Blonde Beezies taking the court in I Just Wanna Run tanks & Run:Speed Shorts!

The two weekends of OTL are literally my favourite holiday weekends of the entire year, even though they are only official holidays if you play in the tournament and thus understand my passion and enjoyment of this glorious tournament. In fact, I was so excited that I scheduled in my 7 mile long run for Saturday morning and ran from my house to Fiesta Island to watch my husband's team play (since my team did not play until Sunday). My friend and teammate Tara joined me in the run, and though our husbands told us we were crazy, we enjoyed every step of the run. We were laughing, talking about how crazy we were, talking strategy for our games the next day, and nearly sprinted the last 2 miles once we saw Fiesta Island and the OTL crowds.

The running route I mapped to Fiesta Island on the Dailymile.com, thanks to a tip from one of our guests!

When we arrived we felt amazing and were ready to take on a full day of sitting in the sun, drinking only a couple cocktails and watching our boys ALMOST make it to the 2nd weekend of the tournament. This run really got me thinking that I should be enjoying my runs this much every time I hit the road. Even if it means bribing my inner 5 year old with a treat like an evening picnic in the park, or gelato. This evening in fact, my husband and I planned a 4 mile run through Balboa Park, which happens to be right next door to the San Diego Zoo. So we're packing a picnic and heading into the Zoo once we complete our run, and I'm going to check out lions! I haven't been excited to go the zoo since I was 5, but rewarding our run with a visit brings the 5 year old right out of me! Happy summertime fun running my friends! Namaste.

Come on ball get over the line, go go gooo!!

This week’s training mileage total: 18 miles!
Longest run: 7 miles with a pace of 10:45 (We were cookin' and so excited to get to Fiesta Island!)
Cross training: 3 Jillian Michaels workouts
Wore on my long run: Run: Swiftly Racerback and Run:Team Spirit Crops (perfect for the cool muggy morning along the coast)
Favourite song on my run playlist: “American Honey” – Lady Antebellum

6 weeks until race day! Here is my training schedule for the week:
Monday: 4 miles + a picnic at the Zoo
Tuesday: Barry’s Bootcamp + Hot Yoga
Wednesday: Jillian Michaels Workout + 4 miles
Thursday: Barry’s Bootcamp + Yoga
Friday: 8 miles!
Saturday: OTL
Sunday: OTL Championship Game (hopefully that is...)

P.S. Do any of you have any fun summer running activities I can sneak in my runs with? How do you get creative with enjoying summer and your training?

These days it seems we all need a break. We all need a laugh, we all need a break from our lives, and we all need to remember what it is like to be a kid. The past two weekends I was able to escape with my friends and family into a worry free and exceptionally crazy and fun world by means of the 56th annual Over the Line World Championships played on Fiesta Island in San Diego, California.

For those of you that have heard of this legendary tournament, or have even been lucky enough to attend, you know how much ridiculous fun I am talking about. If you haven’t, book your flights for next July to San Diego, it is definitely a spectacle everyone should see and even better participate in at least once in their life. Nearly 1,200 teams composed of men’s and women’s teams ranging from age 21-75 compete every year in this double elimination tournament, and most do not survive past the first day of competition.

The tournament itself attracts a lot of beer, a lot of sun, and the occasional topless woman, but nonetheless serves as a reminder to chill out, play a game, and that life should not be taken too seriously. The game of OTL is played on the beach and can almost be thought of as a combination of baseball, golf and cricket. It is an extremely refined and athletic practice that truly takes years to master. There are 3 players to a team, and the simple object of the game is to hit the ball so that it drops in the sand over the line away from the 3 fielders trying to catch it, which is about 55 feet away from the hitter. If the ball does not travel past the line, it’s an out. The field itself is about 55 feet wide, and as far as you can hit it. Three hits is a run, and any ball that goes past the very last fielder without being touched is a homerun. Seemingly simple, but extremely difficult once you make it past team Hooters or Little Darling’s Showgirls and start playing with the top 10 teams in the world. Literally some people travel all year long to play this game, and I envy them just a little bit.

My team, the “Blonde Beezies” (an amazingly mild OTL team name) has played together for close to 5 years and have set the goal of winning the entire tournament by 2011. Our team collectively has 2 NCAA softball titles, 3 seasons of professional softball, and has only finished in the top 5 of OTL a humbling and sobering one time. We can definitely cover more beach defensively than any team out there, but have been wickedly schooled in the art of OTL hitting. Next year we have vowed to actually practice before the tournament and attempt to refine our hitting.

Despite our shortcomings every year, it is nonetheless my favorite two weekends of the entire summer. My husband and I literally postponed our real honeymoon to play this year. The “Blonde Beezies” placed in the top 10 this year, and most definitely won best dressed thanks to our Electric Orange slipless headbands, Cool Racerbacks, and Coal speed shorts. We were feeling smokin’ haute and were definitely baffling the competition with our outfits alone. The moisture wicking, and coolness of our outfits were absolutely essential on the extremely hot sand, and proved to be much more functional than the bikinis that seems to give other teams sand wedgies and full exposure when diving plays would occur.

Once again disappointed in our finish, the “Blonde Beezies” will nonetheless continue to charge the sands of OTL for years to come and will eventually win this thing. Yet win or lose, we always enjoy the weekend of sun, friends, playtime, beer, occasional Jell-O shots, male followers that heckle our opponents, and truly remembering to take a break from reality and simply enjoy life. Whether you go to this phenomenal tournament to party or compete, everyone at OTL has one thing in common, a smile on their face, most likely a beer in their hand and a cell phone covered in sand and ignoring the outside world. I can’t wait to get back to the sandbox and OTL playground again next year! Maybe the amazingly talented lululemon designers will release a special OTL outfit. A girl can dream right?