6 Weeks in Denver

This weekend marked the end of my internship in Denver, Colorado.  Basin Holdings, one of our team sponsors, offered the opportunity to our team this spring.  I was immediately interested and jumped on the chance to try something new and gain some experience in the workforce. 
 
It was an interesting and fulfilling six weeks– and certainly all new to me.  I worked for WB Supply, an oilfield supply company and one of the many firms that make up Basin.  It’s nothing glamourous, and in theory a relatively simple business.  WB is the middle-man from the manufacturer to the corporations doing the drilling and pumping.  However, it’s a highly competitive industry.  In the current market especially, it takes a tightly run ship to stay afloat.  WB Supply is approaching 45 years in the industry, so they are clearly doing something right to have steadily grown through countless booms and busts. 

​I spent most of the first week of the internship up at one of their supply stores in Fort Morgan, which is a small, rural town northwest of Denver.  From there, I gained an appreciation of the operations at a grounds level.  The rest of the internship was at the office in Denver, where I created a couple of big reports and presentations, as well as helping with day-to-day issues with invoices, pricing, etc.  As much as I learned from actual application, I also gained a lot from listening in and observing.  The general principles that enable success in this business carry over to any industry.  I saw much of the success coming from strong relationships – between WB and its vendors and customers, and also within the company.  The president of WB works at the Denver office, and she told me how she worked her way through virtually every part of the company.   She understands the situation far better than someone sitting in an office hundreds of miles away might otherwise.  The macro takeaway for me was that in any environment, the more that you can see from all perspectives, the better off you’ll be. 

Downtown Denver. We moved into the city during my last week of the internship.

​I didn’t slack from my training during this time either.  My weekdays were always busy, starting with a strength or plyometric session in the gym at my apartment complex.  In the evenings, I would run, rollerski or ride on the considerable network of bike paths throughout the city.  I found plenty of places to train, although pounding the pavement through suburbs and the city sure made me appreciate the luxury of living right against world class mountain trails in Park City.  On the weekends, I headed for the mountains of Golden and Boulder, where I found plenty of trails and mountain passes to explore.  Finding new places certainly helps make up for the monotony of training alone.

The apartment complex where I stayed.

A little oasis of open space within reach of Denver.

Getting creative with "hurdles" in the gym.

At the end of a big training day.

Outside of Boulder...Not to be confused with the intersection of Deer Valley Loop and Deer Valley Drive (where I live in PC).

The view on a road-ride along the aptly named Peak-to-Peak highway.

Yoga in the park is a little bigger in Denver than Park City.

​I was able to meet up with some family in the area, including my cousins Tim and Krista who both grew up in Wisconsin, but now live happily in Boulder.  Once you play in the mountains, it’s hard to go back…  They’re a big running family, and I joined them for a 10-mile race in Boulder one weekend.  At the end of my stay, Tim, Krista and my Uncle all ran a 50km mountain trail race.  It looked like fun – in a way – but I stuck to my rollerskis for that day. As crazy as it sounds, there are some definite similarities between Nordic Combined and ultra-running; at least, they’re both small sports, extremely challenging, and generally provide more intrinsic rewards than anything else.  You could say it takes a special sort of person to choose either path.  But from my perspective, ultra running is even crazier than Nordic Combined.  And we have the Olympics…

The Loomis and Olson family

 Like always, the time flew by, and now it’s a bit of a shock to find summer here already.  I’ve been enjoying getting back to training with the team.  We’ll get back on the jump this week, which will be great after nearly three months away from the hill.  The week after that, we’ll start to really “pay our dues” with some hard sessions for our first intensity block. 
 
That’s all for now.  Thanks for reading, sorry for the irregularity of postings.  As you can say, I’m generally a busy guy!

Just had to see the Rockies before leaving!