Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Daines: meet blog world

Hi world o' bogging! I've got several reasons for my unpredicted entrance. I have been reading several blogs for a while now and there are a few that I love. They share their life experiences and as a result of their generosity I have gained helpful insight on life, learned new workouts, and tried some awesome recipes. They have an online network and seem to really enjoy it. Some of my recent life changes seem to be pointing me in this direction lately.

I just graduated from the University of Central Florida and started an engineering job with a dredging company. It requires me to maintain a rigorous travel schedule which makes contact with friends, new and old more difficult. Here all my old friends and family can keep up with my shenanigans and they can keep me updated on theirs. It also presents the opportunity to meet folks with similar interests in my various travel destinations.

My current work destination is San Diego, and it totally rocks! My apartment is on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. No, that was not a typo. My place rocks.


The Pacific, btw, is quite chilly compared to the Atlantic. And breeds surfer and big sharks. Makes me stray from open water swimming here. Sad face. But the sunsets are awesome!

 
One of my favorite activities is running on the beach. As far as triathlons go, I rock the swim. Which is awesome since I'm a self-taught swimmer. On the other hand it is a little sad since I didn't ever do competitive swimming in high school or college outside of triathlons. Didn't realize there was talent there. Oops! Once I get to the bike I can usually hold my own. Mind you, I don't do an crazy big long or highly competitive triathlons. Just local sprint distances (though I do have a goal of doing an Ironman someday, not too soon, but not too far either!). Anyway, women in my age group rarely pass me on the bike and since I usually come out of the water in a good position, I generally start the run in a good position. Funny how that math works out. Then I reach my downfall. The walk *ahem* run. I have struggled with running. A lot. Generally at least half of the race field passes me on the run. Usually more. Yes, really.
 
It has been a recent focus of mine to improve my run. I didn't do any tris this season in light of finishing my thesis, graduating, moving, starting a new job, international travel, excuses, excuses, etc. This, however, gives me a great opportunity to focus on my run. Its been getting better, but due to a lack of consistency I've been on a bit of a plateau. The beach that just so happens to be right below my apartments makes the prospect of a run more enjoyable. Its beautiful so I try to distract myself with that instead of how much I am not enjoying the physical activity my body is engaged in. It has been working. At first my runs on the beach were much slower than my usual, which was to be expected due to time off and the increased difficulty in the sand. I have been getting faster on the sand though and my distances have been improving. And I always include the massive staircase up to my apartment complex in my runs.
 
 
This usually puts me near death (its 120+ steps), but the multiple other people running staircases keeps me motivated. As do the crazy numbers of other active people. If I am dragging on my way home from work I can usually find inspiration from the oogles of runners and cyclists I see on my way home from work. The running and biking communities here are crazy compared to what I am used to back home in FL. Pretty sad I don't have my bike in CA, but I wouldn't have much time for it given the shorter daylight hours (darn you daylight savings!! Nov 4th FYI) and working weekends. All the more excuse to work on my running. My goal for my next work rotation is to start following a training schedule again. Which means I should make one of those. Add that to the list. I also need to pick a race to shoot for, because I am very goal oriented and this will help my cause!
 
Other goals for the day:
 
1. Buy book for plane and spend more time considering a Kindle for Christmas.
2. Buy some wedding decorating supplies. Eep!
3. Work on creating wedding decorations with said supplies.
4. Make big lasagna for dinner so The Engineer and I can eat tonight (necessary for life!) and so he can have yummy left overs for work.
 
 
Off to errands.