The Ragnar Games

It's like the Hunger Games but not. Remember that scene in the movie where they thoroughly bathe the tributes before they released them out in the woods. Yeah that's how I felt just now. I just took my last shower for the next 36 hours. So fresh and so clean.

Here's one last photo before we hit the road. Our 12-women team So Much Cooler Online (#SMCOL) met up this evening to decorate our vans. Van 1, the van that I am in has a very early start tomorrow morning. I should be in bed. Why am I still typing? I will take some better photos during the race.

Then we had dinner at the Veggie Grill. Then I realized that I had not finished packing so I rushed home and 2 hours later, I am finally done. Now I'm going to go and try to get as much sleep as I possibly can for 4 hours. G'night!

It's Time to Rag & Roll!!

The time has come. I can't even remember when OUAL recruited me for this. It was a along time ago. Long before track parties, before sparkly skirts, before ankle drama, before back problems. It was a simpler time when I thought that I had all the time in the world to get my act together.

Luckily I made a list and will check it twice this evening. I've shopped, laundered and did all the pencil to paper planning I could do. I have another early wake up call tomorrow.

I'm mostly packed! And thanks to Team #SMCOL sponsors Nuun, PRO Compression, Bic Bands, Run Pretty Far, Aspaeris, and Running Skirt just to name a few, I will be running in style! High Fashion!

Check out my legs! No, not those legs...these legs! I have 3. They look tame, except for that jaunt through Torrey Pines. Fun stuff! I eat hills for midnight snack! No, not really.

Follow me on Twitter (@Borntorun77) for Team #SMCOL Van 1 updates. I will be tweeting ALOT because to be honest I have one of the least amount of mileages to run in my van. Check out my teammates blogs for more write-ups about how they are preparing to run this 200 mile relay race through the heart of SoCal. They are like freakin' out! Me too, I'm just not telling you. D'oh.

Oh and in case you're wondering...yeah I'll still be cute after all this, just you watch! Now I have to go and find my MAC concealer. See you on Coronado Island!

Halfy Birthday

My niece's 6-month birthday was last weekend. I know, I am a week late and a dollar short but I finally got around to posting about it. I know this is Ragnar week so I should really be posting about that but isn't she cute? We threw her a small half birthday celebration. With lots of purple and pink! I cannot believe that she is already six months old. She has grown and changed so much. She loves to bounce up and down and when she is really happy she makes these little happy screaming noises.

Partial photo credit to Sister K

And what kind of party would it be without food! On the menu was Italian sandwiches, mixed green salad w/ buffalo moz, strawberries, cookies and cupcakes! Sister K was the mastermind behind this little celebration. She even did all the menu planning. All delicious by the way. Youngest Sister K helped prep the food. I just came along for the ride. :D

In celebration of the baby's half birthday, we also busted out the Beaba Baby Food Maker that Sister S got from Sister K at the baby shower to make some apple sauce. The baby is already on rice cereal but this was her first taste of apple sauce. She was not a fan but I think she will grow to like it. It tasted really fresh and creamy. I was really surprised at how creamy the apples came out. The Baeba is a neat little gadget for making preservative-free baby food. It steams and purees fruit, veggies and meat into really creamy baby food. Sorry, I was sleeping on the job again and forgot to take a photo of the actual apple sauce.

It was a warm day that day so the baby waited until late afternoon and then donned her wide-brimmed floral hat and little pink shorts and headed out to the garden to watch her papa weed the flowerbed. Look, she found her toes...a big 6-month achievement!

Of Running Shoes and Chocolate Cake!

You either clicked over here because of running shoes or chocolate cake. Don't worry, I won't disappoint you but first I just wanted to say "Ay chihuahua"! Yeah, it's been that kind of month. Busy, crazy, like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Maybe I should say something like "Great Dane" instead of something about a chihuahua. My blogging has definitely taken a big hit but I promise you that you will be hearing a lot more from me. For example, by this time next week, I will be running the 2012 SoCal Ragnar Relay and I will have a lot of down time so I will be all over the social media front. The weekend after, I will be headed up to Monterey for the Big Sur Marathon! Lots of exciting running stuff coming up. I also have a ton of restaurant reviews that I've not had time to write up but I did take some drool worthy photos so look forward to that as well.

Ok, first up...running shoes! I didn't mention this or better yet I hadn't had time to mention about this until now but I hurt my lower back a couple of weeks ago doing cross-fit. I've hurt my back before from doing HIIT but this was a first for cross-fit related injuries. Being the hypochondriac that I am, I went to see a chiropractor to make sure that it was not something really serious. It turns out that I have a subluxation (commonly referred to as a "pinched nerve") of the L5 region of my spine. So not super bad news but I have been put on a correction program to realign my spine. I'm not new to chiropractics. I've had problems with my sciatica and my back before as I mentioned above and chiropractics has brought me a lot of relief. Anyhow, after my recent chiropractic evaluation my chiropractor informed me that I have a serious pronation problem and that I am majorly flat-footed. I always thought that I had a normal arch with moderate pronation.

So I went to see this guy and told him of my pronation, flat-footed woes and he came back with these...

...no not that bright yellow pair but these! ASICS GEL Kayano 18! They fit nice. I miss me some stability cushioning as of late. This is my very first pair of ASICS...like ever so I will let you know how I fair with these. They (people at the store) tell me that it is perfect for a major heel striker like myself. Man, I have all kinds of running problems.

What better way to drown my running problem sorrows than with new running shoes and chocolate cake? There are no better ways. Have you ever tried the Killer Chocolate cake from French's Bakery in Costa Mesa? No? What the heck are you waiting for? It is *the* best chocolate cake I've ever had and I am not even a chocolate cake fan. I know, the horror! But be warned, it is not for the faint of heart, only eat this if you want death by chocolate. It isn't called the "Killer Chocolate Cake" for no reason.

It also comes in cupcake size. You know, for when you want that close to death experience. ;)

2012 Inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon - Race Recap

Date: April 7, 2012
Location: Universal City Walk, CA
Start: 6:00am
Finish: 1:50:26
Elevation: looks like a bowl! I don't like ending on a high note.

 

I drove up to Universal City on Friday to pick up my bib. Looking back, I should have just paid to have it mailed because it turned out to be the biggest pain in the butt! So how bad was it? Well, I got off the 101 onto the off-ramp to Lankersheim around 10:30am and it took one hour to get from the off-ramp to the Hilton Hotel parking structure, all of a quarter of a mile! We were literally crawling up a steep hill. I saw on Facebook that this slow crawl caused havoc on some people's crutches. It was just awful. One hour to go a quarter of a mile up a hill. Good freakin' grief! Please get it together next year.

So this morning, in fear of running into the same slow crawl up that hill into the parking structure again, I set my alarm for a 3am wake up call. Gawd, that is just too too early. I got to University City a little after 4am and there was very little traffic, it was awesome! I pre-paid for the parking so I got into the parking structure quickly and found a nice spot to park. Then I decided to walk around to check out the set up. The starting line was located a short walk from the parking structure which was nice for return trips to the car. There were real restrooms located along City Walk as well as porta- potties near the start line. It was still so dark outside.

The starting line! We ran through City Walk in the first quarter mile. Love that there were real restrooms along this section because I actually used them shortly after we took off.

I went back to my car after walking around a bit and took a nap. I got a text from Pam shortly after 5am. So I decided to get ready and head to the starting line.

I found Pam in her cute Marilyn costume standing near the Universal globe with her hubby and son. Her hubby took this photo of us. Thank you R! I was really glad to have found Pam because she was really calm and excited about the race and that made me feel calm. I'm normally a nervous wreak before the gun goes off. We parted ways about 15 minutes before the start of the race to head to our respective time corrals. Since the course was an out and back, I saw Pam again when I was at mile 5 and she was already at mile 7 or maybe even further. Pam is just crazy fast! Girl looks put together at 5am in the morning. I on the other hand look like I freakin' just crawled out of bed. @_@

Pretty, no? This race was not bad for what I paid for it, which was some special discount price of $35 last year during some promotion for this race. That is like a steal in the marathon-ing world. The weather was great for running today and aside from those last 2 uphill miles, the course was pretty flat in the middle. If I ever run this race again, I am definitely going to just paid to have my bib mailed. Show up early on race morning to avoid traffic headaches. Lots of people dressed up in costumes, so if that is your thing, this race is a good one to dress up for. There was your usual cut-up bananas, bottled water, cut-up bagels and massage tent at the finish line. Oh and that nice uphill walk back to City Walk to get to my car, yeah that was not pleasant.

 
Mile 1 - 9:32 - Running through the narrow walkway of City Walk and I stopped to use the restroom.
Mile 2 - 8:19 - I could tell that I was going to have a good running day today.
Mile 3 - 8:12
Mile 4 - 8:02
Mile 5 - 7:59
Mile 6 - 7:55
Mile 7 - 7:38
Mile 8 - 8:07
Mile 9 - 7:53
Mile 10 - 7:42
Mile 11 - 7:39
Mile 12 - 9:22 - Until I hit that hill at mile 11 to mile 13 (a 2-mile hill) 400 ft. of elevation gain.
Mile 13 -  9:47 - I think I could have gotten a really good time had it remained flat. Oh well. This was near the intersection that leads up to Mulholland Drive. Around the Hollywood Bowl area. Why so steep? Why? @_@
Mile .35 - 2:24

Much Ado About Nothing

I've been really lagging on my blog posts lately. Hopefully, that will change soon as I slowly get my blogging mojo back. I have a couple of fun races coming up in April that will provide me with some materials to blab about. Also, my running injury is healing up nicely and even though I feel like a slug coming back from the ashes, I am happy to be able to run again.

This weekend I went out for a long run of 11.5 miles. I had meant to do 12 but underestimated the distance of my route. I've never been very good with directions and this is what ends up happening sometimes. It was a beautiful day for a run!

I am going to be running this race this coming weekend. It's on a Saturday. Weird because races are usually on Sundays. When I say "weird" I really mean "it sucks" because I am going to have to drive up to LA on Friday to pick up my bib. Plus, get this, the start time is 6am! -_-  Weird!!

In other none running related news...I got flowers this week!

I started thinking about packing for the 2012 SoCal Ragnar. I decided that I need more time to mentally prepare for the daunting task of packing. I'm really excited and wish that everything could just pack itself!

I helped Sister K move out of her apartment this past weekend. She is officially done with college! Woohoo! We had lunch at a cute little ramen place that I will talk about in a future post.

And finally, I haven't posted any photos of my niece lately but she will be 6 months old this coming weekend. She is just a doll! I've been so grateful that I have gotten so many opportunities to spend time with her. She makes my heart melt!

The Iced Milk Phenomenon! (Half & Half)

I'm going to venture out on a limb here by saying that by now I believe that most Southern Californians have probably had a boba milk tea or two. If you haven't, you should. I'm not going to go into what a boba is or isn't because there are already lots of posts out there describing the anatomy of a boba drink. Yes it's true.

What I am going to talk about in this post is a new phenomenon in the milk tea/boba universe. Let me explain. In the beginning, there was tea. Then milk was added to tea to give it richness and body. Then if that weren't enough, they added boba (tiny chewy jelly-like beads). And it was good. Well, not good for me since I am lactose intolerant, but good for everyone else that wasn't. Big names like Tapioca Express and Lollicup dominated this domain for many years. They still do.

Then one day "iced milk" came on the scene and changed the milk tea continuum. I don't know when it happened exactly but probably somewhere around the time of cute spoons from Yogurtland but before Ice Fluff (and that's a whole different post). Half & Half, the new kid in town specializing in iced milk quickly developed a cult-like following. It doesn't always look so calm and quiet like the photo below. We came on a Sunday afternoon and was surprised to find a rather short line. That never happens. Never! There are currently 3 locations in the San Gabriel Valley and there are lines coming out of all 3 locations. Always. No matter what time of day you go. It is worse if you go during prime meal hours.

From the time you step into line to the time you actually get your drink in hand, you can expect a lapse time of 45+ minutes. Yes, people wait for this and come back again and again. I hate waiting. So this is a nightmare to me. I only ever come here with my family since I cannot even drink this elusive iced milk.

The first thing you will notice about Half & Half is that their drink cups are wider in circumference and shorter in height. Sure it's a good marketing idea but these cups do not fit into your average car cup holders. Thinking about drinking this on the drive home, forget about it. Plus they are awkward to hold since they are so wide. It's a two-hander for sure.

The other thing you will notice about Half & Half is that their entire drink prep area is very closely guarded by privacy glass. Want a peek? Too bad. I'm surprised they didn't get mad at me for taking all these photos. Felt like I got away with something. This is the pick up window. The only place where the inside meets the outside. When a drink order is ready, the small curtain is lifted and everyone crowds around it like they are about to win a prize. Not your turn? Well than stand back. You can almost hear a sigh of sadness as the curtain is once again drawn close and the waiting continues.

So this is what everyone waits for. In particular, the milky drink in the front of this photo. It is milk...with ice and caramel and boba. And this is what people wait 45+ minutes to get. I would like to tell you that the wait is justified but I can't because I've never tasted it. But those who have informed me that it is special. Judging by the long lines I can't help but to think that I am somehow missing out.

Half and Half (Tea Express)

3007 Huntington Dr, Ste 104
Pasadena, CA 91107

(626) 844-1889