Monday, December 6, 2010

Tis the Season... for a New Adventure


I came home from work today and realized just how out of the circuit I have been with myself lately. I live this life of adventure, but where has it been? I can certainly tell you it's been there, but not here. Here as in here - this blog. I need writing back in my life. As I know I have an extremely low readership, I will continue to practice my writing and the pouring out of my thoughts until I arrive at a point where I can make a difference. I will be getting back in touch with my writing, myself and this adventure we call "Life".

As we're coming to an end on 2010, I not only sit and reflect on where my year has gone and my goals for next year, but also on the time and season we are in right now. December, Christmas, Hanukkah, hope, joy, love, giving... do I encompass those last four? As my car got towed this morning and an unextremely appealing array of events unfolded, I let myself go and forgot that everything will be okay in the end. It is so easy to get caught up in the little things and forget the life that is passing us by every day. THAT, my friends, will be the theme of the blog posts from now on.

Carpe Diem, live the moment, remember everything, be present, don't sweat the small stuff, trust things will be great. This life is beautiful, and I'm going to live it.

Cheers everyone!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Is This Me?



So a lot of my tweets lately have been about whether I'm going to be able to run - aka breathe when I'm running. I'm not one to make up excuses for why my running's been poor. I actually thought that I had just been slacking until I realized that I couldn't breathe. My last doctor said I could have sports induced asthma, which is not uncommon for someone like myself that's amping up their exercise routines. She gave me a sample inhaler to try, and it worked like a charm.

What happened? I lost my health insurance and the inhaler ran out. What do I do? Well... as stubborn as I am, I never want to depend on medicine or any substance to make me better or fix things. I feel like we can work our way through things. In my case, train through it.

That has not been working lately. I can barely run a mile and a half without my entire body shutting down. I'm hoping that the girl in the picture is not me and will be doing some extensive online research to find ways to train through this. Any tips will be very much appreciated. I'll keep everyone updated with my progress as I still would like to train for a half marathon!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

MMMMMMMM


I've come across an amazingly delicious nutritional product for maintaining the optimal triathlon nutrition plan. Not only does this bar combine two of my favorite flavors, it actually tastes like a candy bar! Soft and easy to eat, I immediately felt my hunger suppressed within a few minutes. Not sure if it's the placebo effect or not, but this is a great way to keep yourself from going back for extra calories when you don't need them. Add this into your nutritional plan to stay on track. This makes a great snack, or if you're trying to lose weight, a good breakfast or lunch! I am a big fan! The only drawback is - it tastes so good that I keep wanting more...

From OneTri.com:
"Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar is the first weight management tool designed specifically for athletes. Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar uses a patented blend of healthy fats, protein and calcium, plus added fiber to activate the body’s natural appetite control signal. Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar is designed to be taken between meals, as a snack replacement and to leave you feeling satisfied longer. Forze GPS helps control your hunger so you achieve your performance goals. Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar is the first and only nutrition tool formulated especially to help athletes reach and maintain their optimal performance weight. The key to getting leaner is appetite regulation. Specifically, your objective is to sustain a diet that satisfies your appetite each day without supplying more calories than you need. Most people, and even many athletes, find it difficult to satisfy their appetite each day without eating more calories than they need and consequently accumulating excess body fat stores. Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar solves this problem by satisfying your appetite in a calorically efficient manner. Simply put: Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar provides more satiety (or appetite satisfaction) with fewer calories than any other food. By adding Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars to your diet you will naturally eat less over the course of the day without feeling hungry, and as a result you will become leaner and perform better.

Because it contains optimal amounts of each of these nutrients and few carbs and saturated fats, Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar yields as much satiety as a large snack with much fewer calories. The results of numerous studies on the Forze GPS formulation have demonstrated that it:

Extends the feeling of fullness for up to 3.5 hours after eating
Decreases food intake up to 20%
Slows gastric emptying
Acts on the appetite centers of the brain with 4-6 minutes.

Best of all, Forze GPS Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar achieves all of these results with ingredients from real foods. In Forze GPS, nature and science have come together to create the ultimate nutrition tool to help athletes get leaner and perform better."

Friday, March 27, 2009

Shoe Review #1!


As the Director of Marketing and Assistant Buyer for OneTri.com, I get to test out products that we carry and see how they truly work. The latest product that I've tried is the Zoot Sports ULTRA Tempo+2 Shoe for 2009. Conveniently enough, I have just decided to do a half marathon in eight weeks, so this shoe will play a vital role in my running and racing development.

I have thrown my old running shoes to the corner to try these shoes out, and they made a world of a difference! I immediately noticed a quicker toe-off as well as added comfort and just enough stability in the midsole. These shoes are specifically designed for fast transitions and I had no trouble getting them on and off quickly with the quick lace system and grabbers on the heel and tongue. I can wear this shoes with our without socks, and with the great ventilation, my feet will stay as cool and dry as possible. I wouldn't recommend running off-road in these as they are meant for pavement and solid ground running, but they're definitely alright on the treadmill! And not only did my stride quicken and my run look good, but the shoes themselves look great on me :) These come highly recommended. I'll keep you updated as my training begins this weekend!

Now I just have to work on overcoming this stupid sports-induced asthma... Tips are welcome!

Check out my new Zoot Sports ULTRA Tempo+ 2 Shoes!

Monday, March 16, 2009

My Third Favorite Holiday!


Tomorrow... the day of all days... My Third Favorite Holiday!

What's number one and number two? Christmas and My Birthday, of course! (Wait, you thought birthdays weren't a national holiday, right? Well mine is!)
Now, being Irish and all, I am not only excited to celebrate tomorrow, but I am also contractually obligated to celebrate because of my ancestry. I have stocked up on supplies weeks in advance including all the green money can buy, a clover headband, green suspenders and plenty of beads. We go big.

And don't worry-the festivities start AFTER work. I will not be sneaking my flask in for beer-thirty. I have to say, I'm a little jealous of the crew going at 8am to begin their festivities, but I know that the company I'll be with and the good times that we'll have will bring more than enough cheer to last me until next year.

I'll leave you with this Irish blessing, and I hope that your day tomorrow is full of the great Irish spirit!

May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!


And P.S. All the drinking tomorrow will not get in the way of my triathlon training... I feel it will only boost it :)

Monday, March 9, 2009

Bragging Rights!!!


OneTri.com wins sponsor challenge at the UCLA IronBruin last Sunday!
Our boys made me very proud last Sunday... getting up at 4:30 in the morning (mind you, Daylight Savings Time stole an hour of sleep), setting up our booth at the expo, then racing the triathlon at 7 am - not to mention BEATING all of the other sponsors!!!
Good job! That's where it pays off to love your work and what you do! We not only work hard, but we are active within the triathlon community as well. I wish I could say that I was part of the sponsor challenge team, but I'll have my time to shine later this season :)
We took a giant plaque home (with terrible handwriting) and bragging rights for one year! Next year, we'll be showing up again to defend our honor. Watch out!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

NO WAY!


So I looooove Donavan Frankenreiter. Great music to chill to after your triathlon...

I just saw that he did a music video with my friend's dad's mariachi band! Check out www.myspace.com/mariachisoldemexicodejosehernandez !!
That is so cool!