About Me

These sections always fill me with trepidation.

Start with the basics, Laura.

My name is Laura and I’m 30-something. I started this blog because my mother told me to. Really. You know when you really love something and its all you talk about? I was cooking all the time, reading food blogs, and developing a fascination with fitness and how food can fuel AND be delicious. My one-track mind was probably annoying to everyone around me. When mom suggested I start my own blog ~~rather than continue to bore my family and friends~~ it made sense!

I’ve been writing Sprint 2 the Table for nearly 7 years. The blog has evolved and life certainly has changed, but the food love remains the same. Two years ago, I got married and moved to San Diego from Atlanta, GA. It’s been one amazing adventure after another! You’ll see me write about Vegas and her reaction to the creations I put on her plate.

Me and Vegas getting married at Lake Tahoe, après ski-style.

Selfishly, I love how blogging has provided me some accountability. At the end of the summer in 2010 I stepped on the scale for the first time in months. Normally I am not a big fan of weighing, but when I couldn’t button the pants I was wearing just 4 months earlier I wondered exactly what had happened. 15 lbs happened. I’m 5’2… 15 lbs = 2 pants sizes. Apparently the summer months were fun-filled!

However, my diet of burgers and beer caught up with me (I seem to remember my dad warning me about one’s metabolism slowing around age 27…). Since then I have overhauled my diet, focusing on eating cleaner but not feeling deprived.

Food

Do you have those go-to people in your life? Maybe its the neighbor you ask for a cup of sugar? The co-worker you can always find tickets to a baseball game? The mom/aunt/grandmother you call when you’re trying desperately to save the rug you just dumped a glass of red wine on?

That’s me when you want a restaurant or recipe.

Restaurant recommendations? It’s safe to bet that I’ve eaten there. New recipe? I probably have twenty. My Pinterest boards are at an out-of-control level – filled with treats to bake, veggies to roast, and flavor combinations to experiment with.

My passions in life are travel, food, and wine. In another life I may have been a chef/restaurant owner (or I may be later in this life…). A 2 week northern Italian vacation to visit wineries and sample the local fare only fueled the fire. I hope to go back and help with a harvest of grapes!

Somebody pinch me

I’m making an effort point my food-love in a healthy direction by creating, testing, and sharing more good-for-you recipes here. But there may be the occasional ganache-filled cupcake delicacy. Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Thankfully, I like to stay active. I love to lift weights – I have a training certification and have competed in 4 figure competitions. I’ll play just about any sport, take boxing lessons, run, and try just about anything I can get my hands on.

Figure Competitions

In June of 2012 my knee quit. My ACL was hanging on by a thread and the doctor told me I could either stop running distances or have surgery. I (mostly) stopped running more than a few miles at a time. Being without a challenge isn’t my style, so I decided to do something I’d thought about for a long time – train to be a figure competitior.

I found an amazing trainer and entered my first competition at the end of 2012. Shockingly, I placed 4th in my class! The bug has bitten me and I’m still training hard to keep advancing.

I’m on the far right

Running

Much like Forrest Gump, one day I just started running. The reason? Probably the same reason I do most things in life – just to see if I can. I signed up for a 5K in the fall of 2007 and have been running ever since. I ran my first (and last) half marathon on Thanksgiving Day 2009.

Adventure races have been an addiction. I took a Tough Mudder beating and did an 8 hour run-bike-canoe race.

Tough Mudder 2011… 4 weeks after breaking my jaw.

Softball

I have played softball for as long as I can remember. It’s been a great connector in my life. My dad and I bonded over it when he coached my teams growing up. It is where I met my best friend. As an adult, I played softball on a team in Atlanta… which is how I met my wife!

These women are some of my favorite people – always there for a good game, a big laugh, and many escapades I will never document.

Roller Derby

Did I mention that I do things just to see if I can? Enter roller derby. I went to a bout with part of the softball crew in the summer of 2009 and thought “I bet I could do that!” I went to a workshop and the rest was history. Derby taught me that I can push myself much further than I ever thought possible, and that has impacted me in every aspect of my life.

Unfortunately, I broke my jaw during an expo game and decided maybe it was time to retire. I still love my ninja team – the Sake Tuyas!