California International Marathon

I hope you saw marathon in the title and knew this post was not about me. I do not run (much). But I am married to a reluctant runner. I say reluctant because he is good at it, but doesn't necessarily love it. Although his constant signing up and then running in 10ks, half marathons, marathons and trail races would suggest otherwise.

One of Charles' goals has been to run a Boston Marathon qualifying time. To us non-runners, let me explain what this means:
To participate in the Boston Marathon you have to run a certain time.
The time you need to qualify depends on your age.
For Charles' age, he has to run a in a qualifying marathon in 3 hours and 5 minutes or faster*
     *and technically (for some reason that I am not very good at explaining), he would actually have to run it   a few minutes faster than that to be able to get a spot at the Boston Marathon

Charles is pretty fast, but he had not been able to run that fast.

Until...the 2015 California International Marathon! I have to admit that I got pretty emotional as he was crossing the finish line. Pretty emotional for me = teary eyes. I don't like to cry in public.

People kept walking in front of the camera, so I wasn't able to get a good picture of him ringing the BQ (Boston Qualifer) bell

 

Beat the Blerch

A while ago Charles introduced me to the Oatmeal. The Oatmeal is a website featuring comics by Matthew Inman. They are genius and slightly inappropriate at times. One of the comics is about running. I cannot do it justice by trying to explain what it is about, but you can read it here. One thing it features is a character called the Blerch.

They created a race called Beat the Blerch (which you'll now understand because you have read the comic). The race had several options: 5k, 10k, etc. Well, Charles talked me into the 10k. (What was I thinking???? ) I told myself I had plenty of time to train for it. I know I can physically complete a 5k and with some training how much worse could a 10k be. In a perfect world, I would have trained hard. In my world, I trained barely.

BUT... I did finish the 10k...with a LOT of walking. But I completed it! The course was through downtown Sacramento which included running over the Tower Bridge which is an icon of the state capitol.

The best part of this particular race is the aid stations offer cake and Nutella sandwiches. That is the only reason I agreed to this darn thing in the first place. And let me tell you, it was amazing. If every race fed me cake, I would be one happy runner.

Gotta start training

Charles shared with me a great cartoon about running. It's called The Blerch and is so funny! It's about this guy that started running basically so he could eat whatever he wants. The Blerch is a fat little cloud that follows him around trying to convince him to stop running. You have to read it whether you love running or absolutely hate it (I fall more in the latter group).

In November, there is going to be a 10k race in Sacramento that is called Beat the Blerch. Charles convinced me that we should do it. You know how he convinced me? The race will have cupcakes and Nutella at the aid stations. I will do almost anything for cupcakes and Nutella.

I am not a runner. I mostly walk whenever I do go out for a "run." But to complete a 10k without being exhausted at the end I know I'm going to have to do a bit of training. Ugh! But it did give me a good excuse to buy some new running shoes. Charles uses RoadRunner.com to purchase many of his running shoes and I found a pair that I liked.

Now the hard part...running...

I'm still alive!

I used to think that people who said they were too busy were lying. Now I understand. It's not like I have a lot going on. I do work a full-time job and I have a husband to hang out with in the evenings and weekends. I feel the biggest time waster is my commute to and from work. Without that drive, I feel like I could accomplish soooo many more things. But what can you do?

We have had some things going on recently. One was our amazing trip to Monterery. I loved it! The weather was beautiful and it was great to be back near a beach. I have to live near a beach again soon. It will probably be a while, though.

It's hard to tell, but there is a sea otter swimming with the surfers. This was taken in Santa Cruz where we stopped on our way to Monterey.

Hub cap cake at LouLou's in Monterey.

Sea Lions at the Coast Guard Pier

Outside of the Monterey Bay Aquarium

In Carmel

The excuse for the trip was for Charles to run in the Big Sur marathon

A college town: Chico

A couple weekends ago Charles and I headed up to Chico for a night. It's not too far from us and is a great town. It is home to Chico State and has a great college vibe. Even though Chico is nothing like Rock Hill, home to Winthrop University, it made me miss college.

While in town we saw some of the sites. We visited an old covered bridge that is now part of a little park. It was a gorgeous area. We also visited the Gold Nugget Museum in Paradise, CA which is next to Chico.

The next morning I participated in a 5k while Charles ran a 10k. It was called the Almond Blossom run since it ran through almond tree fields. It was a beautiful day and I did pretty well (for me). Charles came in 1st in his age group!

He requested a picture with his two tickets to Paradise...what a weirdo :)

Back to Folsom

This past weekend we visited Folsom for a second time. Charles ran in the California International Marathon which began in Folsom and ended at the California State Capital in Sacramento. While in Folsom, we did some more exploring to include visiting the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. A lot of the animals were hiding or sleeping when we went, but we were able to see a bunch of different animals. My favorite were the bears. A couple of them were sleeping and they looked so cute. I just wanted to cuddle up with them and enjoy a nap.

Charles was hoping to finish the marathon with a Boston Marathon qualifying time (3 hours and 5 minutes or faster). He missed it by a little bit, but did set a new personal record. I am very proud of him!

Look at all those gorgeous feathers! When I was looking at this peacock, I was thinking how could people not believe in God when viewing these beautiful things in nature. How could that just evolve?

E-A-G, L-E-S, Go Eagles, Go!

Love on the Rocks

This weekend Charles and I participated in the 2nd annual Love on the Rocks trail run. There was a 5k option and a 10k option. Guess who did which race? If you guessed that I participated in the 5k and Charles completed the 10k then you would be correct!

The theme is a fun one. They have several team options--couples, groups of friends, family...all focused on love. At the end of the race, they were offering vow renewals. There was even a couple that came up from Los Angelos to get married afterward. We didn't stick around to watch, but what a fun idea!  

My time wasn't that great, but several parts of the trail were very rocky and tough. Plus I'm not a fast runner and ended up walking most of the time.

Charles finished before me and came back to meet up with me as I was coming up to the end of the race. How sweet!

Jamba Juice was one of the sponsors and gave out little cups of juice. Yummy!

Charles on the other hand finished 1st overall! He's so fast.

1st Overall male and female

Another medal to add to the collection

Afterward, we enjoyed brunch at Mom's. Yummy!

Color Run

This past weekend Charles and I participated in the Color Run. I thought it would be a fun thing to do together. We spent the night in Sacramento so we would not have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive down to the race. The night before we saw Wish I Was Here with Zach Braff. It was a good movie! I recommend seeing it.

The next morning we woke up and got dressed in our white shirts. I wore my tutu from my Color Me Rad race in October.

Pre-race

It was a tough 3 miles for me because I haven't run in a while. Poor Charles just wanted to run and I am too slow for him. I don't think I got as colorful in this race as I did in the Color Me Rad, but there were more freebies afterwards. 

Run Rocklin

This past weekend I participated in a 5k while Charles ran a half marathon. It was a gorgeous day and a perfect race day. I ran by myself so I listened to the Imagine Dragons playlist on Pandora. I am not sure of my official time; my chip did not work for some reason. I think I finished in about 45-46 minutes. I was a little disappointed because this run felt better than past runs. But the only thing that matters is that I did it!

Charles set a new personal record in his half marathon. He also came in 1st in his age category and fourth overall. He's so speedy!

Race Bib Display

Now that Charles is an avid runner, he has amassed quite a few race bibs. I knew he needed a way to display them. I first visited Etsy because I was thinking about just buying one. I found several that I kind of liked, but I could not find the perfect one. I often get an idea in my head and cannot find exactly what I am imagining. Then I decided that I could just make one! It was pretty easy.

What you will need:
- piece of wood. Mine was purchased from Hobby Lobby and measures 12x24. I'm not sure how thick it is, but you'll probably want one thicker.
- chalk paint
- wooden letters
- paint for the wooden letters
- wood glue
- hooks
- hanging accessory

Paint your board with several layers of chalkboard paint.

Paint your wooden letters. I chose the word RUN. If you browse the bib displays on Etsy you can get some other word ideas. Instead of wood letters you could use vinyl or hand paint your word(s).

Glue the letters to your dried chalkboard.

Figure out the spacing for the bibs. Most of Charles' bibs matched. The ones that had wider or narrower holes were re-punched so I would not have to use multiple pairs of hooks.

Screw the hooks into the board. My board was a little thin so we could not screw them all the way in. It worked out fine, but if you are particular you will want to purchase a thicker piece of wood.

Attach the hanging accessory to the back. I picked the kind that looks like a saw. I have no idea the official terminology for those.

I used chalkboard paint so Charles can record his fastest times for each kind of race. We have not bought any chalk yet, so mine is simulated in the picture above.

He received the ribbon display as a gift. And the two shadow boxes display items from his first two marathons.

RAD

This past weekend my friend Angela and I participated in a 5k called Color Me Rad. A lot of people have probably heard of the Color Run. From what I understand Color Me Rad is the same thing.

The race was in Columbus so we had to leave super early. I set my alarm for 6:05am. I woke up at some point and turned over to see what time it was. It was 6:30am. I accidentally set my alarm for PM. Oops! Angela and Matt were picking me up at 6:45. Luckily I had everything laid out and ready to go. I quickly got dressed and grabbed some water and a snack for the road.

We arrived around 8am for packet pickup. Our wave started at 9:30am. Before the race, they had a Zumba warmup. I've never done Zumba and I am not very coordinated, but it was fun to try out. They were throwing out color bombs so our white shirts were well colored even before the race.

I am not a runner, so I probably walked more than ran throughout the 5k. Part of the race was through the local town, which was pretty quaint. The rest of the race was through the fairgrounds which included some pretty tall, thick grass. That was not expected and made it a little tough.

We finished in around 43 minutes and were well colored.

I wasn't sure about the whole idea. I had a friend who did a similar run and wasn't pleased. Who wants to run through clouds of colored cornstarch? :) But I had a blast! It helped having a great running partner who was fine going at my pace.

Afterward, we cleaned up as best we could with wet washcloths and towels, changed our shirts and headed to the Mellow Mushroom. Yum! We got some funny looks with our blue arms and colorful hair. 

Pre-race. Love our homemade tu-tus??? Super easy to make!

After Zumba warm-up

Angela's boyfriend Matt made a good groupie and photographer.

Post race!