Hot Chocolate 5K/15K

Fun fact: there are like 200 days until Ryan and I get married. And I am no where near the shape I want to be in. So get ready for an onslaught of #SweatingForTheWedding fitness posts!

Starting with this one: a recap of my very fun, very hilly, very hungover Hot Chocolate 5K last Sunday!

After prepping our guest room and bringing my dad home from the hospital last Friday, then cooking and hosting my annual St. Patrick's Day dinner last Saturday (with the addition of a lentil Shepherd's Pie this year!), I hopped out of bed at 5:45am on Sunday morning and headed to the Gaslamp for my second 5K Sunday in a row with my friend Megan.

Yeah... I was not exactly setting myself up for a PR.

The Hot Chocolate 5K is sponsored by Sweet Valley Organics and it was on behalf of them and their lovely team that Megan and I got to participate. Sweet Valley Organics makes delicious organic dark chocolate-covered fruit and nut snack bites, with mostly fair-trade sourced ingredients. Their Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Toffee Almonds, Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Praline Pecans, and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Cashews are suuuuuuper yummy. (These are wedding diet approved right?)

Soul Work

Earlier today, Ryan saw me reading and working and jokingly asked me if I was doing homework (it's a joke only because I'm not in school anymore - finally!). Without a second thought, I told him that I was doing Soul Work, a phrase that felt indulgent and hokey and worthy of an eye roll (or five). But also... accurate.

It's what I've been immersed in for the past month or so coming into this, my "butterfly" year. There's not really a structure or a point or a goal for it. It's just what I feel like spending almost all of my free time on lately. I've been super introspective and in my own little world for weeks: reading, journaling, listening, planning, dreaming.

Here's what Soul Work is shaping up to mean for the month of March:

• Finishing reading The Desire Map and identifying my "core desired feelings"
• Finishing listening to The Fire Starter Sessions and completing the worksheets
• Fully participating in The Salty Club: cooking the recipes, doing the workouts, following the journaling prompts
• Meditating by the ocean, spending time enjoying it up close or getting in it at least once each day
• Running or yoga once a day
• Drinking more water
• Outlining content for my book
• Spending more zen time in my little nook in our office

I'm curious to see if there are other people doing Soul Work this season and what that means for them. If you're reading something awesome or listening to a great podcast, let me know!

Colorfornia

Up until a couple of weeks ago, it had been a year since I last went for a run. 

Well, 364 days to be exact. The last time I ran was this little race on the east coast called the New York City Marathon. It was a perfect day, a perfect run, a perfect race. And a perfect excuse to take a little time off after training for five months. 

Only a little time turned into a month and then a season and before I knew it, it had been a year. 

It almost certainly would have gone longer than that had the running angels over at The Color Run not reached out and offered me a couple of free entries to the San Diego 5k. 

I decided that a little 5k fun run was the perfect way to kickstart my return to running. Better yet, I decided it was also the perfect opportunity to achieve a lifelong dream... to get Ryan to run a race with me. 

New York City Marathon 2016 Race Recap

This past weekend I ran the NYC Marathon.

It's weird to type that or say it or think it right now. Growing up in Connecticut, I thought that NYC was the only marathon. I didn't even realize that other marathons existed until I was a teenager. And even then, I kind of felt like other marathons didn't really matter.

I entertained the idea of running it off and on throughout my high school cross country years and into my early 20s and then almost-seriously considered it when I lived in Manhattan. But I never thought I could or would actually ever really do it. When I left New York and moved to San Diego in 2010, I left any notions of running New York behind too.

Then, earlier this year, I entered the lottery on a whim. I had a lot of different reasons for doing so, but I still don't think I really expected to get in. After all, over 85,000 people entered the lottery and they offer spots to less than 20% of entries. Plus, it was my very first time entering the lottery! Deep down I figured that if I didn't get in and found myself bummed out about it, that I would keep entering and shoot to get a guaranteed entry after getting rejected three years in a row. But on March 8th, I received a charge on my credit card for $255.

I had been accepted into the NYC Marathon.

Since then, it's been a long road to New York: five months of training, over 350 training miles logged and 20+ Saturday mornings spent sweating in the summer sun all over San Diego.

And it was all completely, absolutely worth it.

New York City is the best marathon in the world.

Marathon Monday: Taper Time

Scenes from my last double digit long run...

There's so much that I want to say about these past four or five months, but I don't even know where to begin. So instead of writing this recap the way I normally would, I'm just going to bullet out my thoughts as they come. Here goes:

• I just reread my first training recap from back in June of this year. So many bold statements... that I would learn from my first marathon and actually do strength training and yoga, that my diet would be better, that I was going to focus on time... None of this happened. #marathonerproblems?
• I've been complaining a lot over the past couple of weeks when in fact I should be incredibly grateful. During the course of training, there was not one but two serious health scares that, if realized, would have definitely taken me out of the race. When those situations were going on, I just remember thinking, "Please, please, please let me be able to run New York" over and over (because... #marathonerpriorities?). It's been so easy to forget how scared I was at one (or two) point(s) that not running this race was a possibility. 
• Speaking of not running, the two people whose training I was following along with for the past several months are both not sure if they can run the race. Due to an injury and health issues respectively. So when I was sweating it out (AKA melodramatically "dying") in 80° heat on my final double digit run on Saturday, I tried to think of them and how much they would gladly switch places with me. Again, gratitude. 
• Everyone keeps bringing up the race's biggest question mark for me: the weather. Because of it, my time may be lowered dramatically. I've been training in 80° temps and humidity for months, so theoretically a chilly day could seriously change this for the better. But in true pessimistic New Yorker fashion, I am quick to add that a potential psychotic NYC snow blizzard from hell or a random hurricane would undoubtedly do the opposite. #noshitsherlock
• I've run 350 miles in preparation for this marathon compared to around 320 that I ran in training for my marathon in 2013. One big difference? This time I trained for 5 months compared to 3! 
• I've had 7 million people ask me if I'm ready. My answer? As I'll ever be. 

Not the most articulate of posts, but as real as it's gonna get tonight. 6 days until Go Time!

NYC Marathon Training Week 19: 10/17/16 - 10/23/16

• Ran 3 Days For a Total of 20.98 miles
• Average Pace: 11'31" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 1x

NYC Marathon Training Week 20: 10/24/16 - 10/30/16

• October Total Mileage: 83.03 miles
• Ran 2 Days For a Total of 13.01 miles
• Average Pace: 11'34" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

Marathon Monday: Three Weeks Out

I started trying to write this post yesterday. First I tried to think of motivational things to say about marathon training, then I tried to think about witty things to say, then I just tried to regurgitate the facts. Anything to form some semblance of a legit training recap post.

Instead, all of those thoughts were thoroughly exhausting to me.

At this point, I got nothing. I'm tired of running, I'm tired of talking about running, I'm tired of thinking about it, writing about it, complaining about it. I really just want it to be done.

My heart and body and head weren't really in it for the past two weeks. I've decided multiple times that 5 months was too long of a time to train. I keep telling myself the marathon itself will be easier than my long training runs because for once it won't be 7 million degrees out but what if it is? Or what if it snows or hurricanes? I'm not prepared for that AT all. Nor am I prepared for hills because I've done very little hills training. I feel guilty for complaining anytime I read Ali's blog or think about the parallel universe in which I can't run because of some health or physical circumstance and Can't Run Bri tells me I'm the worst for taking my health and bod for granted.

And on and on these thoughts go.

So there's my motivational, witty post for this week. 21 more days.

NYC Marathon Training Week 17: 10/3/16 - 10/9/16

• Ran 1 Day For a Total of 7 miles
• Average Pace: 10'59" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 18: 10/10/16 - 10/16/16

• Ran 3 Days For a Total of 22.03 miles
• Average Pace: 12'16" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

West Coast Road Trip Part II: Big Sur to Santa Cruz

After a quick stay in Big Sur, it was time to cruise on over to Santa Cruz! (Sorry, I had to.)

On our way there, the original plan had been to maybe stop at Point Lobos, a gorgeous state reserve great for hiking and whale watching, but one that is unfortunately not dog-friendly.  Since this was the first time we'd been in the area dog-free, I had thought that maybe we should take advantage of it. But parking was backed out onto the road and we'd already hiked once that morning and besides... I wanted to make sure we had enough time to stop at the first (but definitely not the last!) tourist trap of our trip.

What tourist trap, you ask? Well... I don't want to keep it too much of a mystery. Heh. Heheheheh.

Next stop, Santa Cruz!

Marathon Monday: Run The World... Or At Least The West Coast

People tell me it's October. 

And I laugh and I laugh because it can't be October. For it to be October, I'd have to have run like 400 miles by now and I've only run... 266. So obviously, it can't be 16 weeks into marathon training. Because if it was that would mean I was terribly undertrained!

Only it is and I am and here we are. New York is 34 days away and not only am I undertrained, but I'm unprepared. I don't know if our AirBnB is legit or not because the host called me Marisa in the confirmation email and asked me for my address so she could mail me the keys (wtf?) and I didn't book our return flights yet and I haven't at all planned out the family and friend visits I am supposed to conduct while there, so yeah. 

F#$^.

Despite the disaster that has become this training, there have been a few wins. The first being that I ran on our summer vacation... not once, but twice, in Santa Cruz and Seattle respectively. More details on that amazing road trip to come very soon!

Which leads me to my second win, my fastest run of training, which occurred in Seattle. 9 minute miles! What? I haven't seen those in years! Although, it doesn't surprise me that I run my best when it's 50° and misting (thanks, Connecticut!). 

But by far, the most important win was surviving my first (and only) 20 miler this past weekend here at home. I ran, I hobbled, I watched Grey's Anatomy on Hulu because seriously 4 hours is just too much time alone with my thoughts, I stopped for snacks and coconut water, I stopped to stretch, I ran some more and then I took a sweaty Uber ride home. It was a day. 

And the next time I run that far, it will be November 6th! Ready or not, here we go October!

You can tell how uncomfortable I am taking selfies by this picture... "What do I do with my hands!?"

The view from my quiet sunrise run down to Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz

A little Seattle on top, a little San Diego on the bottom

There's no place like home... gorgeous sunrise runs back at home in San Diego

NYC Marathon Training Week 10: 8/15/16 - 8/21/16

• Ran 4 Days For a Total of 28.46 miles
• Average Pace: 11'23" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 11: 8/22/16 - 8/28/16

• Ran 4 Days For a Total of 22.02 miles
• Average Pace: 11'27" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 12: 8/29/16 - 9/4/16

• August Total Mileage: 64.6 miles
• Ran 2 Days For a Total of 11.04 miles
• Average Pace: 10'30" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 13: 9/5/16 - 9/11/16

• Ran 1 Day For a Total of 4.04 miles
• Average Pace: 10'30" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 14: 9/12/16 - 9/18/16

• Ran 3 Days For a Total of 22.05 miles
• Average Pace: 11'26" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 15: 9/19/16 - 9/25/16

• Ran 3 Days For a Total of 24.26 miles
• Average Pace: 11'03" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 16: 9/26/16 - 10/2/16

• September Total Mileage: 59.43 miles
• Ran 2 Days For a Total of 24.07 miles
• Average Pace: 11'16" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

Marathon Monday: Life, Happening

Part of the reason that marathon training seems so daunting to most people (aside from the fact that it, of course, is), is that you can't pause your life to do it. You decide, months, sometimes over a year, in advance that you're going to run this race. You train for four, sometimes five months, prior to the race, and all of this without any guarantee that you'll actually be able to run this thing, that you'll be able to follow through on this huge commitment. Because guess what? Life happens. 

So that's my theory. That for a lot of people who say they want to run marathons, and even for the people who mean it, the reason they don't is because of a fear of commitment. There's just too much of a time runway and too many things that can go wrong in that time that people worry they won't be able to follow through on this huge life achievement that they've committed to.

I don't have that fear. Why? Because I've already backed out of two marathons that I registered for in the past and shockingly, the world didn't end. [insert cry laughing emoji here] 

But barring any serious injury, I am absolutely not backing out of New York. I am fully aware of what a once in a lifetime opportunity this is. Which is why I am so stressed out about the fact that I effectively stopped training over the past two weeks. 

At the end of July I was doing great. I had hit about 90% of my scheduled runs, almost broke triple digits for mileage that month and was feeling pretty good about my training plan and progress overall. Then life, as it's wont to do, happened. Something had to give and it was running. 

But instead of dwelling on it, this week I plan to just jump back into my scheduled runs without skipping a beat, stop beating myself up about the past two weeks and take the sore legs and exhaustion as punishment. 

Month 3 of training may be off to a pretty worthless start, but it definitely can't end that way!

NYC Marathon Training Week 6: 7/18/16 - 7/24/16

• Ran 4 Days For a Total of 22.34 miles
• Average Pace: 11'17" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 7: 7/25/16 - 7/31/16

• July Total Mileage: 95.6 miles
• Ran 4 Days For a Total of 25.52 miles
• Average Pace: 11'46" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 8: 8/1/16 - 8/7/16

• Ran 1 Day For a Total of 3.11 miles
• Average Pace: 11'47" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

NYC Marathon Training Week 9: 8/8/16 - 8/14/16

• Ran 1 Days For a Total of 5 miles
• Average Pace: 11'41" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

Marathon Monday: San Diego Pride 5K

As far as I can tell, it's been almost three years (!!!) two years one year since my last 5k. And I'm not going to lie... like a lot of other long distance runners, I tend to be a bit of a distance snob when it comes to the 5k. Which is a shame because it can really be a great little marathon training boost of confidence.

I signed up for the Pride 5k at the suggestion of my friend Megan who has run it the past two years in a row. Mostly because I wanted to just have fun hanging and running it with her, but also because: 1. I regrettably had yet to experience any of Pride weekend in San Diego over the past 6 years and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out again; 2. the proceeds go to a wonderful cause, to support LGBT Youth Housing Center and Pride Charity Giving; and 3. because I'm getting to the point in my training where I will find any excuse to not have my training runs be just me and my thoughts.

Because who wants to be alone with their thoughts for 20+ miles a week?

Marathon Monday: Baby You're A Firework

...on a Wednesday! Because I was too busy enjoying great company and these fireworks to finish this post on the 4th. 

But if I had posted this on Monday, I would have started by saying how grateful I am that Mondays and Fridays are rest days for me in my training plan... they're the hardest days for me to find motivation on, especially when one lands on one of the biggest drinking holidays of the year.

Well, Week 3 of (pre)Training is done and in the books. I'm slowly but steadily dropping time and anticipate to be able to start doing some marathon pace short runs in a month or so. 

I've found myself wanting to get my runs out of the way earlier and earlier to avoid the humidity. This past Friday I jumped out of bed at 5:15am to make breakfast and get out running by 6am. It's exhausting but worth it to avoid the sun. 

This by the way, is something I'm still in denial about: the fact that I'm going to log 400 miles in the hottest months of the year. 

Anyway, by this time next week pre-training will officially be over and I'll have a month and 75-ish miles under my belt. And then the real fun begins. Cross-training, Yassos, hills, running 5 days a week instead of 4...

NYC Marathon Training Week 3: 6/27/16 - 7/3/16

• June Total Mileage: 47 miles
• Ran 4 Days For a Total of 16.13 miles
• Average Pace: 10'31" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

Marathon Monday: If You're Looking to Run, Well Then You've Already Ran

Running by surfers making the sketchy cliffside hike up and down from the waves at Sunset Cliffs on Friday morning

This week I discovered something life-changing: Spotify Personalized Running Playlists.  

I say this at the risk of exposing the fact that I live under a rock. Because this seems like something so obviously obvious that I should have discovered much, much sooner. 

And yet, there I was last week, running to the "Eat Pray Love" audiobook like a chump (one could argue there are multiple layers of chumpiness involved in that admission). 

The difference in running to Elizabeth Gilbert whining about her struggles with meditation versus a playlist of music I either love, just found out I loved or forgot I loved, all timed to match my pace is truly, as I mentioned, life-changing. 

Not only did I find some great new bands that I'm now obsessed with, but it got me through all four of my runs this week, two of which involved me running through my hangovers like a champ (Alternative post title: From Chump to Champ). 

So there you have it. The secret to NYC Marathon (pre)Training, Week 2. 

Sometimes it's the little things. 

NYC Marathon Training Week 2: 6/20/16 - 6/26/16

• Ran 4 Days For a Total of 15.94 miles
• Average Pace: 11'07" /mi
• Strength Training: 0x
• Yoga: 0x

Marathon Monday: Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of

So... I'm running the New York City Marathon in November. 

I'm not really sure how this happened. Maybe it was because NYC was the first marathon that ever made me consider wanting to run a marathon when I was in high school.... it just seemed so cool, the idea of conquering this city one borough at a time with my feet, all in one day. Maybe it's because New York and I have a complicated past and this marathon seemed like it could symbolize some closure for that chapter of my life. Perhaps, over the course of 26 miles, I could even finally find something to love about a city that I've vehemently denied even liking ever since I left. 

Maybe it was because, at the time that I entered the marathon lottery in January, my uncle and godfather was dying back home because of cancer caused by a genetic mutation that I may or may not have inherited. The sadness that I felt over losing him, and about his condition and not visiting family on the east coast as much as maybe I should have over the years, made me look at this marathon as an excuse to have at least one east coast visit on the books for the year. And the confrontation with mortality and my own health, both in its current and its genetically predisposed state, made me look at the marathon as a real opportunity for motivation to get back in shape and start taking my health more seriously.

Or maybe it was because I was turning 30 a few months later and had been loosely planning to run another marathon during my 30th year. When I look back on this year, I wanted something big to remind me of entering my third decade. 

Whatever the reason, I entered the lottery on January 25th. And when I checked my credit card account on March 8th, there it was: a charge for $255. My NYRR account updated a few hours later... I had been accepted into the New York City Marathon. 

Fast Metabolism Diet: Week 2... D.I.E.T.

Gorgeous view leaving the Point Loma Nazarene University Track after a Week 2 workout

I get a lot of emails and comments on my post "Everything You Need to Know Before Doing the Fast Metabolism Diet" that lead me to believe people have not read the actual book. If I write a revised guide for this meal plan, I think that's the first and maybe the most important thing you need to know: read the book. And not because I don't like answering those questions... in fact I'm happy to help. But because the book explains the science behind the Fast Metabolism Diet better than I ever could!

I spend so much time trying to explain the point of this meal plan to people who get stuck at the word "Diet" and don't hear me say anything else. Important things like how this "diet" is not about calorie counting or deprivation. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Which reminds me of one of the greatest takeaways from the early chapters of the book: Pomroy's acronym for D.I.E.T is Did I Eat Today?

FMD reframes the word "diet" into a question about whether or not you ate with intention or purpose to fuel your body that day. Which is an even higher purpose for starting this "diet" than weight loss. It also happens to be the mentality that propelled me through my second week of this new round of FMD meals.

Baby Break A Sweat: January 2016 Workout Recap

I want to be very clear: it's not a resolution.

It's just a decision that from here on out, I am going to be active for at least 30 minutes everyday. Just 30 minutes of movement. Preferably spent running, strength training or doing yoga.

But you know what else counts? Walking around for 30 minutes straight shopping while you're on vacation. Catching up with your best on a five mile walk along some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. Or even just the thirty minutes it takes to walk the mile and a half to your friends' house so that you can Uber to the bar.

Whatever it is, I'll take it. Just a minimum of 30 minutes a day of movement. That's all.

Which! If you add it up, is just one week a year!

The One Week Workout. Coming to a clickbait article near you! (Just kidding, but yeah probably I will most definitely do a recap with that title when the year is over).

It's manageable. Most days I can find some way to move for 30 minutes, so it doesn't make me feel like I've completely failed if I couldn't go for a run or get to a class. Which in turn doesn't send me into a self-pitying pizza spiral. And on the two days this month that I couldn't bring myself to move for 30 seconds let alone 30 minutes (thanks alcohol!), I took some comfort in the fact that I definitely worked out for more than 30 minutes most days.

With one month down, I'm looking forward to adding a fun new theme or challenge to each month going forward. This month, starting this weekend, I'll be doing another round of the Fast Metabolism Diet in conjunction with my workouts. I can't wait to share my progress as the year continues!

January 2016

• 1st - Ran 2.60 miles 
• 2nd - 32 Minute Core x 20 Vinyasa Flow with Rachel Brathen on oneOeight.tv
• 3rd - Ran 2.52 miles
• 4th - 30 Minute Primal Yoga Vinyasa Flow with Liz Arch on oneOeight.tv
• 5th - Ran 2.54 miles
• 6th - 30 Minute Happy Hips and Heart Yoga Class with Stephanie Birch on oneOeight.tv
• 7th - 32 Minute Core x 20 Vinyasa Flow with Rachel Brathen on oneOeight.tv
• 8th - Ran 3.21 miles
• 9th - Ran 3.42 miles
• 10th - 30 Minute Morning Wakeup Vinyasa Flow with Stephen Bickle on oneOeight.tv
• 11th - 46 Minute Yin Love Yoga Class with Rachel Brathen on oneOeight.tv
• 12th - Ran 4.20 miles
• 13th - 20 Minute Morning Yoga Flow with Coral Brown on oneOeight.tv and 15 Minute Tone It Up KettleBooty Workout
• 14th - Ran 3 miles
• 15th - Walked 3 miles around Sayulita
• 16th - 60 Minute surf lesson with Lunazul Surf School
• 17th - 75 Minute Vinyasa Morning Flow at Moon Shala in Sayulita with Leah Nicole Tisdale
• 18th - 20 Minute Go To Flow with Coral Brown on oneOeight.tv and 15 Minute Tone It Up KettleBooty Workout
• 19th - 30 Minute Happy Hips and Heart Yoga Class with Stephanie Birch on oneOeight.tv
• 20th - Ran 2.45 miles
• 21st - Ran 3.01 miles
• 22nd - Ran 2.33 miles
• 23rd - Walked 1.5 miles to our friends Des and Ian's house
• 24th - REST DAY. 
• 25th - Ran 3.43 miles
• 26th - 32 Minute Core x 20 Vinyasa Flow with Rachel Brathen on oneOeight.tv
• 27th - Ran 3.07 miles
• 28th - Ran 3.15 miles
• 29th - Ran 2.52 miles
• 30th - Walked 5 miles along Sunset Cliffs and back 
• 31st - REST DAY. 

Total January Running Mileage: 41.5 miles
Completed Daily Workouts: 29/31 days

Motivation Monday: Two Truths and a Lie

In my Instagram bio, I list that I am a runner, writer, and yogi. And for the past year, one of those things has been a big, fat lie.

I've mentioned before that SanBriego essentially started out as a running blog, way back in 2013 when I was training for my first marathon. But after the marathon was over, so were regular running posts. Instead, for the next year or so, I stuck to sporadic Motivation Monday updates and half marathon race recaps.

Except I ran and recapped my last half in March 2014. I posted my last Motivation Monday eight months later. And even that was almost a year ago. Running and I have had a tough time this year and I don't really have a good reason for it. Work, school, the humidity, blah blah blah. They're all excuses and not even good ones.

Three weeks ago I decided to start running again. Which went great... for about 5 days. Then it was two more weeks of pizza and beer and a little bit of yoga. In the form of savasanas... in my bed... in the AC. That counts right?

Needless to say, I am in the absolute worst shape of my life and I have decided that I'm basically over it. I will not gain another pound. I will not let 2015 go by without running a single half. I will not claim to be a runner when my sneakers are literally hidden under cobwebs (gross and terrifying). That ends today. And it starts with accountability. Because posting my weekly workout recaps here on the blog is extremely motivating to me and a good record of my running progress.

So here's to new running clothes and miles and regular Motivation Monday posts again. See you on the pavement (anddddd right here, same time, next week)!

9/7/15-9/13/15 Fitness Log: 

• ran 4 days for a total of 12.1 miles 

9/14/15-9/20/15 Fitness Log: 

• ran 0 days 

9/21/15-9/27/15 Fitness Log: 

• ran 0 days 

Wanderlust 108 San Diego: A Mindful Triathalon

I'm not going to lie: I've loved telling people that I did a triathalon this weekend. This "joke" is extremely troubling to me because it means that I have inherited my dad's sense of humor and that is just terrible (sorry, Dad).

If you know me, you know this is my idea of funny because I only started learning how to swim last year and the last time I tried to ride a bike I crashed it into a telephone pole. True story. So, no it wasn't a triathalon in the standard sense. This was what they call "a mindful triathalon": a 5K, 90 minutes of yoga and a 15 minute meditation. These are things I can do without injuring myself or dying.

Shopped: Road Runner Sports, Kearny Mesa

It's time.

After months of stress fractures and stress eating and just plain old stress, it's no surprise that I have returned to my pre-FMD bod, my pre-marathon motivation, and my pre-San Diego happiness levels. Something is way, way off and if I had to put my finger on it, there's a 110% chance that it's because I'm not running.

Believe it or not, back in the day the main focus of this blog was running. And after spending the first half of 2014 recovering from stress fractures, I finally rejoined the world of runners when we moved to Ocean Beach in the fall. It felt great! But thennnnn daylight savings time happened, which makes it really hard for me find time to run and even though that's come and gone, I never started running again. I needed some motivation... something to make it fun...

It's pretty easy to see where I'm going with this: new shoes.

Motivation Monday: I Run This Beach

Thanks to Skechers for sponsoring this post!

I thought of the title for this post as I was sweating my way down the Ocean Beach Pier this morning, but in the effort of full transparency: I jogged this beach and collapsed into a sweaty, gasping mess the moment I returned to my front steps. 

Did I mention this was a 2.5 mile run?

Needless to say, I'm a little out of shape. The move, school, work... all of it has taken its toll and rendered me completely useless in the fitness department. But with the move over last week and school ending this past weekend, I woke up and realized I had no excuse. 

More importantly, I had a reason. 

Shopped: Oakley Gaslamp

For most San Diegans, the Gaslamp (aka Downtown) is for tourists. To them, it's the equivalent of going to Times Square in NYC or Grauman's Chinese Theater in LA. And the Gaslamp in July? You can't throw a craft beer without hitting a bachelor/ette party, a group of foreigners, or a man in a Marvel costume. If you live here, it's to be avoided at all costs during the summer.

Which is really too bad, because there are tons of great restaurants and shops in the Gaslamp that we should be taking advantage of. And one of those shops is the Oakley store on Fifth Ave.

A lot of girls seem to have the wrong idea about Oakley. They think it's just another Billabong or Roxy surf brand style of apparel. Which couldn't be further from the truth: Oakley is a performance sports apparel brand. Sure, yeah they have the SoCal vibe; after all, they're headquartered just up the 5 in Orange County. But Oakley is for athletes. And with easy access to their new collections at their Gaslamp store, it's a shame more San Diego runners don't know that.