Border Collies, BBQ, Board Games, Babies, & Rock Band

A few weeks ago, I went to the East Coast for a long weekend and visited Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. As the title of this blog implies, my weekend was spent participating in activities involving Border Collies, a BBQ dinner, playing a board game, meeting two new babies, and rocking out to Rock Band.

Border Collies

Let’s start with the Border Collies. David’s Aunt Lynn and Uncle David are border collie enthusiasts. They own a border collie of their own named Duncan, and are highly interested in the sport/competition of the sheepdog trials. They were planning to attend the national sheep herding finals in Middletown, VA the same weekend that I would be visiting, so David’s family and I all went to watch the competition one day.

The Serta Sheep Were There!

 

"That’ll Do Pig"

 

Remember the movie Babe with the talking pig? Of course you do! Well in Babe there is a scene where he enters a sheep herding competition and gets a perfect score beating out the dogs! When he finished competing, the farmer praised him with “That’ll do pig”. I’m not sure if this is a standard sheepherding saying, but I’m pretty sure I heard one of the trainers say this to her dog after he finished the competition. (Well, minus the “pig” part of course.)

The competition was amazing – the dogs would drive the sheep down the field, through a set of gates, through another set of gates, over to an area where they would separate out one sheep, and then finally herd the sheep into a pen. Wow, I was amazed. Especially as the owner of two cute and lovable, and strikingly less talented dogs. I consider coming home to no pee on my floor a training “win” in my house! Sad…

Sheepherding in Action

We watched about a handful of dogs run through the challenge before checking out some of the vendors at the competition. They sold things such as coats, leashes, snacks, knick-knacks that any dog enthusiast would love. I managed to get a bag full of high-end dog treats such as bully sticks at half the price that they usually retail at in pet stores. They had one “long lasting” chew treat that I had never heard of before – elk antler! Apparently, they’re great for the aggressive chewer. I was thinking about getting small ones for my dogs but in the end my cheapness won out. At a price of $5 each I’d be paying $10 for two which was almost as much as I was paying for the six other treats I’d selected in total. Isn’t it funny to see how much cheaper we get as soon as we start to get a deal? In other stores, bully sticks run about $7 each. When I found out that I could get a bully stick for $2, I was suddenly unwilling to pay more than that per treat for anything else, even though $5 for an elk antler is apparently a great deal. Oh well, there’s always next year to load up on antlers!

Allen Men Enjoying the Competition

 

David Makes a Friend

 

BBQ

After we’d all had about as much time out in the blazing sun as we could take while watching the competition, we headed back to David’s parents’ new house in West Virginia. David’s dad and brother set to work grilling steaks for dinner in the backyard and we enjoyed a nice dinner of BBQ’d steak, salad, and fresh fruit.

Houston & Duncan Greeting Each Other

Grilling Steaks for Dinner

Board Game Time

Growing up, I always loved playing board games! Unfortunately as an only child, there weren’t many likely opponents besides my parents to play games with me. I still recall the slight hint of dread that I’d see cross my dad’s face when I'd asked him to play a board game with me. He always would of course, but many timeswhen it came to Monopoly, there was a point where he just couldn’t stand to play the game anymore. What, paying money for my hotels on Park Avenue for four hours isn’t fun Dad? Just kidding Dad, I’m sure you enjoyed the time we spent playing games just as much as I did!

David’s cousin and uncle turned out to be big strategy board game lovers, and brought one game called “Carcassonne” with them. The board game is described on Amazon's site as "A clever tile-laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its unique roman and medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in the fields. The skill of the players to develop the area will determine who is victorious. The game is for ages 8 and up and 2 to 5 players."

My Characters are Black

 

There were different strategic roles your players could take during the game. Some reaped rewards almost immediately, while others took longer and involved chance, and the final role of “the farmer” which I placed most of my bets on paid off in the very end. Or should I say they didn’t. Sigh… I had a good strategy but was outwitted by a high schooler! Oh well, it was only my first time playing. Maybe if we all played again I’ll do better.

Babies

Whenever I come out to the MD/VA area I feel like I have to strategically plan my weekend to try to see as many people as possible. I have both family and friends in the area, and David has his family of course. We are usually able to see a few of our handful of options each time, and it somehow seems to require careful planning up front. In addition to seeing friends and family, I was also trying to squeeze in a work lunch on one of the days that I was there, but that didn’t end up happening.

On Sunday, we had plans to go meet my cousin Sandy’s second child Charlotte. I hadn’t seen Sandy and her husband in a while and I was looking forward to meeting baby Charlotte. David and I came over to their house they cooked us dinner. We had Cincinatti Chili which is chili served over spaghetti and topped with cheese and onion. It was delicious! (I skipped the cheese of course.)  For dessert, we had homemade cupcakes with homemade icing. Wow, what a treat! In turn, we brought my ‘famous’ spinach dip in a bread bowl. I joke that its famous, it’s really just my favorite thing to bring to events. Hey, its fat free and people love it. And, it’s easy to make. Score!

Charlotte and Mommy

 

The next day I went to go visit my friend Colleen who had recently had her first son – Baby Liam. I had seen her at about three months and five months into her pregnancy but hadn’t seen her since. Her baby was two months now and I was so excited that we were able to set up a time to hang out. It seems that in the past when I’ve tried to meet up with friends and family members a few months into them being a new parents, things just never worked out. They were either too tired or too busy or too overwhelmed to entertain. Not like I need high level entertaining, but still I guess any change to their routine was too much. Luckily Colleen and Liam were doing great in their first few months, and were happy to have visitors.

Liam and Mommy

Rock Band

My visit with Colleen was brief and soon I was headed back to College Park to meet David to prepare to cook dinner for his brother who was coming over. David was going to recreate a meal that he had made for himself earlier in the week: flank steak and Greek salad. I wanted to contribute in some way as well, so I baked chocolate chip cookies and made fresh ice cream cookie sandwiches. (I took inspiration for the cookie sandwiches from the restaurant Starlite in San Diego. I didn’t like the food the first time I had dinner there but I loved their fresh homemade cookie sandwiches for dessert!)

Brothers Enjoying a Steak Dinner

 

After dinner, we retreated to the “recording studio” – aka the basement downstairs where the Rock Band competition usually took place. David was on the drums, Kenny and I played guitar, and David’s roommate rocked out the vocals. We played the Beatles for a while before moving on to classic songs. The game was a lot of fun and reminded me of how much I used to love playing Guitar Hero. (I still love Guitar Hero, but its just not as much fun to play by yourself. If only my dogs had opposable thumbs. Sigh.)

Rock Band ended up being the end of my long weekend fun. The next morning I got up at 3:30 am EST to get to the airport for a 5:30am flight. I got into San Diego around 10:30am PST and zipped right up to work .. only to finish with a long day of coaching GOTR after work. Man I was beat that day!

The long weekend was a lot of fun and I was happy to see friends and family old and new.

That’ll do.

 

Watching A Tri

Yesterday I watched my friend Todd complete his first triathlon. He raced in an Olympic distance tri called the San Diego Triathlon Classic. This race was held in Liberty Station right near my church where my running group meets. I planned on doing my long run with my running group while Todd was out biking and running. The timing worked out perfectly! I wanted to get to the race at the start so I could watch the swim portion. I've been thinking about doing a tri for a few weeks now and the open water swim is the biggest deterrent for me.  I was hoping that watching a race and seeing everyone calmly enter the water would help me get over my own fears of the open water.

Unfortunately, I turned off my alarm at some point in the morning and overslept. By the time I had my breakfast and got down to the race, Todd had already taken off on his bike. If I wasn't doing a long run of my own I would have headed straight down there, but I needed to make sure I had a decent breakfast to fuel me for my own my run that morning. When I got down to the race I hung out with Todd's wife Christine and their friends for a bit (set-up as serious tailgaters for the event) before heading off to crank out eight miles.

Todd Heads on a Stick Display

Chasing Down Todd

I had timed my run to finish about 15 minutes before Todd was supposed to start his run. He was ahead of his anticipated time though and was finishing his first 3.1 mile lap as I came up to the course. I saw him running through the chute going into his second lap and chased him down the sidewalk to cheer him on and give him encouragement. Of course, I'm sure I just looked like a crazy person in running gear running after a racer shouting out his name. :oP Todd saw me and waved back, and after watching him disappear around the bend I ran back to the finish area to find his cheering crew. 

Domo says "GO TODD GO!"

Christine had my double-sided sign with her and her friends had made an awesome assortment of Todd heads on a stick. You might recognize the "head on a stick" idea from when I cheered on my friend Christina during her first full marathon.

Christine and the Many Face of Todd

A Surprising Tear Jerker

The night before, I saw on facebook that one of my Rock Running friends Carol would be keeping her friend company during the running leg of the triathlon. I had my eye out for her at the race but didn't really think I'd see her in the huge crowd. But guess what - I did! I saw her and her friend running towards the finish line and right as they passed me Carol gave her friend some last words of encouragement. I can't remember exactly what she said to her, but as soon as I saw this my eyes were instantly filled with tears. Why am I so emotional when it comes to racing?! Seeing the two friends running side by side and knowing how much it must have meant to each of them to be able to do this run together really touched my heart. Luckily, I managed to quickly regain my composure and went back to focusing on the search for Todd in the stream of approaching runners. I'm such a sap!!

Strong to the Finish

After waiting near the finish line for about 15 minutes, we finally saw Todd approaching in his "orange blur" outfit. I held my big sign up over my head and rang my cowbell madly. Christine and friends were armed with Todd heads on a stick which they also pumped into the air madly while cheering him on. He sped up at the very end, entered the finish chutes in a blur, and then he was done! He ended up finishing in 3:05, 10 minutes better than he had predicted!

The Proud, Happy, and Accomplished Couple!

 

A Professional Spectator

I really enjoyed watching this triathlon and coming armed with signs made it a lot more fun. (Or, it made me look a lot dorkier. Oh well.)  You might recognize my work from some of my earlier posts about events. My race sign artwork debut was seen in Washington DC at the Marine Corps Marathon. (For more on that race, check out my blog,) Since I was running this race with David I had to give my signs to his family to use on the course. The signs were a great hit and I'd like to think they helped David finish the race stronger and with a smile.

My Signs for David

David's parents surprised me with their own signs as well at that race, and they were able to give me a huge smile and lift at several points on the course.

David's Parents' Signs for Me

My second exhibition of race signage was seen at the Give Your Heart to Monarch 5K which was the season end race for Girls on the Run. I was a bit rushed that morning and the sign didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but it was still fun to have something extra on hand to cheer the girls on during their race.

 Carmel Valley GOTR ROCKS

My next race sign exhibition really raised the bar. For my friend Christina's first full marathon I assembled a team of friends to cheer her on, and armed everyone in the group with a sign or a "head on a stick".

 Team Luini!

Is reading all of this making you want to sign up for a race and invite me to watch? If you do a race and I'm able to come, I'll make you a sign for sure! As everyone knows I love running and racing and the community and spirit that it brings to people. Race signs for others have made me smile along many other courses, and I hope that my signs have done the same.

My Artwork - Great, I know! ;o)

Miss Course Marshall

I have taken to the sidelines twice this month during a race. The first time was when I volunteered as a course marshall at a 5K, and the second was when I cheered on a friend during his first triathlon.

 

Call Me Course Marshall

Over Labor Day weekend my running group the Rock Runners were coordinating volunteers for the Philip Rivers 5K which would take place in Liberty Station in San Diego. I had never volunteered for a race before since I've always wanted to run the race, not watch it - but in the past few years I've stopped running 5K's due to the cost and time involved in getting to and from the race. Paying $30 to run 3 miles (which I can do any day) and to spend twice as much time getting to and leaving the race just doesn't seem worth it to me anymore. I'd much rather race 10K+ distances.

Rock Runners - Racers & Volunteers

(I'm second from the right.)

My running group has been such great support for me over the past few months and I really wanted to take some time to give back to the group, or an organization that they were supporting. I was assigned to the Course Marshall team under my friend Stacey's management, which to me sounded like a really fun job! That's MIZZ Course Marshall to you! :o)

Official Orange Plastic Vest

 

An Unfortunate Choice

The course for the race looped around a large grassy area twice. Course marshalls were placed at all of the turns around the course to help guide runners and walkers in the right direction. I decided to choose the last turn before the finish line. What a great place to watch the race right? WRONG! Being at the last turn meant that I was on the course until the very last person ran by. I have no idea how it could take so long, but the last walker went by around 1:45. How could people walk that slowly?! Did  they stop for breakfast somewhere along the way? I thought I'd be out there for one hour max. :oP

Over the years that I've raced I've seen  marshalls on the course shouting directions, but never thought about what it would be like to stand in the same location and shout the same direction over and over again. I felt kind of stupid for some reason standing by myself and shouting "Stay to the left!" and "First lap to the right, finish to the left!" and "Finishers to the left!" over and over again for almost two hours. I had another person come by at some point and stand across from me yelling "Watch the curb!"  in between my "Stay to the left!"  My plastic orange vest did make me feel quite official, but the repetitive yelling really got old.

 

Who's that running by?

I enjoyed watching the race and wondering if I'd see someone I knew run by. About 20 minutes into the race guess who I saw? One of my Girls on the Run going by with her mom! I yelled out her name and she looked at me in confusion, but her mom recognized me and yelled out a hello before running by. On the second lap I was looking for her and shouted out her name in encouragement. This drew a look of confusion yet again. Oh well, I tried.

 

Rock Runners for the Win

I stuck around after the end of the race to watch the awards ceremony. It was exciting to see that there were several runners from the Rock group up there on the podium! A Rock Runner won first male overall and first female overall, and a couple others placed in their age group as well. Aren't we a fast team!

Rock Runners at the Awards Ceremony

(I'm second from the right again.)

 

Aside from being stuck at the end for so long I enjoyed volunteering at the race, and I'd definitely do it again. Next time I'm going to pick my location more strategically though!

15 New Girls on the Run

This week marks the start of Girls on the Run San Diego's Fall season. I will be returning for my third season as Head Coach for Carmel Valley, a role that I have truly loved! The program has grown from 8 to 14 sites this season and this past weekend I helped out with coaches training. Its crazy to think that just one year ago I was being trained myself. Looking back, this past year has been a whirlwind of change!

GOTR Shirts for the Volunteers 

 

To prepare for the season, a team of volunteers helped put together the materials that support each of the 14 sites. You'd be amazed if you saw everything that was used during the 24-lesson season in one room.  The materials for just one site fill up an entire storage tub and a reusable grocery bag! In addition to the lesson materials, each site receives a supply of dry snacks to give the girls at the end of each lesson. That means a tub of pretzels, a tub of animal crackers, a box of goldfish crackers, and a box of fruit snacks. My trunk looks like I just raided Target!

 Collection of Coach Boxes

 

For those who like numbers, these stats will knock your socks off! Coach box preparation took 9 volunteers who worked for 37 hours during 4 supply prep sessions. The 14 sites can accommodate 210 girls, and have 74 volunteer coaches running the programs. It took 3 trips to Costco to buy supplies for the 24 lessons per season.

In total, the supplies needed for Fall 2010 were:

• 14 tubs of animal crackers
• 28 tubs of pretzels
• 28 boxes of gold fish
• 42 tennis balls
• 56 orange cones
• 280 markers
• 630 Ziploc bags
• 3440 index cards
• 7000 stickers
• 13000 beads

 

Amazing isn't it? During coach training this past weekend and a few weeks ago we passed out the supplies to each of the head coaches, and spent half a day walking them through the Girls on the Run program's mission and core values, had them practice leading a few lessons, showed them examples of energy awards that they'll help teach the girls, and explained how to run a smooth and successful program.

 

My favorite energy award by far is the BANANA cheer! I'm totally going to teach my girls this cheer!

  

Banana Cheer - GO BANANAS!

I'm about nervous about the time I'm about to give up again from my evenings to coach, but know that every moment sacrificed is worth it. (We'll see how I feel about that tomorrow when I leave for work at 6:30am so I can leave early to go coach. :oP ha!)  The time I've spent with the girls is a lot of fun, it's really rewarding, and it has helped me grow as a person as I've learned to do something totally new and different.

 

Practicing a Lesson

 

And ... let's not pass up the chance for me to toot my own horn, but think I'm actually really good at being a head coach. (Part of the reason why I enjoy it so much.) As I've said before, we all like things that we're good at. I attribute most of this skill to my psychotic need for order and organization, and my desire to have fun and make sure others around me are having fun as well. Who knew those two things could go together so well?

  

Circle of Celebration of Positive Attributes

 

The Carmel Valley site has had an amazing retention rate. (Had to throw some work speak in here!) For this coming season there will be two groups, one on Mon/Wed and one on Tues/Thurs. I was amazed to see that 13 of the 30 girls registered at Carmel Valley have been in the program before! Across the other 12 sites there are only 9 other girls who have been in the program before. If only I could get customers of my product to be this loyal! Hmm...

Anyways, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the start of a new season. Go Girls on the Run! You're so much fun!

Am I a "Runner"?

Last weekend I went to  a GOTR coach/friend's  BBQ and was amused to see that she had the same "medal display" that I have (thank you Container Store!), but she had a unique and great way that she presented her race numbers.

My Race Medal Display

Several years ago I started to put my race numbers in a binder with a background sheet that contained the race date, distance, and my finish time. Somewhere around 2006 (4 years into racing), I lost my motivation to keep doing this, and just started stuffing my race numbers into the binder. After moving to CA, I started to stick them onto a board with a magnet ...  but then the stack got too thick, at which point I just stuffed them in a different folder.

Race Scrapbook

  

Have you ever had something on a to-do list that just keeps moving from one week to another, over and over again?

  

Well, for the past few years I've put down on my to-do list that I needed to file the last few years of my race numbers into the binder. I kept putting it off and wishing I had a better way to keep my numbers in order. And I'd think well, I can always do this next week. And then I saw Crystal's creation! Crystal had strung the DEKA "curtain wire rod hanging system" on a wall in her house with her race numbers hanging from the wire by safety pins. Genius! Instead of having to restring each new race number, you could just keep one of your four safety pins on, and attach that new number onto the wire. As soon as I saw her race bib set-up, I had to have it! The next day I went to IKEA, spent $6.50 on the system (wow, I left IKEA spending under $100???), and came home to organize my race numbers.

Most of the race bibs had information about the race on it, but for many I had to rely on Athlinks to look up the race date, distance, and my finish time. Athlinks is an awesome site! They automatically pull all race data and associate it to your identity. If you've never visited the site, you should go there and look yourself up. You'll be amazed to see your own history of race information.  The site allows you to create an account and create your own profile which I have done. You should check it out and create an account too. We can be friends! Aww..

  

As I went through my race bibs I thought WOW, I've run a lot of races. Its hard to believe that its been eight years since I started racing. I ran my first race on a whim when I was living in San Jose. I had never run further than 4 miles and figured I could make the 6.2 miles for a 10K. The race ended up having unfortunate timing - it was on St. Patty's Day! All of my friends up in San Francisco were taking part in a pub crawl, and as luck would have it it was pouring in San Jose that day.  As my friends were cruising around downtown San Francisco drinking green beer, I sucked it up and ran that race, finishing in 1:04. Not so great but not that horrible.

New Race Number Display

After that first 10K I ran another, and then when I moved to Arizona I really picked up speed. I didn't know a lot of people when I moved there and I invited an acquaintance from my class (who I knew ran a marathon before) to run a 5K with me. We ran that race together and hung out afterwards, and then ended up running a few more races in the following year, and eventually became friends. She is one of many friends I have made through running!

  

Over the past several years, running has been a constant in my life. I'm used to waking up, having breakfast, lacing up my shoes and going out the door to kick back a few miles. Some days I lag a bit, but I almost always go out for a run when I can. Running has helped me focus my energy on something with a purpose, and for everything that I have given to running, it has given me back so much more in return. Its very soothing to me to get out there and pound out a few miles, enjoying the time alone with my thoughts and my music. Sometimes I run with a group, which is different but very enjoyable in its own way. Running gives you a sense of community, even with strangers who you have absolutely nothing in common with besides the fact that you both love to run.

When I looked at my collection of race bibs, and looked at my list of races online on athlinks (almost complete, but missing 7 races), I thought wow, I'm really a "runner" now. I've often hesitated to call myself a runner. I feel that I don't truly deserve that title for some reason, but I'm not sure why.  Maybe its because I don't look like a runner. I'm not thin and don't have the look of an athlete. I have a lot of muscle, but I have some padding I could do without as well. Years ago I thought running a marathon would define me as a runner, but after running my first marathon I thought no, qualifying for Boston will make me  REAL runner. Well, after 12 failed attempts at even breaking 4 hours (closest call was 4:02:32 ARGH!), I now think that Boston isn't a realistic dream. I'm bummed that I probably won't ever make it, but I'm proud for trying so hard over the years.

"The Wall of Achievement" :o)

  

Looking over my race history I've run a lot, I've shown improvement, and that makes me feel good. I like to know that you can put hard work in and see positive results come out. Running gives me that.

  

Looking at my racing in numbers, I've run:

• 12 Full Marathons
• 9 Half Marathons
• One 30K
• One 25K
• Five 15Ks
• Two 10 milers
• Twelve 10Ks
• Two 8Ks
• Five 4 milers
• Seven 5Ks

That's a lot of races ... and those races and years have flown by. For now, I'm so glad that running has become a part of my everyday life. Thank you running. :o) For everything I've give you, you've given so much more back. And I'm grateful. And to anyone who asks, YES, I am a runner!

2/3 of a Triathlete

I have been a “runner” for nine years. I consider my first 10K my entry into this category. I have been a “marathon runner” for five years, with my first race being the Rock N Roll San Diego in June 2005. For the past five years I’ve been working to improve my time in the hopes of one day being able to qualify for Boston. As of my last race (Rock N Roll San Diego – June 2010), I’ve unofficially given up… I think.

Moving Past Running

I’ve burned out on running, or should I say on running and training and not achieving my goal. I’ve often found a liking for things that I’m good at, and I’m not sure that running is one of those things. I think I’m a decent runner and have shown progress in between marathons 1 and 12, but I don’t know that I have it in me (or the time or commitment) to take it to the next level to get me to even a sub-4 hour finishing time, much less a Boston qualifying time.

 

After moping for a few weeks after my last marathon and then deciding to move on a few weeks after that, I’ve spent the last month or so just running for fun or for a reason to exercise, unsure of what my next challenge will be. Granted, I’m registered to run the Long Beach Half Marathon in October, but I don’t consider that something that I’m really training for. Yes, again said with my full marathon nose tipped up in the air. :o) If I were smarter I would train for these shorter races to improve my time, but improving my long distance time is all I’ve ever really cared about.

 

Forced to Swim

Last year when I visited my mom in Paris I arrived with a suitcase that contained my running clothes and shoes, optimistic that I would be able to continue my daily runs in the streets of Paris. Oh, how I was so wrong! The streets were so crowded and there was so much traffic that I would never have been able to get a decent distance in. This past year when I packed for Paris I was a bit wiser and left my running clothes at home, but packed my MBT shoes instead. Well, it was so hot in Paris that I never would have gone out for the day in my MBT shoes and socks so those, much like my running shoes the year before, lay hidden in my suitcase for the duration of my trip.

Enter swimming into my pool-hating life.

My mom absolutely LOVES to swim and frequently goes to the public pool three blocks from her condo in Paris. After the second day there I decided that the only way I would be able to workout would be to swim with her. The first day at the pool (in my mom’s grandma cut bathing suit) I managed to swim 1000 meters and took a break after almost every single lap. The next day I swam 1000 meters and only took a break every 5 laps. By my third swim I swam 1500 meters non-stop! Yay me! I know, 1500 meters isn’t that far, but it’s the furthest I’ve probably ever swam in my life.

Hating the Water

Growing up I think I used to like to swim. Don’t all kids? I can’t remember ever liking to swim, but pictures of me in the water in Hawaii tell a different story. Somewhere along the line in high school though I really lost my taste for it. I don’t like the feeling of being too hot or too cold, and the initial plunge into a cold pool was torture for me. I’ve always loved the beach and loved being near the water, I just can’t remember a time when I loved being IN the water. For as long as I can remember my mom has wanted me to become a swimmer. I’ve disappointed her for almost 30 years .. until now! I hate to admit that after my forced week of swimming in Paris, I kind of enjoyed it! Why? Because I could see the progress I was making in performance! I like things I’m good at. Don’t we all?

Learning to Love the Water

About two months ago I bought a treadmill at a garage sale across the street. It wasn’t a fancy treadmill, and it sold new for about $350 at WalMart. I got it for $100 which I thought was a steal! I have a membership for 24 Hour Fitness which I almost never use. I have it in the rare times that it rains here in San Diego, and with that membership I have a place to run rain or shine. I bought the treadmill with the intention of cancelling my gym membership, but after taking to swimming in Paris, I thought that I’d try out swimming at my gym here.

The first day I went I wasn’t sure what to expect. How would the pool be? Would it be warm? Were the showers at the gym going to be gross? What other types of people would be swimming with me? Well, its basically the senior citizen power hour at the gym pool in the morning, but that’s okay. I swam my 1000 meters the first day, and 1500 the next day I went that week.

I felt strong swimming, and I liked that. I’ve never liked lifting weights for some reason but do enjoy that pushing off and ‘charging’ feeling of running, and somewhere in those laps I was swimming I realized that I liked the feeling of power and resistance from swimming through the water.

The next week I swam 1000 meters, 1500 meters, and then 2000 meters! Wow, I felt pretty accomplished! The next week I swam 1500 meters, 2500 meters, and then 3000 meters. I swam three thousand meters! At first I wasn’t sure how to put the distance into perspective to running, but decided that if I could swim the distances that were paired up with running in various triathlon races, then I was doing about the equivalent enduring workout.

For the shortest triathlon (sprint tri) the swim is 750 meters, for an Olympic distance it is 1500 meters, for a half Ironman it is 1900 meters, and for a full Ironman it is a 3860 meter swim. So wow, I swam almost as far as a full Ironman! I know, it was in a pool and not in the ocean, but still, I felt good about myself.

Dreams of Trying a Tri

So as you might already be able to tell … I’m now temped to try a Tri. I feel like it’s the next logical step in testing my athletic performance. There are a few obstacles in my path towards a triathlon of course.

• I don’t own a bike

• I’m afraid of getting hit by a car on the road during a practice ride

• I don’t own a wetsuit

• I’m afraid of swimming in the ocean

• I’m a MAJOR germ freak and the idea of getting sea water in my mouth turns my stomach

• I really don’t think I’ll look good in a full lycra outfit… :o)

So I have some obstacles, but I think I might be able to overcome them by next year. My friend Christina emailed me a link to a women’s sub-sprint tri in the Bay Area next month called See Jane Run. We tossed the idea back and forth about registering, but in the end decided not to. So for now, I think I will aim at trying my first tri next year in 2011. That gives me time to work on my swimming form, try out open water swimming, buy a bike, and get over the many mental issues I have with the swimming and running.

My Inspiration

I have to give credit of course to someone who has helped motivate me towards the goal of running a triathlon – my friend Todd! Todd is currently training for his first triathlon, an Olympic distance race here in San Diego next month. We are facebook friends and dailymile.com friends, so I see the feed of his training log each day. Watching his progress has made me want to make that same transition from running to tri-ing myself. He’s told me that he’s not a fan of ocean water swimming, but he’s still powering through. He also seems to be right on track with all of his training, which I truly admire. (You should see my planned vs actual marathon training plans – its sad.)

Another inspiration in this new quest for me is my friend Robin who is an accomplished swimmer, biker, and runner. We met last week to talk about swimming, tris, and bikes. Her advice has built up my confidence somewhat, but I still need another push to take the plunge. For now I’m going to keep running in the park, swimming at the gym, and watching bikes on sale online.

I’ve noticed that being a triathlete is a much more expensive endeavor than being a runner. All you need to run is a pair of shoes! Well, okay, you need clothes too but everyone probably has something they can run in. To participate in a triathlon though you need a wetsuit and a bike, two things I don’t own and I’m not sure I want to fork out the money for right now. Since I’m giving myself until next year to try a tri though, I have time to get geared up for a race.

Next Steps

For now I’ve decided to try to move myself towards a triathlon with minimal financial investment. First up is to take a swimming class in an Olympic pool. My first coached swim will be this Wednesday!

Next, I will try to buy a bike to get acquainted with biking again. Its too bad they don’t make a Hello Kitty road bike. The Hello Kitty beach cruiser is pretty cute though. :o)

Flugtag = "Flying Day"

If you have never heard of the RedBull Flugtag event, you might want to brush up on the event's history here.

Me & David at the Flugtag Long Beach

 

A brief description:

Red Bull Flugtag challenges teams of everyday people to build homemade, human-powered flying machines and pilot them off a 30-foot high deck in hopes of achieving flight! Flugtag may mean "flying day" in German, but all these crafts ultimately splash into the waters below. They are judged not only on their flight's distance, but creativity and showmanship as well.

Flying off the Pier

 

I first heard of the Flugtag when I was living in San Francisco. They played commercials advertising the event which took place down by Piers each year. After moving to Arizona I continued to see commercials since there was also a local event atTempe Town Lake. When I heard from my friend Devika that they were having a Flugtag in Long Beach this past weekend and her husband Cliff was competing in it, I asked David if he wanted to go. His answer? "Are you kidding me? I've always wanted to go!" And so we did!

 

Winning Team - Peeping it Real

 
The event ran from 1-3:30pm and had 36 teams competing. Devika's husband Cliff was competing on team 28 of 36 which allowed us to waste time stopping for lunch, sitting in traffic, struggling to find parking, and walking to the event. Wow the area was a ZOO! We walked up to the area around 2:45pm just in time to see Cliff's team pushing their 'firetruck' down the ramp and into the water! I wished we had gotten there a few minutes earlier but I'm glad we didn't get there a few minutes later.

The Hosers Getting Ready for the Plunge

 

 

We watched the next eight teams complete and saw a variety of crafts pushed off the pier - a flying piano, Obama's head, a giant pinata, Chuck Norris' head, a Coast Guard helicopter, and a few less notable others.

 

 

Team: Air Force One

Chuck Norris!

As an engineer (can I still claim that?) I enjoyed making a quick mental prediction based upon the craft's design of how its launch and trajectory off the pad would look. I was wrong in most cases. I was surprised to see most of them drop off the edge of the pier like a sack of rocks with few getting much horizontal flight outside. Several of the crafts had hangliders on top which would propel the "pilot" a bit further before crashing into the water.

 

Team: Cost Guard

 

If you haven't been to a Flugtag event you should go! It was a lot of fun and a neat new experience and I'm glad we had a chance to go.