A Visit With Grandpa

The weekend seemed to come and go so quickly! My weekend was pretty busy and I got a lot of things done. I got my long run out of the way on Saturday then got my hair cut later that day. I did not cut it all off yet but one day soon I am hoping to get brave enough to do it! 

My grandpa's grave marker was finally finished and placed a couple of weeks ago so I took my grandma to see it on Sunday. We spent some time cleaning the marker and decorated it really nicely for him. I am sure he would have loved it. We just found out today that the cemetery changed the schedule for removal of the flowers and decorations so they will remove all of this on Tuesday. Bummer!

After the visit, we took Grandma to In N Out to eat a burger. She loves their burgers and she seemed really happy to be surrounded by family. My Sunday was a rest and recovery day so that is pretty much all that I did with the exception of about four loads of laundry! 

I also bought some snacks for my Ragnar Relay this weekend and started packing my bags. I also bought a pair of CEP reflective night running socks so I hope they arrive in time for Ragnar. I am a little bit nervous about running in the middle of the night but I only have to run 2.2 miles so I will be treating my second leg of the relay as speed work! I am trying not to over pack but sometimes I get carried away. This is what I have packed so far and I need to get busy since I don't have much time left!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything special?

Weekend Update, Puppies and a Spider!

I had a three day weekend and it was pretty nice. I was really lacking on sleep last week and I was feeling pretty beat by the end of the week. I slept until 7am on Saturday which is something that I rarely do.  My internal alarm clock, as well as my dogs, never fails to go off on the weekends!  The dogs never fail to start barking at 4am to eat breakfast! They love to eat!

My son really wanted to see Batman this weekend but after the horrible events that took place in Aurora, Colorado I didn't really feel like going anymore. I feel really bad for all of those people and their families. I just could not make any sense of it over the weekend.  It was just so bad watching all of those people hurting over what had taken place. Why do things like that have to happen??

I put my long run off until Sunday because I just did not have the energy to do it on Friday or Saturday. I went out for a run on Friday morning and I did not feel 100% and turned around and went back home.  I was only able to get 7.3 miles in before I had to call it a day. It was warm out at 6am and it was not just not my day!  I mapped out a new route to try on Saturday and I almost ran through this!  

I guess this is not a very popular route if this guy was able to build this masterpiece! I was kind of done at this point because I don't like spiders! I kept thinking that something was crawling on me after seeing this guy.

My puppies turned 7 weeks old on Saturday and are getting cuter, smarter and all of those good things. They are doing everything on their own but they just can't seem to get enough of their mama. They still cry to nurse with her and chase her down until she gives in so we are still letting them nurse once or twice a day.  Other than that, they eat and drink water on their own.  

The pups are pretty good about understanding the whole "go potty on the puppy pad" thing but once in a while they push their luck and poop somewhere that they shouldn't like in their own water bowl!  

My 15 mile run did happen on Sunday! I headed out at 5:45am and just went for it nice and easy with a goal pace of around 8:50-9:00. The weather is just too warm for me to push for anything more than that so my focus was more on building my endurance and not so much on my pace.

After my run, we headed over to my sisters apartment and had a BBQ and relaxed by the pool. I closed out my week with 36.34 miles and will be shooting for a 17 mile run next week. I am excited and nervous all at the same time! I am making progress and that always brings a smile to my face :) I still haven't bought that helmet to start riding my bike but it is going to happen soon. I need to start incorporating some cross training into my running schedule to get me ready for Surf City in February!

How was your weekend?  Did you go for a long run? Did you race?

Father's Day Dinner with Spongebob and a Weekly Recap!

This weekend was really busy and exciting all at the same time.  Other than getting new road bikes, we enjoyed a great Father's Day dinner at Benihana. I think my son enjoyed it the most and our chef was great. The restaurant was super busy and it took longer than expected to be seated, but I guess that is to be expected on a busy holiday like Father's Day.  We were starving by the time the chef showed up but he was pretty entertaining and we had a great time.  I won't bore you with all of the food that I ate but I have to share some of the highlights of our dinner with you. Yes, I forced my son to put this hat on and pose for a picture!

Have you ever seen this corny creation at Benihana? I had not and neither did anyone else at our table so this one was the favorite of night! The onion volcano ain't got nothing on Spongebob!  My son loved it and he enjoyed the dinner show! Notice that Patrick is in the picture too!

We talked a lot and laughed a lot and we had a great evening. The chef kept the jokes coming throughout the meal and we were stuffed.  I don't think anyone at the table finished their food. We all wore some shade of blue for some unplanned reason or another but I think the colors made for a nice photo.

 I love the green tea ice cream and even though I was stuffed, I saved some room for just a few bites!

As far as my running last week..I did not meet my goal of 25 miles but did happen to get 20.52 miles on the books. I was planning to run on Father's Day but it just did not happen so I have to get back on track this week. I am also excited to say that I did reach 400 miles for the year. I am still way behind on hitting my goal of 1200 for the year but I will take what I can get right now!

Are you a fan of green tea ice cream?  What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

I think my all time favorite would have to be mint chocolate chip or just plain chocolate chip.

A Family Reunion and Weekly Recap

Every June we have a family reunion and all of the families take turns organizing and putting the event together. My Dad is full Japanese so the reunion is hosted by my Dad's side of the family.  I enjoy it since it is the one time of year that I have the opportunity to see a lot of my relatives that I don't often see. I also get to see my Dad and I always look forward to seeing him. My niece, Taite, is in town for the summer so she came along with us and it was a great opportunity for her to see her Grandpa (my Dad) and spend some time with us since she lives in South Carolina. My brother-in-law is in the Navy so they have not yet found their permanent home.  I am hopeful that they will settle closer to California one day soon so we can see my sister and her family more often.

There were lots of games and activities for the kids and my husband and son won the Rock/Paper/Scissors championship and came home a few dollars richer! My husband was really getting into this game and was taking necklaces from the children and the elderly! In a nutshell, if you beat your opponent their necklaces which had a quarter attached, became yours. We had never seen the game played this way before and thought it was a great idea.

There was a ton of food and it was nice to see everyone especially my Dad! Taite decided to give chopsticks a try but after struggling for a few minutes she gave up! She is such a sweet and well-behaved little girl and I love her to death!

Weekly Recap

I ran 26.25 miles last week and met my goal of 25 miles for the week! I am still experiencing strange aches and pains and some issues if I try to run consecutive days. The good thing is that the pains goes away within a short period of time and I am pain free when I run. I usually try to run every other day and cross train in between but I am not quite there yet. The rest days are much needed and appreciated until I think I can handle more. I will continue to shoot for 25 miles a week and increase my mileage when I think I am ready for more. My goal is to run a strong half marathon in September and get closer to the 1:5o range again.

How was your weekend? Did you race or do anything special with your family?

The Dog Log and National Running Day!

I would love to say that my life has been centered around my family and running but lately it has revolved around this family instead:

All the puppies are doing great and Sugar is such a good mommy. She refuses to leave them for more than a minute. Sometimes she comes out to eat but most of the time I have to put her bowl in the family bed or feed her by hand. She runs outside to use the bathroom and then sprints back to the puppies. The pups get weighed daily to make sure that they are gaining weight. We have a log that we keep track of their weight in and I call it the "Dog Log." The puppy that gains the least amount of weight gets watched really closely and we make sure that he/she is getting a spot to eat. So far, the smallest and first born puppy has gained the most weight.  

Did you receive the email from Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series about the $20 discount that they will be offering off any race (Las Vegas and some others excluded) in honor of National Running Day on June 6th? I have been shying away from signing up for any races but with this kind of discount I just might give in. I am considering the Pasadena Half Marathon since I had to sit it out this year and/or the Los Angeles Halloween Half Marathon. I am not brave enough to sign up for a marathon quite yet but this will be a good start for me. 

Speaking of National Running Day, I will definitely get a run in to celebrate the day. Last weeks mileage was a little less than I would have hoped for (22.06 to be exact) but the birth of the puppies kind of became my priority and I missed a key run on Saturday! I would like to get back to running at least 25 miles a week so fingers crossed that I hit my target this week.

So tell me, are you planning to take advantage of the discount from Rock 'n' Roll? What races are you considering? How are you planning on celebrating National Running Day? 

Long Training Run Number 6: NOT!

Weekend Recap
 

This was a very interesting week as my far as running to say the least.  I didn't run for five consecutive days and no long Sunday run for me either. It was more like a long walk at the House of Mouse. My family and I took a trip to Disneyland on Friday and we walked for hours and hours.  We had a great time and we met Duffy, Russell and Doug and checked out all of the new rides at California Adventure. I also enjoyed the new Mickey's Soundsational Parade while I iced my shins!  

Duffy the Disney Bear

Up is one of our favorite movies!

 Yes, I iced my shins at Disneyland....

The plan was to run 15 miles on Sunday but of course it did not happen due to my shin splints.  I promised myself that as long as I felt pain, I would not run and I didn't.  I was starting to feel really irritated and grouchy by Friday due to lack of running so I am glad that the pain went away. I think that my family is glad that I am running again too :) I also made an executive decision to go back to my old Nike Vomero's and be done with it. No more switching shoes, especially in the middle of training! Duh!  I iced like crazy, took Advil and just waited for the pain to go away!  I was pain free on Friday and went for a quick run before visiting Mickey Mouse.

My oldies but goodies!

I basically crammed as much running as I possibly could into a three-day period.  I ran 3 miles on Friday, 8 miles on Saturday and 8 miles on Sunday.  I did not complete my scheduled mileage for the week but I feel lucky to be on the road again. Running three consecutive days for me is pretty difficult.  My pace is not as great and my shins don't appreciate it. I usually run every other day so completing 8 miles for two consecutive days is pretty good for me. I really felt challenged on Sunday to say the least! I was dripping with sweat after my run even after I opted to run on the shadiest side of the street. It was kind of gross but it made me feel like I worked hard!

Oh how I love the shade when I'm lazy!

I am still on track for achieving a 100-mile month so I am really excited about it! I am ending this week with 84 miles on the books.  I am 16 miles short of reaching my goal and I think it's going to happen this month.  Can't wait to see that 100-mile month happen!

 Oh and by the way....my new compression sleeves came yesterday so I am excited to give them a try and see how they work for me.