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4 Well Rules
Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well
A Formula for Healthy Living

Introduction to Chi Running

3/25/2016

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Back in 2014, Chi Running was introduced to me by a podcast on Abel James' Fat Burning Man Podcast and I decided to order the Chi Running book and the Chi Marathoning Book and they have greatly improved my running technique and my general stress around running. It is making running effortless and makes me crave my runs and my injuries have gone to non-existent. It is the greatest right now. 

WHAT IS CHI RUNNING? (all taken from the Chi Running website)


Since 1999, ChiRunning has helped thousands of runners transform their technique - reducing, preventing and recovering from injuries. Runners of all ages and levels have improved their efficiency and performance, and now find running to be pain-free, easier, and enjoyable. The main principles of ChiRunning include:

  • Relaxation
  • Correct alignment and posture
  • Landing with a midfoot strike
  • Using a "gravity-assisted" forward lean
  • Engaging core strength for propulsion
  • Connecting the mind and body to prevent injury
WHAT MAKES UP CHI RUNNING? 

  1. Flexibility: You need to have it, not only in your muscles, but in your tendons, ligaments, and joints. They all work better when they move with flexibility and any restrictions in your muscles, ligaments, or tendons will limit your range of motion, period. As we get older we tend to become less active. A good axiom that best describes this is: "Use it or lose it." If you don't use your muscles and joints they will begin to stiffen and then, if you still don't do anything, atrophy. Flexibility doesn't just happen, you have to work at it. Even stretching a few minutes a day is enough for most people to maintain a good range of motion and decrease their chances of injury due to muscle pulls.
     
  2. Good posture: Your running technique is totally dependent on your posture. The efficiency of your running technique is directly proportional to the quality of your posture. What is good posture? According to Yoga teachers, along with many other mainstream body movement disciplines, good posture involves having a reasonably straight spine with not too much straightness and not too much bend. The more you slump, the more your body's muscles need to work to hold you upright. Poor posture not only restricts the circulation of blood to your muscles and organs but also inhibits the oxygen supply to your brain.
     
  3. Good leg motion: Having too long of a stride, or "over-striding," is a major cause of both hamstring and knee injuries. This is when you land with your feet in front of you instead of under you. Not bending your knees when you run will create stiffness and poor circulation in your legs. Your knees should be bent at a 90º angle when you are warmed up and running at a good, medium pace.
     
  4. Cadence: Most people have a low cadence, or the number of strides you take per minute. When you run, you want to spend the least amount of time on your legs as possible. The longer you take with each stride, the more time your foot spends on the ground, and the more energy your legs have to expend to support your body weight. Even if it's a split second during each stride, it adds up quickly when you're talking about 1200 steps per mile. Strive to maintain a cadence of 85-90 strides per minute with each leg. Using a metronome is a great way to regulate your cadence - try it and you'll be amazed. It can truly transform your running.
     
  5. Body Sensing: Listening to your body is key to preventing injuries. ChiRunning helps you understand why you're feeling sore, tight, or in pain and teaches you how to solve the problem. 
     
  6. Good mental focus: Making changes takes mental focus. If you want to run faster, farther, and injury-free, you'll need to use your brain to re-educate your body. When you determine the right adjustments to make to your running form, your mind can tell your body what to do until it becomes part of your muscle memory. Not only can this save you some pain (and a few trips to the physical therapist), it can also be meditative to become deeply attuned to your body’s sensations. 
     
  7. Good upper body/lower body coordination: The general rule is that your upper body and lower body should be doing equal amounts of work. For most runners, this 50/50 ratio is tilted one way or the other. When your upper body and lower body are working in unison rather than against each other, it spreads the work of running over the whole body and takes the load off of any single muscle group. It's similar to the principle that work is best done if the responsibility is spread out over many workers. 
     
  8. Good breathing habits: Watch a baby breathing sometime. You won't see his chest rise and fall with each breath. You'll see his abdominal area expand and contract like someone breathing in and out of a balloon. It's called "belly breathing", and it's how we should breathe all the time. When your breath is shallow, you only use the very upper part of your lungs and don't take advantage of your total lung capacity. Oxygen is what your muscles use to convert stored fuels into usable energy, and any reduction in your oxygen uptake will effect your ability to burn glycogen.
     
  9. Proper bend in your knees and elbows: The less you bend your arms and legs, the more work your muscles have to do when you're running. An arm or leg that is bent at the knee or elbow will swing much easier than one that is straight. As you approach your "cruising" speed, your forearms and shins should both be parallel to the ground in mid-swing.
     
  10. Staying relaxed: This includes having a good sense of humor, observing what's going on within you and around you, and responding wisely to those observations. When I'm relaxed I reduce my chances of straining a tight muscle. Tense muscles restrict the range of motion in my arms and legs, making it hard to run faster. A relaxed runner will spend less time recovering from a race than an inefficient runner who is burning more fuel for the same amount of distance.

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

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

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


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


Anyone else follow Chi Running? 
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Weekly Healthy Living Recap 7.7.2014

7/7/2014

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Happy 4th!
My usual workout recaps have now been expanded to cover all 4 Well Rules. So let's get started!
**this post contains Amazon affiliate links

EAT WELL

LAST WEEK: overall okay. I ate out a lot but feel I made the healthiest choices I could. I limited my gluten and was able to successfully carbload for my 9.5 mile run I had on Sunday.

At Disneyland, I finally had a salad for lunch! And it was delicious.

However my downfall this week was drinking alcohol. I drank Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I felt just okay afterwards but I know that's the main reason for my bloated feeling today.

THIS WEEK: I really want to continue to eat healthy, limit the alcohol (Vegas is coming up soon!) and keep cooking at home.

SLEEP WELL

LAST WEEK: so bad (at least for me). Having to get up early to run wrecked havoc on my sleep schedule. I can survive averaging 7 hours but I need more (it also helped I had coffee every day as well).

Using my Fitbit Flex I was able to track my sleep for the week (seriously, it's the coolest feature of the whole thing!) and you can see my sleep below. 

THIS WEEK: I need to get back to getting 8 hours of sleep a night. That one hour seems to make a big difference with me. My goal is to get in bed every night by 1030.

EXERCISE WELL

LAST WEEK:
  • Sunday: 4 miles at 11:15 pace (so hot!)
  • Monday: rest day
  • Tuesday: 5k
  • Wednesday: rest day
  • Thursday: 5k at 730 PM, great pace but it kept me up!
  • Friday: Disneyland walking and downtown walking-11 miles total
  • Saturday: rest day
  • Sunday: 9.5 miles at 11:00 pace

Overall, I think I needed a rest week. My body has been so exhausted with teaching and working and everything else. I think it was good to take a rest. And my run on Sunday went well!

THIS WEEK:
  • Monday: rest days. I realized if I run. On Sunday then I need to rest the next day
  • Tuesday: 5k at easy pace
  • Wednesday: 15 min weights
  • Thursday: 5k-speed work :30/:30
  • Friday: weights
  • Saturday: 5 miles at training pace
  • Sunday: rest day-lots of stretching

I need to get back into weights and I think this is the week to do it. I'm also going to test a core program circuit I've been thinking about to see how I like it. I'll report back next week.

BE WELL

THIS WEEK:

I did great on this front as it was the week of the birthdays!
  • Monday night I wrapped up my 6 hour class I was TAing
  • Wednesday night was a friends bday and I saw friends I haven't seen in forever
  • Thursday I got out of work early and was able to watch Independence Day and start one of my running tutus
  • Friday I spent the morning at Disneyland and no one was there and it was glorious! Next year this is our definite 4th plan. Then got to head downtown with friends to watch fireworks and celebrate another friends bday
  • Saturday I chilled at home (amazing!) and went to another friends bday that was a few blocks from my house
  • Sunday got in a great 9.5 mile run and went to an awesome BBQ

So I feel fulfilled on this front for sure. A busy social week but a good time!

NEXT WEEK:
  • I have a plan to go to the Huntington library on Friday since I've never been
  • Ralph and I may go to the movies since we haven't been in forever!
  • I want to meet up with some friends on Saturday in LA since I haven't seen them in so long
  • Finish planning our Vegas trip that's next weekend

How was your week? Was your 4th of July a success?

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Gluten free pizza-awesome carb loading!
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Sleep for the week!
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I've been nominated for a Liebster Award!

5/19/2014

1 Comment

 
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Two weeks ago, I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Greg at Why I Run Disney! Thank you so much for the nomination:it's a real honor to be nominated! I've been writing and planning this post for awhile but with my surgery,I just didn't get around to it until now.

What is a Liebster award? Well it's an award for bloggers to honor other bloggers. Here are the basics:

  • You must link back to the person who nominated you
  • You must answer the 10 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee
  • You must pick 10 bloggers to be nominated for the award
  • You must create 10 questions for your nominees
  • You must go to their blogs and notify the nominees

    All sounds easy enough so let's gets started!


    Questions from Greg:

    1. What is your favorite Disney theme park in the world? Why?

    That I have been to-I'm going to go with my gut and say Magic Kingdom. I LOVE Epcot for the food and drinking and Illuminations but there is nothing quite as special as Cinderella Castle, Tinkerbell flying, Main st Electrical Parade and Wishes.

    My second would actually be DCA specifically Carsland at Christmas!


    2. Are there any Disney theme parks that you would like to visit that you haven’t visited yet? If so, which one(s)?

    All of them! But top of the list is TokyoSea hands down. On our Disney blog, Devin and Brian just got back from Tokyo and he's blogging recaps. Look at his pictures because it is just beyond anything ever.


    3. Since all of you have run in races before, which race was your favorite?

    My favorite race to run has been the Disneyland 10k. Such a great course and so much of it is spent on property. It made the 6.2 fly by!

    Non Disney would be the Old Agoura 10k where I PRed because it was gorgeous and the after party was the best!!


    4. If you could choose a theme for a runDisney race, what theme would you choose and why?

    This is a tough one. I think the Avengers half will be amazing and Tinkerbell is my favorite character and she already has a weekend. I would pick Duffy. I think Duffy is hilarious and I love that he has a Mickey on his butt and is named after a duffel bag!! It would definitely fit with the Epcot theme.


    5. What advice would you offer someone who is a beginning runner?

    I'm actually starting a whole series on this next week so make sure to check back in! However the most widespread tip I can give is NO COTTON GEAR. Don't wear cotton shirts, shorts, bras, underwear or socks or hats. You will be hot and have crazy blisters. Wear dri fit everything. You will think your lucky stars for dri fit socks!!



    6. What races are on your bucket list?

    I have a whole page dedicated to this with a more comprehensive list but my top bucket list race is the Boston Marathon. To BQ would be my ultimate dream (even though I need to get about 2 hours faster on my marathon time!). However with more practice and training I think within the next 10 years I can get there.

    Others are wine and dine and WDW marathon which I am registered for. I really want to the Country Music Marathon In Nashville and the NYC half and marathon.


    7. If you run with music, what are your favorite songs to run with? If you don’t run with music, what is your favorite mantra?

    I actually just made a new 5k/10k playlist a few weeks agothat I tested out and LOVE! Post coming soon :) On it are the following songs:

    New playlist:
    Bangarang by Skrillex
    Kyoto by Skrillex
    Trophies (maybe-NSFW) by Drake
    Hey Brother/You Make Me/I Could be the One by Avicii
    Turn Down for What by Lil Jon 
    Animals by Martin Garrix
    Breakn' a Sweat (remix) by Zedd
    Stay the Night by Zedd
    Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites by Skrillex
    The Devil's Den by Skrillex
    Let It Go by Idina Menzel
    Levels by Avicii
    Ms. New Booty (NSFW) by Bubba Sparxx
    I Put That on Everything (NSFW) by David Banner
    A Milli (NSFW) by Lil Wayne
    Time to Dance by Panic! At the Disco
    Badd (NSFW) by Ying Yang



    8. What are your favorite Disney theme park indulgences? This could be favorite food items, favorite shows, favorite attractions, favorite places to go while on a Disney theme park vacation, etc. In other words, what are your favorite things to do at any of the Disney theme parks?

    Let's do this by coast and park because it's only fair that way!

    Disneyland: snow on Main Street, fireworks

    California Adventure: Carsland, world of color, Mad T party, cones, dill pickle popcorn, Christmas eggnog drinks

    Magic Kingdom: staring at the Castle, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, TTA, chicken waffle sandwich, cosmic rays French fries with cheese sauce and Sonny Eclipse, Be Our Guest restaurant and my newest craving-corn on the cob! Also liberty tree tavern (thanksgiving dinner-OMG)

    Epcot: Spaceship Earth, Impressions de France (France movie!!), France bakery, grey goose slushie, margaritas in Mexico, cronut, stuffing thanksgiving waffle, spaceship earth and Illuminations

    MGM (sorry not Hollywood Studios for me): tower of terror, rock n roll, Osborne lights

    Animal Kingdom: Everest, iced tea, flame tree BBQ


    9. When training for a race (a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Full Marathon, or Ultra), where is your favorite place to run?

    I have a typical 5k route around my house that I run 2 times per week so I like it a lot. It's around Cal Tech and so quiet and easy to get started: out the door and I'm off!

    My favorite place to do long runs is the Rosé Bowl because there are 2 water fountains and a restroom. The loop is a 5k so it's great that I can hit up my car easily for snacks and drinks without having to carry much.


    10. If you could personalize the post race food given to you after a race like a half marathon or full marathon, what would your order?

    INDIAN FOOD! After my first half, I had Indian food and it was so good! Actually now that I think about it, after I did my first 13 mile training run, I had Indian food. I also had it after the LA marathon. The rice and veggies and chicken tikka masala makes me SO happy. I know its weird but whatever.



    Here is who I nominate for the Liebster Award:
    • Emelia from Half Crazy mama
    • Kathryn from Dancing to Running
    • Karla from Run Karla Run
    • Mallory from Bad Wolf Brunch
    • Meghann from Meals and Miles
    • Monica from Run Eat Repeat
    • Pam and Christine from We Run Disney
    • Patty from My No-Guilt Life
    • Samantha from Dancing to the Finish Line
    • Sarah from PickyRunner


    Here are your questions if you choose to accept:

    1. What is your earliest running memory?
    2. What was the first official race you ran?
    3. What is your favorite runDisney race and why?
    4. What is your next race?
    5. What race is at the top of your Bucket List?
    6. What is the best advice you have received from an experienced runner?
    7. What do you fuel with during races?
    8. What's the hardest race you have ever done and why?
    9. What is the worst injury you have had and how did you heal yourself
    10. What's your favorite season to train in?



    thanks for reading post! It really is an honor to be nominated!

    Also, if you are reading and want to comment, pick a question or two above!

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Grocery Recaps 4.4.2014 and 4.11.2014 and 4.18.2014

4/23/2014

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Here is what I have bought today and over the last 2 weeks. I completely forgot to write about it 2 weeks ago. I even prepped this post and then other things (new training plans, medals, dopey) got in the way! Here we go!!

 I went to Fresh n Easy and Von's to get a few things for myself and also for camping. 

4.4.2014
FOR ME: ~15 bucks
  • string cheese
  • sausage for 3.29 clearance
  • bananas
  • strawberries


FOR CAMPING:~35 bucks
  • 2 bags of chips
  • Spinach Dip
  • string cheese
  • bruschetta bread
  • vinegar and eggs for easter eggs
  • salsa
  • popcorn
  • hot sauce
  • baby carrots
  • apples
  • cherry pepsi
  • coke
  • watermelon
  • lettuce
  • bananas
  • strawberries


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Fresh n Easy run
4.11.2014
TRADER JOE'S- Spent 25 dollars
I rarely come here but I needed to get peanut butter that I could eat and ended up stocking up on a lot of things
  • gluten free multigrain bread
  • applesauce pouches (trying to use as fuel tomorrow during running)
  • organic brown rice
  • balsamic vinegar
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • creamy peanut butter
  • hummus-tomato basil


FRESH N EASY- Spent 3.50
  • clearance lemon cilantro hummus
  • clearance activa yogurt (read online it's good to eat after stomach bugs)


VON'S- spent 27 dollars (saved 45%!)
  • newman's own dressing-1.84 (just for you price plus 2 coupons)
  • gluten free pasta-1. 47
  • milk
  • more activia yogurt on clearance
  • frozen amy's enchilada-1.99
  • frozen chana masala- 1.75 each
  • acai blueberry juice-2 dollars
  • fage greek yogurt-2.99
  • chicken thighs-88 cents/lb
  • snap pea chips-1.07 each
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Fresh n easy
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Trader joes
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Von's
4.18.2014
crazy day with lots of errands! So many stops but not too much stuff!

RALPH'S-spent 13
  • Easter ham (great recipe here!)
  • feee yogurt
  • strawberries
  • pineapple
  • Clearance salad



VON'S-spent 11
  • arizona iced tea for the bf
  • sargento cheese
  • baby peeled carrots
  • Green onions



TARGET-under 10 bucks
  • tomato-free
  • Bananas-29 cents for 4
  • Cheese-2.20/bag
  • 2 light bulbs-1.50
  • Baby wipes-90 cents! 





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Ralphs
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Vons
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I've lost all of my marbles...I'VE GONE DOPEY 2015!

4/16/2014

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I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!! I got up early, went to work early, was all ready with credit card out and ready to go and sign on right at 8:50 and refreshed every minute until it popped up. Well every minute turned out to be 1 because at 8:51 I was starting the process!

They had a lot of pre sale stuff: pins and necklaces and even jackets! Sadly no pictures though. I would rather wait to see so I know for sure what I will be getting. And I somehow completely passed the race retreat! Devin and I decided we will wait on deciding for that since it's 225 this year.

ALL REGISTERED! However my credit card is crying in the corner-that's okay though! That 564.95 was crazy to see. However my credit card is happy as it's new and I think I just passed the 1000 dollars I needed to earn 50000 bonus miles meaning a few flight to WDW in the future!

DOPEY 2015 (5k + 10k+ half+ full) and race retreat for Half and Full! 

anyone else sign up? 

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Fresh Farm to You box Review

3/27/2014

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So much in my crisper drawer!
I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of my box!

So fresh farm to you is a company that sends you fresh fruit and vegetables to your door. You schedule how often you would like them. I have them scheduled for once a month.

I picked the box that sends you fresh, local, organic and seasonal produce called Regular Valley.

Last week my first box arrived! Here are the contents:
  • 2 navel oranges
  • 1 purple cabbage
  • 1 haas avocado
  • 3 blood oranges
  • 1 fennel
  • 1 frisée (curly endive)
  • 1 lettuce
  • 7 golden beets
  • 6 carrots
  • 1 green kale
  • 7 radishes
  • 1 box of strawberries

It was all very fresh! I packed the lettuce immediately for my Lunch at work. I took all of the tops of the vegetables and made a green smoothie (and then made it taste a bit weird by adding vanilla protein powder-oops. )

I also took the cabbage, carrots, radishes and some frisée for a fresh slaw salad.

So far I really love the service!

Are you interested in trying this service?

Go to www.freshfarmtoyou.com and enter promo code 6164 for 10 dollars off! Make sure to share my name in the referral box-Juliana Calhoun- and then I will receive a discount too!



Have you ever used a food delivery service before?



****I bought and paid for the farm fresh to you box on my own. I was not paid for this post. All opinions are my own.****



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Oranges!
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Fresh slaw salad with frisée, carrots, radishes and cabbage with like juice and pepper. I have enough for a week!
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Prepping for a Race: What to take with you in your Checked Bag

3/25/2014

2 Comments

 

I used to never want to check a bag as I did not want to deal with the lines. However as I have run more races, I have learned to put in a bag and what not to put! 

Here is my list for what I just used at the Great Race: 

  • Magicband (room key and credit card!)-for WDW races
  • ID-never know if you will be able to get a drink!
  • Credit card and Money-sometimes you need it!
  • Wipes-BEST IDEA! I pack face wipes and also baby wipes and towel off after racing. It really does make a difference until you can get to a shower
  • Chaffing gel- you gotta put it on before and after
  • Lip balm-may need
  • Roller-I did this for Princess half marathon, and it helped recovery. I bring my hand roller
  • Change of shoes- it's always good to get out of your sweaty socks and shoes
  • Deodorant/perfume- may need depending on how long the race is
  • I also pack these things in my bag the night before so I don't have to search for anything in the morning


Pack but take out/use:

  • Hat- you can decide to wear it or not
  • Sunglasses-same here
  • iPod- need your music!
  • Phone case-need to make sure it doesn't get ruined
  • Food- breakfast-usually banana, PB and bread
  • Drink-i always make tea in the morning. need the caffeine
  • Coat-it may be cold! you will want to cover up.



What do you pack for your races? 




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LA marathon Part 3: My running journey and would I do it again?

3/21/2014

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Incase you missed it-
Expo Review
Part 1
Part 2




I still can't believe it sometimes. I feel like it was all a dream (cue Notorious BIG because that song will be stuck in my head all day now!).

Driving away from the race, I kept saying that. Did that happen? Are you sure? Yes. Yes it did!

The running journey started back in school. I hated running and could never do faster than a 10 minute mile so I just assumed I wasn't a runner. I was many things: a dancer and a band nerd and a brainiac but not a runner.

We always watched the olympics growing up but the first time I remember watching distance running was in Athens. It was the original marathon and that just blew my mind as a history freak. I remember watching Deena Kastor (yes I told her this!) win a bronze medal and being so happy and thinking-maybe one day I could do that. I decided Athens would be my first and only marathon and there was a chance it could kill me! 

I remember hearing about the WDW marathon online and also hearing people at Penn talked about how they ran it. I figured it would probably happen at some point.

I also have been obsessed with the biggest loser and one season they ran a full marathon (they always did halfs before that) and I decided if they could do it, one day I could too.

My friend Mari posted on Facebook in April 2010 that she had signed up to do the Disneyland half and asked if I wanted to do it. I had time to think about it and talked to my parents. I remember my stepdad and mom telling me-the biggest loser can do a full, you can do a half. That was it! I was signed up! However this was pre run disney name. No training plans: nothing.

I worked that summer at Yale and went to the gym almost every day and built up my endurance. I even did a simulated 13 miles on the treadmill and elliptical. I also worked out hard at USC as well. My bday-a week before the race-I did another simulation and felt ready. Or not-turns out that last run was too much for my IT band and I could barely walk. I did the race and finished decently but was in so much pain and exhausted I thought I would never run again. And I knew nothing. I had no idea about fuel (I was just doing it-no wonder I was so tired). Or tapering or intervals. Pretty much I was lost and floundering. It's a miracle I didn't Injury myself worse. (I had IT bands for years. They are finally better now)

Fast forward to the creation of rundisney and the announcement of the Tinkerbell Half. I was still not sure a full was ever in the cards but I figured why not train. With Jeff Galloway and intervals, Mallory really turned me on to them, I felt much better training and finally bought the gym boss timer at the tink expo. After tink-which went great-I signed up for the 2012 Disneyland half.

2012 Disneyland half was a struggle as I needed new shoes and didn't know. Shin splints took over for most the summer so I didn't train as much as I would have liked. New shoes as an amazing Christmas present from my boyfriend) and i was back in business!

After Tinkerbell 2012, I learned more about coast to coast and wanted one. I remember researching princess and it was t sold out yet! I almost bought but couldn't find a flight under 350 (it was about 3 weeks out at this point) so I had to pass. Mallory and I decided 2013 would be our coast to coast year.

2013 came and I got that coast to coast but I wasn't sure if I could ever run a full. Then the dopey announcement came. And that was it-I wanted it! I knew I couldn't swing it the first year so I signed up for dumbo dare as a test for me to see if my body would handle it. 

Dumbo was hot but I felt great and knew dopey would be my race for 2015. I told my mom of my plans and she okay but highly suggested, and said she would feel much better, I run a full. So I picked the LA marathon. I signed up October 1, 2013 and couldn't have been more excited. I was plagued by a few more injuries (too much, too fast) but I recovered by Tinkerbell 2013.

One of my best races was Tinkerbell 2013! such a good time! I also had a great race for Glass Slipper Challenge 2013. I was ready for the LA marathon. 

Yes, it wasn't the race I was hoping for but it's the race I got.  I have come so far and I couldn't be prouder of myself! 

So yes. Yes it did happen. I did it! I did something I never thought was possible and not only that-I want to do it again!

So do I plan on running the LA marathon next year? HELL YEAH! (Cue usher and now that song will be in my head all day!)

It'll be Mallory's 26th birthday so we will be celebrating "26.2 for 26" and plan on dressing up (sparkle skirts here we come!!!) and make shirts and everything.

And I will most likely run it again in 2016 because it's the Olympic trial year. Who doesn't want to watch the trials and then run it the next day? I DO! And it'll also be on valentines day! maybe the boyfriend will run with me...

But seriously, this may become a standard race for me! How insane is that? I would love to try a new marathon every 12-18 months (starting with the WDW marathon).


What has been your running story? Do you feel like you have come a long way? Are you planning on running the 2015 LA Marathon? 

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2014 LA Marathon recap Part 2: I DID IT!

3/20/2014

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Incase you missed it-
Expo Review
Part 1

Warning: this post is LONG! but it is a good one :) I promise!
All pictures of the course are at the bottom. It's a lot to have to insert them and they are kinda blurry (sorry!)

We are off!

Luckily it wasn't too hot and I was just trying to settle into my intervals. The funniest thing I saw-after my first interval, I noticed guys running across to a bush. Yup-a line of 50 guys peeing. HILARIOUS. For real.

I started much slower than I thought. My body is so used to running half marathons that I knew if I didn't want to hit a wall, I need to be slow.

The first mile marker had a tiny sign (like seriously maybe 12x 16) so I almost missed it. However I was looking for it as my nike app told me about .1 before I had gone a mile (I was already weaving into between). I was worried the next one would be small as well but then the big mile markers started. They were my favorite. 

A bit about the course incase you don't know. It's the Stadium to the Sea course and pretty new. The marathon was started after the 1984 Olympics when a Joan Benoit, a US Woman, won the first women's marathon (fun fact: she is the voice on the nike plus app! The one that encourages me everytime I run!). I love that event started the LA marathon! It has gone through many courses but this is the newest one and plans on staying for awhile.

The course takes you from dodger stadium downtown to Santa Monica. You go from dodger stadium to Chinatown to little Tokyo to downtown proper past city hall and Walt Disney concert hall to echo park to silver lake to Hollywood to west Hollywood to Beverly Hills to the VA to Brentwood to Santa Monica. It's a great course and it's amazing after almost 6 years living here there were still areas I had not spent much time in.


So we head into Chinatown and I'm feeling good. There is a cloud cover and it's feeling okay. I keep seeing the kids from Students Run LA pass me in long sleeves and pants and know they will be in trouble later. People are passing me more than I was used to and I'm not letting it upset me. I want to conserve my energy-I can always step it up later.

This is where I catch up with the 5:30 pacer which makes NO sense! I was averaging around 12 minute miles and the 5:30 group was supposed to be 12:30 (obsessed with the clif timing bracelets! Wearing the 5:00 and 5:30 were great for figuring out my finish time). I knew they were going to finish fast so always just kept an eye on them (I passed them many times actually).

We get to Little Tokyo and it's the only place I got Gatorade. I remember thinking they were mixing it super strong but thought it was on purpose as people need the electrolytes.

I continued on and there was a big hill at the Walt Disney concert hall. Not thinking much of it, I attacked it. Yeah and I made it up but was exhausted. Oops-it was much steeper than I was thinking and had to take more walk breaks than I wanted.

We continued onto echo park which is very pretty. This is where we started seeing random strangers handing out food which was great! I didn't need much but Gatorade.

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LA Marathon part 1: Prep and morning of

3/18/2014

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Start line!
It all started the day before. I woke up at 6am so that I would be tired enough to fall asleep. I originally wanted to get up at 5 but I couldn't fall asleep the night before so decided an extra hour would be the way to go.

I Got up and got dressed and went to get breakfast and then went home and relaxed.

I went on a date afternoon with the boyfriend to get Philly cheesesteaks and compression socks! We spent about two hours searching everywhere at the outlet and finally found compression socks at reebok, the last store we went too! He also got a pair and is now obsessed with them like me. (See I'm rubbing off on him...)

We went home where Ralph tried on all of his purchases-new running gear and shoes to train for the Avengers half! I made pasta and he left to go to a bday party around 7. We made a plan to meet at the finishers party because we assumed that cell service would be crappy. I texted him location so he couldn't forget. He wished me luck and off I went.

I tried to relax even though I was pretty anxious and finally got into bed at 8. I was so nervous and put on teen beach movie to fall asleep (for some reason this movie calms me down A LOT).

I woke up at 1am because I needed to pee and was thristy. Since I was about to lose an hour, I decided to chug two glasses of water which would give me about 2 hours until I needed to wake up again. And I knew dehydration would not suit me well for the race. Hopefully I wouldn't have to wake up again.

Only problem was I so worried about oversleeping that I barely slept! It was so nerve wrecking. However when my alarm went off at 4am (yay my alarm clocks works again!) I hopped up out of bed and was off to get ready.

The hour time change sucked. I only got 6 hours of sleep when I could have gotten 7 which would have helped immensely as while I was running, I could tell I was tired. This won't be a problem for future races because what are the chances it'll happen again (watch it totally happen for an LA rock n roll one year but at least that's the other way-gain an hour!)

I got dressed and was sad not to be in any costume. :( marathons, especially hot ones, are not the place for that. It was just sad after my great costumes from Princess Half weekend. However I did pack my Olympics Roots lucky jacket to wear and check before the race. I also had my rundisney Mylar blanket to wear after gear check and it was chilly-around 50 in the morning.








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My only costume piece :(
I pre packed everything the night before and was making tea while checking email and was so excited to read an email from my co workers wishing me good luck. It made me so happy! I really love my coworkers!

Left my house at 425 which allowed me plenty of time to catch the 443 train (the first of the morning!). I ate my banana while I walked. It was so quiet and empty. Peaceful yet also scary like the zombie apocalypse (obvi I watch too much walking dead).

Now why did I catch such an early bus when I was scheduled for 615? Well- the info booth scared me! They said 615 was way too late with security and since we were being double checked I need to allow an hour at least. The shuttles were scheduled for 515, 545, 615. I had to ensure i made the 545 and the trains only ran every 30 minutes and I was worried security would be TSA crowds. Well I had way too much time which I will get to later.

I called my mom as they were in Branson and she was already awake. It kept me company while I waited.

I got on the train and it was pretty crowded with runners. It's the train I take to work so I knew I would get bored (it was only 18 minutes but still). I packed two magazines-us weekly and entertainment weekly which kept me occupied and the nervous energy away.

I got off the train at 508 (a few minutes behind schedule) and wanted to use the real restrooms. Well they were closed! :(

I went to get in line for the shuttle (oh the irony-it was my exact bus stop for work!) and got on a bus at 520.

The security-one dude looking in my bag just like at Disneyland. And they did it as you boarded the bus so it didn't slow anyway down (which was great btw!).

It turns out the buses were continuous and not every 30 minutes! So now I know for next time, take the train 30 min later and I'll be fine. I got to dodger stadium at 535 (yup that fast, all we could see on the freeway was cars as far back as possible) and made my way to the actual stadium to meet up with mari and pee in a real bathroom.

We just hung out-sadly I haven't seen her in awhile- and waited for Mallory. She arrived and off we went to get free breakfast (I had already grabbed another pack of clif shots and a banana) and find bag check and pee one more time.

The one thing I found difficult was the signs to know where to go. It was very dark at dodger stadium and the signs were on the ground so until you got right up on it, it was hard to see which direction to go in. We finally found bag check,which had pretty long lines but I was through in less than 5 minutes, and chatted with the guy behind me. It was his first marathon like me and I was telling him about the rundisney races and he was intrigued. I told him to sign up for the Avengers half.


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Dodger stadium early in the morning
I met up with Mallory and thought we could pee at the port a potties (there were 100s) in 10 minutes. Nope we picked the WRONG line-people were not aggressive enough in our line with heading into port a potties so everyone around us was moving at literally double speed-and it took us about 25 minutes. At least we got to see the pretty sunrise below!

We heard the national anthem, the elite runners leave and headed

To the corrals. Since neither one of us had a time, we were In the open corral and trying to line up between 11 and 12 minute miles and the 5:00 pacer. Well the corrals were only large enough to fit a few hundred people so it was a madhouse. Next time: do bag check and potty break EARLY and go get in the mile markers.

Finally it was time to head off-there's no staggered start. Everyone at once! It took us 8 minutes to get to the start line-we weren't that far back I promise so it felt like so long- and there was stuff everywhere. I think they need to have the open corral next to the time corrals with more space so people can enter and move! Also, a stagger start would be nice too even if it was just a 2-3 minutes.

OFF WE GO! Of course the song playing was "I Love LA".


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Gorgeous sunrise (over the port a potties!)
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Tiny tiny space for open corrals
MY HEADSPACE AT THE START:

Insane is the best way to describe it. Nervous and excited and humbled and honored. I couldn't believe this dream I have had for so long was about to come true and a lot of emotions were going through my head but I needed to focus and get ready for the journey. Because it was going to be a doozy.

I decided to do a 2 minute run:30 second walk as long as I could and then half the intervals until I felt better.

I rarely talk about time because as I have always said-"it's not about the time, it's about the finish line". This is so true at rundisney events because I will never run one for time.

My goals going into this race were a sub 5 hour marathon or as Mari has said- 4:59:59. But when the weather-which is normally an average of 60 in Santa Monica in march- was released and supposed to be 60 at the start and 82 at the finish, I knew that was not going to happen. So I switched my goal to below 5:30.

I know Jeff Galloway suggests going 45-60 seconds slower for every 10 degrees over 65, I had trained so hard and wanted to try my best.

I knew hydration would be the key and knew Gatorade would be the key as well. So off I went with 25,000 other people to achieve my goal of becoming a marathoner.


Want to hear more? Look for part 2 tomorrow where I talk about the race, the aftermath and heat and part 3 will I will wrap up (these recaps always end up being so long!)
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Ready to run!
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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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