The Relationship Mixed Tape

I have this habit of hanging out with boys on Valentines Day who I always end up dating afterwards. It's a strange thing. I forget it's a "special day" and someone suggests a hike and suddenly whoop I've got a boyfriend. Totally unintentional. So it is probably a good thing I couldn't go to Disneyland with Weston and Steven today. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, but I hate Disneyland. And I don't think I could date one of my best friends. They are too muscley for me. Plus they live way too far away.

So, instead of waking up to breakfast in bed and flowers on my table like most of my girlfriends did, I woke up to the beeping of my alarm at 6AM. My swimsuit was almost dry, but the slight dampness touching my epidermis made me cringe. I ate half a banana and a few macadamia nuts, fed the dogs and drove to the pool to meet with my coach.

Jason (my coach) is an attractive man. He looks (and acts) a lot like my old personal trainer/massage therapist Rich. I have nothing but praise for this man. He is so humble about his abilities and he is so down to earth, but he has accomplished great things. Very cool guy, to say the least. At the pool I typically swim at, there are not a ton of attractive men. Every once in awhile, one will dip his toe in the waters of the public pool, but usually it is just older dads, grandpas and guys in du-rags. So, when this 30-year-old competitive triathlete walks out with defined muscles and confidence to boot, the women can't help but stare. One woman went to the front desk after finishing her workout.

"We need to do something about what happened at the pool this morning," she complained. "That attractive man walked out in his little speedo with Hammer written across the butt and totally distracted all of us from our workouts. Mary almost had a heart attack." Oh man. A heart attack on Valentines. Now that would be something.

After my swim, I went home and hydrated... with coffee. Then I laced up my Wave Riders and down the road I pranced. Well, I'm trying not to prance as much, but I'm sure there is still some of that left. My Garmin was fresh out of battery, so my hand was heavy with my iPhone. I bought the new Imagine Dragons and Walk the Sun CDs yesterday though, so I had an excuse to listen to them. When I passed a college student jamming out to techno, I had to laugh. My running music is so much more mellow than most people. Here, let me show you an example. The following is my favorite song for trail running:

It was a beautiful run, but the last two miles killed me. My legs were completely spent. I tried to keep pushing and, to my surprise, my pace stayed constant on the 9th mile; unfortunately, mile 10 did not hold the same bright promise of a quick turnover. Not at all. The only thing that kept me from stopping and clasping my sides was the fact that Jason would be looking at my times later. If I didn't do well on this mile, my entire 10-mile pace times would be thrown off. I was happy, no... I was relieved when I was finished. I did 5 rounds of :09 strides then made my way into the house to prepare a recovery drink and a sweet potato before cycle class.

From my run. Epic day.

Oh cycle... oh cycle on a holiday... oh cycle on Valentines day... Last year, my playlist consisted only of songs with the word LOVE in the title. This year, my mom thought it would be fun to make a playlist starting with all of Taylor Swift's love songs, but ending with her breakup songs. I figured that might be a little too much T Swift. I liked the idea though, so I made a relationship mixed tape. I warned the class that the mix would start with the search (warm-up and extended warm-up), finding that special someone (sprints of excitement), thinking you might be in love (standing zone 3, quick cadence), falling head over heals (seated spin-ups), realizing maybe things aren't as great as you thought (:30 in various zones), getting your heart broken (lots of zone 5), being angry at your ex-lover (standing build from zone 3 to zone 5 repeats) then moving on to independence (strong, zone 4 sprints).

Barry shook his head. "What is that head shaking for," I asked.

"It's a good shake," he comforted me. "I love your creativity."

"What stage are you in," asked Dave.

"The Forget You stage," I shot back. Howls of laughter filled the room.

I started with Justin Beiber's Somebody to Love. "Really," Dave asked. "Justin Beiber? Can't you skip it?"

"No," I responded. "It's part of the relationship. Everyone starts out looking for somebody else."

"We might as well listen to Taylor Swift the whole time," he grumbled. Dave, if you're reading this right now, you make me laugh.

I'll admit, the playlist was a little dorky. After Beiber, Call Me Maybe graced the ears of my participants. A couple of women started singing along... of course. I mean, I can't deny Amy and I made a music video to that song when we were in Tahoe last. Next was Usher and Pitbull then Natalie Cole came on the stereo system singing L-O-V-E. "Ohpe! You fell in love wayyyy too quickly! Stand up and sprint," I yelled. We followed that with Mike Poser and after him, Imagine Dragons Hear Me came on. "Uh-oh, you just realized you jumped in too quickly. Now things aren't going the way you planned. You are confused, so is your zone!" We switched zones every :30, staying mostly in zones 4 and 5.

A few songs (and heartbreaks later), Bon Jovi came on. As soon as he belted out "Shot through the heart", cheers spread through the room. Whoops and even a "Yes!" played across the mouths of my class participants.

Of course, We Are Never Getting Back Together played right before Ben Fold's and Regina Spektor's You Don't Know Me At All.

It was a great class; when is it not a great class?

Tonight, I have a hot baking date with my future roomie Amy. Time to say Welcome home! to those calories who thought they were leaving for good. Nope... I've got you this time, you little buggers.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

From Jameisha. Oh my word. So good.

Hello H2O, Goodbye Honey Child

It's a typical Wednesday morning; there is a strand of long black hair tangled around my left fingertips and a piece of wet toilet paper dancing circles in front of me, threatening to enter my mouth. Yup, just another 6AM on a Wednesday. I shouldn't complain, but swimming in public pools is really not enjoyable.

Sarah texted me last night: Hey, are you swimming tomorrow?

YES!!!

What time?

I looked at the time on my phone; it was already past nine and I was still downtown looking for God-knows-what who-knows-where.

...

7?

Ummm sure.

Yeah, she's not going to be there at 7. Sure enough, Darth Vador summoned me at 6:42AM. The text? I will not make it there by 7.

That was fine. It gave me a little extra time with the dogs I'm watching. I still beat Sarah to the pool, so I did some core work and cords. "My coach told me to," I explained to Sarah when she arrived to me doing plank on the water's edge.

We spent a good 15 minutes doing core and cords, waiting for a lane to open up. It seemed like everyone was circle swimming this morning. Finally, a lane opened up and we clumsily grabbed our goggles, threw off our sweats and dove in the chilly winter water (I don't care if it's indoors; it's still cold in there!). We looked like a comic strip, dust rising up from behind our feet, one flip-flop in the air as we pulled on our caps mid-run. But the lane was ours and only ours... for about 3 minutes. After changing lanes three times and circle swimming four times, I finished treading 3,300 yards of water.

I pulled my hair back into a ballerina bun and tossed a sweatshirt over my still-wet frame (for those of you who don't know, I don't use towels to dry off. It's weird, I know. Josh and Denise used to tease me all of the time--I get it. I'm weird). We walked over to Whole Foods with Jameisha and I ordered coffee and an apple. As we sat and enjoyed our breakfasts, we talked about lent and what we were giving up.

Most of you know that I LOVE lent. Any excuse to do something crazy and challenge myself- oh, I'm game. Last year, I gave up coffee (which didn't last too long. I think it only lasted as long as it did because I wanted to prove Ben wrong). I've also given up driving and spending money before, but mostly because I felt people were taking advantage of me and I wanted to have an excuse to cut them off without being a complete jerk. This year, I've decided to erase two things from my life as well as add one. I am not going to eat any processed foods (I think the only thing I'll struggle with are energy bars- they are so quick and easy!) and I'm not going to watch television (I spend more time watching Ted search for his future bride than I do cleaning my room. Things need to change). I'm also going to try to drink more water. I drink a lot as is, but not as much as I should, especially when I'm substituting it with coffee-- bad idea. They don't have quite the same affect on the body.

Let's think of all the things I will achieve from these changes in my life:

1. Get my six-pack back
2. Thrive in a clean room
3. Spend more time on the work website
4. Not get calf cramps during a run (let's hope)
5. Achieve optimal greatness and superiority to all non-water drinking, HIMYM watching, processed-food-eating fools.

Eh, sounds like a good plan to me.

Hello, Lent. Come on in to my life. Make yourself at home. Stay for a good forty days and if you like it here, feel free to move in. I might need to charge you some rent though...

Runner's Walk Of Shame

What is it they say about life giving you lemons? Take them and throw them on the ground and jump up and down on them until they are mush. Yeah... that sounds about right. 

Yesterday, my friend Amy and I ran up Jesusita. On our way back down, we talked about the "Runner's Walk of Shame". C'mon, admit it: If you have ever been a runner, you totally know what I'm talking about. That moment when your hip cramps up or you realize you didn't fuel properly for a 2-hour uphill run. You push past the pain, but you notice that your pace is getting slower and slower. Then it happens. The running turns to jogging and the jogging turns to a slow-motion Baywatch Pamela Anderson bounce and that... well, that turns into a walk. You pout. You kick the rocks you pass. Grrrrr. You are disappointed in yourself and feel like a failure. Stop denying it... you KNOW that feeling. You relate to that feeling.

This morning, I committed the dreaded  Runner's Walk of Shame.

It all started two days ago. My friend Zack invited me to go run the route to his new trail race series with him. It was a long bike day for me, but I asked my coach if I could swap it out and do half my bike and the rest as a run. He kindly agreed and switched my training plan for me.

Maybe it was the three cups of coffee I had chugged that morning; maybe it was the lack of water in my system; whatever it was, my calf started cramping in the middle of the run. I've never experienced a calf cramp before. I wasn't quite sure what to do about it. I went home and foam rolled. No problem, right? Except it was a problem. Foam rolling it sent pangs of compressing, pulsing pain throughout my right calf.

The next day, I taught a 70-minute cycle class. That was followed by an hour of Pilates. After Pilates, I met up with Amy for that trail run. After the run, I went to the pool to swim 2,600 meters. I noticed the firmness of my lower leg during Pilates, but didn't think much of it. It was not until the trail run that I felt the heat. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Girl, what are you doing? We got to the top and Amy asked how I was doing. I slapped my calf and it felt like wood... in fact, it looked like wood. There was no shake, no wobble, no movement... The problem was clear: My legs are obviously stronger than my arms. Must be all those stadiums, cycle classes and squats. Just call me the calf master.

I remember walking up the stairs with Miriam at Monica's wedding. "Whoa girl," she said. "You have fantastic calves." Yeah, I do. Actually, that was the first time I realized my lower legs were stellar. Thanks for that confidence booster, Miriam!

On to the main story: Last night, I talked to my coach about my morning track workout. "I think you should do it," he said. "But I want you to chug 10 ounces of water before bed and 12 ounces at 4:30AM, an hour before your run." I followed his advice, but when I woke up this morning, I could tell immediately that today was not my day.

"Shake it off, Ash," I told myself. "It's all mental." So I ran to the track. The warm-up felt okay. I was stiff, but nothing seemed too out of whack. Rusty gave me the workout and I joined my group to run 8x200. Odds at :40, Evens at :50. That felt okay, even though I was at the back of the pack. My calf was very tight and my hip kept locking up, creating a weird cave-in of my knee as my right Mizuno hit the track. Next on the menu was a 2k, 4x800's and another 2k. No problem. I could get through this.

Then the first lemon was given. Two-hundred meters into my first 2k, my hip totally locked up and I caught myself and slowed down to a jog. I looked ahead to the group ahead of me... almost 100 full meters in front of me. I heard two runners breathing hard behind me. I pulled over to the football field. Ahh. This hurts. I galloped up the green pathway to Rusty. He looked confused.

"I can't do this. My hip is bothering me; I'm going to go see Kelly today."

I walked off the track and straight to the gym for a good foam roll. I thought that would help make the rest of my 3-mile run home a little bit easier, but an 11:00 mile was the fastest I could muster before the pain took me out. I sucked it up and ran it home. Stupid lemon. It had better start squeezing out some juice before Sunday.

On a positive not, here is my lemonade for the day: There is some evidence that big calf muscles can help you run faster. Woohoo! And life is wonderful once again. http://www.livestrong.com/article/437390-does-having-big-calf-muscles-make-you-faster/

The Blog About Being Beautiful

A man recently told me I had swagger. Swagger.

Dictionary.com defines SWAGGER as:

Verb Walk or behave in a very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive way: "he swaggered along the corridor".

Noun A very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive gait or manner.

Adjective Denoting a coat or jacket cut with a loose flare from the shoulders.

Synonyms verb.   strut - brag - prance - peacock - boast - swank - vaunt noun.   strut - swank adjective.   swell - stylish - chic - spruce

Wow. That sounds pretty manly.

Last Friday night, Amy and I had date night. We went out to a delicious Thai meal: Coconut soup, brown rice and coconut tofu curry. Afterwards, we went back to my place to spend some time with Yomi since her husband was out of town. Yomi is all about beauty and make-up and fancy clothes. She owns this entire nail salon kit and insisted on doing Amy's and my nails. I'll admit I was hesitant, especially about putting bright pink sparkly polish on my fingernails. But they turned out nicely. Sometimes I look down and see a flash of pink; it catches me off guard. "What is on my hand?! ... oh right... I'm a girl." Plus... I am really enjoying the smooth feel of the gel on the tips of my digits.

Sarah came into town to visit her boyfriend this past weekend. We went into town to grab coffee in between my jobs; while we were there, she wanted to hop into Sephora. I don't wear make-up. In fact, the little amount of make-up I do own is from middle school and has been used maybe a handful of times. Hmmmm... I'm pretty sure you are supposed to throw it out after 6 months or something of the sort. So when we passed the eyeliner section, I decided to pick up a couple of pencils. Yup... I even wore it yesterday. It is true, I may have swagger, but I am still a lady.

Yay for mud masks, eyeliner and cute dresses.

From Beach Bum to Tri Addict

Though the clock reads 12:10AM on Thursday morning, my body still thinks it is 3:10PM on Wednesday. There is no logic happening in these muscles right now. Yes, it is 12:10 AM and I am writing a blog. Why are you writing a blog so late at night, you ask? Well, I'm wired. I literally just walked in the door from a gnarly 35-mile bike ride. Bike ride in the dark, you ask? Yes, but don't worry... I was indoors watching Beyonce dance and listening to ACDC... the combo doesn't go together so well.

I once wrote a blog about defining one's life. It was when I was in Wyoming and had come to the conclusion that family and friends were more important than getting that extra 10-minutes of training in. That's when I gained 15 pounds. Mmmmm delicious. I'll tell you what was delicious: Those bags of dried mango I bought by the dozen on my food buys. Not to mention Anne's zucchini muffins... there are reasons I work out so hard: I love my sweets.

Back to defining one's life... These past couple of months, I have noticed that my life comes and goes in time blocks. When I am in one block of time, I am totally committed to that block. For instance, there was a block of time where I was obsessed with surfing. I owned every issue of Surfing, Foam, Surfer, etc. and wore only Roxy, O'Neil and Billabong brand clothing. I knew every surf shop in San Diego and practiced pop-ups in my bedroom every morning. I owned more movies with titles like Endless Summer and Step Into Liquid than anyone I knew. In my senior high school year book, I was voted Most Likely to Become a Beach Bum. I went to college in California specifically so I could be next to the ocean and study the waves more than I studied my Anatomy text book ...You get the idea.

Easter morning surf sess with Rebecca and Torrey

Maui

Surfing defined me. I was the surfer girl; but a funny thing happened. One morning I woke up and I was no longer the surfer girl. Other things took priority and my ability to paddle into a lineup slowly faded away. Did I say slowly faded? I meant crashed and burned within a day.

As I look back at that block of my life, it feels like I'm viewing the life of someone else. I don't recognize that girl and I don't relate. I want to, but I just don't. The same thing happens when I think about ex-boyfriends; it feels like they dated one of my friends and I know the story of their relationship, but I wasn't actually a part of it. It is as if I phase that block out of my life completely. I guess you can look at this as sad, but I prefer to see it as a girl who just keeps on evolving.

For the past two years, my life has been defined by the sport of triathlon. Sure, I've ventured out and tried ultra running, cooking and rock climbing, but triathlon keeps sneaking back into my life. It has become more evident now than ever before. My coach has me doing 2-4 workouts a day, which requires getting out of bed between 4:50-6:30 AM every day and hitting the sack somewhere between 11-12 every evening, depending on the day. I'm not complaining; I truly love it. I still try to make time for friends, too, so I haven't totally gone off the deep end. On Tuesdays, I have coffee in the morning with Jameisha and Lara after my run. Later in the evening, Kristine and I have begun a tradition of an hour-long swim followed by cooking a new recipe we find on Pinterest (thank God for Pinterest). Saturdays are my "day of rest", so I sometimes make an appearance with a friend then as well... okay... so maybe my training does take a front seat... but I have made a lot of new friends. Karen and I ran an extra 5 miles after our Tuesday morning track workout last week and this Tuesday, Jay and I went for an extra 6 while he told me about his introduction to running. Plus, it's great when Kristine or Jameisha join me in the pool.

First at Scott Tinley long course

Practicing the Wildflower bike course with Sloan last year

Delicious Tuesday evening meal with Kristine

I sincerely hope this block of my life lasts for awhile. I will be sad to see it go; to see the goggles disappear from my shower and the books by Dave Scott and Joel Friel get pushed to the back of my bookshelf. But I know the next stage of my life will be just as exciting if not more exciting than where I am now.


Cheers to good things yet to come and great things happening now (aka to blocks of life well spent)!

Twenty-six for Sandy Hook

On December 12 of last year, twenty students and six staff members were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut. It was the second deadliest mass murder and school shooting in America's history. It's amazing to think that one day this will be read in history textbooks. Reading the details of the horrific event makes the stomach turn, but it is in times of sadness and loss that Americans tend to band together to help those in need.

Obama appeared on television that afternoon telling Americans: "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics." Come together we did. Concerts were held across the US, with all of the proceeds going directly to Sandy Hook Elementary. Thousands of teddy bears were sent to the remaining students of the Connecticut grade school.

On the other side of the country, in Southern California, Santa Barbara Running Company hosted a benefit run/walk for the Sandy Hook School Support Fund (https://newtown.uwwesternct.org/). On a chilly, overcast Saturday morning, a group of 40 individuals braved the cold and came together for 26 minutes of walking, jogging and running; one minute for each victim of the shooting. Some participants walked their dogs, some sipped on coffee while catching up with old friends and others ran to the rhythm of the tunes coming out of their headphones. All of these individuals came together for one purpose: To help a neighbor in need, a neighbor who lives almost 3,000 miles away.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines community as a unified body of individuals. The people who showed up to the Sandy Hook Benefit Run/Walk were all unified with a desire to help another group of people in their time of need; this was truly an act of community. At the end of the 26-minute event, Santa Barbara Running Company raised $1,140 for the families and friends of the victims of the December 12th shooting.

Santa Barbara Running would like to thank each person who came out to help support the cause. Thank you to Handlebar Coffee who donated the delicious coffee that kept everyone warm, energized and caffeinated; as always, it was delicious. KEYT joined us at the beach to do a story on the event, so a big thank you also goes out to the station.

Our hearts go out to kids and teachers who were taken far too soon!

Happy Fall Out Boy Day

I'm boring but overcompensate with headlines and flash, flash, flash photography.