It's 2013 already??

Where did the time go?  I swear...as I get older, time speeds up. I've somewhat dedicated 2013 to my walking half marathons with a full and some 5K's thrown in there.  For those of you that understand my obsession...once you get the race bug, it's a hard thing to let die.  So far...I've signed up for...count them 9 races with about 4 more that I am considering..

Decided to list them in case anyone is interesting in joining me...
New Years Race
Tinkerbell
Surf City
Rock n Roll Pasadena
LA Marathon
Hollywood Half
OC half
Rock n Roll Los Angeles
Rock n Roll Las Vegas

These are the ones I am considering/probably will do but need to still  register..

Long Beach half- this is my fav race since I've PR twice- once running, once walking
Firecracker 5K
Diva Half
Hot Chocolate 5K
Torrance Turkey Trot
Dumbo Double Dare

As you can see..I've already ran one race.... www.newyearsrace.com Here is the recap.  It was an inaugrual race which I actually like.  Sure there are some kinks with any inaugrual race but it gives you the chance to become a legacy runner. Not sure why this is important to me...but I think it's kind of cool to run a single race every year that it has been in existance.  I left a little early from work on Friday to go to the expo.  The expo was at the Biltmore in downtown LA.  Although I am a native Los Angelino...I don't drive to downtown LA a lot.  Let's say I was a tad stressed out.  Got to the expo...did a little bit of shopping and then headed home.  We got a cool sweatshirt instead of the usual tee that most races give out.  I will post a pic of it later.  Got home and did my normal stuff for the rest of the night. 

I didn't want to have a repeat of my experience at Rock n Roll Vegas last year where I didn't have enough food and definitely didn't have enough energy half way through the race.  Even though some races are supposed to be more "fun"...I always try to get a PR at every race.  Since I've been walking them lately...I usually try to see how many people I can pass and how many people pass me.  Vegas...I seemed to be slowing down and everyone was passing me.  I knew that I didn't have enough to eat for lunch.  For some reason it really threw me off having an late afternoon race.  An experienced runner on FB posted some guidelines for eating so I made sure I had my carb meal early afternoon and then a light meal about a couple of hours before the race.  And it worked!!  I had more than enough energy to finish and once again my goal was to see how many people I could pass.  I decided to meet up with a friend and we took the Metro blue line from Long Beach. Can I say how perfect that worked out??  The last stop was at 7th and Grand and literally our corral was right outside.  And the finish line was near Staples..and guess what was right there?  You guessed it...the blue line. 

It was a bit cold so I had to buy some gloves so my hands wouldn't get cold.  And I am glad I had them on. Also right now I'm into wearing www.team-sparkle.com skirts...I don't know other than they are cute and fun to wear.  Anyways...the race started a little late but it's hard for me to judge since I'm usually in one of the last corrals.  Finally we are off..and can I say it was a bit challenging with the hills?  We made our way from 7th and Grand to Dodger Stadium.  One thing that was a bit boring was the Dodger Stadium parking lot.  Seems we did miles 4-9 or so in the parking lot...some people mentioned that we looked like an ant farm..LOL.  We did get to run inside Dodger Stadium which was cool.  And for some reason...I got very confused during the race.  At some point...they shortened the course so we could all make the time limit.  I was one of those people.  All of a sudden I am merging with the rest of the people and wondered where are these people coming from and what is going on?  Only later did I find out why the course got shortened.  There were a couple very dark spots which I know was brought up to the organizers for next year's improvements.  Overall...it was a good race for me...didn't PR but ended up at 3:36:23. 

Here is my bib and the bling.



Next up...Tinkerbell... tutu or no tutu?? I realized the only disadvantage to wearing a tutu or skirt is when you have to stop to use the bathroom.  I think I lost a lot of time readjusting my skirt...and that would honestly be the only reason why I wouldn't wear one.

Happy running everyone!!