddle for twenty or so revolutions. I looked behind me a couple of times expecting the entire world to show up and proceed to give me a nice spanking, but luckily they didn't. At the turn around the two lead riders were right there but the fact that the course was now a descent meant I could not use the hill to my advantage. I would have to bank on my aero-position, and my ability to read the road and it's tangents to make up more time. I closed on second place, Bobby Gonzales from El Paso, TX, quickly but I noticed he had a bigger chain-ring in front than I did because when I would spin out he could keep hammering. We were both ripping the decent at 45 miles per hour but I slowly began opening up some distance. Close to the bottom I managed to catch two cars and rather than wait behind them, I took my chances and passed them. Yeah, I'll admit it, passing cars made me feel like a bad ass. Coming into transition I accidentally took a detour around the town of Ruidoso, NM adding a little extra distance to the bike leg but it wasn't bad. I was overall, very pleased with my bike.

Oh yeah, now the 400 yard swim. Crap! But before that, I managed to pull of yet another famous Blalock transition (i.e. slowest transition ever by not removing my feet from the shoes before hopping off, rooting around in my bag for the goggles, struggling to get my sticky bike jersey off etc...). Bobby, just behind me, of course was lickity split in transition and also, probably did not detour the town before getting off the bike. Thus, that time I had amassed on the bike was pretty much negated during transition. I ran to the pool feeling like I had slinkies for legs and without wasting any more time, jumped right in. "Wait wait wait!" yelled the volunteers. "You have start from the other side of the pool." Right then, Bobby ran by me. "Arrggh!" I said to myself. "I had a good bike ride, I don't feel like fighting for it that bad, I'm done." I slogged through the 200 yards of hell feeling every muscle fiber in my body ripping and shredding with fatigue, then, because the pool was so small, you get out, run around, and swim the 200 yards again. Fun fun fun!

I ended up coming in third. It was a great way to kick off finishing my thesis and the start of summer and my triathlon season. On paper I was listed as being first however. Then during awards I was called out as taking second. What happened to the leader? It was a little strange. But the best part of all, I got a bear carving! I normally don't like trophies but this one was pretty neat. You just can't beat locally made crafts. Especially a bear!

Happy to finally be back on the bike. (Photo by Joe Coakley.)

I got a bear!

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

I traveled to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument alone for the Memorial Day weekend. I brought my camera, a little food, a lot of water and a journal. During this adventure, I took some notes about this amazing place as well as my thoughts. I recommend everyone doing this once in a while (i.e. spend some time truly alone in solitude). You can really learn a lot about yourself. Most of my thoughts are just ramblings and don't have any meaning what so ever, but some of my thoughts surprised me.

May 27.

So here I am, sitting in my underwear sweating to death at 10:30pm. I have finally settled down in my tent and I am going to try this journal thing. The camp here at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM) is huge, but for all the 200+ sites it is just me and someone else farther up. I arrived here about an hour before the sun set, ate cold oatmeal, then after the sun set, I tried to find some organ pipe and saguaro cacti blooming...

...I got completely spooked walking around in the dark. My idea of taking a stroll down this primitive path looking for cacti blooms, snakes, tarantulas, Gila monsters, or anything that comes out after dark proved to be just a little to spooky for me. I was just fine for a while but then all of a sudden, I started thinking about mountain lions. Never ever hike alone in mountain lion country, especially in the dark. "Hey! guess what I'm doing?" From then on every little rustle and twig I hit with my tripod nearly gave me a heart attack. I get so scared of the dark sometimes.

When I was figuring out what to cook I realized I forgot matches or a lighter. Idiot! I tried to light a piece of paper on fire using the cigarette lighter in the car but all I could manage was a smouldering mess. I even tried using a few drops of Coleman fuel to see if that would get the spark to kick over. Failure! I actually felt pretty disappointed I couldn't get a flame going.

So tomorrow should be nice I will go drive around and take pictures and try to stay cool. In other words, I will just do whatever I want. It will be a nice break from my Las Cruces life. Yeah I'm having fun but deep down I wish Brianne was here. Sharing these things with someone makes the experience just that much better.

May 28.

Sleeping alone in the desert was new for me. (And when I mean alone I mean alone. The only other person I knew about was that camper about a quarter mile up the road.) After I spooked myself silly last night hiking around in the dark, sleep was tough. I woke up several times thinking something was stalking my tent. Then, suddenly, I heard footsteps! I wasn't imagining it this time! Something was definitely snooping around out there! Unfortunately I was in that paralyzed state where I couldn't move but I was aware of everything around me. Yes, I hear footsteps! No question about it! All I could do, being paralyzed and all, was whisper (gibberish probably), wiggle just slightly, and rub my foot against the side of the tent. The mountain lion that was about to eat me was probably laughing and thinking "how cute, he is having a puppy dream... I hope he catches the rabbit." But really I was not having a dream. I was fighting for the words to yell, and save my life. Then, suddenly and without any warning I snapped out of my paralysis. It began slowly and quietly as my sleepiness wore off but across the quiet desert plain you could hear me yell from my tent "...mmmmmMMMMRRRRRAAAAAA!!!" I don't know why I didn't just yell "Hey!" or "Get" but my wailing seemed to do the trick because I never herd it again.

That first day after I pitched the tent, I placed it on the gravel that had been sitting in the sun for weeks so it was pretty warm to say the least. I read that the ground in OPCNM gets up to 175 degrees during the day. The air was cooling off nicely by my back was sweating profusely from trying to sleep on lava. Hopefully the next night the ground will cool slightly.

There are so many wonderful birds and calls happening right now. A second ago this band (technically a flock right?) went hopping through the brush about a foot from me. They appeared so curious and intelligent. They were small too, like mice with beaks and about the same color.

Well the sun is coming out and I am starting to get excited. I have four cacti I want to see here in OPCNM before I leave:

1. Organ Pipe
   
2. Saguaro
3. Senita
4. Queen of the Night
   

Blast! I got back from hiking the 4.5 mile Victoria Mine trail but I didn't find a Senita or Queen of the Night cactus. The saguaros and organ pipe cacti are everywhere. I wish I could find a Queen of the Night cactus! I probably looked like a homeless man going through garbage cans looking for tin cans, but instead with dead shrubbery and a silly cactus. Its getting hot again so I draped the quilt over the top of my tent to provide me with the only shade in the area. If there's a breeze blowing I'm okay but its pretty calm at the moment. Its only 10:30am and its starting to heat up nicely. I'm sweating just sitting here in the shade. If it gets too unbearable I may go hang out in the visitors center or go for a drive with my AC on.

11:00am. I have been laying down for 30 minutes and it's way too hot to nap. I think I'm going to check out the visitors center.

Got back from the visitors center and driving around. Sleep was impossible! I was just sweating up a storm. As long as I am going to sweat and be miserable I might as well be seeing the sights and taking pictures. The lady at the visitors center said I could either go into Mexico or the off limits area of the park to see the Senita cacti. Neither was an option. Rats! She didn't help much either on suggesting ways to find a Queen of the Night cactus. She did say they were very well camouflaged and looked like dead sticks. Duh, that's why I'm always in the shrubbery getting scratched and entangled with spiders. Check out the pictures I took of one of the Queen of the Night cacti in their garden of you don't believe me.

So the drive was nice. Not too exciting. I didn't really see anything new. I did see a blooming agave though. That was pretty exciting if your a nut like me. Then I started seeing familiar things I saw when I was here with Brianne over a year ago. I sure do think about her all the time. I can't understand how she thinks I've moved on already. How can that be if I'm here alone and every little thing reminds me of her. I think how much she would enjoy this trip. She is such a trooper, one to always jump at the chance of an adventure...

...It's funny, maybe funny isn't the right word, but going on these little trips alone with only your thoughts really lets you see what is important in your life. Take away all the little distractions and you are left with the top most important things in your life. Hey! this is good! I am going to list the top, most important things in my life and then try to rank them:

1. Brianne
2. Triathlon
3. Plants
4. Cycling
5. Running
6. Mom and Dad
7. Quiet alone time
8. Friends
9. Living healthy
   
10. Simple life
11. Pictures
12. Weather
13. Getting this damn fly buzzing in my face to leave me alone
14. Swimming
15. Warm sunny weather
16. Canoeing
17. Being satisfied
18. Traveling
19. Ocean/Waves/Surfing (even though I don't surf I think I would really like it.)
    
20. Dogs
21. Details
22. Waterfalls
23. Music
24. Socializing
25. Getting a masters (I feel I am supposed to say this because I have been brainwashed for so long into believing a masters is EVERYTHING!)

Okay, so I will end there. Some of them are pretty tangible and real like Brianne or riding my bike but others like being satisfied are difficult to describe and rank. Being satisfied is important but how can you rank it compared to something like dogs...

...Whoa! the pop tart I placed on the ground for about 20 minutes while writing is completely covered in ants. Man these guys are quick. Hungry too...

...But I don't have to be an athlete. I don't want to stay in Las Cruces and start training, I want to go see Brianne. But after I see Brianne I will want to start training. It is hard to rank the top three. Can I have all three in a package deal?

Dang its hot! I wish the sun would hurry up and set so it wouldn't be so blasted uncomfortable.

It's 7:20pm and the three bird band is back! This camp robber bird also came by a moment ago and hopped around looking for something to eat I think. It took a good long look at the book of matches (this couple up the road was kind enough to let me have) sitting on my plate, ruffled its feathers, and looked at me likely thinking, "You are boring and more importantly, don't have anything to eat." Then it flew away.

I also took a quick shower in the bathroom. It felt wonderful! But I did feel kind of guilty doing it in one of the hottest and driest places in the world.

May 29

Luckily this most recent night wasn't nearly as scary as the first night. Maybe it's because I talked with that couple down the road for some matches and I at least knew someone knew where I was... or something. But the evenings in the desert are magical. As soon as the sun sets, temperatures cool off, critters come out to play, and the sky changes from orange to pink to purple. Then the stars come out. check out my pictures. I actually got some pretty good shots of the Milky way. I even managed to "catch" some shooting stars and I never even saw a single one. Even when I was looking for them. Goes to show my camera is super bad ass! I awoke about 2:00am to go pee and I could see the Milky Way much better so I said "What the heck", grabbed my camera and tripod and proceeded to take pictures of the sky standing in my underwear. Good thing the border patrol didn't drive by like they did last night when I was trying to "shoot" stars. Yeah! so this truck pulled up right where I was taking star pictures and proceeded to intimidate me with their overly bright flood lights and walkie-talkies while I was just standing in the dark. I politely waved, pretending to be excited to see them, then put my hands on my hips and waited for them to: 1) Drive away; 2) Come talk to me; 3) Come yell me; 4) Come cuff me and take me away at gun point. Luckily they drove away.

Now I'm just sitting here at my camp deciding what to do. I have already driven the entire park and hiked most of it. Finding out that the Senita cacti and Queen of the Night cacti are impossible to find (unless you look at planted ones in the visitors center). My drive and motivation to stick around is dwindling. Plus hanging out in 100 degree weather with no shade or real shelter isn't much fun. Let's just say my tan has never looked so good. Hellooooooooo leather skin!

It is happening again Brianne uses a word to describe old feelings of happiness brought on by current experiences that remind you of of those times. I just ate a bowl of oatmeal and made instant coffee. For some reason that reminded me of the times of camping at Priest Lake, Idaho with Dad. Especially in the morning. I think it is the warm sun and solitude. In the morning those things are really noticeable. Those sure were fun times, hiking up to the rock slides, canoeing up to Upper Priest Lake via the thoroughfare, taking a hike to Frog Pond, going huckleberry picking, riding my mt. bike on obscure logging roads in the mountains, and seeing all the wildflowers. Not to mention the crystal clear water... something I miss sometimes. Even though my surroundings are strikingly different, they strangely remind me of Northern Idaho. Maybe I am homesick. From what Brianne and I have been talking about, I think she would think Priest Lake was thee coolest place in the world. At least Priest Lake back in the 90's before it became a popularity contest. I wonder how it looks now? Probably pretty disappointing with all the boats, jet skies and nonstop noise.

The camp robber bird just came back looking for stuff again and was followed by a woodpecker and then the tiny hummingbird I haven't mentioned yet. All three were were just watching me checking me out. "What's this all about" I said, "are you trying to tell me something?" I guess being alone all the time you start talking to things like they understand. Still no sign of the three bird band by the way. They have visited me every morning and evening since I have been here.

Just got back in a last ditch effort to find a Queen of the Night cactus. I failed again. They are out there somewhere but I can't find any. Thus, I have decided to leave. I have seen the majority of the accessible parts of the park. Even though I really don't want to, I should get back so I can start organizing myself for the defense on June 7.

Driving back will be interesting I'm sure. The border war activity and drug smuggling is out of control right now. I will have to pass through two checkpoints on the way back. I hope they don't interrogate me too much but they probably will. I always get so nervous going through security. I'm a young white male traveling alone in a beat up truck with expired license plates. When they ask me what I was doing I will honest tell them, "I was camping alone in the desert on the border of Mexico officer". I bet I get a lot of crap for that statement. But It's not like I have anything to hide...

A blooming Agave.

The Sonora desert in the Ajo Mountains.

An Organ Pipe Cactus.

Another Organ Pipe Cactus.

Can you find the Queen of the Night Cactus? I couldn't, and didn't...

Back in Full Force!

The power of the 'stache will soon reign again.

The Yard

The tomatoes and peppers on the drip hose. All the plants have green tomatoes on them! The broccoli and dead peas are on the brick wall and if you look real close you can see the watermelon plant in the far left. Oh yeah, that pile of dead sticks is from the oleander that nearly froze to death this winter.


The screened porch. It's not obvious I only water the flower bed is it?


Here is sweet potato experiment I tried. I wanted to see if I could grow one by simply sticking a tuber half way into the soil. Sure enough it worked. And it looks pretty interesting too.


The back yard. Living in a warm climate is pretty nice sometimes. The tomatoes and peppers are in the back right corner. That leaning tree is a mimosa, it has incredibly fragrant flowers that look like pink puff balls.

Twelve Days

I really shouldn't be here right now wasting more time but here I am. I have exactly 12 days left to finish my thesis and 26 days until I defend it. I am pretty stoked to be done and begin doing things I love again. Obviously triathlons are where my attention and efforts will be put to use in about a months worth time. Yes I am pretty excited to be swimming biking and running again. I suppose I am just like every other crazy triathlon nut case out there, completely obsessed. It doesn't help that everyone is always badgering me to train with them and invite me to participate in cool trips and events they organize. Honestly, I am honored and I guess privileged I have so many fans (even if they are all my closest friends). Just the other week, for example, I was sent a personal invitation to attend a local sprint triathlon free of charge! Unbelievable! Unfortunately my schedule is pretty crazy and I am not sure where I will be the next month. Still it was a wonderful gesture.

On a different and slightly more sour note, I have lost two loves in my life. The first one (and of less importance) was my Pinarello road bike. It was stolen off of my back porch a few weeks ago. I had been keeping it inside all along but I rode it a few times and left it on the porch to keep our house a little tidier (not that is matters, our house is always dirty). Well one morning it was gone. I thought it was some sick joke at first. They also took my stationary trainer and my room mates commuter. Not cool! At the very least I hope the people who end up with it realize what a nice bike it is and are enjoying it our on the open road as I would.

My second loss is Brianne. She landed a job in Winthrop, Washington and will not becoming back to Las Cruces... ever! We had a nice little road trip on the way to Washington. We actually drove from Albuquerque, NM to Spokane, WA in one shot! It was the farthest I've ever driven all at once and I hope I don't have to do it ever again. But she is gone and my life is pretty insignificant now. I need to get done already and start living opposed to sitting in front of this computer all day. Only twelve more days.

My beautiful bike, gone, rest her soul.