A Visit with Grams

May 6th marked one year since my granma's passing.  We went to visit her.  For me and my mom, this was our first visit.  I know for me I hadn't gone because it is still too strong of an emotion.  But, on her one year anniversary,  I wanted to visit her and take a long moment to remember her.

While there, I talked to my mom about taking naps with my granma, when I was a little girl.  Something so small as that is a huge memory to me.  She was a great woman and I truly miss her.

Love you grams!

They take great care of the markers at the National Cemetery.

Races I've Run and Run Prospects

I have been keeping a list of all of my races, since the beginnning.  I hadn't realized how many races I had finished until typing the list.


Disneyland 5k- August 31, 2008

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10k- October 18, 2008- 1:41:50

Run Through Redlands 5k- April 19, 2009

Yucaipa Iris Festival 10k- May 16, 2009

Lighting the Way (Redlands Fire Fighters) 10k- November 22, 2009- 1:16:13

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10k- June 12, 2010- 1:42:24

Long Beach International Half Marathon- October 17, 2010- 2:52:57

Palm Springs Half Marathon- February 13, 2011- 2:53:59


San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon- June 5, 2011- 6:46:49

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10k- June 11, 2011- 1:39:09

Providence Rhode Island Rock n' Roll Inaugural Half Marathon- August 7, 2011- 3:15:47


San Jose Rock n' Roll Half Marathon- October 2, 2011- 2:57:36


Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Half Marathon- December 4, 2011- 3:18:22


Carlsbad Half Marathon- January 22, 2012- 2:59:52 (1 of 3 for Triple Crown)

The Color Run 5k- April 22, 2012

La Jolla Half Marathon- April 29, 2012- 2:52:50 (2 of 3 for Triple Crown)


Upcoming Races:

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10k- June 9

America's Finest City Half Marathon- August 19 (3 of 3 for Triple Crown)

The Color Run San Diego 5k- November 3

The Holiday Half- December 9 (10th in my race to 50 (Half or full marathons by 50)


Races I want to do Next Year:

San Diego Half Marathon at Petco Park

Silver Strand Half

Tinkerbell Half


... And a few others.  I am sure this small list will change significantly... like it won't be the same at all.  The next year of races is going to be wild!


Total 5k races:  3

Total 10k races:  5

Total half marathons:  7

Total full marathons:  1

La Jolla Half Marathon

Yesterday, I ran the La Jolla Half Marathon.  It was the second of three races, that I need in order to obtain the Triple Crown medal.

(Triple Crown Races:  Carlsbad 1/2, La Jolla 1/2, and in August America's Finest City 1/2)

My friend Wendy and I have been much better with running a lot before a race, so I was not concerned about this race at all in the aspect of our abilities.  However, there were rumors of a giant hill and that did freak me out quite a bit, because who likes running hills?  Not me.

I had to get up at 3:45 am in order to be to the race finish in La Jolla Cove by 5 am.  Wendy and I got to the finish on time and then we were bussed to the start line at the Del Mar racetrack.

It was a bit unorganized, which is funny since this was the 31st time they held this race.  They didn't build the start line until after 7am and the race was to start at 7:30am.  They only had two waves.

Wave 1:  8 minutes and under
Wave 2:  Everyone else

No one even made way for those who needed to get to their proper spots, so basically it was a mass of 6,000 people all trying to fit through the start line.  Argh.

The course was really pretty and the weather was fine... a bit humid though, which I did not enjoy.

The negative things about the course, were the hills, people walking/ running on the course, cars on the course, surfers and beach goers running through us in order to get to the beach and a lack of water.  At the last water spot in the race, no one handed me a cup so I grabbed one myself... but it was empty!  Ahhh!

The end of the race was chaotic.  Usually only race finishers are allowed in the area immediately after the finish line.  Here it was family and friends mixed in with racers.  I was lucky enough to be handed a cup of water after being handed my medal (still wrapped in plastic, by the way).  I looked for snacks or fruit... nothing.  There were some 'scones' but they were nearly gone and the line of racers before me were sticking their post race racing hands in the bag themselves.  Ewww.

Believe it or not, I did enjoy myself and I had a pretty good pace the entire time, but I lost any chance of a personal record on the last two hills within the last mile.

I ended up finishing at 2:52:50, which happens to be 3 seconds faster than my best time of 2:52:53 from my first 1/2... Long Beach October 2010.  So, I got a PR afterall... even if it is only by 3 seconds.

Do you see this zig zag?  When that ends, it goes up to the right for a while and then back to the left... it ... was... not... fun!

Colortastic!

Do you like color?

Let me rephrase that... do you like being doused with color?!

Then you have to find The Color Run in a city near you.  I signed up for this race about a month ago and boy am I glad that I did.

I ran the race yesterday and it was so much fun!

As you are running, you go through color stations, where cheery volunteers throw, squirt, toss, splash dyed corn starch at your face, your armpit, your ear canal, etc.  Ha ha.

As a 1/2 marathon runner, I know the pressure that comes along with running races.  Well, the pressure is off here.  This race is designed purely for the love of color and fun. I loved that there was no timing going on.  You were forced to forget about setting a record.  You simply had to run joyously through clouds of color.

Sounds great right?  Well, if you need more convincing, look at the photos below!


We started out so clean... and boring...

The best after party!

We finished as a beautiful canvas of color and joy!

(This is but a glimpse of the amazingness!)

My friend Wendy and I loved it so much, we already signed up for the San Diego run!

www.thecolorrun.com

The Color Run

Pen Pals

When I was a young girl, I had a few pen pals.  I have always loved writing notes and letters.  I enjoy sending cards for all types of occasions, big or small... happy or sad.

My best friend Stacie moved away in the 6th grade and we kept in touch with letters, drawings, and coloring book pages, over the years.  We ended up going to the same university and were roommates 2 out of our 4 years there.  We are still best friends to this day.

In high school, my friend Brittany moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and we also chose to be pen pals.

There is something so fun about receiving mail at an unexpected time.  You never know when a surprise will show up in your mail box.

I believe that the writing of a letter is something that is quickly fading from many of our lives.  I also believe, that this is something that we will regret.

So, in honor of pen and paper, cute stationery and really expensive stamps, I asked an old friend to be my pen pal.  Luckily, she said yes!

Now, I will be spending some spare moments to catch up and keep up with my good friend Fran in Alaska.

I hope that you will take some time out of your day or week to remember the significance of a time honored tradition, the hand written letter.

photo from www.inspiredbythis.com