nike women's marathon 2012

photo courtesy of adoremai @ instagram

i didn't run the nike women's (half) marathon this year, but my lil half-sis (MN) did. she's totally not a runner – wait, i take that back. she doesn't typically run on your normal basis, at least not like me anyway. she barely trained for this event, but nevertheless, she ran the half marathon distance of the nwm race yesterday and did fantastic! 13.1 miles in 2:37:21. that's pretty impressive for someone who's never ran longer than 5 miles in her entire life until yesterday's race. way to go girl!

below are our instagram photos from the day's events. :)


MN before the race @ NWM 2012


All done! :)


C and I with MN at the finish line

i ran almost 50 miles in december!

That's right... almost 50 miles of running in the month of December! 48.97 miles to be exact! That's the most I've ever ran in a month... like ever! Well, actually, I know I used to do cross-country in high school running miles and miles a day, but I can't remember how much and how long. Anyway, I'm just super proud of myself. Now... goals for this year? To really just keep it up. Hopefully I'll run a few more miles extra this month than last month. Let's hope I do good. :)

So I've joined more challenges on the Nike+ website. There's a bunch of running challenges that users put on and you just join anyone you like. It's really cool in a way... cuz you get to see where you are and how far you've ran, etc... or where you place after the challenge's over. I can't believe I finished 146 out of 586 runners in the Healthy Holiday Challenge w/ my 48.97 miles. Of course the first place person ran like 527+ miles in the 31-day challenge... but that's okay, I'm never going to be a super long distance runner like him/her. I don't know, overall, I say it's pretty cool I guess. As much as I despise Apple sometimes... I can't say too much bad stuff about the iPod Nano and Nike+ running gadget. It's pretty neat cuz it helps me keep track of my runs and tells me how I'm doing when I'm running... so. :)

So far this week, Mark and I have put in our two runs (especially after tonight's quick run)... two down, just one more to go. We've decided that we'll run three times a week and do some cross training on the weekends. We'll probably go for a mini tennis match this weekend and/or a bike ride/hike. It all depends on how the weather is I guess. We'll see. :)

Oh, I know I've ran twice already this week... but maybe for some crazy reason I'll run again tomorrow. I've been pondering w/ this idea of doing the Lake twice. I hate loops, but hmmm... maybe I should just do it. I don't know... good luck to me?! Let's see if I do go out tomorrow and run... and not just run, but actually run 2 laps (which is about 9+ miles)! Ahhh! =/

Okay, more later. :)

withdrawal

I miss LA. This past weekend was such a blast, I still cannot stop thinking about it. I really had a lot of fun. It was just Mark and me... hanging out together, no kids.. just doing whatever our little hearts desire. Let's see, what did we do in LA? Well, it was our first time there (I know, silly huh? Of the many times we've been down in SoCal, we've never really bothered to stop in LA)... anyway, saw the Observatory in Griffith Park, Hollywood sign from the Observatory, the Walk of Fame stars, Chinese Theatre and Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highlands... and drove around looking for Valley Oak, Jeff Lewis (of "Flipping Out") house. Turns out it was in the Hollywood Hills (nice houses, hilly neighborhood... definitely not my cup of tea).. and of course, it was in the "gated" part of Valley Oak Drive so we didn't get to see it. Oh well, it was still kind of cool trying to find where it was, navigating it using the $5 map we bought at CVS Pharmacy. All and all, LA was a lot of fun.. the Nike+ race turned out super fantublous... everything was super neat! Oh yes, we stayed at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown LA... very nice place, w/ a great view on the 30th floor... so yes, it was very luxurious, sort of, you can say. Also in LA, Mark and I also visited this apartment where his parents and him lived for a short while back in the early 70's. Turns out the house still looks very much the same, nice and all in this great neighborhood off of Los Feliz.

Lalalalala... I can't wait to go back to LA, especially the beaches to just hang out. Venice Beach was very nice. Love it! :)

Alright, here's what I've eaten/plan to eat for today:

BREAKFAST:
- 1 fried egg (75 cal)
- 2 slices turkey bacon (40 cal)
- 1 slice whole wheat bread, toasted (100 cal)
- 1 tbsp plum jam w/ 1 tsp butter (60 cal)

AM SNACK:
- 1 medium banana (105 cal)

LUNCH:
- CA sandwich w/ chicken, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes + potato salad & a few french fries (890 cal)

PM SNACK:
- 1 cup Kashi Crunch cereal (190 cal)

DINNER:
- sausage w/ rice & steamed green beans (350 cal)

TOTAL CALORIES: 1620

Update later. ;)

nike+ human race 10k

Quick entry for now. More later.

We survived it! My official race time: 1:07'37" -- not bad eh? Mark ran it in 1:06'02"... pretty good. I'm just soooooo proud of us. We did it not only in under 75 minutes, but under 70 minutes!!! Yay for us.. and boy, I tell ya, LA was a blast! There were so many runners participating in this race. I believe almost 13,000 runners... quite the scene, pretty sweet actually. Kanye West was pretty good at the after race concert. Alright, more tomorrow. Night. :)

weigh-in today

I lost 1.5lbs! Yay!!! It's funny... I kind of do look forward to weigh-in days. Of course I've been off my "supposed" routine lately. I know I'm supposed to be running/eating less, etc... but somehow I just haven't quite felt like doing it. I can say I do still pay attention to what I put in my mouth, and try to make an effort to eat better... but I'm just not super hardcore like how it was in the beginning. I mean, I'm not on a super strict 1250 calories or less thing anymore. These days, I've been all over, but of course... always keeping in mind how much I'm consuming or have already consumed.. and what I'm about to put in my mouth, etc.

Anyway, so yes, I lost 1.5lbs. I'm now officially under 105 on the scale, which is fantastic! Only 9 more pounds to go. I know, still got quite a ways to go, but tiny steps at a time, that's okay. :) Alright, let's hope I get to 95 at some point... before the year end maybe? Ahhh, we'll see.

Btw, HumanRACE this weekend... so excited! Ahhhh!!! 6.2 miles here I come. It's going to be fabulous! There's an estimated 12,500 people running/walking this race in LA this Sunday night. Plus, Kayne West will be the key performer at the Coliseum after the race... it'll be fun. I'll be sure to bring a camera or something... take some pictures, who knows. It'll definitely be posted on my Facebook page.. loL :P

Alright, here's what I've eaten/plan to eat for today:

BREAKFAST:
- leftover dinner: 1/4 rice w/ chicken stir-fry (150 cal)
- 1 fried egg (75 cal)
- 2 slices turkey bacon (40 cal)

LUNCH:
- 2 Mexican street tacos w/ corn tortillas, chicken, black beans, guacamole, lettuce, salsa, jalapeños (600 cal)

DINNER:
- rotisserie chicken (250 cal)
- 1/2 cup rice (100 cal)
- salad or steamed veggies (100 cal, TBD?!)

TOTAL CALORIES: 1315

Update later. :)

i'm so proud of myself! yay! :P

Yeah, so like I said yesterday, I was going for a run... and I did! What was great about it was the fact that I actually had at least a WHOLE hour to do my running/jogging/whatever you want to call it. Anyway, it just felt so good. What I've been noticing the last two runs was the fact that I'm actually not "out-of-shape" anymore. I don't think I am anyway, when it comes to jogging. Both times I felt good/okay... even after 10 minutes or more of running. Of course, the main thing now is that I have to make sure I have enough energy to sustain my pace/run for a long period of time, and of course, to improve on my time. I know I can definitely do 60 minutes of running/jogging cuz I just did it yesterday. Anyway, the Nike+ HumanRace10K is this weekend. I have never ran 6.2 miles before in my entire life so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope Mark and I do well or me at least anyway. I'm guestimating it's going to take me about 80 minutes or so from start to finish. Pretty much, my main goal is to finish it within the allotted time they give us, which is 75 minutes. Let's hope I do decent.

Anyway, Mark and I are going for a run today around Lake Merced. It's a 4.5 mile loop around the lake. It's not so bad... we've done it twice together before. Last time we improved on our previous times... both ran it under 50 minutes. It'll be our third time tonight so we're hoping to improve our times again. I ran it in 48:10 while Mark did it in 47:50. If we could improve our times by just a bit, I think we'll be okay for race day this Sunday. I don't know, I like to think if we can do 4.5 miles (or me... 5.7 miles), what's a mile or so more?

Alright, enough said. Update on this later. Oh, btw, I got on the scale this morning just as a status check... and the pointer thingy's below 105.. so we'll see! I hope it stays below 105 for this Friday's weigh-in... Ahh! :P

Here's what I've eaten/plan to eat for today:

BREAKFAST:
- 1 fried egg (75 cal)
- 1 slice bacon (45 cal)

AM SNACK:
- banana (100 cal)

LUNCH:
- 1/2 cup brown rice (110 cal)
- ground pork stir-fry w/ rg bell peppers, broccoli & carrots + soy/oyster sauce (210 cal)
- water

PM SNACK:
- orange (100 cal)
- random sample bits @ Costco (200 cal)

DINNER:
- 3 oz chicken breast, sliced w/ teriyaki glaze (180 cal)
- 1/2 cup steamed broccoli (30 cal)
- 1/2 cup brown rice (110 cal)
- pho w/ asian beef meatballs (320 cal)
- a handful of pan-fried potatoes (150 cal)
- water

EVENING SNACK:
- 3 plum cookie wafers (100 cal)

TOTAL CALORIES: 1410

Like usual, update later. :)

------------

UPDATE: alrigh, Mark got lazy so we didn't do our 4.5 mile run around Lake Merced. I don't know.. maybe tomorrow? We'll see. :)

a new beginning... day 1 :)

Alright, so like I said yesterday, I'm restarting this whole diet/exercise thing. I was going to start it yesterday, the minute I wrote yesterday's blog... but Mark convinced me that I should start it today. Make it fresh, brand new day.. etc... since by the time I decided about all this, it was close to noon or already noon. Anyway, today's day 1. So far, I've done pretty good. We'll see how the day goes from here I guess. I'm really excited about this, so I hope I do good. :)

I know I didn't go for my run this morning, but I totally intend on doing some running tonight. I really wanted to run this morning, but unfortunately I couldn't cuz Christopher was up. Anyway, I plan on running tonight so I hope I run tonight. I haven't ran three miles in a while, so I really want to do that. I hope I have enough time to do that tonight. Oh, also, there's a 5k/10k this Sunday by my house. I'm thinking of going there the day of the race and signing up. It doesn't start until 9am. I figure my time at the moment still kind of sucks (a bit slow), but if I'm already registered for the Nike+ HumanRace10K, I might as well run some mini races to get myself ready for the 10k at the end of the month. Well, more on this later...

Okay, here's what I've eaten/plan to eat today:

BREAKFAST:
- 2 slices of turkey bacon (70 cal)
- 1 fried egg (80 cal)

AM SNACK:
- 8 oz fat-free milk (90 cal)

LUNCH:
- Lean Cuisine Thai-Style Chicken (220 cal)
- 1 small banana (95 cal)

PM SNACK:
- 8 oz fat-free milk (90 cal)
- 1 kiwi fruit (50 cal)

DINNER:
- 1/2 eggplant stir-fried in 1 tsp olive oil (135 cal)
- 1/2 cup white rice (100 cal)
- 1 cup green salad w/ cherry tomatoes & cucumbers + italian dressing (50 cal)
- 8 blueberries (5 cal)

EVENING SNACK:
- 1 cup green salad w/ 2 oz ham deli meat, cherry tomatoes & cucumbers + italian dressing (140 cal)
- 1/2 serving of Lay's baked cheetos (65 cal)

TOTAL CALORIES: 1190 calories

Stay tune... updates to come later. :)

-----------

UPDATE:

1. Eat between 1,100 to 1,250 calories per day -- YES! (1,190 calories)
2. Walk/run 10,000 total steps per day -- 12,159
3. Run at least 10-15 miles a week -- TBD (ran 3.15 miles today)
4. Drink 2 glasses of milk per day -- YES! :)
5. Eat at least 2 servings of fruit per day -- YES! :)
6. Eat at least 2 servings of veggies per day -- YES! :)
7. Two stretch/pilates sessions a week -- TBD (did one stretch session today!)
8. Two strength training sessions a week -- TBD
9. Two abs sessions a week -- TBD (did one abs session today!)

So far, so good. Yay! I don't lose any money tonight. Let's see what tomorrow brings. I'm excited! :)