Exercise is my friend

Saturday I spent at a CrossFit seminar in Little Italy--these guys are almost masochistic. I'm going to do it. It is a new exercise venture for me. Then that night I watched the triathlon races in Sydney, Australia on my computer. I was reporting on it for work and it made me long to be back in Australia. These athletes were racing through the city, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and jumping into the water right next to the Opera House...sigh. The next morning I got up to report on the South Beach Triathlon. Then I went running for over three hours and got super tan...yeah! I go to Salt Lake City this weekend...brrr.

Triathlons, Triathlons, Triathlons

Last week I went to a triathlon training camp with some professional triathletes in Morgan Hill, CA, just outside of San Jose. Talk about beautiful! I didn't know if I was in the south of France or the South Bay. I went on some spectacular bike rides :)

Then I got to spend two days in Oceanside, just north of San Diego covering the Oceanside 70.3 triathlon for work. My friend from Phoenix was also competing in it so I got to cheer him on and get a few photos. My office for those two days was the beach. Can't complain. I did get put on camera interviewing about 7 or 8 professionals....um...scary!

My interview with Jordan Rapp here

My interview with my favorite triathlete Matt Reed (I am biased because he is tall and has an Aussie accent. It's nice to see tall people winning). Click here

Another 5K

I ran another 5K race in beautiful Balboa Park on Saturday. No PR for me, but what a lovely place--green, amazing architecture, grand museums. What a wonderful place to race and run. I will definitely be at this place doing long runs--so much to see. I've had lots of races either begin or end in Balboa Park, but this was the first run entirely in the park.

I also discovered a new area called North Park and went out for dinner with an old Phoenix friend who lives here.

I also was told by a guy this week that I am vain because I go to Starbucks. Huh? Well, color me narcissistic because I love my tall non-fat chai and pumpkin scone. I like to support Seattle companies, as I am a Seattle home girl. I shop at Amazon, love my green caffeinated company, and use Windows products. I heard that boys are classier in San Diego, but I am just not seeing it. Boys are boys wherever I go.

Is there anything more fun than running in your underwear? I can think of plenty of more things that are more fun, but definitely not funnier. I did an Undy 5K this weekend and instead of asking for my T-shirt size, I was asked for my waist size. That is because Undy means underwear and we were all given boxers to wear. Loving it! It was for a fundraiser for colon cancer, so it was fitting. Several fundraising teams also raced and they were all appropriately named things like “Big Blue Booties” and “Queens of Colon” and “It is All ‘Behind’ Us Now.” Some really did run in their underwear. I was able to PR in this 5K and came in 12th out of 288. Not very many hardcore runners were there, which is why my higher placing finish.

I also had dinner with some people I was on tour with for the Great Wall of China Marathon. Five of us live in San Diego/Southern CA and we met and ate Korean BBQ. I have some built-in friends in CA because of my races around the world, which makes me a pretty lucky gal!

I am also discovering new places in San Diego and the more I learn about the city, the more I like.

Ironman New Zealand

I signed for my second Ironman today: Ironman New Zealand. It's destination time again. Another Ironman? Ick. The training was intense and annoying, but I loved it. So should I do it or ask for a partial refund? Not sure. It's not until March 2012, so we'll see what happens from now until then.

St. Patrick's Day 10K
I did another running race today and had a wicked good time until...something happened. The race was hilarious! People in California take their St. Patrick's Day seriously! I saw all kinds of green socks, Dr. Seuss hats in green, people dressed up as leprechauns complete with green leisure suits and bow ties, dogs with clovers, people with dyed green hair, a man dressed up as a pot of gold while two women dressed up as rainbows (including rainbow wigs) ran next to him. It was a sea of delicious green. I ran okay, but then afterwards I couldn't find my car. I looked and looked and it was gone! I went to an employee of San Diego's park and recreation to get help. He tried to help me find it and offered to call the cops. He got two other employees on the task and we drove around and around looking and to no avail. One employee called to see if any cars had been towed and nope, if it was gone, it was stolen. Noooo!!!! I wanted to cry, but then as the luck of the Irish, it was found. Turns out I thought the start and finish were in the same place, so I made my way back to my car based on where I thought I was...well, while we were out running, the finish line was being set up .5 miles down from the start. So I was looking for my car half a mile from where it was...how could that be any more embarrassing!!?? Well, when I finally got back to my car I looked in the rearview mirror and my face was covered with mascara--I mean covered. I looked like a monster. I had been walking around with all these people on a manhunt for my car with a blackened face. Sometimes I feel sorry for myself that I am still single and ask "All my friends are married, how am I still single?" Then something like this happens and I quickly answer that question.

What happens in Vegas...

Is that you get to run underneath the lights of the strip at night...Rock n Roll Las Vegas is now a nighttime run and all marathoners and half marathoners get to run on the strip with all its glowing glory. The marathon cut off time is 4.5 hours, which is not generous, but it would be fun! Me likie. I want to go to there.

My old salsa dancing friend I ran into at lunch invited me to go salsa dancing and so last night I got my salsa on. Salsa dancing is one of my eccentric hobbies and I am proud to say that like riding a bike, it is a skill not lost.

I am sad to say that Sally Meyerhoff, one of Arizona's most favorite runners and one of the top 10 marathoners in the country passed away. She was hit and killed while on her bike in Maricopa. She was getting into triathlons and training for an Ironman. She was also training for the 2012 Olympics. She won the Arizona Rock N Roll Marathon and she was friends with a lot of my friends. RIP.