ugly shoes

I had such a weird dream last night.

I never, ever, ever step on a scale. When I go to the Doctors, I always tell the nurse not to tell me the number and step on the scale backwards. I rather not know or be stressed about any fluctuating in the number.

That's probably not smart. I should probably have some kind of idea of where I am. The thing is, even though I don't know how much I weigh, I still want to weigh less. I figure, if I don't know the number, then I wont feel bad about weighing more than my ideal 115. Whatever, I'll just keep living my delusional lifestyle until my pants are too tight.

Anyway, back to my dream. I  dreamt that I HAD to step on a scale and I was freaking out. Dramatic sobbing, panic attack, the whole thing. In my dream, my weight was 180! WTF!! That made the dramatic situation even worse.

Maybe that's my sub-conscience telling me something. I definitely have not been watching my protein intake (too low) or the amount of sweets I'm consuming (way too high). The ratio needs to switch.

 This morning, I ran 10 hill repeats in my 5 finger shoes.  I have these, except mine are covered in dirt, mud, blood, sweat, everything. I know they are ugly, but for some reason I feel like when I wear these for hill repeats my calves don't hurt as much.

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Do you remember your dreams?

How often do you get on the scale? daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never?

awesome target find!

This morning I woke up surprisingly early but still tired. Weird when that happens.

I spent the weekend in Big Bear with people I met through Anthony at the LA Galaxy games. Do you ever get weird anxiety about making new friends/ meeting people? I do! I'm am extra weird and keep thinking nonsense like," I hope they are nice and they don't think I'm super lame or try to murder me and stash my body somewhere on the mountain..eek!" I don't remember feeling like this when I was in school. I guess it's different when your older and you are making friends outside of work/ school versus being a kid where you play (thus are friends) with everyone.

Anyway, they were all a lot of fun and very, very entertaining.  I had a great time

After we got home, Anthony and I went to the Lomita Fair put on my a church down the street from where I live. It felt like a cute little date, we rode the scariest rides and then we had dinner. I had 2 churros. haha, hey they were 30cents!!!

Back to running: This morning, I went on a 7 mile easy run with my new running skirt. I see these on girls and think they are super cute.  I got this one at Target for under 10 bucks.  My thoughts: cute, easy to run in, should have bought the XS. The waistband was really lose but overall I love it!!

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Making new friends? Thoughts? 

Do you go to the carnival for the food, or the rides?

Best target find? 

gummy bear massacre

Like I mentioned earlier, I'll be spending the weekend in Big Bear so I had to get my long run in today because I probably won't have 3 hours to run + all day to recover.

I did the same loop as last week and it was hard. My upper thigh has been a little tight and I felt it today. I ran the first 10 miles under 9mi/miles, and the next 20 at about 10mi/miles or more. It seems crazy to try to do 26 at a consistent 9mi/mile pace. Man, feeling discouraged :(

On a side note I attempted to make vodka gummy bears and they turned out all mushy.  I re-read a recipe that says to place gummies in a plate and cover them in vodka, is that not the same as dumping bags of gummy bears into a bottle of vodka?

Anyway, last night I had a mini-bday party for Anthony. I know I'm lame, but I wanted an ice cream cake.  I also bought him 2 growlers filled with his absolute favorite beer: Stone IPA

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Ever made vodka gummy bears? what did I do wrong?

Ice cream cake vs. regular cake?

Beer fans? Which one?
I an NOT. I don't like the taste or how it makes me feel. Actually I'm not an alcohol fan at all. 

speed work and a coupon!

Happy Wednesday!

Something really exciting happened to me this morning. I got a buy one get one free coupon to Yogurtland in the mail!! I was so excited I almost jumped in my car and drove over there and then I realized it's only valid September 18-24. I'm super excited for that date now!

This morning was another speed workout. I warmed up for 1.5 miles and did 6X 800's. It was sprinkling a little and I was afraid of slipping but nothing bad happened and I got a good workout in.

I noticed that my Garmin was showing the time for each 800 in this set up --> min:sec:what's after sec??

Anyway, the splits looked like this 1) 3:36:10,  2) 3:36:17,  3) 3:37:91,  4) 3:35:92,  5) 3:37:79,  6) 3:37:79
The last two felt a lot harder. My legs felt heavy, my lungs felt good. Obviously tired, but I wasn't gasping for air. Overall, I'm happy that they are consistent. I still would like to get faster. Maybe next week I'll aim for 3:15 ish.

It's times like this where I wish I was back in HS and had access to coaching advice. For the most part I read stuff and try to keep up with what they are saying but I'm not sure if it's right for me. I guess we'll find out. NWM is 6 weeks away!

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Do you get advice from magazines/ internet?

Do you like Yogurtland? or is there another fro-yo spot you enjoy?

Do you use coupons?
Yes, Yes, Yes. I think they are awesome.

Conquer the Bridge 2012

Conquer the Bridge is a 5.3 mile run across the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro. I first heard about it from my friend AJ, who said it was a big deal in SP. 29,000 participated this year, so yes, it is a big deal.

If you are from LA or in the South Bay area, you need to do this. It was a short run, and the views were awesome. I didn't bring my camera so these pictures stolen off the world wide web.

Vincent Thomas Bridge

The race started at 8:05, naturally I left at the latest time possible, 7:20 in hopes of being there 15 min early. I've been to this area of San Pedro a million times, and still I got lost. Luckily I saw the street closures and a few patrol cars and assumed I was close. I found parking on a side street two blocks away and jogged over to the start. I made it with a few minutes to spare, so I took advantage and stretched and checked out the competition.

I don't know why, but I always get very intimidated at the start of a race. I see tiny girls with flat abs wearing only sport bra and I immediately get insecure and lower my goal time.



source


Luckily (or unluckly), I ran into my friend Earnie. (a guy who worked at the same company I do and he told me he's running his 145 marathong in October! cool!) 

He asked me how fast I was going to run this thinig. I was like "uhhh" and then he suggested an "9mi/mil .. no... 8mi/mile". I don't know why but I agreed to it. That meant I had to work for that 40mi finish time so I didn't look like a lame loser when he asked for my time afterwards.

The path follows the on-ramp onto the bridge, a U turn and then the off-ramp off of the bridge towards the finishi line. One thing I was not expecting. was the uphill clim getting on to the bridge on both sides. But overall it was a fun race and I'm proud that I it was semi-fast.

The first mile was pretty fast 7:40, it was flat and it was pumped from the crowd. The second included an uphill climb 8:00. Third was downhill but I could feel myself tire 7:50. Fourth was harder. It was uphill and it was hard to keep an even pace 8:40. The fifth mile, I knew I had to run fast, If I wanted to finish in 40 minutes. I think it was around 8 min. The last 0.3 of a mile, I tried to sprint to the finish line. I dont' really know what it was but I finished at 41:49.

There were a lot of student runners. I think the first place was 17 year old boy!!!

I enjoyed the race. I don't think I'm fast at all, it is something I am working on. So it was a big deal for me that my splits were somewhat consistent and I stayed within that range for 5 miles. The hills were hard but I think I handled them ok.  

 

change in schedule

This morning was another hill workout. 10 repeats. I feel faster going up the hills, it's still hard and it kicks my tush every single time.

This weeks schedule is going to be a little bit different. I really like consistency and having a schedule but sometimes things come up.

I'm spending the weekend in Big Bear for a friend's (and Anthony's) Birthday and I don't want to be super lame and stress out about having to get up early for a long run on Saturday so I moved it to Friday. That way I will have the weekend to relax and if I feel like it, do a few easy miles around the lake ( I already packed some running gear)

This is the tentative schedule for the week
M: Conquer the Bridge (Recap to follow)
T: Hill 10X repeat
W: Speed?? 4X800's
Th: rest
F: 20m
Sat: ?? rest ??
Sun: easy run
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What did you / will you get your boyfriends for his birthday? HELP!!

Do you run/ workout on vacation?
YES. ALWAYS!!! It's a great way to see a new place

How far in advance do you pack for a trip?
I get so excited I want to do it as soon as possible, but I try to wait and do it a week in advance.

20 miles and potato chips

To be honest, I was a little worried about my long run this morning. I wasn't sure if I would feel ok or I would be able to do it. 20 miles is definitely scary.

I never pay attention to my pace during long runs, I just go out and run slow and long. I tried to challenge myself and aimed for the first 10 miles to be under 9:30. It went really well, I was 8/10. I came across a monster hill and it was rough.

I slowed down for the next ten, I was starting to get tired and my hamstrings felt tight. I tried to keep an under 10 min/mil pace. It was pretty close. I finished 20 miles in 3h:15m.

I came home and sunk into an ice bath. I didn't feel too bad on my run (the normal aches and pains) but now I'm starting to feel very sore and tired. and my toe nail hurts. I'm scared to look at it.  I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the day.

Have you tried Lays Kettle Cooked chips? I bought a bag of jalapeño flavored chips and they are awesome.

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Did you work out today?

Any plans for the long weekend?

Favorite chips?