San Diego - Places: Hotel, Gaslamp and Old Town

I enjoyed exploring San Diego, so many great things to do!
Here's a quick look--snorkeling and food pictures up next!

photos: hotel pool (Hyatt Regency Mission Bay), the marina, Gaslamp Quarter,
we climbed San Diego Convention Center stairs and later relaxed in the hotel lobby.

photos: Old Town San Diego, a garden outside the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Question for You:

- When on vacation with friends or family who takes the pictures?

San Diego & Active.com!

I was thrilled to visit Active.com during my first trip to San Diego! I've volunteered with active.com as a moderator in its tri community for 2.5 years. I remember reading Active Toby's first message asking me if I'd like to officially volunteer since I was already doing all the things expected of volunteers. Of course! I love active.com and working in the tri community is a perfect fit for me.


The visit was fun! I met Arch Fuston first. I arrived early and Arch was setting up for the morning ActiveX workout. I love trying new workouts and learning new exercises. And since I run my free weekly Village Bootcamp workout in the summer months I'm always looking for new ideas! ActiveX was well organized, fun, and efficient. With Arch and ActiveX Active's employees are in good hands, what an amazing workplace benefit! Thanks Miley for partnering with me! Thanks Arch and group for letting me participate.


After the workout and shower (amazing hotel-like locker facility) Active Toby and I had breakfast at a little cafe. His last name is Guillette, but I'll always call him Active Toby. We talked about running, Grizzlies, photography and other outdoor adventures. That weekend Toby was peaking for his Grand Canyon R2R2R. Read his race report here.


I also met with Liz Harrell, Michelle Valenti and Justin Ramers. I loved visiting with them and learning more about their stories and about active.com. Arch gave me an awesome new tri suit and a matching one for my triathlete husband along with some other goodies. I got really quiet when he continued taking out new items for me. Of course I lusted after it and wanted all of it, but was I being greedy? I hope not. You can see my happy face below modeling the tri suit. I was excited to test it that weekend during an openwater swim clinic with the GOTRIbal conference (not too many OWS opportunities in Wisconsin this time of year!). FYI we did not swim by that strange looking pipe in the water behind me, but a mile or so away in Bonita Cove.



Photos: Active Toby!, my new tri suit!, and by chance we bumped in Arch two days later at La Jolla Cove right after his OWS. **I had post-snorkeling crazy hair and am again wearing this green shirt as a top layer because it was COLD in San Diego.


Please read and like my first active.com article, "3 Easy Ways to Relax Your Run."


Questions for You:
- How do you like to volunteer?
- Where do you find new ideas?

GOTRIbal on TriCenter

video link

or see http://video.competitor.com/2010/11/triathlon/gotribal-conference-retreat

In mid-October, my friend Amy and I flew to San Diego for a fun-filled weekend doing so many of the things I love:
- exploring new cities and neighborhoods (Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, La Jolla, Old Town, Gaslamp and more.)
- trying new things (it was Amy's first-time snorkeling! Pictures to come.)
- wandering around, shopping, and enjoying the gift of weekend away.

I also met with my friends at active.com. I've volunteered with them for 2.5 years in the tri community. More info to come. And Amy and I attended GOTRIbal's annual conference & retreat at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay. The conference had 20 clinics to choose from - I attended:

- Amber England's "Sweat It Out" bootcamp
- welcome & breakfast (excellent food)
- Racing Weight: How to get lean for peak performance with Matt Fitzgerald
- Run clinic with Darcy Eaton, a GOTRIbal expert coach
- Run clinic with Paul Greer. Read my article based on Paul's clinic "3 Easy Ways to Relax Your Run" at active.com here.
- Lunch and athlete panel interview (again excellent food and an entertaining panel discussion among a variety of women).
- Getting the perfect bike fit with J.T. Lyons from Moment Cycle Sport
- Strength conditioning for a powerful and fast bike and run with Diana Lovejoy, a GOTRIbal expert coach
- Swim clinic presented by Xterra wetsuits, led by Tanya, GOTRIbal founder. Read her thoughts on the conference at http://www.gotribalnow.com/articles/gotribal-conference-and-reflection.

My friend Amy & I show up a few times in the above video from competitor.com.
Triathlete.com was the official media sponsor of GOTRIbal's event.

I'm excited to share more ideas, pictures and resources from the weekend.

GOTRIbal is offering a special training program starting later this month.
16 Week San Diego Olympic Distance Training Program (Includes 1 week recovery after race)
Olympic Distance- 1,500 meter swim/40km Bike/10K Run
Program Timeline: November 29 - First day of Program March 18 - Last day of Program
$79, or $67 for premium members

Prerequisites from Coach Darcy: This program is designed for the female athlete who has successfully completed a sprint triathlon. You are in good health, have been training at least 5 hours per week and can handle a beginning volume of 7 hours per week. You have between 7-10 hours per week to train. (Your longest week being 10 hours. ) I highly recommend you have one year of training

Questions for You:
- We got many suggestions from our hotel & friends on what and where to explore in San Diego. When you're in a new city, what resources do you use? What's the best place or experience you've discovered by accident?