6 miler...DONE!

Yesterday I ran my longest distance ever:  6 miles!  Before yesterday the farthest I had ever run was 5K, or 3.1 miles.  As a side note, last year I did walk 39.3 miles for breast cancer, which you can read about here.  But running and walking are two very different things.


I woke up yesterday morning feeling amped up and ready to go.  I mapped out my route and ran down to the beach and along the beach path.  It was the perfect morning for it too...slightly overcast with the sun peaking through, and only about 63 degrees.  I wore a running tee and shorts, and although it was a little chilly I was very comfortable.  It was exciting to run past houses decorated for Christmas.  The majesty of the it all completely took my mind off the burning/stabbing pain I started to feel in my left calf around mile 3.  I slowed down and walked for a little bit until the pain started to subside, then I continued on at a slower pace.  The pain crept back around mile 5 and I tried to push through, but no go.  I slowed to a hasty walk and tried stretching my muscle.  My calf felt a little better.  I was almost done with my 6 miles and I wanted to finish strong.  And I did!  I pushed through and felt so great afterwards minus the burning in my left leg.  But I did it!  I finished my 6 miler!


After my run I came home and started getting ready for my surprise Christmas date with my boyfriend.  He planned the whole afternoon and night for us and it was perfect!  I didn't know anything except that I had to wear a nice dress.  He picked me up and took me to the Pantages in LA where we saw "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  It was fantastic!

After the show we walked to the bohemian bistro, Ivan Kane's Cafe Was where we had a delicious meal paired with great wines and listened to some fabulous live music on the 1924 Mason and Hamlin grand piano along with the trumpet, bass, guitar, harmonica, and vocals!  It was so much fun!  I was so surprised...and the night didn't stop there!  It was the best Christmas present ever (last year I thought that too...he gave me the moon!  Literally!  I own an acre on the moon along with a silver moon-shaped neckalce)!  My boyfriend is so creative, sentimental, and we couldn't be more in love :)

Anyways, yesterday was awesome!  My 6 miler...DONE!  Magical Christmas date...YES!

Today was a rest day and tomorrow I run an easy 3 miles.  I'm toying with the idea of running the San Francisco 1/2 in July...not sure yet but contemplating...how much time does one space in between 1/2s?  I'm running Surf City in Feb so July would be ample time to recover and train right?  Hmmm...

:)

Surf City Half Marathon Training Plan!

When my cousin told me on Thanksgiving hat she was going to participate in the Surf City Half Marathon on Feb 7, 2010, I was thrilled for her!  This is a race that I've wanted to run, but wasn't planning on a race of that caliber until mid 2010 or even 2011!  So when she said I should do it with her I hesitated and said I wanted to get some more 5Ks and 10Ks under my belt before going the distance.

I started thinking about the possibility of running it and whether or not I would have enough time to train, and after talking to my brother I signed up!  Once I hit the "SUBMIT" button on the website I felt giddy like a kid in a candy store!  Motivation took over and I immediately began looking up training plans!

I first went to Runner's World and they had some great plans.  I found a beginner training plan that I liked from RW, and I also stumbled across the Hal Higdon novice training plan.  I ended up putting together a 10-week plan incorporating both plans that would fit my schedule and work the best for me.  Like I said, I'm a beginner.  Before I began my journey to 13.1 miles, the farthest I've run is 3 miles.  How was I going to go from 3 to 13.1 miles?!  I pulled together my training schedule and gave it to my running mentor to review.  He made some minor tweaks to it, and also suggested I include a 10K race around week 6 or 7, so that's what I did!  I'm really happy with my final training plan!  My long runs are on Sundays starting with 4 miles and gradually increasing to 10 miles two weeks prior to the race.  From there I will taper until race day.

Here's what my final training plan looks like!

I'm not running Surf City for time or pace.  I'm running it to run it.  I'm running it to finish 13.1 miles, which will be my longest distance completed!  If I get tired and need to slow down or walk, I'm totally OK with that.  I will try not to but hey, I am going to listen to my body.  Seven weeks until race day and I can't wait!!

Make Room for Santa 5K!

Sunday morning I woke up at 4:45am to get ready for my 5K race down in Irvine.  My friend, Lisa, and I were running together, and she was going to pick me up at 6:15ish so we would have plenty of time to get down there, park and warm up.  I woke up early enough to eat a banana, and I started getting ready.  I was so excited because this was the race that I was going to wear my Santa costume in!  I got the Santa outfit a while go, and got a red and white bow for my hair along with red and white high socks.  Lisa had a little outfit up her sleeve too!  It was so awesome (and probably more breathable than my velvet ensemble).

Here we are before the race:

Heading to the starting line:

We got there with ample time to cruise the booths, pee, and get a little warm up in.  The race was slightly delayed, and at 8:05am  we were finally off!  Lisa and I kept a very steady 10min/mile pace that I was very comfortable with.  I was feeling great until mile 2.  Around this mile marker there was a water station and my mouth was so dry that as I was running by I took a water cup just to get my mouth wet again.  I guess I drank more than I wanted to because after I got a killer cramp in my right side.  I slowed down a bit and tried to stretch out that side and take deep breaths but it wasn't helping, so I decided to walk.  I walked for about 2-3 minutes until I felt better, and then picked up my pace again.  At this point it was mostly uphill (the majority of it was a slight uphill) but I felt good.

The course turned off the road onto a trail along side the channel,  and it was so crisp!  It had poured rain the entire day before and the morning of, so everything was fresh, crisp, and it made me feel alive.  The weather was cool and refreshing, and I took in every moment on the trail portion...it was beautiful.  Remember I mentioned that nasty side cramp that went away?  Well the little bugger came back...in my back!  All of a sudden I felt like someone had stabbed me below my left shoulder blade in the back.  It was such a sharp stabbing pain and I could hardly breathe.  I wanted to walk so badly, but instead I pushed through it, slowing down my pace significantly.  I ended up running alongside an older gentlemen for a while who was decked out in Laker gear...my kind of guy!  (The Laker gear people, that's all!  I'm a huge Lakers fan).  We ran together for the a bit of the trail portion until I looked at my Garmin and realized the finish line was approaching.  I picked up the pace taking deep breaths to try and soothe my cramp (it didn't work), and at about mile 2.85 I started to book it.  Even though I was in pain I knew I could do it and I wanted to finish strong.  Start slow and finish strong.  So I pushed it...hard!

Here is a picture of me in the OC Register online crossing the finish line (yea, not great, but I love it anyways):

So what my face is slightly contorted...I had a blast!  I was pushing so hard through the finish line and I was so happy with myself.  I wasn't even trying to but I made a Personal Record!  33:29!  In a red velvet dress and a red tutu, with a stabbing pain, no less!  Afterwards Lisa and I felt so good...we drank some water, picked up an EAS chocolate shake, and ate half a banana.  Oh yea, and we enjoyed a free 10 minute massage.

We did it!  We both PR'd!  Here is us with Santa and our little Santa medals/ornaments afterwards:

My overall time was 33:29!  

My splits:
Mile 1 - 10:04
Mile 2 - 12:01
Mile 3 - 10:12
Mile .1 - 1:12

Average pace - 10:44
Best pace - 7:14

Lisa and I both had a great morning!  Races are fun because there is so much energy and inspiration.  I can't wait until my next race (which is coming up!).  I'm training for my first half marathon, and tomorrow I'll post about my training schedule and where I'm at now.  Oh, I also have my first 10K along the journey to 13.1!

xoxo

Life's Truisms

Happy Friday!  I’m still feeling under the weather, so I did not run this morning.  I’m starting to feel better, so hopefully tomorrow I can get in a short run before my 5K on Sunday.

My friend sent me a list of Life’s Truisms, and I thought it would be fun to share today, since it’s Friday!  They are hilarious!  Enjoy!

1. There is a great need for sarcasm font.

2. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

3. Bad decisions make good stories.

4. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

5. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

6. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to
finish a text.

7. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This
recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be
ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again

8. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

9. Was learning cursive really necessary?

10. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and
hunger.

11. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.

12. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

13. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

14. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said
"Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

15. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow
each other?

16. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

17. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.

18. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

19. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.

20. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I
do!

21. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.

22. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a
problem....

23. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.

24. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.

25. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

26. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear
I did not make any changes to.

27. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this
ever.

28. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

29. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

30. Why is a school zone 15 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...

31. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

32. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.

33. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

34. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

35. I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid,
I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from
the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

xoxo

Sick with a bad cold = no running...but our weekend in New York was AMAZING!

Yesterday I woke up with a terrible sore throat and was so fatigued.  I had taken Monday-Wednesday off from work because my boyfriend and I were in New York visiting with my college roommates and experiencing the magic of Christmas in NY (and yes, it is magical!).  We left Saturday morning and had the most incredible time.  We went out with my roommates who are more like sisters than roommates, all 8 of them (yes, there were a lot of us, but we lived in a two-story townhouse so it wasn’t so crowded :) ), saw the Christmas tree in Rockefeller, walked through Central Park and visited Strawberry Fields (my bf and I are HUGE Beatles fans), went on the romantic horse and carriage ride, toured the Natural History Museum (seeing the movie Night at the Museum was our first date almost three years ago!), and indulged in memorable meals including the five course tasting menu at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market.  It was so much fun and so memorable. We flew back to California on Tuesday, and I’m so glad I was still on PTO Wednesday because I came down with a terrible cold.

Tuesday evening I started to feel a tickle in my throat…more like that dry scratchy feeling that one gets pre-cold.  I went to bed early and woke up at 7am on Wednesday with an excruciating sore throat.  I tried getting out of bed but felt so lethargic and light-headed that I had to lay down again.  So much for working out.  I ended up laying in bed all day watching movies and catching up on my TiVo-ed shows.  I watched Julia & Julie for the first time and fell in love.  I love cooking and baking, so watching this movie and the parallels between Julia Child and Julie Powell was so much fun.  My bf came over in the evening and we both ended up falling asleep around 9pm.

I knew I had to go back to work today, so I set my alarm for 5:30am because I wanted to try and get a quick run in.  No go.  I woke up and couldn’t even breathe.  My sore throat turned in to the perfect head cold, complete with a little cough.  Terrific.  At work I asked my running mentor if I could try and run tomorrow or if I should rest until I feel 100% (or very close to it), and he said “REST IS BEST.” My training coach is this awesome marathoner in my building who I met by chance.  He’s become my running coach if you will.  I’ll talk more about him later.

Anyways, so now I’m pounding airborne (vitamins are good), alka seltzer, and tons and tons of water.  Hopefully I kick this soon, because I have a 5K Santa race on Sunday (I’m running with my friend Lisa, and I have an awesome Santa costume to wear!), and I don’t want to hinder my half marathon training.

Dear 13.1

Dear 13.1,


I can’t wait to meet you in February! I started preparing for our meeting on Monday so it’s only been 4 days, and I know that during the next nine weeks I will continue to prepare even harder. I have been wanting to meet you for a little over a year now, but I suppose I never had the courage to go the distance until now. I hung out with 5K a last week and we had a great time! That was our first meeting too, and it was very fun – weather was perfect and we were on the beach. But I think I want more…I’m ready for more…I’m ready to meet you. I know this will be a lot more work than with 5K, but I’m willing to put in the effort. I’ve come up with a great plan that will hopefully make our first meet easier. I will be meeting with 10K along the way, but that is all part of the journey to get to you.


Only 62 more days! I’m looking forward to it!


Love,
Mags

"Turkey Trot"-ting along the beach on Thanksgiving

Last week on Thanksgiving, I ran my first official 5K!  It was the Long Beach Turkey Trot and I ran with my brother and a few of my cousins.  It was so much fun!  I woke up around 7:30am, put on my black and pink Nike shorts and my pink long sleeve Nike top, ate half a banana and drank some water.  Here's me and my bro before the race:

My brother and I got there around 9am, 30 minutes before the race began, and tried to find my cousins.  There were so many people, and they said to meet them near the white tent.  Well, there were about 6 white tents (and over 5,000 people)!  I called them again and they said they were now next to a giant tree.  Luckily it’s mostly palm trees by the beach, so we easily spotted the only large non-palm tree and there they were!  We warmed up a little and decided to line up for the race to begin.


This race is so beautiful because it’s along the beach path, a path a I frequently run, so I was very familiar with it.  The gun went off and we were off!  Unfortunately there were so many people that the beginning of the race was so congested.  We walked for probably the first 2 minutes before we found a clearing and started running.  I was running with my brother, one of my cousins and her daughter.  My bro and I had a water bottle that I ended up carrying for the entire race (bad idea because the sound of water made me desperately have to pee at mile 2!)  Around the mile 1 marker, my brother and my cousin took off ahead, and I settled in at a nice easy pace. Around mile 2 I had to make a pit stop…darn that water bottle!  I hurried as quickly as I could and got back on the path to continue on with the race.  Now it’s starting to warm up…a lot!  I suppose I should have checked the hourly forecast before putting on my long sleeve because after looping around at mile 2 we all were running into the sun and it was blazing.  I ended up walking for about 5 minutes to try and cool down, and at that moment I was happy to take a little sip of water.  I was dying in my long sleeve.  Despite the 80 degree heat, I was still as happy as a little clam.  After all, it was my first official 5K!  I cooled down about during my 5 minute walk, and started an easy jog up a slight hill. The end was in sight!  I picked up my pace a little bit and pushed myself to keep going until I could reach the finish.  Well, turns out it was further than I thought, and I started to get a stitch in my side.  Again, darn that water!  I slowed and jogged while stretching my right side out and then continued on to the finish line!
Me, my brother and some of my cousins:

I’m very happy with my total time.  Especially considering my restroom break and walking and that it was my first race, I was thrilled!


My total time was 34:18.  Here are my splits:
Mile 1 – 10:26
Mile 2 – 12:11
Mile 3.1 – 11:40


I felt so good afterwards.  My brother won a pie too!  He finished in about 29 minutes, and one of my cousins, Nick, he smoked up all at 20 minutes!


Me and my bro with his pie:

This was a great way to start Thanksgiving Day.  After the race we all went home and showered, and reconvened back at my Aunt’s house for turkey and delicious-ness!  There were about 30 of us (we’re a big family, very close and very fun) and the table decorations were gorgeous (man my little cousin is sure talented…the centerpieces/theme was all her idea)!
Here is one of the beautiful Turkey Day centerpieces:

I am so thankful for my incredible family, my wonderful friends, my spectacular boyfriend (this was our third Turkey Day together!), my health, my job that I love, and so much more.  Life is great and I couldn’t be happier :)

xoxo