Super Seal Triathlon/Duathlon/5K

Last year the Super Seal Triathlon was my first official sprint distance race. (Race recap here.) Prior to that I had done a mini-sprint race and two 'unofficial' sprint distance club races with the Tri Club. When this year's race rolled around I held off on registering for a while as part of my New Year's resolution to race less, but in the end Tara talked me into signing up. As a new triathlete I thought about registering for the International distance race this year, but then decided to do the sprint distance again so I could compare my times and hopefully see some improvement.

Training

My big race for the first half of the year is the San Diego Century Ride in May. The course I'm doing is 66 miles long, so to prepare for that my training has included biking and running, peppered with some swimming. Perfect for a short triathlon! As the Super Seal race approached I felt that I was much more prepared on the bike than last year, a bit weaker on the swim since I was only swimming once a week versus twice like last year, and I think I'd maintained my running strength. I felt out of practice on transitions and ocean swims, so as a last minute preparation for getting my hustle on during T1 and T2, I signed up for the Tri Club duathlon a few weeks ago.

Tri Club Duathlon

My friend Robin was racing as well and offered to stick with me on the bike. I was  worried that this would ruin the race for her since she is a much stronger biker than me, but with the extra motivation to push my pace during the race on the bike to somewhat keep up with her, I was riding way faster than any of my training rides!

Tri Club Overall Winner Race Medals

The duathlon consisted of a 2.3 mile run, a 12.5 mile bike, and a 2.3 mile run.

Run 1: 16:51 @ 7:15 pace

Bike: 46:05 @ 17.5 mph

Run 2: 17:42 @ 7:41 pace

I was shooting for a 7:00-7:30 pace for both legs of the run and was pretty happy with a 7:15 and 7:41. I was also thrilled to see that even though my training rides had all ended up being around 13mph, in a race situation I could push myself to 17mph. I'm still pretty slow on the bike, but at least I'm improving! The club race duathlon was not only fun, but it built my confidence up more for Super Seal.

Post Race Smiles with Robin

Super Seal Weekend

As race weekend approached, a storm started rolling into San Diego. We are spoiled here in San Diego with sunshine and great weather almost year round, and it was sad and unlikely to have rain and high winds forecasted for the weekend. A few days before the race the race directors issued a message about the rain and the possibility of the swim leg being cancelled.  I'll be honest, I wasn't going to be sad if they cancelled the swim. I don't like swimming and I hate swimming in the ocean. I knew without the swim the race wouldn't be the triathlon that I signed up for, but whatever, I wouldn't be heart broken.

Battling the Monsoon on Packet Pickup Day

Green Swim Cap Wave!

The day before the race the swim was called off due to rain and high winds, and suddenly there was a chance that even the bike leg would be cancelled! The morning of the race I packed up my car with my bike and David and I headed down to Coronado.

Cold, Rainy, and Windy

I hate the rain and would normally never run outside when its raining, so hurtling through the rain on my bike and then during the run didn't seem too appealing to me, but hey, better than swimming, biking, AND running in the rain right?

Entering the Parking Lot

As we approached the start line of the triathlon I saw a lot of cars turning around and leaving. I checked the race's facebook page and saw that they had now cancelled the bike as well due to high winds and were planning on putting on a 5K as a last resort. It crossed my mind to turn around and leave as well, but I figured since I was up early and down in the area, why not stick around to run? 

Trying to Keep Warm in the Car

We parked and got to the start around 6:45am, and I saw on facebook that the run was scheduled to start at 7:30. We got out of the car and went to the start line to confirm that the race would indeed start at 6:45, and then hurried back inside the car because it was cold, rainy and WINDY out. It was actually so windy that when I first opened my car door the wind blew the door out of my hand and it flung open and smacked into the car next to me. (Luckily neither car was damaged!)

Navy Seals Working Out on the Beach

The 5K Run

The race start time finally rolled around and I made my way to the start. Poor David. Dragged out of bed early and forced to stand in the rain and wind to watch me race. What a great boyfriend! 

Ready to Race!

The officials said that we'd be doing an out and back course on the beach before crossing under the road to go through the original finish line. I've never run on the beach before but figured it couldn't be that hard, it was only 3 miles right?

The Rain Stopped Right Before the Race

After setting three PR's last year in the 5K it crossed my mind that with this small field of runners I would place fairly well. I had gotten my 5K down to 22:26 last year (7:14 pace) and figured I should shoot for a 7:30 pace for this race to allow for a little time loss because of the sand.  Um, about 50 yards into the race I was quickly humbled. Running in sand is HARD! And running in sand with the wind swirling all around you is harder.

Sprint Wave 5K Start

Running on the Beach

I looked down at my watch at one point and was horrified to see that I was running close to a 10 minute mile. OMG! How could I be going so slow?! I tried to push harder but it was near impossible. The turnaround point couldn't come fast enough, and I swear those three miles were the longest and hardest I have ever run in my life.

My Chins and I Racing to the Finish

Great Finish Line Support

When I finally made it back near the start area and crossed under the road I was so relieved to have some relief from the wind as we ran through the tunnel. I took advantage of the shelter and pushed my pace back up to where I thought it should be, and felt a huge wave of relief as I saw the finish line and David.I met up with David and Ben at the finish and we all got to cheer Tara in shortly after. 

Post-Race with Ben and Tara

Go Glam Runners!

I looked at my watch and saw that I had run the 2.75 miles in 26:57 (9:50 pace). Wow, this was one of my slowest 5K's ever! My hopes of an Age Group win were dashed, and I didn't even bother looking at the final race results before we left.

So Much for New White Shoes....

Super Seal Sprint Finisher's Pin

Back to Work

My company was exhibiting at a tradeshow downtown San Diego so after the race I showered and got ready and then headed down to the show to work. I didn't think much of the race or how I had placed and was amazed and thrilled when one of my twitter friends tweeted at me about winning a medal. I couldn't believe it! I ran so slowly! I suppose everyone did though, so among the slow people I was the fastest in my Age Group? Amazing! When I got home I checked the official race results and saw that I had come in 1st in my Age Group. Wow, my first Age Group win in a 5K! Even more exciting, Tara came in 2nd! Go Glam Runners!

Gloomy Day at the Convention Center

I emailed the race organizers to see if they would mail me my medal, and a few days after hearing a "yes" back from them, I got my medal in the mail. Sweet!

Super Seal Sprint Age Group Medal

Race Fallout

On the day of the race and several days following, there was a massive fallout of angry people on facebook and the message boards. Even though we sign a waiver warning us that the race could be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances like weather issues, people were losing it and getting angry. It reminded me of when a flight is cancelled or delayed due to weather issues. It seems like in situations like that, you start to see society crumble.  I saw a lot of racers who expected either a full refund, a free race for compensation, or to have the race be rescheduled for a later date. Um, what about all of the sunk costs the organizers still had to bear from trying to put on the original race? How could people think it would be so easy to just 'redo' the race a few weeks later?

The race organizers sent out several emails in the days following the race with apologies to all of the racers. In the 34 years they have held this race, this is the first year that the full race didn't take place. As compensation they were allowing a $40 discount off the Fearless Triathlon in April, and a 25% discount on the Super Seal race next year, in addition to a couple other races they produced. While I am disappointed that I ended up paying $85 for what ended up being a 5K, I understand that things happen and I don't hold the organizers responsible.  While it would be nice to get a free entry to a future race to make up for this one practically being cancelled, I understand that the economics of that probably aren't feasible. 

I'm sure my attitude towards this race being cancelled would be much different if this was my first triathlon or a key race in my year, but it wasn't. It is one of many races and sometimes things just happen. I hate that I spent so much money on a triathlon I never got to do, but oh well. I've been fortunate enough to do several other races for free in the past year or so, so in my eyes the race gods don't owe me anything. 

I will probably do this race again next year, and I will keep my fingers crossed that the storm clouds stay away! My next race is this coming weekend and is the start of back to back weeks of races. 

My upcoming races:

• April 1st - Carlsbad 5000
• April 7th - Hollywood Half Marathon
• April 15th - Gran Fondo (60 mile bike tour)
• May 6th - Vancouver Half Marathon
• May 19th - San Diego Century Ride (66 mile bike tour)

Happy racing!

San Diego Half Cheer Squad

Last year a new half marathon in San Diego was announced - the San Diego Half Marathon! The race was going to be in March and although the full course wasn't revealed, the organizers stated that there would be an "epic stadium finish" at Petco Park. The race was 'only' going to be $60 for the first 500 registrants, and it seemed like every runner I knew immediately signed up. The race was about 9 months out though and I was totally not ready to commit so early. What if that race conflicted with my training for a bigger race? What if I was going to be out of town for work? I held off on registering and the fee went up to $75, then $90, then $99. By the time I was moderately interested in registering there was no way I was going to pay $99 for a race that I could've entered for $60. Oh well, no biggie. Although the course looked cool, I wasn't going to lose sleep over missing out on it.

San Diego Half Marathon Course

Girls on the Run had  a 30 person team of SoleMates running in this race and when I heard this I decided that I would try to organize a cheer station instead. I've only cheered at a race a few other times (I'm usually running myself) and I've been surprised by how fun it is to stand by the sidelines warm and comfortable while watching the runners go by. 

San Diego Half Marathon Expo

Girls on the Run Table at the Expo

My friend Christina was going to be in town for this weekend for a conference and when she asked me where she should do her 13 mile long run while she was here I suggested this race instead. Luckily she was able to buy a friend's race bib for only $50 and before you know it Christina - aka Giselle - was ready to run too! I picked up Christina the day before the race and we headed straight to the race expo where she picked up her bib, we checked out the vendors, and we said hi to my Girl on the Run friends. After leaving the expo we went down to the harbor and had drinks and appetizers at Edgewater Grill.

Enjoying the San Diego Harbor at the Edgewater Grill

There are so many restaurants in San Diego that I want to try and I was so excited to have a dinner date in town. We left Edgewater Grill and headed to South Park to try out Alchemy for dinner. I've had so many people rave about Alchemy to me and it didn't disappoint! After dinner and some wine at Alchemy we headed home .. but stopped at the Turf Supper Club near my house for a nightcap and to chat before going to bed. Geez, good thing I wasn't running in the morning!

Quinoa Salad at Alchemy

Small Plates at Alchemy

The next morning I realized that I hadn't made my signs for the cheer station. D'oh! Thanks to years of making signs in high school, I was able to quickly whip up a number of signs to support our Girls on the Run team. I grabbed the signs, my cowbells, and then we headed downtown where I dropped Christina off at the start. I then went straight to mile 11 where I was meeting the rest of meeting the rest of my cheer squad. The plan was to cheer on the runners at mile 2, 8, and 12. 

You Can Take the Girl out of High School Cheerleading ....

But You Can't Take the High School Cheerleader Out of a Girl!

We were running a bit late (my fault) and there wasn't anywhere to park at mile 2, so we ended up setting up shop around mile 4 1/2. We made it in time to see the elite runners go by, and stuck around for another 40 minutes until everyone we knew had passed. Its amazing to see how few smiles you see in the early crowd. This people are focused and serious! Girls wearing tutus, holding signs, and ringing cowbells didn't even deserve a side glance  much less a smile. Tough crowd! It was exciting to see each of our running friends and I was surprised to see even more people I knew passing by. I had a sign that said "Smile! You Look Great!" and was amused by how many people smiled at me or smiled while pointing to their face to emphasize that they were smiling. 

Smile! You Look Great!

Love These Race Signs!

As the crowd thinned out we moved to our next spot at mile 12 which was 2/3 of the way down a big hill. We got there in time to see the first runners go by (again without smiles), and spent another 40 minutes cheering on all of the runners. By then I was becoming a bit of  an obnoxious cheerleader. Oh, you're going to run by, glance at me, and then look away? I'm going to scream and cheer louder for you until you smile! In many cases this worked, probably because the person was thinking 'who is this crazy nutjob??"  Whatever, I work for smiles.

Smiles and Glam Runner Tutus at the Finish Line

After we had seen our friends run by this second spot, we headed down to the finish line at Petco Park. The runners were routed in through a side entrance where they were finishing the course on the field. Very cool! I've done the Pat Tillman Run in Tempe, AZ a few times and it is really cool to finish on the field and to see yourself on the big screen. After finding Christina and Tara at the expo we decided to go to the Offshore Tavern & Grill for a post-race brunch. Too bad I ate a big brunch like the rest as if I had just run 13 miles. Jumping up and down and cheering burns calories too right?

Tater Tots! Brunch at Offshore Tavern

If you're a runner and you've never cheered at a race I recommend you try it. Its a lot of fun and really interesting to see all of the runners go by. I was also surprised by how many people actually said 'thank you!' or 'thanks for cheering!' as they ran by. Its nice to feel appreciated and I'm hoping that our silly cheer station put a smile on a lot of runners' faces. 

2012 Race Schedule

Last year I somehow ended up signing up and completing 21 races. Why so many? I have no idea! I had a core set of races that I wanted to do, and then I signed up for several others because I had a great discount, and then I signed up for a couple more because I got to do them for free, and then my racing friends (you know who you are!) talked me into several more. I was on a race binge! While its fun to race and I think I push myself much harder on a race day than a training day, there were several occasions where racing meant that I wasn't getting in the same type of quality/distance training that I should have to prepare for my longer distance races.

This year I made not signing up for as many races one of my New Year's Goals. (More on my blog 2012 Goals.) My primary race goals for the year have been:

• to sign up for less races
• to run the SF Marathon
• to run a 3:55 marathon (most likely CIM)
• to run a 1:45 half marathon (not sure which race will be best for that)
• to complete an Olympic distance triathlon (signed up for one in September)
• to complete a century ride (100 miles)

Since I'm a San Francisco Marathon Ambassador, my first full marathon for the year is going to be the SF Marathon in July. Last week I also signed up for CIM (in December) when race registration opened  since I figured it was my best chance for a new PR, but then in the flurry of excitement of the Marine Corps Marathon registration opening (for only 2 1/2 hours before it sold out!) I somehow registered for that as well so now I once again have three full marathons on the books for this year just like last year. 

Last week I also finally registered for several races I knew I wanted to do throughout the remainder of the year, and finally by Thursday of last week I felt that my 2012 racing schedule was pretty much set, and that I knew I needed to spend the next 8 1/2 months resisting the peer pressure from friends (*cough* Tara) to sign up for any additional races. And then .... on Friday I saw that the Gran Fondo race (a 60 mile and 100 mile bike tour) had a fluke with its discount code and suddenly the $125 registration (which included a bike jersey) was only $25. I instantly signed up figuring if I didn't end up doing the race I'd still get a free bike jersey which was probably worth about $60!

There was a flaw in my planning though when I signed up for the Gran Fondo. I've been diligently training for the San Diego Century ride on May 19th which is 66 miles. Now I've suddenly signed up for the Gran Fondo on April 15th which is 60 miles. Err wait, what kind of training is that? I also hadn't thought about all of my weekend commitments coming up. I am racing the next five weekends in a row! How am I going to squeeze my long rides in? Shoot, I am going to have to figure something out. At the very least I have endurance from all of my marathon training. Let's hope come Gran Fondo race day it all comes together for me.

Here is my 2012 planned race lineup:

January 2012

• Resolution Run 15K - new 15K PR!
• Carlsbad Marathon - completed!

February 2012

• No races :-O

March 2012

• March 18th - Super Seal Sprint Triathlon (did this last year)
• March 25th - Oakland Half Marathon (Registered for 50% off and its an excuse to go home to the Bay Area)

 April 2012

• Carlsbad 5K - Everyone has always raved about this race to me and how fun it is. I also saw a $15 registration deal. How could I pass that up?
• Hollywood Half Marathon - Got a special registration deal on this AND my cousin Giselle is going to do it as well!
• Gran Fondo - 60 mile bike race with a jersey that I couldn't pass up on for $26

May 2012

• Vancouver Half Marathon - I'm going to be in Vancouver for a week for work and wouldn't you know, the race starts and finishes a few blocks from my hotel! Granted I'll be there for a tradeshow and I'm going to end up being an hour late for that day. Shh ... it will all work out! Also, Christina will be coming up from Seattle to run the race. Fun!
• San Diego Century - 66 mile ride which is considered a "metric century". Heard good things about this "tour" aka non-competitive ride from my friend Todd last year

June 2012

• No races, Time to really start focusing on my marathon and triathlon training.

July 2012

• San Francisco Marathon - whoo hoo! This will be my 2nd year running as an Ambassador, my 3rd year running the full, and my 4th year completing this event (Ran the half in 2010)
• Will ease off the biking and swimming a bit to run, run, run.

August 2012

•  No races. Time to continue on with my marathon training to prepare for Marine Corps and to pick back up with biking and swimming.

September 2012

•  San Diego Triathlon Classic - My first Olympic distance triathlon! Eek! This will be the longest triathlon I'll have done to date. 1500m swim, 40K bike, 10K run

October 2012

• Marine Corps Marathon - My third time running this race! I'm sad that David won't be running with me like the first two times I ran, but excited that Tara and Christina will be running.

November 2012

• No races. Time to get serious about CIM in December! Will focus on speedwork from September on through December to try to go after a new marathon PR of 3:45 -3:55.

December 2012

• California International Marathon (CIM) - Whoo hoo! Finishing up the year strong I hope! I finally broke 4 hours last year and squeaked in with a 3:57 thanks to the help of my friend Jenny. I'm hoping to shave ever more time off this year. I was on track for a 3:45 finish up until mile 18 last year when I fell apart mentally. I know I have a 3:45 in me, I just need to keep it all together.

So in total for the year I'll be doing:

• 3 full marathons
• 3 half marathons
• 2 bike races
• 2 triathlons
• 1 15K
• 1 5K

With 12 races total compared to my 21 last year, I hope that training and focus leads to another year of PRs!

Are you doing any of these races?

How do you resist signing up for races on an impulse? Am I alone in that problem? :)

2012 Goals: Month 2 Review

Wow, how did February go by so fast? This year is flying by! As I did at the end of January (more on my blog here), I'd like to review my 2012 goals by month. I have a feeling I'm wrapping up this month with another C ... but all is not lost! I think everything will fall into place better in March.

Reviewing my 2012 goals, here is how I ranked by in February category.

Health

• Floss regularly: B - Probably doing so 4x per week
• Sleep a minimum of 8 hours per night: F - I'm using a sleep app on my iPhone called Sleep Cycle and I have only slept more than 6 hours once! I think the record was 7 hours.
• Eat more vegetables: A - I've made sure to have veggies at lunch & dinner
• Eat less processed food: A - I did a week long Whole Foods cleanse where I ate mostly fruits and vegetables, a lot of protein, and no processed food. This week really helped me break my sugar and salt addiction which had spiraled out of control.

Fitness

• Register for less races and focus more on quality training: A - I've resisted so many race deals which have popped up in my inbox! I did register for the following races this month that I'd be planning on though. March - Super Seal Sprint Triathlon, May - Vancouver Half Marathon, September - San Diego Triathlon Classic, December - California International Marathon. These last four races might the the end of my additions for the whole year! We'll see!
• Incorporate strength training into my routine at least twice a week: D - I ended up only doing core workouts the first week of the month (3 of 14 planned days), and then they died out after that.
• Bike at least twice a week (once indoors, once outdoors): B - Completed 8 of 11 planned days and worked my way up to 40 miles!
• Do Bikram Yoga at least twice a month: A -Went twice! I think I'll be going more in March since I now have a package of classes at a studio closer to my house.
• Run a 3:55 full marathon: TBD
• Run a 1:45 half marathon: TBD
• Complete at least one triathlon (preferably Olympic distance): TBD - Signed up for an Olympic Distance in September! Also swam on 2 of my 4 planned Monday sessions.
• Complete a century ride (100 miles): TBD

Life

• Get to work by 8-8:30am regularly (instead of 9am): F - Utter fail. Only made it to work before 8:30am once. BUT...this will totally change now that I'm coaching Girls on the Run again and have to get to work earlier so I can leave earlier twice a week.
• Develop a personal branding statement: TBD - Haven't worked on this but did write my first draft TED talk! More on my blog: Learning to Give a TED Talk, Or to just listen to the talk: check it out on youtube.
• Manage my expenses better: B -Thanks to my annual bonus I've paid off some debt and have developed a clearer financial strategy for the year.
• Attend church regularly: D -Well, after making it to church the first two weekends in January, I haven't been back since. I have been watching the podcast weekly though and I'm also on track with my bible-in-a-year attempt so far! I'm reading "The Daily Message: Through the Bible in One Year"
• Play the piano at least once a week: F -With everything I have going on I haven't had a chance to make time to relax and play the piano. My nights are filled with Glam Runner and Girls on the Run duties ... but March will be different!

General

• Continue to work to improve on everything I do: A -Although my scores don't reflect it, I feel like February was a great month!

How are you doing with your 2012 goals and resolutions?

Learning to Give a TED Talk

I love TED Talks. I was introduced to TED Talks a few years ago, and have subscribed to the podcasts ever since. I love the variety of topics that they cover, love hearing new ideas, and love being inspired. TED Talks are all about “Ideas worth spreading”, and I hope someday to have an idea great enough to be worth spreading.

This past December I attended the one-day TEDx San Diego event and it was amazing. Being there and hearing the ideas and feeling the energy of the speakers and the attendees solidified in my mind that one day I wanted to give a TED Talk. (More on my blog TEDx San Diego.)

I’m not sure what I want my TED Talk to be about yet, but I’m hoping that as I grow and learn and mature, that I do something or learn something great enough to be worth sharing. I’ve spoken in front of groups of 50-200 people several times before, and while I think I’ve done a good job, I get horribly nervous and in general I really don’t  enjoy public speaking. Giving my TED Talk someday would hopefully mean that I’ve gotten past this aversion enough to feel that I could deliver a speech to hundreds with confidence.

Checking In For The Event

I discovered a few weeks ago that there was another TEDx in the area called TEDxAFC. (San Diego’s nickname is America’s Finest City or AFC for short.) There are actually several other TEDx events in San Diego county including TEDx Del Mar, TEDx Hillcrest, and TEDx Mission Valley. Wow, there are a lot of ideas floating around San Diego.  TEDxAFC is usually held in May of the year, but I noticed that they were holding a “Speaker Bootcamp” in February that was open to the public and free, and I instantly signed up!

One of the Five Speakers Talking About "Doodle Art"

Event Description:
Free 2 hour speaker bootcamp from past local TED speakers and current TEDx organizers from around Southern California followed by our TEDxAmericasFinestCitySalon and Launch Party. If you're interested in knowing more about the TED and TEDx  programs, this opportunity is open to everyone.  Our hosts will be going over all the details. You don't have to be a speaker to attend, but if you have a talk or want to give a talk... this event is for you. 

Captivated by the Bootcamp Leaders

(Photos Courtesy of TEDxAFC)

A few days before the event though I received an email stating that they were looking for speakers to practice giving a 3-6 minute TED Talk. They were going to call on people from the crowd, and the email said “If you don’t have a talk, write one”. Oh no! I wasn’t ready to give a talk! What would I even talk about? I considered canceling my ticket and not going all together, but in the end I decided to write a talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while.  Its not anything ground breaking and I feel it pales in comparison to the speeches about scientific  breakthroughs, cultural phenomenas, and social movements. But, here is the talk I wrote for this event titled “A Woman’s Struggle – Standing Out Versus Blending In”.

(Note: The video is only six minutes, not sure why it keeps playing for seven.)

I didn’t end up being called on and only five of the eighty attendees actually were. These were five picked from a group of about twenty who raised their hand and said that they were ready to give a talk that day, several of whom had even prepared slides.  The five talks were all pretty interesting, and two of them seemed to be good enough to make it on stage for an event that day.  Prior to the five speakers going up for critique, the two men leading the bootcamp (both of whom have given multiple TED Talks themselves) talked about what it is that makes a TED Talk special, how it is different from a regular presentation, and they gave us specific pointers to make our talks special.  Some key points that I wrote down were:

• Inspiration makes a TED Talk special
• A TED Talk isn’t a presentation, it’s a performance
• It’s not what the person says, its how it makes you feel
• A TED Talk is all about storytelling
• When speaking make eye contact, speak slowly, and move around on the stage
• “Communication is the transfer of emotion” – Seth Godin

After leaving this event I decide that I wanted to get involved with helping behind the scenes of a TED event. I’m not sure if I can help out with TEDxAFC or TEDx San Diego, but hopefully there’s a way I can contribute in the next year. I met someone who is on the planning committee for TEDX San Diego at this event and reached out to her via LinkedIn this past week. Hopefully she can connect with a group that needs volunteers, and who knows, this may be just the first of many blogs about TED for the coming year!

- 

Pinterest & Popcorn Cake

Have you heard of the hottest new site on the web - Pinterest? If not you are either A - not into social media, B - living under a rock, or C -  a guy. :)   According to Mashable, Pinterest is driving more web traffic than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined! (More here.) The Huffington Post recently published an interesting article about why Pinterest is so popular. (Full article here.)

"Pinterest's recent success, which flies in the face of so much speculation about social media fatigue and information overload, holds an important lesson: It's not social media we're frustrated with. It's with one another."

"What sets Pinterest apart and makes it so appealing is its focus on who we want to be -- not on what we're doing, where we've gone, how important we are or how beloved. While much of the content shared on existing social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare screams, "Look at me," Pinterest posts urge, "Look at this." At least for now, the site offers a refreshing haven away from the boosterism and boasting that plague so many sites."

For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is (this is for you Dad!), Pinterest is a website where you can "pin" images that you find around the web on different "bulletin boards" that your friends can see. Think of it as visual bookmarking. Instead of managing long lists of bookmarks, you now have cute little graphic boards! You can also see what your friends are pinning, or can browse what strangers are pinning. (You can see my account here.)

I was introduced to Pinterest about a month ago and have been amazed by the variety of images I see on there. There are a lot of crafts, fashion, home improvement products, motivational images, cute pet pictures, etc being pinned. The ones of most interest to me have been the recipes and craft projects. Wow, when did I turn into an old lady? Anyways, although I wouldn't consider myself a cook or baker by any means, I am someone who loves appetizers. I LOVE appetizers! Whoever invented Tapas restaurants is genius!

I recently saw a recipe for a "Popcorn Cake" that came from a blog called Cookies & Cups. That sounded intriguing and disgusting at the same time. It was also pretty so I pinned it to my Food Board aka "Nom Nom Nom". My friend Todd's birthday was approaching and he is the world's biggest fan of popcorn (has a bowl each morning), so I decided that I would make the cake for his birthday. From looking at the recipe I saw that it was essentially a big rice crispy treat. I could do that!

I set out to buy the ingredients (Only the best for my cooking! Albertson's store brand) and put the "cake" together. The cake was easy to make and probably took about 10 minutes.

 

I brought the cake over for Todd's birthday/Super Bowl party (known as the Super Todd party) and I think it was a moderate hit. It was competing with a ton of yummy Mexican food that Todd and Christine had ordered, some other sweets, and an amazing bundt cake. It was still eaten though and hopefully the Newmans finished it off before it turned into a rainbow speckled brick. 

If you are interested in trying this culinary concoction out for yourself, you can find the recipe here.

Happy Pinning!