I'm back!

The bar exam is done. My diploma arrived today. It's all done.

So, naturally, I celebrated with some long overdue training. After a morning strength session, in the afternoon I headed over to Alafia State Park for a good outing on the Scott Spark RC. 

While there are several levels of trails ( from Easy to Extremely Difficult), I wisely chose to warm up on the River loop, one of the easiest ones. So far, so good. A few bridges, some twisty turns, but I was managing just fine. And my confidence kept rising. Fast.

After I felt sufficiently warmed up, I decided to enter the hardest mountain bike course I have ever seen. In hindsight, this was a mistake. Below is an image of one of the many "speed bumps". I saw at least 3 of these guys, as well as deer, bunnies and a baby armadillo. Cute little bugger.

Sadly, the images do not do this course justice. I am no professional mountain biker, but found myself forced to dismount over 30 times in just a few miles ( both up and downhill), and had plenty of near misses.


I am not sure if it is the lack of time spent on a mountain bike (or any other bike, for that matter) over the past few months while Law School graduation and the bar exam consumed my days, but my skills certainly were far behind my eagerness.

I am proud to say, however, that I only had one (minor) tumble. I braked hard to avoid a fall, and rolled to the right. There was a ditch, and I rolled (gently) down it, ending upside down and without any way to support my self back up, so I was upside down for a good few seconds until I finally propped myself back up. Nothing to worry about, really, but it made me extra careful the rest of the lap.

Alafia State Park is only 45 minutes from downtown Tampa, but it feels a world away. The easy course is a lot of fun, and if you have some serious skills, the Moonscape and Roller Coaster courses will treat you just fine. Maybe.

Back to FL

It's been a very long time since I last wrote, but better late than never. Since last February a lot has happened.

I have graduated law school and will be sitting for the Florida bar exam in a few short weeks. Scared out of my mind, I've been putting in solid studying hours. keep your fingers crossed.

I have also relocated to Tampa, FL. I am absolutely loving it here - the coast, the ocean breeze, the proximity to some of the world's best beaches all make being here a great experience.

On the training front, I have been running a lot given the lack of real time to swim and ride. The fitness is not where it used to be, but it is coming back. I plan on doing a few local running races to get the racing legs back, and as the fitness returns, the triathlon and off-road racing will resume as well.

I have a new Scott Spark RC, courtesy of Cycle Therapy. I also have Enve Composites on it which make it the lightest MTB I've ever touched by far even though it is a full suspension. It has motivated me to do an 8 hour off road event, which I should tackle around October. Pic below.

I will try to keep this updated more often. The past few months have been absolutely crazy, but things are falling in place again and I can tend to my duties better.

Be good,

Felipe

Long Overdue Update

Okay, I will admit that it has been far too long since I last updated my blog. At some point, too much happened and I kept postponing the update. Well, the time has come. 

I spend a couple of weeks in Queensland, Australia during the month of December. It was an outstanding trip altogether. Getting used to the lack of ocean swimming took a little while (saltwater crocodiles,  sharks and deadly marine stingers kept everyone out of the areas not fenced in), as did getting used to the heat and humidity. It’s usually not a problem when I slowly get acclimated, but jumping from near freezing temps in the States to close to 100F everyday in Cairns took the better part of a week.

 

The visits to the Tablelands (the gateway to the outback), the Great Barrier Reef,   the downtown Cairns Esplanade and the other local attractions were all incredible. I could easily get used to spending winter break Down Under yearly – the only issue is the super long flight.

When I returned I spent 5 days in Tampa before heading back to Alabama. I just wasn't ready to brave the wintry weather yet, and the weather, as well as the company in Tampa were too good to pass up. 

Since being back, I have been trying to not spread myself too thin between working at a couple of law firms, taking the last few credits before I add J.D. after my name, and professional sports training. I have been doing most of it at night after work, and adapting to this schedule has been tough to say the least. The much-colder-than-usual winter

I have posted an album with Australia images on my facebook, if you have an interest in seeing them. I also did the majority of the updating on twitter if you wanna see a play by play of the trip.

I am currently working on a race schedule, and will share it once it becomes available. I promise it will not be as long until I update next time.

Felipe