A Great Weekend for a PR

Run, run, run, run. La die dah dah. I love to run.

The adventure started last Friday. I fed the dogs, taught cycle, then loaded the car and drove south. The sun reflected off of the waves at Rincon on my right. To my left, the "mountains"/hills stood tall and alive (with the sound of music?). I call them "mountains" because people in my town think that's what they are. If you are from Oregon or Washington or really any place with a bump of ground that is taller than 2,500 feet, you know these are really just hills. Regardless, I couldn't help but soak in the beauty that surrounded me and think to myself, "This is where I live".

I was giddy with excitement. So giddy, in fact, that every time I thought about my breathtaking surroundings or about the Walk the Sun song on my iPod or the trip I was about to take, I couldn't hold my lips back from curling up into a smile, teeth included.

Deep breath in. This is happiness.

I have had my days where happiness seemed unfathomable. But this? There was no denying this feeling that everything in life was as it should be. 

The LA traffic was heavy. Timing doesn't matter; LA traffic is always a pill. But when I arrived in Encinitas, the sun was bright, the air was warm (80 degree weather in February) and Walk the Sun was still bumping through my speakers. I checked in at the YMCA and walked out to their enormous, eleven-lane pool. I began my 2600 meter workout. It was exciting to be in a new pool. I won't bore you with the details of the pool or the environment because God knows we all have more important things to busy ourselves with.

After the swim, I drove down to my grandparents' house for one of the most amazing dinners I have ever eaten. Mer had made fish (which I love) with some special spices my cousin had given her for Christmas. On the side, we had steamed veggies and tomatoes. It was wonderfully made and enthusiastically consumed.

Dana picked me up after dinner and we went to our favorite sushi place to talk about life, love and friends. "Lara is having another baby?" "Tiff is going to be a perfect mother." "Most of our friends are still single. That's promising." "How was Elise's trip up North?" I love my best friend and I love my time with her. Dana and I are so different, yet we have so much fun together constantly. Her laugh brightens my week. I am so grateful for her friendship.

The next day, I met Rynny, Baby Isla, Torrey and Julie at Bird Rock Coffee. Isla is such a cute baby. Seriously. I do not say that often. In fact, I think most babies are pretty darn ugly, but not Isla. Isla has these big, beautiful eyes that are full of wonder and a desire to learn and to know. She has a perfect smile and soft skin. I could hold her all day long... until she cries. Then she can go back to her mommy.

In case you weren't sure what happiness looks like

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After coffee, I did Pilates on my grandparents' front lawn then met up with Elle and April to teach them Pilates at the beach. Elle is one of my sister's best friends from growing up, but she and I have a lot of similarities and I enjoy spending time with her. She is basically a little sister to me.

Love this beautiful girl

My favorite beach

The three of us girls met up with Dana and Eric for sushi at the shores, but the meal had consequences. Dana and I were both rewarded with a dose of food poisoning. I sat up that night, the night before my race, holding my stomach and crying in pain. This is not how the night was supposed to end. I laid down in the fetal position and fell asleep texting Ben.

The next morning, I made my oatmeal with peanut butter and banana, drove down the hill and got coffee and made my way to Coronado. When I arrived, it was cold outside. The air cut through my three layers of what were supposed to be warm coats. Stiffly, I moved my legs toward the registration tent and signed in. Amy wasn't there yet, so I started to warm up.

My parents were married here

Good morning, Coronado

As the minutes ticked by, Amy and I found our spot at the starting line toward the front. "This is how our friendship started," she reminded me. "I came in to buy a pair of shoes from you and you invited me to run this race with you and here we are. A week after meeting, we were moving in together." Hey, the more running friends, the merrier!

Pre-run

My coach warned me to pace myself, but of course, I started out a minute faster than I was supposed to go. It felt solid though and I knew I could hold it. I made my way ahead of Amy (so I thought), but soon she was passing on my right. I feel really strong and this is really a slow pace for me. I should pick it up, I thought. Fortunately, I ignored my mind and stuck to my coach's orders. 8:30 pace. Just a couple more feet and I can take it down to 8:00. That's when I passed Amy again and gave her a little love tap. "Way to go," I told her.

As I passed a group of college guys, I heard them comment on my stride, using terms such as strong and confident. Someone even remarked he thought I could be going faster. Ahhhhh so hard to resist the urge.

At mile 2.8, I saw the first runner making his way back to the start.  I kept my eyes open for my new friend Sergio, who is a Saucony rep in San Diego. He was hoping to hold onto the lead runner and take him out at the end for the win. When I caught sight of his fluffy beard, he was in third. "You got it, Sergio," I screamed.

I passed a woman in a wheelchair who was pushing her way toward the win. Then a man trailing behind a stroller passed me up. I guess it was a good day to be on wheels. Aw man, I thought. I just got passed by a man with a stroller. After looking at his calves though, I wasn't too bummed. I pushed my hips forward and squeezed my glutes in. Let's go, Ash. Take another :15 off your pace. And I did.

Every mile, I cut my pace by :15. Around mile 4.5, I started feeling a little worn. There were two guys my age in heart boxers that I had been drafting behind for the past two miles. I decided it was time to let them eat my dust, so I kicked it into gear and left them by themselves. Since mile 1, I had been neck to neck with a "bunny rabbit", as Yomi called her. She would sprint all out for 400 meters then stop and tie her shoe or drink some water or just hang out. Then she would sprint all out again. I was fed up of this game of cat and mouse we were playing and I knew I had to beat her. On mile 5, I was ahead of her. At mile 5.3, she kicked it up a notch and shot past me. I watched as she started to fade. She got to 5.5 and died. I picked it up. And I didn't stop. I knew I was kicking it into gear too soon, but I didn't want her to beat me. My turnover seemed slow, but I knew I was pushing harder than I should have been. Can I maintain this for the next .75 miles? On my left, a man called out, "Nice kick!" I knew he was talking to me. People were watching me. It didn't matter that they didn't know me. I needed this for me. ...Well, it didn't hurt that I knew people at home would ask my time, too. I held it to the end and finished with a PR. Then I grabbed a medal, half of a banana and some water and started jogging against the running traffic to find Amy. A few minutes later, I spotted her staring at the ground in front of her.

"Come on, Amy," I screamed. I ran along side her and encouraged her to dig deeper. She finished her first 10K in under an hour. "Way to go, Amy," I yelled proudly.

What a great day for a PR. And a beer at 10AM. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Halfway through, I realized I was drinking a beer at 10AM, so I stopped.

Time for coffee. Bird Rock, here I come.

Like A Cat Up A Tree

When we first got my cat Spaz, she chased a squirrel up a tree and couldn’t get down. We had to call the firefighters to come get the cat out of the tree. This morning, I felt like Spaz, hopeless and scared up in the tree. Nash and I had plans to meet at 6:00AM at El Diablo/ in Maui (can you tell I haven’t named it yet?). My bed felt so good. I snoozed my alarm for 45 minutes before I finally crawled out and made my BirdRock coffee and chomped on a banana. There I was, ready to go. I had my things packed for work, grabbed my phone and ran down the stairs, slamming the front door behind me. “Oh…. Dumb,” I thought. Yes, my keys were not in my hand. Instead, the coffee mug had taken their place. “Well, hmm…. What should I do? Maybe I can break in through the kitchen window?”

Climbing the gate up to my rooftop is not an easy task, but this wasn’t the first time I had done it. At least this time I wasn’t wearing skinny jeans, cowboy boots and a silk top. I pulled myself up over the downstairs neighbor’s room and scaled my way to the window, noticing the molding on top of her roof, wondering if it would give way and I would wind up in bed with her… that would be awkward. I tore the screen out and tried to open the window. Of course it wouldn’t budge. Thank goodness I had decided to stick my phone in my pocket just in case.

6:10AM… TEXT MAVEL: “Are you awake?” Response: “Hi! Yeah, I’m at work!” Me: “Do you have your keys? I’m stuck on the roof.” Response: “Oh no! No, Andrew dropped me off.”

FAIL.

6:12AM… TEXT ANNAGRACE AND JUDY: “Are you awake?” Response: none.

FAIL.

6:20AM… CALL JOSH: “I’m sorry to wake you, but I’m stuck on my rooftop. Will you come save me?”

CA-CHING! Third time's a charm.

So, as I waited for Josh to come to my rescue, I watched the sunrise. It was beautiful. I would love to build a balcony and watch it rise over the ocean every day. Maybe then I could hide a spare key on that balcony. During my time of sunrise enjoyment, Josh pulled up and shook his head.

“How exactly do you want me to help you,” he asked.

“Just make sure I don’t stab my face out with the fence on my way down,” I pleaded. “I can’t see anything and there is nothing to hold onto.”

So he guided my feet into their proper positioning and I was safely on the ground soon enough. He dropped me off at the Jankes’ house where I waited outside until they responded to my text! Yay! After getting my spare key from them, I walked home and got in my car to go run. I didn’t want to risk being late to work, so I did my speed work on the treadmill (ugh!). 2 mile warm-up, 4x300m 5k race pace with 100m jogs in between, 2x400m 5k race pace with 100m jogs in between, 2x800m 5k race pace with 100m jogs in between and a 1-mile cool-down.

2-mile warm-up: 20:11

300m’s: 1:39, 1:31, 1:22, 1:29

4oom’s: 1:58, 2:00

800m’s: 3:55, 3:49

1-mile cool down: 8:50

During my lunch break, I met up with Carol for a cool (and when I say cool, I mean ice cubes in the refrigerator cold) ocean swim. Yes, it is mid-February and Carol and I are swimming in the ocean. Sometimes I wonder if I am crazy… then I remember that I am insane. We got in the water and I panicked. “So cold, so cold, so cold! Can’t breath! Ahh,” I thought to myself as I whacked the water with my arms and legs like a mosquito struggling to get out of a Jell-O mold.

“How you doin’?” Carol asked, looking back.

“Great! Hey,” I started. “If you want to go on and just turn around when you’re ready, I’m TOTALLY cool with that!”

“Oh, I’m good.”

“No, really, TOTALLY cool…”

Then I stopped panicking. I focused on my form. Breathe, face in…. AHHHHH! So cold! Can’t get my breath out! Panic! Panic! No! Stop! Breathe, stroke 1, 2, breath 3.  And there it was. I totally relaxed. I didn’t think about the recent shark sighting down the coast or the fact that my toes were numb (okay, maybe I thought about those things a little bit); instead, I realized that I was having so much more fun being out in the ocean than I had ever had in the pool. The rest of the swim, I spent in total bliss.

When I got home, I showered off, hopped on my bike and rode out to Katie’s house for a home-cooked meal and prayer. It was so good! Great time of fellowship and yumminess before work.

Yesterday, my cycle classes were all fun and intense! I kept the members in zones three and five with short recoveries. The best part of my classes is the smiles on the member’s faces when they finish. The harder I make the class, the more they enjoy it and that is so awesome to see! I put my iPhone on shuffle for my first class and loved the mix so much, I just used it for the others.

During strength class yesterday morning after my first cycle class, my hip flexors were exhausted. I felt like I couldn't finish any of the moves. Thank goodness Sophia was there! Fortunately, the class went by quickly and I rushed home, changed and got ready to hike a 2500 elevation climb with Ben. I think that might have been the highest peak I’ve done (not positive about that), but I had great company, awesome conversation and gorgeous views. Ben admitted that he didn't think I would be as fast as I was. Teaches him to wear Chocos to hike! Although, he's hardcore like that, so I don't think that bothered him. 

I ended the evening by making Richard do stadiums after doing my evening cycle class. Soon, he is going to be tougher than me! … oh wait, he already is! ;)

She's Almost A Real Person Now!

There is nothing that tastes better in the morning than the oatmeal at my grandparents' house. Sophia and I sleepily made our way to the kitchen for a big bowl of steel-cut oats with strawberries, blueberries and bananas... Weston would be so proud. We took our time getting ready for the day. We had no place to be since we had both decided to take the day off. After listening to some good ol' country music, we drove down to Bird Rock Coffee (my favorite!!! Another first for Sophia) with my parents. We all took our coffee down to Windansea to watch the surf. Although, I forgot my coffee in the car, so they drank while I enjoyed life. Daddy let me borrow his camera and I took some awesome shots of the surfers. One guy had just arrived when we were hanging out at the shack, so I watched him duck dive his way out to sea. I am so grateful this surfer decided to come out when he did! He was making big air and busting out some gnarly 360's! Hello surf photography opportunity! I got some fun shots of him and the seagulls. I hoped he would come out of the water while we were still there, but he was having a fantastic surf session, so I didn't rush him. It took me back to my old dream of starting a surf magazine; maybe I should reacquaint myself with those aspirations.

As we walked up the steep cliff back to the car and hopped in, Sophia looked down at my feet.  "Where are your flip flops," she asked. Are you kidding me?! I have the memory of an 89-year-old with amnesia.







We went shopping in downtown La Jolla before meeting my family at Panera for lunch. My cousin Becca had brought her two sons along; Ryan and Aiden are adorable. Ryan, though only in first grade, can beat most of the fifth graders at his school in running competitions. He is part of the 100-mile club, which is a challenge to see which student can run an accumulative 100 miles during the school year. P.S. I love this idea and want to incorporate it into my life. Sophia and I are starting a 100-mile a month club if anyone would care to join us and be part of the challenge (Weston? Kristina?).

Ryan was so excited to hear all about our race yesterday. I told him I was hoping to run the Western States 100 in a couple of years and asked if he would care to do it with me. He looked skeptical. "Maybe... If I could go slow," he paused. "And if I could bring a water bottle." Alright, so I have a pacer! Sweet!

Two doors down from Panera sits a little shop I like to call... LuluLemon. Yes, it was time for a reward for running so well yesterday. There's always an excuse to buy new Lulu, right? I thought of a few: It's Valentines Day!, this shop has clothes our shop doesn't carry, that striped sports bra is so me... as well as the bright pink tank top. So we got Lulu. And I got Lucy running tights. And Sophia got an amazing cupcake and scarf. No more purchases for me this month. (Insert Sophia's pants)

We went home and threw on our racing shoes... it was time to see what Ryan was made of. Ryan, Aiden, Becca, Paul, Sophia, Daddy and I made our way to my grandfather's tennis courts. We lined up and got ready to race three laps. "Ready," Ryan started. "Set! Go!" We all scurried across the courts. Aw man... his little legs move quickly! We had a blast! He kept trying to hold my hand and pull me back, but he didn't need to... that boy is as fast as Dash from The Incredibles!

After the race, we drove back to Bird Rock to meet my bestie Dana! As soon as we got there, it started pouring! Sophia and I were speeding through the rain when my flip flop struck cobblestone and KABOOM! Down I went. I looked up at Sophia with puppy dog eyes. Really? My Lulus were so wet right on the butt. So fun! But seeing Dana's face made everything better!

We drank our Bird Rock and decided to walk down to Bird Rock Surf Shop then drive to Pacific Beach. The sunset was incredible that night as we drove to La Jolla Shores for a sushi dinner with my parents.