Check out my recap from the Expo!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Have you ever done a really hilly half?

WHAT MAKES UP CHI RUNNING? 

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

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

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

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


Anyone else follow Chi Running? 

I did the Knott's coaster run 10k as we know I love running through theme parks!

The day before I did the Chi Running clinic and it was fabulous. I learned a lot about running form and decided to implement my top 3 issues: keeping my shoulders relaxed, facilitating a mid foot strike, swinging my arms equally and working on my lean to put less pressure on my calves. (more on this coming soon-I promise!)

The night before we(Me and Mallory of course #julesandmal) went to Devins wine and cheese party for a bit before coming home and have a carb heavy dinner and drinking a lot of water. We got to sleep around 9:45 for a 5am wake up. I woke up feeling fine but the rain was a bit loud. We got dressed and ready pretty quick and headed out around 5:30. 

The weather was pouring on the drive down which means it took us longer to get there-around 6:15. We were able to park right across from the finish and walked over to the start line to get our bibs. We were I our rain coats and hoped the rain would stop. We ended up finding Greg as soon as we walked In and hung out with him for awhile. 

Bib pickup was easy and we were able to put on our shoe chip, bib and use the Porto in about 10 min, I headed to the corral at about 6:55 for a 7:00 AM start. It finally stopped raining but they kept saying they were going to start on time so I was doing quick stretches. Well of course they started about 8 minutes late so I could have went and did a proper warmup. Oh well. 

There were wave starts but no one seems to know how the waves were done. There was 8 waves and I was in wave 2. There was both a 5k and 10k and they started at the same time with the majority of the course the same for the first 2.75 miles. When we started, we were going about an 11 min mile pace which was getting slower as there were puddles everywhere! I knew a PR would be hard so I decided to just take my time in the theme park and then open it up when we split from the 5k.

It was definitely an interesting first mile as there were roosters and chickens everywhere!! The puddles made it hard to maneuver especially when we headed up and down a few tunnels. Most of the time I was able to stay towards the side and do my intervals. Speaking of intervals, I didn't check it before I started so I had to adjust it at one point. I put it on 1:15 run/30 sec run.

The portion in the park was hard to get a rhythm going. It were lots of turns and sharp corners and puddles. I wasn't sure exactly where we were and there were people going all different speeds. On top of that, I was having my tight calf issue from not warming up so I was trying to work through that as well. I was just focusing on my form and trying to take the pressure off my shins. 

I was hoping for some characters out but I didn't see any but other waves did-I'm sad I missed the photo opp as I love Charlie Brown! 

We exited Knotts Berry Farm, got a nice tour of the parking lot before running through an empty Soak City water park and out on city streets. When we split off from the 5k, it completely opened up. I had it set in my mind to have a progression run and try to get faster with every mile. I was able to stick to my intervals and my calves finally felt better. I focused on different elements of my run and it did start to feel effortless. 

(Just incase you know the area, we went down Stanton Ave towards Cresent Ave and turning on Dale Ave. We did an out and back and did another out and back on the entrance to the mall before retracing our steps)

One HUGE mistake was we passed the mile 4 marker and then did a turn and hit the mile 5 marker-what? We did an out n back right by the car and back around to the finish line. Well I figured out, the mile markers should have been switched. I think that is a huge issue. I knew because of my watch but if you didn't know, that could have been difficult thinking you had a bit over a mile when you had two miles.

On the 10k, we had 4 additional water stops. 1 as soon as we left the 5k, 1 by the turn around with the mile marker issue, and one on the out n back by the car which we passed twice. 

As we continued, I kept getting boxed in by people so I had to work to keep my pace. I was really pushing the pace once we passed the correct 5 miles. I saw Greg and then Mallory. I pushed as hard as I could and started to get a cramp-but I was able to work through it. Something I worked on this last mile was speeding up my walk and it definitely made a difference. 

As we turned the corner we were there, I realized I hit about an hour which isn't bad considering how slow I went in the first 3 miles.

FINAL TIME: 1:00:22
SPLIT TIMES: 10:53 (+25 sec to adjust my intervals)/10:42/10:26/9:28/9:37/8:56- can you tell where we split off from the 5k and were out of the theme park and puddles? haha

Another thing to mention was my fueling. I have been testing out using UCan and like it so far. This was my first time in a race and I took it about 45 min before we started (I think I need to take it closer to when we start but I had to do what I had to do!). I did not need any fuel at all during the race. It lasts for 45-70 min and it definitely did. I was never lacking fuel and got faster as I went on. 

I got in the crazy line to get pie which was too sweet for me. I went and got some free goodies like Aldi snacks and Suju juice. I got my tshirt and waited for Mallory. We ended up going to Starbucks to get coffee and change, and went to Disneyland for a few hours which was super fun. 

Overall, I had a fun race and definitely think I'm in shape for a PR. I think as I work on my running form and getting stronger, my running should keep improving. I have a half marathon this week with a bit of crazy elevation but I'll of course be trying for a PR. 

I would be up for doing this race again especially if I could somehow figure out how to get into wave 1 or get into the corral sooner so the beginning wouldn't be so slow for me. Also, I am hoping they would not have an issue as big with incorrect mile markers. and hopefully it would not rain right before so puddles wouldnt be a problem. 


Anyone else run a 10k lately? What's your next race? 

After have a jammed packed day at the Expo and crashing hard at 8PM, I was up at 330 and actually felt refreshed. However my legs were a bit stiff which is not surprising. I got dressed, made breakfast and tea, stretched and was off to the bus by 4.
We got on the bus around 4:10 and then had a crazy adventure. The exit to Epcot was closed and the driver was not told another way to go so we went all the way down to the AK exit and had to turn around to come up Osceola parkway. We made it there by 4:30. 

I walked over to check my bag and get in the corrals and got some good stretching in before we were moved up to the start line at 5:10. I chatted with a girl named Madison before we started. One thing was the microphones or the speakers at the front were not working. We could not hear anything which means people were talking through the national anthem. 

We started at 5:31 and the crowd was moving pretty fast. One thing I like about the 10k course is it opens up quickly so I was able to pull over out of the way to do my intervals. My plan was to use 60/30 as it's pretty easy on my body and I knew I was still in recovery from LAM. my plan was to go on feel and not run with pain. Well let's just say, my legs felt better than I thought they would. My first mile was a bit under 11 min, and then my running pace from there was faster. I was having to force myself to walk slower and take more breaks as I needed to save my legs for the half the next day. 
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The course is the same as the WDW 10k with running out towards the Epcot parking entrance and looping back on the road until you hit backstage. From there, you go around the World Showcase and towards the Boardwalk area before entering Epcot and finishing in the parking lot. 

We kept going and passed the video sign playing Disney remix music videos and headed backstage. On the entrance backstage is where the halfway point is. It is interesting to note that this year there was 6 corrals (A-F) instead of 5. When we entered backstage, I heard the fireworks that let off corral E or F (I lost count somewhere in the middle) so as it usually happens, someone wins before everyone has even started!
We enter World Showcase by Norway and hit our second water stop. We passed China, Refreshment Port and Germany. I told a potty break in Germany and took a selfie with spaceship earth and made it to Italy where Jiminy and Pinocchio were waiting! 

We continued around world showcase and I stopped for Cogsworth and Lumiere in France who are just so cute! ​

We continued out of the International Gateway and over to the Boardwalk and I stopped for the Genie outside of ESPN Zone and even got to hear the Usc fight song (#FIGHTON!). We continued around the Boardwalk where I saw the Lizards! We made our way over to yacht club and beach club before heading back into Epcot. ​

Right before the entrance back into Epcot, Queen Sofia was there. We continued backstage and entered Epcot right before Journey into Imagination and continued past The Land and Living Seas before heading towards Spaceship Earth.

I finished in 1:33 (15 min/mile pace). My running miles were: 10:47/10:11/10:33/10:27/10:53/10:31/.2 in 10:12 for a total of 1:05. I added about 28 minutes with my one potty break and photo stops-not too bad! 

I grabbed my stuff and headed straight for the bus. I got back to the room to shower, stretch and relax a bit before grabbing a quick breakfast at the hotel. I got to the bus area and the AK bus pulled up immediately and a private shuttle to AK: score! I Waited for everyone else from the expo and we did the Safari, Everest and got a nice African margarita and tried the new pulled pork grits:YUM! I also got my  beloved iced tea too. 
We then took a taxi over to Disney Springs for the We Run Social meetup, a great round of drinks at Hangar Bar and a bit of shopping. We stopped by Fit2Run and got a free gift:woohoo!
I then headed to Wilderness Lodge to meet up with the BOGP Lizards and had a great meal at Whispering Canyon. A bit too much fun probably as we didn't leave until almost 8 and I didn't get in bed until 9. Oops! 
I definitely had a fabulous day but was on my feet all day so I knew my legs would be a bit tired. I passed out by 9 for a 3:05 wake up call.

Overall, I had a great time at the 10k however I'm not a huge fan of the out and back at the beginning especially because it's dark and not all of my pictures turned out that great. I'm excited to see how the Star Wars 10k turns out as its a completely different course than this course. 
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What's the last 10k you ran? 

We're here! After 9.3, we are ready to tackle 13.1! We got up about 3:40 and left around4:25 to head to the start. We bag checked, used the porto and headed to the corrals. Brian was in B so he pushed towards the front of B and we stayed in the middle of A.
The pre show was basically the same as the past two mornings and I was ready to start. The speeds were all over the place so we tried to stay towards the side to let the faster people through. We did the same thing as the past 2 mornings, up the on ramp down and backstage by the team Disney building. Boba was out so we skipped them to try and get to Chewy quickly. We continued backstage and it wasn't as dark as the night before but still was crowded. We did the entrance into Disneyland with the tease of Main Street, and hit the first water stop. We continued backstage and entered tomorrowland where there were First Order stormtroopers and then over to Matterhorn and we found chewy! He took a break as soon we got in line which gave us about a 10 min wait for Brian. We waited about 3 more min until our picture

We were done with property and out on the streets of Anaheim. As we exited onto Harbor, the finishers were coming in approaching mile 12. So crazy especially since we started the same time in corral A! 
We continue down harbor and the crowd support is amazing! People are lined the streets as well as lots of bands to cheer us on. 
Right before the 10k marker, stopped at the med tent-I has forgotten to put glide on my legs and my sparkle skirt was bothering my legs so I got some cold Vaseline haha. Seriously it was hard to spread. At the Med tent is also where we saw someone try and eat biofreeze! They thought it was a gel! 
We kept going and continued down harbor with more great bands (including a running tunnel of high fives!) and then over to garden grove. It was pretty quiet spectator wise but I was still feeling strong (minus my new chafing situation). Before we knew it, we hit mile 8 and the Clif zone (where the shots were also a bit hard because it was chilly yet humid outside) and then the first set of cosplayers. 
We continued through garden grove and the adorable downtown. They even had Star Wars cars set up which was great! We hit the large set of cosplayers and stopped for awesome pics

We finished in 3:03: 07 (13:59 pace).
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Afterwards, we waited for Mallory to finish before heading back to shower and get ready for the day. I was feeling great-it's amazing how when you sleep enough, how much better the race goes.  The rest of the day was hanging out with the crew, going to the Stormtrooper Crew Meetup and having a fab dinner at Napa Rose before a long drive home. 

This weekend was fabulous and I'm so glad I ran all of the races! I'm also glad I got to run them without WDW marathon weekend right before. Since it will be awhile before I do that again (Goofy 2017 and Dopey 2018) I'm glad I did it at least once. 
My favorite race of the weekend was actually the 5k! The course was super crowded but fun and I loved my costume! 
I'm really looking forward to the Dark Side races in April! They should be a lot of fun and all of the meet ups should be great too!

Anyone else run any of the Star Wars races? Anyone looking forward to Dark Side

FInally time to get this race recap up!!!

I signed up for this race at the LAM back in March which is pretty crazy! I decided to do the Doubleheader Challenge which was a 10k and then a half as I needed to get in 20 miles that day for both a taper for Star Wars half as well as prep for the LAM. Originally the time was supposed to be 4 for the 10k and 6 for the half so I had planned on taking the train down to the expo, over to the race and then back home. In October, the race times were moved to 6 for the 10k and 8 for the half. Since races downtown seem to start late, I decided to get a hotel so I could head back to the hotel and not be on the train so late or have to pay a lot to park. It worked out that Ralph works 2 blocks away so he was game to have a less than 5 min commute to work. 

Since I had Star Wars coming up, I decided to do a Disneyland day to get my walking in instead of running 6 miles the day before and then just rest and relax. The morning of the race,I packed up all of the Christmas stuff, put up my laundry and started getting my things ready to craft for future costumes and relaxed and rolled (I probably should have taken it a bit easier but oh-well: hindsight). We headed down to the hotel at 2 (check in was 3 so I was worried if we went earlier, we would have nowhere to go!) and I got prepped and walked around the hotel. We stayed at the Biltmore which is a very famous hotel in Downtown. The Oscars were started there (in the room where the Expo was!) and so ornately done. 

I waited for Mallory and we went to the Expo to get our bibs and shirts and also ended up buying ProCompression socks for our Ewok costumes. One thing I did not like is I went to the Info table to ask if we would be able to get to our bags in between races as I had food and such I needed to get to and was told, "I don't know. No one has asked that before but I think you can." Mallory also asked about 10k corrals and he said-I don't think so. I feel like an info table should be a bit more informed than they were. 

We went to the room to get ready and relax before grabbing Starbucks (I needed caffeine!) and walking to the race start. We were able to use the real restrooms, check our bags, eat a snack and head to the start with ample time. 
People were very bundled up but I knew it would be pretty warm as it was only 60 when we started. I brought my arm sleeves just incase. 

We started the race about 10 min late, which was annoying as that would mean I would have less time in between races. With the no corrals for the 10k, it was a cluster at the start with all different speeds so I just walked until it opened up which was after about 30 seconds. For this race, I knew it would be hilly but I also knew it went over part of the LAM course so I wanted some practice. Since I had a half after, my goal was to go by feel and make sure my heart rate wasn't too high. I figured I would settle in around an 11 min mile pace and see how I go. I also had the plan to take the hills easy. I would stick to my intervals but also make sure to exert the same power going up the hills, so if it became hard and/or breathing got labored, I would just walk. 

The race basically followed the start of the LA Turkey Trot, up and around the middle of Grand Park and then around to the 2nd street tunnel. The tunnel is where I got insanely hot-I stopped to take off my arm sleeves and felt better right away. We continued down 2nd street to an out and back and then headed towards Sunset where the 10k and 5k split and the 10k course was very uncrowded. Right before the split they were handing out CANS OF REDBULL. Just no-haha. This part was pretty flat. As we headed to Sunset we crossed the freeway (who knows what those people were thinking!) and on Sunset to an out and back that was VERY dark. At one point,I couldn't tell if the people in front of me were moving or not so I slowed down to be safe. Thank goodness for my blinking hat! It slighty glowed so I could see where I was going! We headed over towards Chavez Ravine and had the largest hill of the 10k which as soon as I started, I walked it. It was a steep incline and I didn't want to waste my energy. We continued on and do a nice downhill before heading back up hill and towards the finish. Once we crossed the freeway again, there was our final water stop and I used the porto as I was worried about the time I would have between the races. I had a skirt and flip belt entanglement as it was pretty dark but I got out in less than 2 min. With about a mile to go, we headed back through the 2nd street tunnel and around the middle of the park to the finish line! 
Mile splits: 11:00/11:16/10:55/11:27/10:57/11:39
Running finishing time: 6.29 miles in 1:09:58
Official time: 1:11: 35 (difference was my crazy bathroom break!)

I had about 30 min to regroup. I grabbed all of the food I could, went and got my bag and sat and stretched on the ground. I had water, some protein drink(actually the same one I hated at the Christmas run but this time it was super cold and actually good!), a bag of BBQ chips, and a banana. I met up with Mallory and we chatted in the Porto line. I was cutting it close but I had a feeling this would start late and they did. I got in my corral at 7:58 and felt surprisingly refreshed from my break. However after the National Anthem, we waited. With no info but with a violin quartet playing. Yes you read the correctly, a quartet. Eventually they said it was delayed-ugh i just wanted to be done. There were 4 corrals and I was in the second one and started about 8:20. 

As predicted, the start was crowded but cleared out quickly. I wanted to go fast but knew what was coming so I held back. We headed up a slight hill back through the 2nd st Tunnel and towards Dodger stadium. I knew the big hill from the 10k was coming so I held back and then walked it. We went up and down until we hit the entrance to Dodger stadium and were supposed TO RUN! Like what? At that point, I knew a PR would not be possible and decided to do whatever it would take to feel okay when I finished. That monster of a hill was insane. I've never in my life seen every person walk up a hill in a race until this one. I knew we would be in for it. (It was about 250 foot gain in the span of a few minutes). 

We went around the stadium and got Gatorade and there was a table with boxes so I investigated: boxes of Clif shots just chilling there. I grabbed 2 to make sure I had enough fuel and kept on. We went towards Elysian Park and had a steady climb for a few miles and our reward-gorgeous views of the city and beyond. I stuck to my rule of not exerting too much energy because I knew more hills were coming. 

At mile 5, we hit a downhill and it was amazing! At this point I was close to the 2:30 pacer and heard him say we would hit another hill at Mile 6 and 8. I really just wanted the race to be over, as I was just tired (see, I should have taken it easy that morning!). He was right because after our awesome downhill, we did a down and back on a hill to climb back up. I was starting to feel blah-I know since it was about 9 o'clock that I was hungry so I had the applesauce I packed but knew that wouldn't be enough. The lack of Gatorade on the course was just embarrassing especially with the hills and sadly I didn't pack any salt packets. I was feeling like I did at the NYCM when I realized I was just tired and hungry. After eating I felt better but I never felt great. 

One thing I didn't like about this race was there were no spectators and not a lot of music (I think we passed 2 DJs on the course) and people were just silent. I kept having to turn up my music louder to keep me engaged. 
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We did a slight downhill and then climb back into Dodger stadium (ahh the hills) and then ran down into the field. On the way to the field, there was another Clif station stop (just boxes out again) and Gatorade. Oh and then it started randomly raining! LIKE WHAT?!!?!? Running on the field was great. It was cool to be down there and I can know say I have run on both the Dodger stadium and Angel stadium fields! Afterwards, I knew there were more hills. As we exited, we ran over the first half mile of the LAM course. Even though it wasn't crowded now I knew it would be crowded on race day!

 I ran my final race of the year at the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas race. This is my 4th time running it and I was excited as it has always been a good time. This year they changed the course and also added self-seeding corrals. The bad news is they started the 10k and 5k together so the corrals would be needed and the course would probably be a bit crowded. 

We got up at 6:00, out the door at 6:40 and got down to Santa Monica around 7:00. We parked easy, got ready, had a potty break and went to the start to check out corrals. Devin and I did a quick warmup of 10 min and then hopped in corrals. My corral (9-9:59) was packed and I had to wait on the outside to enter the corral.

The race started on time and I think my corral was wave 4. My goal was to hover around 10 min mile and then negative split. I started well and it was nice to do the Venice Boardwalk first instead of last. Then we did 1 out and back and split from the 5k before the 10k did one large out and back, joined back with the 5k briefly and when they turned to the finish we did one final out and back that was about a mile. The race was basically a reverse of every past year. At the split, I found Devin who was having a rough race. I ran with him for a bit before he sent me on.

The only thing I didn't like was the lack of water stops, I had to run across the course each time as they weren't on any map and were also pretty small. For one of the final water stops I went to get water and some went from a run to the slowest walk ever. Luckily I was far enough back to be able to stop but seriously people! 

When we met up with the 5k, things were definitely congested. They had divided the 5k and 10k and some of the 5k walkers had migrated over which definitely caused a traffic jam as many of them had strollers. I navigated well and was able to get to an open area. As the 5k turned off to finish, the 10k had about a mile left. I kicked it into gear and could tell I probably needed to fuel more. I only took one Clif shot around mile 3 when I usually fuel every 2 miles (I should have known better!) but was trying to match up my fueling with the water stops. As I kept on, it was actually pretty warm since it has been so cold lately (turns out it was the start of another Santa Ana so when we finished it was a big humid and in the 70s when the turkey trot I had done the week before was in the 40s) but I kept on. As we rounded the corner I knew I was pretty close to my PR, if I could just hold on. .5 from the end, I started getting a side stitch and on my walk break I tried to work out. I tried to run again and it came back STRONG. so strong I slowed to a walk. What the heck? Ugh! I knew my PR was gone and after about a minute I felt better to run but not at full force. I finished as strong as I could. The finish line was closer than I envisioned so I probably could have kicked it a bit harder. I crossed in :58:46- 41 seconds after my PR. Boo :( 

To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I wish I could have seen the finish line photos (free race photos but I only had 3 and they were not good haha) because I bet I looked PISSED! I started crying-ugh. I know it's just a race but it's still frustrating to be so close to my goal and have something like a side cramp get in the way. I don't know if I would have been able to PR but it would have been nice to try. And now the 10k is the only distance I didn't PR in 2015 and it's the distance I ran the most. Boo. 

However being more positive, I almost completely did negative splits, I felt pretty comfortable until the end. Every mile was sub-10 and I definitely think I could run a half averaging 9:45 which would put me about 2:07. I definitely need a PR attempt soon. 

They had a ton of food at the finish-so much I went in search of boxes to pack it away. We got water, some nasty protein milk, nestle milk, skinny pop, kettle chips, Sriracha, a banana and more. Yay for snacks post race. We walked around the little expo area while we waited for everyone to finish.  

With the new course, the finish is in another area so we had almost a one mile to the car which was nice because we didn't have traffic getting out and it gave us time to cool down as well. We got back, showered and relaxed for the day drinking mulled wine, eating yummy food and watched Christmas specials. 

The corrals worked well but they definitely need to be expanded. One corral was 7:00-8:59 which is a wide range. My corral 9-9:59 was packed and could have used more of an area. Also, they probably need to split the 10k and 5k. My 5k pace is different than my 10k pace, so people in the area were all over the place time wise. 

The new course is nice but there were multiple times we were running directly into the sun (which is fine just make sure to have your sunglasses and a hat!). In the past, the portions with the sun in our eyes was run the other direction so it wasn't an issue until this year.  There was a lack of water stops. We didn't have a water stop the last 2 miles so next time I would just run with a water bottle to make sure I can fuel correctly. I think the side stitch/cramp was caused from fueling without water and then a lack of water at the end. 

Overall I did enjoy the race and do plan on running it again. Next year I will bring my own water bottle, fuel like I normally do and maybe even wear a hat. Maybe I'll bust out the Christmas solider outfit again?!? 


Has anyone else run a Christmas/holiday themed race lately?  

Star Wars just became the largest grossing movie of all-time in the USA in 20 short days so there is definitely no shortage of nerds. Even better, there are more and more girls that are into nerd culture than ever before. At the same time there has been a rise in nerd culture, there has been a boom in the running culture with girls also leading the way. Rundisney has combined both nerd culture and running with women making up more than 50% of the runners in those races. All of this has inspired my cousein and myself to create a community of girls who love to run and love to nerd out so#nerdgirlsontherun was born.

My cousin Mallory from Bad Wolf Brunch had this idea and has brought me in to launch this! She's a big nerd (she's a member of the 501st!) and we want you to join in too! Mallory is the go to for costumes especially ones that can be run in but also be in theme and I'm the one that has a ton of race Recaps and running knowledge so I''m here to help with troubleshooting running concerns. Make sure to check out #julesandmal for our crazy antics.

Race day is soon!  All the Star Wars: Light Side Info is here!

Start off with the Event guide. Here you will find all of the information on the courses, hours, and also tips and tricks for the races. 

Once you have reviewed the Event Guide, make sure to get your waivers here!! You will need to download all waivers, print them and bring them to the Expo with your ID to get your bibs. If you are doing Rebel Challenge, make sure to get your picture taken before you head upstairs to get your shirt!

To get your bib number, it will be in the bottom right hand corner of the waiver along with your t-shirt size. You can then match it up to the corral listings below. Make sure you are looking at the right chart or you will be very confused!
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Also,  check out the igiftbag! Make sure to get the free bookmark coupon from Lasting Commeratives. There are also many coupons for Havaianas, Dr. Cool, Champion, Apex, Fit2Run, MarathonFoto, Fond Memories Graphics, ESPN Zone, SMS Audio and more. These igiftbags are very similar from race to race but there are still some good tips and things to check out.  

One last thing, make sure to sign up for Runner Tracking. You can use this link here or just text swhm [bib number] to 72147 . I track myself so I know my projected finishing time along with tracking my friends for the same reason. 


So let's hop into reviewing the courses. 

This 5k course is mostly in the parks and it looks like we turn by the cast member building, head backstage and into the park by mile 1. This will be my first Disneyland 5k and I am excited to see how it differs from the WDW one. 

The start is very similar to the 5k (much like the half last year), it looks like we get into the park after mile 1.5 (I am worried the backstage will be crowded!), and then spend time in Disneyland before heading backstage and going into DCA around mile 4.5 before staying there for a bit and heading out through Downtown Disney. If you are planing to walk through DTD after the race, know it will be crowded so be prepared!

We will head through the same start before going through the parks and exiting around mile 4.5. We will do a large out and back through Anaheim and Garden Grove before heading back up Harbor and towards the finish! I am fully expecting the first place finishers to be heading as I am heading in. 

5k and 10k corrals-you will need to wait until the Expo to see what corral you are in. Here are the links to last years 10k corral to give you an idea (but may not match up!). You will need to change the number on the 10k as the bibs start with different number this year.

The corrals are definitely interesting for sure. Sub 2:21 for corral A? i think the course will be congested and the character lines long (2500 people in that corral alone!) so I will need to get into corral A early so I can start towards the middle of the pack. I think with the backstage start, it will be crowded because it will be narrow. We will see though! Honestly, the cosplayers were so epic last year, that we may skip some of the character lines in favor of that. Since I am running all 3 races, I am assuming many of the characters will be across all 3 courses, so I want to at least get one stop at all of those. 

I am VERY excited for this. I am excited to see who they have out on the course and I cant wait to see if any new characters appear (like Black Widow and Hawkeye did for Avengers last year). If Rey and Finn and Poe are out-I will freak out!! 

Anyone else running Star Wars? 

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. Finally time to get my Avengers Half recap-my final race of the year! 

After running the Inaugural Captain America 10k the day before, we were up around 345/4. I got about 7.5 hours of sleep and felt great! We got dressed and headed out the door around 430. We went through the same security, did bag check, and headed to pee and headed to the corrals. 

We stayed to the back of the corral and we all really enjoyed it. We did slow intervals and basically had the road open to ourselves which was awesome since we head backstage quickly. 

This course was slightly modified from last year so much like the DL half course, we started and then headed backstage within 3 minutes and into California adventure. We stopped for Black Widow right after exiting Carsland. There is really something to running through Carsland when it's dark it is all lit up. As we waited in line, we saw the front of corral B come through. 

We continued towards the front of DCA down buena vista street and stopped for a picture with Hawkeye not too far passed the first mile marker. He appreciated our costumes! We were dressed as hawkeye, kate who is Hawkeyes' work wife (which is appropriate as Devin and I are running husband/wife) and Hawkeyes dog Lucky. ​

We headed through the esplanade and into Disneyland! We had our first water stop and continued down Main Street for an adorable pic in front of the castle. This is one of the only courses that does not run through the castle which is a bummer. 
We headed into Frontierland and stopped for a pic with captain before heading through the big thunder trail (RIP-it's our last time running there!) and over through fantasyland to stop for our final photo stop for Thor in fantasyland next to teacups

We passed the mile 2 marker around this time and it was at 50:00. LOL we had a 30 min mile with the 3 photo stops and potty break. Our goal was to see how close to 3 hours we could get. 

This is where things got interesting as that is A LOT of out of the parktime. Once we headed out of the park down Harbor everything opened up which was nice. We stuck to our intervals and felt good. We turned off harbor and all I could remember was how windy the course was last year. We headed to the Santa Ana trail and that's where things got crazy.
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There was this weird roundabout to get on the trail and then it was SO narrow for about two miles with up and down hills. I saw people fall hard because they were trying to get around. Now we know from stopping for all of the pics, we ended up with people that run a slower pace than us but that wasn't the issue. The issue was it was only 2-3 people across which is way too narrow. 

In the middle of the crazy few miles, were the cosplayers who were awesome as always! They always lift spirits! 
We finally cleared up by the stadium where we got our Clif shot and headed into the stadium. The field was filled with bands and it was great. We headed out of the stadium and back towards the DL resort. 

Outside of the stadium we're really military people cheering US on which is just incredible. On the other side was the world war reenacters both military and medical. There was even a swing dancing floor set up which was incredible to see. 

After we left the stadium was where we were in new territory. We were going over the overpass and headed into a new area and through the cast member and toy story lot. I wonder if they are tested out new parts to make up for all of the backstage running we won't be able to do starting in January. 

One other thing that sucked was they didn't have biofreeze and my knee was randomly acting up(I mean, let's be real: 1 5k, 1 10k, 1 6.7ish,almost a half and a full marathon, plus 10 theme park days for approximately 52.1 racing miles + countless others. Is it a surprise my knee was a bit weird? NO haha). I found a medical guy on a bike that helped!

With this new route, we took a Porto stop in the Pongo parking lot (next to toy story lot off of Harbor) and headed back to the resort. We went down Harbor Blvd and headed through the bus depot (people were very confused heading into the park to see all of these people running) and backstage of DCA. Brian was starting to struggle a bit so we kept our intervals with some extra encouragement. We headed backstage and towards the Simba parking lot-almost done! Through the pathway and DONE! Finished in 3:10:17 (14:31 min/mile). 

We wrapped up quickly and headed back to the hotel. For once we didn't make reservations and instead headed to DCA for stir fry which was nice. We then took some pics including my epic rundisney medal pic before, rode Hyperspace Mountain and headed home. ​

Overall, I had a fabulous race weekend-the weather was nice, I had a great time with my friends and the character interactions were awesome. More character stops are needed on the course though-even though the theme is Avengers, it is okay to have other people out and other characters do have superhero outfits that would technically fit.  I am not sure how long this race will stay around, but for now, I will enjoy the Infinity Gauntlet. 

What was everyone else's thought on the Infinity Gauntlet challenge? Anyone have an interest in running an Avengers themed race?