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. 

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. 

Runs, TIU, & things...

#runforboston

I haven't post in a while. Well with all the stuff last week I happen to come upon people dedicating their runs to Boston. A lot of people was doing it on 4/17, which happened to be the day I was going to the gym. So I decided I would do that too. See as I haven't been having great runs even on the treadmill I decided that my goal would be 2.25 miles. I'm not sure what happened, but I actually did 3.42 miles. I was really surprised and I think I got a slight runner's high. Saturday my brother was home for the weekend so he decided to take me on this run he does when he's home. Again I thought I couldn't do it, but actually surprised myself. The uphill portion of my brother's run was a bit challenging. One part my brother was signaling me to stop which I thought maybe because he wanted to ask if I needed a break, but actually his knee was bothering him. I'm glad I have a fit fam. So far I'm 10.1 of 26.2 miles for Boston. Now I'm thinking one day I could try a 10k. Maybe next year.

TIU Bikini Challenge 2013

Here I go again. Got an email about the Tone It Up Bikini Challenge 2013, but wasn't sure if I wanted to do it because lately I've been signing up for things and never completing it, like BBB. Then I starting browsing around Twitter/Instagram and found out that there's a lot of support out there. There tons of TIU members/participants. Great thing about it is its free. So far I've done the Bikini Strap Workout that was called for on Thursday. So here I go again, hopefully I see this through. Lately I've been finding Instagram to be a big help to keep on the healthy track. Seeing people's photos of healthy food or anything health/fitness related has really been a big help. It also make me want to post my healthy eats. Except for when your brother comes home for the weekend and suggests eating Alberto's. Good food, but I gained a food baby out of it. Next time I'm opting for a lone burrito instead of a burrito plate.

I went in to Smart & Final the other day for bananas, but came out with this. It happened to be on sale, so I was like why not give it a try. Another way to feed my Greek yogurt addiction. Very delicious and you can't even tell its Greek yogurt. It taste even better than when I mix a ranch packet with low fat sour cream. Now I'm thinking I could make my own with a ranch packet and some Chobani. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the big Greek yogurt companies start coming out with dips.

Why does the Japanese market have to be so temping. Oh I wished I could have got something, but I had to tell myself "look, but don't touch". Hahaha. The pocky was on sale too.



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.

Gotta Run

For the past few months on trying to get in some morning weekday workouts specifically going to the gym or running outside. My problem was that I could never wake up in time. Well not getting to bed at a proper time doesn't really help (note to self). I do have to admit when the bed is warm and comfy its really hard to get out of it. Finally this week I managed to get the 2 morning workouts I scheduled. My main goal is to start running outside again to prepare for couple of 5Ks I'm doing next year. Not that I can't run a 5K now, but I just don't want to be struggling to run the 5K or getting passed by the little kiddos I see running the races. After the doing my first 5K in the Pasadena Marathon, I didn't really keep up with the running. The summer weather and new found love for barre had to do with my lack of running consistently. Now with the cooler weather there is no excuse not to run.