Workouts of the Week

Sun: Rest. 2 weeks of travel really took it out of me!

Mon: 3 glorious non-humid California miles with Lilo!

Tue: New Year’s Day! And rest. Unless you count shopping

Wed: 7 miles on the strand.

Pretty sunset run!

Thur: 4 miles on the strand

Eerie but pretty, no?

Some decorations are still up! This shone like a beacon in the distance.

Fri: Rest

Sat: 12 miles. I did surprisingly well considering that I hadn’t run over 7 miles in 3 weeks. My legs definitely felt it. I got to see the sun rise over LA and some peacocks! That’s right, there’s wild peacocks in the area.

Although I love traveling, it feels great to be back. Hopefully my lack of long-runs while I was gone didn’t do too much damage and I can get back on track for the LA Marathon!

Workouts of the Week

A little late…but here’s the workouts of the week of 12/23:

Sun: Scuba in Portobelo, Panama!

Mon: Horrible…HORRIBLE 7 miles. 3 outside, 4 on the treadmill. It was so humid in Panama that I thought I was going to faint multiple times.

Tue: 3 Christmas miles! Still in Panama…went at 6pm and it was still SO HOT. Abs and thighs.

Wed: Rest

Thur: I meant to do 6…I could only manage 1.5. I can’t do hot running!

Fri: Rest…travel day from Panama back to California!

Sat: Unintentional rest. I blame the jet lag and California rain  

Well…at least I managed to be somewhat active during my vacation. I’ll never take California weather for granted again! (PS…I am in no way complaining about Panama…it was a great vacation with family and I love traveling!)

Santa Monica-Venice Beach Christmas Run!

So it’s been 2 weeks and 3 days…but let’s talk about my double-PR at the Santa Monica-Venice Beach Christmas Run!

At the start of the 10K.

This run is a 10K and a 5K with the option to run both for only $5 more, making the total $45. Since we had 9-10 miles that day on the books for LA Marathon training (which is funny because we saw a TON of LA Roadrunners running separately from the event) Nick, Wendy, Nic, and I decided to go for it! I really love holiday races and dressing up all crazy. Plus, I got to wear my Sparkle Skirt for the first time (and maybe only time…since my Ariel-abs aren’t coming through like I had hoped).

I learned a very valuable lesson…don’t try something new before a race. I know, I know, this is Running 101, but I read all the time about runners having coffee and it helping their performance. I was really dragging this morning so I decided to give it a go…with what I thought was plenty of time before gun time. Big mistake. I had HORRIBLE cramps in the 10K from basically mile 2-4. I’m thinking I could have finally gotten a sub 1:00 had it not been my stomach punching the rest of my internal organs in protest. Regardless, this was my first official timed 10K, so I’m counting it as a PR at 1:00:14.

The 5K was the same course as the 10K but cut short, obviously. It was sort of hard to wait around in sweaty clothes waiting for the gun, and also hard to muster up the motivation to run hard for another 3 miles, but we did it! I clocked in at 29:26, technically a PR, but still slightly disappointing because I know I’ve run faster on some training runs. Regardless, I’m walking away with pride since I had set a secret goal (PR twice in one day) and I did it…all while dressed like a sparkly elf!

Santa’s been working out.

Overall, it was a great day. I pushed myself to the limit (verge of puking without the actual puke) and I felt pretty badass passing athletic looking people in a glittery skirt.

Workouts of the Week

Not such an eventful week…finals week = workouts suffer.

Sun: Rest

Mon: Rest

Tue: 3 mi with Lilo

Tue: Nada

Wed: Nada

Thur: Nada…

Fri: Nada!

Sat: NADA!! Unless walking through the airport counts. Travel day to Panama!

It’s okay…I made up for it with some awesome runs the next week!

Sun: Nada…travel day! Panama to San Juan, Puerto Rico. A taxi, ferry, and taxi later, I was on Vieques Island with my bestie, Lauren.

Mon: Gorgeous 3 miles on Vieques Island. Plus abs. Plus an accidental 4 mile walk and kayaking in the bio bay! (More on that later.)

Good morning Vieques!

 

Some local wild(?)life.

Sun Bay Beach!

The other side, looking towards Esparanza.

My “track” for the morning. Very peaceful.

Tue: Some walking and snorkeling, plus a taxi, ferry, and taxi back to San Juan.

Wed: 6 miles in the rain on the beach at San Juan. My first time running in a downpour…and it was awesome!

My “track” later in the day, sans rain. My calves are still sore.

Thur: Hike at El Yunque! Gorgeous day!

 

Plus some yoga.

Fri: Rest. Adios Puerto Rico…hola Panama!

Sat: Rest again. Family drove from Panama City to Portobelo (on the Caribbean side)

I can’t wait to write about my trip. It was amazing. I love traveling, and the way I like to travel is a good mix of relaxation, adventure, and nightlife, and this definitely hit the spot. Plus it was a great girl’s trip. Stay tuned!

Workouts of the Week

Very stressful week school-wise (hence the late posting). Nothing too exciting except for my double-PR at the Santa Monica-Venice Beach 10K/5K!

Sun: Rest

Mon: 3 miles

Tue: Turbo Kick

Wed: Unintentional rest day. Such a hectic week!

Thurs: 5 miles on the Strand

Hermosa Beach Pier.

All Christmas’ed out!

Fri: Vinyasa Yoga at CorePower.

Sat: Santa Monica-Venice Beach Christmas Run! Nick, Wendy, Nic and I all ran both the 10K and the 5K, and I PR’ed in BOTH! (More on that later…maybe.)

I got to wear my Sparkle Skirt!

Besides breakin’ records I was witness to this gem:

Santa’s been working out.

Pretty good week despite the stresses of school.

Workouts of the Week

It’s finals week in these here parts…well for me. Which makes me a very stressed out and busy bee. I promise you (nonexistent readers) that I’ll eventually get my “About Me” page up and running and actually write about things OTHER than what workouts I did that week. But until then…

Sun: Rest. Drove back from Norcal.

Mon: 45 minute at home Hatha yoga. 3 miles in the “woods” of Palos Verdes.

Pretty trail.

Lululemon, Oiselle, and Mizuno love.

Tue: Turbo Kick! Awesome mix by Jen.

Wed: 4 drizzly miles.

Thur: Abs and an entertaining 3 miles on the Strand. Apparently there was a big swell and lots of surfers out, I saw one guy wipe out in a barrel. And then I saw Fisherman Gorton:

Seriously, there was a guy dressed just like this chillin;, taking in the views.

Fri: Holy Hot Yoga batman! Took a (new to me) class at CorePower and this instructor kicked my butt! I could seriously not stop sweating even after class was done. She included a lot of advanced poses like firefly and bird of paradise. I love getting challenged like that!

Sat: 12 miles in beautiful Palos Verdes! Of course there was time for some pictures:

There’s an ocean and a lighthouse behind me. Trust.

I couldn’t resist. I blame the “durr” face on the 12 miles.

To get totally sappy on you…I’m finally feeling pretty good about my running. Yes, I’m still slow, but I’m slowly(hah) getting faster, and I’m starting to understand what it feels like to “fly.” I can hold on to a faster pace longer, and I’m really getting into the groove of my stride. Hopefully it will only get better from here!

Workouts of the Week

Slacker, party of one. Whoops.

I was going to ignore the week of my birthday. Pretend it didn’t even happen. Cause I barely did ANYTHING. But, one of the points of this lil’ ol’ blog is to keep myself accountable, and so I shall.

I had a bad week. It happens. I let myself wallow, which meant very little working out. But now I feel recharged and ready. It was better to take this week off now, early in my LA Marathon training, than later. Without further adieu, the week of 11/11:

Sun: Nada. Drove back from Carmel.

Mon: More nada. I slept funny on Saturday night and my neck/back/shoulder was KILLING me. Decided not to push it. Man, I AM getting old.

Tue: Tutu Turbo for my birthday! Best. Turbo. Ever. (plus legs and abs)

Wed: Nada.

Thur: Nada.

Fri: My birthday! Took a free vinyasa class at CorePower Yoga. Finally felt good to get some sweat in.

Sat: Aaaaaaand then more nada.

Well, that was a little depressing. But this past week was much more productive:

Sun: Okay…nada.

Mon: Yay! Vinyasa class at CorePower AND a 3 mi run! Rut over?

Tue: Turbo Kick! And legs and abs! Hallelujah!

Wed: Oops, nada.

Thur: Thanksgiving! So I didn’t get to do a turkey trot like I had hoped, but I did my own lil’ 10k.

Fri: Nada. We drove up to San Mateo to visit family.

Saturday: 9.5 mile run with Angelica! It kicked my butt but I felt great about it, especially since I missed last week’s long run. PLUS Angelica gave me this super sweet NWM shirt for my birthday:

Twinsies!

We ran past the San Mateo Bridge. Gorgeous day too!

So there you have it. My first episode of neglecting the blog and neglecting a week’s worth of workouts. Now it’s time to keep on truckin’!