Honesty and Hills: A little about Steve

So I've decided I would like to try out blogging because ALL the cool people are doing it...

But seriously, I plan to use this blog to keep family, friends, and other supporters up to date on what I've been doing. A little background information on me...

I was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Yes, it's cold there. I learned to skate when I was three, tried out speedskating for a little, then found I loved hockey. I always loved sports and picked up soccer at a young age as well. I played both sports year round and loved it.

Where I spent my nights living in Minnesota...so many memories

I also fell in love with the mountains on family vacations to Estes Park.

Taking a break on the trail with my dad and brother

In high school, I began to focus more on hockey. I had always liked the physically difficult aspects of practices in both sports, and loved the training for hockey. I began attending FHIT (a training center for hockey) and was taught my way around a gym by a guy who still remains one of my heroes to this day, Chris J. To this day, I credit him for enjoying sore legs.

From my days at FHIT. (We got points for how much we worked out)

Don't get me wrong, I loved the soccer team at my high school. Our team spoke over 12 different languages but played with one goal in mind.

I ended up choosing to attend Colorado State University for a couple reasons. The civil engineering program was well known, there were mountains close by, and there was a club hockey team.

My freshman year, I played club hockey at CSU. To make a long story short, I was disappointed with my experience. Going to CSU, I knew the surrounding area was prime for biking. The spring of my freshman year, a teammate's girlfriend on the hockey team recommended I give the CSU Triathlon Team a whirl. I went to a swim practice, got my butt kicked, and was hooked. I had very little experience swimming other than using it as cross-training for hockey or to keep me sane when injured from running.

I bought my first road bike that spring and road up to Estes Park. I had always wanted to do the ride.

My dorm room

I knew I liked running hills, riding them...

The summer after my freshman year I did my first triathlon, a sprint. I need to give a huge thank you to the "triathlon ambassadors" at Erik's bike shop for exposing me to group rides and giving me some tips to make my first race go somewhat smoothly.

I joined the CSU Triathlon team my sophomore year and loved it. I learned so many new things about the sport and training. I give credit to all of our team's coaches for the progress me and the many other newbie triathletes on the team have made in so little time.

Training camp is always a highlight of my year

Traveling to races with the team (Nationals 2013) is a blast

Because I am studying civil engineering, a lot of my time not in class is spent studying. However, I consider myself to be fairly efficient, allowing me to attend a lot of the team practices and supplement with some of my own workouts.

Other things that I really enjoy are food and cooking food. I am very conscious about what I put into my body. I know how my body responds to certain foods and don't like feeling crappy during workouts. While I do not religiously follow a diet, I have found that gluten really doesn't sit well with me. Unless it's home made banana bread or another delicious dessert!

Most of the meals I make these days are in my crockpot - pretty much the greatest cooking machine ever. But here are some pictures from some meals...