So to start this off, I’m very disappointed and upset about this race so I’m sorry if this isn’t my normal peppy upbeat post. I just have to share with you guys and then I hope to never think of it again. I know I can’t keep beating myself up about it, but I literally cried about it yesterday. Sitting at my computer desk, tears rolling down my face, crying. It was bizarre, but I felt like it was a good cry and that helped me to not be so hard on myself. After that little preface, read on!

So the night before the race we had a little forum encounter from the Runners World Forums. It’s incredibly motivating to me to meet more runners and hear more stories. Everyone was so nice and it was a blast to meet more people that I ‘talk’ to daily on the forums.

I love photo Fridays and today I had some planned photos to share with you until I had my Hello Kitty Toast this morning.

My roommate brought this great offering to the place when we moved in. It’s the Hello Kitty Toaster. I thought for sure this thing was going to be awesome. It’s suppose to make Hello Kitty pictures on your toast, like the one below.

Since Nike Mom has photo Friday, and I just got back my worst race pictures ever, I thought today would be a great day of sharing them. Wow, I don’t know if they could possible find more hideous pictures during the race… but here they are!

So on Monday, I decided to sign up for the half that came up a little too quickly. It’s tomorrow already. I am getting nervous and excited all at the same time. I am also very excited to meet up with some blogging friends, including Glenn, Burger (who has an amazing new video out, which I can’t wait to see!) Sara, and maybe even meet some new friends!

So the dilemma of what to wear for this race is upon me. I was planning on wearing shorts and a long sleeve, but the weather report is predicting warm weather. I know the race is at 8 am though so it won’t be too warm. I could wear my new running skirt, but I’m somewhat cautious because I’ve never worn it before. Then I don’t know what shirt to wear because it’s suppose to be 75 degrees but somewhat windy, so I don’t want to be too cold, yet I don’t want to be too hot. Gosh! There are so many choices! I guess it will be a great day for a run though, and I’m excited and I know the route well, since I run around there all the time.

I am thankful for all the comments I’ve gotten regarding the bleeding toes. Though I’m pretty sure it’s not the toenail because it’s too far down on my toe, I clipped my claws last night so that if that was the case it would be taken care of. I’m also going to stop by the running store tonight and see if I can get a toe cap for the race tomorrow. I will take pictures of those for sure. If not, I’ll just put a little tape on it and deal with it, hopefully my shoes won’t get any more bloody.

Last night I went to the gym and ran a mile and surprisingly walked a mile on the dreadmill. My cousin was there so while she ran I walked and talked with her. Then I did some weights, crunches and push ups and stretched really well. Whatever this race may bring me, here’s a some loose goals.

A: Finish in between 1:50-2:10, but I won’t be shocked or super disappointed if it’s slower than that. It’s a big time span, but I hope to be able to work hard at least in the first few miles to keep a consistent pace.

B: Working on getting out to a good start and being consistent.

C: Working on drinking and staying hydrated during the race and after the race. This includes my shotblox and the cup fiasco that seems to happen during races.

D: Staying relaxed and just racing the race. Continuing to pick people off.

It sounds really competitive and mean of me to pick people off during the race, but I work so hard during the race just to catch the next person. When I pass them I think to myself ha ha sucker! That is so awful and I’m a horrible person. I know. At least the race report will be good on Monday, or at least funny, so stay tuned.

In deal news, Puma is having a sale at the Ruelala boutique. They have tons of cute stuff but it’s invitation only, so email me at [email protected], if you would like to be invited. It’s super cute stuff with really great prices too. Including bags and shoes. It’s more of the ‘foo-foo’ puma stuff though.

And of course, photo Friday is back and I’m starting off big with a few pictures below! They are a little old, but oh well!

For Christmas I seriously got my favorite mac and cheese. Wow, and I love it.

Mr. R and I were doing a little after Christmas Shopping in Newport Beach, CA at Fashion Island. We are walking through Urban Outfitters and I see this adorable dog, I decide to sneak a picture, BUT, I take the picture as the dog is PEEING ON THE FLOOR. Yes, in the middle of the store. The owner didn’t even notice and left, and I was so in shock that I stood there and waited until someone stepped in it and then I walked away laughing. Wow, I am truly a horrible person. (P.S. those shoes in front of the dog are the ugliest shoes EVER. Wow, who would buy those)

This was Christmas morning before opening our stockings. My baby Cassie loves the fire and her merry red sweater. :)

Good luck to all those ringing in the new year with a race this weekend!

xoxo

PS MY NIKE + HAD A REVIVAL AND IS ALIVE AGAIN! HOORAY!

So I mentioned yesterday that the 5k was great, and it really was. I didn’t know what to really expect because I hadn’t been training specifically for anything. Up until last week I wasn’t going to even be able to run in it because I thought I was going to be out of town. Last minute plans changed and I was able to race in it. I haven’t run a 5k since my senior year in high school, and I didn’t want to set my expectations too high to only get them crushed. It was a pretty small race (290 racers) through a park nearby my house.

So yesterday, I didn’t want to wake up. I was so tired and thought, gosh I’m going to have to RACE?! ARGH! Anyways, I got up, then had a dilemma of what I was going to wear. I couldn’t decide between a long sleeve, or a short sleeve. I finally showed up to my cousins house since we were carpooling over with her boyfriend’s sister, and played a little with “preshie” (who we had to change the name to patchy after we found out he was actually a boy like four weeks after I found him. You can read his story and how I found him on the side of the road during a run and my cousins adopted him here) Here’s a little picture of me and him. He was being a feisty little boy!

We took off over to the race course and parked and wandered around for a little bit. It was fun to be at such a small race. I felt like everyone there was friendly and there was some serious people watching going on. I ran for maybe 2 minutes and stretched only my calves. Before races I never stretch and I never warm up. Another bad habit. The race finally seemed ready to start so everyone was lined up. I thought I was near enough the front of the start that I would be able to get out and get a good start. WRONG. For some reason there were some walkers in the front and I had an awful start. I was zigzagging to get around them and get going. I hate the start of the race. I thought to myself, Okay, 23 minutes. You can do this. Oh, by the way, I talk to myself a lot in my head when I run, especially when I race.

I was at a pretty good pace going into the first mile, but I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to keep the pace. I hit the first mile at 7:15, and I thought, hey pretty good. Alright, we can do this. I was chugging along and just kept reeling people in and trying to pass them. There was a turn around and that’s when I realized there were only about six women in front of me, or women who I thought looked like women. Thinking to myself, I figured if I could pass three I would get third. I then, mid-race, made this my new goal. I worked at passing and I could just hear my coach in my head from high school screaming at me, only good things of course. I hit the 2nd mile at 14:24. I never have had a split so perfect without even trying. I was like, okay, I’m on course for a good time here. I was running by a boy who was around 16. I knew I was annoying him too. I would have been annoying myself if I was running next to me. I was so focused and just used him to pace me. I could tell he was thinking, I can’t let this girl pass me.

I passed two of the girls and there was one more older women in front of me out of the women I wanted to pass. Now, I am wearing a long sleeve shirt that is not running related at all, just a green long sleeve. I’m also wearing black leggings from Walmart. This woman was wearing super short racing shorts, a pink sports bra, and racing sunglasses and overpronated like nothing I’ve ever seen before. She was incredibly tan and was just skin and bones. I literally kept thinking that she might break her leg from overpronating, or her hip was going to give out, it was crazy. Then I thought, I can’t let her beat me. So I worked the last mile just on trying to get even with her. With about 400 meters left to go, I was even with her, when her husband, who had already finished, ran back from the finish line and with his long stringy brown hair flowing behind his equally skinny and tanned body with equally short shorts and an awkwardly tight muscle tee, he shouted to her, “Come on! Don’t let that woman beat you!” I though, oh hellllll no you didn’t just say that. I also freaked out kind of because he called me a woman. I’m not a girl anymore?

Anyways, I sprinted in and beat her, and the guy I was pacing myself with the whole time, ha ha! As we finished she said something to me about drinking too much coffee, and how it was suppose to be all natural. Weird. Then I went back in front of the finish and found my cousin finishing, who beat her old 5k time of 30:00 and finished at 29:16. Then we went to look for her boyfriend’s sister who also accomplished a great feat in running the whole race! Then I realized I could get a medal. For me racing is all about the hardware so I was super excited. I found the race results and it had me placing sixth female and first in my age division. Now I know there were not six women in front of me, so I assume I thought some men were women. Awkward, but that’s their problem I guess. So I got a lovely first place finishing medal, blue ribbon and all. My final time was 22:28 and I was 27th overall. Here are some pictures from the race.

The expo was pretty fun after, though none of us won a raffle prize, the Laker girls were there. Super cool, not. Other than that a successful day! I kind of wonder what would have happened if I actually trained for something though, like worked my tail off and got really after it with my training. This is also related to my confession that I promised you guys. Well I am becoming slowly obsessed with running a marathon. You’ve all done it to me. I’ve gotten the marathon itch. I can’t stop thinking about it, how I can train for it, everything. I figure, and call me crazy, but I know if I actually trained and had a goal time and everything that I could possibly qualify for Boston, and now I’ve become even more obsessed with that. So I am thinking of doing a marathon in October. The Portland Marathon to be exact. More on this soon when I come to my senses and realize that it’s a horrible idea. :)

So after all that, we still have our gift of the day… For all those male runners in your life… this is great gift!

First we have one from Revel Sports. They have super fun Running, Biking, and Swimming Ties that are printed on heavyweight 14M silk twill. I don’t know what this “generously cut” means but they are 3.3/4″ wide x 56″ long. They are $31.99 and can be found here.

That was the nice tie, these are more funny running ties.

This is the GO PRE tie. BUT, it looks like PREGO TIE!? Made me laugh. It’s 37.45 and can be found here.

Here’s the Peace, Love, Run Tie, again, random, but kind of cool? Find it for 31.75 here.