Madrid Marathon Training: Week 8 (Feb 20th - 26th). I am back!

After struggling for three weeks with allergies and a nasty sinus infection (courtesy of the Flower Fields in Carlsbad), I am back. It's nice to feel like a human being again. This was my weekly summary:

Mon:	4-mile (hill)run
Tue:	4-mile run + 90-min Bikram Yoga
Wed:	4-mile (hill)run + 90-min Bikram Yoga +
Thu:	4-mile run + 90-min Bikram Yoga
Fri:	4-mile run
Sat:	11-mile trail run
Sun:	REST
Total:	31 miles (49km) and 3 BY classes

I was planning on running 15 miles on Saturday but my running coach surprised us with a challenging 9-mile trail run which I complemented with a couple of miles on asphalt. We started at Fletcher Cove, near Solana Beach.

We ran for a couple of miles before entering the San Elijo Lagoon. I've seen this place before from the highway many times but I had no idea that these trails existed. It was surprisingly beautiful! Apparently, it's one of the few remaining coastal wetlands in San Diego County.

This was my second trail run to date, a 6.5 mile stretch near the coast. The course was an out-and-back traversing varying terrains. There were several narrow paths which meant we had to keep up with the pace. Also, there were pockets of loose sand which made it difficult to run by. However, the course was nice, the temperatures were ideal and everything felt just right. Oh, runner's high! I found myself running and smiling a lot, thinking how lucky I was for having all of this. I think I've fallen in love with the trails sans the sandy terrain.

After this run, we had a seminar on speed training. We went over the exercises that we'll be doing in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to this. I've done speed-work on my own in the past but this will be my first time with a running group. According to our coach, 4 weeks is the magic number. After 4 weeks, you start experiencing SPEED. ha, we'll see!

After the seminar, I stopped at the Running Skirts store which is only 1-2 miles away and purchased my first kilt runningskirt for the Rock N Roll Edinburgh Half Marathon. Oh, this place is dangerous for my wallet!

The owner with her baby

I am hoping to increase mileage significantly over the next few weeks. Rain rain go away!

Madrid Marathon Training: Week 5-7 ( Jan 30th - Feb 19th)

I work 5 minutes from the famous Flower Fields in Holland Carlsbad, CA. It is 50 acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculu overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Beautiful explosion of colors, isn't it? There is only one problem, seasonal allergies. I've never had any kind of allergies until I started working at this location. Every year around this time, it hits me. My eyes swell up and I experience chronic sinus infection. Oh, unless I go to the doctor, I end up looking feeling like Rocky Balboa. Not kidding!

During the last 3 weeks, I spent a lot of time fighting these allergies. I ran an average of 20 miles (32 km) a week, not as many miles as I was hoping for. The good news is that I didn't give up and that I know feel much better. I hope to increase weekly mileage the next few weeks. Please someone remind me not to sign up for any marathon in the spring time again. Aghghg

Inaugural Tinker Bell Half Marathon - Part II: The race

Race Course

Pre-race

I went to bed at 11:00pm and woke up at 3:00am.

My Tinkerbell racing outfit

I picked up a shuttle from the hotel lobby at 3:45am. It left me at the entrance of the parks. I walked to Disney Downtown to the Disney Grand's Californian Hotel where I was meeting my friends from the "Embrazy the Crazy" group. On the way there, I noticed that Jamba Juice was open.

They actually opened at 3:30am for the runners. How nice! I grabbed some freshly squeezed carrot and orange juice. Ten minutes later, I was with my friends, the "crazies" at the hotel reception.

We walked together to the staging area which was located by the parking lot adjacent to Paradise Pier. We took a couple of pictures and only few minutes later they asked Corral A runners to go to the starting line. I gave hugs and good luck wishes to everyone and headed to the corral. It was just a few minutes walk. To be honest, I was really surprise to be assigned to Corral A this year.

"Corral A is for Awesome" - per announcer Rudy

We were there for 30 minutes but they went by really fast. We were greeted by Disney characters in their running outfits.

Photo Credit: Run Disney

What else can you ask for? Oh yes, after the national anthem there were fireworks.

To my friend Jen, if you are reading this. Noooo, it doesn't happen at every half marathon ;-) Only at Disney races. They know how to put on a great run. By the way, there were fireworks at the Disneyland Half Marathon as well but I didn't get to experience them this close before. I was in corral C. Check out my Disneyland Half Marathon race recap,

My strategy for this race was to take it easy and have fun. After all, my legs were hurting a little bit. Also, I remember that last time, during the Disneyland Half Marathon, I stopped a couple of times during the race to take pictures with the characters. There lines were very long. I waited 10 minutes to take a picture with Darth Vader which never took place. This time around, I would stop but only if the lines were short.

The gun went off at 5:45am. I was running at a comfortable 9:00 min/mile pace for the first mile. It was nice not seeing too many people in front of me. Well, it didn't last long :-) Also, it was nice that the route was completely different than the Disneyland Half. The first two miles were in the streets of Anaheim and the Disneyland's backstage area. Nothing special there. Then, we entered the park and looped around. This was the fun part.

I skipped the first two character greeting points, even though the lines were short. But decided to give it a try when I saw Captain Hook and Mr. Smee with nobody around. I gave my iPhone to the Disney crew. It was still dark outside and they didn't know how to use it. Hence, this beautiful picture.

But that's not all, the person that took the picture accidentally pressed some button that put my iPhone in idle mode for the rest of the race. I tried rebooting but no luck. I had no music and no Nike+. Bummer! You would have thought I learned from previous experiences, right? A phone is not a camera. OK, I told myself. My Garmin is still working. Don't worry about it. It's just 10 more miles. Have fun. At least your legs are not complaining.

We were in the Disneyland park for a few miles and then returned to the streets of Anaheim. I liked this area better than the streets surrounding the Angel Stadium. There were at least 4 cheerleading squads cheering for us.

Photo Credit: Melissa Armstrong Heinemann

They gave me a lot of energy ( I could hear music again!) before entering the park again at mile 11. Once in California Adventure, I was exhausted. I just wanted to finish. I knew I was very closed so I gave it my all. We left the park with half a mile left. The final stretch. Yippeee!

I finished in 2:11:57. It's not a PR but it's not bad, considering I was not able to run for the whole week leading up to the event and everything just went foobar at the race.

Race Stats:
Finishing time 2:11:57
Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 2:12:06
Chip Time 2:11:57
Overall Place 1215 / 9386
Gender Place 1215 / 9386
Division Place 269 / 1799
Age Grade 51.3%
5K Split 30:16
10K Split 1:01:34
15K Split 1:33:45

At the finishing line

I met some friends at the family reunion area.

I waited for my friends, the "crazies", for 90 minutes but we didn't find each other. Oh, here they are :-) All happy faces! Congratulations to everyone, especially to Jennifer and Katie for finishing their first half marathon! Yahooo

Check out Tinkerbell Half Marathon: Part I for Expo and Tinkerbell Kid's race.

Inaugural Tinker Bell Half Marathon - Part I: Expo & Kids Race

Friday, January 27th - The Disneyland Health & Fitness Expo


I spent 2 1/2 hours at this expo. I think I broke a personal record!

First, I picked up our running bibs and shirts. My little ones were running the Kid's race on Saturday. I was running the Tinkerbell Half on Sunday.

This was the front of the kid's shirt

This was the back of the kid's shirt

What do you think? Totally cute, right? Well, I heard one parent complain. "I signed up my daughter for the Tinkerbell Kids' Race not the Peter Pan Kids' Race". Hahahaha, this made me laugh. I felt like telling her "Please mom, take it easy. Peter Pan totally goes with the Tinkerbell theme. Did you know that Peter and Tink were friends?".

This was the adult's race shirt

I ordered mine in size XS, because the size S for the Disneyland Half Marathon was too big. This time, the shirts were too small but I was able to change my XS for a medium. Nice! This is the convenience of going to the expo on Friday. They had all sizes available for exchange.

After exchanging my shirt, I stopped by the Team Sparkle booth with my purplicious sparkling skirt. The girls at Team Sparkle mentioned that anyone that would show up with one of their skirts will get a goodie bag.

They gave me some KT Tape and a nice discount towards future purchases. They were busy. This race was all about wings and sparkle and they had them in all the colors.

I purchased a lime skirt and their "I can fly socks". I loved them.

Next stop, the iFitness booth. After the Rock N Roll Las Vegas' water fiasco, I decided to buy a new running belt with 8 ounces water bottles. I've been using their Ultima II Running Belt in the past. I was instantly recognized by the iFitness staff. Oh, I love them. I am eternally grateful to iFitness and all my friends for sending me to the Disneyland Half Marathon on my birthday last year. Check out best present EVER.

The booth next to them was The Stick. I decided to stop by to get a really needed mini-massage. To my surprise, coaches Becca and Dan from West Coast Road Runners were there selling it. After a brief massage, my coach asked me "Are you going to run on Sunday? Your legs are sooo tense". "Yep" I replied. To be honest, I've been worrying about my legs all day long.

From here, I went to the area where Disney sells their official race merchandise. They had very cute Tinkerbell shirts, jackets, sweaters, glasses, and stickers. I purchased my first pin, a replica of the finisher's medal.

This was my last purchase of the night. After the expo, I met my family in Disney Downtown and headed to the hotel to check-in and dinner.

Saturday, January 28th - Disney Kid's Race

We woke up at 6:00am to get ready for the race.

This is my daughter's outfit

The race started around 8:00ish at the Disney California Adventure park. There were crazy lines to get in the park.

The kids were divided into age groups. My 3 year-old ran the 100 meter dash while my 6 year-old ran the 200-meter.

My daughter was standing at the starting line next to Megyn Price's daughter, the actress of "Rules of Engagement". I introduced myself and let her know that we've met before at the Disneyland Half Marathon Expo. My daughter was nervous that I was talking to a stranger not paying attention to the clock. "Mommy, the race is about to start".

When the race started, she couldn't stop. I was chasing her all the way. Check out this picture that Run Disney took of both of us. My tinkerbell was almost flying :-). I was few rows behind her.

She truly enjoyed it. When she finished, she said to me "This was fun but next year, I want to run a mile". I think we have a future runner in the family. My husband was already at the finish line with my 3 year-old who had started earlier.

The Kid's Finisher's medal

After the race, we went to the parks and enjoyed the rest of the day. My legs were killing me. OMG, I am in trouble! In the evening, my kids stayed with extended family. My husband and I received deep tissue massages and made sure to have a good dinner.

I finally visited Veggie Grilled at the Irvine Spectrum. In my opinion, it's the best vegan restaurant in O.C. Even if you are not a vegan ( I am actually a pescatarian), you will find something you will love in the menu.

"All Hail Kale" - marinated kale and red cabbage, roasted corn salsa, agave roasted walnuts with ginger-papaya vinaigrette and blackened (vegan) chickin'. OMG, I am in heaven!

Check out Tinkerbell Half Marathon - Part II for the race recap.

Madrid Marathon Training: Week 4 ( Jan 23rd -29th) - Not too glorious!

What do you do when you are injured and you don't feel like doing absolutely anything?

HIDE IN BED? Noooo, you take one or two days off and continue with cross-training. Remember my previous post and Nike's motto "Life is a sport. Make it count". This is exactly what I did this week. After pinching a never on my right leg during Bikram Yoga class, I was feeling devastated. I couldn't run. It felt like sciatica.

I could have taken the week off but I went for some Zumba and used the elliptical trainer at the gym. It really helped. I also did a lot of walking this week. Thanks to my husband for pushing me and giving me alternate exercise ideas.

This is an old picture with my friend Victoria and the famous instructors Nathan Blake and Bradley Sutton

Just in case, you never heard of Zumba. It's a dance fitness program that incorporates moves from hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo and belly dancing. Before I discovered Bikram Yoga and got the running bug, life was all about Zumba.

I am including two routines by Nathan Blake (2 different styles), so you get an idea what this is all about. Feel free to skip if you are allergic to Zumba or dancing :-) I know some of my friends are.





I also made an appointment for a deep tissue massage to get ready for my Tinkerbell Half Marathon at the end of the week.

This was my weekly workout summary:

Mon:	REST
Tue:	90-min ZUMBA + 200 crunches
Wed:	3 mile walk + 200 crunches
Thu:	3-mile walk + 40-min elliptical trainer
Fri:	3-mile walk
Sat:	Tinkerbell Kid's race
Sun:	Tinkerbell Half Marathon
Total:	13.1 mile run + 9 mile walk

It's not great but at least I didn't give up. Plus, I ran a good half marathon on Sunday, considering. Race recap coming up soon.