Concrete Runners Secret Meet 04.25.15

while we were in LA, for N+TC Tour LA, we were able to put a little secret surprise together for our Concrete Runners.  we told them that there would be an early run in the morning but didn't tell them anything else.  just just told them it was a secret.

we arrived at the park and they saw this:

the secret run was to run with Manny Pacquiao.  this would be his last run at the pan pacific park in LA before his big fight with Mayweather.

due to some unforeseen circumstances only a few of us actually got to run with him.  but here's the footage i got from that day.

N+TC Tour LA 2015

The this past weekend i got to participate in Nike's N+TC Tour again in LA.  i was a bit worried that they wouldn't do one this year, as last year we registered way in advance and this year they announced so much later.  but they announced and of course i was juiced.  not to mention i would get to experience it this time a Concrete Runner (no longer running divas) and i would have my squad with me.  IF we got in... this year it was by lottery.  but our OGs and team captains got in and a good amount of our members too.  we came rolling in 22 deep!  yee!

friday night consisted of an event they called SNKRS Courtyard event and an NRC run.  The event had light refreshments and a panel of guests that are a part of Nike Women.

part of our saturday afternoon, for N+TC we spent on a little scavenger hunt trying to collect the earrings they had a various stores in Santa Monica.  we get everything except one.


saturday night, it was off to N+TC.  dthis year you didn't get to pick your sessions.  they picked your session track for you.  there were 3 tracks, like their app:  get strong, get lean, and get toned.  and your classes were based on the track they put you in.  fortunately, for us (Concrete Runners) we all showed each other our schedules.  i didn't like my schedule too much, and got to see the other classes.  so, i just waited in the wait list line to see if i could get into the classes that i actually wanted.  of course my sister and i HADDDD to get in to Prevail, the boxing class.  And I wanted to take he Groov3 class, a dancing class with short choreography.  my last class was Pound, from what it sounded it like it was a drumming class.

luckily for me, i got into all the classes i wanted.  woo hoo!  last year, some of the classes were almost impossible to get into if you were wait listed.  like, only 2 people from the wait list would get in.  it seemed like this year, a good amount of people that were in the wait list line were able to get in.

so after our warm up workout.  which seemed like we were in divergent, btw.  pretty weird and cool at the same time.  my sister, me, and morgan rushed over to the Prevail class.  my sister and i were determined to get in, wrapping our hands in the wait list line.  lol hella OA (filipino term meaning over acting, basically being dramatic).  but we all got in!  woo hoo!  they had the room split up in four with a ring in the middle and basically did it like a circuit training.  we did plyo first with an ab workout, then did some footwork drills, 3rd we did some training to get your heart rate up with 2 lbs weights.  and lastly...THE MITS!! YESS!!  they only did one combo though.  which is understandable, knowing that this would be a complete introduction to a most of the people there.  jab cross, jab cross - half moon to the right - cross cross.  so one mitt guy to 4 girls.  he just went down the line.  he went to the first girl in our line, then got to janice, he wasn't expecting the quickness.  got to morgan, then me.  i finished my last cross and he was like "whoa, you got a lot of power."  second time around, he asked me, "do you fight?!" with my shy smile i innocently said, "well...yeah!" lol  the announcer in the middle caught me in the combo and announce, "wow we got pacquiao in here!"  he was talking about me.  why thank you! *curtsy

second class was Groov3.  janice and morgan went off to the spin class.  so i was alone until some of my fellow CR crew came in.  we did a cute little dance routine, a couple of easy 8 counts but definitely fun.  lots of boot popping going on in there.  lol

lastly, Pound.  i think i was most excited about this class.  i mean of course i was excited about boxing, it's a part of what i love.  but pound sounded fun and i didn't know what to expect.  i read the description and knew it had to do with drumming, but some reason i was imagining a workout like taiko drums.  it was basically a workout to a drummer keeping beat.  we would drum along on the floor, in a squat, lunge, bend over to one side drum that way.  i really don't know how to describe it but it definitely was fun.  and it definitely was a workout.  i got some footage, but it gives it no justice to how much fum it really was.  i was having too much fun myself to stop and film.

here are some pictures and footage of what i experienced. 

03.31.15 ootd

Quick outfit of the day.  I'm here at a work conference. Someone commented on my suspenders and my response was "gotta find a way to keep a business trip fun!"

So here's the lowdown from top to bottom. 

Glasses:  Warby Parker $150 - yes, they are prescription not just for looks

Suspenders:  h&m $10

White v-neck:  $5? Forever21

Pants:  Express idk how much

01.11.15 Hot Chocolate 15k

The i'd been eyeing this race for so long.  and this year, i finally did it.  i, initially, signed up for the 5k, thinking, "i don't know if i want to train for a long run for so early in the year."  but i thought about it and thought, "you know what, i'm just gonna bang it out!"  and bang it out, i did.

i got in a run at lake merced on the first of the year and did pretty well.  i pr'd.  not bad for the first run of the year.  i'll write more about the pr's later.

so with this new pr, i was feeling pretty good about the race coming up.  i've never run the course, so i didn't really know what to expect.  it started out in golden gate park, ran out to and along ocean beach and then we back tracked and ended back into the park.

not knowing exactly what the course was, but knowing we would simply backtrack i paid a little attention to the course going out towards the beach.  i noticed as we were running out that mile 7 coming back was on a hill.  so coming back into golden gate park, i prepared myself for the hill at mile 7.  well, i guess i wasn't paying that much attention b/c the whole rest of the race from there was uphill.  lol  basically the last 3 miles were uphill.  and if you've ever heard a runner talk, the last 3 miles, are the worst.  it was definitely taking a toll on me.  i just wanted the hills to end, and where the hell was the finish line!

but i did it and i did great.  i was proud of my time and how i did.  this race proved it, my average miles are now in the mid 9s.  good by 11s!  i finished in 1:32:33 at an average of 9:44/mile.  considering I used to finish 12k races in about 1:30 I was pretty darn proud!

here are some pictures of me and our concrete runners crew.

11.04.14 49ers Rush Challenge

I'm it's already the new year and i'm so behind on my posts.  i'll try not to be so late this year, especially with my race entries.

so this will be my lame attempt and recalling my races since the nwm2014.

my very last race for 2014 was the 49ers challenge on 11.04.14.  well i actually did two races that day.  i signed up for the challenge but ended up doing the 4.9k first.  we (who ever concrete runners were with us) decided to accompany arlynn/arthur's mom in her journey.  we thought we would be a doing a good stroll or fast paced walk just to accompany her, but she really was speed walking, so our fast paced walks turned into light jogs at times just to keep up with her.  it was fun.

then later that day we did the 49ers challenge.  i thought the courses were going to be a bit tougher.  but i think the hardest thing was going up and down all the damn stairs.  lol.  we went all the way up to the nose bleeds and all the way back down i don't even know how many times.  and it was a warm day, so it was a little irritating.  but, i definitely do the race again...but i do have some qualms about the pricing.

it was $100 more than the 4.9k race and the medal was the same.  so i have 2 of the same medal.  the shirt was the same.  the only thing that was different is that we got a drawstring backpack instead of a plastic bag, and we got a rally towel and a mini football at the end of the race.  i don't think those even add up to $100.  other than that... i didn't really have any complaints.  the race was pretty organized, thank lord!  there's nothing more disappointing/irritating than an unorganized race.

but here is the course and some pictures from the event. i don't know where all the pictures went, so I had to snapshot from my ig.

Nike Women's Marathon 2014

The annual Nike Women's Half Marathon just passed this weekend.  And I have run it for the sixth time in a row.  Woo hoo!

This year they took the full marathon out and completely changed the half marathon course.  We still started at the Niketown in Union Square but instead of finishing at Ocean Beach we finished in the Marina by Chrissy Fields.

The course was much more challenging.  It had lots and lots of hills.  Good rolling hills for the cyclists out there.  But mile 10 was definitely the king of all those hills.  It was pretty damn steep and seemed to go on for a really long time.  Arlynn and I drove it on accident a couple of days before, so I kindda knew what to expect.

Because it was a brand new course I was a little nervous.  Having run the course 5 years in a row, I knew how to prep myself for what was coming.  This year, I just had to talk myself through each hill as it came along.  Honestly, once my legs started going it was just like a regular run.

The weather was perfect for me.  It wasn't too cold in the morning, I didn't bring a jacket, but brought a garbage bag just in case.  I didn't even use it.  I ended up tossing it even before we joined our corral.  The sun didn't come out until way after I was finished, so the sky remained grey but the weather was quite comfortable.  A comfortable temperature with a slight breeze every now and then.

I only refilled my bottle at about mile 8.  And, just ran through the course.  And although there were lots and lots of hills and people are probably going to complain about all the hills, I really really liked the course.  Apparently, I like hills.  lol  I think it just breaks up the course for me, keeps it interesting.  My friend from Muay Thai says I that I like doing the difficult stuff.  lol I guess she's right.

My gripes about the race:  This race is sooo popular not only b/c it's Nike, but hellooooo everyone wants that Tiffany necklace.  B/c of this it gets a lot of attention from EVERYONE, which means a lot of newbies that don't know running etiquette.  And that just makes it hard on everyone.  I'm glad that events like this get people motivated to move.  Trust me, I'm the first person to cheer someone on when they want to get fit, for what ever reason.  My main complaint, which is what I complain about every single race -- "WALKERS TO THE RIGHT!"  Yes, I understand that some people like to or need to walk, but please leave room on the left for people to pass.  Omg, I can go on about this forever ... I'll save that for my youtube video.

And another thing that saddened me...but I didn't make too much of a big deal about b/c I know it happens all the time...my name didn't get put on the wall this year.  This is the first year in so long that I actually used my own name, and I didn't get put on the wall.  I was sad, but it's ok.

Oh and the product tent for the finisher's gear.  Holy moly what a mess.  I didn't even dare go in there.  I'm hoping they have the product at the Niketown.  I at least would like to take a look at it.

Well, those are all my jumbled thoughts about the race.  Here are some photos for you to look at:

The Giant Race 2014

San Jose Giants 5 Mile 2014 

Earlier this year I participated in the San Jose Giants 5 mile.  Usually, my family does this race with me, but this year I was all by my lonesome.  As you can see, that wasn't really a factor for me.  It my yearly short race.

It also doesn't hurt that I get an additional goody for doing both this and the San Francisco Giants run.

Last year I came in at 52:04. 

Here are my results from this year:

San Francisco Giants Half Marathon 2014

Last week I participated in the Giants Half Marathon for the 4th time.  And it seems like every year I say I didn't train.  lol  Well nothing changed this year.  I didn't train.  I got the San Jose 5 mile run in, and I got in another 6 mile with my Concrete Runners, but I hadn't really run anything over 2 miles besides those 2 runs.  But, I do have my everyday training that I get in, a light run and weights in the morning and either Muay Thai or  Core40 at night.  Well looks like all of that is working for me. 

I honestly didn't think I was going to PR this year.  I only hoped that I wouldn't come in adding on too much time.  But, to my surprise I did so much better than I thought I ever could. 

The run felt pretty good.  I had to breathe through a couple of cramps, but nothing too out of the ordinary.  And, I realized that I would be retiring the shoes I was wearing after that run.  I stopped to hydrate around mile 6, 8, and I think 10ish.  I normally don't stop that often, but I kept going.

I knew that when I crossed the start line the clock already read after 5 mins.  So when I came in and saw the clock at 2:23 I was shocked.  I came in, in less that 2:20!?  Then I remembered to stop my app so I could get a better read.  Well, my phone somehow was buttdialing while I was running b/c my phone was disabled for about 1 hour.  lol  There goes that idea! lol

Later that night, one of my friends texted me with my results.  Last year, I came in at 2:30:47

Here are my results for this year:

I took off 12 minutes off my time!!  Needless to say I was EXCITED!!!  I could not believe that I did that!