i swam with dolphins!!!

i was going to write a new post and noticed that i never posted this entry!!! this was from 8/21/11:

dear darlings,

JUST last week i was talking to a friend about how i really want to swim with dolphins. for some reason i just really like dolphins. probably because they are so cute and get to swim around all day which i would love to do too.

this friday i went to Manresa beach with my family. i took a 1/2 day at work and by the time i got home and the family got rounded up, it was 4 before we got there. we noticed there was swarms of birds in the ocean and then some dolphins came swimming by! it was amazing. we counted 6 or 7. after awhile the birds flew away and the dolphins seemed to have swam away too. after some reluctance because it was so cold and late, shawn, cory, and i went boogie boarding. little did we know it was the BEST decision we could have made!

the water was perfect and we were getting some fun waves. after a little bit shawn spotted a seal next to me--which freaked me out. but, he left after awhile. then, we spotted dolphins again! they were SO close we could hear them breathing and squeeking! it was surreal. after awhile they swam away and we hurried back to shore where i just knew that the rest of our family would be amazed of what just happened. i thought they'd at least have taken a few pictures. but, nope, they didn't even notice! (fist shake) they are still skeptical our story actually is true. whatever. it was amaaaazing! dreams do come true.

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ahahahaha....such a great day. i just had to share. anyway, to go along with this never posted post that is now posted, i just have to say that when you take risks, like going into the ocean on a cold evening, amazing things can happen! like dolphins coming to swim with you!!

but seriously, when i look back on my life and think about the good things that have happened and the experiences i've had, i realize that most of them happened because i took a risk. a leap of faith. going on a mission. going to fashion school. running a marathon. being a personal trainer. and most recently, moving to san francisco. all of these things were somewhat terrifying to me at the time of making the decision, but because i took an educated and calculated risk, so many blessings have come from these things! i say 'educated and calculated risk' because i didn't just jump into these things blindly and quickly without thought. i thought about it, prayed about it, made a decision, felt good about it and did it! life would be too boring without risks! i probably would not have gone to europe! how sad. anyway. be brave. take risks to grow and experience more wonderful things! and because i can't make a post without pictures, here are some lovely finds from our beloved pinterest! the 2nd one is definitely my favorite.

the big kahuna

in June 2010 i did my very first triathlon. i trained with club sport and had SO much fun. i love to swim and love to run. and now i love to bike--despite all the flat tires i've had to deal with. at least i'm getting slightly better at changing them!

here's some practice pictures:

here's some pictures from my first triathlon. i made my brother and butters go with me because i was terrified. my first one was actually by myself-not with the team-because i won a raffle. it was a good experience and got me ready for the olympic distance tri with the team.

here's some from the tri with the team.

me and nina

priscilla! she is my best friend and always encouraging me to make the podium! love her.

priscilla's husband brian.

some of the team

okay, so i am feeling nostalgic, that's why i had to include all of this. :) it's also some background that built up to my weird addiction and desire to do a 1/2 iron man! after finishing training for this summer's olympic triathlon, a group from the club got together to train for the big kahuna. i definitely wanted to do it, but was nervous because i had already signed up for the alcatraz swim that was the day before...i also later decided to go to europe for 3 weeks in august--during the major part of training. i would get home 2 weeks before the event. despite these things, i decided to sign up! in fact i think i signed up for this race, another 1/2 marathon (a week after this event) and booked my trip to europe in the same week. i was in a spontaneous mood!

anyway, i trained as much as time would allow before europe. of course, while in europe i ate as much nutella, crepes, gelato, and pizza as possible and didn't workout once. well, besides walking 10 miles a day, but that doesn't count. i think it was actually worse because i made me calves super tight. a week before the race i went with several others to swim around the pier we would be swimming for the event. it was cold. so, so cold. there were so many sea lions. i was terrified and honestly doubted a little bit if i was way in over my head. as the swim went on, it got better. i warmed up and felt better which helped me mentally. and that is 1/2 the battle!

finally, the weekend came. first alcatraz. it was an awesome success! i was actually more nervous for that event than the 1/2 iron man. after swimming and surviving alcatraz, i honestly felt that i could do anything! i got as much rest as i could the rest of saturday knowing how long sunday would be! we woke up bright and early to drive to santa cruz (my parents and i). by the way, my parents are AWESOME. they were certainly sacrificing a lot by coming to these events with me. :) mostly sleep. i met with other team members when i arrived and started to get a little more excited. 

my wave finally started and i had a pretty good swim. i felt really good most of the bike ride until about three quarters of the way through, my body crashed. could have been the fact that the longest bike ride i'd ever done was 26 miles and this was 56 miles long. oops. i also missed out on the important nutrition part of training--figuring out what your body needs in terms of food and water during this kind of extended activity. i struggled the last part of the ride and could not believe i had to run 13.1 miles. my legs were shot. i felt so tired. i quickly realized that this run is going to be tough and that i needed to have a good attitude in order to get through it. like i said, it's half mental with these events. a negative attitude can bring you down. i started to cheer on other people on around me to help me be more positive. it worked! i felt like i was stumbling through this run but i finally made it to the last quarter mile. there was a lady right before that who was directing us to run onto the beach. she complimented me on how perky and energized i looked, but i was just SO excited it was almost over, i sped up! 

a quarter mile is so much longer after a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 12.85 run! seemed like the finish was so far away! i had to dodge beach-goers, frisby games (hilarious picture below), but saw my parents cheering me on and it kept me going. cheesy, yes i know, but its true. their support means so much to me and i was so grateful they were there. of course the very last part up to the finish line was UP HILL. on the SAND. torture! all i could think was, HOW RUDE! those race coordinators are cruel! haha...but i finally went through the finish, got my medal, water, and headed straight to the ocean hoping to make my aching legs feel better. it worked a little but they've never ached so bad! 

all in all, it was a great race. even with all the torture and pain, i look back and remember the great feelings i had for finishing it. the feeling of accomplishment. i also learned a lot. the main lesson? don't do a 1/2 iron man without training EVER again. ever. seriously. i won't do it. promise. it really was a great race and i plan to do one again when i have time to properly train for one. 

my dad documented a lot of the race (including some really cute sea lions) so here's some pictures!

trying to get our bodies used to the water before the race starts

here we go!

and coming back

running out of the water

off on the bike!

how my parents stayed entertained for that 3 hours!

i came riding in and my dad was eating a ginormous donut and quickly snapped some picutres of me passing by! haha

trying to be happy about this 1/2 marathon run!

this is the end of the race. navigating through the crowded beach.

almost getting hit by a frisbee. haha

"icing" my legs after the race

results! 6 hours and 8 minutes!

pizza time to celebrate! butters joined us. she was very polite.

the end!

i swam alcatraz...didn't get eaten by a shark!

thank goodness! i was legitimately nervous i'd getting eaten up by a shark! 

this year has been a year to knock a lot of things off my bucket list! it started with running boston. then europe. and then swimming alcatraz. my aquatics boss has been harassing me to swim this race for years. it seemed terrifying and freezing cold so i never did it! 

this year i began swimming the master's swim practices twice a week at club sport. sarah--the coach--convinced me to swim alcatraz with her. i signed up several months ago. it was kind of pricey too, so there was no backing out! so i wasn't planning on going to europe OR doing a 1/2 iron man (the very next day) when i signed up, but i felt pretty well trained regardless. it was a 1.2-1.5 mile swim depending on how straight you swim and if you let the current take you off course a little. the thing i was most terrified about was the cold. 

for this race, you ride a ferry to alcatraz and 3 at a time from both sides of the boat, you jump off and start swimming immediately! i for sure thought as soon as i jumped off my body would go into shock, i would have an anxiety attack, or who knows, maybe i shark would be waiting there to eat me! but mostly, i was nervous of the cold!

luckily the race was so early i was 1/2 asleep during the ferry ride making me less nervous. i also ended up on the same boat with a fellow master swimmer who had done it many times before so he gave me good advice but mostly moral support. i honestly was so turned around from the boat ride, i didn't even know what direction to shore! haha...you think it would be easy, but for some reason it wasn't. they kept saying to aim for different landmarks that i could not identify. i also was late and missed the pre-race "talk" where they give you directions and advice. i guess i was just winging it! i felt like i'd probably figure it out once in the water! we all were wearing bright yellow caps so i would be able to spot others easily.

it came time to jump off and i jumped in semi-cannon ball style holding my nose expecting to die. to my surprise it wasn't that bad! i started swimming right away! there were a lot of waves! the water was super choppy and there was a strong current pushing us toward the golden gate. my plan of following other swimmers did lead me astray as i followed them being pushed by the current. (life lesson: don't always follow other people expecting they know what they're doing because a lot of times they are wrong.) it was hard to see the shore or any landmark because the waves were so high and my goggles were so foggy. 

i definitely drank a lot of salt water, had numb fingers and toes, and got salt in my eyeballs but i finally made it to shore 58 minutes later! it felt SO good to finish. this was seriously one of the craziest, bravest things i've ever done. i am so grateful my awesome family was there to greet me at the end. it is always nice to have loved ones at the end of races. they even brought butters. i think she had a great day in the city and licking the salt water off of me when i got out.

here are some pictures thanks to my wonderful dad:

the ocean

the finish

the island

looking at the island through the finish

the medals!

the white ferry out in the distance is where we were

the first swimmer came in at 29 minutes i think. he obviously didn't get lost like i did! haha

sea of swimmers

that's me! probably wiping snot from my nose! salt water + freezing cold = runny nose

it was actually kind of hard to see because my googles were leaking a bit causing my eyes to get salt water in them. my mom laughed at me when she saw how poofy my eyes were! 

hence the sunglasses ASAP

butters attacking some other people

butters! notice how she's not even jumping to me, she's jumping to my mom! haha

the end!

take me back to europe!

so i am very behind on my blogging! i feel like i say that every post, but hopefully i'll get better!

anyway, i'll start from where i left off!

europe stole my heart. really, i loved it so so much! it was such an amazing experience that i will never forget. i learned so many things from the different cultures to practical street smarts! like, always keep your purse in front of you and be suspicious of everyone! sounds harsh, but i learned that lesson fast! we were in madrid and saw a gypsy steal from a lady's backpack right in front of our eyes. i was semi-shocked and felt like i needed to see that so i would be smarter.

anyway, i feel like this europe trip came at a really good point in my life. i was so grateful for the opportunity. it made me realize the important things in life. there were some hard times where i just wanted to be in my own bed (venice bed bug night! i will talk about that one later) or wanted to eat my own food or missed my family. there were times where i was just plain amazed by everything i was seeing and doing. this was the case most of the trip. i feel very fortunate that everything went pretty smoothly and we were all able to just roll with things. 

going to europe has been a dream of mine for a long time and i couldn't believe i was actually there half the time! i could not believe i was looking at the eiffel tower, watching the sunset on le seine, watching the olympics in london, making friends with people from all around the world, hiking around one of the most beautiful places i've been too--cinque a terre, walking through ancient ruins, sleeping in hostels with random people haha. there were so many breathtaking moments where i just wanted to take a mental picture and remember forever because cameras could not even do justice to these places . 

i struggled with the decision of going to europe. i was worried about money, my job, timing, etc. with everything said and done, it was way worth it! i would go again in a heartbeat and hopefully i will go back again soon! 

because i am feeling quite lazy, i am not going to post every picture because there are a lot on facebook thanks to the lovely alejandra! you can also reference our trip blog which again, thank you ale for updating it. it's actually really ale's blog. haha http://cakeineurope.blogspot.com

here are some from each place we visited. 

dublin, ireland

our hostel

getting certified for pouring the "perfect pint"

ran into our flight attendant!

our hostel friends!

london, england

our haunted hotel.

going to the Olympics!

fulfilled ale's dream to see les miserables...we were so tired we ended up sleeping through half of it! haha

abbey road

our favorite london hostel. too bad we didn't even sleep that night!

madrid, spain

with ale's cousins/tour guides

tapas!

big spanish family dinner!

 

barcelona, spain

it was deathly hot. thank goodness for the beach!

met our favorite italian boys here!

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paris, france

first meal!

bike tour

our tour guide-carl. he was great.

we went thrifting! i actually got this dress :)

picnic at the eiffel tower

mona lisa!

venice, italy

scene of the bed bug hostel!

romper twinsies

so we discovered bed bugs in our hostel so we decided to sleep at the train station and take an early train out of there! these steps smelled like urine, there was a family of 4 sleeping there, a lady sleeping with a knife, and lots of other people just sleeping/hanging out. it was terrible. haha

kim was completely knocked out! i tried to sleep...but it really wasn't that comfy! 

breccia, italy

after the worst night ever we met up with these boys and they treated us to the best pizza of the trip and a chill lake day! it was perfect! and yes, i ate all of that pizza! nom nom nom.

we got a paddle boat

just some random ruins. so cool.

cinque a terre, italy

meet franco. super funny/creepy old man who was flirting with us.

hiking through the 5 villages! i think we can all say we have never sweated so much in our lives before. it was super hot!

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me trying to be like the little mermaid

don't judge our appearance. it was hot!

florence, italy

we had to be covered up to go some places so this is what happened!

meet dario our pub crawl leader. mario with a d.

rome, italy

the end!