Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!). Today is the final day of training final day for training at work before classes start on Monday! I can't believe summer is over.

Anyways this weeks topic is 5 things I will be doing 5 years from now. I feel like my life will be very different 5 years from now so let's see my predictions! 

It will be the year 2020 and 1 week shy of my 34th birthday! 

1. I will have completed my dissertation, gotten my doctorate and be teaching graduate students
That should all start happening in the next two years and will continue. 

2. I will be married
I definitely don't plan on getting married before completing my doctorate but I am hoping that will happen by then. 

3. I will be pregnant or be on a path to be pregnant soon
Whenever someone ask when I am planning on having kids, I always say 5 years so that definitely fits in here. Hopefully by then we will be secure in our finances and ready for children. 

4. I will have run a sub 2 half marathon and a sub 4 marathon 
This is a huge goal but one I think I will continue to work on and improve. I've seen great increases in my running even in the past year and hope to continue to see those as I work on trying to BQ eventually

5. I will traveled to 5 new countries
I think this will definitely happen. On the docket is France, Germany and maybe Italy next year and hopefully one more big European or Asian trip (maybe the Asian Disney parks?!) will happen in those 5 years.

Well those seem to me to be realistic accomplishments in the next 5 years. 

How about you? What do you think you will accomplish in the next 5 years? 

Finally writing my Pasadena 10k 80s run recap! Let's get right to it!

I was down at Disneyland super early to make sure I got in for the 60th and headed back to LA around 2 but traffic was HORRIBLE. This was the same day as the brush fire on the I-15 so I'm not sure that had much to do with it. I was able to head to package pickup and be in and out in 5 minutes and back home so I could relax and head to bed early. I had pasta for dinner and called it an early night. 

I got up at and got ready. The weather was insane that morning. It had been predicted to rain for 1 hour the whole weekend (the hour of the race!) but spoiler alert-it stormed BAD the entire day. Basically the more I checked the forecast, the worst it got. I was just hoping to start the race before the rain started. And I'm debating throwing away the shirt I ran in because it has been worn twice in races and both times it has rained! 

I left my house in plenty of time to head down to park. Pre-sale parking passes were not sold and I was not about to pay 10 dollars to park so I parked across the street (after getting yelled at by a cop he tried to tell me I was imagining people parking and walking across the street) and walked over. 

The first thing I noticed was the great costumes people had on! Some people really got into it! I used a real restroom inside the Rose Bowl and went to the start line to get ready. We soon realized they wanted us on the opposite side which caused problems as the course map posted online went the opposite way we actually ran. 

We did some fun warm ups and then Merle from Walking Dead showed up! He was about 5 people in front of me and was so gracious. He took a picture/selfie with every person that asked, which of course slowed us down. 


As the delays continued, it turns out it was because they wanted to drive a DeLorean up and couldn't because of the confusion on where the start line was. Once that got figured out, it finally looked like we would be ready to go. 

Right before we took off, I spotted Greg and we chatted a bit and then FINALLY started as it was sprinkling. 20 min late-ugh. At least it wasn't as humid when the rain started. 

The course was crowded at the start and the air felt heavier than I would have liked. My legs were HEAVY and I think that was from wearing saddles around Disneyland the day before (not too smart on my part!). I also didn't time my restroom stop correctly as that extra 20 minutes of waiting around did not help. About halfway through, I realized I wouldn't PR and would stop to pee on the second loop.

The course was boring. Nothing and no one was out-probably because of the rain. The mile markers were also about .1 off. The water stops were about halfway through each 5k loop and even with the rain, I had to pour water on my head. 

Around the first water stop was when the fast 5k people started passing us which is always interesting. As we finished the 2nd loop, I realized the way we were running was pretty much uphill then downhill so towards the end I felt much better. 

As we finished the first loop, I stopped to pee and felt much better and was able to perform well even with the rain coming down harder (thank goodness for my hat!) and lightning. Can you believe there were golfers still playing on the golf course with lightning in the distance?? So dangerous! 

As I finished the last 1/4 of the race, I caught up with the end of the 5k pack with crazy costumes, strollers and more. I was able to go completely around them and weave as well as I finished strong! 

I finished in 1:00:35 (:59:39 without the potty break). My Garmin was .1 off so I'm not sure if the course was short or not. I quickly got my picture taken, some snacks and headed out FAST. The rain was really Coming down and I wanted to get back to my car quickly. I was soaked by the time I got in my car and proceeded to put my heater on for the drive home. 

I was able to go home and dry off, eat breakfast and nap. I had to drive to a reunion with my classmates through crazy thunderstorms but I'm glad I went-so much fun! 

Now the big question is if I would run again. Honestly I am not sure. The race is a bit too unorganized for my taste (815 is too late in Pasadena when it is usually warm) and I basically paid over 50 bucks (it would have been more if I had to pay 10 bucks to park) for a course I run all of the time for free. The course entertainment was basically non-existent outside of the festival. I think it would depend on the theme and if I could get someone to run in costume with me. 


Have you ever done a fun run before? 

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie.

The #D23Expo was BEYOND expectations. I remember last time in 2013 walking away a bit disappointed because not as much was shared and the panels were a mess. Now it was not perfect (A LOT can be improved in the panels which I will talk about later) but everything was incredible!My brain is a bit tired so please forgive me if I forgot some things I saw: as I remember, I will update them accordingly.

Where else in the world can I be in a presentation with 8000 of my fellow Disney crazies and have both Ginnfer Goodwin and The Rock tell me that we're all all family because we love Disney? no where! On to the panels!! 

WHAT I DID
Legends Panel: with surprise Johnny Depp! The musical performances were top notch (Ne-Yo sang Friend Like Me as a tribute to Robin Williams/Richard Sherman and Ashley Brown sang Kiss Goodnight/Josh Strickland sang You'll be in my Heart/Petra from DWTS danced to Sleeping Beauty). All of the other Legends were great too! 

Animation panel: it ran an hour over (always does) but the sneak peaks we saw prove that Disney animation is only going to keep getting better! 


PIXAR

• Inside Out will have a short called RILEY'S FIRST DATE?  on the Blu-Ray. We Saw it and was beyond adorable
• The Good Dinosaur is looks beyond beautiful-the background basically look real and the story is very touching and gave me all of the feelings. 
• Finding Dory looks just as good as the original and we got to talk to the cast: Ellen, Ty Burrell, Ed O'Neill and Kaitlyn Olson in new roles
•  Coco will be about Dia de Los Muertos and is just in production now. 
• and last but not least-Toy Story 4 is coming!! A story about buzz and woody set off to find Bo Beep! A love story :) 
  

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION 

• Zootopia looks hilarious and has a great cast with Ginnifer Goodwin playing the good bunny and Jason Bateman playing the fox. 
• Gigantic will be a story about Jack in the Beanstalk and looks adorable. The Anderson-Lopez song team from Frozen will be returning to write all new music! They sang a song for us and of course it was top notch. 
• Moana which will star The Rock will be about a girl growing up in the South Seas. 
  

Live Action panel-I was one of the last people to get a wristband at 6am but a lot of the overflow lines got in. Next time-need to be there by 5 at the latest!

MARVEL

• saw concept art from Dr Strange with video from Benedict Cumberbatch
  
• Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie came out for Captain America: Civil War and it looks incredible! It looks like most of the Avengers are returning including Ant Man and Black Panther 
  

WALT DISNEY PICTURES

• The Finest Hours is about the most daring Coast Huard rescue in history. The story sounds almost made up but it's not! 
• Jungle Book was definitely the highlight of this panel. I was concerned how they would do it but from hearing from the actors (Sor Ben Kingsley, Lupita N'onygo and the little kid playing Mowgli) I was really taken aback with all of the technology they used to bring this story to life. The trailer they showed was INCREDIBLE and when it was done, there was a standing ovation. 
• Beauty and the Beast looks to be coming along nicely with the small sneak peek we saw. 
• Alice through the Looking Glass was next and involves Alice having to meet Time (played by Sasha Baron Cohen) to help save the Mad Hatter. 
• And last but not least: Pirates 5-Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales with the big return of Orlando Bloom as Will Turner! Also Captain Jack Sparrow came out too and he was exactly as you would think
• There was a feel good movie staring Lupita that involves a girl from Uganda learning to play chess on a worldwide level 
  

STAR WARS

• Rogue One showed their first cast photo as they film
• Episode IX officially has a director with the guy that did Jurassic Park on board 
• There will be an origin Han Solo film still in the writing phase
• And for Episode VII, JJ Abrahms spoke at length and then invited some of the cast on stage including HARRISON FORD!! 
• Star Wars Land announcement! Being in the room when it was announced was electrifying. 
  

Parks panel

• Star Wars Land again in Disneyland and Hollywood Studios which should be roughly 14 acres at each park. Now word yet on where it will be or what will be closed but the most important news is there will be a Cantina!!! 
• There will be a Star Wars exhibit (I am assuming it will be where Innoventions was and will open around the time of the Avenger Half in November with a movie preview) 
• New scene coming to Star Tours by the end of the year from Episode VII 
  
• They will be redoing Jedi Training Academy to include a few new things
• Star Wars event-Season of the Force with new food. Disneyland will have Hyperspace Mountain (think Ghost Galaxy but with Star Wars) and DHS will get a firework show! 
• Toy Story Land in DHS including a slinky dog family coaster and a spinning ride with the aliens and the claw! And the already announced third TSM track
• Pandora:the World of Avatar with a new boat ride and flying ride. The land will come alive at night with bioluminosity and will glow. 
• Also at Animal Kingdom will be the Rivers of Light nighttime show and also projections on the tree of life. There will also be a sunset safari.
  
• Disneyland Paris will celebrate it's 25th anniversary
• Shanghai Disney will open with new lands including a Pirates land
• Hong Kong Disneyland will have an Iron Man ride (we saw the footage! think Spiderman and Transformers at Universal) and even got to see Stan Lee!

The one other big thing we did was the Silly Symphonies live performance. They showed 6 cartoons: Skelton Dance, Flowers and Trees, Three Little Pigs, The Old Mill, Ugly Duckling and Musicland with a live band. This was probably the most unique offering of the entire D23 and I enjoyed it immensely. 

We also spent a good time walking the floor. We made sure to visit the Shanghai Disney booth and Pandora exhibit (the model in there was out of this world. I'm so excited!) 

We all really enjoyed the Archives exhibit which was all about the past 60 years at Disneyland.

One of the cutest things on the floor was the John Lasseter shirt exhibit. 

I'm very surprised that rundisney didn't have an official booth! New balance was there selling the retro shoes.

Overall, I am EXHAUSTED! I will write a post later this week on how we survived and what we packed but my body is wrecked! I may need to get a massage soon because I'm not sure how I'm going to survive my long run this weekend. 

So that basically wraps up the overview of the 2015 D23 Expo! This was the best one yet and I can't wait for the next one in 2017!

See below for some more pics! 

Anyone else go to the D23 Expo? Any thoughts? 

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life.  This week's topic is Running Inspirations.

Work is busy this week as Move In this week and there are a lot of orientation sessions and trainings so this will be quick! 

2 of the runners I look up most to are Meb and Deena and they don't need much introduction! They both are on top of their game in their early 40s. 

Deena originally inspired me one day to run the marathon as I watched her win an Olympic medal in 2004 in Athens. And I also remember Meb winning as well! I promised myself one day I would run a marathon. 

Watching Meb win Boston was amazing and so freaking inspiring. He ran the race of his life (seriously-it's his marathon PR!) at a time it mattered most. He won them in Skeechers, which I bought and are the shoes I race in! 

Earlier this year, I read Meb's book and I throughly enjoyed it-it reminded me that I am on the right track and need to focus on quality workouts over quantity and making sure to do core work and stretching to prevent injuries. Slow runs are just as important as the fast runs and it is always important to shake it up. 

I actually met Deena at the LA Marathon last year, my first marathon. I told her how she inspired me and she was so gracious. She signed a poster that I keep in my new basket where I keep my roller so I can look at it every day. 


How about you? Who do you look up to? 

I have been selected to be a Jeff Galloway blogger and could not be more excited for the opportunity. Incase you aren't familiar with him, he is AMAZING, a former Olympian and the official rundisney training consultant and probably one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet. 
Here are past tips: here, here , here ,  here, here and here.   


Training through the summer can not only be grueling, but down right dangerous.  Here are some tips to train safely and as comfortable as possible in the hot summer months.

• Slow down by 30 sec/mile (20 sec/km) for every 5F temperature increase above 55-60F ( every 2.5C above 14C)
• When the temperature is over 70F (21C) you may take a 5 minute “cold shower break” every 25-30 minutes to keep cool.
• Try to complete your run before the sun rises above the horizon.
• More frequent walk breaks during hot weather can lower body temperature increase.  If you used to run 3 minutes between walk breaks, run only 90 seconds (walk 30 seconds) at 70F (21C) and at 80F (26C) drop to 60 sec run/30 sec walk or 30/30
• When you start to heat up more than normal, take a longer walk in a mall or indoor AC building
• Pick shady courses on hot days.
• Don’t wear a hat!  Pour water over your head
• Have an indoor alternative—treadmill, etc
• Run in the deep end of the pool, using a flotation belt
  

This summer I have been taking it pretty easy and listening to my body by going slower and taking more walk breaks. Even though it makes me feel like I am not improving, I know when it is cooler in the Fall, I will see gains.  It has been very humid around here and the humidity seems to have finally broke! Let's hope it stays that way through the Disneyland Half. 

What are some of your warm weather tips? 

In honor of Tinkerbell sign ups yesterday, here is how I have put together my Tinkerbell costume over the years.

This costume has survived now 4 Tinkerbell half marathons (and next year will survive a 5th!)and is going strong! This is an easy costume to put together. The more green the better! 

SUPPLIES NEEDED

• Lime green shirt
  
• Lime green bottoms-I had on shorts under my tutu (tutu tutorial!) 
  
• Wings
  
• Hair in a bun with a blue tie (I just bought this Tinkerbell bow from Hot Topic)
  
• Green compression socks
  
• Wings and poms on shoe
  
• Green hat-I just bought one from Sparkle Athletic to use next year 

And that's basically it. It is so easy to put together!


Have you ever dressed up as Tinkerbell? 

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life.  This week's topic is Fall Race Schedule.

My Fall will start off quiet but will ramp up quickly and crazily and I really won't calm down until Spring. I am excited for all that is to come! 

1. The kick off will be the Dumbo Challenge (10k on Saturday and Half on Sunday) at the start of September. 
   
2. My next race is not until November 1st (unless I can find a flat and fast 10k course sometime in between) so I will be spending most of that time marathon training because 11/1/2015 will be the NYC MARATHON. I am still in a bit of shock that I was able to get in through the lottery and do not plan on wasting this opportunity. As the time gets closer, I will say more about it but as of now my time goal is 4:45 so I can finally get that sub-5 I am so ready for. 
   
3. There will be no rest as I will be flying down to Orlando that Tuesday after the marathon for a bit of Harry Potter time (my final time with my current AP-tear!) and lots of eating and drinking at the Food and Wine Festival. The F&W festival will cap off with me running the Wine and Dine 5k on Saturday morning and then the Wine and Dine Half marathon in the evening. The Wine and Dine Half Marathon  was my favorite race last year! 
4. I will fly back to LA on Tuesday, go to class and then head down to Anaheim on Friday afternoon so I can run the Captain America 10k on Saturday and the Avengers Half on Sunday. The Inaugural Avengers Half  was plagued with high winds so hopefully it will be better this year
5. The next weekend I will be running the LA Black Run 5k which will basically just be a fun run but I am still looking forward to it! 
6. There will be a week break before I will do the LA Turkey Trot 5k and 10k back to back. Last year at the LA Turkey Trot I set a new 10k PR and am looking forward to doing it again. 
7. And yes, a week after Thanksgiving, I will be gunning for a new 10k PR on the flat and fast course at the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas 10k. This course is so great and I am hoping it will be cooler than it was last year. 

So basically that is it for the Fall. I will have December to ramp up my mileage as I head towards the New Years Eve Doubleheader (10k and half on Sunday), Star Wars weekend where I will be doing the 5k, 10k and half and all building towards what will hopefully be another PR attempt at the LA Marathon. 


So for the Fall I have on deck and basically all in the month of November:

• 3 5ks
  
• 3 10ks
  
• 2 half marathons
  
• 1 full marathon 
  

What does your Fall look like? 

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. 

I can't believe it is almost here! Less than a month I will be celebrating my 5 year runniversary at the race that started it all. 

Waivers and corrals are posted. Go type in your information here to print your waiver. From there, take the bib number (located at the bottom) and match it up with the corrals. Sorry 10kers-no corrals posted and this seems to be the norm now-boo! 

I am excited because I am corral B for Dumbo which should put me in corral A for the 10k! Yay for getting good pictures! 

They also have the course maps which basically look the same as past years. 

Want more information? Don't forget to check out the Event Guide! 

and I cannot forget my favorite thing. The igiftbag! It includes: 
free drawstring backpack from Cigna
Bookmark from Lasting Commeratives
New Balance Tips
Tips from Florida Hospital
Clif shot 
and more! 

Anyone else getting excited for the DL half weekend? My brother is flying out for it (his first half!) and I am so pumped for the whole weekend. 

Hi all! I have decided to join a new monthly link up where I will be discussing goals over the next month. Please visit Tracy at a Change of Pace and Alyssa at Alyssa Goes Bang to view more of the linkup.

JULY GOALS UPDATE
1. Speedwork every week A-
I was able to get in a speed session every week-however one of the weeks definitely did me in for my 10k race. 

2. Finish fast A
I focused on this for every run and it definitely showed in my 10k with my final .2 being at a sub 8 min mile pace. 

3. Start slow B+
This has definitely helped but it can be very hard to do. I want to continue to do this. 


4. Break 30 min in my 4th of July 5k and try and break an hour at the 80s run 10k A-
I finished the Rosemead 5k in 28:25 and finished the 10k in a running time of 59:38 and official race time of 1:00:31 (when I realized I was not going to PR, I decided to stop for a bathroom break at the halfway point since the race started about 20 min late)

August Goals
1. Have a strong final training run for Dumbo-6 miles on Saturday and 14 miles on Sunday
I can't believe Dumbo is almost here again! I need to get in some strong training as I feel like I may not be ready for it as I don't feel like I have been running enough miles

2. stretch, roll and yoga for 15 minutes every day
This has definitely gone by the wayside and it is showing. I am hoping by making it a habit again now, it will help 

3. 5 minutes of core work every day
I have been working on getting a stronger core and I think this should help me get even stronger. The 5 minutes can be incorporated into the stretching


4. Figure out how to get in 2x weight training sessions a week
I am currently getting in 1 15-20 minute weight circuit training. I want to figure out a way to get in another day or maybe break it up over a few days. 

What are your goals for August? 

Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!). This week's post is on A Day in the Life so here is basically how my day went yesterday when I had class. 

• Get up around 7: make the bed, fold my laundry from yesterday and put it up, go make breakfast for me and my boyfriend and put up the dishes from the dishwasher (obsessed with having the dishwasher!)
• 8: get in a quick workout, shower, have breakfast and smoothie while checking emails 
• 930:  Go to Trader Joe's to grab dinner and drive to work 
• 1030:  Get to work and head straight to a meeting, have an online meeting, run an errand basically to my works version of a garage sale and before I know it, it's 3:30 and time for me to head to class! Have my 20oz coffee with a shot of espresso ready to go that I got after our garage sale errand 
• 4pm: class starts and it's our last one of the semester! Quiz and discussion and dinner break and reflection and 8 presentations. We're actually going to get out early! By 30 minutes! 
• 9:45:class is DONE! It is one of my classmates birthdays so we're going out to celebrate at a bar called 82! It has tons of video games and delicious drinks. We also got 2 promo codes for an app called Tabbed Out. Basically it allows you to open a tab from your phone and pay and you never have to worry about leaving your card at the bar again. On a 36 dollar bar tab (which is only 3 drinks-gotta love LA) I saved 20 bucks with promo codes! 
• 1240:Drive home 
• 1AM: get home and realize this the first thing I've really driven to my new apartment. It was great! 
• 130 AM: stop and check the mail, Unpack my stuff, repack for the next day, drink 60oz of water while catching up on the Ben Affleck drama and crawl into bed after posting this. Alarm is set for 7am 
  

And that is basically it for me. Class days are always LONG but I only have exactly one more year until ABD (all but dissertation). 

What is your typical day like?