Recap

I can't even express in words how much fun I had at the Tri Expo. From the second I arrived, I was surrounded by friends and familiar faces. I also had the chance to meet some Internet/email friends in person. I swear, my mouth was yapping the whole day. I'm surprised I was able to stay coherent for it all. Didn't get home till midnight... so late for me!

One of the coolest new friends I finally met in person is Dr. Allen Lim. He works directly with Lance Armstrong and Team RadioShack and is an world-renown exercise physiologist. He's probably the best resource I could ever imagine having as I go through my master's program and do my thesis. My friend/pro triathlete Jessi Stensland put us in touch a while back, and I'm so thankful she did... Allen is not one of those weird nerdy science dudes; he's way laid back and funny but still smart as hell, and I feel comfortable asking questions and picking his brain 24/7 even if I bug him or sound like a total exercise phys novice, ha. I'm trying to get him to take me along on Tour of California and Tour de France with Team RadioShack :)

Jessi Stensland leading a MovementU seminar; Allen Lim marching at the far right:

To top off a perfect day at the expo, we had quite a random/entertaining group of people together for dinner at Costa Bravo in PB. Tatiana, Kevin Koresky & Joe of finishline-multisport.com, Jessi, Allen and some of his friends. I don't think I've ever sat at a restaurant for that many hours while having fun and eating good food (like the paella below) the whole time.

The group (ps - Allen is the guy with the giant smile haha):
I was bad again, peer pressure!:

I'm surprised I survived my Saturday long run after Friday's craziness. But 12 miles later... it didn't go as bad as I expected. I have to thank my mom for inspiring to get out there and go (she was running close behind me on our whole loop). I almost took the day off because I was so tired and was suffering in the sleep department.

I made up for all my "sinful" activity on Saturday night by cooking a healthy meal and going to bed very early.

Sunday Sara and my CSUF friend David joined me for a 3-hour ride. I had lots of hills planned, with some good ones right around mile 30... perfect training for Oceanside! I have another post planned on elevation gain stats. Some of you noticed on FB: My Garmin said we climbed 5200 feet, my iBike said 3200 feet. I do have comments/thoughts on this, but also want your opinions!

Somehow I squeaked out a 30 min/4ish-mile run after the bike. Then Sunday night, Tatiana and I met with the RAHA Cycling Team. I am so thankful to be involved with an amazing group of people who (like I said on Twitter) care about helping others/giving back on top of racing hard and having fun as a team! These "individual" sports aren't so solo after all. Check out more about the "giving back" side of RAHA here: Bahati Foundation.

Lastly: FOOD. I am a total believer that good food aids in good performance (duh, right?). I also don't mind "splurging" on certain occasions; I think it's healthy and sometimes there's no other option... except not eating. However, 95% of my life is spent eating HEALTHY. One of the biggest things I strive for is getting in a lot of fresh foods and a lot of color... like my dinner last night:
Quinoa with mixed veggies, barbecue chicken breast (with Trader Joe's BBQ sauce), steamed sugar snap peas and sauteed eggplant/bell peppers/onions. Salt on all of it (I'm a salt fiend, but I can be!). If it's not this, it's usually broccoli stir fry, fish and a sweet potato, which I had Saturday actually--all things I NEVER get sick of for dinner!