Final Update from Colorado Springs before I Head Home

We are 4.5 days into the week and I have already completed 8.62 hours of training. I have a 1-hour "ish" run tonight and a 2-hour run tomorrow. Almost 13,000 yards of swimming DONE.

Last night after work I went out on the trail onto the flat portion. Apparently, I'm not really acclimated to the altitude because I felt like crap and had to stop and walk about every 5 minutes. Oh well, it was beautiful, and I saw another magpie. This one flew ahead of me and landed in a tree so I could get a good look at how large it is. I turned off my tunes so I could hear the bird making a racket (which it does), and then it flew over me to some other tree.

It was pretty awesome running to the side of the mountains, although I25 was on the other side, but no matter. I kept thinking how much it would suck to trip and fall into a yucca plant! I didn't see any snakes or mammals, although I was hoping for an elk (doubt they hang out that close to population).

After the run, I went to grab some sushi, ordered what I thought I could finish, and then proceeded not to eat all of it! Perhaps it was the heavy-ish lunch I had had at The Church in Castle Rock. No worries, though, I boxed up the leftovers which I ate after this morning's swim.

I actually needed my alarm clock to wake me at 5:30AM today, which is unusual, but I truly needed the sleep. I got up, made coffee, rearranged my workout bag contents, did a little bit of core work, and went to the pool. I figured :45 of swim would be enough, but as it turns out I had time to do a full hour AND spend almost :15 in the awesome whirlpool to stretch.

I chatted with one of the lifeguards who, as it turns out, is a runner and triathlete and who is running the Chicago marathon this fall. I got her name, and I may have located her phone number, but I'm sure I can find it out nonetheless, now that I have "contacts" in this area. She said she was staying at a hostel, but I figure I should invite her to stay in my house. Someone I work with wondered if that would be "safe," and I told her that hey, someone who is a runner, triathlete (she's done one Ironman, too), lifeguard, and seemed like a genuinely nice person is probably a very safe bet.

After the swim, I headed to the office, saw another magpie on the way there (I believe this is an omen indicating I should live here), and then I ate my sushi leftovers, which were great, did some meetings, need to do some more this afternoon, and then I'm running up the Incline tonight, which should put the hurt to my legs and lungs, but what the hell, I am not here to loaf, am I???

I can definitely see myself living here. It's gorgeous, it has seasons (snow doesn't really bother me), it has great running and biking, nice people and a decent cost of living from what I can gather. So far I haven't found anything NOT to like here, except maybe there are a few too many large religious organizations that congregate here, but I can deal with that, and then there's the Air Force presence, which is cool. I tell ya, I fit right in here, except that maybe I tend to drive a bit faster than the locals, you know, being from Chicago and all.

My next post won't be until the weekend sometime. It should be interesting getting back to sea level!