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Yesterday, I finally got Night Rider out of storage and took him for a ride along the 101. It was my first time riding along the 101 since I moved here and boy was it bliss! I road from Solana Beach up to Oceanside and back. Unfortunately, my Garmin died…how do I always forget to charge it? So I have no idea what my stats were, all I know is I had fun. Just cruisin’ along the coast with Night Rider.

Once I get in a groove I find it hard to muster up the desire to stop and take some photos because I just want to keep going but I managed to tell myself it’s ok to stop and capture the view!

I meant to prop my bike up against the railing and take a shot but I was too excited to hop back on my bike and keep riding so I’ll have to save that for next time!

It’s amazing how it’s January here and I was out riding in shorts and long sleeves and gloves. I love California! Although, notice my lopsided helmet. I still need to get a better one:)

I then hit up the pool for a bit. Helped give a friend their swim test and did some lap swimming myself. And then later went for a walk along the beach and saw this:

It looked like absolute bliss! Might need to get myself a standing hammock to just chill in on the beach!

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I headed out yesterday for my first “long” run of the season! I was so excited, I had yet to really run along the 101 here in San Diego. So, I drove over to the ocean and parked along the 101, which I still can’t believe is FREE! Coming from Chicago, it’s crazy to think that parking is FREE anywhere! My legs were looking forward to the flatness near the Ocean, because right now where I’m living it’s pretty much all hills!

I didn’t run as far as you would think for a “long” run, but I ran 7 miles. It felt good to just truck along and enjoy my surroundings. No music, just the road, the ocean, and me. The furthest I had ran up until that point is just under 6. After taking 3 months off, and only running short distances, and running SLOW, and going for walks, and strength training, it felt good to get a decent long run in. I definitely could have kept going, but since I’m just getting back into the groove, I wanted to pace myself.

After my run, I decided to chill on the beach, and just take in my surroundings. California is beautiful, and peaceful, and it quiets my head, and calms my body.

 

Next up, is my preliminary run test, that I keep putting off, because I am nervous I’m going to be disappointed. But, it’s gotta happen sooner or later, and seeing as my swim test went better than expected, who knows what could happen!

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So I’ve honestly been procrastinating starting my training because I’m still getting settled here in San Diego, but we’re 11 weeks out and if I want to do decent at all I gotta get my butt in gear! My bike is still in storage, until I find a permanent apartment, so I did 23 miles on the spin bike. It was full of intervals and it felt good to get my heart pumping.

I also did my swim test to see where my fitness level is at, since I haven’t been in the pool in three months! Thankfully it turned out waaaay better than I thought. I did a warm up of 300yds. And then did 3x300yds as hard as I could keeping my pace consistent and taking a 1min rest in between. I used to swim in a 20yd pool and now I swim in a 25yd pool! So I for sure thought that my times would be a lot slower, but I averaged 1:37/100!!!! Not being a swimmer at all I’m pretty happy with that, seeing as that’s exactly where I left off last season. Pretty miraculous if you ask me:) I also did 15min of core work!

It was a great first day of training!

I don’t have any pictures from today’s training, so the one above is from my run on Sunday:)

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My goal this season is to keep balance in my life. I LOVE team sports. A friend had asked me to be in this girl’s soccer league. I played soccer and college, and hadn’t played in a league in probably 4 years. I was IN! It sounded fun. In fact, it is indoor style but outdoors! So fun, and under the stars. Our first game was last night and as much as we lost, it was BLISS!

I hadn’t gotten my lungs pumping that hard in a long time. The constant sprint and change of direction was the perfect balance to endurance training. I loved getting my fast twitch muscle fibers working and feeling my heart pound. I’m going to LOVE Monday nights.

2012 is rockin’!

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I went home for the holidays, and it was super relaxing. It was nice to be back in Wisconsin and see my family. My sister in law is 5 months pregnant, so it was so fun to see her, and hear all about how her pregnancy is going. I spent a lot of time hanging out by the fire, reading, and watching movies. It has been really nice just working out when I feel like it, and doing all sorts of different activities, and not feeling obligated to anything. As much as I like schedules, I find that I get burnt out from them a lot, so the down time has been nice.

After spending Christmas at home, I headed back to San Diego for New Years! It has been beautiful here! We had a couple 80 degree days. Surprisingly, although I know I’ve only been out here for 2 months, but I do not miss winters in the midwest at all. Even though it’s been warmer than usual and it didn’t snow once while I was home in Wisconsin, it was still gray and cloudy most of the time, and was still a bit cold for me, haha. Seriously. For some reason, it suits me well that the sun shines here pretty much every day. I don’t get sick of it, again I’ve only been here two months, we’ll see what I say 5 years from now, but I have never felt more like myself. It truly feels like home.

So now it’s time to get back into the swing of things, but I want to try something different this year with training. I’m calling it the flexible plan. I have found that in the past, having to regimented of a schedule burns me out, and keeps me from enjoying other things in life. So, this year, I want to maximize my training, but allow time for other things. So, I’m going to cut down on volume, increase intensity, and give myself the freedom to rearrange my schedule. No pressure to “have” to do something that’s on the schedule. If someone invites me for a run, and I have bike on the schedule, I might go for a run, or vice versa. Or if someone invites me to go hiking, or take a kickboxing class, or yoga, etc. I don’t want to leave any of it out. I want to live in the moment, and live an active lifestyle that includes swim, bike, run, but other activities as well. I think everything transfers over, and I want to experiment to see how mentally and physically doing things this way this year effects my performance.

Anyway, it’s back to blogging on a regular basis, although I have enjoyed my vacay, but I’ve missed blogging as well!

Here are some pics from being home for Christmas, which include, poppyseed bread, The Nutcracker, a run with my brother, and more!

New Years!

Happy New Year!!!

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I have added to what I want to do in the year of 2012! Here are 4 more things I want to do next year:

1. GO CAMPING!

2. Have a bonfire on the beach

3. Try stand up paddle boarding

4. Sleep under the stars – like this picture, or just sleep outside the tent, when camping while looking up at the stars

If you missed the first 6, here they are below!

So, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do in 2012. I’m not a big fan of new year’s resolutions, but I like coming up with fun things to try to accomplish or do every year. The past few years they have been races, etc., but this year, I really want to focus on FUN! Not that racing isn’t fun, but I mean other parts of life that I LOVE. So here are the top 6 things I want to do in the next year, that I have thought of so far.

1. Travel to another country! I haven’t been outside of the U.S in two years, and two years ago, the trip was a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands, which was pretty incredible. But, I’m hungry to do something adventurous and fun again, where I can just relax and enjoy my surroundings.

2. I want to do a bike riding wine tour. This has been a dream of mine, and I really want to do it, now that I live here in California.

3. I want to go skiing/snowboarding. I haven’t been in 4 years, and I really want to go. I’m terrible, but I have fun trying;)

4. I want to learn to surf.

5. I want to learn to skateboard/longboard.

6. I want to try to learn at least 5 new recipes that are easy, that I could easily repeat without following a ton of instructions, that’s actually a lot for me, because I don’t really enjoy cooking, but I want to get better, because I think if I got better, I would enjoy it more.

I’ll add to it, as the list grows, but this is what I have so far:) What do you want to do in the next year?

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This is a little late, but no biggy. My mom, dad, and sister came to visit me in San Diego for Thanksgiving! We had a blast, and it was so good to see them. We had fun eating, shopping, and touring SD. We went to Torrey Pines, watched the surfers at multiple beaches, went down to Coronado and watched the sunset at The Del Coronado. We relaxed at La Costa, and went running a few times to be active:) Here are some fun photos from the weekend!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

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Yesterday was my 27th bday! I’m so excited for my 27th year. It already has started off with a big change since I moved to California three weeks ago. Since being here, I have already learned so much about myself. I feel 100% myself here. Seriously. I always knew I wanted to move here and I’ve never been happier. Everyone I meet and everywhere I go, I just feel like I was meant to be here. I have never felt this way before. I feel like I can do anything. I dyed some of my hair pink, I wear the clothes I want to wear, I’ve gotten back into fashion and make up. I go for runs, and still need to bike for the first time, but it will happen. I’ve gone swimming once, but it’s been a little chilly and all the pools are outside.

I’ve found balance again between fitness and having fun. I’ve been going out and having a blast. I go for hikes and runs and walks and I just love how I can just always be outside. Here is how I celebrated my bday week;)

Went for a hike at Iron Mountain

The view at the top

Celebrating with friends.

Champagne

Dancing fun

My first tequila shot in years!

Birthday clown glasses

GO PACK GO!

Birthday sass

Mimosas!

Lindsay and myself

Football fans

Shuffleboard. It was my first time playing and Lindsay and I went 3-0:)

It was a great weekend of fun! Thanks for all the bday love everyone.

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1. Good, inexpensive sushi is everywhere! Make it at home, eat out, whatever you like, it’s fresh and tasty.

2. People literally keep chopsticks in their silverware drawers as if they are a regular eating utensil.

3. The abundant amount of SUNSHINE:)

4. Sunsets

5. Plentiful amount of outdoor activities: hiking, swimming, biking, running, surfing, etc.

6. The people: seriously, everyone is super friendly, welcoming, and nice.

7. Outdoor patio seating all year round

8. The BEACH!

9. Being able to wear a bikini in November:)

10. Foggy mornings…they are so peaceful