Getting Lost

Thank you all for your tips on buying a wedding dress!  They were super helpful!!!  I am so appreciative of each and every one of you.

Yesterday was Long Run Sunday. My friend had to go teach Sunday school at her church and my sister had to bathe the baby, so I figured that would be the perfect opportunity to explore the college town by foot. My friend's fiancé (who has completed a half Iron Man!!) very kindly mapped out a nice long run for me to follow. I wrote the directions on my phone, downloaded some podcasts, and took off.

About 3 miles in, I came to the end of the first road and realized that I hadn't turned like I was supposed to.  So I went back and found the road I was supposed to have turned down and turned right when I should've turned left.  Needless to say, I did not follow his route at all. But I got a great long run done. And I got to explore my friend's college campus, which was really fun.

This was the weather that I ran in.

That is our usual nightly low, so I was cold.  Luckily, I had my running tights and the awesome jacket that I received in my goodie bag from the Hot Chocolate run last weekend.  I did have to borrow cold weather clothes from my friend.

When everyone got home, we made a delicious lunch of stir fry.

This little one was very helpful.

We had another appointment where she said yes to the dress! We celebrated with froyo. 

We had a potluck to go to, so we stopped by the store to get veggies. I found this interesting fruit. Has anyone heard of it?

I made a gorgeous salad, if I do say so myself.

I was stuck in the car all day, so I hit up the treadmill as soon I got home.

Tomorrow school starts again. It's been a lovely month off.

Ever gotten lost on a run?

Oregon

Here's a fun fact about me: before I began dating boyfriend, I had been to Hawaii more times than I had been to Oregon. And Oregon is literally a 1.5 hour drive from me. Then I met boyfriend, and we began visiting the San Juan islands in Washington State each summer, which forces us to drive through Oregon. Now one of my closest friends lives here, so my sister, the babe, and I all travelled up here for the long weekend.

We stopped at a pretty well known rest stop (that is still in California) on the way up and got a picture of Paul Bunyan and Babe. Do you have a massive statue of a blue bull? Don't be jealous.

The drive was very uneventful and we got here safely. We spent the evening learning how to work on our terrible posture. Apparently you can stand up against a wall and tuck your chin in and do some arm exercises. It's a great look for everyone.

This morning was very laid back. I did a T25 video and then we went to the store for groceries. After breakfast, we headed to Portland to find a dress. We went to a nonprofit first which has used dresses that you pay what you can for and al proceeds go to the fight against human trafficking. We almost went with this one....

But we decided to leave it on the rack for someone else, because we are kind. The next stop was lunch. It was Pho, because it's been way, way too long since I'd had it.

Then we wandered around Portland because none of us had ever spent any time in that city. It's super adorable and I love it.

She had an appointment at a regular bridal shop at four.

Unfortunately, we didn't find the one, but it was really fun to feel like we were on Say Yes to the Dress for an hour and a half. We left Portland after that and then we went to a massive outlet mall where I was tempted to spend way too much at the Under Armour store. Tomorrow I am hoping to get a long run in around her town for a little exploring.

Have you been wedding dress shopping? Any tips?

And It's Still Summer

Today wasn't as hot as it was yesterday, but it was still unseasonably warm. My phone told me this:

But my car thermometer (after driving for 15 minutes) told me this:

That's 68, not 66. Once again, I could not even think about running inside on the stuffy treadmill. Plus, I've been liking getting a runner's tan in January. We need rain, but I also enjoy having some color in my skin. I planned on running an easy 4 miles around my gym before hitting the weights. But then this happened.

It also was not so easy. I didn't realize how hilly it is around the gym. This is the elevation hart from my normal route around my house.

And this was from this afternoon.

Needless to say, my legs were definitely feeling it. I guess this week has been all about hills. That's okay, it keeps me from being bored. After the gym, my best cohort friend asked if I wanted to go to the beach with her. In this weather, how could I say no??

Oh yeah, boyfriend came with me too. He had to suffer through girl talk. He's such a good sport. Also, check out this view. I am so lucky.

After the beach, we hit up Costco where they were sampling my very favorite apple chips. I could eat the entire bag, which is exactly why I don't buy them.

My dinner plate was so colorful tonight, I had to take a picture to share.

Tomorrow, I am leaving the land of summer to visit my friend in Oregon. It's a long weekend, so my sister and I decided to head up to help her find a wedding dress. It will be a good weekend in the cold.

Any fun plans for the long weekend?

Did We Skip a Few Seasons?

This morning I had to brave the freezing cold to warm up my car before leaving for my student teaching placement. I figured this meant that the day would be cold. So, I layered up as I always do. I finally left the classroom at lunch time to grab my lunch out of the car. And then, I finally decided to check the weather. Because I was dripping in sweat the second I stepped outside.

What?!? It was 73 degrees. In January. We are supposed to be getting pelted with rain during winter. We need snow in the mountains. This is going to be a very bad year for water. But right now, I don't really mind. I couldn't even fathom running inside, so I took it outside.

It was beautiful and I was drenched in sweat by the first half mile. This run was hard. Really hard. My body is tired and I wasn't mentally in the game. I finished though, and it felt extra good to have that vitamin D.

My last two miles were extra slow because I took this goober.

He is fast and can keep up with me, but he zig zags all over the place and clotheslined himself a couple of times. Silly boy. I also did a T25 video to complete my workout for the day. Milo came to visit and he didn't get the memo that it's summer in January.

I am wondering when California will get the winter memo that all of the rest of the United States received. Hopefully soon. Until then, I'm soaking up all of the outdoors I can get.

How is the weather where you are?

So I Need More Core Work

Monday morning, I woke up feeling fine. Extremely tired, but fine physically. My shins felt a little sore and everything felt a little tight, but other than that, I wouldn't have known I ran a difficult race the day before.

As the day progressed, however, my core started feeling sore. And then it got worse. To the point where laughing hurt. I think it's safe to say that I have been lacking in the core workouts. I know working the core would make me a stronger runner, I just don't make enough time for it. I did a slower run to get the blood flowing through my muscles.

This run actually felt really good. I also trained shoulders. And by the time I laid down last night (at 8pm), I could hardly get myself up without looking like an 80-year-old. So, I've been exploring ab routines to do at least 4 times a week. Today was better, but I did have a a run-in with a 45lb plate.

Clumsiness? I like to think of them as Warrior Wounds. Once I got home from the gym, I immediately got into bed and watched 3 episodes too many of Scandal. I am almost caught up to TV and I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself once I am. Maybe go outside with real people? This guy laid with me the whole time. He's a great cuddler.

My abs feel slightly better today, but it's still hard to laugh. Which is horrible, since laughing is my favorite thing to do.

How often do you train abs?

The Hot Chocolate 15k (San Francisco)

If you follow me on Facebook, I'm sure you noticed that I raced this morning. I signed up for this race about a month ago and it came so fast that I was pretty much blindsided by it. My soulmate's husband is a runner and they live an hour south of the city, so he said he would run it with me too. Before I go any farther, here are my results (because that's alway my favorite part of the recaps):

The race started at 8:20am. They recommended getting there about 2 hours early, but our group was a bunch of rebels and got there an hour early. We took a shuttle that picked us up a block from our hotel. We made a quick coffee shop stop first.

The race began in Golden Gate park at the Music Concourse. I've spent many hours here at music festivals, but this was my first time running through the park. I used the porta potties the minute we got there and then we wandered around to watch the 5k winners

We also took some silly photos.

My soulmate made us point at each other.

And then at ourselves. 

We weren't sure why. Finally, around 8:05, we made our way to the corral. I did not want to shed any layers because I was freezing cold, but I'm glad I did because I ended up being the perfect temperature the entire race.

We ended up being in the very first corral, which we absolutely were not expecting. We took one last picture before we took off. 

I'm really sad I didn't get any pictures on the course. It was absolutely beautiful. The first 5k was all downhill out of the park toward the bay. The second 5k was along the bay. It was breathtaking. I haven't spent any time at the beach in all of my time in the city, so running along the beach was amazing. The last 5k almost killed me. It was all uphill back to the finish line. I hadn't trained for hills. My last mile was the slowest, at 8:39 because I stopped and walked about .2 of that mile. I didn't get passed at all, so that was amazing. Otherwise, I felt great the entire run. 

Boyfriend and my soulmate were at the finish line waiting for us to come in. I kicked it into high gear because I wanted to come in under 1:12. I am really proud of myself for kicking because I've been practicing my kick and it actually worked. UPHILL.

I crossed the finish line at 1:11 exactly. My Garmin said I ran 9.4 miles, which means I didn't run the tangents correctly, and I also had to make it say 9.5, so I kept going through the finisher's chute.

I stayed and watched her husband cross about 5 minutes after me.

Then we went and got our "finisher's mug" which consisted of chocolate fondue and hot chocolate. Boyfriend was ready for the hot chocolate after a long day of spectating.

I got it back and that was seriously the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted.

We took a little rest while we ate our chocolate.

Overall, it was a very, very well organized race. From the shuttles to the course markers to the mug pick-up. I never felt confused or stressed at all. It was also the biggest race I've ever participated in, with about 4,000 runners. I am now dying to do some larger half marathons. 

After showering and changing, I was more than ready for breakfast. We went to this adorable little place called Grove where I had some great coffee.

My veggie scramble was awesome also. I always want eggs after a run for some reason.

After we said our goodbyes to my soulmate and her husband, we drove boyfriend's cousin to her work where we got some more coffee for our drive home. She's the sweetest person on the planet.

I adore his cousin.

Now we are on our way back to make it in time for family dinner at my dad's house. It was the most beautiful day in the city too. I could not believe it. Especially after yesterday when it was pouring.

I would totally recommend The Hot Chocolate series to anyone. I had so much fun.

What's your next race??