if you can't find something

Recently coming from Brasil and Peru, I didn't run into any "lost" tribes, but according to this article, some people have. The picture shows the indigenous group shooting arrows at the helicopter as it flew over.

Speaking of LOST, the season is finished. Now, I need something to do on Thursday nights. Bolder Boulder pictures are here. Sorry they are small, I don't want to pay for any of them. I was very excited to wear my Team in Training shirt and my Rydon's with racing red lenses. This weekend is the Elephant Rock Cycling Festival which should be a lot of fun. In other news, I got a new writing instrument, some people would refer to it as a "pen".

** Here is something exciting, I am sitting at a coffee shop and a police car pulled up suddenly with lights flashing and blocked the entrance. He then pulled out an assault rifle and ran into the car dealership across the street. I think I am leaving soon!

Hodges

A few years ago, my friend Ryan was the youngest competitor at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. The following year a few of us went over to cheer everyone on. These are pictures from that year. Ryan is a student-athlete and all around good guy. He recently completed Ironman Lanzarote, here is his race report:

Lets start with the swim...It was badass. I swam smart; slow at the start, maneuvered around packs of people and then hauled ass for the last 3/4 of the swim and ended the swim with a quick time. The bike course lived up to its name as being the hardest in the world. It was extremely gusty, very cold in the mountains, then very hot at sea level, with hills adding up to about 9000 ft in elevation.
The highlight of the race began when I had 8 miles left to go on the 112 mile bike ride...I got a flat tire. What did I do? I did everything I could to fix it. Nothing I had with me on the ride did what it was suppose to do. So, I was given the choice to quit the race, or run the last 8 miles of the bike course with my bike, barefoot, on the asphalt. So, I thought what the hell, I´ll run it. I sacrificed way too much to come here. I was first in my age group when I had the flat, but my goal from that point on was to just finish the race, doing well never mattered any more from that point on.
So, the day ended well. I finished. I had a great swim, and an unforgettable bike ride. Unfortunately, I ran a total of 34 miles- 8 more than I should have. I´m just glad to call myself an Ironman once again...Praise the LORD!
Thank you everyone for the prayers and for supporting me along the way. Thinking about all of you really helped me through the run.

Great job Ryan!

Bolder Boulder race report

I just read this article claiming that political apathy is so high in Hawai'i, that city council members, the city prosecutor, and even the mayor have little or no opposition in the upcoming election. There are still eight weeks left to register for any of these positions, so if you are unhappy with the way things are going in Hawai'i, don't just complain, run for a position.

This morning was the Bolder Boulder. I have been hoping to run a 42 minute 10k. All the excuses started of why I couldn't hit that mark as soon as I opened my eyes. I woke up to light rain. I rode to the race start wearing sweatpants and a long sleeve tshirt. I locked my bike, stripped to my cool running outfit, and waited in line for the bathroom. 45 minutes later, my wave was getting ready to rock. I overheard a few different kinds of conversations including,

"Don't run on your toes, it isn't good for you"
"Oh my god, look how badly I need to wax my eyebrows"
"Yeah I noticed your eyebrows a few days ago"

I maneuvered my way to the front of my wave and when the gun went off, I took off sprinting, exactly what I shouldn't do. Most people in my wave were walking or running the first mile before walking the next five. I signed up late so I was put in the back half of the 52,000+ entrants. The first mile was fine, I hugged the side and there weren't too many people in my way.
We passed the middle aged belly dancers that had no business showing their stomachs during mile two. The roads started getting thinner and the crowds began squishing together. It was nearly impossible for me to put my head down and find a rhythm. I slacked off a couple of times making the excuse that I should slow down and just enjoy the run. That seemed like a waste of time though. There was a pretty good Elvis around mile 3.
The weather was good for running. It was overcast and about 15C (60F). Some people had a slip and slide set up and a few brave souls dared to take the challenge. One guy that I was catching up to, veered off the course, slid down the slip and slide into the mud puddle, got up and continued running. I gave him a high five and was glad not to be him for the next few wet cold miles as I kept going.
What I noticed throughout the run was the lack of enthusiasm by the spectators. Everyone stood on the side of the road, silent until they saw the person that they were waiting for. They would give a little cheer and then leave the race to go home. In Hawai'i people are cheering for everyone.
Mile four was spent zig-zagging in and out of thousands of runners and walkers. Some people like to wear costumes which is always fun. There are a few bands on the course and some of them are decent. The fun ones are the people that probably only sing in the shower, yet on Memorial Day in Boulder, they decide set up a microphone and belt out their favorite tunes in front of all of us. It is hard to laugh and run, but I always clap for them. I wouldn't do it.
I saw my Mom at about mile 5. She was the obnoxious lady screaming at everyone. Telling everyone that they are doing a great job (even if they weren't racing).
When I hit mile 6 I thought that I spent too much time avoiding people to do as well as I wanted. There was a short uphill that made most people slow down (myself included) and almost throw up. We ran into Folsom Field, University of Colorado's football field that holds over 50,000 people. As we were sprinting to the finish, there were a boy and girl about 15 years old dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They were pretty quick so I tried to catch them. As I came up behind them, I was shouting encouragement, "Let's go Turtles!" Unfortunately, the boy slipped going around a corner and the girl didn't look back, she picked up speed and made sure to beat him as he slid on his shell.
I finished the race, not knowing my time and went home to eat a big breakfast before work. After work, I came home and saw my time, 41:43.33! Woo hoo. A 6:44 pace makes me happy. I placed 893 out of the 52,000 entrants. Looks like I will need to break 40 minutes at my next 10K.
Pics will be posted when they are released.
Pau.

random random random

This is a post by the Larimer County Sheriff. He doesn't like cyclists. He especially doesn't like cyclists from Boulder County. Yesterday, I got to grab coffee with Mark. We went to The Laughing Goat which might be our new favorite coffee hang out. They do latté art. It was quite impressive and the staff was very friendly. On my way home, I saw some prairie dogs that were too cute not to take pictures of them.
American Airlines now charges $15 for your first checked bag. So I guess everyone will be stuffing their carry on luggage as full as possible. The future of air travel does not look very bright. I suppose that makes it a pretty good time to settle down.
No, the tornadoes did not come near Boulder. I did not see them, nor am I inclined to try and see them. Good luck to Ryan doing Ironman Lanzarote right now. He started the race with a blistering 57 minute swim. Continued biking for 7:15, now he is on the run.

pogue ma thoin

I suppose yesterday was a very Irish day for me. I woke up and my name was still Rory ("Red King" in Irish). I went to my first real day at work, selling Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian food (ok not Irish). Then I got on a bus. This might seem like no big deal, but to me it was heaven. It was the first time I have been on a bus where people speak English. I never had a problem on buses in other countries,
but it makes it so much easier when you speak the language. The buses here are efficient, cheap, and reliable. After 12 hours on a bus in South America, or trying not to get ripped off in Vietnam, this one hour jaunt to Denver barely gave me time to rest before going running.
I met up with a couple of new friends and we joined the Irish Snug Runners. This seemed too good to be true. It was an Irish pub that hosted a free run. With free pasta and salad after the run. And free t-shirts when you complete 10 runs. No catch. It was fun to see our table of sweaty runners in tiny shorts hanging out in an Irish pub.
Speaking of tiny shorts, I know that the anticipation has been killing a few of you, so let me thank Bree one more time for telling me about Splish.com. Although these are not custom made, I couldn't let them go by. I think that you will agree, this completes my Irish day. I am off to the pool.

tea bags and elephant rocks

2 days until... my new swimming attire arrives.

5 days until... the Bolder Boulder.

Tomorrow, I go to work. This still seems like a very odd concept for me. I have been doing what I want, when I want, for a long time. I had to be at airports, or bus stations, or train stations, but even that was fun, because it was always in a new country, city, and language.

I am sitting a tea shop working on a website for my friends at Scarred for Life. It is a tattoo shop right next to the tea place. Luckily they have lots of healing teas. Boulder is such a funny town.

In about a week, there is a cycling festival called Elephant Rock. There are rides from 8 miles to 100 miles. There are expected to be about 7,000 riders there. Mountain bike trails, kids trailers, and camping are all encouraged. There are also team races. What a cool place. I am hoping to work the Rudy Project booth.

Tonight, I am going to attempt my first spin class. It is an hour long at the YMCA just before my 3 hours of coed pick up volleyball. My brother will probably be skating.

3 pars

The new job is going well after my first day. Boulder's weather is wonderful. My knee hurts after long runs. So I have been swimming more. My swimming is improving. My new favorite swim workout is:

400 warm up
8X100 - 25 fast, 50 slow, 25 fast
2X200 - 50 kick, 50 free, 50 pull, 50 free
200 kick
4X100 - 50 drill, 50 free
200 cool down


Today being Sunday, I played on the computer (looking for a place to live still) and then went golfing. I haven't become a very good golfer, yet. I did order some cool new swimming attire from Splish.com. They sponsor Big Island hero, and Honolulu Triathlon winner, Bree Wee, so I thought I would check out their website. Custom made anything is cool, but I will post pictures of my new tiny outfit when it arrives, just to keep you guessing.

pent = 5

I am having difficulty finding motivation to get out and exercise. I don't know why. Today I ran for an hour and had a great time. I follow Boulder Creek wherever I can. I think the problem is that I haven't been competitive in a long time. Whenever I saw someone in front of me, I had to race them. It made it easier because they didn't know that we were racing. Also, most of the people out at noon on Friday are women pushing strollers or retired people. Lets say that I won most of my "races".

Today I applied at a local restaurant and I have a stage tomorrow. Luckily, I used a French-English dictionary to look up "stage" and figure out what that meant. stage Noun, masculine (a) training course; faire un ~ d'informatique to go on a computer (training) course; ~ d'introduction introductory course (b) (School) work experience; faire un ~ de deux semaines to go on work experience for two weeks

I am swimming this afternoon. I am completely inspired by Sheila Taormina. She is an athlete that wants to compete in the pentathlon in Beijing for this year's Olympics. I was unaware that the pentathlon consists of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping (horses), and running. I have been doing enough running and swimming, but no tenough work on cycling. I am in a great place at the best time of year. Now I just need to buy a bike.

Jobs.

Yesterday, I watched a lecture about labeling on food products. Kimberly Lord Stewart, the author of "Eating Between the Lines" told everyone the difference between "cage free" and "free range" poultry. The part of the lecture that I saw discussed eggs, poultry, and pork. I wont make you read the book, the important things to look for in poultry are: organic, humane, no antibiotics, naturally raised, and/or pasture raised. Ignore things like: hormone free, no steroids, cage free, natural, free range they mean nothing. With your eggs, look for: Vegetarian fed chickens, DHA omega 3 (fish oil), or cage free eggs. Those are good.

After all that excitement, and a great run, I went to a meeting at Eco-Cycle. It was a meeting for volunteers to help make the community get closer to producing zero waste. It is a great idea.

This morning, I was checking the Giro results, hoping my team in argyle was doing well, when I got a call from my potential employer. Out of a couple hundred applicants and over 60 interviews, I was in the top 5. However, I was not number 1. So now I am off to drop off applications at companies that are inferior, but will help me pay the bills. Such is life. And it can always be worse.

Pau.

what a week

Being back in Boulder has been better than I expected. I got to meet Mark (triathlete, cool guy, friend of many friends), reunited with Will (pro triathlete), met Louis (NBA player), and played tennis with a physicist. I also applied for a job. Boulder has a wonderful network of trails for running and cycling. After the first rounds of interviews, the company was cooler than I expected. Next week will determine a large chunk of my future.

Now that graduation is over, the bars will calm down, the students will leave, and the weather will get better. I hope. The forecast doesn't look good for the near future, but I am sure that summer will be really hot. Now I am off to swim and run.

Aloha.

Green is the standard.

This is not my picture. I had to steal it. This is Mark. He is a local bad ass triathlete. We got to sit down for a couple hours yesterday and talk about triathlons. It was nice to meet someone that has a genuine love for Hawai'i. He is the kind of person that locals want to go to Hawai'i. He is a haole with Aloha. We got to talk about our futures (look for him dominating Kona this October) and the future of the sport of triathlon. It is also nice to find people that like to eat organically and care about the environment. This article poses the question, should triathlons and/or triathletes be more environmentally responsible. I think that anyone that enjoys going outside is responsible. There are lots of movements such as Save our Seas, Surfrider Foundation, and Save our Snow, so why not a green triathlon foundation?
Luckily, some people are taking matters into their own hands. I was extremely pleased to find out that 5430 Sports puts on environmentally friendly triathlons, in Boulder of course! This article show the awards that they have gotten. Also, Chris Lieto is doing what he can to spread the idea of environmental consciousness.

Boulder. Typical.

This morning has been great. It is 18 degrees C (65 degrees F). I rode my bike to the local YMCA to swim. The Boulder Reservoir's water temp is still about 10 C (50 F) so I swim in the pool. After talking to the lifeguard about the 500 elk in her yard, I went to Whole Foods where I bought fair trade sugar, organic granola, and two locally grown basil plants. The girl scanning the items was flirting with the girl in line in front of me. They were discussing the jewelery that they both make promising to e-vite each other to the next time they are showing off their handmade crafts. On my way out of the store, there was a company selling Brain Toniq or something like that. They claimed that it helped with short term memory, long term memory, focus, pretty much everything. This wonder drink also was caffeine and sugar free. They told me that I would feel the effects within 10 minutes of drinking a can. I took the free sample and headed back home.

There was a sprint tri this morning. If you didn't want to risk your life freezing to death in the cold water, you could substitute the swim portion for a 5k run. I am glad that I slept in.

3 seasons 2 days

I woke up this morning to light rain. That was no surprise as "weather" is one of the widgets on my iGoogle page. An hour later it turned to light snow. Now it is moderate snow. Yesterday afternoon, I went for a run with no shirt on. It was 80 degrees. Now it is 40. I had some big plans today (buy Crocs and go to a bike store to buy a rear tire) but now that it is snowing, I might have to rethink these things. I have never ridden a road bike in the snow before. So I was thinking about taking Boulder's amazing bus system. Then I remembered that Ben wouldn't compromise his morals for a little snow. I don't want to support using foreign oil. Especially because John McCain and Hillary Clinton both want to suspend the 18 cent gas per gallon gas tax for the summer. This is wrong for many reason. This NY Times article sums it up perfectly.

On a more exciting note, I did a 4 mile run yesterday. The picture on the right gives some details. Not thrilling, but it was my first run in a few weeks and my first run at a high elevation. Apparently hanging out at 11,000 feet didn't help me as much as I would have liked. I miss having the ocean to swim in. The Boulder Reservoir's water temperature is supposed to be in the fifties this weekend. Time to put my new wet suit to the test. Or else pay $6.25 to get into the rec center nearby.