ANOTHER Resurrection Blog

The last time I slogged, LAHP was 36 weeks pregnant with Jack, who was the size of a cantaloupe. Judging by the looks of him now, it's literally been a lifetime since I posted to The Slog.



Jack: handsome, outdoorsy, and the future bringer of world peace



Recently, Lauren and I have made BIG, exciting changes to our lives. Lauren accepted a position at Google last fall and is finally working in the stimulating and challenging environment she's craved. Even I contributed to her application process when she mentioned our years of virtual training via gchat!

On my end, I joined Australian coach Darren Smith's international squad of triathletes. Darren is a world class coach who has a knack for developing nobodies into somebodies in the sport. In the last Olympic cycle, six of his athletes made the Olympic team from his or her respective countries, and his top girls finished 2nd and 4th.

Given that, it's no wonder that "Train with Darren Smith's triathlon squad (they spend December in Kenya)" has been on my life list which I put together a few years ago. I'm finally doing it! And it's cool that being part of this group helps tick off a few other items, such as: interact with people from diverse backgrounds on a regular basis AND plan more in advance to give myself a cushion and be considerate of others. The timeliness piece is actually part of how we do business, so it's been a compulsory transformation.

I've been at camp in Chula Vista, CA since the start of the year with nine of my squad mates who hail from AUS, NZL, France, Italy, Great Britain plus two fellow Americans. We have a Dutch physio/massage therapist, Rick, a Swiss sports science intern, Nico, and Darren's wife, Liz Broad, our dietician extraordinaire. My personal support staff, Kevin, is along with me at camp too, doing his training and making me coffees and egg bombers on demand. Or something like that.

To glean some insights into the Dsquad and our coach, check out this Competitor Radio interview that Darren and a few of us went on together.

Post-interview with hosts Bob Babbitt and Paul Huddle on the ends. L-R: world #2 Jodie Stimpson, Under 23 bronze medalist Declan Wilson, me--the token American, and Darren.

I have a few weeks left in sunny SoCal getting fit before I start a worldwide trek with my coach and training partners. First up, we head to New Zealand for training camp with two races thrown in. Early April we fly to Cape Town, South Africa for another camp and race. Our journey continues onto Pretoria, South Africa (near Johannesburg), and then possibly rounding out the first half of the year with a race in Yokohama, outside Tokyo, Japan. It'll be my first time visiting all the countries mentioned so woohoo to the new adventures ahead! While I'll be back in the states for a month or so, I'll head to Europe for the summer races. I am also joining the French Grand Prix triathlon team, Poissy, and will be competing for them at some point later in the season. Definitely lots to write home about.

LAHP and I typically close out a slog with some kind of dog photo, but instead, we have photographic evidence that mountain lions DO roam wild in LAHP's part of the state.

A gratuitous cat photo: