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.

The Relationship Mixed Tape

I have this habit of hanging out with boys on Valentines Day who I always end up dating afterwards. It's a strange thing. I forget it's a "special day" and someone suggests a hike and suddenly whoop I've got a boyfriend. Totally unintentional. So it is probably a good thing I couldn't go to Disneyland with Weston and Steven today. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, but I hate Disneyland. And I don't think I could date one of my best friends. They are too muscley for me. Plus they live way too far away.

So, instead of waking up to breakfast in bed and flowers on my table like most of my girlfriends did, I woke up to the beeping of my alarm at 6AM. My swimsuit was almost dry, but the slight dampness touching my epidermis made me cringe. I ate half a banana and a few macadamia nuts, fed the dogs and drove to the pool to meet with my coach.

Jason (my coach) is an attractive man. He looks (and acts) a lot like my old personal trainer/massage therapist Rich. I have nothing but praise for this man. He is so humble about his abilities and he is so down to earth, but he has accomplished great things. Very cool guy, to say the least. At the pool I typically swim at, there are not a ton of attractive men. Every once in awhile, one will dip his toe in the waters of the public pool, but usually it is just older dads, grandpas and guys in du-rags. So, when this 30-year-old competitive triathlete walks out with defined muscles and confidence to boot, the women can't help but stare. One woman went to the front desk after finishing her workout.

"We need to do something about what happened at the pool this morning," she complained. "That attractive man walked out in his little speedo with Hammer written across the butt and totally distracted all of us from our workouts. Mary almost had a heart attack." Oh man. A heart attack on Valentines. Now that would be something.

After my swim, I went home and hydrated... with coffee. Then I laced up my Wave Riders and down the road I pranced. Well, I'm trying not to prance as much, but I'm sure there is still some of that left. My Garmin was fresh out of battery, so my hand was heavy with my iPhone. I bought the new Imagine Dragons and Walk the Sun CDs yesterday though, so I had an excuse to listen to them. When I passed a college student jamming out to techno, I had to laugh. My running music is so much more mellow than most people. Here, let me show you an example. The following is my favorite song for trail running:

It was a beautiful run, but the last two miles killed me. My legs were completely spent. I tried to keep pushing and, to my surprise, my pace stayed constant on the 9th mile; unfortunately, mile 10 did not hold the same bright promise of a quick turnover. Not at all. The only thing that kept me from stopping and clasping my sides was the fact that Jason would be looking at my times later. If I didn't do well on this mile, my entire 10-mile pace times would be thrown off. I was happy, no... I was relieved when I was finished. I did 5 rounds of :09 strides then made my way into the house to prepare a recovery drink and a sweet potato before cycle class.

From my run. Epic day.

Oh cycle... oh cycle on a holiday... oh cycle on Valentines day... Last year, my playlist consisted only of songs with the word LOVE in the title. This year, my mom thought it would be fun to make a playlist starting with all of Taylor Swift's love songs, but ending with her breakup songs. I figured that might be a little too much T Swift. I liked the idea though, so I made a relationship mixed tape. I warned the class that the mix would start with the search (warm-up and extended warm-up), finding that special someone (sprints of excitement), thinking you might be in love (standing zone 3, quick cadence), falling head over heals (seated spin-ups), realizing maybe things aren't as great as you thought (:30 in various zones), getting your heart broken (lots of zone 5), being angry at your ex-lover (standing build from zone 3 to zone 5 repeats) then moving on to independence (strong, zone 4 sprints).

Barry shook his head. "What is that head shaking for," I asked.

"It's a good shake," he comforted me. "I love your creativity."

"What stage are you in," asked Dave.

"The Forget You stage," I shot back. Howls of laughter filled the room.

I started with Justin Beiber's Somebody to Love. "Really," Dave asked. "Justin Beiber? Can't you skip it?"

"No," I responded. "It's part of the relationship. Everyone starts out looking for somebody else."

"We might as well listen to Taylor Swift the whole time," he grumbled. Dave, if you're reading this right now, you make me laugh.

I'll admit, the playlist was a little dorky. After Beiber, Call Me Maybe graced the ears of my participants. A couple of women started singing along... of course. I mean, I can't deny Amy and I made a music video to that song when we were in Tahoe last. Next was Usher and Pitbull then Natalie Cole came on the stereo system singing L-O-V-E. "Ohpe! You fell in love wayyyy too quickly! Stand up and sprint," I yelled. We followed that with Mike Poser and after him, Imagine Dragons Hear Me came on. "Uh-oh, you just realized you jumped in too quickly. Now things aren't going the way you planned. You are confused, so is your zone!" We switched zones every :30, staying mostly in zones 4 and 5.

A few songs (and heartbreaks later), Bon Jovi came on. As soon as he belted out "Shot through the heart", cheers spread through the room. Whoops and even a "Yes!" played across the mouths of my class participants.

Of course, We Are Never Getting Back Together played right before Ben Fold's and Regina Spektor's You Don't Know Me At All.

It was a great class; when is it not a great class?

Tonight, I have a hot baking date with my future roomie Amy. Time to say Welcome home! to those calories who thought they were leaving for good. Nope... I've got you this time, you little buggers.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

From Jameisha. Oh my word. So good.