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How to make an Ewok Costume: Updated 2016

10/13/2016

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In honor of AP signups for Star Wars that happened Tuesday, I'm finally going to review my costumes from last Star Wars weekend! In case you missed the recaps, here you go! 

These costumes needed to come together easy and they had to be done before Christmas as I wouldnt have time once I got back from Dopey. 

We all decided to run as ewoks as he's our unofficial mascot! We were an ewoks tribe and we all had different costumes. 

Devin and Brian bought orange fabric and made a cape and also added an orange headband. 

I enlisted my grandma for a hood. She said she had the fabric laying around the house. I was not expecting her to make it this elaborate with the thread and ears but I love the way it came out. 

I coupled it with an orange shirt and brown sparkle skirt I bought from sparkle athletic(I did expo pickup-the best!)
It was a super easy costume and I love the way it turned out. 

PIECES NEEDED
  • brown bottoms-short, skirt etc (I used Sparkle Athletic)
  • Orange shirt
  • Potentially long sleeves (I had an orange hoodie)
  • Ewok hood or headband
  • orange Procompression socks

As we are going as a tribe again, I want to continue to grow the costume. I think I may make furry leggings or something of the like. 



What is the last race you ran in costume? 
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us posing with our Mascot-Ewok! (he was judgy about our costumes)
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How to Make a Princess Leia Costume

12/16/2015

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In honor of Star Wars: Force Awakens opening tonight, here is a how to make a Princess Leia costume!   

I have wanted to run as Princess Leia for awhile and knew the Star Wars Half would be the perfect race. Devin decided to go as Han Solo so we would match. What a perfect ending to 67.9 miles run together in 10 days! 

This costume was super easy to put together and I even got to make my headband. I had ordered one that never came so I had to make one last minute. However it was super easy. 

SUPPLIES NEEDED
  • white shirt
  • White long sleeve shirt if it's cold
  • White bottoms (I used my white tutu from my Bacchus costume at wine and dine) 
  • Headband (you can order this or make it) 
  • Silver belt
FOR HEADBAND
supplies needed: foam, glue, brown string, safety pin, headband 
  • Cut the foam into 2 circles (I traced a cup) and cut 2 small foam squares
  • I cut 20 pieces of string that was 4 feet long. 
  • I split them in half and then split them in thirds.
  •  I then braided them (make sure to tie one end in a knot). 
  • I then put glue in the center of the foam and started to glue the braid down. Let them dry for 12-24 hours. 
  • Glue the extra foam to back of the foam circles and fit the headband in there. 
  • Glue and safety pin the foam circles to headband and let dry for 12-24 hours. 

Your hair is ready! 
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The string cut
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Ear buns all glued
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Backside of the bun
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Headband all done
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2015 Disneyland half recap

10/7/2015

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the group!
​Sunday came early but I was ready to tackle my 5 year runniversary! Ralph was tired but my brother seemed ready to go. We met up with the crew (Devin and Mari) and walked over the race start. It was much busier than the day before so we checked our stuff and used the restroom and met up with one of my grad students I work with, Karen and headed to the corrals! 

Typical corral fodder before it was time to start! I tried to start slow but with the downhill and then turning backstage instead of heading down Katella it was not easy! As soon as we headed backstage, it was insanely narrow and crowded and made it pretty congested. We spent A LOT of time backstage and finally entered the park by the pier. I went potty and then met up with Devin and Jake and we started the pictures! 
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me and one of my grad students Karen (all my talk of running inspired her to run too!)
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​​We ran by the Pier and got a fantastic picture before heading towards the front of the park and got another pic with the signs in front of Carthay. 
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​We then made our way into Disneyland and took a picture by the train station, Partners and Naveen and Tiana. At this point, my brother ran ahead to scope characters and report back. With no one else catching his interest (and a lot of the course backstage!) he continued on and I didn't see him until I was back at the hotel! ​
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We made our way to the castle and took some fun pics before continuing through tomorrowland, and back towards Small World to meet Captain Hook and Peter Pan. 

We then went to small world and took some of favorite pictures of the whole day! 

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We stopped backstage for a pic with the horses as they will be moving when they break down on Star Wars in the Jan and the horse tried to eat my tutu! This horse selfie is HILARIOUS as his nose went under my tutu as soon as I snapped the photo. Too funny!


At this point we were backstage more and eventually came upon a really unique photo pop with Mac from Paint the Night! ​
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After that, it was time to head out to the streets. We hit the Ball Road bridge right as the sun was coming up which made it insanely hard to see so we had to slow down. 

We both felt fine as we continued through Anaheim. Before we knew it, we were seeing dancing groups to keep us entertained and got to the miles of old cars, which definitely grows every year!

We got a free sponge from MousePlanet (awesome sauce!!) that I kept for the whole race. From there on out, we got an extra cup of water for use of the sponge! 

At mile 7, we got a donut from Sparkle Athletic, which definitely made my stomach a bit upset but it was worth it. After that, we turned towards the Artic train station and towards the sad Santa Ana trail. The part is always difficult as it is narrow and a bit up and down so it's definitely a slow process.

We soon got to Angel Stadium, got our Clif shot and I had another potty stop as it was a bit humid so I had been drinking a lot of fluids. We made our way into Angel stadium which is always a favorite on this course! It was packed to the brim with Boy And Girl Scouts! Outside of the stadium was marching bands which I also appreciate as a former Band nerd!

One story that really inspired me was a blind runner. We had been running about the same pace as him and he had a whole group that took turns running next to him and yelling -BLIND RUNNER COMING THROUGH! They ended up stopping to get interviewed by the news and I don't remember seeing them finish.

We were both feeling strong but it was getting warmer so we were starting to push the pace a bit. They added a new section of cheering sponsored by new balance around mile 12 which was an awesome pick me up

As we headed into mile 12, we decided to try and run out fastest mile. I wanted training on tired legs and I definitely got it

Our finishing time 2:31:05 running and an official time of 2:58:25 with all of our photo stops. The final mile was 10:34! Woohoo!

Once I finished, the tears started. Happy tears of course! The last few miles I had been counting down towards the end remembering how far I had come with my running. It insane to remember the mind frame I was in during my first race and where I am now! No pain, just happy to be done! And on top of that, the half medal was my 45th rundisney medal!! ​
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This race will always be so special to me and this was the furthest up I have been to the front. I did not like the course changes as we entered backstage sooner and it was super congested. There was also more backstage time than usual and I'm expecting it'll get worse as the construction begins in Jan with the rivers of America area all closed.

Overall, this was the best 5 year runniversary I could ask for. I adored every minute however I definitely learned it is much different when someone comes to visit for a race. My legs were definitely more tired than usual and I got less sleep. I need to make sure to keep that in control for the future.

​Did you run the Disneyland Half this year?
Afterwards, we had the typical photo shoot before heading back ​to shower, get ready and head to breakfast. We had reservations at the Paradise Grill at Paradise Pier (and also got to see the end of the race). Basically to make a long story short, it was a HOT MESS! NEVER AGAIN! There was an insane wait (mainly because people made reservations too early after the race so we were showing up 45-90 minutes late) and also there was a 45 person party. they kept telling us-5 min more for about 40 minutes. We finally got seated and the food was good but it just took too long. In the future, we are going to try to just head into the park for some pictures and food and not deal with sit down meals-they are just too crazy. 

Afterwards, we were going to go to the Angels game but it was just too hot so we went to Disneyland instead. We had to park at the convention center! eek! but we took an uber to the front and had a good time. We met with Mallory and some other friends and enjoyed some celebratory drinks at Flo's and Wine Trattoria and Mad T party. We also got my brother to see Paint the Night and Fireworks (which he loved!) before I had to drive us home. What a weekend! especially because I flew out to Tampa the next night-insane! 
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2015: Disneyland 10k Recap

10/5/2015

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​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.  The topic this week is fun runs so what pretty way to talk about them than to finally recap the Disneyland 10k!
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Ready to run!
I am finally ready to recap this great race weekend! It looks like the Disney 10ks are getting back on track as this was another fabulous 10k, so much better than last years and even better than the Star Wars 10k.
 
Some back story before we get into this. The theme was unclear until the training plan was released and then  the medal design was released. However it was still unclear if it was Snow White or Villians themed. We came up with a few ideas and settled on a wall-e and Eve costume and I would either be Mary (the lady that helps wall-e with the plant) or the Captain and carry Auto. However carrying Auto did not sound like much fun and I was worried no one would recognize me as the Captain.
 
As we started the conversations, Devin revealed to me that he was thinking about proposing to Brian at the end of the finish line which settled the decision. The ring would go in the shoe (yes we would have a plant!) and we would all help carry it. My job was to take pictures of all of this.
 
The 10k started at the normal time: 5:30. We decided to try a new route for walking from the hotel and it was MUCH shorter and easier. We decided to sleep in a bit later and see how it goes. I got up at 4:00 and we met at 4:30 to walk over. The new walking work well as it was quiet and not crowded and we arrived to the race area within 15 min! We definitely will sleep in another 20-30 min in the future as we just stood around for a bit. I checked my bag, used the porto and we headed to the corrals. I was in corral B as was Brian so Devin moved back to run with us (he was in A).

The pre race thing was pretty typical but I do think they had more room for the corrals than they had in the past which was nice. The coolest thing was since it was villains themed, they had this amazing electric guitarist come out and play the National Anthem ( a la Jimi Hendrix) and it was incredible!

Before we knew it, corral A was off and we were to (about 8 minutes after them). This course starts on a downhill so watch your speed! Also it is run mostly on road so avoid the middle of the road as you may trip over the reflectors (it happens every time-I always see someone fall). 

We headed down West Rd and turned left by the convention center (oh Hall D23 from the Expo!!), ran by that before coming out and turning into Katella. We finally made it back stage around mile 2 behind Carsland. The course seemed a bit crowded but then thin out as we kept going Which was nice! 

This course and the half course seemed to have more time backstage than usual. I even remarked-I AM READY FOR SOME PARK AND CHARACTERS! 
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We finally entered the park around Carsland and did a quick potty break before continuing to the pier. There Dr Facilier was speaking so we stopped for a pic, followed by a quick pic at the Pier before continuing to run.
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We stopped by toy story because Lotso was out-we only waited about 5 min which is amazing!
We ran around the pier, through Grizzly and over to the front of the park. We took a picture with storytellers before continuing on through Hollywoodland. We stopped for a picture with Hades from Hercules and skipped Lady Tremaine. 

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At this point we headed back stage and over to Disneyland. The backstage areas were narrow and very crowded causing us to slow down a lot. We kept going and finally made it to Disneyland!
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We ran down Main Street and took a picture by the castle, we ran through tomorrow land and over through fantasyland and stopped for a picture with Captain Hook and Mr Smee! 
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We ran through the Castle and through frontier land and stopped for a pic with Brer Fox and Brer Bear and Brer fox tried to step on Hal the cockroach!! 
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After this, we headed backstage and through downtown Disney to the finish!  TIME: 1:34:38 (running time: 1:09:23)

now this is where the proposal happened! I was in charge of capturing it on my phone and I am SO happy with the picture I was able to get. You see the joy and happiness on both of their faces and I am so lucky to be able to experience this in person!
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The rest of the day was typical (minus celebrating an engagement!)! Went back to the room to wake up my brother and Ralph and we got dressed and headed to Flos for breakfast (and a stop at Starbucks!!). We went on a hunt for Pluto as it was his birthday (and it turns out-Oswald too! We didn't know!) Ralph and my brother went to USC to tailgate (yes they are insane) while we hung out in the park and tried to stay cool before dinner. 

We met up with Mari and had a fab dinner at Carthay (they made me a gluten free pasta with smoke roasted carrots and it was AMAZING!!) 

I got back to the room and ended up watching some of Teen Beach 2 before e going to bed later than I would have liked. Ralph and my brother got back at like 10 and woke me up and were being too loud! But I was able to go back to sleep. An early morning awaited us!! 
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Magical Mickey Mondays: 2015 Disneyland Half Information

8/11/2015

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

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Guest Blogger: 2015 Fueled by Fine Wine Half Marathon Recap

7/22/2015

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Hi all! One of my BRF/BRH just ran an incredible half marathon and offered to recap it. Enjoy! 

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood guest blogger! I’m Devin, Juliana’s running husband (see my adventures on her Dopey and Star Wars recaps, among others), longtime friend, and fellow Disney Crazy.

And like Juliana, I’m also a big fan of wine (I’m Jacchus to her Bacchus). In fact, I’m such a big fan that once I read about Oregon’s Fueled by Fine Wine Half-Marathon here I knew that I had to run it. I’ve wanted to go to Oregon for a while and why not explore a new wine region with an awesome sounding race with a fantastic after-party?
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Yes, this was about 20 feet away from where I picked up my bib and swag.
EXPO
I use the term “Expo” generously. I was emailed ten days beforehand that there were three opportunities for bib pickup: Friday in Portland, Saturday at Erath Winery in Dundee (where the race is) and Sunday morning right before the race. Since we were flying into Portland Saturday morning, we decided to do the Saturday pickup. I had not noticed that the pickup ended at 2 (it only ran for 3 hours) so we were lucky we got there when we did!

Despite barely being an Expo (and not really having any race details – they all were on the site), this was easily one of the best bib pickups. Why? Because you got wine at the pickup! Yes, that’s right. Erath was tasting a Rose of Pinot Grigio and a phenomenal 2010 Pinot Noir (Oregon is famous for their Pinot Noir…as well as their Riesling and Pinot Grigio). And they had a quiche paired with the Rose! AND you could buy the race special – both bottles for 45 bucks…while the Pinot Noir alone usually cost 50!

This race also had arguably the best swag bag of all time. You got a cute Oregon canvas bag, a wine journal, a race sticker for your car, and tons of coupons for local wineries. Overall, there were 4 2-for-1 tastings, 4 free-tasting-for-one, and 3 free-tasting-for-two. There ended up being more coupons at the after-party and wearing your medal around town got some extra discounts. In the end, we only paid 10 bucks (plus tips) for all the tastings we did over two days (and tastings usually range from 10-15 bucks in this area). If you’d want to, you could easily spend another day or two fully exploring the wineries of the area and getting your money’s worth.
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Swag bag contents (minus two coupons)
After our free tasting, we went to main room of Erath to – you guessed it – redeem a coupon for a full free tasting! Like Juliana, I enjoy some pre-race wine: it relaxes me, provides some sugars, and also makes me drink a lot of water. So Brian and I had a great time drinking wine at Erath, overlooking the terrain I’d be running tomorrow, and generally relaxing. So much so that we next went to Argyle Winery to redeem another coupon! If you haven’t heard of this winery, I’d suggest changing that. This place regularly sends wines to the White House for state dinners whenever they need a Pacific Northwest Pinot Noir.

After tasting, we went to a local pho place for dinner, which was both an excellent carb load and a fantastic way to stay hydrated and full of electrolytes. Then, we went back to the room and I stretched and rolled to Teen Beach Movie on Netflix (since, alas, our hotel did not have Disney channel…but it was so cheap and nice that I wasn’t complaining).

Our hotel was a 7 minute drive from the race start, so we left at 6:35 for a 7 AM race. And that will NEVER happen again in my entire life (until I do this race again). I got to the start line, stretched, had some water, and waited for the race to begin. Shortly before it did, they announced a charity event, where one guy starts 10 minutes after everyone else, and for every person he passes, he earns 10 bucks for charity. Normally he does about a 1:10 half, but said that last year he did this one in 1:27. So yeah, this was gonna be a tough course. In case you’re wondering, he passed me around mile 4.
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RACE
Every recap I read about this race was the same: This is the hardest half marathon you’ll ever run because it’s hilly as balls (not that balls are really hilly). It’s also the most beautiful half marathon you’ll ever run because Oregon wine country is beautiful. Also, they all agreed the after party is awesome.

The race coordinator was similarly upfront about the hilliness. Unlike some races (glares at LA Marathon), the coordinators warned us about the elevation and the hills (it’s about a 900 foot increase, but I was told if you count all the ups and downs, you climb over 2000 feet)  and told us not to try to PR.

I had already resolved that I was not going to go all out here. I typically hover around 2 hours for my half time, but I didn’t want to feel sick after the race and I wanted to be able to walk around Portland on Monday and Tuesday. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to enjoy that wine. The wine festival began at 9 and went till 12, so my thinking was even if I finished at 10, that was 2 hours of unlimited wine tasting.
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One of the easier hills of the course
Luckily, the weather gods were on my side this time. Whereas I had read in prior years that it was in the 90s and humid, this year it was in the 70s.

The race began with an uphill climb. Definitely not an easy start, but again, I expected it. Shortly though, we were already in our first vineyard. And it lived up to the hype. Getting to watch the sunrise over the vines as hot air balloons rose into the air was a sight that my picture will not fully do justice to. I knew then that, no matter the hills, this was gonna be a great run.

The next few miles were fine. We didn’t run through any more vineyards yet, just along the backroads of Dundee. It was still gorgeous though running near the trees and greenery of the Pacific Northwest. This Jerseyan-turned-California definitely misses green.

I also loved the wine-quotes, running-quotes, and Oregon wine trivia along the course (apparently the area grew the first American strain of Pinot Grigio back in the 80s). Stuff like this always brightens a race.
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There were definitely hills though. And the branches of the trees provided much needed shade, but also blocked my view as to when these would end. And the answer to that seemed to be “never.” A lot of hills went on longer than I thought, curving out of my initial view, only to reveal that when I thought I was done climbing, I wasn’t.  As a result, I made sure to have a Margarita shot block at every water stop (there were 7 in total). I didn’t want to get too low on electrolytes. I also had Gatorade at each one, but it was very watered down. Thankfully, the volunteers encouraged taking more than one if anyone wanted to and they were well stocked. Also, shout out to this race for having Clif shots at every fuel stop. I’ve never seen something like that before!

For the first 5 miles, I was averaging an 11 minute/mile pace. It’s definitely slower than my usual 9:30ish one, but again, lots of hills and not trying to PR. I knew that the worst was still to come.

And I was right. Around mile five, there was a huge hill, both in steepness and length. It was a high incline – so much so that everyone around me gave up trying to run it (we had already conquered quite a few hills by this point)…and it didn’t end. Every time it seemed to plateau or at least reach a more reasonable incline, it would soon start up again and get more vicious. And it was in the sun.
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Even the hills couldn't break my mood though!
At least when we reached the top, we were now in the wineries. And nothing is more invigorating than running past rows of beautiful leaves and grapes. I will warn people (as I was warned) that if you run this, watch your feet. You are running in functioning vineyards: that means uneven dirt, gopher holes, and more.

The running did not get any easier though. Oregon grapes thrive on hillsides, so the vineyards meant a lot more going up and down. And, because of the uneven ground, I couldn’t even go all out running downhill; I had to focus my muscles even more on staying balanced.

At some points, I swore the Devil himself had designed miles 5-9 of this race. But just when I'd get annoyed at the next hill, I'd look around and be so happy that I was running through vineyards. So yeah...still totally worth it.

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Hills! Hills! Hills as far as the eye can see!
After another three miles of winery running, we finally hit the big momma of hills. I had seen this one in the distance after passing the mile 5 hill and prayed that it wasn’t coming immediately afterwards. Thankfully, my prayers were answered, but that did not make it any more fun when I got to it. I put the Teen Beach Movie music on full blast and tried to run some of it, but I only made it up a third before that became a tall order. The hill was huge and full of people, but none of us were running. By now we all seemed to realize that there were better uses for our energy and that no one wanted to wreck themselves here.

I will say to anyone who runs this, though, turn around on these big hills. The view you get makes the climb almost worth it (see below).

After this hill though, the rest of the race was a fun blur. It was mostly downhill or flat, with a few mild uphill moments, and the views remained fantastic. And, at the final water stop, someone was giving out Swedish fish. What’s not to love?

I ended up finishing at 2:35:03 (11:51/mile). Overall, I was happy with my result. I had been shooting for under three hours initially, and then adjusted it to 13 and then 12 minute miles. All the hills added well over 2 minutes to my average, but I had expected worse. And – more importantly – I felt great afterwards. I will say that this race was the toughest course I’ve ever ran and, if it and the LA marathon had the same weather one way or the other, it would be even harder than the LA marathon.
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On Monster Hill
POST-RACE
The finish line had waters, fresh blueberries, strawberries, and bananas (I wouldn’t be surprised if the first two were local they tasted so fresh), bagels with peanut butter, Clif Nut bars, and corn and sweet potato chips. All of these were great…but I’m noting the lack of Gatorade. I’m lucky I checked my own (and my trusty can of Progresso soup…I always at least drink the broth after a big race) or else I would be in no condition to taste wine for the next two and a half hours.

I picked up my wine glass (included in the registration cost along with the after-party ticket) and medal, got my checked bag, and changed into the race shirt (which was okay – it was tech, but the front was blank and the back just had the name and date of the race, no design). I had intentionally worn an old running shirt that was on its way to the trash/donation basket anyway and threw it out after the race. I didn’t want to schelp that around for the next two hours.


While I’m about to extol the amazingness of the post-race party, I will say it also houses my biggest critiques of the whole race.
1. The aforementioned lack of Gatorade means if you didn’t prepare, drinking wine after a hard race would not be fun.
2. There was no changing tent so the tasting area was piquant with BO…again not fun when mixed with wine and post-racing tiredness.
3. There were more free chips around the area, but no real food. I’m not saying it needs to be included in the cost of the registration (it’s a bargain as it is), but I would’ve paid for some food truck food easily.

But all that is minor in comparison to the awesomeness of the party itself. First, let me reiterate that it’s included in the cost of the registration (which is only 85 bucks) and add that any extra person’s ticket is only 25 bucks. You both get a souvenir wine glass. And there are about 20 top-notch wineries doing unlimited tasting pours. I think I tried between 15-20 wines while there (which would be about 50 dollars if we were paying for tastings) and we bowed out with about 40 minutes left (due to the above issues…particularly #3). Of course, the wines were delicious. This wasn’t the cheap stuff – there were tons of fantastic pinots, and also some interesting Chardonnays, Rieslings, and various Roses.
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OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was easily one of the best races I’ve ever run in my life. It’s up there with the Disney World Marathon and the Star Wars and Avengers halfs. It’s well-organized with great energy and a gorgeous course, has a fantastic after party, and is a bargain (seriously, the amount we saved on wine tasting was easily the cost of the race!). Sure, it’s also the hardest thing you’ll run, but if you go in with that mindset, you’ll have a great time. Also, nice to know that every recap I read about prior years was dead-on (even if the course changes every year).

I give this race an A+.

POSITIVES
  • Gorgeous course
  • Great communication from organizers (though perhaps they could do it a bit earlier)
  • Tons of fuel on the course
  • Friendly volunteers
  • Easy start line (getting to/parking/time needed/etc) and started on time
  • Great mile markers (they were all wine bottles!)
  • Fantastic Swag
  • Afterparty is not to be missed
  • A lot of bang for your buck!!!

THINGS TO WORK ON
  • Shirt could be better (though if that keeps prices down, so be it)
  • Cups on course could be bigger/Gatorade could be stronger
  • Gatorade post-race
  • Changing Tents Post-race
  • Food Trucks at Festival
  • Earlier communication about logistics
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My dirt-line
TOOHEY’S TIPS
  • Take your time. This is not a PR race and you’ll be miserable if you treat it like one.
  • Don’t wear your favorite racing gear. It’ll get covered in dirt and you may want to ditch your shirt.
  • Check Gatorade and maybe even food before the race so you’ll feel good for the afterparty
  • If you want to visit Portland (and you should because it is a magical heaven on earth), do it the days before the race. Many museums and other attractions are closed on Monday and Tuesday.
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When's your next half? What's your dream half?

Thanks Devin! I want to do this race so bad now but sadly it will most likely have to wait at least 2 years (you know that whole dissertation thing starting next summer...). Now I am craving a glass of wine! 

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Friday Five: 5 Favorite Race Shirts

7/16/2015

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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 topic is favorite race swag so I decided to look at my favorite race shirts I have accumlated over the last few years. With the increase in races over the past year, also comes more shirts especially since most of them involved a run disney race challenge. Here are my favorite shirts I have! I decided to divide them up to 5 favorite short-sleeve shirts and 5 favorite long-sleeve shirts. 

5 FAVORITE SHORT SLEEVE
  • 2013 Princess Half shirt: my first WDW race and I love the purple
  • 2013 Coast to Coast: first coast to coast medal and I love how it has Mickey running and the two castles
  • 2013 LA marathon: my first marathon and I love how it reflects to the stadium to sea course so well
  • 2015 Coast to Coast shirt: this shirt is SO comfortable and I love that it has the medal on the front
  • 2015 Santa Anita Derby 5k:  this is very understated but also very nice material with a v-neck. Most people probably wouldn't even know it was a race shirt

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5 FAVORITE LONG SLEEVE
  • 2015 Dopey: the biggest race accomplishment I have ever done! 
  • 2015 Goofy: I love the bright orange color
  • 2015 Star Wars 10k: everytime I wear this shirt, at least one person compliments me on it. I love the blue and the storm trooper
  • 2014 Wine and Dine Half Marathon : my favorite half marathon ever and I love mickey running with food! 
  • 2013 Tinkerbell: This shirt is very comfortable and I love that is green for tinkerbell 


What is some of your favorite race shirts you have received? 
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Tuesdays on the Run: Where I Run

7/14/2015

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My street :)
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 Where I Run.  

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I'm very simple when it comes to my running. I have set routes (2.2, 3, 4 and 5.3 miles) that loop around Cal Tech and the surrounding neighborhoods. Runs others that I do at the Rose Bowl. I do a simple 3 mile run from my house to cal tech and back 2 times a week. Fun fact: the end of my route goes down Hill Street which has a lot of nice houses that are Cal Tech buildings (Alumni House, etc) and is also the street they used in the opening of Legally Blonde! 

Another fun fact: I live on the street that the Big Bang gang lives on in Big Bang Theory: no joke! and I run past the building they would technically work in. 
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The building the guys from Big Bang would work in at Cal Tech
And of course the Rose Bowl. It has a solid 5k loop around the stadium and golf course and truly is a great place to run. It also has a little park next to it I will run through because it is super shady with all of the trees as well as a crazy hill I do my hill repeats on. Also, on the top of the hill is the Gamble House (yes like Proctor and Gamble) which served as Doc Brown's house in Back to the Future! 

I love running the Rose Bowl around Christmas/New Years as the floats are set up down there (yes you can volunteer to help set them up!) as well as the set up for the Rose Bowl football game. 
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Where do you currently run? 
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Magical Mickey Mondays: Ant Man Preview

7/13/2015

2 Comments

 
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It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. With Ant Man coming out this weekend, I thought it would be a great time to review the preview that is happening in California adventure at Its Tough to be a Bug!

This is a perfect preview area for this movie. It is basically the same queue as the attraction but with the posters removed. It also had the Ant Man suit as well.

I knew nothing about this movie except that he can shrink to the size of an ant and have super human strength. 

The clip we saw was him trying on the suit for the first time and going through many adventures as an ant. It made GREAT use of the effects in the theater with splashes of water, smoke and of course pokes and bumps. It was all very unexpected and so much fun! The 3d also was clear and very immersive. 

The extended trailer they had also piqued my interest. It explained the story a bit more about how the suit was developed and showed other characters too. 

I plan on seeing this movie but I'm not sure I can fit it in to see it opening weekend but we will see how the weekend shakes down. 

Has anyone else seen the preview? Anyone else planning on seeing Ant Man?
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2 Comments

Friday Five: 5 Fitness Trends I won't do

7/9/2015

12 Comments

 
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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 topic is Fitness Trends I won't do. 

I'm not one to be negative and say I will never do something. I at one point said I would never run a marathon and I'm currently starting to prepare for my 4th and 5th! 

Here are some things I don't currently do and the reason why: 

1. Own a gym membership
Gyms around me are very expensive (would you pay 150 dollars a month to go to a gym?!) and even LA Fitness is about 40 dollars a month once the specials stop and that's a lot to spend a month when I wouldn't use it more than 2 times a week? 

If I want a gym, even though it's not a great one, I can use the one on campus for free since I'm a student. 

2. A run club you have to pay a membership for 
I run 3-4 days a week and most of my runs are in the morning. Having to pay to meet up with people, when there are so many free clubs, seems silly to me. Most of my runs are by myself anyway so I have a bit more flexibility. 

3. CrossFit
There's a box close to me and I wouldn't discount it in the future but as of now, the cost and early times are the main issue right now. 

4. Group classes
I did a barre class once and was so sore but did enjoy it! The cost is high and I wouldn't want to get a monthly membership unless I could really use it (at least 3 days a week) and the individual classes are 30 dollars. Right now, there is no way I could fit in classes


5. Two-a-days
I'm not a football player and do not have the time to do multiple workouts a day. I know I could get stronger if I did, but I could also get injured too! Making sure I do my schoolwork and get enough sleep are my priorities. 


Now these are just for me. With my work schedule, commute, being in class 1-2 per week and other commitments, I can't pay for things I won't use often. I do short but intense workouts because the most I can work out during the week is about 30 minutes before work and then 15 min of stretching and core work at night. I'm tight on time to fit everything in (like you know the 200 pages of reading plus prepping a presentation  I have for class this week!) so unless I know for sure I will use it, I won't buy it. 

How about you? What are workout you wouldn't do? 
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    A late 20-something navigating the world trying to stay sane with Chi Running, Primal Eating and Healthy Living!

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