Day 21 - The Hospital...

After a second attempt at running,this one in Enumclaw, the pain was enough to send me to the hospital. I'm writing this as I wait to be seen by a doctor. The American hospital system has some nice facilities... TV, private rooms, lots of staff.

After a 3 hour wait (yes America, it's the same on both sides of the border), I was X-rayed and poked and prodded.  Diagnosis (from my discharge papers): Severe contusion and abrasions to left hip and lower leg.  X-ray images do not show signs of fracture.

The doctor cautioned me that running could increase inflammation in the area.  Not recommended.  But I have US National Duathlon Championships in 2 days!!

At 11pm when discharged I ate at Jack in the Box. I could have eaten my shoes!!!!  What an athlete!!

What's the green frownie face is for?

Awake at 7pm

Not so much at 10pm

Contusion - yummy!!

Day 16 - Sea Otter Circuit Race

Call it not warmed up enough or call it exhausted from the previous races but I just could not keep up With the front pack in this race. After three laps I was dropped and ended up leading the second pack for the remaining laps. I felt better at the end than I did after the first two. One wacky thing that they did is let all age categories go at the same time. There were over 200 at the start line. This made for a sketchy decent!!

Not the way I wanted to finish my sea otter experience but it was a great time all the same. In the end I came in 21st of 37 in the circuit race.

Ryder!!!  The real trophy here at Sea Otter... Sweet!

Day 8 and 9 - Bel Air

Day 8

Previewed the bike course in the morning.  It was windy and flat.  A bit of debris on the road but nothing too bad.

Then drove to Bel Air in Los Angeles to see my brother, sister in-law and Mom.  Good good times!!

Day 9

For some unknown reason I did a Boot Camp workout with my sister in-law at 8 in the morning. It was good but probably not the best thing to do the day before a race.  I then went out to Camarillo to pay my race fees and pick up the race package.  I did another bike of the course for good measure....  Now time for dinner!

2013 USA Race Trip - Day 1 - Wenatchee WA

Day 1 - Wenatchee Washington

Warm up for the Apple Capital Duathlon went great except for being lost most of the time. If there's one thing that can be said about the course is that it's hilly.  Mostly gradual but some zippers in the lollipop portion (turnaround) of the bike that will bring the speed down to something glacial. 

The course for tomorrow will be 5k run, 26k bike and another 5k run.  The run has.. A hill or two.  Probably about a 75m climb during each 5k.  It doesn't look like too bad of a course except that its on. Paved trails and that could crowd things up a bit. The bike basically does a slow climb for 5k, goes downhill for 5k and then climbs steep to the turn around point.  Oh yeah!  i almost forgot about the wind. It was frickin windy. Really frickin windy! All I can say is that I hope it marked well.  I was lost the whole time...

The town...it's small. Quaint. Nice riverfront area with sculptures and paved trails, great for running. The roads are fairly good for cycling. A bit roughed up from the winter. Very courteous drivers. I however would not recommend riding a bike on Wenatchee ave just off the highway. It freaked the drivers out!!

Beer and sushi for dinner tonight and we will just see what happens tomorrow...

Sorry...  No pictures today. Some tomorrow.