Ballou Skies Team Photo Shoot & More Tucson Pics

A few weeks ago, we met for the first time all year as a team and it was great to see everyone! Training and racing for a cause has been very rewarding and also has really helped me put everything in perspective. When I have a bad training session or race, I just have a bum day.. but Ryan Ballou struggles to just keep his muscles going on a daily basis. This helps me understand that while I certainly am allowed to be a little bummed, being too bummed when other people who have a real reason to be bummed are still happy and joyful, means I can't wallow in my own self pity for too long!

I think the Ballou Skies ad, that will be shown in Triathlete Magazine's May 2011 issue, turned out beatifully and I'm excited to see it generate some interest and following for the cause. If you don't mind, please click here to become a fan of our cause page!

Oh.. and I did match the donations received from the blog a few weeks back so thank you for those of you who donated! I appreciate it (and I will get out your hat and CD shortly! I've been behind the ball lately!).

Anyway, things are going pretty well otherwise. My training this week has been pretty haphazard due to so many other things going on in the evenings. However, after such a big week last week, I'm not too concerned. Hopefully, next week things will get back on track.

I really appreciated all the amazing comments I got on the blog about Tucson. I really feel blessed that you guys are so stoked for me and supportive. That means a lot! Thank you!!!

So, here are some more pictures from the trip!

Barb and Beth picking out what we will be consuming for the 4 day trip. I'm happy to report, we went through pretty much every whole wheat bagel, jar of peanut butter and banana in the place!! We also cooked some great dinners (ok, well, Barb cooked them, but we "assisted")!

Beth just HAD to play chicken with some young cross-country boys (without shirts by the way.. why do these little guys always run with no shirts!) and unfortunately, they won. I'm just kidding. We were just finishing up our 10 mile hill repeat run on Saturday and poor Beth slipped on the grass / dirt when we tried to get out of their way. She had some dirt burn on her side and a bloody leg to boot. She held up like a trooper though and didn't let it slow her down!

Of course, we had to hit the University of Arizona Wildcats store to check things out after masters swim. Beth threatened to wear this around for the rest of the day, but we tackled her and made her take it off (sorry Oscar, I know you're a big fan!). It was called (big surprise) The Cat Head.

After Saturday's ride I was excited to have another day in the books and still, no crashes or mishaps. It was a bit scary coming from months of not being on the bike to all of the sudden riding like a fiend. We decided it was "just like riding a bike :)" and got back in the clip in, bike handling skills groove, pretty quickly!

The girls pre-saturday (aka windy-as-all-get-out) ride. It was honestly so crazy a few times I almost got blown off.. no kidding. We were all pretty happy to be in a short sleeved jerseyes though!!

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Here's a mile 70 picture at the Circle-K where we were still feeling cold, but optimistic about the upcoming "climb out of hell" as I so affectionately named the Mammoth to Oracle portion of our trip. We look like a snickers advertisment, but sometimes, you just want something chewy and chocolate to get you through (and it worked until about mile 115 when those calories were kaput).

I tried to take the bike computer shot, but by this time, I was so tired, so hungry and so shot that I decided I didn't even care if it came out. Trust me when it says 120 miles, aka, one of my longest rides to date. So, that was a win.

Thanks for following along! Hope everyone is doing awesome!

So, who's in for a Tucson trip next year (even after what you read?!) Any takers!!? lol!!