Inappropriate but hilarious. So as many of you know, this weekend I am running the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. It’s going to be a blast for all the events that lead up to it, including the blogger meet up, the girls I’m staying with, I just know it will be so fun and exciting. I’m already glad that I chose a “big” marathon for my first, so I’ll always have people to run with and stalk.

I’m starting in corral 7, and my race number is 7376. I feel like it’s a good number. There’s a lot of lucky number 7′s in there. Well my lucky number is 6, but 7 is the ultimate lucky number, so therefore that is what I’ve made myself believe.

My biggest goal for this race is to finish. I know everyone says that that really isn’t a ‘goal’ because obviously I am going to finish the race, but at the same time, a lot of crazy things can happen over 26.2 miles. I also don’t want to focus so much on my pace, time, and all the aspects that I didn’t really work on that much during my training to not soak in my first marathon experience.

Every ‘race’ I’ve ever ran, I’ve always raced them. I think I learned that in high school when I ran competitively and was much faster than I am now. Even if I tell myself I’m not going too, I find my heart beating and my body tense at the starting line and I always give it my all. For this race though, I have to keep telling myself, it’s not a race, it’s a marathon. They don’t call it a race for a reason. I know if I race the marathon I will be upset with myself and I’ll miss a lot of the fun ‘firsts’, plus, I can always run more if I decide too.

I’ve decided to break down my goals with A, B and C goals, but first and foremost it is to finish, enjoy the race and soak up everything going around me, and what an accomplishment even running a marathon is.

My A Goal is to finish in between 4-4:30. This would be a decent pace for me, and I think it’s possible if everything is going right for me. This includes no crying, no crazy bathroom breaks, no walking, not really any stopping at all. I can run 20 miles in 3:15, so we’ll see how things go race day.

My B Goal is to finish in between 4:30-5:00. This is more than attainable for me, pending anything absurd happening to me, but I guess you can’t rule out everything going perfectly

My C goal is to finish in between 5-5:30. This again shouldn’t be a problem, but pending I break my leg or get trampled we could have some issues.

These goals are all easily within my reach, but I know I will have to pay attention to my body and listen to what is happening on those last miles. I definitely know I will have the mentality of, well I ran 20 miles, what’s 6 more?! I also wanted to give myself goals that I know I can achieve because I would be really upset if I didn’t make my goals.

So what’s more important than goals? Outfits of course. So I didn’t know what was wrong with me because usually I can spend money like it’s my full time job, but I just couldn’t find the perfect racing top for this race.

I narrowed it down to two shirts, and will make a game time decision as to what one I will wear.

No matter what I will be wearing my Nike Spandex Shorts and my Zensah pink sports bra but I cannot decide in between the purple top or the Nike blue top. I know the purple top is new but don’t worry, I wore it around under a shirt for a day to see if I would chafe and I didn’t. I’m a freak I know. I like the blue shirt a lot too. So many decision. I know it will depend on how I feel that morning and what I want to run in. You may actually recognize the shorts and tank though, they are the same ones I wrote when I shot some sweet pictures with Kymberli

So it’s this weekend. On Monday, I will be able to say for the rest of my life, yes, I have run a marathon. Have run? That sounds pretty crazy. I am excited, nervous and I’m pretty sure I might cry tonight while packing my bag for San Diego tomorrow.

Perhaps I might post something tomorrow evening, before I go to bed, depending on what I am feeling, but I’m so thankful for all the encouragement, support and kind words over this whole training period. It’s weird because after this race, I have this weird feeling that I don’t even know what I’ll blog about. Well I’m sure I can always find something somewhat random and interesting in my life to entertain you with, but it’s just like it’s all accumulated to these upcoming moments. I am so overwhelmed by so many crazy feelings but it’s a huge adrenaline rush! I can’t wait to write up a super long race report. I think I might have to do it in segments over the next week because I know I’ll take a billion pictures and then we have 26.2 miles of coverage. I’ll try to leave out any poopy details. :)

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you at the finish line!

xoxo

and I’m a shopaholic… Yea, it’s pretty much a fact. I know I can’t stop myself and I’m already contemplating a new outfit for the marathon in May. I’m thinking tank, with some arm warmers and one of my fave running skirts. We’ll see when the time gets closer though. I haven’t found the perfect tank yet.

Women’s

InSport Tight Shorts

InSport Low Rise Split Shorts

Endurance Tank

Nike Dri-Fit Shorts

Saucony Women’s Shorts

New Balance Race Shorts

Nike Woven Baggy Shorts

Nike Seamless Short Sleeve Top

Asics Short Sleeve Top

Nike Human Race Tee

Men’s

Brooks Short Sleeve Tee

InSport Tight Short Sleeve Tee

New Balance Tempo Top

New Balance Tempo Tank

Brooks Revelation Short Sleeve Tee

Brooks Sherpa Shorts

Asics Shorts

Accessories

Power Bar Triple Threat Bar 15 pack

Power Bar Fruit Smoothie Bar 12 pack

Mountain Smith Waist pack

Mountain Smith Two Bottle Waist pack

Mountain Smith One Bottle Waist pack

Reebok Breast Cancer Cap

Power Bar Endurance Sports Drink Mix

Luna Sport Recovery Drink Smoothie 12 Pack

Random Running Discounts/Videos

New Registration Format regarding the 2nd Annual Market To Market Relay presented by Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital. The race is an 84 mile team relay from Omaha to Lincoln in Nebraska. In 2008 the event sold out 3 months in advance and had over 50 teams on a waiting list. Register on May 5th to May 9th in an online lottery that will be available at www.m2mrelay.com. At this time you will have the opportunity to put your team’s name into a “hat” and then 50 names will be pulled from that hat to compete in the race. The race will have a total of 150 to 170 teams but the rest of the teams in the race will be teams that participated in 2008, won their division or a contest, sponsor the race, or meet the minimum speed requirement for the Citizens Class A Division. Check out the website for all of the details including course maps, results and pictures from 2008, and much more. www.m2mrelay.com

Carl and Karl Underwood love running. They love marathons, half-marathons, and half-half-marathons. They love 5Ks, 10ks, and think 401Ks sound pretty fun. They think cross-country, steeplechase, and the first 90% of pole vaulting aren’t too bad, either. The Underwood brothers are Running’s #1 Superfans and their mission is to share their love of running with the world. Check out Carl and Karl as they celebrate the many virtues of running with anyone who will listen: You tube video page Check out other Carl and Karl Underwood videos here: Running Super Fans (Which is really funny :))

Finally here is a Special Offer for the 98th Annual ING Bay to Breakers 12k : May 17th, 2009

ING Bay to Breakers 12k has a special offer for my blog’s readers! You can get an additional 5% off the early registration price for this year’s race. Don’t miss this opportunity to join (and support!) one of the most original and zany road races in the county. Visit www.ingbaytobreakers.com for details about the race. Register online by midnight on April 30th, 2009 (Tonight!!) to receive the early registration price with an additional 5% discount Register here! Enter this coupon code 5CHICRUN09 (case sensitive) and click ‘redeem’ before completing your registration. Please direct any questions to info (at) ingbaytobreakers (dot) com (This is an online offer only. Discount is valid only for the registration fee. It is not applied to optional purchases such as the MUNI pass or packet mailing fee)


There you go, I hope that fulfilled your deal craving of the day. This weekend I’m going to finish putting together the finishing touches on the Garmin Review and I think I’ll race on Sunday, I haven’t decided if I’m going to pony up the money yet, so Banditing might be an option, but I do hate breaking the rules so I will probably pay. Plus, I think the shirt is going to be cute. I have to go to the Nike Store to register, so I might look around for a marathon top there as well. Tonight I’m going to run after work on the beach path, hopefully there aren’t any creepers out! :)

xoxo

So this morning I overslept. I had planned on getting in five miles and then seeing how my knee felt. I decided that I would just try to run a little bit faster in order to get my run in before I went to work for the day.

Faster is right. 7:55 pace. Where in the WORLD did that come from? Came home, SWEATY! :) I haven’t ran that fast in a long time and I really had to push myself to run that fast, but I feel like it was well worth it. My legs felt good and we will see in about two hours how my knee is feeling. My toe didn’t seem to bother me, but it usually after I take off my shoes after a long day. I then did 20 push ups and finished with 200 sit ups. Dying. The abs. Dying.

Tonight I’m going to a little election party gathering. Here in CA its time to vote for some city officials and one of my close family friends is running for the City of Bellflower. Should be exciting and hopefully he is a shoo-in!

Well we all know I would have to address it sometime. About this bachelor debacle that I saw last night. From day one I disliked the guy, anyone who leaves his small child with no mother to find ‘love’ on television is a crock for me. Melissa will probably be the next bachelorette since she loves to be on TV, and has her own calender. Wow, no wonder when I tried out for the show a while back I didn’t make it. I didn’t know you had to be a model. Enough with that, I am sad I just wasted perfect blog space for that.

I leave you with this lovely race photo from the Race on the Base 10k that was two weekends ago.

So check out yesterday’s post for more information on the virtual 5k. It’s a great way to be able to enjoy a Valentines Dinner with your loved one if you wanted to burn some extra calories before hand! To sign up, just email me that you want to participate at [email protected]. Even if you have to run more than 3.1 miles that day, you can still participate in the 5k, just keep running after you’ve completed the virtual 5k! I will be running six miles that day, but will be running the first 3.1 in honor of Non-Runner Nancy!

Today is the LAST day to sign up for my Giveaway! Don’t forget to comment on that post to be entered!

So as many of you know, this weekend I ran the first race of the OC Chili Trail Run Winter Series. I had never run on trails before and have yet to do so, because the race was somewhat rained out this weekend. We had to stay on paved roads, but I still ran through a small river. It took me out of my comfort zone for many reasons.

1. I don’t run in the rain. I despise being wet, especially for long periods of time, therefore rain running is not for me.
2. I don’t like being muddy or dirty, especially when I run.
3. I went all by myself, and knew absolutely not one other person
4. I didn’t run with my ipod

The race was well put on, and they had some great provisions, but it was kind of a different crowd that was at this race. I’m a very friendly and outgoing person, and trying to talk to these people was really hard for me. Well, I tried to make conversation with them and they stared at me like I was growing another leg. It was kind of bizarre and not the normal running community that I have become used too.

The race actually was pretty interesting. I saw everyone getting out of their cars and just kept telling myself that I was going to be okay. I was going to do this. It was okay to get wet, it was okay to get dirty. We finally lined up and off we went. It rained the entire time, and after we rounded a small bend in the paved road trail, I saw it. This river. I was going to have to run through a river. In my head I kept saying, just do it, you can do this, and then splish, splash, splish, splash I was through it. I told myself the entire race that it was okay that people were passing me and that I was just running this race at my own pace and not to worry about others around me.

I finished the race, went over and grabbed some free bars and muffins and left. I checked the results yesterday and realized that I got first in my age group, (24 and under) DOY! How does this happen! I wasn’t running fast at all and my time was 33.50.xx. I was 9th overall. So random.

It was a good race to just enjoy the scenery, though it wasn’t actually on the trails, it was still really pretty and different than what I’m used to and it was good to just run to run and not to race and get all worked up about time/place etc.

My knee has been giving me some problems though and yesterday around mile 6 on my 10 mile run I started having a lot of pain. Today is an off day so we’ll see how that pans out. I’ve been putting on some bengay and using my new stick to rub out my sore muscles. Besides the knee yesterday my 10 mile run was great and it felt good to be putting in some nice miles again. I’m excited for the marathon still, so we’ll see what I say when I have to put in 20 miles… Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Tomorrow I’ll announce the winner of the giveaway! Thursday I’ll have another deal day, with stuff for guys and gals, and who knows what else this great week will bring. Remember to sign up for the 5k!

I leave you with this amazing picture, proof that I too can run in the rain. Not the best picture of me… this proves that I don’t always look great! :) ( I so wish they got one of me running across the river!)

Well because I just love Nike Mom’s Foto Friday, I have many photos to share today, I got race pics back from the Surf City 1/2, which I’ll add the few that aren’t completely awful, and last night my cousin and her friend and I all went up to LA to go to a Hip Hostess event at the newly opened hot spot, SLS Hotel, some of those pictures I would title as “Only in LA.”

Also, I’ll be posting this weekend about a great virtual 5k race to for a great cause that I will take part on February 14th, and tomorrow I WILL BE POSTING DEALS FOR BOYS, since some of my readers have been sad with no deals for the male persuasion.