It's Valentines Day

A weekend of firsts it was for Sophia. First time in Downey (for water and Coffee Bean), first time in San Diego, first time meeting my extended family, first time successfully using chopsticks, first half marathon, first time hanging out with Weston, first time at the San Diego Zoo... lucky girl. Those are some great firsts!

Friday night, we had girls' night at my house: painting, movie and conversation. I started a painting, but have yet to finish. I'm not the biggest fan of this one thus far.

Saturday morning, I taught four classes before getting on the road to San Diego. During my Pilates class, I kicked butt! Within the first fifteen minutes, Yumi exclaimed, "This hurts more than being in labor!" Everyone laughed really hard and Heather said, "How is that for birth control?" Halfway through class, I yelled, "C'mon, give it all you got! It's not like anyone is running a half marathon or anything tomorrow!" Yeah... I don't think anyone knew I actually was. I totally wore myself out during class, but it was so good! My glutes were hating me! But I was wearing my new bright pink pants and my neon pink Lulu Energy Bra and a white lace tank and I felt like a giant Valentine! After work, I was walking home and had to wait at the stop light. I swear every guy that passed me turned their head to see my face. They must have all seen my big booty in my pink pants and thought, "What kind of white girl has a butt that big?!"

My little sister is my very best friend. I am a goofball and no one has ever fully accepted that except my sister and parents... until now. Sophia understands me! It is unbelievably wonderful! She is quirky, I am bizarre and together we are a mixture of... well, it's Valentines Day. We goofed off in the car, we made fools of ourselves in Downey, we made the boys at Sushi on the Rock II wish they were our dates, I screamed about a reverse ladybug while Sophia took photos... it was a fantastic road trip.

Weston was waiting for us when we returned home. The night consisted of two hours of me going through my 8,129 songs on ITunes and making a running playlist. I spent so much time and dedication to make the most ideal running playlist. Music was purchased, songs were arranged... it was going to be epic. This was the mix that was going to help take me to the top during my race!

After my mix was complete, Sophia and I curled up into bed and Weston settled in the bedroom adjoining ours. We should have been tired, but after making our playlists and having all of the electricity in the back apartment go out, we were on a high. Giggles came from our room and the rice paper walls could not muffle the sound for Weston; the poor boy had to deal with our high school girl immaturity. We were having so much fun on our slumber party, we didn't want it to end. We finally fell asleep.

Encouraging (?) picture from Mavel

5:20AM
Good morning, Sophia! We woke up before the alarm went off and Sophia told me all about my "mmhmm" responses to her sneezes during the night. Yes, it is true... I talk in my sleep. I "mmhmm" in my sleep. Mmhmm. Then I showed her my moves for Luke Bryan's "Country Girl", which is my "get psyched" song. Weston witnessed a portion of it, too, unfortunately. I threw in some of my hippy dancing. Yes, hippy dancing to country music. It is fabulous. Please ask to see my dance sometime. You will not be disappointed.

We went into the main house and made our oatmeal with bananas, strawberries, nuts and peanut butter. Weston had his special oatmeal planned out plus a protein drink. We were set. We climbed into the back of my parents' car and off we went.

7:11AM Get the bibs. Check.
7:20AM Stand in line for the restroom. Check.
7:28AM Complain about being cold and decide whether we would wear our long sleeve technical tees or not. Decide to stick with our short sleeves/tank tops. Check.
7:30AM Double knot our laces. Check.
7:49AM Walk down to the starting line with the masses. Check.
7:55AM Realize there is no time for a warm-up. Check.
7:56AM Turn on my Ipod and realize my playlist didn't upload. Check.
8:00AM Start jogging in place and trying to maneuver around the slow runners to find our place. Check.
8:04AM Lose Sophia in the crowd. Check.
8:08.43AM Mile 1
8:11AM Catch up to Weston again. Check.
8:16.13AM Mile 2
8:23AM Force myself to think of 10 reasons I'm happy to be here today:
    1. I would be getting ready to walk to work right now.
    2. I don't have to work today or tomorrow.
    3. I'm with Weston and Sophia.
    4. My knee doesn't hurt yet.
    5. My family, friends and home group are all praying for my knee right now.
    6. It is a beautiful day.
    7. I can run.
    8. My pace is faster than I planned... shoot... should I slow down?... nope.
    9. I get to eat Mexican food when this is over.
    10. My pants are bright pink.
8:24.52AM Mile 3
8:26AM More hills?!?
8:28AM Will this hill ever end? Hips forward, hips forward.
8:29AM Oh good. A flat stretch.
8:31AM Another hill?!!!? "Hey Weston. I'll race you up that hill..."
8:32.40AM Mile 4
8:36AM Wow... it is beautiful here!!!
8:36.30AM Wow... my legs hurt. I want to walk. "Hey Weston, go ahead without me. Don't wait up." Weston: "No, no, it's more fun running with someone else." Me: "Poor Sophia."
8:37AM Maybe I should turn back for Sophia? But I don't know where she is. Is that her? No... Shoot!
8:41.55AM Mile 5 Shoot... I'm losing my speed. I started way too fast. I need to slow down. It's too late to slow down. This is a training run, Ashlee. You are not running to compete, you are running for fun. It's okay to walk for a little bit. No, it's not. Weston isn't walking.
8:43AM These hills are killing me. Don't act up, knee... Bye, Weston!
8:52.15AM Mile 6
8:53AM Where is Weston? Is that him? No... shoot. Oh well. Maybe I'll walk this next hill? Not going to walk... Don't do it, Ash.
8:56AM Just pass these guys.
8:57AM How did that bimbo just pass me? Get your hips forward.
9:01.43AM Mile 7
9:05AM Time for my Hammer Gel. Water? Yes, please. Bathroom? I'll hold it.
9:11.20AM Mile 8
9:12AM Okay, I got this.
9:18AM I've really got this! I just passed everyone who passed me earlier!!! This is awesome! Check out my groove! Everyone is looking at me like, "Where did she get her energy?"
9:19AM Hips forward! Charge!
9:20AM I want to dance.
9:21.33AM Mile 9
9:24AM Hills.... Hills! HILLS!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Okay, got it.
9:32.10 Mile 10
9:34AM I got this.
9:40.28 Mile 11 Two miles! Yay! Pace yourself, Ash. Pace yourself! Stop trying to race this guy... he's only 17!  .... Yeah, race him...
9:48.13 Mile 12
9:50AM This 17 year old thinks he is going to beat me... won't let that happen, will I?
9:52AM I don't think I can take one more step. Oh look! That woman is dressed like the Queen of England!
9:54AM .10 Miles?! Ugh... just be done!
9:54.56AM There's Weston.
9:55.07AM Oh, Dad is video taping...
9:55.13AM Sprint, Ashlee, Sprint!
9:55.15AM Hi Mom!!
9:55.17AM Eff... I'm going to collapse...
9:55.34AM I did it! I did it! PR! YAY!!
9:55.45AM Just keep walking...
9:58AM Time to find Sophia!

Who is who?

We finished the race strong and tired and went to Fidel's for Mexican food. Delicious! I love the taste of great food after an epic workout. And I got to see my Aunt Trace Ann and Uncle Cole! What a wonderful sight!

Weston captured the look on my face when Sophia turned down guacamole. Is she crazy?

It was so nice to have my parents at the run supporting me. They have never seen me run before, so it was encouraging to know they were proud of me and would be there to help me no matter what. It was cool to watch Sophia start and finish her first race! She beat her goal time and I was so proud of her (2:12.09)! Weston also set a PR (personal record), finishing in 1:49.23. He was fantastic! I love running with him! I cannot wait until our next event! I also PRed (that makes three of us!) with a finish time of 1:55.34, 8:49 pace. It's not great, but I'm happy with it. That was exactly 3:50 minutes faster than my Santa Barbara half marathon time!

Showers felt so good after the run. We collected our things and left for the zoo. I kept trying to text Dana, who had missed the race because she thought races were in the afternoon? Haha. "Zoo?" I texted. She called. "Zoo tomorrow. Zoo tomorrow." Nooooooooooo! So she did not join us at the zoo. Sad day.

The zoo was awesome! We got Weston an "It's my birthday" sticker, texted Steven nonstop and tried to wake the animals up from their slumber. I was exhausted. I'm not sure how Weston and Sophia were holding up, but I wished I was sitting in a dark movie theater, not walking around looking at awesome giraffes (my favorite!) and elephants (Kaylee's favorite)! Overall, great day at the zoo with my wonderful parents and my awesome friends.

We finished the perfect day with dinner at The Fig Tree Cafe. It was fantastic! One of the best meals I've ever had! Our waiter was hysterical, too, and played Whitney Houston throughout our entire meal. We took lots of pictures for Mavel because she always takes photos of delicious food and we wanted it to be our turn to make her jealous. Mom, Sophia and I shared shots... yup, shots... of energy and antioxidants: Mangosteen, Acai and Goji. Yummmm. We each ordered a different salad. Dad and Weston ordered the chicken and potatoes.

It was time for Peet's Coffee. Yippee! So we walk in and we're standing around chitchatting. Sophia grabs my arm. "I need to show you something," she said. "What?" She wouldn't tell me. She pulled and she pointed. "Is she pointing at that girl? Oh my goodness... she is pointing at that girl! And she is getting really close to her! This is embarrassing! Oh wait... I know that girl! It's... Megan!" So fun!

I can't wait for what tomorrow holds!