Courtenay Brown

That is what made me cool to a mom and her little boy today in Bodega Bay, no training wheels... Anyhow, today was the first day of my little solo Sonoma training camp, and it was awesome! I did this ride, which took me out to the Pacific Ocean. I realized that I hadn't seen the ocean since my trip to Santa Monica back in early April, it felt so nice to be on the coast again. I also went up Coleman Valley Rd, which is part of the Tour of California Stage 1 route, and which we rode up during VAC Training Camp in February. ...

This morning I took my measurements for my Lean1 weight-loss blogsperiment. It's been six days rather than a full week since my last measurements, because today I drove down to Sonoma for a 5 day training trip and didn't want to cart my scale and measuring tape around with me! Here are today's numbers: Left Quad: 53 cm Waist: 64 cm Weight: 116 lb So, lost 1 lb, 1 cm of waist, and gained .5 cm of quad. But since this is an at-home experiment there were of course a few variables: I got 9 inches of hair removed from my head yesterday, and I did an hour of leg strength-training at the gym last night. Which might mean that I am ...

Just kidding. Not bald. I got a haircut today at a place I found on yelp.com, Upstairs at the Front Porch. I think I'll be writing my own yelp review, and a positive one. Here's a little smattering of "after" and "before", not in any particular order... 9 inches lopped off, and I can still sort of make a pony tail! I might go shorter or I might not, for now I think I like it but it feels a little, I dunno, not me I guess?...

So I have an appointment for a haircut tomorrow after work. I will be sure to bring my camera for some before and after pics, I still haven't made up my mind yet about whether I will go short or long or medium or none. There are compelling arguments for all of them, and thank you to all my casual survey participants! Then on Wednesday, after I deposit Greg at the Reno airport for his flight to Denver, I am driving down to Sonoma! I will have my own personal little training camp for 5 days - I am so excited! The air here hasn't gotten any better and it's made it really hard to train. I haven't ridden my bike ...

Yes I am being a typical girl here and plotting a Twiggy pixie-look... I suddenly got sick to death of my long hair, perhaps an inch off would make me feel better but I am weighing other options based on past hairdo's. So, time for my favourite decision-making tool, the Casual Survey! What do you guys think?! Main considerations here are simplicity (especially for races, the 'do has to be transition-friendly) and cuteness. Sample photos of short, medium, and longish:

Now I have Tears for Fears stuck in my head... I can think of worse things. Anyhow yesterday I was at Target replenishing my supply of skin-care products, and Greg was trying to get me to hurry up by saying I looked 19 and not 29. He wasn't even looking at my skin when he said that, so I didn't really believe him, but I do think I have done a decent job at keeping my skin youthful. For one thing, I have an untiring love for drugstores. For another thing, I have one cardinal rule when I am racing or training. NO FACE-SCRUNCHING. Keep it serene. Making world-of-pain faces during efforts is really bad for your skin and ...

So for a minute Greg and I were making frantic plans to get the crap out of here for the weekend. It's so smokey here, crowded with the usual weekend tourists, we'll have to drive down to Carson to get in decent swim workouts, the race was canceled already so why stay, etc. But then inertia and gas prices and logistics took over. We're stayin'. I'm doing an easy weekend after two weekends of racing and a daily need for an hour and a half nap, plus yesterday I went for a 50 minute ride outside and I am still coughing like mad from it. Those of you who have hung out with me in person know that my cough is not ...

I got an email tonight from the organizers of the Donner Lake Triathlon saying that air quality is so bad that they are forced to cancel the race. Very disappointing. Then it went on to say that "unfortunately the triathlon cannot be rescheduled and we are unable to offer refunds due to costs incurred for developing this year’s race." EXCUSE ME!?!?!? No race, no road closures, no cops you need to pay, you aren't even offering us free/discounted entries for next year, and no refund is possible?!?! SO I just donated to the Change of Pace Race Promoters' Own Personal CHARITY FUND?! I certainly hope they are planning to mail everyone's t-shirts and goody bags. And I'd really like a better explanation ...

Over the past couple of weeks I have become a big fan of Nutrition53's meal-replacement product, Lean1. I love the way it tastes and, like I said in my review from a couple of weeks ago, it's very convenient! So I got to thinking about 1. Lean1's capacity as a lean muscle-building supplement and, by extension, a weight loss supplement and 2. my last few races of the season and then I decided... why not use Lean1 to lose a couple of excess pounds and get myself into the best racing shape possible for the 5430 Long Course Tri, LA Triathlon, and Scott Tinley's? Great plan! And just to make sure I ...

Something is up with the combination of wind and fires next door in California... all of a sudden we have a teeny tiny smoke-covered pinkish sun, orange skies, and ashes falling from the heavens. This is an un-edited color photo, no sepia tones or funny stuff. That dot is the sun. Creepy. Somewhat funnily, today I got an email from the race organizers of the Donner Lake Triathlon in nearby Truckee, which I was/am planning to race this weekend. The email said that air quality "continues to improve" and they will most likely not be canceling the event. I was feeling a bit punchy, so I wrote ...