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High on Life and Weimaraners...

Thursday, 31 December 2015 06:10

ED. This encore post first appeared on December 13, 2014.

GOING "OFF COURSE" - In her totally good blog, "sweetsweatlife.com," which we highly recommend, ever-caffinated suburban (Apple Valley) triathlete erin klegstad describes herself thus: "i'm erin...triathlete, yogi, lover of life, happiness, dogs, the ocean, espresso and travel. chasing big dreams and finish lines."

Her words tell us so much about her. First thing we noticed is that she is an "Anti-Capitalist." No, we are not saying that she is against free enterprise. We're saying that she doesn't like to use capital letters. There is probably a syndrome with its own acronym about this, but we don't know what it is.

We also think it's cool that she is a yogi. You certainly wouldn't surmise her yogihood just by looking at her, proving the point that not all yogis are sedentary, mountain-dwelling, robe-wearers with lapsed hygiene and scraggly beards. Clean, athletic, city-dwelling women can be yogis, too. The next time we see erin  we are going ask her to demonstrate the classic yogi pose, the one where legs are crossed and the palms of the feet face upward. How do they do that? ...

erin is one of the most complex individuals we've ever profiled. She willingly drinks beet juice (photo above L) and is the only person we know who knows what is in a Hardanger Sandwich. She is also the only person we know who used to weigh garbage trucks for a living. Because she was born and raised near Karlstad, Minnesota, which is, we're not making this up, "The Moose Capitol of the North," we know that her Scandihoovian roots run deep. We suspect that she has eaten Lutefisk on purpose and smeared lingonberry jam on the Swedish pancakes she used to order at the Nordhem Restaurant, which is the "Swedish Pancakes Capitol of the North."

She knows where Maldives is. Who else can say that?

klegstad has great legs and a "thing" for Jimmy Fallon. Sometimes she falls down in public and she prefers Mexican Coke (Mexi-Coke) to American Coke. We trust her when she says that she can tell the difference.

erin klegstad lives her life in a robust way and has a magnetic personality. She is one of those people who are impossible to dislike. To learn more about this fascinating woman, please check out her answers to our questionnaire. And the next time you see her, introduce yourself (unless you know her already) and ask her if she agrees that "Yellow" is Coldplay's best song ever.

Finally, we thank erin for allowing us to go way off course with her.

BACKGROUND:

Name? erin klegstad (always with a lowercase e)

Age? New AG this year… I’m 35 in December!

Where you live now? Apple Valley           

Where were you born? Karlstad, Minnesota

Education? Where? Degrees?

BA, English, University of Minnesota, Morris, 2002

MA, strategic communication, University of Minnesota, 2011

Occupation? PR manager

Dream Job if you could do anything you want? Doctor or professional cyclist / triathlete

Former Occupations? (Anything weird or embarrassing here?) First jobs after college: newspaper reporter and editor. Favorite jobs were lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons. One of my first jobs (and the worst one) was weighing garbage trucks at the local landfill; it smelled SO BAD.

Family? Wife? Husband? Kids? My boyfriend, Nick Weiler.

Pets? Names? Zoey, a 14-year-old weimaraner

Tattoos? Other cool mutilations? No tattoo yet!

Best physical feature? I’ve been told it’s my legs.

Anything you wish you could change about yourself? Maybe just my genetically imperfect half eyebrows ;)

Pet Peeves? Incorrect apostrophe use; shortened words (think: thx, TY, etc.); random capitalization.

Bad Habits? Too much time tethered to my iPhone!

Embarrassing Moments? I’ve been that girl running down Summit (both on the sidewalk and the median trail) who’s tripped and gone flying face first into the pavement. The few times it’s happened, I’ve quickly gotten up to dust myself off and look around to make sure no one saw. Another embarrassing moment: I had just biked through the Kellogg / West 7th intersection downtown Saint Paul in front of the Xcel Center when, at that two-second moment when the light from all directions is red, I tipped over in slow motion as I was turning. It was rush hour. After I removed the impaled front chain ring from my calf, I had a pretty sweet Cat 7 tat.

FAVORITES:

Movies? Anything from the Banff Film Festival world tour, the Holiday, Fight Club, Vanilla Sky, Good Will Hunting, Love and Other Drugs.

Actors/Actresses? Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lawrence.

TV Shows? Parenthood (so sad it’s the farewell season!). Grey’s Anatomy, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. HGTV.

TV Stars? Jimmy Fallon.

Books? I’m a voracious reader… recent favorite reads include Daring Greatly by Brené Brown; Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand; The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown; Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. Currently reading The Champion’s Mind by Jim Afremow.

Authors? None specifically.

Musicians/bands? Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Parachute; Girl Talk while suffering on the trainer.

Songs? None specifically, but I love nearly all songs by the above musicians above. Currently obsessed with the podcast Serial.

Restaurants? Birchwood Café; 112 Eatery; Hola Arepa; Shish; Happy Gnome; Juice So Good.

Meals? Love a good home cooked meal… chicken, sweet potatoes sautéed in coconut oil + cinnamon, coconut rice, Brussels sprouts, bison burgers on the grill. Also love my morning double shot espresso with full-fat coconut milk (made in the Bialetti!).

Junk Food? Dark chocolate, the bittersweet chocolate cookie from Rustica, coconut macaroons, Mexi Coke… I don’t eat a lot of junk food other than sweets.

Favorite Crunchy Snack Food? Nothing better than straight up Kettle potato chips after a long workout. Also love Envirokidz peanut butter panda puffs.

Favorite Pizza? Birchwood Café gluten-free.

Favorite Ice Cream? Izzy’s or Talenti salted caramel (pretty sure we kept Talenti in business during IMWI training this past year) and lemon gelato from Cow Bella in Saint Paul.

Favorite Hamburger? The 112 burger.

Favorite Alcoholic Beverages? Pino Nior, Malbec, or Far North Spirits spiced rum mixed with hot apple cider.

Non-tri hobbies? Knitting in the winter, reading, blogging, home improvement, spending time with my sister and niece.

Dream vacation destination? Maldives, Norway, Patagonia, Vietnam, Hawaii.

Dream Car? A Trek Speed Concept Project One WSD… way cooler than a car.

Anything you’d like to add about yourself? Two things: 1. I met my boyfriend Nick at the Summit + Hamline stoplight while both of us were out on a bike ride. I was waiting on my Madone for the light to change when he rolled up on his tri bike. We biked to the cathedral, exchanged numbers and have been together ever since. 2. I love spending time with my sister, Ami, and almost two-year-old niece, Finley!