It was not without some drama, but I'm now officially all signed up for my races this year, so at least my bank account can recover from that over the next few months. I'm gonna be a lame-o and only do two, because I am, after all, a budget triathlete, so I've chosen carefully: for the first time, I'll be doing the long course at Wildflower (eee!) and then of course, Vineman! A lot of people purport the long course is actually harder than Vineman, and I might agree... it's so challenging with all those crazy hills, and Vineman is so gentle and lovely. You know, for an Ironman length race.
I got two friends, Larry and Ismael, to get in on the three-for-two Vineman signup, where the third person pays back two-thirds so everyone gets a sweet deal (Wildflower wound up costing the same amount, once you figured in the discount!) Ismael and I met up on December 30th, just before the deadline for the cheapest price, so we'd get the best deal, and did the online sign up on my laptop in a coffee shop. I had Larry's info and was hoping it would be smooth sailing (Ismael was, afterall, on his break from fighting crime: he's in the LAPD), but of course, my apprehensions were fulfilled and the third registration didn't show a balance of $0. I was anxious we'd get stuck with the bill, but heard back from the Vineman folks in no time, who were super cool about our technical difficulties. Larry filled out his registration separately and emailed it in the New Year, and by the next week we were all three proud Vineman contenders.
The real drama, of course, ensued when Larry went to send his check of a third of the entrance price to Ismael, and some ass stole it from the outgoing mail, cashed it, and drained his bank account via some elaborate money laundering scheme based out of Beverly Hills. That of course caused a huge amount of stress, with police and FBI getting involved, but hopefully Larry's gonna be back in good financial standing in no time. I just find it ironic that the check they wrote was due to a police officer in the first place! They've got it coming.
Groupon (and Living Social) are of course big budget wonders if you manage to resist the temptation to buy every deal you see. (I do not always resist. I'm on a coupon-fast now.) That being said, I got one month of unlimited yoga at the so-beautiful YogaWorks sudio on Larchmont. I swore I would try and do a class everyday, within my ability (I know I'll HAVE to miss next Friday because I'll be at Big Bear on a mini vacation, which I paid for with a Living Social voucher... told you, totally addicted.) So far I've achieved this despite my most insane schedule ever-- between tutoring and work, there's not many hours in the day. But how nice to set aside some time and try to get those hammys stretched before I embark on the insane regimine of tri training. Larry's already getting his base built, and Ismael wants to go for some long rides, as he's doing an Ironman in May. So I'm enjoying the zen of this moment while I can, and when I can find it (last night, I did a 9-10PM class, and this morning I did 6:30AM-8. Let me just say, the muscles are not so limber in the AM. Couldn't pull off plow.) I did sign up, at a discount (but of course!) for a 20 class package, so I can cross train my my happy yoga place. The budget-ier choice would have been to stick with the free outdoor yoga in the park, but with the way my schedule's working, there's not a single time they practice that I can join, so this seems a sound investment. If only for my sanity.
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