the 2011 running recap.

in 2011 my running went to a whole new height. each 1/2 marathon i did i scored a pr! i didnt get into nike but had a fantastic end of the year streak with a little experiment. plus i started holiday running, which means silly outfits! it made me realize that even in sports you have to silly sometimes:)

january~26 miles

i joined daily mile! i decided this was the year i was going to track my progress and starting to time my runs. if i was going to really do it, i had to do it right. plus i was starting my nashville cycle and i was curious how many miles i was running in a cycle. no time like the new year to start keeping track!

february~44.4 miles

the wheels were turning about what i wanted out of this year race wise and what i wanted to turn my blog into. i didnt blog nearly enough in february i realize now. but who doesnt love a little love:)

my valentines day present!

march~63.66  miles

a few girls from work decided they wanted to join the runner craze and do a 5k with me. we had a blast and kristle took 2nd place in our age group, i took 3rd! plus i dipped my toe in the runner talk on my blog:)

to catch a leprechaun 5k!

i also started to get a little restless about not racing distances and realized that i probably needed to do it more often!

april~80.3 miles


i completed 1/2 marathon #4 where it all began! richard and i got to go to our 1st race by ourselves. i turned him around the wrong way, but he trekked his way to the finish line to see me at the end. amazing:)

country music 1/2 marathon
nashville, tn

may~36.57 miles

i learned the value of a runner group! i joined the sin city road runners and am soooo glad i got to met some new runner friends:) and i hit my 2 year runniversary!

it gets hot in vegas!!

june~43.7 miles

i know its not running, but i conquered the grand canyon! we went hiking/camping up and down the canyon with great friends:)

july~62.64 miles

richard and i celebrated our 2 year anniversary! plus we got to watch lots of womens soccer for the world cup and i got inspired for fitness. i know it sounds silly, but watching those women was sooo cool!

silly love:)

august~80.91 miles

i decided to embarq on a crazy race season to join in on a few new fun things! after not getting into nike i signed up for long beach instead then joined into the vegas 1/2 marathon which was running for the 1st time at night and signed up for the inagural tinkerbell 1/2 in disneyland. 3 1/2s in 16 weeks? it was going to be interesting:)

thank goodness for these guys keeping me on track!

september~92.66 miles

i turned 26 and had my highest mileage of the year! i was definitely getting ready for long beach:) and i got to the 9/11 run which was amazing and so moving.

mandy chang #1212

october~73.94 miles

the return to long beach was complete, with a huge 10 minute pr from nashville! then a week later i joined debi on her 40 miler for her 40th birthday. seriously this lady knows how to rock!

long international city bank 1/2 marathon
long beach, ca

november~92.64 miles

my mom and i completed our 1st turkey trot and our 1st trail run! it was cool to do it out at the dam, but i dont think trail running is for me, im wayy to girly for that:)

the 12k turkey trot
hoover dam, nv

december~66.69 miles

i got to experience the craziness of the vegas rock and roll 1/2 marathon with 43,999 of my closest friends. it was also the 2nd stop on race season craze and it felt fantastic. i had a very quick 8 week turnaround and my body responded great! i felt so ready for the race and a finish just shy (38 seconds to be exact) of my dream pr.

rock and roll las vegas 1/2 marathon
the strip, las vegas, nv

come run with santa 5k
las vegas, nv

total for 2011... 768.89 miles!!!

thank you for reading my all about all about living with a boy and my crazy running adventures. i cant wait to see what 2012 will bring! im ready:)

the christmas story-the 2nd chapter.

i know i am a little late on this, theres been a lot going on with holidays/work/training/life in general. plus i wanted to make sure i put my full time into it. christmas is a super special holiday to me. i have loved it forever and even my 3 seasons in retail couldnt shake my true love for it. i love to decorate and shop and give and be involved in traditions. it makes my heart warm and fuzzy for days:)

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this was richard and i's 2nd christmas together so this time we already had the basics. we got to focus more of our money on the gifts and the season this year rather than the apartment. the 2nd year also meant there were some traditions in place for ourselves. for example christmas pjs, we'll get to that story.

i had changed my mind on what to buy richard quite a few times but always came back to the same basics. he had been telling me for weeks that he wanted clothes, which i was very excited about because hello im a girl:) but they arent the funnest christmas gifts to buy. the other issue was that he loves express, i means loves. he will find things in there that i also love on him but express is expensive. one can not buy their entire wardrobe in there on a reasonable budget. the problem is he falls in love there and wont shop anywhere else. so my plan was to buy a few there and then hope he liked the other great things i found. when the extra money i had set aside for something else fell through i was actually able to score great deals during 1 of there holiday sales! i knew he would love it and its what he really wanted.

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as christmas got closer presents started to arrive under the tree and this year a few of mine where under there before christmas eve! we shopped for each other and friends and families, this year was actually a really fun shopping year! we also for the 1st time made a christmas card to send to friends and family. i (the hopeless romantic) have always dreamt about it for years and ran out of time last year, so i made sure this season it was a priority. it came out amazing!

finally it was christmas weekend and we were making final plans. we spend christmas eve at our house making pizza and watching love actually (yay!) after richard got home from work, then wake up on christmas do our own thing and head over to my parents house before everyone else got there to do a family christmas. great plan! even if my family kept trying to change things. i did my long run saturday and met tiffany to exchange presents as richard left for work. we came home later that evening and i got to cook dinner and he fell asleep while we watched the movie. afterward as i was heading to bed i tried to give richard his pjs so he could wake up and wear them on christmas, big mistake. he got pretty mad that i had told him we were doing a gift christmas eve (even though i did the exact same thing last year) and he didnt have anything for me to open. i kept telling him that wasnt the point, i already had my pjs, it was his turn. we finally compromised on that would be the 1st gift he opened so he could put them on (boys!).

christmas morning came and richard was actually up before the alarm! i had set it for 9a so we could make breakfast and have plenty of time for presents before going to my parents. as soon as i was up richard wanted to open presents. i told him no way, we could do stockings and then ill make breakfast then we can open the rest. that was a no go. so i made breakfast then we opened it all. except he kept trying to make stockings last, again, no way!

as soon as richard opened his stocking he wanted to bust out his drill, he finally had drillbits! and i laughed hysterically when i found ghost in mine:) we both also found candy and christmas cards. we started opening the gifts and i got to add to my princess train, a harry potter cookbook based on food they ate in the series (so cool), plus i finally got to start my 1st 2 seasons of gilmore girls!! richard loved his clothes, got to change his xbox to a tron box and a hilarious new towel so he knows which end to use. now, in my stocking there was something wrapped in ribbon that richard kept hiding.

my silly gift, hehe.

richards silly gift, hehe.

after almost everything was unwrapped he grabbed my ipad to load wsomething but it wouldnt work so he turned on my laptop to load something. i got to open my mysteriously wrapped ribbon package to reveal a huge surprise,2 tickets to phantom of the opera on jan 7th!!!!! i have always wanted to see this show on the strip! i saw it in new york years ago and have heard fantastic things about the vegas one. i think i only mentioned once that i wanted to see it and he remembered:)

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we cleaned up our wrapping paper mess and got ready to go over to my parents house to continue christmas. once we got there they had already done their christmas and the boys were already upstairs getting my dads new xbox set up. mom and i convinced them to come downstairs so we could do our christmas. after reading our picture books and giving my family their pjs, we got to the fun stuff. richard bought my mom the steve jobs biography and she hid it right away from my dad. he bought my dad a straight razor professional shave which he talked about it all day long. kyle got his own xbox skin that im pretty sure richard was just as excited to put on. i actually bought my dad one as well, all the boys got one:) kyle and i bought my mom a hot stone massage/pedicure plus my dad added an extra one so she could take a friend! i gave kyle a super funny big rig alarm with a truck driver that yells at you to wake up haha!

my parents were very gracious to us and gave richard gift cards to express plus a cool crockpot cookbook! they gave me my black boots i had been hoping for, a beautiful purple sweater and a white button up shirt i had my eye on. plus we got an awesome blender for our apartment:) it was a very successful christmas! i didnt take nearly enough pictures, i just got so excited.

our friends came over and we enjoyed lots of food, even if it was in shifts haha. we ended the evening by heading to our annual movie. my mom and brother decided on we bought a zoo, now originally richard was not at all excited about this choice. but he was a great sport and the movie turned out really good! he even recommended it to a friend of ours the next week:)

christmas goulash!

we headed home afterward to get in our pjs and enjoy the end of a fantastic christmas. i am sooo super excited about my phantom tickets and richard has been waking up each day trying to choose from all his new clothes choices! when we came home that night we didnt even turn the tv on and just talked and opened up to each other, it was great. we seem to have those kind of talks a little bit more often now and i really dig it. it means so much:)

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the 5 weeks to tinkerbell recap.

happy new year! i know its a day late, but my weekend was pretty filled up:) this week we passed the 1 month to race day mark! it was also holiday and family filled with christmas and new years eve. i finally got back to my 5 day/week training and it felt good. tiring, but good. so glad to be back on the right track! it was also my last week for ice cream, pizza, and fried things. now we are really in the countdown!

sunday~rest.
rest

i made sure to do my long run saturday so i didn't have to on sunday this week, im such a planner haha. and it was worth it! we decided to sleep in a little bit since didn't have to be at my parents till noon, and woke up super excited! richard and i were able to do our christmas together before joining the rest of the family:)

our very cute christmas pjs:)

monday~4-5 miles.
5.31 miles = 50:05 minutes/9:25 min/miles

do you ever have one of those workouts when your outfit makes the whole thing great?? thats probably just a girl thing, but its totally true sometimes. i tried out my new arm warmers beacuse there was just the slightest chill in the air and i love them! so easy and convient. normally on mondays i head to my runner group but i was off and as was richard so we had dinner plans with some friends which meant a morning run. one of the nice things about winter running is you can sleep a little later and still have a cool run.

tuesday~4 miles.
5.2 miles = 49:40 minutes/9:33 min/miles

was up a little earlier than the day before because it was back to work and it was a super cold but actually felt good. i felt good till about the last 3/4s of a mile when my right hip started to hurt, bad. turns out it was a precursor to the rest of my day when i found out my aunt had fallen the night before and broke her hip! thank goodness mine wasnt nearly that bad, i did have to put some heat on it on and off throughout the day.

wednesday~spin.
6am spin class

last one before all the crazy people come out with new years resolutions! i was super tired and couldnt fully get into class. i mean i worked up a good sweat dont get me wrong, but just not as into as the last couple weeks. luckily i didnt go into work until 11am and i got a great post-workout nap that made me feel so much better.

thurday~body pump.
6am body pump class

we had another sub this week, but she wasnt as good i wont lie. the class was super empty which made lots of room to soak up before this week. i did however add an extra baby weight on both sides of my bar! (have to add to both sides of course so your not uneven hehe). it was tough, but felt good.

friday~rest.
rest

i had another long run lined up for saturday so i took my rest day friday instead:)

put my new blender to use just in time!

saturday~9 miles.
9.46 miles = 1:28:05 minutes/9:18 min/miles.

for weeks debi has been trying to get me to meet up with my runner group on saturday mornings to run long. finally it all fell into place and i was actually able to do it all! it was a small group but they were all wayyy faster so i happily brought up the rear. the route they choose kicked my ass along with trying to keep them all in sight. reggie and anglea were great enough to hang back with me for the last few to make sure i was able to get to 9. definitely better than last weeks run, just had to get over the 8 mile hump.

afterwards it was time to head home and rest up before meeting some friends for our new years adventure around the world on the strip, more on that later:)


a sneak preview:)
ps that camelbak is full of orange vodka!


totals for the week = 19.97 miles + 2 days of cross-training

finally after a few lag weeks i actually got my miles up and training in the way it was supposed to be! i definitley had some kinks in my schedule with holidays and family this week, but i had to figure it out. this is the tough part, everything looks great and easy on paper, but then you add real life! its what you do with it after that, that counts:)

27 days till the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon!!!

the december running recap

total run mileage: 66.9 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 22.52 miles
# runs: 10
# rest days: 15

# xtraining workouts: 6

favorite run: the come run with santa 5k plus miles! i got to run with antlers and fun argyle socks, how could that not be fun?? plus i placed 3^rd in my age group!

most hardcore run: the rock and roll vegas half marathon for sure. 2^nd one in 8 weeks made it something that was really an accomplishment plus to be able to push through 44,000 of my closest friends and still score a pr, wow.

current reads: i finished hope in a jar by beth harbison! it was super good, definitely recommend:)

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure:

current obsession: christmas! decorations, holi-dates, traditions, lights, anything to do with my favorite time of the year!

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current drink: water and sweet tea hehe.

current song: last christmas by wham! it’s the time of the year when these type of songs should only be played:)

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current wish-list: things for my england adventure! im hoping for some good sales on wintery items so i can stock up on things i need to hop the pond in march.

current need: to make some race decisions for 2012. i have a couple planned out but have quite a few lulls in the in between. it is only the 1^st month, i know they’ll come:)



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current triumph: continuing to train through the holidays! i know this sounds silly but this is the 1^st year i have actually done it, and done it well.

current bane of my existence: not so drastic, but i am a little surprised at my low mileage this month. i did miss a few days from being sick and my body was loud and clear when i needed an extra rest day, but that seem very far from previous months. looks like january is going to have to kick it up a notch!

current goal: keep with my scheduled training plan. the previous 2 weeks were tough on my body and while i need to take the time to take care of it, i also do need to make sure i am getting all my training in for tinkerbell.

current indulgence: all things christmassy. cookies, 1 glass of eggnog, peppermint, and chocolatey goodness.

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current excitement: the new year! i cant believe its 2012 and january is here.

the season of the holi-dates.

in the spirit of the holidays there comes traditions. each year i think we add a new tradition, it's one of the fun parts of a fairly young relationship. you get to add or subtract things as you wish. this year we decided to not do the lights at the speedway. the year before it was at sunset park and soooo cool, when it moved north to the speedway, it just wasn't the same. this season we added 2 new ones. but I'm getting ahead of myself.

i have wanted to go to opportunity village for years, i mean forever. yet it never seemed to happen in multiple years past. finally this year tiffany, richard, and i made a plan to go and really get in the spirit. it was soooo beautiful! you go through the magical forest where each tree/set up is sponsored by a local business and decorated for the season. each one is sooo different and very cool.

santa!!!

its cold and wintery and makes you feel the full warmth of the season. after wandering around taking loads of pictures we warmed up with hot cocoa and funnel cakes, my favorite. it was sooo much fun and very christmassy. perfect to do the week after my race to get into the season.

while adding new things to our holiday season we took full advantage of living in las vegas and went to winter in venice at the venetian. they decorated the inside of the hotel and set up an ice skating rink outside near the gondolas! i had been wanting to go since i found out about it and when a holiday party we had planned on going to got cancelled the weekend after opportunity village we decided to go:)

richard had to pick up a gift card for my dad as his christmas present so it worked out perfect for a date night! we went to a new restaurant called I heart burgers, delicious. i had plans to take a picture of the fantastic chocolate shake with the cool spoon, but i was wayyy to hungry. after picking up the gift card we headed out front to pay for our skating passes, it was only $10 each for locals. our skate time was about 45 minutes away so we hung around people watching for awhile and i actually got a little nervous. im pretty sure i haven't skated since i was about 14 and wasn't really good then haha.

we got our skates and laced up all ready to go. we stepped out on the ice, except it wasnt really ice. it was more like puzzle pieces that fit together and could be found on a cruise ship. you got a 1/2 hour to skate and that was plenty. richard fell pretty quickly and was really good on his skates. he did turns and was wayy faster than i was. i was the slow one that looked down to make sure my feet were still there and going forward.

showing me his skills!

pretty!

it was soooo fun! the 1/2 hour was a perfect amount of time and i of course waited till the very end to fall haha. i was a little sore afterward and definitely ready to go. im so glad we went and got to do something a little different in las vegas!

of course no holiday would be complete without a visit to the conservatory at the bellagio:) last year we made the huge mistake of going on christmas eve, this year we had to fix that. the problem was we kept running out of time. with richard working sundays and still trying to fit everything else in we decided to wait till the day after christmas and go during the day when we were both off instead.

it's totally different when you go during the day, and i don't think we ever have. it was busy monday but not as crazy as the year before thank goodness. the conservatory is seriously one of my favorite places on earth! we ran into jodi and her adorable boys but were only able to chat for a minute because there were so many people everywhere! i was hoping to go out to the water show before we left, but decided there were too many people and we would do it another time.

thats probably what i looked like skating the weekend before!

sometimes i take living in las vegas for granted and dont appreciate the cool things we have here. i know one day when i move on to my next adventure i will look back with fond memories of it. until then, its time to enjoy our holiday traditions, new and old:)