I don't typically fly directly from one race into another race. Usually, there is at least a day or two in between stage races. Olympic years are always a little different and races get shuffled around. That's what happened between the Tour of Denmark and the Tour of Utah. I finished the five-day Tour of Denmark, had a lovely post-race dinner hosted by our great sponsors, got a few hours of sleep and then headed to the airport to fly halfway across the world to Utah.
Here is a quick glimpse at my day:
6:45am--My alarm goes off but I simply couldn't get up yet. I was still too tired from a week of working 13+hours every day followed by an evening of maybe a glass or two of too much wine.
7:15am--I can't put off getting up. A quick shower, cup of coffee, packed bags and I'm out.
7:40am--Headed to the airport and returned my rental car. Make it through security without any issues.
I had a bit of time to kill at the airport because my flight wasn't until 9:50am, so I started with a juice from Joe and the Juice. I went with Peas of Mind with peas, avocado, celery, kale and apple. At the time, it seemed like a good decision. In hindsight, I'm not sure a pea smoothie is my thing. Next up was a soy latte with three shots. Like my Starbucks name?
Because I had so much time to kill, I started shopping. I think I could buy the entire Copenhagen airport. After trying on perfume that was too expensive, I settled on the world's most basic ring. Just my style.
9:50am--Flight to Amsterdam. Luckily the caffeine had kicked in and I was wired. Please ignore my flying guilty pleasure...OK! Magazine.
11:30am--I went as quickly as possible to the KLM lounge hoping that I could get upgraded for my super long flight from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City. Sadly the flight was already completely booked. This detour cost me getting food during my layover, so I boarded my 11-hour flight without any food or snacks...and I don't really eat plane food.
2:30pm Mountain Time/10:30pm Copenhagen Time--First off the plane and through immigrations. Felt good to back on home soil.
3:30pm Mountain Time/11:30pm Copenhagen Time--After the long flight and no food, I was starving. Like eat everything in sight hungry. First, I ordered a starter of hummus and then got this salad. I think my waiter was a little impressed with my eating abilities. While eating, I booted up my laptop and cranked through as many emails as possible and did some conference calls.
4:55pm Mountain Time/12:55am Copenhagen Time--Boarded onto my final flight to Cedar City, Utah. The long travel day was starting to catch up to me.
5:55pm Mountain Time/01:55am Copenhagen Time--Landed in Cedar City. My travels were super smooth and uneventful. As a side note, Cedar City is by far the smallest airport I've been to in my entire life. After grabbing my bag (there wasn't even a belt), I walked outside and my sport director was waiting for me right out front and took me to the race hotel....college dorms.
7:00pm Mountain Time/03:00am Copenhagen Time--A major, major storm hit. Apparently this has been the norm.
9:00pm Mountain Time/05:00am Copenhagen Time--I finally decided it was time to crawl into bed. A cookie served as my dinner and I was completely okay with that. Early morning wake up and I was already into Stage 2 of my next race.
