I'm super original... 2010 recap

My "15 Things to do Before Dec. 31" went... Ok. At some point, my focus was put more towards my running goals, rather than the miscellany on my list.

But, to recap...
3. I haven't been super strict about the eating out once a week. I am going to keep working on that, because I would really like to do this.

4. The henna turned out to be more complex than I anticipated. Ive got about 5" of new growth, followed by 18" of chemically treated hair. It'd take some guess work and luck to match up the right ingredients to get the look I want, and I'm not confident enough in my abilities.
As a side-note, I'm no longer on the No 'Poo bandwagon. With all the running, it's really rough on my hair. Right now, I'm washing once a week, and water or CO'ing the rest of the week. It seems to be working, so I suppose for now it's a suitable compromise.

5. I haven't gotten ANY hiking in for months, and I'm pretty bummed about that. I really miss hitting the trails, but my schedule has made it tough. It really doesn't help that we've had rain for, like, the last three weekends, and all of the trails are currently closed for repair. I'm pretty stoked to try some trail running soon, since I already have some trail running shoes.

10. I miss my cousins. :(.

12. I am still considering vegetarianism. To be really honest, I've been incredibly lazy about my eating, in general. It needs to change.

13. I have sucked at visiting the market. See also, above, about how I've been lazy about eating.

14. See above, again, with the lazy. I really prefer to run in the mornings. The gym in my complex doesn't open until 6, which makes it impossible to get a run in before work. Running outside isn't advisable, its dark and I have no appropriate running gear. I tend to do my weekend runs in the morning, when I can.


So, what's on tap for 2011? I'm keeping this one simple...
1. Stick to my training plan
2. Stay un-injured
3. Add cross training three times/week, a combo of yoga, pilates, pushups and sit ups.
4. Build a strong mileage base
5. Get my eating back in check. 5 mile run doesn't earn me whatever I want

That's it, pretty simple. I didn't stick any mileage goals in there on purpose - I'm planning on just building my base, and eventually some basic speed work. I've got a handful of races on my calendar...

Jan. - SoCal Half Marathon (tentative)
Feb. - Redondo Beach 10K, Disney Princess Half
March - Safari Park Half
June - Corona del Mar 5K
Oct. - Disneyland Half

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December running recap...
In December, I ran 58 miles. Unreal.
My longest run this month was 8 miles.
My average pace was 11:53
I re-did my 1 mile time trial, and decreased my time by almost 2 minutes. In october, I ran a mile in 10:46. In December, 8:48.

Happy New Year :D

Three Thing Thursday... boring edition

1. After my super great awesome 8 mile run on Sunday, every mile since then has sucked infinitely worse than the last :(. Dislike. And for no real reason, there's nothing specific, just... bleh. My legs just don't wanna get into it :(.

2. I still haven't told the Kidlets that I'm going to Disney World without them. They are going to FLIP OUT. To (hopefully) make up for it, I'm busily plotting a summer-time trip with them. I am not looking forward to Florida or Disney World in the summer-time. Bleh.

3. #1 has finally picked her birthday destination, and it is.... Mimi's for breakfast, and FroYo in the afternoon. And, a book from Barnes and Noble. I love that kid.

To race or not to race.....

There's a race coming up in early January. It literally starts down the street from me... Like I could walk to the starting line.

Anyway, there's a half marathon and a 5K option. The half is a reasonable $50, shirt and medal included. The 5K is a weird $40 price... More than I really want to spend to run my regular outdoor loop when I do it for free once a week.

I'd been eyeballing the 5K just as a redemptive race. But the more I think about it, the less I want to be bothered. I mean. I run that course frequently, and I already know even my easy run pace puts me at significantly faster than my last 5K. And I don't even have to pay for it, or dodge kids and dogs.

My training plan calls for 11 miles that weekend anyway... What's 2.1 more, really? I mean, I could always walk the first two, right? Two birds, one stone? Plus, this one my kids and the H could come and watch me finish... I don't get that in florida for the Princess Half.

Decisions, decisions...

Edited: I just realized the date of this race is my Oma's birthday. . I think that half will have to be done.

Ten Thing Tuesday?

1. To complete my Operation Jack rambling, I did participate in the satellite run option, and put in my 8 miles on the treadmill at home after my volunteering was over. Seriously, at the beach from 6am-2pm, then on the treadmill at 5:30? It sounded terrible, and I almost put it off another day. But I managed to bully myself into going, and it turned out to be AWESOME. Easily my best run to date. I felt great, I felt fast (for me), I rarely felt like I might die. When I was done, I really felt like I could keep going.

2. I might even say, that I might enjoy running, if all runs could be like that one.

3. The winner of the OJ61 was This Dude. Fascinating.

4. My new Starbucks drink is a non-fat misto with 2 pumps caramel brulee. The counter girl today wrote non-fat mocha with 2 pumps on my cup in error... but it's REALLY good.

5. I am working on weasling my way out of working tomorrow. Don't tell.

6. I think I talked the H into the Safari Park Half Marathon! He will do the 5K through the San Diego Wild Animal Park with the kidlets, and I will do the half... It's 2 weeks after the Princess half, which is PUHLENTY of time, right?

7. I'm also trying to convince Becka @ 50 Half Marathons in 50 States to bring A and join us :D.

8. #1 turns 12 on Sunday. TWELVE. Every year, I wonder how I got old enough to have a kid THAT old.

9. Instead of presents, she asked to "go somewhere". She hasn't really determined her somewhere. I'm a little nervous. FroYo? San Diego? What is it going to be?!

10. In LESS THAN TWO MONTHS, I'll be at Disney World! There's also a race happening, I hear.

Doing Good Things Makes Me Happy

Who knew, right?

Sunday, I had the privelege of working aid station #2 at the 4.5 mile mark of the Operation Jack Marathon. As I blogged a few weeks ago, I had originally signed up for the half option, but chickened out last week. Since I already had the morning free, and they were still looking for vounteers, I figured, why not.

And I'm so glad I did.

I've done two races. One had great support for the runners (CDM5K). The other had one, abandoned and messy, aid station (Dana Point. Ask me for ONE good thing about that race, I dare you). Granted, these were both 5K's, not anything close to a half or full marathon, but having just done a run with unprepared, and with no water, I am beginning to see how imporant these little things can be when you're out there.

Anyway, I worked this aid station with another runner, and a mom and her kid putting in some required volunteer hours. Our station was awesome. Could you ask for a better view? Probably not.

Plus, we were prepared.

It was a looped course, so we saw the halfers twice, and the full marathoners four times. They were all so awesome, and grateful, and kept thanking us for being there. Um. Dude, you're the one running a gazillion miles, I'm just hanging out on the beach with some water and gatorade. Thank YOU!

This dude said it was his second marathon for THE DAY.

And the tall chick here was busy tying the Guinness record for the most marathons completed in a year... This was #106.

Afterwards, we went to lunch, and the 1st place guy was seated at my table. This dude was no joke about his running... "I'm training for the Avalon 50... it's a nice, mid-distance run."

50 miles, you know, nothing big.

Anyway, Sam's 61 marathons this year are over, but check out his blog, here:
Operation Jack

If you've never volunteered at a race before, seriously, go do it.

Three Things Thursday

1. I'm a bit (teeny) of a Disney nut. Since registering for the Princess half, and booking airfare, I've determined that I'm now free to unleash my planning freak, and obsess over every teeny detail - like dining reservations. I want to make ADR's now now now! :D. Madness.

2. I totally thought, yesterday, that it was Tuesday. I was complaining to a couple of my co-workers about how I just don't feel like working the rest of the week, and I'm just blah. One of them said, "But we're leaving early tomorrow, it's like a Friday! Only a few hours left!"... And I totally said, out loud, "OH, we're working half days on Wednesday AND Thursday?? Awesome!".... Right. Except yesterday WAS Wednesday. My mind, she's lost.

3. I'm shopping for a new couch. The ones we have are a little creepy, I bought 'em in a hurry on Craigslist almost a year and a half ago, and my kids have wreaked some SERIOUS havoc on them. Which was fine, 'cause it was $50 and that's really about all I care to spend when I have a bunch of kids still. But these Craigslisters, in Orange County, they must be outside of their minds. True excerpt:

"$400. Notable physical damage caused by small hungry dog. Besides this it
is in great condition".

Really?? $400? Notable Physical Damage?

Right. I think we're going with this one from Ikea:


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Christms plans, anyone?

Last year, we took kidlets to Laguna, and spent the day on the beach, then went hiking. All of that is out of the question now, thanks to the rain. For Easter, we took them rock climbing in Joshua Tree... I was told, in no uncertain terms, that there was ZERO interest in either the beach or Joshua Tree. What is wrong with them?! I mean. What kid DOESN'T want to spend Christmas on a beach or rock climbing?? Sigh.

Not Wordless Wednesday

First up, we took the kidlets to Dland a few weekends ago before the Blackout Dates took over...
Baby totally can't get enough of this carousel. It's the first thing she asks for when we go to Dland, and this time was no different. We were waiting in line, and she saw this SPECIFIC horse fly by, and said she wanted THAT one. And chick would not accept any others. Simply refused. So we hunted down this one by RUNNING around the carousel to find it. Success.
#1 was busy doing this while waiting for us. Heaven forbid someone speak to her. (Yeah, 6th graders, where is all that respect you talked about?!)

The castle is still unimpressive. But #2 likes it.

Second, it's been raining here for SEVEN DAYS STRAIGHT. SEVEN. It's very, very wet. And drippy. And, flooded.
This cute little pond is why I picked the apartment we are in today. It was drained yesterday afternoon, and it was barely drizzling when I went to bed last night, but this morning... That's a lotta rain.

Third, Baby had a Holiday Program at her school before she went on break. Any bitching and complaining I might do about my kids, is completely irrelevant when stuff like this happens, when they find me in a crowd... And finally, there's this gem. There truly are no words for this.

In other, non-pictured news, I did decide to back out of the half on Sunday. There's just no way, I'm really just not ready. I did complete 7 miles on Sunday (farthest yet!), but to jump from 7 to 13.1 seems like poor training. What's my goal, with the running, really? It was to kick some ass in the Princess half. Struggling through a half when I'm unprepared isn't going to get me there. I've been following the plan I got from TMB, and it hasn't steered me wrong yet. I'm running pain free for the first time, ever. I'm going to trust that it's the right move, for me.

But, I will be participating in the Operation Jack Satellite Run, and volunteering at the 4.5 mile aid station. Still a medal and a shirt, and some time doing good.

YES YES YES!

I am registered....

AND! Thanks to Priceline, my flight is booked, $90 less than I was going to pay for the EXACT SAME FLIGHT. It is totally my lucky day :D.

Three Things Thursday

1. My kids rock my socks. #1 was recognized by her peers for always demonstrating respect...

#2 won a free trip to In n' Out, for reading a ton...

#3 didn't actually do anything super exciting, but she was pretty stoked to get to see #1 at school.

2. Tomorrow is Disney Princess Half registration day, and it's holding at 75%!!! WOOOT!

3. I'm registered for the Operation Jack half on 12/26. I did it on impulse, I saw a reasonable registration, and the beach, and a medal, and pulled the trigger. I think I have registration regret now. I'm not ready for a half, and I know I'll be pissy when I suck at it. So now comes the delimma - do it anyway, knowing that it will suck, but just treat it like a training run (I'm scheduled 8 miles this day)... and accept that I might just be the last person out on that course... What to do, what to do...

The Non-Race Report

aka, the Day The Sun Ruined My Life.

I decided against the Make Room for Santa 10K - the registration was $45, and I wasn't super thrilled about another "family" event after the Dana Point Fiasco. Instead, I mapped a super simple loop through my neighborhood:

I dressed "Race Ready", 'cause... why not, right? It's tough to see, but the socks are black/purple argyle.

4yr old photographers are the best.

Anyway. The H and I were both running. He offered to run the loop opposite direction from me, so he could meet me at some point with his water bottle. I declined, 'cause it was lovely and cool outside when we were leaving (foreshadowing!). So we took off, and I didn't see him again until I got home.

The first mile always sucks, and I want to quit immediately. I feel sluggish, and my legs are tired immediately, and I always wonder why I'm doing this. It felt like it took forever, but after I hit the 2 mile mark, I feel good. I had my pace times written down, and was watching - I was banking some time, but felt really good still. I was planning on 11:45-12 min/mile, and was hitting a little less.

2 miles, all is well... hit 3 miles, and I'm kinda thirsty, and realize it's getting warm. Hm.

Mile 3.5, and I think I might die. It's HOT. I slowed down a little. The sun is EVERYWHERE. Thankfully, there's a park restroom and water fountain around 3.7. Score!

Quick potty break, and drink some water, and I'm off again... this is what my stop-light wait looked like:

Awful.

Hit mile 4, and I feel okay - not great, it's still hot, there's no shade, blah blah. But I know there's only 2 miles left, and I KNOW I can run two miles. Hit 4.5 miles, and that.was.the.end. I thought I was going to puke in someone's yard. I walked, a lot. The last .75 miles, I was sprinting through the sun and walking through the shade. Terrible.

My splits? Ugly.

Woodbridge and the Sun, 1. Heather, 0.

Finish time was 1:11:28. Not terrible, and I intended to finish by 1:15, so I'm happy with that, but bummed that I didn't plan better. Oh well. There's always next weekend.

People are sooooo nosey....

I think I have a stalking problem. I find people's blogs, and then can't stop reading. I will literally just read the ENTIRE thing, start to finish. And then I feel like I'm a little creepy, because now I know their whole life story (or whatever they put out there), and they don't even know me. I have refrained from commenting on two-year-old posts, so that probably helps.

Does anyone else do that?! Is it just me?!

Anyways.

I LOVE being tagged in stuff, 'cause then I don't need to think about an interesting topic. Thanks, Little Fruit Fly!

1. Who inspires you with regard to running?

No question, Becka at http://50halfmarathonsin50states.blogspot.com/. We "met" several years ago on a non-running site, and I remember seeing these pictures of her all teeny, and how much WORK she always put into maintaining that. And I remember her freaking out a little bit about running her first race, and how awesome she did. Then I met her in real life, and dude... the amount of food that that chick can eat is impressive. And yet she stays super teeny, because she runs unbelievably.

But seriously, she did it, and she kept doing it, even when it was hard, and I'm so proud of where she's gone with it. I want to be like her when I grow up.

Plus, A is realllly cute and fun.

2. Running with music? Running without music?

With, almost always. My playlist is eclectic, but it's exclusively songs that I know all the lyrics to, so I can sing along. Weird, I know, but it works for me. The only exception to this is if I'm on the treadmill during Good Eats or Top Chef :D

3. Do you have any fantasy race/event that you are longing to participate in someday?

The ONE race I've been DYING to do, even before I could be bothered with running, is the Disney Princess half. Before that started, it was the Disney World half. That's really my sole motivation right now... I told H I wanted to do it, and he kind of implied he didn't think I could. He's changed his mind, which is fun... but even more fun is ME being right AND racing at my favorite place on earth.

4. Think back to grade school ... who was your celebrity crush?

Oh! Johnny Depp!

5. You finally meet your grade school celebrity crush .... what do you do? What do you say?

Ouch... this is tough! I don't know what I'd say, honestly, I'm shy and it would probably be awkward. :D.

6. We don't hear about these guys enough .... Pets! Do you have any? Names? Type? Do they sleep in your bed? Are they in the family Christmas card??

I guess kids don't count? Sadly, no pets. We used to have a Boxer, when we had a big house and giant yard, but when we had to move into an apartment with no yard, we gave him to a good friend who had the heart and the space for him :(.

(Baby might kill me in 15 years).

Now the tough stuff.... I'm tagging...
Hungry Runner Girl (I'm a little obsessed with her blogs, she cracks me up)
Brilliance Wasted
Marilie's Musings

Your questions:
1. Who would you most love to run with, and why?
2. What's your DREAM race - where, temps, condition, what are you wearing, etc. Let it all spill!
3. Favorite food, and least favorite food, and why?
4. Would you rather get $1000 cash, or a gift from your SO?
5. Are you done with holiday shopping? Did you stick to your budget?
6. Proudest moment of 2010? Biggest goal for 2011?

Three Things Thursday

Three (Awesome) Things....

1. I ran 5.5 miles on Saturday. That CRUSHES my previous longest distance of 4 miles. And, it was awesome. And, I felt AMAZING after. SO amazing, that The H agreed that I should do the Disney Princess Half :D :D :D.

2. Brooks continues to make me very, very happy. After I spoke to one of their reps, and sent them a picture of my shoe, they are replacing it. For free. Because they're awesome.

3. My Baby keeps cracking me up. All the time. Today, she says, "Mommy, you make me laugh." I said she was silly. "NOooooooo. I'm not silly! I'm GABBY!!!". Yep. She sure is. This is how she plays hide and seek with #1:

4. (I know this isn't three, but it just happened, so I'm doing it) I just got an email that #1 won a Respect, Integrity, and Responsibility award at school... she was selected by her peers. She's awesome :).

Three (not-so-Awesome) Things:

1. I've been tasked with planning our holiday party at the office. This is an issue because (a) I am not a party-chick, and would be pleased to eat pizza and drink beer for hours, and (b) I am a mom of three living 45 minutes away from the office, and over an hour from LA where everyone else does - the chances of me knowing what FUN STUFF there is to do that doesn't involve some type of cartoon character? Slim. This is currently ruining my life.

2. I worked the Disney Princess Half registration into my budget a week from tomorrow. It's currently sitting at 75% full. This is giving me mild panic attacks.

3. I was supposed to do the Make Room For Santa 10K in Irvine this Sunday. I haven't registered. I'm debating if I want to pay the registration ($40, to run around the shopping center with Target? Really?), or just do my 6.2 miles in my neighborhood and call it done.

Dear Blogger

Why isn't my sidebar working?

Sigh,

HG

Wordless Wednesday

'Tis the season

I love Disney.

I also love a good sale.

Which prompted me to visit Downtown Disney at 5:45am for some ridiculous sale at World of Disney.

Dude. These people are NO JOKE. It's like we're in Soviet Russia and there's a bread line. People have commandeered entire corners of this store to lay out all the crap they've grabbed, so they can sort and decide what they want.

I'm guessing this is what Walmart is like on Black Friday, but with fewer mullets.

I might be scarred. This isn't really magical.



UPDATE: after moving about 10 feet in the checkout line in 40 minutes, and having at least another hour to go, I quit. I'm not as hardcore as I thought, apparently.

November is over??

That was FAST!

In November, I ran 38 miles.

In November, I went from running 2.5 miles to just over 4 miles. Without quitting.

In November, my average pace was 11:53.

In November, I ran an average of 9.25 miles per week. My highest mileage week was 10.5 miles.

In November, I beat my 5K PR, with a jacked up knee, by 2 minutes.

In November, I didn't drink ANY soda... that's two full months without, and I've survived.

My "Things to do Before December 31st" list is getting stuff marked off...
1. Visit the Mountains - done!
6. BUDGET my holiday gift spending, and DO IT (ha?) - done! Christmas items for kidlets are just about done, and we ONLY bought what we planned for.
7. Register for 2 races - DONE! I've done Dana Point, and I'm registered for the Operation Jack Half Dec. 26th. I'm ALSO supposed to register for the Make Room for Santa 10K, which is a week from Sunday. I haven't yet.

Happy December!

Three Things Thursday!

1. I ran outside yesterday, for my 3 miles, and for the first time EVER, it did NOT SUCK! I went super, super slow, 'cause the first mile was a littl hilly, but finished like this:Didn't stop to walk, at all, and felt GREAT by the end. I was in a little bit of a panic the last week or so - I was having some shin pain (again), and didn't make my 5 mile long run last week, and pissy about the Dana Point Cow, and just generally bummed. Apparently, shut up and run works. So, thanks, TMB.

2. Little Fruit Fly commented the other day that Disney Princess is at 70% full... and she's right! ACK!!

3. My new favorite Starbucks item is a Grande Non-Fat Misto with 2 pumps Caramel Brulee. This clocks in at around 70 calories and 0g fat. I USED to get (and still really, really want) a Grande Soy Caramel Brulee Latte... that bad boy is 300 cal and 3g of fat. Win!

Wordless Wednesday