On the roof top of Colorado.

(click on pictures to enlarge!)
This past weekend was amazing in many ways. My Friday started off with a short day at work, after work I decided to go for a 5k run. I had been challenged a few days before to break my personal record (PR) and someone else's. Chuck's PR is 19m42s, so I was aiming for 19m40s but it was an amazing run and i'm proud to announce that my new PR is 19m29s! :)

We grabbed dinner at Gondolier on Pearl at happy hour and decided to go to a coffee shop in downtown Boulder for a Flamenco show which I personally thought was pretty good.

Saturday morning I woke up and went to the mall to get some climbing/hiking gear but shortly after that, went for my long run! 15 miles (24.5k) which i finished in 1h53m46s. Quite impressive, I must say. That afternoon was supposed to be for chilling and taking naps since my big adventure was starting at midnight.

Chuck and I took a nap from 10:30pm til 11:30pm, we woke up a lil sleepy, threw our clothes on and headed out the door. We met up with the rest of our group at 12:00am in North Boulder and headed to the mountains. We were gonna climb Longs Peak via the Loft/Clark's Arrow (the hard way), and head down via the Keyhole (the traditional route). It's a long hike/climb, therefore, we had to start REALLY early!

At 1:30am we were at the trail head ready to start our adventure. The first couple of hours were quiet and it was also an easy hike. After that, the real climbing began. Fun times! :) At one point, we all decided to turn off our headlights and look at the sky. It was a clear night so you could see millions and millions of stars! We also got to see a few shooting stars... AMAZING! Then we kept climbing.

A little before getting to the Loft, the sun came up! Another AMAZING view. Seeing the sunrise from over 12,000 ft. is priceless. Once the sun came out, i felt like my body was a new one! The views were amazing and it was pretty shocking that we were finally able to see what we had climbed in the dark. Once we got to the Loft we took a 15 minute break to eat something and rest a little.

We then headed down on the other side of the mountain to get to Clark's Arrow. The descent was a little sketchy but the views were, again, amazing so it made it easier to just keep going.


We finally started going up again until we merged with the last few feet of the Keyhole route that leads to the summit.

We got to the summit at 8:45am. 7h15m after we started. At the summit, we all signed our names on the list, we shared some beers that we brought up with us, took a few pictures and rested for no more than 20 minutes.

We headed down via the Keyhole route. After a couple of hours of scrambling, we finally got to the keyhole. Past the keyhole we rested for a few minutes again and took off all our winter gear. It was warm again.

The descent from the summit to the Keyhole was extremely windy. 60+ mph wind gusts. COLD wind... freezing cold! Sometimes you just needed to duck and stay down.

The boulder field after the Keyhole was fun and not too long after that we found the trail to hike back to the parking lot (which still took a couple of hours). At this point I was EXHAUSTED! The fun part was over and I couldn't wait to come back to my new apartment and crash!

After 13h45m of hike/climb, we made it back to the car. On our drive back we stopped at Oskar Blue's in Lyons, CO for some food and then headed back to Boulder. On top of that, a few months ago I thought it was a good idea to move out of Boulder, so once we got back to Chuck's place, i got in my car and drove to Superior. I think driving the highway from Boulder to Superior in the conditions that I was, was more dangerous than climbing a14er!

Here's a link to Artie's pics
A link to Chuck's pics
And this is a link to Chuck's trip report

This last picture is of me at the summit with the number one since it's my first fourteener. I can't wait to do the next one!! I think i just found a new addiction! :)

On your marks, get set. Ready? GO!!!

FINALLY!! 3 days until the Bolder Boulder!! I've been training for so long and the race is on Monday!! The Bolder Boulder is an annual 10 km road race in Boulder, CO. The most recent race featured over 54,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers, making it the largest race in the US in which all participants are timed and the fifth largest road race in the world. It has one of the largest non-marathon prize purses in road racing.

The race culminates at the University of Colorado's Folsom Field with a Memorial Day Tribute with one of the largest Memorial Day gatherings in the United States.

Wish me luck!!!! :)

Bad Dreams vs. Happy Dreams...

Here's something I found interesting... I tend to remember what I dream, and it's usually happy dreams, but the times I have bad dreams, I honestly don't like it!!!

Bad dreams bugging you? Don't stress; they're normal. Studies show that most of our dreams aren't happy. Recent research suggests that the primary function of REM sleep (when most dreams occur) is to regulate emotions and help process fearful memories to keep your mind from overloading on stress.

Bottom line: It's your brain's way of confronting your fears so you don't have to deal with them during the day.

So, since I don't have that many bad dreams, does that mean I don't have that many fears?? When I was little, my worst dream... which I had a few times, and all these times it was exactly the same, like seeing a horror movie over and over again, was about a giant coming after me!! Maybe I AM scared of giants!! :)

Run like a girl...

So that's the slogan of the last marathon I ran and I love it! It was the Nike+ Women's half marathon and instead of a medal, I got a Finisher's tee shirt and a Tiffany keychain. Not too shabby for Gaby!!


I'd like to share my running experience today... I've liked running pretty much all my life and I love it... With running comes lots of injuries too. I've had 9 sprains on my right ankle and 2 on my left. I have knee problems, but no surgeries yet. In December 2007 I got, for Christmas, the Nike+ running sensor. It's a tiny chip that goes in your Nike+ running shoe, and a Nike+ receiver that goes on your iPod. It can be used on any iPod Nano and on the 2nd generation of iPod Touch. Nike+ tracks your time, pace, calories burned and distance ran. After your run, simply sync up your iPod to your computer and you’ll be able to check out your most recent run graph or track your progress. Before starting your run, you can select a workout based on time, distance, calories burned or simply choose a basic workout and start running. Your runs come to life on nikeplus.com where you can see the details of your latest run in a graph or view the history of all your runs. Need some motivation? Take your pick from setting goals, making a training plan with Nike+ Coach or joining a challenge. Can’t find a challenge you like? Then make one up and get all your friends to join. You can even “trash talk” with the other people in the challenge.

In my case, I have set a resolution for 2009. So each month I have to run at least 25km, I increased it by 5km every 4 months!! I also have 4 challenges going on... one with some friends, and the others is with people I know, but it may become pretty competitive. I'm doing a training program from the Nike+ Coach and I set a personal goal. On the nike+ website you can see all your accomplishments and you even get trophies or medals for challenges won, goals completed or other stuff. It's pretty awesome!! I highly recommend it!!


And now, I downloaded a pretty cool application on my blackberry that's called allsportgps that even makes a map of where i was running and uploads it to the internet and i can take a look at my trails any time I want!!


With all this motivation, how could I stop running?? Every day at work I can't wait to get off to go for a nice run with all my fancy equipment!! Btw, the nikeplus sport kit is only $29.99!!!!! How can you beat that!!! If anyone has a Nike+ account, lemme know, we can be a team and challenge other runners or compete against each other!! :)

Made in China... Another crazy epidemic!!!

I work in a Forensic Architecture firm in Colorado, and we recently discovered some problems with the drywall that was being used in one of the projects we are working on. We were able to see the studs through the drywall and on top of that, the whole building had this particular smell that, after a day of inspection made us think if it was normal or not.

Back in the office, a few days later, we discovered that the smell came from the walls. We realized it was drywall made in China.

Chinese drywall was imported into the U.S. during a different economic era, at the height of a housing boom. Prices were sky high, and the country was hit by two active hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005, increasing the demand for home repairs. It was mainly imported to reduce costs to rebuild houses damaged by hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Suppliers were forced to look elsewhere for their drywall supply. Drywall, made from gypsum, is regularly imported from Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, but during this time frame, the U.S. looked to China to make up for the shortage.

Symptoms: Defective drywall is said to exhibit several symptoms, including giving off a hydrogen sulfide (rotten-egg) smell that grows worse with heat and humidity, and causing blackened and corroded copper pipes and silver jewelery.

Why is it bad?: Chinese defective drywall is reported to emit potentially toxic chemicals, including carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide and hydrogen sulfide. In large amounts these chemicals could pose a serious health threat to those affected, including respiratory ailments, headaches, nose bleeds, tightness in the chest and dry eyes. In addition, the toxic chemicals produced reportedly corrode metals within a building, causing damage to electronic equipment, wires, pipes and air conditioning systems manufactured with copper.

The Gypsum Association says that enough drywall was imported from China to build 30,000 complete homes. Most of the Chinese drywall, they say, ended up in southwest Florida during the housing boom, where it was used in new housing developments. Some was also used in remodeling projects all over the country, so the number of homes affected is difficult to calculate.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are doing studies on the health effects, but those examinations are some time away from completion.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is having ongoing conversations with Chinese officials, who will be sending a representative to the United States to study the problem. A handful of Chinese companies have been sued by homeowners and home builders (This is why I have a job... law suits!! In the specific case we are working on, we are defending the homeowners of a high rise building in downtown Denver). The Consumer Product Safety Commission says most complaints have come from Florida, where the concerns emerged last year. But consumers also have filed complaints in Louisiana, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, California, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. and as information circulates about this newly discovered defect, the agency is expecting that number to grow substantially. Tens of thousands of newer homes throughout the United States may be at risk of contamination.

In April 2009, home improvement stores The Home Depot and Lowe's confirmed from their suppliers that no drywall sold in their stores was imported from China.

As for me, I don't complain, since this issue, just gives us more work!! :)

"I got the flu" is a strong statement!!

It's world news already that Mexico's got the flu!! It all started last week and to be honest I thought they were all exagerating. First, schools closed in Mexico City last friday and then, why not? All schools in the whole country were closed too. Now, pretty much all Mexico City is closed. I've been reading tons of articles and trying to understand what's going on, but it's pointless now.

There's all kinds of theories say'n that the virus is just something that the U.S. gave us on purpose, or maybe the drug cartels in Mexico... I call shenanigans!! It's a bad flu and that's it. I'm seeing it all from the outside, since I live in the U.S. but, from my point of view, they are making a HUGE deal out of it (unless they are hiding important information from us) but, did you know that 34,000 people die of seasonal flu in the U.S. EVERY year?? And the country is not paralized... i don't even think they put it on the news. It's not that I'm underestimating Mexico or anything, but 200 people died... and the country is paralized. I guess it has to do a lot with our medical system and the fact that there's no such thing as MedicAid! If you are lower class or unemployed you might end up in a public hospital in Mexico, and public health in our country is not something to be proud of... you might die while waiting to see a doctor at Urgent Care or you might get in fected with all kinds of viruses that might be in the waiting room with the other 500 people that are waiting to see a doctor.

They've diagnosed the swine flu (or should i call it the Human Flu now?? H1N1? The Pig Flu?) in a lot of countries, but none of them have had deaths... except for the U.S. Yesterday a little 23 mo. old boy died of swine flu, but guess what?? He was a Mexican kid visiting some family with his parents!

Anyways, my biggest concern is not health (even though I'm not underestimating it either!) but the country's economy. We were already having problems, but what about this? Panic shopping translates into inflation! Unemployment is growing, and on top of that tourism, that was a great income to the country, has lowered due to flight cancellations, cruises are not coming to Mexican ports, non-mexican citizens living in Mexico are leaving the country for good... Schools are closed, most establishments are closed (restaurants, museums, stadiums, movie theaters, bars, and even government offices are closed). So what's gonna happen? Is our economy gonna be paralized in a fast pace moving global economy?

And what's annoying is that ignorant people blame it on Mexico's City governor Marcelo Ebrard or his party, PRD. I saw a comment in one of the articles of Reforma.com a guy giving shit to the World Health Organization (WHO in English or OMS in Spanish) and saying that probably Ebrard was paying them to make up this disease!! Again, I call shenanigans!! Anyways, my train of thought is lost and now I'm just writing whatever pops into my mind, so for now, I'm gonna stop and I shall continue some other time!!

For now, those in Mexico, take care... and the rest of you, have a nice "fluless" day!!

For those who ask...

This is how my beautiful (right...) hometown looks like on a not-very-good day... This picture was taken on January 23, 2009.

I'm alive...

...I think it's time to live

A once in a lifetime adventure!!

I know I haven't written anything in almost a month, but I've been really tired from work and snowboarding (now that the season started again!!).

Now that y'all know that the snowboarding season is here again, well, I have to tell this awesome story... more like an adventure.

On sunday, Nick and I decided that it would be an AWESOME idea to go snowboarding, since a lot of people would probably be heading home from the holiday and would be getting ready to go back to school or work. We left Boulder at 6:30 am and it was snowing good!! Past Golden, we took a small highway that would take us to the Interstate which is the one that takes us to the skiing resorts. We were driving behind a Subaru at around 40 miles an hour when the bad ass SUV slipped on the ice... WHOAAA!! Hey, isn't it supposed to be 4 wheel drive?? This bad ass Toyota 4 Runner?? Well, yeah, but this is weird... Ok, no worries, nothing happened... 5 minutes later AGAIN!! This time we were out of control and ended up spinning in the middle of the highway and we finally stopped on the other side of the highway facing the opposite direction!! WHAT THE F*CK??? Well, I don't blame Nick, he's a good driver, we were going slow and the car in front of us was cruising as if the highway was dry!! Well, nothing happened, we said... if something like this happens again, we'll head back cause it only means, there's something wrong with the 4wd!! Anyways, he took it off and put in on again... apparently it just didn't engage right the first time...

Not even 30 minutes had passed, when in the middle of the interstate, in the middle of the snow storm a terrible sound starts. He pulls over and the hook of the straps that big truckers use to secure the chains on the tires went straight in our tire... the air was coming out like crazy... We drove slowly to the closest town which was only 2 miles away and changed the tire!! OMG!! That's baaad luck... anyways, we said... one more incident and we're calling it a day!!!

We arrived to Copper Mountain at 9:00 am, we got ready and at 9:15 we were on the chair lift... it was FREEZING!! the wind chill factor was -10°F... FREEZING!! But the snow was THE BEST!! The best snow for snowboarding... we flew down the mountain as many times as we could, and at 1:30 we decided it was reasonable to take off to avoid the traffic back home... but surprise, we were stuck in traffic for 7h30m!!! We arrived home at 8:00 pm!! RIDICULOUS!! It is important to say that on a normal day, it would take 1h15m, but this was just ridiculous!!

Funny thing, next morning, we talked about it and the only thing we could say was: "I can't wait to go back up!!" We definitely went through a lot, but such is life!! We should only be thankful that nothing crazy happened to us during the storm and we were back home safe.

Nick got the tire fixed on wednesday, and today, on my way back home from work a get a text from him that says: "Got another flat on the way home!"... and I just said "No way!! Really? That is the worst luck EVER! How did it happen this time?" and he said... "I dunno, but it was completely flat when I got home, weird huh?". NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!! This makes me think... should we go snowboarding this weekend??? FUCK YEAHH!!!!!

???????

I'm still shocked and sad... I'll write my thought and feelings about this later on. But for now, here's and image...