River and the Dwarves

At the end of Serenity, River Tam heroically stands with sweat dripping from her brow, catching her breath, her body held tall, looking down at the pile of Reavers she just took out single-handedly.

When the dwarves and Gandolf are captured in the orc cave in The Hobbit, they are surrounded 1,000 to 13. Somehow, they fight with such poise and skill that they defeat the orc king (who looks strangely similar to Jabba the Hut) and escape the dark pits of the earth.

Obviously, I have been watching too many Sci-fi and fantasy films lately (ehhem... nerd alert). The thing that stood out to me about these films though was the characters' skill at defeating their opponents. It was beautiful watching the gracefulness in the dwarves' movements as they dodged and killed their enemies. It was as if every move was planned. The orcs had no logic to their attack; they attacked with all they had, but never stopped to look at the situation. The dwarves had a cleverness behind their form. They never killed their own, they were able to pick out the bad from the good. Every movement had a specific purpose.

My past races have been sloppy, much like the fighting of the orcs. Wildflower was the only race I really worked for; I designed and followed a training plan, watched my nutrition, created a pre-race plan.. everything. My other races have been very sporadic with no pre-designed plan of action.

I don't want to be an orc. I want to be hardcore like River Tam and the dwarves. Wildflower was the only race I really worked for; I designed and followed a training plan, watched my nutrition, created a pre-race plan... everything. My other races have been very sporadic with no pre-designed plan of action.

I don't want to be an orc. I want to be hardcore like River Tam and the dwarves. My A-priority race this year is going to be the National Age Championships in August. The next 9 months are going to be exactly like the 9 months preceding having a baby. My nutrition will be carefully monitored, each workout will have a purpose, I am going to start stretching and foam rolling more religiously. Once again, I am choosing to make triathlon my life (didn't I swear this off last summer?). No drinking alcohol, no late nights, no missing a workout... this is my life once again and I'm actually very excited about it!

Just like River and the dwarves train to be master murderers, I am going to train to "murder" the competition. Hello, month one of nine. Time to meet your maker!

She's Almost A Real Person Now!

There is nothing that tastes better in the morning than the oatmeal at my grandparents' house. Sophia and I sleepily made our way to the kitchen for a big bowl of steel-cut oats with strawberries, blueberries and bananas... Weston would be so proud. We took our time getting ready for the day. We had no place to be since we had both decided to take the day off. After listening to some good ol' country music, we drove down to Bird Rock Coffee (my favorite!!! Another first for Sophia) with my parents. We all took our coffee down to Windansea to watch the surf. Although, I forgot my coffee in the car, so they drank while I enjoyed life. Daddy let me borrow his camera and I took some awesome shots of the surfers. One guy had just arrived when we were hanging out at the shack, so I watched him duck dive his way out to sea. I am so grateful this surfer decided to come out when he did! He was making big air and busting out some gnarly 360's! Hello surf photography opportunity! I got some fun shots of him and the seagulls. I hoped he would come out of the water while we were still there, but he was having a fantastic surf session, so I didn't rush him. It took me back to my old dream of starting a surf magazine; maybe I should reacquaint myself with those aspirations.

As we walked up the steep cliff back to the car and hopped in, Sophia looked down at my feet.  "Where are your flip flops," she asked. Are you kidding me?! I have the memory of an 89-year-old with amnesia.







We went shopping in downtown La Jolla before meeting my family at Panera for lunch. My cousin Becca had brought her two sons along; Ryan and Aiden are adorable. Ryan, though only in first grade, can beat most of the fifth graders at his school in running competitions. He is part of the 100-mile club, which is a challenge to see which student can run an accumulative 100 miles during the school year. P.S. I love this idea and want to incorporate it into my life. Sophia and I are starting a 100-mile a month club if anyone would care to join us and be part of the challenge (Weston? Kristina?).

Ryan was so excited to hear all about our race yesterday. I told him I was hoping to run the Western States 100 in a couple of years and asked if he would care to do it with me. He looked skeptical. "Maybe... If I could go slow," he paused. "And if I could bring a water bottle." Alright, so I have a pacer! Sweet!

Two doors down from Panera sits a little shop I like to call... LuluLemon. Yes, it was time for a reward for running so well yesterday. There's always an excuse to buy new Lulu, right? I thought of a few: It's Valentines Day!, this shop has clothes our shop doesn't carry, that striped sports bra is so me... as well as the bright pink tank top. So we got Lulu. And I got Lucy running tights. And Sophia got an amazing cupcake and scarf. No more purchases for me this month. (Insert Sophia's pants)

We went home and threw on our racing shoes... it was time to see what Ryan was made of. Ryan, Aiden, Becca, Paul, Sophia, Daddy and I made our way to my grandfather's tennis courts. We lined up and got ready to race three laps. "Ready," Ryan started. "Set! Go!" We all scurried across the courts. Aw man... his little legs move quickly! We had a blast! He kept trying to hold my hand and pull me back, but he didn't need to... that boy is as fast as Dash from The Incredibles!

After the race, we drove back to Bird Rock to meet my bestie Dana! As soon as we got there, it started pouring! Sophia and I were speeding through the rain when my flip flop struck cobblestone and KABOOM! Down I went. I looked up at Sophia with puppy dog eyes. Really? My Lulus were so wet right on the butt. So fun! But seeing Dana's face made everything better!

We drank our Bird Rock and decided to walk down to Bird Rock Surf Shop then drive to Pacific Beach. The sunset was incredible that night as we drove to La Jolla Shores for a sushi dinner with my parents.