I was lucky to be able to stay with the same homestay as last year Brian who lives right next to Tulane and Loyola just off of St. Charles st. To be honest, last year (when I was in NO for this race) I was not that impressed with the city. It's kinda dirty and pretty much everything related to infrastructure is literally crumbling. (I still wonder how people think it is safe to live below the level of the mississippi river. I took these pictures while biking on the levee and as you can see the river is pretty high but what I didnt show is that the road is like 10-20ft lower than the level of the river...that seems unsafe)
Anyway, I think this year I took the time to see some of the older architecture and fixed up victorian houses which make for a charming atmosphere. It might also be that the longer I stay away from the humid climate of the east coast, the more I miss it. Spring smells so good out there. The air is so thick and rich. Here is a picture of St Charles from my bike ride and a panorama of Loyola from St Charles st.
I got in Friday night to NO and my brother Augie texted me from VA saying that our friends the Kings were in NO for Memorial Day weekend! Now, the King family tends to party hard so I was on my guard knowing I had to race Sunday. I skipped dinner with them at a restaurant my homestay called "a deep fried heart attack" (basically all new orleans food) but was able to meet up with them later at a jazz bar on Frenchman st--
This is Mrs King with a run of beer...need I say more?
Me with the Kings--Carter to my right was my brother Augie's roommate at UVA this past year.
I cant say I participated in the debauchery (surprise) but it was fun to see a bit more of the city. Sidenote: I always wonder why I dont see spinners on cars anymore, but being down south I realized its because the city of New Orleans probably bought out the entire market (and also possibly because I live in WASP central aka. Boulder) --> if you dont know what spinners are, watch the video...the lyrics do a good explanation... "I'm ridin spinners, they dont stop"--> I saw a LOT of them this weekend and not gonna lie they look pretty cool in real life (before you realize how ridiculous they are).
After last week's cancelled swim and all around disaster, the weather in NO looked pretty good. I didnt feel so great on the swim for some reason...kinda flat...which stinks since I have been working so hard on it, but I still swam pretty well and I know I am gonna get a super breakout swim somewhere in here.
The bike and run went great really, I cant complain. I came out of the water with David Thompson (DT) and Jordan Jones, both great bikers and we rode pretty much the whole way together slowly catching and passing the field. I thought about passing DT a couple times but I thought, nah, I know he is a good biker so if I stay with him I will have a good ride and should be able to run well. Sidenote: it was also the first race I had a red bull in my water bottle diluted 50:50 with water and I actually really liked it! Delicious. Whoda thought. And inspiring too....if only I were as cool as these guys maybe I could get sponsored by them...
Usually in races I honestly dont expect to do that well and hitting the run I was thinking meh, I hope I can just hold steady at my pace. The last mile was pretty tough--it was starting to enter death breathing mode and was feeling like I might black out at any second (typical for me on the run) but I managed to hold on and finish 4th again!
Besides the red bull, I think one of the reasons I raced well was that I had this song stuck in my head the entire weekend and literally non-stop throughout the race. I wish I were as suave as JT. Plus he married Jessica Biel. Smokin hot.
Anyway I think thats all I got. This weekend is Dallas. 3x weekends in a row of racing, whew! Then straight from Dallas to a catalysis conference in Louisville KY for the week. Whoohoo, nerd central.
Rudy
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