Corriendo

Puente Hills YMCA Turkey Trot 10K

My aim going in to the Puente Hills Family YMCA Turkey Trot — phew, what a long title — was to finish the 10K in 53 minutes. That would be a 45 second PR and I’d be running at an 8:31 pace.

It seemed doable even though I haven’t run anything under 9 minute pace in a long time. I’ve kept most of my recent workouts easy and relaxed. I was banking on adrenaline, running with Lori and a flat, fast course to get me to a PR.

Seems like it worked.

Sean and I arrived at the Puente Hills Mall parking lot to find many more runners than last year. Although rain was in the forecast, there was none and it was perfect running weather. I registered, got a free bib thanks to another runner and waited for my sister. I left Sean and went off for the a quick mile warm-up and returned to find Lori just arriving. We watched the kids 1K fun run and then lined up about 4 people deep.

When the gun went off, I knew I was starting out too fast, but I didn’t want to get caught behind slower runners. The start wasn’t too crowded, so that was easy. I watched the speedy cross country kids go and stayed (far) behind them. I knew I had started too fast, but didn’t bother checking my watch for pace or slowing down even though I knew I couldn’t keep going so fast. I ran the first mile in 7:50. I think that might be my fastest mile. Lori stayed with me through the first loop and we slowed down a little, but still well under my goal 8:31 pace. We ran the first 5K in ~25:25. If I was running a 5K, that would’ve been a PR too.

Once we started the second loop, the course was pretty lonely. The race is pretty small, just over 300 runners. All except 60 or so were doing the 5K. Although I could only see one woman who looked about my age up ahead, I knew I wasn’t likely to win a turkey. Still, I knew I was comfortably within reach of a PR.

During the second loop, I drank more water as I felt side stitches forming. I really need to drink more water. I lost Lori somewhere in the 4th mile. I think her foot was bugging her.

I felt tired as I entered the last half mile which goes through the mall parking lot and past the new Buffalo Wild Wings, department stores and movie theater. The parking lot is on a slight incline which made me want to slow down, but I fought it as I knew I could finish under 52:00.

As I came in to the finish line, I ran through walkers finishing the 5K and saw the clock ticking down to 52 minutes and then crossed. I met my goal and finished in an official 51:32. I don’t know why the official time was slightly faster than the finish line clock and my Garmin. Either way, I’ll take the ~2:15 minute PR.

I got some water and talked to Sean and we waited for Lori. She came in about 30 seconds after me. Then I went off for a quick cool down run and returned for the awards.

I placed 2nd in my age group (1st finished in 42 minutes… not even close!). Lori placed 3rd, sorta. She used the free bib from the generous runner whose friend didn’t show and went up an age group. She would have been 2nd in her actual age group, 20-29.

After the race, we changed in to jeans and met up with my cousins for brunch. We spent the rest of the day being lazy, napping and avoiding the rain.

I feel a little sore today, but I don’t mind.

Randomness

Getting along

Oops. I got super lax with posting after reaching my 10 year blog anniversary. I have some half-finished posts about some of the things I’ve learned through blogging and my favorite posts. Remind me not to forget those.

As for what’s been going on these past few weeks:

I got an iPhone 4. (Not the 4S, the local Verizon store didn’t have it in stock. Plus, the 4 was cheaper and I was fine without the 4S’ features.) I resisted getting an iPhone or any other smart phone mainly out of inertia — Verizon didn’t have iPhones until recently — and cost. I liked my relatively low cell phone bill. I finally gave in after having an iPad for a couple of months. I’m happy with the iPad, but as my brother says, I can’t make calls/text on it and I look really dorky trying to take a picture with it. I took advantage of my 2 year upgrade. I feel like I’ve finally joined the dark side… but really, it was a matter of time ’til I caved. That In-N-Out cheeseburger photo up there was the first taken with my new phone. I had to make it special.

I’m running the Puente Hills family YMCA Turkey Trot on Sunday. The 10K is two loops of a flat and boring course through the Puente Hills Mall and adjacent business park. I’ll get great views of the 60 freeway and the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance. Rain is in the forecast; this makes me happy. Last year, I think the rain scared off a lot of runners which meant the field of 10K runners was tiny. My sister won her age group and a turkey and I actually placed. I’m not sure I can best my time from last year considering I haven’t done any dedicated speed training. I’ve just been working on building up the miles again. Still, I know I can run strong distance races as I’ve done it a few times this year. Plus, maybe the rain will give me boost as it did at the LA Marathon and Pasadena Half Marathon.

Sean and I went to a screening of Tegan and Sara’s new tour/concert DVD Get Along at the Vista Theater on Tuesday. I’ve seen them once before at the Hollywood Bowl. Even in a huge venue, it was easy to see that they have great rapport with their fans. I loved their in-between song banter. After the screening, they did a lengthy Q&A with the audience. It was refreshing to see just how much they appreciate their fans, even if they can seem a little too, um, earnest.

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. I see my extended family often enough that the only difference with Thanksgiving is that we’re hanging out on a weekday and not eating Mexican food. My favorite part (aside from ham, stuffing and pumpkin pie) is playing board games with the cousins and my godmother’s house. We also like to take silly pictures.

Wedding planning is slowly coming along. I feel like we get something done every two weeks or so and then get lazy. Right after Halloween, we took advantage of sales at costume shops to get props for the photo booth. Earlier this week, we finally came up with a workable concept for our wedding invitation. Sean’s friend, a graphic designer, has agreed to design our invites. I’m excited to see what she comes up with.

Blog/tech

My blog is my constant: A decade of blogging

Ten years ago, I started Lotería Chicana and became a blogger — even though I didn’t use either terms back then. I signed up on Diaryland with the same alias I used for AIM and posted four sentences about applying to graduate school and the World Series:

grad school update 11.07.01 // 11:43 a.m.

I’m gonna leave L.A. and escape to the Bay Area. I’m tired of the smog, traffic and the LA-ness of this place. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but I need to get out for a few years... perfect excuse to go to grad school in Berkeley (or San Diego). In other news, the Diamondbacks rock!

At the time, I was a college senior in the middle of fall quarter. It’s clear from subsequent posts that I was avoiding writing papers, reading for class or studying for exams. I didn’t do a good job balancing a full course load with my work-study job, student leadership positions, teacher education program applications and social life. That last part was pretty distracting considering I was going to a few concerts that fall — Los Tigres del Norte (above), the Roots and Res, and Jaguares — and distracted by my crush in San Francisco. Apparently, I had time to watch the World Series and hate on the Yankees. (Sorry about that, Sean). I did okay that quarter. I passed my classes, started dating that guy in SF and abandoned grad school plans temporarily. It was for the best, I didn’t really want to be a K-12 teacher.

I never followed through on that first sentence I wrote 10 years ago. I never left LA nor UCLA even though I almost went to Michigan for grad school. I didn’t even leave the apartment I shared with my then-roommates Pato, Ome and Vane. I’ve been consistently flaky for a while. I still don’t care much for the Yankees even though Sean has tried his best to get me to.

And of course, I’m still blogging. While the platform, name, URL, and look have all changed at least once, my desire to write and interact with other bloggers and readers never waned. Some of my interests have changed. I don’t think I could run a mile without stopping in 2001 and now I write about training for marathons and half marathons. On the other hand, I’ve been writing about access to higher education for undocumented students and telling stories about my family since the beginning.

I’m really glad I’ve kept at it this long. The friendships alone are worth it. If you’ve been reading a few years or just a few months, thanks.

***

A coincidence
While preparing this post on Saturday, I looked up my Fall ’01 course schedule, just so I could see which classes I was taking and what was keeping me busy then. One of the classes was Ethnomusicology 120A, Development of Jazz with Gerald Wilson, literally a living legend in the jazz world. His lectures were more like story time about the jazz greats he once played with than the origins of jazz itself.

I didn’t think much about Professor Wilson until the next day. I got in my car to run some errands and heard the announcer mention Wilson’s name as he introduced one of his records. The DJ spoke briefly about Wilson’s contributions to jazz and the LA-scene and then mentioned his age. “He’s about 90 years old now.” Wikipedia says he’s 93. Damn. I knew he was old when I took his class, but I wouldn’t have guessed he was 80+.

***

If I don’t get lazy, I’ll have more for the 10 year anniversary posts including:
– My favorite posts (if you have one, email me citlalli31 AT gmail dot com)
– Things I’ve learned through blogging
– People I’ve met through blogging

***

Previous anniversary posts:
Four years and counting
Fourth grade blues (9 years)

Corriendo

Return of my running legs

I finally feel like I have my running legs back. They’ve been missing since mid September. They showed up for about half of the Long Beach Marathon before cramping up. I gave them a break of a few weeks afterward. That break probably helped me return to normal, even if when I got back to running I felt out of shape.

Last week has been different. I’m on a new training plan for the Holiday Half Marathon in 5 weeks and the Carlsbad Half Marathon in 11 weeks. I’d like to be in PR shape for Carlsbad.

To do that, I’ve hired an online running coach (Marc Pelerin). In the past, I’ve used generic plans from ActiveTrainer for the LA Marathon and for the Pasadena half marathon. For my first half marathon (Long Beach), I used a generic training plan made by a friend. I think I did okay, but felt really discouraged after Long Beach. Whatever I did on my own did not work. I’m not sure I’ll sign up for a spring marathon just yet. I’d like to do LA again, but I wonder what’s going to happen given that Frank McCourt, soon-to-be former owner of the Dodgers, is entertaining offers from buyers. The LA Marathon isn’t perfect, but I loved the Stadium to the Sea course. At least McCourt didn’t mess up everything.

I stuck to the training plan Marc sent me and did a little bit of strength training today and Tuesday. I ran 25.3 miles. I feel good, but know adjusting to the end of daylight saving time and fertilizer season in my neighborhood will be a minor challenge.

Seriously, fertilizer season in fall and early winter sucks. I can try to make myself get up in the morning to run, but the smell will still be there. At least I don’t have to deal with the cold.

***

Also, congrats to those who ran the NYC Marathon including Gene of PostBourgie infamy Kai/Idiot Runner, Charlotte, Theodora, and Scott who finished in 2:46:07. Wow. He’s crazy fast and he has fun out there.

Oh, as for the elites UCLA alumnus Meb Keflezighi ran a 2:09:13 PR despite having to stop and vomit. Talk about overcoming obstacles.

On days like today, I miss being in a bicoastal relationship and the monthly trips to NY. Cheering in Harlem last year was so much fun, even if my fingers got numb and I nearly lost my voice.

Listed

November goals and October check-in

NOVEMBER GOALS

Health & fitness
1. Stick to my marathon training plan
2. Run the Turkey Trot 10K and set a PR – Last year my sister won a turkey for placing first in her age group. I placed 2nd in my group. It was a tiny race thanks to the rain.
3. Strength training twice a week
4. Run home from work once a week
5. Go back to Weight Watchers for a meeting
6. Focus on eating more fruits and vegetables (5 a day)

Wedding
1. Get save-the-date and invite ideas to our graphic designers
2. Decide a concept/location for our engagement photo shoot in December
3. Figure out estimates for 2 more big items on our budget

The Blog
1. Do something for the 11/7

I don’t have anything big for work this month. My goals for my own education remain the same.

OCTOBER GOALS

Health & fitness
1. Run a personal best at the Long Beach Marathon – Nope. I added 30 minutes on to my LA Marathon time.
2. Begin half marathon training – Check. I took two weeks off after LB, but got back in to it at the end of the month.
3. Start strength training – Nope.
4. Eat out less – So-so. The weeks in LA might have been okay, but the NY trip probably messed me up.

5. Try more new recipes – Check. I made a delicious pumpkin bread I found on Jamelle’s blog. This is the first time I’ve tried baking some kind of bread. My mom and sister, the actual bakers in the family, approved. I

That dissertation thing
… Let’s not talk about this.

Job1 & Job2
1. Write my section of the report for one of our external funders – check
2. Finish the qualitative institutional reports – check
3. Start remembering the names of the new students – needs improvement

Wedding
1. Update our budget, make a plan to save enough and pay any outstanding deposits – Check, if you extend the deadline to November 2nd. The only thing we got done in October was the last item.
2. Schedule our engagement shoot with Michael, our photographer – same as #1
3. Ask our bridesmaids and groomsmen to be part of our wedding party – check! (except for one, that’s Sean’s job)
4. Ask X to be my maid of honor – Check. I asked Lori, my sister, to by maid of honor. She said yes, but she seems a little nervous about the responsibilities.
5. Meet Sean’s extended family at our informal Long Island engagement party – Xheck, the party was fun. I could use some more rum punch.
6. Work with our graphic designers on our save-the-dates and invites – Still need to do. At least we have a timeline to work with.

The blog
1. Post two DIY costumes per week – Half check. I posted 7 costumes, but some were re-done. I do give myself some credit for putting up some new costumes like La Dama and the Mexican Calendar Girl.

Other
1. Get my Halloween costume together – Check. This was easier after I switched plans and all I had to do was get yellow shorts and make my antennae.

2. Make an overkill jar for all the words and phrases Sean and I say way too much – Check. The money will go to the wedding fund.