Labor Day weekend – training, rest, friends, fun, TWITTER alert!

Big race coming up…soon!  Ironman Wisconsin is on September 11th.  I’ve heard so much about this race; I signed up for it a whole year ago…and now, it’s finally here.

I feel ready, having a great first pro summer season behind me.  I’m excited to try out my neo-pro Ironman legs now!

Had  a great Labor Day weekend – since it was one week in front of my A-race, I didn’t have a lot planned besides some moderate training, getting good rest, and I got the opportunity to hang out with and get to know better Lucas’ dad Rusty and step-mom Mary Ann who were visiting from Nashville.  We had a great time showing them the foothills and up into the mountains a bit – one of the best things about Boulder, in my opinion, is the ability to “get away” up into mountainous areas very quickly.  We drove Sunshine Canyon, Canyon Rd (Hwy 119) up to Nederland, and Flagstaff Mountain up to Walker Ranch – all different, non-momentous occasions, but great opportunities to get out, get up, see great views and hang out with good company.  Picture this:  wine, cheese and crackers, fruit, good chocolate, great friends/family, and a breath-taking view.  Couldn’t be more lovely!  We did this multiple times while Rusty and Mary Ann were visiting.

Saturday we all headed out for about a three-hour ride.  We started together, meeting up with our friends Lauren and Adam, chatting and riding.  It was one of the very first much-cooler days and definitely had the hint of fall in the air.  It was sunny and fairly cool – just lovely.  My legs felt good on my hard efforts, and I was envisioning the bike course at Wisconsin, one I’ve heard so much about  – hilly, pretty, challenging.  Bring it!!

No run today, making sure not to over-tire the legs, even one whole week out.  Lucas, Rusty, and I all sat in Boulder Creek to make sure our legs recovered well from the efforts of the bike ride.  Plus, it’s just kinda fun to sit in the creek!  I’ve been doing it quite a bit lately. Since today was much cooler than it has been, here in Boulder, we wore jackets and took hot coffee down to the creek with us!  Must’ve looked pretty funny to people walking by and tubing down the creek (Brrrrr for tubing now!!)

Sunday was an hour-long run with some hard efforts…I tried to practice my mental visualization while I ran today.  Then a one-hour easy ride.  Nice to be done pretty early in the day today.  We all headed out for a big drive, starting up Canyon Road out of Boulder into Nederland (we saw the hand-carved/hand-painted “Carousel of Happiness” there), and ending up in Golden where we walked around, took an abbreviate tour of the Coors Brewery, and had a late lunch.  It was a lovely day; I enjoyed it very much!

Monday, Labor Day, I labored because I’ll be taking some days off later this week to head to Madison.  After I got off, again we drove up into the foothills to enjoy the views and the cool air with sunshine.  I love the way the light shines in the fall – because of the angle of sunlight at this time of year, especially during the late afternoon, the way the light falls on everything (especially in natural settings) is so peaceful and calming to me.

Heads up to all my fans out there 🙂 – Lucas has set up a Twitter account for me, primarily so that on Sunday Sept 11th you all can follow the my Ironman race as he posts updates and photos all day long.  So check out http://twitter.com/#!/whitneylgarcia

Yippee!! Here I come!