the 4 year runniversary.

in my general nerdiness, i know exactly the day i began running. that would be today! its a day that changed so much in my life and who knows where i would be without it. heres the recaps of the last 2 years in case you havent read them. so in honor i put in some double digit miles this flat, downhill miles that ended at my favorite breakfast place in vegas! it let me think about the last year and the races/places i got to do/see and some of the outside things that changed too. i was also rewarded with this...

helll-o red velvet coffee cake!

#8 the et 1/2 marathon

rachel, nv

august 4th, 2012

2:18:41!

holy omg this one was tough! it started at midnight just outside area 51, and ps i am totally afraid of the dark. a headlight was required and the course was no joke. the 1st 6.5 miles were straight up a 800 foot elevation gain. luckily the last 6.5 were a straight shot down to the little ale-inn. 

#9 the nike womens 1/2 marathon

san francisco, ca

october 14th, 2012

2:08:34!

i finally made it through the lottery and into the race! it was as amazing as i was hoping it would be and a vacay with some of my favorite people to boot. the super hilly course was nothin to laugh at. but the bling, was 1000% worth it:)

#10 saints and sinners 1/2 marathon

boulder city, nv

october 20th, 2012

1:57:15!!!

so i got a little crazy and decided to sign up for back to back halves, just to see if i could do it. for the record...i totally can. and can totally rock it!

#11 the kaiser permanete southern california 1/2 marathon

irvine, ca

january 12th, 2013

1:56:03

this wasnt in the original plan. it actually came right in the middle of training for surf city the next month. while in town for my grandpas 80th birthday i needed a 12 mile training run and found a 1/2 only 3 miles from the hotel. some quick convincing to my friend jen and i had a buddy that paced me all the way to a shiny new pr!

#12 surf city 1/2 marathon

huntington beach, ca

february 5th, 2013 

1:58:03!

a long time in the making, this was a half run half cheer on friends from college to their 1st full marathon event! the weekend turned into a big reunion and i had a blast:) 

i did of course also have a lot of fun this year...

 midnight 5k

st george, ut

may 26th, 2012

27:08!

tarmisha decided she wanted to run a 5k and it doesnt take very much to convince sandy and i to run:) so we headed up north 1 friday after work to st george and ran at midnight! it was so fun.

roadrunner 4th of july 5k blast

las vegas, nv 

july 4th, 2012

27:30!

instead of the traditional morning 5k on 4th of july, sandy found a night one instead. a few light up tiaras later we had ourselves 1 very festive group!

 police and fire 10k

las vegas, nv

august 11th, 2012

57:34!

ive never done 2 races on back to back weekends before, but came home with a win in my age group for a fun experiment! ran into lots of runner group friends and even saw sno-cones at the finish line. only in vegas haha!

ragnar relay series

las vegas, nv

november 9th-10th

 

i had been dying to this 200 mile overnight relay for quite some time. 2012 was finally the year to do it! i joined a team with sandy and had an amazing time being stuck in a van for 30 hours with 5 other girls chasing another van plus getting out a running a total of 21 miles as well. it was a total blast! 

10k turkey trot

dana point, ca

november 22nd, 2012

52:59!!!!

with how much fun my mom and i had at the 4th of july race the turkey trot it didnt take much convincing to get in a few miles before all the turkey family fun! i think this is for sure going to be a new tradition:) plus a shiny new 10k pr is always good.

the ugly sweater run

las vegas, nv

decemeber 15th, 2012

 

who doesnt want to hunt for an ugly sweater then run it? joined by some new ragnar friends (seriously, those girls are lifers) we headed to fremont street dressed up and on the hunt for beer and hot chocolate. soo fun!

the color run 

las vegas, nv

february 16th, 2013

we had such a blast year, there was no way we were missin it this year! next time though, we will not line up in the way way back haha.

the hot chocolate 15k

san diego, ca

march 24th, 2013

1:23:07!

chocolate at the finish line plus a sparkle skirt and wings? wow my mom will let me talk her into just about anything;) but omg was it worth it!

wow i spent a lot of the year running! i had a blast and cant wait to see what this new year brings:) now off to enjoy this...

clearly my mom and i think alike;)

thankful thursday #2

time for round 2! if you didnt catch round 1, here you go:)

1. running

i cant even imagine where my life would be without running right now. so many amazing things have happened in the last 3 years because of it. running is one of the best stress relievers, something that keeps me sane, allows me to be fit, and its kinda fun to tell people you are when that is the last thing they would ever expect! cant wait to see where it takes me in the future.

after my very 1st 1/2 marathon!

2. country music

we grew up on country music, my dad always played it in the car, well truck really. i tried to fight it in the beginning i wont lie lol. but now it is one of the main things i listen to no matter the mood. through this break up though it has been especially helpful and i was so damn excited last night when i pulled out the previous taylor swift cd and found all the songs i had been looking for to express everything the last few weeks. sometimes the only way to truly convey how you feel is through a song.

3. social media

i know it sounds a little silly but i joined twitter about a year and a half ago not really sure i was even into it. now it has exposed me to sooo many more people and networks then i ever could have imagined! it helped me get into the nike womens 1/2 marathon and so many people i have never even met have sent so many well wishes in the last month. getting to share in others journeys to their 1st 1/2 marathons and their everyday adventures is completely in reach because of social media. it brings this very large world were in just a little closer to us all.

betsy and i in san francisco!

4. blogging

since graduating from college i really missed writing but didnt really know what i could use to fill that void. i liked the idea of blogging but was never sure what to write about. when a girlfriend finally suggested writing about living with your boyfriend i knew i had something good to finally write about! now its turned into so much more and the extension of the social media from above. i love the community it has allowed me to be a part of the people i get to connect with.

5. technology

living in our generation we have been very blessed to have the kind of reaches and access we do. it is because of technology that i can still talk to my brother deployed half a world away with just my phone. or allow me to drive and talk to best friends in different states and even countries sometimes. it allows me to blog and find a new recipe for dinner all in the same place haha. it sounds silly, but i dont know what i would do without it!

weve come a long way from these guys:)

stay tuned for round 3 next week!

the nike womens 1/2 marathon recap.

i did it!! i got in, traveled there, and ran this awesome race! if you hadnt heard, although if you havent im not sure why, this past weekend i spent a glorious 5 days in san francisco to run the nike womens marathon and 1/2 marathon. the registration process is a lottery and completely random even if you have run the race before youre not an automatic in. you can catch up on all the details and background here if needed:) so lets fast forward to race weekend. if you havent read all about the whole weekend you can do that in part 1 and 2. this one is all about the race baby:)

we stayed in a hotel in not the greatest section of town, but incredibly convenient for race morning. the race started at 7am and i wanted to be out the door by about 530a/545a to get there in plenty of time. there was a starbucks located directly in the lobby that opened promptly at 530a and my family could not have been more excited haha. so after a quick stop there we hopped on the street car outside the hotel almost right away to be greeted by tons of fellow runners! i felt right at home as we jerked along down the street toward union square. we were at the race by about 6a, just when i wanted to be there!

the race was super well organized and had massive towers that told the runners which corral you were in based on time and the color of the bracelet each of us were to wear on race morning. we reached union square about 1 block too close, but it was super easy to walk down to where we needed to be. it was a little chilly outside but great weather for a race and not too cold for spectators. after lots of hugs and pictures i headed into my corral to hit up the porta potties and my family to find their shuttle. 

the wait seemed to fly by and before i knew it was time for the last minute announcements and the star spangled banner. you want 25,000 runners to fall completely silent...play our amazing national anthem. everyone stopped mid conversation, took off their hats, placed their hands on their hearts, and turned to the nearest american flag. it was awesome. the end of the song meant it was time to get my garmin going and we were about to start! i was in the 3rd corral to start and you could actually see the start line from where we were standing. we began moving forward and i was able to see me family up on a hill cheering like crazy! i was ready for this. i was trained, fueled, psyched, and had a little bit of sparkle to carry me these 13.1 miles. i was ready for my victory lap!

just after crossing the start line and beginning the bobbing and weaving my garmin lost signal. i have never had that happen and laughed to myself as i thought of my friend jen that it always seemed to happen to on our long runs haha. so i decided i would just go off the stopwatch to keep myself on pace as i crossed each mile marker. the first few miles were pretty flat as we headed to the ferry building and turned left to pier 39 and fishermans wharf. there was still a lot of happening while you kept watch of the ground because it had lots of little holes and raised parts of the sidewalks. i guess a few earthquakes will do that to you haha.

source

the 1st hills began right on schedule just before mile 3 at the end of fishermans wharf. it was a little bigger than i was expected and i got stuck behind a slow runner which was not so fun. the downhill was actually kinda steep so you couldnt really fly down that one. we turned on to a lot of back roads from there with weird construction. you never really knew where you were because it was so foggy, you couldnt see the bay or the bridge. then with a vengenance came the hills at mile 6 which then continued all the way till mile 10. now let me tell you people, these hills are NO JOKE! holy crap. i did hill training thank goodness, but man were these killer. and then the downhills were still so friggin steep i thought with 1 misstep i was going to take a serious tumble all the way down haha. 

i took my phone for one of the 1st times on the course for my music and it for whatever reason did not like that plan. it kept skipping in the playlists about 30 seconds into each song no matter what settings it was on. so i decided pretty short into it i would have to entertain myself lol. luckily there was A LOT happening on the course. the sidelines almost always had people on them cheering. and they made a really big deal about miles 4 and 11.3 which was also where the spectator shuttle was supposed to drop off your friends and family. i didnt get to mine at mile 4 as they were just loading the buses when i was almost there so i hoped i would just see them at the end instead:) the course support was great and there was even a bra exchange at mile 6! you literally changed out of your sports bra and they gave you a new one on the spot! there was a tent you could change in right there as well. im not sure if you later had to pay for it or what. but there was totally a line!

source

as we finished off those nasty hills about mile 10 i was ready for some flat land and the finish line. there was no gu on the course which was so weird to me but i did try shot blocks for the 1st time and they were great! we turned into the park at the end (i have no idea the name but it wasnt golden gate park), it was sooo pretty. right before the full marathon/half marathon split i saw my family! they were cheering like crazy and had super fun signs they had got from somewhere. i was feeling really good and was able to pick it up a little bit for the last few miles. 

you could hear the finish line close in the distance but i knew we needed to do a little bit more weaving around before we got there. i was shooting for under 2:13:00 since thats what i did about a year and a half ago on a hilly course as well. as i got closer and closer i realized i could get under 2:10:00 if i kept going at the pace i was at! we passed the 12 mile marker and the smile on my face started getting bigger and bigger. next up was the 20k marker which i thought was the 13 mile marker for some reason and started to just take off! soon i realized i was not crossing the finish line and reeled it in for a few minutes before i finally turned onto finshers alley. the crowd was sooo loud and i really took off this time! i kicked that finish lines ass if i do say so myself:)

i was feeling sooo good and was ready for the most important part of the weekend, the tiffany bling. in case you didnt hear one of the biggest draws of this race is the tiffany necklace (yes really tiffanys) you get as your medal handed out by the san francisco firefighters in tuxedos! they had lots of gorgeous guys all lined up and ready as they funneled us through to grab the bling. we all had our cell phones out ready to take pictures of everything. there were even about 3 firefighters around each silver tray of tiffany boxes in which just about every girl took pictures with in addition to the one with the tray:) omg it was sooo cool! 

finisher!
2:08:34
1/2 marathon #9 complete!

the coveted box.

see, i wasnt lyin:)

we headed down a little further grabbing some food and our finishers tee while on the lookout for my family. they had to make their way through the park a bit to get to the end. this was actually the 1st time i didnt see them right away. of course none of our cell phones worked cause there were way too many people in a small area trying to use them so i found a sidewalk i could stand on and look. soon they were making their way through the pack and i headed to the photo place to meet them and start standing in line. ::note to future runners-dont open the tiffany box right away. go to the photo opportunity place and take more pictures 1st!:: theres a couple of different backgrounds to choose from so i found the one i liked and we chatted all about the race. as we got closer i started to see a few girl taking some different poses with the gorgeous guys, i of course had to do the same. 

luckily he was sooo super nice and let me take a few pictures...and he smelled really good. jessica wanted to take him home:)

told you he was gorgeous:)

afterward we headed over to the finishers boutique and saw a lot of the same things as the expo. except for the finishers stuff! i didnt see anything i super liked which was good because the line was crazy long. then i found a baby blue 1/2 zip that said finisher on it and knew i would be sad if i didnt. thank goodness my family was totally cool with waiting and the line moved really quickly. plus it gave the boys time to scope out where we needed to go for the shuttle pickup back to the start line lol.

we headed to that line next and i started to get really hungry. the line moved pretty fast, it was a really well organized race i must say, as there were tons of empty buses lined up ready to load as soon as one was full. i was more than ready to sit down once we loaded up and i think we all took a few minute nap on the bus ride back:) when we got back we had a change in plans for breakfast, yes even at almost 12p we still wanted breakfast, and ended up at a great cafe with big portions!

this race was awesome. it was everything i wanted and am so so so glad i was able to finally run it! the whole thing was well organized and flowed really smoothly. the course support was overflowing and there were lots of gorgeous firefighters at the end! trust me, the lottery is worth signing up for:) if you dont believe me, check out the bling...

boom.

the san francisco adventure part 2

so we left off sunday night with all of us turning in. my parents headed out the early the next morning to the airport but luckily jessica was staying around for a good part of the day. we decided that meant it was time to finally ride the cable cars! so we trekked down to union square to pick up the famous powell and hyde line that would take us by all the good stuff.

we finally get to have post-race coffee together:)

we landed at the bottom and conveniently stumbled upon the buena vista. this was actually the place we were planning to go for breakfast sunday but just ran out of time before my grandparents came into town. apparently it has a very famous irish coffee so we saddled up to the bar and ordered some coffee, our 2nd of the day hehe. it was delicious and so cool to watch the bartender make tons of coffee for awhile. turns out they actually go through about 80-100 bottles of whiskey on a weekend day! omg thats a lot.

yum!

afterward we explored fishermans wharf a little while and people watching of course. which of course means the sea lions! jessica was very excited and im pretty sure she was scheming ways to take 1 of the little guys home:) we settled on in-n-out for lunch, which i realize isnt very san francisco, but it is very california. and man it was GOOD! i havent had anything like that in months. yum.

lombard street!

it seemed sooner than we both would of liked but we needed to head back to get her to the airport and us to our afternoon tour. we got back right on time and soon jessica was on the bart on her way to the oakland airport. i hate it when we have to say goodbye:/ richard and i hopped on the nearest street car that would take us all the way around to the pier to hop on our cruise to alcatraz! i have always wanted to go there and finally was able to fit it in. as we got closer and closer i started to get worried about the time since you need to arrive 30 minutes before the boat leaves to board. just as we got to the ferry building our driver informed us this would be his last stop since one of the front doors was broken and we would have to wait for the next car behind him in about 5 minutes. so we hopped off, did we really have a choice, and began waiting for the next one. richard started getting more and more upset at this point that we would never make it and now we wasted our money. now when people in san francisco say 5 minutes i swear they really mean at least 30 minutes. by this time we had more than missed our boat and wasnt sure we would be able to get refunded. i decided we should still go to the dock and see if theres anything they can do. richard decided he was fed up waiting and walked down to the pier as i waited for the street car. he apparently needed to blow off steam from something.

finally the street car arrived and i took it down to pier 33 to met him. we went to the window and the lady was amazingly nice, gave us our tickets, and told us we could do stand-by anytime tuesday. she gave the advice to be there for the early ones because they were the easiest to get on. this meant no tour tonight and no plan. after hearing all about how his plans never pan out and no one wants to do the things he wants when he wants to we decided to go see the painted ladies instead. luckily i still had a few maps in my purse, so i set out to figure out the easiest way to get there. it was also getting dark and we needed to get going if we wanted to see them in the daylight! turns out it was actually pretty easy and made it there just after the sun had passed over.

ill be moving in tomorrow:)

it was about dinnertime then and we were both hungry. after a few failed attempts at finding somewhere there, we seemed to keep getting into not such good areas we shouldnt be in after dark or really in the daylight either, we headed back to union square to find a diner instead. it turned out to be delicious and we headed back to crash for our early rise the next morning, determined to make it to alcatraz on the 1st boat out!

already knowing where we were going and how long it would take us to get there we made it in plenty of time to be 1st in the stand-by line tuesday and hopped on to the 1st boat no problem! its a quick trip to alcatraz and there was just a little bit of fog to make it a beautiful morning:) once we got to the island you here some quick safety tips from the park ranger then you are free to explore anywhere you want. get to the top of the hill, which equals a 13 story climb ps, and you get to the jailhouse and you can take an audio tour which we did. it was soooo cool! a little creepy, i wont lie, but very cool. i had no idea there was so much history to it!

the bay bridge.

spooky.

how did we get in here!

the view from alcatraz.

i seriously love divider plates!!

we made it back to the main land about 1230p and headed to pier 39 for lunch. it was finally time for a seafood lunch and the pier is the perfect place! the weather was fantastic all day and after lunch we walked around the shops a bit before grabbing some ice cream and heading back to the hotel before our next tour. i was actually able to sneak in an hour nap in the meantime!

found at the chocolate store at pier 39!

right on time, earlier than we probably needed but we didnt want to be late, we headed to the bart station directly outside to chinatown for our culinary tour. my parents took a culinary tour a few years ago in seattle and still rave about it. so when researching tours in san francisco i found one for chinatown and little italy and with just a little bit of convincing i was able to get richard on board pretty easily! our guide was great and there was only 1 other couple on our tour so it wasnt huge. we started with a tea tasting with all kinds of different chinese tea leaves then headed down back alleys of chinatown i would have never found on my own. next we stopped by a real fortune cookie factory and actual saw the little chinese man making the cookies and putting the fortune inside! i really wanted a picture but didnt have any change to give him:/ but we got to try a chocolate fortune cookie and our guide gave each couple a huge bag to take home!

next we got to taste dim sum at an eastern bakery that apparently bill clinton frequents when he visits haha. it was all kinds of different options and so much food! note to self:: next time i go on a culinary tour go really, really hungry!! luckily we got walk a bit and there was quite a bit of time before our next food stop. we wandered through chinatown and before we knew it we were in little italy. i had no idea they were so close. our guide was awesome and pointed out all kinds of history things along the way. we ended in a little pizza restaurant for some amazing pies and wine! the pizza was like wafer thin and had sooo much flavor. the owner was from rome and you could tell she made each pie with a lot of love:)

afterward we wandered around little italy a bit and found a cafe to have a cup of coffee in. it was delicious and the streets were so alive with people at 9pm on a tuesday night! man i would live in san francisco if i could:) we headed back soon after to pack since the next morning we were heading home. i was kinda sad to leave in a different way since we were able to spend so much time in the city on this trip. we had an amazing time and i am soooo grateful to my parents and jessica that came out to support too! to have so many faces travel with you and cheer you on such a big race is more than a girl could ask for:) till our next group adventure!!