2011 Running Year in Review

Last year I did a year-in-review race recap after I ran my last race and since I just ran my last race of 2011...here is a look back at 2011!

I had quite a busy race calendar this year but it wasn't by accident. I wanted to see if I could run a bunch of races in a calendar year. Turns out I can. Do I recommend it? Not whole heartedly. It took a lot of time to train, plan and travel. Not to mention the cost. Yeah, let's not mention about that. I was lucky that I had the luxury to commit as much time, energy and money to this little experiment. Running races can be an expensive hobby. Having said that, I don't regret running any of them. I had so much fun and learned a lot about myself as a runner in each one of those races. I surprised myself by PR-ing in three distances this year, the 5K, half marathon and marathon.

I started the year with the Southern California Half. It is held in early January shortly after all the holiday festivities have died down. Naturally I am a slacker over the holidays so I was really under-trained and ill prepared for this race and it showed. Even running with full effort, I clocked this race at 1:50:16.

Then I got sick around mid to late January with a bad fever that made training almost impossible. And so I went into the Surf City Half even less prepared than the first. Clocking in at a "crap-tacular" 2:01:22 but I kept the Surf City running steak alive. Four years in a row!

Then on March 20, 2011 the sky opened up and poured rain as I ran the LA Marathon. Needless to say that didn't go well (4:26:12).

After that race, I was afraid of the rain and cold like never before. Luckily Sister K and I finished up the The Coaster Run 10K before it started to rain! A big thumbs up for that.

Then I drove up to Monterey early May to run one of the most beautiful courses that I've ever ran, the Big Sur Marathon. Ran the modified out and back course in 4:19:14. Going back in 2012 to tackle Hurricane Point! Excited! Okay not really because that part is going to suck but the other parts are nice.

Then on Memorial Day weekend, I revisited a course that I hadn't ran in a couple of years and earned my current half marathon PR time of 1:44:10 at the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half! It was a great day!

Then I was on a roll and earned my current marathon PR time of 3:50:35 at the Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon. Another great day in my running history book!

Around mid June, I ran my second trail race ever at the Billy Goat Hill Climb Half with a 2,400 ft climb! Definitely one of the harder runs I did this year. Clocked in at 2:16:47.

Then I flew up north to eat...oh and to run the San Francisco Marathon. 4:08:51

Then it was down to San Diego for America's Finest Half, revisiting a course I had not ran since 2008. Nothing spectacular happened there, except that I overslept and almost missed the start of this race. Ran the half in 1:51:25.

Then I ran my first Disney race ever at the Disneyland Half in a fairy costume! 1:51:23

Sometime around September my right knee started to bother me a bit from all the Spinning I was doing coupled with the lack of running. So I hobbled through the Long Beach Marathon in high temps and low running spirits. Clocking in at 4:26:55. That was also the weekend my beautiful niece was born so that made up for all the unpleasantness.

I did a really fun 5K around mid October and earned a new 5K PR of 23:18 at the Chapman 5K in a pretty Sparkle skirt but that was also the day that I almost fell when I accidentally stepped on a rock and twisted my ankle. The ankle is still not the same.

On Halloween weekend, I dressed up as a black cat and ran the RnR Los Angeles Half in 1:45:56.

Last marathon of the year was the Santa Barbara Marathon and I ran a 3:59:36. My second sub-4 marathon ever. I was happy with that as it was not planned. 

Capped off 2011 with the Holiday Half! Clocked in at 1:47:25.

Honestly, I'm tired and am glad that it is done! I am however looking forward to my 2012 race schedule when the fun will start all over again. Run on and on!

2011 Holiday Half Marathon Race Recap

Date: December 11, 2011
Location: Pomona Fairplex
Start: 8:00am
Finish: 1:47:25 (8:12 pace)
Elevation Chart:

Mile 1 - 8:17                           Mile 8 - 8:13
Mile 2 - 8:02                           Mile 9 - 8:07
Mile 3 - 8:00                           Mile 10 - 8:27
Mile 4 - 7:58                           Mile 11 - 8:35
Mile 5 - 8:06                           Mile 12 - 8:13
Mile 6 - 8:15                           Mile 13 - 7:50
Mile 7 - 8:06

5K - 26:33 (8:33 pace)
7.2 miles - 58:05 (8:04 pace)

I went into this race not really having a goal in mind. This was the last race on my calendar for the year and I honestly can say that I haven't really been training as diligently as I should due to holiday stress. All I knew was that I was going to put in a good effort. Overall, I am pretty happy with my time. As I mentioned in my previous post, this wasn't my best time but it wasn't my worse either. It is actually among one of my top times. My pace was all over the place because this course had quite a few rolling hills. Due to my poor pacing, I started to fade around miles 10 and 11. I ended up picking up some speed at miles 12 and 13 because the course flatten out a bit, it may even have been downward sloping but it was minor so it felt flat. That and I started to hear cheering which meant that the end was near.

In regards to race organization, Run Racing puts on some really good races. The Pomona Fairplex is out in the middle of nowhere but it is huge and even though you have to pay $8 for parking, there is a lot of it. This was a large SRLA (Student Run LA) event but Run Racing did an amazing job at keeping everyone organized by having a separate start time for SRLA. The half marathon started at 8:00am sharp for regular participates and 8:15am for SRLA. I was really in awe of the students who caught up with the 8am start crowd somewhere around mile 3. They are going to be future elites one day.

Fun photo op!

One of the best features about this race was race morning packet pick up. This eliminated the need to drive out to Pomona twice in one weekend. Another point goes to Run Racing! The packet pickup went smoothly with almost no lines at all when I got there around 6:45am.

The shirt is pretty cute and it came in XS.

I found these fun knee socks at the Costume Castle the day before and they were really comfortable and kept me warm.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, student volunteers wrapped me in a space blanket, put a medal around my neck, gave me some water, a banana, a box of cereal and a granola bar. They were like a well oiled machine. I had to leave the Fairplex in a hurry because I had to get ready for a party later on in the afternoon but this race was just so well organized that I was done, made the drive back to the OC from Pomona and showed by 11am. Big props to Run Racing for putting on such a well organized event. I also liked that it wasn't too big but still had all the nice perks...especially the beautiful medal!

I Stole Some Elf's Socks!

It is done! 1:47:25, not my best but not my worst, so I can't complain. Gotta run, just wanted to check in to show off the sweet bling. Recap to come later. Probably tomorrow if I don't have a hangover from my party tonight. 

Like my socks? I love them! They kept my calves warm this morning in the 40-something temp. I was freezing my antlers off. Okay, bye!

Christmas Party Two of Four

Hello! Sorry for the lack of posting this week but work was crazy. I think the worse is over so maybe I will be able to write more often.  Last night after work, I went to holiday party number two. Holiday party number two was at a friend's house. A very large house! So large they had two Christmas trees. This was one of them. I forgot to take a photo of the other one.

It was a catered event!

They even had a bartender and a holiday drink menu! This green concoction is The Grinch. I had three of them. It was a good night!

I think this one was 2 of 3. ^_^

When I walked outside later in the evening, the moon had a halo around it. I took a photo because I wasn't sure if I had one too many or maybe I took a photo because I did have one too many.

This morning, I slept in for the first time in many weeks and had waffles with PB and maple syrup. 

I made myself some fried brown rice with orange chicken for lunch. I know what you're thinking. Where's the veggie? No? You weren't thinking that? Me neither!

And for dinner...spaghetti with artichoke heart tomato sauce and some leftover un-sauced orange chicken. Carbo-loading...

...for the Holiday Half Marathon tomorrow morning! It may very well be my last race of 2011. Maybe. I probably won't get a chance to post about the race until Monday as I have another holiday party to go to tomorrow. I can't wait for you to see my outfit for the party. I'm dressing up as a flapper girl. More details to come. :) If you are running this race tomorrow, see you out there!

Birthday Wishes to My Little Sister!

Today is Sister S's birthday. Happy Birthday Little Sister! This is her first birthday as a new mom! She is a wonderful person, wife, daughter, mom and she has always been an amazing sister. I honestly cannot imagine what life would be like without her. She became my best friend the day she was born.

S - have a wonderful day today and always!

Happy Birthday Mama! I love you this much!

From Biking to Cupcake

Well I didn't go running this morning. Believe it or not my legs have been sore since Wednesday from doing wall-balls. I did about 150 reps using a 4-pound ball and I had a hard time walking down the stairs for the next two days. I haven't ran since Monday. So today, I took my bike out of the garage for the first time in a very long time. It had cobwebs all over it and I think it needs to be oiled. It was really windy and cold today but I managed to get in 17 miles.

Biking always makes me really hungry, so when I got home I ate some leftover chicken salad that I made the other night with some chopped apples, celery, chicken, walnut and light mayo. I had not blogged about this meal because I did not have time, plus this dish is pretty self explanatory. I made this dish as a challenge from Sister K. She challenged me to turn our Thanksgiving leftover chicken breast meat into a totally different meal. Challenge accepted! I got raves from the Mister for this salad. Now it it all gone!

A couple of hours later, we went out for a proper lunch at Side Street Cafe. I ordered the Lunch Special, which is soup and half of a sandwich. The soup of the day was Split Pea. This is my first split pea soup...ever! And I loved it! Nice chunks of carrots and ham but it would have been good all on it's own. The sandwich was just okay. I went with the Club which had turkey, ham and bacon. The bacon was good but I took out the ham and turkey because the ham was cold and the shredded turkey was really dry.

And since we were in the area we stopped by Susie Cakes where their bakers were busy bringing the holidays to life. Yummy edible life!

I did something unheard of, I got a mini instead of a regular size cupcake. I'm trying to be good. This was heavenly. It is just perfection!

Christmas Party One of Four

I've had a really crazy week at work so when Friday came around I was so happy. Last night was the first of some holiday parties that I will be attending this month. I needed a hair cut. I found Heather Cha. This is Heather's work. It's my hair but she did such a great job that it doesn't even look like my hair. Heather is an artist. No, really, she is. She majored in art but decided that her passion was hair. She is amazing at what she does. Go see her over at Salon Victoria in Irvine. She did not bribe me to say these things. I just know how difficult it is to find a good hairstylist so I am saving you some trouble.

Haha, company parties, they all basically look like this. I guess a lot of big dinner events look similar. 

I came for the food! It was average. I had the halibut. I always have beef but decided to try something new. Let's never try something new again. Just kidding. But seriously, I didn't like the halibut. Sad. The best part of this meal was dessert. Obviously! But this was a Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart. It was awesome. Period.

My date and I in sepia. :) 

And me in living color. :) I didn't have time to go and find a new dress so I wore something I already had in my closet.

One down and three more to go. Now I need to wrap this up and go out for a run! It is long run Saturday.