LA Tri Club
2008 USAT Club National Champions
After a year of planning, we had our moment on Oct. 18th just outside Las Vegas in Boulder City, Nevada, clinching the top honor as #1 club in the country for 2008. Proudly celebrating at the end of a long day:

Alan Morelli and Holger Beckman show off their podium awards. Alan headed up our ROAD TO PUMPKINMAN committe this year, and tirelessly recruited within and outside of the club for new members to help with our efforts in Vegas. His plan SURE WORKED!! Than you Alan and Holger, who both also took top Podium honors on the long course!

Pumpkinman was the FIRST RACE for my handsome boyfriend, Jabus Hamm... He did awesome! And, is a natural (I think I've created a monster... he's NUTS about Triathlon now!)... You'll see us next year at Wildflower and Vineman 70.3!

Here I am, flanked by two of our top recruits... Ironman Champion Chris "Macca" McCormack, and Brazilian Pro, Jose Antunes. THANK YOU both for making the trip with LA Tri Club. We are proud to have you on our roster. ~ I saw these guys when I had a mile to go on the sprint course, and they were doing the Olympic course... I was actually terrified they'd catch me they were moving so fast! It's a beautiful thing to watch a brilliant athletes "do their thing"... and, they were "taking it easy" they told me. Nice.

Bringing everyone in at the finish... Race + cheer. Now, that takes training.

After party celebration... The night of the race, the club headed to Hard Rock's Pink Taco for a buffet and Nationals celebration, about 250 clubbers. Here are Jabus, Sylvia, Paul and I, celebration the long road to Nationals. These are moments that will stay with me forever.

LA Tri Club, baby >> Thank you ALL for making the trip.

For a dose of INSPIRATION... Go Here.

LA Tri Club ~ 2008 USAT Club Nationals
On Oct 18th, LA Tri Club will be gunning for the title of USA Triathlon #1 Club at Nationals - Pumpkinman, Las Vegas, baby.

I believe at last headcount, we had about 250 members making the trip... In 2006 we came up short as #2, following Columbia Multisport... so, we've tagged this years trip as "Unfinished Business". LA Tri Clubber, Brady Smith, composed our tee shirt artwork, seen here:

Check back in the coming weeks for the race-report... we'll see if we're #1 or #2 in the country! Good luck to all racers!

Spin @ TriFIT ~ Tues/Thurs Mornings, 6:30 AM
Shutterbug, Andre Andreev, joined us for a spin class in mid-Sept, and here are some of the results. If you're interested in checking out my Indoor Cycling sessions at TriFIT, you can grab a 2-class coupon at http://www.liztokona.com/ on the Training page. Here we are, rolling-rolling-rolling:

Typical class size is about a dozen spirited spinners... but, we've got room for more! There are 50 bikes in TriFIT's cycling room, it's set up with a projector screen as well, for playing films and various cycling clips.

ActionWipes.com in the house! After working up a little sweat, nothing is better to refresh and renew (pictured below, Oscar, Griselda and Beth):

For more images, visit LoveYourPortrait.com + See you in class!

DAWN AND KIM's WEDDING ~ 092708

These were the powerful words read as we gathered for this special ceremony.
Friends, we are gathered here this morning - gay and straight together - to stand before our friends, the church, the larger society, and the State of California to give thanks for this committed relationship. We do not do this lightly, but reverently and with intent. We are together this morning - proclaiming our love to one another. Our gathering here has a prophetic dimension to it as well because today we are honoring not only those relationships deemed acceptable and proper by the church I was ordained in - relationships between women and men - but also those between men and men and women and women. By doing this we make a statement that no church doctrine will stand in the way of our faith. We dare to proclaim that the Spirit is here with us, that God blesses all relationships of mutual love.

Because much of our wold and many churches frequently ostracize rather than honor the love of a woman for a women and a man for a man, this rite of recommitment serves as public affirmation. This is, at some level, a healing service. We are here seeking to bring some healing to the pain of isolation that keeps lesbian and gay relationship invisible. We are there as transgenedered, gay and straight together, to say that a world where anyone must remain invisible is unacceptable and broken. So this celebration also brings healing to everyone here.

We are here, unafraid in proclaiming our concern and care for each other. We stand in the light to proclaim our love for each other. We stand with each other today because we are one family and we care.
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V and I at the reception afterwards:

Jen (who was one of the best-Chicks) and Jeff Urban:

Damon, aka DJ iPizzle played our tunes as 75 guests danced the afternoon away!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!
We were able to celebrate Paul's birthday, the day after the wedding. Many of us ran into each other as we lunched - it was an outstanding day!!

That evening, we gathered to wish Paul the happiest birthday!














Paul, opening his giftie from Brian and Summer:

Summer & Brian's Wedding Day ~ 092108
It turned out to be a stunning day, crisp air, sun and clear. While the ladies brunched:

The boys played on quads - Here are Brian and Bryce... deliverying Summer's wedding day gift before the ceremony:

The night before, Summer stubbed her toe in their hotel room, and she was limping on the wedding day... then, as she got into the shower after our brunch, a huge cockroach fell on her BACK! But, after all the drama's, no couple could be more beautiful... here they are, all cool & collected:

This is my favorite snap:

Some of us performed a dance number with Summer, for Brian, at the reception:

Me, Sylvia, Brian, Summer & Michelle with the Santorini Sunset behind us:

Santorini ~ Night before the Wedding
The day before the wedding, the rains came. We'd planned to have dinner in Ia with the group, but that was a bit of a haul from Fira, where we were staying... so, hauled ourselves by taxi or bus to the tip of the island, where we made our way to a beautiful little port area in the pouring rain. We were all a bit worried about the next day, but after a few bottles of wine and good company, nothing could be wrong! Our wedding party was complete, at last, with the arrival of Jen Harmon, Anna and their crew.

Paul and Sylvia here... It was almost impossible to get Paul to SIT DOWN and engage with the group for the entire trip... he was obsessed with his fancy camera and the Santorini surroundings... but, here is a quick capture:

Fresh...

When it was time to leave, the taxi's would not come down into the port to pick us up, because the rain had washed out bits of the road... it was soooo lame... so, we had to climb the Ia stairs back to town... we're talking 200-300 stairs. Here we are, a quarter of the way starting...

Drinking along the way, of course:

Climbing the stairs and walking back to the bus in the drizzle turned out to be a beautiful adventure:

GREECE 2008
I was so excited when I found out Brian and Summer had selected Santorini as the location for their wedding... that meant, back to Greece! I was last here in 2006, and while this trip was simply focused on the couple to be wed, and all our buddies who'd be making the trip with us, it was all magic. Sharing the familiar island with 25 buddies was an awesome experience.

Our first night there, everyone who'd made it to the island so far collected at Brian and Summer's hotel for a sunset cocktail. Here are Bryan and Bryce:


Sunny Villas hotel, owned by Michalis, who I met during my 2006 trip:


The bottom, blue rooftop you see here, is where I stayed on the island this trip... Kavaliari hotel (I think that's the spelling)... anyway, Laura Lee and I shared this loft style room. It was super cute and cozy, although the stairs up and down coming & going were pretty brutal.


Summer and Brian treated the entire group to a wine tasting at the Volcan Vinyards. Here is a shot of a few of the gals before they began pouring:


And, Summer, breaking a plate after a few sips of yummy vino... we all got plates to break after the wine tasting, then dinner... dancing... it was a great activity night!

Malibuuuuu Triathlon
Clubbers out in force.. Mark, Anna, Jeff and Lawrence:

Bernard & Gina Baski -- my bosses at TriFIT where I teach SPIN classes two mornings a week:

Andrew, me & Jabus, hanging out at the Swim-exit:

Gladys & Jason's Wedding ~ BELIZE
080808.

Newlyweds:

Sherri & Ryan

After a short little rain shower, and several cocktails...

Jason, showing off his moves to the 80 guests:

Dorcas, me & Marc... Who knows, they'll probably be next! ; )

BELIZE
After just arriving at our resort on San Pedro, Belize:

It's just as beautiful as any photos you've seen. The water is amazing.

Pets in the Bar!

Anna at Sunset: