Yesterday, I noticed a couple of booths as I cruised through the Expo Hall (a girl's gotta check out the shoe selection . . .). My eye caught a commotion in the aisle as the Hoop Girls went into action, hooping frantically. They were an agile group, and the hoops were neon-colored and looked fun for kids and adults. As I flew by another corner, I noticed a woman in a state of happiness as she stood calmly while someone from Sun Laboratories sprayed a lovely, even tan over her legs.

Some brief notes on some of the Friday and Saturday morning sessions I covered:

Jenna A. Bell Wilson, PhD, RD, LD, and certified specialist in sports dietetics offered a well-researched session on nutrition for the ultra athlete. Jenna told me before class that she recently ran her first triathlon and also that she coaches private groups and a few pro tri-athletes. One of her key concerns is the importance of eating for high-endurance athletes. For example, in the Iron Man race, you could say that the fourth event is eating--it's that critical for endurance success and to avoid "bonking," or hitting the wall. Jenna related an ultra athletes' inside joke she found printed on an Iron Man T-shirt: "Oh, you ran a marathon? That's so cute!"

Casey Conrad, in her session, "Sales Strategies for the Non-salesperson," identified the number one skill in sales: Learn to identify what a potential client needs by letting the person talk and listening. The more the person tells you about their needs, the more opportunity you have to sell.

In "Lights, Camera, Action," Scott Cole presented useful and practical advice for marketing yourself to the media. Many of the ideas, such as preparing a media kit or contacting a radio station, are not hard. As Scott often says, you just have to "get on it!"

Now back to the shoe shopping . . .