A Case of the Runs

Chandra from Chandra's Shenanigans modeled a challenge after Run to Finish's Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge (HBBC), called the March Bootie Buster Challenge (MBBC). Points are awarded for the following: Exercise Points: - 1 point per mile walked/ran - 1 point per 15 minutes of “other” cardio (ie spinning, kickboxing, step, etc…) - 1 point per 15 minutes weight training or pilates - 1 point per 30 minutes of yoga or stretching or abs Healthy Eating Points: - 1 point for every 3 servings of fruit/vegetable eaten - 1 point per 24oz water drank (max of 16oz can come from tea/coffee) Unfortunately, I had racked up pretty much 40 points within the past 48 hours prior to today. I guess they don't count. With tapering, I don't know if I will be able to accumulate too many points, but at least this will motivate me to do other cardio and exercise. ------ LOG Week 1 (Sunday - Saturday) / Cumulative = 71 pts. - 3/1: walked 1 mi while out (1 pt); various fruit/veggies eaten (1 p...

...That is the Question A question to anyone who might read this post: Have you ever bought a race photo from those photographers that show up at races (e.g., Brightroom or MarathonFoto )?? I am considering ordering this time around. In my 11 half-marathons and 3 marathons, and three other races that had professional photography, I have not bought a single photo yet. Besides the two proofs in my Pasadena Marathon post, I am considering getting one or two other photos I did not post. In one of them, I am holding hands with "The Ukrainian" while running, and in another, we are cheerfully peace-signing the camera. So that would be four photos, which at ~$15 each for unprotected printing is not cheap. They also sell a digital CD for ~$50, which would contain all the pictures. I would have to print them if I wanted a physical copy, though. I've blown money away on worse things before, such as eye makeup and electronics that turned out not to work so well. And when will I get ...

I've been seeing lots of this product being handed out at the races I've run recently. A crew with huge crates/boxes of these blue bottles waits at the finish line, just waiting for those thirsty runners to undo the joint damage they just did. In fact, I am drinking one right now. Joint Juice is a fitness water that has a full day's supply of glucosamine (1500 mg, which is supposed to help joint lubrication). It also contains some vitamins like niacin. This stuff does not work immediately -- like any supplement, one would need to drink it daily for best results. I've only tried the kiwi strawberry flavor. The taste is good, a bit sweet and fruity. The whole bottle is 10 calories thanks to the sucralose (the only artificial sugar that doesn't sicken me too much) it contains. The bottle advises to drink it cold, but it is just fine at room temperature. I am down to just drinking water now, even on very long runs. I tried tea once, which wasn't bad. So I ha...

EVENT: Pasadena Marathon DATE: Sunday, March 22, 2009 LOCATION: Pasadena, CA RACE BEGAN: 06:30 am FINISH TIME: 04:19:14 On Sunday, November 16, 2008 when this race was supposed to take place, the smoke from Southern California wildfires forced the event coordinators to postpone this event. I was up and already dressed for the 26.2 mile struggle when I caught wind of the news. While I was disappointed, I think it was the right thing for them to do. No need to give myself unnecessary respiratory damage, right? While I did not get my "lucky" 888 bib number again, I was back and raring to finally run this race, which was rescheduled for March 22, 2009. Meanwhile, we were sent the medals we did not earn... I was a bit hesitant to re-register, as I could not imagine going through all that training again, especially on my schedule. But I had to, in a way, since I already had a "sunk cost," and this could be my only chance at a 2009 marathon. So I found myself training very...

RunningLaur hosted a virtual race that was officially supposed to "take place" on March 20 (the first day of spring), but I was in class that day and had a marathon two days later. Thus, I decided to write about the last 6.2 miles of the Pasadena Marathon and leave these details out when I finally get around to writing a race report for it (you can read the details of the rest of the race in the other entry). So this story begins at Mile 20, going down a lonnnngg straight path in the residential streets of Pasadena, watching the runners who were miles ahead of me running in the opposite direction on the other side of the road. It was cold, slightly windy, and slightly drizzling. I had my iPod on quietly, but at this point, it wasn't really helping. I had just finished my second Accel Gel and was hoping that I would be able to get through this last part of the race. I've been running these 10k-type distances for nearly all of my weekday runs for the past few weeks, an...

I don't blog about food too often, perhaps because I'm trying to stay on topic. But come on... food is as much a part of running as an energy gel or pair of shorts. Also, I've been thinking about food more this week due to my impending race and more free time... at least at work. I have had a thing for flavored almonds lately. I've actually tried a few varieties since then, which I will review in turn. Eventually, I hope to make some myself, but meanwhile, food companies can do it for now. So this one, from Emerald , was on sale at Target . As a side note, I've had other 100-calorie pack things in my lifetime, and they often leave much to desire. These almonds looked appealing because they looked like they would cure my almond fix as well as my chocolate fix, and the portion-control is spectacular for someone like me who likes to eat out of bags. The taste is heavenly (the chocolate taste is more than subtle) and the serving size is ample, both satisfying cravings/h...

I am but (less than) a week before my third marathon, and it doesn't look like it is going to be canceled like last time . The week before these things is usually if-fy. Do I start slacking off? Stop going to the gym everyday? Eat more/less? Weight train? And then there's the multiple weather.com queries. Showers on marathon day? Never happened before, although there's a first time for everything. Will it be bad? This time around, I am a lot calmer than usual because I really think this marathon is only one of many things resting on my proverbial plate right now. Running is but a hobby, and whether or not I do better or worse than other people is not a concern of mine. I'm 23 years old and will have done 3 marathons and 11 half-marathons come Sunday. So I should remove pressure and stop comparing myself to other people, right?? Oh yeah, and I was encouraged to raise money for Public Counsel again, though by the time they got to me, it was really too late to pull my ac...

I HAD to write about this now, even though I should be asleep. I was doing one last Facebook check before bed after a night of homework and television when I stumbled upon one of their advertisements for custom bars. Here, you can make bars of different sizes with different bases (nut butters, etc.), nuts, fruit, seasonings, grains, vitamins, sweeteners, and protein. I had SO much fun creating my bar, which has dates, blueberries, soy protein, brown rice syrup, cocoa, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, ginger flavoring, oat bran, and almonds. A box of medium bars is about $39 (plus $8 shipping) for 13 bars, which is steep, but where else can you make your own designer bars? My stomach was growling (at 11:15 PM) just thinking about this nice vegan bar I made. No, I did not order it yet, as my credit card bills were painful this month due to tuition. UPDATE: 3/16/09 - RuntoFinish is hosting a giveaway of these bars! ------ Link: http://www.youbars.com/

EVENT: Bench-Bike-Run (BBR) IV DATE: Friday, March 6, 2009 LOCATION: Irvine, CA RACE BEGAN: 01:00 pm FINISH TIME: 01:19:30 ("bench": 36, bike: 49:00; run: 30:30) By writing about this race, I risk people finding this and pointing and/or laughing. But just like any other race I've done, I need to report on it... BBR is an employee-driven event (not at my company) that requires competitors to bench their body weight (push-up for women) to get a head start (30 seconds per repetition). An out-and-back 10-mile bike portion, which is mostly not in traffic, follows. The third part is a 3.8 mile out-and-back run. I thought this would be a fun race to do, since I've never done any race that involved more than running. As much as I like being known as a runner or marathon girl, (after nerd) that's not all I want to be. So I signed up with my sister and brought "The Ukrainian" along with me on a Friday afternoon. I did 36 push-ups, which is three times as many as I...

(Continuation of " Bikes " post...) The next step entailed getting a helmet. My head, being watermelon-sized, could not fit any of the ones at regular stores, so I ended up getting this one from Performance Bike Shop on sale, which was nice. This is a Bell Ukon FS in a men's universal size. I had wanted a cooler-colored helmet, but this was the only choice. I guess there's nothing wrong with black. Then to remedy my aching behind, I got a gel seat cover similar to the one pictured here (from Target -- brand name = Backtrails). It works decently, though I think riding a bike is just something that will always be uncomfortable and butt-bruising. I will keep adding on the gear I'm getting for my bike here. Since this is a running blog, I will try to parse my bike and running gear.