When you're at the gym strength training, it's unlikely that you imagine yourself hauling a 50-pound block of cheese uphill or dead-lifting a pig on spit. However, if these fantasies entertain you, you should consider auditioning for The Amazing Race. I spoke with half the winning team from this season, Tammy Jih. She's a corporate lawyer in San Francisco and totally charming to boot. Not only do we live in the same town, but we both work out with the same trainer, Hannah, at Equinox — it's a small world. The Amazing Race is an intensely physical competition. Having never been athletic, Tammy started training in the pool once she knew she would be on the show. She didn't know really know how to swim and was certain there would be a water challenge. What she didn't know was that she would be swimming in Beijing, in the warm-up pool used by the Olympians, wearing a LZR suit. Learn what Tammy found to be the hardest challenge when you read more.

Aside from wearing a state-of-the-art swimsuit, the other fitness clothing Tammy swears by is lululemon. She told me

"I brought one pair of pants and one pair of capris that were both lululemon, but that material just works so well in the warm and the hot that I wore the capris under the long pants when I needed like a double layer . . . oh, it was cold! We went to Siberia . . . so it was cold!"

Unfortunately the challenge in Siberia involved running in underwear, and of course the challenge was filmed from behind. After going through so many challenges that pushed her emotionally as well as physically, this challenge was the hardest for her. She explains:

"I kept saying 'stop filming me from behind!' and I kept getting yelled at by the producers saying 'stop talking to the camera!' and I said, 'I don’t think you understand. No woman wants to see what they look like from behind in movement and in underwear!'"

In retrospect Tammy says she wished she had done more strength training before the show, but she still works out twice a week with Hannah and now she strength trains. She said, "Sometimes I imagine that we're still racing! When I'm running outside sometimes I'm imagining 'Oh! [Host of the show] Phil's going to be waiting for me, I better hurry up!'" The Amazing Race continues to inspire Tammy, even after she she won. Pretty cool, no? I probably won't be auditioning for the show anytime soon, but I am definitely going to watch next season. How about you?

Photo courtesy of CBS