Happy 1 Year Blog Anniversary!

Today’s the one year anniversary of my blog! I actually can’t believe how fast this last year has flown.

happy-birthday-blog-1There will be a lot more to come in this second year. I’m looking forward to other running adventures all over the world! Thanks for reading my blog and hanging out with me along the way! Without you all, I wouldn’t have a reason to do any of this or to be inspired daily.

Golden Gate 1/2 Marathon Trail Run: Part Deux

You didn’t think there’d be a sequel, did you? Haha! Neither did I.

I ran this race (in early February) on a whim to keep my friend, Stephanie, company. Another friend of ours couldn’t do the run, so she pulled out. I said I would take the bib last minute and we transferred the registration to my name. But this process literally happened the day before the race.

The morning of the race, we picked up our bibs and I noticed it still had our friend’s name and information on it. So I let the staff know about the registration transfer and they just crossed off the old name and put mine next to it. Ok, cool.

After I finished the half marathon, I heard they were announcing some awards. I walked over to see what my time was and where I placed. I noticed my time was under our friend’s name and it showed I had placed 7th in the 25-29 age group. One of the event organizer’s came over and asked me to write all my information down for him and he would make sure to change it in their official results. Turned out they got all my information the day before but it was after they printed all the official paperwork out. No worries!

Well, I finally got around to checking the official results online last weekend and noticed that I placed 3rd in my age group (I’m a little older, in the 35-39 age group)! I was kind of stoked! I realized that I should have gotten one of the awards they were passing out. So, I contacted the event organizers and they sent me this lovely medal!photo(27)

And that’s Part Deux!

I have placed second in my age group in two other races before but failed to get my awards because I didn’t know until after I left the race. I never thought to contact them after to get it. No big deal though.

I was just appreciative that they sent the medal, since this was my first TRAIL half marathon. [insert happy face emoticon!]

This little lull

I’m purposely taking a little break. This break is from end of January February 9th til the end of March/early April. By break, I mean, less running, but still maintaining. Strength training, but no serious training. No set schedule. Just chillin’ and running when I want to. It’s kind of nice. Although, I have to admit I do have days where I feel like I HAVE to get a run in.

photo(25)So this little lull, well, it’s interesting. I have thought about races that I’d like to run, races I am going to register for, races that kind of fell in my lap (thanks Brian for the Bay to Breakers bib!), and a race that I am waiting to hear the outcome of the lottery. It’s hard to plan the rest of the year when I am waiting on the lottery results of the NY Marathon. But other than that, I am not sure what my 2014 plans are. I always think of traveling, just not sure where to next (I need some money too!).

So, while I am in this lull, I still maintain my normal eating, other than carbing up for long training runs or races or when going to weddings (oh gosh, too much alcohol!). As far as nutrition (for those who asked for me to include more of this), I have a high metabolism so I can eat a lot during the day. I tend to eat smaller meals and spread my food intake throughout the day, rather than just three meals a day.

Breakfast usually consists of eggs with avocado and fruit, sometimes a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, avocado, or I may have yogurt with a KIND bar (or Odwalla bar) or yogurt with granola. I do have a chai tea latte frequently, but I make it at home using the Tazo concentrate and almond milk. And I may have a snack later in the morning because I get hungry like 1-2 hours later.

Lunch is usually a turkey, cheese, and lettuce sandwich with fruits and veggies on the side. I eat (low sodium) soup pretty regularly, especially during the cooler months. I will have chips and salsa with it sometimes. Sorry guys, chips and salsa are a staple in my house. And I may make a small salad.

There’s usually a snack in between lunch and dinner. Could be pretzels, plantain chips, (unfortunately) chips and salsa, fruits, or veggies and dip. Hummus is a great dip with veggies or pita chips. I also eat almonds because they fill me up.

Dinner is something that we try to make at home as often as we can. We try to eat lean meats so we eat a lot of fish and chicken. We also make large salads with beets, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, green pepper, artichoke hearts, avocado or whatever veggies we have at the moment. We are salad lovers so I almost always have a salad with my dinner. And we will have a veggie with our protein as well. This could be steamed broccoli, yellow squash, asparagus, green beans, etc. And because I need more calories than my boyfriend, I will include maybe some steamed red potatoes or we will eat this delicious organic brown rice we found at Costco. I really like black beans, so I may have some with chicken or turkey tacos.

I’m not going to lie, there are times we are busy and don’t have time to make dinner or don’t want to, but we still try to stick to healthy foods. If we go out for dinner, I still look for chicken or fish or a salad to keep things fairly healthy or things like grilled fish tacos or Pita Pit. And we love sushi, so that’s not too bad. If we end up at one of our favorite restaurants, Tres Hermanas, I now get a ceviche tostada instead of the dos enchiladas platter, which I used to get. Not only am I saving money, but ceviche is way better for me.

So, back to that lull…I will probably meet up with the gals I do speed training with here and there and I will probably see my PT to get some maintenance as well. But I’m not putting too much pressure on myself right now. Taking a break is a good thing. I don’t really want to stress about too many things right now, especially with our next event coming in April, bsbf-updated-distressed-small1so not having a training plan is okay with me!

P.S. The event I am referring to is our testicular cancer awareness event – Sacramento Ball Sack & Beer Fest. It’s coming April 5th!

Are you taking a mini-break? Do you like it? How do you feel?