Up close and personal with the steering wheel

First i am happy to announce that Ursula is fully healed and looking better than ever with her new window. I was really impressed with how helpful USAA was. I called to report the incident and even though i didn’t file a claim (because it ended up costing lest than our deductable) they still have me file a report. After that was done the connected me to the glass company that they use and they came out the next day..TO MY HOUSE..and fixed it in the driveway..yay! I was so relieved to just have to make one phone call and have it all taken care of.

They fixed the window on tuesday so the next time I drove my baby was wednesday morning. I had to work but I needed to get my run in before work so I headed out at 5:30 am to complete my 7 miles, grab my new addiction (a peanut butter bagel from bagels and blenders.. so yummy), change in their bathroom and jet to work (sorry no shower but at least i had to wear a hat so it covered most of the grossness)! When i got in the car all blurry-eyed at the butt crack of dawn it took me a minute to realize why my car felt so weird. I finally realized that my driver seat was sitting straight up (like not reclined at all and making me feel like I am kissing my steering wheel…actually it’s the most action i’ve gotten for a while ..come back hubs)!

What was i saying..oh yeah. So once i realized the cause to the problem i went to recline my seat back some and it would work! I tried and tried and pushed and pulled and finally gave up. I didn’t know why it wasn’t working but I didn’t really have time to try and fix it. I drove to the bike path (all they way getting frisky with SW ..the thing formally know as the steering wheel) and prayed as i ran that it would magically be working when i got back to my car. I really didn’t want to deal with one more thing going wrong. Each time i got in the car that morning i would try and get it to recline and no luck, i was stuck driving with perfect, and i mean teacher with a ruler perfect posture. I was convinced that either some glass got caught somewhere and jammed it or the stupid punks who broke into my car did more damage than I thought.

Oh my way home from work, still stuck in perfect-posture-getting-frisky-with-SW position I called my dad to see if he could take a look at it when i got home. I really needed to get my oil changed but I couldn’t stand to have to drive in this predicament any longer! On my drive home I was trying to figure out how i could fix it and hoping that I wouldn’t have to shell anymore money..i was really freaking out! My wonderful father met me at the door when i got home and i took him out to the car to show him the problem seat.

In typical dad fashion he sat in the seat, pulled the lever, and pop the seat reclined! WTH??? How did he do that?! I mean i know my dad can work some magic but seriously! Apparently there are two levers..one to recline the seat and who knows what the other one is for except to make me have a total melt down! I did tell my dad that next time I would appreciate it if he would mess with it a little first before fixing it so i wouldn’t feel as dumb!

Don’t get me wrong..totally happy that nothing is broken but it was a little more than i could handle for that day! Note to self..learn more about the inner workings of Ursula!

Try’em Out Tuesday – Specialty running store edition

First, thank you all for your heartfelt comments and sympathy from the previous post! The glass guy is coming out to fix the window today and i am praying that it wont rain since the garage is full of crap wonderful gems.

Now I know not all of you are runners or enjoy running and I am trying really hard not to bombard this blog with runner posts but even if you aren’t a runner stay with me because this store was off the hook and you have to hear about it :)

I was in dire need of new shoes since the ones I got in December when i came out to Cali already have 277 miles on them and my older pair was way over the limit. Since i am having problems with a tendon in my ankle and I already know i have weird feet, i decided it would be best to get fit correctly for running shoes and shell out the money. I am usually pretty cheap when it come to buying running shoes (I know hubs, I know) but now that i am running a lot more I am seeing the need for quality shoes that fit my exact needs!

So since there is a complete lack of specialty running stores in Bako, one of my bestest friend’s and I headed up to Valencia on Saturday to Runners Lane (a fabulous yet almost hole in the strip mall specialty running store). The drive there was going pretty smoothly (thanks friend for driving since i’m a gimp) until the last 30 minutes when we hit some serious rain and since people don’t know how to drive in the rain some equally serious accidents (end rant here). We were hoping that the rain would work to our advantage..i.e. not many people there, but we were wrong! Since the actual building was pretty small it ended up being packed with people.

However, I was supper impressed with their customer service and was helped right away! I was a little nervous thought when the kid guy who was helping me looked like he was in High school, but i soon was won over and impressed by his ginormous amount of running knowledge (yeah i should be so quick to judge the teens these day and i think he was prob in College or something)!

I had come prepared (or over-prepared) with my last two pairs of running shoes in tow so he could see how i wear and tear them. My feet were measured (and when he didn’t even flinch at my totally weird feet and gross purple nails i knew he was okay in my book), shoes were brought out, problem areas were talked about, and i was in runners heaven!

The coolest part was the Gait Analysis. For those of you like me who didn’t know what that was exactly here is a rundown:

They measure your feet and then you step on a treadmill with a video camera set to tape how you are running. From this the image of you running is projected on a computer screen and they are able to see exactly what your foot does naturally and what type of shoe would work best. You want your ankle and calf to be in a straight line. Then every time you try on a different pair you jump back on the treadmill and they compare how your straight you stay in each pair to see which one works best. it is also a great way to get to try out a shoe before you buy it!

P.S. if you want to learn more about how it works go here: http://www.runnerslane.com/video_motion_gait_analysis.php

I knew that i over-pronated (where my ankles roll in I run on the inside of my foot). It was so neat to be able to see it in person and see how just by wearing a shoe with more support my ankle and calf became straight and a lot less pressure landed on my problem tendon! I also learned that I point my toes out to the side (yes i run semi bow-legged) and so by fixing that with the shoes my running is now more efficient b/c i am exerting my energy forward and not outward!

I found my perfect pair of new shoes that I am loving so far!! So what did I end up with..

My new fab shoes are Brooks Womens Adrenaline GTS 10

Love them!!

Why? Well here is the description straight from the Brooks website:

“Woo Hoo! Runner's World gave the GTS 10 its "Best Update" award in the Winter 2010 Shoe Guide in its December 2009 issue, on newsstands Nov. 4, 2009.
Always the leader, the Adrenaline™ GTS 10 has left the pack even further behind. The fit? Never better. The support? Perfection. As the legend hits double digits with its tenth iteration, the shoe is more dialed-in than ever. Now with a plush Profile Sockliner to sweeten the feel.” (courtesy of brooksrunning.com) 

The have worked great so far and I have had a lot less pain in my ankle..yay!! A+ for brooks shoes :) And price wise they weren’t as bad as I would have thought (about $100).

Oh and i also learned that if i buy my running shoes in a 9.5 instead of a 9 then my toe nails might live to see a few more years :)

I also left there with some other goodies:

b/c apparently my newest chafing problem is due to my increasing distance and not because my legs are getting bigger (according to the clerk who gave me a really weird look when i said i thought it was do to my growing thighs!)

Feetures Original No Show Socks..so comfy!

Nike dry fit armwarmers so now i can look like a cool runner and stay warm!

We had such a blast and it was really neat to be able to learn more about how i personally run and what my specific needs are! Even if you don’t run or exercise a lot I would totally recommend getting fitted at least once so that you know what kind of support you need for you individual feet (because believe me they can seem like they are from two totally different people!).

Oh and then of course since we drove all that way we had to go to Whole foods (insert yummy food and products now) and then eat a wonderful linner (lunch and dinner) at Claim Jumper (insert double yummy food here)  :)

So in the end Specialty running stores are totally worth all they hype!

Hoodlums and a Birthday

First I will start with a good note. Today is my wonderful Dad’s Birthday!! He is honestly the best Dad i could have ever asked for and I thank God every day for him. He is a wonderful man of God and has been and continues to be a great example to me and the hubs and the rest of the family. Happy Birthday Daddy!!

So Last night I mapped out how my morning was suppose to go so that i would be able to run 7 miles, get my bagel and coffee, get my mom a bagel at Panera (yes I did go to 2 different bagel places) and then get my dad his favorite donut from his favorite donut shop and get back and get ready for church. Normally I only run 3 miles on sunday but I am now doing a full Marathon in May so I have to increase my training (hence the 7 miles). All was going well, I got up at 5:30 and got ready for my run. As I gathered all my crap stuff and headed out to my car I was stopped dead in my tracks! No way this can’t be happening??! Apparently my driveway is no longer a safe place for a car! That’s right folks, in pursuit of my IPod that i stupidly left in on the passenger seat, some eastside hoodlums smashed in my passenger window, glass everywhere, and now my IPod is gone forever!

after it happened glass on the ground

no more window

that’s gonna be fun to clean!

Honestly i don’t really care about the IPod, yes I am bummed but i had wanted a new smaller one anyways. I am just freaking furious about my window!! What the Heck! Luckily I had put up the GPS last night so they didn’t take that but just the fact that I have to replace my window and the time I am going to be without my car really got to me! I think i scared the lady that was walking by when i screamed in horror when I saw the disaster!

Oh and case-in-point of what a great dad I have…

It was 6:30 in the morning on his birthday when he gets a call from his frantic daughter telling him what happened in a very choppy voice due to tears and trying to breath! Oh and to clarify he lives at the same house (since i am staying with my folks right now) but he is a firefighter so he was at work this morning. As i called him he did is best to calm me down and then I realized I really didn’t need to call him but i just had to tell someone! He has also been on the phone/computer all day trying to find the best deals for the replacement (on his birthday)! Thanks dad..huge shout out!

I went ahead and left for my run (I took my sisters car and then realized that she had to be a church early today but luckily she wasn’t mad at me!). I still ran which helped to calm me down and clear my head some and then I got all the breakfast essentials, got home and tried to sort out the insurance stuff, got ready for church and then made it to church semi on time. The hubs has been great about it but as the saying goes…everything starts to go wrong once the hubs leaves for deployment! I know he’s working hard out there but seriously why does this always happen when he is gone?! I am so glad to have my dad here to help though,,if i was in NJ i would be really freaking out (i know considering something similar happened last time the hubs was deployed out there).

The thing that got me the most is that I felt violated. I just wanted to find who did it and punch them and ask them why? I also wanted to laugh b/c most of the music on my Ipod is praise music so maybe that will bring on a little guilt. The fact that it happened in the driveway and that this is MY CAR that someone intentionally damaged kind of rocked me for a bit. You think you are safe and when things like this happened you start to question (and the folks don’t even live in a bad neighborhood).
I was also a little mad at myself b/c normally i don’t keep my IPod visible or even in my car but yesterday I took a trip out of town with one of my best friends and grabbed it just in case and then we didn’t even use it! Oh well, i guess i learned my lesson!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Oh and you need to all give your dad’s a hug (it can be via phone) in honor of Dad bday’s!

A mess of yesterday..

You know those days where everything is just off and you feel like crap..well yeah that was yesterday! It all started with the alarm clock going off at 3:50 am..really why the heck i thought it would be a good idea to try and run 7 miles before being at work at 7:30 is beyond me! But i tried to ignore how early it was as i did my pre-run routine. I had heard the night before that is was suppose to rain, so i was excited to see that it was in fact NOT raining when I looked out the window. Since I was running up by my parents house (complete with numerous hills..ahhh) I was going to have to run the same route twice so i decided to take the Charles on my first leg.

It is funny how dogs don’t seem to notice you waking them up at the crack of dawn as soon as they see their leash come out..oh we he soooo excited!

We headed out and he was doing pretty well. He doesn’t know how to pace very well so it is good to take him when i want to go faster b/c his average pace is about a 7:30 so he always pushes me. (I learned the hard way not to take him on my recovery runs..way too fast)! My route was suppose to be 1.5 miles out and back (3 miles total) and then drop off the Charles and head back out for another 2 miles out and back (4 miles) which is a total of 7 miles. Well at least that was the plan…

I have been having trouble with a tendon in my ankle (right behind the inside ankle bone) but i refused to let it slow me down..maybe not the smartest! The Charles was doing really well and when we hit the 1.5 turnaround so i decided to make the first leg 4 total so we went another .5 miles and then turned around. On the way back it started to sprinkle. We hurried to get back (me now really feeling the pain in the ankle) and the charles frothing at the mouth..come on boy don’t you know you have to hydrate!

Anyways since the rain was getting harder I decided to go out and back for only one more mile and then finish the last 2 after work. I hate running after work because being on my feet for 7 hours makes my legs feel like dead weight and it is so hard to run. At work i was limping around trying to ignore the pain and stay awake! I kept dropping everything and tripping over the mats. I only have a few more days of work left so i was trying to hold it together!

One funny thing was that they redid some buttons on the register so things were in different places and that being mixed with lack of sleep and pain was very amusing for the customers! They were all very nice about it and of course I did NOT keep forgetting to give them their cups or ask them 5 million times what the last part of their order was! Due to it being slow i got to leave a little early..yay! When i got home, fully exhausted i briefly pondered not finishing the 2 miles the stubborn runner inside of me barked the order to just get out and do it!

Why I thought i need to wear a fleece long-sleeved was beyond me (although i will say it was colder earlier that day) but for some reason from the time that i came into my house from work and then left for the run the sky cleared up and the sun came out a long with the heat! I finished the 2 with great difficulty and came back limping even more than before!

Last night i had small group for church and since i hadn’t been for the past two weeks I really needed to go! I iced and heated my foot before i left and then since we have our own drug supply here (all legal) my mom hooked me up with an anti-inflammatory patch. So there i was sporting the patch and heels to accompany my limp :)

When i got home that night the pain was even worse (stupid driving foot had to be the injured one)! Bring on the drugs mommy! She gave me 1/2 a muscle relaxant to take before bed, which i did and then didn’t go to bed right away. you know what happened then..i ran into every wall of the house (seriously these pills are not for the wimps and I couldn’t walk straight or function)! My sister was laughing at me as i attempted to brush and floss my teeth!

It knocked me out though and i slept better than i have for a while! note to self: don’t become addicted!

And now due to my stubborn running on said injured foot i have to stay down all day and not run for the next two days in hopes that it will be feeling a-okay for my 14 miles on satuday!

One quick side-note: Please pray for me b/c this whole reverse lent thing is really hard. I know it has only been a couple days but my pants are getting tighter and my mind is going crazy and i am doing my best to focus on God and not give into the intense desire to stop eating so much!!

Oh and one final request..i am trying really hard to get down a better eating schedule because right now i am not getting enough during the day and then end up eating a lot at night..IF anyone has a good eating schedule or advice could you please pass it on!! Thanks!

Oh and sorry for the extremely long post!

Try’em Out Tuesdays – Hair Extensions

Have you ever had hair cutters remorse?? Ask anyone in my family..i am the most fickle person when it comes to my hair. Usually I will grow it out and vow to never cut it short again and then get tired of it and cut it short and then have cutters remorse and want it long again. This last time upon the hubs request and my being tired of my hair i cut it short again. If you remember I blogged about it during decision time. It looks fine, it’s not like i dislike it but I miss my long hair BADLY! I am growing it out again but unlike when you cut it, it takes a lot longer to grow back out!

So what do i do in the mean time?? I have heard a lot about the new trend of clip-on extensions. Well that could be a solution :) I had never really looked at extensions before because I thought they were going to be too pricey.

Thank goodness for Google!

I googled “clip-on extensions” and found an amazing and decent priced website selling just that! They have a bunch of different types of brands, lengths, volumes, and types. One of the popular brands is the Jessica Simpson brand but I actually found better reviews on the POP brand. I decided to choose the synthetic because i read positive reviews and it is a lot cheaper. I didn’t want to invest a lot of money on something I wasn’t sure would work.

If you want to find out more on the difference between natural hair and synthetic go here: http://www.hairextensions.com/pages.php?pageid=24

Why are clip-in extensions a good choice according to hairextensions.com:

Clip-In hair extensions are becoming the most popular choice of hair extension systems in America thanks to Hollywood starlets such as Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Megan Fox,

Eva Longoria and Beyonce (just to name a few). Clip-in hair extensions are the easiest and safest way to add length, volume, or color without causing damage to your own hair. They come in a multitude of colors and lengths and are offered in 100% human hair, heat resistant and non-heat resistant synthetic fibers. There

are many different clip-in extension systems available ranging from one piece to multi-piece systems.

Top 5 Reasons to Choose Clip-In Hair Extensions:

• Affordable Price Range ($75-$400)
• Low Maintenance
• Damage-Free, Clip-in Attachment
• Easy DIY "Do-It-Yourself" Application
• Virtually Undetectable

Clip-in hair extensions provide the perfect alternative to permanent hair extensions. Temporary hair solutions like clip-in hair extensions are more affordable and easier to maintain compared to permanent extensions. The Hair Professionals at Extensions.com highly recommend experimenting with clip-in hair extensions before choosing more permanent solutions such as

bonding, weaving, protein tips or mini-locks. Clip-in hair extensions work with most hair types and unlike permanent hair extensions, do not result in hair breakage.

Clip-In extensions are the perfect "Do-It- Yourself" system. They take only minutes to put in and seconds to take out. With clip-in hair extensions, you can have salon quality hair without having to spend hours in a salon.

Clip-in extensions are virtually undetectable. They provide a natural look and feel for unlimited styling versatility. No more waiting around for short hair to grow out, with clip-in hair extensions, it is easy to have long hair and volume in just a matter of minutes! Clip-in extensions are the perfect 'Do-It-Yourself' system. They take only minutes to put in and take out.

I was looking for more length and I also wanted some curl so I chose this style:

20-21" Wavy Clip In Extension System (2 pcs) by POP :: Put On Pieces

For more details http://www.hairextensions.com/product.php?productid=9&cat=10&page=1

I debated for days before i ordered them but then i figured that if i didn’t like it I was  only out about $40. I was so excited the day it came and i tried it right away :) They looked pretty good and they didn’t hurt my head. The next day I curled my hair so that it would blend it more and here is what it looked like:

Before:

After:

It’s not perfect but totally worth $40 and it makes me miss my long locks a little less!!

Have any of you tired clip in extensions before??

Reverse Lent

Okay so i know i am a little late in posting about or even taking part in Lent for 2010. Usually I don’t give up anything.. It’s not that i don’t believe in it or think it is important because I do, it’s just that i’m lazy! I’m not going to lie, each year i try and think of something to give up that i rely on instead of God and well when i think of giving it up i quickly turn and run the other direction. I have been praying a lot about what to do this year (and yes i realize that it has already started) but every time i thought of something and prayed about it, it just didn’t feel like it was the right thing.

Then today while i was running (i do my best thinking while running) I thought of something unique that would really be a challenge for me and would cause me to rely on God a lot during this time. It’s a little different than what i normally thought of when participating in lent (i.e. giving something up). In my case I am going to be adding something. That’s why i am calling it Reverse Lent..hehe! So what am I adding to my life you ask??

Well let me revel my big brilliant idea (or more like God’s that he stuck in my head and luckily i was listening)..

I have mentioned before about my realization that I need to eat more, especially with all this running and hoping to get prego when the hubs gets back from deployment. I have lived many years in the land of calorie deprivation and finally my body had enough. My mom is one of my biggest cheerleaders but she is also worried about me and is trying without being too pushy to get me to eat more. When had a good conversation after my 1/2 marathon on Saturday and it has had me thinking ever since about what to do. I have been eating a lot more than i have been for the last 7 years but still not enough for all that I am doing right now.

So while I was running today I decided that for Lent I would have to eat the total calories that I need for the day, Every Day, for the next 40 days not matter how my body changes. For example, my base calories for my weight is about 1200-1300 (i’m saying 1200) and then I have to add what I burned during running that day. Today I burned around 600 calories so I had to eat 1800 today (1200+600). To be honest I am scared. Scared to gain weight, scared to let go my control, scared to face the mirror and scale, just plain terrified. But when I asked myself what I turned to instead of God, well it is controlling my eating and doing whatever I can to stay thin. During this time I will really have to lean on God and turn to him because this is going to be hard!

I am not looking forward to gaining weight or having to buy bigger clothes but i have to face the reality that it is going to happen if i want to be healthy and continue to run and have babies. Since I have been eating so little for so long (and when say little i mean 600-800 calories a day for about 6 years) my metabolism is screwed up badly! I am hoping that eventually it will all balance out but i can worry about that right now..i just have to accept it! This is a time I am going to use to not only make me healthy but also learn to completely rely on God for everything (and not my jean size or the number on the scale). 

So there you have it. I am telling you because i know it will keep me accountable and make me do it! Today was my first day and quite frankly, I am tired of eating and I still have more to eat before the day ends! Wish me luck :)

Bako Race recap and inconvenient brain fart..

So i know you are all dying to hear about how the race went so with out further ado i will present you with my lovely rendition of the Bako 1/2 Marathon recap (hold on tightly the ride may get a little bumpy) :

First I had been reading so much on how important it is for both your health and performance to make sure you are properly fueled and your glycogen levels are full before the race. So i did my best to get my carb grubbing on last night (with the help of my mom’s home-made cinnamon bread..yum thanks mom). I am not great with eating a lot right before i run, and the my running nutrition book said it also worked just as well to have your breakfast right before you go to bed and then to have a very light snack that morning (which is what i did). There were also these terrible rumors that there might be RAIN in the morning ..eww i really didn’t want to run in the rain.

Sadly, I woke up bright and early at 6am to ..you guessed it..rain! I prayed and prayed that it would stop before the race started and thank God it did! It ended up being perfect running weather..not to warm and pretty dry. I got to the race about a 1/2 hour before start time and met up with my best friend and running buddy Olive Oyl who wasn’t running but had ran earlier that morning on the track and waited around to wish me good luck…thanks girl it meant so much to me!! Oh and by the way she is running the wine county 1/2 in Paso in March with me and is going to totally rock it!

Okay so now back to today. Right before the race started i made sure to empty my bladder and get the last minute stretching in and then we all lined up to start. It is always fun when you see familiar faces in the running mix and i looked over and say one of my childhood friends dad. We exchanged Hi’s and then proceeded to make sure our Garmin’s were up and running. Like I said before, this was a small production run and so there weren’t any time chips just good old fashion timer method.

The gun went off and so did I. There were only 233 people running so it didn’t take me too long to navigate my way to a comfortable spot. When i hit mile 1.5 I was running along side another guy and since we were both trying for about the same pace we decided to stick together. It really made the next 4 miles fly by as we chatted about previous races, the fact that this race was severely lacking hydration stations (only 2 on the route..ridiculous people), and kept each other on pace. Oh and this crazy guy is going to run marathon tomorrow..hell no would i even attempt to run more than 3 tomorrow!!

At about mile 5 my pace friend decided that he wanted to try and get under a 7:40 pace (we were currently running about a 7:46) so i cheered him on and told him to speed ahead. I ran about another mile and then my left foot started loosing feeling..like really bad! I kept praying that i would trip over it since i could hardly feel it. I was about a mile from the turn around point where i could get water and gu up. I was hoping that would help. luckily i ended up getting the feeling back into it before i reached the turn around.

I was counting how many girls were a head of me at this point and i had counted 5 so that motivated me to move faster! At the turn around I got some much needed water and tried to down as much of the gu packet with out losing too much time as possible. Side note – my drinking, breathing, chewing, swallowing coordination was pretty non-existent during this run! Oh and also the gu totally worked it’s magic and I felt really good for the next 3 miles and was able to keep my 7:45 pace. I didn’t run with a water belt (because i hate them with a passion) and i didn’t want to loose time going off the path for the water fountains so i was probably getting less water than i needed. Around mile 9 (and the last hydration station) i ate two gu chomps which helped get me through the rest of the race! The last mile was pretty brutal for me and the last .5 they made off the path and in the sand (no thank you) so it made me a little unsteady! I gunned it in the final .3 miles and finished at a 1:43 which was about a 7:53 average pace..which is what i was going for! I was really excited to realize that I have shaved off 37 minutes from Air Force 1/2 marathon :)

My wonderful mother braved the early morning and cold weather and was there at the finish cheering me on! We left shortly after i finished and headed off to a wonderful breakfast at Mimi’s cafe..so good! When i got home this afternoon one  of the guys that had ran the 1/2 too let me know via dailymile that he thought I had won my age group..What??? OMG i totally forgot about awards! I couldn't believe the brain fart! When we were there I was totally thinking there was some reason we shouldn’t leave right away but me actually placing never crossed my mind! I wasn’t sure if it was true (he could have thought my name was different) but when the final times were posted I was pleasantly surprised to see that I won my age group (25-29)!! I am really excited because i have been working on my speed a lot! I also found out that i get some added running bling for placing now i have to pick it up on monday due to my totally spacey brain!

When the final results were posted I found out that i placed 50th overall, the 6th female and 1st in my age group..yay!

Thank you all so much for your support! I am really excited for the next race a month from tomorrow!

Oh and remember when i said i saw my friends dad, well i had totally passed him at the turn around and he told me after that he was planning on running an 8:30 the whole race but when i passed him he couldn’t handle it and revved it up and was trying to catch me the rest of the way back ..but i still beat him :) it made me feel really good b/c he is super fit! haha :)

Have a great weekend!

P.S. here are some post-race pics (please excuse the nastiness, i just ran 13.1 miles)…

  

Thanks mom for coming out!!