Boarding at Breckenridge

Me being cheesy before the 10K.

Renae crossing the finish line.

Boarding at Breck.

Renae after getting off the lift.

Cheryl posing ready to pounce.

Last weekend Renae and I headed over to Denver to run a 10K, doing some wedding shopping, and to board with Cheryl and RJ. We got into Denver at 7pm and met Taysha and Brian at the movie theather in Greenwood Village next to the Elephant Bar. We watched Date Night.....hilarious.....then we went to the Elephant Bar...naturally. We didn't get till bed until a little after 10pm and got up around 0545. We weren't sure where exactly the race was so we left in plenty of time to get there. We found the high school and there were lacrosse games and soccer practice as well so the joint was pretty crowed. We got our registration bags, timing chip, and t-shirts then headed back to the car to put them all up. It was freak'n cold out 33 degrees and I was dressed some what inappropriate for that temp....fearful I would have to run in my sweatshirt...but thankfully the sun came out a little and I tossed the sweatshirt before the race started. We got off right on time and headed up Hell's Hill as the locals call it. I started off running but became so out of breath that I walked all the way to the top of the hill as did Renae. She kept saying I can't relax. Once we hit the top I started running and ran through what looked like what I sometimes run in Junction. After about 2 1/2 miles we came to the road and started running on the road UP the HILL. I ran about 1/2 up the hill and passed another runner but then needed to walk but made sure to walk faster than the runner was running. Once I topped the hill I was able to start running again. Thankfully I was listening to my Ipod and a running cadence came on.....I immediately relaxed my gate and started calling cadence. At mile 5 we took a turn off the trail to add more distance and I was like crap really. I walk/ran the next 1/2 mile until the runner I passed was starting to get close. I started running again and when I came back to the turn off I started running hard and came in just under 90 min. I waited for Renae at the finish line and she came in about 4 min behind me. She did awesome for being tight and her back bothering her.

The next day we headed to Breck to board with RJ and Cheryl. It was some unusual snow that soft powder it was like boarding in mashed potatoes. Here are some movies from the day.

Board Dancing with RJ and Cheryl.

My first attempt at a big air jump.

Winter Sports Clinic Snowmass, CO 2010

Me walking to the lift from the condo on Friday April 2nd.

Instructor Bobby Palm and a veteran.

Bode Miller at the staging area.

A snowboard rig.

Two vets climbing the wall under different methods.

Outside the convention center at the climbing wall, Monday 28th.

Craziness at the scuba pool on Monday the 28th.

Picture of Renae at lunch outside of Aspen on Monday March 28th.

My Regional office wanted me to head up to Winter Sports Clinic this year to outreach and introduce the Vet Center to any veteran who hadn't heard of the services that Vet Centers offer. There were two other Vet Center employees from my region but I never once saw or met them as this was truly a huge event. Renae wanted to do some volunteer work so she headed up with me on Saturday March 27th. Because of a mix up in accommodations we stayed in Carbondale Saturday night and did some outreach in the area since Grand Junction covers all of the Western Slope. We got to Snowmass around 9am on Sunday morning and of course couldn't check in to the condo until 2 or 3pm. So we headed over to the Convention Center and talked to a few of the staff from Grand Junction VAMC purchased our Taste of Snowmass and some lift tickets. We then headed out to where they were loading the vets into their mono, bi, and regular skis. We went up the lift and took a couple of runs. Here are some pictures of Sunday.

Renae sitting on one of the blue runs at the top of Snowmass.
Me with the Roaring Fork Valley below.

Renae on Powder day Friday the 2nd of April on a black diamond.

Taste of Snowmass was Sunday in the early evening. It is where most of the food places at the mall showcase their food and you can use tickets to sample a couple of different entrees and a dessert. Renae and I saw Al the director of the Fresno VAMC he was our director at the Marlin Medical Shelter, we talked with him for a bit. The days seemed to run together because I was constantly walking up and down stairs and talking to people. Monday evening they held (not sure who held) a get together for the Women veterans. That was fun. I met some vets from all over the country. Several active duty and one that was IR and had just been recalled to go to Afghanistan.

Tuesday Renae and I boarded in the morning and then she left to return to Grand Junction to go to work. On Wednesday the Olympians where in town and I stood in line for nearly two hours to get some autographs. I also went to a couple of workshops on adaptive equipment, pain and the military and something else that I now can't recall. On Wednesday Pat White introduced me to Bobby Palm, a Level 3 Certification Instructor/Evaluator, who taught Renae and the kids to board. I asked if I could board with him on Thursday morning. So Thursday morning I did some blocking for a 20 something year old veteran who was learning to snowboard. Then Bobby and I took a run in knee deep fresh powder that had been dumping all morning long. Renae returned to Snowmass Thursday afternoon and we headed to Butch's for dinner. Friday morning we got up and headed to the lifts and did some Powder runs before Taste of Snowmass. We ate lunch with three active duty Air Force members who where there driving for all the veterans. Friday was race and medal day. We got in a couple of black mogul powder runs. I didn't realize how weak my right knee was until finishing the first run. Friday night was closing ceremony which was pretty neat. I also met Tammy Duckworth from Central Office, she's one or two under the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs. Overall it was an awesome week. There were 354 veteran participants and 636 volunteers on the mountain.