0 Schedule-less but picking races

I am having trouble keeping track of my days. I spent a few days last week certain it was Friday. No, it was Saturday. Definitely Friday. Wait...

Same thing for this week. Couldn't tell you what the date is. I haven't had much of a schedule since moving to Texas. I am freelancing right now, which means I am doing hair on location, on demand. No salon, no set time to work. I had always thought I would be a super productive person if I didn't have a job. Au contraire. I am a sloth. Deep cleaning the bathrooms? Heck no. Planning, shopping for, and making a whole bunch of freezer dinners? Hah! Billy is lucky if I make dinner at all. Getting super fit because I am working out all the time? Why, the couch is so much better.

I can't do much about booking paying gigs, as I am slowly building up clientele and convincing every new friend I meet to use me for their hair needs, but I can focus on a workout schedule.

I think I have mentioned before that I have a hard time staying motivated with workouts when I am not training for anything specific. I have sort of been running and riding my bike, but I don't have a routine set up. So I picked a race, paid for it, and started making a training plan. 

Source

I picked the Tough Cookie women's duathlon  in Copperas Cove, TX on March 2. It's a 1.5 mile run, 10 mile bike, and 1.5 mile run. Not a terribly difficult distance, and something I have done twice before with the similar Mermaid events back in CA. It's a beginner friendly race if anyone in the central Texas area would like to join me! It's also nice that 100% of the proceeds benefit the MS National Society Lone Star Chapter.

Source

I am also looking for a half marathon to run on April  19 or 20, my one weekend I will be in Austin. The rest of the weekends in April I will be flying all over the country for weddings. There is a race I am looking at in Temple called the Flower Power race. Cheesy, but it fits the date and distance, so who am I to complain? I'm trying to convince Casey that she should run the 5k while I run the half. Any other takers? Obviously I love getting other people into races :)

On a completely unrelated note, but my ADD brain thinks I should include:
Do you guys use ebates.com? I mentioned it last year around Christmas, and used it again this year for my online shopping, and will be getting money back AGAIN! I just have to remember to go to Ebates, then to the site I am going to be shopping at, like Sephora {you get 4%  of your shopping total back!} and Amazon {3% back}.  Love it.
To think,  you could go directly to the site and spend $100 and get $0 back, or you could go to Ebates, and end up getting $4 back. I like free money.

Detail: Schedule-less but picking races

0 Jungle Run half marathon

Well hello blog land :) I decided to come back and let you know about the half marathon I ran this past Sunday. 

My running buddy, Austin, asked me a few months ago to run his first half marathon with him. I hadn't been running regularly, but I agreed because how can I not?

By the way, Austin HATES taking pictures, so he usually takes bad pictures on purpose. He will give me the worst faces possible when I tell him I want to take a picture. 

He also hates when I sing to him. Or when I dance-run. Or when I get extra excited in general about the run or anything else. He likes to be extra grouchy to balance out my bubbly, but it's all an act, I know it. So don't mind him. Oh, he's single, ladies.

On to the half!

Sunday morning was the most perfect day for a run. The weather was cool, but sunny, and never became an issue. I don't think I ever noticed it to tell you the truth. 

The race started right at 7am and I was pumped. We headed up a hill right away, so our first mile was just over 9 minutes. Austin and I had spent the last 12 weeks running our long runs together, and always kept a pretty decent 9:30/mile pace, so I wasn't expecting to have anything different for a race. But Austin did. He pushed our pace, and I just had to go with it or run by myself. 

I felt pretty good for 10 miles, then started to feel the mileage in my legs. I had even become a little worried when all of the mile markers were coming in a little ahead of my Garmin watch, and then the 9 mile marker was half a mile early. I knew the race would be a little short, I just didn't know how much so. 

I had been keeping an eye on my watch to make sure my pace didn't fall too much. I really struggled the last 3 miles, but knew I was so close to a PR that I kept pushing. 

I guess Austin's faster pace, and the idea that I could PR were exactly what I needed. I ended up running 13.05 miles {agh, I hate short courses!} in 1:58:26! I was completely ecstatic and couldn't believe it. I am so counting this by the way, even though it was .05 short. 

So, this is a 6 minute PR, and I ran a sub-2 hour half marathon! Austin came in about 20 seconds ahead of me and said he didn't even feel phased and could have kept up his faster pace or gone further. He is crazy. I am really proud of him for achieving a sub 2 half on his first try. 

 

Something fun about this run was the panda motif! The bibs, t-shirts, and medals all had pandas on them. So cute :)

As for race photos; Well, I didn't think there was a race photographer, as there were none along the course. There was a sneaky jerk at the finish line, so the photos I found look horrible! If I can figure out how to share them, I will, but photobucket is being a pain and won't upload my web snippets. I guess the horror can stay hidden!

So there you have it, a blog post and a race recap all on the same day ;)

Detail: Jungle Run half marathon

0 Reason to run

Thanks to my friend Austin asking me to run his very first half marathon with him, I signed up for a half marathon last night. Had I not been asked, I most likely would not have decided to do this on my own. 

This year has been tough for me and running; we just aren't getting along very well. I think training for and running three half marathons last year took a toll on me, mentally and physically. Last fall, right before my last half marathon, I sprained an ankle and had already been running through hip flexor issues for months. The ankle got better, but the hip issues continued. My running definitely decreased after Nike Women's marathon, and once the New Year came around, I wasn't even interested for the most part. I signed up for the Santa Cruz half marathon that was on April 7, but sold my bib as I really didn't even want to run it, and stopped training mid way through my plan. Now I have to run, as I am just about 12 weeks from this next half marathon, and I have someone counting on me to run with them.

I ran on Wednesday to show support and solidarity for the runners affected by the Boston Marathon bombings, and it didn't suck. 

Visualizing the people who lost their lives, or were injured while running what could have been their dream race made my own discomfort and lack of desire seem small in comparison. Perspective will do that to you. I think the Boston bombing is another factor in why I thought it would be good to sign up for another half marathon. No evil act will stop us runners from racing; you can't take away our desire to run and race with fear and uncertainty. I love, now more than ever, the community that running provides. So I will be running this half marathon in July for the casualties of the Boston Marathon bombing, holding them in my heart as I train for, and then run my fourth half marathon. 

It won't be easy. I am sure I will have runs that suck more often than runs that I love. I will hurt, and probably a lot. I will deal with my nagging hip issues, and most likely new injuries to add to my list. I have a training plan that incorporates yoga once a week, and cross training and strength training a few times a week. I hope that supplementing my running with that will help to strengthen and stabilize my muscles, making me a better, faster, and less injury prone runner. Wish me luck, I am going to need it to keep my head focused on the end goal, and not get bogged down by all the little things in the middle. 

Do you run? Do you have races coming up? How do you stay focused, keep your training tight, and avoid injuries? 

If you don't run, would you ever consider training for a 5k race, just to see if you can do it?

Detail: Reason to run

0 Looking forward in 2013

Hello out there in blog land! We are well into 2013 now, and I figured it was about time for me to publicly commit myself to some goals I've been thinking about. 

I am much more goal oriented than I am resolution minded. When one sets a resolution for the new year, they have a mind to change, stop, start, or otherwise adjust their current lives in a way that will be in keeping with this new resolution. You see, I am just too lazy and set in my ways for resolutions.

Goals, on the other hand, are an achievable objective that one sets for a future date. 

2010 was my year of the 5k, in which I set a goal to run a 5k race within 6 months. I was able to train for and complete this goal within my time limit, then set 3 more goals to keep myself motivated. 

2011 was the year of the sprint triathlon, in which, again, I chose a race 6 months into the year to train for and run. I did find out I hate swimming, and probably won't do any more triathlons because of this.

2012 was the year of the half marathon, and I was able to complete 2 within the first half of the year, and then a 3rd in the fall. 

I am sure you see the progression from becoming a runner, to a triathlete, to a half marathoner, and one would likely assume I would use 2013 to train for a full marathon. One would be wrong in assuming such things. 

I have no desire to run a full marathon, ever. 

I have a hard enough time sticking to training plans for shorter races, and find I just don't enjoy long distance running. 10 mile run? A necessary evil when training for a half marathon, but not something I find enjoyable or easy, by any means.

So what does 2013 hold? Well, there will be running, but because I have been dealing with a painful hip flexor problem that just keeps getting worse, I do not have any *new* running goals for this year. I say *new* because I still would like to run several races this year. Some goals in mind are a 5k fun run, a 10k turkey trot, the annual wharf to wharf 6 mile race, and to run the Santa Cruz half marathon in April to hopefully come close to or beat my current PR of 2:04 {SC was my very first half marathon last year}. 

As for new goals for 2013, I want to embrace new forms of exercise, as running and I aren't getting along too well. 

1. I want to do more yoga this year. 

I think the main reason I am having hip flexor issues is because I have a weak core and extremely tight muscles. Yoga helps both of those issues by building strength while stretching the muscles. I already pay $40 a month for my 24 hour fitness membership which gives me access to yoga classes every day of the week, there is no reason I can't make it at least once a week. 

2. I want to build strength through resistance training. 

I have no clear cut goal to get to, just that I need to be stronger to prevent injury and feel better about myself. I am up for gym classes, workout DVDs, and fitness programs.

3. I want to start and finish a whole fitness program.

I haven't decided if I want something for the gym like the Jamie Eason LiveFit Trainer, 

a video series like P90X,

 Insanity,

 or RushFit,

 or just getting through the recommended 30 days of a Jillian Michaels workout DVD. All I know is I want to finish something I start, and see the power and changes that can come from this. Ideally, I could accomplish all of the programs above in a year, but I won't get ahead of myself. 

So there you have it, 3 new goals for 2013. Yoga. Resistance training. Finish a workout program. Bam! 

What are your goals for this year? Anything new and exciting? Let me know in the comments! 

Detail: Looking forward in 2013

0 Gobbled up Monday

Welcome back from Thanksgiving weekend {or your regular weekend, for those outside the US} and back to reality. Hope your pie induced hangovers have dissipated and you are no longer napping thanks to tryptophan. My Thanksgiving was wonderfully full of family, friends, food, and shopping. Oh, I braved the crowds and got myself some good deals at the outlets. Yes, I am one of those crazies who goes out late at night hoping to score some major Christmas loot. I didn't end up finding a ton, but I did get a few things from Under Armour to replace my stinky workout gear, and a pair of Nike Free's for my mom's boyfriend's son for less than $50. Yeah, try saying that relationship fast.

The weekend was like any other; I worked, did hair for a photo shoot, watched movies with my B, and saw friends. How was your weekend?

My turkey trot went well, though I was feeling majorly sore from a workout with Anne the day before. My friend Austin ran with me, so thankfully I had a buddy to brave the early morning run with. I goofed up by letting him have two GUs before the race, and then found out he had already had a Red Bull, so he was so hopped up on caffeine and I didn't have any, so I spent the race chasing him down. Billy managed to get a few good running action shots, so there is proof we earned our turkey and pie.

A few things I learned this weekend:

~eating two Thanksgiving dinners in one day never gets easier.

~a hard kettle bell workout the day before a turkey trot makes running very difficult.

~Family is wonderful. I am blessed to have pretty much all of my family in the same area and I often take it for granted.

~I've got to get my brain in gear and on board with a healthy eating plan. 

~Pie for breakfast and several snacks a day is not acceptable. 

~My birthday is in 33 days. I'd like to weigh less by then.

~I'm having a tea party for my birthday. It's the first birthday I've willingly planned in years. That's because I hate my birthday.

~I love having my Christmas tree up, decorated, and presents wrapped underneath. So what if it's fake? I've got Yankee candles and scentcicles hanging off of it to make it smell lovely.

~I've seen a lot of movies lately, my favorites were Pitch Perfect and Red Dawn, even if it scared me. Least favorite? Savages, it was so violent and sad. 

~I need a better workout schedule. One that makes me actually work out regularly.

What have you learned lately? 

Tell me all about your holiday weekend in the comments!

Detail: Gobbled up Monday

0 NWM12 race photos

I checked out my Nike Women's Marathon photos today and surprised that there was actually a few I liked! I certainly don't look amazing in all of them, but the few I screen shot below are decent, and I think I might order a few! Sorry for the blurry nature of most of them, the thumbnails on the website were tiny and I couldn't enlarge them before I copied them :(

If you run races, do you usually like your race photos? Do you buy them ever?

Detail: NWM12 race photos

0 Nike Women's Marathon

Ouch. Exhilarating. Both serve to sum up the NWM12 half marathon that was yesterday. 

dark and early Sunday morning and flashing our bibs for all to see ;)

25,000+ people is a whole lot to run a race with. It meant craziness in the corrals, although those were pretty well executed allowing only those with corral specific wristbands to enter and rows of port-a-potties on every block {hallelujah}. My bestie Nicole was there with me, so the wait wasn't too long, and before we knew it, the corrals were slowly moving toward the start. It only took us 6 minutes to cross the start line. Once the sun came up, the fog was revealed, which kept the temperatures low, but the moisture was a pain, since our sweat never dried and the mist made us even more wet. 

We meandered through San Francisco's financial district out to the Embarcadero, passing Sf's great sights such as Pier 39, Fisherman's wharf, the Aquatic Park and Crissy field, and then up to the Golden Gate bridge and the Presidio. Too bad it was so foggy, there wasn't a single tower of the bridge to be seen. Now getting up to the bridge was a huge hill with a small path that bottle necked at the base, making progress a little tough. 

The second hill was just as bad, but had an even steeper downhill, which hurt something fierce! I've never been bothered by downhill running, so this was disturbing. We plodded along keeping a slower pace that was comfortable and maintainable, running through cute neighborhoods, along the beach, and then into Golden Gate park for the last few miles. Along the whole course there were cheering sections with rad signs {my favorite: "don't poop your pants!"}, costumed cheerers {purple teletubby, anyone?} and awesome girl themed music being pumped loudly to motivate us. 

The finish line came into sight, and Nicole and I grabbed hands, finishing with smiles on our faces even though we were hurting. We walked a red carpet to the lovely tuxedo clad firemen handing out those fabulous little blue boxes with our Tiffany necklaces, then continued through the crowd to collect more goodies to feed our marathon starved selves. 

Our very own silver platter with Tiffany boxes! 

Perfecting our Saturday Night Fever and Wonder Woman poses post race

Nike Women's Marathon finishers!

Detail: Nike Women's Marathon

0 Mermaid duathlon race recap

Hi ladies! Happy Monday! {and happy Thanksgiving to my lovely Canadian blog friends}

This weekend was a whirlwind, and I can't say this week will be easier. 

Saturday was my first ever duathlon, the Mermaid series triathlon and duathlon in Capitola. It was an all women's event, and the duathlon had about 188 of them competing. I left my house around 5:45am, too early in my opinion, and made it to Capitola while it was still dark so I could score some primo parking {rare in that town} and set up my transition area. This was another race I did on my own, so I was kinda lonely just waiting around by myself for my wave start. I ended up walking down to the expo/finishers chute, then went to the wharf and watched the Olympic distance tri swim start. I did not envy their 1600 meter swim in the open ocean...where a great white shark was spotted just months ago. *shudder* 

My wave started right on time, and since I had made it to the front of the group, I didn't have to fight through anyone. The course had an uphill start, but I had so much adrenaline and energy that I powered through it. I finished the 1.5 mile run in 13:37, with the first mile finished in 8:13. Um, for me, that's incredibly speedy! Unfortunately there was a giant hill to the transition area, which totally winded me. 

I changed shoes and gear and hopped on my bike for the 12 mile ride, which I finished in 48:51. I was dying on the crazy hills, but made up for my sucking on the descent. Coming back in for T2 I was feeling pretty toasted, so it was no surprise that when I started the second run, I was dragging majorly. Here's my secret...I didn't train any bricks leading up to this race. I actually barely rode my bike because I wanted to focus on my running for the half next week. I had to run the same course as run #1, so there was that monster hill that kicked my butt...again. I managed to run the whole 2 miles, with a tiny walk break for some water and to help my majorly cramping calves. I finished that suck fest in 19:22, right in my normal pace of 9:34/mile. 

My finishing time was 1:23:28. I was 5th out of 28 in my age group, and 37th out of 188 overall. I'm pretty stoked with my results for this being my first duathlon, not having trained specifically for it, and for feeling the pain during the race. Want to see a photo from the end of the race? I totally wasn't prepared, so my eyes are a little "dead" lol

Hopefully I will get some good race photos later on. I didn't see too many course photographers, so I can't imagine how terrible and in pain I will look from the ones who caught me unaware!!

Detail: Mermaid duathlon race recap