the march 2013 running recap.

total run mileage: 65.67 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 29.68 miles
# runs: 11
# rest days: 17

# xtraining workouts: 3

favorite run: the hot chocolate 15k in san diego. the course was pretty rough, i had no idea there were so many hills in san diego! but got to do it with my mom and we had a blast:)

most hardcore run: the 10 miler i did last friday. i skipped the morning run and decided i would do it in the afternoon because i got off work at a decent time. forgot to factor in that it would be 85* at 330p with no clouds, oops. but i got through it and felt very accomplished!

current reads: nothing serious, crud.

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: travel sites! i have some seriously cool things happening the rest of this year and i have been looking things up like a crazy person. tours, places to eat, those cant miss touristy attractions. oh i so have the travel bug!

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current obsession: getting ready for spring! well, the few very short weeks we get here in vegas haha. my flipflops and super cute dresses are all set to come out of the closet!

current drink: water and more water.

current song: such the hopeless romantic:)

current wish-list:

·         a magical shopping spree that i could update all the accessories in my closet

·         another magical shopping spree so i could reinvigorate my closet with things that fit and with the so cute new things on the spring shelves.

·         hey, its a “wishlist”:)

current need: to get back to regular blogging. i think i was trying to “reinvent” the wheel a little bit in what i want this little blog to be. instead im just going to go with the flow and see where it takes me.

current triumph: a successful return to the indoor soccer field! i know that sounds silly, but i havent played in years, literally. crazy how it all comes back so quickly and naturally. and im having a blast!

current bane of my existence: taxes. they are just mean. enough said.

current goal: to remember this…

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current indulgence: easter candy…well these specifically…

current excitement: two pretty fun plans finally fell into place in the last week. funny how those things happen on their own, when they are supposed too. and they both involve traveling to fun new places! more details on both soon:) i told ya, my travel bug is getting out of control!

the saints & sinners 1/2 marathon report.

so i got a little crazy a few months back and decided i wanted to see how far i could push myself as a runner. that got me thinking about something called the half fanatics, a group dedicated to crazy 1/2 marathoners. this is the one i pursued...

NEPTUNE

1. 2 Half Marathons within a 16 day time frame.

2. 3 Half Marathons within a 90 day time frame.

_______________________________________________________________

there are lots of other options that just get crazier and crazier as the levels go up, like doing 12-18 half marathons in 365 days. wow that makes my body cringe just thinking about it!

anyway. i hadnt really told very many people that i was going to do this in case it didnt really happen number 1. then i didnt want someone to try and talk me out of it so i kept it kind of quiet until friday night when i posted this pic on facebook and twitter...

right away most of my running friends liked it, thank goodness. so i headed off to bed for a very early wake up call at 430am! the race was out near the hoover dam so it would take about 45 minutes to get there plus i was budgetting for traffic just in case. it was set to be a small race, 1st year, small company, and not tons of press. after all the craziness at nike i was more than excited about a small race. it was also right before halloween so they were really encouraging people to dress up for the event. i had found a great set of ladybug wings awhile back at target and decided thats what i would dress up as. so i bought a red team sparkle skirt to complete the outfit. but by the time i went back to get the wings they were long gone and i didnt know what to be! luckily some twitter friends had great suggestions, superman, a red m&m, ladybug, superwoman, and mrs incredible:) i still really wanted to be a ladybug but would use superwoman as my back up just in case. somehow my mom and i found wings just in time in the baby section at a halloween store and antennas to match. phew!

back to the early wake up call, sorry, tangent. i was out of bed pretty quick knowing that i needed to start the fueling process and secure the wings of my costume since my tank top was finally clean. both went smoothly and we were out the door just about on time. the drive was easy even though the sign they kept talking about at packet pickup for the turn was barely visible. my mom came with me and we both huddled in the car as long as possible since the wind was blowing like crazy plus the sun wasnt up so i was freezing. finally deciding to get out and hit up the bathroom we went at the perfect time for just a little bit of a line, but a monster one when i was finished.

mission accomplished!

soon it was time to head to the start line and that meant taking off my jacket, yuck. the start line began at bootleg canyon then winded across to the 6 tunnels and back to the finish line at boulder beach (where i finished my triathlon!). i took my inhaler and lined up with the under 2 hour group. the course was supposed to be super flat and mostly downhill so i was going with my dream goal of breaking 2 hours, but lined up in the back of the group just in case. we sang the national anthem and were off! talk about a downhill mile, whoa. i actually hit a 7:45 minute mile for the 1st one! after seeing that i knew i needed to slow down otherwise i would never make it 12 more, but it was soo hard with all the downhills. there was a pretty good size uphill that slowed me down a little. after that it was pretty flat for awhile.

we weaved our way over on the mostly flat straightaway to the tunnels and passed the relay point which meant we were also halfway! i got to see sandy there since she was handing out glowsticks so people could see each other in the tunnels (ps we really did not need them at all). i kept checking my watch at this point as i had set a goal for my self that in order to hit the under 2 hour mark i needed to be at the 10 mile marker when my garmin said 1:30. this way if I totally bonked i only had 3 more miles and 30 minutes to do it in.

now to get to the tunnels you need to run up a slight gradual hill. its really not bad, gives you a great view, and we ran it last year at the turkey trot so i knew what to expect. the suckiest part is that this portion is all gravel. i mean loose gravel. i hate trails, im not any good at them and am clumsy enough on solid ground, i don't need big rocks to help me take a tumble. luckily we hit the 7 mile marker as we went in and i was still feeling really good. now once we got to the tunnels the terrrain is really packed in there and much finer dust so it's was easier to run on. before i knew it we were at the turnaround to go back through and down to the beach!

i grabbed a gu (that tasted awful) because i knew I couldn't finish 4.5 more miles without some kind of fuel. on facebook the race people kept posting they would do "saint" tables with water/fruit and "sinner" tables with gatordae/donuts. i kept waitin for those darn donuts and never saw 1! anyway when we came out of the tunnels my garmin kept disconnecting of course, so now my mileage was off a bit. but the stopwatch was right on target so i went with that instead. i hit the 10 mile marker at about 1:28 and knew i only had 3 more miles, i could break it.

the last 3 were all downhill and on pavement, thank god. it all looked familiar as it was the same path I ran in april. this time I knew what to look for and knew when I was getting closer and closer. finally I hit the 12 mile marker at 1:48 and could feel myself start smiling. I just had to keep it together for 1 more mile. in the past few miles I had started really feeling how hard I was running and it began catching up with me. but there was no way I was giving this up or letting it slip away in the last mile.

as i turned down the final path i saw my mom who jumped up and started cheering while rounded into the finishers chute. i was able to pick it up that last bit and saw a clock that blazed 1:57:xx and my name as i crossed that line!! i had really broken the elusive sub-2 hour. wow. i got my medal from a super cute girl and hobbled down a bit to find my mom. bonus of a small race she was right there and i was able to celebrate with her right away:) i found sandy close after and then ran into a few other runner friends where we all compared notes as usual lol.

1/2 marathon #10!
1:57:15.

finally ready to refuel i headed over to grab some water and chocolate milk everyone was drinking (yes!) to find it all in a bit of a different container. one of the big sponsors for the race was a mortuary in boulder city and so instead of the standard ice chests keeping things cold, everything was iced down in a coffin. weird. and very halloweeny haha.

my mama:)
such an awesome support team!

we stayed around for a few minutes and the beginning of the awards, just in case, ha! then the hunger hit. my mom and i headed back into town for breakfast at the cracked egg, one of our favorite places and were greeted with this...

pumpkin chocolate chip coffee cake.
YUM!

the next morning/afternoon i woke up super super sore. way more than i was after nike for sure, i think because i didnt walk around nearly as much as we did in san francisco. but i walked downstairs to find these waiting for me:)

soo sweet.

the january running recap.

total run mileage: 81.67 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 21.33 miles
# runs: 12
# rest days: 12

# xtraining workouts: 7

favorite run: the tinkerbell ½ marathon of course! the miles ticked by and i got to take pictures with some of my most beloved disney characters, how could it be anything but my favorite;)

princess heaven :)

most hardcore run: it was only a 4+ miler, but hands down the one i ran 2 days into the new year. awful might be an understatement. i was majorly feeling the effects of my new years eve partying and remembered why i have changed my life for the better and made the adjustments to running. it reminded me why i do what i do and the reason i eat the way i do.

current reads:  eeek! i didn’t read anything this month. well as long as the research articles and textbooks don’t count.

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: hot chocolate. since cutting out ice cream and not having fun coffee this seems to be makes its way into my cups more often. it’s a happy medium that probably shouldn’t be there, but i let it anyway:)

current obsession: our new wall decal! its sooo cute and i have been dying for one to decorate the bedroom for a long time. i was pretty sure richard wasn’t going to love the idea, but he actually picked this one and wants to buy more for other rooms!

seriously love.

current drink: this month it was all about water and gatorade.

current song: ours by taylor swift. have you seen the video, seriously so good!

current wish-list: a new camera. i bought my current one about 4 ½ years ago and it really is time for a new one. i was hoping to purchase one before i leave for england, but its just not quite in the budget. 

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current need: to make decisions haha. im toying around with some races and need to just decide. oh the inward battle of a runner :)

current triumph: my rockin time at tinkerbell! im riding this wave as long as possible:)

current bane of my existence: the feeling of not having any me-time. i have rest days planned in and i take them gladly but they seem to fill up quickly with all the things i cant always do during the week. some weeks i feel like i am just running around like a chicken with my head cut off. maybe in february i can find some space for my own time:)

current goal: to break in my new running shoes! i had to finally buy new shoes and they showed up when i got back from tinkerbell. i don’t really have a training plan yet for my next thing (whatever that may be) so i just want to have fun breaking them in.

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current indulgence: mug cakes. seriously, have you tried them yet? so good and easy!

current excitement: officially finishing all 3 races in 16 weeks successfully. i didn’t have to walk, or scale back, or cut something out to make them happen, i just did it. and keeping a real life around it. i know that sounds silly, but sometimes this can be all encompassing and i was determined not to let and was successful:)

the tinkerbell half marathon race report.

a rundisney race was the second race i ever participated in and it changed my life forever:) now thats dramatic i know, but seriously disney knows how to put on a fantastic race. i started at disneyworld with the princess 1/2 marathon and have now completed 2 at disneyland. i cant lie, disneyworld set the bar high and has things california just cant compete with. keeping that in mind disneyland does an amazing job, its disney how could they not.

the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon was announced in april and the second i heard about it i called my mom and did the little bit of convincing i needed to have a partner in crime sign up with me. we decided to make it a girls weekend since it was an all-women's race and leave all the boys at home. it was a great decision and just what we both needed to get away. we stayed at a hotel just across the street from where we stayed the last time we did the disneyland 1/2 marathon a year and a half ago so we could take the shuttle back and forth, especially on race morning.

a 3am alarm is awfully early and loud. we had to be out the door by 345a so we could be at the shuttle 4a to be at the starting line in time. the shuttle dropped us off at the disneyland entrance meaning we had to get to the other side of downtown disney to drop off our stuff and get into the corrals. once we got to the pre-party we used the bathrooms, got our things together, and dropped our bag at the gear check then separating into our corrals. i had landed corral a and mom got into corral c! we were both wayyy excited about moving up for this race. they always want you to be in the corrals sooo early that there was a lot of cold standing around and waiting till we could get started. i ate my protein bar about 15 minutes before the start and was soooo ready to go.

at the pre-race party!

tinkerbell sent us off almost right on time. we headed around the park, did some weaving around the outside, then the inside, and finally got into the magic kingdom at mile 2. the best part of the race is getting to run through the park and see all the characters! its soooo cool and one of the greatest things about being in corral a is being in the front which meant much shorter lines at all the characters. i was pretty much able to walk right up or there was only 1 person in front.

the 1st stop was my favorite:)

heroes!

princess aruora and prince phillip.

captain jack.

pochontas!

we passed the 5k mark and i was feeling great. i was finally warm and super excited from all the character sightings. we made it out of the park and passed the 4 mile mark in downtown disney to round the corner by the disneyland hotel to be greeted by a huge group of ladies from the red hat society! they were cheering and clapping, it was so cool. finally out of the streets we weaved around the freeway and over to the ducks training center to find the 10k mark and i knew we were almost halfway. i was feeling good and loving the fact i had soo much space on the street after the packed vegas race. plus i had never seen so many tutus and wings in my life!

one of the greatest things about disney races is they always put cheerleaders/groups/bands near the mile markers so you can always hear when you are getting close and know you are about to check off another mile. after crossing mile 7 i knew all i had to do was run back to disneyland and cross the line. my hip started to hurt a little around mile 8 but i had a mental battle with myself to keep it in check till the race was over.

we headed around a corner to pass mile 9 and i was ready for some gu, i had started getting hungry just passed mile 7 but knew i had to be close. clif bar did a great job supplying plenty and having it very well marked instead of having people yelling flavors at you they had huge flags by each table with the flavors on them. i was super excited to grab the chocolate gu, gladly ripped it open, and quickly downed it. by mile 10 i had all the kick i needed to make it the last 5k. plus there was a dad cheering us on saying all we had to do was make it back to the park then we could enjoy churros! it was so funny and his 2 kids were very excited every time he mentioned churros.

finally we got to katella and headed down disney way toward mile 11. a girl caught up with me i had seen earlier in the day and we started talking about wearing the same skirt! she told me she was training for a 50 miler and i told her i was trying to beat 2:20. i was wayyy on track to beat the crap out of that time and it was great to talk to someone that late it pushed me to the end.

we headed into california adventure and i couldnt wait to see who was going to be out! i got so excited to see sully from monsters inc but the sun got in my picture and it didnt come out:( we weaved through the rest of the park and passed mile 12, embarking on the loooongest 1.1 mile ever. luckily we passed some pixar friends and got out of the back of the park.

i took this one just for richard:)

the army guys loved my green sleeves!

i kept passing spectators that said "the finish line is right around the corner." then there was another corner, and another one. finally i saw and heard the finish line! i threw up my hands and high-fived mickey mouse as i crossed the finish line! there were people and cameras everywhere but all i cared about was the time i saw on the clock while crossing the line. i knew i had beat my goal, actually i smoked it! 2:05:30:)!!

after grabbing my blanket and medal i stopped by the water tent to get something to drink and powerade. it was getting warm and there were people starting to flow in so i found a spot in the open area to wait for my mom. i started getting really hungry and uncomfortable sitting on the ground after a little bit. i tried to go get my phone out of my gear bag but had to get the whole thing instead (lame) and headed back to the open area to wait for her. luckily they now have runner tracking they can send to your phone so i knew when she would be crossing.

almost right on time, actually a few minutes early, i found her! she looked great and i was ready to get out of there. finally her time came over as we hobbled back down downtown disney at 3:14:31! she was going for sub-3:19, meaning she rocked it:)

we finished smoked it!

this race was seriously so fun! it was so women infused and celebratory. afterward we went to breakfast, took a nap, and headed to the park for the rest of the day. i wore my race shirt and everywhere we went we saw ladies with medals and people kept congratulating us on finishing. its a great spirit lifter! if you are a runner, this is definitely a race to put on your calendars:)

the halloween party.

i really go back and forth on my love for halloween.  now part of me likes the costumes and candy and the fact that it usually means we are finally getting cooler weather.  the other part of me hates the scariness factor and the need for girls to dress like whores and the pressure to come up with the perfect costume.   last year i spent so much money on my dorothy costume.  now it was cute as hell, and probably shorter then it should have been, but i made a vow this year to not spend nearly the money.  see last year i waited so long to figure out if i was going to dress up and what i would be that to get all the parts of my costume i needed to do express shipping to get them all here on time.  big mistake for a costume i have one picture in and spent about 4 hours in.

this year my priorities were a little different.  first i participated in a really fun 5k on thursday night with my mom.  i actually dragged up enough courage to run through 2 graveyards in an etchy-sketchy part of las vegas for a really good cause, the easter seals of nevada.  you also had to dress up for the event!  now that i am a running costume pro i was actually excited to go.  i went as a fairy and mom went as a deviled egg!  we both shattered our 5k times mine @26:38 and mom @38:26.  and mom even won 2nd place in her age group!  we celebrated at metro pizza naturally:)

friday was all about voting, the start of my 3-day weekend, and carving pumpkins.  it was the last day for early voter registration and unless i wanted to drive back up to shelia tarr on tuesday i had to vote friday.  so after a delicious lunch at raising canes with tiffany i went off to do my patriotic duty and cast my early vote.  as i was pulling in richard calls to say he finally going to get the pumpkin carving kit we found 2 weeks ago, that i had been asking hime to pick back up since he was home during the day.  i had just come from picking up the same kit.  there was quite a line, but it went through really quickly.  i made a bee line for home because i was so excited about carving pumpkins.  i hadnt carved one in a few years and richard had never carved one, this was going to be fun.

we had picked our pumpkins the weekend before at the grocery store and each had weighed in at about 16 pounds with excellent stems.  those are very important you know.  once you have the perfect pumpkin it is all about the perfect pattern to carve.  i had chosen a very cute mummy, but richard was all over the place being super indecisive.  so we lay out all the newspaper on the kitchen floor, tools ready, and big knives set to carve.  as i start to cut out the lid, richard starts reading the directions from the pattern book and looking at me like i am doing it all wrong.  of all things i know how to carve a perfect pumpkin.  once the lid is off i start digging out all the gooey stuff inside, loving every minute.  richard takes one look inside my pumpkin and the things i am pulling out and i thought he was going to tell me i am on my own!  finally he starts carving out the lid and begins gingerly pulling out the gooey guts. 

he looks so uncomfortable, at this point i cant help but laugh.  he pulls out the bare minimum and claims he is finished and has a idea for his pumpkin.  earlier he decided we will both carve individual pumpkins and then we let his friends decide, who were coming over the next evening, who the better pumpkin was.

after helping in the search for a thundercat logo and hearing the complaints about the printer, i knew my pumpkin carving championship was over.  i mean it was a really good idea and i wish i come up with something cool as well, but come on your friends and thundercats, there was no way i was winning.  as he started poking out the pattern he realized he hadnt cleaned out the pumpkin nearly enough, so he started digging again.  about an hour later our pumpkins were complete!  the thundercat logo did look really cool and when it was lit up, man you could tell i wasnt going to win.  see example a.

later that night when richard went to work the baking bug had taken over.  i had been desperately looking for a reason to bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and knew that the small halloween/housewarming party we were having the next night was the perfect excuse.  while i know that not everyone likes the cookies-fools-i also made halloween funfetti cupcakes.  i made a special cupcake for richard with lots of frosting, he was not so impressed.  and forget the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, he was way not havin that.  i knew the next day we were going to need to buy candy so he would have some snacks. 

there was originally quite the dilemma about how to decorate.  i like the cutesy/kid version of halloween with smiley faces and candy.  richard likes the all out scary, mean, the more terrifying the better.  he learned first hand how scared i am of, well everything when we were in walmart and he made me burst into tears over a giant stuffed red-eye scary rat.  while he still thinks its funny, we scaled back on the decorations.  we started the evening with a few friends coming by early to hang out and begin the drinking early.  richard borrowed the deviled egg costume and it was a big hit.  it also could have been the fact he was already pretty buzzed by the time the rest of the group came by.  we had found some pretty good quality alcohol while unpacking the things from richards storage unit so had a good base going into the evening.  richard even gave a cribs tour of the apartment to vanessa, it was hilarious.  partially because your tour is by a deviled egg and partially because richard is pretty buzzed.

many drinks later we headed out to kellys for an evening filled with karoke, more drinking, vanessa stumbling to tylers car about 5 minutes after we got there, richard sleeping in the bar before going on stage, and a costume contest won by a man dressed as an unattractive woman. 

all in all this was a very successful halloween weekend.  a good mix of kid halloween and grown-up halloween.  a small successful housewarming party where lots of alcohol was consumed.  and possibly a few new traditions were formed.