My Holiday Recap (Part 1)

Hellllooooo out there!!!

My apologies if my blogging is a bit spastic the past weeks. It was a busy (and fun) holiday for my husband and me.  I’ve barely had time to check my email and Facebook. This is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and relax and man, it feels amazing!

First things first, I hope that your Christmas and New Years were filled with happiness and blessings.

I feel very blessed this year to have had such a great Christmas and New Year spent with family, friends and so.much.food (c/o of my husband’s dad, Thank you Papa for cooking!). It went by way too fast, as always, but was memorable and really, really fun!

So, what happened to me? 🙂

After a little blogging hiatus here’s a quick run down of how my family and I spent the holidays! I have to divide it in parts or this post would be too long.

I knew that it was going to be hectic once my family gets here so I had to post a schedule of our itineraries on our fridge so that everyone could just refer to this and be prepared of our everyday planned activities.

Dec 21 (Friday): Arrival of my family (my dad, mom, sister and brother) from the Philippines!!! 🙂

At the Detroit Airport, we received a call from my mom that they missed their connecting flight to Ohio (what?!). It was hectic at the airport and it took a while for them to transfer and check-in their luggage for their connecting flight. They were able to fix their flight but due to high volume of passengers (holiday rush!), they had to fly to Ohio at separate times. It’s all good as long as they all arrive safe and sound.

First to arrive were my dad and my brother, then few hours later, my mom and sister. 🙂

FAMILY!

Reunited with my siblings!

at the airport parking lot

It really feels so good to be reunited with loved ones. I knew from that day on that it’s going to be a happy Christmas for us! 🙂

Dec 22 (Saturday): We hit the slopes the next day at Perfect North Slopes. Yup, already! No day should be wasted, right?!. 🙂

We don’t get snow in the Philippines and one of the many things my siblings were looking forward to for their Christmas vacation here in the US was to learn how to snowboard!

My husband and I became snowboarding instructors for a day. My husband and I divided the task by teaching them separately. I was in charged of my sister while him with my brother. That way we can focus on each of them. Once they learned the basics, we can all go together and teach them more other stuff as we go through the day.

I have to say, my sister and brother learned it pretty fast.  Compared to me when I was learning it, I was struggling. LOL! I am so proud of them for being quick learners.  I am very proud too of myself and my husband for doing a good job teaching them. 🙂

You guys have to see how much they have improved the second time we went snowboarding. I will have to share that on my next post.

It was a fun day for all of us! It was great first two days with my family!

More to come! I promise! Stay tuned!

PV.Body Review Package #3 – Pv.Body Ambassador! :)

Hello everyone! 🙂

How’s your December so far?!  I hope everything is going well and you are all done with the Christmas Shopping.

Are you still thinking of what to get for your runner friends and family? Head over to this post: Gift Ideas For Runners to help you find great ideas on what to give them.

My husband and I have done our very best to find the best gifts for our friends and family. My family from the Philippines will arrive tomorrow afternoon. I can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with them. For sure it’s going to be a busy holiday for us! 🙂

Last Tuesday, my December package from pv.body arrived on our doorstep!!! 🙂 If you haven’t heard of this rave yet, it’s basically a subscription of high-end workout clothes like Lululemon, Lorna Jane, Nike, American Apparel… etc. You receive a top and a bottom each month for a very low price ($49.95/month). Head over to my previous posts to see what I have received so far from this super awesome company. I have already received three orders from pv.body (I signed up last October) and I love all of them!

I am so thrilled and ecstatic to share with you guys that I just recently became a Pv.Body Ambassador. That means, I can give my readers, followers, friends, family, all of you guys a 20% off when you sign up through my link: (http://pvbody.com/try/athleteinme). 

This month, they are doing give aways everyday until the 24th. You are automatically entered when you sign up through my link to win their prizes. Check out their Facebook page to see what prizes they have each day.

Ok, so let’s do the math again. When you sign up for this month through my link, you will get:

*TOP + BOTTOM + FREE 2nd TOP + a chance to win a prize

*Subtotal: $ 49.95

*Discount: 20% (when you sign up through my link)

*Shipping: always FREE

*Total: $39.94 – sweet deal!

So, let’s go back to my pretty pink package I received this month.

My outfits were nicely wrapped in pink and white tissue paper! I felt like opening a present! 🙂

I got a pretty sky blue long sleeves top from Colosseum (never heard of this brand before), original retail price $34.00.

It has a nice print on it that makes it different among other workout clothes I own. The best part of it are the thumb holes! 🙂

Definitely a thumbs up for these! 🙂

For the bottom, I got these low-rise capris from NUX. Original retail price on their website, $65.

These capris are very soft with a wide waistband (which I like!) and rouching at the bottom (cute!).

I’m not really a fan of low-rise leggings. They give me an instant “muffin top”! I could wear low-rise pants/leggings if I find some that aren’t too tight but then it would slide down when you’re running. I usually go for mid-rise for pants/leggings. I considered sending them back but after walking and lounging around the house in them, I realized they’re very comfortable and perfect for running because they don’t slide down.

The top is a bit thin and see-through so, I’d wear something inside or use it as a cover up. The black tank top from my November package would be perfect underneath it! I can’t wait to wear them on yoga class this weekend. 🙂

The fabric is soft and light and I totally dig the thumb holes.Overall, I love my December package! My experience with them so far is great and I’m so happy to be part of their company as an ambassador.

So if you’re interested in trying pv.body, my link will give you 20% off when you sign up. This is the perfect gift you can give to yourself this Christmas. 🙂

That’s it for now, it’s been gloomy and rainy the past few days here in Ohio. I’m dreaming of a White Christmas and I hope all the rain we’re getting here will turn into snow (like the snow effect on my blog). 🙂

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! 🙂

Gift Ideas For Runners

A friend from med school asked me the other day for Christmas gift ideas for her husband. Apparently, her husband had just recently started running and she thought it’s best to seek help from me. 🙂

What gifts did you get for the fitness fanatics in your life?

To those who have not shopped yet for the runners in your life, here’s a list of my favorites. I thought of sharing this because it may benefit someone and make their last-minute shopping easy. 🙂

1.) Socks Socks Socks! – In my opinion, runners can never have enough socks! 🙂 I love this brand Icebreaker for socks, but the Champion socks at Target are good too. They’re really good athletic socks for a cheap price.

2.) Ipod Shuffle – If the runner on your gift list loves listening to music while running he or she will love this itsy bitsy tiny iPod shuffle. It so small but has enough storage space for lots of songs. Available in fun colors too.

I ordered mine at Apple.com. I love it because it’s not bulky and it features a clip on the back, so you can clip it anywhere on your clothing and not have to worry about holding it in your hand or carrying the big ones in an armband or running belt. I also had it personalized for free! 🙂 It’s reasonably priced that will make you want to add iTunes Gift Card with it. 🙂

3.) Garmin Watch – You can go from the basic Forerunner 10 – for any runner who just wants to press a button and run or, for the most expensive Forerunner 910 – more advanced and errrr complicated (that’s just me! lol!) watch. I have the Forerunner 210 and I love it! As long as it gives me final time, mile splits, pace, and distance – that’s it! I’m good to go! 🙂

4.) Visor/Cap – In hot summer days, I like visors more (more than caps) because they allow your head to breath. You can go for the more common black or white color or you can ask your runner what colors of running clothes they have to give you an idea of what color to get.5.) Medal Hangers – You can order them from here – www.medalhangers.com/. You can customize and personalize them too. This is something you can give to those who have done many races.  I don’t have that much medal yet but I plan on getting this for myself soon! 🙂 This is a nice way to display my hard-earned bling!

6.) A  good headband for the runner girls in your life – Sweaty Bands – my favorite company. Not only they have super cute designs, they don’t slide from my head. They’re the only headband I wear. I actually bought one again just recently to wear for snowboarding! 🙂

I suggest finding out what your runner’s favorite color is. Throw in some hair ties too! They will definitely love you for that. Every girl, runner or not, loves cute hair accessories!

Click this link to get 5% off from SweatyBands.com! 🙂

7.) Jewelry – Speaking of accessories, you can give them something from this website too – Inspiredendurance.com. They have a lot of cute jewelry that you can customize according to what kind of race they do. It’s so cool! 🙂 The running necklaces, charms and earrings are so cute.

8.) Running Store Gift Cards or Gift Certificates – You can never go wrong with this. This shows your support for their passion to run. It also gives them the opportunity to shop for what they need along the way. Oh, trust me! Every runner wants something in a running store. Just ask for their favorite running store and for sure, you will make any runner smile with any amount you give! They can get anything from gu gels, energy bars, clothing, to the most expensive running shoes! They’re choice and they’re happy! 🙂

So, there you have it – a breakdown of my gift ideas for runners. I hope that helps generate some gift ideas for the runners in your life.

To the runners out there, what are in your wish list? Let’s keep the ideas flowing and share them in comments below!

3rd Half, Done! – Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Recap

My apologies that it took me a while to update you guys about my recent half marathon race. I wanted to wait for the official photos from the race to come out so I can add it here and share them to you guys. I am a little “O.C.” like that. 😛

Days have gone by after the race and I still have the “runner’s high”. It was such an amazing experience. Not bad for my first “out-of-state” race. It was also my first time to do a race with family. My aunt and uncle did the full marathon.

They’ve been running for years already. My husband and I got the idea of running from them. Every time we visit them in Indiana, they would always invite us to go for a run early in the morning. At first I thought that was crazy but now we’re hooked! Ever since I started running, I have felt good about myself physically and mentally. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t know that feeling. So, thank you! 🙂

Going back to Saturday’s Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon, due to the unexpected cancellation of the NYC Marathon, the runners who were supposed to run that race signed up for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon the last minute.

Source: wishtv.com

Source: wrtv6.com

The weather for that morning called for cool temperatures (low 30s – brrr) and few scattered showers. Although they say that’s a good weather for running, it seemed a little cold for me.

The race started at 8:00am. We got to the place a little early. It was still dark outside and  freezing cold. We waited inside this building where it was nice and warm.

We started heading out to the starting line about 15 minutes before the start.

I hugged my uncle and aunt as I wished them luck and bid them goodbye. I know I wouldn’t be able to keep up with their pace during the first few miles. They’re fast! 😛

At the start of the race, many runners were bundled up with layers of clothes that they could throw away when they felt hot. As I ran through the starting line, clothes were being shed and thrown in the air left and right to the side. My only hope for that moment was not to get hit in the face with a stranger’s pants. LOL!

Honestly, I didn’t prepare for this race as much as I did for my first half (Flying Pig). I didn’t follow any training schedule of some sort and just did my regular usual runs. So, during the race, I thought of it as one of those long runs I do on weekends. I just wanted to enjoy this experience and not worry too much about setting a goal time; although, I’d love to beat my first half marathon time which was 2:39. Under 2:30 would be great! I have to say – Mission Accomplished! I finished in 2:29. 🙂

Downtown Indy was so gorgeous as the sun rose up. I barely realized the miles that have gone by because I was too occupied with the beautiful surroundings.

The spectators did a good job with their signs and posters. They were hilarious! These were the signs I saw:

“Go get those Kenyans!”

“Worst parade ever!”

“You guys are crazy, I’m lazy”

“I thought you said 2.62 miles”

Thank you spectators for giving us a good laugh during the course.

I found this one way to entertain myself during races:  I wave at TV cameras. LOL! I actually saw myself in one of the news channel (RTV6 Indy) on TV that night. Unfortunately, I can’t find a clip of that on their website. It sucks, that I have no proof to show you guys of my few seconds of fame. LOL!

I took See Sean Run’s advice to run it in 3-mile chunks. I thought that was a good strategy  since I know I can run a 5k in 30 minutes (with a little effort). Also, that way, it would be like just running a bunch of 5ks rather than thinking of it as 13.1 miles which would seem long. Thank you Sean for the advice. It worked for me for the first two 3 miles. I ran 6 miles in 1 hour 8 minutes.

For my next 3 miles, I thought of slowing down a bit or else I would collapse at the finish line. I wanted to finish strong with still a smile on my face. As I crossed the 10k mark, I started to run at my comfortable “slow” pace. 🙂

At mile 7, the course split and we bid our goodbyes to the full marathoners. I got so inspired by them. I told myself, in time, I will run in that other side of the course too. 🙂

I finished miles 7,8 through 9 a little over 35 minutes. And through mile 10, 11 and 12, I started to increase my pace a bit. I could already tell I was going to finish it under 2:30 and most importantly with a happy face.

There were more spectators as we went through our last few miles. Their cheers were very motivating that I started passing runners who had passed me earlier. Then it started to sleet. Good thing I had a cap on to protect my face or else it would be painful to run in the sleet. I heard people behind me screaming “ouch!”

It’s always those last few miles I find the hardest. You know you’re almost there but the anticipation just kills me.

The moment we turned left at this last street and saw the big finish line, I felt relieved! As I got closer, I saw my husband with his distinctive spiky hair right there in the middle waiting for me.

I gave my husband a big hug right after crossing the finish line. I thanked him for patiently waiting for me in the cold and sleet. I appreciate all his endless support in everything I do. I was all smiles as I received my medal. I was telling my husband how great I felt as I snatched my goodies and food from the volunteers.

Then my proud husband posted this on his facebook. He’s so sweet!

A preview of the half marathon finisher’s medal

Source: http://monumentalmarathon.com/

My aunt finished her marathon in 4:17! SHE IS FAST!

And soon after a few minutes my uncle finished.

We met our goals and went home very happy and satisfied!

…And so was my crazy husband! LOL!

Thank you to the race organizers for a doing a good job. Despite the bad weather it was still a very successful and wonderful event.

*** P.S. To those who participated in this race, my husband took incredible pictures that day. If you see yourself, feel free to tag yourself. Head over to this link for the photos.

Indiana Bound Today!

Happy Friday everyone! 🙂

I’m super excited! I am headed to Indy today with my husband to spend an evening with my family before the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon tomorrow morning.

I will be doing the half while my aunt and uncle will do the full marathon. My husband has been dealing with ankle pains lately so he decided to skip this race and rest his feet so he’ll be injury-free come snowboarding season! So, for tomorrow, I requested him to make banners for me and act as my avid fan. LOL! He’ll be with our cousins cheering for us! 🙂

It was packet pick up yesterday and my aunt was the one who picked up my stuff. I am anxious and curious to see what we have in our packets. Every race, I always look forward to packet pick-ups and expos. I get excited to see what the technical shirt and the other freebies included in our packets. I can’t wait to get them from my aunt later!

I got even more excited when they sent us a preview of the finisher’s medal in our emails. I love love love it! I can’t wait to hang it around my neck!

source: https://www.facebook.com/MonumentalMarathon?fref=ts

Winter season is coming and this would probably be my last race for this year. But I plan to continue training & running during the winter along with snowboarding with my husband. He is itching to go hit the slopes!

Yesterday was “Girls Night Out” at my favorite running store. Meaning they put all their women’s apparels on SALE & do special promos and raffles for the girls. 🙂 They do this event twice a year, one in the summer and one in the fall. I went there last summer and I scored really great deals on my running gear. 🙂 So, I made sure not to miss this one yesterday.

Here are the goodies I got from the running store.

I got everything at a discounted price! So happy!

• Lole Fall Yoga Pants – I love it! So comfortable!
• BrooksRunning Cap – no more borrowing cap from hubby, finally got mine!
• Moving Comfort Sports Bra – I love this brand! They’re so comfortable! First time to get the colored ones 🙂
• Lole non-slip headband, beanie, running magazine – FREE!!!!! 🙂 And I love them!!!
• BrooksRunning Pants – my favorite purchase!

Brooks Women’s Utopia Thermal Pant

This is my best purchase so far. I am forever cold. Even with multiple layers my legs get really cold. I’ve asked several people and did research about what kind of material you have to wear to stay warm when you do your outdoor sports. They said that you have to invest in winter clothes with the right kind of material or fabric (polyester). Since these pants are on the pricey side, I grabbed the opportunity from yesterday’s event to buy them at a discounted price! 🙂

I love them! They are so comfortable and light! I wore them around the house when I got home. I never removed them and wore them to sleep. 🙂 I was warm the whole night. When I woke up this morning, I tried to run in them outside in 30 degrees temp just to see what it feels like. I just ran back and forth on our street since I’m saving my energy for tomorrow’s race. 🙂 I felt warm! I think this will be good too even below 30s. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about layering on my bottoms because these pants will be just enough. Maybe the only time I’d wear an underlayer when the temp gets to 10 degrees and below. I am planning to use them too under my snowpants for snowboarding. I love BrooksRunning and will forever be a Brooks fan! I plan on buying another pair again but I will have wait for the SALE. 🙂 LOL! I am so ready to run in the winter cold! 🙂

Before I end my post I’d like to say… Goodluck to everyone running the NYC Marathon this coming weekend too!

***UPDATE (7:06pm): Oops! I just learned that it was cancelled.

I saw these pictures online and I just love how dedicated (and slightly crazy) the runners are with their training despite Hurricane Sandy.

Source: http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/hurricane-sandy-runners/

Runners are really a different breed, aren’t we? We are so devoted that nothing, not even a hurricane or “some” wind interrupt us from our training schedule. LOL! 🙂

Source: http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/hurricane-sandy-runners/

I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw this on the news. It’s nice too see runners get featured on CNN. Sometimes, you gotta have some good laugh in times of troubles. It’s good for the heart and soul.

That’s it! I’ll catch up again with you guys for my half marathon update!

Have a great weekend ahead! Stay safe!

Thankful for October

Oh I love this month of October! I cannot believe two weeks have already gone by. Some months may have been better for others but I have to say, October is definitely treating me fabulously well. So far, so good! 🙂

Here’s a list why I am loving this month of October.

1.) Grill Upgrade!

My husband loves to grill! He’s from Texas and he loves meat! We used to have this small charcoal grill from Wal-Mart but he got tired of how slow the charcoal would heat up and how much time it takes to cook food.

Then we bought a small gas grill.

The small gas grill was fine for the two of us but it’s difficult when we have guests and family coming over our place. Trying to squeeze chicken breasts, corn on the cob and veggies onto a small grill at the same time was impossible. Since we are just renting our place for now, we never really thought of getting those big grillers. We try to control ourselves from buying stuff for the house because we know we are still moving out. Then one day, we thought, whatever, we’ll just have to deal with that when the day comes. Plus his Texan friends were already making fun of him when he posted that pic above on facebook. LOL

We finally thought about getting a big grill!

Hello, beautiful!

So excited to have the new “real” grill! LOL! I am excited to no longer be boiling hot dogs and baking chicken all the time! 🙂 And I’m so happy that it’s not just me who’s cooking in this house. When this new grill came, my husband was the one who prepared and cooked dinner for the past week while I stay inside and wait. Two thumbs up for that! LOL! To all wives out there – *hint *hint! This is an effective way to put your husbands in charge of the cooking (*evil laugh*).

He loves his new grill so much! We invited our friends to come over for dinner to break it in. It was so convenient. I am so amazed how all the meats & veggies cooked together quickly. It was fun!

2.) Our First Cook Books!

I have never really bought cook books in my life. I have some cook books that were gifts that I have never really read properly or tried out any of the recipes. This is actually the first time my husband and I bought cook books for ourselves. Since he’s raving about his new grill, he searched for good grill cook books online (amazon.com). He also got me one of those slow cooker cook books. Wait, why did he buy me that? I thought with the new grill, I’d be able to skip cooking, I guess not. Lol.

3.) REI Store! YAY!

My husband and I love REI Store!

REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) is a national retailer that sells outdoor gear and clothing. It is where we usually get our snowboarding gears and other outdoor stuff. We used to shop and order through their website (www.rei.com) and I’m so excited that they just recently opened a new branch here in Cincinnati (Rookwood Commons). For me, this is the best outdoor store anywhere!

So last weekend, we went to visit the new store.

My goodies from the store. 🙂 More workout clothes from Brooks Running!

I’ve always been curious to know how it feels like running with this.

4.) We Are Snowboard Season Ready!

Yes, we are! 🙂 I know a lot of you are dreading the cold weather, but we can’t wait to hit the slopes this year! I am also excited because my family from the Philippines are coming over to spend Christmas with us. Relatives and cousins from Canada are coming over too. It will be fun! My younger sister and brother from the Philippines would like to try snowboarding. So, in preparation for their arrival, my husband bought a roof rack for our snowboards. He ordered them at REI.com and bought some parts at the store last weekend.

He was so excited about it. I woke up one morning and was surprise to find him busy fixing it.

He woke up so early just to install the roof rack onto his car.

And the final product!

5.) New Running Shoes 🙂

I don’t know when to really replace running shoes but I’m already feeling discomfort with my old one. My husband thinks his running shoes are not the best kind for him. He’s been dealing with ankle pains with his shoes. They say your running shoes lose shock absorption, cushioning and stability over time which causes pain and injuries. So, with all the pain and discomfort we’re feeling, we finally decided to get new pairs of running shoes.

My husband went from Brooks Adrenaline GTS12 to Newtons Sir Isaac

He’s been running with midfoot strike so his transition to Newtons was good.

I, on the other hand, who’s still heel striking but would like to transition to a midfoot runner. I went from Brooks Pure Cadence (which I really really love) to Newtons Lady Isaac S.

I did a 3-mile test run on this shoe, it didn’t feel right on my feet. It felt a little bulky for me. I went back to the store to return the shoes and they recommended the Newtons Distance U for me instead.

This definitely feels a lot better than the Isaac. It is close to the feel of my PureCadence. It’s very light and very comfortable. I did a test run yesterday and I felt my calves get a little sore as well as my shins. They said this is common when you are transitioning to this kind of shoes since a midfoot strike engages the calf muscles. It would take time for me to learn the proper running form but I know it’s going to be worth it. Learning the proper way to run prevents me from injuries and knee pains. I’d probably still wear my old running shoes for my next half marathon race (Indianapolis Monumental Marathon) which is already in two weeks. After that, I will concentrate more with these shoes and my running form.

By the way, I’m still a Brooks fan. I still love Brooks Running. It’s my first love. 🙂

6.) Someone’s Getting A Year Older In a Few Weeks

That’s me!

I’ll be turning the big 3-0 on the 26th. It’s the end of my 20s! I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

I still get mistaken for being in my teens or early 20s, so I’ve never really felt my age. Just last weekend, after we visited REI store, my husband and I ate dinner at a restaurant. I ordered a mojito and the server asked for my ID. When I handed him my drivers license, he gave me this weird -“really-you’re-29”-look. It’s flattering but sometimes a bit embarrasing.

But, I’m kind of excited for my birthday. I get a lot of freebies from restaurants and stores. I get free meals in Red Lobster, ice cream in Cold Stone, burger from Arby’s, coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks… etc. 🙂 One of my favorites are the ones I get from Sephora.

Every year, they never fail to give me awesome birthday gifts. 🙂 I always look forward to getting their card in the mail. I can’t wait to claim this at the store.

It’s been amazing to look back and remember the days when I was still in my early 20s- the love, laughter, sadness, and life it gave me.  I had a wonderful and beautiful 20s. It was the years that I really ventured out and made decisions for myself. And now, I’m given another year of life to live. I’m grateful for another birthday.  I have sooo many things to be thankful for, I don’t even know where to begin.

I am thankful for nine years of friendship and three of those being married to the best man on this earth. I love this man!

I am thankful for my family, who have always been there for me.
I am thankful for good health.

I’m thankful for three awesome years of living here in the US. It sure was difficult to adjust with the culture difference but it was one exciting adventure!

Thankful for awesome neighbors, my husband’s friends from work, my friends from the Philippines, and my new friends here in the U.S. We have so many!

Thankful for nature! I am so refreshed and revived when I get into God’s creation during my trail runs.

Thankful for simple pleasures like food, water, …coffee. It’s the simple things in life and sometimes I forget that.

So long for now 20s. Thanks for all the memories! Here’s to my 30s and many more years to come, God willing. Cheers!

Trail Half Marathon Update

Yesterday, my husband and I did the White Tail Trail Half Marathon. This was basically my second half marathon, but this time on trails. I never thought I would squeeze in a trail half marathon before my Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon in November, which would be my third then! 🙂

Well, the trail run yesterday was a lot of fun. It was brutal, but fun! 🙂 My husband and I ran a few miles on that trail a couple of weeks before the race. But we didn’t get to check out other parts of the trail after that. Check out my blog post about it here.

I didn’t know there were so many hills in the entire 13-mile loop. The other parts have more hills, more obstacles and more river crossings. During the race, there were times that you had to make a complete stop in order to jump over big logs or go under tree branches. I was surprised and that race was definitely a challenge for me. Miles 6-12 was crucial. That’s where all the crrrazy hills were. I thought to myself, this was like Mud-stash 21k! LOL! Since there’s no way to exit from the trail if you decide to give up, you really have to do the whole thing in order to get out. It’s like you have no choice but to finish! But no, I wasn’t thinking of giving up. I just had that random thought in my mind while I was running the course. LOL! Don’t you have crazy random thoughts too when running? 🙂

Here’s me, ready to leave our house. It was chilly that morning before the race. Low 50s High of 71.

The race started at 9am. We got to the parking lot around 8:15am. I had to leave my jacket in the car because I knew I would get hot when I start running. So here I am, freezing.

We were transported from the parking lot to the start line by those school buses.

Me, freezing while waiting to get on the bus.

I normally run on trails on weekends but I have never ran longer than 8 miles on a trail. I think running on trails is way harder than running on paved roads. Your body gets more worked out when you run on trails. During the race, at mile 11, I was already starting to feel tired. I was already pushing myself to run but I could only do few minutes and then walk to take a break and catch my breath. And I did that through mile 12. And yes, there were still hills during those times. The moment I saw those bright orange flags at the finish line, that was when I really pushed myself to run. I just wanted to finish!

I finished in 3 hours and 3 minutes. I thought that was not bad at all considering it was my first race on a crazy hilly trail. This extreme adventure is worth taking. This is one of the best ‘firsts’ that I have ever engaged myself in. It wouldn’t be my last, either. 🙂 I am still considering doing a race on a trail in the future. But I realized that running on trails needs a lot of skill and training. I need to do longer runs on trails for my training from now on, and I will be back next time, more prepared, with my battle face on!

Our medals! 🙂

My husband and I spent a few minutes lying on the grass after the race to relax and rest. I felt cold after running and the warmth of the sun was just a nice feeling.

What better way to do after the race than to eat good food! So, my husband and I decided to go to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant and splurged on Chicken Tikka Masala, Goat Biryani, and Garlic Naan. I was so hungry and seemed like that was one of my best meal ever!

So, this is our faces when we are hungry

I get really cranky and my husband gets crazy when we’re hungry.

…and here’s my face when the food arrived! 🙂 LOL!

That’s it for now!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 🙂

One Race At a Time

We have another race coming up… and it’s tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow! I know, it’s insane. It’s been week after week for my husband and me for these races. And we are loving it! 🙂 Fall weather is the perfect time for all these running events and we are definitely grabbing every opportunity we can get before winter season.

So tomorrow, we are running a trail half marathon. It’s called White Tail Trail Half Marathon. I’ve already mentioned about joining this race in my previous post – Get Off the Road. Go Nature! and it’s the same trail that we are running for tomorrow.

Source: http://ohiorunning.com/WTTMarathon/

A while ago was packet pick -up and here are our goodies! 🙂

I love the color of our technical shirt. It’s unique. I don’t think I’ve ever owned an orange shirt before. I like it! We also got Body Glide samples and bought some seamless socks from our giveaway coupons. 🙂

It’s going to be exciting for us, because for one, it’s again something different, other than the usual road races, and second, I love running in trails and being connected with nature. Oh, the scenery will be gorgeous tomorrow, for sure! Since it’s fall season, the changing colors of the trees and the view of the Ceasar Creek Lake will be at sight! It’s going to be beautiful and I am excited to see it! I love running with beautiful scenery other than buildings and cars which you get when running on roads. This is definitely going to be a fun race!!! 🙂

By the way, I wore my Mud-stash shirt to kickboxing class last Wednesday.

Sorry for being so pale. This was right after kickboxing class and our instructor pushed us really hard. LOL!

I love my shirt! I felt different wearing it! I felt like a warrior. It’s like there’s a “don’t-mess-with-this-girl” kinda feeling. After surviving that mudrun, oh boy, I tell yah, it made me tougher. I used to underestimate my capabilities, but now, I know I can survive anything. I guess, it’s true when they say – “You’ll never know what your capable of until you try it.” So true.

And that’s why I am trying this trail half marathon tomorrow. We usually run in the trails on weekends but I have to admit, I have never tried running longer than 8 miles on a trail. So wish us luck tomorrow. I hope we’ll survive it!

Thanks in advance and we’ll definitely catch up soon. 🙂

Get Off The Road. Go Nature!

What better way to start off Labor Day weekend than with a Saturday Morning Trail Run!!! My husband and I are still in high spirits from our last week’s trail running in Indianapolis. So, we decided to check out Ceasar Creek State Park Trails for our Saturday morning run. 🙂

It is one of the most scenic trails here in Ohio. It’s a 13+-mile loop trail for hiking/running. There’s actually a race event here on Sept 29 – White Tail Trail Half Marathon and I’m now thinking of signing up for this. The race is too soon, but we’ll see!

They do have other events too like Triathlons and Duathlons.

If you’re the outdoorsy type of person, I recommend to check out their website because there’s really a lot to do here depending on the types of things you enjoy. Next week, we’re checking out their mountain bike trails to challenge ourselves running through the hills. 🙂

Our pictures below are clips from our video that my husband took with his ContourGPS. If you’re a lover of all things action and outdoors, this camcorder is for you. Feel free to post your questions about ContourGPS in the comment section below. My husband would be willing to answer them or even make a review about it for you. 🙂

Watch our trail running video here.

We arrived at the trail around 7:00 am.

As we continue to follow the trail, it led us to an open field overlooking the lake to our left side.

Of course, I couldn’t let it pass. I had to stop and enjoy the scenery.

And this is me telling my husband, “look there’s the lake!” 🙂

For the most part, the path is nice and wide.

It can also be narrow, bushy and rocky in few areas.

There are a few obstacles along the way. We had to hurdle on some roots and tree branches, and climb on few hills, which I think made our run more fun and challenging.

And this is how my husband dealt them.

Shoryuken!!!
(http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/Shoryuken)

Some parts are right next to waterfalls where you do some water crossings, but they’re completely dry this time of the year.

During the course, we allowed ourselves to stop for a while and appreciate the surroundings.

According to my watch, we ran 6.14 miles, with a little bit of walking and sightseeing on the side :).

That was one very relaxed 6-mile run! It’s very relaxing to be surrounded by trees and wildlife. I’ve heard that once you start trail running, you won’t want to go back to the streets. I know the road may seem more convenient but sometimes you should “treat” yourself to something nicer. I feel the trails would prepare you just fine for your road races. You will be ready for anything and your body will be even tougher because you work a lot harder. It’s not just flat ground…you are going uphill, downhill and leaping over things. You tend to have a forefoot strike rather then a heel strike which is what you should be doing to avoid foot injuries. The ground is soft, covered with leaves, dirt and grass which is actually better for your joints. I feel like my knees are thanking me for giving them a break by running on trails every once in a while. 🙂

For me, trail running shoes are not really a necessity, unless you are really serious about trail running. I know a lot of people use their regular road running shoes on trails and they work just fine. My husband and I bought ourselves a pair, anyway, since we know we’ll be doing a lot of trail running in the future. We’re hooked!

I got theColumbia Ravenous Amphibian Women’s Trail Running Shoe in Aqua/Gray/Blk size 8.

I never knew Columbia have great running shoes. At first, I tried running with them on the road. This is definitely not forgiving on your feet when you run these on the road, but when I ran with them on trails… it’s heaven! It definitely felt more natural and is extremely comfortable. These shoes are sturdy but very light. It has very good traction. I don’t slip when I run in the mud and hills. They fit like a glove and breathable with it’s mesh-like design. It has Omni-TechTM waterproof feature which helps keep your feet dry when you run through puddles and water streams. Overall, a great shoe for running. These shoes are 100% recommended. I plan on wearing them for my Mudrun race which will be in 5 days from today.

My husband got the NEW BALANCE 610.

My husband is very pleased with the fit and feel of these NB shoes. I can’t say much about these shoes but when I asked him about them, he is happy and satisfied with them. Leave your questions on the comment section below if your want to more about his NB shoes. He’d be more than glad to answer them for you.

We really enjoyed running in this trail. We would definitely come back and try the rest of the connected trails northbound next time. We want to see where that part of the trail will lead us to.

I hope your three day weekend is treating you well! Happy Labor Day!

Why I Love Running

Running got me to start this blog and today marks my one two three four five six seven months of blogging!!!

I am enjoying it so far. I am having fun sharing my everyday journey to the world and reading all your comments and emails. 🙂 It gives me so much happiness when I meet people who loves the sport too.

I am asked what is it about running that I love so much. I am never really able to give an answer right away.

…I just do.

source

I run for my sanity.

I find inner peace in running. You can talk to yourself and figure out your thoughts. It is when I do some of my best thinking…. really! Sometimes I would find myself narrating in my mind the process of Glycolysis and Krebs Cycle when I’m running. 🙂 Seriously!

I remember the day that hooked me to running. I know I talked about it a little in my About me page the reason why I started. It was because I was packing it on…the pounds that is. I started to feel the urge to become active and healthy. I signed up for 5Ks and eventually for a half marathon last May. The pounds started to drop off slowly, and then I started feeling good about myself. I feel lighter, healthier and more alert everyday. Once I realized running was my ticket to weight loss, and then maintaining it, there was no turning back. My passion for running grew so quickly that I continued to train to improve myself.

My first Half Marathon – May 2012

I know I lost only a small amount of weight and you might think this is just nothing compared to other people’s 100+ pound weight loss success stories. But like most of them, losing weight was never easy for me. I certainly had ups and downs too during the process. This may not please everyone, but I am not here to please everyone. At first it was just about losing the extra weight, which is a good thing, but then NOW, it is actually becoming strong and healthy. I am sharing this to give you the motivation that anyone can start doing this. You don’t have to wait until the scale says a certain number and become overweight before you start living healthy. Yes, I have a lot more to learn, I do admit. I strive to learn as much as I possibly can each day.

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Running introduced me to do other workouts, like kickboxing and pilates which became my favorite now. I learned that it is important to incorporate other exercises to your training plans to workout other muscle groups of your body.

Lastly, running makes me feel good.There is not a run that I “regret” doing. It’s not always easy and it’s not always enjoyable especially when it’s 100+ degrees outside. But, I have never returned home from a run sad.

I love this running quote.
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If you have ever thought about running, I encourage you to give it a try. What you can accomplish may surprise you. 🙂

There you go, now it’s your turn! I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you love most about running?