The day started off (7:00AM) innocently enough... that is until I looked outside and saw about 5 inches of snow. After a quick check of weather.com, I was happy to see that it was supposed to clear up by noon (start of the camp) which meant we should be outside and at least running for a little bit. By noon, there was roughly 12 inches of snow and the road from Boulder to Denver had been closed. We decided to regroup at 3PM to see what the weather looked like and find a gym.
After a call to 24Hour fitness, who assured me they would "be open til at least 10PM" we hopped in the vehicles and headed out through the "Blizzard of 09" as it was being called.We got to 24Hour fitness by 3:15 and they had just closed! Back to the hotel, averaging perhaps 20 mph and into the hotel workout room for a quick workout. We regrouped at 5:30 and headed down to Pearl Street to the Lazy Dog for some March Madness and dinner, which was very enjoyable.
Friday, March 27
We met in the lobby at 7:15 to head over to the North Boulder Rec center where we had some lanes reserved. The drive over was treacherous at best. In Boulder, they have three plows and "sand" the road which turns the snow into mud.
Upon arriving, we learned that they had pushed the time to open back til 9AM due to the snow so we headed over to Moe's Bagels and Vic's coffee, had a quick breakfast and then back over to the pool where we got our first underwater video session in and then a smooth 3000 yard workout. I think it was at this point that everyone developed a great appreciation for training at altitude!
After the swim, we headed over to Wahoo Fish Taco for a well deserved meal. After devouring the food that was placed in front of us, we headed back to the hotel for an hour break before we reconvened for a nice hour long run. The evening ended with dinner and some March Madness Basketball!
Saturday, March 28
Saturday started off with a session of above and underwater video and then a 4000+ yard swim practice. After a few key adjustments, the swimmers where flying across the pool. After the swim, we headed back over to Wahoo Fish Taco again (it quickly became a group favorite) and back to the hotel for an hour rest. Around 2PM, we met back in the lobby and headed out to the Rocky's for a little bike ride.
The snow was mostly melted and the course was clear. After getting the bikes put back together and water bottles filled up with Infinit, they were off!
Every single rider made it up Old Stage Road and around for 1-2 loops. As the riders trickled back in, we met up a local coffee shop, had some chicken noodle soup and then loaded back up for the trip back to the hotel.
The UIC triathletes had to head back on Saturday night so they could get back to Chicago in time for classes on Monday. The rest of us headed over to the Boulder Chop House and devoured a LOT of steak and potatoes!
On Sunday morning, we were up early with only a few of the campers opting to go for a run and with that, the camp ended.
Overall, the weather was NOT good, but what can be done about that? We made the best out of a blizzard and still got in some quality training!
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