Happy Friday!!

I’m so glad this week is over. Even though it was a busy week, it sort of felt super long. Maybe because I’m so excited for Christmas and Craig’s birthday weekend 🙂

So last weekend I did a 6k race with my mom and she did AWESOME! I’m so proud of her.

It was cool to do this with my mom because I never really thought that we would ever do a race together. She really pushed herself and finished strong. She hugged me when we crossed the finish line and she told me later that it was to hold herself up. lol.

After the race we went and had some pizza 🙂

On Sunday I ran the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon. To be honest I really did not want to get out of bed. I was so cozy and it was cold out. But I registered for this race as part of my marathon training and I knew I had to get my butt out there.

I saw Craig about 5 times throughout the race and seeing him really pushed me. There was a point after the 10 mile marker that I had planned to take a walk break. I wasn’t going for any specific time or anything but then I saw Craig right after the mile marker and he told me to keep going so I did.

I was really happy with my time. It’s not a PR but I haven’t finished in the 20’s in a year so I was glad. I felt really good the whole race. I wish they were all like that 😉

This is me crossing the finish line. I was happy to see Craig and I also had some runner’s high going on.

This Sunday calls for a 15 miler. I’m a little nervous. The plan is to run 5 with Craig and 3 with my friend then the last 7 on my own. I hope it’s not too cold. Brrrr.

This weekend we will be celebrating Craig’s birthday. Starting with dinner and Cosmic Bowling.

Have a great weekend!

Betty

Well helllloooooooooo there 🙂

So I’m still doing everything I love and taking lot’s of pictures. So here’s a quick glimpse at the last couple of months.

Last month I ran a 5k with my old boss. It was her 1st 5k and it was super cool to finally do this with her. We have been talking about doing a race together for years.

That same day I did the ROC race with my sister and her boyfriend. Turtle Power!! I wanted to wear something cool but still comfortable since it was an obstacle race. It was like a fun, weird obstacle race. Not a GRRRR I’m tough type of race. I laughed so much during this run. We all did things that made us look like straight fools. It was fun bouncing around and doing silly things. I want to do this race next year again. Hopefully Craig doesn’t have to work so he can join us.

I’ve also been running half marathons. I ran Sun the Shun the first weekend of November I think. Last year this was a PR race for me. When I signed up for the race, I had hoped it would be another PR but I didn’t train for it so I guess I can’t be too mad that it didn’t happen. I still had a lot of fun though.

On November 17th we ran the Las Vegas Rock N Roll half marathon and had a BLAST! This might be the 1st year that we felt everything went perfect for us during this race. This is our 4th time doing it and RNR finally got it right. I think Vegas in November is way better than in December.

I loved our Arizona runner shirts. They were technical material too. And you know I had to have some sparkle for Vegas 😉

This last weekend we ran the Hot Chocolate 15k. We ran this race last year and had a lot of fun so we decided to run it again. This year they gave us Hot Chocolate hoodies which I liked a lot better than the wind breaker jackets we got last year.

And one of the main reasons I love this race…the mug. Eating all the deliciousness that comes inside it after the race is just so fun.

I’ve also been training for my mom’s 1st race!!!! This pumps me up big time!! We are walking/jogging a 6k tomorrow. I can tell she has really liked the extra time we’ve had solo chatting and working out.

I hope she has fun tomorrow!!

On Sunday I’m running the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon. This will be more of a long run for me than a time race. Oh!!! I registered for the P. F. Changs Marathon which is in January! ahhhhhhh. I’m even more nervous than I was for my 1st marathon. What was I thinking?!!!

I’ve of course been spending time with my peeps. Especially now with all the fun Christmas things going on….

On Tuesday we went to Zoolights and took my nieces. The little one started off a little grumpy but as soon as she saw the lights she started pointing and wanting to show us all the cool lights. I loved it.

We’ve also been exploring new and old trails. On Thanksgiving we checked out a new trail near us and we really liked it. We’ll be hiking it again for sure.

One morning while Craig rode his mountain bike I hiked around at Papago Park. There isn’t any crazy trails so I ended up trail running.

In November some time we headed up to Sedona to hike West Fork Trail. We had seen a few pictures with all the fall colors and knew we had to get out there. We’ve hiked this trail before but never like this. I was in leaf heaven….

It was so pretty and we just loved seeing the leaves fall as we hiked.

This year has been super fun. We went to new places and saw new things. I’m excited to see what next year will bring. 🙂

Question: Anything you’re super excited about for next year?

Betty

Hi my peeps! I guess it’s been a while since I last posted 🙂

I decided I needed to write a post since I have reached a pretty big goal I had for myself. I am now on a 2 year streak of running at least one race a month. Since September 2011 I have ran the following….

13- Half Marathon’s

4- 10k and above

18 5k’s

1 Ragnar

which means 36 races!! I am pretty pumped about my numbers and I thought I should celebrate with the Electric Run.

I mean it’s a party and a race…no better way to celebrate right?!

The race was literally next to our house, we walked there and were excited every time we drove by and saw them setting everything up. We even walked over the night before to check it out.

The race started at 7 PM and we got there about 20 minutes early to get a little pre-party action.

Craig just couldn’t contain himself and started dancing at the start line. They kept everyone pumped with music, freebies thrown at the crowd and a lot of lights.

The course was well-lit and easy to follow.

I think these umbrella’s were my favorite part of the course but they had a lot to choose from.

Even the cups were glow in the dark.

After the race we got our party on!!! The music was loud, the crowd was loud and we had a blast.

After the race fun we headed to dinner for some BBQ because I’d been craving some beef brisket. It was delish.

The next morning we went on a bike ride, we had planned on Mtn. biking but decided to hit the pavement instead.

Then I treated myself to a little Lulu for reaching my goal.

I bought some crops, this was my first time trying on their pants and I wanted them all. I’m trying to think of another goal just so I can treat myself to more 😉

So even though I haven’t been updating the ol’ blog, I have been running and staying active. I plan on getting back to blogging regularly, well regular for me anyway.

Hope I still have some readers out there 🙂

Betty 

Happy Friday!!

This week flew by and I’m ready for another awesome weekend!

Last week I got these Shaun T. workout dvds.

I’ll admit that I’m not huge on workout dvds because I just don’t get as into them as I do in a real class, gym or outside workout but I do enjoy them once in a while and I like to have my options.

On Friday night we finally went to see Man of Steel.

I thought it was good but not as great as I thought it would be. I’ve been waiting for this movie to come out so maybe I just built it up too much?…. not sure. I liked it but didn’t love it. But Henry Cavill I loved 🙂

On Saturday we ran Beat the Heat.

I was a little nervous for this race because of the heat and even though it was hot and hard to keep running at some spots, it could have been a lot worse. It was 104* even though our phone said 102* and this weekend it will be about 118* so a lot worse.

The race started inside but it was just for a few minutes, most of the race was outside. We weren’t running for time or anything and we had fun. We ran through sprinklers at the end toward the finish line. That felt pretty good.

And on Sunday morning we went out for a bike ride. Not Mtn biking this time 😉 We’ve been craving a long ride like the old times. It’s been awhile since we’ve been out on the pavement so we headed to our favorite park, our old stomping grounds.

The ride felt so good, like it’s so different riding on the pavement from the dirt. It took me a bit to get into my groove but it was nice and I knew I wanted to ride a few miles. The most I’ve ever ridden are 18 miles and when we were coming back closer to our car I told Craig I wanted to beat that so we kept going.

We ended up with a little over 21 miles!! I was super super happy. Next time maybe 25?…

For breakfast we went to La Grande Orange, it’s been awhile since we’ve been here too and I had forgotten how delicious it is.

For our lunch/dinner we went to Seasons 52. We hit up all the old spots.

Let’s see what this weekend brings us….

Betty

I took a couple of months off from drinking Green Monsters and I have no clue why. They are just so amazing, delicious and convenient. These are back in my life and back in a big way. On Saturday I took my breakfast on the road since we headed to Flagstaff for some mountain biking.

Craig has the nicer bike…I’m working on getting a better one 😉

We went riding at the Nordic Center where we went Snow Shoeing in February. The trail started off going up and up and then some more. It was a little hard for me and I’m not even going to lie….I hiked a bike a couple of times, but I pushed myself and I can tell I’m getting a lot better. Going down was fun even though I prefer to go up, going down too fast makes me nervous. Craig loves it and he’s like a little kid when he’s on his bike. I love it.

Then this happened….

We went to Picazzo’s and OMG did we enjoy the food. I didn’t even know they had an organic pazookie!! It’s like my favorite dessert ever. Of course when I saw it on the dessert menu, we had to have one and it was super good.

We got home a little earlier than we though we would so we had some time before we picked up my niece Jasmine for the sleep over.

Her birthday was on Sunday and since my whole family was working on her surprise party I was in charge of keeping her entertained until the party started.

We watched a movie and stayed up late, then in the morning Craig made us chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Her gifts were 2 Monster High bathing suits & MH flip flops.

Then we took her to watch Epic which I loved.

Then it was party time. She had no clue and I was so excited to get to the party for her to see.

The slide was fun….a lot of fun. We’re thinking of having an adult party now. haha.

And this week I’ve been busy putting my butt to work. I’m trying to get back into a good routine and I think I’m getting there.

On Tuesday I went to Zumba with my sister and there were 2 new trainers. We loved one of them and she is teaching the class next Tuesday so we are for sure going.

We’ve also kept running in the morning and enjoying the beautiful sunrise.

Last night we went to watch Spirit of the Marathon 2 and I loved it.

It’s crazy when I think about how I ran a marathon, like how did I do it?! haha. It was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to do another one.

Betty

Happy Monday!! Time for us to do it all over again 🙂

In the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to run in the morning’s before work. We usually go for Tuesday and Thursday. I’m not going to say it happens ALL the time because sometimes I decide sleeping in a little longer and not looking like a bum at work is what I want to do that day. We have to be out the door by 5:30 at the latest in order to be back in time for me to eat and get ready.

Then on the weekend’s we go for another run. I’m not training for a half right now so we aren’t doing anything considered a long run right now but I’m considering something in August 😉 so that might change pretty soon. (hint, hint Craig)

About a week ago we ran the Rock-N-Glow race with my sister and friend Dani. We got the deal off Livingsocial or Groupon. It was a pretty fun event except the first part of the course was a little weird around a parking lot but then it got better.

I’m officially at my 20 month race streak!!! Can I get a Wooohooooooo?!!!! I have a race planned for June which I’m a little nervous about. It’s called “Beat the Heat” it’s only a 5k but dudes…..it gets hot here in Arizona. It’s already 105* oh and did I mention the race starts at 2:47 PM!! Yup they purposely planned for us to run at the hottest time ever. Craig is running it with me so I’ll make him carry me around if I start to feel a little light-headed. haha.

Over the weekend we usually fit in another run.

Our home turf….Tempe Town Lake.

My run last Saturday didn’t go that well, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather the last week or so and we ended up walking. I got a little sad about not feeling good enough to run but the walk was nice so then I decided to just enjoy it 🙂

Question: Any fun races you have planned coming up?

Betty

Happy Hump Day! This week is going by fast, must be because it was a shorter week.

So my next few posts will have a little theme…. “Adventures” because I’m a nerd and because I have a lot to catch up and so it will be easier this way. 🙂

About a week ago I arranged a girls hiking day with my sister and cousin. We had a blast and I’ll probably plan another day like this in the next month or so.

We drove to Sedona, AZ, one of my favorite places to hike and only about 2 hours away. I wanted the hike to be worth the drive and still not too difficult since I wasn’t sure if my cousin or sis would enjoy themselves. lol.

We hiked Devil’s Bridge which isn’t a very hard or long hike so we added 2 other trails to make it 5.5 miles. I don’t remember the names of the other trails at this time 🙂

Devil’s Bridge has some incline but nothing crazy and totally worth the view.

I could probably sit there forever just enjoying the beautiful view.

My cousin and sister really liked it and they even said we should plan this more often. 🙂

The last time I hiked this with Craig we did go out on the bridge but this time for some reason I didn’t feel up to it. haha. Seeing the people out there made me nervous. We sat at the end of the trail for a while having a snack and chatting it up.

After our hike we had a late lunch at Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen.

It’s as delicious as it looks, LOVE this place!

Our last hiking adventure was on Sunday. We headed to Craig’s favorite area…South Mountain. We didn’t really have a plan for what trails or how many miles we wanted to do, just kind of went with how we felt and ended up doing 6.3 miles.

And I got to snap a picture of Craig pretend mountain biking. He likes to show me what line he would take if he were on his mountain bike. I think it’s pretty cute 🙂

Since it’s starting to warm up in AZ we are starting our hikes or anything outside a lot earlier. Usually starting in July we head up north more which I love. Just because it’s getting hotter doesn’t mean the hiking adventures stop 🙂

Betty

So about a month ago I ran the OC Half Marathon and LOVED IT! I didn’t PR or anything but it’s definitely high on the best races I’ve ran.

This is what I wore…my first Lulu outfit 🙂 It was so comfortable, this might have been the most comfortable outfit I’ve ever ran in. I’m obsessed with their clothes, I want to buy so many more tops, skirts and shorts.

The race started at 6:15 am for the half marathon and 5:30 am for the full. They had shuttle busses for runners but I had Craig drop me off close to the starting line. The race started in Newport Beach and we stayed in Huntington Beach so it wasn’t too far.

It was a bit cold when I got to the starting line and I considered wearing my sweater but I didn’t know when I would see Craig out on the course and I didn’t want to risk my Nike running jacket 😉

I’m glad I didn’t wear it because after a couple of miles I was sweating. Running near the beach makes you sweat like no other.

I loved this course, I thought I had taken more pictures showing the ocean since we ran by it but they came out a little blurry.

This has been my favorite course for sure. It made me want to run more beach races. I’m even considering the Long Beach Half in October.

The first 2-3 miles of the course are pretty much downhill then you get into to some rolling hills. Since I’ve been having knee issues I walked part of the uphills, thank god I didn’t have any pain on race day. 🙂

I felt good throughout the whole race. It went by fast and I was never like…when is this going to be over?!!….I think because I was enjoying the course so much.

I saw Craig about 3 times throughout the course and that just makes me so happy.

It’s awesome to see your peeps supporting you, gives you that extra strength to push yourself.

Another favorite thing of mine of running races is seeing the signs.

The race finishes in Costa Mesa at the Fairgrounds.  

At about the 11th mile there was a lady passing out Red Vines and those are pretty much my fave so of course I had one 😉

Craig parked a little far from the whole finish area so we didn’t have too big of an issue getting out like I heard other people did. I didn’t experience anything I would say was negative from the race. I really loved everything about it.

Betty

 Happy Friday!! Man, does it feel good to say it’s Friday. Only a few more minutes and my weekend will begin 🙂

My week started off with the Run For Boston at Roadrunner in Tempe. I thought this was super cool and wanted to make sure I was a part of it. Runners uniting all over the world to remember something that has affected us all.

It’s starting to get a little warmer here in Arizona but that didn’t stop anyone from showing up. There were a lot of people there.

A few runners from Boston lead us on our 5k run.

At the finish everyone was around giving high fives. It was awesome. I wanted to share these pictures with you. I saw so many on Monday on Instagram, it was cool to see pictures from all different places.

Have a good weekend!!

Betty

Hi Peeps!!

So I never told you how Jillian went…

Our seats were super close, it wasn’t a huge place so it was more personal. I really really liked it. She talked about exercise and eating healthy of course but she also spoke about LIVING YOUR LIFE. She really got the point across. Basically enjoy every minute and make the most of it. It’s stuff you hear on her podcasts but it was cool to see her and listen to her live.

The day before I went to her show she posted on her facebook her before and after pictures and asked for us to show ours so here is mine….

I had better before pictures but they were too close up for instagram and it seems like I do everything through instagram now a days.

Last week a lot happened in the world. I was devastated at what happened in Boston and I was so moved by the running community. It felt good to be part of such a great group of people.

On Tuesday I went out and Ran for Boston. I wore my AZRNR race shirt and so many others were wearing race shirts too. I always say hi, wave or do a little head nod when I pass by runners but it meant so much more that day and I think they thought so too.

On Saturday Craig and I ran Pat’s Run. This was Craig’s first year running it. I’ve ran it once before and loved it. It’s a huge event and it can get a little crowded but it’s well-organized and for a great cause.

I think there were about 35,000 runners and walkers. I saw so many Boston gear and flags. It was awesome!

The finish line is inside the ASU Stadium and the ASU Football players were on the right cheering everyone on.

After Craig and I ran the 4.2 mile run I ran 2 more miles to make it my long run for the weekend. It was hard to just start running again after I finished a race but I knew I had to do it. I ran to where my sister was parked to meet up with them since I was running the Kids Run with my baby girl Jasmine.

She was so nervous before the start. It was so cute and I just wanted to make her feel safe. One of the biggest reasons she was nervous in her words was “because there was a lot of people, more than other runs she’s done” She was also nervous because her mom was meeting us at the finish line and she didn’t want her to leave us. haha. As soon as we crossed the starting line her nerves went away. She was running fast and I was trying to keep up with her. She started high fiving the people on the sides cheering us on and she was so happy once we crossed the finish line because she finished and because she got to see her mom 🙂

That day I was going to babysit on or in Jasmine’s words “kid sit” so I tried to think of something fun we could do that she would really enjoy and then I remembered about As You Wish. She is very crafty and was super excited when she knew what we would be doing.

We both painted mugs. It was a cool experience and she wants to go back so I’m sure we will.

Then I treated my dates to dinner…

They are a crazy crew. After dinner Jasmine and I did make up, hair and a fashion show for Craig. lol. Good times.

On Sunday Morning we dropped off Jasmine and went on a hike. We thought about taking her but she has little legs. haha.

This hike was a lot of fun. We had an idea where we wanted to go but didn’t have a trail picked out so we just explored and found a cool one. Craig now has a goal of hiking all the trails on South Mountain in Phoenix. We better get hiking 😉

For lunch we went to Zoe’s Kitchen, one of my favorites.

Delish….

Then we went to Lululemon…again. I seriously might have a problem.

There stuff is so cute and comfortable but pricey for me. I might have to set some money aside every month for Lulu gear 🙂

Question: Anything you treat yourself to that you know is a little pricey?

Betty