Ten Tunes Day (LA Dodger 5K Edition)

I don't know - could've been a lame jogger maybe,

Or someone just about to do the freeway strangler baby,

Shopping car pusher, or maybe someone groovie...

One thing's for sure - he isn't starring in the movies...

'Cause he's walking in L.A.

Walking in L.A., nobody walks in L.A. 

---- Missing Persons

Hey friends! Hello again from your friendly Californian blogger! For this week's Ten Tunes Tuesday (this was a thing... should I bring it back? Do you hate it? Hmm)... Anyway, for this week's Ten Tunes Tuesday, I thought I'd put together a list of songs about Los Angeles (or songs that simply remind me of Los Angeles). Why, you ask? Well, I thought it would be fitting considering I just finished my first 5K of 2015 over the weekend benefitting the Los Angeles Dodger Foundation. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I haven't been doing much by way of racing lately. I did a few 5Ks when I first moved to California in 2011/2012, but I think it's been well over a year since I last participated in one. I've been steadily increasing my runs over the summer, with the longest continuous one lasting right at 4 miles about a week ago. I thought I was prepared, so much so that I even warned my 5K buddy that I intended to run most of Sunday's race. But did I? Nooooooo. And while I could sit here and list a million reasons excuses for that, I won't. What I will say is that I did run some of it. I also learned a lot about what I need to work on as far as training goes before my half marathon in January. I definitely need to find a trail that incorporates more hills. I also really need to strengthen my core - I think part of my problem on Sunday had to do with my weak core, and that's probably because I've increased my cardio but haven't been maintaining my strength training lately. All said... I had a great day with a very good friend. We finished the race, got a really cool medal, and got to walk around the field of Dodger Stadium. Winning!

Without further adieu, here are my Ten Tunes for this Tuesday night:

1. Missing Persons - "Walking in LA"
2. Decemberists - "Los Angeles, I'm Yours"
3. 2Pac - "To Live and Die in LA"
4. Randy Newman - "I Love LA"
5. Guns N' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"
6. The Doors - "LA Woman"
7. Ice Cube - "It Was A Good Day"
8. Weezer - "Beverly Hills"
9. America - "Ventura Highway"
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge" <-- admittedly not uplifting, but sometimes such songs pair great with a good long hike too!

Did I miss any of your favorites? (I know, I know... some of you don't have the same adoration as I do for the fair City of Angels...). Anyway, I'm going to close this with a post-race picture of my friend and I at Sunday's 5k. She and I are looking for another one to do between now and the end of the year. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Otherwise... Stay tuned!

Until next time, my friends. Cheers, and GO BLUE!

Becky

NOTHING tastes better?

So, as part of my 90 day fitness challenge, I also have access to an online support area via Facebook.  I didn't find out about the online support until about 60 days into the challenge (which appears to have been more of a blessing than a curse).  As a result, when I found it I was glad that I would have some people to commiserate with.  Well, that was not really the case.  For the most part it's just people posting selfies of their ripped bodies.  I'm not a hater, but I was a little more interested in finding people who are in the same boat that I am (tired of egg whites and ready for ice cream). 

I made a ranting post about how I was about to eat everything that wasn't nailed down and asked for support.  The majority of the commentary was supportive, but one comment stuck out from the rest.  "Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels."  Seriously?!?!  Never mind the fact that this is the most cliche cliche imaginable, but for some reason I found it to be very insulting.  Nothing tastes better?  I immediately starting thinking about some statistics that I heard about how 60+ percent of this country is over weight and nearly a third are obese.  Nothing?  Now I have been thin before and here is a (limited) list of things that taste better than being thin feels:

Green chile chicken enchiladas
Hot funnel cake with powdered sugar and cinnamon
Duck Donuts
Beer
Hot fudge sundaes
Cakes/Pies/Chocolate anything. 

I also got "eat to live, don't live to eat."  As a native(ish) New Mexican, this is nearly impossible.  Maybe it's possible over here in bland city U.S.A. AKA the east coast, but I can think of something mouth watering to eat in New Mexico every day of the week (carne adovada anyone).  Maybe I'm just blessed to be surrounded by people who like me just the way I am, whatever that is at the moment, and the incentive to be extra slim just isn't there.  Yep, that's it.  One more treat and back to the gym. :)

Natasha

Hot in Herre

Happy Tuesday, y'all! I hope everyone was able to have a good holiday weekend. My weekend was jam-packed, but it was fun. With my first 5K of the year coming up next weekend (yes, in September... I know...), I knew I had to get on board and start running with more gusto. I had committed to doing at least 1-2 miles/day throughout the summer, but with a 3+ mile run this month and a 1/2 marathon in 4 months and counting, I can't afford to slack off now. 

I had made plans to spend Saturday in Hollywood with friends, so I didn't make a huge effort on Saturday to get much running in. I did my morning walks with my neighbor, and got a short mile jog in, but I really didn't count any of that as exercise. I did manage to sneak a total of 16K steps in, but it was really a relaxing and fun day.

Sunday was a bit different. I really wanted to hit the trail hard, and boy did I! I kicked off the day with a morning mile with my neighbor and the dogs at 6am. We hit the neighborhood again a few hours later, sneaking another 3/4 of a mile in before I met a friend for brunch. Sometime around 4, I decided to go for a jog. There's a baseball park about a mile from my house, just across the (dry) river to another large and beautiful park. I figured that running from my house to the park pond and back would put me just over 3 miles, which I felt would be pretty good...

Um, yeah... that 3 mile estimate was a little off. Fifty minutes later, my Map My Walk app was advising me that I had hit the 4 mile mark. FOUR MILES! Did I mention that I was foolish enough to attempt this in 90 degree heat? Yeah... not the brightest idea I've ever had. I was a hot, sweaty, and slightly burned mess at the end of it. On the positive side, I maintained a 13 minute/mile pace, so I was pretty happy about that. One final walk with the dog at the end of the day brought my step count to just over 17k steps, and made me the Weekend Warrior champion against my friends on Fitbit :)

After finishing my morning mile with my neighbor and our dogs this morning, I made the wise-ish decision to get my run (read: jog) in on Monday morning instead of the much warmer afternoon. After filling up my water bottle, I slathered on some sunscreen and hit the trail. I started off fairly strong, finishing the first mile right at 13 minutes (I usually get faster after that first mile, so I thought I was pacing great!). But then....

Somewhere between miles 2 and 3 I decided to hop across a patch of grass (where the trail changes from asphalt to concrete). Normally, this would not be something to note, but this time... this time, my foot landed poorly, and I sharply twisted my ankle as a result. I also fell on my knees, which is super embarrassing. Stupid clumsiness. I was so mad at myself.

I was determined to jog out the last few minutes, and I nearly hit the 5k (3.2 mile) mark before I gave up and started limp-walking the rest of the way. My average pace? 14:52. Dang it. On a positive note, I still finished a total of 4 miles, limp or no limp. And I still kept a pace that will let me participate in and finish the Disneyland Star Wars Half Marathon in January (although I have to maintain that pace for 13.1 miles, not just 3.18). But that 77 degrees? Truly no better than 90 when there's no shade and no wind. And my ankle? Still hurting somewhat as I type this post, but I think it will be fine by morning. 

I finished the day with one more walk with my neighbor and my pup, putting my total steps for this Labor Day right around 17k. Not shabby for a holiday, especially when I spent a good chunk of my day watching Netflix. Ha! I'm back in the gym tomorrow, so not likely to hit these longer runs like I did over the weekend. Probably a good thing... I don't need to hurt my ankle more than I already did. But on Wednesday? It's on like Donkey Kong, yo!

With all these running posts, I'm wondering... How many of you run, walk, or jog? Is cardio your thing, or do you prefer other aerobic exercise? Do you weight train too? It's interesting how much I've learned (or relearned) on this journey this year. I'm making a TON of mistakes, but it's refreshing to see me go back at it with gusto each time I fail. Making new fitness-focused friends hasn't hurt any, and I hope that it helps inspire some of you too. Just keep telling myself, "I think I can, I think I can." Until next time, my friends...

Cheers!

Becky

(PS: Don't get excited that my picture above says that I'm in the top 25%... that's against other walkers, not runners or joggers. I don't see the point of downloading Map My Run since I already have Map My Walk, so I'm just putting up with it. I'm soooo not that impressive yet.)