Check out my recap from the Expo!

We got up at 6 and got dressed quickly and made breakfast. We stopped by the lobby to get coffee and the crew (Mallory, Devin and Brian) took the shuttle to the start for the 10k while I took an uber to my race start since it was up on Paramount Ranch. The GPS mapped us a weird way with lots of closures and after 10 min ended up about 2 min from the hotel haha. I got to the race start at 6:55 and waited in line for the real restroom and finished my bagel.  We had eaten so much the night before and I just wasn't hungry. I had 75% of my bagel and didn't touch my banana. 

I then stretched on a fence (we were at Ranch after all) and finished my Ucan vanilla with protein and was feeling very full. 

​I decided to use the Porto again as we had time to kill and the line was short. I walked over to the start line (adorable!) and then decided to fit in a 10 min warmup. I ran through the old western town and back to the parking lot before stopping at the porto one last time (I really didn't want to have to stop on the course) and finished my warmup and got to the start line with 5 min to go. I tossed my Mylar blanket (which wasn't needed but better safe than sorry) and turned on my electronics and tried to find a place close to the 2:10 pacer but far enough ahead of the 2:20. 

We just started-no national anthem or anything. The race had 529 finishers in it and no corrals. We made a sharp left through old town past the Parking lot and onto the road. The pace was all over the place but I tried my best to stay steady and save energy for the massive hill at mile 3. The rolling hills weren't too much and I was able to keep my heart rate level. We turned on the big road and I knew the hill was coming. We also hit our first water stop at mile 2. After that we did a steady climb until the big hill. 400 feet elevation gain in one mile! My mental game was all over the place so I decided to run as much as I could, power walk when I needed to and stick to my intervals. I changed my music which helped but that hill was a doozy! When we got to the top, we had a water stop and then downhill! The downhill was incredible and I had to work hard to slow down so I wouldn't trash my quads. 

MILE SPLITS: 10:09/10:07/10:34/11:32/9:12

The downhill spilled over into small rolling hills where I was starting to feel good and could tell a PR could actually be within in my reach. Here is where I went wrong.
​
Not totally wrong but I could see my average pace and I was thinking I needed to get to a 10:08 pace but really needed closer to a 10:12 pace. I was running on feel but I may have played it differently had I done the math correct. 

This part was gorgeous! Still couldn't see much but we went past mansions and themed restaurants and I loved it. 
One thing of note was we were on one lane and cars were next to us. At every cross street there was a cop or volunteer helping with traffic. Sometimes I had to go outside of the cones to pass people but I always made sure to check for cars first. Since the race was small, we actually spread out pretty well and I never felt like I was boxed in or couldn't control my pace which was a first for me! 

Around this time is where I passed the 2:20 pacer and other people. I was feeling strong. I continued to pass people and was getting in a good groove. We headed back to where we started and continued through the rolling hills. I knew the hills in the beginning we're a bit tough but going over them the second time hurt! There were a few hills I took a bit too hard as overestimated how steep they were which made me take longer to recover. Basically I would recover and have to do another hill!
​
MILE SPLITS: 9:48/9:42/10:08/10:16

I decided since my legs were tired that I may need fuel and took a Clif mocha shot. It did help but I knew my legs were tired and the hills and inclines were getting more and more. I decided to stay steady, pump up the music and do the best I could. 

We turned off the main road and towards the finish. People were struggling and slowing down and I was trying not to get too discouraged and just keep focused. The incline was not fun but we hit the last water stop, crossed the freeway and headed towards where the 10k finishes. 
​
We went through the Old Agoura ranch and through a very quiet neighborhood and I knew I had enough left in the tank to push the pace and see how close to 2:15 I could get. We went through a few more hills (which I had to walk!) and up to the dirt trail close to the finish. I knew how close we were so I decided to give it everything I got. The trail has rocks everywhere so I had to be really careful not to fall. We hit the tail end of the 10k people so I had to weave a bit but we came off the trail and to the street where we would merge with the end of the 5k crowd. I decided to give it all I had. I was huffing and puffing down the stretch and knew I would be so close. We didn't merge with the 5k until the very end and I had to be careful not to run into anyone. 

The end of the race finishes on grass-gah! So I tried my best but knew I would just miss my PR-dang it! The clock said 2:14 so I knew I hadn't started a minute after the start so darn! 
​
MILE SPLITS: 10:07/10:49/10:19/9:36/7:20 (FINAL .24 MILES) (holy crap-that last .24 was way faster than my 400 repeats) 

I found Mallory as soon as I finished and was not feeling well and had a crazy coughing fit. Trying to get water and the medal were crazy with the amount of 5k that finished with me (it was around 45 min so a ton of families were coming in). All of the food lines were long and there was not near as much food in the past so I settled with what I had from Dole (banana and smoothie pack) and we headed out. We went to try and get on the shuttle but after 5 min just gave up and walked which took about 15 min. We packed, went to soak in the hot tub, showered and headed to a delicious lunch at Woodranch. I then went home and relaxed before writing some more of my dissertation. 

One thing that sucked was this half marathon is supposed to be gorgeous. With the heavy fog and high humidity, I couldn't see anything but right in front of me. I couldn't enjoy the hills like I would have liked! 

See below for the elevation map-wow, it was a lot and I did pretty well through most of it (including the incline at the end). 

Overall, I'm happy with my performance but I'm of course reanalyzing everything. I can think of a few seconds here and there that may have made a difference. I could have done math better and realized how close I really was to a PR. But it comes down to it was a tough course and I did the best I could! Everyone I talked to said it was not the course to try and PR and I came pretty close! I'm happy with my performance and know I'm in good shape for a half marathon PR on a course with flatter elevation and maybe a bit better weather (85% humidity even though it was 60 was much worse conditions that I was expecting). 

My stats: 
2:13:53 (39 seconds off my PR)
Place: 225 out of 529 (top 42.5%)
Gender Place: 100 out of 309 (top 32.36%)
F25-29: 10 out of 40 (top 25%)

I would recommend this race to anyone that wants a fun and uncrowded race but also wants some hill training. Next year I already signed up to do the Great Race again but only the 10k. The downside to the half is that the post race food was SO crowded and I love to eat after. Also then I have a bit more time after the race to get ready and relax. 


Have you ever done a really hilly half?

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
Erika from MCM Mama Runs, Marcia from Marcia's Healthy Slice and Patty from No-Guilt Life.This week's topic is Brands.

I have a rule that I will only support something I use and love. I have had others to promote a product but if I don't use it, I don't believe I can do a good job promoting it. 
Here are the list of products that I'm currently loving and use often:

• Biofreeze
• Vega sport-I use their pre hydration, post hydration and protein. Some of the only protein powder I actually like!
• Nuun-I've been using nuun to hydrate before races and I'm loving it! I've been having such gold success 
• Ucan-I haven't talked much about t because I'm still testing it out but wow. It's a super starch that's used as fuel and you don't have to fuel during races. It's amazing 
• Clif shot bloks and shots-I've tried other fuel but have never found any that I like as much as Clif 
• Sparkle athletic skirt-I wear them all the time! Cute yet don't get in the way
• Sparkle athletic visors-so cute and so comfortable
• ProCompression socks-gotta #keepittight they look great and help so much with recovery 
• Sparkle skirts-I actually just bought their shorts and they are great
• Sweatybands-they make the Rundisney headbands and they don't move on my head and I wear them during training 
• Skechers performance shoes-I train in a wide variety of shoes but I race exclusively in Skechers and I love them. 
• Rundisney-obvi I love them so much! #runalltheraces

​What are brands that you like? 

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!


EAT WELL
I had a week characterized by leftovers with more to go! I ended up with a lot of food so I still need to make some chicken and zoodles and finish up my salsa creamy chicken with cauliflower rice. 
I have multiple races this weekend (1 mile on Saturday and all day 20k on Sunday) so I need to start carbloading on Thursday-bring on the rice! 

SLEEP WELL
I got good sleep this week but don't feel rested. Basically, I've been having this issue that if my throat gets dry, I have a coughing fit. Since that happens at night, I wake up coughing and it disrupts my sleep. 
I want to aim for 8 hours for sure. Lots of running this weekend and I need to make sure I'm ready. 

EXERCISE WELL
Last week: 

• Monday: Yoga recovery 
• Tuesday: 3 miles +weights 
• Wednesday: Cize abs 
• Thursday: 4x400s
• Friday: rest day 
• Saturday: 5 miles-2 miles at 5k/10k (9:30 pace or less). I'm going to try a 1:30/30 pace to see how it goes. 
• Sunday: rest day-my piriformis is acting up so I thought an extra day would help 

This week: 

• Monday: Short weights and yoga
• Tuesday: 3 miles + weights 
• Wednesday: Running strength + core 
• Thursday: 3 mile run +weights 
• Friday: rest day 
• Saturday: Carlsbad5000-1 mile race 
• Sunday: Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k/Disneyland for Food and Wine

BE WELL

• Post spring break is always tough for students but I think it went well! 
• I got a lot of dissertation work done this week and I'm almost to a point where I'm mostly done writing which is a miracle! I'm going to keep working ahead so during Dark Side I can actually take a break. 
• Celebrating Easter was also so fun including a great bday party we went to and a big family brunch. 
• This week I'm going to keep chugging away on the dissertation so I can have a bit of a break this weekend which will be greatly appreciated! 

How was your week? 

The Expo was small but also great. This is my third year doing this race and I always enjoy it. I headed out towards Agoura Hills around noon as they said the Expo is busiest in the first hour and I remembered that from last year. I hit a lot of traffic but passed the time by talking to my Grandma. 

I got to the expo and there was no parking so I parked on the street right next to the Community Center. I had to pick up my bib and also for the crew(Mallory, Devin, Brian) and of course my water bottle spilled all over the waivers so it made everything wet. I was able to get everyone's bib and shirt pickup and did a quick loop of the Expo. I got a few free samples including for what was acai ice cream. I was even able to sign up for next year's race-the 10k for 35 dollars and no processing fees! 

The volunteers left a bit to be desired. I was trying to ask questions on transportation and trying to register and they were not too helpful they were having convos with themselves and ignoring me and others. Super annoying but oh well! ​

After the expo, I headed over to our hotel Homewood Suites and it was next door to a Trader Joes! I was able to get unpacked, do a bit of work and go pick up snacks and head to the hot tub. The crew shows up and we had some wine while cooking dinner of chicken and rice and snacked on chips and queso and cheese. We had a stretching session and got ready for bed and we're all asleep by 10. 

​I really enjoyed this new hotel and really liked being able to cook for ourselves and relax before the race. 

How was the last race expo you went to? Have you ever stayed in a Homewood Suites/or a room with a kitchen the night before a race? 

WHAT MAKES UP CHI RUNNING? 

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? 
By learning to adapt your body in new ways, you can learn to move your body to move more effortlessly and also reduce the chance of injury

I have been following this off and on for 2 years so when Danny finally made his way to LA for a clinic, I knew I had to do it!! It was an all-day running clinic where we were grouped with an instructor and 4 other people for the day. We learned the basics and then moved outside to get in some running. I got assistance from Danny himself as well as the other instructors and it was so incredibly helpful! Here were my main takeaways: 

• The app-chi running has many videos and such built into it for use
• 3 gears of running: 1st: warmup/easy, 2nd: close to tempo 3rd: speedwork
• Feet face straigth ahead- easier to say but this was one of the first things I worked on. if youa re moving forward, everything needs to move in the same direction
• Tripod on foot-metatarsal points and heels. You want to land on the ball of your foot to help with the midfoot strik
• Form focus-feet/lift from crown/relaxed knees, see shoelaces to align hips- this how your posture should be. I have been working on this so much it has helped my every day posture
• Dantian is located in the middle of the stomach on your belly button. Can move it around (like tai chi). Move it more forward to go forward. 
• Relaxed ankle : You want to make sure that you are lifting your ankle limp versus focusing/forcing it up
• SHORT STRIDE - this is so hard for me because I have long legs. a shorter stride is more economic
• relaxed shoulders- I keep my stress in my shoulders so I have to focus on relaxing them
• Arms are in a V- arms stay close to you but arent so close to your body that they are touching 
• Arms don't cross mid point- as you swing your arms, they dont cross over your body. 
• Small lean- the more you lean forward, the more gravity will help you move forward
• Swing left arm the same way as right- this is personal to me-I swing my right arm more which is probably what has caused my shoulder pain in the past
• Hit the ball of your foot at bottom of the tripod- the tripod from earlier should hit at the same time first, no heel striking
• Keep hips and legs relaxed- by loosing your body, you can move it more efficently 
• Pelvic twist to help with hip rotation- this is something I can do! By adding in a pelvic twist, it helps with hip rotation and turning
• Dantian to pull you forward-  use your Dantian to move you forward (think of it like spidermans web from his arms)
• BREATHING: 5 (out 2, in 3) in second gear and 3( out 1, in 2) in third gear- this is great. Everyone always says to focus on breathing but this is a techinque so you arent always breathing in and out in the same foot
• Dantian is the axis of the body-upper half is ahead and legs are behind- its the middle of the body. the upper and lower half are in sync but are doing different things. Your feet should land behind you and your upper body using gravity can pull you ahead
• Speed comes from strong core and more lean: I have been focusing on my core and will continue. When I want to go faster, I need to just lean more forward (the lean is so hard for me to get!)

This is definitely a work in progress but I got the steps to help me out. I was able to test some of it out the next day at the Coaster Run 10k and I definitely can see how I get better.I did great in the Pacific Half Marathon using the techniques as well!  I am working on relaxing my shoulders, having a midfoot strike by focusing on hitting the ball of my foot, keeping my arm swings level, my pelvic twist/hip rotation and adding in my lean to move forward. A lot to think about but I am focusing on different things on different intervals which helps. 


Anyone else follow Chi Running? 

Make sure to check out my recaps for the 2016 Glass Slipper Challenge (Expo, 10k + Half)

The Rapunzel outfit I wore for the Half came together pretty easy but since I glued the ribbons on, it took longer than I would have liked. Make sure to set aside at least a week to allow all of the ribbons to dry. 
You need: 

• Purple shirt
• Purple bottoms (I used a sparkle Athletic)
• Purple ProCompression  (I wore mine with yellow, pink and purple to bring it together)
• Purple hat (I used a sparkle Athletic)
• Blonde hair (either natural or weave)

For the shirt design you will need:

• White thin lace for the collars
• Thin pink ribbon for the corset 
• Medium pink ribbon for shoulders 

To complete the shirt design: 

• The lace goes around the collar and the bottom of the shirt all of the way around
• The medium pink ribbon goes on the shoulders. I did 8 ribbons on the shoulder (4 on each side of the shirt)
• I used tulle for underneath the corset that but is not necessary
• The corset was just the thin pink ribbon zig zagged down-this part took awhile as I had to make sure the ribbon was glued on before continuing with the ribbon. I did measure it before and just cut it if it was too long
• The bow was just tied ribbon glued on the top
• TIP: Make sure to put newspaper inside the shirt so the glue won't get stuck (this happened more than once to me!)

Hair: 

• For the hair I got yellow yarn and cut strips that were the same length as my armspan
• I cut 27 pieces and then grouped them into 3 groups of 9
• I tied the top of it and just braided it all the way down
• I put in clip on flowers (they were 99 cents at the craft store)

Overall, it was easy to put together and I loved how it turned out! 

​Has anyone else ever run as Rapunzel? 

In town/Kiss the girl Ariel was pretty easy to put together for the Princess 10k. 

• I took an old white shirt (the one that got stained from wine and dine) and got a black spaghetti strap top. 
• I cut the straps off the top and then glued it to the white shirt at the top. All done! 
• My grandma made me a light blue bow on a hair clip
• I matched it with a red headband, blue sparkle Athletic skirt, blue ProCompression socks and black shoes (since she wears black shoes!)
• I also packed my blue Magicband to match! 

I didn't see anyone else in my costume during the 10k!

Have you ever run as Ariel? 

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
Erika from MCM Mama Runs, Marcia from Marcia's Healthy Slice and Patty from No-Guilt Life.This week's topic is Race Shirts.

I love me some race shirts! I have talked about in the past how I keep all of my race shirts and wear them for training. However, there is one thing I don't like to do: wear the shirt before I finish the race.

Part of it is because I am superstitious, part of it is I think it is silly to wear a shirt for a race that you have not complete yet, but really the true reason is the "nothing new on race day" rule. I train in shirts and outfits I will wear. I have had issues with shirts chafing or bunching up or doing weird things on training runs so I can't imagine what could happen if I wear a shirt without testing it. Now most of the time the race shirts are similar so I would be fine, but what if I wasn't? and especially with all of the challenges I do, that would not be good.

But let's also keep it real here, when you don't know what the color or design of the shirt will be, how will you be able to match it with cute bottoms or a skirt? too much work!

anyways, how about you? Do you wear the race before you finish the race? 

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!

EAT WELL
I had a great food week of more food. I made corned beef on Thursday and it was delicious and I have tons of leftovers. 
This week is going to be heavy on leftovers and a new meal thrown in at some point-I have zucchini noodles and cauliflower rice to make
Carb loading went well-I focused on rice and felt great. 

SLEEP WELL
I got great sleep all week and even got close to 8 hours the night before the race averaging out to about 7:50 for the week. Last night I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, so I decided to sleep in and feel better but not great. 
This week I'm aiming for 8 hours to help with recovery from the race and also feel rested for work. 

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: Running Strength + Core 
Tuesday: 3 miles + weights 
Wednesday: Rest Day 
Thursday: 3 mile run +weights 
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Pacific Half Marathon-a really great race. Once we get our free pics I will post my recap
Sunday: Stretching/Disneyland 

This week:
Monday: Yoga recovery 
Tuesday: 3 miles +weights 
Wednesday: Cize abs 
Thursday: 4x400s
Friday: Cize abs + Piyo upper body 
Saturday: 5 miles-2 miles at 5k/10k (9:30 pace or less). I'm going to try a 1:30/30 pace to see how it goes. 
Sunday: rest day/Disneyland

BE WELL
it was a great week on spring break. I got SO much done for work and the class I TA and got through a lot of my dissertation! I'm even a bit ahead now so I just need to plan out my schedule to stay ahead. 
Ralph's sister and niece are here so we took her to Disneyland yesterday. There are few things I love more than taking a kid to Disneyland! 
This week Im going to work on getting ahead on classwork. I also need to do some last minute costume prep for Dark Side:it'll be here before you know it! 


How was your week? 

I have a new race coming this weekend! Woohoo. The past few years I've done the Great Race Old Agoura 10k and loved it (2014 Agoura hills old 10k and 2015 Old Agoura 10k-Great Race). 
This year with the LA marathon earlier,I knew I would be ready for a half marathon.
The Pacific Half Marathon has been rated the top half marathon in the country which is crazy. It starts at an old movie set before working down the hills of Malibu and to the finish. I think it'll be a gorgeous race and I'm looking forward to it. The one thing that worries me is the elevation and hill climb but I will of course do my best. Since this is one of the half marathons on my schedule that are non-rundisney, I do still have goals for it! Let's take a look! 

A- sub 2:07 (sub 9:42) 
This is my big goal for the year which I think I can do eventually in great race conditions. I'm not sure this is the course for it but I'm going to try my best

B-sub 2:10 (sub 9:55)
This is another goal I would like to work towards but the course will depend on how I do
C-sub 2:13:14 (new PR! Sub 10:06) 
It's been almost a year since I've PRed and I would love to have a new half PR as I gear up my training for RocknRoll San Diego
D- sub 2:30 (sub 11:30 pace)
After the crazy elevation from the  New Years Race Double Header Challenge (10k+ Half), I'm nervous it may be a bit much. We will see as I try and stay steady. 

E-just finish
The weather could be crazy or the course elevation may be too much. I may just have to cruise and enjoy the ride 

So we will see how it goes! I took Friday off from work to be able to relax before heading off to race