Turkey Trot 10k 2013

The Turkey Trot 5k/10k has been going on for years and I finally managed to catch one. I figured what was a great way to start the holiday but with a nice little 6+mile run through Downtown LA before I stuff myself with holiday goodies.

It wasn't so bad. In fact, I think the race was well-organized and fun. There were plenty of vendors and booths. The trucker hats were cool (I now have something to thrash during my training runs) and the crowd was just big enough (seriously, I don't think many people would want to do this on a holiday.) In fact, the hardest thing was trying to get out of my warm bed and drive east to Downtown LA.

 

 

And speaking of hard, that is just the kind of liquor MC Foley hit right before the race. Yes, that is a flask, my friends. But I mean, her blog isn't called Alky to Athlete for nothing. I likened her to the Drunken Master of any old school flick. She just happens to be at her best when she got a little bit of happy juice in her!

 

 

 

The overall run was pleasant. There were some hills but they were not too bad. If you are doing the 10k you are pretty much doing the course twice, which is not so bad because then you know how where to map yourself. The volunteers are a mix of highschool and college and they are all very friendly and encouraging. I certainly enjoyed myself and the fact that I only paid $20 from Living Social made this event even better.

Dedicated this medal to all the friends who took the time and energy to train me out of love. Love the fact that people step up and see me trying to meet my goals and they go out of their way to help me reach it...

 

 

Double Trouble.. my sis and I off to WeHo to get mimosas.

(Isn't she a bad influence on me??)

Warrior Dash 2013

Warrior Dash 2013 took place in SoCal at the end of April. This is the second Warrior Dash Team BreastMode has participated in and this time, we invited the men.

Also new to the team is my cousin R who joined us this year for the race. This woman kicked ass! Those obstacles were not easy and she tackled them one by one. (P, who ran with us last year, just had a baby and her husband took her place. How sweet is that?)

And of course my darling nephews and niece came out to cheer on their parents.

While his sister Peanuthas fun with my Viking hat, Bubba is not too thrilled and kept it on long enough until I took the picture.

This is the only pic that was taken during the race, the ditches with the barbed wire. Last year, all the obstacles dealt with height. This year, the obstacles were more about balance. What made it tougher is that they had two mud pits. The first mud pit made it harder to do the rest of the obstacles because of the weight and because it made everything so slick.

Bottom line, I made it and I earned my third medal for the year!

No makeup and feeling great after our 5k run!

The next best thing after accomplishing a race is the after party! A UK study says that the fastest way to dehydrate is to drink beer. I don't normally drink Bud Light but OMG, it was the most refreshing drink I laid my lips on! Live bands, turkey legs, beer, hot men walking around their shirts off- it was wonderful!

The cutest way to end the day is seeing these little ones sport their "Future Warrior" shirts.

Warby Parkers

 

(Emporio Armani glasses)

Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that my job gives me benefits and they are pretty decent. Not having health insurance while a full-time artist was a downside to being self employed. But now I have the benefits, the eye care is not that entirely great. First off, glasses have always been way too expensive for my fickle taste. Granted, I get some coverage but $500 glasses end up being around $320 and that is still a lot of money.

Because of that, I’d have to pick the “safest” design and it ends up being boring, especially since my styles change daily.

And as much as I love these duo-tone Emporio Armanis, it cuts my vision sight in half.

It took me about a year to mosey myself over to Warby Parkers. I knew about them last year but completely forgot about it until a friend at work reminded me about them and bought a couple of pairs.

 

$95- designer frames and lenses.

 

$95!!!

 

 

That is more than half the price of the Ray Bans I wanted to get at LensCrafters. (With the discount, it was $320 before insurance.)

 

 

I took advantage of the Try-on offer; 5 frames, 5 days, free shipping.

 

(From top to bottom: Crosby, Roosevelt and the Thatcher)

 

I'm pretty sure you will see all the fashionista bloggers looking all cute in their frames. I will not bore you with another selfie photoshoot. (Besides, I'd feel silly doing that.) But the concept of being able to be at home and at your leisure, try on the frames before buying.)

 

I've done two rounds, which I am glad I did because frames that I thought would look good on me ended up being okay.

 

What I am loving about the selection is that there is SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. Which means, they cover all shapes of faces.

 

 

My first purchase was the slate blue Holt.

 

A week later, I decided to get the Thatcher in Revolver Black.

 

So now I went from one frams to now owning two of different styles and I still didn't pay the price as I would get if I went to the optometrist. I am ENAMORED with my new frames that I can see myself buying two more frames before the end of the year.

 

 

As if it weren't cool enough that they send you the frames to try on at home (there are two showcases in LA but being so busy, I don't have time to get there,) they have a WARBY PARKER CLASS TRIP school bus that also equals to a pop-up shop!

 

 

This is located at 8201 W. 3rd Street, LA

 

This pop up shop has almost every frame possible in the collection. It was like being a kid in a candy shop being able to check out all the difference styles. I am thinking that my next purchase should be prescription sunglasses, being that my optometrist say that the sun still damages the retina of the eyes. Well, sounds good to me and the best part is, my insurance will cover some of it!

 

 

I went from being vain and not wearing glasses to being vain and owning four pairs! My next post will be about Kahoy Kollection, all wood frames and more!

 

 

 



 

 

 



2013 Chinatown Firecracker Bike/5k/10k

(All pics by me)

I have participated in the Chinatown Firecracker event for a couple of years but never have I ran the actual race. Melinda and I did the 5k (we were toying with the idea of doing the 10k but I felt like I was coming down with something so I asked her if we just did the 5k) and it was amazing! Now, what makes this run challenging is that it is mostly up hills. Completely doable but one has to practice with elevation before taking on hills.

The registation orientation was pretty simple. We signed up online and we went the day before to pic up our number and our goodie bags. This year's goodie bag was a backpack that was designed by Shepard Fairey's design company. SO AWESOME!

We got there an hour before the race started and found street parking just in time. Started off the morning with early performances and warm up by the Clipper cheerleaders and set off a thousand firecrackers.

The start and finish.

Got my Endomondo app to measure our route.

The medal was a bit small than what we anticipated but it is nicely designed nonetheless.

We finished the day with dim sum with friends who we bumped into at Empress Pavillion.

Overall, it was an amazing time. Next year, I am doing the 10k. I think I have found my yearly ritual. What a wonderful LA event to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. I LOVE MY CITY!

Tinkerbell Half Marathon 2013

This year is the year of "yes." This is the year where I consciously do the opposite of what I normally do. Habits create a groove that we tend to fall default to. This year, I want to experience more and I want to be outside of my comfort zone.

I knew this back in Thanksgiving when my cousin hits me up to tell me about the second open registration for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. I wanted to prove something to myself- to practice believing in myself and not look for outside validation with other people. Pressing "register" was such an easy thing to do.

Training for it was not.

In the midst of a holiday, I didn't work out or train as much as I should to tackle the 13.1 miles.

But as the time got closer to the race date, I had to make a decision.

1.) To get a doctor's note and get out of running the race.
2.) To run the race and be okay with being picked up by the sweeper truck ( You have to keep up with a pace of 15 minutes per mile in order to stay in the half marathon.)
3.) Finish that damn thing and really earn that medal.

Signing up my first long distance race since 2007 by myself was liberating.

RUNNING my first long distance race by myself is LIBERATING and EYE-OPENING.

No crutch. No personal cheer squad. No comfort zone. It was amazing and I am amazed that I did this.

On January 18th, I headed over to the Disneyland Hotel to pick up my bib and packet. It was exciting to feel everybody's buzz. Many women and men of different backgrounds, ages, shape and sizes were present to sit in workshops, buy Tinkerbell swag and other running equipment.

I couldn't find any of my running equipment from 6 years ago when I did the LA marathon so I had to start new. I bought a running belt, some Gu (no caffiene), headband and some water ball attachment.

Now part of the bag that you are given includes a few cool items- a Tinkerbell mesh backpack, Luna bars, pamphlets, flyers for other run and this cool long sleeve running shirt with this logo.

Which I will not wear to the run.

Now if find my blog by searching "Tinkerbell Half Marathon 2012" and read that I am hating on the shirt, let me explain.

I'm a Disney fan... but I am not a fanatic. Also, it's not my personality to dress in a tutu, or dress like a fairy or some other Disney character to do this run. I'm not ungrateful for this shirt, but you'll more than likely find me dressed in all black. That's more my stilo.

Among the sea of mint green, I wore this Beatrock shirt by Pancho Abalos. This was more my attitude for completing the 13.1 miles.

The half marathon started at 5am... We were instructed to get there at 4am to check in our bags and head towards the coral. Despite of getting up at 3am, I got there late and thank God they started late. By they got to my coral, it was closer to 5:45am.

And can I add, being that I was not used to going to sleep at 9pm to get up at 3am, I ended up getting only 3 hours of sleep... Can you believe that? 3 hours of sleep to run 13.1 miles. eeek!

I am amaaaazed at how many people signed up for this race. It brought out friends, families and people like me who are doing it solo. It's actually cool to think that the fact that it is Disney related, fans of Disney are encouraged to want to participate in something momentous as this.

Now I am going to apologize for not getting any good pictures from here on out. I was more focused in in wanting to finish this course than to document it. But what I saw was beautiful, inspirational and remarkable. Made the run forget about the pain! =)

Being that it was still too early for sunrise, we ran through the parks with the moon still out. But they lit up the midway and ran the rides as if they were open to the public. It made the run scenic with magical whimsy. I had my iPod pumping so to see Disney Calfornia Adventure and Disneyland to my soundtrack made it more personal to me.

More shaky running pics. Again, I didn't want to stop and take a picture. I was trying to beat the sweeper trucks!

At this point, I put my phone away and just ran (and walked) my little ass off. Here is what the course looked like courtesy of Endomondo.

In short, I FINISHED! I legitamately earned that finisher medal. (This half marathon gives medals to all participants, which is both good and bad.) For myself, I needed to prove to myself that I can do it. It is one of the best things I have done for myself and for that moment, I am proud to have pushed myself and believed in myself.

Some things I have come to realize:

1.) TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN! I didn't sufficiently trained for this long distance race. Althought physically I was spent, I was lucky enough to have my mental and spiritual kick in to push me through. But I don't recommend this to anybody, especially if this is  your first time. TRAIN!

2.) Visualization definitely helped! A week ago, I was saying "I will live if I get picked up by the sweeper truck." It's true. It is not a bad thing to be picked up because your pace is a bit slow. You will live and not die out of embarrassment. But sometime yesterday, that was not an option. I didn't want to tell that story so I believed that I was going to finish the race and I did.

3.) I'm loving cast members cheering us on but I REALLY appreciate the back lots, where the employees that are are behind the scenes to make sure Disneyland runs come out and cheer us on. The guest relations, the mechanics, the custodians. THAT was wonderful and I appreciate it.

4.) People of all shapes and sizes tackle this course. I am so proud and happy to see so many people come out to take the challenge. The course is possible, just work out, pace yourself and focus on your breathing. Pacing and breathing are so important in taking you to the finish line.

5.) Those wings people wear with large wingspans are ANNOYING! Please consider your wingspan because it's not fun to get smacked in the cheek when you run by. 

Today, Melinda and I went for a 4 mile walk with our dogs. I needed a light cardio to loosen my sore muscles. It worked as now my legs and feet are getting more limber and less stiff.

This is a wheatpaste of Becca and Philip Lumbang and Bankrupt Slut at the Viper Room.

EarthBar serves up the BEST shakes ever. No, it's not candy. It's hemp milk, raw chocolate, banana, mesquite, maca, vegan protien, almond butter and agave. Everything in that shake is good for me and it taste delicious!

Sushi dinner with an amazing view!

Booty Shaping

Top of Los Pinetos trail. Oakwood. Pic by me

This past Saturday, I have been shown hell and heaven. Bryan took me to a trail not too far from my parents' house. In fact as a kid, I used to go to these mountains for school field trips.

The Los Pinetos Trail is by far the hardest trail I have done so far. So many times I wanted to quit because it was super steep and hot. Bryan was really good at knowing when to gently push me or stand back and let me deal with the battle of trekking up the trail.

The first part of the trail was chapparel. This is the part of the mountain where more sun is shining down so the vegetation is more dessert and apt for dry climate. I saw lizards and snakes. Tons of bees and flies that seem to play kamikaze dives into my cheek.

Because it was hard I didn't take too many pics so the following pics are by Bryan.

Wildflowers and brush

Chaparell and Oakwood

Looking like Sleeping Dragons

As you go farther and farther up, the incline gets easier and cooler. An oakwood forest tops the mountain. It was so beautiful, walking underneath the canopy of branches. It was so quiet and the only thing you can hear are birds and your feet on the ground.

Pic by me

Because this was an intermediate trail, there were less people and no families. I am truly happy to have at least finished the trail, reaching to the top and feeling the breeze. Trekking down was just as hard because if I went too fast, I would be slipping all the way down.

Bryan thinks it is time for me to invest in actual hiking boots.

Griffith Park

Kat was Spitty-less this weekend so we decided to go to Griffith Park for more inclines. After finishing Los Pinetos the day before, Griffith Park is now cake!

But it still hurt, and I was so super sore from yesterday's hike.

There is something about reaching the top and looking at the view. It is the reward that I look forward to. You can see how far you have come and learn that when you push forward, at whatever pace, you will eventually get to your destination.

I realize that in every hard trail, I will hate it but I will keep walking forwards and I will be open to the lessons. That the pain is temporary and rest comes after the work is done.

Along with losing five pounds and strong muscles, I have a couple more goodies from hiking and training outdoors. 

I treated myself with new mango colored Nike LunarGlide +3.

and a new tan! going to enjoy being golden brown because when fall hits, i will lose all the melanin again.

Wisdom from one of my childhood idols.