Triathlon Training in The Deep Powder of Aspen, Colorado

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Last week, I was in Aspen, Colorado for some morning meetings and afternoon skiing. It was absolutely spectacular. Colorado has had record levels of snow this year. I've always been a fan of Aspen, which sits at about 8,000 feet - that's 2,000 more than Boulder, where I have spent several summers. Perhaps the altitude would make Aspen a good place to train during the summer.

"Founded as a mining camp in the Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of aspen trees in the area, the city is now a ski resort and cultural center. The city emerged as a skiing mecca following World War II and the foundation of the Aspen Skiing Company by Walter Paepcke, a Chicago industrialist who sought to create a utopian community of the mind and body. Paepcke's legacy of the Aspen/Snowmass resorts, along with such institutions as the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Music Festival and School, have made the city a year-round international destination for recreation, arts, business, and intellectual discourse." -Wikipedia

But this trip was the season's last ski-fix. I was amazed a the amount of snow that Aspen received this year. Much of Colorado and the middle of the country was locked in a frozen ice box for most of the winter months, and the snow kept accumulating. But now, the sun is out and the snow is starting to melt very slowly. After skiing each day, I could feel in my quads that it's time to really start training again.

On a gondola, I overheard a triathlete's wife telling her daughter about how worried she was that her husband was over-training for triathlon.  She said, "He is just swimming, biking and running too much!" She asked me for my thoughts and, I replied, "You might be asking the wrong guy." Interestingly enough, before we reached the top of the mountain, she received a phone call that he had twisted his knee on the moguls and was on his way down the mountain.

After a snowstorm last week, I noticed a bunch of bikes covered in the snow, waiting patiently for the melting.  They're ready for the spring training season.  Are you?

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