Best Bike Ride in Colorado

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Summer

Weirdly enough, it's harder to write when life is good.

I'm not injured. No broken bones, no scrapes, no nothing... Well, I did get pinkeye somehow, but it's gone now... I have a job. Not a great job, but it's a job.

I've been running lots. Biking lots. Studying lots. Working lots. I'm a mean, lean, happy machine.

This summer, after almost 6 years of being apart, my true love and I found each other again, if only to be together briefly. I am talking about a trip to my beloved Gracier National Park. My roommate is working in Montana, so I went to visit her and stop by the park (or so she thinks... ) Glacier is one of my favorite places in the world and my favorite place in the U.S. Takes my breath away every time.

Here I am enjoying the landscape...


We spent 3 nights in the backcountry, hiking and camping, and jumping in every freezing lake we saw. It was nice traveling with someone as insane as I am, or maybe even more...


We saw a moose alive... I almost ran into her actually. What beautiful creatures! So big and magnificent... Wild and peaceful at the same time...



... and we found a moose part... Man I wish I could've taken it with me!


We did a trip through the Triple Divide peak area: a trip that I set out to complete 6 years prior, which ended in disaster: my friend Bart and I got lost after taking what was supposed to be a short off-trail detour to have dinner by a creek... This time, we didn't go off-trail, so we didn't end up spending the night lost in the wilderness, sleeping on a ditch without food, tent, or sleeping bags... Maybe I am getting smarter?

Betsy and I pose after one of the interminable climbs of our trips. Worth every drop of sweat.



In a nutshell, if you haven't been to Glacier, GO GO GO GO NOW!

...............

Are you still there? What did I tell you, go to Glacier NOW!

Ridin' and kayakin' at Blackwater Wildlife Refuge

My very fit partner in crime through those 45 flat road biking miles...



Did you get your tickets.... to the GUN show???



Two of the several bold eagles we were able to see up close!



Clearly the "zoom" feature in my camera isn't so great...



Beautiful rural landscape all around us



Definitely a must-see place in the DC/Annapolis area. Closer than the beach, a lot more secluded, and the best biking Maryland has to offer!

Latin Rockets Can't Belly-Dance

... as evidenced by this photo...

After several attempts, we concluded that Latinas are used to moving the entire body when dancing, like when you dance Salsa... Belly dancing requires you to be very precise in your movements - you only move your hips while your torso and legs are completely still, or you move your shoulders while your hips stay still, or you move your head from side to side while your arms are still. Waaay too hard! I'll stick to running and dancing to 80's music like a madwoman...

The Rocket is Back!

Last weekend I joined my friend Ashley for the Pacer's Running Festival half marathon. It was a beautiful day, clear skies, warm but not too warm, a nice cool wind. I knew I wasn't in great shape, and since I wasn't going to get a personal record, I decided to run the whole thing with Ashley, whose pace is a little slower than mine. She appreciated the company, and I appreciated the fun of not having to run hard! As you can see from the picture, I had fun and felt good the entire time! After the race I saw this handsome young guy looking straight at me and smiling... wow, I still have it, ha? ... yeah, no... it was Eric, who had just finished a great race, and Allison, looking more beautiful (and taller!) than ever after running a fabulous 5k.

So, as you may suspect, I'm back to full-swing running! It's been about 2 months since I started back up without injuries, shin pains, or accidents. If all goes well, I'll be running all 26.2 miles of the Marine Corps Marathon this year in 3 hours 40 minutes and get a Boston qualifier for 2010! The American Institute for Cancer Research, the charity I was fundraising for last year before my injury/accident, is going to "take me back", so those of you who were so kind to donate to the cause last year will be credited for your generosity (Linda, Rich, that's for you!), and those of you who haven't and want to donate, the page will be up shortly!

After learning so much about shin splints, I want to write an in-depth post about my non-scientific "findings"... but the bottom line is, the only thing that ultimately worked for me is changing my stride - shortening it so that my feet touch the floor right under my body and not in front of it, and avoid heel-striking.

The last piece of good news is, after struggling with 20 pesky pounds of fat that didn't want to leave my body, I am only 3.5 lbs away from my absolutely ideal weight! This morning I was shocked as I looked at the scale... I had to weigh myself 4 times before I believed it. Right after confirming that was, in fact, my actual weight, I went straight into my closet to find the smalest pants I have, part of a purple suit combination. I slipped them on and bottoned them up as if they were part of my body. Rejoice, my friends, for my struggle is coming to an end!

With my new weight I'm hoping to run a whole lot faster... the first test will be this Sunday during the Capitol Hill Classic 10k... wish me luck!

Too good not to post...

These guys make treadmills look like fun... don't be fooled...

Un-be-lievable

I moved to the U.S. of A. since July of 1999. Prior to that, I was here on a temporary work visa in December of 1998. At that time, I applied for a Social Security card. Since then, I've held several jobs, I've gotten driver's licenses in several states, I got several credit cards and a loan to buy a car, checked my credit report every few years. I also became a U.S. Citizen and obtained a U.S. passport. I've been contributing to the Social Security System since then, and filed taxes every year. Moreover, when my citizenship status changed, I was required to get a new social security card, for which I went to the SSA office, waited several hours, filled out several forms, and later got the new card on the mail.

Until now...

The joy of being done with my income taxes and so easily file the paperwork electronically was shattered when I received an e-mail back from the IRS saying they were rejecting my tax return. Really? Rejected? I didn't even know they could do that! The birth date they have in the system for me doesn't match their records, which apparently they obtain from the Social Security Administration. A very nice SSA employee tells me the record has been wrong since the original application. How how how how is this possible? In 10 years, nobody (me included) noticed that my DOB was incorrect? My biggest worry: identity theft... could someone out there be pretending to be me but didn't think I was young enough so they changed it? Not funny.

Bottom line: The SSA will receive a visit from me once again, see my birth certificate, passport, drivers license, all of which show my correct DOB, and hopefully have it corrected so that I can, 10-16 days later, finally fill out my income tax return.

Does anyone else feel extremely uneasy about this?