Lets Talk Goals for 2014 and Recap of 2013 Goals

 RECAP OF MY 2013 GOALS

1)  Accomplish (Beach Cities Challenge) and (Sub-Four Marathon) which were goals from 2012 which were not met due to an injury.

Status: GOALS MET! I finally earned my Beach Cities Challenge medal in October, 2013 and I ran two sub four marathons.

2) Stay Injury Free and be a smarter runner!   

Status: This is an on-going goal that I will always strive to meet but I can say that I have been smarter with my running this year and remained injury free in 2013. I have been better at foam rolling, stretching and using my Stick which may have saved me!

3) Continue to work towards that BQ. 

Status: This is another on-going goal that will stick around until I get that BQ! This has become my biggest focus and I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

4) Focus on the marathon!  

Status: I definitely focused on the marathon in 2013 and was able to improve my time by 16 minutes.  I will continue to focus on the marathon until I get that BQ!

 5)  Earn a PR or 2! 

Status: The only distance that I PR'd  in 2013 was the marathon but that was the most important to me in my quest to BQ.

6) Run 1200 miles in 2013!

Status: GOAL MET! I ran a total of 1355 miles in 2013!

MY GOALS FOR 2014

1) Run a Boston Qualifying Time of 3:45 or better!

2)  Run 1400 miles in 2014 which is an average of 117 miles/month.

3) Run a Half Marathon in 1:45. My PR in the half is 1:46:58 and this year I did not give much focus to the half marathon but mainly used the distance fortraining runs.

4) Put Speedwork back into my training.

5) Give trail running a try. I have been wanting to try it for a long time and I think I will go for it in 2014.

Did you meet your 2013 Goals?

What are your goals for 2014?

Christmas 2013

Christmas was really fun and my house has been really busy! My sister and her family are visiting from South Carolina so we have been on the go visiting all of their favorite places in California. We have been doing lots of eating, eating and eating. They wanted to eat at El Torito for Christmas so that's what we did.

I am going to be in big trouble with all of this eating but I can't deny that I am having fun with my family in spite of it. My favorite Christmas present was my Mizuno Wave Inspire 10's....obviously!

I was really tempted to put them and go for a run but I decided to just put them on and pretend that I was going for a run instead.

The dogs enjoyed their Christmas too. I am pretty sure that Roxy will not be with us next Christmas. She did not respond well to the chemo and ended up with other issues so the treatment can no longer be administered. The thought of it makes me super sad so let's change the subject.

I had my annual Christmas party on December 26th and it was nice to get together with all of my sisters, my parents, my kids and my nieces and nephews. 

My Dad and my Step Mom

The kids had tons of presents to open and my nephew was very helpful in opening his presents as well as everyone else's. He loves those Toy Story cowboy boots and refuses to take them off! Pretty hilarious!

There was lots of laughing and talking about old times. That would be my sister dying laughing in the picture. She is a riot and she doesn't even need a drink to get her going!

The sad moment of the night happened when my mom presented this drawing of my Grandpa to my Grandma. Grandma broke down and we all felt really bad for her. She really misses him a lot and keeps telling us that she wants to go and be with him.

My sister and her family will be leaving back to South Carolina tomorrow night at 11:00 pm I will be ringing in the New Year on the road since I will be taking them to LAX. Other than that, we have no big plans for New Years Day except to sleep in, watch the Rose Parade on TV and clean the house.

How was your Christmas? Any plans for ringing in the New Year?

Reward: Lost Mojo

For the last couple of weeks I have not posted my Weekly Updates on my LA Marathon Training Plan. Why? Well, I guess because I have just been running with no real training plan. There have been no set paces or distances and I guess you can say that I have just been running. It is kind of scary since my Race Calendar for 2014 is pretty full!

Maybe it is because of the holiday rush or the fact that I have been really busy with work and my home life. I know that sometimes I feel guilty about the time I dedicate to myself and running and feel like I need to shift my focus to other areas of my life. I am not quite sure what it is but I know that I am also tired of the treadmill and the fact that it gets dark at 4:45 p.m. isn't helping either. My long runs have also been cut short the past two weeks because my head just wasn't in it.

In any case, it is what it is. I am hoping to get back on track really soon. If you happen to find my "running mojo" please return it back to me because I think I have lost it!

Do you ever lose your "running mojo?"

What do you do to get yourself back on track?

Three Things Thursday

1. I love it when my run accidentally turns out to be a progressive run! I was not shooting for it but realized it only after I uploaded my run!

2. I am having a lot of fun with my new Garmin 620. If you are a numbers person you will love it too. It gives you so much information about each run and your overall running dynamics. I want to post a review of the watch from my prospective as soon as I have it all figured out. So far so good. I really kind of love it!

3. Tomorrow is my last day of work before I start my vacation and I am pretty excited. I will be off for a whole 17 days. It is going to be hard to go back to work!

 

Are you taking any time off from work this holiday season?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

My Christmas tree is finally decorated!

An Update on My Dad

A few weeks ago I mentioned that it was time for my Dad to have his scan to see how things are going with his cancer treatment. Recently it seems like my Dad had become really burned out with the chemotherapy. The side effects are pretty bad and he deals with things like sores in his mouth, constipation, nausea, constant urination, fatigue and the inability to taste food as it should really taste. He always tells me that his food tastes like metal and only certain things taste good to him but he forces himself to eat so that he stays healthy.

He talked to his doctor and asked if he could skip his chemotherapy the week of Christmas because he just wanted one week of the year to just feel normal and be able to eat and taste his food. His doctor said that he could not make that determination without seeing how things were going with the cancer. The results of the scan were in a few days before my Dad found out the results. His doctor never talks to him over the phone and prefers that they talk in person. I kept calling him because I was anxious to know the results but he said he would call me a soon as he knew something.

My Dad finally called me with the results a couple of days ago and when I saw his call coming in I got really nervous. I am never prepared to hear bad news. Well, I have to tell you that God is good. My Dad's scan came back as stable once again. The cancer has not spread but unfortunately it is still in his body. He also had a CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) test which measures the amount of protein in the blood for those who have certain kinds of cancers. The production of CEA stops before birth, and it usually is not present in the blood of healthy adults. When we first found out that he had cancer, his CEA reading was 47 and this time his reading came back at a 3-4! This is exciting news for us because it looks like the treatment is working and his doctor is going to allow him to skip chemotherapy the week of Christmas! He will be coming to visit me that week and we are already planning to make some of his favorite foods so that he will actually be able to taste him in a normal way.

We are so thankful and blessed to be spending another Christmas with my Dad. His attitude is just so positive and he has a great willingness to live. I know that is a big part of it but the blessings from the Man above really make it all possible. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

He said Yes!

to this...

On November 16, 2014 my other half and I will be running the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon together. This was my first full marathon so it has a special place in my heart. It will now be his first and last marathon he says. Las Vegas is also one of our favorite places to get away and spend time together so I think it will be perfect. Our goal is very simple: FINISH THE RACE even if we have to walk some of it.

Rock 'n' Roll has this offer only for today so go and register. The half is the same price as the full so you might as well go for the full marathon so you can cheer us on out there!

Anyone else planning to register for Rock 'n' Rock Las Vegas today?

13 in 2013 gone 17 in 2013

This year I set so many running goals and one of them was to run 13 races of various distances in 2013. It was definitely a gamble but I am happy to say that I reached my goal and my final number of races for the year is 17.

Marathons: 2

Half Marathons:8

10K's: 2

5K's:3

Relays: 2

It was not a year of multiple PR's since my focus was simply the marathon and I am so grateful to have improved my time by 16 minutes. I never take that marathon for granted because it is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life! 

What I did learn this year as a runner is that it is not always about me or getting a new PR. My most memorable races this year were actually ran with other runners and not alone. Supporting my friend Caroline during the OC Half Marathon was such a great experience. The lady inspires me to keep pushing when times get tough. Having the opportunity to run Ragnar Las Vegas with a great group of people was so much fun and such a wonderful opportunity. Most of all, watching my other half complete his first half marathon with a huge smile on his face after telling me how crazy I am for running the past three years. By the way, I am working on getting him to do a full marathon with me  in 2014.

Here is a recap of the races I ran in 2013 which are linked to my Race Recaps.

1. Allstate Los Angeles 13.1-January 13, 2013 (1:48:42)

2. Surf City Half Marathon-February 3, 2013 (1:53:26)

3. Pasadena Rock & Roll Half Marathon-February 17, 2013 (1:53:29)

4. Hollywood Half Marathon-April 6, 2013 (1:51:29)

5. Ragnar So. Cal Relay-April 19-20, 2013 (31:07)

6. OC Half Marathon-May 5, 2013 (2:57:58) 

7. Mountains 2 Beach Marathon-May 26, 2013 (3:49:10) PR
 

8. Ontario Mills 10K- June 8, 2013 (49:40)

9. City of Cypress 5K- July 27, 2013 (23:57)

10. Disneyland 10K- August 31, 2013 (52:33)

 

11. Disneyland Half Marathon- September 1, 2013 (1:48:43)

12. Long Beach Marathon-October 13, 2013 (3:52:15)

13. Ragnar Las Vegas- November 8-9, 2013 (27:57:33)

14. Surfers Point Half Marathon- November 17, 2o13 (2:08:17)

 

15. Hope 4 Philippines 5K Virtual Race- November 22, 2013 (26:39)

16. Claremont Sunrise Rotary 5K-November 28, 2013 (23:35) 

17. Divas Half Marathon-December 8, 2013 (2:02)

I am not sure if I will be attempting 14 in 2014 because it is going to be the year of the marathon for me. Yes, I will be chasing that BQ in 2014! Are you ready to take on 14 races in 2014? You can read all about it HERE.

I see a few marathons happening for me in 2014 as I continue to work towards my goal of qualifying for Boston. I might add in a few half marathons as well since I like to throw them into my training plan.

Who else participated in 13 in 2013? Please share!

Divas Half Marathon: 12/8/13

I love to end the year with a fun race where I don't have to worry about time or put any pressure on myself. I was not planning on running this race but it kind of came together at the last minute and it was my close friends first race back since her husband passed away on September 5th. I wanted to be there to support her because I knew that it was going to be tough for her since he would not be there on the sidelines to cheer her on as he always did.

This was an inaugural race and not too far from my house which is always a plus. The course was flat and fast and probably a great course to PR if you like this type of course. The only time the course was not flat was when we crossed over a freeway overpass and it was not bad at all. We had to go over it twice since the course is an out and back. The course was well marked and there were lots of staff and police out on the course. There was not much course entertainment except for a few DJ's playing music and a cheer squad from a local high school.

The race started the Ontario Convention Center so the runners were able to use the "real" bathrooms inside the Convention Center and keep warm until the race started. This was indeed the coldest race that I have ever ran. It was about 37 degrees at the start and I was a little worried about how my body would respond to the cold. 

 

I wore pants and a long sleeved shirt with a tank underneath and I did not take my shirt off until Mile 10. Normally, any layers are off by the first mile because I warm up really quickly when I am running. We all wore matching pink tutus which made it really fun! We all planned on staying together for the entire race with no set pace in mind.

Around Mile 2, I noticed that my friend was not with us and she had dropped back. We did not see her until the first turn around and she was quite a ways behind us. I told the others to go ahead because I was going to wait for her at the next water stop since I was not sure if she was going to be okay on her own. She spotted me at the water stop and from this point on, it was just the two of us. She had her music on so we did not talk much but I was entertained by all of the pink and cute costumes out on the course. The course is not a very scenic one but since it is close to the mountains you do have that view for most of the race. I also spotted Linz from See Sharp Run around Mile 6 and asked him to pose for a photo.

We saw the rest of the our pack at a turn around near Mile 9 and we cheered each other on. They were pretty excited to see us as you can see.

 

Mile 12 was the roughest mile for my friend because she knew that her husband was not going to be waiting for her at the finish line. She wanted to quit but I encouraged her find the strength to finish the race for him and she did. 

 

We finished the race together and waited for the others to come in. We finished in about 2:02 and my other friends all finished within a few minutes of us.

There were lots of fun things at the finish including crowns, tiaras, roses, sparking apple cider and of course medals which were handed out by muscular men  in jeans with no shirts!

 

I am not sure how those poor guys were surviving out there in just there jeans because it was only 45 degrees at the finish! We took lots of fun photos together and I have to say that it was a very well organized race. I would definitely run this race again..in pink and a tutu that is!

 How often do you run races just for fun?

Anybody else run a race this weekend?