V

I want to apologize about the extreme lack of posts lately. I realized today that a solid ten days have passed since the last NLSynergy update, an issue which I am sincerely embarrassed to admit. The ten days have been packed with happenings which I am stoked to write about, including but not limited to an awkward lunch date, fugitive shenanigans, the exploits of my future husband, and L's and my heroic party first-aid, which resulted in the resuscitation of a social gathering under cardiac arrest. If it is meant to be, these stories will come out in due time. Meanwhile, V-blog is approaching (or perhaps has just eclipsed...it's unclear) it's one month anniversary of creation. In honor of this momentous occasion, I would like to at least partially address the question that is on all of our new reader's minds (assuming that freshman and upperclassmen take the bait we dangle in our perpetually soon-to-be-written introductory e-mail): WHY V?

The only inkling of an explanation came in our first post: as you will soon see, V stands for a lot of things...

Something intangible appealed to us about the letter V. Not only does it take after my favorite core exercise (the V-sit DUH), but L was convinced it had something to do with being feminine. From Venus the goddess of love to the universal sign for peace, the open bloom of the letter V offers unbounded potential and virtue. The Roman numeral for five invites logic and a penta-layer explanation. Then again, why stop at five? This summer, V has been a means of commemorating our ventures and vacations. It has been an outlet for our vices, vendettas, and even vapors. And at the end of the day, it is my goal that it stands for voice, vision, and virtuosity. As the fall season begins and our living quarters shift approximately 3,000 miles east and 9 stories up, the view will vary, the tempo will pick up along with the pace of life, and the voice will likely assume an increased sense of urgency. We'll continue to project weird humor, random wisdom and strong opinions, but hopefully for the collective benefit of our track sisters. In what ways, I'm not exactly sure, but in the same way that I didn't know everything that V would stand for, I'm sure we will figure it out. Whatever the team needs, V can be that.

To all of our new readers--welcome. Thanks for taking the two seconds to check us out. Peruse, become a follower, give feedback...I don't know where V-blog is going but I'm getting some very good vibes.

Victory on the Robust Summer 2010 front...

Over the past couple of days, N and I have traveled more than most people do in a couple years. Ok, so we didn't exactly drive across the country, but we saw some pretty amazing things here in Oregon. This place is freakin awesome.(Kudos to Gigi by the way, who funded the operation.) Also, (surprise, surprise) I got lost in the woods yesterday.(However, I would like to add that I found my way back home with nothing guiding me other than my WAYYY outta whack directional intuition...which seems to be operating on surprising new levels!)Go figure. We also plan to be going to an Animal Themed Birthday party tomorrow night. Get excited for the update. This is going to be the party of the summer.We plan on busting out our highly perfected dance moves made possible by our new hard- ass core routine. That's right, we can pop,lock, AND drop with perfection all the while, showing off our freshly chiseled abs that even the most highly defined roman statue would be jealous of. ( I still can't jerk though...some things never change.)Also, there's costumes involved. It's going to be epic. I would write more about the sheer awesomeness of our show-stopping threads, but I'm going to be late for hot yoga....

Vendettas

L and I have just returned from an all-around disappointing double date with a pair of soccer bros we met Tuesday at a pizza parlor. There's no clear explanation as to why we agreed to this--the confidence with which they rolled slowly up by where we were enjoying our dinner and asked for our numbers through the open car window certainly caught me off guard and the fact that this happened less than two minutes after L was complaining about how hard it is to find a good summer fling in Portland made us wonder how this could not be meant to be. A text conversation followed and Bro 1's "not real" vernacular (to quote T) combined with his atrocious spelling made it obvious that he probably struggled to remember his own name. In any case, people with such little intelligence can be very entertaining if you're in the right mood and his Jersey Shore-esque physique made him an attractive summer fling candidate.

The first date was decent. We met at a Starbucks to make sure they weren't sketchy and migrated to their house for a showing of What Happens in Vegas. They were hotter than we remembered and at least more interesting than the texts had let on (later, L will post excerpts of that conversation that are quite hilarious). So we were excited today when we made plans to go hot tubbing (or hot tubing as Bro 1 likes to spell it) and fully launch operation Summer Fling.

How does this post relate to vendetas? It does, I promise, but I have suddenly gotten extremely tired. So stay tuned and I'll update tomorrow. Peace, love and V.

Verifications

I just signed on to check out L's "awesome" blogpost that she finally completed last night before falling asleep on my bed, my laptop clutched in her arms. I was too busy pouring her into bed (not to mention I was exhausted myself) to notice anything about the post last night. I was then too preoccupied to examine it today...until now.

My first reaction was to smack L for posting that ridiculous photo of me asleep on the car ride back from Manzanita, but the fact that my nail polish is still drying prevented me from giving her the adequate beating that she deserved. I suppose I should have taken a picture of her last night, or the night before, or the night before, or the afternoon before (as she routinely--and MUCH more often than me--falls asleep in hilarious postures) and wielded it over her for blackmail purposes. But of course, I am not as malicious in my everyday intentions as L is.

Anyhoo, in the event that people have already seen this picture, I'll assume the forgiving attitude that it is all in good fun and rather than sheepishly removing it, I'll leave it up for your viewing pleasure. Just know that L has got one coming for her. It will not be difficult for me to return the minor humiliation ten-fold. Also, Leila, regardless of the clever, though not necessarily fitting "Berg" pun with the world "burglary," I would like to remind you that the word still would not contain the letter U. And you go to an Ivy League....

Ventures...BERGulary,escapades, and proclamations.

It's been awhile since either N or I have really had any time to post anything about our latest misadventures. Luckily, that means we actually have quite a few to fill ya'll in on. I guess a good place to start from where N left off, after the Pre-invite.

Immediately, after soaking up enough inspiration and pumped-ness to last us for the rest of our running careers in Eugene, we road-tripped to Manzanita beach for the fourth. It's still up in the air if our night was robust, but it was definitely epic. Let's just say that if an airplane pilot were to fly over the shoreline of the Oregon coast that evening, it would have been literally and utterly, a sensory overload. The plane would have had to dodge fireworks as it hurdled through the velvety black sky that was smothered in clouds of curling smoke.The only thing keeping the pilot from ramming the jet into the heaving surf was the beach that was writhing with teeming masses of adolescents congregated around bonfires like moths clustered around streetlamps. Let's just say, it was a good thing there were no planes flying around that night.

Over the course of the evening , we walked around a nearby town called Gearheart for many hours, witnessed one of N's ex-classmates suffer from alcohol poisoning (all the while arguing with some blubbering buffoon "friends" of his that he needed immediate medical attention.)Afterwards,proceeding into a ridiculously sloppy party, where we were hoping there was going to be dancing going on. Unfortunately, we just got stuck with some guy trying to hit on us. Over the course of the night, he offered us low-carb foods, chicken salad, and vodka while at the same time, bragging about his recent cocaine usage and weight lifting. My guess is, he thought that after hearing this, we would undoubtedly wanna make out with him. Umm, no, nice try buddy. Anyways, we ended the night locked out of our friend A-town's house for quite some time. We ended up sneaking outside of her house, trying to seem as unsketchy and burglar-esque as possible, banging on windows and doors, attempting to awaken A-town(while simultaneously being mindful that her grandmother might be sleeping within one of the very rooms we were bombarding with raucous knocking. Luckily, she wasn't wearing her hearing aids at the time...)Finally, after scaring the living daylights out of a slumbering A-town, and brushing our teeth, we headed off to bed, but not before thoughtfully chewing whole grain blueberry pancakes and climbing sluggishly into our respective bunks (which were illuminated by multi-colored glow sticks.)

Fortunately, not the entire weekend was compromised. We had put in a solid run the previous day, which contained hills that made the ones in VCP look like pimples. And before the all-too-familiar, scenic, jam-sesh back to Manzanita, we had the opportunity to have a much- needed blow-out run on the beach (which was now filled with horses and lovers instead of bonfires and bimbos.) Eerily, there was zero evidence on the shore that last night had even happened. Soon, we reached a little inlet that marked the halfway point of our run (which Pierre claims is five miles....well, Pierre, I certainly would be thrilled if it was actually five miles, because we just smashed it in 26 freakin' minutes. ) Upon arriving at the halfway mark, we took a little siesta and climbed the tall pile of boulders that made up the protrusion of the inlet wall, and gazed across the ocean to the other side of the beach. The sight was so majestic and our poses atop the summit, so cliche, that N and I locked eyes; and after proclaiming that our lives were freakin' awesome, I announced that, "This would be the perfect triathlon workout. You could run on the beach, then climb this wall, then swim across the canal-thingy, and then have your bike waiting on the other side, and you could just ride on that road right there." Ignoring the sheer randomness of my comment in response to the breath-taking view, N rationally pointed out that the waves would most likely kill me against the jagged rocks at the base of the cliff.I quickly pointeded out that the tide was high and that the surf was rough. "Well, maybe when the water's calmer, it would be more feasible...", she said. The run back was pleasant enough, but the car-ride back was even more so. N pretty much slept the entire time, while Pierre, M and I had some quality bonding time.

Victories: We love Lauren Fleshman!

Update: After two years on the sideline, former Stanford standout (15 time All-American) Lauren Fleshman won the 5k at USAs last weekend with a super gutsy 600 meter kick. If her post race comments don't make you a fan (watch the video, it's only 16 seconds), maybe her blog will.

Being raised in Nike country, I had the uncommon luxury of seeing Lauren up close and personal a couple times a year at Nike-sponsored events. An outgoing blonde, she radiates fun. I've always been a fan of her silly dance moves, her wide smile, her glittery collection of bright Nike graphic tees, not to mention her down-to-earth advice and glowing passion for running and competing.

I'll pretend not to be offended when most of you haven't heard of her.

To be honest, there are a ton of professional runners out there. Races are constantly being contested and people are always fading and coming on, so to stay up to date requires a level of dedication that seems worthless unless you're trying to impress some cute track junkie. I can assure you that's not my reason for ranting about Lauren Fleshman. Just as we all keep tabs on our high school teams and Mal will continue to check up on the Schellberg Monster, having a personal connection makes us that much more excited about a certain meet or stellar performance.

If you're bored at work this summer or if you're ever looking for a little inspiration, I recommend you check this chick out. This video is from this time last year, a year after failing to make the Olympic team and just beginning to get fit again after an injury to her navicular bone which threatened to end her running career for good. I can't rave enough about her refreshing perspective on life and how easy she is to relate to. The last 3 minutes (from 8:10 to the end) capture the gist of her spirit if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

If you like what you hear, bookmark her blog and check it out when you want to procrastinate online. The link in the first paragraph of this post is to her journal, but the home page of her site is "Question of the Day," a forum in which nothing is out of bounds. She usually only updates a couple times a week but her responses are always very thorough. You can submit questions and vote for which ones you want her to answer. Previous responses are categorized under mentality, nutrition, core, pre-race, shoes, recovery, competing, workouts, injuries, rehab, pilates, weight loss, pregnancy...you name it. I've genuinely learned a lot from reading it.

Oh and by the way, L and I saw her at the grocery store in Eugene this past weekend after the Prefontaine Classic...just another reason why my teammates should come visit!

**Bonus Video: Lauren's goals and "best year"

Virtuosity in the Bread Business

Virtuosity \-ˈä-sə-tē\ According to my ex-Navy seal high school strength coach and owner of Crossfit Human Evolution Lab, it means: "doing the common uncommonly well."

For those of you who haven't heard of Dave's Killer Bread, I am about to enlighten you about the a massive void in your life, which, upon discovery, will ache with increasing intensity until you satiate it with a piece of Good Seed, 21 Grain, the soon-to-be-released Robust Raisin, or, better yet, a thick slice of a Sin Dawg. Camillionaire has yet to try her first piece, but already pines for it due to her online research (It was at her recommendation that I tried my first sin dawg, even though her long clutching fingers are nearly 3,000 miles away from it's holy presence in a two pack on my local COSTCO shelf.) Anyway, it's the absolute best bread in the whole wide world. Dave makes 12 varieties of incredible bread: Blues Bread (an extra chewy bread with a bold sweet flavor and crisp, grain-rolled crust), Good Seed, Powerseed, 21 Whole Grains, Flourless/Sprouted Wheat, Good Seed Spelt, Peace Bomb (same dough as sprouted/flourless in baguette form), Cracked Wheat, Nuts and Grains, Blues Buns, Rockin' Rye and the infamous Sin Dawg, a whole-grain, 100% organic, extra seedy cinnamon-sugar bread, which can be sliced up into little swirls of the most wonderful, orgasmic, explosion of flavor I have ever experienced. You have to try it for yourself because it's superior quality defies description. L has been addicted ever since she came here. She eats 4 pieces of Good Seed plain (not even toasted) on a regular basis and today, we were sitting by the fire roasting marshmallows when she exclaimed, "Wait! I have an idea!!" and ran back into the house, returning shortly with two slices of bread, which she proceeded to toast over the open fire. Crazy? Perhaps, but Dave's Killer Bread could make anyone crazy.

Dave's Killer Bread is in and of itself, the most delicious bread ever. However, Dave's inspiring story, which is printed on the back of every package, is, in my opinion, just as awesome as the bread. I highly recommend that you watch at least part of the video to get a sense for how one goes from being a meth addict and multiple-time convicted felon who has racked up nearly 15 years in prison and seems content to spend his whole life there, depressed and hopeless, into an honest man, a phenomenal baker, and the mastermind behind a small company that is now doing its best to "make the world a better place, one loaf of bread at a time." It's a cool story.

Yesterday we had the fine pleasure of meeting Dave himself and I interviewed him for our blog. The interview went something like this:

Dave: Hey, those look good!

Me (in my head): Ohmigod he looks just like the caricature on the front of the package!

Me (to Dave): Ummm...yes!! They're a country pate in puff pastry with rose jelly! Would you like one?!? Here! Take a napkin!!

Dave: Mmm! Thanks!

Ok, so I didn't exactly interview him for the blog. I have to admit I was a little too starstruck and was not expecting to see him at the the tent at the Portland Blues Festival where L and I were catering the dinner for musicians and vendors. I later confirmed that it was him though and L and I made up for our lack of photograph with him by sampling EVERY SINGLE BREAD THAT HE MAKES at the Dave's Killer Bread tent. We even got to try the Robust Raisin, which has yet to reach stores but is going to make y'all go craaaaazzy! We also got to sample Lara Bars, Sabra Hummus with mix-your-own toppings, wild salmon, mango-avocado-walnut-arugula salad, almond cake, carrot cake, Oregon berries and more, we listened to sweet music, and we got paid. Needless to say, it was a very good day.

Venus Fly Trap (themountain.me.com)

So.. the fourth of July is quickly approaching, and I'm on the lookout for some new threads to attract the boys at bonfires. Luckily, I have found the perfect solution. The apparel at the The Mountain clothing website is epic, and sure to attract the finest specimens of the male species. Get ready to see me rockin' this apparel, not only during the month of July, but all freaking year.(Website referral courtesy of Colby