I moved....

Not literally...

But the blog moved to a new home :) 

Please update your URL for the blog because that has changed!!! 

Visit me at: http://lovenrunning.wordpress.com

I will no longer be updating this blog but you can be sure to find me at my new home! :) 

xoxo

Love you! 

Arizona RNR Half-Marathon 2011!!

I did it! I ran my 7th Half-Marathon!!!

Let's start from the beginning.....

First thing I do on my half-marathon morning is restroom second thing I do is EAT! Pre-marathon fuel is always important!!!

I fueled up with my normal pre-run meal: Peanut Butter with Banana Toast :)

I then compiled all things necessary for race day!

1) Iphone (in case I need to make that important phone call on mile 10 ;)

2)GU (definitely a good thing to have)

3) Ipod (can't get through a run without Brit Brit ;)

4) Ear phones ( I bought a new pair at the running expo...and LOVE them, they are from snugbuds, and they work amazing! Kind of pricey but worth every penny!)

5) Garmin (definitely needed this to pace myself since I didn't start with my coral and started with my father in laws coral)

6) running pouch ( to keep all my necessities)

Then it was off to the race! My in-laws live about an hour away from Phoenix so fiance and I stayed with them. Which meant waking up a whole lot earlier to make it to the race on time! We woke up at 5:00am (4:00am California time) and we're out the door at 6am!!! Once we got to the race....we went straight to the porta potty line then to our corrals.

I was supposed to be in Corral 3 but decided to start with my father in law who was in Corral 11. I really didn't plan to PR in this race, I just wanted to run and have fun. But, then all changed when I got there, I decided maybe I could reach my goal of a sub 1:40 (My last race: The Disney Half Marathon Sept 2010 was a 1:41 so I knew I could do it!) I knew it would be a lot harder for me because I wouldn't be able to be with the pacer, since I didn't start in my corral.

I then said a prayer "Dear God: please allow me a safe run and please let me listen to my body!" Instead of pacing myself, I decided to run with my father in law for awhile. I knew I wouldn't be able to pace myself because there was so many people I had to move through....way to much people!!

I realized that my body just wanted to enjoy this run and I needed to do what I came there to do and that was not to race but to ENJOY my run! After running with my father in law. I left him about mile 6 and took off on my own! I was able to stretch my legs and hit a comfortable pace of a 7:30mile and figured I wouldn't PR but I was comfortable.....then I hit a wall on Mile 10. I was done, my mind was burned out, I was burned out. I knew I could physically do the run, but mentally I was over it! This has never happened to be before. I prayed to God to give me strength. I started to talk to myself "You're a runner, you're fast, you were born to run, you run because you can, you run because you are strong, you run not to set a PR but run because that is who you are, your life is running so do what you do best....and run your heart out!"

After my pep talk with myself, I overcame my mental block, I looked down at my garmin and I was up to a 6:30 pace. Could I really be running a 6:30. Yup, I was. I was feeling so good! But, One thing the pain in my foot was starting to creep up..."Pain is temporary!!!" that is all I kept telling myself....I ran the last few miles strong, in pain, and as fast as I possible could...I looked down at my garmin: my pace 6:15 and then...

.....I crossed the finish line at 1:45:15

and just like that I was done with my 7th Half-Marathon! 

Mentally it was grueling. The course wasn't my favorite. I may not run it again. But I did it. I was done. I pushed myself once again, to do what I am made to do and that is...run!

What I did learn from this race: I need a break from running, my foot has gotten worse and mentally I need a break. I have ran over 120 miles every month since January 2008 when I started training for my 1st half marathon. It's not a long time, only 2 years, but over 120 miles a month for 36 months and 7 half marathons I'm exhausted!  I won't race again till September my body needs a break especially my foot! I'll start training again in June and until then will continue to do a few small runs but no craziness like the last few years! The Disney Half Marathon is my race, it was my 1st half marathon and I have done it every year since and have PR'd every year! I plan to PR a sub 1:40 this year, so if I am going to do that I need REST! :) 

He never misses a race!

The rest of the day was spent at the in-laws relaxing, eating and taking a nap :) It was a lovely Sunday! 

Since I don't work or go to school ;) and Fiance has Mondays off we decided to come home today/ We left this morning at 6:30 am (5:30am California time) and got home at 11:30pm :) Just in time for some Hot Yoga it was just what I needed after a 6 hour car ride home! 

I am also in the process of switching over to wordpress so please bare with me, though this transition :) 

I saw these today and thought i'd share ;) 

Now we're off to bed! Good Night all :) 

Booyah!

And another Half-Marathon is added to the books! This makes #7 ;)

Arizona Rock and Roll Half.....done!!!



Now I need food!!!!!

Full post to come :)

- Posted from my iPhone

Pre-race fun!!

Hello loves!!!

I'm getting so excited about tomorrow's race :) I'm just excited to not stress about a race and for the first time not worry about a time ;)

I can't believe this is my 7th half-marathon!!

So today fiance and I headed off on a 6 hour road trip trip to arizona for the Arizona Rock and Roll Half!


My hot driver ;)


After about an hour of driving we needed lunch!!!

Fiance enjoyed unclean food a mcdonalds hamburger



While I enjoyed a bowl of yogurt with berries


And a delicious turkey sandwich ;)


I also got to catch up on my reading ;)


I stayed hydrated! Note to self: hydrating on a 6 hour car ride, not a good idea=a million potty stops


Yummy snack


More snacks ;)


I even made a running playlist :)



candy is carbo loading, right?!?


After 6 hours and a billion potty stops we made it to the expo


So excited :)



Then dinner at PF Changs!


I am so full right now and exhausted!

I'm trying hard not to feel guilty about dinner. But to be honest I'm having a tough time. We ate out last night for fiancé's birthday and now tonight. I'm not a huge fan of eating out. I don't want it to bother me but it is and I know it's going to screw me up mentally tomorrow...help friends :)

Were off to bed!!!

Ahhh I'm so excited. I love races :)

Posted from my iPhone

Last Run and a Birthday

Today was my last official run before the Arizona Rock and Roll Half! It was hard to get into it mentally, I think I'm burned out! But once I started going, I was good :)  I even picked up little Bruin for the last 3 miles:

5 miles

1 mile @ 11:00

3 miles @ 8:30

1 mile @ 11:30

It was a very easy and light run! Luckily I had Britney and M.J. to keep me company on my run! (yes, I am a Britney spears and Michael Jackson fan!) 

I can't believe I'm running my 7th Half Marathon!!

Lot's left to do before race weekend officially begins! We're not leaving till tomorrow since fiance has to work tomorrow morning :( We will definitely be cutting it short on making it to the Race Expo! I have to be there by 6pm to pick up my stuff....I sure hope we make it; 1) because I LOVE race expos and 2) I NEED to pick up my race information.....

To Do:

-Pack

-Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate!!! ! 

-Hot Yoga

-Organize all my racing gear

-Make a racing play list (very important)

-Make notes for Bruin (my parents are watching him!)

-Relax and realize that I have trained and I can make it through this race ;) 

-Birthday Dinner for Fiance ;)

Today is also Fiance's Birthday!!! He turns the big 25 today :) He's at work but we plan to go have dinner tonight :) I just love love love Birthdays and I cannot wait to celebrate tonight!! I do feel bad that he is spending his birthday weekend driving me to my race =/ he surely is the best :) I can't believe it's his 7th birthday we're celebrating together :) 

I hope to have me some chubby white/mexican babies ;)

Happy Birthday to my amazing, funny, loving, caring, HOT, wonderful Fiance!!! You are truly are amazing and I am ever so lucky to have you!! 

Why I love you :)

Your big heart: you're just so loving!

Your intelligence: Love our "smart" conversations! Love that you can always educate me on everything and anything!

Your drive to succeed: Always always you are striving to do better and improve yourself. I mean who else dreams of being President one day ;)

Your faith in God: I love that you strive to be the man and husband god wants you to be

You're hardworking: even though life is poopy job wise and you're not working your "dream job" I know it will happen one day but for now, you continue to work hard for us and our family!!

Your respect for me and anyone else you meet: You respect me and the decisions i've made for myself and I thank you for that especially the one about waiting till marriage, not a lot of guys would do that. And always respecting those who seriously don't deserve it! 

Your love for ME: I mean who else can love my Mexican crazy self ;) 

Of course there is a million more reasons why I Love this man and cannot wait to be his wife, but why bore you with mushy stuff!! :) 

I'm off to Hot Yoga then Dinner tonight with my super HOT man :) 

Have a fabulous Friday!!!!!!

Question:

What are your weekend Plans?

I'm still here....

I feel like I have fallen off the face of the blogger world. I haven't posted since Saturday....geez I suck. I really want to stick with my 1 post a day goal (maybe more!), but things have gotten busy and stressful! I also haven't been in the mood to blog, I just haven't been myself. I don't wanna get all emotional on here, but studying for boards is just mentally exhausting, so please forgive me. I'm trying to get back to myself :)

Let's see I will give you a quick re-cap of all that has happened in the past few days!

-Blood Drive at church! ( I hate needles, but this was a good cause, for every person who donated, $20 went to a child in Africa! LOVE IT!) I love helping out causes, I will donate money, blood, food, clothes, you name it, I'll donate it! I hope to one day be a public health nurse and have my own organization ;) 

-Date Night...we have been keeping up with our date night goal :) Go us! We watched "Date Night" last weekend, it was hilarious! 

-Working out (No matter what, I am trying to fit in a sweat session with how stressful things are going: running, yoga, spin!) I also did my last long run on Saturday: 10 miles :) 

-Studying: this by far as consumed my life for the last few weeks and is the whole reason, I have sucked as a blogger. I have had no time to just sit and blog :( and that makes my heart sad! As I sit here blogging, I realized I need to keep up with this, even if my post is just a picture :) I really don't want to lose any of you (to sappy!)

-Found our the iPhone is coming to Verizon: Which sucks for fiance and I because we left Verizon to get iphones now we are stuck for 1.5 years! :( 

Today was the usual:

-6 mile run

-Hot Yoga

-Did a NCLEX practice test

-Study, Study, Study

-Eat

-Study, Study!

-I will sleep at one point ;)

I also did make a trip to Target today! That always makes me happy! I went for body wash and came out with a million more treasures ;) 

Post it's and food always bring joy to heart ;) 

Even with all the stress this weekend is going to be super exciting!

Race week started this Monday! Woot! And what does that consist of?!?!

-Carbo Loading (hooooray bread!)

-Fluid overload (Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate)

-Watching Marathon Movies

-Reading Marathon books

-Getting mentally prepared

-Lots of massages! (Fiances a great guy!)

-Carbo Loading

-Trying not to irritate fiance because tapering during this week sucks!

I am so excited for the Rock and Roll Half in Arizona! I am even more excited because my father in law is running it and one my friends! Like I said before, goal of this race no PR just pure enjoyment!

It's also Fiances birthday on Friday!!!! I love Birthdays!!

So, I'm looking forward to this weekend :) 

The rest of the night will be spent studying! It's also Modern Family night today.  Fiance and I are addicted to that show ;) 

Question: 

If you run races how do you prepare? 

If you don't run races how do you prepare for big events?

A new relationship

My new relationship sucks....it involves me putting my whole mind, heart, and energy into it and getting no foot rubs, back massages, dinners, or frozen yogurt dates in return :(

Fiance has taken a back seat to my new relationship...his name: Kaplan! I finished my first week of review last week and man was it exhausting. This relationship will be going on until I finally take boards. So far, this class has taught me so much more in regards to strategizing and how to answer questions on NCLEX! And, I am not the best test taker, so any tips that I can pick up, I will try!

Sorry the post have been lagging. I know one of my New Years Goal was to blog once a week and I really want to do that. I want to grow in the blogger community and make lots of blogger friends, I also definitely don't want to lose any of my readers, though I know my mom and fiance will always be reading ;) I just have been so pre-occupied with studying that I haven't been able to post and not much has been happening in my life to blog about, my days usually consist of working out, yoga, eating, sleeping, and studying! I lead a pretty un-eventful life.

Today! I started the day with a 10 mile run and yoga! Today was my last big run before race day! I can't believe in 8 more days, I will be running my 7th half-marathon! I was aiming for a sub 1:40! I know I can do it, because I got 1:41 at the Disney Half Marathon last year but I really want to take the time to enjoy this race, I never enjoy my races and run full speed to reach my goal. So this time will be different....Goal: Enjoyment! 

My view on today's run! God's beauty!!! 

The rest of my day was spent in front of my desk, studying and reading! I think I have a headache from everything I have to remember. Seriously, 3 years of nursing school all rolled into one book! Not my idea of fun! 

I am trying to think of post to write about to keep you all interested in the blog :) Thank you for staying faithful to the blog during this stressful time! 

I'm also waiting for Fiance to get home from work, he's been at work since 6am :( Luckily tomorrow's date night! I can finally get some quality time with him! 

Question:

What are you interested in seeing on the blog?!?!

So in love....

Today was Day 2 of review...ahhhhhhh! I am going crazy! There is so much stuff to know and a million medications I need to memorize! I really think I am better off working at golden spoon! 

My post the next few days/weeks may be random and not make sense but bare with me, my mind is in a million different places right now while dealing with boards ;) So please don't leave!!!

Where I spent 5 hours!!!

Mid afternoon snack....studying fuel!

banana

yogurt

berries

apple

orange

After studying medications for about 5 hours, I decided a gym break was needed! 

I spent 30 minutes on the stair master ...as I sweated, I enjoyed the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" definitely not as awesome as "Real Housewives of Orange County" But definitely a guilty pleasure of mine ;) 

Then kicked spinning butt!!! 

Do you like my new gym shirt?!? Fiance insisted I needed new gym clothes and tighter shirts, so he bought me new gym shirts, and appearatnly told everyone that I needed new running clothes for Christmas. I don't think he was feeling my oversized pajama t-shirts!  ;) 

After my sweaty gym session, I came home to a delicious dinner made by fiance! It was taco tuesday in our house tonight! 'Ole!!!

I seriously do not praise my fiance enough! He really is amazing. As he was finishing up dinner, I though to myself how unbelievably LUCKY I am to have him in my life! 

Here are just a few reasons he makes my heart skip a beat!

1. He is so loving, he truly loves with his whole heart and I am so lucky to have his heart!

2. Loyal-I always tease that if he was a puppy he would be my Labrador (white Lab of course!) ;) because he is just so loyal and kind to eveyone he meets

3. His drive to succeed in life! He never stops, he always strives to be a better man and to be as successful as he can be

4. His love for god and working on becoming the man and husband god has called him to be

5. His intelligence: He is so super smart! And let me tell you, nerdy guys are HOT! He can talk about anything and everything! I love having intellectual conversations with him, he teaches me so much

6. His love for me! 

7. How passionate he is. He has so much passion for politics, sports, history, and most importantly me!

8. He is hardworking: he works so hard for us and our future, sometimes to hard, he never takes a rest day!

9. He always puts my needs before his own (talk about amazing!!!)

10. The fact that he chose me to be his wife!

Sometimes, I don't thank him enough for all he truly does for me! I really do appriciate everything he does, from doing every chore around the house so I can study or run, waking up at 3 am on race days, supporting me in ALL that I do, loving me and my crazy self, making sure the house is always stocked with healthy food, making me laugh, and holding me when I feel alone! 

Now, there are a lot more reasons as to why I LOVE absoutely adore Kris (fiance!) but I don't want to bore you to much! I just thought I would post how about how unbelievably lucky I am to have such an amazing man as my soon-to-be husband! 

I can't stop smiling! Even after 6.5 years...I am still madly in love with him! 

Now i'm off to bed while fiance reads "decision points" :) life couldn't be better!! 

Question:

If you have a significant other, what makes your heart skip a beat?!?!

Random!

It's so nice to be back to a routine and schedule...(at least for the mean time!) I feel more like myself when things are planned out. This last month, I have had no set schedule and really have had no to-do list! Don't get me wrong, I loved sleeping in, staying in my pajamas all day, watching reality tv, only changing out of my clothes to go running and changing right back into my pajamas, not showering and trying to explain to Fiance why I need to be a stay at home wife. I definitely needed the rest and mental break after 3 years of nursing school. But was so ready to go back to my old self! 

And back to routines I went...I started the morning off with a 7 mile run on the treadmill. Since it was raining this morning, I knew if I wanted to get my run in, I would have to do in on the treadmill. I absolutely despise running on the treadmill, so the fact that I went 7 miles even blew me away. I provided myself with praise at the end of the run, just like any other normal person would have done! Doesn't everyone tell themselves how awesome they are and how much butt they kicked after a great workout...or is that just me?!?!

 I absolutely loved started the morning off with a sweat session, nothing like sweat in your eyes and looking like you've just been run over by a truck to make for the perfect day ;) Then it was off to review session.......

First day of my review class for boards went very well, minus the fact that I fought with my alarm clock this morning and insisted that 5:30am was way to early to wake up and that I would just miss review class, forget about passing boards and work at golden spoon for the rest of my life! Fiance wasn't to keen on that idea, and pushed me out of bed! His loss!!! 

I secretly liked being back in a classroom, the smell of a new book being opened, my highligthers, post-its, ahh learning! I would totally be a professional student if I could. I have already decided that since Fiance has his masters, I am definitely going back for mine! And then who knows I see some PhD's in our future ;) 

The rest of my day was spent in front of a computer taking "practice test," after about 300 questions, going mentally crazy and losing all feeling in my butt and legs,  I decided it was time for a break ....so a yoga break was what I took and it was just what I needed!!! It felt so good to sweat out all my anxiety from the practice test. This test is going to be awful...I need lot's of prayers ;) 

This post is pretty much random! Nothing exciting happened at all...as you can tell....but I wanted to post and give you all something to read :) 

Question of the day:

Do you like school?!?!

Back to "life"

One of my New Years goals was to have date night once a week and we did just that last night :)

We had planned to eat at Lucilles this amazing BBQ place but decided to do that another day and stay close to home. We didn't feel like driving to far. We ended up at Panera ( I wasn't complaining!) for dinner, which I LOVE! We also enjoyed a movie.

I was so happy to finally go out and enjoy a date night with the boy. We have been so busy we haven't actually had us time. So it was nice to go out and enjoy each others company. I love spending time with fiance.

In the Theater...sorry for the crappy quality apparently an iPhone 4 doesn't take the best pictures in a movie

Our yummy treats

Date night is never complete without Frozen Yogurt ;)

Today I am officially getting back into the "swing of things." It feels good to get back to "life" after a whirlwind of holidays, junk food, and sugar highs my body is craving "normal." I only function off routines and schedules, so I am officially glad to be back to my to-do list, exercising, eating healthy, normal sleep schedules, and life.

 The biggest thing in my life right now is studying for boards and passing them. So for the next month in a half my entire life will be dedicated to studying my little toosh off! Everyday! I know I am going to stress out, freak out, cry, and wonder what I am doing but this to shall pass, I got through nursing school, I can do this. As much as I am scared about boards, it's nice to get back to organizing my life and what I need to do. I thrive off organization, routines, and schedules. So back to life i go......

On today's agenda:

-Serve in the Children's ministry

-Spin Class

-Start studying for Boards

-Church

-Movie night with Fiance

I hope everyone has a fabulous Sunday :)

xoxo

Question:

Now that the Holidays are over, do you have to get back  to "Life"?