Going Up!! From CA to CO...

Los Angeles became one of my favorite cities, not only because of the eternal sunny days and the awesome bike rides at Malibu and Santa Monica Mountains, but also because of the great and numerous friends!!

In this pic, Valerie and Anvar, my "American family" whom I lived with for the last 4 months.
Valerie was really kind, always helping me by correcting my English and would create "muy sabrosos" turkey dishes, when was not my favorite Mexican ones!! Anvar, from Kazakhstan, is a soccer fanatic and even made me play a fun soccer match at Playa Vista! He also introduced me to the Russian language and the funny Cyrillic alphabet!  "очень хорошая" (very good!)

This last week I have packed my bags, bike and boxes, threw it all on my new/old car and headed to Boulder, CO, following Siri's team!!
Known, at least by athletes, as the new "Mecca" of triathlon, this city has awesome bike paths and trails, along with the added benefits of the altitude training.

Hitting the road!! Crossing the desert was the hardest part of the drive, the heat was so intense that to avoid the engine overheating, signs were posted alerting drivers to turn off the air conditioning... So basically you or the car that would get fried!! lol

(crossing Mojave Desert)

I drove 1050 miles from California to Colorado in two days. I seems like a lot, but the time really flew by! While I tried to take pictures of every new amazing view, the colorful mountains and canyons!
Leaving behind the beaches of the Pacific, I passed through deserts and saw the beautiful colors of the Jurassic and Cretaceous exposed terrains of Arizona and Utah. Arriving in Colorado I saw the vistas change to a greenish tone covered by some white spots of snow! #Fantastic!

(San Rafael Swell)

(Castle Valley)

Here in Boulder I am trying to get used to the altitude (5430ft). Sometimes my lungs can't find Oxygen enough and I still having a constant head ache. Hoping to get used to it in about 3 weeks, soon I will be posting more about wkouts and races!! 

My next competition will be the Boulder Peak Triathlon, Olympic distance, happening on July 14th! 

#GoVanya!! 

Spinning the Pedals!

I missed sharing the news on my blog!

I have been doing a lot of micro-blogging throught twitter, instagram and facebook, but nothing like my own space in the blogosphere!! 

Maybe my lack of motivation to write was due to a bad injury that has persisted for more than 6 months now, alternating between right knee and hip. I missed a couple races and still not a 100% yet.

Actually I was surprised when I first noticed that it was already 6 months. I am being pretty good on keeping myself optimistic and motivated in training (maybe more than I should), always adding new goals and plans for the season. And while some days I could barely walk, on others I feel like ready to race a full Ironman!

I like this quote: "Life is like riding a bike, to be in balance you need to keep moving!"

Recently I signed a new partnership deal with Xterra Wetsuits, so I will be training and racing powered by all the awesome Xterra gear!!

Im very excited and this week I had the opportunity to meet and work with the Xterra crew while doing a photo shoot in San Diego.

While in San Diego I could see some family members and had a great time exploring the area. My favorite spot was the La Jolla Cove, where I enjoyed a rad ocean swim with a pod of seals passing just a few centimeters from me!!

Siri's team is moving to Boulder and I will soon be heading to the Colorado Rockies...

Feeling better each day, I hope to be at full speed, and train like never before for the races of the second semester. Hopefully this blog will be on fire soon!! :)

(La Jolla Cove)