CARDIO TO VEGAS Update: The Middle of Nowhere

I’m so flippin’ excited to write this post! It’s been about 2.5 weeks since I’ve updated you on my CARDIO TO VEGAS fitness challenge, and that’s a long drought. But I’m here now, and I have a big update. A SUPER big update. A SUPER big, SUPER nerdy update. I don’t wanna waste any more time – let’s get to it!

CARDIO TO VEGAS is my current fitness challenge, where I’m logging the miles I complete during my cardio workouts, and plotting them on a map. My goal is to reach 274 miles, the equivalent of running from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Along the way, I’m putting my nerd hat on and researching fun facts and stories about the places I pass. This post will show that you can find the most incredible, fascinating stories no matter where you look, even if you’re looking in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, keep reading.

Learn more about CARDIO TO VEGAS, and check out the archive, by clicking here.

OK, here we go. When I last left off, I had

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Hard Boiled Eggs…In the Oven!

I make a lot of hard-boiled eggs. Sometimes I get on kicks where I’m boiling a dozen eggs a week. Hard-boiling eggs isn’t a difficult task, but here’s a way to make them that’s even easier. Did you know you can bake whole eggs in the oven?

About a year ago (or maybe longer), a high school friend posted a link to my Facebook page about baking eggs. I wanted to try it at the time, but one thing led to another and it never happened, and then I forgot about it. In recent weeks, I’ve stumbled upon a couple more articles and posts about this method, and decided to give it a try. I consulted a few websites, but they all basically say the same thing. It’s so freakin’ simple.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Put your eggs in the oven.  I did a dozen of them:

One website suggested using

A Visit to Sunland Produce

I was driving home the other day, and it occurred to me that my kitchen inventory was running low. I need to go to the store, I told myself, and minutes later, an answer presented itself. I was getting my mail, when a single sheet of paper somehow managed to break free from the bundle of Pennysaver circular ads that had been unceremoniously shoved into my mailbox. It was for a grocery store I had never heard of, and man, it was advertising killer prices!

Three pounds of apples for $1? Seven pounds of onions for $1? Holy crap, that’s awesome! (It also promoted flap meat for $4 a pound, and if you know what flap meat is, would you pretty please enlighten me in the comments section?)

The store is called Sunland Produce, and it’s

I’m a Music Video Back-Up Dancer! WATCH IT HERE!

What an exciting day! Earlier this summer, I wrote about a really fun experience where I was a back-up dancer in a music video shoot. Well, the video is finished and on YouTube!

The video is for Richard Simmons’ new single, called “Hairdo.” Richard spent, in total, about 4 or 5 days filming it all over Los Angeles, but I was there on the first day of shooting, at Richard’s fitness studio, Slimmons. I’m not in any close-ups, and it’s definitely a blink-and-you’ll-miss-me situation, but I’m there, in the back, over Richard’s right shoulder.

There I am!

There I am again!

How Do You Add 14 Flights of Your Workout? PLUS: Create Your Own Cardio Map Challenge!

The answer to the question in the title is: BE FORGETFUL! That’s what happened today.

I was on my fifth day of working out after recovering from my sprained foot. I was scheduled to have my first session in three weeks with Mo, the personal trainer, so I headed off to Crunch in Burbank (which, unlike the West Hollywood Crunch, never had any salacious displays of showering customers). The Burbank Crunch is located on the top floor of a shopping center that also includes a Barnes & Noble, an AMC multiplex, and a couple restaurants. It’s served by a giant parking garage that also handles parking for the Ikea across the street. I can easily park on the roof of the garage and walk a few feet to get inside Crunch, but I never do that, because A) I’d have to wind my way up through the levels of the garage, which takes time, and B) I prefer the lower levels, as they’re covered, which keeps my car out of the hot sun.

The parking garage has a back entrance that leads directly to one of the lowest floors, and that floor is nearly always empty, so I park there. Which means I then have to take the stairs to get to Crunch (there’s also escalators and an elevator, but I always take the stairs). First there’s these:

Then there’s these:

The End of an Era at West Hollywood Crunch

I just came across a photo I took a few weeks ago that I meant to write about, but never did. Better late than never, right? The photo is from the West Hollywood Crunch gym, one of two Crunch locations that I frequent. They’re currently remodeling the locker rooms, and it looks like the remodel will remove one of their more interesting design features. Take a look:

This picture is of a row of windows that lines the hallway leading to the locker rooms. An identical row of windows lines the other side. (The lockers are a temporary addition, they’re just there during the remodel process). The windows are frosted glass, and when I first started going to this gym in the winter of 2012, I walked by them a bunch of times before realizing what I was actually looking at.

On the other side of each window is a

CARDIO TO VEGAS Update: Beyond Barstow

READY TO NERD OUT WITH ME? It’s time for a CARDIO TO VEGAS Update! This is my fourth Cardio To Vegas post, and it’s a long time coming. I started writing it about two weeks ago, before spraining my foot, which sidelined my exercise. I actually accumulated more miles after starting this research, but I don’t want this research to go to waste, so I’ll save those for my next update.

I’m getting ahead of myself. What’s CARDIO TO VEGAS, you ask? It’s my current fitness challenge that has me virtually running to Vegas. Here’s how it works: I’m logging all the miles I complete during my cardio workouts, whether it’s on a bike, elliptical, or out on a run. I add these miles up, and my goal is to reach 274 – the number of miles between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I’m plotting my progress on a map, and writing about the places that I ‘visit’ along the way. It’s as nerdy as it sounds, and I love it!

Check out the kick-off post that started the challenge, and read the other updates here and here.

Where am I now? Let’s find out! When I last left off, I had gone 97.8 miles. To that, I can add:

It’s Been How Long Since I’ve Blogged?

Yikes – it’s been a little over a week since I’ve posted anything on here. I never intended to go quiet for so long, but it just sorta happened. It hasn’t been the greatest week, are struggles are never fun to write about, but these are the sort of weeks where blogging becomes more important. I started this site as a way to stay accountable, so if I don’t own up to what’s been going on, than what’s the point?

In a nutshell: my eating hasn’t been great and I haven’t been exercising, and I’m in a bit of a funk. It can all be traced back to Thursday of last week, when I woke with pain in my foot. It wasn’t unbearable – it felt like perhaps I slept funny on it or something, and I went about my day. That evening, I exercised on a recumbent bike. I thought I’d be fine, since that kind of bike is no-impact and doesn’t requiring putting any weight on my foot.

Big mistake. On Friday, the pain was

More Awesome Underwater Photos!

Guess what came in the mail today? My official PADI open water scuba diver certification card!

Speaking of scuba, I got a wonderful present in my email inbox the other day. My friend Skylar, who I met through the scuba class, sent along