A Case of the Runs

In an effort to try my hand (or legs) in the world of biking, I shopped around a got a bike at the Temple City Bike Shop . To comfortably afford one, I sold my mp3 mixer, which was lying around the house unused anyway. I did not know the difference between the different types of bikes -- road, moutain, and hybrid, or how to properly use gears -- until I started looking around. You see, I was using a mountain bike that my dad got at Wal-Mart . And though that was not an issue, the height makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable both psychologically and physically. Pictured: Diamondback Clarity 1 - 2009 -- I bought this bike on 12/21/08! UPDATE (2/17/09): I don't believe I've had a chance to review my bike. I was waiting on this so that I could get more experience on it, but I think I have developed a good enough relationship with it to start. In short, I really don't regret purchasing this bike at all. Although I don't have much time to ride it because of poor biking conditions ...

I have been thinking about money lately and the ways in which my spending has shifted over the past few months since the "economic disruption" occurred. Since taking my second job, I actually took a pay cut, so I have been trying really hard to hold back on my purchases. It's a losing battle, really, but maybe the running expenditures have cut down a bit? I haven't bought any sport drink, gel, or any supplement in a while. Perhaps because I'm so busy, I get fewer runs in, but at the same time, when I do run, I don't use as much. In training for my upcoming marathon, I think I will only need one more gel (for a grand total of 2, which is the same amount I will bring to the race). I have signed up for fewer races this year, although two of them require lodging. I also have not needed to get running shoes (yet) or new clothing, as I've been perfectly fine in race-provided garments. All of this will probably need to be replaced, and with my luck, all at once. ...

I have been taking glucosamine for nearly two years now. I originally started when I started upping my mileage on the street and started feeling twinges in my knees. Whether this stuff actually cushions joints is up for debate. Regardless, it took a good few months before I "thought" it was working. Perhaps it's the good ol' placebo effect. Since taking these, I've never had that "I'm going to break" feeling... in my knees, that is. In general, however, I feel broken because I'm tired and overworked (I had to call in "sick" to one of my jobs today because I was tired, fed up, wanted to go to the gym and shop, and had to work on my thesis and study for exams). But anyway, the knees are fine. I'm not sure if this is because I got stronger overall, but I'll take what I can get. Currently, I am taking generic glucosamine, but I do switch off with Osteo Bi-Flex (Triple Strength with Joint Shield). It is not cheap (can be up to ~$30 ...

So I was at Target a couple of weeks ago and noticed a C9 water-proof jacket in neon purple. I liked it... :D but did not want to pay full price for it so I walked away. Luckily a few weeks later I came back to Target to find the jacket on sale and it was the last one in my size. I got it in the neon purple which is bright...haha. So I took it as a sign that I should buy the jacket. I took it out recently on a long run which I started very early in the morning. I have trouble running when my core is not warm. This jacket kept me really warm. I think it was too much later on during my long run but it was nice in the earlier part. I also picked up a pair of Nike running gloves. The pair I have is made of fleece and is a little more heavy duty then the lite running gloves. It isn't for running where it is very cold but it does the job in 40-50 degrees weather. Probably too thick if it is any warmer than that. It takes me a long time to warm up when I start to run which is why I need ...

I'm sure that poor Tea Time can attest to how inconvenient dogs can be to a good run. Don't get me wrong, I really adore and admire dogs, but since I'm cynical and believe that there are really bad people in the world, there must be some pretty mean dogs out there. Bad people => bad dogs (there are no such things as inherently bad dogs). The other day, I was squeezing in a 17-miler at the park in the afternoon. I probably should have done this in the morning for a plethora of reasons, but I had woken up late feeling like crud. I guess "The Ukrainian" and I had too much fun on Valentine's Day window shopping, dancing, cooking, eating, and falling asleep in front of Charlie Brown cartoons. Anyway, there are waaaaay more kids, bikes, and dogs out during the afternoon. Now, the park has explicit signs saying to keep all dogs on a leash, but just like weirdo people who have 14 children, people become selfish and do their biddings. So even though my run was alrea...

UPDATE: This study is still going on, so feel free to join... ------ Original Post: 5/18/08 Should you stretch before you run? This USATF study aims to find the answer. And you can be a part of it!!! As for me, I am still undecided as to whether I am willing to add another thing to my routine. ------ Link: http://www.usatf.org/stretchstudy/

So nobel4lit reviewed Sport Wash detergent recently. A detergent to rid workout clothes of imbedded sweat and odor. I also use Sport Wash but yesterday I was at Sports Authority because they had a pretty good coupon in the Sunday paper and I needed some stuff. I used Win today for the first time and the first thing I noticed about it was that it smells so much better during the wash cycle than the Sport Wash. I think it was a bit cheaper than the Sport Wash too. The Win detergent I got from Sport Chalet was $6.99. I know that Amazon and the Win website also sells this stuff but I hate ordering online and some people have also reported that the detergent can leak during shipment. So my clothes came out of the dryer and they smelled so good. I like Win and will buy from now on.

So Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and I've never celebrated this holiday before beyond the mandated times in elementary school... until now. Yeah, I know, so pitiful, but better late than never, I guess. Last night, I came home from job #2 and baked a giant heart-shaped macaroon and surrounded it with "normal" ones and snuck them into his cubicle with a note. Additionally, I trashed the place by sticking a bunch of cut-out hearts around the computer monitor(s), hard hat, and cubicle walls. (See picture below. I did not get a good picture of the macaroon heart, as it was hidden under a paper one. Darn my poor photography skills! I posted a picture of an accidentally heart-shaped oatmeal cookie instead.) Finally, I took some of his post-its to make weir d remarks to things he already had on his desk. I mostly did this to embarrass him, as he shares a mega-cubicle with three (male) co-workers that I've met before. One of them ended up calling me to poke fun. Plus, I wa...

I originally switched to Accelerade as my sport drink of choice because it does not contain high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which as has been rampant in health news lately, is very bad for you . However, I believe this stuff, Accel Gel, has some in there, as many gels do. In spite of this, I like this gel and have made it my go-to gel. Each gel contains about 100 calories. Like the drink, it contains some protein, which supposedly sustains endurance. They come in many flavors, my favorite being vanilla. Some other examples of flavors include strawberry kiwi, mocha, citrus orange (eew!), and chocolate. I took these on some 18- and 20-milers and found them very replenishing without that irritation that I normally get in my stomach from consuming gels during a run (where do you think this blog got its name from?). This is surprising, since the line of Accelerade products contain dairy, which does not settle well with me. Anyway, you can be sure that I will be consuming some of these...

I don't know beans about running... (or cracking jokes, obv iously). I've been meaning to review these Jelly Belly Sport Beans for a while, but I kept forgetting. I actually don't use these very often, but they taste good as jelly beans. These come in a few flavors -- fruit punch, lemon-lime, orange, and some blue one that I won't even go near because I don't eat artificially blue things. As for taste. they pretty much mirror the taste of regular jelly beans, except they seem less "sugary." I like these because they are nice and portable. I took them on a 20-miler once, but they were not enough to sustain me. One small pouch, which has maybe 10-15 larger-than-normal jelly beans, has about 100 calories, which is less than a gel. Additionally, I'm sure that gel delivers better sugars than these beans do. I am categorizing this entry until the "gel" label, though, because I think in some cases, it can substitute gels. These beans do not up...

I've gone through two bottles of this Sport Wash, which is readily available at Sport Chalet . As many runners might know, it is hard to keep the smell of accumulated sweat and sunscreen out of your clothes over time, especially in technical fabrics. I usually run in regular cotton t-shirts, but to freshen them up, I was using a capful of this stuff in warm water to wash my sports bra, shorts, and shirt for a while. The detergent smells a little bit like weak (lemony) dishwashing liquid. Overall, this worked pretty well, though not significantly better than detergent enough to shell out $10 for approximately a liter or so. I think they sell an economy-sized bottle as well, but every time I go get some, there is only one left, and it looks beat up/leaky.

EVENT: 7 on the 7th DATE: Monday, February 9, 2009 (oops!) LOCATION: a gym in Rosemead, CA RACE BEGAN: 05:30 pm (approximately) FINISH TIME: 01:05:00 Run to Finish once again challenged her readers to get up and move! This is not the first time I've done a virtual race (I should start blogging about the annual 26.2k race that I run with forum-ites, which I've done twice already), but this is my first attempt at reporting on one. Anyway, this "event" was called 7 on the 7th , which basically mandated running 7 miles or more on February 7th. However, on the 7th, which was a Saturday, I was too tired from the week, it was raining, and I had a tea party to attend, so I would try my 7 on the 8th. Come Sunday, I started off during the early 7 am hour to do my run, and about half a mile later, it started to rain. I thought I'd try to get through it, but it only got worse and stopped at 3. Normally, I would have no problem running through the rain, but since I live at ho...

Last year while I was at a race expo (I forgot which one), I purchased a travel size Body Glide to try out. I've heard about it for a while now and decided that I should give it a try since I HATE chafing! Yeah, I finally came around to reviewing this product and I must say that I love it. You can probably get away with using a cheap jar or tube of petroleum jelly or the more expensive version called Aquaphor , but this stuff is less messy to use. You apply it like you would a deodorant stick so your hands stay clean and I like clean. You can find it at most race expo, chain sporting good stores like Sport Chalet and at all running shoes store.

EVENT: Surf City USA Half-Marathon DATE: Sunday, February 1, 2009 LOCATION: Huntington Beach, CA RACE BEGAN: 7:45 am (wave start) FINISH TIME: 02:03:21 As part of the California Dreamin' Race Series , which will require me to run this race, the San Francisco Half-Marathon , and Long Beach Half-Marathon within the next two years, I ran this half-marathon in Huntington Beach again. Let me first off start by saying that in spite of everything I am about to mention, I kept thinking, "At least it isn't raining ." So after some delays and almost forgetting my Garmin , we headed over to the race at 5:30 AM and just like last year, did not get to the start line until 7:50, five minutes past the first-wave start. For a race that expanded, they sure did not accomodate them with extra parking spots. Fortunately, there were sti ll many people who had not yet begun, so our late selves blended in just fine. I started off the first mile with my sister and "The Ukrainian,"...