Guest Columnist

This blogging stuff- its hard work! We’ve had a whirlwind couple of weeks since our return to Europe, and despite pleas from our Mothers to post an update it has been hard for Matthew to find time. We are beginning to feel a bit guilty though, so Matthew asked if I (Lisa) would be willing to help out and do a short catch up.

Matthew & I returned to Spain approximately 3 weeks ago now. We had 3 days together in Girona to unpack, open our apartment, and sort out all the issues that naturally arise after being gone for a while like getting the internet and phones working again, pulling our car out of storage, etc. Then we shipped Matthew off to camp and I was lucky enough to get a two-week long visit from a college friend while he was away. My friend, Heidi, and I spent most of our trip reacquainting ourselves with Girona and the surrounding area. We ate at a favorite Catalan restaurant, explored windy stone streets, spent a day in Barcelona, hiked along the Mediterranean coast, and also took a 3 day excursion to Sevilla. It was a pretty wonderful way for me to start off the year abroad.

Matthew posted a few times throughout camp, but overall it seems like his time away was a constructive two weeks. The first few days he felt a little sub-par, probably as a result of the travel combined with a stomach bug over the holidays. By the end of camp he seemed back to full stride and has continued with some really good training since arriving home. Heidi planned her trip so that she would overlap with Matthew on the last few days of her visit, and we were lucky enough to steal him away from the bike on his first day back for a hike in the Pyrenees. It was supposed to be a bit of a rest-day for Matthew, but by the end of 5 hours of pretty steep hiking we had to keep looking behind to see where he was as he joked “I’m trying really hard guys!” I think we actually tuckered him out pretty good!

A rest-day hike

After Heidi left, Matthew and I were both looking forward to really settling in over here and resuming a regular routine. Unfortunately, I came down with strep throat which has delayed that normality a bit. After a couple days under the weather though I’m starting to feel a lot better and we are both SO happy that Matthew hasn’t shown any signs of picking up my bug. (When you’re married to someone who depends so much on being healthy to complete his daily work, your first thought after realizing you are sick is “Oh no! How do I prevent him from catching it?!” I think I washed our sheets and towels 3 times over the course of my illness and was constantly sanitizing everything I touched!) Happily, today I was well enough to venture out of the apartment and meet Matthew after a training ride for a coffee and croissants. It was awesome to hear him rattling off about all the sights he saw on his 5 ½ hour ride- I always know he is feeling good on the bike when he comes home excited to tell me about his adventures. I think we are officially back on our feet over here and ready to take on another season!

Lisa