Run/Walk Event with Chris' company

On March 21st, we participated in a local run/walk. Chris' company really gets involved - 34 employees were either walking or running that beautiful Sunday morning.

Hanging around before the start. There were about 150 participants - in total.

And we're off. Most of the employees were walkers. Chris & I walked as well. We had gotten up extra early that Sunday morning, and did our 1 hour bike ride and 1:45 run. So, we just enjoyed walking the 4 miles.

We had a winner! James got 2nd place in his division - woop woop!!

So, what does Chris' company do?? Check out these cool computer systems!!

Multisport Expo at MIT

A couple weeks ago, we attended the yearly Multisport Expo - put on by our friend Eric & his race management company. It's held in MIT's sports center. Our triathlon club sets up a booth, so we 'worked' the booth for a couple hours - talking to prospective members, signing current members up for upcoming events like our charity spin-a-thon and club social.

It's a big event - lots of vendor booths; fun swim, bike, run clinics & workshops; super guest speakers - typically triathlon greats like Karen Smyers & Lisa Bently... the list goes on.

Unfortunately, the expo was on March 20th this year - the nicest day ever! So, Chris & I did our duty with the triathlon club, and then we bailed. The day was just too beautiful to stay inside.

There were still a ton of attendees

Our triathlon club - competing in a spin-a-thon courtesy of computrainer.

Our friend, Eric, the brains behind the expo. Along with Diana - who just returned from hiking Kilimanjaro. Loved listening to her talk about her trip. Summitting Mount Kili has been on Chris & my's list for a couple years now, so we soak up as many details as possible.

Swim, Bike, Run - super size poster!

Our club president, Andy, along with member Darlene.

QT2 - my training program, which I love! Jesse (black shirt, right) is the brains behind QT2. He's also a full time engineer and top triathlete (consistently wins his age group).

Looking down on MIT's track. A group is heading out for a run seminar. Chris & I were heading across the Charles river to hang out in Boston...

View of MIT from Boston side

Yep, we're in Boston! - Citgo sign says it all

Such a nice day, everyone was out & about.

Oh, I'm so ready for sailing season!!!

We had to take a walk through our old neighborhood - Back Bay. Really miss it!

And our old apartment... still looks great!

It was a really great way to spend the day. We don't get to hang out in Boston much, because we stay busy in our own little town. So it was nice to spend the best day of the year in one of our favorite cities!!

March 10K

On Sunday, March 21st, we had a 10k race scheduled - per our training guide. We decided to just run the route that we ran in January - and see if we had improved.
It was a beautiful sunny morning - a little cool - but perfect for running. I wore running tights, but could have gotten away with just shorts. Spring is coming!!!
Chris & I both had great runs! Chris finished his 10k in 48 minutes and I finished mine in 49 minutes! A record for me - close to a record for Chris. I was surprised - because I ran the entire run with a very full stomach (too much dinner the night before). I was thinking that this might be the first time that I actually got sick after running. Fortunately, I didn't - guess I was too excited about my time!
I could tell that my fitness level was better. I didn't have to keep convincing myself to keep my pace up during the second part of the run... The entire run seemed much easier than the run in January - and I ran it faster! And other bonus news - my heart rate average was only 177 - down from 179! The training is really working! Good thing because tri season is right around the corner!

Oh, how I love my...

Land Rover - Discovery!!

I love the color:

Green :)

I love my tire cover b/c it reminds me of the fun times I had when I live in SF.

I love my stickers!!

I love that the 70 mph is almost dead center on the gauge!

I love where the shifter is!

I love the fake wood grained dash & my 6 cd changer!

I love my seat warmers! And that the window buttons are not on the door!

I love my door handle being low on the door (and my handy dandy map holder - old fashioned, but I love to read maps!)

I love having 2 sun roofs!

And they have cool screens to help deflect the bright sun rays!

I love the European leather seats!

I love the cover for the back!

because it does a great job of hiding my barn stuff!!!

I also love the windshield, because it's heated, and rarely freezes!

And I love that the windows are big, so I never have visibility problems!

I am sad though, because my 2002 Land Rover is getting old and will have to be replaced some day. I don't love the new version of the Land Rover, so that won't be a replacement option. There aren't many vehichles that really interest me, so hopefully my LR will continue to run for a long long time!!!

Our swimming pool

We swim 3 days a week here. In the winter, the pool is covered with a large plasticy top. In the summer, the top is off, and we're swimming in the great outdoors. Love it!

The pool has been especially warm & inviting lately. Last night, the water even felt 'soft'.

We'll be spending some more time here, as we missed a few swim workouts early in our training program - probably up to 5 days a week!

Birthday in Mexico!!

March 6th - flight to Mexico (my brother's birthday - I'm wondering if he's having as good a day as I am....)

Ahhhhhhhh - our vacation has begun...

First morning: enjoying the pool outside our swim up suite. We had already done a 3:15 bike ride (on stationary bikes) and a 20 minute transition run. After the pool - breakfast!
Our resort: Excellence Riviera Cancun (adults only)

We met up with our friends, Jon & Cyndy from San Francisco. We have been planning this vacation for a long time and we finally got our schedules to work! We've vacationed with Jon & Cyndy before (New Orleans & Phoenix for spring training), so we knew we would have a blast! No disappointments there or with our fabulous resort. Ooh la la!

Chris outside our 1st level suite. We had 2 jetted tubs - one inside & one outside on our little patio. Plus the pool only steps from our back door...

Our view from our patio (would definitely recommend a swim up suite)

Looking straight across the pool into our suite

Pictures of the resort

The lazy river

The spa - our friends Cyndy & Jon took advantage of the spa and said the massages were excellent!

Natural Residents
Beautiful architecture & gardens around the entire resort

One of 10 bars - this one was mainly open in the early evenings when they had live music performing.

The theater: shows included Oscar/Academy Awards night; the Circus; Mexican night; Romantic Dancing night; Michale Jackson impersonator... (everything was in English, as 99% of visitors are either Americans or Canadians)

One of two restaurants that overlooked one of the pools.

Another beautiful pool. Early in the week, the pools were pretty empty. Mexico also had their fair share of poor weather and hadn't had too many sunny days, so the pools & ocean were quite cool. We had a full week of sunshine (a few clouds here and there), so by the end of the week, the pools & ocean were full of people.

Blue Bar - swim up bar; only a few brave souls early in the week

What does Chris see?

Another bar - the Sol bar, so he could

get us...

some of these...yum!

A couple more lovely pictures of the resort:

Our resort also had a couple piers where you could have a romantic dinner. We had wonderful weather (low 80's early in the week, to high 80's later in the week), but it was still a little breezy. So we didn't see many takers on the romantic dinner by the sea...

Pictures of the resort from the piers. Some bad looking clouds, but they went right on by. We didn't have any rain, and the covering clouds didn't stay around long at all.

Lots of palapas provided covering from the sun. We walked by a lot of other resorts that didn't have as much covering as our resort did. Everyone tried to get a shaded area, since the sun was so strong, so we were lucky to have so many to choose from. We got a shady area every day.

Early in the morning, the resort workers would cut down some coconuts, and then they would serve them later in the day. You could get one with just the coconut milk, or have some alcohol added.

Happy feet!!

We loved walking & running on the beach every day.

because it was so soft and clean

and the water so clear and clean...

We took the hobie cat's (small catamaran's) out sailing a few times and had a blast! We could have done that all day every day! It really got us stoked for sailing season - woop woop!

some more natural residents

Happy couples

Dinner @ Chez Isabelle (French Cuisine)

Jon & Cyndy

Good friends!

Birthday Dinner!! - Agave, the Mexican restaurant

They set up a special table for us. Thanks to Cyndy & Chris for reminding the staff about my birthday!!

Dancing with the mariachi band

Doing the macarena dance with Jill (from Salt Lake City), Cyndy, Jon, and Laura (also from Salt Lake City). It was very easy to meet great fun people! Jill & Laura were fun, and up for anything! I guess we created quite a ruckus - I got so many birthday wishes the following day :)

Yum - chocolate birthday cake!

Surprise!! - decorated room; and milk bath prepared by housekeeping

Live evening music. The resort was beautiful at night.

One morning, Chris & I took a walk down the beach to Puerto Morales - a little town about 2 miles south of our resort. It was a very windy morning...but warm!

Lots of boats to take you snorkeling & diving. There was a reef closer to Cozumel that offered some great diving.

We spent a lot of time posing for pictures...

and taking them... but they were all worth it!

The restaurants and bars were decorated so beautifully. You felt so spoiled every where you went.

Spice - Asian restaurant

Martini bar - cool ceiling

Enjoying some cocktails at the Martini bar

Oh, and the food & drinks.... I guess these two hanging out in the lobby should have forewarned us.... Great Mexican wine that we had at Chez Isabelle

Amazing salad at Chez Isabelle

Yummy dessert at Chez Isabelle

Pre dinner cocktails

Asian sampler at Spice

Mexican sampler at Agave restaurant

Yummy dessert at Toscana

Our last night - we took a taxi to Playa del Carmen (a 30 minute ride). A cute touristy town that had a ton of restaurants and hotels. I absolutely loved our resort, but may choose one closer to Playa del Carmen the next time. I enjoy strolling down city streets, as much as I enjoy strolling on the beach. And they had a ... Starbucks!! :)

Enjoying some live music at the bar Fusion: a great Playa del Carmen bar that was on the beach!

Dinner at La Parilla - a touristy restaurant, but the food & drinks were excellent!

And I had to take a picture of these 2 friends. Chris & I didn't miss one workout all week - 15 hours worth - thanks to these 2. The resort wasn't large enough to rent bikes and ride around, so we had to spend some time in the gym. We took turns riding the recumbant bike, since we both preferred the regular stationary bike. 8 hours we spent on these 2 guys for the week. No wonder they had put signs on them by the end of the week (keep it to 20 minutes during peak hours....)
We also spent 2 hours swimming the lazy river (not including ocean play time); and 5 hours running on the beach. Plus 7 hours of beach walking. Whew!

What a fabulous vacation! I'm ready to go back!!!
It was my first time at an all inclusive resort, and my first time in Mexico. I wasn't sure of what to expect - but wow - was I blown away. Both Chris & I loved this vacation. Typically, we enjoy staying busy and checking out the sights every day. But here, we just enjoyed relaxing. Literally, by Monday (after arriving Saturday night), we were already asking each other what day it was - we relaxed that quickly...
We only left the resort twice (once for Playa del Carmen); and once for me to swim with the dolphins (the day I forgot my camera - bummer!) I'm an animal lover, and really enjoyed the dolphin experience - they are so soft, curious, and magical.

We'll be heading back to Mexico again - let us know if you want to join us :)