POTM, the holidays and more crocheting.

I just sign up for the Pile on the Miles Challenge over here or you can also go here. This challenge runs between Nov 1 to the day after Thanksgiving. It is a runner specific challenge to see who can log the most miles running or walking. The two ladies at the above link are jointly hosting this event. I can't remember if I signed up last year or not but since I cannot remember maybe I didn't. I don't know how many miles I will be able to log but I will try my best. I think last year's record was 137 something miles, that's crazy! Anyways, Halloween is this coming weekend and it is the start of the holiday flood. My sisters and I are having a Superhero and Villians themed party on Saturday which will be so much fun. Not much to say about that for now but photos will follow next week. In crocheting news, I am still at it, hahaha...I should have something new to show soon. Went to the craft store today and picked up some cute surprises. Stay tuned for that.

In regards to clean eating, I haven't gotten back on the wagon yet. I hope to do so shortly but with the holidays, my activities have increased and not leave me with much time to cook and plan my meals as efficiently as soon. I am mostly eating healthy so I am not feeling so bad.

Recovery, Crocheting, Marathon Training and Some Minor Baking!

Wow, where have I been? Doesn't matter because here I am now. So this past week I spent recovering from the Long Beach Marathon, figuring out my Los Angeles Marathon training plan, crocheting up a storm and I even found a bit of time to bake. I feel like my life is just out of control lately. Well, more like just unorganized and I hate that feeling. I need to get my ducks in a row. So my ultimate goal for the LA is of course to BQ (yes I will chase that until it is done). My more attainable goal is to come in under 4 hours, which will be nice because LA 2010 will be the 5th time I've ran that race and I want to get that special colored bib reserved for those who run a sub-4 in 2011. I want to be one of those people. So I will try hard. I will once again be training with D and the Team Margarita. I did better training with them than with ICR. Well in their defense I did miss a couple of important long runs which I think messed up my training and tapered too soon and slacked a bit towards the end. Not to mention I was sick the first 2 months of the training program. Overall, I know where all my failures were which is a good thing so I know not to repeat it again. I have a really good feeling that sub-4 will be mine soon! Muhahaha. Anyways, next up for me is the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon, which will be super fun if only that it is not a marathon...don't think I can run anymore of those this year...too much! I am still thinking about doing the Mission Inn 1/2 Marathon in early November since it is my old stomping grounds and I love the Mission Inn. It is the cutest place ever. Rustic and reminds me of my college days. I have some options for some 1/2 Marathons in January that I have not committed to yet and then Surf City in February and then it all just starts to ramp up from there. Full year of running which is great. I am looking forward to it all. Hopefully I get to travel to someplace new next year to run. Ok, too long, gotta go!

2009 Long Beach Marathon - Race Recap

Date: October 11, 2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
Finish: 4:12:58

It was the most perfect day for running. Cool and overcast. I did not beat my PR. I developed a blister around mile 15 that made me cry...literally. This was the first time I trained with a running group, ICR Beach Runners. I was sick for two months during the training cycle. I had high expectations but not high hopes. I was running well until said blister reared it's ugly head. It was a noobie sock mistake. I wore new socks to a marathon. That's just plain stupid. I had done this one other time at a LA Marathon running. Basically, it was a combo of running and walking the rest of the way to the finish line from mile 15. It was slow and painful. Let's remember this lesson in the future shall we?

Sister K (thank you for waking up early, braving the cold morning and coming out to cheer me on), M and even Teddy came out to cheer me on. It was still dark when we arrived.

Teddy keeping himself warm while he waited for me to cross the finish line.

Wow, I sure did get a lot of camera time at the Long Beach Marathon. But this is one of few in which I am actually smiling while running a marathon. It's like an oxymoron! Maybe I'm the moron for running that much!

Final stretch!

Lastly, I finally finished the California Dreamin' Series and got my jacket (wearing it in the photo above with Teddy) and big ol' medal that weighs a ton and a half. I actually have time to complete the series once more before it ends next year at the Long Beach Marathon. I hear that they are dreaming up a new series and I cannot wait.

Let's hope I get a better time next race so that I can write an amazing glowing review and finally cross out some of the items on my fitness goal list.

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Amigurumi

So I've been blogging about everything else but clean eating or fitness. Yeah, those 2 things have totally gone to the wayside. Next week is my official return to clean eating and training. I've been feeling pretty terrible these past couple weeks since I've been mostly slacking off and being lazy. You would think that doing mostly nothing would make me feel good but it doesn't. There is nothing worse than the feeling of getting nothing done. I either need to find a balance, learn to enjoy my lazy times or just try not to get into this kind of funk.

Anyways, I haven't really been doing nothing. I mean I still go to work everyday and cook and do laundry. Which reminds me that I really really need to spend some time cleaning my apt. Back to what I was saying, so my new hobby as of late is crocheting. Actually, I've been in amigurumi which is a Japanese word for crochet/knit toys. I've been a knitter for a couple of years. I think I started in high school and knitted on and off over the years. I'm not the best knitter. I think I would be better if I did it continously but I get bored quickly so I have lots of unfinished products. My sisters make fun of me alot about my problem with starting up something and then not finishing it. Here are a few things I've knitted in the past: striped vest, multi-colored square blanket, chunky knit throw, a couple of scarves, couple of bunnies, baby blanket, baby booties, and countless other semi finished stuff. :s

So recently I was on the internet and came upon some really cute crochet toys and wished that I knew how to crochet so that I could make them. So one day a couple of weeks ago, I pulled out my yarn and started up an online video and crocheted along. In about an hour, I was able to crochet...yay! It helped that I already knew how to knit. Which in my opinion is alot harder than crocheting. Anyways, so these past couple of weeks, I've been crocheting toys. I should have some photos soon of some finished products. Yeah can you believe that, I actually finished some stuff. I use to have a gallery of stuff that I've knitted but I can't seem to remember where those photos are. Maybe they are lost forever. So keep on eye out on my finish stuff soon. Currently I am just making these toys for family members and maybe friends. They are pretty fast to complete but they still take time and patience. I would like to donate some of these this holiday if I have any extra stuff by then. Either that or I really should get a move on crochet more. Making these toys makes me happy. They are so adorable just sitting around my bedroom!

Moeben sleeves

Yeah, since I am not doing my normal blogging this week, I decided to just go around blog land reading other people's blog in detail. I went to Run to Finish's site and she is giving away Moeben sleeves here. Seriously I want to win this so badly. I had a chance to try these on at the LA Marathon last year and was in love with them but they were expensive ($30/pair). I was too cheap to folk over the money but that didn't mean that I wanted them any less. So I hope I win.

Birthday, Marathon and Starting Over!

So yesterday was my birthday. I can't even remember how old I am. Wait, yes I can but I rather not. I had a wonderful birthday. My sisters took me to afternoon tea over the weekend at the Tea Rose Garden and my puppy threw me a surprise party when I got home last night. He was dressed in a clown outfit and all! Hahaha!

I think I am getting to that age where you dread when your birthday comes around but I still love sharing my special day with all those close to me.

In other news, I am running my sixth marathon this coming Sunday at Long Beach! I was training really hard for it for a while but have been slacking a bit these past few weeks. I'm sure that will be detrimental to my success on race day but I am hopeful.

In other other news, I will be doing a week of super clean eating next week. Or at least I will be trying to again. Sister K and I recently saw someone else' diet sheet and was so impressed with how clean their diet was that we felt that it was something we could take on for a week. I am actually kinda nervous about it since for the most part I haven't been eating clean. I've basically been eating whatever I wanted in small portions. That is my secret for not clean eating but maintaining my weight. Anyways, we will have to see how the marathon goes this weekend. I hope it will not leave me feeling defeated and not want to take on this eating challenge. I want to start eating better again. Not to sure that I've been eating badly but I think I let one too many treats sneak by too easily.

So here is to another year older, another marathon medal on the wall (hopefully) and cleaning up my diet. How bad can that be?