Back On Track...Maybe

Happy Sunday! As some of you may know, I hurt may back about a month ago and couldn't run for about a week and a half. Well, right after that, I got really sick and was like that for about two and a half weeks. It was just one thing after another! So frustrating since I couldn't train. I just started training this past week and it was way harder than I thought it would be. I completely lost all of my stamina that I had stored up. On my first run I was nearing 1.5 miles and I was so exhausted and just wanted to stop. I felt horrible: physically and mentally. I kept thinking about that half marathon coming up and how I am just back to square one. So it's been pretty tough. Hopefully I can build back my stamina and continue building up my mileage. As for now, I am only running about 2 miles to try and get back on track.

My photo from the other day wasn't loading, so I used this picture from February which is pretty much the same as my pace now. Now, I just have to keep my goal in mind and keep running. Eventually, I will build my mileage and stamina, I just have to work for it. I hope everyone has an amazing day :)

QOTD: Have you ever been off track on your training? How did you get back on track? 

Upcoming Races (Part 3 of 3)

San Francisco Nike Women's Half Marathon

Today I'm sharing one of the races I will be doing later this year. The San Francisco Nike Women's Half Marathon. The race features a marathon and half marathon but I'm just doing the half. I'm really excited about this race! 

Some of you may know that it is not guaranteed that everyone who signs up can get into this race. They pick runners by a lottery system. This is a very popular race so hopefully I will be able to get in! As seen in the picture above, this is the 10th anniversary of this race. That just adds to the popularity of the race. I'm now praying that I can get into this race. 

The race starts in Union Square right next to the race expo. Then the runner travel by the bay and into the many hills and hills and hills. That is the number one thing that I am nervous about. The dreaded hills. And SF has many of them. I heard that there is a moment where it's just 3-4 miles of all hills. YIKES! Better start training for hills or else I think I might die. 

I thought that the most interesting thing about this race is the bra exchange. During the race, there is spot where Nike gives you a free sports bra. The catch is that you have to change in it right then and there. They give a changing room of course, but it does add some extra minutes to your time. I will definitely do the bra exchange (who doesn't want a free bra?) but that's mainly because I know I won't care about my time that much since the hills will already be setting me back. 

And of course, the number one thing that is on everyone's mind when they think of Nike races is the bling. Because it's not just any bling, it's a Tiffany and Co. necklace. Now that is bling. And to add to that, firefighters dressed up in tuxes give you that perfect little Tiffany blue box. That sounds perfect to me! 

I'm really hoping that I will get picked to run this race. It seems very fun and enjoyable! Can't wait :) 

QOTD: Have you ever ran in a Nike Race? Have you ever ran in a race with lots of hills? 

My Running Story

Today I thought I would share my "running story" if you could call it that. First of all, I am a NEW runner. Definitely not experienced at all. Back in January, my family all thought that we should do something together. Like a big event that we could all participate in. For some reason I kept getting stuck on the idea of running. Running a 5k or 10k, definitely not a half marathon or marathon. I brought the idea to the fam and they loved it! We picked a place to run our first running events that was going to be fun and exciting (also, my favorite place in the world) DISNEYLAND!

Like I said, I am a new runner. I mean I just decided to run when I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. Before I signed up, I dreaded the mile at school, never ran on my free time, and absolutely hated the thought of it! So, I decided that I would definitely not go past the distance of a 10k. The 10k (6.2 miles) is already a huge challenge for me.
Well, the day came when me and my family would all sign up for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. I reminded my mom the date and the time that they were going to release the registration. She forgot. Yikes. Luckily, I remembered and when I got home from school the day registration opened, I ran straight to computer and looked on runDisney's website.
Next, I went to go click on the 10k. Then I realized something horrible: the 10k was sold out! How could it be sold out? Registration had only been open for a few hours! This was crazy. My mom and sister had already decided to do the 5k but me and my brothers were challenging ourselves for the 10k. Now what would we do?
Me and my brothers had a little pow-wow and decided that we weren't going to travel all the way to Disneyland just to run a 5k. So, our only other option was the half marathon. The thought of that made me cringe. We were all very skeptical at first. Could we do this? It was 13.1 miles! We would have to train for a while and actually run 13.1 MILES! Once we got over this fact, we just closed our eyes and signed up.

So, I've been in training for a few months slowly, very slowly, working my way up in the miles. I'm up to about four miles right now. I have been sick so I haven't really gotten to run lately but hopefully I can get back to training soon! My brothers don't think they need to train (yeah right) so they aren't going to actually start running until June/July. I'm hoping I'll get a faster time than them just so that I have bragging rights and that my long-term training will actually be payed off. 

I am hoping to run in a few more half marathons because I've kind of fallen in love with running now. Hopefully when I'm older, I'll be able to run a full marathon! As for now, I'm sticking to half marathons. I hope you guys enjoyed my :running story" :) Have a great day!

QOTD: Have you ever ran a half marathon? What made you sign up?

Color Me Rad Recap

Today I got the honor to run my first race EVER! It was only a 5k, but I think it still counts. So, let's start at the beginning...
I woke up at around 8:00 since my race time was supposed to be at 10:20. My friend Kelly was running with me and came over at around 9. We ended up talking and putting on sunscreen for a while, so we didn't end up leaving my house till 9:40! Yikes!

Kelly and I in our "before picture"

We got to our destination on time and my mom dropped us off on the corner of the street. We walked across the street to the race where we saw tons, I mean tons of people. And they were all in a huge mob. Kelly and I jumped into the "mob" that was actually a line. The starting line was pretty close, but we were a little confused on why we were all in this huge line! I was a little irritated.
We waited in the line a while longer and then realized that it was 10:40. Umm...weren't we supposed to be running at 10:20? I was a little confused on how all this was going to work. People next to me were supposed to run in the 10:00 group and the 9:40 group. But, we just kept waiting, seeing what was going to happen next.
Once we were close to the starting line, Kelly and I decided that we would try and find my brother's girlfriend, Rachel, and her family. We didn't want to be alone and confused! Lol. We finally found them and walked up to the starting line. At this point, they were letting people start running in small little groups about every 10-15 minutes. We walked up expecting to start the race when this Color Me Rad staff member puts this huge pole in front of us! Looks like we barely made it to that group. But on the plus side, we were going to be right in the front for the next heat.

We finally moved up to the very front of the starting line and within a few minutes, we were off! I have been really sick for the last week, so my group decided that we would try and run as much as we could (especially through the color parts) and walk as much as we needed to. We ended up walking a lot because I was coughing up a storm and wiping my nose every few seconds! It was absolutely horrible. I really wanted to run though. We ran all the way to the first station: purple. We got so excited and came out with absolutely no purple on us! We were pretty bummed. After that, we were on and off running and walking.

I was very excited once I saw the finish line. I was ready to end my misery, take a shower, and just blow my nose without getting colored powder everywhere. I ran the last part of race, because I wanted to end the race running. There were color "bombs" galor at the finish line! I was coughing and coughing until I finally got out of the madness. I found my mom, we took a few pictures and then headed to lunch.

The whole group afterwards. 

The "after" picture with Kelly. 

Overall, it was a fun race. I'm sure if I wasn't sick it would've been a lot more fun. I definitely think it needs to be more organized (I saw people without bibs on, just joining the race!) so hopefully they improve that for next year!

QOTD: Have you ever ran in a Color Me Rad race? How was your experience?