Swine flu Map

Hey guys,

Here is a Google map of the swine flu cases in the world. very Interesting.


View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Swine Flu / Mexico City

Familia,

I spoke to my brother, Armando, this morning regarding the Swine Flu situation in Mexico City. He said it is very serious and authorities are doing everything possible to "Contain" what could become the next Global Pandemic.

All schools, Kinder Garden, Elementary, High Schools, Universities, Private, Public, have been closed down until May 6th, or further notice.

All Open Air Events, Soccer Games, Park Pic Nics, Farmer's Markets, have also been closed down. People are being urged to remain in their homes, and when it's necessary to go outside, to wear masks over their nose and mouth.

The Hospitals are overwhelmed with Mass Paranoia, people thinking they have the symptoms. So Doctors are coming out to the streets, where people are lining up ,to check their eyes and take their temperature to decide who should stay in line and who should go home.

Armando said that he spoke to Felipe, our oldest brother, this morning and he and his family are doing well. I left Felipe a voice mail.

I spoke to Jessica, our youngest sister, on Thursday , and she is in the State of Veracruz for the weekend, doing a Half Marathon with her Runner's Group, and should be home tonight. Veracruz is not one of the affected States, so far.

Armando and I agreed to remain in close contact. He thinks there's a strong possibilty Mexico City will be shut down soon, no one allowed in or out. I will keep you posted.

Everyone in the following pictures , taken in March, 2008 in Puerto Vallarta, lives in Mexico City, with the exception of Joe and I.

From Left to Right:The Siblings- Jessica, Felipe, Raquel and Armando:


From Left Top Right: Joe, Raquel, Melissa (Jessica's Daughter), Felipe, Nora (Felipe's Wife), Jessica, Lety (Armando's Wife), Armando.

Snow and blowing snow!!!

Hello family,

I'm sure everyone is busy digging out from the storm.....but here in Parker I think we got more snow than most.....over 25 inches!!!!

Like many of you I spent a few hours trying to dig out this morning.......but it's been snowing all day and now that it's about 4:00pm.....you can hardly tell where I shoveled. Plus....my snow blower decided to "break a belt" trying to throw all of the heavy wet snow which means it will be all "manual effort" digging out from this point forward.

Therefore, I have decided to let nature take it's course......take some pictures.....and come inside to relax, enjoy a great meal (Amy made elk chili and corn bread), and take the rest of the day off.

Wish you were all here with us to enjoy the simple pleasures of being warm, eating good food, and being with someone you love.

Life is good!!!

Love, Greg and Amy

Feb-March-April blog from Greg and Amy

Hello family,

Well it has been a few months since our last posting……so with the snow storm today I thought it would be a good opportunity to update the news from Amy and I.

In Feb and March there were several birthdays to celebrate….Joe Sr., Joe Jr., and Estelle. We hosted a dinner party to celebrate Estelle turning 80 and several weeks later Raquel invited us to their beautiful new home to help celebrate Joey’s 33rd birthday! It was wonderful being able to be together with loved ones celebrating these happy occasions!!!

In mid-March Amy and I were able to get down to Salida for about a week when the weather was so nice here along the front range. We rode bikes, hiked, fished, and listened to some great music (all the usual things to do in Salida).

A few hours "work" in Salida

Dinner for two!

Finally, in April we enjoyed celebrating Easter and the traditional “Easter egg decorating contest” with family and with our good friend Steve Rocha who was staying with us as he passed through Colorado.

The "big people" table

The "little people"
table :-)

The "grandmas judging Easter eggs!

Fritz and Raquel.

Fun in the kitchen!

The purple ladies!

Steve and Polly

Amber and Brig

Easter Egg
Contest winners (3rd, 1st, and 2nd place)

The winning eggs!

Love to everyone in the Morales and Reed families!

Greg and Amy

IRONMAN / NEW ORLEANS

It's been a long time since a posting has been made so I'm breaking the silence to write about the Half Ironman triathlon that my friend Todd (from high school) and I did last weekend in New Orleans.

So.. What is it?

An Ironman 70.3 is a 70.3 mile triathlon starting with a 1.2 mile swim in open water, continues with a 56 mile bike ride and concludes with a 13.1 mile run (half marathon).

Why did I do it?

The short answer is that my friend Todd has been racing them the last couple years and has been kicking butt! Julie and I went to watch him race last year in Napa valley "Vineman" Half Ironman. I thought it was so cool. I had been mountain bike racing and road biking so it totally caught my attention.

Last November at a party Todd convinced me to do the New Orleans race with him. I signed up in December, broadcast it on facebook to make myself accountable and the training began!

Preperation:

The hardest part of the training is keeping motivated day after day. My training was probably light but here is what I did to get ready starting in January through the end of March:

- 19 indoor cycling workouts (basement) for a total of 390 miles

- 9 outdoor bike rides for a total of 290 miles

- 21 treadmill runs for a total of 135 miles

- 11 outdoor runs for a total of 101 miles

- 1 mountain bike ride - 10 miles (too nice a day to pass it up)

- 3 Ski Days

- 2 Yoga Days

- 29 swims for a total of 45 miles

- 2 Days with a bike fitter

- 1 Day with a shoe fitter

- 1 Day with a Swim coach (swimlabs)

New Gear Required:

- "Aero" handlebars for my bike

- A very special kind of wetsuit for the open water swim

- lots of training gear (goggles, swim suits, running shoes, shorts etc..)

- A bike fit to adjust my bike for aero dynamic riding position of traithlons

- A case to check my bike in the air plane

- A Treadmill

- An indoor bike trainer

- Swimming coach session

- An aero helmet

- Lots of GU Gels (gels to get some calories during long exercise)

- A heat lamp to help me stretch when I'm cold

The Trip to New Orleans:

Julie and I paid the trip to New Orleans and the hotel with airline miles. We checked the bike as baggage on the plane. My friend Todd and his wife made the trip and my parents made the trip. No turning back now! It was incredible to have so much support. I have never felt like I needed it more. Made for the most fun weekend ever!!

We all flew out last Friday to beat the snow storm. I arrived first to New Orleans. I unpacked and re-assembled my bike in the hotel room before Julie, mom and dad's flights arrived. I then went to pick them up at the airport. Saturday morningwe had breakfast and my dad drove me to Todd's hotel for pre-race preperation.

Todd and I spent all day saturday getting ready. We drove to lake Ponchartrain (where the swim starts) to test the open water for the swim. Since it was my first time swiming distance in open water, Todd helped teach me how to "sight" my swim. In the pool you have a line of tiles to follow to make sure you go straight. In the lake there is no visibility so you have to look up every few strokes to make sure you're still swimming straight. I found that this is not as easy at is sounds so was glad to have Todd's coaching.

After the swim we did a quick 20 minute warm up on the bike followed by a 10 minute warm up run. Then it was time to head back downtown for a pre-race briefing. After the briefing we headed back to check our bikes in for the race. This took the entire day.

Meanwhile Julie, Liz (Todd's wife) and my parents were having the time of their lives in New Orleans eating oysters, having bloody mary's etc... It is such a fun town and Todd and I were sooooo jealous we couldn't join the party Saturday.

Race Day:

We were up at 4:00 AM to get ready for the 7 AM race. The pros started at 7:00 AM and Todd/My heat started at 7:12. Becuase we were only 12 minutes behind the pros we saw them several times during the race (and Todd passed some of them!). These were some of the best triathletes in the world. It felt like you were showing up to a basketball game and warming up with Michael Jordan - who was about to start in the same event.

Warming up for the 1.2 mile swim:

Transition from swim to bike (Todd finished swim in 32 minutes)

My transition (35 minute swim time)

Todd starting off on the bike:

My bike start:

Smile! (I saw julie cheering me on)

Transitioning from bike to Half Marathon (Ouch - where are my legs!!)

Final Stretch! 70 miles done and 3 blocks left! Best feeling ever!

Results:

- I finshed the race in 5 hours 12 minutes.

- 1.2 mile swim took 35 minutes

- 56 mile bike took 2 hrs, 39 minutes

-Half marathon in an hour and 50 minutes.

I ended up finishing 48/250 for my age group (top 20 percent)

I ended up 220/1672 overall. (top 13 pecent)

My friend Todd is nearly a pro. He finished 7th/250 for our age. Incredible!

For some reason dailyavocado is not letting me upload more photos.. So I'll post a link with more shortly....

Overall I'm really pumped given that this was my first race. It was a fantastic experience and one I'll never forget! Everything about the weekend was perfect - the race was incredible, the town had soo much energy and it was great to spend all of it with my family, Todd and Liz... An unforgetable experience!

More photos to follow!

Joe..