{ i * h e a r t * r u n n i n g }

My Chat with Mel Keflezighi!!

2010-10-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

Meb & Me

It was super exciting to interview Meb Keflezighi at the Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon expo on Saturday 10/2! (If you don’t know who Meb is, he is a 2004 Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist and also the 2009 NYCM winner. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal!) I didn't have as much time as I thought with him since there was HUGE line of people wanting to meet him at the Sony booth so I made it quick (Less than 10 minutes!). Meb was very personable and real. I don't know what I was expecting but I was definitely left with a great impression of him! It’s not everyday yours truly gets to interact with an Olympian!

Here's my interview with Meb! I just jumped right in. He also really liked my iPhone 4 doing the recording.

Julianne: Meb, I'm gonna jump right in. I asked my friends and blog readers to help me find out more about you. And, Dennis from San Jose wants to know if you chafe at all.

Meb: Do I chafe? Yes, definitely and a lot during the off season. I chafe between the thighs and under my arms because I run without a shirt! And if I don't use Vaseline I'm in big trouble.

Julianne: Most of us "regular" runners chafe all over (and I gestured all over) and we definitely wondered if the pros do, too.

Meb: *laughs* Of course we do! But definitely on long runs and races, you should use something like vaseline or Body Glide to prevent chaffing.

Julianne: What's your pre-race ritual or favorite food before the race? Mica from Urbana, Illinois asked.

Meb: Definitely pasta the night before a race. I can't wait to have that tonight. I totally love spaghetti with meatballs. I am totally ready to go the next morning. That's my ritual. But I also love Mexican food, like burritos especially on my hard run days. And I love eggs.

Julianne: I love eggs, too! You have a fantastic website and you're very active on the social networking thing, like Facebook and Twitter. Has it changed how you race, network or interact with fans? This one is from Layla in Lodi, by the way.

Meb: It's been really great to connect with fans and friends online. It's so much easier this way. It's also a big honor for me to meet my fans and interact with them. Twitter is all about me letting people know where I am and what I'm doing. I guess being online is the trend right now and it's where the market is. When I was up in Rock n Roll Seattle earlier this year, I mentioned on Twitter that I was going to be at the expo. And one fan apparently drove up from Portland to meet me after he saw my Tweet. I was really honored.

Julianne: Wow, that's awesome! Jason from New York City wants to know if you're planning on winning New York City Marathon this year?? And how do you stay motivated to win such a big race?

Meb: That's my goal to win New York City Marathon! God gave me this talent to run and if it motivates people than it's my job to do it. I keep going because the talent from God isn't tapped out yet. I'm still running races and PR'ing so, I feel really blessed.

Julianne: Do you ever have days when you don't feel like running and how do you get yourself motivated? This one is from Katie in Boston.

Meb: There are days but it doesn't happen often. It's really an honor to do a job that I am really passionate about. Just like any other people, when I'm feeling under the weather or something, I don't feel like running. But, once I'm out the door, I do more than I set out to do. Again, I try to remind myself that I have a responsibility since God gave me this talent for running. It's really an honor.

Julianne: I heard you injured your hip back in 2008. What was the road to recovery like? Quan from San Jose wanta to know.

Meb: Actually it was my pelvis and I had to take 10 weeks off. It wasn't easy! The most difficult part of the process was getting the correct diagnosis. It was originally diagnosed as a sports hernia and got examined by the doctor in NYC (who also happens to be the medical director for Rock n Roll) and got scanned at Columbia U. Good news was that no surgery was required but the bad part was that I couldn't run.

Julianne: Yeah, I guess it's easier to treat once you know what it is. If you're guessing what's wrong with you, how do find treatment right? My next question comes from Audrey in Los Gatos. She wants to know which celebrity you'd like to pace in a marathon if you ever got a chance?

Meb: *laughs* Well, I did meet Halle Berry once so maybe if she asked, I'd love to pace her in a marathon! My wife said if they ever make a movie about me, then Halle needs to play her. *laughs again* Of course, I'll play myself!

Julianne: Meb, what's going through your mind the last few miles of a marathon? You must be exhausted at that point?

Meb: It all depends. If I'm winning? I have all the energy in the world! I could go forever, I think!

Julianne: Um... I don't know what that's like but wow, that sounds pretty amazing.

Meb: Well, if there's someone ahead of me, I'm thinking I need to catch up very soon. Or if there's someone right behind me, I need to get away. I just need to keep up the speed and the endurance.

Julianne: This is so exciting. You won RnR San Jose last year and you plan to win tomorrow, yeah?

Meb: Oh that's the plan I plan to do the same thing I did last year, from here to NYCM.

Julianne: Good luck tomorrow and next month at New York!! And thank you for your time today!

Did I mention Meb won the race again yesterday??? Yes, he did! He won by quite a margin, too. Part of the RnR SJ Half is an out and back course and I saw him when he had just entered the 13th mile. That guy was sprinting the whole way but he didn't even look tired. Of course, I was only at mile 5 or 6! Really awesome to see him and as I yelled out to him "Go Meb!" I felt like I was cheering on a friend. It was really an honor to meet him and getting to talk to him of course! Thanks to all of you who helped me with the questions. :-)

Ps. I don't know if you noticed the little "inset" looking image of the Sony Walkan MP3 player (on the bottom left corner) in my picture up at the top... It's actually not an inset but a little pop up card that was on the table. Meb trains with the Sony MP3 player is a huge fan! I love this pic of Meb running! --->

Questions for Elite Runner & Pacing (again)!

2010-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

This is really exciting! I just got confirmation that I'll be interviewing the 2009 New York City Marathon winner and Olympic medalist Meb Keflezighi this Saturday at the Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon expo!!!!!! When Sony first asked if I'd like to do this, I had no idea how ELITE Meb was (or is)! It's really exciting that I get to meet someone who WON the NYCM and an Olympic Silver Medal. So I only have 30 minutes to do the interview and my mind is blank right now thinking of QUESTIONS to ask Meb. I'm sure he's been asked the same questions over and over again so I need your help with some creative questions. Please send me some ideas via email or post a question in the comments section! I'll be sure to let him know it was you who asked. :-)

On a related note, I'll be pacing the 2:20 finish group for the RnR SJ Half! So if you're running the half, look for me. I'll also be at the expo on Sunday. I'm thinking there's a pacer's booth?? I'll also be pacing the Inaugural Morgan Hill Marathon in November!! If you're in the area, come join us for the half or the full. I'll be pacing the 5:00 finish group.

It's also been uber hot this week, 100+ degrees in the Bay Area this week. I've been running in the mornings instead but don't have as much time to put the miles in. It's supposed to start cooling down today so looking forward to getting in 8 miles after work. I'm hoping it will be overcast and even COOLER on Sunday morning for the half marathon!

Ok so questions for Meb?? :-)

Happy To Me!

2010-08-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, Happy To Me! (Our 3 year old niece used to say that at OTHER people's birthdays... So cute!)

It crept up on me again. My birthday... For the first time EVER, I have no desire to celebrate. I'm thinking I can deal with a low key celebration this year. I've never had any issues getting older, but having some difficulty swallowing the fact that I'm 36. Wow. Deep breath....

At the same time, I can't believe how lucky I am with all the blessings in my life! I have so much to be thankful for! Really, I am so blessed. Life is so good!

I've been trying something new. with my running routine. Running after my boot camp in the morning. I've been trying to do 3 to 4 miles in the morning and then trying to get another 4 to 5 miles after work. It also works out on evenings when I have plans (like tonight and tomorrow) and don't have time to get the runs in... Maybe I'm uber warmed up but I've been pulling out like 9 minute miles. I can see some improvements with the speed and it's really encouraging. Hopefully I can run at consistent sub 9 pace again! (Although, this morning's 4 miler was kind of crappy but then I did have quite a few glasses of Pinot Grigio last night at dinner.) I've also been trying to lose the weight that I've put on the last year. Ugggh, it's a never ending battle! If only I didn't like to eat so much???

It's a happy week with so many birthday celebrations but at the same time, it's been sad, too. Duane's aunt passed away last week and it's never easy when a family member passes away. My thoughts and prayers are with Lauren, Kyle and Uncle Mas... They are really lovely cousins and very funny uncle...

6 Reasons to Run!

2010-08-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

I read this morning a really simple yet awesome article on Women's Health Magazine titled "6 Reasons to Run". And I couldn't agree more on why we SHOULD run! I know I'm preaching to the choir here but thought it was a good reiteration as to why those of who do run manically should continue to do so. And if you just happened to stumble onto my blog and thinking about starting, here are some reasons why you should. Below is a brief synopsis of the article. For the full version, click here.

1. It's so easy - Right? You just go out there and run! You don't have to even run far at first. Maybe run around your block at first, around the school track, on a treadmill for a mile, and build up your distance slowly!

2. Yet so hard - According to the article, running burns more calories than any other cardio vascular activity. The harder you run, better workout you get! But we all know, it's NOT easy!!

3. Your knees will thank you - I always thought running tore up your joints and knees but apparently that's an old wives' tale. So go run!! It's better for your knees!

4. You'll stress less - Duh. No brainer, right??? Who doesn't feel better after they go for a good run?

5. It can prevent disease - You run, burn calories, lose weight, better better better for your body! Something else I didn't know, besides running prevents heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, high blood pressure, and boost immunity to colds and other viruses, treadmill running also improves your vision! Go figure!

6. You'll probably live longer - There are slew of benefits to running. Living longer for all off the reasons above and then some. How awesome is that???

Again, more details and why you should run here. It just made me all around happy reading it. Today is my rest day but made me want to go out there to run!

Thoughts?? Do you agree, disagree, or are there other reasons that the article missed??

Cross Training & Marathon Training

2010-08-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

I somehow dragged myself out of bed at 5:30am this morning, wondering why I torture myself this way, for my morning bootcamp sessions. I love my bootcamp, going 3 times a week at 6am at The Ice Chamber facility (which is about 10 min away). It's getting up and geting there that's the hardest part. Once I'm there, I'm doing all sorts of isometric workouts, kettlebell workouts, partnering up with really great athletes and like today, running around with 35 lb sandbag on my shoulder and working up quite a sweat. Like I said, getting there is the hardest part. It's probably the best cross training workouts I've ever engaged in. I used to love to spin but that got old kinda quickly... I was just curious how other runners mix up their cross training, when they're not running.

I've begun my training for NYCM and CIM officially! Ran 10 miles on Sunday with Duane and met up with the ROHOs (Aron, Kristin, Tara and Maritza) and other awesome local runners (Audrey, Layla and RoadBunner) for brunch in Walnut Creek.

Yummy pancakes for brunch!

Girls who run together brunch together!

And last night somehow managed to run 8 miles after work. I felt really great on Sunday for the 10 miler. I averaged about 9:40 per mile. Last night was another story, I think I eeked out about 10:15 min per mile average. I am just thankful I can even pull out these miles without stopping. Taking several months off and getting back into the routine was a bit painful but feeling good about the running workouts again! I don't think I'll be PR'ing anytime soon but I'll be happy to run a race where I gave it my all.

Pearl Izumi syncroFuel Running Shoes Review!

2010-08-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Me and my synchroFules, first time out!

I haven't had much luck with running shoes. It's probably due to my low arch and wide feet, combined with a smallish feet (dress shoes 6.5). I could never find the RIGHT running shoes for me. For a while, I ran with a pair (Asics Kayano 15) that gave me the worst kind of blisters on the arches of my feet. Turned out it was way too narrow. Then, I ran with another brand (Mizunos) that gave me blisters on the bottom of my 3rd and 4th toe pads (strangely enough, only on my right foot!). I found some thin socks to wear with these and I thought I got it just right. Then Mizuno's decided to discontinue my shoes. UGH. I even bought a pair of "customized" running shoes for my gait, over pronation, wide feet and etc from Somnio but they rubbed my feet the wrong way and hurt my feet when I ran in them. It just goes to show, the "right" shoes for one person isn't a right feet for another runner.

So in my search for the perfect running shoes, I'm always talking to some shoe specialist at Fleet Feet or Sports Basement trying to find the "right" shoes. A few months ago, I was contacted by the wonderful people at Pearl Izumi to try out a pair of syncroFuel running shoes. I was really hesitant at first. What if this pair tore my feet up, too? I took a huge chance accepting the pair without trying them on. I figure, what do I have to lose but a few blisters??

Back in first week of May, I received my pair of syncroFuel and took it out for an easy 7 miler. There are some running shoes that I'm totally ok running in for a few miles but anything over 5 or 6 miles, I'd notice discomfort. I'm happy to report that the syncroFuel was absolutely wonderful. The moment I took the first step, I noticed this bounce and cushion, like I was on a trampoline (ok, hyperbole, sorry)! And it hugged my feet in ALL the right ways. I love being hugged by my shoes. You don't know how ecstatic I was on that run!! And, it just made me realize my current New Balance just didn't have that "right" fit. I had to buy slightly bigger to accomodate my wide feet. 3 months later, I'm happy to report that I STILL LOVE these syncroFuel shoes!!! Last few months, I've put many miles in these shoes but I swear I could still feel the bounce. I'm probably due for another pair REALLY soon and felt comfortable enough to write a review finally!

So, a few things. The syncroFuel is extemely well cushioned and is really awesome for the mild/over pronator like me. A few other things:

- High-abrasion Seamless Race upper with hybrid mesh combination.
(100% recycled polyester mid-foot mesh and breathable forefoot mesh)
- 360º of reflectivity for added safety during low light conditions.
- SKYDEX® Heel crash pad.
- There's even a trail version of these shoes!

More from here:
http://www.runlikeananimal.com/

Honestly, I think I found my go-to running shoes and I plan to stock up, just in case!!! Pearl Izumi syncroFuel, I heart you!!

Calling all female runners in the Bay Area for Athleta Focus Group!

2010-08-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Want to participarte in a focus group/market research for running wear? Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? I just wrote them to participate!

Athleta needs your help designing the best running clothes ever. They are looking for runners to attend a focus group and share your opinions. In order to participate, you must run at least 10 miles a week and be available to attend a focus group in San Francisco on September 9th. They will pay you for your time. If you are interested, please email: eckerresearch@aol.com or call Arline at 650-871-6800 ext 3006.

Official Sony Sponsored Runner! (That'd be me!)

2010-07-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

I must have done something really good in my past life! I don't know how this happened but I was approached by Sony to be part of their new Marathon Sponsorship Program!! I was on the fence about running the Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon but this definitely pushed me to do it. And, I get to be sponsored by Sony, wear a Sony branded shirt during the race and wear this fun gadget: W Series Walkman® MP3 Player, along with a video camera! Sounds way too good to be true!

I know Danica is also part of the Sony sponsorship... Anyone else???

This is going to be pretty awesome and can't wait to tell you all about it.

Oh I also need to write up my race review for See Jane Run and The Giants Half Marathon... I'm getting to those!

My Visit to the City of Trees

2010-05-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

Seeems it's not very common that people visit Idaho! Hehe. Aside from my blog, I was asked this question quite a bit. Duane and I went to Boise on a very short trip to visit one of my oldest friends. Heather and Ron (and their 2 girls) live about 20 minutes outside Boise. I've known Heather since 4th grade, the first friend I ever made when my family immigrated to the US. I wish I had a picture of Heather and me back then to show you... But I'm sure it's buried some where in my old room at my parent's house. Heather moved out to Idaho after she got married about 10 years ago. And, Heather and Ron have made a really great home for herself and her family in that potato state. If you haven't been to Boise yet, maybe you should think about making a trip out there in October! I'm considering the City of Trees Marathon in Boise on 10/10/10! And hello, it's only $73 for registration fees! So if you're interested in joining me... Check out this link for the City of Trees Marathon website!

There was also a Susan G Komen 5k Saturday morning of our visit... Only discovered by accident when we went to the Boise downtown farmer's market. If I had known, I woulda ran it! Oh well, I shoulda done some research. But needless to say, I didn't get much running in this past weekend.

By the way, my friend Heather is one of the most talented women I know. She's really into digital scrap-booking and photography. She once was a director of a Montessori school, education consultant to the state of Idaho and fabulous athlete. Recently she's been a stay home mom and with her 3rd child due in 8 weeks she's a very content and very busy stay home mom. If you know anyone who needs an event/wedding photographer in the Boise area (maybe after August), check out her photography website!

Yesterday it rained on and off for most of the day. Since when did it rain in May in the Bay Area? And it was a lot cooler than normal. I went out to my usual running spot and hoped that the rain would cease... As I left work the rain seemed to be dwindling but once I got to Pt Isabel, it was POURING. I was disheartened... Thinking: I shoulda went to the gym straight. And also secretly happy that I got out of running. I decided to go home and rest. I was feeling under the weather after all and been coughing all day. I drove about half a mile and noticed blue sky peaking through the north part of the my hood! And I thought about the 2 upcoming half marathons and I REALLY wanted to run... So I drove back. And waited several minutes for the rain to pass. Low and behold, not too much later, the rain stopped and I bounced out of my car in my new SyncroFuel Pearl Izumi shoes. (More on the shoes later!) Maybe because I didn't think I was gonna be able to run, I was really excited and happy. I felt good the whole time, too. It was still cool (mid 50 degrees) and overcast, which was perfect. I ran pretty evenly at about 9:33 min average/mile pace! I've been clocking in 10+ min per mile lately so this felt really really good. I don't think I'm going to breaking any records in June for my two half marathons but I think I'll run them at a decent pace!

I am hoping for a longer run today, hopefully a 8 miler. It's a beautiful day today. Nice and sunny. :-)

I Ran The Relay and Survived!!!!

2010-05-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Gosh that was fun catching up on everyone's blogs. Ok not *everyone* but I'm definitely catching up! I got through about a dozen today. Good thing it's kinda slow at work. ;-). Before you report me to my boss... a quick recap. Did I mention I went on a girls trip to Cancun for a week? Yes, it was blissful. It was all about relaxing in the sun, margaritas, massages and well, eating. Happy to report that I got one run in on the treadmill but that was about it. And I ambitiously packed about 3 running outfits, too. C'est la vie.

Last weekend, I ran a super duper fun relay! It was The Relay: 199 Mile Relay from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. Technically it ended in Davenport, a few miles north of Santa Cruz. I have a good story to tell about Davenport (one day)... it's about me in high school, sneaking out at 2am, getting the car key locked in, hitch hiking and somehow making it back home, etc. Anyway, back to The Relay! The distance was 199 miles broken up among 12 runners. Our team consisted of The ROHOS, Katherine, Kristen and a few others. Our team name was "That's What She Said (TWSS)" and the entire weekend's conversation ended up with someone saying "That's what she said!" Funny enough, it didn't get *that* old. I had one of the easier legs.... I was runner #2, with 13.9 miles total. More details on each of the legs here.

Aron, Maritza and Katherine have written up awesome race reports already! I just want you to know that I SURVIVED. Considering I ran maybe 30 miles total for the year before this relay, I wasn't even sure I could complete my legs!

Leg #2 (Easy) 4.7 miles - 43 min @ 9:08 pace
Leg #14 (Hard) 5 miles - 50 min @ 10:00 pace (Can we say hills?)
Leg #26 (Easy) 4.2 miles - 39 min @ 9:17 pace

Runners in order (in our van):

Runner 1: Maritza
Runner 2: Me
Runner 3: Kristen
Runner 4: Tara
Runner 5: Mark
Runner 6: Katherine

A few notable things. It was eeky hot during leg #2 and I went out way to fast! I clocked in my first mile at 8:40 min and I knew I had slow down. My second run (leg #14) was in complete darkness (can't see nada) and ran with a flashlight. But I loved it. It was eerily quiet but at the same time very serene. I wasn't the only runner out there of course. Various other runners from other teams were also out there but we were spread apart so it definitely felt like I was out there alone. But when runners passed me up or team vans drove past, I knew people weren't far from me. Not at any point did I feel scared or afraid, I never felt like I was in any kind of danger, either. My last leg was down in the backside of Stanford University and by this time at 10am it was getting to be quite hot. Again, I am so glad I had one of the easier legs. Because that course had some REALLY tough climbs!

They call this relay "California's Longest Party" for a reason and I have to say it rang true for me. Being stuck with 5 other people in a van, showering in random places, numerous Porta-Potties and eating/sleeping at unusual hours was... REALLY FUN! Maybe it was the team, our van-mates but overall I had a really great time. And did I mention for a great cause? We raised over $800 for Organs r Us! Thank you all to those who donated!! And yes, I would totally do it again!!! But I promise, I'll train a little bit more next time around.

And now, here comes the pictures. Maritza and Aron both posted awesome YouTube photo montages on their site... These are all from my iPhone. Excuse the crappiness! Oh and one more thing, our TWSS team was sponsored by Punk Rock Racing Gear!! Thank you Ron! :-)

Maritza, our t-shirt model

The GIRLS of TWSS!

Van #1!

Maritza is SO ready!

The Runners!

Team Bonding~!

Aron anchoring us in with Tara!

Team TWSS at the finish!!!

And I'm off to Boise for the weekend!

New York City Marathon Here I Come!

2010-04-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

You guys are so awesome. Thanks for coming by and dropping me a note. It's really wonderful knowing that I wasn't forgotten... *sniff*

What an exciting day! Found out that I got into the New York City Marathon via the lottery!!! Yay. There was some confusion at first because I signed up both Duane and myself and when I saw the charge for 1 entry, I wasn't sure who got accepted. Turns out, it's me! Good thing November is still months away and I get my ramp up my training and actually be ready. I'm also really excited to go back to NYC, I haven't been back since I left in April 2008!

I went out last night thinking I was going to do 5 miles but ended up running about 6! The overall pace was about 10:30 min per mile and although my legs were tired from getting so much exercise in 2 days. I also stopped and walked briefly around the half way point, I was tired! My legs are pretty sore right now and debating if I want to go out again tonight. What would you do? I also got up at crack of dawn this morning to go to my boot camp session so I'm kind of sleepy, too. I won't get a chance to run again until Saturday morning... So maybe I should?

Who else is going to NYCM??

First Real Run for 2010

2010-04-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

I hesitated posting on my running blog. After all, the last post was in July 2009! Yikes. I haven't run since the Nike Women's Marathon back on October of 2009. I think I was slightly traumatized from running 6 marathons last year (Napa, Big Sur, RnR SD, SFM, Chicago and Nike Women's). So I took a LONG break. No running. No nothing! Actually I was totally cheating on running with makeup. I've been moonlighting as a makeup artist and it has consumed all my free time. Now I need to find a good balance between the two.

I actually signed up for the Napa Marathon again this year but I didn't run it. I couldn't even give away my bib! I heard the weather was much better this year than last... I am running The Relay with the ROHOs and a few other fabulous runners so I thought I'd better put my butt back in gear. I dusted off my poor neglected Garmin 405 and went out for an EASY 5 mile run last night. In all honesty, I did do a few miles here and there on the treadmill for a few weeks before but it wasn't easy. Good thing I have one of the easier legs of The Relay. I am in no shape to run up any hills or some of the longer legs!

The weather was gorgeous yesterday after work and I ran one of my usual routes along the Richmond Marina. I guess I got a little excited because the first mile I clocked in at around 9:45 min pace. The rest of the run was uneventful and around 10:10 min pace... A few times I wanted to stop and walk but decided to press on. I haven't had that much JOY from running in a long time. I was so bogged down with training that running became a chore for me. Old habits die hard and I kept glancing at my 405 to see how fast I was running. I definitely put on some weight during the winter (that's what happens when you eat like you're training for a marathon but no running) and I could tell on my knee joints... And the speed definitely was suffering. But, I figure it was a good start. I'm going to try for another 5 miles tonight after work and see how I feel. I LOVE that feeling of pavement underneath my shoes and the wind in my face.

Am I back blogging? I don't know, yet. But I did start this blog as a running journal so I'll try my best. Oh anyone else waiting anxiously for the NYCM lottery tomorrow???? I also signed up for the Nike Women's Half today. I am not doing that marathon again anytime soon.

A Break from a Hiatus Update

2009-07-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. I haven't been here since mid May. I needed a break. Not worry about turning on my laptop after dinner or sneaking in a blog or two (or 10) during my work hours. And strangely, it's been a nice break and freedom.

But, I definitely miss the runners and the running community... and wondering what the heck is going on with you all!

I just dropped in to say hi and tell you that I completed the following while I was away!

May 31 - RnR San Diego Marathon 4:33:44 (with the ROHOs and ran with Maritza)

June 7 - Muddy Buddy (with Audrey, soooo fun!)

June 20 - Stadium to Stadium 10k 54:22 (PR'd by 4 seconds! ;-)

I still have Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon coming up on July 19th. And also the San Francisco Marathon, which I am officially pacing the 4:45 group. I am so excited and thrilled to be a pacer. I haven't trained this hard since I was training for the CIM. Knowing there will be a group of people counting on me to lead them to the finish has been a huge motivating factor. My PR on that SFM course is 4:09:29 and it will also be my 5th time running it... so I'm not stressed about the time or the course. I just hope I can run at a consistent 10:52/mile pace!

Also, I got an email today from the director of Hope Runs that the 777 Challenge has been cancelled. Due to the current economic climate and fundraising issues, they have decided not to pursue the endeavor anymore. This is VERY disappointing, of course. I wasn't anywhere close to where I needed to be and have been on the verge of resigning from the team. But I was hoping to see the challenge carry out and provide exposure to the runners and the organization. They may start up again in the future but no definite plans right now. A HUGH THANKS to all of you who've supported me emotionally and financially... THANK YOU SO MUCH.

How To Turn Around A Bad Day

2009-05-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

Now that Big Sur Marathon is done, I am in full training mode for the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon on May 31st. That leaves me with less than 3 weeks until race day! In all honesty, I have been more in recovery mode than training mode. I have been seeing a chiropractor and therapist to treat my IT Band strain. With the electrotherapy and other treatments, my leg has been feeling much better. With all that said, I've been still baby'ing the injury and not been going all out. For example, last weekend, my 20 miler turned into a pathetic 10 miler. Obviously, I should be peaking with 50+ miles last week and this week but this time around, training hasn't produced the high mileage that I had hoped. I am doing something differently this time. A little less miles but more cross training like Elliptical machines, spinning, more core focus and weight training. I know most of you guys do this already but usually, I'm all about running!

I guess I'm being "flexible" but at this point with so little time left, I am counting on the training that I put in for Big Sur last month. I plan to do my regular weekly runs and my last 20 miler this weekend but I hope that's enough. It's been also getting really warm out here in Northern California!! I miss my winter, already!

My biggest concern is pacing Maritza for her PR goals at SD. I don't want to struggle to keep up pace with Maritza when I'm supposed to be her pacer!!

Very excited to meet so many bloggers that weekend. There's an email going around discussing blogger meetup/Tweetup on Saturday for lunch. If anyone else is running RnR SD and want to meet up, please leave me a comment with your email address! :-)

If you're wondering about my blog post title, I'm not having a bad day. It's a title of a song from Hella Sound. I was interviewed by the fabulous John Frenette at Hella Sound. Hella Sound is custom running music sync'd to your pace. Seriously, it's amazingly effective. I usually do my easy training runs at about 9:20 average pace. When I listen to "How To Turn Around a Bad Day", I run at about 8:40 average page. I turn the music on and I go into auto mode at a faster pace. It's simple amazing how your feet moves to the beat! Anyway, please check out my interview here and if you're more interested in how Hella Sound works, please click here!

Big Sur Marathon Race Report

2009-04-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Here's the recap for those who wants the short and sweet version. Hubby and I ran the Big Sur International Marathon on Sunday and did our personal worst: 5:35:28 marathon finish. But, we had a lot of fun overall and look forward to our next race. :-)

Now, for those of you who wants to hear the rest of the details (that would be oh about 3 of you, maybe)... here we go.

The weekend started off great, weather was great and we both felt good about the race. Originally, it was just me racing on Sunday. But via Twitter and Bart Yasso (@bartyasso), I was able to snag a comp entry for Duane. I was thrilled, we could experience Big Sur together. I knew it was going to be a tough race for Duane since he didn't train. But the last few half marathons he ran, he didn't train and still pulled out a sub 2 hour finish! So I thought he could do it. I was concerned, though. We've all heard of men who die on marathon courses? Well, he's in that age category. So we told ourselves that we were going to take it easy and just have fun. No need to push hard.

Half way down the trip to Big Sur, which is about 2 hours away... we ran out of gas. Literally. We knew we were low on gas but we had so much fun talking that we totally forgot. (Note to Duane: See? If I was on Twitter and tweeting, you might have remembered to get gas!!)

Thankfully, we rolled to a stop about 200 yard away from a gas station as we tried to glide off the exit ramp... And quickly, D was able to get a gallon of gas.

Duane in action!

We were on our way again! Yay!! We got go the marathon expo in time to meet up with our pals Shelly, Michael, RoadBunner and Dennis... Although, I only remembered to get pic with Shelly! The expo was packed, there were supposedly about 10,000+ runners that were doing the marathon, relay and various other distances. We picked up our bibs, shirts and shuttle passes and checked into our hotel.

Shelly & me at the Expo

Shelly, who just ran the Boston Marathon 6 days before is a champ. She could down beers the night before and still pull out sub 8 min avg pace marathons. Craaazy. She's my hero.

Dinner was awesome! Really yummy food at Cantinetta Luca in Carmel. I just have to remember that their pasta portions are TINY! I was content but... when Shelly said she was meeting her friend Greg at the Knuckles bar at our hotel, I couldn't say no!

And, of course, we had to go for round 2... With our beers and the Texas Fries! Did I mention our shuttle to the starting line was at 3:45 AM??

Oh yes, the famous Texas Fries at Knuckle's Bar @ the Hyatt! More carbo loading!

D and I finally went to bed around 10:30pm ... and totally Zzzzz'd.

Next morning, or rather 4 hours later, we were up and at it. Here's my race outfit... Although, it was so cold, I ended up running with my long sleeve the entire race. Btw, I found some great deals on Priceline.com for the Hyatt at Monterey... for about $130 a night. They normally go for $350+! Needless to say, I was very happy with the deal and the beautiful hotel.

Here's me at 3:30 am all gussied up for the marathon!

Big Sur International Marathon is a point to point race, starting from the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park running along the scenic Highway 1 and finishes in Carmel. Now, in order to bus the thousands of runners the race shuttle starts at butt crack of dawn. We caught the 4am bus to the windy Highway 1 freeway. One perk (if you call it that) of waiting for the race to start is that they have coffee, hot chocolate and bagels for the runners. It was SO cold, I regretted wearing shorts!! Brrr.

Dennis at the start line!

And the gang! Don't they awfully look happy and excited??

Duane and me!Can you feel the excitement??

So the race started at 6:45am and we crossed the start line a few moments after. We started with the 3:40 pace group because Shelly and Dennis are fast! But soon after, the 4:10 pace group caught up to us. We stayed with the 4:10 pace group until about mile 10 when I *had* to go to the bathroom. Apparently, I didn't finish all the business before the start!!!!

Um, of course, I picked the Port-a-Potties near the Taiko drummers and it felt really odd. I could feel the drum beats while I was "going"! Oh and did I mention how windy it was? I was scared the Port-a-Potty was going to tip over!!

The Taiko Drummers (Pretty cool!)

Immediately after this, Hurricane Point faced us. Look at this elevation chart for the big elevation change. (Click on the chart for a bigger version.)
We went from 100 ft to 600 ft of HILL, over 2 miles! Talk about a tough climb. Up until this point, we were doing ok. Even with Duane's non-training we were still able to pull out a 2:20 half marathon split time. If it wasn't for the darn Hurricane Point, we would have a much more decent half split time. We thought he might even PR! Anyway, this is where things stated to go downhill for Duane. Literally. His knees started to hurt and so did his old Achilles Heel injury. The downhills hurt his knee so bad, he had to walk gingery most of the time... Poor guy. I thought he was being a wimp and I got mad at him. Oops.

Hurricane Point

Bart Yasso once said that if you do one marathon in your life time, it should be Big Sur. (Or something like that...) Anyway, I could see why that is so. The course is breathtakingly beautiful, with the beatiful Pacific Ocean to the left hugging the coast of Big Sur! But then, it's a super challenging course, with lots of hills and elevation change of 600 feet!

How do you think I got up this high??

Right around the half way point is the famous Bixby Bridge piano player... You can hear it from about a mile away and it's the most beautiful sound! Although, I've anticipating getting to this point for so long that it was a bit anticlamatic when we walked by this guy...

So pretty!! Seriously, worth the pain. Duane and I walked a lot. We stopped a lot, too. We definitely took our time and enjoyed the scenery. And took pictures, too. Lots of them!

We tried taking lots of our own... but as you can see above, it didn't always come out well. A nice couple that we ran with for a while (who were also walking) offered to take our photo! So nice. :-)

Too bad something got in the way!

Around mile 16, Duane was wiped out. The no-training was starting to really show it's ugly head. We got passed up by the 4:30 pace group a while back and even the 5:00 pace group. *sigh* Soon after, another pace group caught up with us. Jeff Galloway's pace group. I overheard people saying Galloway promised a 5 hour-ish finish, if you followed his 1:1 method. Run 1 minute and walk 1 minute. I've heard of the Galloway method before but never really understood. Michael is a die-hard Gallway runner and you can read more about his adventures on his blog. We were really excited about the opportunity to run with the famous marathoner, Olympian and author! I was too shy to ask for a photo with him but I definitely got a pic of his back. LOL!

We ran with Jeff Galloway's group for a long time. For a good 4 miles anyway. I definitely noticed that it was easier to walk and run! Duane's knee on the other hand, didn't like the stopping and starting again... So we walked. Starting mile from about mile 21 we walked, all the way to the finish. I thought about going ahead and leaving Duane behind but misery loves company and he wouldn't have been in that misery if it wasn't me. I felt responsible and well, at that point, I had kissed a sub 5 hour finish good bye. Might as well stick together, right? And, honestly, I was happy to walk, too. Marathons are no joke. I don't know why I never remember the painful parts of the marathon when I sign up for these!

Cool mile markers!

This elderly couple passed us a few times... for the last time around mile 24! At this point, I was hoping to finish under the alotted 6 hour time for the race.My Big Sur International Marathon experience was ... definitely long. We finally crossed the finish line at 5:35:28. And painful, too. Because of the downhill runs, I ended up gripping my toes and the balls of my feet against the shoe soles too much. And ended up with some gnarly blisters again. And I realized no matter how slow we ran or walked, 26.2 miles is just LONG time to be on your feet. I was so tired!

Here's our medal. It's made out of ceramic!

Yeah, so it wasn't my best marathon. But with my 8th marathon under my belt, I'm glad for the experience. You know what they say, a marathon humbles you. Well, not only did the Big Sur Marathon humble me but it totally kicked my butt. Duane and I talked about what a tough course it was but so unique and beautiful. We will definitely be back. Next year, I am going to conquer Hurricane Point!

I’m Famous! (Ok, not really…)

2009-04-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Since I’ve started fundraising for the Hope Runs 777 challenge, I have been blown away by friends and strangers coming out of the woodworks to help me. Not just financially (which is great and still need more), but also in ways to promote my cause!

Here are two great examples…

Chris Russell (also @cyktrussell) from RunRunLive offered to interview me on his famous running podcast! I was totally nervous about my first live interview for a podcast but everything seemed to fall into place. (Even if I did bumble up a few times… *sigh*) Maybe good practive for live TV one day? Well, one can only hope! If you’re interested in checking out the podcast, you can either click here OR search in the iTunes Store for “RunRunLive” and download episode 63. Let me know if you listen to it one day. Again, I can’t thank Chris enough for willing to feature me. Wow!

Ethan Austin from Give Foward (an innovative giving/fundraising site) and Play City (where you can use sports to make a positive impact on our local and global communities), who offered to interview me on their Play City blog. Ethan has not only been fantastic in giving me fundraising tips and ideas but providing really great emotional support. My interview with Ethan just went live today and you can check it out here. There are pictures of me on the blog post.

Most of all, thank you ALL for being part of my adventure. I love my social network/community on my running blog, Twitter and Facebook. You make me feel like I’m not doing this alone!

Oh, a quick question... I'm totally new to the running podcast thing. Do you listen to them while you run? And if you DO listen to running podcasts, what are they? I'm looking for recommendations! ;-)

Race for Roses Half Marathon Report

2009-04-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a perfect day for a half marathon in Portland! Last time I met up with the Portland Bloggers and Joggers (PB&J) gals, they convinced me I needed to run the Races to Roses half marathon. I'm a sucker for running races so it really didn't take much for me to be convinced. Especially it only cost $40 and also the proceeds were going to Albertina Kerr Center, a local Portland non-profit that "works with children who have emotional or mental health challenges, individuals with developmental disabilities, and their families".

Race for Roses wasn't just ANY half marathon for me. It was my first race as a pacer and for Alisa. I was a bit concerned because my hip has been bothering me for a few weeks now... Not sure if it's my IT band or sciatica nerve or the hip socket. Sometimes, it feels like all 3 of them hurt at the same time. Last Sunday, I had planned on a very hilly 18 miler and around my 10th mile, my hip flared up so badly, I had to tell my hubby who was out riding his bike on my run to go back and get the car. It was that painful. Discouraged, I had taken the whole week off and only went out on Saturday to make sure I could even run! Fortunately, Saturday's 6 miler proved I could indeed run. I took it easy and ran 6 miles at about 9:10 pace. It felt good to run after a week off.

I flew up pretty late Saturday night and when I got to their guest bedroom, my awesome race shirt and bib was sitting on the bed! (Hello, a small tech shirt? I love this race!! I normally wear a medium or sometimes large. Ugh!)

The next morning around 5am, we downed some toast with peanut butter and yummy French press coffee (the best way to drink coffee ever) and headed out to the race. One thing I really loved about this race is that the race starts right outside the Portland convention center so you can actually wait inside the center. The weather was perfect but still, a little chilly at 6:30am...

Here's Alisa and me. Yeah, she's tall. And well, I'm short. Her new nickname is Giraffe. I'll tell you in a little bit.

I was told the route would be pretty flat... but, it wasn't! There were couple of challenging hills but that also meant fast downhills. So, granted the hills in Portland are nothing like the hills in SF but a hill is a hill, nonetheless!

Oh, we also ran (literally) into Cindy around mile 4... She was doing the half marathon as part of her training run for her Vancouver Marathon in a few weeks. She was going to run another 7 miles after the race! Yes, she really does have sexy legs in real life! ;-)

Alisa did super well for the first half... she went out strong and ran it faster than her normal pace. But of course, I know first hand what a fast start does to you... She did slow down in the second half but she pulled off a strong race. I definitely had to pull a drill sargent act once or twice but Alisa was definitely motivated to PR on Sunday. She definitely didn't give up. I admire you spirit Alisa. I know another huge PR is waiting for you around the corner. Maybe RnR SD?? :-)

I told Alisa I would make her sprint near the finish... and she did. When the finish line was in sight, she took thoses long long legs and sprinted past me. It was like a giraffe graces whizzed by me. I had no chance. I was the hippopotamus!!! So that's how she got her new nickname on Sunday. The Giraffe.

Oh, btw, she did PR. By 11 minutes! Alisa's official half marathon finish time is 2:27:04!!! I came in a second later according to the official chip time. I know I was there to encourage Alisa for those 13.1 miles but really, it was ALL Alisa. Congrats on your PR, Alisa. You totally deserve it!!

Here's our group photo... Sarah, Mr. Pi (aka Alisa's hubby who drove us to the race and cheered for us, what a sweetie), Alisa, Amy, Emily and moi.

Here's the PB&J girls all cleaned up! You can read more Race for Roses race reports on their blog, too! They all ran excellent races on Sunday!
Amy, Jen, Alisa, Emily and me. Sarah was running a little late. :-)

This is how *I* celebrated after the race!

And then some more!

Here is my favorite photo from the race... The Hippo and the Giraffe.

One last thing, I also ran my half marathon for Tim and Jeannine Oberholzer. Jeanine passed away on Saturday from Cystic Fibrosis... Here's my finisher rose from the race and the medal that I dedicate to them.

Status Update on Fundraising

2009-03-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here’s where I am so far with the fundraising. I have officially raised $900. (The Chip In widget on the right doesn't have all the totals!) A paltry amount to $45k. But, this is from my personal network of friends and family (and some of you), who opened up their wallets to support me. I have had donations as big as $100 to as small as $5. Every little bit counts. And I thank you very much!! I also had a small Tweetup last Frday at SNOB (Sonoma, Napa or Beyond) where I was able to meet some great people from Twitter. I absolutely LOVE my network on Twitter. I didn’t raise a whole lot of money there but it was great to network and meet people who gave me some great advice.

Give Forward has generously offered to partner with me and Hope Runs to help me gain more exposure and fundraising. Thank you Ethan for your willingness to help and offer up so many great suggestions!! I am hoping this partnership will also generate a lot of exposure for me and Hope Runs!

I have a few other events coming up in the next few weeks. On April 3rd, I am hosting a Ghetto Gourmet style dinner at an undisclosed location in the San Francisco East Bay. It’s a gourmet 4 course meal with wine pairing by a talented chef who has worked at various upscale restaurants in the Bay Area. One of them being a Michelin Starred restaurant. It’s a major deal to get a Michelin Star, by the way! Here’s the link, if you’d like to attend (or know anyone who might).

Another event I have is a Guest Bartending gig at The Boardroom in San Francisco. I’m doing it with a few other girlfriends (including Tara and Maritza), who are willing to donate their time to make you some delicious cocktails. ALL CASH tips will go straight to Hope Runs. So, if you’re in the area on April 9th, please stop by and bring lots of dollar bills!! (Larger bills are ok, too!)

One last thing, are we friends on Facebook? Would you like to be part of my Hope Runs 777 Challenge group?? And I have another blog over at WordPress to document my fundraising efforts... (Don't ask me how I am planning on keeping up with that one since I have a hard time keeping up with *this* one!!!)

Thank you for reading! :-)

Oh, wish us luck tomorrow, The Dirty Divas (me, Shelly, Audrey, Tara & Maritza) has a mud run challenge at the Big Sur Mud Run tomorrow morning!

Race Reports, Garmin and Baby... OH MY!

2009-03-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I've been bad. Bad about blogging and bad about reading blogs. I haven't abandoned it or anything. Just... bad about updating. So, I'm going to give you a quick succession of brief updates about me and what's been going on the past few weeks.

So, the painful memories of Napa Valley Marathon dissipated pretty quickly although, the remnant of the running plagued for several days! Blisters from the marathon lingered around my feet but I also got more. Ugh. Turned out, I had the wrong type of shoes for my wide feet. I needed more stability than motion control. Anyhow, I was directed to the "right" shoes by my new favorite shoe guy at the Sports Basement. Hello, Mizuno Alchemy 8! I ran on it a few times and it's SO much better!

Two Sundays ago on March 8th, I ran my first free race ever: The Sports Basement 5k in Sunnyvale. There was a 175 cap on the runners and it was definitely a fun run. There were bibs but no timed chips, although our finish times were recorded as we crossed the finish line. Nothing fancy but definitely a run I'll do again. Mega points for free t-shirts and great swag for a free race! My official finish time was 24:35! Not bad considering my PR for a 5k was 24:15, when I weighted 10 lbs less and it was the first time I ran after Napa Valley!

This past Sunday, I ran my first 12k at the Emerald Across the Bay 12k in San Francisco. It's one hilly ride but a beautiful course and well worth the pain. I also got to run it with Maritza, Tara, Kristin, Sandra (she was in an earlier wave) and my good friend Michaela. We all ran a fantastic race and I'm really proud of my 1:04:56 finish. That is a 8:48 min average pace... which for me, is pretty decent. In all honesty, I was disappointed that I didn't run faster but really, I'm pretty happy with what I did. As you can see, I looked very happy running it, too. I'm such a ham in front of a camera! (Did I mention it rained the WHOLE time??)
While I was up in Portland last week, I also got to do a Tweetup with fellow runners: Christine and Michelle from Running Chicks in PDX (top)and Amy, Alisa and Justin (bottom). :-)

Oh and did I mention I have now joined "The Fellowship of Garmin"? Or the "Church of Garmin"? I bit the bullet and threw down some serious cash for the Garmin Forerunner 405. If you remember from my previous post, my Nike+ Sportband died in the rain. And I was so hearbroken, I couldn't get another one to replace it... So I decided to upgrade to what the "serious" runners use. I had issues setting up "Kermit" the first day but I soon figured it out and now we're happy as can be.
And guess what? I was asked to pace the San Francisco Marathon in July!! I didn't have much choice but I am pacing the 4:45 finish group. I don't really care about the time, I know I can do 4:45 easy. I get to run my 5th SFM for free!! Woot!

I also ran the Mermaid Half Marathon (a women's only event) this past Sunday. I thought I was ready for a PR but turns out, I wasn't. There were some strong gusty winds in both directions and towards the end rain... again. AND mud. Lots of mud that felt like I had 10 lb ankle weights on both legs! Below is me, our friend Shelly and Tara at the start. Oh things started so well... We started off at sub 8:30 pace and I soon petered out. I finished at 1:58:35. Not my best finish but considering, not bad! We also saw Audrey at the end but we didn't get a pic together. :-(

By the way, thank you ALL for your encouraging and supportive comments on my Napa Marathon post. I got choked up thinking how lucky I am to have such an amazing running community behind me.

OH and we had an unexpected surprise Saturday morning! My sister delivered 3 weeks early. Averie Eunhae Lopez showed up at 11:15am weighing 5.8 lbs and 18" long. Thankfully, my sister had a wonderfully short labor... less than 2 hours and pushed for only 15 minutes? I hope that's all genetic! Here's Averie at Day 2! Both mother and baby are doing wonderfully!! (More gushing about niece to come!!)

Napa Valley Marathon Race Report

2009-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

I completed my 7th marathon on Sunday and I have to say Napa Valley Marathon was one of the most grueling and painful races to date. Wait, let me start from the beginning. I've been training for this marathon since early January when I signed up for it. I had just run CIM in December and felt really good. I PR'd by 12 minutes at CIM and I felt like I could run another marathon pretty easily. So I started training, putting in the miles and hitting all the long runs. I wasn't planning on breaking another personal record this weekend but I wanted to do well. There was a lot of things I could control, like my training plan, nutrition, degree of workout, etc. One thing I didn't have control over was the weather.

I woke up Sunday morning at 4am to the sound of rain. It was expected. The weather forecast called for rain on Sunday. All week. I saw the heavy clouds forming by Sunset. But, I really really hoped that the rain would hold off until later Sunday. Like after I was done with the marathon. I've never run further than 8 miles in the rain and it wasn't because I chose to. I got caught in the rain! I heard the sound of rain, which I normally love but that morning, it was a sound of dread. I fell asleep for another 45 minutes and woke up. I got dressed, ate my pre-race peanut butter sandwich and faced the music. Questioning my sanity the whole time. I live about an hour away from Napa and as Duane drove me and my friend to the starting line, I saw the windshield wipers moving back and forth, back and forth. The rain was coming down. During the drive, I had all sorts of thoughts. Should I not run? What if I didn't finish? All sorts of doubts.

Started decently enough... (with my friend Dennis, who PR'd by 12 minutes, btw!)

At the start line, starting 6 min after gun time! (I'm in the pink shirt!)

We parked not to far from the starting line and I had to use the Porta-Potty as usual. This was supposed to be a smaller race, with about 3000 runners. Apparently, everyone and their mother had to go because the lines were really long. To make a long story short, I started 6 minutes after the gun went off. I kissed Duane good bye, even took a photo of me at the starting line and then, off I went. Marathon #7! I wasn't really nervous or all that excited. I figured I'd just enjoy myself and see where the run took me. It was actually kind of nice to start late because I didn't have to weave through people and saved me a lot of energy. Maybe that's why I started off too fast. Maybe if I started on time, I wouldn't have rushed in the beginning? Did I mention, it was still raining?

Me around mile 3, still going strong!

Did I mention that it rained the WHOLE time???

The first couple of miles were a breeze, I passed a bunch of people and felt I even caught up to my pace group. I must have been running around 8:30 min pace. There were a few hills in the beginning, actually, hillier than I expected but I still had a lot of energy at this point. Then, around mile 3, I felt wetness all around my feet. My shoes were wet. And so were my socks. At almost mile 4, I glanced at my Nike+ Sportband to see how fast I was going. It was blank. My watch died. I totally panicked. I didn't even know how far I had gone! I saw Duane around mile 5 and I shouted to him, "My watch died! Please go find my other watch in the bottom of my gym bag." The poor guy had to run with me for a few yard to catch what I was saying. Good thing I brought my gym bag with me where I have an old Timex Ironman watch. When Duane caught up with me around mile 8, I was completely soaked, freezing and already tired. My shoes sloshed and felt really heavy. Duane passed my the Timex and when I looked at it, it was an hour off due to the Day Light Savings from last year! Ugh, why didn't I check before??

It went downhill pretty quickly from there. I was still on target for a sub 4 hour finish at around half way point. I was running a bit too fast and Duane actually missed me twice, somewhere around the half way point and also at mile 18ish. I didn't see him again until mile 23. I had expected to see him and was really sad that I didn't. I was really struggling and could have used his lovely smile. The amazing thing is that at time when I didn't see Duane, I got to see the ROHOs! The girls had told me that they were coming up to cheer for me, which was the most awesome thing ever. I had text'd them at 5am to tell them not to come due to the rain but they came anyway. All dressed in ROHO gear with the BEST signs in tow. I think I heard them from half a mile away, with their cheering and cow-bell'ing. There wasn't much crowd support for this marathon, not sure if it was the rain or not... but it was pretty lonely out there. So whenever I neared any kind of crowd, I figured the noise came from them. And it did! They were like a little ray of sunshine during a storm... literally! If you haven't seen their spectator reports, go check out Aron, Tara, Maritza and Kristin's blog. They have some awesome photos!! I love the signs!!

So, besides the little spots of ROHO sunshine, it was a tough run. So let's see, where was I? I was soaked to my socks, my Nike+ died... My Timex had the wrong time and I forgot how to set it and didn't bother to even start the timer. Oh and my left ankle started sending out sharp pains. And the best part was that I started to feel lots of irritation on the soles of my feet. Yep, blisters were forming. I did something really stupid. I bought brand new shoes a week before my marathon and I figured since they were Asics GT-2140s, shoes that I have never had issues with, I was good to go. Maybe under normal circumstances, that may have been ok even to run in a marathon. But in the rain, brand new shoes were probably not a smart choice. I felt irritation and pain in areas that I don't normally feel. Like on the balls of my feet. I am not going to share these blister photos with you because I wince every time I look at my feet. And I don't want to gross you out! I have a total of 5 blisters the size of a quarter EACH. One of which I freshly popped and drained tonight. They all hurt like a mother during the race but somehow, I was able to block them out!

Anyway, back to the run. Somehow, I managed to make it to mile 16 but at this point, I was done. I thought about quitting. But the idea of a DNF was worse than any physical pain. I knew Duane and the ROHO girls were out there waiting for me at the next landmark and I couldn't let them down! I already felt bad that they had to wait so long for me! Slowly, my sub 4 hour finish started slipping away from me. I had to walk a few times, every few miles, I walked for a few minutes. Around mile 22, I knew I couldn't stop anymore. Because it just hurt too much to start running again. My feet were screaming murder and I figured if I ran, I would finish that much faster. A few times, I had to choke back some tears, also because if I started crying, I knew I would hyperventilate. It was hard enough to breathe as it was!

Some more photos for your enjoyment... Courtesy of Duane's excellent photography... LOL! My husband might be bad at taking running photos but he's pretty fabulous!

Yeah, I was suffering and in PAIN.Why are the last 6 miles the LONGEST miles in history? In my delirious-ness, I somehow managed to knock out those last 6 miles... seeing Duane at mile 23 helped and the ROHO girls at mile 25.5. Heh. They were there at the very end. Jumping up and down, waving their arms and shaking their cow bells. I wish you guys could have seen what I saw. It really took all my energy, not to cry. I was exhausted, whipped, a bit defeated but never felt so loved!

And when I crossed that finish line and saw my finish time of 4:20:XX, I was a little surprised. I thought I would finish much later.

My official chip time is 4:15:19. Not my best but certainly not my worst. It was probably one of the most emotional and challenging race, ever. Not because the course is hard... The Nike Women's Marathon takes the cake for that one but because so many things went wrong for me. If only the weather cooperated, if only my NIke+ didn't die, if only my shoes were broken in, if only my ankle didn't hurt, if only my feet didn't blister... if only I had trained more, if only... Gosh, let me get out of my pity party. There are so many "if onlys" but it is what it is. I don't want to dwell on all the things that went wrong. There will be good races and bad races.

And this will be one of those that I'll learn from. I ran 150 miles each in January and February but I don't think those miles really prepared me for this race. As for the post-race hoopla, I didn't have the energy to do much. I congratulated other finishers and took pictures with my friends from Twitter (who, by the way all happened to all PR or run really great races IN THE RAIN) got my post-race soup. All I wanted to do was get out of my wet shoes and clothes. I was a little delirious at this point and almost forgot about my friend Dennis, who we gave a ride to! Oops. He also PR'd by 12 minutes and finished a 3:36 race. Hello, 12 minutes? Grrrrr. I was supposed to meet up with the ROHOs but I just couldn't. Emotionally and physically, I was drained. We got back home and Duane made me the most delicious cheeseburger ever. I ate two. And then passed out promptly. I needed some alone time to lick my wound and forget about the morning. I woke up feeling much better. It looked like it finally stopped raining, too. I thought about my finish time and didn't feel so bad about 4:15:19. After all, I ran my 7th marathon...

Did I mention I chaffed around my ankle, where my socks sat? Sorry for the mug shot of my foot. It ain't pretty on this side, just think what it looks like on the other side!I wish I could share my blister photos but seriously, I am embarrassed to show them to you guys!

Was it all worth it? YES, of course!!!

Oh, did I also mention I signed up for the Big Sur Marathon on April 26th?
I seriously am questioning my sanity right now! (Why am I such a glutton for punishment?)

Thank you for reading my long race report... (again!) I apologize if my grammar isn't all correct... it's almost 1am and I'm pooped but I had to write my race report! And now that I got all the whining out of the way, I'm kinda proud of myself!!

Exciting News!!!!

2009-02-25T23:12:00.000-08:00

And no, I'm not pregnant. I've told people I have some exciting news to share and most of them asked me if I was pregnant. So, let's just get this out of the way, I'm not pregnant. Ask me again mid next year. Haha. So, my exciting new is that I am the newest runner to join the Hope Runs 777 Challenge!! A few weeks ago, I saw TFH's on Hope Runs 777 Challenge and I was hooked. I had to find out more about this challenge. I mean, it's my RUNNING DREAM to run a marathon in all 7 continents!! Did you read my interview with the Runner's Lounge early in January? I mentioned that it was my *dream*!! I was so excited, I couldn't stop thinking about it all day!!

Just to give you a brief introduction to Hope Runs... here's what I copied from TFH's post. :

What is the Hope Runs 777 Challenge? In 2010, Hope Runs will be leading a Guinness World Record-breaking endeavor to complete 7 marathons on 7 continents in only 7 weeks. With a team of dedicated runners, we are committed to breaking some fantastic Guinness World Records (yes - there are some left to be broken in the area!). We are also proud to be running a green event through carbon-emissions-offset sponsoring.The Hope Runs 777 Challenge will help bring the issues facing the 14.5 million AIDS orphans in Africa alone to the forefront of the world’s consciousness. By pushing ourselves to the limit, our team will raise awareness for the issues facing orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) all over the world, mobilizing people everywhere to become more involved. With each member of the team covering his or her own costs and committing to raise thousands more toward the cause, this effort will help to make a lasting impact in places that need it most.

For more details you can click here for where the proceeds to go and all the other exciting stuff!

Of course, later that evening, I consulted my husband about the 777 Challenge becaues I wouldn't want to commit to something THIS HUGE without this support. And as usual, he was very excited and supportive of me! He knew I've been wanting to run 7 marathons in 7 continents and excited that my dreams are that much closer in coming true. Not only that, I'd be able to help orphans with AIDS in Africa. It can't get any better than this!!!

So I immedately wrote to Hope Runs the next day and we've been going back and forth on my fundrasing goals iron out the details It's taken a little over week to finalize everything but I sent in my signed contract/consent form yesterday. And so, it's official. I am running the Hope Runs 777 Challenge!!!

Of course, there is the little itty bit about raising $26,000 dollars for the cause and raising my own travel expenses, which would add up close to $40,000. Daunting, I know. Scary. Petrifying. Holy sh*t. OMG. OMG!!!!

So, basically, I need about 40,000 people to donate a dollar. Or, about 20,000 people donate $2. Or, 8000 people donate $5. I have a few other fundraising ideas but... I need your help. If you're so very inclined to help me with my cause, would you donate a dollar? (Of course, more would be welcome!) Also, the ROHO girls have already offered to help setting up fundraising events with me locally. What would I do without these girls??? Also, do you know anyone who want to sponsor me?? I'm looking for corporate sponsors!

If you'd like to donate, please follow THIS LINK and look for the donate button on the right column. PayPal is the preferred method because you can specify that you're donating to me. I looked into using firstgiving.org but they take 7.5% out of each donation so that doesn't do us much good. I need all of it to go to Hope Runs!

Oh, and in case you're curious, here are the 7 marathons!!

DATE	RACE	LOCATION
January 2010	ING	Miami, Florida USA
February 2010	Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon	Beppu JAPAN
February 2010	Buller Marathon	Westport NEW ZEALAND
February 2010	TBA	EUROPE
March 2010	Kilimanjaro Marathon	Moshi TANZANIA
March 2010	Antarctica Marathon	King George Island ANTARCTICA
March 2010	Maraton Fin del Mundo	Ushuaia ARGENTINA

Also, if you have any fundraising ideas... please let me know!!! If you'd like to help me raise the money for Hope Runs, that would be awesome, too! Also, please feel free to point people to this post!! I need to drive a lot of traffic to my blog so that people are reading and donating...

Thank you. I feel like such a sales person. But it is for a very worthwhile cause! Did I mention I'm really excited?? :-)

Winner!

2009-02-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

And my Valentine's Day Giveaway winner is...

Sarah

from Junk Miles!!

(Randomly generated by Random.org!)

Congratulations Sarah! I'll be emailing you your prize tonight! :-)

I was really touched by all your stories and comments. Thank you for participating and I thank you (again) for reading my blog!

So, the last few weeks have been filled with work travel to Portland (every week), planning for my sister's baby shower and running. Lots of running. Yes, 5 more days until Napa Valley Marathon! I'm excited about this race. It's the first time I'm running this race and well, excited about the gourmet soup and wine at the finish line. Of course, so many of my Twitter pals are also running the race, which is really exciting. As well as my ROHO crew is making a special trip just for me to cheer/spectate. I am one lucky chick!

Speaking of ROHOS... we have our first ROHO giveaway!! So go enter please! :-)

Yes, I'm in taper mode and excessively carbo loading.

(And yes, my sister's baby shower turned out beautifully!! I might post about it later this week.)

Valentine's Day Giveaway & 100th Post!

2009-02-11T22:10:00.001-08:00

Egads. It's been seriously that long since my last post? I have to tell you, it's been really busy for me. I've been traveling for work on a weekly basis and when I haven't had a whole lot of blog writing or reading time. Duane is away on business today, so I have some alone time with my blogs. (Yeah, just when *I* got back, he flew out! Ugh.)

So, my blog friend Stethoscopes and Stilettos had a great Valentines giveaway and well, I decided to have one of my own. Yes, I'm totally copying her idea! Besides, I need to do a little thank you for all my loyal readers. Even when I haven't been so good, myself!

So, here's the deal. Leave a comment here on my blog, and tell me your favorite Valentine's Day memory/moment. Keep it PG-13, ok?? I'll do a random drawing to pick the winner. Simple enough, right?? :-)

Oh and the prize is... $25 movie tix via Fandango Bucks!
(Last day to enter will be Wednesday, February 18th!)

So, I'll start first!

My favorite V-day memory is with my husband, who was my bf at the time. (This is when Duane and I were doing long distance thing. I was in NYC and he was living in the Bay Area.) Two Valentines ago, we decided to meet half way in Chicago. During one of the worst snow storms ever. Flights were getting canceled left and right. If you've ever flown in and out of JFK in the winter, you know how awful their flight schedules are. They are never on time in bad weather. Amazingly, while 90% of flights were getting canceled, mine made it out, only an hour late. D's flight from SFO came in on time, too!! I was so afraid of being late. I knew he had made dinner reservations somewhere... So, we both got into Chicago and checked into our hotel. (Have you been to The James? Awesome hotel!) Then he whisks me off to the surprise restaurant: Charlie Trotters in Chicago!!! Which is one of the most amazing restaurants EVER. It was probably the most expensive meal we ever eaten together, too!! Then, at the end of the meal, he gives me a box of a Cracker Jack box and asks me to open it. I knew, there was something in it. I just didn't know what. I open up my little prize. Which is a little square envelope.. and in it, was a ring! A diamond eternity band. Which was my promise ring. *sigh* I'm getting all teary eyed thinking about it. He had meticulous planted the ring in the prize bag (did I mention it's small and thin?) and put it inside the Cracker Jack box and resealed it. Oh and the best part was the we got a tour of the kitchen after our meal! (Ok, the ring was probably the best part, but still! A private tour at Charlie Trotters' kitchen!)

Btw, I think two years ago, V-day was on a weekday, so we met up only for one night. We both had to go back to work the next day!

Ok, yours don't have to be that long! ;-)

Ps. Yes, I'm still running a lot. I did hit 57 miles last week and this week, I'll be running 50+ miles again!

Pps. Yes, this is my 100th post here! :-)

Race Schedule Revision 2.0

2009-02-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

Now that we're already in February, my race schedule is also looking more "firm"... In December, I was rather ambitious listing quite a bit of races. Since, then, I have had time to rethink my strategy. Mostly due to finances and of course, the physical limitations on my end! Ok, so here's revision 2.0 of my race schedule for 2009:

February 1: Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon - done!
March 1: Napa Valley Marathon - registered!
March 15: Emerald Across the Bay 12 K
April 26 : Big Sur Marathon (This one is still a maybe?)
May 30: Rnr San Diego Marathon - registered babeee!
July 19: Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon - registered
July 26: San Francisco Marathon (5th year in a row!!)
October 11: Chicago Marathon - registered yesterday!
October 18: Nike Women's Marathon (huge maybe)
December 6: California International Marathon

Training for the Napa Valley Marathon is well under way and I can't believe I have less than a month to go now! Starting last week, I've kicked it up a notch! I've started to incorporate one long run midweek and also doing 20 milers on my weekend long runs. This is what my runs have been looking like the past week:

Wednesday: 5 miles tempo @ 8:38 pace
Thursday: 10 miles @ 9:20 pace
Friday: 6 mile hill workout 9:58 pace
Saturday: Rest!
Sunday: KP Half 13.1 miles
Monday: Rest!
Tuesday: 8 miles @ 9:17 pace
Wednesday (today): 10 miles @ 9:32 pace

As for the rest of the week:
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 miles
Sunday: 7 miles (For the 7 on 7th, we're doing it on Sunday!)

I am excited to hit 50+ miles this week! And, I've been feeling really good out there. I'm not looking to PR at Napa but I'm hoping for a good strong race.

Oh and last month, I ran 145 miles at about 9:30 min avg pace! Woohoooo! I definitely plan to exceed that mileage this month!

Now, leaving you with photos of my run today... Views of San Francisco from the East Bay!

One last note, I'm really behind on blog reading. I haven't forgotten you. I promise!!! (Thank you for coming back to read mine, really. I appreciate it very much.)

Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon Race Report

2009-02-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

I look back at yesterday's Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon and I get the warm and fuzzies. (No, not the kind you get when you get a charlie horse! The kind you get in your heart. :-) As a team, it was ROHOs' first race together and personally, a very stress-less kind of a race. We talked about the race logistics all week between the 5 of us and it was something we were all looking forward to. We had our team shirts ready, goals in mind and lots of expectations! And I'm happy to report that all of us achieved or exceed our goals for the race!!

Duane and I woke up early to make sure we got to the start to meet the rest of the girls. For the first time ever, we got to the race site early to find good parking, run to the start, use the bathroom *and* still have enough time to take pictures and loiter around before the race. (I hate that sinking feeling when you're in the porta-potties and the start gun goes off! Like it did at the Nike Women's Marathon, yikes!) So here are some of the before photos...

My friend Pam and me, she's training for the Way too Cool 50k

Duane and me, so sexy in front of the porta-potties!

Go Team ROHO! Aron, Tara, Maritza, Kristin and meGo Team ROHO!

I really wasn't that nervous about this race. It was part of my training for the Napa Valley Marathon in 4 weeks and I wasn't looking to PR. Of course, a sub 2 hour finish time would have been nice but I was really looking for consistent pacing and strong finish. The first couple of the miles were easy. As a matter of fact, I think I started out faster than I normally do. Up until mile 4, I was running sub 8:50 pace and felt pretty good. Duane was running with me most of the time and I could tell he was having a lot of fun. Due to the great weather, we didn't freeze our buns off and was able to warm up quickly. The next couple of miles seemed even easier due to a few easy downhills. I think I lost Duane around mile 7 but I knew he was behind me for the most part...

The KP half starts around the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park, loops around a few times, spits you out onto the Great Highway (shouldering the Pacific Ocean) and then back to the Golden Gate Park. There is a point around mile 8 or 9 where you go down the Great Highway and turn back the way you came. So you can usually see the runners who turn ahead of you. I got to see Tara and Maritza at some point and it was really great to see them run so strong! A little after I made my turn to head back around mile 9, I saw Duane. He looked like he was struggling. He was probably about a 1 minute behind me. Poor guy, he looked like he could use some encouragement! Duane had a goal of finishing sub 2 hours again. When he ran the RnR San Jose Half, he finish 1:59:XX. Made is just under 2 hours, which he was very proud of. He wanted to do it again at the KP Half. So I stopped and waited for him. I figured, I wasn't going to PR anyway and it's so much more fun to run with him... and I wanted him to do well.

Map of the race route...

When he saw me, he waved me away as if to say, go on! I told him I was going to run with him and finish together. We did that once before, when we finished our first marathon together (The SFM 2007) hand in hand! He struggled again around mile 11 but once he got some Cytomax, he perked up and finished strong the rest of the way. The warm weather and the last mile uphill weren't easy but we both finished strong. Our exact finish time was 2:00:14! It wasn't quite sub 2 hours, but close enough!

Our race stats!

	Julianne	Duane
Bib	1356	1357
Chip Time	2:00:14	2:00:14
Overall	2650	2648
Sex	996	1654
Division	218	185

We were SO close to a sub 2 hour finish! But overall, we were both happy to finish strong. I felt like I could go for another several miles! Ok, maybe not several...

Like I said, all the other girls did GREAT. Tara even PR'd by 7 minutes! How fabulous is that???

Here's some of our celebratory photos after the race! Don't we look pretty good for having just run 13.1 miles??

The Shoe Photo

Looking back, I am really glad I stopped and waited for my husband. I could have run on and met him at the end but something really special about crossing the finish line together. And I finally got to see the famous buffaloes in the Golden Gate Park! I've run around the park like dozens of times but for some reason, I never noticed them before!

Duane with the Gold Gate Park buffalo.

So after the race... Tara, Maritza, Duane and I went to one of my favorite hamburger joints in the city called Grubstake and totally chowed down. It was SO good. Totally hit the spot. :-)

And then Duane and I got home and totally passed out. And no, we didn't watch one minute of the Super Bowl!

Vita-Mix Super 5200 Review

2009-01-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

A little over a month ago, I was contacted to see if I was interested in reviewing the Vita-Mix 5200. I had no idea what it was until I clicked on the link and saw that it was a "power" blender. Well, hello, of course, I said yes! A few weeks later, the blender came in the mail and through the holidays and with all my travel work I didn't get a chance to open up the box and check the contents until a week ago. It looked like one of those super blenders at Jamba Juice! The Vita-Mix even came with the "baton" thingie majiggy. Does anyone know what the official term is?

I browsed through the recipe binder that it came with and saw so many great recipes! I didn't realize you could do so much with this blender. I was contemplating a post-long run recovery smoothie... Coincidentally, I was having a potluck dinner party with some friends at my house! My very good friend wanted to make Cream of Celery soup (it taste better than it sounds, I promise) as an appetizer for the dinner but needed a blender/food processor. I had a brilliant idea and offered her to come over a little early so she could use my new Vita-Mix blender.

The VitaMix 5200 out of the box!Now, another friend who is a chef (who has worked at a Michelin starred restaurant and at an upscale San Francisco restaurant) also happened to be at a dinner. Can you imagine how nervous the rest of us get when *she* comes over for dinner??? Anyway, as soon as she saw the blender, she was like, "OMG, is that a Vita-Mix? I love those!! Do you know that the Vita-Mix does things that other regular kitchen blenders can't??" And continued to gush about it. At this point, the rest of the dinner party wanted to know how I got it and when I told them, they ALL wanted to start blogging!

Honestly, am I the only one who's never heard of the Vita-Mix? Can I tell you how happy I am to own one?

Getting ready to cook the celery Boilded the celery and the onions and now about to blend!Blending!!!

Ta-da!
YUMMY!

We also had some delicious veggies...

And our chef friend made some fancy veal raviolis... from scratch!

Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
1.5 cup chopped celery, medium sizes
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoon butter
2.5 cup milk
half teaspoon salt
squeeze of lemon

Melt butter in heavy bottom pan over medium heat (do not brown the butter); add onion and season with salt; sweat the onion over low temp for about 10 min (until it's translucent--no browning at all!); add celery root and season with salt; cover with milk and simmer over med heat until celery root is tender. CAREFULLY blend soup (can be very dangerous to blend hot things!)--don't add all liquid at once--thin with liquid; blend for a LONG time so it's nice and creamy; best to strain through a strainer, if you have one, so soup is extra creamy; adjust seasoning with salt and a squeeze of lemon.

We didn't strain the soup, which gave it a better texture. It was REALLY yummy. :-)

And let me just say, I can't wait to use the blender to make other things... I was browsing through it this morning and they dozens of recipes!! Thank you Vita-Mix! If you're interested in more information on this awesome product, please check out this link here.

Greetings from California!

2009-01-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's nice to be back home. :-) As much as I love traveling and the state of Oregon, it's nice to come home to the Bay Area. I did get a chance to meet up with some of the Portland bloggers! We were originally supposed to meet up Thursday night but due to last minute work stuff switcharoos, I asked if we could meet on Wednesday. They were nice enough to come out on Wednesday evening to meet up with me. It's so nice to put faces to names!!

Alisa, Amy, Zach, Jen, Sarah and me

Thanks Justin for taking the photos!

I'm going back out to Portland tomorrow so maybe I'll get a chance to meet up with them this coming week! I must admit, these ladies put away beer just as well as they run. :-)

It so hard to exercise/run or even eat healthy while traveling for work and last week was no exception. I was only able to squeeze in a 7 miler after work on Tuesday night and that was about it. I did try to make it when I got home...

Friday: 4 miles on treadmill & 45 min on the elliptical. Was planning on running 8 on the treadmill but I had a rough time pushing through. Decided to give it a rest after an hour. Technically, I was on the treadmill for an hour but only ran 4 miles. Which means, I walked a lot. I love going to the gym mid-day. Empty gym and available treadmills are the best feeling!!

Saturday: 8 miles at 10:30 min pace. (Duane and I walked a little bit between miles, his knee was bothering him.) I went to my Make-A-Wish Foundation volunteering training in the morning in San Francisco then got home, changed and went for a run. I had plans to go to a cupcake party so I knew I had get some running in!

Sunday (today): 14 miles at 9:33 pace. Not great but not bad at all. As a matter of fact, I had a great run. It was one of those that made you fall in love with running ALL OVER again. It made me so happy to be out and running, thankful for a body that is able and willing.

Tonight, Duane and I are going to the Golden State Warriors vs the LA Clippers game. I am SO excited!!!!!!! Then, tomorrow morning, off to PDX again.

Hello from Portland!

2009-01-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

I'm actually in Lake Oswego right now but it's not too far outside the city! And, I did have dinner Portland last night so, it kinda counts. (This is day 2 of my Portland business trip!!)

Did everyone get to watch all the inauguration celebration today? I didn't get to watch it live but did catch the highlights at the gym, near my hotel. I didn't get a chance to run yesterday but today, I got a 7 miler at the gym after work. (I feel like I just repeated myself!?!) It was a great run, I did about 9 min/mile pace! Thank goodness the gym was relatively empty!

I don't have any pictures of Portland for you, but I do have photos of my run from this weekend. I did a 16 miler Saturday morning with my running group starting from the San Leandro Marina to the San Mateo Bridge. (8 miles out and back!) It was a gorgeous day and a decent run. I averaged about 10 min miles, a bit slower than usual but I'm happy that I ran the whole thing. And, it was a tad bit warm for me, again. Not hot, but warm. Maybe low 60s. I can describe how the beautiful this run was but as the saying goes, pictures speak thousand words. :-)

The San Leandro Marina Park

The View from the San Leandro Marina Park

More gorgeous views...

Part of the marina trail

START of the trail!

Me at the end of the run. I look surprisingly normal after the 16 miles!
(And not too bad without make up!)

Sorry, don't want to make anyone jealous but yeah, in shorts and a tech shirt...And last photo of the night... from Aron's surprise birthday dinner on Friday!

Kristin, Maritza, Aron, Tara and yours truly...

OH! And, woohoo for the 44th President of United States!

Short & Sweet

2009-01-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm back into full marathon training mode. (Omg, only 7 weeks to go until Napa Valley Marathon!!) Trying to really watch what I eat and even sticking to my training schedule.

My Running Recap
Monday: 6 miles on the treadmill @ 9 min average pace
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Track workout - 8 x 400. I almost died. Hadn't gone to track workout since late November. And I ran it very slow. I'm still sore!
Thursday: 8 miles in 75 degree temperature. I almost got heat stroke!! And, I had to stop and walk every mile or so. It was a rough run... I am not looking forward to summer marathon training.
Friday: Rest! Yay. Legs are sore from Wednesday's track workout!
Sataurday: 16 miles
Sunday: Maybe 6 miles?

Good luck to all those running the PF Chang's Rock n Roll AZ this Sunday!

@zstruck and @lmantion on Twitter
Jai who's also on on Twitter as @jainz57
Marathon Mama
Alisa
Eileen Running Knitter

Did I miss anyone?? I can't wait to read all your race reports!!

And happy birthday Aron!! :-)

Ps. I'll be in Portland next week and looking forward to the Portland Blogger meet up next Thursday!!

Pps. I'm planning on running my 7 miles for the 7 on the 7th Challenge with Michael... Anyone else in the Bay Area interested in running it with us??

My Roctane Review (and 18 miler Run)

2009-01-13T18:12:00.001-08:00

I'm a huge fan of Gu. I've been using the Gu product since day 1 of my first marathon training 5 years ago and it has carried me through many miles. Now, when I received the request to review the new Roctane from the makers of Gu, I was totally down! Honestly, I didn't even know Gu was out with a new product. And before I start my review, let me lay down a few facts. First of all, I only use Gu on the long runs over 8 miles. And secondly, since CIM, I really haven't had a chance to do long runs. That is, not until the past couple of weeks. I've used Gu about 5 or 6 times now and feel comfortable reviewing this product. And this past weekend, I ran 18 miles to *really* put Roctane through the test.

Initially, I was planning on doing 20 miles. Not sure what I was thinking considering I hadn't been very consistent with my running during the holidays and the longest distance I've done is about 12 miles. On Saturday morning, my coach from PacWest suggested I do about 16 miles instead. Being over zealous and really wanting to do more, I compromised and settled on 18.

The starting point: Emeryville Marina

View of San Francisco

It was a beatiful day, maybe in the mid 50 degrees and sunny at 9am. Very mild. It did get a little warm at the end but overall, really great weather to run in. I pre-fueled with my usual toast and peanut butter so I didn't feel the need to take a Roctane before the run. But, I did take the first one at mile 5. I was feeling really good. Like previous times I took Roctane, my body reacted really well. It was like I was kicking into second gear and I felt like my engine was really chugging. Around mile 11, I felt my body getting tired and a little hungry. I knew I had to take another Roctane. Should have taken one earlier! (I'm sure you know this already but they recommend washing down Gu or any other energy gel with water. Have you heard of runners with bad teeth because they didn't wash down the gels with water? No thank you, I want healthy teeth. So I usually swish water in my mouth to get the gels down good.) Anyway, back to the review. A little while after I took the Roctane, I felt like my legs had a bit more power and more spring to the steps. Omg, I love this stuff. That one at mile 12 carried me through to the end. I usually end up slowing down on my long runs and average pace is about 10 min miles, if not more. This past weekend, I ran 18 miles at 9:30 pace. And stopped only once to take off my long sleeve top because it got too warm for me. I might run 9 min pace during marathons but my training runs are much more slow! I honestly believe that it was the Roctane that helped me with the consistent running during the 18 miles!

Now, what's different about Roctane from the original Gu? Besides the cooler design on packaging there's MORE caffeine and other goodies! Yes, according to the wegbsite, there are "new ingredients to boost performance in sustained, high-intensity efforts." So you can find more levels of citrate and a new ingredient: Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (OKG) . You can read more about it here. Oh, and thank goodness, still the same calories and carbohydrates. I was afraid that this stuff might have more calories, which I really don't need! They're currently out with two flavors: Blueberry Pomegrate and Vanilla Orange!

Roctane... sounds like something you put in a car, right? Somebody did their job naming this product because I keep thinking Rocking Octane. Or Rocket Fuel... Of course, this product is billed as "Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel: GU to a Higher Power!" Now, I'm not an ultra runner but I'm definitely gonna be using this during my long runs and definitely during my marathon. ;-)

Thanks Outside PR & SportsMarketing for the opportunity to review this great product!

Happy Friday & My Interview on Runner's Lounge Blog

2009-01-09T13:41:00.001-08:00

And guess what? I'm the featured runner in Open Mic Friday at the Runner's Lounge! Please click on the widget above to access the interview. Thank you for those of you that have already read it and told me it's up there. You guys are so sweet!! I really enjoyed writing the interview and made me realize how much I appreciate you guys, my fellow runners, bloggers and readers. :-)

Went for a 6 miler this morning and felt pretty good. Except for the strange pain in my Achilles tendon. Well, at least, that's what I *think* it was. It was a sharp pain in the lower back of my ankle and felt it all morning since I got out of bed. I debated on running on it but decided to test it out... After a few miles, the pain subsided and felt much better. There is a dull pain there but not too bad now. Any idea what it could be?

Oh and happy birthday to my blog mom Leslie!! Please go wish her a happy birthday! :-)

TIaRT: Training Dos and Dont's

2009-01-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Another TIaRT brought to you by me, courtesy of the great folks over at Runner's Lounge.

I've run a few marathons here and there and there are some things that I've really come to live by when it comes to training dos and don't.

Training Do: Two rules of thumb for me are rest and stretch. I need a day of rest at least 2 or 3 days of straight running for my body to recover. And, I always try to stretch. I noticed I'm much more prone to injury if I don't follow my "do" rules! Fortunately for me, I haven't had any major injuries to put me out so I'm going to stick to these two for now.

Training Don't: Don't over do it. I know my body and I try not to over do it. In another words, I don't over train. Not that I ever had a chance to overtrain but I don't plan to either. That's a pretty easy one to follow, too. :-)

So I followed my "do" yesterday and took a rest day. Today is a running day for me and is planning a 6 miler at lunch time. I haven't had a chance to hit a long run midweek, yet. Next week, I plan to throw in a 9 or 10 miler Tuesday or Thursday. Wish me luck!

Also, thank you for all of you who were concerned about my little accident on the stationary bike earlier on Monday. I'm definitely recovering but sad to report there is a nasty bruise *there*. I am such a clutz!

OH and I did it. I signed up for the Napa Valley Marathon on March 1st!!! Let the training begin!

Ugh!

2009-01-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

After all the confusion and issues... I removed the Commentluv from my blog. I liked how it linked your latest blog posts on the comment form and such but I think it was just too confusing. I had a few "How did I comment anonymous" comments yesterday, which led me to go back to the Blogger commenting form. Unfortunately, I lost all the comments with it. :-(

Anyway, I had a good workout yesteray at the gym. I ran 5 very slow but easy miles on the treadmill, 10 min on the stationary bike and then another 20 min on the Elliptical machine. It also helped that the Golden State Warriors were playing. Although, they lost painfully to Utah Jazz. For being the "winningest" team on the NBA, they really suck this year. Although, I really think Corey Maggette is hot.

I also slipped and fell on the stationary bike seat and slammed really hard into the seat. (I tried to get off the bike to grab my iPod and well, my foot slipped. It was one of those cartoon moments.) And, yeah, it hurt SO bad... *there*. Ouch. I seriously saw stars. Somehow, I played it off and recovered to make it to the Elliptical. I'm giggling just thinking about what my face must have looked like.

I also totally rocked out to the new Britney Spears' Circus album. 5 miles went by really fast!
(Did I mention I'm going to go see her live in April!! So excited!!)

I'm thinking about a lunch time run today. Maybe I'll hit 6 miles.

And no, I haven't signed up for the Napa Valley Marathon, yet. I'm actually holding out for Run to Finish's announcement on the HBBC winners. I mean, I could get picked randomly (not as the winner, because I know I didn't win) and could possible get the entry to the Napa Valley Marathon!!

You never know!!!

First Post of the New Year!

2009-01-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! I've been away from the laptop all week, hence no blogging or catching up on blog reading. But I was on my Blackberry rather obsessively since that little thing is VERY portable. Sadly, I was also on Twitter most of the time. I have a very bad addiction to social media thing. Anyway, it's January 4th already and this is only first post...

A few things to update you on:

1. I am pretty sure I did not win the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge. As of yesterday, I collected about 89 points. SO pathetic. My holiday eating was very poor and it showed very effectively on my scale.... going the WRONG direction. :-(

2. I did not set any new years resolutions this year. I am really bad at sticking to it so didn't even bother setting one. I do have some goals... like taking the GMATs and running faster. Oh and I even put a REAL number to gauge my goal of "running faster". I'm aiming for 8% increase in race pace. Yeah, that's A LOT. That will mean lots of speed work this year and hopefully losing some excess weight. See? This 8% has a lot of things tied to it. At this point, the GMATs is looking a whole lot easier... (By the way, I got the % increase of race pace idea from Kara at Between the Miles on Twitter. It's measurable! Brilliant Kara!)

3. I bought an iPhone 3G!!! But I got the refurbished one for half the price a day before new years eve and well, it's taking them a long time to port my number over from Verizon. Supposedly, it's coming in the mail either Tuesday or Wednesday. I am going to miss my Blackberry Curve but maybe I will fall in love with the iPhone, too. At least, that's what I've been told... (Btw, the 50% off sale is over but AT&T is still selling refurbished iPhones online.)

4. I went on my first run yesterday and it was another crappy run. Granted I've been sick since day after Christmas but I thought I was feeling better. And, I was convinced I needed some form of exercise this week. So I dragged Duane out to the Eastshore Park trail, which runs along the Bay (Berkeley to Emeryville). The weather was great, almost 60 degrees when we were done around noon. Unfortunately, I had a miserable run. My mind was willing but the body wasn't. After what felt like an eternity, we finished the 8 miles. I looked at my Nike Plus and turned out I was running at about 9:38 pace. Which wasn't horrible but not great. Today, I skipped out on my 16 miler because I was coughing pretty badly all night long. (Oh and I stayed out pretty late for a birthday party in the city.)

5. I must have been delirious from NyQuil when I wrote my last post. I don't know what I was thinking considering all those marathons. I need to revise that list SOON. Was WAY overly ambitious! See? This is what you runners with a blogging problem (or bloggers with a running problem) do to me!

6. On new year's eve, I met up with few of the fellow Bay Area runner bloggers! It was lovely to meet Liah and Sandra finally! Tara and Maritza, we missed you!

Liah, Sandra, Aron, Audrey, Alisa and moi

7. I had a fantastic and restful two weeks of vacation. And so thankful that I got to spend it with friends and family! Granted I was sick half the time but I really enjoyed not working. I'm so not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. I really need to find a way to do this all the time. Ok, maybe winning the lottery should be another goal for 2009...

(Me and my niece Analisa, who's almost 2 years old! She lives in Orange County so I don't see her all that often. But, she JUST started saing "auntie". SO CUTE!)

8. Ok, I start my offical training for the Napa Valley Marathon tomorrow!!!

9. I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

10. Has anyone seen my NyQuil?

I Survived Christmas!

2008-12-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

Phew! Survived first official Christmas with the in-laws! And it wasn't too bad. Actually, it was really really fun. There were lots of food, merry-making and laughter. My parents, sister and her husband joined us for dinner, too. It was quite a great day, overall. :-) And no, I didn't get a Garmin for Christmas. I didn't ask for one, actually. (I got something shiny instead!) But reading about all of you who did get one, I'm thinking maybe I should have? Hehe. Ok, I'm going to stick with my NikePlus for now but who knows... maybe when my birthday comes around?? Duane, baby, are you reading this? ;-)

I'm not quite ready to post my 2008 running recap, just yet... Still a few days left to get a few more runs in! (Besides, I'm quite attached to 2008 and not quite ready to let it go!!)

But, here's my race list for 2009:

February 1: Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon
February 7: Jed Smith Ultra Classic 50k (Maybe?)
March 1: Napa Valley Marathon
March 15: Across the Bay 12 K
April 26 : Big Sur Marathon (Maybe?)
May 30: See Jane Run Half Marathon
July 19: Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon
July 26: San Francisco Marathon (5th year in a row!!)
October 11: Chicago Marathon
October 18: Nike Women's Marathon
November 1: ING New York City Marathon (Lottery)
December 6: California International Marathon

I should mention that the list is a very ambitious one and not sure if I will actually run all the marathons in 2009! But who knows, I may run more, too! The only race that I've officially signed up for is the Kaiser Perm Half in February. Of course, there are couple of marathons that are by lottery only so we'll have to see. The Jed Smith Ultra 50k is a huge maybe. I don't know if I'd be ready for this ULTRA race. Although, I've always wanted to run one. Leslie, my blog mom is running it and I am seriously *thinking* about it right now.

I finally got back on the "saddle" this week. After my feast-fest Christmas dinner, I was READY to run. Forget the burn out, I was jealous anytime I saw anyone running outside. Oh and expecially when I read about your runs! So, on Friday, I went for a 8 miler, which I thought was relatively fast. Well, I ran it at about 8:55 min pace, which is pretty fast for me. I was triumphant! I was back! Yesterday, I looked up my training schedule for the Napa Valley Marathon and it called for a 14 miles. My train of thought was, "I ran 8 yesterday, I'm sure I could do 14. And I got lots of rest this week!" What I didn't take into consideration was that after a week of rest, the 8 miler was maybe a bit too much for me. And my legs were quite fatigued! I totally felt the fatigue in the legs about 3 miles into my long run yesterday. Thank goodness for the Roctane, otherwise, I may not have made it through the 14 miles. I took the Roctane around mile 5 and felt I could push it to another 2 for my out and back route. But I definitely struggled through the last 5 miles. Maybe 10 miles would have been a better distance for me yesterday. I'm glad I ran it but today, my legs are shot! Definitely a rest day today. (More on the Roctane later this week!)

OH and I ordered my iPhone 16 gig today for $199!! AT&T is having a refurbished iPhone sale and I bit the bullet and ordered one. I'll let you know how the refurbished phone goes. Supposedly these are the "previously owned devices that have been unused or lightly used and returned during the 30-day trial period," according to an explanation on AT&T's website. I can't wait to get mine in the mail!! Sorry Blackberry Curve... it's time for me to move on.

Anyone got some exciting New Year's Eve plans? D and I are going to friend's for dinner and NYE hoopla in SF... Wishing all of you the very best in 2009! And of course, looking forward to reading your running adventures. :-)

And We Have a Winner!

2008-12-23T23:08:00.000-08:00

I've been on vacation for 2 days now but haven't had a chance to sleep in or be a lazy bum or surf the net all day, like I was hoping to. As you can imagine, I've been running around buying last minute gifts, decorating the house for the Christmas family dinner, cleaning up, visiting peeps, etc. Phew! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas EVE! I am excited to spend my first Christmas as a married woman. :-)

I also had a chance to go to Random.org to draw a name randomly for my running shoes giveaway! And I am THRILLED to announce my winner!!!

Are you ready??

Congratulations to JoyRuN!!

And her comment was "Reading blogs like yours is what gets me out the door. That & the hope of maybe one day getting a wee bit faster!"

Joy, hope these shoes help you get a "wee bit faster". (Oh and make sure you email me your contact info!)

And thanks to Onlineshoes.tv for letting me participate and conduct their shoe giveaway contest! Go check 'em out you guys. :-)

And, of course, Thank YOU all for reading and commenting!!!

Oh and I don't have much to report on the running front. I went on a 7 miler with Tara, Aron and Maritza on Saturday. It was about 34 degrees at the start but we quickly warmed up. I didn't have a very good run that morning. I had to stop a few times and had a hard time in general. I haven't run at all since. Pitiful. Sure there's the rain but overall, not motivated. I think I'm a little bit burnt out from running. *gasp* I plan to give myself some time off this week but will plan to hit the road again next week.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

TGIF Photo Friday & Other Miscellany

2008-12-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here's to my first TGIF Photo Friday hosted by Nike Mom! It also works great because Nicole was telling me about the 6" of snow she got in her backyard this week and she told me she was going to post the photo of the snow. (Which she did.) I told her I would take a photo of the view from our house in the Bay Area and share it, too. Actually, it was taken in back in October. It's too gray and gloomy to see anything clear today. On a clear day, we get a great view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

View of the Bay

View of the Golden Gate Bridge... kinda far but still!

I've been blogging like mad this week. And finally catching up on my blog reading. I really love getting to know you guys.

So, a few more things:

1. Does anyone want a free blood glucose monitoring system? If you're a diabetic or know someone who is, this is an excellent meter to track your diabetes and simply your diabetes management. And I'm not just saying that because we make it. Seriously, though. Bayer = brand you can trust. Let me know if you have any questions!

2. My free running shoes giveaway in conjunction with Onlineshoes.tv is still going on until Dec 22nd. I really really enjoyed reading your motivations for running. Some of them are really touching and some of them, just plain funny. You guys are a riot! Anyway, if you're interested, click here.

3. Thanks to Erik, I found the most awesome greeting card site for runners! And they are so funny! You guys should check it out. As runners, I know we will all appreciate this site. They have cards for swimming, cycling and yoga, too... among others.

Have a great weekend everyone and I'm off to do some holiday shopping this weekend. :-)

TIaRT: A Year in Review in 52 words or Less!

2008-12-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

And, here is my contribution to Take It and Run Thursday at Runner's Lounge! Today's theme is .... A year In Review in 52 words or less:

Who'd have thought I would run 3 marathons this year and one under 4 hours? And, I ran one 5 days before my wedding in August. I *heart* running and so happy to have found an outlet to express it. AND, I found this amazing running community that seems to share my passion for running!

Ok, that wasn't exactly 52 words but hey, I'm close. And I am seriously sleep deprived right now.

Don't forget to leave a comment in my previous post to win a free pair of running shoes from Onlineshoes.tv! My giveaway ends on Monday at midnight! Seriously, your chances of winning are pretty good! :-)

I came home and found this in our front living room!!Duane and I have been talking about getting a Christmas tree but we haven't gotten around to it and didn't think we were going to really get one! It's a bit bare right now but we'll decorate it tomorrow. He put up 1 ornament up with the lights. :-)

The ONE ornament on the tree. (From Duane's sister)

I think it's the most beautiful Christmas tree ... ever! Even if it's only got one ornament on the tree!

Went on a 7 miler during my lunch time today. It was a terrible run but glad I went out there. I need to rack up some points for the HBBC! 31 points to date! Oh and I'm on vacation for 2 weeks starting tomorrow! Yay!

Don't you wish all my posts were this short? :-)
(Don't answer that! It's relatively shorter than my usual posts, right? Don't answer that, either!)

What Motivates You? (Free Running Shoes Giveaway!)

2008-12-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

Runners! I'm having a FREE running shoes GIVEAWAY courtesy of Onlineshoes.com!

I know we have days when we don't want to get out of bed, let alone go for a run or hit the gym. Now that WINTER is upon us with freezing temperatures and darkness, Winter tempts us to stay in doors. I'm still amazed to read your stories of running even in the worst conditions. Seriously, I can't believe some of you guys run in snow, get ice crystals on your face after a run, go out looking like a burglar (cute one, of course) or with 20 layers, and even use special gear like Yak Trax. Seriously, I am impressed with your dedication and tenacity. And there so many of you, too! :-)

I wrote in my previous post about a run in "cold" 40 degree weather yesterday... I didn't want to. Really! I wanted to stay indoors and maybe make something warm to drink. But I decided to go. I still believe in my own potential that I can improve myself. That I might run just a little big faster. And that potential makes me not want to waste even one day. That maybe, just maybe I can be a better athlete/runner. Strange, I never considered myself as an athlete. So, I guess I am motivated by my own potential!

So, what motivates you?

Onlineshoes.tv and Onlineshoes.com are promoting a contest where they are giving away running shoes to a lucky commenter (randomly chosen, I promise). Leave me a comment and share your motivational tip and you could win a pair of free running shoes from ASICS, Adidas, Saucony or Brooks! You just have to leave a comment by Monday, December 22nd! (You never know unless you enter!) Good luck to my readers!

** There's been a change to this post today (12/18/2008)! Originally, I asked you to go to Onlineshoes.tv to enter you comments BUT you can enter them on my blog comments. And I'll be picking out a winner randomly. I'm so excited to have my OWN giveaway!!! If you left me a comment alreaady, you're entered. :-)

Looking for Great Running Gloves?

2008-12-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

I went on a 7.5 mile run yesterday. The first "long" run since CIM. I worked from home yesterday and in the afternoon, I was itching to run. Sure it was cold and rainy but I had to get out there. And, the dreadmill was not an option! It was about 41 degrees out and to this Californian, pretty darn cold. I can't believe last year around this time I was running around Central Park in NYC in below freezing temperatures! What was I thinking?? Duane was also working from home yesterday so he took out his creaky old bike out to ride next to me. It was nice to have company and also, I noticed I was running much faster than my regular runs... Probably because Duane was pacing me at a faster pace on his bicycle. Fortunately, during the time I was out there, it didn't rain at all. But it was cold. The weather reminded me of race day at CIM and it felt familiar and almost comforting. THANK GOODNESS I remembered to wear my running gloves. I love these Saucony 3 Season gloves! I got them for $20 at the Fleet Feet booth at the CIM expo. I just looked at the inside label and turned out it's a men's small! Hmmm. That would explain why it felt like something was "off"... But for the most part, these Saucony running gloves do a good job keeping my hands dry and warm. I like that it's got good insulation and rubbery dots at the fingertips for traction. AND, the best part was that it didn't chaffe my nose too badly when I used them to wipe my nose. I know, gross but what's a girl to do when your nose is running?

Final stats: 7.8 miles at 9:14 pace. :-)

Top

Bottom

Oh and btw, for those of you that asked, I really like the CommentLuv features. I had to spend some time watching the tutorial video to get it right but it works well!

Coming Up for Air!

2008-12-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

Where do I begin? I've been away from the blogging world for about a week and I feel so behind! I am planning on catching up on the reading this week, though! I am dying to read all the race reports, of course!

As for me... I have done no running at all this week. Well, besides the 1 miler recovery run on Tuesday since the CIM, I have done zero running and exercise. I am sure I am in last place for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge, too. But, today I started up on my running/exercise regiment again. 3 miles on the treadmill and 45 min on the elliptical machine. I really wanted to run outside but it's been rainy and cold the past few days.

I also passed my Professional Project Manager Certification exam last Friday. Thank you for all the best wishes and good lucks! I think they helped! I had holed myself up for a week in total isolation to study for the exam. My only distractions were my husband, Facebook and Twitter. The last two of which are apps on my Blackberry so that little blinking light would distract me. Each blink was a cry of "check me, check me". And it was really really hard not to reach for the phone. You're probably wondering why I didn't put the phone in the other room? Because I have serious co-dependency issues with my phone and I can't be part from it for more than a minute. The little red blinking light is like my security blanket! Anyway, if you want to connect with me on FB or Twitter, let me know! :-)

This past weekend, I had a few holiday parties and even a cookie exchange. I chose 2 recipes from the Food Network's 12 Days of Cookies and they both turned out really well!!

Alton Brown's Paradise Macaroons Recipe

Aida's Hazelnut Tea Cookies Recipe

Both were really delicious. I really think I had the best cookies at the exchange. Ha! This is only the 2nd time I've baked something from scratch. Recall my Low-Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake? That was my first!

Also, Duane and I made way over to the first holiday party of the season for us. Aron's Black and White Christmas Party. Which was one classy affair. I got to meet Maritza and Kristin for the first time and was happy to see Aron and Tara again. Our favorite conversation topic was running, of course. And reading. . . lots of books! Our second loves! I really had a good time imbibing and catching up with these girls! Here is some of my favorite moments:

The girls... Kristin, Tara, Maritza, Aron and me

Aron had props!Chillaxin' on the sofaDuane & me!

Oh and looking forward to being off for 2 weeks starting next Monday. Oh I plan to catch up on the reading. Oh yes, I will! Also trying something new with the comment section. Bear with me while I figure it out myself...

CIM 2008: One Long A$$ Race Report

2008-12-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

I keep having flashbacks of the moment where I crossed the finish line on Sunday and I get choked up. You know, the whole teary eyes with stingy nose thing. And I revel every moment of it! And it's still so fresh on my mind. It all culminated into that one point... As soon as I saw that my sub-4 hour finish was within grasp, I sprinted toward the finish line. Well, I *think* I sprinted. Not quite sure. Everything felt slow. Very slow.

So here are the official stats:

Gun Time: 03:59:18
Chip Time: 03:58:17
Half Marathon Split Time: 01:56:40
Pace: 9:08
Age Group (30-34): 151
Athena Category: 6

Yes, I actually qualified for the Athena weight division, which I have very mixed feelings about. I knew I had gained weight but seriously, that much? Of course, I did weigh in fully clothed with shoes but still! Actually, how 2 people know how much I weigh. SLB (for the Swap Beat) and that guy who weighed me at the Expo. :-/

But, even with the weight gain, I was still able to beat my best time by over 11 minutes!

D and I headed drove up to Sacramento after the Lollipop 5k (more on that later) and just barely made it to the Expo by 3pm. It was crisp and sunny down in the Bay Area but as soon as we crossed the the Sacramento city line, it was all gloomy and foggy. The weather forecast did call for overcast skies but it felt much more ominous. But then, I was glad. What runner doesn't love cold race weather? The expo was just ok, I still think the Rock n Roll Marathon series have the best race expos! But the best part of the day was that I got to meet Leslie, KK and Stacey.

Leslie & me

Leslie, KK & me

Stacey & me

I was excited to meet Leslie because she's my pseudo blog mom. She always dispenses great advice and watches out for me. How awesome is that? And she's so beautiful in person! Even Duane commented on how pretty she was. KK was just as lovely and it's so nice to finally put a face to a name! Oh and Stacey, she is a hoot. Full of life, energy and great sense of humor. Tina, please have your phone handy next time! ;-)

Oh and I didn't realize I signed up for the long-sleeve tech t-shirt but I was sure happy I got one. I was worried that medium wouldn't fit but good thing those shirts ran big.

We later met our running group at Lucca for our big pasta dinner and had a great time. There were 8 full marathon runners (including me) and one relay team. Half of us PR'd and the other half BQ'd during the race!

After a delicious parpadelle pasta dinner and decadent chocolate cake dessert, I got back to the hotel and set out my outfit and gear. 2 bottles of water/Gatorade combo, 4 packs of Gu and some mini energy bars for well... energy, of course. I don't like regular Gatorade so I usually dilute about half with water. I also decided to go with Gu instead of the Luna Moons. I need to preserve every iota of energy, which also includes chewing! I watched a little bit of CSI Miami and then promptly passed out at 10:30pm.

Sunday morning, I woke up with trepidation and excitement. It was still overcast which was a great sign. I looked out our hotel window and saw dozens of school buses ready to transport the runners to the starting line. It felt like the entire city center was jammed with runners in line for the buses and the buses themselves! I was lucky that Duane was driving me to the starting line. The strategy was for Duane to drop me off at the starting line and he was going to meet me every 5 miles or so to cheer for me and to do some gear swapping, if needed. I got the starting line and saw the swarm of runners near the starting line and I got excited. Really really excited. There's nothing like 5000+ runners huddling about getting ready for a run in the cold and darkness! If i remember correctly, the temperature Sunday morning was 37 degrees. Brrrr! I did my usual Porta-Potty thing and felt READY. I don't think I ever felt that ready for a race! (Seriously, thank goodness for training plans!)

5 min before the start! Decided to run with my long sleeve tech shirt last minute...
And then the gun went off! And it was downhill. I told myself to start slooooow and not fall into the downhill start trap thing. The first mile came really fast! I heard a guy by the mile 1 marker yell out the pace time and I was a bit thrown off. I have never run a race where someone tell you your pace at the mile marker and the time, too. I think I clocked in at a 10:00 min pace at mile 1. The first 5 miles were a blur, really. All I remember thinking was, this isn't too bad! I first saw Duane around mile 5, i think. I remember handing him my gloves because my fingers were getting sweaty. Which I regretted the entire race! It was really cold. It was also around then that I saw Tara and Maritza! Ok, more like Tara saw me and screamed my name! It felt SO great to see them cheer for me and gave me a boost of confidence and energy. I felt like I wasn't doing it alone. My friends were there. And I saw them a few more times on the course, which was a total treat! *sniff* Ok, I'm getting teary eyed again!

Ugh, this is my fat photo...

Between mile 6 and 18 were uneventful... They were marked by rolling hills (more than I thought) and my beautiful husband who popped up faithfully at mile 9, 14, 17 and 21, I think? Thank goodness he did undergrad at Sac State. He says he knows Sacramento like the back of his hand! I really did love the crowd support. For a small race, the cheering squads were frequent and ardent. It was great. Early on with my slow start, I was skeptical about a sub 4 finish. But as more miles were behind me and more consistent my pace was very consistent, I knew I was going to be close. I was consistently hitting 9:00 min pace! After the half way point, I decided to kick up the notch a little bit and I think i was running about 8:50 pace. I was even thinking I might even finish sub 3:50!

Me on the far left of the photo...

Oh and this is my first marathon in a running skirt and I LOVED it!! I didn't feel tired until about mile 20. But once the wall hit, I was really tired. I remember seeing Duane around mile 21 telling him I was really really tired. And that I had to go to the bathroom! (Actually, I had the urge to go #2 starting around mile 8!) I knew I had to run and not stop. No matter what. i knew I was so close to my goal. I knew I had all the time to rest and relax AFTER the race. Mile 22 to 26 were sheer torture. I think I even slowed down to a 10:30 pace for a mile or two. I don't even know how I got there but finally I was down to the numbered streets. Counting the street numbers from 51st to 8th was again, sheer torture. At each mile marker they shouted out my pace and race time, I knew if i kept up my pace of 9:10 ish, I knew I could finish sub 4. I don't know how I put one foot in front of the other but somehow, I got to the end. I saw Duane about quarter of a mile before the finish and I knew I had the race in the bag. And when I approach the finish line and saw that I was STILL under 4 hours, I was elated. It took every ounce of energy to pick up the little pace I had left in me. I crossed the finish line with so much emotion. I can't even tell you how proud I was of myself. I saw my coach and training group. They were all clapping for me. Wow. So that's what it feels like...

26th Annual California International Marathon Finisher Medal

I still can't believe I ran a sub 4 hour marathon. With a 10 lb weight gain, I still ran 11 minutes faster than the SFM. So I know I can't use my weight as an excuse to run slow anymore. Now, for 2009. I just signed up for the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon on Feb 1 since the Surf City Marathon is officially sold out. And then, maybe Napa Valley Marathon on March 1st. I'm thinking, if I lose that extra 10 lbs, I can shave off another 9 minutes. *wink*

I have now finished 6 marathons and one under 4 hours.

I know I can do anything I put my mind to. It's official!!

I did it!!! (Drum roll please!! )

2008-12-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

California International Marathon is officially over!! And yours truly did not BQ (or BBQ for Mica, hehe) . But that's ok. Because I PR'd by 10 minutes!!! AND, that would make it a sub 4 hour finish! I made my goal:

3:59:10

This is only gun time!!! Chip time not available, yet! I just barely squeaked by! But it's still under 4 hours! I am hoping it is something like 3:58:XX. :-)

I am really tired right now but off to a baby shower... Planning on taking long nap in the car, on our way back down to the Bay Area.

THANK YOU for all your support and encouragement.. I am so happy that I got sub 4 hour finish, finally! Duane was amazing cheering me on every few miles or so handing my my Gu and water. And I LOVED seeing Maritza and Tara on the course, like 3 times! You guys really helped push me to the finish line. You two are the best cheerleaders!! Thank you!

And congrats to Aron who PR'd by 20 minutes and to Leslie to BQ'd!!!! It was also lovely meeting Stacey, KK and Leslie for the first time. Can't wait to read the all the race reports!

I really hope we stop at In-n-Out Burger on our way home!

Oh and a full race report coming soooooon with lots of pictures!!

TIaRT: The Ultimate Dream... BQ & Boston

2008-12-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am going to be THAT predictable. My wildest running wish is to qualify for the Boston Marathon one day. As of next year, my Boston qualifying time will increase by 5 minutes. Which means, I will need to finish a marathon under 3:45! This is a dream that is actually somewhat within my reach. A few months ago, I ran the SFM with my best time of 4:09. That is only 24 minutes away from BQ. Ok, 24 minutes is a distance that is practically equal to what people refer to as "light year" in space for me... But then, it's a WISH, after all. My wish. And I really would to run the CIM under 4 hours this Sunday. I'd be completely and utterly content (and happy) with a 3:59:59 finish time! That just brings me that much closer to BQ! And of course, I want to BQ and actually RUN the Boston Marathon! One day. Seriously... ONE DAY!

Ok, so it might not be very realistic to run a sub 4 hour marathon this Sunday... BUT, I can still hope. And try my best. I can't believe the CIM is this Sunday. Wow. I am so excited and already proud of myself. I know, I haven't even run the race, yet. But, I am really proud of me. Another 26.2 marathon under my belt. I'm getting emotional just thinking about crossing the finish line. AND, there is so much potential this weekend. The course is much easier than the SFM, relatively easier overall! I could potentially PR. Or maybe not, considering I have gained about 8 lbs since the SFM. Damn all that post-wedding pigging out. *sigh*

But, all the training (and the chaffing, blisters and aches/pains) will be worth it when I run that marathon and cross that finish line. Sure, I want to PR and finish sub 4 hours but... I'll be happy with finish the race no matter what. Because, I absolutely love running and running marathons! :-)

You guys are really good for my ego. Thank you for all the wonderful compliments about me and Duane!!

Side note: Please check out The Runners Lounge and their weekly Take It and Run Thursday community blog posts. They are SO fun. :-)

SV Turkey Trot 10k Report

2008-12-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

So Duane and I drove down to my parent's house in San Jose Wednesday night so that we could take full advantage of the Silicon Vally Turkey Trot 10k, which was just 15 minutes away in Downtown SJ. We got up early Thursday morning and after Duane put the turkey in the BBQ (see post below for the Thanksgiving feast recap) we got dressed for the race.

Here's our race bibs and d-tags!

Egads, I am so not cute without make up! Now you see who I need my full-on mask?

The race was really fun! I heard about 8000 people came out for the turkey trot! Holy cow. And it showed, it was crowded! (I thought this was supposed to be a local race with a small turn out?? I was soooo wrong!) And there were so many categories of races ranging from the Family Fun Run 5k/10k to the CEO Races to Elite 5k. This was our first 10k and was excited to be part of the race. Duane and I did not want to get out of bed but I kept reminding myself of the all the extra servings of food I was going to consume that day. That made it a whole lot easier to get up and go.

Thank goodness it was only a 10k! It was definitely easier than 26.2 miles. :-) We did have a few mishaps, like someone kicking my Nike+ Sensor off my shoes (less than a quarter mile after the start), which is secured by a bozzee. I had to run back a few yards to retrieve it and re-secure it between my laces. Funny enough, Duane also lost his Nike+ Sensor which he keeps in his shoe/key pouch (on top of his shoe)! He lost his once we both started sprinting toward the finish line. It's happened once before where the Velcro strap gets loose! Even with these minor mishaps, we were able to finish in good time! The race was relatively flat with a few rolling hills and a few places where the road narrowed so much it didn't accommodate the large number of racers very well. The 5k and the 10k intertwined a few times and every time the two races intersected again it became a zoo. Especially with all the strollers and walkers. There was a few times where I thought I needed to adjust my pace to slow down but maintained a good pace for most of the race. I finished feeling I could have run it a bit harder!

Which also means I could have run it faster but still happy with the chip time. Duane and I were shooting for sub 1 hour finish and we were well within our goal! Now if I can only keep this pace up during the marathon on Sunday...

Me-
Chip Time: 54:26
Pace: 8:46/M

Duane-
Chip Time: 54:42
Pace: 8:49/M
(He was a little bit behind me when we crossed because he went to retrieve his pouch!)

Woohooo for our 10k PR! Well, it's our first 10k so it's definitely a PR for us. :-)

The best race shirt ever! Super soft organic cotton! My favorite race cotten t-shirt so far.

Duane and me modeling our shirts. Which we ended up sporting the whole day. My family totally made fun of us! (Not that I cared!)

Wish I had race photos to share with you but I didn't bring my camera with me to the Turkey Trot! :-(

Oh and *gulp*! Less than 5 days to go until the CIM! I have quite a few things going on this week. I'm in Portland for a few days for work and get back Thursday night, my baby sister and her fiance comes in for the weekend from Riverside on Friday for a visit, Saturday is the Lollipop Fun Run 5k (for Girls on the Run) in San Francisco and Sunday is the CIM!! Then, I have to rush down to the Bay Area again for Duane's cousin's baby shower. *deep breath* I'm doing my final taper runs on the treadmill at the hotel, too. Ugh. Anyway, more thoughts on the race to come...

Ps. I'm really behind on catching up on my blog reading... I have a PMP Exam next Friday and have been busy studying. (And very likely to be even more missing in action next week!) That's Project Management Professional Certification Exam, not the PIMP Exam. ;-)

Thanksgiving Recap!

2008-12-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones and ate a belly full of good food. I sure did. Our family gathering was smaller than usual but still carried on our usual family traditions. Eat Thanksgiving lunch like you've been starving and then graze through the rest of the day. Repeat at dinner. :-)

One notable part in the evening was during the blessing of the food. An uncle who speaks passable English with a thick Korean accent was chosen to say the prayer and here's a snipet (which I remember quite clearly): ". . . Thank you for the family that gathered here today and for those that prepared the food, please give them big breasts . . ."

Um, yeah, you can imagine the stifled giggles and squeaks that escaped out of my young cousin's lips. Especially the uncle's daughter who is in her mid 30s! What he MEANT to say was "blessings" but maybe in his nervousness it came out as "bresses" which REALLY did sound like "breasts"!! (My uncle is not a pervert! At least, not that one...) At the "kids" table, we all had a good laugh. I really hope God hears my uncles prayers and grants them to me!!

Which is quite a good transition because I actually prepared 2 dishes! The Low-Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake and Sugar-Free Cranberry Chutney did turn out really well! For those of you looking for the recipes, here you go!

Low-Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe
Sugar-Free Cranberry Chutney Recipe

And also, photos to show you what the final product looked like!

This looks like it came out of a food magazine, doesn't it? ;-)

Camera setting not so good on this one...

I wasn't able to find any whole frozen or canned cranberries so I used a whole cranberry sauce that comes in a can. I didn't realize that the sauce has sugar already! Good thing I decided to use very little sugar substitute, instead of what the recipe recommended. So, as you can imagine, the chutney turned out a bit too sweet but still good! The cheesecake was really really good! And considering half of the adults in my family are diabetic, the cheesecake turned out to be a great alternative to regular pumpkin pie!

On a side note, this whole cooking thing is a big deal for me. I mean, I don't cook. God bless (or breast) my husband who does most of the cooking!!

Me and my proud Cranberry Chutney!

Oh and the smoked turkey also turned out wonderful!! Here's Duane prepping the turkey and wrapping it in foil for the BBQ...

Duane buttering up the turkey midway through... (Then he covered it with the lid.)

All done and yummified!

I had no idea you needed to cook the turkey all wrapped up in foil and via indirect heat. While we were gone during our Turkey Trot, my dad to had to check in on it every 45 min to an hour to make sure the coals were ok and still hot. Apparently, you have to add some to make sure they were going strong. That turkey must have been on the BBQ for good 7 hours! The smoked turkey was one of the best I've ever had. Super juicy and tasty! Thank goodness Duane likes to cook because he also contributed the stuffing and the ham.

My mom make her famous Crispy Chicken, Korean BBQ and Japchae, along with the usual Korean side dishes. Yeah, we get the best of both worlds! My mom thinks I got helluva husband. ;-)

Oh and the SV Turkey Trot 10k run recap will be in my next post...

Insert Witty Post Title Here

2008-11-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

So here's what happened yesterday and today:

Monday: Elliptical for 20 min & Spinning for 50 min
Tuesday: Lunch time 7 miler @ 9:28 min pace

I haven't gone spinning in a really long time and I forgot what tough workout it can be. I sweat so much when I go spinning, too. Last night was no exception! I got to the gym a little early so I also hit the elliptical machine for a little bit. As for today, it felt so good to run at lunch time. It's a pain to change, shower and get ready AGAIN but it was totally worth it. (I'm not the au-naturale kinda gal. I'm all about full-on make up and hair kinda chick so anytime I get sweaty is a huge issue.) Good thing it's a slow week at work!

Here's what's up for the rest of the week.

Wednesday: Track Workout!
Thursday: Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 10k
Friday: Rest & Recover!!
Saturday: 8 Miler... somewhere
Sunday: 6 Miler or Cross Train?

I am totally looking forward to the smoked turkey that Duane is planning on making!! I am also contributing to the Thanksgiving faire by making Sugar Free Cranberry Chutney and Low-Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake! Part of my low-carb endeavor to shed unwanted pounds. I'll report back on the food later. Especially since I don't cook very much it will be interesting to see how these turn out! We're doing Thanksgiving Potluck at my parent's house in San Jose this year and I can't wait to show off my "new" cooking skills.

Also, if any of you are planning to send out photo holiday cards this year, I have a Friends and Family coupon code for Tiny Prints for 20% off! Type in "FAM121" without the quotes when you check out. Seriously, they have the cutest cards! I just ordered ours today... Here's our holiday card preview. Too bad we did not have any good running photos together!

The message says: We went "green on our honeymoon and
planted a tree in Costa Rica! (Duane did all the work! Phew!)

Love, Julianne & Duane

Of course, if you're like my super duper crafty friend Heather, you can make your own but I'm not really a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kind of a gal. Also, if you're looking for an amazing photographer for your special event in IDAHO, you should check out her photography blog!

Happy Turkey Day tomorrow everyone!!

Great Running Week!

2008-11-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

I was really happy with my running last week. With the belated 20 miles on Tuesday and with my 12 miler yesterday (along with the rest of my midweek runs), I reached 50+ miles this past week! I haven't run 50 miles in one week since July when I was training for the SFM. I ran my last of double digit run before the CIM yesterday morning with my training group and so glad that is over with. I ran my 12.5 miles at 9:44 min pace, finishing at 2 hours. Not the greatest pace but I'm happy with it.

This morning, I met up with Aron around 7:30am to get a good running start to the week... Had planned on an easy 8 miler but ended up (what felt like sprinting) running a tad faster than normal. I was huffing and puffing for the first half of the run. (Also, it was much cooler than I had expected! It must be in the low 50s. Hello, winter is upon Northern California!) That's what I get for trying to keep up with a faster runner. I will consider that my speed work for the week. Honestly, if Aron wasn't waiting to run with me today, I may not have gone running at all! I ran an average of 9:14 min pace for the 8 miles! Phew, no wonder I was so tired after!

I ended last week with 50.25 miles! Woohooo!! It's definitely taper time!!!

Happy Thanksgiving week to all! Duane and I have a Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 10k this Thursday... and then, I'm all over the low-carb Thanksgiving meal that day. We're planning on smoking our whole 20 lb turkey on the BBQ. I'm not quite sure what that entails but I hope to have some pictures of the bird later this week!

i * h e a r t * r u n n i n g ... r e a l l y !

2008-11-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

"The next time someone tells you they ran 100 miles this week, tell them 'so what?' The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles." -Bill Dellinger

Isn't that a great quote? You can replace 100 miles with any number, by the way. ;-)

It's TIaRT time again and the topic is Thank Goodness for Running! What a great topic. Running has brought me so many highs (and lows) in my life but it has brought out that MAGIC within me. I have run further than I ever imagined and found will power that I didn't even know existed! And it's also brought me to this wonderful community that I can't stop gushing about. Ok, I promise not to turn stalkerish! Well, unless you want me to!

I also am so thankful for the opportunity to volunteer and run for great causes. Today, I went to my first Running Buddy volunteer activity with Girls on the Run in the Greater Bay Area region. I got this email not too long ago and I just couldn't say no! I love working with kids and volunteering and to throw running into the mix... omg, it's like my dream job. (But no pay!)

I'd like to share an opportunity with you from Girls on the Run: our upcoming Lollipop Family Fun Run on Saturday, December 6. The race is open to the community, but is a special celebration for the girls in our programs, who will complete their first 5k or 1 mile run. We pair each girl with an adult Running Buddy, who meets her one time at practice (on either November 19 or 20, depending on the school) and then comes out to run with her and encourage her on the day of the race! The cost is $35, which covers the price of registration for you and sponsors your girl buddy. The application can be found at:
http://gotrbayarea.org/volunteer/buddy.asp

Please circulate this opportunity to your contacts - many of our girls are still without a buddy!

The mission of Girls on the Run of the Bay Area is to educate and build confidence in young girls through non-competitive, curriculum-based running programs in San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, San Mateo, and Contra Costa Counties.

I met about a dozen girls on the program for the firs time today and it was great. Most of the girls ran and walked 3 miles and even though it was tough for some of then, they stuck it out. And, they looked like they had so much fun. These 4th and 5th grade girls are precocious, wonderful, tough, innocent and yet, so grown up. They live and go to school in a pretty tough neighborhood in Oakland. An area that I usually avoid! Well, most people do... I am really thankful that I can give back to the community this way. And I am thankful that it involves running!!

And yes, I am signed up for the Lollipop Run on December 6th, which is the day before my California International Marathon! But, good thing my training calls for an easy 3 miler on that Saturday. There should be a Girls on The Run in your 'hood, too, if you're interested in volunteering!

This weekend is the BIG Philly marathon!!! BEST OF LUCK to my dear running buddies Denise, Flyers 26, Marci, Lil Runner ND (who is running for 2)!

And to Blyfinn and Coffee Betsy who are doing the Living History Farm Race, Holly who is doing an early Turkey Trot this weekend and to X-Country2 who is running her first marathon!

Drive By Blogging

2008-11-19T23:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy week at work. Back to back meetings, conference calls and lots of year-end project management stuff. And on top of that, I've been bogged down with a cold since Saturday. I've been away from my running blog way too long! I miss those slow days where I could sneak off to my own little blogging world! I'm hoping to catch up on all the blog reading this weekend. I have seriously missed all of your updates on your lives. Just to give you a brief update, D and I did go down to Orange County this weekend and had a great time. We didn't end up going to Disneyland because the fires in the area! We got to the Disneyland parking lot (withour pre-purchased tix) and saw ash and soot falling on our car. It was bad. I fell asleep in the car on the way there so I didn't even notice how bad the air was in the distance! I think there were at least 3 major fires down in SoCal this weekend. Yikes.

Woke up Saturday morning with a bad sore throat and it just got worse from there. I tried to go for a short run Saturday morning but it was tough. Not only was I under the weather but it was like 90 degrees the entire weekend. I think it was already in the mid 70s at 8am when I set out for the 6 mile run. Let's just say I walked a lot during this "run"! I give mad props to those of you in the Southern California who train in this weather all year round!

I had already decided on Friday that I was going to run Monday so I didn't worry about the long run over the weekend. We got back home on Sunday night after the weekend of birthday celebrations and I tried to prep myself for the 20 miler on Monday morning but just wasn't feeling it. I still was suffering from the cold on Monday morning so I decided to take the day off from running again.

BUT I FINALLY WENT ON MY 20 miler on Tuesday morning!! Even though, I still wasn't feeling 100%. But it felt good to be out there. The temperature hovered around high 60s during most of my early morning run and only stopped a few times to fuel up and fill up my water bottle at couple of water fountains. Total running time 3 hours and 29 min. It was about 10:30 min pace. Not the fastest but happy that it didn't hurt too badly. At least I have that under my belt.

I felt ok all day yesterday but woke up feeling like crap again this morning. I went into work but left early feeling sick. Took a long nap and now feeling a bit more alive again. (Which means I didn't go to my Wednesday track workouts! But my legs needed another day off.)

Shoot, really meant this to be a short post (hence the post title) but I guess I'm more long-winded than I'd like to believe!

Leaving you now with a photo of me and the nephews and niece down in Rancho Santa Margarita. (Nolin, Rily and Analisa are actually Duane's nephews and niece but we've really bonded!!) We watched Kung Fu Panda like 3 times on their laptop this weekend!

TIaRT: The "Green" Runner in Me

2008-11-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I try to recycle as much as possible, eat locally grown/sustainable/organic stuff, and conserve energy when I can. Duane and I even went to two hotels in Costa Rica that practice "responsible tourism" in areas that are "carbon off-setting". (Both which I highly recommend!!) I do have to admit that I'm not doing anything ground breaking. I'm still trying to figure out how to leave a neutral carbon footprint. And for the most part, I feel like I'm not doing a very good job. Especially when I run. I do few things that I know are "green":

- I always run with my own water bottle during a race. Not only do I not want to create extra trash by using the disposable cups but I like the comfort of knowing I have water at anytime.
- I reuse my bottles! Until they look like they've been kicked around by a soccer team.
- Whenever I fuel up, I make sure I put the empty Gu packet (or whatever empty package) in my pocket if I don't see a trash bin right away. (That's true for both races and during training runs.) I just have to remember to throw them out before I do the laundry!!
- I try to run near where I live as much as possible. I do hate those days when I have to drive 15+ miles to do a long run. :-(

They may not make a huge difference but I feel good knowing that I am doing *something*. I will also make a commitment to recycle my shoes and buy items that use more recycled parts. Even running shoes and clothes. Both Running Times and Runners World had issues dedicated to green running and they have lots of great ideas. I even flipped through them again last night to get some inspiration for this post. What I did find was that they use a lot of chemicals and other things that are bad for the environment manufacturing tech-shirts. Which is bad news!! What would I do without fast-drying or moisture wicking shirts? :-(

I'm also excited that this is a topic that I suggested to Tom and Amy at the Runner's Lounge. They sure do making blogging easy on Thursdays!

Last night's track workout was TOUGH. But I felt soooooo good when it was over. I swear, I think I almost hyperventillated at one point. I love pushing myself hard, though. Even if it's hurts so bad. Here's my workout:

2x 400s - Finished right around 1:37 on both times. Almost 5 whole seconds faster than last week!
4x 800s - Omg, I almost died on these. I averaged about 3:45 on most of these. I kept thinking, this speed workout better pay off!
2x 400s - Averaged around 1:50. By then, I was P-O-O-P-E-D!

Today, I decided to do a midweek long run. I have been totally inspired by D10 and Aron who run some crazy mileages during the week. So, I went out and did a 11 miler! I left work early today since I started at 6am! (Why do my East Coast counterparts set up meets at 9am EST??? Half the call was conducted while driving to work, hehe.) I started around 4:30pm but by the time I finished it was SO dark. I really need to go get a vest and/or a headlamp! So, 11 miles done tonight with about 8:51 min/mile pace! It took me all of 1 hr and 39 min. I feel pretty good about this. Maybe those track workouts *are* working!

I am off to Orange Country tomorrow and Disneyland for sure on Saturday with Duane's nephews! Yay!! I also decided not to do my 20 miler on Saturday or Sunday... Just too much to do this weekend. So, I'll do it on Monday morning before work. (Planning on going in late!) I WILL DO IT!!

Oh and on one final note, "Nike announced a voluntary quality return of the Nike+ SportBand following reports of faulty displays. This is not a recall, exactly, but an invitation for all consumers and retailers to return any defective SportBands for a refund or exchange." For more info, click here. It's about damn time!! I have had 3 faulty Nike+ SportBand and really, this is the least they can do.

My Run with Dean

2008-11-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

My run with Dean Karnazes tonight was really awesome! I left work around 4:30pm today because I really wanted to be on time for the 6pm start. Traffic wasn't too bad since it was Veteran's day but it still takes time to trek through the Bay Area around rush hour. Especially trekking 50 something miles! Anyway, I knew I was going to cut it close when I was about half way there... When I finally got to Berkeley, I had 5 minutes to spare. I quickly changed in the car and rushed over the Fleet Feet store on Solano Avenue. I saw couple of dozen people already standing outside. Apparently, Dean was a running a little late, too! He showed up a few minutes after. Dean is a bit shorter than I imagined and looks even thinner in person. I have run in couple of races that he's hosted but I had never actually seen him! Once he arrived, it didn't take us long to set off. Fleet Feet told us we were going to do a 6 miler on the program but we ended up doing only 5. It was an out and back route from the store to the UC Berkeley campus.

Here's our group photo before the run. I had positioned myself right up in the front but some guy showed up last minute and ended up standing right in front me. With his bright reflector vest. Grrrr.

The run was relatively easy even though, I did keep up with him most of the time. Ok, let me rephrase that. He ran slow. Apparently, he just got back from the Sahara Desert on a 150 miler run. More on that later. I did get to admire his muscular calves for most of the run. Man, he has ropes of muscles for legs. I was just amazed at his powerful legs. (And, I usually check out other runner's legs. I have a thing for calves!) We got back and noticed that I was running about 8:20 min mile pace! Ok, so we weren't running so slow after all! (Well, "slow" and "fast" are relative words!!) Once we got back and stretched, Dean got settled in his spot and gave a short talk about his book. He was a great speaker and I really enjoyed his 50 marathons in 50 days synopsis. I cannot wait to read this book.

Here he is talking about his new book...

I had asked him what his latest challenge was and he shared with us that he is running "five of the planet’s most inhospitable places on five different continents, all in one year." He's finished 4 deserts and has one more left: Antartica in 2 weeks!! And, he just finished running 150 mies of the Sahara Desert and just flew home yesterday. You can read more about his Desert Grand Slam here and about the desert race series here.

He is just amazing! After his talk, the book signing began and I made a bee line to the table. Here is Dean signing... (for someone else!)

And finally, here is Dean and me. Omg, I *heart* Dean!!!

I love how we're right in front of the sports bras. Hehe. And he is such a cutie!

Meeting Dean Karnazes was quite an experience today. I am truly inspired and motivated. He said that if his book helps someone reach their dream then and "go far", he's done his job. Or something like that! I was so inspired, I went for another 2 mile run around my neighborhood after the book signing. I was supposed to get 7 miles in today. I didn't want to short change myself!

Dear Julianne,

Keep on smiling. & keep on running! May you go far...

Dean

11-11-08

Random Bits

2008-11-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

Just an FYI to my readers: I still have not found a way to make money blogging about running. But I'm still looking and searching. If I find out, you'll be the first to know! Of course, if we're all doing the same thing, we'll probably just end up making money off of each other... which would just recirculate among our little community. Hmmm.

Can I continue complaining about this getting dark at 5pm business? It really sucks. I start panicking about my evening runs when I see the sun go down around 4:30pm. It's really sad.

Tomorrow night, my Mr. Right comes home from Boston! He's been away since Sunday on a business trip. We did long distance for over a year (cross country) but since we've been married we're like two peas in a pod. We're like inseparable. (And grossing out some friends in the process.) I can't believe I put up with long distance dating for that long!

Speaking of business trips, my trip to NYC next week got canceled. Thanks to the economic downturn, not only did my department have to give back $13MM dollars (that would be 13 million) all travel has been suspended. Usually, in my R&D new product development group, we're given more money than we know what to do with. This month, they asked for money back. This is baaad news. And no travel! I have to cancel all my restaurant reservations now. Boo.

So excited about my run with Dean Karnazes tomorrow night with the Fleet Feet Berkeley store team. I saw that there's about 26 other runners that have RSVP'd but I heard they are expecting more. AND, I am going to try my best to get a photo with him. Oh and get my book signed. Ok, I'm going to try!! I don't want to seem like an obsessed fan or anything...

And, one more random bit... I totally get excited when I get a real word like "ankle" when you get those word verification for Blogger. Maybe because on average, I have to type in the "word" like two or three times before I get it right. I don't like those, to tell you the truth!!

Upcoming Week

2008-11-09T23:25:00.000-08:00

After reading various TIaRTs from the running community last week, I felt a little ashamed. Compared to some of the serious and amazing transitions that fellow runners have gone through, mine seemed a bit trivial. My post last Thursday felt more like whining than anything. I was literally in tears after I read Danica's moving post about the loss her mom, very hopeful after reading TwoDog's battle with cancer and inspired by N.D.'s progress with her pregnancy and running... among others! Ok, I'll try not belittle my experience but I guess in the grand scheme of things, my transitions seemed not so bad. To so many of you who did open up and shared your story, THANK YOU. You put my life into perspective. I'm actually quite humbled.

I had a great running weekend, by the way. Friday morning, I went out for a 6 hilly miles and felt really good. I did stop and walk up the hills (twice) but the last time I did the same run (about a month ago), I walked a lot more than that. Saturday morning, I had to change my training plans from 12 miles and run only 6 due to a baby shower that I was throwing for a very good friend of mine. The hubby and I ran with my training group and ran on the Nimitz Way Trail at Tilden Park in Berkeley. It's a beautiful trail with rolling hills and on a clear day, you can see right across the Bay! The 6 miles were done in less than an hour, averaging about 9 min miles. Again, I felt pretty goo about the run and felt like I was finally getting back into the groove of things. Sure, the body still "hurt" during the run but it felt good! So, this morning, after much hemming and hawing I decided to go out for my 12 miles. I slept in like a lazy bum and didn't start the run until about 10:30am. Good thing we started mid morning because it was a sunny, cool 58 degrees and breezy. Love that crisp morning air! I also love that I have a constant running buddy who sticks it out and runs with me... even when he doesn't feel like it. My husband is the best running buddy ever. Even if he did quit on me around mile 8 this morning. ;-) Ok, he *did* have a good excuse... his Achilles was acting up. Poor guy walked back most of the way hoping I'd catch up to him. Which, I didn't!! I finished the 12 miler around 1:53 at about 9:09 min pace. Woohoo!

Ok, here are some activities this week:

Monday: Rest (Yay!)
Tuesday: Run with Fleet Feet Berkeley... a 6 miler with Dean Karnazes! Anyone else in the area interested???
Wednesday: Track Workout
Thursday: 8 miler planned (not sure when I'll squeeze this in)
Friday: Rest... Flying down to Orange Country at 8am to visit Duane's nephews & niece!! There's a birthday party for his 8 year old nephew. MIGHT squeeze in a 6 miler in the PM?
Saturday: 20 miler planned (before Disneyland maybe????)
Sunday: Hmmm... maybe have to do the 20 on Sunday before the birthday party. Fly back to the Bay Area in the evening.

Yeah, I got some serious activities planned for this weekend. Still trying to figure out where and when I can run 20 miles this weekend. Hmmm. Anyone down in SoCal got any ideas? I've searched for runs on Mapmyrun.com but haven't found anything, yet. I'll be in Rancho Santa Margarita!

TIaRT: What Doesn't Kill You, Will Only Make You Stronger

2008-11-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

The Take It and Run Thursday (TIaRT) theme for today from Runner's Lounge is TRANSITIONS. I've heard somewhere major stress in life are caused by transitions or living through through them. They say, some of the major transitions in life are life/death, new job, marriage/divorce, aging, moving, health and etc. In the past 6 months, I've gone through some big ones myself. I've moved cross country, got a new job, got married, moved to new town (that I'm not really crazy about) and blending two lives into one. And I have to tell you, it has not been an easy transition. (Especially figuring out the close space thing!) Leaving NYC was tough but moving to a small suburb outside San Francisco was even harder. The new job isn't that new because I was transferred within my company but still it's a new surrounding with new people - new challenges. (And, I'm not really crazy about this new job. Especially since I commute 50+ miles each way.) Getting married was stressful enough and now learning to live together has it's ups and downs. (Having a wonderful husband does help, though... ) Through it all, I ran. As a matter of fact, with all the different changes within the last six months or so, the only consistent thing in my life has been running. Maybe that's why I felt the need to train and run a marathon 5 days before the wedding. And why I continue to sign up for races. Maybe it's to keep me busy and distracted from life's issues. Maybe I need the endorphins to keep me going. It's been a tough six months, to say the least. I keep thinking the transition period is now over but something else keeps popping up. Maybe this is just life. But whatever it is, the running part has kept me SANE. I'm sure I'll have other challenges to look forward to and transitions. But let me tell you something, I know I will always have running to get me through it! As that saying goes: What doesn't kill you, will only make you stronger... AND I feel I've become very strong (physically & emotionally) in the last 6 months.

Last night's track workout kicked my butt. 3x 400s, 2x 800s and 3x 400s again. It doesn't sound that hard, I know! I was thinking, piece of cake. But it was! I averaged about 1:42 per lap (400) and it felt good!

You Learn Something New Everyday

2008-11-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this running community. Thank you for keeping me accountable, encouraging me and going on this running journey with me. It's really amazing how my running has become such a huge part of my life. JoyRun's post today really summed my feelings... and funny enough, she said it was my post that "rang true" for her. *sniff*

I also learned something new yesterday! Did you know there's a term for "mental psychology of reaching a euphoria and just a deeper understanding of yourself as an athlete, and your purpose on this planet"? (That's a direct quote from Marci's post "Find Your Flow".) It's called Runner's Flow! Apparently, there's even an entry on Wikipedia on this "flow" terminology. I have felt this feeling at various times during a marathon but I had no idea there was actually a word to describe it. I love that this feeling has a word and it's real!

I've also been spending so much of my free time writing and reading blogs. Do you know a way I can make money blogging about running? ;-)

Last night, I went on my 8 miler in the dark. I love Daylight Savings but I don't like how it gets dark at 5pm. Boo. Thank goodness my husband went on the run with me because the trail that I usually go running on is near the Bay and sometimes pretty desolate. There were a few parts where I was so glad I was not running alone. Another thought, maybe I do need to invest in some good headlamps and reflective gear! I also ran on my brand new Asics Kayano 13s. They were fantastic! It felt like I was bouncing off the pavement. Love that brand new cushion. The 8 miles went relatively easy at about 9:40 min pace. Tonight, track workouts!

And on top of everything, I am still awed that we have our first African-American president of United States of America. It's truly historic and incredible. Wow. It's almost on the same level as, "Wow, we're married! You're my husband!". (As I tell my husband at least once a day, in a very happy way. :-)

OH and I just found out my little sister is having a GIRL!!! Omg, I am so excited!!

Did you know?

2008-11-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

For those who haven't checked the results of Sunday's New York City marathon, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet ran 2:33. She was 11th woman and 72nd overall. Magda is a local legend here in the SF Bay Area.

I got this from Wikipedia:
Magdalena Lewy Boulet (née Lewy; born August 8, 1973) is an American runner from Oakland, California. She finished second at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon, held on April 20, 2008, in Boston, Massachusetts, in a personal-best time of 2:30:19.

She led the race for the first 24 miles before being overtaken by eventual winner Deena Kastor. Blake Russell, the third place finsher in 2:32:40, will join Kastor and Lewy Boulet in Beijing.

"Some amazing times were recorded, apparently! Paula Radcliffe was first woman with a 2:23:56. Chasing her up to the last couple of miles was Ludmilla Petrova of Russia who ran 2:25:43 to set a master's world record. First American woman was Kara Goucher who ran 2:25:53." **

Wow. I am inspired. Yes, I am! Totally looking forward to my 8 miler today after work! Hope it doesn't rain too much! AND, GO VOTE! I can't wait to go home and watch the election results!!

** I got most of this information from a local email distribution list for local road/trail/ultra running. Just got this email about Magda and I wanted to share! If anyone in the Bay Area is interested (mostly in the East Bay running clubs and meet ups), I can send you the info on how to get on the list. :-)

Thank You for Reading

2008-11-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you for reading this in advance. It's hella long! And, it took me pretty much all day to catch up on the blog reading. I didn't realize I was "following" so many blogs. Phew! Good thing I'm not that busy at work these days. :-) There's so much to write about, I had to make myself a list (kinda in chronological order):

Halloween
Rain on Saturday
Russian River Wine Tasting
18 miles in Santa Rosa on Sunday
Luna Moons
Accountability
Madonna - Sticky and Sweet Concert Tour
NYCM on DVR/Lottery

Halloween - No trick-or-treaters at all. Zero. Zip. Nada. Good thing because we didn't even have any candy to pass out. We had a feeling no one was coming to knock on our door, though. I had no Halloween spirit this year!

I'm sure by now, you've heard that it rained most of Saturday. All over the West Coast, I think. On Friday afternoon, Aron and I had tentatively planned on doing our long runs together on Saturday morning (Aron 20 miles, me 16) but we both knew it was going to rain. After all, it rained most of Thursday and Friday and so rain on Saturday was no surprise. I got up around 6am on Saturday morning and heard the rain falling. I text'd Aron to see if she was going to run in the rain but she text'd me back saying she decided to go run on Sunday (and she's been sick all week). I was secretly glad because I really didn't feel like running 16 in the rain and really really wanted to sleep in. I got my wish! I slept in until 11am. (Yes, I also ditched my 8:30am run with my running group. I had already made up my mind to run on Sunday by the time Aron texted me. And to be honest, I had thoughts about skipping out on this long run altogether. And hoping to make up for next couple of long runs. But, I knew my online accountability group was waiting... That'd be you! You guys are the best accountability group I ever had! I couldn't let you guys down after I said I was going to do the run, you know?)

My husband and I drove up to meet our friends on Saturday afternoon for the Russian River Wine Tasting up near the Healdsburg area. We left a bit late (due to the sleeping in) and it took us a lot longer to drive up there due to the rain and traffic. We missed most of Saturday's wine tasting activities, unfortunately. Not that it stopped us from eating and drinking with our friends at a restaurant in downtown Healdsburg. Our friends were already a bit tipsy from the 8 wineries that they checked out but ready to imbibe some more. I was a little disappointed that we missed out but we figured we still had Sunday to partake on the wine tasting.

Sunday morning, I got up at 7:30am refreshed (thanks to Daylight Savings) and set out for my 16 miles. Well, I ended up doing 18 because I found a great route on Mapmyrun.com that started very near from our hotel. And really, I felt I could do 18 comfortably. I was pumped. I love waking up excited about my long runs. Maybe because I knew this was going to be a good route to run or maybe because I knew there was so much eating and drinking ahead of me on Sunday. I even have the handy 18 miler map right here:

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/united-states/ca/santa-rosa/240346127"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;116/Guerneville Rd. Loop&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-ride/united-states/ca/santa-rosa"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Santa Rosa, California&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

It was mostly flat route, uninterrupted country roads, mostly paved and quite beautiful. There were some parts that were on the "highway" with very narrow shoulders and kinda isolated areas but other than that, it was a great run.

My husband came out on the run with me but he decided to turn back around mile 8. Poor guy has been suffering from Achilles Tendinitis all year and it was acting up pretty bad around mile 7 mark. He didn't think he could finish 18 miles with me so he turned around at that point. Up until mile 12, I was thinking, "This is a piece of cake! I'll be done in a jiffy." I underestimated the 18 miles, or rather, overestimated myself. I ran out of water around mile 14 and it was kinda downhill from there, so to speak. I was s0oooooo thirsty around then. As you can see from the photos, the patchy clouds provided cool temperatures but as I neared back into town, it got very warm. I got very parched when the clouds parted, too. Right around mile 14 when I ran out of my water, I got really tired and super dehydrated. All the wine from the day before didn't help, I'm sure. I struggled the last 4 miles in pain but I was SO happy to finish. Even if I ran pretty slow at the end and walked quite a bit:

First 11 mile pace: 9:10
Last 7 mile pace: Ranging from about 11:00 to 13:45
Average pace: 10:24
Total miles: 18:03
Total time: 3:07'43

Santa Rosa/Sebastapol scenery was beautiful and with so many wineries and vineyards, I really enjoyed the run. I did see some gnarly roadkill but I tried not to look at it. Eeek. But here are some photos that I took while I was out running:

Side note: Holly! I did think about you on my run! I belatedly realized you live in Santa Rosa (around mile 10)!

Another thing, I decided this weekend that I really don't like Luna Moons very much. I have tried them on various distances and I just don't like having to chew for that long. And I don't like how they stick to my teeth. I spend more time trying to get them out of the teeth crevices than chewing them. So, I need find another alternative.

The wine tasting/food pairing on Sunday was amazing. We must have hit 10 wineries in 2 hours. The first few we lingered and tasted all the samples but after while, we just wanted the food. And I was starving from the run. My post run meal consisted of a Luna Bar, which was not quite what I had hoped! Just to give you an idea of the type of food the wineries had, here's a short list:

Truffle Mac & Cheese
Biscotti with Chocolate Fondue fountain
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Mushroom Ragout with Mezzo Sauce
Beef Short Ribs with Olives
Blackened Tri-Tip Sandwich

One of the wineries that we stopped at

And that's not even all that we ate. There were so much more and we didn't even get to hit all of them! Next year, we need a better action plan. Less drinking, more eating.

Did I also mention unlimited wine tastings??? I was tipsy after 2 wineries. ;-)

Anyway, enough about the wine and food. I'm sure I gained back all of the 2000+ calories that I burned off during the run.

After the event, we drove home and got ready for the big concert!! Madonna - Sticky and Sweet Concert Tour came to Oakland Coliseum this weekend and we had tickets! Yes, we had two pairs of $100 tickets (each)... way up in the nosebleed section. I could not believe how expensive the tickets were for those crappy seats. As you can see from my poor quality Blackberry Pearl camera that we were pretty far away. But thank goodness for the big screens! I'm not too crazy about the new Madonna stuff (although, some of them are not bad), I'm a huge huge fan of the Immaculate Collection days. And she sang them to the audience's delight and mine! She put different twists to some of them but still, brought back great feelings! The concert was definitely entertaining although, not as scandalous as some of her earlier concerts. Not sure if it's worth $100 for the nosebleed seats, though.

Yes, the Material Girl herself on center stage! Too bad we're so far away!

While I was out running, I did think about all of your who were racing on Sunday morning. Although, I was out doing my training run, it felt really good knowing there was a community of runners out there that I can support and be supported. I also got a call from my friend Jason who completed his 3rd ING New York City Marathon with his fastest NYCM course time! Congrats Jason! I figured out how to DVR the NYCM online and so I plan to watch it when I get home later. I am really inspired by the NYCM itself and plan to throw my name in the lottery early Spring for 2009 NYCM!

Happy Halloween and Other Miscellany

2008-10-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

So it ended up raining after work yesterday. Which was a bummer because I was really looking forward to running 8 miles at a trail near work and burning off the Indian buffet lunch that I overdosed on. I ate in anticipation of burning it off in the run. A little rain doesn't usually scare me but the rain was quite steady and didn't really feel like getting soggy shoes. So, what a girl to do? I headed to the gym instead. I really don't like to run on the treadmills. Does anyone really? And, the gym near my work is always crowded and not easy to hog the treadmill for more than 30 minutes. I knew I had to break the rules and really, be a bad gym member and not share. Good thing for my iPod and good running mix, I don't know how I got through the 8 miles on the mill but I did! Running on the treadmill is really hard for me because I get so tempted to stop and say, I can make it up tomorrow! It's so easy to push the pause button and stop where as when you're out on th road or trail, you have return to your point of origin. Besides the all the crazy amount of calories that I consumed at lunch time, I really am serious about my training for th CIM. I kinda half-a$$edly ran the Nike Marathon and I really want to run a sub 4 hour marathon at the CIM. All that motivated me to stick to my 8 mile treadmill run. Oh and I want to lose some weight so that I can shave off some time off my PR! I only had to switch treadmills once because people were waiting and I felt guilty about hogging my machine. But, I did re-start the machine over once when I thought no one was paying attention. I swear, I felt dagger stares on my back coming from people waiting for the machine. I'm so sorry!

After my sweaty 8 miler at the gym, I went to go visit my younger sister who's 15 weeks pregnant! (I'm the oldest of 3 girls!) I feel like I'm surrounded by pregnant women these days. My husband's cousin is 18 weeks pregnant, my best friend is 26 weeks pregnant and of course, lovely ND is 24 weeks along. :-) As a matter of fact, I'm throwing my BFF a baby shower next weekend! Oh and yes, it will be my first time being an aunt. She finds out the sex of the baby next week, I think! My sister and I ate my mom's left over lasagna (she dropped by earlier to drop off the food), watched Elizabeth (the movie) and watched my sister knit.. She's starting up her own business selling baby beanies, scarves, greeting cards, handmade jewelry and other hodgepodge. I somehow missed the day God was handing out the crafty talent gene.

Here's a photo of my 2 sisters on my wedding day. The pregnant one is Sujin on the right. My youngest sister Sue (on the left) lives in Riverside, CA and don't get to see her very often. I'm off to the right with Duane and the flower girls. Rest of the bridesmaids to the left.

Just for the heck of it, here's a picture of my good looking family. I guess I was off taking pictures? (Sujin, mom, dad & Sue)

And another gratuitous photo of me and my husband... along with the flower girls.

I can't believe it's already Halloween. Where did this month go? I have no Halloween spirit as usual and we'll probably go meet some friends in the city for dinner and drinks (sans costume). Tomorrow, I'm shooting for 16 miles in the morning then heading up to the Healdsburg area for the Russian River Wine Tasting event with the hubby and another couple. We'll be staying overnight, yay! Too bad this event didn't coincide with the half marathon last weekend! (Or maybe that was precisely the point...) Hope the rain lets up!!

And, of course, best of luck to everyone racing this weekend!!

Steve in the Tesfa 5k on Sunday
Training for Half and her husband at the 10.3 trail race on Sunday
The Running Lamintor in the NYCM on Sunday!!
Marlene in the Hamilton Half Marathon on Sunday
ncrunner12 in the City of Oaks Marathon *first marathon*
Marci in the Hamilton Marathon on Sunday (She JUST signed up?!?!)

Ok, one relevant photo for the day courtesy of Heineken:

TIaRT: Super Powers

2008-10-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

The TIaRT over at Runner's Lounge this week calls for runners to ponder about what kind of super powers they would love to have. Honestly, I'm not much of a superhero expert so I had to rely on Google to help me with the type of super powers there are out there. There are A LOT of super powers, apparently! I actually found this article that listed some creative and cool super powers!

Now, not all of these would be applicable to runners but I found one that I would LOVE to have the super power of the Metabolism Woman. According to the article I mentioned earlier the author wrote: "I would use this power to eat fried foods, eat more chocolate and drink more alcohol, knowing that my *super metabolism* would just burn it all off, keeping me fit and trim, without paying for it with hours at the gym."

HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE???

Of course, I would change mine so that my "super metabolism" would kick in when I start running! I would eat and drink whatever I wanted and if I ran (even only a mile), it would all be burned off! All of it. And then some. How awesome would that be? Sure, if I was truly lazy, I wouldn't even need to run! But then, what would be the point? I love running!

Man, this was really fun to think about... (And I think I am obsessed with my weight. I've written my last 3 TIaRTs on some kind of weight related topic!)

If you're really into this super power stuff, you can even vote as to what you think is the best super power! And here's are some funny and practical super powers you can chuckle over.

On the running front, I haven't been as good as I should. I had a busy day on Tuesday at work and by the time I got home (after my long a$$ commute) I had no desire to go to the gym. It was my cross training day and I totally skipped out. Bad me. Wednesday, I went for an easy 6 miler after work. Today, I'm going to shoot for 8 after work and go visit my sister who is 15 weeks pregnant!

i heart new york!

2008-10-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Seeing Cindy's Food Porn blog today (on her recent vacation to New York City) got me really excited about my upcoming trip to NYC in 3 weeks. Work is sending me to Tarrytown (our HQ) for about a week but planning to check out my old stomping grounds in Manhattan over the weekend. My wonderful hubby is planning to join me over the weekend and already, we've been talking about where we're going to go eat. Haha.

So we're in the process of making reservations at Sfoglia one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants in the Upper East Side. I called yesterday and left a message but they haven't gotten back to me, yet. Or Babbo (I haven't been) or Blue Hill, our other favorite restaurant. Or we might try Sugiyama which was very highly reviewed on Yelp. I can't go anywhere without reading Yelp first. Hehe.

Anyone know what the latest eats are in NYC?

That's also the weekend of my 20 miler. Not sure if i want to run Central Park 3 times (which I've done before) or run the perimeter of the island, which really isn't my ideal run... Question for Running Laminator and Laura (or anyone else in NYC for that matter), what do you guys do for your long runs?

Ok, I am really jealous that I am missing the NYCM this weekend. I am totally going to throw my name in the lottery for next year!! And best of luck to the Running Laminator and my friend Jason C who are running the race on Sunday!

Over the weekend, I did a 9 miler trail run with my running group and had some good chats with my running coach. She is a few years shy from 50 but she's in such a great shape (runs 3:20 marathons) you'd never think that she's approaching that age. I'm totally inspired! She's planning on doing the Surf City in February and I'm contemplating that marathon, too. (Although, I've told all my friends to run the Kaiser Perm Half Marathon on the same day in San Francisco... Oops.) I rested Sunday because the trail run was SO tough. I don't think I was fully recovered from the Nike Marathon, yet. Which was nice because I got to sleep in and have a lazy Sunday. I went out for a 6 miler after work yesterday and FELT great! I was doing about 9:10 mile pace which I haven't been able to do for a little while.

Nike Women's Marathon Photos

2008-10-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!!
Just wanted to thank you all for being so wonderful and encouraging about my weight battle and running. It's really great to be able to share these things with my running community! Thank you again. I can't believe I weighed that much and I will NEVER go there ever again. Still, it scares me from time to time when I'm up in weight as I am right now. If you look to the sidebar of my blog, you can see me 2 months ago at the SFM where I was 10 lbs lighter. And here are my most recent photos from the Nike Women's Marathon. You can see, 10 lbs on my frame is quite a bit. I'm only 5'3".

Not a great shot but not bad... Probably the best one out of the set. Not sure what I'm thinking with the victory sign...

Having another Japanese tourist moment here... Minus the smile. I was in pain!

A little dazed and confused. And tired. Very tired.

A ha, I found the SFFD fire fighters and the Tiffany boxes!

AND, best of luck to everyone racing this weekend!!! Best of luck to:

Marci and Laura at the Niaga Falls Marathon
Alisa, Aron and Kristen at the Healdsburg Half Marathon (with I was there!)
Erik at the Tulsa Run 15k
Mrjwhit at the Silver Comet Half Marathon
Frayed Laces at the Niketown 30k
Jennifer B at the Medical Center 10k AND 5 k Classic (yep, she's doing both back to back)

Did I miss anyone? Let me know! :-)

TIART: The Weight Battle

2008-10-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here's my contribution to TIaRT theme over at Runner's Lounge today, which is Running & Weight:

I don't know anyone who doesn't struggle with their weight. With our society focusing so much on healthy eating and exercising, most of us do conscientiously think about our caloric intake and what we burn. I wish I was one of those people who are naturally thin and don't have to worry about their weight. But I think about it everyday and have be careful what I put in my mouth. If I don’t, like I have been the past 2 months, I’ll balloon up and gain 10 lbs in a heartbeat. Since I got married 2 months ago, I have been not paying attention to my portions or the quality of food that I put into my body. And, I didn’t run for 4 weeks after the wedding due to post wedding stress, honeymoon, laziness, etc. As some of you know, I ran a marathon 5 days before my wedding and took off some time to reward myself. (By being sedentary!) And sure enough, I am up 10 lbs. Yikes! I know many of you also struggle with "weight" and tackle this on a daily basis. And sounds like, some of you have been really successful in losing a lot of weight!

For several years after college, I carried around excess of 50 lbs in fat. Thank goodness, I lost the weight about 7 years ago. Thanks for running and Weight Watchers! I've kept most of it off but I’ve gained about 10 of it back recently and now about 20 lbs overweight. (That's a lot!) I can feel the extra weight bouncing and jiggling with me when I’m running. I got my BMI measured a few months ago and I’m in the unhealthy range again. Hello, I run! I exercise! But it doesn’t show on the scale! I’m a little tired of my yo-yo dieting. Besides, the joys of the weight loss and the disappointment that comes with the gain is really emotionally devastating.

The funny thing is, I know the formula to losing weight. (It’s no secret, right?)

Eat less (or eat right) + Exercise More + Commitment = Weight Loss

It's so much easier to indulge than limit myself, and easier to give in than deny. This week’s TIaRT made me think about how I can share my weight loss/struggle/journey with fellow running community. Then, I realized, I don't really have any weight loss tips or secrets. I could tell you the Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet and The Daily Plate has worked for me. But it might not be for you. We all need to follow a modified and personalized formula that I listed above. I know I will continue to struggle with the weight battle, probably forever. But I will do what I can do not lose the war.

This is something I will do starting today.

- Make a commitment
- Make a lifestyle change

I’m going to LIMIT my sugar and refined white flour intake. I don't think I can cut it out completely but I'll limit it. I’m going to pay attention to my portions. And most importantly, I’m going to make a lifestyle change and stick to it. (And hopefully my husband won't be making his famous oatmeal cookies or brownies for midnight snacks!) And I can’t wait to tell you when I finally reached my healthy weight range and BMI one day! Very soon!

On the running front, I took a day off yesterday. I've been in Portland for the past two days for work and have had no time to myself. (Looks like I'll be back in the beautiful Portland area and hopefully I'll have more time to meet up with fellow bloggers here!) I fly back today and look forward to a nice 6 miler in the afternoon. Also, so happy to hear the Arien O'Connell got her winner's prize and recognition! Heck, it took Nike 2 days but at least they did the right thing!

Recovery Run & More Nike News

2008-10-22T10:28:00.001-07:00

I went for my first recovery run since the marathon last night. I went for a slow 7 mile jog after work and it felt so good. It's time for CIM training! I mean, I'm still sore. I had to stop at mile 4 and 6 just to catch my breath! But, moving my legs and pumping my arms, being out there just felt soooooo good! I felt so alive and purposeful. I don't know what it was. It made me so happy to be running again. Maybe I was just happy to run alone without the crowd?? But, it reminded me again that I really *heart* running! (And why I run marathons!)

In other news, did you hear about this woman who ran the fastest time in the Nike Marathon on Sunday but didn't win? Apparently, 24-year-old Arien O'Connell ran the fastest time of any of the women but because she didn't run with the Elites, she wasn't awarded a prize! Amazing and totally lame!! You can get the rest of the story here. I picked this story up from Erik and Leslie's blog. And you can do something about it here, if you think she deserves to recognition of the win:

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report

2008-10-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

I mean, my LONG 26.2 miles training run. (And warning, long post!)

I still can't believe I ran the Nike Women's Marathon yesterday morning. It was my 5th one to date. And probably one of the most challenging course, I've ever run. There were so many grueling hills in the first half. What were they thinking changing the course to have even more hills? Even for San Francisco, it was a bit much. Seriously, it made SFM seem easy in comparison! I ran the NWM Half about 4 years ago and it wasn't nearly as bad. For those of you, who want the shorter version: I ran my slowest marathon ever, finishing at 4:35:19.

So the first picture is the starting line at the NWM that I took with my phone. I met up with the Jamba Juice team around 6:15am at a near by JJ store and we walked to Union Square together. By the way, I didn't go to bed until about 12:15am but I woke up surprisingly recharged and ready to go at 5:40am! I was just excited. But not nervous! It was strange, like I was getting up to go on a regular weekend morning run or something. But, knowing that I was going to run a marathon got me really pumped up on the way to San Francisco. However, seeing the streets blocked off for the race was what finally gave me the butterflies in my tummy!!. And, second thoughts and doubt. What the hell was I thinking running a marathon without proper training? Oh well, too late at that point. No pain, no gain. Right? We were told that JJ team would get a special escort to the front of the line, behine the Elites. But as we got closer to the starting line, the crowd of 20,000+ people soon swallowed us up. We lost our team leader and well, my friend and I (and Duane who wanted to see me off at the start) soon had to navigate on our own. We were trying to get through the bodies of people that were lined up behind the 6:00 to 8:00 min corral and there were way too many people pushing to get through. It was nuts. The few race coordinators that were around told us they knew nothing of the JJ start section! At that point, I started to panic. I still had to go to the bathroom and drop off my stuff at bag check!! I told my friend she should go look for her co-workers because I had to take care of some business. After a few minutes of frantic search, Duane and I found the porta-potties. And the lines were ridiculous. I sent off Duane to drop off my bag and I waited in line... Fortunately, the line moved quickly but I started panicking some more when some lady began to sing the national anthem. Omg, 2 minutes to go! Good thing I went to the "bathroom" because I'm sure I was a few pounds lighter at that point! ;-) We ran around to see where I could enter the race corral area but it was impossible. Too many people were also trying to do the same thing. Just then the gun went off. YIKES! It was starting! And then I saw several runners, going under the elastic fence that separated the corrals and I followed them right through. Funny enough, it was my pace group: 9:00 to 10:00 min pace! As I started running, I waved good bye to Duane. He was wishing me luck and I could see that he was really excited for me. (I think he wanted to run it, too. Next time Baby! Maybe the CIM?) What a great hubby I have! Waking up at crack of dawn to drive me to the city, walking me to the starting line and wishing me good luck! And he was going to come back to pick me up at the end. I waved bye to him and crossed the starting line. I was only 3 minutes behind the official gun time.

I started off at a comfortable pace, about 9:30. I ran the first 2 hills comfortably and thought maybe I'd finish around 4 hours and 15 min. Wishful thinking. When we started climbing our 3rd big hill up to the Golden Gate Bridge around mile 6, I knew I was in trouble. That's when I first started to walk. And after that, I walked up almost all the hills. I kept telling myself that this was a training run! No need to over do anything. No injuries! The rest of the first half wasn't that bad. I clocked in around 2:10 according to the 13 mile mark and was feeling pretty good. I thought I could finish under 4:30 at this point. But once I got on the Great Highway, I started getting discouraged. Especially when I saw the Elite runner coming in to their last 2 miles or so. It also didn't help that I walked so much. My thing is, once I start walking, it's so easy to stop and walk. And the walking becomes much more frequent than I would like it to be. (See Leslie? I walked, I took your advice! ;-) The majority of the 2nd half was around Lake Merced and I didn't like it at all. I think the area around Lake Merced is a bit boring! I've ran around it before and didn't like it then, either. I had to stop around mile 14 to slather some Vaseline between my legs! I put Body Glide all over my body except that *part*! I started chaffing around mile 12 and it hurt so bad. It hurt even worst when I walked so I had no choice to run until I saw the next aid station. But, wow, the Vaseline totally worked. If I ever run out of Body Glide, I know what to resort to from now on! Oh anyway, back to walking. I think it was also easier to walk because there were so many walkers during the race. I think I hit the wall around mile 17 and it lasted until the end. I couldn't get back in the swing of things. I was shuffling and as much as I wanted to, I had difficulty pumping my arms. I was thrilled to see the mile 20 marker but even then 6 miles seemed SO far away. I walked some more. And ran. Painfully. When I approached the final 2 miles, I wanted to run the entire way. But no, I had to walk again. The last mile, I did run the whole thing. I wanted to stop so badly. But the spectators were starting to build around the end so of course, my ego wouldn't let me stop. I was so happy to see the end. I was so tired, I didn't even have the energy to sprint the last 100 yards or so. I usually sprint in but I knew I was already past the 4:30 mark and figured, it wouldn't make a huge difference. And again, I told myself that it was a training run. A training run with a shiny Tiffany bling! Oh and I got to see Aron that too far from the finish line and that perked me up to finish strong.

By the way, there were TONS of Team In Training runners... it was like a sea of purple moving along. Or maybe the "purple wave "is more appropriate? I really enjoyed seeing runners from various states and reading their causes. I always get so moved by runners with "in memory of" or "I'm running for ___". Of course, it was way too crowded! Apparently there were 20,000 runners on the course.

Here are just SOME of the amenities on the course:

- The Coat Check and Coat Donation around mile 2.5 was awesome. I didn't run with a coat but if I had, I may have donated it to this good cause! You see so many people tossing their jackets and sweatshirts early on in the race and this is a great idea to give these to charity.
- Socks by Lady Foot Locker - Why socks? They are not easy to carry! I grabbed a pair because I was kinda delirious and I can't pass up anything free. Especially running socks. Although, I regretted it as soon as I took it. HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO CARRY THEM? I saw a few socks thrown on the ground past their table. I guess others changed their mind, too. I saw some ladies wearing them like gloves. Very smart! I put mine in my Nathan pouch. And completely forgot about it.
- Luna Moons - In a small cup. Thank you! I didn't have to struggle trying to open the packages! They had this one flavor that was kinda orangey looking but I could NOT tell what the flavor was. It was yummy, though.
- Ghiradelli chocolate squares - I love these. They were the best pick me ups. I think this was around mile 20 and I was dying for just about any kind of carbs at this point.
- There were also 2 Pedi Care Stations provided by Lady Foot Locker at miles 6.5 & 13.3 but apparently, I missed them completely. Although, there is no way in hell I would stop during a race to get manis and pedis? Hello, this is a timed running race!
- Jamba Juice smoothies at the end. God, they were so good and so filling. But I was freezing after I finished 2 cups. Haha. Yes, 2!
- How could I not mention the Tiffany necklace and the SFFD fire fighters handing them out, telling me that I did fantastic? I think I managed a smile at the end when I got my necklace. And man, I earned it! (Great photos of the necklace and finisher shirt on RoadBunner's race report, btw.)

I thought the food at the end of the race was just blah. Luna bars, bagels, bananas and water. Nothing really exciting. Ok, the smoothies by Jamba Juice were a nice though. But hello, they are one of the sponsors of the race! I thought SFM had better finish line food. But, an awesome ammenity at the end was being able to check your race results via laptops. Of course, by the end, I was limping around in pain and wanted to go home badly. Everything hurt so badly. So I didn't get a chance to check. I didn't even get to say hi to Audrey or Aron, who were both texting me. I wish I had checked my offical finish time because the website with the results were having technical issues all morning and I wasn't able to see until around noon today. Which was:

I actually don't live in Emeryville... That's the Jamba Juice headquarters!

This is a photo of Donato, who also works at Jamba Juice. He ran the full marathon in drag. I heard he ran the full in tutus last year. Notice his cute purse?? :-)

Courtesy of SF Chronicle/SF Gate

You can get more scoop on the Nike Women's Marathon from these ladies who posted their race reports and mini trailers already: KK, Alice, Marathon Martiza, RoadBunner. Oh and of course, check out Danica's race report from her Virtual Nike+ Half Marathon. I'm still waiting for a few more of you to upload your race report! ;-)

I am really happy that I finished. Even if I walked and ran a slow race. I am really happy that I didn't injure myself in the process! Oh and can you believe the NWM raised over 18 MILLION dollars? Wow. I feel really great about myself in so many ways!! And to all of you who ran the half and the full yesterday, YOU are amazing. Really. Ok, WE are amazing! ;-)