Living and Learning

As you know, I have an interesting relationship situation. Let me quickly remind you, in case you forgot. 

Boy from MA. Girl from CA. Meet while working together in New Orleans. The situation is interesting, as in, neither are "in their element". Living out of a hotel does not give you a very good chance of learning who someone is completely (aka. are they messy? are they a hoarder? do they make their bed/wash their dishes/clean their toilet?) And yes, this matters.

2 months later Girl goes to South America for a year of travel. You would think this would be the end, but it's not. They keep in touch. Boy comes to visit a few times. When girl comes home, she goes to work in Iowa. Boy is still in New Orleans. They try to see each other when they can, which is usually once a month, in a city in the middle, where they are tourists, living in a hotel (aka. not real life). 

After several months of this, Girl gets a job in New Orleans again. For about a year, they both live in the same city. Sometimes in a hotel, sometimes in an apartment, but still, it is a temporary thing. After this, Boy and Girl decide to travel the world for a year, once again living in hostels, hotels, campervans and even a tent (that was an interesting situation). 

Boy and Girl get back home from traveling and go to their separate corners, him to MA, her to CA, where they have been ever since. They see each other every couple of months. 

BUT NOW: Boy and Girl are both in CA. Living together. In a house. Once again, it's temporary. It's strange to be together for more than a couple of days, and for more than once a month or once every couple of months. 

We are very different, but so far are making it work. How are we different? 

- He is not a good sleeper. I sleep like the dead. 

- He doesn't care where things are placed. I am a type A organizational freak. 

- He is spontaneous. I am a planner.

- He would rather pay for dinner out than cook and clean up. I let him. :)

- He splurges. I am frugal. 

- He is always hot. I am always cold. 

- He likes beer. I like water. 

We are also the same in many ways. 

- We both prefer savory over sweet. 

- We love taking after dinner walks.

- We both love photography. 

- We like looking at houses for sale even though we can't afford them.

- We both love exploring new places. 

- Food is important to both of us. 

I know that even though we have been together for almost 5 years, we still have a lot to learn about each other, not only the little things, like what is someone's favorite cake flavor, but also bigger things. We haven't really had the chance to go over all of our life goals, since we are always on the move. We are not going to figure it all out here either. We still have a ways to go, but I am looking forward to it! 

Have you ever had a long distance relationship? Would you rather pay for dinner out or cook it and clean it up yourself? 

** also, I have a guest post up over at Her Sunday today! Go check it out when you get a chance!**

Food Firsts (4)

On Sunday, Mr. Lovely and I had pizza. I made the dough (my first attempt) and it didn't even suck!

The recipe was adapted from here.

4 1/2 cups  whole wheat flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

I am not going to go into the making of the dough in detail; if you want more information, you can go to the original site. Basically, add together all the dry ingredients. Then add the oil and water and stir, using a metal spoon kept cold, or your hands, which you should keep dipping in ice water. Once the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (about 5 mins), split it into 6 equal portions. Each portion should make about a 9 inch pizza.

I kept two portions in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer to pull out later. When you are ready to use the dough, take it out of the fridge about 2 hours beforehand. Flatten out the ball and cover loosely with a piece of saran wrap until it's time to cook. When you are ready with all your toppings, you can throw the crust or you can just roll it with a pie roller. I put cornmeal on my baking sheet and placed my crust on it, then poked holes in it with a knife to keep it from rising.  Put your toppings on and then cook on your oven's highest setting (mine is 550) for about 6-10 minutes (mine took 7).

The Topping Bar

Serve and enjoy! We had a ton of fun and this is a great idea for if you are having people over, because each person can make their own pizza with whatever they want on it!  As you can see, some people like to heap stuff on theirs and some people take a more simple approach. You can try to guess whose is whose.

Do you ever make your own crust? Or add your own toppings? What is your favorite pizza topping?

Tuesday Training (2)

Well, it's time for my monthly training post. The post about training week 1-4 can be found here. For those of you who get bored by these training posts, feel free to check out some posts that are more interesting but little read, due to the fact that I wrote these back when I was but a wee blogger, like a post I wrote about The Latte Factor, or maybe you would prefer one where I ask, "Why Weight?"

Training is still going strong. I have had fun exploring new places as well as getting to run in a coastal city in the summer, which beats running in Missouri in the summer (which is what I did last year)! 

Week 5: May 21 - 28: 41 miles

For week five I ran a couple of fast and flat runs around the lake and then I did the group trail run, where I got to wear test the Brooks Connect. After that, I decided to explore the BA Ridge Trail and ended up doing a 17 mile trail run just for fun. I saw a few snakes, stopped and took dozens of photos, got lost, got rained on and had a great time! I wish all long runs were like that. I experimented with fuel: I tried Nuun (on the uphills) and a mocha Gu, which I took half at 1 hr and half at 2 hrs and they both seemed to settle pretty well.

Week 6: May 29 - June 3: 42 miles

In keeping with my exploration of the BA Ridge trail, for week six, I decided to run on the trail to meet a friend for a walk and I got lost again, so this one became an 11 mile trail run. I really didn't mind, except the next day's 3 mile run was pretty lead legged! I also did some 800s with an average pace of 7:40 for the entire run. My long run (13.1 miles at 7:26 pace)for the week was the See Jane Half Marathon. I did not use any fuel for the race.

Week 7: June 4 - June 10: 45 miles

Week seven was the week of the broken down car, and therefore I was stuck without my Garmin for a few days. I actually enjoyed not knowing what my pace was, although I missed having the data to analyze later. My average pace was around an 8:30 without it. My long run this week (16 miles at 8:52 pace) was in Santa Cruz along the West cliffs. The highlight was a snake eating a mouse. I also experimented with Gu Chomps, which are okay, but not great.

Week 8: June 11 - June 17: 47.5 miles

I was sick for the majority of week 8, which was a bummer. It's hard to run and breathe through your mouth the whole time. It's also a pain to have any extra reason to spit. However, I rested for the first couple of days and then made myself get back outside (it was beautiful in Santa Cruz this week -- weather in the 60s and low 70s) and just do it. I did a quick tempo run in the Kinvaras, which was like running on air. I also did a hill run, which was a 10 mile trail run uphill most of the way (I took the bus back down the hill). My long run (17 miles at 8:51 pace) was on the East Cliffs. I got a little lost but had another beautiful view (albeit a bit foggy).

Aside from the running, I have been walking approximately 2 miles (or more) a day, just to do normal things like walk to the bus stop, the grocery store, or just a leisurely after dinner photo walk. I have not done any strength/cross training, aside from carrying boxes, moving things, gardening and cleaning the house.

Are you training for any races? Do you do any strength training? How do you feel about working out in the summer time? (**Do you like to mess around with Excel?)

Last Week (3)

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. I had a good one, and also last week was pretty eventful as well!

I went to the Dollar Store. Yes, I did. 

You may wonder how they can sell these wipes for a dollar!

I did too, until I noticed...there are only 24 in the container, which is the same size as the 75 count Clorox version.

I am onto them!

My friend Richard was on Chopped! 

I am going to shamelessly plug his place. 

If you get the chance and you like BBQ, go to: 

CatHead's BBQ in San Francisco!

Here is the Yelp Review. It's good. I wouldn't recommend it otherwise. 

They even have vegetarian food!

 

You know you are living in a hippie town when...

 

As seen on our weekly after dinner walk.

 

As seen on my bean plant.

I tried Kombucha. I did not like it. 

I do like the warning: 

Due to natural fermentation, this product may contain a trace amount of alcohol.

There has been much cabbage salad in my life lately.

Top with Vietnamese dressing (ginger, rice wine, Sriracha, a dash of brown sugar) and it's a delicious and cool way to have a nice treat!

I also added peanuts and basil.Yum!

We've been doing some exploring. 

This is Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. 

Yup. Redwoods.  It's like the Return of the Jedi.

(actually that was filmed here)

 

We went for a swim in the San Lorenzo river. 

 

Another after dinner beach walk. 

 

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? Have you ever been to the Redwoods?

My Bucket is Half Full

It's funny, if you asked me what was on my fitness bucket list a year ago, my main one would have been:

To run a marathon.

Period. A marathon. It seemed like something that I would do...in the future...in a long time...later...when I was faster or stronger.  Little did the me of June 2011 know, but that marathon was closer than I realized. I am not going to say it was an easy journey to get there, but I definitely underestimated myself. Running my first marathon made me realize that I was stronger, more determined and could do more than I give myself credit for.

So now my list of hopefuls fitness-wise is a lot longer. I may not get to all of them, but it's fun to dream, and I know I will do many of them! The list keeps growing as I find out about new, fun things, so there will always be things on it that I am wishing for, striving for, working toward and checking off!

1. A Marathon: The goal to run "a marathon" has become a new thing entirely. The new goals are to:

Source: google.com via Kyria on Pinterest

- BQ (and run Boston, of course)
- Run a destination marathon -- Paris, The Great Wall, The Inca Trail
- Run a marathon in every state

2. Trail Running: I have found that I like running trails more than I like road running. I have been a hiker all my life, so trail running, and racing, combines two of my favorite things...and gummy bears!

Source: google.com via Kyria on Pinterest

- Run a 50k
- Run a 30k
- Run the Rim to Rim to Rim
- Run the Western States 100

3. Hiking: Like I said, hiking has always been a part of my life and some of these things have been on my list for a while. Others are new. There will always be another trail I want to hike!

Source: milfordtrack.net via Kyria on Pinterest

- Hike the Milford Track (New Zealand)
- Thru Hike the Pacific Crest Trail
- Thru Hike the Continental Divide Trail
- Thru Hike the Appalachian Trail
- Hike Mt. Washington (NH)
- Hike the 7 Summits
- Hike in Colorado (I am not sure where yet -- any tips?)
- Continue to hike the US High Points (so far, I've hiked to the top of 4 out of 50) 

4. Other: There are always non-running and hiking things as well!

Source: google.com via Kyria on Pinterest

- Learn to Surf
- Do a handstand for 30 seconds
- Do a plank for 5 minutes
- Learn to Kite Surf
- Compete in a triathlon
- Buy a bike and ride it

There are many, many more on my list, and I could go on forever, but I want to hear from you guys. What is on your fitness bucket list? What have you already done that you think I should add to mine? 

You can find more of my fitness bucket list on Pinterest. Also, don't forget to go cver to Jill's  for more Fitness Friday inspiration!

Bay Area Ridge Trail

Recently, I found out about a gem in my own back yard. Literally, it's about 3 miles from my house (in Oakland). In my book, that is walking distance (in case it's not, there is a bus). It's called the Bay Area Ridge Trail. It's 325 miles of trails around the San Francisco Bay, with a proposed future distance of 550 miles, as you can see from the map below. I think this is great, since I grew up living ON the Pacific Crest Trail (2,663 miles from Mexico to Canada, through CA, OR and WA) and hiking, hikers and trails have always been a big part of my life.

I decided then and there that I was going to try to hike, walk, or run as much of it as I can. I found a trail tracker, where you can track your miles.

So, right now, since I am was living in Oakland, I started out with a few sections near my house. It was beautiful. The first day, I went for a 17 mile out and back trail run, which included sections of redwood forests and open grassland and had views of the bay area, including San Francisco and the headlands beyond. It was great. The only downside was that I took a wrong turn around mile 4 and ended up running through a grassland area (for about 8 miles. Oops). I only realized I was lost when I wasn't arriving at my destination when I thought I was supposed to.  Day 1: Skyline Gate to Robert Sibley, including sections of Redwood Regional Park,  Huckleberry Botanical Garden Preserve and Robert Sibley Volcanic Preserve. (4.3 miles)

Tilden Regional Park

The next day I took a walk with my friend and then ran back to the house via the trail I was supposed to have used the day before instead of getting a ride back with her. The walk was on a nice flat path and the run was a lot of ups and downs on a single track with some really good views of the Bay. I got lost once but followed, stalked was helped by an older gentleman with a 100 miler shirt on. Day 2: Nimitz Way to Robert Sibley, including sections of Robert Sibley and Tilden Regional Park. (5 miles)

Robert Sibley

On the third day, I was going to meet up with my friend for a walk at 9 a.m. I decided to run from my house to meet her. From what I could tell, it was about 9 miles. I left at 7, which should have given me plenty of time. However, you may have guessed this already, but I got lost. I ended up doing an extra 2 miles, rounding out this run at 11 miles (but only 9 of it was on the BA Ridge Trail) Day 3: MacDonald Staging Area to Procter Staging Area, including Redwood Regional Park and Anthony Chabot Regional Park. (9.1 miles)

Chabot Regional Park

Total to date: 18.4 miles**

**I will have to do a more through calculation later, because I have also been on some additional portions of this trail without even knowing it (see stars on map above).

So, the general theme of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Exploration Project (that is the official name and has been approved by the FDA and the USDA) is my getting lost. I am not sure if it's my map reading skills or my navigation skills, or their lack of signage/good maps. Or all four maybe? I have had a lot of fun finding out the routes and making a point to try a new route, rather than the same one that I always do and am comfortable with.

I think it's a great way to see new areas near my home as well as to push my boundaries a little bit. I also feel that it keeps running FUN (or hiking/walking). And the views have been fabulous! I also love the fact that within the city there are such beautiful green spaces. It's like you are all alone running along a trail. I barely saw any other people and there are rarely even commercial structures in view. I can't wait to try some of the other sections!

Do you have any hiking trails near your house? Have you ever done any hiking on the PCT, Appalachian or Continental Divide Trails? Do you like to try new running/hiking/walking routes or do you stick to the tried and true?

Getaway For a Day

I travel a lot. I live out of hotels for anywhere between 150 - 350 days a year, mostly for work. I would like to say that all hotels are equal, but that is definitely not the case. Some of them are nice; some of them are not so nice. I am a bit spoiled; I admit it. It's amazing how you tend to start choosing hotels based on the bed, the breakfast buffet, the soap, the front desk staff...the list goes on. Here is my usual criteria. 

1) Location: Is it good? Can you walk around easily? Is there a good place for dinner nearby? 2) Staff: First impressions are everything. When I walk up to the check-in desk, I judge the staff right away based on how the front desk person acts. 3) Room: Is the bed comfortable? Is the room bright enough? Are the sheets soft (this is the one that really makes me keep coming back.)? Is there enough room for two people or do you feel like two sardines in the room? How's the view?  4) Amenities: This includes pool, gym, free breakfast, happy hour, welcome gift etc. 5) The Hotel: Is there a hang out area in the main lobby? How are the bars and restaurants?

Mr. Lovely and I took a trip to San Jose last weekend to stay at the Hotel Valencia Santana Row. The Hotel, as the name states, is located on Santana Row, which is home to more than 100 restaurants (like LB Steak and Maggiano's Little Italy) and stores (such as Anthropologie and Lululemon Athletica). I had never been to Santana Row before; in fact I have only been to San Jose a couple of times and Mr. Lovely has never been, so it was a fun way for both of us to explore a new area.

We arrived in the afternoon and checked in. The front desk staff was very nice. Our room was very large and had a really nice balcony with a view of Santana Row. You know me, the first thing I went and checked out was the pool and the gym! I knew I was going to have an indulgent night and wanted to get my run in early. The gym was fantastic. It had french doors that you could open up to a balcony, so you could see the view while you were running. It also had 4 treadmills and a few elliptical, as well as weights, exercise balls and other assorted items. There were towels and cold water and oranges for after. 

Our room (source)

After I finished my run, we started off our stay by relaxing and having a couple of glasses of wine, which was our welcome gift from the hotel. After that, we wandered around the Row, which was quite busy. It seems to be the place to be, to see and to been seen on a Friday night! 

For dinner, we walked to the nearby White Shallot, which is a French Vietnamese restaurant. Everything was delicious, but the best thing was the dessert! We had a the Cafe Gormand, which was a trio of desserts, featuring chocolate cake, an almond tart, and a vanilla bean panna cotta. I am a sucker for a good panna cotta, and this one was no disappointment! We also had the tofu custard with coconut creme, which I loved but Mr. Lovely was so-so about. I think if he wouldn't have known about the tofu, he may have liked it more. 

We went back to the hotel and went to sleep on the (very comfortable with the softest sheets EVER) king sized bed (heaven). The next morning we had a complimentary continental breakfast at Citrus, one of the the hotel's restaurants. Sometimes when you get a  continental breakfast, it is just some bread and jam and coffee, but this was a great spread. There were pancakes, oatmeal, omelets, tons of pastries and fresh fruit and a cured meat plate with tons of meats and cheeses! I have to admit, I only tried the fruit and an omelet, but thanks to Mr. Lovely, we tried one of everything and the verdict was that everything was great! 

After breakfast, we wandered around the shared spaces of the hotel. The main level had a great outdoor sitting area with fountains. The pool and hot tub were up on the 5th floor and had a great view. After finishing our self tour, we settled down in our room to watch the Euro cup before heading home. This rounded out our stay nicely (except that Portugal lost). My only regret was that we didn't have more time. We could have easily stayed longer! 

The outdoor courtyard (source)

  

Do you ever take a day to get away from home, even if the getaway is close to home? What criteria do you look for in a hotel? 

*Disclaimer: I received this room for free in return for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Currently: June

Current Book - The Night Circus -- Erin Morgenstern  (so far, I am LOVING it) 

Current Celebrity Crush - Ibrahim Afellay from the Dutch National team. I know, he looks young, but he is 26, so I am not rocking the cradle too badly. He's a great athlete. I find that very attractive.

  

Current Drink -  Coffee w/ vanilla creamer.

Current Excitement -  I found a thrift store near my house with 50% off. You would think that would mean they just double the price and then give you "half off" but it's really cheap. I got an REI dry wicking hiking shirt for $1.50! 

Current fashion trend - For my birthday, I received some new running shorts. I am not sure if they are fashionable. You decide. 

Current Favorite Blog/Website - I am really loving Nilsa's blog lately. She brings up so many great points and backs them up with great writing. Also check out her list of trends that she "missed out" on. 

Current Favorite Film -  Spaceballs. Another classic. 

Curent Food - Cherries. I ate about a pound of them today. 

Current Guilty Pleasure - Ice cream. 2 times in one day on Sunday. 

Current Indulgence - Going to the beach. I went twice yesterday. Not to sunbathe but just for a walk. It was great. 

Current Mood - sick, blah, bleh

Current New Find - Running on East Cliff Drive

Current Outfit - Jeans, sweater and sneakers (yes, I put on pants today!) 

Current Peeve - People who leave trash on the beach. Really, people? 

Current Song - It's an old one, but this She Wants Revenge song really gets me going. 

Current Triumph - Under a 7:30 pace for my last half marathon. 

Current TV Show - Nothing. (See above re guilty pleasure)

Current Wish-List - A new car (mine is back in the shop...again)

Currently Delaying - Running. I don't feel good. I want to run, but I don't want to at the same time. 

What's currently going on in your life? Are you fashionable? Have you watched any of the Euro cup? 

Monday Misc

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I sure did. I have so much to talk about, but I am without my own computer today and I don't know about you guys, but when I am using a borrowed computer, it seems like I am much less organized. I mean, am I the only one who gets bothered by having to put my password into everything all over again? Or the history bar not auto populating when you go to check out your favorite blog? I know; it's not a big deal, but all my photos and downloads and everything are on my computer and it's just so much more convenient to use it! Now that I have rambled on about nothing for the last five minutes, lets get to it!

- I guess I am the snake woman, because yesterday during my run, I saw a snake...eating a mouse! I mean, the mouse was tail end in the snakes mouth and he was being devoured as I watched. Luckily (am I the only one who thinks this is lucky?) Mr. Lovely was biking with me and he had his big camera and he got some nice shots of the entire process. I think stuff like that is cool. If you are a vegetarian or a mouse lover, I apologize.

- I developed a bit of a cold this weekend. In order to try to alleviate it, I had one of these. I think it helped.

Pain Killer

- My little veggie plants are wilting. I haven't talked about them, because I wanted to be able to say: hey, I am growing plants and they are fabulous! But they are not. I think it's a combination of bad drainage and over watering. Or do those go hand in hand? I don't know. I started a bunch of seeds and they were doing so well...until I transplanted them and then? Saggy McSagster. Phooey. I may just have to buy whole (half grown) plants. Otherwise I won't have tomatoes until December at this rate (or never).

- Between the car breaking down and my moving, I have been without the Garmin for a couple of my runs. What I found out? My "comfortable", Garmin-less pace is around an 8:30-8:40, which is good because I am supposed to be doing my easy runs at about that pace! I don't mind running without the Garmin as far as the total run goes, but I do like having the data afterward to look at and analyze.

- Last but not least, Laura gave me the One Lovely Blog award! I am supposed to 1) Post the award logo and picture on your blog and link back to the person who nominated you. 2) Tell seven things about yourself. 3) Nominate up to 15 additional bloggers whom you think deserve the award. 4) Post a comment on the blog of each nominee to tell them they have been nominated! Since I already told you 4, here are three more little facts.

- I am 4th generation Scottish. My great, great grandparents came over via Canada. They lived near Banff (I can't remember if they lived in BC or Alberta) for a while before coming south to the US.

- I keep my fingernails very, very short. I don't bite them, but I can't stand having them as any more than a tiny sliver of white. I also do not paint them. The chipping drives me insane.

- I could eat a burrito any time of day. I love them.

- Speaking of burritos, yesterday I went for a burrito and decided to try the menudo, since they only serve it on the weekend. If you are not familiar, it's a soup made with intestine that is a very traditional Mexican dish. I have never tried it, not because the guts part grosses me out, but just because I like burritos, so I usually don't order other stuff. But I was hungry and I decided to give it a whirl. It wasn't bad, but it definitely has a distinct smell to it!

(apparently I can't count, because that was four more, but I am leaving it as is)

- As for the tags, I am going to give this award to a few lovely ladies: Lisa, Amber, Amber, Nilsa, Stephany, Robyn, Carrie, Elle, San, Suz, Vanessa and Nora. Ladies, if you already did it, great! Everyone else, if you want to participate as well, I encourage it!

Are you adventurous when it comes to trying new foods? Have you ever witnessed an animal eating another animal? If you could eat one thing only for the rest of your life, what would it be?

See Jane Run: Race Recap

First off, I am excited to say that I have a post up over on FITBLOGGER. If you get a chance, please go check it out! It's about running, naturally. 

_______

And now, back to our regularly scheduled post.

For all that I did have some cons for this race, the actual running of the race itself was pretty good. The course was well marked and mostly flat, there were several aide stations and the volunteers were awesome.

However, the parking was not. I opted to drive to this race, because, although I could have walked (5 miles each way), I did not want to do so and then race and then have to walk back. So we drove. Mr. Lovely came with me and spent the time doing research and drinking coffee in a local coffee shop down the street. We got there with plenty of time to spare, but it took us probably 15 minutes to find parking, which was not very close, probably about a mile and a half from the start of the race. By the time we got to the start line, I had to use the restroom, but it was about 10 minutes to start time and the line was L.O.N.G. I got in it anyway, just to see if I could make it. I did, but the race started while I was inside, so I got out of there fast and ran to the start line just in time to....stop short. The crowd was not moving. Well, it WAS moving, but very slowly.

I crossed the start line and started doing the weave of death. I must have passed a couple hundred people before the path widened to one lane of a two lane road. I started passing people on the left, which was also to the left of the cones, and I got yelled at a few times by the local police (MAM, stay to the LEFT of the CONES!!!) I swear I passed another hundred thousand people but it was hard going. It wasn't until about mile 3 that it started to get to a point where it was easier to find my pace and pass people.

Mile 1: 7:03, Mile 2: 7:05, Mile 3: 7:23

My goal had been to stay below a 7:40 pace in order to get a 1:40 finish, but after the first few miles, I noticed I was going a little faster, so I resolved to stay under a 7:30 instead. After mile 3, there was one girl that was pretty much running at the same pace as me, so I would follow her, then she would slow a bit, and I would pass her, and then I would slow a bit and she would pass me. We did the "dance" for a while before she slowed down to about a 7:40, and I passed her and didn't see her again.

Mile 4: 7:25, Mile 5: 7:30, Mile 6: 7:24

After mile 6, the crowd was pretty thin. It seemed like I could see the start of the pack way up in front of me. At this point we were running along the bay and it was beautiful. I decided that I would try to pass one person each mile, of course at the same time trying to maintain approximately a 7:30 pace. Mile 7, I passed a couple of people. Mile 8, one person. Mile 9, 3 people. I maintained my 7:30, even though it was getting hard. I remember hitting mile 8 and thinking (with my limited math + running skills) that I was almost done, but then realizing I still had 5 miles (5! How did that happen?) left.

Mile 7: 7:29, Mile 8: 7:34, Mile 9: 7:29

Mile 10, 11 and 12 went by pretty slow. I could see the front few girls in front of me. From what I could see, there were three. I passed one during mile 10, one during mile 11 and really pushed to get the one at mile 12 (I was really tired by now)! Thank goodness for two things (a) the view -- I can see the city and the bay and the headlands in the distance, and (b) the spectators -- there are people all along the route cheering. They really lift my spirits. Although my hamstrings are still killing me.

Mile 10: 7:26, Mile 11: 7:22, Mile 12: 7:23

I didn't know if I was first or not. Then I saw her. A girl waaaaay up in front of me. I wonder if there are more like her? Darn it.

Mile 13: 7:19, Mile 13.1: 7:30

I cross the finish at 1:37:17. A new PR.

I look for the race results. They are not posted. The MC says that they are online. They are not. I need to know! Unfortunately, they did not get posted online until late that night. Also unfortunately, there was a hidden posse of girls ahead of me.

I tried to get a photo of the 5k clock with my time on it

Results: 1:37:17
Age group: 5/266
Overall: 15/1432

The Verdict? I ran this race to see if I REALLY have a chance to BQ. I don't want to have unrealistically high expectations when I really need to just keep training and wait until next year. I don't want to let myself down. According to the McMillan Pace Calculator using this race time, I should be able to run a 3:25 marathon. That means 7:50 pace for 26 miles! I am still unsure (read: scared of failure). But I am working on it!

Are you scared to try things sometimes because you are afraid of failure? How do you talk yourself into it or have confidence in yourself during times of doubt?

The Voluntourist

Have you ever felt that your life was lacking something? That you needed to give back somehow? Have you ever been to another country and seen how the locals live? Do you love to travel?

I have. I do. That is probably why this book spoke to me. It is about a man who, once entering his 40s and having his beloved father die, wonders if something is missing from his life. He wants to have children but his wife is uncertain. At the same time, he wants to give back and to be the man that he saw his father as being, which was a good man and a kind one. He wonders who will remember him and honor him the way that he remembers and honors his father. To find out, he travels to several different places around the world, doing volunteer work for a few weeks at a time.

I enjoyed this book. I always enjoy reading about travel and travelogues are one of my favorite genres. This book did not disappoint. It got my interest with some of the stories from abroad and I found my head nodding to some of the descriptions of the countries, the locals, the feeling of helplessness when you can't communicate, as well as the satisfaction of communicating without words at times. I have done volunteer work abroad and loved it and so this book brought back fond memories for me.

The book was split up into 6 sections, which each described one of the author's trips. I felt that it was organized well and was easy to read. I would recommend this book to others. It makes me want to put on my boots and get on the road!

If you are interested, you can see what other members of the tour thought of the book HERE. You can contact the author here: Website | Facebook

I received a complimentary copy of this book from TLC Book Tours in return for an honest review. I was not compensated, nor was I required to write a positive review. 

Do you like to travel? Have you ever volunteered in a foreign country (or at all)? How was your overall experience?