Yesterday was the New Orleans 5150 and my second pro race. Unlike KC, I was not about to drive to this one, so I flew out by myself on Friday morning. I was well stocked with a dozen chocolate chocolate chip cookies, cheese-its, and a loaf of bread, fruit, and some milk just in case I got stranded or something.
Direct flights must be like 8.4 times better than layovers because you get there earlier with no hassle and you only have to listen to the flight attendant speed read the takeoff procedures into a crackly mic one time. Fantastic. Brian Baum, local triathlete and my homestay, was there at the airport to pick me up and I spent the rest of the day chillin in the AC with he and our other homestay Tim Reed!
I had not met Tim before, but whatta guy. We had a great weekend together with the Baum's and I learned a ton from Tim--like how to say South Africa. Suh-the-fruh-kah. In fact, as I am typing this paragraph, I am noticeably distracted to reading the words in my head in an Australian accent. Inundated by kiwis and aussies this weekend.
Speaking of which, this might be a moot observation, but kiwis definitely seem to cuss quite a bit. Its kind of hilarious.
On Saturday, I went jogging around Tulane and went swimming in their pool, biked on the Mississippi (south-side, though they call it uptown?) levy and got the full rundown of exactly how Katrina happened. Everything in New Orleans seemed normal, but there were still sections where you could tell that serious damage had occurred.
Sunday we were up at 4 and it was toasty already. Plus there were strong winds across Lake Pontchartrain due to the hurricane that was coming in across Florida. BUT, since the swim was in a harbor they didnt cancel it. Yay. It was a bit choppy but very warm water (again lookin fly in the Xterra swimskin) and after all the Jane Scott practices Ive been doing I managed to have a decent swim, I thought (though I still stink at swimming straight. Tim told me I should sight more than once every 10 or 20 strokes). A bit down from the leaders but I came out of the water with my friend Travis (from suh-the-fruh-kah) who outswam me at KC. We were also right behind Conrad Stolz...
I actually had a good fast transition and started cranking the bike right away and somehow Conrad didnt pass me until mike 5. But when he did he was cruisin. I didnt feel fantastic, but I drank a lot. And ate 2 gels this time. Whoot.
The run was hot. Blah blah blah. Tim, Tom (kiwi who was 5th), and I were chatting at a pool party later in the day about how every conversation starts as "oh it was a hot one out there today wasnt it." Like yeah, no kidding, yawn. Anyway, I think it was pretty evident since no one ran faster than 34min. My HR was through the roof the whole time and I could tell my legs were just chillin. Kinda frustrating actually because now Im not that sore today. (I'm overall tired because I havent slept in 2 nights) but my legs arent that trashed. I can still walk so I feel like I didnt get my moneys worth.
Anyway, we later went to a New Orleans Tri Club post race pool party, then to Bourbon St and got some beignets at cafe du monde (ya know all the toursty things). Bourbon street smelled like poop, not gonna lie, and there were some very shady characters down there (still not lyin). To top it off, there were lots of very disgusting strip clubs and drunk half naked people. #definitelynotinboulderanymore.
Video wuz here. Unfortunately, I had to take it down :( So here is a picture or me and tim and tom and james instead!
After that we stayed up way too late talking about Sarah Palin (?) and the upcoming election...and bam, we were up again at 4am central time (3am boulder, ugh) to take a cab to the airport. Flew back and have been at work all day. Now I just want to sleep but is a bazillion degrees here in Boulder too, so that looks like that could be tough. Hot like sauce.
Ironically, The Economist ran a special report on global warming in last weeks issue which I was reading on the plane this morning. Special reports are displayed on the cover and the woman next to me (native New Orleanian (sp?)) saw it and tried to tell me it was all a farce. With no evidence to back her argument, I asked if she was a conspiracy theorist after which we sat in awkward silence. I suppose its a hot topic in NO specifically since every inch of sea level rise symbolizes impending doom.
What can I say, its Hot Like Sauce.
Rudy
