Friday, August 7, 2009

December 2008

TINSEL TRIATHLON - 1st Overall!

Kylie and I raced the Tinsel Triathlon in Hemet, CA for the first time. We knew a lot of people at this race as there was a good showing from Inland Inferno and we were volunteering with the Exceeding Expectations group. It was a VERY cold morning, we actually had to scrape frost off of the car window before we started to drive. Once at the race site we registered, set up our transition area and then helped to get the kids ready to race (pumping bike tires, making sure they all had numbers and got them set up in transition).

The Tinsel Tri is a reverse order sprint triathlon that has been going on for many years. This was by far its biggest turn out ever with over a 1000 people in the tri and accompanying 5km race! I found it tough to get going initially in the cold and was a ways back after a mile, but I slowly closed the gap to the front and passed a number of people by the end of the 5km. I had a quick transition and on the bike I quickly caught a couple of runners that were just ahead, in another mile or so we passed the guy who had led the run so it was just three of us. The bike is about 12 miles long and is very flat and fast. None of us was able to get away by the end of the bike so we entered transition together. They were in trisuits so just got off their bikes and ran to the pool, I had worn a long sleep cycling jersey that I needed to get off but the zipper broke and it took me a while to get it off. I figured I had lost the race right there but ran to the pool, and jumped in. On the second length I caught one of the guys and realized as I made the final turn that I could catch the first guy as well. I pushed the final 50 meters hard to pass him and get out of the pool and to the line in first place!

Kylie also had a great race and finished first in her age group!


As I mentioned in the November 2008 post, I finally found office space! Here is the picture of the space right after I signed the lease. After all the difficulty finding a space I really lucked out with this one. Its downtown, has 6 of its own parking spots and the build out was done by the previous tenants. I spent a lot of time in December shopping around for deals on furniture, equipment and supplies to get ready for the opening.

We had a huge December snowstorm and decided to take a drive into the mountains to check it out. We drove up to Angeles Oaks and hiked some fire roads which were closed due to almost 2 feet of snow! Gracie LOVED it!

We spent Christmas this year in the Bay area with Kylies family. We enjoyed a number of runs and hikes in the trails of China Camp State Park. Kylies mom and Dennis have a trail that leads from their backyard and connects to this park which is awesome. Picture is of Gracie enjoying the smells, the trails and the views over the bay during one of our walks.

After another awesome Christmas morning run in the State Park we came back to enjoy Christmas with family and opened presents. Rope toys are Gracie's favorite, so she was very happy to receive a new one ;-)

2 comments:

Kylie said...

Wasn't that like, months ago? I want more updates! Teehee -- just get out a paragraph per month and then keep up with your demanding fans.

Michael S. Donia, D.C. said...

That is my plan. I will get this updated quickly so you are not waiting in anticipation for long ;-)