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 how often I race. 

Well as I eluded to yesterday, I'm not running! I fell on a escalator on the way to work on Wednesday. I think my knee buckled as it was a bit sore after my workout that morning. Add in my crap for class and trying to rush to get to work and you get a fall. I hit my knee pretty hard and it's been sore since. Today was the first day I was really able to bend it without pain. Since I thought it would be better by now, I am going to try and get a doctors appointment (Thursday at 2:30!) just to get it checked out. So I haven't run in a week :( so no speed work, no miles over the weekend. I'm trying to modify my workouts as well as I can without overdoing it. It looks like walking will be my happy medium with a bit of weights thrown in.

I do enjoy racing-I love the atmosphere and how it keeps me on track. It is so nice just to run and not have to worry about tracking a route to use, how I will fuel, etc. I have raced a lot in the spring which means I have not done many long run, which always throws me for a loop. I did a long run in February and one in May! that was it-everything else was shorter runs or a race.
So even though I do enjoy racing, I don't have any races on the calendar for the summer. Classes are keeping me busy and I didn't think it would be a good idea to complicate things. If my training can get back on track and it is not too hot, I may do a half marathon in August for time.

However, my fall will be  busy with rundisney which is the way I like it. Getting in miles, having fun and getting medals without the pressure of a time goal. I however do have four goal races (1 10 miler, 2 10ks,  1 half) between OCT-FEB. Everything is building up to Goofy in January and I am hoping to coast to a half marathon PR in Feb because of it. 

UPCOMING RACES (SEPTEMBER-FEBRUARY) 

• 2016 Dumbo Double Dare (10k + Half)- SEPT
• 2016 Disneyland Paris 5k- SEPT
• 2016 Disneyland Paris Half Marathon- SEPT
• 2016 Sury City 10 Miler- OCT (GOAL RACE)
• 2016 Wine and Dine 5k- NOV
• 2016 Wine and Dine Lumiere Challenge (10k + Half Marathon)- NOV
• 2016 Avengers Infinity Gauntlet Challenge (10k + Half)-NOV
• 2016 LA Turkey Trot (5k +10k) or Burbank Turkey Trot-nov (potential goal race)
• 2016 Santa Monica Christmas Run 10k-DEC (GOAL RACE)
• 2017 Goofy Challenge-JAN
• 2017 Rebel Challenge-JAN
• 2017 Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon-FEB (GOAL HALF)
• 2017 Glass Slipper Challenge- FEB

How about you? Do you race alot? 

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
Eating was fine. I made the best choices I could but definitely indulged in the wine, salami and cheese this weekend. Now it's time to get back on track before going to Texas this week. I have a ton of leftovers to get through so it should make eating easier.

SLEEP WELL
I slept pretty well all week! The heat broke but we're still in a heat advisory all week. I have been able to sleep decent with my hurt knee (more on that later)

EXERCISE WELL
Last week
Monday: 8 min abs and weights
Tuesday: 3 miles with water
Wednesday: running strength weights
Thursday-Sunday: unplanned rest days. On weds, I fell on an escalator and banged my knee really hard. I can still barely bend it so I'm going to head to the doctor this week to get it checked out. And just as I was getting back on track!

My goal for this week is to try and do weights or some form of workout everyday and try and get out and walk everyday to see if it helps my knee

BE WELL
One class down and one more to go! My cohort decided to switch classes so now I have a nice week off in between the classes which will be much appreciated!
I spent the last weekend wine tasting as a celebration with some of my classmates and we definitely had so much fun (paying for a driver was so worth it!) and I bought a ton of wine! I can't wait to revisit many of these!
I'm going home to Texas this weekend for a high school friends wedding and I'm so excited. It'll be warm but such a good time seeing everyone.

How was your week? Any fun 4th of July weekend plans?

Finally ready to get these recaps done!!! 

I had trouble falling asleep and fell asleep before 9 but woke up from the Star Wars firework at 9:15. FAIL! I got up at 3:15, got ready quickly and was on the bus at 3:45. I decided to just wear the sunglasses I bought on top of my head and not the cap I bought-good choice as the humidity was very high! i did not have a long wait which cannot be said for other hotels as I heard horror stories. The walk to the start area was a long one. I dropped my bag off and met up with some BOGPLizards. 

Since this was a new race start I headed to the start early to make sure I could get in the corral on time. The Porto area was large right when you entered the runners only area but they were in a circle which made for some crazy lines. We started the walk to corral that I thought would be quick but nope-it seemed about the same walk as the half/full from marathon/princess weekend. It kept coming to a dead stop and it was a mess. I knew we would have to leave early the next day as there would be almost double the number of people. 

I used the Porto once more and headed to A corral. We started right on time. As this was a new course,we basically started at mile 1-5 or 2 of the 10k course from princess/marathon weekend. It was very crowded as we headed towards the curve to head backstage at Epcot.  R2d2 was right before mile 1 just like the day before so I stopped. One thing that I loved was by the time I got through with the picture, I was towards the back of corral A so it was pretty wide open! We took a right in Epcot towards international gateway. I don't think I've ever run this way before! We passed spaceship earth and fail on Disney as they didn't lit it up as the Death Star! Fail fail fail!

As we entered Hollywood studios,the 501st were out and I stopped for a short line to get a pic with Vader. I thought it was a bit weird that they were super crunched at the entrance. I would have liked them on other parts of the course where there wasn't as much going on. ​

We finally got up Hollywood studios for a very short time. I used the restroom at the front of the park and was able to wipe down and came out feeling much fresher. We went up Hollywood Blvd and then turned on sunset Blvd. I stopped for a great pic with tower of terror.

The halfway point was somewhere around here.
​5k split: 49:47 (16:02 pace)
Actual running splits: 10:29/10:06/10:10

We turned up the fantasmic ramp and out the back entrance. Lord Vaders chair was there so I had to stop for a pic! 
​
At this point, it was basically the reverse of wine and dine without Animal Kingdom (aka the half of a half course). I knew we just had to head to WWoS and we would be done. 

We headed down the road towards Wide World of Sports. They had 2 lanes open, 2 lanes of buffer and 2 lanes of traffic. The 2 lanes were a bit narrow so I was able to around some people by going in and out of cones. Around mile 4, we hit a ramp that was pretty steep. I was able to get up pretty easily but decided to walk to save energy. 

As we hit Osceola parkway, we did a small out and back by the medical stop before heading to wide world of sports. I was feeling pretty good and the sun was starting to come up which actually cut the humidity. We hit the turn off to WWoS and had trail running! It was gravel and was packed and much better than I was expecting. The random At-At leg was out but my camera froze when I went to take the pic. I had to restart my camera and it fixed it. I think I got sweat in my phone-oops. 
​
Well WWoS is not complete without some weather and it started raining! It was just sprinkling but still-4 trips to WWoS during a race and 4 trips involving rain! We wound through WWoS and it was pretty open. I was able to get some good pics and finish strong. 

Finish time: 1:27:35 (14:06 pace)
Running finish time: 1:04:44 (only 23 minutes of photo stops and bathroom stops haha)
Last running mile splits: 10:09/10:51 (on ramp haha)/ 10:23/9:36 (final .3)

The ending was new and very open. I got my finishers pic, food and headed to get my bag (gotta have one to hold all of your stuff!), the ending was confusing as one way went to the buses and one to the reunion area. I was able to meet up with some of the stormtrooper crew for a pic with Darth maul. While in line, I ate my entire snack box. This trip was weird for me as my eating was off the whole time! I had a hard time eating but soon got hungry. I know there were bus issues but I got right on one! 

​Overall, i enjoyed the course but the anxiety over the narrow path was a lot-I wish they would use the roads instead of that path. I am excited to see what they do with this course as it evolves. I know there were bus issues (supposedly a bus broke down which blocked the pathway in and out) but this is definitely something that needs to be thought about for a point-to-point course. 

​and let's be real-these photopass pics are AMAZING! I can't believe they are all free with my Annual pass. 

Anyone else run the Star wars 10k? What is the last 10k you did? 

I realized I never published my goals for this race:
A- 2:07 (9:42 pace) 
Why 2:07? That will project me to a sub 4:30 full marathon which is where I would like to be for Goofy 2017. I am not sure I am going to have time to do another half before time is due in October. 

B- sub 2:10 (9:55 pace) 
Still a good pace and right on track for what I was able to run at Tink half the 

C-sub 2:13:14 (10:09 pace)
​My current PR and I definitely think it's time for a new one after missing it by less than 30 seconds at 

D-finish!
Hopefully the weather stays nice and the course isn't too crowded! 

Now onto the recap!! 
The day before was great (5k recap here!) and we got In bed and got up at 4:45 so we could head out around 5:15 for the race start at 6:15. Since we were 3 blocks from the finish line, we didn't need to check a bag. 

We headed down to the lobby and grabbed coffee for our breakfast. We wanted to take a uber or Lyft but was 7x the rate! So we went and got a cab and shared it with another rider. We got lucky with the best cab driver ever as he knew exactly where to go and what streets were closed and we got there in 5 minutes. 

This is where things took awhile. We had 45 min until the start and guess what-we spent all of it waiting for a portopotty. They didn't have near enough and it didn't help that there isn't a runners only zone so the Porto had spectators in it as well. So crazy! 
​
I eventually found a way to the corrals as they were already starting when I walked up. I tried to get in my corral (16 out of 37) and it was insane. There is no corral enforcement so I was surrounded by so many people. When we finally started I was met by a wall of walkers. This was definitely going to be an interesting race. 

At the start, it was pretty humid hit at least a cold cover. I was sweating profusely from the beginning which was going to be rough as I had many miles left to go! 

We headed into North Beach and it was rolling hills with narrow passages and I had a hard time getting in the rhythm I wanted (it's actually been a while since I ran a crowded race where I couldn't spread out) while also being mindful of the slanted streets and potholes. 
​
One thing I loved about the race was the crowd support-we ran through a lot of neighborhoods and they were having parties and a good time (which gives me an idea for the Pasadena half marathon!) 
​

The hardest part of the race was mile 4. They had the blue to remember and had tons of pics of service men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice. I started crying which made it hard for me to breathe. After the pictures, there were flags with service men and women holding them cheering US on. It was beautiful and amazing. 

Since I was trying to do this race for time, I didn't get to participate in the fun photo ops and all of the free alcohol-mimosa, tequila, whiskey, etc. next time I do this race I will definitely do it for fun! 

The hills didn't get any easier but I was able to get into a rhythm that worked for me and I felt strong. If the course would cooperate I knew I would have a chance to PR.

However the course did not participate and around mile 10 we hit a steep downhill and then up and down hills and my legs were over it. I knew I couldn't keep up my speed and also my hip started hurting for the first time ever so I knew i needed take it a bit easy. 

To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I've posted about all I've been going through and I really wanted a new PR. This was not the course to try and PR on but still. I finished as strong as I could and it was incredible to finish at the same time as a 2:44 marathoner!

Final time: 2:17:36 for 10:39 pace (watch was 2:17:35 for 13.3 miles 10:22 pace)
5k split: i dont have one! 
10k split: 1:05:15 (10:30 pace)
10 mile: 1:44:27 (10:27) 
Miles: 10:17/10:40/10:30/10:09/10:09/10:04/9:57/10:08/10:45/11:01/10:40/10:46/final .3 (8:09)


Overall, my splits don't show how much I was struggling but I know I can do better. 
​

I had a lot of issues with this race: lack of Portos at the start, the point to point course (the finish line was beyond chaotic and I had to go to the finisher festival to get my remix challenge medal which took forever), and just the course itself. I;m glad the neighborhoods came out but we never ran by water and nothing that is super San Diego. 

I would do this race again mainly just for fun though. Afterwards we went to the We Run Social meetup and met some great people and had so much fun. We then took the train back to LA which was so nice and I was able to do work too! 

Overall a great weekend and I can't wait for the next race weekend! 

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
Well eating was going well until this crazy heat wave! I bought so much good food-bacon, burgers, meatloaf, corn on the cob but when it was over 100 all weekend,I couldn't! It would have made the apartment too hot. So we had to eat out a lot which sucked but at least I had good food!
We're supposed to have a heat wave for a few more days so I will have to eat leftovers and things I can cook in the microwave. Hopefully it'll cool down soon so I can cook the food I bought. 

SLEEP WELL
 Sleep was going well but with the heat wave, even with my A/C on, I was tossing and turning all night. I am hoping to get back on track this week. 

EXERCISE WELL
Last week: 

• Monday: weights 
• Tuesday: 2.1 miles + weights
• Wednesday: resistance band training 
• Thursday: unexpected rest day because of a Dr appt 
• Friday: 2.2 miles 
• Saturday: rest day 
• Sunday: 3 miles total with a magic mile (8:24). Weather definitely got the best of me as it was 72 at 6am. I got dizzy and lightheaded so I cut it short. 

This week:

• Monday: 8 min abs and weights
• Tuesday: 3 miles with water 
• Wednesday: running strength weights 
• Thursday: 10 miles 
• Friday: yoga-ab workout 
• Saturday: rest day but maybe a run 
• Sunday: 6x800s after wine tasting 

BE WELL
Wow-the biggest thing that happened was this insane heat wave. It was over 100 on Saturday and 104 on Sunday and supposed to 109 in Pasadena. Thank goodness for central air at my apartment!
This week has been so amazing for me. On Saturday, I got to go to a surprise baby shower for the wife of one of my friends from graduate school. We got to have a reunion and my heart was just so full. 
On Sunday, we braved the heat to go to Harry Potter for the last time before we are blacked out for the summer. We had one from each Hogwarts house and got so many comments haha. The heat was a lot (I got home and passed out hard) but the park was so uncrowded. And also they finally have fire whisky back. 
This week is the last class for class one before starting class two. I also have my final rough draft due for my dissertation. I've been working on it so hopefully it makes sense! 

How was your week? 

The race started at 7 and it looked like it would be about a 20 min walk to the start. I got up at 5:45 and got dressed and left the hotel around 6:10. The street was a bit scary with bums out and fighting and I started doubting walking by myself but I soon met up with other runners and we started chatting so the time passed quickly. It took almost 40 min to walk and most was uphill-I would highly recommend taking a cab so you can save your legs. I heard from people that parked that they also had a hilly walk to the start. 

Finally we made it to the park and I used the Porto, went to check my bag hop in the corral with 5 min to spare!
I was in corral 4 and I think there were 10 total. It was a bit confusing because there were big red signs and then small black ones. It took me a second to realize that the big ones were for tomorrow and the black one were for today. I finally figured it out so I was with the right pace of people (even though the 10 min pacer was 2 corrals up). 

As we started, We went straight along the park on some rolling hills and then turned around and did the same thing. I felt pretty good but knew I needed to slow down. I moved to the side and took more walk breaks. 

Around mile 2, we turned back and into the park which was beautiful but also hilly. We finally got a good downhill and then headed to the finish line where I got a shout out for my skirt. 
​
Finish time: 33:34 for 10:49 (33:37 in 3.16 miles on Garmin)
mile splits: 10:35/10:16/11:14/9:25 (last .16) 
​

Overall, this course was hilly but the hardest parts were the turn arounds! We would go down a hill and turn and head back up. It made it hard to pace as people slowed down on the curve naturally and even more now since they had to go straight up a hill. Surprisingly there weren't a ton of kids so I didn't feel like I was going to run anyone over unlike Disney races where I'm always looking for kids. 

The best part came after the race-tons of snacks and I needed them because I sweating like a beast!! I met up with some Disney friends and we waited in line to meet Amy, Shalene and Meb!! Basically the best running day of my life. I told Amy and Shalene how I watched them be completely in sync during the trials and told Meb that I race in Skechers. He thanked me for my support (like for real?!). 

After I walked back to the hotel, showered and relaxed before going to expo and having a fun brunch. We then did some pool time and rest time before dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory that has gluten free pasta! 
Looking back, I should have taken a cab or uber to the start and then walked back. I do think the hill walking definitely put more stress on my legs than I needed especially for the next day. 

I would run this race again, I enjoyed the park and of course meeting the Olympians after. 

Anyone else run the RnR SD 5k? What's the last 5k you did? 

This post has been mulling in my head for the past week and I think it now time to get it written down. 

The tragic events in orlando over the past week(the Christina Grimmie shooting, the Pulse shooting, the alligator attack at Grand Floridian)  have weighed very heavily on me. As you probably can tell from my pictures, race recaps and basically my life, Orlando is somewhere I spend a lot of time. I have been there 3 times in January and 5 times since a year ago. I love flying into Orlando and the airport feels comforting to me. 

To me, Orlando is a place I go that is fun-I live for my Disney parks and Universal parks. Seeing Mickey, riding Spaceship earth, walking (or running) through World Showcase, seeing the dragon in Diagon, having a Hog's tea are all things I cherish and enjoy doing. Knowing that there are people that lost their lives that have worked to ensure myself and others have a magical experience, is just a lot for me to handle. A friend of my cousin was also killed at Pulse which really just brings it closer to home. And then to hear about the alligator attack on a beach at a hotel I have been at many times, is just too much to fathom. It has been a heavy week for Orlando and I will continue to pray and hope for peace. 

Knowing there are people that were just out to have a good time like I do often with my friends and family, just proves that life cannot be taken for granted and that you have to live your life to the fullest each day. I try and do this already, but I will definitely not be passing up opportunities to see friends and family and letting them know how much I care for and love them. 

Now, how can you help? Donating time and money is always a good one: the One Orlando is the main one being promoted. Before you donate money, do make sure to do some vetting to make sure that it will go to help the victims. 

If you are looking for a way to be a bit more active, but also help-look into some running! You can join up with Mallory and the Hogwarts Running Club, and I just signed up for the Virtual #OrlandoUnited 5k. 

so a bit of a somber post, but i think it is important to discuss. I have been asked if any of these events will stop me from going to Orlando or give me pause on going to crowded places and for me, of course they will not. I will not live in fear of what may happen but I will be very cognizant of my surroundings and always try and be safe. 

​Love is love is love is love is. <3

​

Expo
I went to the expo on Friday afternoon. I got down to SD around 12:30 and was able to walk to the hotel and get right into my hotel. I unpacked and got my stuff ready for Saturday and went off to find lunch. I settled on Chipotle and stuffed a rice bowl in my face and then walked to the Expo.
It wasn't crowded but took a while to get everything. After going back on Saturday with Mallory, I noticed they had about 1/4 the volunteers so it was definitely a fluke. Example-I waited 5 minute to pick up my shirt on Friday but on Saturday we were able to walk right up.

This was definitely one of the largest expos I've ever been to but there was also lots of random booths. There were the typical race booths (including rundisney without any new medals!), tons of free samples, KT tape (where the line was 2 people long so I got taped!), and of course Race gear. We saw some interesting booths like a dating website and teeth cleaning.

I went around the expo and the only complaint is with all of the booths, the rows were narrow and hard to get through but there was definitely a lot to do!

In comparison to the RnRLA expo from a few years ago, this was much better!

Overall, I was really impressed with expo and enjoyed going back the next day. One downside was I never saw a map of the expo so we couldn't find the ProCompression booth! We wanted to buy waves!!

Did anyone else go to the RnRSD Expo? Thoughts?

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 finally cooked yesterday and it was glorious! I can't wait to get in the habit of cooking and getting back on track. I also started craving eggs again! I've been over them for awhile so I'm excited they are back in the breakfast rotation.

SLEEP WELL
Sleep has been okay but still rough with all that's been going on. I'm just trying to keep a consistent sleeping time and wake up and I feel like it's working.
I'm hoping it'll get better this week and being off on Thursdays well help too! 

EXERCISE WELL
Last week: all rest days minus Recovery Yoga. I didn't plan it that way but my legs really took a beating in SD and I think it was for the best.

This week:
Monday: weights
Tuesday: 5k + weights
Wednesday: running strength
Thursday: 5k + weights
Friday: rest day
Saturday: 5 miles + magic mile
Sunday: yoga-core

BE WELL
It's amazing how much stuff gets done when you're in town. I've been spending the week with friends and having a great time. I've been lacking motivation with my assignments (mainly because I think they are a waste of time and not great for showing learning) but they are still getting done! 

the highlight of my week has definitely been listening and learning the Hamilton soundtrack. I'm in a period of my life I'm now calling AH for after Hamilton. It is just perfect and amazing. How obsessed am I? I bought season tickets to the theatre to guarantee my tickets for Hamilton which comes to LA in FALL 2017 (confirmed for 9/1/17)! Good grief that's a while away. But seriously, if you have not listened to it, please do! To top it off, I watched the Tony's for the first time and loved every minute of it! 

​

How was your week?

​I am back for real now! I am back in CA for at least the month before I start traveling again-oh this summer is lots of short trips! 

This last month has been very trying and it has made the motivation to blog very difficult. Any energy I had needed to go to school and work and running. 

School and work have been the most they'll ever be. I am taking one class right now and will finish end of June and then take another long class (6 hours straight-ahhh!). I'm also taking a dissertation class and currently waiting for feedback to see when my proposal will be defended. Since it's about trainees in our office and we have started new interns, I have had a large part to take with them which takes time for sure. 

In addition to all of the traveling and schooling, I've been deal with personal issues as well.

• My stepgrandmother passed away very suddenly a few weeks ago and it was a definite shockwave felt through the family. It's times like this that is hard to be so far from my family. 
• As you may know, there has been flooding in Texas and my dad has been lucky to not have to evacuate but lots of streets around him have been so that has been stressful. 
• Add to that, my relationship is on a break. We are taking sometime apart to really see what we really want which has been emotionally draining. 

Between all of this, all I want to do is just sit on the couch with a glass of wine and listen to the Hamilton soundtrack so I can memorize every lyric (no seriously, I am so behind on this train but you need to get on it with me. Hamilton will change your life) 
But I think I have figured out a blogging schedule that works for me. Basically I need to write on the train and then add pictures at home. I am aiming for 3 posts a week, more if I can fit it in. 

So please stick with me as I finally recap all of Star Wars:Dark Side, Tinkerbell and RnRSD. Most of them are written but I need to go back and insert pictures. the photopass pics are the best so I want to make sure to share all of them!! 


xoxo, 
​Jules