Celebrating the 4th

This weekend I enjoyed four days off in honor of the 4th of July! We had Monday off as a holiday and I was planning on taking Friday off so we could drive up to SF ... but since we hit our Q2 sales number we all got Friday off for free! Yay!

On Thursday night David and I went out to dinner at McCormick & Schmick's to celebrate the start of a long weekend. I'm a "Preferred Guest" member there and they had recently credited my account with a $30 dining credit for my birthday and a free dessert. Mc & Schmick's (as its called) isn't David's favorite restaurant, but I was able to talk him into going with me again. He ordered the lobster and I had the ahi dinner which we both thought were pretty good.

Dinner at McCormick & Schmick's

Driving up to SF

The next day we were planning on getting an early start (~6am) on driving up to San Francisco. Of course I am totally never able to leave on time so we didn't get on the road until about 9am. We hit some traffic going into LA, and since I've been stuck on the Grapevine wayyyy too many times, I decided to head over to the coast and drive up the 101. This route takes about 45 minutes longer but is much more predictable than going up the 5, and is my preferred way to head home. The drive took us about 10 hours total and we arrived in San Francisco just in time to go out to dinner with my dad.

Mika & Kona Checking out Traffic

Long Run Gone Wrong

The next morning David and I got up early to head over to Lake Merced to do our long runs. I'm training for the SF full marathon and David is training for the half. Lake Merced is about 4 1/5 miles in diameter which would allow me to do 3 long run loops while David did 1 or two. In the leading week I'd been having some soreness in my legs but hadn't thought much about it. The past weekend I had competed in the San Diego International Triathlon (more on my blog here) and had then done a couple easy runs and a hard track workout on Tuesday, but didn't think I had gone overboard in my training. 

About 2 minutes into my run around Lake Merced though I knew something was wrong. My legs had gone from sore to painful. I felt a stabbing pain in my right hamstring which was affecting my gait and making other parts of my legs hurt. I knew better to run through pain so I stopped running and sadly decided to call it quits on my long run. I was freaked out about having leg pain in my peak week of training for the marathon (I don't have time to just rest!!) so I called Massage Envy right away to see if I could get in somewhere for a massage. I was able to get an appointment in San Mateo so we headed down there later that day. 

The masseuse felt my hamstring and said it felt like a rock! He said I had a charley horse and wasn't surprised I couldn't run. Over the course of the hour he was able to loosen up the muscle a lot and I regained a lot more range of motion in that muscle, but my legs were still sore. And I was frustrated. I need to run! He told me to rest for a week and take it easy. Rest? Arghhhhhh...

NKOTBSB Concert

After the massage there was barely time to go get lunch, get ready, pick up Garley, and then head down to San Jose for the NKOTBSB concert! Yay!!!!

Before the Concert with Baby Greyson

Garley and I met up with two other high school friends from the concert and spent the remainder of the night screaming and dancing to our favorite 80s and 90s boy band songs. Wow that was fun!! (More on my blog here.)

NKOTBSB Concert!

Visiting Wine Country

On Sunday morning we planned to head further north into wine country. We were meeting Christina in Sonoma where we'd spend the rest of the weekend. The drive up was pretty easy and only took about an hour. We met Christina at her mom's vacation house in Santa Rosa, dropped off the dogs, went to Fleet Feet Sports to pick up our 10K bibs for the next morning (wait.. wasn't I injured? More later on that...), and then we headed to the Russian River to get some relief from the heat.

Dogs Sleeping on the Drive

Russian River

I had never been to the Russian River before and was curious to check out the area since Barb's Race (the 70.3/Half Ironman I want to complete next year) was taking place. I'm leery of swimming in any type of natural body of water and really wanted to see the water quality of the river. As it turns out the water looked pretty good and the area was really pretty. I think I'm going to sign up for that race next year!

We headed to Johnson's Beach to meet a couple more friends and were lucky enough to get parking right by the water and two free umbrellas to sit under! (You normally have to rent them but some people who were leaving let us use theirs.). The shade was a welcome escape from the blazing sun, and we spent the rest of the afternoon by the water. 

Johnson's Beach

The Russian River

I think the word beach is loosely used here ... it was more like a gravel parking lot that ran up to the river's edge. 

Me & David on the "Beach"

Enjoying a Book on My New Kindle!

After spending a few hours at the beach we headed to the grocery store to pick up supplies for our BBQ dinner cookout. We cooked chicken, steak, and corn, and also had a salad. I BBQ'd the corn with the husk on and am pretty sure I made some of the best corn anyone had ever tasted before. ;o)

Christina Showing Off Our Feast

Kenwood Footrace

In the past three years that I've lived in San Diego I've run the Coronado 15K on Coronado Island in San Diego. I love the 15K distance and the race is a really large and fun event. I was sad to miss this race since we were up north but was excited to hear that Christina was planning on running a 10K in Kenwood which was nearby. I haven't run many 10Ks lately and was looking forward to the race. (Especially since I had an awesome Miss American Pie Glam Runner tutu!! More info here.)

Kenwood Winery

After my failed run on Saturday though I was a bit apprehensive about running, but since my leg hadn't hurt walking since my massage I thought I'd be fine. WRONG! My leg started to hurt again about 1/2 mile into the race, and at the 1 mile marker I decided to quit and turn around. My first DNF! (Did not finish) Oh well, luckily I'm at the point where I've done so many races that I don't need to just finish a race, but I was disappointed not to be able to continue. I stood with some of the course marshals at mile 1 and watched the rest of the racers go by, then walked back to the start line where David was waiting. I'm pretty sure I looked like quite a site walking alone through the vineyards in a red, white, and blue tutu. Haha.

Kenwood Footrace 10K & 3K

Heading Back to San Diego

After the race we had breakfast and then packed up the car and hit the road with the dogs. We were taking the 5 back down to San Diego and hoped that we wouldn't hit too much traffic since we left pretty early. Amazingly it ended up only taking us 8 1/2 hours to get back home even though we started further north and had a longer drive.

Driving Back to SD ... Boring!

Upon arriving home (after way too many hours in the car) I was surprised to see a package waiting on my doorstep. When I got closer I saw that it was a cooler of meat from Omaha Steaks. Uh oh. OH yeah .... I had suspected that my company was sending us meat as a 4th of July gift based upon a message from the CEO. I figured it had come this past Friday after we had left, but I wasn't sure. I opened the freezer to find cool (not warm but not cold) meat, and empty dry ice bags. Uh oh.. ewe.

I called Omaha Steaks the next day to find out if the meat was still good if it was in the cooler, indoors, but sitting around for 4 days. Not surprisingly it needed to be thrown out ... BUT ... Omaha Steaks said they'd send me out a replacement shipment immediately. WOW! What great customer service! Its not like it was their fault that the shipment sat around all weekend! I was extremely pleased and can't wait to get my new order of meat. The box contained 4 top sirloin steaks, 4 pork chips, 2 pieces of sole stuffed with crab, 8 gourmet hot dogs, chicken breasts, and 4 baked potatoes. I smell a dinner party coming up!

Omaha Steaks Delivery

Living a Teenage Dream

This past weekend I went home to San Francisco to go see a concert with some of my high school friends.

Girls Night High School Reunion

Which concert did we see you ask? This video should give you a hint:

Yes, we did go see NKOTBSB! We were all huge fans of NKOTB as 'kids' and there was no way we could pass up a chance to see them again live in concert!

NKOTB Back in the Day

My best friend and I actually saw NKOTB perform back in October 2008 when they first returned to the concert circuit. We loved the show and screamed our heart out like little girls. It was so much fun and made me feel like a starry eyed 12 year old again. 

Waiting in Line for Shirts

I've seen girls/women on TV before at concerts/celeb sightings screaming and jumping up and down when they saw their star crushes. I never thought I'd be one of those girls. But guess what, at this concert I was. Something between the energy of the concert and the crowd, being with my best friend of 20+ years and other good high school friends, and remembering how I felt when I listened to these songs as a little girl on my cassette tape player (old school!) turned me into a screaming giddy girl .. and it was fun! The appeal of this concert and the way it brought me back to those pre-teen feelings reminded me a lot of why I love the Twilight books. For a moment if you close your eyes, you can remember what it feels like to have your first crush. Real or celebrity, its a warm fuzzy feeling. (More about my Twilight obsession on my blog "I admit it, I'm a Twihard.)

Being "Gidiots" (aka Giddy Idiots)

NKOTB Sure Has the RIGHT STUFF!

NKOTB Making Grown Women Scream!

When we saw NKOTB a few years ago we got the cheapest seats that they had and sat in the very last row in the upper balcony. This time we got better seats and were much closer, but not close enough!

View From our Seats

When the concert started we had a pretty good view of the stage and the screens, but we weren't close enough for my pictures to turn out too well.

Concert Views

This View Definitely Requires a Closer Seat

Video of Donnie for the Ladies

Before this concert I didn't consider myself a huge Backstreet Boys fan. I bought the album years ago but always preferred N'SYNC. I was surprised though to realize I knew the words to almost every song they performed!

Backstreet's Back!

The show was set up so NKOTB would perform on one stage (front or back) and then as their song ended it would blend right into a BSB song with those guys on another stage. Rinse repeat.

NKOTB on the Closer Stage

BSB Serenading Ladies from the Crowd

The concert was great and a few times I looked around and was amazed to see that the whole stadium (filled with my fellow middle aged women) had everyone standing up in their seat screaming and singing at the top of their lungs. Well, everyone but the guy sitting in front of us. I can't believe this guy's girlfriend couldn't find a companion who actually wanted to be at the concert!

Seriously? Why Even Come?

NKOTB Still Has the Moves!

 The concert was pretty long and covered all of the songs I really liked from both groups, and I figured that the two most popular songs had to be saved for last. For the second to last song BSB performed "I Want it That Way" and NKOTB performed "Hanging Tough". 

My Fave BSB Song - I Want it That Way

Have you ever seen the HP Pavilion full of girls all waving one arm over their head back and forth? I have!

NKOTB's Iconic Song - Hangin Tough

After two hours of screaming, singing, and jumping around, the concert sadly came to an end. I found that my voice was hoarse and I was exhausted. This old lady usually goes to bed by 10pm and the concert didn't wrap up until about 11pm. 

Finally the Finale - Aww!

My best-boyfriend-in-the-world David had dropped Garley and I off at the concert, and was planning to pick us back up at a corner behind HP Pavilion. When we walked out there right after the concert we saw a big crowd, and realized that all the people were waiting for the tour buses to leave with the groups! We waited on the corner with the crowd for David to pick us up (with me mentally willing him to be late enough that we'd see a bus leave.)  Turns out David got stuck in traffic and road closures and he pulled up right after we saw the first bus leave with the Backstreet Boys. Great timing!

Tour Buses Out Back

 

Here Comes the Backstreet Boys!

We all had a great time at the concert and Garley and I agreed that "next time" we go, we get even better seats. I joked that as we got older and older we'd be able to afford better and better seats and that finally when we're 40 we'll be one of the lucky ladies in the first row who got picked to go up on stage. Haha. Guess we'll see what happens if they tour again!

San Diego Intl Triathlon

This past weekend I completed my first International Distance Triathlon! This was the longest triathlon I've done to date and the distances completed were:

Swim 1000m / Bike 30K (18.6 miles) / Run 10K (6.2 miles)

Previously I've done sprint distances which were:

Fearless Triathlon: Swim 375, Bike 10K, Run 2.5K (Race Recap)

Tri Club Club Race: Swim 700m, Bike 20K, Run 4miles (Race Recap)

Super Seal Triathlon: Swim 500m, Bike 20K, Run 6K (Race Recap)

Training Plan

For this race I worked out a training plan that mashed triathlon training with marathon training since this race was June 26th and I'm also running the San Francisco Marathon July 31st. If I were just training for a marathon I'd have five running days, and with my combo plan I scheduled five runs, two swims, and two bike rides. If you're doing your math right you should add that up to nine workouts, which meant seven days a week with two double workout days. Bleh! I am a big advocate of rest days and would normally take one or two rest days a week, but with this schedule I just didn't have time, and I figured my Monday swim days were good enough as rest days from running or biking since its mostly upper body and the other two sports are lower body.

Training Plan vs Actual

If I were being graded on sticking to my training plan over the seven weeks I trained between the OC Marathon and the SD International Triathlon, I'm pretty sure I'd pull in a solid C+. Go me! :oP I spent two weeks versus one recovering from the OC Marathon (race recap here), dragged the third week, went on vacation to Paris the fourth week, and then because of one reason or another I missed workouts here and there the remainder of the weeks. I already knew that I'd be in Paris for a week and Vegas for four days twice throughout my training, and had massaged my schedule accordingly, but I still ended up off by the time race day rolled around.

Over the past seven weeks I swam 9 times out of 15 planned and biked 4 times out of 7 planned. Yes, I only rode my bike 4 times to train. Terrible! For the training plan geeks out there, here is what my training schedule looks like for the tri and marathon combined.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Swimming & Biking

I swam a decent amount to prepare for the race but week after week I missed my scheduled bike rides.  Finally my friend Tara convinced me to go out to the 56 bike trail to ride with her and we rode a few times before the race. I'm always amazed by how fatigued my legs feel when I'm biking. I get that its a new sport that I'm a novice at, but I still would have thought my running muscles would help me more!

Miss Mismatch Preparing for a Bike Ride!

Tara also convinced me to join her for one open water swim at Glorietta Bay the Monday before the race. I have mental issues in the open water and haven't been in the ocean since the Super Seal Sprint Triathlon, and figured one dip in the cruddy water would do me good. As usual, all form went out the window as soon as I entered the water and the first piece of seaweed hit me. I managed to flail my way through two 400m loops before giving up.

Tough Girls Swim in the Ocean

Race Weekend

As luck (or misfortune) would have it, I was in Vegas for the second time for a tradeshow the week before the race. The tradeshow actually ran through Saturday but I was able to leave early and get home Friday which gave me Saturday to pick up my number, prepare, relax, etc. I spent three days in Vegas and managed to run each day, but wasn't able to do much more to prepare for my two weaker legs of the triathlon, the swim and the bike. Oh well!

Triathlon Gear Laid Out (Dog Not Included)

 

Transition Bag Packed and Ready!

Race Day

Luckily for me this race was only about 5 miles from my house and was in the area where I do the majority of my long runs, so I'm familiar with parking. David and I ended finding parking in a dirt lot not too far away from the race start, but somehow we walked over towards the transition area so slowly that by the time we were about 100 yards away I heard the 10 minute warning announcement for the transition area to be closed. Oh no! Rush time!

Long Nails and Wetsuits Don't Mix

I rushed over and managed to squeeze my bike onto the rack, set up my transition area, pulled on my wetsuit, and then ran out to the beach. On a side note - between three back to back trips and being really busy at work during the times I was in the office, I hadn't had my nails done in about FIVE WEEKS. I had talons! Talons + triathlon wetsuit = disaster. I can't believe I didn't rip my wetsuit because I had the worst time trying to get it on without using anything but the pads of my fingers!

Swim

This race was different from my other triathlons because it had a "water start". This meant we started from a buoy in the water where we were treading water. In my past races there was a beach start which meant we ran in from the sand. The idea of treading water and spending more time than necessary didn't please me at first, but I ended up finding it a lot calmer for the group to start swimming from a treading position versus everyone trying to run in past each other. 

Getting Ready to Enter the Water

I was worried about my swim since I had never swam 1000m in the ocean before and my practice swim in Glorietta Bay hadn't gone so well. Amazingly, the swim went fine! I counted my breathing and focused on my stroke, and the swim just chugged along. 

Swim Course in Orange

A few times when I was sighting I'd look out for the turnaround buoy and think REALLY?! Its still that far away? Ugh! And then I'd put my head back in the water and go back to my counting and swimming. I felt a huge sense of victory as I passed the turnaround buoys, and all I could think about was getting back to shore as quickly as possible. 

Red Swim Cap Wave Starting

On dry land David was probably more worried than I was. He spotted a swimmer at the back of the pack who seemed to be struggling and was being left behind and who was alternating between swimming and treading, and floating on her back. David thought "oh no, I hope that isn't Monika". He was watching 'alter-me' with concern for a while ... and then real-me jumped out of the water and was done with the swim! Yay!

SO Happy Post Swim

Bike

My transition between the swim and bike was pretty poor. I changed shirts which wasted time because I had so much trouble getting it over my wet sports bra. I struggled putting my bike gloves on because I'm a pansy with baby hands who didn't want to race without them, I wasted time putting on my Garmin watch, etc etc. After 4+ minutes (my better transitions have been 1:30-2:30) I finally ran out of the bike area and was ready to ride. 

Biking Slow but with a Smile

Remember how I said I had never swam 1000m in open water before? Well I had never ridden as far as 30K on my bike either. What is wrong with me? Worst trained triathlete ever! The course was up a long gradual hill with a looped area at the top, and then back down. I was really worried about dying on the hill since I hadn't even biked that far on flat ground before!

30K Bike Course and Beginning Elevation 

I felt okay going into the bike ride and as I started to make my way up the hill I felt better and better. I was doing it! I was riding my bike! Up a hill! Whoo hooo! I wasn't going fast by any means, but I felt good, and I was happy. The ride down was glorious and fun. Wheeeeeee! Sooner than I expected, it was time to return to the transition area, change one more time, and finish up the race with my favorite sport - the run!

Run

My second transition was better but not spectacular. I was looking forward to the run since it was "only" 6.2 miles, but was a bit concerned because headphones aren't allowed and I *always* run with music. 

10K Run Course

Um, before I even got to the first mile marker I was bored to tears! The next five miles seemed to drag on for an eternity! I noticed that I was keeping around a 7:30-8:00 pace which dipped into 8:30 towards the end, and I started to think oh wow, I wonder if I'm going to get a 10K PR .. at the end of a triathlon!

Starting Out on the Run

In the end I came across the finish line at 49:58 which is 49 seconds slower than my 10K PR from 5 1/2 years ago! Its actually such an old, stale PR that I think this one should count as my thirties PR right? haha

My official finish time and splits are:

Swim 1000m 20:44  (36/47 AG) <-- need to work on my swimming

T1  4:15  Dawdler!

Bike 30K 1:05:07 (35/47 AG) <-- need to work on my biking

T2 2:32 Could be better

Run 10K 49:58 (16/47 AG) <-- really happy with my run time!

Overall 2:22:36 (32/47 AG)

What's Next

So what's next? Well, I am running a 10K this weekend up near Sonoma while I'm up north visiting friends and family, and then I have the SAN FRANCISCO MARATHON July 31st! Eek! I am not quite on track with my long runs for the marathon, but hopefully this weekend I can get back on track and finish my last month of training with some solid runs. I plan to still swim on my recovery days and might bike once a week or so, but my main focus will be running. I've started going to Tuesday night track workouts with the Tri Club again and I'm hoping that this helps.

Post Race with Tara and Ben

I am not currently registered for any more tris right now and I'm deciding between the She Rox Sprint Triathlon and the San Diego Triathlon Classic. I'm leaning towards the She Rox Sprint so that I can work on my tri basics over short distances, and not just try to drag through the longer distances without knowing that I'm properly trained yet.  And next year ... I still have my eye on Barb's Race! A woman's 70.3 aka a half Ironman! I don't want to commit to a long race though until I know I'm committed to sticking to a training plan. We'll see how that goes over the next few months!

Domo Does Vegas X2

This past month Domo went to Vegas not one, but two times! That's a lot of Vegas for Domo, or anyone! Vegas is like bacon, its great in moderation. Two 4-day trips to Vegas withing two weeks? Bleh, too much Vegas!

Las Vegas Strip at Night

Trip #1

For the first trip Domo, David, and Monika drove out to Vegas from San Diego. The drive was surprisingly fast, and took about 4 1/2 hours. Counting the time you waste at the airport before and after a flight, driving doesn't take that much longer. Domo recently read the book "Delivering Happiness" about Zappos and had signed up for a tour of the Zappos headquarters. The tour was really neat and ended with Domo feeling like royalty! (More about the book and tour on the blog: Delivering Happiness.)

Domo is Zappos Royalty!

King David & Princess Monika

Since Monika was in Vegas for a tradeshow, Domo and David had the days to themselves to party hard! Well okay, not really. But Domo and David did have time to walk around the strip and get to see Vegas during the day. Instead of staying at the host hotel/casino for the show, Domo decided to stay at a Marriott resort down the street from the show that was about the same price. Instead of staying in a smokey casino with an average sized room Domo got a HUGE suite with a full kitchen. And like all Marriotts, the place was smoke free! (Monika's review on Yelp of the Marriott Grand Chateau here.)

Domo at the Bellagio Fountain Show

After each day of the tradeshow Domo got to go out to eat in Vegas. He tried the Italian restaurant Trevi at Caesars (Yelp review here) and the churrascaria Pampas at the Miracle Mile shops. (Yelp review here)  

Monika & David at Caesars Palace

Since this trip to Vegas fell the weekend before Monika's *cough* 23rd birthday, Domo decided to take Monika to see the Beatles Love show by Cirque du Soleil! Domo has seen several of the Cirque du Soleil shows before and has really liked them, but heard that Love is totally different and a must see. It didn't disappoint!

Monika & David at Beatles Love

After three days in Vegas it was time to head back home. Domo and friends had fun, but were happy to escape the heat and head back to San Diego.

Trip #2

Two weeks after the first trip, Domo had to head back to Vegas again. Blahhh... Monika had another tradeshow but instead of driving out Domo and Monika flew out ... First Class! Whoo hoo! Domo has been doing really well on First Class upgrades this year. The airlines must know that Domo is VIP! Very Important Pocket-doll. haha

After setting up the tradeshow booth (alone!), Domo had all afternoon and evening by himself before the rest of the crew came in that night. Let Domo tell you this ... spending the afternoon in Vegas alone is BORING. Domo thought about going to the pool but realized he only brought his lap swimming suit and not his bikini. (Yeah, Domo wears a bikini! What did you think he wore?) 

Room View of the Bellagio Pools

Domo walked the strip, window shopped, and finally ended up at the Petrossian piano bar near registration where he hung out for an hour or so until his coworker arrived. 

Shrimp Cocktail at Petrossian (3 pieces? Really?)

For dinner Domo had sushi at Yellowtail in the Bellagio. Dinner was very yummy and one of the things Domo had to eat was a sushi roll that had Pop Rocks on it! Mmmm! Domo loves sushi. And Pop Rocks!

Domo Having Cappuccino at Yellowtail

The next day the tradeshow started and Monika spent the next three days pimping her product. Domo thinks that standing in a booth talking about wrinkles for three days sounds boring, but Monika seems to really like her job. Domo is glad he's a Domo of leisure and doesn't need to work.

Domo Having Breakfast in His Room

(BTW this is what $29 buys you... omg)

Domo went to two group dinners while he was in Vegas for the second time that were pretty fancy. One was at Olives and the other was at Prime. Both restaurants were in the Bellagio which was great for Domo. Domo's poor little feet hurt on this trip! No crazy dishes of note were ordered at Olives, but Domo's socks were knocked off twice at Prime when he first saw the seafood platter, and then when he saw the tomahawk steak for two. 

Seafood Platter at Prime Steakhouse

Tomahawk Steak at Prime Steakhouse

 (Domo didn't eat this. He had a petite fillet)

Good thing Domo always works on his fitness when he travels! Domo ate a lot on this trip! Domo and Monika went running each morning in Vegas even though it was about 90F out by 7am. 

Running the Strip by the Bellagio

Running the Strip by Circus Circus

Running the Strip Approaching Paris

Domo ended up leaving Vegas a day before the show ended because Monika needed to be back in San Diego early since she had a triathlon on Sunday. Domo had fun while he was in Vegas but has probably had enough Vegas for the year now. Next up? San Francisco! Domo and friends are heading to San Francisco this weekend to see the NKOTB/BSB concert! YES REALLY! Domo is so excited! More on that next week.