over-freakin-whelmed

So today I am working on finishing up a huge proposal at work. No deals, but don't worry, once I switch over to www.chicrunner.com on Monday. (MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY! said in a superbowl echoish voice) I will have TWO sick contests for you guys, so I guess that makes up for no deals today. At least I hope so.

So in working on the proposal, and finishing up my site at night, I have been super overwhelmed. Tomorrow I'm going to run in the morning though. I went for a nice walk this morning and I felt really good so I'm ready to jump back onto the track. Wow you can tell my mind is going as well with all these lame puns.

So in my last projects for the new super sweet site, I need to include links to all the blogs I read and I would love to include YOURS. This means, just leave a comment with your blog address and I can include it. Try to include it like this:

http://www.beanarita.com

Then it's much easier for me to just add it into the page. If you want, you can write nice things about me too, perhaps that will weigh in on where you show up on the list.. JUST KIDDING! Don't worry I'll be doing this tonight while watching some So You Think You Can Dance and also Wipeout.

Seriously, I am so jazzed on my new site. I almost think I like it more than I like my bag of Peanut Butter M & Ms I picked up last night. Nahhhhh.

So leave a comment with your site. I just am trying to include everyone, and I have been reading every ones sites, I just haven't been a comment fiend like usual because of the building of the new child! Some people I have down already from twitter, so I hope you want to be included on the BEST SITE EVER. I hope I get some new cool blogs to check out by doing this too. :) So it won't be the best site ever, but I think it's pretty freakin' cool. :)

Tomorrow is pictures, a run recap (gasp! I run? crazy!) and anything else that my little fried brain might want to discuss. Be ready!

xoxo

Car Washes and Deep Thougts

So this morning, Baby Koo got a wash. That was the exciting thing ever since it's been misty/drizzly lately, she was VERY dirty. I was pretty excited as you can tell.

I tried to run this morning and my barking cough didn't like my breathing through my mouth thing, so I barked my way back home. I shall try again tomorrow morning. I feel like my energy is coming back now though, which is good. Last night I drank some bomb wine with the roommate and we discussed life. It was wonderful.

So there's no real transition that works well but I feel compelled to post about what is going on over in Iran. Every night on Twitter and through some new sources I see more and more destruction and people standing up for what they believe in. It has reminded me that we are SO blessed to live in a country where we can talk about anything we want, can find information we want, and do whatever we want. Seriously, seeing people who would die for a cause blows my mind.

I think I began to reflect on this and for some reason, those pictures and those people, really have touched my heart and made me appreciate what I have today. I can get out of bed and get dressed in whatever clothes I want. I can drive my car to work and I'm not scared for my life. I get paid and can talk about whatever I want all day long. I can even write whatever I want on the Internet. Whether you agree with my opinions and thoughts or not, I can still say them and not fear for my life.

It's amazing that some people don't have what we take for granted every day. Right now my stomach is grumbling and I'm thinking about lunch. Some people don't even know when their next meal will be. We are so fortunate to be able to eat food, have computers, and have technology. My biggest fear is that my iPhone won't be here on Friday and I'll have to wait until Monday to get it. How materialistic am I? It's crazy to think that some people are fearing for their lives for trying to get out true news stories from Iran, or are trying to let their voice be heard. It's so easy to take things for granted, like the fact that you can read this post, but man, some things just humble you. I guess that's what the election did for me in Iran.

So whatever you do today, remember how great it is to live in a free country. Be thankful that you have life, liberty and can purse happiness. Also, if you want, you can pray for the people in Iran. Pray for their government and pray that they can survive this time of turmoil.

xoxo

Just around the riverbed....

Name that movie? Can you guess? POCAHONTAS! When she's on her way to see Grandmother Willow, yup, a talking tree represented as her Grandmother. Talk about weird.



Well that is neither here nor there, so just around the riverbed for me is the fact that I'm finally starting to feel better. I don't sound like a man when I talk and I can almost fully breath through my nose again. This means that if I'm feeling up for it, tomorrow I will begin running once again. Hopefully. You see this is how I work, I start feeling a little sick, then I keep pushing myself and pushing myself, thinking that I will just get better, but my body says, "No Way!" and then I just get sicker and sicker and then finally I have to take off work and sleep for a few days in order to feel better. Annoying right? Every time I get sick that's what happens. So the break was needed and now I'm feeling much better.



There are more exciting things coming to chicrunner too, that I'm super excited to tell you guys about. First, remember when I did my own site, at chicrunner.com, and then there were MAJOR issues of the site being down, problems with hosting, problems with email, problems with people not knowing that they had to add the blog spot back into the address? Yes, well this Friday, there will be a switch back to chicrunner.com without the blog spot, and it's going to be a brand new, amazing, exciting site, and I'm kicking off the new site with 2 SWEET giveaways.



Seriously, I'm jealous of the giveaways because I want the prizes for myself. So stay tuned, I will be linking to all sorts of wonderful things and will let you know when the new site is officially up!



To all you Texans, the lovely Mr. R is attending a conference out in San Antonio this week for work. Perhaps stalk if you see him, don't tell him you've seen him online for that would forever freak him out. He is just coming around to understanding this... but I personally would find it incredibly funny if someone did spot him partying on the river walk like he's 21 conferencing hardcore for work.





On another completely unrelated note, here is a picture that I am in love with today.

I'm catching up on every one's weekends! Can't wait to post a sweet review tomorrow!

xoxo

Communicado.. No?

So I realized after I got all the comments yesterday and people worrying about my leg and lung health that I got a little something mixed up, I know I shouldn't be doing two fast workouts back to back and the twenty milers shouldn't be back to back. DUH. That was totally my mind and typing not communicating well at all. But alas, don't worry, I will switch around the workouts so I have a slower, recovery day in between all my faster workouts and I will have a week to split up my long 20 milers as well. I know it seems like a lot for the longer distances, and I'm not trying to build my endurance that much, but at the same time, I really feel that a long run on the weekends is really good for me. I am going to work on focusing during my long runs and not allowing my mind to give up half way through. I think that will really strengthen my running abilities.

Also, coaching track and cross country and running competitively in high school for four years and on and off for 5 years, I think I will do a lot of the same workouts I did and had my kids do as well. I think that will be helpful since I used to do them and they are pretty engraved into my head.

Also many of you think this training schedule is super hardcore, but really looking at the schedule, it's not too rough. It's a few smaller runs, with longer runs on the weekend and I tried really hard to switch it up from just going out and running 5-8 miles daily as well, with the hill and gym and track workouts as well. Now, don't get me wrong, you won't be seeing me on a bike or in the pool anytime soon. Thanks for all your advice though, I definitely will be taking it to heart.

Now, I know many of you need new summer workout gear, check out the links below. Lately though, I am sad to admit that there are absolutely no guy deals out there. Every website I check it's the same stuff I posted last week. Do any of you guys who might creep around this blog know of any new websites or places online to get good guy running stuff? Email me @ Danica@chicrunner.com if you know of any!

Women's

Journey Moving Comfort Shorts

Nike Fitness Tights

Prana Sports Top

Prana Sports Top 2

Asics Performance Shorts

Nike Strength Top

Prana Sabin Racer

Asics Microfiber Shorts

Marmot T-shirt

Sugoi Lucky Fit Shorts

Sugoi Sports Bra

Sugoi Marilyn Tank

Sugoi Balance Tee

Sugoi Cap Tee

Nike Knit Shorts

Tank by Moving Comfort

Simple Tank By Prana

Saucony Shorts

Oiselle Shimmel Tank

Nike Bikram Shorts

Nike Plus Shorts

Nike Personal Best Long Tank

Women's Unwind Strappy Tank

Seamless Champion Sports Bra

Reebok Fitness Tank

New Balance Tank

Danskin Spring Blossoms Tank

New Balance Shorts

Men's

Sorry. Lame. I know.

MarmotMesitaTee

I'm still sick. I'm seriously over being sick in the summer. I can't breath through my nose so I know running is out of the question right now. My head feels like it weights 10 pounds and it's all clogged up in my sinus area. Graphic? Yes. Would you expect anything less from me? I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday. Where did the week go? I'm excited though, because tomorrow is Foto Friday! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

xoxo

I am an addict to Gum.

I am addicted to gum. I chew it all day at work, when I run, when I'm at the gym, everywhere. I usually chew gum for an extended period of time also. Like 4-5 hours. Gross. I usually prefer a frosty or fresh tasting gum, nothing too crazy flavored. I want gum to be freshening my breath, which I think is it's intention. I am a really bad person and usually spit my gum out the window as well when I'm driving. Sometimes this is mildly entertaining for me as well. The other day I was driving home from work, and this happened.

I spit out my gum and it landed on my door. Totally missed the rolled down window. STUPID. I think what could even be more stupid is that I then took a picture of it.

How's that for a super amazing and exciting 200th post? Yup, I failed. ha ha.

Tomorrow I will have some new cool stuff to talk about, like my infected toenail that has not allowed me to wear shoes. I did get in a gorgeous, I wish I took pictures, run this weekend in San Luis though. I ran about 8.5 miles and felt good, minus the toe issue. Hopefully, and sadly, the toenail just needs to fall off and then I think that it will heal itself.

This week I will be posting my homemade training plan, what I think my goals will be for the San Fran 1/2 and of course, anything super exciting that happens to me that I think you all must know about immediately. I have a review to post as well. Maybe I'll even throw in some workouts, but tonight is a rest day and will include some great Bachleorette watching!

xoxo

7376

Inappropriate but hilarious. So as many of you know, this weekend I am running the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. It's going to be a blast for all the events that lead up to it, including the blogger meet up, the girls I'm staying with, I just know it will be so fun and exciting. I'm already glad that I chose a "big" marathon for my first, so I'll always have people to run with and stalk.

I'm starting in corral 7, and my race number is 7376. I feel like it's a good number. There's a lot of lucky number 7's in there. Well my lucky number is 6, but 7 is the ultimate lucky number, so therefore that is what I've made myself believe.

My biggest goal for this race is to finish. I know everyone says that that really isn't a 'goal' because obviously I am going to finish the race, but at the same time, a lot of crazy things can happen over 26.2 miles. I also don't want to focus so much on my pace, time, and all the aspects that I didn't really work on that much during my training to not soak in my first marathon experience.

Every 'race' I've ever ran, I've always raced them. I think I learned that in high school when I ran competitively and was much faster than I am now. Even if I tell myself I'm not going too, I find my heart beating and my body tense at the starting line and I always give it my all. For this race though, I have to keep telling myself, it's not a race, it's a marathon. They don't call it a race for a reason. I know if I race the marathon I will be upset with myself and I'll miss a lot of the fun 'firsts', plus, I can always run more if I decide too.

I've decided to break down my goals with A, B and C goals, but first and foremost it is to finish, enjoy the race and soak up everything going around me, and what an accomplishment even running a marathon is.

My A Goal is to finish in between 4-4:30. This would be a decent pace for me, and I think it's possible if everything is going right for me. This includes no crying, no crazy bathroom breaks, no walking, not really any stopping at all. I can run 20 miles in 3:15, so we'll see how things go race day.

My B Goal is to finish in between 4:30-5:00. This is more than attainable for me, pending anything absurd happening to me, but I guess you can't rule out everything going perfectly

My C goal is to finish in between 5-5:30. This again shouldn't be a problem, but pending I break my leg or get trampled we could have some issues.

These goals are all easily within my reach, but I know I will have to pay attention to my body and listen to what is happening on those last miles. I definitely know I will have the mentality of, well I ran 20 miles, what's 6 more?! I also wanted to give myself goals that I know I can achieve because I would be really upset if I didn't make my goals.

So what's more important than goals? Outfits of course. So I didn't know what was wrong with me because usually I can spend money like it's my full time job, but I just couldn't find the perfect racing top for this race.

I narrowed it down to two shirts, and will make a game time decision as to what one I will wear.

No matter what I will be wearing my Nike Spandex Shorts and my Zensah pink sports bra but I cannot decide in between the purple top or the Nike blue top. I know the purple top is new but don't worry, I wore it around under a shirt for a day to see if I would chafe and I didn't. I'm a freak I know. I like the blue shirt a lot too. So many decision. I know it will depend on how I feel that morning and what I want to run in. You may actually recognize the shorts and tank though, they are the same ones I wrote when I shot some sweet pictures with Kymberli

So it's this weekend. On Monday, I will be able to say for the rest of my life, yes, I have run a marathon. Have run? That sounds pretty crazy. I am excited, nervous and I'm pretty sure I might cry tonight while packing my bag for San Diego tomorrow.

Perhaps I might post something tomorrow evening, before I go to bed, depending on what I am feeling, but I'm so thankful for all the encouragement, support and kind words over this whole training period. It's weird because after this race, I have this weird feeling that I don't even know what I'll blog about. Well I'm sure I can always find something somewhat random and interesting in my life to entertain you with, but it's just like it's all accumulated to these upcoming moments. I am so overwhelmed by so many crazy feelings but it's a huge adrenaline rush! I can't wait to write up a super long race report. I think I might have to do it in segments over the next week because I know I'll take a billion pictures and then we have 26.2 miles of coverage. I'll try to leave out any poopy details. :)

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you at the finish line!

xoxo

I have no deals today, but instead a rant on dentists.

So I have no deals. I have no deals because I didn't bother looking last night because I was so tired and full after a wonderful meal at my grandparents that I promptly fell halfway asleep while watching So You Think You Can Dance and forgot that it was even Thursday today.

Sorry to disappoint. Instead, in this wonderful week of losing my mind, I decided to give you, what I think is an entertaining rant on dentists and why I loathe them. You see, I was born without any wisdom teeth in my head, which one of my best friends once called me a freak for, and I like to think of it as a more evolved species, since you get them ripped out anyways. I also don't have a twelve year molar. Remember these facts, they will come into play later on.

Now, according to my 'How Well Do You Know Me" quiz via the lovely creeping site, Facebook, my most favorite feature of myself are my teeth. Believe me, teeth are super important to me, for whatever reason. I brush twice a day, if not more, whiten with crest white strips on occasion and did the whole braces for 6 months thing plus retainers for a year.

When I was little I LOVED the dentist. They always told me what a good job I was doing and that I had such nice teeth. Then you get a sweet prize out of the chest at the front of the office. There were fish in a tank to look at (think finding nemo and it kind of makes me sad now), everyone was very nice, and I got shiny clean teeth.

Then in college, I had a blood blister form behind one of my front teeth. It was incredibly painful and I had to have emergency dental work to pop the sucker. I went to a new dentist since it was about time that I stopped going to the children's dentist. I went on recommendation of a friend and LOVED the doctor I met with. He was so kind, complementary of my teeth and super gentle, which was nice because shoving a needle in that blister hurt pretty bad.

I decided to make an appointment to go back to the dentist for my cleaning. I got a different dentist in the office. This is where my hatred began.

She was rude, told me I wasn't brushing properly, that I had gingivitis and wasn't taking good care of my teeth at all. Um, I was shocked, to say the least. I hadn't changed anything about my brushing habits and I always get complements on my teeth. I never returned after that trip and that is where the disliking of dentists began.

Finally I found a new dentist close to my house that my mom really liked. I trusted her judgement and also fell for the koi pond outside the treatment rooms. He seemed nice, until he started pushing me. Remember how I didn't have the 12 year molars and wisdom teeth. Well this was the dentist who recommended that I needed to get an implant to make up for the extra space in the back of my mouth. An implant includes drilling a screw into your jawbone, and four months later getting a tooth that screws on top of that screw in your jaw after your jawbone has 'accepted' the screw.

I held out for a long time, but his persistence made me think that my whole entire mouth would fall apart if I didn't get the surgery he recommended. I finally scheduled the consultation and the doctors and staff members told me, oh it's not a big deal, you'll be back to normal life, normal eating in no time.

LIES I TELL YOU. I couldn't eat on that side of my mouth for a good two months. I was so sick after the surgery I couldn't eat for 3 days, and I was throwing up and couldn't go to work. Now that I have the tooth, a year later, I still feel like the process was worthless. Insurance didn't really cover much of it and I still think they should have just ripped out the top tooth and be done with it, since they were worried it would just 'keep growing downward' since it had nothing to 'hit' to stop its growing.

This leads me to recent occurrences. I went to the dentist back in February, and they insisted I needed x-rays. I told them that I didn't think it was necessary and I had just gotten them with the follow up of the implant surgery. Then the hygienist brought in the doctor to consult me on why I needed these x-rays. The last x-rays showed that the tooth was in place and the screw was good and everything was kosher in the implant department. He told me he needed to make sure. If he needed to make sure then he should pay for these $75 dollar x-rays and the pain of the 'bite wings' shoved into his mouth.

I repeatedly told him that I didn't need x-rays but they kept insisting. I almost, almost made a scene, but finally just rolled my eyes and gave in. Who gets the bill for $175 dentist appointment now? ME. Who would much rather save their money spend their money on shoes, food, running gear, and clothes? The best part of it all?

He and the hygienist tell me how great my teeth look and how great I am at flossing.

I haven't flossed a day in my life. Bad, I know, but funny how they complement me on my flossing.

This all was because the account payable called me this morning requested her $175 dollar check and gave me a sad "ahhh ohhhhh" when I said I didn't have dental insurance. I told her I didn't want the x-rays and she said "Yeaaaaaa wellllllll we hadddddddddd to take them." Where are those x-rays now? Sitting in the filing cabinet.

Dentist, our relationship is strained and I'm over you and your surgeries and your x-rays.

This morning I went for a slow 3 miler. I can't find Claude's charging station and I'm starting to freak out that I may have to use someone else's down in SD this weekend.

On another horribly sad note, My 1st gen. iPhone has lived a long wonderful life and now is very sick. You know how some of you have pets and kids. Well this is my 1st born. Of course, I think Apple put a spell on it because there are rumors that in two months a new iPhone will be released. Hang in there little buddy! I don't really get calls or texts, and when I do it's like 4-10 at a time. I can still call people though, but it won't hold a charge at all, so he's just resting on the charger all day long. I am hoping to keep him going for as long as possible because 2 months of me without a phone could cause some havoc.

Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow is one more day until San Diego, and also Foto Friday!

xoxo

Me + Fail Whale = Epic Whale of Fail

So I have been having some blogger issues... BUT for now the site is up and running, I know you all just can't get enough of me bad things that happen to me that happen to entertain you. I am sorry for the issues, and hopefully everything will be back to normal ASAP, but thanks for hanging with me until then....

Well because I am a good sport, and love me some twitter, I just had to post this for you.

Laugh, at me with me!

I hope the twitter birds will carry me to the finish line this weekend.

Don't mind the weird picture and my sweet photoshopping skills, I was a writing minor, not an art minor. My feet were cropped out! Don't worry, tapering hasn't taken away my feet!

xoxo

Seriously, it might just be me but I can't stop laughing.

Three sleeps

There are three more sleeps until I will be running in San Diego! I decided to celebrate this by getting an Egg McMuffin on the way to work today. I possibly might do it again tomorrow. Don't judge me.

There's just nothing like starting off your day with 300 calories of pure amazingness. Tonight I'm going over to my grandma and grandpa's house for dinner too. I can't wait to eat some good home cooked meal that my grandma will make me, I'm especially hoping for some mashed potatoes. Last night I had a sandwich for dinner while crying and watching Jon and Kate + 8. Seriously, did they have to take it to that sad level? On another note, I really need to learn how to cook!

I really have nothing to write about this week besides the fact that my mind is consumed by the last six miles of this race I'm doing this weekend. I finally found a shirt that I might wear, but who knows, I'll probably just stick to my blue one that I have been wearing on my training runs. I searched in vain for a new pink one but had no luck at all. Mr. R about killed me this weekend on the 'hunt' for the shirt. There were some options but they were all too tight, too short, too expensive, too baggy. Can someone please invent an inexpensive, cute dri-fit clothing line? Thanks! I would really appreciate it.

I will be running my last five miler tomorrow morning and then I have one more three miler somewhere in there between now

I want to do some product reviews but I cannot type for some reason. My mind is so blank, but luckily I don't have the marathon insomnia that some of you speak of. That would really put a damper on my evenings. Last night I went to bed at 9:30 and in no way am I ashamed of that, but I did dream that we had an earthquake and I don't know if it was real or not.

Wow, I think that 'tapering' or for me, not running, has taken it's toll on my mind. I guess this is what they call 'taper madness', dreaming of earthquakes and eating McDonalds? I'm in!

xoxo

PS. Kymberli of Webbed Foot Photography put up my 'slideshow' of pictures from my photo shoot that we did together. If you want to use up three minutes of your life looking at pictures of yours truly, check out her blog. It's the last 'video' under the latest pictures she put up. Press play and enjoy. She is amazing and seriously, if you need a photographer around Long Beach, Orange County, or LA, check her out. She works WONDERS.

Gracias! Danke!

Blogging on a Holiday? Yup. Don't be surprised. I got a new baby laptop and I just had to give it a test drive. I'll be blogging about it sometime soon but thus far it's amazing and I'm in love with it! Some ladies have given me some awards and I wanted to give them a shout out for their kind words. I truly appreciate and enjoy reading every one's comments and encouragement, especially about the upcoming marathon.

Shopaholic Confessions
Julie

and


Brandi




gave me the Queen award!


Toronto Girl out West




gave me the Renee Award


A Glimpse of the Girl Next Door gave me the One Lovely Blog Award (send me the link to your blog and I'll link you! Sorry I couldn't find it on my new computer :( )






and Mrs.GI Joe
Gave me the Charming award








Thanks ladies. I don't think you all realize how wonderful it is that people find me to be an running inspiration or funny, or whatever you think. I'm glad that I have all you "in" my life, and just as much as you like reading about my failed runs, my home, my life and my exercising, I like to read about yours!

This weekend I did an eight miler and it was poopy. Not figuratively but literally. I seriously think that Gus make me poop. Too late to really work with figuring out what works the best for the marathon but there are porta potties along the route! Other than the bathroom break the run was great, I felt really fast and just cruised along. I am getting excited for this weekend! I can't believe it's approaching so quickly.

Other exciting things that happened this weekend was my roommate graduated! I think I'll post some pictures on Foto Friday. I also have been searching for the new perfect shirt for the marathon, but haven't had much luck, but today I am going to continue my search and lay out by the pool and enjoy the sun! Good luck to everyone who ran the LA marathon and did any type of Memorial day race.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day! Remember all those who have fought for our freedom.

xoxo

A few steals and Accessories!

So I lied when I said today I'd throw in my two cents about hydration. I decided since it's deal Thursday I should be talking about my favorite part of running, the clothes and accessories!

First off, for me it's the most important that I love wearing what I run in. I probably have 10 pairs of shorts but I usually flip back and forth in between 3 or 4 pairs. Some of the other pairs are just weird and I just can't run in them. Same goes for shirts. I have a ton of old race shirts and 'old shirts' in general, but at the same time, I usually wear the same 3 or 4, with washing of course!

I used to think cotton was the fabric of my life, but alas, after the chafing post yesterday you've all come to realize that Dri-fit, once getting in to the higher mileage is the way to go. It's more expensive and especially for me it's hard to see myself paying $35-$60 for a shirt that I'm essentially going to sweat in and get disgusting and ruin. It saddens me from the bottom of my heart. So that is why I scour the racks at TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Nordstrom Rack for some good top quality running gear. If you've never checked out those stores 'active section' you definitely should.

Now, many of you have mentioned the fuel belt, and accessories for running. Well my fuel belt, though I feel like a goof ball when I wear it, is SO necessary when you hit higher mileage. Your body needs to hydrate and you are loosing so much water. After one run I was so dehydrated and got so sick, I couldn't even function OR eat Taco Bell. You know it's bad when I turn down some TB. There are many different types of fuel belts, so just google it and you'll come up with a plethora of options

Then there's things like sweat bands, hats, and headbands. You can find a huge selection of running hats here, and here. I, on a rare occasion can wear a headband but most of the time they slide off. If anyone has any great suggestions, I would love to hear them but I think it's my odd shaped head. As for sweat bands, though it's sometimes a little intimidating to look like a 50 year old out running about, sweatbands are the most legit option for yours truly. Plus, they make me feel a little bit more hardcore.

George asked me for any options for running in the warmer weather. Honestly, I would just say to rock the hat, but make sure it's a running hat. They fit the head much different than a regular baseball hat and they are made of much different materials that help keep the sweat and sun out.

Also make sure you ALWAYS wear sunscreen when you run because you can get some gnarly tans/burns. Even if you don't think your face will get sun on a little 3 miler, it has the possibility. I actually use the Mission brand, This Product. It works amazing and DOESN'T sting at all. Most do sting once they drip into your eyes. I also have a problem with getting kissed by the sun a lot, and then the sun leaves me with fatty blisters on my lips. Not attractive, and I have permanent brown spots on my lips from some of the damage. Disgusting, but now I always get out my spf 50 and put it on my lips. It turns them a little white, but I'd much rather avoid sun blisters.

Get clothes you love, you are the one that will be working out in them. Make sure they are comfortable and make you feel good. Since I know my stomach isn't in any Shape Magazine Cover Shape, I don't really like to let it 'all hang out' by wearing crop tops, or many of the tanks I find are incredibly short, which is annoying. I usually try to find longer shirts and shorter shorts for some reason. It's just what I like to run in. Though sometimes I feel like when I wear my spandex shorts that I'm giving everyone a show, I have to remember that I'm running and basically no one around me is even paying attention to me.

There are many more running accessories like ipods, headphones and garmins, but those are all just must-haves, and the headphones that I LOVE and work SO well and stay in my ears are these Sony ones and of course, I have them in pink. They work great though and the music is much louder. I used to run with the apple headphones, but they constantly were slipping out of my ears and the music was so soft. Those headphones are only $10 at target and last forever, unless they fall out of your ear, get caught in a chain length fence and end up like this since they literally pulled you back on your run.

Tomorrow I'll have a huge list of some of my favorite running bloggers, geeeeet those mouses ready to click away!

Onto the deals! Just a few today, sorry guys!

Women's

Nike Strong And Strappy Sports Bra

Nike Camo Print Sports Bra

Nike Shorty Shorts

Nike Printed Long Mesh Tank (love it)

Nike Mesh Long Sport Tank (tons of colors love it!)

Under Armour Metal Sleeveless Tank

Nike Women's Seamless Tank

Danskin Cross Training Jacquard Crew Neck

Danskin Prima Ombre Print Tank

Men's

Pearl Izumi Slice Sleeveless Bike Jersey

Pearl Izumi Richter Race Top

Russell Velocity Short Sleeve

Accessories

Reebok Avon Pink Ribbon Performance Hat

Reebok Slouch Adjustable Hat

Reebok Extreme Performance Hat

You can also creep last weeks Deals here because there were A TON last week :)

Tomorrow my countdown clock on my computer's desktop will read a single digit number until 'Full Marathon'. Wow. That is crazy. Whoever thought running 26.2 miles was a good idea? Well, I guess at one point I thought it was a good enough idea to even PAY to do it. Oh well, it will be super fun, and hey, they don't call it a race they call it a MARATHON... so therefore time doesn't matter! :)

On a random and unrelated to anything I've ever posted. Danica Patrick is racing in the Indy 500 this weekend. Holla to my namesake, go get 'em! Well she is obviously not my namesake since we are not far apart in age, but the girl I get compared to every time I say my name, wouldn't want it any other way!

Tomorrow I'll throw around what hydration has helped me in my training and maybe I'll even put in some pictures, it's foto FRIDAY after all!

xoxo

You Bar Review + Driving + Swim + Run = Fun

So last week Thursday I told everyone I did a crazy run but I didn't want to share about it without pictures just yet. Well I saw the pictures this morning and they are simply AMAZING. Now, I ran with the Long Beach Hashers of the Hash House Harriers. I have never done a run with them but my wonderful friend Sam got me to go for a run with them. This isn't a running group, this is a drinking group with a running problem. This was the ever eventful run when we went for a SWIM. Yes, I just said SWIM in the middle of the run. I was unprepared and wouldn't normally do stuff like that. EVER. I decided to be spontaneous and just swim it.

Well the run started out good, we were just a little bit behind everyone but we caught up. I had to wear a name tag that said Newboot since I was a new person. It was fun seeing everyone out running and enjoying the outdoors. We started running through some neighborhooded areas.

Then we got to this section where it was like, Eagles go for a swim, turkeys trace your trail back to the starting point. I didn't know what to do, but as you can see I stripped off my shirt and went for the swim. I guess I was thinking the inner tube around my neck would keep me afloat.

Sam was ready to rock and roll. Me on the other hand, yup, I was freaking out.

I was pretty much just telling myself to suck it up and stop being a (bad word) I know to many of you this isn't a big deal, but it was a fairly big deal for me. The inner tube helped me, that's for sure.

There is complete proof I was in the water! I should have gotten the raft. :(

We walked back, without shoes for about 1.5 miles. Wearing goggles. I was shirtless. It was more than an experience to say the least. At least there was a generator omitting heat that I tried to dry myself off from.

Then, since everyone was jealous of our goggles that we got at the 'swim across point' AND wore them all the way back, we were singled out of the group and had to drink a beer wearing the goggles. What a run. After things calm down a little bit in my life I hope to get back out there with them and do some more exciting runs.

So Driving to work was quite an experience this morning. I got flipped off for going 75 in the slow lane and two, yes TWO cars zoomed past me like I was creeping along at slug speed. The Koo's cruising altitude is roughly around 65-75 mph, and I was going 75. Does that call for the bird and speed racing by? I think not. Sigh, CA driving. It was on a 5 lane freeway too. Gosh people, just so excited to get to work?

( I have no idea who this guy is, but he was in the picture from bullet1.com)

Then I'm driving down to the next freeway, I hop on, cruse along and then I realize the car in front of me has the 'bullet hole' stickers. It was on an Honda SUV. There was a BABY ON BOARD sticker next to the bullet holes. First off, I think these 'bullet hole' stickers are awful because it doesn't make you look hardcore, it's tacky, and on an SUV, and with a baby on board sticker? I tried so hard to take a picture, but I sadly couldn't.

You Bar Review!
I recently tried the new "YouBar". The concept behind these bars is that you make them to be whatever you want, kind of like the cereal craze that is going around. I honestly really liked the bars, they were tasty and they did actually feel like they were filling in my stomach, instead of eating junky granola bars that only have 90 calories. Has anyone else realized without the packaging those things don't even stay together?

So YouBars were delicious, and you know what else I completely loved, their breakfast shakes! I love the fact you can add milk and drink it right away. I usually just drink water after any run, sometimes I go for gator or an Honest Tea, but this past weekend, after my 20 miler, I went for a protein shake. Now, the word protein scares me especially in shake form. I don't want to become a muscle building freak, I tend to lean a little more towards the skeletal look. I think I just have it engraved in my head that protein shakes are for boys. Well if these Youbar shakes are for boys, sign me up! It was tasty and fulfilling as well. I think I was a little calorie deprived and I felt like it replenished my system into the perfect resting state so I promptly passed out on the couch.

They have a really cool system on their website where you can build your own bar, which I like, because you can put whatever you want into each bar. For me, I love bars without nuts so that is a great option for me since most bars come with them. They show all the nutritional information as you build it and you can get them in somewhat of a 'bulk' package with 13 bars in each box. Just like the cereal though, these bars are somewhat expensive, especially for me. They roughly are around $2.99 a bar, but if you are allergic, vegan or rich, you can try them out and it's a great option. You can make your own shakes and trail mixes too. Double score. You can check out their website and see if you can make a better bar for yourself! YouBar
Wow that post was jammed packed!

Well get ready for some deals tomorrow!

Tonight I'm going to do another 4 miler after work, hopefully it will stay light enough, long enough! :)

xoxo

Mi casa es su casa.

So as I said yesterday, I was going to jump on the bandwagon over at Kelly's Korner and for photo Friday I wanted to show some pictures of my house. Well it's not so much a house, but more of an apartment. One of my best friends that I met in middle school and I live together. I have really loved living with her and I absolutely LOVE where we live. We live less than a block away from the beach and also less than a block away from a ton of cute boutique shops and restaurants. It's a super fun and young area and I love living with my roommate too. We live in an apartment built in the 1920's and when we walked in, we both immediately fell in love with it. There are so many unique features that we both love and it has so much charm, like all the cupboards don't close! :) It's so cute though and has really cool sconces, arched hallways, all wood floors and high ceilings. Last week they did the kitchens and I missed out so I thought I would start with the kitchen and then work into what they are doing today, living rooms! :) Enjoy!

This is on one wall of our kitchen. It used to be an ironing board pop out, but then I guess at some point it was converted to a shelving section? We love it though, and the cute little cupboard underneath? That holds around 50 shot glasses. Hey, were are still young! :)

This is our kitchen basically. It's very small but we don't need much room. We live off of eating macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese and edamame. As you probably noticed we don't have a dishwasher. At first I thought this was going to be horrible, but when you don't eat a ton of food, it's not that bad. Also, we keep saying we are going to put a curtain over our trash bag section/cleaning section under our sink and we never get around to it. Notice the cupboards. Yup, they don't stay shut. Notice the Hello Kitty Toaster, which I posted about how great it works here. A toaster is a toaster though! :)

Here's the other side of our kitchen! ha ha, the stove looks old and it's a little kooky but let's be honest, we don't use it all that much. Yup, some more cupboards that don't stay shut and all our cool magnets. The fridge? I posted what was in it a while back, Check it out and don't judge me. :)

Now This is the table and 'booze cabinet' That little built in cabinet holds all our hard alcohol, you know, to go with the shot glasses. The table we got at Target and the chairs are from Ikea. I really like the table and it is a great addition to our house. Sometimes my roommate and I sit at the table and eat our lavishly prepared grilled cheeses here.

Here's another view of our table in our little mini dining room. I seriously love the chairs. Also you will probably notice we have a TON of windows in our little home. It lets in great light during the day but these pictures were all taken at night.

This is the room leading off from the dining room, and our den/living room. Those pillows are like a little dachshund, which my roommate has two of that live at her parents. That huge frame? Those are all pictures of us throughout middle and high school. It's kind of embarrassing. We keep saying we are going to move that little frame holder to the dining room, but alas, perhaps I will do that this weekend.

One of my favorite parts of the place, that little window on the door OPENS. It's hilarious. This little table we found at an 'alley' sale by our house along with two of those lamps. It was an alley sale since very few people have garages where we live. We keep our keys on the table and that picture is of us in Cabo, Mexico in the pool. It's one of my favorite pictures of us.

Here's pretty much our entire living room/den area! We have the ottoman, the entertainment center and the couch. The ottoman is COMPLETELY full of my roommate's DVD collection. She is amazing at collecting DVDs. You can also see my other favorite part of the house, the 'fireplace'. It's just a sculpture on the wall, but I love it. It's so cute, strange but cute. Since it's usually just her and I, we don't need much seating or room.

Here is my pride and joy, my 42' plasma flat screen tv and the entertainment center that I just got. It's from Ikea and I was so impatient to get it put together that I put it together over a three hour time period until 1 am one night. It was a lot of hard work, but I love how it looks and holds some of our DVDs and my Wii.

Here's a close up of the fireplace. We keep saying we are going to hang the mirror somewhere, and the letters. In due time I guess it will happen. We just need someone to help us girls! Anyone, Anyone?


So that is my kitchen and living room! I hope you all enjoyed it.


The run I did last night was pretty much the craziest thing I have EVER done and it included a swim... in my running clothes. I want to give a full recap, but I am hoping that someone will post some pictures soon so no detail is left out.


Have a great weekend, tomorrow I have my last 20 miler before the San Diego Marathon. I can't believe that it's getting so close and how excited I am feeling. I am going to try out more of my new gus on my long run and that will be the true test of them. I will write up a review of them soon!

Also, you should go on over to The Southern Social and vote for my 1st date outfit, just because you love me, but if you don't vote for me at least pick the one with the green and blue because that one is second best. :)

xoxo

Deals + Dead Birds

Deals this week were more for the favor of the girls. Sheesh, there are TONS of cute tanks, and summer wear on sale. I want it all! :) Sorry boys, better luck next week Enjoy the deals, and scroll down if you want to read about last nights 'speed' work :)

Women's

REI Tech Shortsleeve Tee

Craft Active Tri Top

Brooks Run Skort

Nike Gym Long Top (A possibility for the marathon)

Nike New Strength Top

Danskin Criss Cross Tank

Nike Skinny Training Tank

Nike Long Running Tank

Nike Long Everyday Running Tank

Saucony Run Lux Tank (love this, wish it came in more colors)

Nike Printed Open Back Tank (love this too!)

Nike Long Sleeve Just Do It Tee

Nike Short Sleeve Training Top

Nike Vneck Short Sleeve Training Top (love it, especially the band at the bottom)

Asics Short Sleeve Kara Running Top

Fila Heritage Cap Sleeve Tank

Nike Celebrate The Sport Tee

Nike Pro Layering Tee

Nike Athlete Tank

Nike Refined Border Tank

Nike Skinny Straps Tank

Nike Reflective Baselayer

Nike Must Have Tank

Nike Essential Tank

Nike Low Rise Workout Short (love)

Brooks Vibe Shorts

Reebok Split Shorts

Fila Skort

Reebok Seamless Skort (SO ADORABLE! must restrain myself)

Brooks Power Top Sports Bra

Nike Sports Bra (lots of cute colors)

Nike Dri-Fit Striped Tank

Nike Volmeros (super good price and lots of sizes)


Men's

Reebok Premier Split Running Shorts

Russell Velocity Short Sleeve Tee

New Balance Short Sleeve Tee

Nike Sphere Shirt

Reebok Tank

Accessories

MountainSmith Hydration Waistpack

Nathan Reflective Waist Sash

Nathan Reflective Vest

Nathan Sidekick Accessory Pouch

Arc'Teryx Headband

Last night I did another 'speed' workout and I kicked it's BUTT. I got in 8 miles with a 2 mile warm up, then 2 miles @ 7:49, 1 mile @ 7:59, 1 mile @ 7:57 last one slower at 8:14 and 1 mile cool down. The first four miles were great, and I didn't realize I had the wind at my back, the way home was kind of rough because the wind was IN MY FACE and it was FIERCE. I felt very TIRED after this workout. It was good to get in those quick miles though. I know it seems like I'm fast, but it was A LOT of work to keep myself going at that pace. It's not like I can usually just crank those miles out quickly.

Another reason why I ran so fast last night is that I have an 8 mile loop by my house and it goes through some sketchy areas. Though I personally do not live in a sketchy area, I have to run through some sketchy areas. No one likes me running at night and I don't blame them, I am a somewhat small framed, uncoordinated runner, not a fighter. I think if someone tried to take me down, I would kick and punch but they wouldn't have too much of a fight. This means I have to get my run in before it's dark so that I don't get in a fight, get carted away to some unknown place, and that I'm home before dark so I'm safe. This means a hard workout, especially since yesterday there was a ton of traffic on my way home so I got home even later than I planned.

I took a new gu last night that I got to test out and I can't wait to tell you guys about it, not only was it tasty, but I didn't have the sudden urge to go to the bathroom out on my run, and I felt great my entire run. Best part is that it doesn't have caffeine, so I wasn't wired and cracked out on Gus till 3 am. The run was good, I was SWEATY and dirty but here are some things I noticed on my run:

• I saw the underwear man AGAIN. Same outfit. Same sweat. It freaks me out
• I think I want to try rollerblading.
• I haven't sweat like that in a long time.
• I love my new Nike Top, and I realized my twin aron has the same one and ran in it this past weekend. We are so alike it's crazy.
• The sunset was gorgeous, but it was because of the fires. Wha-wha.
• I live in an area infested by parrots, parrots can make some scary callings in the night, and when they fly in their herd it's even scarier.
• Smells REALLY do bother me a lot on my run and I smelled fish, sewer smells, and boat gas last night. Gagging occurred. But this is what leads me to the topic of dead birds

Have any of you had the opportunity to run in an area where there are dead rotting birds? I only know this smell because we had to run under overpasses in high school and there were pigeons nesting, procreating and seemingly dying under the underpasses. I remember that smell because I think it honestly haunts me. Last night I was running back home on a different street than I normally do, which is so unlike me, I am a creature of habit, and I smelled it. The rotting bird smell. I seriously almost threw up for the last mile. I tried to plug my nose. I tried to breath through my mouth but you know when a smell is so strong that you taste it. Well dead rotting pigeons and parrot birds don't taste good. It was revolting. With all this information, I decided I won't take that route anymore.

I feel like I'm finally coming back into the game though. I feel healthy and strong and my running is improving a lot. I am really looking forward to this weekend and my 20 miler surprisingly. I can't wait to talk about running more with you guys. I was thinking about it a lot on my run last night and I think it's a mindset and an appreciation. Wow I sound like a cult leader. All hail the chic runner cult.

Tomorrow is photo Friday and I'm going to jump on the Kellys Korner bandwagon of showing pictures of my house room by room every Friday. Well since I live in a super small home it won't be a long post and I probably won't post every week since I have a total of 3 rooms, but I tomorrow I will share about the running group that I'm going to meet up with and run with tonight. I'm excited and nervous. New runners are scary! :)

xoxo

Housekeeping + Randomocity

Said in a Tommy Boy Chris Farley character voice of course.

So I've been getting tons of running questions lately, which I will answer soon on a post but I have to tell you, I'm not really anything more of an amature myself! I will answer them to the best of my ability and let you know how things worked on a personal level, and what motivates me though. Stay tuned for that post, I'm thinking early next week.

I've also gotten some personal questions as well about my job and what I did in college, like classes I took, what my major was etc. Well besides party like a rock star, perhaps a little too much, I'd love to talk about schooling too! :) That will be in another post coming up soon, I am thinking perhaps Wednesday of next week! :)

Danica @ Danica's Dailies is having an Annie Mac and Cheese Giveaway ---> Travel here to enter but don't because I want to win!

I also have some reviews coming up of Youbar, popchips, vitalicious vitamuffins, and honesttea... I think I'll start posting reviews on Saturday.

As for some thoughts on the Biggest Loser last night, I really have no words. Michael in the words of Mr. R needs to, "cut the cord". He is the biggest baby on the show and went home and fell back into his old ways of caring about other people and not putting himself first. I think Tara and Helen should definitely battle it out against Ron because Ron has no chance of winning. Call me evil, but that's my personal opinion. Tara and Helen deserve it more, according to my personal thoughts on the manipulating Ron. I feel like he would have killed someone to get his son to the finals, and I don't know how he's going to do once the 'game' is over. I was really impressed by them running a 'full marathon', especially with the last section over sand? Who does that to someone. It was cool to see the other contestants from other shows come out too. I can't wait to see everyone next week at the finale!

As for me, I've got a nice eight miler tonight after work. These past two days I've done a few shorter distances (read: 3 miles) and yoga and now I'm SO sore from yoga. I forget how running only gets you 'so far' in weight loss and being in shape but I'm going to start working in more weights and yoga into my routine once the marathon is over. It's almost "taper" time, though I'm pretty sure I've been tapering for the last month, so I'll try to hit up the gym a little bit more!

I am still insanely looking for the perfect race day shirt. I thought I had found one this weekend but alas, it's too large on the bottom and a little to tight through the shoulders. I'm keeping my eyes peeled.

I also have some Tory Burches up for grabs if anyone wants them. I bought them this past weekend and can return them if no one wants them but they are just a wee bit small. I know there are some Tory lovers out there though, and wanted to give you a shot. They are size 6, and brand new. I got them for $80 and if you want them you just have to pay $80 + shipping and handling. They retail for $295. I want them to go to a good home and am so sad to part with them. :(

Look out for some deals coming your way tomorrow! :)

xoxo

The Colorful Characters of the Beach Path

I tweeted a while back about what I saw on a run and I knew I would have to post about it soon. I live in an area where there are a lot of homeless people, and a eclectic collection of people. Many of them, on hot days, seem to go to the beach in front of my place, thus ensuring an interesting crowd to watch as I run by. It was super hot two weekends ago, so it seemed that EVERYONE was at the beach. Take for example:

One larger woman was in the water ahead of me. I was watching the 'group' she was with because they were very loud. She then started walking up from the ocean and I almost had to double take. She was wearing a black trash bag as a swimsuit. She had a hole for her head, and two arms. I had to slow down to take in this site. I first thought about how unsafe this seemed, and also how swimming in the ocean, the trash bag must 'go-up' as you swim around, since it wasn't attached to her legs or anything. Let that visual sink in.

A little later, I saw the same guy I have seen many times before. He was running in his BOXER BRIEFS that were tight and incredibly short. I have seen him in the mornings other times too and he wears the exact same outfit. He sweats, but only in one place. It is weeeeeird. You're blinded by his white legs and then you're like WHOA. Not okay. Get some shots over those briefs buddy.

Another really strange thing that happens on the beach path is that people come out and walk (good for them) but have their blue tooth on and just chat away on their phones. I've seen so many people doing this, it's like they go out to walk the beach path and make an important call. It's usually when I run by they are going on and on about something. Sometimes it's interesting to eavesdrop a little bit.

Then I decided to run on the bluff path instead of the beach path for the run home. This is on a bluff overlooking the beach. This is where I saw a lovely women who was using a shopping cart as a stroller. She had two kids in the shopping cart and even had the thing you hang on the stroller for the kids to play with. It was a little strange to say the least.

Oh how I love residing in the same town Snoop Dogg grew up in. Never disappointing in the people watching department.



And it's really, really gorgeous. Sigh.

On a completely random and unrelated note, Mother's Day is quickly approaching and there are two sites that I LOVE for gift giving. I am a stationary freak, and I love getting and giving personalized gifts. Check out Expressionary for some GREAT stationary and stamp gifts. I love their stuff and it's GREAT quality. Also you can get a 40% discount (hello! That's huge!) if you enter "Mom40" at the checkout. Another great site is Personalization Mall. I have gotten some great gifts off there and especially love their canvas printing selection. They have great prices and you can make some really sweet stuff on their site. You can get free shipping on any order over $50 if you use the code "Momshipfree". Creep both of those. :)

Tonight I got a lovely 8 miler planned. I'm hoping it's not to windy. Also are any of you running this PCRR Cinco De Mayo 1/2 or their super cute site can be found here on Sunday? I think I will run it because 13 miles would be a great and fun distance for me to run this weekend, but running this race is pretty pricey. So that's some expensive fun. We'll see if I can get dragged out there. It looks like a great race though, so maybe I'll jump in last minute. I would hate to bandit, but $75 bucks is $75 bucks. I won't even drink any of their water at their stations! :) Shall I race or not.... that is the question.

xoxo

Taxing...

Well lets just say that today is a wonderful day... to some. I hope you all finished your taxes in time! I got mine done before leaving for Hawaii, thankfully, and this year was the first year where I made more than 10 dollars. It's amazing what a full time job can do for you! :)

This was also the first year that I had my professionally done and let me tell you, it's so worth it. I just handed over my papers and the wonderful tax person did them for me. Stress free.

I hope you all are going to have wonderful returns as well. :)



This is where I'm spending all my returns. Ps. Happy Birthday to Mr. R's brother. :)

xoxo

Weekend Wrap-Up

So this weekend my cousins, the Olies traveled up to Paso Robles where they have a lake house. We had a very fun filled weekend and prepared ourselves for the 5k and half marathon. I decided not to run the half marathon race morning because it was very cold and was going to be warmer when I finished. Sweating, coughing, sniffling and running didn't seem like they would help the fast track to recovery so I ended up running the 5k. That was interesting, you'll all get a good laugh tomorrow in the race report.

I am feeling a little bit better, slowly but surely with tons of Vitamin C, Emergen-C and sleep. We had a very relaxing time and I just wanted to post some pictures of our trip.

This was at race packet pick up. The course was out on a winery in town and it was very serene and gorgeous! Quite different than my normal running routes. Here we are gathered by a nice little lake right by the day spa where the race started.

We went to Chili's for lunch after packet pick up and then went to Target. We were pretty crazy this weekend. While we were eating lunch some guy was doing some tricep dips right outside where we were sitting. I decided to follow his lead after lunch and I called it extreme working out. Dang, my t-rex arms failed on those.

When we got back to the house, my uncle wanted us to 'split logs' because we were going to try out their new fire pit and make s'mores after dinner. He had this crazy machine to split logs.

Then we made some delicious s'mores! :)

It was a great weekend full of many laughs and some good and much needed relaxing. I can't wait to share the race report tomorrow. Turning around and running back to the start is an amazing way to start a race, it's like a salmon swimming upstream. I am taking at least one more day off from running because my throat burns like I just poured salt on an open wound when I breathe, so I think heavy breathing while running wouldn't be the best idea. Just working on getting better is enough to deal with. More to come on the race in the race report tomorrow!

xoxox

5 miles of a good head clearing

So claudeskipoo let me down a little bit and wouldn't find a satellite for a while yesterday. It's okay, I've since forgiven him but it was a while, meaning oh like 2 miles. I knew the route though and got in a really good run and did some hill work to try to strengthen my quads up in hopes that my knee wouldn't be sore for this weekend. I feel well and ran an average pace of 8:15 for 5 miles.

Do you ever have those workouts where you feel like your head is just cleared and you can keep running and it just feels so good. That was the workout last night. It felt freaking good to be out and running. Even though it was cold and I decided to wear shorts (stupid) and it was incredibly windy. I still felt good. I didn't bring my ipod and I still felt really good. It felt good to remember how a run feels. A run that you don't get tired on, that isn't way too far, that you don't have to suck down gus and drink tons of water to finish.

Just a leisurely run. One that gets the heart rate up but doesn't get you overly sweaty to the point where you reek. It was so calming to be able to watch the lights of Long Beach light up against the dark night sky and to hear the ocean lapping at the sand. It was good to hear my feet continue to pound the pavement. The sand on the path squishing under my shoes.

It was nice to hear my consistent breath, the huffing and puffing as I climbed the hills. Invigorating. That's what running can be if you give it the chance. It's always good to be able to come back to something that gives you peace, and allows you to think.

To me, Running is always there. I can always tie up my shoes and take off for three miles, for five mile, for fifteen miles. It's something that no matter the time of day, no matter the day you've had, no matter the people around you, or anything else, you can still do it. You can still get out and run. I love that. I love running.

Though this picture isn't at the beach, it's one of my favorite running pictures.

xoxo

Adoption April!

So after so many great comments about learning more about my adoption and my complete willingness to share my story I've decided that I will take one day a week in the month of April to talk about my adoption. I'm going to call it Adoption April, and if you don't care about learning more about adoption or hearing my story and how I was adopted then you can just skip right over these posts! It will take place every Monday in April and I will also be adding in anything else that I wanted to cover in my normal posts as well. This is what I wanted to talk about:

1. Why I was adopted - this is when I will talk about why I was put up for adoption and how the process worked for my parents at the time.

2. Growing up adopted - this is when I will discuss how I felt growing up adopted and how my parents handled me being adopted and any questions I may have had and may still have regarding my adoption

3. My thoughts on adoption - this is where I will talk about how I think adoption shaped me as a person and how I think many people can benefit from adoption. I will also voice what I think about secrecy and how some people have reacted to me being adopted.

4. All about my Birth Parents - this is when I will talk about the few things I know about my birth parents, including if I want to meet them or not, why I do or don't and what I feel about them.

5. Q&A on Adoption - this is where any of you can ask any question you want about adoption. I have always been open to discussing anything that anyone wants to know and I would love to raise adoption awareness by allowing anyone to ask anything! Seriously if you guys have any questions feel free to email (danicakoo@gmail.com) me and I will address them on this day, or if you just want me to write you back personally let me know.

Can't wait to share more of my story with you guys.

xoxo