Happy Halloween!

What are you dressing up as this year?

Tonight I'm heading over to Doug's to pass out candy, coo at adorable babies dressed up (I seriously can't get enough of babies in costumes, especially anything animal-related), and drink wine... because duh.

Last night Doug and I went to Walmart to get him a last minute costume (true to his style) and ended up finding a sweet $10 costume amidst the piles and piles of wigs, masks, and fairy wings. I tried to convince him to wear fairy wings to work - it didn't fly (pun intended). More on our costumes later, as I've got to go make mine this afternoon!

Molly is at least in the holiday spirit already...

And I at least was in the spirit for RnR LA! Plenty of orange and black and all things Halloween. So there.

My last treat for today is finally announcing our WIN Detergent winner - congrats Mary Beth!

Mary Beth, I've sent you an email for some information I'll need from you!

If you're bummed you didn't win, you can still save $1 on WIN at Amazon with code WINGIVE1. So there, everybody wins!

Happy Halloween! What are your plans tonight?

Race Report: Rock 'n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon

Rock 'n Roll Los Angeles

October 26 | Los Angeles

After working the expo nearly 20 hours between Friday and Saturday, by the time I got home Saturday night I was beyond wiped and a little nervous for how it would affect me come Sunday morning. Thankfully, I don't think I felt it all that much, but was in bed and asleep well before 9:30 - with a 4:45 alarm, it was much needed.

Doug came and met me at the house and we were off just about 5:45, but had gotten delayed by an accident that closed all the lanes on the freeway (at 5:30 am mind you!), and then we hit another that had us super delayed. We got to downtown LA (the off-ramp, at least) that we needed about 6:05 and didn't even get close to the parking garages until 6:30. We Chinese fire-drilled at a light so I could fniish getting dressed and bolt out of the car while he went to go park. I sprinted to the start line to meet up with these crazies...

Featuring mostly #SA2LV crazies.. and me... Michael, Brian, Nancy... 

... little did I know, Doug parked, decided sleeping wasn't going to happen, and made it to the start line to and was right by our corral. Bummer! Anyway, I was assigned Corral 6 based on my hopeful 2-hour finish, but made my way into Corral 2 to start with these guys (or at least get the photo). I was nervous that starting that far up, I'd get caught up in speed and excitement and totally fall apart later. Foreshadowing: not entirely the case. Win.

The course is not uber exciting - there are certainly more exciting places to run, especially in LA, but such is life. The race starts at LA Live and the Staples Center, heads down Figueroa to USC and the Coliseum (that you run around - or, if you're speedy enough, run up in a tunnel, snap a photo, and bolt back out), all the way back up Fig to 3rd and Central and some not-so-great LA highlights. Miles 9/10 lead you up a nasty bridge over the train tracks and back down, and once you're back through the 3rd Street tunnel, it's a downhill coast to the finish.

After pacing Monica at Long Beach to a super-comfy 2:06, I was confident that I could rock a sub-2 finish - which would be my first solo attempt since actually doing it at Fontana in June on a screaming downhill course. Again, still a little nervous how 10 hours on my feet at the expo on Saturday would get to me, but I was gonna roll with it as best as I could.

The first three miles were quick - I felt like I was getting a groove into mile 3 or so, but it was still flat and I was aiming just to feel consistent and not too fast so I didn't burn out.

5K: 26:52
Okay, not too bad. Feeling good, now in a groove and ready to look forward to at least mile 5. Then I can chill. Right?

10K: 54:40
10K split PR by almost 5 minutes - can this race just end here? I felt okay - this is right about where I was starting to feel how fast I'd pushed the first couple of miles, but we looped back by where the finish lines were and I knew Doug was there so I at least had to feign feeling damn good.

Walked at the Mile 7 water station, first walk break for 10 seconds. We ran the tunnel going into mile 8, which messed with everyone's Garmin/watch satellite and set me back about .10mi for the rest of the race.

10M: 1:31:49
15K split PR by almost 10 minutes. Seriously, can we end now? This is also right where the bridge is and though I was warned, it was steeper than I'd anticipated. I ran halfway up, walked through the turn around and started going again just before the mile 10 flag (slowest mile at 10:40).

Sweet view of downtown though! Top of the bridge.

Back through the tunnel (which had to be at least 115 degrees thanks to all the bodies going in both directions now - so gross!), cruise up the last part of the grade, and rock the downhill to the finish. I got this - I knew I'd squeak in, if I made it, and couldn't have cut it any closer...

2:00:19

1605 / 7762 overall

102 / 802 division

482 / 4578 females

I was really upset for those measly 20 seconds, but I also get to look at that now and say that YES, I can run a sub-2 on my own and on a flatter course than that is of Fontana. I ran this course well - strong, despite that bridge, and after being on my feet at the expo for two days straight. I ran solo, not with a friend nor a pacer, and rocked my timing pretty much as perfect as I could get. Fueled well and consistently, and most importantly... had a blast. 

Do you run in costume? What are you going to be for Halloween?

Rock 'n Roll Los Angeles Expo

I'm posting from my phone for the first time ever... how weird!

Anyway -- I am SUPER excited to be working with SparklySoul this weekend at the Rock n Roll LA expo. We're on to Day 2 today. 

After volunteering at the LB expo with the New Years Race team, I've decided I absolutely LOVE the energy of an expo - certainly not easy, but such a blast! 

Sparkly Soul (my fave headband company in the history of ever) put out a blast a couple of weeks ago looking for local folks to work the RnR expo. Naturally, I jumped. They teamed me up with Mandy, a recent New York transplant, and we've been kicking tail ever since. 

Expos are such a fun place to meet people, hear their running stories (in this case) and convince them that YES, they need some sparkly, fun love in their lives. Such a freaking blast!

Thanks so much, Sparkly Soul, for this AWESOME opportunity! 

Are you a Sparkly Soul lover like me?! 

Megan

Race Report: Race for the Rescues Los Angeles 5K

Race for the Rescues 5K

October 18, 2014 | Pasadena, CA

Dad was looking for a 5K to do for work and health insurance benefits, and when our original one didn't pan out, we thought the next best bet was one that a) benefitted animals and a rescue organization, b) I could bring Molly and run her and c) was flat and all around our favorite Rose Bowl. Best yet, my uncle wanted to come walk it, so mom and grandma wanted to come watch! A family affair. Uncle had to bail after being called into work earlier in the week, but mom, dad, Molly and I still had a blast.

This race is all over - LA, Orange County, and Portland, all in the fall months. They offer a kid's fun run, a dog walk, and both a 5 and 10K, with opportunities for you to race with your dog too for just a few bucks extra. Since I figured it benefitted the pups (okay, cats too), may as well bring Molly along for the fun! Humans get race shirts, dogs get bandanas and we all know how much of a bandana girl Molly is.

Pre-race!

I'm so used to driving to race days on my own, it felt very odd having mom and dad along for the ride! We were up and out the door by 6:45 and out at the Rose Bowl before 7:30 to get our bibs, shirts, and to get ourselves settled. Dad was nervous and antsy, and it was clear to see. I kept trying to tell him he'd be fine. Not like he hasn't done this before! (He was mostly nervous about the chip not tracking his time, especially since this came with an incentive from work, and the other 5K he did with me never got his time tracked). At least we had mom along as our race photographer!

The race "expo", if you want to call it that, had tons of pet vendors selling custom treats, harnesses, leashes as sort of pet boutique. There were also tons of local rescue groups and humane socities out, but that early in the morning yet there weren't many dogs out for adoption (mom said there never really were either, or they were all super small dogs). We ran into one of my Ragnar So Cal teammates, Beth, and her weimaraner Timmy, who were doing the 10K. We heard about this race through them!

And then it was go time -- they did a lot of waves for the race (both the 5 and 10K start together), and asked that those running with dogs don't start before the 4th wave. Dad started in wave 2 or so, and Molly, Beth, Timmy and I all hung to the side until about wave 5, when we just jumped in and got on our way. The 5K is one loop up and around the Rose Bowl, golf course, and back down through the parking lot; the 10K just does the course twice. I'm glad we weren't doing the 10K, though I think I would like to train Molly up to a race of that distance.

The course is easy, and mostly flat, though the first bit is a long though very casual grade up to the north side of the Bowl, across the wash. The last half is just as much of an easy, long downgrade into the finish. Molly and I caught up to dad just before the mile 3 marker, but he told us not to run to the finish with him, but to go on! So Molly and I trucked on and finished a few minutes before him...

... and while I was getting Molly water, we missed his epic jump into the finish! We've got this on video, too, and it's pretty freaking fantastic. I'm sad I missed it in person.

Dad rocked his second 5K in 38:56 (6th in his age group) and Molly set a new PR at 28:13 (good for fourth in our age group of 62!, and technically 2nd place in our group with a dog. Happy Saturday! I'm so proud of dad. He's a little bummed by his time but I told him that's another good reason to sign up for another one, to work on that time thing. ;) I'll get him sucked in, promise!

Do you run with your dog? How about races?

Ragnar Napa Valley: Part 3

Ragnar Napa Valley

September 19 - 20, 2014

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

I really did not intended this to take a month to get done! Holy wow, time has gotten away from me. Good thing my memory is pretty sharp. 

After my first run, and seeing Jill and Kristin off for their first legs, we found our way finally heading to the major exchange (12). It was really just a massive parking lot, it seemed, but the energy was certainly alive at that point. Deliriousness, I'm thinking. And probably something to do with all the Van 2s dealing with 100+ heat indeces, so it was probably a lot of deliriousness at that point! 

NAU alumni representing!

Heather had prepped me for this one, since it was about dinner time, and that there was a huge shopping complex with a Dick's, Chipotle, oodles of food, and a Whole Foods not far from there. We were happy campers - after a quick emergency compression-sleeve trip to Dick's, a stop at Chipotle, we joined the hoards of people at Whole Foods to grub up and eat dinner, finally! 70% of the parking lot were Ragnar vans, at least. 

After dinner and some essential van cleaning, we headed off to the next exchange to rest (yes), sleep (not so much), and do this... obviously.

Yours truly, apparently the queen of all things Ragnar temporary tattoos. Everyone got marked up, and then we all found our way to our own place to sleep. Tina, Kristin, John and I in the van and Jill, Kim and Kate all went out the grass at the huge community center we were at. The local rugby club was using the showers as a fundraiser, but as I had promised folks, you just hit that point where you'd rather take a 20-minute nap than you would a 5-minute (though hot) shower. I was right. I eventually fell asleep, for maybe two hours or so, and soon enough, Jill, Kate and Kim came back because the sprinklers had gone off! Thankfully they weren't soaked, but wet enough to be unhappy. Apparently the sprinklers had sent a whole ton of folks packing. 

Soon enough, Van 1 had made their way to the exchange, and after a stretch session with the trainer at First Aid, I got ready to head over to the exchange with Tina for her night leg! She was most nervous about this one too, mostly about getting lost, but I promised that as long as she found people to follow, she'd be fine.

At least she had a pretty exchange! They had done all these lights the whole length of the corral... individual lights.

Tina was off. I kid you not, we were following directions, trying to find our way to the exchange, and finally found the madness (it was really just the side of the road in a business complex and not conducive to large vans and runners). We were about to park, and I was going to text her to check on her (she runs with her phone), when I got a call from her! ...that's not good. I couldn't make it out, so we hung up and called back. She had fallen, and cut herself up pretty badly (though how badly she didn't know given that it was 1:45 am and pitch black), so we found our way back to her near her mile 2-ish. Turns out, the trail/sidewalk had combined, and got loose and she tripped and appeared to have skidded on her hand - her palm was torn up, fingers road rashed and bleeding and her knee rashed pretty good. Kate took off running for her, and thanks to nurse-in-training Jill, we spent nearly 20 minutes on the side of the road cleaning the poor lady up (sorry to make you re-live all this, Tina!). The only humor out of the situation was the group of about seven or eight college students, clearly on their way home from the bars, asking what we were doing, and did we need their help? Drunk Girl #2: "Can I help? I'm REALLY good with bandaids!" Us: "No, hunny, you just keep walking." Though not at all funny in the situation, it provided some good relief afterward. 

We found Kate, exchanged her back out for Tina who then got to run her last mile or so and still finish out her leg. Trooper, I tell ya what. (Side note: apparently she wasn't going to call me, but a lady who was right behind her when she fell made her - thank you Ragnar stranger!)

Morning aftermath. :(

Soon, we were getting ready to send off Kim, so Tina and I spent awhile cowbelling and cheering at the exchange waiting for Kate to come in and send Kim off on her night leg. As soon as we got Kim off, it was my turn to pysch up and get ready to roll. Fact: Despite doing (now) three Ragnars, the  night legs are still the worst for me - they are terrifying. I hate them more anything. Yes, it's cooler, yes the weather is usually nicer, but mentally... they overpower me. 

My night run was about 8.4 miles in and out of Santa Rosa - a gorgeous little city (home of Charles Schulz), but also country enough that there were enough trees and shadows that scared the crap out of me. As noted, all my legs were NO van support, and this one was clear as to why: two lane highway, and we were running against traffic (obviously) at 2 am. Not a good situation for turnarounds. I was determined, though, to make it better than leg 1, and ran with what I had in me to get a solid 8.4 mile run in! 

Night leg selfie. 

During the day, I'm sure that leg is amazingly gorgeous - I could make out cornfields, some vineyards, tons of trees and a pretty tunnel of trees we ran through at some point. I'd never been more excited to see the one mile to go sign and gave everything I had for that last one mile. 8.4 miles, 1:22 and change, and something like 8 minutes over projected. Told you, night legs win! 

After my night leg, I changed and passed out for a few more hours - thankfully. I can't remember when I woke up, but it was just before or just after Kristin (#12) headed out, so we were near the next major exchange! Time kinda flew, despite how over time we were. We got to the exchange, said hi to our Van 1ers, got Kristin through, and stopped at first aid for Tina (first aid is only at majors, and we hadn't been to a major since Tina's spill). The awesome guy got Tina super wrapped up, gave us extra supplies to clean up later, and sent us on our way. BREAKFAST. 

Over breakfast, Jill analyzed all our next runs and gave us the run-down: hills, flat, rolling, short. A quick pump-us-up before we headed down the road. After breakfast and some playing catch-up on our legs and kills, and brushing our teeth on the side of the road, we headed out. 

Last legs, here we come! 

Have you ever fallen while running? Did you keep running?

Review: WIN Detergent + Giveaway!

Disclaimer: I was sent two bottles of WIN Detergent in exchange for this post through a partnership with Sweat Pink. As always, the opinions are my own. I received no compensation other than these two free bottles! 

Especially as we (hopefully) wrap up these 95+ degree days in Southern California, my runs are early in the morning but live little to be desired in terms of how much I'm still sweating. And therefore, stinking. I want to do laundry like every day just to keep things smelling clean but in this drought, that's probably not smart. I digress...

WIN Detergent is designed and made for athletes and lovers of all things sweaty who are looking for great products to keep their athletic apparel fit and clean, all while removing that stank. There are two formulas: the original, scented (fresh!) formula and WIN Green -  its dye-free, fragrance free GREEN counterpart. WIN GREEN is hypoallergenic and designed for users with sensitive skin and noses. After using both the last few weeks, I definitely prefer the scented version (blue), but love knowing that both are friendly to my tech gear and remove the stinkyness regardless. 

Not afraid to air my dirty laundry!  ;) 

Especially after the Long Beach Half, where it got nice and toasty outside, I quite literally couldn't wait to get my stuff home and in the wash so it could smell pretty again. 

Are you loading up on stinky clothes lately too after races? Now's your chance to earn two free bottles of your own, too! The winner of the giveaway will receive one each of the original WIN and WIN Green to use at home on their gear too. Detergent isn't super cheap, so why not jump on the chance to win some good-smelling stuff?! Giveaway ends Monday, October 20. Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Race Report: Long Beach Half Marathon {30th Anniversary}

Long Beach ICB Half Marathon

October 12, 2014 | Long Beach, CA

Just two weeks ago, I was gifted a half registration to the LB Half for my birthday from one of my dearest friends in Texas - I was beyond shocked and so so so excited, and can't ever think Sarah enough for getting me in for this opportunity! Even then, on Wednesday my NYR ambassador + running friend Monica asked what pace I was planning on running at the half. I was gearing up for a sub-2, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and not just on a huge downhill at Fontana. So then this happened:

Monica was aiming for a 2:05 finish, which would be just about a 6-minute PR for her. That sounded pretty comfortable to me, so I quickly jumped on board. Needless to say, if you read the above, I was pretty excited!

Race morning was a little chaotic. Long Beach isn't all that super easy to in/out of anyway, but with the 405/22/605 closing, it was sure to be a cluster. Lucky for me, I don't normally go that way anyway, but the closures seemed to cause major chaos for tons of folks. (Bear in mind there are 15,000 for the half marathon alone, plus the full, 5K and bike tour folks = TONS of people in LB). The expo gives you the opportunity to pre-pay parking and guarantee yourself a spot in one of two garages or a handful of city lots for $10. Mentally, I thought this was a great idea, given that I didn't know what race morning looks like here, so just before I left the expo on Saturday I bought myself a spot. Despite arriving in LB at 6:12 on race morning, I didn't actually park until nearly 6:50 because of all the bottlenecks. Shenanigans.

This girl's gonna PR today!

Despite all that, I had time to get into a pre-race routine, meet with Jessica her bib and shirt, and get down to the start to find Monica + other new friends as we waited. Monica said she'd run what she could with me, but if she started to get too tired, I could go. I told her no way, that I had made myself a 2:05 bracelet and everything and she would PR today. She said if she could hold on until mile 8 or so, she'd be happy.

The waves are a little messy - the first wave is for finishers in times of 1:16-2:09, and the following  waves are in only 20 minute increments. Needless to say, the first wave was HUGE and looked like it kept on going. Lucky for us, we were able to jump in in an opening in the gates and got started. Monica and I talked other races for the years, previous PRs, where she needed to take her Blox, and did she want to push it now or at the end? Talked Avengers registration with two other ladies, scoffed at the bicyclist on the beach path who thought it would be okay to play his bell so WE (yes, 15,000 runners) would get out of his way.

Endless runners. 

The beach path is gorgeous and flat and easy, but it drags on forever. I swear that part would never end, despite telling the guy running next to us that it turned around at the dog beach, which was "just behind that building!"... or three buildings later. Mile 10 brought a cheering station with donut holes (which they're apparently known for), and the last two miles are nearly flooded with people cheering and yelling and cowbelling non stop. It sure makes up for the mostly quietness of the 3-4 miles down the beach path!

Just before mile 1l, Monica said she was over it and she was starting to hurt. At about this point, she had exactly 24 minutes to run just over 2.4 miles, so I knew as long as we'd keep shufflin', she'd be close. She said (somewhere along the course) that 2:05 would be perfect, but she just wanted a PR. I kept pushing, yelling encouraging her from just steps ahead, and got smiles and nods from other runners nearby to push her along as well. I told her I'd drag her if I had to! About a quarter of a mile out, I grabbed her hand and pulled in her for a strong last burst.

"There's the finish!"
"Where?"
"There, around the bend. Follow the fence."
"THAT's the finish?!"
"YES!"
"*screams*" and bolts.
Hands up, locked together, for an epic photo finish. I wish Marathon Foto would get on that already.

Splits (9:34 average)
9:22
9:40
9:42
9:19
9:24
9:54
9:15
9:31
9:17
9:36
10:18 (that blasted Mile 11!)
9:39
9:52
7:26 for .21 miles on my Garmin

2:06:26 and a 4:50 PR for miss Monica! While it wasn't her 2:05 dream, she is beyond stoked with her PR and knows that sub-2 is near in her future (wink).

Stupid humidity and sweat made all these photos blurry. :(

Afterwards, we found Jessica, Michelle and other friends at the IERC table, played around with our new shiny bling (side note: these medals are gorgeous) and wandered around for awhile. Such a great race morning with friends and reminds me how lucky I am to have some really awesome communities out here in LA. Grateful.

Me, Monica, Jessica, Michelle. 

I am so stoked for Monica and her PR and am glad I got to be a part of her LB journey! I am also really excited because despite some tightness after, a 2:06 was super comfortable for me, which tells me a lot about my conditioning lately and that I can totally aim for my sub-2 again at RnR LA in two weeks! Here we go!

Happy race day indeed!

Did you race this weekend? Brag about it here!

Ragnar Napa Valley: Part 2

Ragnar Napa Valley

September 19 - 20, 2014

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Somewhere about 2 in the afternoon, it was my finally my turn to run. I was excited and antsy and for whatever reason, nervous - not like I've done this before or anything - and needed to get myself together! My first leg was 6.6 miles, and I knew there was one beastly hill but the rest flattened out and should be bearable (hint: not true). 

Tina and Kate had both killed their first legs and it was finally Kim's turn to go! She had about 4.5 miles and was ready to rock. Finally, we heard our number and got ready to roll. Kim came flying in from her leg (she killed it!), and we were off. I had run into a friend from grad school in the store at Exchange 6, and her teammate (who I met at So Cal while trying to find said friend) recognized me and was also their runner 10. We said we'd try to pair up for our late-night run, but sadly she took off for her first run about 15 minutes before me. Oh well. 

Ha. That word, bearable. Never mind the fact that it was about 90 degrees out, but hit a heat index of almost 100, and it was brutal. I got not even to mile 2 before pausing to walk, doused myself at the water station and just hoped I'd make it through. I hadn't brought a handheld waterbottle at all (total fail), nor my phone, so just hoped for the best and that I'd make it through these 6.6 miles. My leg consisted of a zoo of roadkill - frogs, birds, opossum, deer - and unfortunately, not tons of scenery! 

At the start of my leg, just across from the exchange. 

Have I noted that ALL THREE of my legs were no van support? Not even partial. For you newbies, this means that my van wasn't allow to pull over anywhere to get me water, food, whatever, mostly due to the lack of shoulder space on the road or a runner being on a trail and not on the road. However, I think given with the heat index, there were tons of vans pulling over, I guess risking being disqualified?, and supporting their runner. 

Admittedly, I turned a few teams in while we were driving previously (on some really stupid places they were pulled over), but I was grateful when a van person ran across the road and handed me a bottle of ice water. No way I was gonna turn those kids in! About two miles later (just about 4.5, 5 maybe), I stopped to talk to a van across the road (who also refreshed me with a new bottle of water). Thankfully, I have Tina's phone number memorized (from college, no less), so I had this girl text her to tell her I was fine, but it was hot and I would be longer than anticipated. 

Finally, the one more mile marker showed its ugly face and I just wanted to fly - I zipped past the girl that I had leap-frogged with the whole time, and apparently made it so fast, my team wasn't ready for those coveted exchange photos! Bummer. 

I said at the end of my leg I wanted chocolate milk and cookies. My awesome vanmates even fed me the cookies! <3

It was finally over. Holy crap. I had never felt so horrible or defeated after a first Ragnar leg. I think there was a steady stream of obscenities that came out of my mouth and I was not happy with how that had gone at all. Well, it could only go up from here, right?

Alright, Leg 1, done!

How do you survive runs in 100+ degree heat indexes? 

September Recap

Total run mileage: 100.7. Just .3 more than August, but heck yes... movin' on up! 
Highest weekly run mileage:  36 (whew)
# Runs: 25 (4 less than August!)
# Rest days: 9 

# Cross-training workouts:  Just walks with Molly... I really need to get back into some sort of true cross-training, especially if I'm going full-blown with plans for the LA Marathon! 

# Races: 

     - Ragnar Napa Valley (Part 1 here, the rest to come next week!)
     - St Paul Harvest Festival 5K

Favorite run: PRing in that 5K - I've never raced a 5K quite like that, nor ever felt so tired after a 5K, so I know I did it right and raced with what I had in me. A 1:02 in a 5K is pretty huge, so I'm feeling pretty good, strong, and confident with that kind of progress!

Most hardcore run: I mean, Ragnar in total was pretty hardcore this time around. 26.3 miles in less than two days, let alone at heat indexes of 100+. But that 11 mile Ragnar leg was probably the most beastly of them all. More to come in my recaps next week, but having an 11-miler as your last leg, let alone at 4 in the afternoon in 90+ degree weather on a long, straight, asphalt road is tough. To say the least. 

Despite what it looks like here, I'm actually convinced I was dying at some points of that leg. Fact.
Side note: I have no idea how it combined all my images and made a clip. Awesome. 

Current obsession: Dreaming of ALL the races. :)

Current song: I mean, duh, September just ended. 

Current need: I'm tired of whining about my job hunt to you all, so my current need/desire is to find some extra motivation for a little cross-training and strength-training efforts. I'm feeling all kinds of in shape, but wish I had access to a gym right now to ensure that I'm working all of me and not just my legs and lungs. Suggestions?

Also, saving some extra cash this month so I can register for the LA Marathon! Yep, you read that right, I'm looking forward to tackling marathon #2 and making it a hometown one. LAM is also celebrating their 30th Anniversary, so what better than the year I turn 30, even if my birthday is like six months later? Excited! 

Current triumph: Another 100 mile month. A stellar 5K PR. Making progress, kids. Making progress! 

Current goal: #October100miles, so that'd be 3 100-mile months in a row. I'd like to aim for 110 this month. 

I'm also looking forward to doing both the Long Beach Half and Rock 'n Roll LA this month, and hoping that I can gun for at least two sub-2 races on flat courses. Looking forward to seeing what I'm made of and what I can push for! 

What are your biggest accomplishments from this month? Goals for October?