Category Archives: Random

Long Time No See!!!

Posted in Motivation, Random, Running, Training by

It’s been too long since I last posted! Since the Tinker Bell Half Marathon (which my parents ROCKED by the way), I’ve been super busy with work (O.T. and weekends, baby!)

The Biggest Loser contest at work has been going well, and I have less than a month to go! I’ve lost nine pounds since January, woohoo!

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Add some meat and you pretty much have my diet! :)

Running-wise, I’ve signed up for a few more races. April 6th is my next race, the Hollywood 10K. Aside from getting sick over the weekend, training has been going well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my PR dream will come true.

What have you been up to? Any awesome running goals? Are you doing a biggest loser contest at work, too? I’d love to hear all  about it!

Have a great week!!!

Santa Barbara International Half Marathon Recap

Posted in Random, Recap, Running, Training by

I’ve been meaning to post about my Santa Barbara half marathon experience so here it is!

Expo:

The boyfriend and I arrived at the expo on Friday morning. The expo was smaller than ones I have been to, but that was good, since getting my bib and tee-shirt was a breeze. Thumbs up!

Afterward, the boyfriend and I checked into our hotel,  the Ramada Limited, which was the host hotel for the half marathon.

The hotel was decent, the people at the front desk were nice, and there was a “deluxe” continental breakfast included. The one huge advantage was that this hotel was less than a mile from the start. (We shared a taxi with a bunch of other runners to the start.)

The boyfriend and I spent the rest of Friday exploring Santa Barbara and relaxing. We went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History which was SO awesome!

Aside from the stunning dioramas, we learned a lot about the history of Santa Barbara and the nearby Channel Islands. I made friends with a real owl named Max, who for some reason was wide awake and hooting away in the middle of the day. I loved him. We had linner on State Street at this cute cafe. I had corn chowder and a french dip sandwich which was TDF. :) I went to sleep early and happily.

Saturday – Race Day

After conducting the usual morning prerace rituals, the boyfriend and I made our way to the lobby where we took a cab with two other runners to the starting line. The porta potties were plentiful and the organizers were offering hot coffee and water at the start, which was great because it was super chilly that morning! There were three corrals, 8:00 minutes per mile and faster;  8:00-11:00 minute milers, and 11:00 minute milers and slower (ME! lol).

There was about a 20 minute delay, but then we started off. I chucked my sweater at the 2 mile mark .  There were water/fluid stations every few miles and a cliff shot station at mile 6.  The Pandora on my iPhone turned off at mile 5 and I had to slow down to get it started again. It wasn’t working so I switched to my iPod. This is definitely not a flat course but it’s beautiful; we ran through hilly residential neighborhoods, and a bike path that goes through a pretty forest-like area over bridges and whatnot.  The spectators that were out were very encouraging and nice.

THE Hill

There was one horrendous hill at mile 10 that lasted for about half a mile. I walked up it. At that time, the first elite marathoner caught up with us; and glided up that hill like a gazelle as I was huffing and puffing. One day … maybe not. Once we got to the top, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the Pacific ocean and it was (mostly) downhill to the finish. Final time: 2:52.

The boyfriend and I celebrated my finish with some of this. Nom. Nom. Nom.

I loved this half. It was not too large and not too small, about 6200 participants total. Everyone was really friendly, from fellow runners to volunteers. I was a couple of minutes slower than my Disneyland half time, but since it was super hilly, I’ll take it as an improvement. Plus, I am completely injury-free this time around and recovered quickly. Wahoo!

What’s up next?

I’m walking the Tinker Bell half marathon with my parents in January. My Mom and I walked the inaugural one last year and now we’re making it a yearly event. My mom is itching to improve her time, so we’re training hard and I know she’ll accomplish her goal. :)

But my next goal is sub 2:30!!! I’m going to make it happen! My next race isn’t until the San Diego R&R in June, but if I’m ready before then, I’m going to add another race in there and go for it. Maybe run a few 10Ks to work on my speed. Wish me luck! :)

Have a great week!

5 Days & “Dishonored”

Posted in Random, Running, Training by

It’s 5 days until my third half marathon! My longest run was 11.5 miles last weekend. I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be, but I know I can bust out 13.1 miles if I run conservatively. I love Santa Barbara so I’m looking forward to running the half and enjoying a long weekend out there. :)

This is totally off topic, but I can’t say enough good things about the video game “Dishonored.” It’s so awesome that I was playing all weekend. Haha. It’s THE best video game I’ve played since “Uncharted 1, 2 & 3.”

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The best part about this game is that the way you play affects the outcome of the game. If you kill more people, the outcome becomes “darker” versus taking down people non lethally. Seriously, if you like video games with great graphics and story lines, check this one out.

Okay, randomness over. Have a fantastic week! :)

Heat and Library Cards

Posted in Cool Stuff, Random, Running, Training by

Workout: 8.5 mile walk/run

The “26 days” countdown on the right side of my blog is freaking me out just a tad. I can’t believe that the half is just around the corner. I am really happy that I decided to get my butt off the couch in March and start running again (albeit slowly). It’s only been six months but I feel so much better and my diet has vastly improved.

That being said, the foot injury did slow down my progress and I’m still behind on training for the half. I simply was training too hard when I barely started getting my fitness back. My body couldn’t handle the training I was putting it through. I’m definitely going to walk/run the half now and hopefully I can get at least 12 miler in next weekend.

It’s been boiling in SoCal. Where I live it going to be in the triple digits all week (!). I started my long run a little late yesterday (I left at 8:30 am, but was gunning for 6 am) and had to cut it short because it was 92 degrees by the time I returned home. I even had to take a sit down break during the last half mile. I barely made it through the door before I sprawled out on the floor.

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On a super-dorky-totally-unrelated-to-running note, I got a library card last weekend! I haven’t renewed mine since before I left for grad school in Boston (6 years!) so it was about time I got one again. I love reading and I’ve been spending WAY too much money on books for the past few years — it’s time to save $$$ and go to the library again!

My shiny new card.

Since I have such a long commute (2 hours total per day), I decided to borrow some books on CD and listen to them in my car! Duh! Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Reading + commuting + saving money = Multitasking score!

It’s the little things like this that make me happy. :)

Hope you have a great week! Stay cool!

London Olympics!

Posted in Random, Running, Training by

Workout: 2 mile easy jog

Diet: Apparently when I’m sleep deprived I crave carbs.

Happy Olympic Friday, everyone! I don’t know about you but I LOVE  the Olympics, especially the summer Olympics. My favorite sports to watch are track and field, swimming, tae kwon do and gymnastics. I can’t wait to see what Danny Boyle’s got planned for the opening ceremonies tonight.

The network that I work for is covering the Olympics which means an early start time for me (4:45am!) for the next few weeks. The one HUGE downside to this is that I’ll see who won before I get to watch the event on TV (because we’ll be interviewing them).  I’ve always wanted to be part of the Olympics in some way, so I guess this is it! :)

Yesterday, I jogged two easy miles. I felt a twinge of pain in my foot toward the end and immediately walked it out. This weekend’s long run will have to be nice and slow. I have 8ish miles planned, but we will see how I feel.

Are you planning to watch the opening ceremonies tonight? Or any part of the Olympics? What are your favorite sports to watch?

Hope you have a fun Friday and fabulous weekend! :)