Those were the best days of my life...

The Summer of ’93….someone should write a song about it. It was, hands down, the best summer of my life. If I could go back in time to ANY time, that would be it. It was the summer after my first year in college. I was back home in New Jersey for June, July and August.

I spent the days babysitting and the nights working at my dad’s ice cream shop. After work, I would go over to my best friend Ann’s house and we would play volleyball or swim until 3 in the morning. I ate lots of hoagies, cheese steaks, pizza and of course, ice cream. I wasn’t too concerned with my weight in those days. And we watched the Phillies. Every day, every game. We’d sit on the couch and yell at the TV, we’d score the game in our score book. Ann had season tickets to Sunday games and we’d go hang out at the Vet in 100 degree heat, with 90 percent humidity. It was usually 115 on the field…and we loved every minutes of it.

Each one of us had our favorite player…mine was Curt Schilling, Ann’s was Lenny Dykstra, Caroline loved Mickey Morandini, Mike’s favorite was Dave Hollins. I can't remember who Raine's favorite was...Kim Batiste maybe? Pete Incavilgia and Milt Thompson lived in our town and we’d see them at the Friendlies Restaruant with their families. They were our guys….they were our team.

They drove us wild that summer. Playing an extra inning game that went until 3 in the morning, only to have an afternoon game the next day. My Pop-Pop was still alive at the time and I remember he would stay up and watch the game or listen on the radio when he was in bed.

The city of Philadelphia and the surrounding areas were alive with the love of the Phillies. We had hopes of greatness and yet didn’t really believe it would happen…we had spent our entire lives being disappointed. This team was different…they seemed to be a bunch of regular guys, who loved playing the game and loved playing the game together. They genuinely liked each other and looked like they were having the time of their lives. That’s probably why we were having the time of our lives too.

Sept came and I headed back to college in Boulder, Colorado. No one cared about the Philadelphia Phillies, except me. That year, the Phils made it to the playoffs. I watched all the games by myself. My roommates always found something else to do. I would cheer and yell at the TV in my apartment, just like I had all summer long, only now I was alone.

I remember the final game of the 93 World Series. It had been a particularly nerve-wracking series. Mitch Williams had been even more unpredictable during those games than he had been during the regular season and I wondered if he would be able to pull it together. I remember it was the last inning, we were up by one run. When Jim Fregosi called Mitch out of the bullpen, I called Ann and we were both like, “oh no”. That’s all we said and we hung up. Then it happened. The homerun that ended it all…as soon as it cleared the fence, I turned off the TV and went to bed. I couldn’t believe it.

It signaled the end of the summer and it was heartbreaking. Its 15 years later, I'm living in the state of Washington and when I watch the Phillies play, I watch alone again. My husband has no interest, my pets don’t understand why I am yelling when I watch the games. Every inning, every pitch, makes me homesick. You can go back to a place, but you can’t go back to a time….oh how I wish I could go back to that time. Maybe this year, they’ll go all the way…they’ll pick up where the boys of ’93 left off. I’d like to relive those days, for just a few minutes – 3000 miles away from home and all alone.

Two Words

WORLD SERIES!

Grand Opening

Yesterday was our Grand Opening. We've been open since August 25th and this was our big kick off event. We had the twins from the Biggest Loser - Bill and Jim Germanakos as our guests. I can't tell you how great these guys are. Nice. Honest. Knowledgable. Funny. Everything we had hoped for and more. They could not have been better guests. We enjoyed every minute of their time with us.

We really had no expectations for the day. We did quite a bit of marketing and promotion for the event and figured this would be a great benchmark. This was an excellent opportunity to get a feel for what works and what doesn't work. We had a decent turnout of folks to see the guys and join in the events. Just about every person who came into the store bought something. We believe we have made some great new customers.

I am really just relieved that the event is over. We can now get on with the business of doing business. We are working on our community outreach - getting out in the community - going to the gyms, schools and businesses and really just building relationships. We have found that is where our best customers come from - the face to face contact.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Chamber of Commerce came out to do an official ribbon cutting - kind of fun. You can see it was a super sunny day. It started out cold and ended up really cold - but in the middle, it was perfect weather.

Here we are with the guys - behind us you can see their pictures - we are standing right in front of their before pictures - which were shocking.
Bill is doing the talking - Jim is listening. They put on two - hour long presentations that were very entertaining. We used an empty unit next to our store that is still in construction.
Here is our crew. We had great help for the event. Here's who they are (left to right): Our manager Casey and his wife Stephanie. Chris. Ty (Trevor's brother), me, Trevor, Rhiannon. We couldn't have done it without them....thanks guys. We are so fortunate to have you as part of our business.
One more picture of us and the guys. We love these guys.

We took a lot away from this event. Lots of good things to carry forward and as always, things we would have done differently. Every day is a learning opportunity and the only way to be successful is to take good notes and be sure make use of every experience.

Where has the time gone?

The last few weeks have really gotten away from me. Things have been busy - which is good. This last week my body finally decided it has had enough and I caught the cold that is going around. It really knocked me out for a few days - I am just about over it. I have taken all kinds of vitamins and supplements to battle this cold so it won't turn into a sinus infection. Between the mega doses of vitamin A, zinc lozenges and extra glutamine and green supplements - my body's defense should be heavily fueled. I took the week off from working out too - which is unheard of. I wasn't able to stay home sick this week due to many things going on at work.

Here is something exciting that happened this week....compare the two pictures below and see if you can find that difference. First picture is today - second picture is from two weeks ago.


That's right - I got my braces off. After a few visits to the dentist to have some bonding work done, they are as perfect as they are going to be. I had braces before, but I don't think my teeth were ever this straight. That has been my excitement for the week.

The second picture was taken for my profile in a magazine. I was asked to have a column in Make You Happen - a local magazine focused on health and fitness. I wrote my first article about a month ago and they just asked me to submit my article for the next publication. It publishes every other month. I'm the nutrition expert! Who knew?

Next Saturday is our grand opening. The planning is done, we just need to execute all of our plans - Bill and Jim - the Biggest Loser guys have been so great and I cannot wait to have them here. I will post a recap of the event next weekend, after we recover a bit. Until then...

Who did this to you?

If you came into the store this weekend, here is what you would have seen....

Trevor came home from his grappling class on Saturday morning with a big ol' shiner. He told me he didn't know how it happened and that everyone was trying to take credit for it. There is something kind of sick about that. I don't know if Josh was at class on Sat, but I am blaming him for this....Trevor was working out with Josh when he broke his leg a few years back...so he's on my list already. I don't know what our customers think when they come in and are greeting by a 6 foot 4 guy, who's clothes are way too big, with a big black eye. Do they think "wow....I want to be just like him!" or do they look at me and think "man, she's beating the crap out of him".

Normally Trevor is covered in bruises, they just aren't on his face, so I can forget about them. For the next week or so, every time I look at him I'll be reminded of what he is...a fighter. I don't know how it happened, but that is what he is.

The truth is that he is a fighter in every aspect of his life. When he decides on something, he focuses on it and fights tooth and nail to achieve, complete or reach it. He doesn't give up and he doesn't give in. Its pretty amazing to watch. The calm, cool determination he has it so opposite of me, I guess that's why we are such a good match. Over the years, I have learned from him - not the calm, cool part, but the determination part. I've obtained some of his fight...I'm just a little more spastic and stressed about it. I'm convinced that's what he loves about me...

Pressure

I have been feeling it lately - pressure. Our Grand Opening event for the store is in 4 weeks and for some reason, that thought makes me panic. These last few months have been so busy. This last week, I have kind of hit a wall - I've had a headache all week long and just feel like I have no direction. I wake in the morning and don't know what to do. I am lacking focus. Now is not the time for that.
We have secured our guests for the Grand Opening. These guys:

Bill and Jim Germanakos - winners of NBC's The Biggest Loser. These guys are awesome. They are super nice and passionate about their health and fitness. I am so excited to have these guys here. We are planning a big event for October 11th that will include an all day meet and greet, autograph signings and a mid-day seminar. We also have a free yoga class scheduled that day, food, samples, raffles. There will be a lot going on and that means there is a lot of planning to be done. Then, of course, the excecution of it all. I believe we have a staffing issue - as in, we have no staff other than ourselves - finding more help for that day is currently a priority. I have spent quite a bit of time the last few weeks working on this event.

This coming week we'll have flyers/posters created and printed to be distributed. We'll be updating our website. Newspaper ads will start in two weeks - radio ads start in two and a half weeks - I go in on Tuesday to record those. We need to order products, decide on in store deals. We will be donating a portion of our proceeds to the Humane Society where we met Daisy. Did I tell you that I have had a headache all week long?

To make things even more exciting - the weekend after our grand opening, we are sponsoring an all women's half marathon here in Vancouver. We are having shirts made up for that and I am super excited about that. I have had the opportunity to be creative and come up with some fun designs. Hopefully others will like them too and pay us for them! Otherwise, I won't have to buy another shirt for the rest of my life.

So there is a lot going on. Add to that the drama at work - which includes an absentee co-worker and a buyout offer situation that won't be resolved until Mid-October.

I am also feeling a bit let down know that our triathlon season is over...what do I do now....what do I train for? I am working on an off season training plan and a race calendar for next year. We looked forward to the half marathon in China for so long, then right after that decided on the triathlon, so we have had something to look forward to for about a year now. I need to get the next thing on the calendar. I'm sure it will be something crazy - our lives are not boring any more!

Is who you think you are.....

Who you want to be? That's a line from a Bon Jovi song and today the answer for me is Yes. That makes today a great day. Today we did another triathlon - only our second. This one was better than the first. It was still one of the hardest things I've ever done, just not THE hardest thing. I was not so afraid this time around.


We took on an extra challenge and sponsored this event. We got there early and set up our booth. Our manager Casey came down to "man" the booth while we completed the event. He got to see first hand just how crazy we really are. He also took pictures and did a damn fine job.



This event was small and cozy - much more informal than the Blue Lake Triathlon. For me, this really made a difference. The day was supposed to be sunny and warm - the sun didn't come out until about noon and we had been done for close to an hour by then. It was pretty chilly in the morning -the water was warmer than the air. That was a nice surprise.


We started the swim and for the first few minutes, I did panic. This time, I had a plan. I had a pattern of strokes I would follow. That kept me focused on counting and left me unable to really worry too much. I actually passed a few people on the swim and I swam the entire way. I didn't have to back stroke, no swimming to shore to stand up, no side stroke and no treading water. I did a mix of crawl and breast stroke. Mostly crawl. I was amazed at how much my swimming has improved in the just a month. I took about three minutes off my swim time from the last triathlon.


No, I'm not walking, even though it kind of looks like it - I am doing a little breast stroke.


The transition to the bike was much smoother as well. I didn't feel like the swim was a near death experience like last time. I also came out of the water proud of myself...last time I really beat myself up with negativity for the entire swim. Mental state makes a huge difference. I hopped on the bike and off I went. This triathlon was right by our house, so I know the roads. I knew there would be two big hills out and two big hills back....I wasn't prepared for the 10 big hills in between. It seemed like every time we went up hill, there was a downhill....followed shortly by another up hill. I said a curse word at the top of every hill. Lots of cursing going on today! I had wanted to finish the entire event in 1:45 - which meant that I needed to be running by 1:15....at 1:10 - I knew there was NO WAY I would be making my time goal. This course was so different than Blue Lake - Blue Lake is super flat - no hills. When I finished up the bike, I heard another participant say to their family - "that was the hilliest, hardest bike ride I've ever been on"....good....its not just me.

I think the guy behind Trevor was timing his transition....


I started the run and I felt like I was having an outer body experience. I felt really spaced out. The run was on the Salmon Creek path - Trevor and I have run this path hundreds of times and I know it in my sleep - that made the distance go much faster. At about mile 1, I saw Trevor headed back - he looked good and strong and we briefly commented on the hills. I knew he felt the same way that I felt!


I finally decided that I wanted to finish before the 2:05 mark - I really picked up the pace the last mile and finished right at 2:04. yay me. I felt so proud of myself today - it was a hard day and I am certainly exhuasted, but I did it. Again. And I did it better than the last time. I could have just said, "that was way too hard - not doing that again". Instead I said, "that was way too hard - what can I do to be better prepared next time around". I swam more. I really worked on feeling comfortable in the water. I had a plan for the swim and stuck to it. I ran and biked many mornings when I did not want to get out of bed. These last few weeks have been really stressful and busy and I made the workouts a priority. yay me, right?!


Trevor finished in 1:47 - yay Trevor.


After we finished we went to our booth and sampled some recovery drink to the many others who had completed the event. We talked to a lot of people and it was really fun. Sponsoring this event was a good fit. They started giving out awards....they got to the men's 30 -34 age group and Trevor was 3rd, only 2 minutes behind the winner. Then they got to the women's 30-34 age group and I came in 1st?!! There were no prizes for 2nd and 3rd, because I was the only one in the age group. Does that matter? I think not.

We are done with the triathlons for this year. We plan to continue the craziness next season - we plan to do a sprint triathlon in June and then an Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) in August. The next few months, I'll be able to mix in some fun workouts - my step videos, boot camp, kick boxing. I will be swimming a few days a week all winter long and then at the beginning of the year, I'll start working on the triathlon specific training schedule. I love that we have found this new event. I spoke with a woman at our booth who was a seasoned triathlete. She was talking about how she used to be a runner and said "all runners eventually become trathletes". I guess now that's true for me and Trevor.

Trevor said this to me "Now we aren't only triathletes, we are award winning triathletes". Find the right race....and you can be award winning too!!