I Came. I Saw. I Conquered.

I have officially popped my half marathon cherry. Yeah-Uhh!! Can I get a what, what?

Now, for my "official" post race report. {smiles} But, FYI, this may be a bit too lengthy and wordy and probably boring. So, if you actually read this word for word until the end, props to you my friend.

Saturday morning, the hubs and I head down to San Francisco to attend the expo and pick up my race bib. I knew it was going to be chaotic since it was the last day of the expo.


Once we stepped foot into the tent, my suspicions were right. It was a chaotic hot mess! Literally. There was so many people in there that it felt like a hot sauna.

I did think it was pretty cool that Nike used volunteers who were young teens checking us in, handing out water at the various stations and even cheering us on and holding up their hands to receive high five's!

I wanted to get my gait analyzed and after the hubby coming back with two food freebies and not moving an inch, I just left.

Also, wanted to get a manicure. I mean, I needed my hands to be all stylin' while running, right? But, it was a 90 minute wait. Dam. So, with that, we headed off to Niketown to check out the shiny red wall to see my name.


But first, had to take some pictures in front of this sign!





It was a big ole cluster F at the wall. Thank goodness I'm a "dubyah!". My name was at the bottom and much much easier to find. Once you find your name, I swear it was like a big halo surrounded it making it seem it was the only name there.

We headed on into Niketown to check out the NWM paraphanlia. I knew that I could have waited until all the hype went down and purchased them at a much lower price at the Nike outlets, but it was my first half. I needed to make a splurge, right?

I got me a orangey-red sweatshirt. Ain't she pretty? By this time, we were hungry and plus the hubs wanted to watch his Cal Bears kick UCLA's ass. Go Bears!






While he watched, I looked to see what was in my goody bag. Goody bag was a straight joke. Really, Nike? It contained nothing but coupons! Ok, wait, yes there was a bag of Luna Moons and a fruit strip, but dude! Come On! You can at least make it worthy and put either a water bottle in it or a pair of running socks. Hah! That bag was so light. It felt like nothing was in it.

I also laid out my running attire which I learned to do from reading all the running blogs. I swear, sometimes, reading the blogs are making me OCD. Its fun though! I really thought I didn't forget anything and was so proud of myself. Really proud. Am I thinking too soon? Why, yes! I am. The morning of, about 30 minutes to meeting up with a friend, I find out that I forget my freakin' headphones. Noooooooooo!!!!! I started to panic and aimlessly began to do a websearch of the nearest 24 hour Walgreens. Thankfully, my friend whom I was meeting had an extra pair and I was able to use them. Phew!!!! Thank the Sweet Baby Jesus!!!

Ofcourse, I had a pasta dinner with fellow running friends. Some came from Los Angeles to NYC. The NYC people arrived on Saturday and left Sunday afternoon. Talk about in and out.

I left so stuffed and was scared that I wouldn't be able to sleep right away. We got home around 9'ish and luckily I fell asleep around 1030'ish. But, I did wake up around midnight and managed to fall right back to sleep. Then, I woke up around 330 and tried to get 30 minutes more of shuteye since my alarm clock was scheduled to buzz at 0400. I pretty much just laid there and at 0350, said screw it and began my day. It was race day, folks. Woohooo!!! I was stoked.

We got to the race area about 0645. Pushing it yes, but I was in the 10:00-11:59 pace group and knew we weren't going to start at exactly 0700. It was such a great feeling to be in a race with 20,000 people. Everywhere you looked, you saw nothing but smiles. Loved it!

Finally, it was our turn to start and as we made our way to the starting line, the music was blaring getting me all hyped, crowds aligned the sidewalks cheering us on making me near tears, and everyone around me was just ecstatic that we were finally moving.

When the gun went off, I bid my friend an adieu, wished each other good luck and see you at the finish line! Plus, I kept telling myself, do not gun it. Do not gun it. I didn't and kept a steady pace of 11:30, sometimes 10:30 and felt pretty comfortable. It was really hard to weave myself through the walkers. It was like blind spot running. I always had to look to my left or right before I passed. The last thing I wanted to do was trip and fall or have someone trip and fall.

Mile 1-3. Flat course and loving it. I've always wanted to run along the pier. So, I made sure to fully enjoy the run once we got to the piers. I was smiling and watching runners pull aside and take pictures of the bay behind them. Passed by the gospel singers that were wearing Nike shoes. They started to sing just as I was passing them by. Dam.

At mile 4, I had the feeling of needing to go pee. Dam. Why?? Why now? I never had the urge to suddenly go pee on my long runs or for that matter, short runs. F. I decide to skip the porta potties at mile 4 and just suck it up. But, by the time Mile 6 came along, I really had to go. Only, there was only ONE FREAKIN' porta potty. Say what? Why would you do that??? I got in line and called the hubby and told him where I was at. Then, I just said, "screw it." " I'm gonna suck it up until I see more than one porta potty." I didn't want my time to be all screwed up because I had to go pee. To hell with my kidneys.

So, I go up the big ass hill. Saw a slew of old men dressed in speedo's. I guess they were swimming in the bay. But dang, why you gotta sport yourself like that? Put on a towel! I wanted to take a picture so badly, but didn't want to make it so obvious. Oh, but my friend got one! Hah! Seee!! They didn't give a F!

Ok, as I digress.....

Man, that was quite a hill. Never did any hill training and man, was I short of breathe. But guess what! When I got to the top of the hill, I saw a row of porta potties. Ran in and pee'd and bam I was out there. Loved all the downhills. They were like a relief to me. But, man those hills. It felt like they were never ending.

Going up another hill at I think is about Mile 8. Saw all these " Blah blah like a girl" signs along the way. I think I was getting delirious because at one point, I think one sign said, " Trach like a girl." Did a double take and it said, " Teach like a girl."

At Mile 9, I started to feel my toes cramp on BOTH feet and my right achilles tendon cramp. Had to pull aside to stretch it out. I kept telling myself, " come on, relax toes!!!"

Mile 10, I hardly remember. I think there was another hill at this time. Dam, those hills.

Mile 11 I started to cramp again and was getting pissed because I only had 3 more miles to go and was bothered that my muscles decide to cramp on my then. Ugh. So stretch it out again it was! By the way, there was another hill here, too!

Mile 12 I was cruising in Golden Gate Park and saw a few of my friends there. That was a great site to see as I have been running alone throughout the course. I envied the TNT runners with all their support, coaches, and mentors. Cramps were coming and going a little bit and I had to walk a bit as I didn't want to fall or do something embarrassing. Yeah, the last thing that was on my mind was embarrassing myself. I'm so vain. I swear.

Anyways, I can hear the crowds getting louder and I began to run once I did. It was cool to finally see support and cheer us on. Once I saw the finish line, I began to gun it because I wanted to get this done already.

I was so tired by the time I crossed the finish line that I didn't even look at the SF firefighter who was handing me my blue box. So embarrassing and how rude of me. I cringe when I look at this picture. I mean, the dude is smiling as he's giving me the blue box and I'm just like just hand me the box.

Final time 3:20. I really really wanted to make my PR of under 3 hours. I blame it on my lack of hill training to which I decided to walk up the hills and run down the hills. I guess, you can say that I've learned my lesson and will begin hill training more now. But, I finished my first half and am so happy that its over and done with. Next up is Turkey 10K trot in Davis, CA and Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Half in December.

p.s. Here's my Tiffany necklace.

First Half Marathon

I'm running my very first half marathon this weekend. It's the infamous, " Run Like a Girl, " Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. Wooohooo!!! I am so excited right now. The nervousness hasn't hit me yet. But, the race dreams have surely arrived! I swear, the day before running my first 5K, I had some crazy race dreams. Now, yet another race has arrived and I'm going through them again. What's up with that? Do any of you experience race dreams a few days before your races?

Right now, I'm packing my suitcase. The hubby and I are staying in the city tomorrow night to pick up my lovely bib and race goody bag as well as attend the highly anticipated expo! Oh yeah, pasta dinner with friends, too!

I'm packing two race outfits because I can't make up my mind of which outfit to wear. I'm pretty sure I'll be sporting the green and black/white ensemble, but you never know. I may not be feelin' that fit the day of the morning.

Uploaded a ton of songs last night onto my iPod. I'm diggin' the new Britney Spears song, 3. It's pretty upbeat and fast. Got several kick ass DJ mixes as well that are each about 4 hours long! If any of you are into hip hop, r&b, old school 80's and/or 90's songs, check out Scotty Fox's remixes here. He's a San Francisco DJ for the radio station, KMEL. The songs automatically upload onto your iTunes. Loooooooooooove that!!!!

Ok, gotta go back to packing. I hope I don't forget anything. Good luck to everyone who are running marathons this weekend.

Miss Domino Mag?

Miss Domino magazine? Check out LonnyMag.com.

My college friend, Michelle Roque is the design director for this new and upcoming online design magazine. They just released their first online issue today and I am super duper excited for her and the magazine. They have received alot of support from vendors such as West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Design Sponge, Shelter Pop, etc. So, hopefully, they'll be able to produce more issues. Word is that more issues may come out since the editors are going to Paris for the next issue. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this online magazine's success!

Michelle was one of my kick it buddies back in college. I'd always go to her house after class to just hang, eat, and whatnot. I remember, I was taking a pottery class in my last semester of college. I really thought I'd enjoy the class. Shit, that class was hard as hell. The movie, Ghost, made it looks so easy, yes? Anyways, the stuff I put out was so fugly. They were heavy, thick rimmed and just plain shitty! Till this day, I'm surprised I got a B in the class. At the end of the semester, we had to take the stuff we made home. I thought it would be nice to gift some of the stuff I made to Michelle and her roommate. Now, I was planning on gifting them the best of the best, which was probably like 2 or 3 items, if that.

The looks on their faces when I dropped off my pottery was priceless. I wish I could hear the shit talking after I left their apartment. Boy, oh boy. What is sweet is that they still have the stuff I gave them because, well, I made it and gave it to them. So sweet, huh? I think it was. They are too, too kind.

She was one of my first friends to take the fatty risk and move to NYC to attend Parson's college. Parsons as in Tim Gunn. Gotta give it to her for making that change. It takes alot of courage to decide to up and move to NYC and on your own for that matter.

She also does freelance design work. --just sayin'. :D I was lucky enough to have her design my table/menu signs to match my invitation design. Loved her for that. She even was able to do some very last minute changes to a couple of them on the day of my wedding. OMG. I think that and my hairdresser team coming late was my two stressful moments.

Anyways, check out the magazine and I hope you like it. Don't forget to bookmark it!!!

Free Run

The Sacramento Fleet Feet "free" run last night was awesome. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I arrived. Was I going to meet an empty store? It was already 5:30 pm when I parked a couple blocks away. The run was set to start at 5:30 pm.

Upset that I left my fuel belt at home as I realized when locking my car that I was going to have to run with a set of janitorial keys. F.

When me and fast girl arrived, people were just signing in. Woohoo, we weren't late! Also, they provided a shoe box which we could dump our keys and such and they were later going to lock it up. Love you Fleet Feet!

As soon as everyone signed in, one by one we went out the door and boom we were hitting the pavement. No time to stretch. Just go! Hah. A little bit caught off guard by that. Ofcourse, Fast Girl takes off immediately and I don't see her throughout the entire run. Luckily, my friend (picture with the glass) who wants to get into running ran with me. I enjoyed it as I actually increased my pace while running with her. Interesting. Very, Very interesting.

The run alone was awesome. Awesome because the weather was perfect. Awesome because it was through a nice neighborhood and a nice park that had dirt mixed with sand on the trails. I just love hearing the crunch with every step.

Throughout the run we saw couple of groups partaking in yoga. Need to find more info about that. Yoga outside sounds like fun! Also saw another group that had its own tent that said, " Total Body Fitness." This park was seriously a fitness park for sure. Kinda inspiring to keep up with the fitness as you see everyone around you active.

Ended the night by having the most fabulous fish tacos at Zocolo's with the hubs. It was truly a great night!

Burr, it's cold. Well, not really.

I am so loving the weather these past couple of days. Usually, I'm a strong advocate for the sun and all its glory. But, since I've taken up training for two half marathons this Spring and Summer, my true love for the hot sun has demised.

I dreaded hearing the alarm clock in the dark AM and wanted so badly to stay in the covers and keep dreaming. Oh, I hated it. I really hated it. So, when I heard the weather man say that it's going to get cooler this week, I was praising to the cloud Gods up above.

Yesterday, I went out for a 5 mile run around the good ole' neighborhood. A bit windy, but heck, it was 60 something degrees and 4 in the afternoon and I didn't really care. It's been a long time since I had the opportunity to run at 4 in the afternoon. Usually, in Sacramento, 4pm is scorching hot and is really unheard of to be out and about running on the hot pavement.

Today, it's projected to be in the 60's all day and get this.... it's freakin' hazy and grey!!! I loooove it!!!! It's like I'm living in the bay area!

I plan on trying something for the first time this evening with a couple of friends. Fleet Feet of Sacramento puts on runs that are free on Tuesdays and Sundays. My friend, who is interested in getting into running, has been wanting to check it out ever since she heard about these free runs. I decided to join her because it's in one of my favorite places, midtown Sacramento, where the houses are gorgeous. There's a reason why a part of midtown is called the Fab 40's. There's a section of houses that were made in the 1940's that are huge, charming and gorgeous mansions. Ronald Reagan, when he was governor of California resided in one of the houses there. I've included a picture of the house him and Nancy lived in.

Random Shennanigans. This post makes no sense!

Socks.
Bought 2 new pairs of running socks the other day. I keep losing my running socks and am starting to think I should start a running sock only drawer.Do any of you guys have a drawer dedicated to your running gear only?

I have been running with two pairs of running socks because I've just been too cheap to purchase them. Dude, they are like $9 for one pair! I could get a cool color of an OPI nail polish for that amount. You totally understand where I'm coming from, right? Right?

My socks have to be thin. I hate the thick socks. Don't like my feet feeling stuffy. Oh, and they must, must, must be below the ankle. The husband just couldn't understand why I wouldn't purchase a pair of above the ankle running socks that were on sale. I just couldn't do it. I saw his thought process with the sale and all, but I just couldn't do it. One needs to feel good in their clothes in order to run good, yes? It's all about feeling the zen moment.

OMG. The Best Luna Bar Flavor.
Grabbed a sample Luna Bar at the 5K race. The flavor was Lemon Zest. Should have grabbed a handful as I just tasted this flavor for the very first time and Oh. My. Gawd. It was that good. Just smelling it alone enticed my senses. Why didn't I try these before? Has any of you already tried this flavor?

Sandwich Thins.
Ever since seeing this on NHerShoes, I just had to try them. Was intrigued with them. She made them look so freakin appetizing especially when she toasted them, put peanut butter, sliced bananas and drizzled honey. Now, I'm hooked. I like how it's not so bready and it's only 100 calories. Makes an excellent choice for breakfast, especially an egg and turkey bacon sandwich, or a regular sandwich. Dying to try it with a hamburger patty.

Oh Yeah, that 10 miler.

So, as silly as this may sound to the veteran runners, I have been putting off running 10 miles for awhile. I was comfortable with the usual 8. 8 was cool. Not too long, not too short. Plus, in Chinese culture, the number 8 is guarded as a lucky number, yes? So, let's all roll with 8.

But, I knew since my Nike Women's 1/2 was fast approaching (Hello T Minus 27 days!) I finally got over my lame excuses and put in a 10 mile last week. I ain't gonna lie. It was grueling and made me question, why again do I enjoy running? Left at 0715 and came back at 0943--WTF? Was I glad to see my precious green front door? Yes. Was I glad to see my puppy dog greet me with so much excitedness? Hell Yeah. I was celebrating with her my return home.

Later that day, however, my feet were killing me. I could barely walk. Decided to soak them in some Epsom salt. But, that really didn't help. I had work the next day and oh, Lord, I had the ER and it didn't help that we were busy like crazy! So, I did what any normal person would do, I called in sick the following day. I know, lame, right? But, I just wanted to rest my feet. They were on fire. What the hell did I just do to myself?

I'm better now. But, I dread my long runs now for fear that my feet are going to react the way it did on my first 10 miler.