PRO Compression RnRSD Shake Out Run

This morning I jumped in the car and made my way down to San Diego for PRO Compression's Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Shake Out Run.

Thanks to StuftMama for the picture and SkinnyRunnerSR for the flyer!

Nope, I am not running in any of the races (I did the half last year though, feel free to check out the recap here), but am a PRO Compression Ambassador (still stunned I was picked to be among the lucky ones) and since it was "local" I wanted to make it happen.

Thanks to Smitha for the picture!
Some of the folks that made it to the run. 

We met down at the Bahia Hotel for an "easy" 3.5 mile run around Mission Bay. Technically, since I hadn't run since Monday and because I don't have a race tomorrow like the majority of the runners, I didn't need to save my legs, so might have gone out a little faster than necessary :).

Thanks to StuftMama for some action shots during the run!

After the lovely run, we met back in the Bahia parking lot for some yummy refreshments (Water, Bagels, Nuttzo, Nuun, Clif Shot Bloks, Bananas, etc) and GIVEAWAYS! Who doesn't love FREE GEAR?! Especially when it is AMAZING stuff from PRO Compression, Halo Headband, and other AWESOME companies!

Why, yes, of course, StuftMama caught me using a banana as a SMILE for the picture!

(Holly and I may or may not have grabbed up a few extra Nuun packets that were used as raffle tickets to better our odds of winning - which helped me win a new pair of NEON PINK Marathon Socks and a BANGIN' trucker hat that will be PERFECT for our Lake Powell trip in less than a month.)

I think StuftMama caught my excitement pretty well, what do you think?

And before I left we HAD to take pictures to capture a small portion of the blogger/ runner LOVE!

Me and StuftMama.
Thanks for helping put this shin-dig together!

Selfies with Melissa!

The one, the only SkinnyRunnerSR.
Remember when she took FIRST PLACE in her first 100K two weeks ago?!
PURE AWESOME-SAUCE!

Since a lot of these ladies are local, I REALLY hope we can make runs like this happen more often. Shoot, I won't be able to keep up with them for more than a few miles, but they are all wonderful women and even if I can just jog next to them for a few minutes it is better than nothing!! A BIG THANKS TO PRO COMPRESSION, STUFTMAMA AND SKINNYRUNNERSR FOR MAKING THIS RUN HAPPEN!! AND TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL!!

Workout Recap - Week 22

Sunday, May 25th – Vista Strawberry Festival 10K, Foam Rolled & Stretched

Monday, May 26th –  4 mile run, Foam Rolled & Stretched

Tuesday, May 27th –  Strength Training (abs, back, arms and legs), Foam Rolled & Stretched

Wednesday, May 28th –  Rest day, Foam Rolled & Stretched

Thursday, May 29th – Rest day, Foam Rolled & Stretched

Friday, May 30th – Rest day, Foam Rolled & Stretched

Saturday, May 31st – 3.5 mile PRO Compression Run {recap here}, 3 mile hike with the hubby and puppy, Foam Rolled & Stretched

SkinnyRunnerSR's Instagram

As you can see, this week I still had some extra rest days. Whatever the "bug" was that I had last week seemed to turn into a STOMACH thing by Wednesday (NO FUN). Since I don't have any races for a while, I figured an extra few rest days this week (especially since it is still within 2 weeks of my first marathon) to get back to 100% health is worth it. I am CROSSING MY FINGERS that I am on the mend and will be back to "fighting strength" within the next few days. 

How were your workouts this past week? 

Home Office

This week was my first week working for home. Sure I worked Thursday (and a couple hours on Friday) last week, and technically this wasn't even a "full" week because I didn't work on Memorial Day, but I am getting into the swing of things.

Ryan and I went over to Staples the other night to pick up a few organizational items I needed, but everything else we pretty much had or I was able to pick up from the company I work for (the room was our "office"/ guest bedroom before).

I figured I would take a couple quick pictures of my space for you. Maybe I should have waited for hubby, the photographer, to get home or actually used the "good" camera, but I guess the iPhone shots will have to do :)

View from the closet looking towards my desk.

Some of hubby's art, a newspaper clipping of me when I was a wee-one, and
some of our wedding stuff (button bouquet and button boutonniere).

View from the bedroom door into the room.

Computer area, complete with Reef mouse pad :)

I'm sure once I am working in the space longer I will probably change it up a bit, but for now it definitely does what I need it to. Not sure if I'll need more work space and have to move the scanner or printer off the desk, but for now I can "make it work" (as Tim Gunn says).

But.... shhhhh... don't tell the boss... my co-worker tends to sleep on the job... I'm assuming NO CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR HIM!

He appreciates having me home, but thinks work is boring :)
At least it puts bones in his bowl!

Do you work from home? Is your work space neat and tidy or more of an "organized chaos"? 

Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt

If you know my hubby (or read my blog occasionally) then you know he has a HUGE sweet tooth! Sugar is his JAM, whether it is ice cream, candy, cookies, Slurpees, you name it, he wants it :)

While we were hanging out with some friends this past weekend, they mentioned a new ice cream shop they wanted to try and I just couldn't say no. The place is called Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt. Their "shtick" is that instead of having pre-made ice cream, they actually FREEZE your food in front of you with liquid nitrogen... using SUB ZERO temperatures (get it?!).

I am not much of a sweets gal, but I still thought I'd give it a try. I decided to go with the Watermelon Yogurt (normally FroYo is my go-to because it seems lighter, a bit healthier, and not as creamy) with mixed berries and peaches.

Watching them "make" the desserts is pretty cool. We went with our friends and their four kids, so seeing their excitement over the whole ordeal definitely made the experience worth it.

But... I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with mine. The texture was a bit off, which I would assume is because it is freezing at different times. It wasn't like a 'smooth' frozen yogurt... More like some felt like little ice crystals and some were like a pellet of yogurt (more like a dippin' dot rather than a cup of one scoop of something). I did try some of the other flavors (ice cream vs yogurt, fruity vs sweet) and they were okay.

I mean, I think the process is awesome to watch and I would definitely suggest checking it out once to try it for yourself. (But I think it is back to Menchie's I go :) )

Are you all about the flash? Or do you stick with the tried and true?

Star Wars runDisney RACES!

THE RUMORS ARE TRUE! runDisney officially released word today that they are adding a Star Wars themed race to their calendar. It will be taking the old TinkerBell race weekend - in January - at Disneyland.

I saw this video on Instagram hinting at a Half Marathon "A distance measured in Parsecs. #runDisney #StarWars #LetTheWookieeWin"

And then this tweet:

Source

The runDisney website has been updated with all the pertinent info. The most important being they will have Kids Races, a 5K, a 10K, a Half Marathon, and a Rebel Challenge.

What's left to do? DECIDE IF WE ARE GONNA RUN IT, of course! Normally I would say HECK YES! I mean Ryan LOVES Star Wars. If it was "easy" to talk him into the Avengers Half Marathon we are running in November, this would be a PIECE OF CAKE. The only issue is that it is ONLY ONE WEEK after I will have completed the Dopey Challenge. Yup, you read that right... The week prior I will have run a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Full Marathon and SOMEHOW I am actually pondering running at least another half marathon a week after... CRAY CRAY!

Thankfully I have until next week to decide - they will have Early Registration for Annual Passholders on June 4th.

Is Star Wars your jam? 

Vista Strawberry Festival 10K Recap

Yesterday morning Ryan and I ran the Vista Strawberry Festival 10K. This is actually the third year we have participated in this race weekend (it was one of the very first races I did back in 2012 when I started running!). In 2012 we did the 5K and last year we upgraded to the 10K when they added the longer distance.

Ry said they were more watermelon than strawberry, but I thought they were FESTIVE! 

Although it had only been a week since I finished my first full marathon and I had been feeling under the weather most of the week (i.e. feeling like I was HIT BY A TRAIN... I think due to the flu or some other bug, not having to do with the marathon itself), I was still planning on helping pace Ryan to PR his 10K time.

Last year, when we ran the race, he had signed up for it because he needed a qualifying time for the Disneyland Half Marathon. We went out trying to get close to an hour and ended up right at the hour mark. This year we were hoping he could improve his time slightly and break the sixty-minute mark.

They changed the course slightly, which was nice (last year it seemed like we were doing a lot more turning, so it was great to have more straightaways). The nasty Brengle Terrace hill was still there, but at least this time we were prepared for it (and realized that it KEPT GOING, rather than getting our hopes up we were done with it at the first turn :) ).

The one thing that was strange was that they didn't play the national anthem before the race. I realize there were only 405 finishers in the 10K, but I was still pretty surprised they didn't even have a recorded version to play... especially with it being Memorial Day weekend and all...

Well, the moment of truth... Did we beat Ryan's time from last year?

HECK YES WE DID!

Even after hilly Mile 4, we were still able to kick it in strong!

I will be the first to admit it. It was tough. With having eaten very little over the previous few days, I was zapped on energy (I could tell right away that my legs were cramp-y and I needed a banana like IMMEDIATELY) and my body was still pretty sore from whatever those flu-like symptoms were and don't get me started on the humidity (it was in the high 80% range the entire race), but WE DID IT!

We crossed the finish line extremely happy with what we had accomplished (getting faster every year is a GREAT thing)! We picked up our strawberries (one of the SWEETEST post-race treats ever), our medals, and took a breather while we waited for the beer garden to open (I mean we did finish the race before 8am :) ).

Berries AND Bling?! I'm in Heaven!

Team PRO Compression and LockLaces of course :) 

My green nails and sunnies helped finish out my "strawberry" look, wouldn't ya say?

I don't drink beer so Ryan lucks out and gets two :)

FREE BEER!

I ended up coming in 9th (out of 39) in my division (Female 25-29) and Ryan came in 18th (out of 28) in his (Male 30-34). We took places 132 and 133 overall (out of 405). I was the 52nd female to finish while Ryan was the 81st male to finish. Our official time was 58:44.

Source

Source

OH YEAH. And did you see what they put as Ryan's name?! Hehe. I guess they liked my last name better and put it for his too! (They seemed to screw up his registration royally... We physically mailed in our registrations to avoid the processing fees and whoever keyed it did NOT pay attention... Wrong last name, tiny t-shirt that they wouldn't let him exchange, etc.)

I think we will probably continue running this race in the future. It is a nice, local race with yummy strawberries at the finish. Not to mention it isn't too pricey and we can continue to chart our progress year after year.

Quite the BANGIN' participant shirt, huh?! The strawberry man is HUGE!

Not sure why the bibs say "Strawberry Surprise!"

The bling

Do you like smaller, local races? Or is your motto "The Bigger, The Better"?

Surfing Doggy!

Friday afternoon, once Ryan got home from work, we decided to take Walt over to the Carlsbad Lagoon. He (Walt... not Ryan) was a little stinky and needed a bath, so figured we'd let him play in the water a bit before getting him clean.

We've taken him down there a few times before, but for the most part he doesn't seem to be much of a water dog. He really only goes in if he is playing with other dogs that run in. Ryan has tried taking him out a ways and letting him swim back to shore (he's a good swimmer, just doesn't necessarily like the wet factor), but that only lasts a couple times before Walt just tries to run away from Ryan.

Ryan thought this time he would bring his longboard down with us (we were originally going to try one of the stand-up paddle boards, but figured it might be a hassle, especially if Walt was having none of it).

It started off a little rough, but we were so surprised at how well he did! As you can see from the pictures below, he started off cuddling as close to Ryan as he could possibly get, but as time went on (and he got used to the choppiness) he started venturing out towards the end of the board.

Ryan trying to corral Walt... 

Getting him used to the board

OH NO, WE ARE MOVING?! 

WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!

I think this one he is looking to me for help... And as close to Ryan for protection :)

Still on Ryan's shoulder

LOOK MOM, I'M DOING IT!

He was even walking back and forth on the board

Hanging 10!

He felt much better when they were coming with the wind and there were less waves crashing at him

Getting ready to jump in after the first session

He even went out for a second try!

I got a couple quick videos too.





Next time we will definitely bring our nice camera. Obviously my old iPhone 4 doesn't have a very good zoom... but at least we were able to document his maiden voyage.

My water boys!