Off to London

Next place on this Midwestern Nomad's agenda?

London!

Off to the Olympics in TWO DAYS!!

Watch for updates :)

Watching Dreams Come True (and Fall Apart)...

Greetings from Eugene, Oregon!

I've been here since June 20th for the US Olympic Team Trials in Track & Field and, my, what an eventful two weeks it has been!!

From the very beginning, the Trials proved to be one of the most exciting ever. Ashton Eaton claimed the world record in the decathlon.  Dathan Ritzenhein came back from his disappointing 4th place finish at marathon trials to earn his ticket to London in the men's 10,000m.  Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh caught USATF totally off guard with their 3rd place dead heat in the women's 100m, originally to be resolved in a run-off (which Tarmoh has now decided against, giving Felix the spot). Some of the other events I particularly enjoyed were the women's high jump and the 800m races.

I had the distinct privilege of being a credentialed photographer at this event (my photos are starting to go up on my SmugMug page here), meaning I got to be there at the finish line as people realized their Olympic dreams.  I was also there to see the heartbreak that comes with training for four years only to have that dream shattered in seconds.  This experience goes beyond words...I could try and explain how it felt to stand there on Hayward Field every day, but words wouldn't do it justice.  Even though I am not a diehard track and field fan, I am an avid supporter of the Olympic movement and the athletes involved in it, so this was truly unbelievable to be part of!

Thank you to all the athletes for allowing us media to be a part of your successes and your hardships...it's truly an honor to be there as lives are changed forever.

Recently...

This is the first post of a new thing I'm going to be doing, tentatively titled "Recently..."

As many of my friends out there may know, I sometimes get a little...well, obsessed with things.  So, I figured why not embrace my quirks and have a little thing in my blog devoted to one of them?

Recently #1...Nail Polish

I've never been much of a nail polish girl.  Sure, I went through my middle school phase where I always had to have the latest neon glittery polish from Limited Too, but it never stuck.  For the vast majority of high school and college, it was either French manicure or naked nails.  I didn't care for nail color.

For some reason, though, I suddenly have had a thing for it!  My latest purchase is "No More Waity, Katie" from Butter London (which, at $14 a bottle, is also the most expensive nail polish purchase I've made).

Other polishes I've tried lately...

Ulta Jaded with Nicole by OPI Rainbow in the S-Kylie

Ulta Peach Parfait with Essie Luxe Effects Shine of the Times

OPI Banana Bandanna with Rimmel Black Satin letters

Essie Mint Candy Apple

And that's it for now :) Which is YOUR favorite?

Pink Triathlete

So, as some of you might know, this time last year, I was starting to train for a sprint triathlon. My sister had signed up for one in Indy, so I decided to do it with her.  However, I ended up getting my job out here in San Diego and spent the weekend that I would have been doing a triathlon moving instead!

Ever since then, I've been wanting to get more involved in triathlon. Honestly, one of the only reasons I run is because it is a part of triathlon (and it's much cheaper than joining a gym and lets me enjoy San Diego's amazing weather). A week ago, my friend Larkin asked if I wanted to go swim La Jolla Cove...and despite it's horribly cold temperatures (for someone like me who grew up swimming in the Gulf of Mexico), I went.  Again, this was primarily because I knew open water swimming was a fact of life in triathlon.

Yesterday, I did my first aquathon!  It's a run-swim that the San Diego Tri Club puts on to help people train for triathlons.  Larkin again invited me, and it was HARD!! But motivated me to get more into training.  I've started to realize, too, that everything triathlon-related I own is pink.

So there you have it...Riley the Pink Triathlete.  Or, more appropriately, Riley the Pink Hopeful Triathlete.

Ragnar Relay: 203 Miles, 12 Runners, 2 Vans

This weekend, I did something I never in a million years would have thought I'd do.  I participated in a 203-mile relay race from Huntington Beach to Coronado that took about 30 hours to complete...the Ragnar Relay.  There were 12 runners (I was runner #6) and we were divided into 2 vans.

Van #1...Mike, Ashley, me, Larkin, Kyle and Adam

We started off at 10am in Huntington Beach...Mike was runner #1.  He was a last-minute replacement after one of our other runners got injured, but man, did he deliver! He was fresh off of the Boston Marathon and truly was the heart and soul of our van! He drove most of the time, kept us laughing and ran 6-minute miles!  Adam also made some amazing time, but unfortunately, we left him waiting for 20 minutes at Exchange #2 after getting lost!  Despite the fact that we continued to have issues with our exchanges, we still made great time and finished at just over a 9-minute mile pace (pretty amazing considering we lost about an hour on exchange problems and there were some pretty serious mountain climbs in there!).

My Ludus Tours Ragnar manicure

My legs were 2.7 miles through Anaheim (pretty rough in the 1pm heat...no water stops, so I was dying a little!), 7.4 miles through the mountains by Temecula (at 2am...super tough hills, but my favorite leg because the nighttime weather was amazing and my vanmates provided unbeatable support!) and 4.2 miles straight up Torrey Pines hill in La Jolla (my legs were shot after the Temecula portion, so it was difficult, but I managed to find a second wind once I got to the top of the hill).  Since we had to drive the van from exchange to exchange, you really didn't get time to stretch much post-run, which made for some VERY sore muscles!! I'll definitely be investing in some compression gear for next year!

Getting my run on in Anaheim

All in all, though, it was an AMAZING experience. I couldn't have asked for a better team!  Being in a van with 6 people for 30 hours without sleep is a pretty excellent teambuilding experience.  I felt like I got to know everyone better!

Ash, me and Larkin...the ladies of Van #1

Looking back on the whole experience, I don't think of my cramping legs or how awful they felt attempting to scale Torrey Pines.  All I think of is deliriously laughing in the van, trying to find our teammates in the pitch black night to cheer for them and continuing to bond with everyone at Erin's housewarming party/Ragnar afterparty.  It was such a great time!! I cannot wait for next year!!

Best. Team. Ever.

100 DAYS TO LONDON!

HAPPY 100 DAYS OUT FROM LUDUS TOURS!!

Only 100 days to the 2012 Olympic Games...and only 88 until I board a plane for London!!

Cannot wait :)

Sister Visit!

 A few weeks ago, my lovely sister decided to pay me a visit for her spring break!

Awww...isn't she so cute??

That's us with the seals at La Jolla Cove! Unfortunately, my camera deleted most of our pictures together, but we have a few!

We had SO much fun!  We ate at just about every good restaurant I could think of, explored all the sights from Del Mar down to Coronado, shopped and watched The West Wing (I successfully got her addicted to it!).  I was super sad to see my sistradre go...hopefully I can convince her to join the west coast contingent of the family  :)

That's it for my mini update at the moment! I'll post more info soon!