It's my Birthweek and I'll $pend if I want to!

Each year, my birthweek tends to fall around the same time as #cybermonday. Usually, I'm not a impulse buyer (thank goodness) unless it comes to three things:
1) Travel
2) Theater
3) Half Marathons

And boy, did this year's Cyber deals get me. Thanks to Air New Zealand having some of the cheapest fares to the South Pacific that I have ever seen this happened:

Yup, in June of next year, I'm going to finally be taking on a new Continent with a two week trip to Australia and New Zealand!

I'm so excited and can't wait to start planning! I know that I'll be doing only the North Island this go around and will stick to Sydney with maybe a day trip somewhere nearby. I don't want to overdo it and get to crazy with the itinerary, so I'll just be soaking in a small region.

Which is totally fine by me!

Running Bucket List

As I read running blogs, I've noticed that a lot of people have bucket lists of future races they would like to someday run. Many people have the goal of running a race in all 50 states (that would be amazing). I don't know if that is a goal of mine, but as I search the internet for interesting races across the country, I have come up with a list of my own.

When I first started running, I only had the goal of running a Disney Half Marathon. It seemed like the ultimate (and only) reason to run that far. As I got more and more involved in running and began to enjoy it, I found myself always wanting to do "just one more"

In the past few years, I've run 7 half marathons. The first being when I was 18 years old, in Seattle...for High School gym class credit.

2000: Seattle Half Marathon
2014: Oakland Half Marathon, Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon
2015: Country Music Nashville Half Marathon, Disneyland Half Marathon, Rock N Roll Vancouver BC Half Marathon, Golden Gate Half Marathon

Clearly, 2015 was a big year. I often find myself looking into races in cities that I would like to visit....and then plan my vacation time around them. That's what happened with Nashville. A lot of times, like BC, I literally fly in and out to make it a quick weekend trip and it works out really well.

So, here are a list of the races that I'd like to one day do....I'm going to clearly need to earn a lot more hotel and flight points!!!

1. NYC Half Marathon
2. Disney World Princess Half Marathon (or a Walt Disney World Half) (January or February)
3. Miami Half Marathon (January)
4. Rock N Roll San Diego (May)
5. Run the Bluegrass (April)
6. Bird in Hand Half (Amish Themed!! In September)
7. Boston Half Marathon (In the Fall)
8. Chicago Half Marathon
9. NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon (May)
10. Indy 500 Mini Marathon (May)
11. Kauai Half Marathon (September)

This list just seems to keep growing and growing. I'm okay with that. It's good to have goals right?

Speaking of goals, I secretly have finishing a marathon on my list. It would have to be a pretty big race (like the NYC Marathon) to get me to actually do it....but the idea is there.

I don't know who put it in my head.

But like most things, whoops, there it is. 

Go Cougs!

This fall, I've had the opportunity to go to two football games...both here in California. This past weekend, I went down to LA to hang out with some UCLA alum friends and head to the Rose Bowl for one of the last games of the season.

It was so cool! It's crazy, because we always hear about the Rose Bowl and going to a game there was pretty neat.

I flew down in the morning and hung out with Friend L for a few hours. As we both work in Study Abroad, the news about Paris was unfolding and students and their families were in the midst of chaos. Thankfully all of our students were okay, but we did learn about one CSU: Long Beach student who was killed during the attacks. This of course, makes the job that we do difficult and important. We spent a bit of the morning dealing with the concerns and making sure all were safe.

Though we all were worried about what was happening overseas, we took a few hours to have some fun and headed to Pasadena for some tailgating and the game.

At the Rose Bowl, there is nothing around...so you literally park on a golf course and go all fancy with the food and fun. We had a great few hours, hanging out, eating hotdogs and cougar cheese and playing cornhole before the game.

Once nightfall hit, we headed into the stadium. Friend K was able to get us amazing tickets in the suite areas, so we had fantastic seats. I loved every moment. The game was intense too! It was total back and forth between the two teams. They both seemed so geared up. This was the last home game for UCLA, and that always adds a little bit of pressure. The Cougs were winning for a lot of the game, but it was close....and in the last quarter, we began to lose. I figured, well, it's about time (I try not to be a downer fan, but we're so use to losing in the 4th).

However, in the last minute, the last 30 seconds even, we got a game winning touchdown! I was SO excited. The cougar fans were going crazy, my UCLA fans were not (LOL).

It was an amazing game and a fantastic night. I can't ever remember the last time I was at a game where they actually won!

Here's to a new era Coug Fans!!

The Hills are alive....and they darn well nearly killed me

Today marked the final 13.1 I have planned for the fall season: The Golden Gate Half Marathon.I'll be honest, this one was a last minute addition (and by last minute, I mean last week). However, I really wanted to do an SF race that a) ran across the bridge b) wasn't in the summer and c) was locally organized.

The Golden Gate seemed like the perfect opportunity. Even though it's only been two weeks since my last half, I felt like my body could handle it---though I was just finishing up a recovery week. And I wasn't too worried about the hills (I should have at least acknowledged their existence in my mind pre-race).

And the medal/race shirt were pretty darn cool.

All of that seemed like a good idea a week ago when I signed up at midnight----race weekend, of course, was a different story. I was definitely not prepared. Not necessarily for running, but for the whole process of the pre-run. From packet pickup to morning of parking, I was behind in the game and was, to say the least, a little bit stressed until I got to the start line.

As this was a local race, there were only about 5,000 runners, which turned out to be a nice size. The thing that I've noticed about the "National" Race Organizers, like RnR have everything down to a tee----in just about every location they are at. Pretty seemless. Local races, due to their staffing size, of course don't always have that luxury. However, I was pretty impressed by the way it ran, the number of water/aid stations and the general organization. I know a few people complained about the gear check (I drove, so I didn't have anything to check) and the lack of "professional staff" who "knew what they were doing"

I didn't have that experience, my grip really only came in the form of aching thighs and sore knees.  The course was pretty awesome. It started near Fort Mason, looped around the Mariana for a bit and then headed to the Bridge. We were blessed with almost perfect weather (if by perfect, you mean a bit cold, a bit cloudy and a bit rainy) For this Seattle girl, I was pretty happy.

I'm not going to lie---I continue to be slower than I'd like to be, but I also take my time to enjoy the view. I know I'm never going to win anything (unless I'm the only one running) and I never know when I'll ever find myself running that exact path again. I like to "smell the roses" and really experience what is around me. I know that would be different if I was trying to qualify for some race, but for now, I'm okay with coming in slow----as long as I'm not last (there's nothing wrong with coming in last).

It really was fun running across the bridge (everyone says that). The only thing that would have made it better would have been running on the actual Bridge, where the cars drive----but running on the side was still pretty cool.

At least the first time. I'll admit, having to run back, wasn't as exciting. By that point, the rain and wind had really started to come in. And it was Mile 9.

So you know, tired.

I finished fairly strong---sore, but not crawling across the finish line. The last little hill on mile 13.01 wasn't appreciated, but I made it.

The finish line was a bit chaotic. They gave us reusable water bottles, which is a neat idea----as long as the water coolers aren't empty. And there wasn't any food within easy grabs. Not that big of a deal---I had a date with In N Out back on the island for when I got home.

Happy to say that I ran 4 halfs this year. Each one was a lot of fun, really different and gave me a fantastic opportunity to see more of this world.

Can't wait to figure out what next year has in store.