My First Triathlon: Camp Yuba Sprint 2015

Guys. A triathlon has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I signed up for this sprint last year, but my car accident happened 2 weeks before the race, so this year was the year.

I wanted to test the waters with a sprint, and it was the perfect distance! 1/2 mile swim, 12.5 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run.



We camped down by lake Yuba the night before (so awesome!) and got a bright and early start. I set up my transition area and even got a spot at the end of the rack. People were so nice and encouraging, and I pretty much loved everything about it. They did consolidated age groups since it was a small race, and I got 4th place for women under 35! (technically I was the second woman 25-29, soooo I'll take it haha)



I had so much fun! I definitely learned a lot (don't start in the back of the pack on the swim, sit down to take my wetsuit off haha, go faster! :)) and I will definitely be doing more of these!

8 mile run

Yesterday was a milestone for me.

I've always complained about running. It's always been hard for me. From ankle pain to lack of endurance, it's just been plain unpleasant.

Last year, however, I decided I was going to try it for real. That meant getting running shoes (who knew it would make such a huge difference??? :)), sticking to a training plan, and actually running for longer than 15 minutes at a time.

I know. Earth-shattering. I'm super ahead of the times.

So, after finally applying myself, I was able to run 8 miles yesterday (only stopping at the water fountains along the trail). I know that, for many people, that's not a very major accomplishment... but, for me, that was huge :) :) :)



Next week is my tri, so no long run... but I'm excited to keep adding mileage! :)

Eat all the things!

All this cardio got me eating like



For example, yesterday I woke up, ate a honey stinger waffle and sipped some gatorade (water in the morning makes me sick... is that weird?), and then headed out to my workout.

I biked 40 minutes and ran (jogged, I don't run haha) 40 minutes, and I had a gu and water along the way.

When I got home, I made an omelette (egg, frozen veggie mix of potatoes, onions, and peppers that is the best invention ever... I keep it in the freezer at all time) and ate a funfetti waffle (yes, that's a thing).

For first lunch, I had a southwest salad (spring mix, sweet peppers, crockpot chicken, black beans) and grapes.

For second lunch, I had an apple, chocolate hazelnut butter, and oatmeal with fruit and nuts.

For first dinner, I had a hamburger patty (I buy them frozen and pre-cooked for convenience), quinoa (half with hot sauce, other half with honey. this is delicious), and freeze dried bananas.

I swam some laps in the evening, and then for second dinner once I got home (see my problem? haha) I ate some peanut butter on toast and some greek yogurt. I was still hungry, but I didn't know what I wanted, so instead I went to bed :)



Because I'm so hungry all the time, I'm trying to eat higher-quality foods (instead of the doughnuts I'd rather be eating) to fuel my body. And I'm trying to hold back a little haha.

It's a rough life ;)

Guess it's time to start training for that tri...

So (in a moment of brilliance) I realized that my sprint tri was less than 3 weeks away, and I figured I'd better start training! Genius, I know.

Now, I'm not starting from scratch, I've gone running on and off over the summer, and I teach a few spin classes, so... I'm golden, right? :)

Sigh. Anyway, I've been squeezing in some more swimming, biking, and running, and overall it's going well. Even when I have to wake up at 5 am and take a headlamp to fit it in.


That's my beautiful bike in the back of the car... it's nice to have somewhere to stash it during the running portion of the workout.


Why do I do this to myself? Sign up for a race, then realize far too late that I should have been training all along?

Ah well, next time ;)

Renee Tote aka best work bag/lunch box everrrr

So six pack bags are a pretty big name in the lunch bag/meal management field, and I've coveted them for a while. My only problem was the size (and the cost, of course, but I always seem to find a way to justify fitness equipment). Most of those bags are huge, and adding that load on top of a gym bag, purse, and massive planner was just something I couldn't bring myself to do.

I tried other lunch bags and enjoyed them, but when I saw a friend on facebook with the Renee Tote, it was love at first sight.

As an anniversary present, my wonderful husband got me the tote in black. Part work bag, part gym bag, and part cooler, I now only carry one bag to work each day (can you say miracle?).

I seriously love this thing. It has plenty of room for the 2 meals I eat at work most days. It comes with 4 of the tupperware containers (and I found the glass ones that also fit at Walmart.. perfection) and 3 gel freezer packs that slide in there and keep things cold ALL DAY LONG. It's seriously amazing.




The outside has lots of little pockets, making it easy to organize all my things, and the inside pocket is just big enough for that planner (or a laptop), gym clothes, and whatever other random things I need to throw in there.

The bag does get a little heavy, but when you consider everything that's in there, I don't see any way around it (and I really don't mind it at all).

Overall? It's true love, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who works and tries to eat healthy/meal prep.

We went to Hawaii last month!

Because I'm completely spoiled and because we love to travel... and because I've always wanted to visit Hawaii, we went on a much-needed vacation last month!

We spent the first few days on Oahu, doing tourist-y things like visiting the PCC, checking out the temple and BYU-Hawaii, touring Pearl Harbor, and snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.

We ate at shrimp trucks, soaked up the sun, and generally loved being there :)

We spent the rest of the trip on Kauai and LOVED it!!! So gorgeous, so fun, so much to do and see! We stayed at these fun condos on the North part of the island (right on a cliff on the ocean!) and had a blast seeing the sights, swimming in Queen's Bath, diving in the lava tubes at Tunnels Beach, hiking and sailing the Na Pali coast, eating delicious food, and generally enjoying ourselves.

Best trip ever :)

Whole30: We are quitters

So. Our Whole30 is over. After 2 weeks of loving it, and even surviving our anniversary, we just ran into too many obstacles.

The vacation to St. George happened, then my family came into town. We were sitting at a family reunion and realized we would only be able to eat the lettuce and carrots. We attempted to stick to it… but while we sat there, missing out on all the delicious food (and the socializing that comes with it), we decided that it just wasn’t working for us at this time.

We will probably try again in January, and we’re definitely keeping up with a lot of our good, Whole30 habits! I feel like I’ve learned a lot and broken some bad habits. Overall, it’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience, but I am glad it’s over, because I’m having a delicious, happy week with my family :)

give or take :)