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.

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. 

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. 

Coaster Run 5K 2013 Recap Part 2 & YouTuber Sighting

Starting of the race with a smile!

Well apparently the 5K and the 10K was not the exactly miles it should have been. It was slightly short, so I guess I technically didn't run 3.1 miles. I knew it was strange that my Nike+ said 3.06 miles. Everyone that participated got free pie. Now thats a plus for running the race. I can't wait to do the race next year.  

After the race my bro's gf and I went to Mrs. Knotts Chicken Dinner and had their all you can eat champagne brunch buffet. The brunch is only $19.95 and drinks are included. We kinda forgot about the champagne part, but we still enjoyed all the different buffet options. Besides my picture of my plate I guess all the pictures I took of was dessert. I guess I was more concerned about the dessert than the other food. They had a wide assortment of foods. From the fried chicken they are famous for to a carving station with turkey/roast beef. Their omelet station was nice. I love the omelet station because they had some non-standard omelet add-ins. I have never seen a omelet station where they olives or broccoli. Well I'm not 100% sure if broccoli was a choice, but I just remember thinking to myself how broccoli would fit in a omelet. We tried to eat a plate for my brother since he couldn't make it to the race, but we I think the pie we had earlier kicked in so we were super stuffed. Not sure if I ate my money's worth, but definitely worth it since I got a pic with Snoppy.

 

I love the swag we got in our goodie bags. This is only my second race so I can only compare it to the Pasadena 5K, but the goodies for this race are way better. 

Shirt & Swag

When I was driving home I hit about some traffic. I'm glad I hit traffic because as I was driving home I saw these two guys on the street and I was like wait a sec I recognize them. Of course just so to make sure I'm not seeing things, I turn around and I'm like OMG its YouTubers the FungBros. So basically I stopped and asked for a photo. I'm a big YouTube junkie, so I was super excited. These days I think I'd be more excited to see a YouTuber than an actual celeb.  The FungBros make great videos. Everyone should check out their videos and subscribe. Below is one of their recent videos Boba Life.

Coaster Run 5K 2013 Recap Part 1

Boy did I take a lot of pics during the race. Who knew I could run and take pics at the same time. The night before had to sleep much earlier because of daylight savings time. Plus I knew I would have a hard time sleeping, which I did because I was super excited for the race. I think it took me a good 30-45 min of tossing and turning before I actually fell asleep. Also I was paranoid that my iphone wouldn't adjust with the daylight savings so I set an another alarm just in case. I managed to wake up in time and my phone did adjust with daylight savings. I'm not a fan of hot oatmeal, but didn't have much choice since there was no bread in the house. It wasn't that bad though since I added raisins, chia seeds, and crunchy peanut butter. I wanted to leave the door by 6am, but I left a bit after. It wasn't bad since there wasn't any traffic at all. It was only when I got to Knotts that I encountered the parking issue. I guess I should have gotten there by or before 6 am so I wouldn't have hit the traffic for parking, but in the end it was alright. I managed to find parking and made it to the start on time. I really didn't know what to expect from this race seeing as I was having some issues running outside couple weeks before. My main goal was just to finish the race without stopping. I really underestimated myself. In my age group I finished 31 and my time was 30:12. I beat my Pasadena 5K time by 5 minutes. I think I could have shaved off a few minutes if I didn't have to weave in and out of walkers. I didn't think much of till someone posted it on Facebook. There was some complaints of corrals & racing etiquette. I mean its not a biggie since I didn't really expect much from myself, but it would have been nice to make it under 30 min. I'm still surprised at my time. I think it's the race environment it's just gives you this rush. I guess I was just gunning it. I did stop at the water station which is probably where the 12 secs came from. Overall I love this race and can't wait do to it next year. Racing inside Knotts was fun. I've only been to Knotts once when I was little so everything was new to me, well whatever I got to run by. Now I'm trying to find another 5K to do before the Pasadena one.

Coaster Run 5K 2013

5 more days until The Coaster Run 5K. Few week ago I wasn't sure I would be able to pull this off and I'd have to walk part of the way. Doing couple of runs outdoors I was still struggling to get a proper run it. Running at the gym I would get some decent runs in, but always short of the 3.1 miles. This winter was much colder compared to last year. Last year I did a bulk of my training outdoors because the weather was decent. Yesterday finally finished 3.1 miles. I had one of those cheesy I can do it moments. I was surprised because it was in the evening after work.  I feel like this week is my cram week before the a big final. I know I can do it, but to beat my Pasadena Marathon time we'll see. At this point I just want to finish the race without stopping. It doesn't matter if I get smoked by some granny. I'm super excited for the slice of pie we get after the race. I'll have to think of the pie as my carrot, which will hopefully get me through the race. I'm also hoping that Snoopy is at the finish line so I can have a photo op. I guess in past years they didn't really run through the theme park because this year the race goes through the park. After getting more info about the race I just can't wait to go.

BBBC Week 3

Yesterday I finished workout A. I'm just loving how I'm doing moves I've never done before. I think I should have started on Sunday. Now I'm behind and I feel all over the place. I having a hard time balancing barre class, bbbc, & getting my runs in before the Coaster Run 5K I'm doing in March. At the same time I'm trying not to stress out too much about it since my face has decided to act like a 13 year old and breakout. My main focus for Best Body Boot Camp is to learn new exercises that I will incorporate into my future workouts. I used to hear my brother and all these different strength moves he was doing at the gym. Now I can say I do some moves too. BBBC gave me the push I need to start strength training. I think if it wasn't for BBBC I'd still be just be a cardio queen.