Tuesday, January 29, 2013

CATS Comedy Night and Carlsbad Half Marathon

Monday we had amazing weather so I spent the day at the beach which didn't leave any time for working out. Tuesday was another rest day but finally Wednesday I was back at it with a trip to iRun MB for their first weekly run club. We had the option to run a 5k or 5 miles and Sarah and Mike agreed that we should do 5 miles. Unfortunately it became quickly apparent that we would not be running with the group as their pace was significantly faster than ours. Luckily I brought the directions along which we followed until we got sick of winding through the (gorgeous) Manhattan Beach neighborhoods and cut back to the store. It was probably about 4.5 miles for us. When we got back everyone else had already drawn tickets for the raffle of a pair of Newton shoes and 3 tickets remained for us. They had already called the number and knew that one of the 3 was a winner... and it was Sarah! Kinda boosted our spirits after being left in the dust. I will say they were very apologetic when they realized we had been left behind and I plan to go back next week.



Thursday I decided to go for a double workout to make up for my slow start to the week. I started off at Bar Method and thanks to the tips I got last week my hip flexor cooperated enough to get me through the class. I still feel I have a loooooong way to go considering the pregnant lady was getting lower than me but I was just glad I wasn't in excruciating pain... at least not from my hip anyways. After class I seriously debated going home but I thought about the quote I always see that goes something like "Going for a run is something I never regret." With that in mind I figured I'd just run to the end of The Strand and back without looking at my watch (of course I still set it though). I ran at a challenging but comfortable pace and without knowing exactly how far I'd be running. It was kind of liberating and I ended up running my fastest 10k!

Friday I didn't have time to squeeze in a workout but I did have time to go to the CATS Comedy Night featuring a hilarious comedian named Eric Schwartz! If you have a chance watch at least one of his videos, he is soooooo funny and very musically talented! He and his friends put on a great show and we raised nearly $800 in donations. I worked the door collecting money and also selling raffle tickets to win a pair of shoes donated by the awesome Trey Barnes of Fleet Feet Encino. I also got two donations on my Crowdrise page!




Saturday was awesome. You may recall that I was scheduled to run 20 miles this day but due to the Carlsbad Half Marathon the next day I ran it a week early and was treated to gorgeous weather. Well thank God for that because Saturday was rainy and miserable! I think one miserable rain run is enough for a training season so I'm soooo glad I got to spend the morning at Bar Method instead.

When I got home I packed up and headed down to Carlsbad to meet up with my cousin for the expo. It was really fun helping her prepare for her first half marathon! The expo was actually quite big and I found a new vegan nutrition bar to test out... they were so delicious I bought a whole box! I also got to try the ice cream from Sub Zero (oops, not vegan) which I had seen on Shark Tank a few weeks ago. It was good but just tasted like regular ice cream.



Sunday was race day! I don't normally travel for races (with the exception of Ragnar) so it was a little stressful having to get ready in unfamiliar territory, but I was so grateful to Carmen's in-laws for letting us stay over and avoid a 2 hour drive pre-race. We hit a lot of traffic trying to park but got out of the car with about 20 minutes to spare. This would have been plenty of time except for the super long lines at the port-a-potties. We could hear the first wave start while we were in line but thanks to the wave starts we had no trouble making it into the last corral which started about 15 minutes behind the first.


The in-laws, Carmen's husband and kids, and my dad all came out to cheer us on. We even saw her husband's cousin at the Lululemon station at mile 4. 


The course was so pretty, even though it was overcast. We were really lucky because it rained right up until we got out of the car and then was just nice and cool. Perfect running weather! Also the signs the spectators held up were hilarious! The one below is just one of my favorites but there were so many that had us cracking up.



My cousin did an amazing job! We finished in 2:39:20 and felt great. I was a wreck after my first half marathon but you wouldn't even know Carmen ran, she looked great the rest of the day. I'm so proud of her and can't wait to run more races together... including LA marathon 2014!

Speaking of LA marathon, it's a month and a half away! I'm really hoping I can at least break $3,000 in donations for the Center for Assault Treatment Services. My goal was $4,000 but it's been slow going and I've been so busy it's been hard to put in the time I wanted to. I'm so thankful to everyone who has donated though. CATS does amazing work and unfortunately their services are a necessity for many. Any amount is appreciated! DONATE HERE

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