Airport Extravaganza

Oh. My. God.

Talk about an interesting day (I know, two in a row!). So Kati missed her flight this morning, so she was a little delayed. I went to go pick her up at 6pm today and ended up circling the airport for almost 2 hours. Literally circling. Because I had the dog with me (as a surprise) and couldn't park and go in. I got sick of doing left hand turns and ended up trying to find ways to do figure eights just so I could squeeze a few right turns in. Dad had left earlier today and so he left the van in the parking garage. We get all the way up to the top (I swear to God the dog was about to barf) only to find that he accidentally left the lights on and the battery was dead. I called airport security who said it would be another half an hour before we would get someone to jump the car. Half an hour in airport time actually equals 45 minutes. So I didn't eat dinner until 9:30ish (and we KNOW how I get when I'm hungry). I'm going to bed. Now. I'm sure this will be funny tomorrow, but right now I'm just plain cranky.

Crash!

What a day!

I was on my way to the gym at lunch today when I witnessed a pretty serious car accident. I've never actually seen a car accident happen, and let me tell you, it was pretty shocking. On Friday my friends and I had been driving to lunch and talking about this intersection near work that is particularly nasty - known for "t-bone" accidents because it's right near a freeway overpass and offramp and where you don't expect a light. Anyways, I was in the right left turn lane and there was a lady in the left left turn lane. The light turned green and for some reason our conversation popped into my head and I hesitated. Just long enough to see a guy coming over the overpass. I had started to go and realized he wasn't stopping, so I hit the brakes. He crashed into the lady in the left left turn lane (who was about half way through the intersection) and spun her around into a postal truck. First thoughts through my head - "Oh shit." I parked my car and jumped out to help the lady in the first car. She was in a Mustang that no longer had any wheels and the stuff that was in it was now scattered all over the road. (Adam, you'll be proud of this one...) I told her my name, that I was first aid trained and asked if I could help. She said yes and was complaining that her chest and shoulder hurt. I kept her calm and in the car until the paramedics made it to the scene. To make matters worse the guy in the car that ran the light gets out and says "Did I run the light?" Um... YEAH! I would say he was doing between 50-60 when he hit her and there were no skid marks - he didn't even try to stop! Anyway, everyone seemed ok and the lady was very appreciative that I was there to help her. Now I know I can handle emergency situations! To think that had I not hesitated that extra few seconds I would have been the one he hit... there definitely was a little angel on my shoulder today!!!

As if that wasn't enough, on the way to the gym dad and I pulled up to a red light to make a left turn. Our light turned green and as dad got ready to go some guy blows through the red light. How weird... two in one day! My little angel is working over time!

In other, less dramatic news, my sister is coming tomorrow! I'm so excited!!!!

Products I Could Potentially Love - Blistex Spa

So Eva got me going on the Blistex Spa. The only issue is that I purchased my first pack today and there are "three unique formulas" in each package and my lips haven't been quite dry enough to test them all.

These are three different kinds of chapstick designed to pamper your lips. The first is "uplifting" (that's the yellow one). It smells sort of citrusy. The second is "renewing" which smells like watermelon (green tube). The last is "relaxing" which smells like tea (blue tube). I tried the renewing one and I love it (haven't had to put it back on, so I think it really works!).

Here's Eva's review:
Blistex Spa Effects Lip Balms. Make sure you get the bonus pack at Target. It has the three flavors PLUS a limited edition one. http://www.blistex.com/Spa%20Effects.htm

In other news, the trip to Portland went well. It was rainy/cloudy the whole time and I was told that's the norm. Not sure if I could live like that! The nice thing was that we had an Oregon native with us who gave us the grand tour. In fact, she made sure to make it interesting for me - "Anna, that building is where the Trailblazers play". Definitely caught my attention!

Brigitte, Alyse and I saw "The Break Up" tonight. It was a really cute movie! Vince Vaughn can do no wrong. I thought the ending was a little weak, but I'll save that for my review. :)

I'm out!

RPS in the House!

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you the latest in sports crazes. It's an exciting sport to watch as well as play. Children everywhere are learning it. I present to you, the fascinating sport of

Rock, Paper, Scissors.

What? You ask. That's a sport? Yes, it is. Eva turned me on to it this evening. You see, A&E was broadcasting the RPS (that's what true rock, paper, scissors enthusiasts call it) Championship. It was hosted in Vegas (of course) and the winner got $50,000! At first I thought it was totally fake, but this is a real thing! They got down to the final two and the last guy won by "throwing" paper a bunch of times in a row. On the final "throw" the announcer said this (I'm seriously not making this up): "That was the paper heard 'round the world".

To top it all off, they have a website! I thought this was going to be the big fake out, but it's real too! They have the rules, the history, the symbols and even the RPS girls! It's too funny - I can't even write about it... check out the site for yourself... www.usarps.com

I'm out.

Day In The Zone

What an amazing day! Today Brigitte, Amber, Kristine, Kelly, Michelle, Lord and I went to Day In The Zone. Yes, for those of you reading my away message, I understand how that could be confusing. Which zone was I in, you ask? Well, allow me to clarify. The Zone is a radio station in the greater Sacramento area that plays pop/alternative kind of music. Similar to the "Star" radio stations that are in almost every city across America. Anywho, Day In The Zone is the radio station's annual concert in the park. For a mere $18 bucks you get a wonderful 6 hours of music. I hadn't been before, but heard it was pretty cool. Here's the lineup for this year:

• Seventh Standard (local band that won the Battle of the Bands at the Powerhouse Pub this year)
• Narwhal (a band that's on the Maloof music label - they were actually pretty good)
• Marty Casey and the Lovehammers
• Ringside featuring Brian Bell from Weezer
• Scott Stapp (former lead singer of Creed)
• Switchfoot
• INXS

So the opening acts were pretty good... they were much better than I expected them to be. Narwhal actually caught my attention - the Kings Dance Team and team owner Gavin Maloof came out on stage to introduce them (I'm still a little mad at him for firing our head coach, but I guess some day I'll have to get over that).

After Narwhal came Marty Casey and the Lovehammers. I'm not sure how many of you watched the TV show, Rockstar INXS, but Marty was the runner up. He wrote that awesome song called "Trees" (download it if you don't have it!). He came out with his new band and was absolutely amazing. He even climbed up the scaffolding on the side of the stage and sang from the very top!He put on an awesome, very energetic show! Some time after the performance, Brig and I went over to see if we could get his autograph. Alas, he was leaving but I did get a couple cool candid shots.
After that came Ringside who was awesome. I only really know one of their songs, but they were great performers!

Next came Scott Stapp. He put on a fantastic performance and has that really cool voice that I love. He's one of those people who in concert sounds exactly like they do on their CD. He played a lot of Creed songs and also some music off his new album. Now if only he could make that nasty video tape go away...
After Scott came Switchfoot. They played all their great songs. At this point we were starting to get more than a little hot.

Finally, INXS came out. Now, JD Fortune is their new lead singer, and for those of you who don't know, he won the position on the TV show Rockstar INXS. Let me tell you, the boy can perform. He did dirty things to the microphone stand and every girl their loved it. Besides that, he can shake the junk in his trunk. And he's not bad to look at. A deadly combination. What is it about the bad-boy-rocker type that all of us girls like? Seriously, their show was amazing. They played a lot of the old INXS stuff (as well as the new) and I think I actually like JD better than their previous lead singer. Needless to say, I have a little crush on a certain singer who apparently performed with a dislocated knee cap... you couldn't tell from the way he bounced around the stage, but the DJs said his knee cap was definitely not where it should be... that's a true performer! To make things even better, he and his backup singers did this beautiful version of "Amazing Grace" (a song close to my heart), a capella. Woot!
Here's me and the girls:


Here's JD Fortune doing his thing:

I have TONS of pictures from today - email me if you want to see more!

So after 6 hours in the sun, I have a funky burn on my legs from God knows what since I put sunscreen on every five minutes (mom, insert I told you so here). But it was worth it to see JD shake his booty!

On that happy note, I'm off to put some aloe on and go to bed!

Wild and Crazy Week!

Well, it's been a fun packed few days! Came home from the tri on Monday, went to a Rivercats game on Tuesday with work, and flew to Newark and back today. Fun stuff. I'm exhausted and looking forward to a nice relaxing day tomorrow. I have some errands to run (oops - car is a little over due on the oil change) but I plan on there being at least one nap and a whole lot of reading.

Oh, did I mention that I went with Kristen to get a tattoo on Wednesday? Let me clarify - no tattoo for me - nothing I can think of that I want to stick for that long. I was there for moral support and to take pictures. Hers is really cool because it was designed for her and has special meaning. Here's a pic:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the color is amazing... he did a very good job shading and blending the colors - it was like watching an artist at work!

Other than that, nothing too exciting going on in my life... finally some down time!

I Did It!

Drum roll please... ladies and gentlemen, I completed my first triathlon! I can't believe what an amazing, inspiring weekend this was!

We got to LA around 9pm on Friday night. Checked into the hotel, watched some TV, went to bed. On Saturday we woke up and went to the expo. This is where you check in, get your bib number (and race number - 506 for me!) and get a bunch of free goodies. Here's Kristen and I at the Expo:


The night before the race (Saturday night) we had to prep. The first big thing was to write our numbers in sharpie on our arms and legs. This was so that the photographers and people running the race knew who we were at all times. We also had to put on special ankle chips that were the timing devices used during the race. You would run or bike across these big carpets that have sensors in them and read your chip. Here's my ankle chip:

The morning of the race we got up at 4:30am, ate some cereal and got dressed. We left the hotel at 4:45am and headed over to the course. Here's Kristen and I upon arrival at the park:The transition area (that's the place where you keep you bike, towel, shoes, etc) opened at 5am and you want to be there right away to get a good spot. I had prime real estate - right on the end! Here's a picture of Kristen and I in the transition area before the race:
My final time was 01:57:38. Pretty darn good for a first timer! Here's how the splits broke down:
Swim: 00:17:06 (59 out of 619!!!)
Swim to Bike Transition: 00:03:38
Bike: 01:03:38 (396 out of 619)
Bike to Run Transition: 00:01:13
Run: 00:32:02 (216 out of 619)

The race itself was a lot of fun. They sent the groups off in waves (mine had purple swim caps) and before your swim wave went, they had you stand about waist deep in the water. Sally Edwards, a woman who has not only competed in the Masters Ironman (2 mile swim, 120 mile bike, marathon run), but held the record in it, waded out in front of us an pumped us up. It was really inspiring to have her tell us little tricks that help her race. And then, they counted down and off we went. The first hundred yards or so of the swim were absolutely terrifying for me. I'm not an open water swimmer, so this was VERY new to me. It was completely disorienting - when I looked down it was nothing but green, when I looked up it was hard to sight the buoy and I was surrounded by women who had no issue kicking or swimming over me. Once I got into my rhythm and stopped freaking out, I was fine. I am so proud of that swim... my time put me 59th out of the 619 competitors! As the swim ended, we had to run back to the transition area - which meant up a sandy beach and then a concrete hill. The whole way there were crowds of people cheering - they don't know your name, but they call out your number to keep encouraging you. It was awesome! I dried my feet, put on my shoes, socks, helmet and sunglasses and hopped on my bike. You sort of had to run it out of the transition area because they wouldn't let you ride so that you didn't run the other people in the area over. The ride was gorgeous - two laps around the lake. I was really nervous about the bike part - since my accident I've been worried about speed. I feel like I was pretty cautious the first time around the loop and then once I hit the second time I just went with it. I had to talk myself (literally) through some of the tough spots, but again, there were people cheering everywhere. I saw a pretty bad crash - it looked like two girls hit each other and there were fire trucks there, but all I saw was some skinned up knees. At the end of the bike circuit you have to jump off your bike and jog it back into the transition area. Those first few steps were scary. After an hour of hard peddling, your legs literally feel like noodles when you try to walk. I actually thought I was going to fall and take my bike with me. I dumped the bike and helmet, took a sip of water and headed out for the run. My legs still felt like jello and it was really hard for me to find my running rhythm, especially my breathing. There were a few very challenging hills and I never saw the 2 mile marker, which made those last 2 miles feel like forever. The coolest part was the water stops - it's just like you see on TV! I ran by and grabbed my cup of water, took a sip and dumped the rest over my head to cool myself off. Then you get to just toss it to the side of the path. It was awesome! Finally, the end was near. I knew because I could hear music. The finish line was in the middle of the park - you had to run through a long corridor to get there. They had set up these huge speakers and had music blasting. As I made the turn into the corridor I suddenly got all misty eyed. Those of you who know me well know that I'm not really a crier... but this was just really overwhelming. It hit me that not only was I nearing the end of my first triathlon, but I had achieved the goals I set for myself - to finish, not to walk on the run, to really try not to be scared on the bike... the icing on the cake was that as I crossed the finish line, they said:

"From Roseville, California, Miss Anna Smithson!"

It was the coolest thing ever - there were people all over the place cheering - the cool thing about this race is that everyone just wants everyone else to do it - so they all cheer. They simultaneously cut off my chip, put a medal around my neck, handed me a bottle of water and wooshed me away from the finish line. I couldn't help but cry - the whole thing was so overwhelming!
Here's Kristen and I after the race:

Note the awesome medals around our necks - they look a lot like the Olympic medals and say the distances we competed (.75k swim, 20k bike, 5k run). On the back they say "The woman who starts the race is not the same woman that finishes the race".
I saw so many things that were really, genuinely inspiring during this race. Girls getting off their bikes to help other ones with flat tires or messed up chains, women encouraging other women to keep going during the race, and (this one really hit me) a woman with a prosthetic leg on the run portion of the race. There were women from 14 all the way up into their 60s that completed this course. There was a whole wave of survivors - women who have beat or are fighting breast cancer. Talk about inspiration! AND, to make things even better, Sally Edwards finds that last person and bikes and runs with them. She makes sure that she is the last person to cross the finish line, to prove that for some, it's not about the time, but just finishing! It was absolutely amazing!!!

I have way more pictures - if you want to see them, send me an email!

Tri Time

Holy cow, I'm doing a freaking triathlon in 2 days!!!! That's right, ladies and gents, it's tri time! I can't believe it's finally here! We leave tomorrow around 2pm for LA... so this is going to be my last blog until after the race. I'll be back sometime on Monday! Wish me luck! I need all the happy thoughts I can get! The race is on Sunday at 6am - I know you'll all be sleeping then, but send some good thoughts my way!