Domo Does Chicago

Domo here – reporting as special guest blogger for Monika. For those of you who don't know who I am, you can read more about me here.

Back to my story! Monika and I went to Chicago for a couple days so that Monika could spend some time out in the field with the Chicago sales rep to get some “real world” experience with her product. Here is my story about our trip.

Domo was excited to take a trip. Domo’s never been on a plane before. Okay, Domo has, but Domo was stuffed in a suitcase the whole time. Domo wasn’t allowed out of the bag to see the world!

Domo slept for most of the flight to Chicago. Domo was very excited to see the city, and was sad to be stuck on the tarmac after landing for 45 minutes because of lightening. The ground crew wasn’t allowed out during the storm so we sat on the plane and waited and waited. Domo was bored.

Finally we were able to get off the plane. Domo was excited to get his suitcase and get to the hotel. Domo was soon sad to hear that the lightening had started again and now the baggage crew wasn’t allowed out to get the bags off the plane.

Domo was very very hungry after a long day of travel and was excited to eat dinner. Luckily the hotel had a little market with food!

Domo doesn’t usually like frozen meals, but Domo was so hungry that he happily ate his Lean Cuisine and fruit salad while watching the Duke vs Buter Final Four game. Domo was hoping Butler would win. Domo was very sad when the final shot from half-court didn’t make it in.

The next morning Domo woke up refreshed and decided to go to the gym. Domo likes to work on his fitness and hit the treadmill. Domo didn’t take a picture in the gym because he still had bed head.

The next day Domo visited several doctors offices and talked about wrinkles. Domo is very happy he doesn’t have wrinkles yet. For dinner, Domo walked across the parking lot the Weber Grill restaurant. Along the way Domo saw some geese!

Domo ordered the grilled tilapia for dinner. It was REALLY good. Domo doesn’t usually order dessert, but was in the mood for something sweet and ordered the dessert sampler. This came with a mini apple pie, a scoop of cinnamon ice cream, and a mini piece of chocolate cake. Domo is ashamed to admit that he ate it all. That’s okay, Domo runs five days a week to keep his nice, smooth, rectangular figure.

 

The next day Domo bought something at a plastic surgeon’s office that he’s always wanted. A Clarisonic facial brush! This brush uses the same sonic technology that the Sonicare does. Now Domo can use his Sonicare toothbrush on his teeth, and his Clarisonic facial brush on his face! Domo happy!

Domo returned to the Weber Grill the second night for dinner too. Domo didn't pig out as much as the night before and only ordered two appetizers as a meal.

Domo had a good trip to Chicago but felt that the trip was too short. Domo didn’t get a chance to see any of his friends in Chicago, or friends and family in neighboring states. That’s okay, Domo will return for a longer trip and take some time to visit everyone.

Domo is happy that you took the time to read his first blog. Domo says bye bye now!

- Domo

Next Race - Let's GO!

The next full marathon that I run will be the Rock N Roll marathon here in San Diego on Sunday June 6th, 2010. This race holds a very special place in my heart! The Rock N Roll Marathon (RNR Marathon) was my first full marathon in June 2005, was my PR (personal record) race in June 2008, was my PR race in June 2009, AND .. was my first opportunity to race as a quasi celebrity.

Foot Locker Challenge Team 2009

I ran this race last year as a part of the Foot Locker Challenge team (more about this on my blog "Marathon #10 - Check!). It was an awesome opportunity and experience, and made this race so much more special to me. I really love San Diego and think that this course is ideal. Great weather, a mostly flat course, a view of the city, and the beach - what more can you ask for??

This year I will be running for a reason - to support Girls on the Run San Diego. (My fundraising page. )  As most of you know, I am a coach for GOTR! I started coaching last fall, and I am now serving my second season as head coach in Carmel Valley. I have also recently joined the GOTRSD Board of Directors, as well as the Marketing team. I can't say enough good things about GOTR. There are few things in my life where my efforts result in a direct impact in someone's LIFE. I now understand why people become teachers... But seriously, I have seen how this program and the efforts of my great team of coaches has improved the lives of young girls. How do I know this? Well their mom's tell me!

Girls on the Run Fall 5K

 

I have received sooo many emails from the girls' mothers sharing ways in which the program has impacted their daughters in a positive way. It really just amazes me. Knowing that I am one small piece in each girls life that has made her world a better place is such a rewarding thing for me, and I only have GOTR to thank for this. The funny thing is that this program is not about ME or any of the other coaches, but I know that it has impacted our lives as well.

Girls Showing "Confident Poses"

Stretching Before a Run

 

For my next marathon I'm fundraising for GOTR to help bring this program to areas of the city that have girls who can't afford the program. Normally this program has a fee associated with it. The fee covers a variety of things - tshirts, water bottles, fees to use track facilities, entrance into the 5k, snacks, the curriculum, etc.

Making Healthy Snacks

 Ants on a Log

Sadly though, not every girl has the opportunity to participate in a program that charges a fee. I'm fundraising for GOTR to help bring this incredible program to areas of San Diego where this program is most needed for its young girls! But sadly this program (without your support) might not be affordable.

 Girls Drawings of their Positive Selves

 Listing Attributes of a Strong Girl

 

Please help me raise money for GOTR. Your donation will be well purposed.

http://www.active.com/donate/SoleMates2010/monikool

- Monika

(PS - excuse any typos! The spell check button is hiding on my blog editor!)

Aruba: 4 Days & 4 Nights

As I had mentioned in my previous blog “new year, new job”, I have traveled quite frequently over the past few years. Some of the perks that come along with giving up endless weekends over many years to work a tradeshow booth include an abundance of frequent flyer miles, elite flyer status, and hotel points. I have earned and used a few hundred thousand frequent flyer miles in the past few years with my most recent purge of frequent flyer miles being used to set-up a 4 day, 4 night trip to Aruba for two covering two flights, and 4 nights at two luxury resort by the beach!

Map of Aruba

Why two resorts? Well, I only had enough Marriott points to cover 3 nights at one of their Aruba properties, but luckily I also had enough Hilton points to cover a 4th night for our trip. I planned this trip about four months ago and have been counting down to it ever since! Changing jobs recently kind of put the trip in an awkward place, but luckily my new boss was okay with me starting my new job and working for 3 weeks, taking 4 days off to go to Aruba, and then returning to work the following week.

Monday, Night 0

Since I had booked my flight on frequent flyer miles, my flight options were limited and involved me taking a redeye from San Diego to Philadelphia, an early morning flight from Philadelphia to Charlotte, meeting David in Charlotte and then us both flying down to Aruba in the late afternoon. The night before my flight departed I tried unsuccessfully to check-in online for my fight. I would get to the part where I’d enter my passport information, hit submit, and then the page would hang and eventually time out. This worried me a bit, and worried me a bit more when I tried two more times unsuccessfully the next day. I was further alarmed when David was able to check-in online without a problem. Was there an issue with my reservation specifically?

 

Since I was worried about my flight and missing out on my vacation, I arrived at the airport a little more than two hours ahead of my flight. This behavior is quite un-Monikalike! I went to check-in at the kiosk and was surprised to see that when I my flight information came up it showed a 2-flight connection (San Diego to Charlotte to Aruba) instead of my originally 3-fight connection. AND …. I had been upgraded to First Class on both flights! I was shocked and had to confirm with a ticketing agent that this great fortune truly had been bestowed on me! WOW! What a treat! Since I’m Gold on US Airways I’m eligible for free upgrades to First Class when available on a paid ticket, but since I had booked this flight on miles I shouldn’t have qualified. Shh! Don’t tell them they messed up and maybe this mistake will happen again in the future!

I happily claimed my First Class seat on the redeye to Charlotte and snoozed away for most of the night. Prior to boarding I had mentioned to David that there were 4 really built, good-looking guys in the airport with expensive luggage who appeared to be professional athletes, but didn’t look tall enough to be basketball or football players. David recalled that there had been a WWE event in San Diego that day, and thought maybe that’s who they were. They were traveling with this one girl who ended up seated in front of me on the flight to Charlotte. We looked up pictures of the wrestlers the next day on the WWE site and I was in fact seated behind "Maryse". Poor girl had the guy next to her talking her ear off the whole time while the guy across the aisle looked on in jealously (it was soo funny to observe), and when we got off the plane in Charlotte he handed her his business card which she politely accepted with a smile. I wonder what he thought when he gave her his card? Maybe she’ll call? Yeah right, I doubt it, but I give him credit for trying.

Tuesday, Night 1

Upon arriving in Charlotte I only had to wait for about 30 minutes before David’s flight came in. We found a place near our gate to have breakfast and officially began our vacation. Soon after we started eating we both received phone calls and I received an email notifying us that our flight to Aruba had been delayed by two hours. Oh well, we’d just hang out in the airport together. We were on vacation! Was there any reason to be upset? David and I were originally seated together in Coach but I had been upgraded and he hadn’t. I went to ticketing counter to ask the gate agent if there were any other seats in First available and if so could I upgrade him to sit with me. As she pulled up my reservation she noticed that I had booked my flight on miles and commented on how I shouldn’t have been upgraded. For a fleeting moment I was terrified that she was going to take the seat away! Isn’t it funny how entitled we feel to something that was given to us out of the blue when someone tries to take it away? She didn’t downgrade me luckily but I couldn’t upgrade David. I wanted to give him the seat and chance to sit in First since I get to fairly frequently but he didn’t want to take it. Instead he wanted me to give up the seat and sit in my original seat in coach. Are you kidding me? A First Class seat on an international flight give away to a nobody? Sorry, I couldn’t do it. I wanted him to take the seat but if he wasn’t going to do it I would. Does that make me a bad person? Oh well.

Breakfast at the Charlotte Airport

When boarding time finally rolled around I encountered yet another treat – the First Class cabin on this flight had the recliner style, lie-almost-flat chairs. OMG! I was able to stretch out almost flat with my legs supported with a leg rest. Wow, that was awesome! I was about an hour into my nap when I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker about there being some mechanical issue with the hydraulic system and that we’d be turning around and flying back to Charlotte. What? I was a bit dazed from being asleep but they announced it again and I realized I wasn’t dreaming. Well, that was unfortunate, but oh well, it still meant I got one more hour flying back to Charlotte sleeping in the recliner chair! When we were almost back to Charlotte they then made an announcement (question really) that you also hate to hear on a plane. “Is there a doctor on board? If so, please press your call button.” It turns out that there was a sick lady on board, and according to the flight crew if the mechanical issue hadn’t turned us around, this woman’s medical condition would have instead. I guess we were just meant to be back in Charlotte!

AWESOME Reclining Seats

We got back to Charlotte and were each give $10 meal vouchers to buy lunch. The time back in the airport went quickly, and soon we were back on a new plane and heading (again) to Aruba! This new plane was smaller and had a ‘normal’ First Class section which was fine with me. Unfortunately for David though instead of having the whole row to himself, he was now squished in a middle seat between two ladies. Okay, now I really did feel like a bad person! :o( We ended up getting into Aruba pretty late and checked into our hotel the Renaissance Resort & Casino in Orajestad, and walked over to the promenade nearby to have dinner at a local sushi restaurant.

Renaissance Resort Private Island

Meanwhile, back on the mainland, the gaping hole in the bedroom ceiling of my apartment was finally getting fixed! My dogs were in the wonderful care of the best petsitter in the world Jodie (Go Fido Go) who not only looked after my dogs, but also helped oversee the workers who were coming to fix the issue with the ceiling that had persisted for TWO MONTHS!

 

Wednesday, Day 1, Night 2

Wednesday was our first officially full DAY in Aruba. We started off by having breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and then I went off to the resort gym to get my training miles in. Thirteen weeks till the marathon! When I got back we had yummy crepes for lunch at the local Dutch Pancake House (Pannekoekhuis), and then we took a boat to the resort’s private island. Let the sunbathing begin! With the protection of SPF 70 of course! (Well, one of us only put on sunscreen after 2 hours in the sun. I know, I’m bad.)

 

Balcony View of the Beach

Bagel Breakfast on the Beach

The private island was a nice, remote place to spend the afternoon. There were two sections of the island, one for families and one for adults only. The island also had a café, tennis courts, a gym, and a spa. We were greeted by iguanas immediately upon arriving on the island, and as soon as we crossed over to the “adults only” side, we then came upon a flock of flamingos! I have seen flamingoes mostly on front lawns, fashioned in pink plastic. I have only seen them in person a few times in Florida, and was shocked to see them standing on the beach and in the ocean there on the island.

Boat Ride to the Private Island

Iguanas on the Island

 

Flamingos on the Island

 

One thing I forgot to mention was that as we were taking the boat ride over to the island I pulled out my camera to take a picture and it made this horrible loud cracking sound. I was alarmed but my camera still worked … for about another 30 minutes. After taking a few pictures on the island suddenly my camera was dead. Oh no!!!

Please, a moment of silence for one of my closest companions for the past six years, my Sony Powershot 5.0 MP camera. :o(

I was very upset about my camera and as soon as we got back from the private island I dragged David off to the shopping area in search of a new camera. Two electronics stores later I found a camera for $116! It turned out to probably be worth about $16. What a poor, emotional purchase. Oh well.

 

Later that night David ended our month-long streak of vegetarianism, and we ended it with a bang! We had dinner at Texas de Brazil, a churrascaria! This restaqurant is a chain with locations all over the US. We’d been to a similar one before called Fogo De Chao. We happily feasted on the flesh of animals cooked on swords, but soon after felt guilty and agreed to transition to pescatarianism after that meal.

Texas de Brazil in Palm Beach, Aruba

 

Meat on Swords!

Thursday, Day 2, Night 3

Thursday happened to be a national holiday in Aruba, flag day! All retail businesses were closed but restaurants remained open. I was well convinced by now that the camera that I had purchased was a piece of junk that I needed to try to return, but unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to attempt to do so until the next day.

David and I headed back to the island for some more lazy beach time and spent the afternoon reading and napping in the sun. That night wee decided to try a local restaurant for dinner and went to The Old Fisherman, a “classic Aruba seafood restaurant”. We were both unimpressed by the overpriced and bland fish that we ordered.

Lazy Day at the Beach

At some point during the day as I thought about my poor dead camera, I thought that maybe if I tried to recharge the battery it would bring my camera back to life. It turns out it did! Temporarily that is. The camera would take pictures again with a fully charged battery, but would drain the battery within the hour, and my camera no longer had the functionality to zoom. This half-working status was consoling to me, and I was able to take a few more pictures with ol’faithful before the trip ended.

 

Aruba's Flag Day Celebration

Friday, Day 3, Night 4

On Friday we checked out of the Renaissance in Oranjestad and traveled about 10 minutes north to Palm Beach where we checked in to the Westin. Palm Beach and the Westin were considered to be in the “High Rise Hotel” area, which turned out to be the fancier section of the island. We got to the Westin around noon but alas, our room wouldn’t be ready until 4pm. We were given Towel Cards though and headed out to the beach where we had lunch, and were then given a “cabana” for free while we waited for our room. The “cabana” consisted of a ?? umbrella with a built in table, and two chairs. Perfect for lounging for hours with the option of being in or out of the sun!

 

Westin Resort in Palm Beach

We hung out on the beach for a few hours and sadly, electronics disaster number two struck – David’s Nike watch died! After years of faithful waterproof service, suddenly his watch sprung a leak and the display went blank in a haze of condensation. Over the course of the next day the watch continued to beep erratically though indicating that it wasn’t fully dead, but was virtually useless with no display. What is with the island claiming our beloved electronics?!

Bye Bye Nike Watch

We had dinner that night at the northern tip of the island at La Trattoria el Faro Blanco by the California Lighthouse. The food was very good and the restaurant had a nice ambiance, but the service was mediocre as it seemed to be all over the island no matter where we ate. We returned to the hotel and caught parts of the UCSB and Maryland games in the lobby bar. Sadly for me the Gauchos lost, but to the joy of David Maryland won.

Saturday, Day 4

Saturday was our last day in Aruba – half day to be exact. We walked to the other end of Palm Beach to have breakfast at a local café where we ordered a local Aruban breakfast! No, we didn’t actually. We had their “American breakfast” of eggs, potatoes, and bacon. Yes, we ate the flesh of animals again .. and it was so good! I love bacon!

Last Morning in Aruba

We went back to the room after breakfast and packed our things, checked out from the resort, waved goodbye to the beautiful white beaches and clear, turquoise water, and headed to the airport. Two customs checks and three screening checkpoints later, we were on a plane headed back to Charlotte.

 

Leaving Aruba - Private Island in the Distance

As soon as we arrived in Charlotte David got a voicemail from his brother Ken who had just run his second marathon. Congrats Kenny! I wrote about Ken a few months ago when he was training for his first half marathon, and reflected back on all of my friends who I’ve helped run a distance race in one form or another. To read more about that check out my blog “Sharing My Obsession”.

I’m writing this on the flight back to San Diego from Charlotte. I’m backlogged on blogs so I probably won’t actually post this until later in the week. By then my sunburn will have faded, hopefully a tan will emerge (I know, I know, tanning is bad, no lectures please!), and I will be back at work refreshed and recharged. I really enjoyed this trip to Aruba, and couldn’t have enjoyed it more with anyone except David. It’s nice to have gotten to take a “free” trip, and even nicer to have gotten to take it with my favorite person.

Thanks to David for the wonderful company, thanks to Jodie for watching after my furballs and making this and many other trips possible, and thanks to my new job for giving me the flexibility to go on vacation three weeks after starting the job. I had a great time!

A Month without Meat

A little over a month ago I was talking to David about training for my next marathon, and was saying (not for the first time) how I needed to up my protein intake to compensate for all the miles I was running. Somewhere in the conversation I also got the crazy idea that maybe I should challenge myself to a month of high-protein eating, but to add a twist to it, see if I could maintain a high-protein diet that was meat free. I’ve never been a huge fan of steak, but ate chicken pretty regularly so while this would be somewhat of a challenge I didn’t think it would kill me. Since David’s the nice guy that he is, he agreed to join me in this challenge!

The Challenge

Well the month came and went, and we did it! Well okay, I had one slipped weekend. I had friends visiting me for the weekend and didn’t want to get into a discussion of why we were doing this, and we shared food several times and I didn’t want to be more difficult than I already am in a food setting, so vegetarianism was thrown to the wind for two days, but I immediately got back on track after they left, and was successful in my venture for the remaining time! I set a goal of eating 100g of protein a day, and after the first two weeks of logging everything I ate, I saw that I was able to get to somewhere in the 60-80g range each day. Not bad.

My Veggie & Meat Substitute Arsenal

I was half interested in the pure challenge of getting enough protein without eating meat, but was also interested in seeing if I noticed an improvement of how I felt or how I ran after making the change. As it turns out, the only difference I felt after a while was HUNGER! I couldn’t seem to satisfy my appetite at first without meat, but quickly learned what foods could keep me satisfied.

Fake Meat, My Favorite!

In the first three weeks I ate a lot of meat substitutes. Meatless burger patties, tofurky lunch meat slices, meatless meatballs, etc. In the fourth week though I went true veggie and only had eggs, beans, tofu, and other soy products as my source of protein. The fourth week wasn’t as bad as I thought and I like that I was forced to eat more vegetables than I normally would. I had a couple friends who were veggies who gave me several suggestions of vegetarian items that they really love but … they are all focused on cheese! Ewe! This cheese hater wanted no part of that.

In case you’ve ever been curious to try various meat substitute products but didn’t want to take the plunge, here’s my review of what I did try.

Meatless meatballs from Trader Joe’s

YUMMY! These meatballs are totally vegan and are a mixture of mushrooms, soy protein, and various other natural ingredients.

Tofurky lunch meat

Imagine a fruit roll up flavored like turkey meat. Yep, that’s about what its like. It’s not bad in a sandwich, but after trying it for a week I don’t think I’d get it again.

Morningstar Farms Meatless Bacon

(or FAKON as I like to call it)

Imagine a fruit roll up flavored like bacon, but with a true, chewy plastic consistency of a fruit roll up. Yep, that’s fakon! I can’t say I hate it though, and enjoyed restoring the “bacon” to my English muffin, egg white, and bacon breakfast sandwich in the morning.

Soy chorizo

I tried two different varieties, one from Trade Joe’s and one from Whole Foods. I REALLY liked these. I don’t normally like chorizo since its just soooo greasy and fatty, but fake chorizo is the bomb! I cooked it once in a stir fry of tofu noodles and tomato sauce it was an interesting take on spaghetti and meat sauce. The next time I pan fried it and put some in a tortilla/lettuce wrap. Yum, yum, yum!

Fake Chicken Strips

Now these are my absolute favorite! These little strips of “chicken” are great in a salad, stir fry, or just eaten alone. They’re made from textured vegetable protein which I think is similar to magic fairy dusty. Magic fairy dust full of protein!

I tried some various other vegetarian foods which mostly consisted of tofu in some form. The worst thing I had? An Indian vegetarian burrito from Whole Foods. It tasted like someone chewed up spinach and tofu and spit it back into a tortilla. Seriously. Sorry!

Its now been two days since the challenge officially ended, and David and I are on our flight right now to Aruba for five days! We’ve discussed whether or not the challenge will continue since it will limit our eating options during the trip. It looks like we’re going to go pescatarian for the trip, except for a nice steak dinner for one night. I have to reward my challenge partner for his dedication and support during all of this!

Once we get back I can’t decide what I’m going to do. I like that this challenge has forced me to eat more vegetables and to become more conscious of my protein intake, so I’m thinking I might continue as a vegetarian for a while, and then eventually switch over to a pescatarian. I saw a disturbing documentary a few months ago called Food Inc which really turned me off of the chicken farming and cattle raising industry. Not enough to make me stop eating chicken because of the farming methods, and not enough to make me want to spend $16 on a free-range breast of chicken, but enough for me to consider if I can find my protein requirements elsewhere. We’ll see what happens next week!

New Year, New Job

At the beginning of the year I moved into a new apartment which I described in my blog “New Year, New Home”. Soon after that though, I also took a new job, so now it’s a New Year with a New Home and a New Job! I think that’s enough big changes for now, and so far the year has started off with some welcome changes.

The Dental Industry

I’ve spend the last 5 ½ years as a Product Manager in the dental industry. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done and have enjoyed my job, believed in the products I’ve worked on, and I am very appreciative of the great friends I made along the way. I’ve made some good friends not only at the companies I’ve worked at, but at other dental companies in the industry whom I’ve met at the various tradeshows over the years. Being a Product Manager usually involves a good amount of travel, and my past 5 ½ years have not been short of that.

Jenna - My 1st Travel Partner in Crime
(A fellow half-Swede & Firefighter wife)

Devika - My 2nd Travel Partner in Crime

(Another fellow half-Swede & Firefighter wife!)

Business travel has been a lot of fun, but I have to admit that after about 4 yeas of it I’m a little tired of being on the road. Sure its fun to be in new cities and to get to meet a lot of new people, go out to nice restaurants, and do things that you wouldn’t normally do in your regular life, but the days are long, the travel most often occurs over the weekend, and in the end its your personal time that gets eaten up the most.

Teresa - Fellow Dental Friend & Blogger

Tradeshows & Travel

I read in a magazine once that there are more dollars spent on dental tradeshows than tradeshows for any other industry. Its not surprising, there is a large, national tradeshow for dentists almost every months. They range from shows targeting all general dentists, to specialty shows focused on the various dental specialties such as Oral Surgery, Periodontology, Implantology, etc,. I’ve been to just about all of these good sized shows all over the country over the years. The scene is kind of odd at first, same companies, same people, same booth, different city. After a while you start to recognize faces wherever you go, and start to realize that if your company is Marriott loyal for example, you’ll bump into the other dental industry Marriott loyals city after city. Its fun, and its been kind of like a little industry family for me over the years. The time came for me professionally though to move on.

Working the Tradeshow Booth

Group Dinner After a Long Tradeshow Day

During my term in the dental industry, I traveled to all of these cities at least once, if not multiple times:

• Batesville, AR
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Denver, CO
• Fort Myers, FL
• Las Vegas, NV
• Little Rock, AR
• Maui, HI
• Memphis, TN
• New Orleans, LA
• New York, NY
• Orlando, FL
• Philadelphia, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Providence, RI
• San Antonio, TX
• Seattle, WA
• St. Petersburg, FL
• Toronto, Canada
• Vancouver, Canada
• Washington DC

  

A New Venture

Three weeks ago I started a new job at a startup medical company with one main product, an injectible wrinkle filler. The product is up against some big products in the market owned by huge pharma companies with deep pockets. Its going to be a challenge to grow this product with a limited budget and small staff, but I’m excited to jump right into things and see what I can do. I worked at a startup once before, and sadly it didn’t end successfully. The company struggled, the product didn’t meet expectations, and when the company filed for Chapter 11 I was let go. I still keep in touch with a number of people from that company thanks to Facebook, and I’m amusingly proud to tell people that in my prior career I worked on a MMORPG. That’s a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game for you non-geeks reading this. Oh yeah! And you thought that being on the Robot Wars team in college was the nerdiest thing I ever did! Nope, trumped that!

Anyways, I’m just about a month into my new job and I’m really enjoying it. It’s been a challenge and I have a lot more responsibility than I’ve had in the past, and its fun to be working on a small team with so much control. You know me, I’m a control freak. I believe that I’m working on a great product as well and I appreciate the tight-knit team that I’m a part of that is all working so hard to make the company and product a success.

I spent my last several years helping people improve their smiles, now I’m moving on to another part of the face, the skin! Well smiles lines to be exact. I guess in simple terms, my life’s focus since entering Marketing has been making the world a prettier place when it smiles. :o)

Surf City USA - Awesome!

This past weekend I ran my 8^th half marathon. This was my third half marathon in the past year! Before these three though, I hadn’t run a half marathon in almost three years! Once I turned my sights onto full marathons several years ago, half marathons either didn’t fit with my schedule or didn’t seem worth the entry fee.

Setting My Sites on Surf City

Right after I finished my last full marathon (Marine Corps Marathon in October 2009) I was really antsy to get going and train for another full. I come off each race with so much energy and adrenaline and I just want to focus it on the next target! I wasted a few weeks after my last full marathon trying to figure out what to do next ... but then the holidays hit, life sped up, and before I knew it, too much time had passed to run another full marathon in January or February. SO ... I then decided I would run a half instead!

I’ve run a lot of full marathons by now and although my time has improved slightly from one race to the next, it hasn’t improved significantly enough to meet my end goal – Boston qualification! In shorter distances I’ve picked up the pace pretty well, but haven’t been able to push myself enough for 10+ mile distances. I decided that improving my half marathon time would be key to improving my full time. So .. I signed up for the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach!

Training – Or Lack Thereof

I put together an 8 week training plan which included speed workouts, hill workouts, and distance workouts. But alas, for one reason after another, I strayed from my schedule. The worst being when I went to the East coast for the holidays and didn’t run for a week and a half, then came back home to San Diego and moved, and didn’t run for another week!! I barely ran for almost three weeks! And, for the first time in who knows how many years, I hadn’t even worked out for periods of over a week! Okay, maybe not a big deal to normal people, but I'm somewhat of a workout/running junkie. I NEED my runs to feel right.

Somewhere during that time that I wasn't training, I think my running spirit broke. :o( After settling into my new apartment I tried to get back on track, and struggled, struggled, struggled. I was now living at the top of a hill leading down to my old running trail. Suddenly running the trail was harder than ever before, and running up the trail back home was the end of me. I pushed through several weeks of poor runs which consisted of me needing to stop to take a short walk break after 3, sometimes 2, and sometimes even 1 ½ miles! What was going on?!? I’m a marathon runner! Completely demoralized, I plugged on as best as I could, but I was WAY off of my training plan and hadn’t run further than 4 miles in months when January rolled around. Three weeks before the race I realized that I needed to push myself back on track. Two weeks out I ran 8 miles as a long run, then 10 miles the next weekend, thinking it was all I could do to even *finish* the race! In both long runs I struggled and walked every couple miles. Again, I was totally demoralized.

Race Day

Finally, race day rolled around. I have to admit, I was nervous. After running so many full marathons I asked myself again and again how a half could have me so nervous. In the end I conceded that every race is its own beast, a new challenge as far as where you are in your fitness that day, and its up to you to give it what you have, and to try to enjoy it. I knew I could get through the 13 miles, didn’t think I’d PR. I thought oh well, at least I get a really cool finishers medal. With that in mind, I geared up and headed to the start line!

Rating the race

After running so many distance races, I’ve decided that those that I’ve liked the best have rated high on a few qualities that are specific to my racing preferences. I like races that are FLAT (I’m sorry but a distance race is hard enough in and of itself. Hills? No thank you!), that are accessible (easy access to the Start and Finish line), that are in “nice” locations (moderate weather, nice course scenery), and that are BIG. (I just love running in the mass of a crowd!)

How did this race rate?

A++ !!

Course Topography

FLAT. Right by the water with no hills. Perfect!

Course Location/Route

Huntington Beach, CA – Most of the course was along the PCH (Which for non-Californians is the Pacific Coast Highway which runs right along the ocean), within steps of the beach, with views of the ocean almost the whole time, and topped off with perfect Southern California weather. Sunny and moderate!

Accessibility

The morning of the race I drove to one of the designated parking locations, parked on the street, caught a shuttle to the start within 20 minutes, caught a shuttle back to my car within 15 minutes of finishing, and because of this, I totally rate this one of the top most accessible races I’ve ever run! (Rock N Roll in Phoenix being the ultimate HELL. Takes about an hour to get off the freeway to the start or an hour on a shuttle from the Finish to the Start, and then an hour plus to get away from the Finish to get back home.)

Support

The race started right in front of the Hilton which meant I could use their bathroom and skip the portapotties, there was water and Vitalife almost every mile, and entry to the course and exit from the course was smooth and easy. Overall, A+ for ease of racing on this course.

Schwag

The medal for this race is .. AWESOME!! It’s a wooden longboard surfboard with the metal medal attached to it. LOVE IT!

In addition this we also received a long sleeve technical shirt, and a race bag that was a cute, reusable grocery tote! This must have been a “green” race because the only thing that we got in the goodie bag was the bag, and the shirt. No flyers, no samples, no nothing else! At first I was surprised, then relieved.

The Race

I started out the race with apprehension and excitement. I was nervous because I hadn’t run more than 3 miles without walking in months! I was excited because aside from everything else, I LOVE racing!

As I ran through miles 1, 2, and 3 I checked my watch a few times and saw that I was between a 8:30-9:00 pace and noted that I felt good, and decided to follow how I felt and not look at my watch. I didn’t look at it again until I crossed the finish line. That was an amazing accomplishment for me!

With each mile, my confidence built. Side note, but I really feel that my running spirit died over the last couple of months. With each mile I ticked off during this race, I felt it coming back. I loved being part of the crowd, I loved putting my training (or lack of) to the test, I loved running along the beach in the beautiful Southern California sun (knowing others were shoveling their driveways as we ran), and I loved knowing that I knew myself and my body, and that if I just followed how I felt ... I’d be okay.

As with all races I went through many stages of emotions as I ran. I’m an emotional, self-reflecting runner. I like the time alone during a run where I can think about life, myself, and my plans. Throughout those thoughts though, I’m somehow often brought to near tears at a few moments in each race. Why? Who knows. My first near-tears moment was on the brief few miles when we were away from the PCH and then turned back onto it to run the remaining 8 miles. Right as I caught sight of the beach and the waves and the clear sky over the water, Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place On Earth” came onto my iPod. I teared up and though Heaven isn’t just a place on Earth … its California! And I really love living here!

Another choked up moment came when Miley Cyrus’ song “The Climb” came onto my iPod. I know, diss her as you wish, but I love her and her catchy tunes, and think that this song is different from the rest of her bubble gum repertoire. This song talks about ups and downs and struggles and determination, and as her song played on, I thought about my journey training for my first half marathon, my first full marathon, and everything after that.

My Mantra

At some point in my run I must have hit my runner’s high. I’ve read about running mantras and have tried to use them in the past. Unsuccessfully. They have always seemed fake and forced, and really haven’t helped me that much. For some reason in this race, something came into my head, and I repeated it over and over again and it meant many things, and really did help me go forward. What was that mantra?

This is my life.

As I was running and looking around me and enjoying the race, I thought about how much I truly love distance running and racing in general. It’s a real thrill and accomplishment for me, and I think its been the best part of my life. Getting up early morning after morning, week after week, month after month all comes together on one day, and you’re not alone. You’re with hundreds or thousands, or even tens of thousands of other people who share your same goal, for a reason unique to their own life. As I looked around and soaked into that community, I thought wow, THIS is my life. I love it.

As I repeated it over and over again, I then thought about how happy I was that this was something I had made a part of my life by choice. Then, the mantra became This is MY Life. Life is what you make it, and I’ve made the choice to do something positive and healthy. Running is my choice, and its something I’ve done for myself. Its MY choice.

After that, I then thought about how the mantra meant one more thing.. This is my LIFE. My life, my health, my future, one of my goals, my joy, my passion, and something I want to share with everyone.

Cheesy? Maybe to you. To me? Its something that defines who I am.

Next Up

After this race I feel that I finally have my running spirit back. YAY! Its been gone for a few months, and I’m so happy that its returned. I've missed you running mojo!! My mojo has returned just in time too for me to start training for my next race ... the Rock N Roll Marathon here in San Diego! This will be my 4^th time running in this race, its my favorite course to date, and I’m so excited to get on a plan and get going!!

I have a new plan for my next training round. I’ll update my blog soon with the details! For now, I’ll give your eyeballs a break. And in case you’re interested, here is my half-marathon progress below.

Previous Halfs

1. PF Chang's Rock N Roll - Phoenix, AZ - 2:02:55, 9:22 pace - Jan 2005
2. Valley of the Sun - Mesa, AZ - 1:56:05, 8:51 pace - Mar 2005
3. America's Finest City - San Diego, CA - 1:59:10 9:05 pace - Aug 2005
4. America's Finest City - San Diego, CA - 1:56:44, 8:54 pace - Aug 2006
5. YMCA Half Marathon - Phoenix, AZ - 1:57:44, 8:58 pace - Nov 2006
6. Austin Half Marathon - Austin, TX - 1:58:28, 9:02 pace - Feb 2009
7. Run to the Rock - Plymouth, MA - 1:58:03, 9:00 pace - Sept 2009
8. Surf City USA - Huntington Beach, CA - 1:54:00, 8:42 pace Feb 2010