Rookie on the Run

Well, we made it to Huntington Beach.  My husband and I left our quiet, kid-free house later than we had planned.  After getting lost a couple times and dealing with Orange County rainy-day traffic, it seemed like we may have hit the Expo at its peak hours.  It was crowded.  Very, very crowded. Thankfully, the race seems to be well-organized and I was able to pick up my race bib, race bag, and long-sleeve shirt very quickly. The race bags didn't have any goodies in them... but that's OK because the race bag is a "goodie" in and of itself.  Very cool race bag!   I wish I had taken a picture of the race bag... but hopefully you get the idea from this picture.  That's me holding my race number.   We didn't spend much time at the Expo because of the crowds.  I can usually tolerate crowds pretty well, but this was too much, even for me!  My husband hates crowds of any size so I think he was very happy to get out of there.  I have t...

My New Gym In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to check out a new gym. For $10 per month and no commitment, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was impressed! The gym is large, clean, filled with new equipment, and not filled with big egos. The staff is friendly and didn't try to pressure me into upgrading my membership to one of the more costly options. There are plenty of free weights, weight machines, and lots of cardio machines! At my old gym, there were too many grunting, sweaty, guys with egos larger than their overworked biceps.  The staff & trainers wouldn't give you the time of day unless you had an appointment... or if they were trying to get me to recruit my friends and family.  There were times when I'd notice at least three or four broken machines.  While the group instructors at my old gym were great, the rest of the gym wasn't worth the money they took out of my account each month. I had a great workout last night and can't...

I'm caving into the peer pressure and decided to blog about my goals (or "resolutions" if you prefer).  I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but, as always, I've been inspired by my Running Blogger Friends. Health Goals Eat more fruits and veggies... in fact, as of three days ago, I'm a vegetarian.  I'm going to go month-by-month on the whole vegetarian thing.  I'm trying it out to see if being a vegetarian makes me feel any different.   Eat more raw foods Drink at least 60 ounces of water everyday Cut back on sugar Training Goals Ride and Run a total of 2010 combined miles Strengthen my core, ankles & feet, and upper body Join a running group Run or cross-train five days a week Get custom orthotics if current injury-eliminating endeavors don't work   Personal Goals Get clean laundry put away before the pile turns into Mt. Everest I try to be realistic when I set goals.  I think all of those goals are do-able.  We...

Gonna Have Some Fun It seems that lately, a lot of people have been announcing that they've signed up for the Surf City Marathon/Half Marathon . The race isn't until February and I've been signed up since May (it was my Mother's Day gift) so I haven't been giving it a whole lot of thought... until now. Last night, I figured it would be a good idea to check the website to confirm my registration. Once that was done, I continued to peruse the site. I just have to say, the finishers' medals for the race are so cool!! I love, love, love these medals! Another thing I looked at on the website was the hotel listing for the area. I'm glad I did because the rooms near the starting line are selling out fast! The Hilton located right at the start is already sold out. The next best option seemed to be The Shorebreak Hotel since it is only about four blocks from the start. It's a tad expensive and they have a two-night minimum that weekend but it has great r...