I am still here!

My blog has been quiet for about 2 months, so I thought I'd write a quick update on what I've been doing lately. It's been busy at work and home but this doesn't mean I haven't ran at all. I've been working hard on a new challenge, the 30-plan plank nap challenge.

Naaa, I will rest when I am dead! No time for naps, people. Since my last blog entry, I've participated in a couple of races, including the following:

October 28th, 2013 - Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Halloween Half Marathon

This was my last Rock 'n' Roll race of the year. I completed 7 RnR races achieving "Rock Legend" status.  Out of all the RnR heavy medals, this is definately my favorite.

I can't say the same about the race course. I truly disliked the uninspiring route and the condition of the streets in LA. It was ugly and boring.  I wish they would have kept the original route. To top it all, I was suffering from both plantar fasciitis and piriformis. So it wasn't a fun day for me. Still, I enjoyed the Halloween atmosphere pre and post race as well as the company of my good friends.

Which came first: The chicken or the egg?

Sexy kitties, a bumblebee and "Dexter the HK killer"Plantkin

With my friend Tunisia the queen of planking

November 9th, 2013 - Mermaid Run San Francisco

Two weeks later, I was scheduled to work in San Francisco, a last minute thing.  Lucky me, there was a new race in town that weekend, the new Mermaid Run Sirena10 miler.  It was exactly what I needed to erase the bad experience I had at the RnR LA. As usual, we had beautiful weather, breathtaking views and guess what? Hardly a trace of plantar fasciitis. Yes, San Francisco has become my favorite place to run in the world! Nothing compares to running on the Golden Gate bridge. As for this race, there were a lot of added bonuses including a super cute technical shirt and a lovely finisher necklace.

November 28th, 2013

My last race was the O'side Turkey Trout in Oceanside. I signed up with my  8-year old daughter on Thanksgiving Day Weekend. I like their slogan: "Move your feet before you eat". We ran the entire 5k side-by-side without any stops except for water breaks at the stations. It was cold, windy but sunny. It was also our first time running together in Oceanside. This was my daughter's fifth 5k and her 4th this year. I truly enjoyed running with her but what I liked the most was the expression on her face as we crossed the finish line. She was tired, happy and proud. It was priceless!

What's next?  I am running the 2014 Tinker Bel Half Marathon on Jan 18th.
What about you? Are you training for a big event?

Road Runner's Adventure Run

This is a free 60-minute scavenger hunt-like fun run organized by Road Runners Sports. How does it work? You arrive to the store before 6:00 pm and register for the "Adventure". They give you a Ziploc bag, a small pencil, a piece of paper and a coupon for a free beer courtesy of  Stone Brewery. Not bad at all! I decided to buy an "Adventure Run" shirt and a headlamp since I have 20% discount at the Road Runners store. For making the purchase, they gave me a ticket for a raffle.

They had many vendors outside of the store that let us try their products during the run.  They just required us to leave our ID with them. I tried the Nathan's hydration belt, a new pair of New Balance and some compression socks.

My friend Sheri was volunteering at the event.

At 6:00 pm, the organizers unveiled a map with checkpoints. These were places where we should stop to get tickets for a raffle. The more tickets the more chances to win prizes at the end of the night.  Some people wrote the checkpoints down and some people took pictures with their smartphones.  Each checkpoint was either a local business or a volunteer. I had no idea where I was going running but I followed the crowd and collected my tickets at each point. We were told to be back at 7:00 pm, this is when the raffle was scheduled to start. I didn't really look at my watch until 6:40 pm.  We were somewhere near Legoland when we decided to turn around. We knew at that point that we were +/- 2 miles from the end. We ran a total of 4.5 - 5 miles.

As soon as we arrived at the Road Runner's parking lot, we place our tickets in a bucket and wait for our lucky numbers to be called.They were giving  away: free hour massages, Polar gear, hydration belts and many more products. After 20 minutes, they asked everyone to stand up.  Thinking that it was the end of the party, I went to say goodbye to my friend Sheri. She told me that this was just to stretch our legs and to stick around for more prizes. I was cold and hungry, ready to go home but we decided to stay until the end.

Soon after, they announced the last giveaway and biggest price. Again, I was ready to take off when I heard my name. YES!  I received a free pair of Asics, a free hydration belt and free Powerbar Energy Blast products. Now, I am not a big fan of Asics but I am a big fan of FREEbies :-)  Did I mention that I love this Adventure Run?

Thanks Sheri for all the tips! Also thanks to my friend Tessa that convinced me to participate.
It was FUN! For more information about the Adventure Run, click here

Coming Up ...

Are you participating in any Halloween themed races this year?

2013 Long Beach Half Marathon Race Recap

Race Date: October 13th 2013

Start time: 7:30 am 

Distance: Half Marathon

 The Long Beach Marathon is one of my favorite races in Southern California. I ran it for the first time last year and I had the time of my life. I originally signed up for the half marathon but upgraded to the full in the very last minute at the expo. You can read more about here. This year, I was invited to participate in any Long Beach event ( half marathon, full marathon or bike race), courtesy of Team VW.  After having such a great experience last year, I chose the full marathon!  Unfortunately I've been suffering from plantar fasciitis fuckciitis for the last 3 weeks so I ended up downgrading to a half marathon. It was a FREE race and I had a lot of friends running it so I figured why not. I would take it easy and  run/walk/crawl ... do whatever it takes to finish the race. 

Saturday October 12th - Expo

My friend Tessa and I left San Diego around 9:30 am and drove to Long Beach to pick up our race packets. Our first stop was Dexter's house. Who is Dexter? He is a serial killer. He is the main character of a television drama series which took place in Miami but was mostly filmed in Long Beach.  To be honest, I never watched this show before but my friend Tessa is a big BIG fan. She had promised to give me a "killer" tour this weekend as we would run by some locations featured on the TV series

This is where Dexter and Rita lived

The actual owner of the house was there and she let us sit in her porch. How cool is that!

After the quick stop, we went to the Expo. 

I picked up my race bib, technical shirt and headed to the Team VW booth. We were given a cool VW backpack, one technical shirt, 2 cotton shirts for my supporters and a Volkswagen car. Isn't it amazing? I am just kidding! The backpacks and shirts were very nice treats. It was completely unexpected. I thought I would just get a free entry to the race.

We walked around for a couple of minutes and met Julie Weiss aka Marathon Goddess.

She was featured in a movie called the Spirit of the Marathon II. If you haven't watched this movie, I really recommend it. It might inspire you to run Maratona Di Roma one day. 

Sunday October 13th - Race Day

We woke up at  4:30 and left my friend's apartment 15 minutes later.  The full marathon was scheduled to start at 6:00 am and the half marathon at 7:30 am. There was a lot of traffic but we avoided most of it.  My friend Nadine lives in Long Beach so she knows her streets. $10 for parking, just 2 blocks from the front beach. Not bad at all!  I met some of my friends at the start area.

Sheri (yellow shirt and flower) was running her first marathon

My blogger friend Monika with a K 

My friends aka The Medal Whores (FB page)

My friend Marathon Mitch, a fellow Marathon Maniac

I also met Ingrid, Jen and Katie from Embrace the Crazy

We started with the 2:15 corral and no BIG expectations.  My friend Tessa is a fast runner but has a double fracture in her pelvic bone while I have my foot issues. We make a wonderful pair, don't we? We ran together for the first 2 miles before we reached one of the bridges. Tessa pointed out at some deck that was featured in Dexter.  I like my friend's enthusiasm. A stranger wanted to know more about this and kidnapped my friend with a million of questions and a faster speed. Heeey, what do you think you are doing, man?

Suddenly, I was running alone. No problem. I spent miles 3-6 playing the "let's see how many people I can pass before my foot starts killing me" game.  My ultimate goal was to meet Tessa again.  I could no longer see her on the course.  I focused on a girl wearing a purple top. She had nice speed. I passed her. Next target, a couple wearing red shirts. I passed them.  It was time for a quick body check. "Yep, my feet are still attached to my legs. Let's keep moving".  I had no clue what my speed was. I was not wearing a Garmin or carrying my iPhone, on purpose. I didn't want to obsess over time. I just wanted to run until my foot says NO. 

At mile 6, I reunited with Tessa, right before entering Long Beach. We ran on the bike path for 5 loooong miles. It felt like an eternity. Aha, for some reason it's called Long Beach! For those who don't know, this is also where they filmed Baywatch or "Los vigilantes de la playa" for my Spanish audience.

Photo Credit: Rick Warren

At mile 8, my foot started to hurt like hell. However, the thought of not having to run another 18.2 miles put a smile on my face. "I can do 5!". I also started thinking about my daughter and her love for running when a biker passed me blasting music from his speakerphone. He was playing my daughter's favorite running song,  Journey's Separate Ways. It gave me chills. Thanks Universe!

At mile 10, we turned around at Dexter's sister's house, Debra.

There I realized that I'd lost Tessa at some point. She was probably hanging out with Dexter's sis somewhere :-) At mile 10.5, the half marathons and full marathoners merged. I found myself playing the passing game again. In the horizon, I could see the Aquarium. It was the final home stretch. My finishing time time was 2:09:17. It's not fast by any means but I am happy considering my plantar fasciitis.

I don't think I will race with music again unless it is a very hilly course. I missed my Garmin, though. It would be nice to go back and check my stats. But for now, I really like the ones provided by the Long Beach race organizers.

- Of the 11933 who finished, 58% were Women and 43% were men.
- I was ahead of about 55% of men runners. I like that!
- I passed 652 runners and 178 passed me.

BIG thanks to Team VW for the free entry. I would also like to thank the race organizers and volunteers. I really love this race! 

___

Quick update. I just found out that my story was selected by Team VW and it's featured on their official website.  *big smile on my face*

2013 Inagural Dumbo Double Dare

What is the Dumbo Double Dare? It's a new runDisney challenge.  You run the Disneyland 10K on Saturday followed by the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sunday or a total of 19.3 miles. All participants that finished both races receive a third medal.

Saturday, August 31st - Disneyland 10k

It's 5:30 am. We are all "up and running", looking fresh and happy, don't we? Zzzzz

Mile 1 - "It's hot and humid today!"

Mile 2 - "¡Que calor!"

I noticed that the Disney staff member that is about to take my picture is from La Coruna (Spain). Her name is Mayte. I asked her to be in the picture with me.

We arrived in beautiful Radiator Springs. Lightning McQueen and Mater gave us a welcome!

Flowers are still blooming regardless the weather :)

Mile 3 - "¡Que humedad! I feel like I am in Orlando"

Few minutes later, I reunited with my friends and the "other" Monsters.  This is our last stop in California Adventure before heading to Disneyland.

Mile 4 - "I should have worn my Queen of Hearts running costume"

"Off with their heads" she said. I am just "playing" with the cards.

You can tell that Halloween is around the corner.

One more picture with the beautiful ladies!

There is always time for some tea!

Mile 5 - 90 degrees and 40% humidity, perfect condition to practice hot yoga!

After a quick encounter with the Queen of Hearts, we crossed Sleeping Beauty's castle.  What a shame! Aurora was not at home. I could have taken a shower!

Mile 6 -  How many grams of sugar do you think are in this muffin? :-)

The last .2. Oh noooo, it's over!!! 

What a FUN race! Only one problem ... aha, you guessed right! It was hot and humid!

After the race, we went to Paradise Pier and enjoyed a nice birthday breakfast with Mickey & Friends. Thanks to all my family and friends who came up to celebrate!!

 

Sunday, September 1st - Disneyland Half Marathon

This was my third Disneyland Half Marathon. This race always falls on Labor Day Weekend which happens to be the closest weekend to my birthday.  Since I am a BIG runDisney fan I cannot think of a better way than to celebrate at the "Happiest Place on Earth" doing what I like the most: RUNNING.


Here we go again, it's 5 in the morning and we are all looking quite awake. Zzzzz.

 My goal this year was to run the entire half without stopping for pictures. After all, I had many good snapshots from the day before. However, like every year, I changed my mind the moment we arrived at California Adventure's Cars Land. It's so pretty.

 

From California Adventure, we proceeded to Downtown Disney before entering Disneyland. I stopped to take pictures with Merida from Brave but the lines were too long. Soon after, we were in the streets of Anaheim heading towards the Honda Center and the Angel Stadium. Anaheim is not the most beautiful place in the world but the cheer squads and high school bands make up for it.

Like the day before, it's very hot and humid, perhaps too humid for my taste.   I was loosing my energy but I recovered rather quickly as we entered the stadium. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the race.  There were hundreds of people cheering for us. I was trying to get my picture on the giant Jumbotron but I couldn't locate the video camera.I thought 3rd year was the charm. Grgrgrg

Only 3 miles to go from this point.  I turned on the music and zoned out.  This sign made me laugh.

At mile 12, I met my friend April who participated in the Goofy Challenge with me earlier on this year. We ran together for a couple of minutes and celebrated soon after at the finish line. My official finish time was 2:19:21. It's slow but I was fine with it since I took my time to take pictures along the way.
  

With my friend April

With Team Sparkle

With my friends the MW

This concludes my 2013 runDisney races.

My next runDisney event is the 2014 Tinker Bell Half Marathon and the Glass Slipper Challenge in Orlando.