Space to Breathe

The best part is that there is no traffic in Colorado. Really. There is so much space; there is enough room for people, cars, bikes, and even dogs. For a Jersey-girl, this is quite the phenomenon.

The whole city of Boulder; indeed, the entire state of Colorado (or as much of it as I saw), just has this feeling of openness and ease. There was none of the high-pressured running around, honking, and jaywalking that the Northeast has perfected. I did hear a car alarm or two, but otherwise the noise-pollution-rate was at an all time low.

And so it was with this sense of peace that I spend my weekend with Bolder...in Boulder. He treated me like a queen, refused to let me pay for anything (who else would buy someone running shoes under the threat of beating them up if not allowed???), took 3 days off of work, introduced me to every elite triathlete in Bolder, and just generally showed me an awesome time.

We never got to watch a chick-flick on the man-couch, but that's okay, because it probably would have resulted in a breach in pinkie-swear trust.

And then? He writes a totally exaggerated but insanely nice post about me...as though he actually had as much fun as I did.

I know there is much anticipation regarding the impending dork rating that I promised. And so, without further ado, with much tallying and recounting, the hanging chads struck once again and I'm naming it 'too close to call'. Bolder showed me a great time and was the perfect gentleman--no dorkiness there. But really, can anyone be such a 'nice guy'? It's impossible, so the dork meter has no choice but to skyrocket. And so, we're stuck in the middle and will probably have to call for a Supreme Court intervention.

In all seriousness though, I was honestly a more-than-a-little surprised at how easy it was to be there. I knew I'd have a good time, but I assumed I'd feel a bit uncomfortable, and that I'd want respite every now and then. On the contrary, I felt completely at home from moment one.

More than anything else, the weekend made me realize how much space there is in this country, and was in turn the perfect escape. It's so easy to get caught up in your own little section of the world; seeing an area with such vastness made me realize how much more there is. It was just what I needed.

Colorado is just beautiful, so the training was a blast, despite the air being WAY TOO FREAKING THIN and refusing to go anywhere near my lungs. I thought I was used to the whole altitude thing by the end, but swimming the last day was still an exercise in futility. An easy 100 felt like a 1000 time trial, so the 1000 time trial that Bolder was supposed to do (and I briefly considered) got quickly negated. But, there is good to come of it all...I'm hoping that the addition of red blood cells will help me out on my race this Sunday. Yeah, I know that in all likelihood I'll be completely adjusted back to sea-level by then, but hey...a girl can hope, right?

In any case, I had an awesome vacation. Aside from the training and site seeing, we drove to Denver to see Chris and Carrie and had a great time eating WAY too much at dinner with them. (I gained a pound over the weekend, and it's all their fault. Hmph.)

The only sadness I had was leaving...I like my 'real-life' perfectly well, but I definitely wish these great people were more of an everyday availability. The upside is that it makes you realize how valuable good friends are, and that there is no set way to meet them. Whether it be via blog-land, a running club, or school, meeting special people is something to cherish.

And of course, I'll definitely cherish this past weekend for a long time to come.