2013-2014

I'm not really great at this whole blogging thing. By the time I think about blogging couple if days have passed and whatever I'm trying to post is old. I give props to the bloggers that can blog regularly or even multiple times a day. Hopefully I can at least blog for few times a week. 2013 had its ups and downs just like any other year, but it was pretty fun. I wouldn't have thought I'd be running four 5ks. The Ugly Sweater Run wasn't timed, but it was fun. Running wise for 2014 I hope to do five 5ks and a 10k. I'm not 100% sure about the 10k, but I figure might as well put a goal and aim for it. If I'm not going to do it now I'm probably not going to do it later. My resolution health wise is to better take care of my asthma and make better eating choices. Even though I just have Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction (EIB aka exercise asthma) not taking care of it properly caused me suffer from non stop coughing bits when I had allergies. I'm thankful I just have allergies and asthma, but getting it three times between September to December was not a cup of tea. I'd have asthma for like for a few weeks. Get better for few more weeks and then get it again. The crazy drastic hot and cold weather changes really got to me. It's hard to keep up with the workouts when your coughing non stop or you can hardly breath. Then another blow was when my doctor told me I needed to start working out. I was like are you serious I've been trying to. Well when the doc says so they mean business.  I should have at least walked. I'm so used to working out and sweating that ignore good old fashion walking. There were days where even eating was a pain because I'd be coughing throughout the meal. I'm glad that I'm better. Hopefully I don't get allergies as much this year. Eating wise I've realized I've made excuses for my poor choices. I'd tell myself I don't eat fast food everyday like other people. Now I realize my fun size candy here and there plus my occasional fast food run add up. They really add up since I really didn't without much from October through December. 

Ugly Sweater Run LA

That's a funny photo we took at the Ugly Sweater Run. Apparently I think that funny means sticking out my tongue like Miley.

Ugly Sweater Prepping

 

Found these festive socks in the bargain section at Target. Its my first holiday run so I want do it right and festive. Gotta deck yourself out for a holiday run. Good thing is I can also wear these socks to barre class. Pretty excited for this run. I got family and friends doing it with me so its going to be a fun time. Also the great thing about the run is that it doesn't start until 11AM. No need to wake up at 5AM to make it to a early start time. Only thing I'm missing is the ugly sweater. If I had an ugly sweater its already donated because it doesn't fit me anymore. Glad I wasn't forced to wear ugly sweaters in my teens. I don't think Asian grandmas would consider that as a gift to begin with. There's still time to register for the Los Angeles Ugly Sweater Run before the price increases December 7th. It's also cheaper to register as a team. Some cities have already done the sweater run, but there are a bunch of other cities doing the Ugly Sweater Run on Dec 21.

Fighting my body

Sometimes I feel like we are fighting our bodies. Few weeks ago I finally recovered from allergies. Surprisingly it was a mildly case of allergies. I'm used to sneezing non stop, watery eyes, and the other fun stuff you get with allergies so it was uprising not to get all that. The only downside was that it triggered my asthma and I ended up coughing incessantly during the night. Not really fun when your trying to sleep. After getting better I did a good job on keeping with my workouts, until few weeks ago. I woke up one day with a sore throat again which is a sign that I'm getting allergies. I'm thankful again it's just mild, but again it triggered the asthma and coughing. I think the recently weather changes in LA has gotten to me. I guess that's how end the year with allergies. I've never gotten it one after the other though. I felt like I was getting better after my first allergy so I was getting into a good routine of working out than bam I get allergies again. Oh well just got to roll with the punches. Nothing much you can really do when you get sick. Sometimes I do over analyze to see if I was eating healthy and exercising the past week, but that doesn't really do anything. So its 3-Allergies and 0-Me. KO. After Thanksgiving I felt much better to start running again. Kind of feel like I'm starting back at zero, but I'm glad to be running. I don't want to be running at a snails pace at the Ugly Sweater Run or stopping every 1/2 mile. Hopefully next year I can amp my miles and maybe do a 10K. I still consider myself a novice runner. More than 3.1 miles and I'm done, so when I see people post about their easy 5-10 miles, I'm just just like wow if I could do that one day.

Running update

Such a bummer that they canceled the RnR Pasadena, but it's understandable since the have the LA race. I was always surprised why they even choose Pasadena as a city for a race. Now maybe this will give some room for The Pasadena Marathon to go on. I thought I was done with racing for the year, but then I saw a Living Social deal for a Holiday run. After searching I signed up for The Ugly Sweater Run.

I know it's going to be a fun run. Finding things to wear that day is already fun. 

I found this cute Christmas hair band at the $1.50 store Dasio. 

At the dollar section at Target I was able to find some cute headbands for my teammates and I. I have a feeling that by race day I'll be like a Christmas tree and have all kinds of craziness hanging on me . I did see some battery operated light up stuff at Target so who knows. Interesting enough I just happened to see this shirt on sale for my bro to wear at the race and yes there will be a post beer at this race. 

Run Eve Run

I've only been running for a few years, but I still feel like a beginner sometimes. Well one mistake I felt like I made after last years Pasadena 5K was that I didn't keep up with the running. Especially during the summer. After May summer came and it just got progressively hotter and I joined the barre. Well of course I'm going to use the heat as an excuse not to run. So after the Pasadena 5K I ran I told myself I had to keep up with the running. The best way for me to keep up with running is to run more 5Ks. I figure if there's always a 5k to look forward too there's no excuse not to run. After looking up RNR Pasadena & seeing that there's 5K I signed up for it. I've always heard great things about the RNR races, but they are mostly half and full marathons. Glad they have a 5K option. Can't wait to see what music is going to be playing. 

Cooking With Dog Fan Event

 

One of my many favorite YouTubers is CookingWithDog. CookingWithDog videos are typically Japanese cusine. I happened to be on the CookingWithDog Facebook and found out they were having a drawing to attend fan event in Los Angeles. I decided to enter, but didn't think I would get picked. Well lucky enough I did get picked. The event was held at TasteMade Studios in Santa Monica July 1. TasteMade is this YouTube channel to has quality informative food/cooking videos. For those who don't know the channel CookingWithDog, she is best known for cooking with her well behaved dog Francis by her side. Francis the dog wasn't there of course, but a stuff dog took his place and Francis's voice double was there. Chef taught us how to make fried asparagus wrapped in bacon and pineapple ice cream which is already a previous video. We got to try both things and they were both delicious. Both recipes were pretty simple too. I can't wait to make some pineapple ice cream soon. Afterwards it was a Q&A so we got to ask Chef some questions. One question that was ask which I wanted to know the answer too was how Francis never moves from the stool. Chef said that there wasn't much room on the stool so Francis couldn't really go anywhere. I think it's also properly trained. Our old dog was full of energy and if I placed it on the counter when I'm cooking it'd probably eat what I was making. Afterwards we were treated with a bento dinner & photo op. I wish I had gotten Chef a gift because she gave each of the attendees a little gift. This was an amazing experience. It's not everyday you get to meet the person in the videos you watch everyday. For anyone that likes Japanese cusine or wants to learn more about Japanese cuisine I would checkout and subscribe to the CookingWithChef YouTube channel.

Pasadena Marathon 5K 2013 Recap

Race Swag

My Bro and I. 5K Finishers!

This is my 3rd 5K & 2nd time doing the Pasadena marathon. I haven't done many races, but this is one to remember and a learning experience. First mistake I made was not using my inhaler. I did prep the night before, but I forgot to put my inhaler out where I would remember it. Not smartest idea. I didn't realize this till I was standing in the starting line and had my doh moment. Another thing was the weather. I knew it was going to be hot, but didn't know how I'd be affect by it since I've never really trained in hot weather. That's what I get for not running too much last summer. There wasn't much I could do so I tried not to let it get to me. When I first started running I was doing ok. I got that adrenaline rush of being in the race and I got this burst of energy to run fast. I was good for about 1.5 miles. After passing city hall and passing the 5K sign was when it all went south. My breathing was getting a bit harder and I was not taking the heat. I stopped 3-4 times the rest of the race. I think I should have paced myself better instead of rushing in the beginning. I did finish at 33:24 which was approx 2 min faster than last year, but I felt I could have done better. Just like the Coaster Run I decided that I'd take pictures along the route. Its not everyday you get to run on Colorado Blvd. Obviously the photos I took were in the beginning and not at the end. Even managed to get a selfie in. Haha. Maybe there should be a website for "Photos of Asians who take photos while running".

Overall I'm glad I did the race even though I didn't feel like it was my best. If they decide to have the race in June again, I'm going to really have to think about it. I was only doing the 5K and I couldn't really take the heat. I'm glad there wasn't a full marathon it probably wouldn't have turn out too well in the heat. 6 people were taken to the hospital because of the heat. Craziness. I was looking at the comments on the PM Facebook page and some people were saying that the 5K was really 3.5 miles according to their Garmin. If that is true I guess I get to log extra miles on my Nike+. There's been a lot of complaints about this race. I haven't done that many races so I can't really compare. I'm pretty sure races big and small experience some flaws. I knew this was a smaller race so I wasn't expecting much to begin with, but to run out of medals does suck. The swag that I got was better than last years and I got run down a street where I usually drive, so that that was pretty exciting. To bad I didn't run into RunEatRepeat. I love reading her blog and it would have been cool to meet her.