Four years ago I moved away from San Diego after I retired as an athlete and was heading into a new career field. I had gotten hired as a pharmaceutical sales rep with an LA territory, and my life was taking a pivot. It was not a huge move— San Diego to Los Angeles hardly qualifies as a big change. But the overall look of my life was a complete makeover.

I was bummed to be leaving San Diego, but it wasn’t long before life in LA started to grow on me again. I had friends and family nearby, there were great restaurants and cool, hipster coffee shops on every other corner. I also had a ton of awesome boutique workout studios to choose from for all my new civilian workouts, and began to take advantage of all the great things that make LA an awesome place to live (from the opinions of everyone who doesn’t hate LA).