Friday Favorites

…but first, this week in running:
Monday- Ran 10.3 miles at an average pace of 10:10
Tuesday- Rest day: Did crunches. Went for an hour long walk with husband & pup
Wednesday- 3ish mile hill run
Thursday- 6 mile tempo run/5.16 mi at average pace of 9:06.
Friday- Planning to bike once I hit publish.

I’m borrowing the Friday Favorites idea from Kristy.

1. Coffee heath bar ice cream.  This isn’t really a “lately I’ve been enjoying this flavor…” kind of thing.  I like this flavor all the time. Because it is a fact that I enjoy all things coffee.  But whereas I used to get coffee heath bar or coffee chocolate almond ice cream from my beloved Halo Farm in NJ, I picked up this little fellow from my local super-Target.  It has really big chunks of heath bar and it is delicious.

2.  Satsuma Body Wash from The Body Shop.  I don’t know why, but this citrusy tangerine-y scent is like a drug to me. I could smell it all day. I want to smell it all day.

3.  These super cool moving announcement postcards are to officially share our new address with friends and extended family.  Personally, I like getting real mail.  It’s way more fun than email.  Yeah, it’s been almost 2 months since we moved. So what, who cares. 

The talented Emily designed these, sent me the proof electronically, and I had them printed through Vista Print.

4.  I know people either love ‘em or hate ‘em:  Toms.

I got my first pair of Toms last May.  When I decided I wanted a second pair, I had originally seen these in navy canvas and loved them but they were sold out and after months of stalking, they were never restocked.  Next came tan.  Neutral’s good too.

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I promise you I am wearing pants.

     

    

And I thought this was a fun springy/summery print that would go with a lot of different colors.

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I’m not totally sure how I feel about the cuffed jeans look,  but it showed off the shoes better.  And in case you’re in the market for either of these, I had to go down a half size in both styles from my regular shoe size.

5. Key Lime Dannon Oikos Traditional Greek Yogurt

I found this flavor at Wegmans in N.J. and it is by far my favorite (probably because it has fat in it) but noticed it was nowhere to be found at my grocery store in California.  Vons has other full fat Oikos flavors, but not key lime. When I asked, they told me they didn’t carry it.  So started my Key Lime Greek Yogurt hunt. I checked Target, Whole Foods (shouldn’t have bothered; it’s not organic), Albertsons, and finally Ralphs before I found it.  And when I did, I stocked up and bought 7.  In fact, I’m going to get more today.

Devil's Chair

Last week when not grocery shopping, doing laundry, or stalking the internet for job openings: I got my California driver’s license, we transferred the cars’ registrations from NJ to CA, brought Molly to a dog park, met up with a couple of Dan’s new coworkers for some beers, went hiking, and I met up with the local running group for a long run on Sunday.

I had to take a written test of “signs and laws” at the DMV to get my CA license.  Luckily there are practice tests and “tutorials” online.  These tutorials taught me valuable things like that it is illegal to park in front of your own driveway (who knew?) and that it is apparently desirable for your car to roll off a cliff should the parking brake fail.

   
Phew, I passed.

Swapped out a set of these:


for a set of these:


I met my goal of running at least 25 miles this past week.
Tuesday: 3.8 miles
Wednesday: 8.89 miles
Friday 2.93 miles on hills in 30mph+ winds
Sunday: 12.06 miles w/running group
Total miles run: 27.68 miles

Plus on Saturday we hiked about 7.8 miles at a place called the Devil’s Punchbowl.  It was an out and back hike to the Devil's Chair.



That green water tower in the distance was close to the start of our hike (we started to the right of it).  This picture was taken after maybe 2 miles of winding around the mountains.



I was not aware my picture was being taken in this one and may have been freaking out slightly as we were walking along a ridge that fell off sharply on both sides.  I clung to that fence the whole way out. I’m not sure when I became such a wimp.


Railing out to the “Devil’s Chair”


Picture attempt while at the very end.  This is me forcing a smile while clinging to the fence and Dan and not thinking about what would happen if that fence gave out.


This borrowed pic may give a better sense as to what we walked out on, and where we stood for the previous picture.

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Another borrowed one:

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We were here.  There were 2 people out on the end when we took this picture.  One of them is wearing a red shirt.  Maybe you can see it, maybe not.

The Devil's Chair is at a point where the San Andreas Fault and the Punchbowl Faults come together.  One of the fault lines is right between the white and the reddish rocks.

Our elevation started around 4750'.  We quickly climbed to about 5300' then had lots of little ups and downs. The Devil's Chair itself was at about 4950'.

It was fun and pretty but slightly terrifying at some points where there was packed snow or mud on the trail and the trail was only 18" wide with a drop off to one side.  If you didn't think about the drop off, walking on a 18" wide path at a slight angle with snow/ice would not be such a big deal.

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I enjoyed the group run on Sunday morning.  We met bright and early at 6:30 about 15 minutes from where I live.  I ran with two very nice women who were running at a good pace for me.  One of them is running the LA Marathon in <2 weeks. What I did not know before Sunday was that the run would be supported- one of the members "hosted" the run, providing maps for the route, and setting up water, gatorade, and cups at 2 points along the course. Nice!

When we got back from running, many people were already sitting outside the Starbucks enjoying their coffee and talking.  Running and coffee! It's like this group was meant for me.  I probably stayed for about an hourish afterward. The group consists of quite a range of speed and ages.  I'm looking forward to going back for another run!

Their longer weekend runs are at the crack of dawn and their weekday track and tempo runs are at night.  I generally like to get my runs done in the morning, so I don't know what I'll do about that yet.  Or maybe my mileage will just begin to increase when I get in my normal morning miles and an occasional night time group run :)

Are you in a running group?  Thoughts?  Discuss.
Are you a fan of hiking?  Any recommendations for hiking in SoCal?

January Recap

I didn't totally slack off during the month of January.

I decided to give yoga a try and have been going once weekly since the New Year.

January 2-8: 75 min yoga, 18.2 miles of running, a surprising 7.38 mile outdoor bike ride, 50 min arms + core
January 9-15: 75 min yoga, 17.66 miles of running
January 16-22: 75 min yoga, 7.48 miles of running, 6 mile hike
January 23-29: 75 min yoga, 16.04 miles of running
January 30-31: 1 hour boot camp

January Total: 59.38 miles run, 7.38 miles biked, 6 miles hiked, 4 yoga classes.

January 31 also marked my last day of work.  I have all kinds of mixed feelings about that, but it is giving me a week to chill out and wrap up stuff here in NJ before the movers come next week to cart our stuff off to CA.

Many runs have been from the Run Less Run Faster plan, even if they have been spread out over a longer period of time.  I'm still able to hit my target paces based on my November half marathon time though, so I don't think I have lost any fitness. 

Somewhere around February 15th I should be able to get back to following a training plan more closely.  Which is good, since I've got a half marathon on March 24th.  I'm not expecting to PR given the course's elevation map.  Luckily (or not) our future home is located at the top of a hill with a several hundred foot elevation change over the course of less than a mile.  So I'll have some forced practice on hills close to home.


What races are you signed up for in 2012?

House Hunters

Our trip to California last week was a success:  we found a place to rent and signed a lease so we're all set for our move in a couple weeks (except the packing thing).

Last Friday we spent most of the day with a realtor and saw several properties, one of which we really liked.  Until we saw one with this view from the backyard...

...and it was no contest.  I think having a view of the San Gabriel mountains from the back of our place will help to distract me from the major adjustment of moving to the West Coast.


While out there, I got in a quick 2 mile hotel treadmill run, we did a 6 mile hike on Saturday, and a 2.5 mile round trip walk to dinner one night.  A week off from harder/longer running made my return to running tougher this week, despite my successful speed work out last Monday. 

I'm trying to get back on track for the next 2 weeks until my running gets derailed again while we sit in the car for 5 days driving across the country.  This Tuesday I did 1 hour and 15 minutes of yoga, followed by a 2.8 mile easy run (I probably should have done those in the reverse order).  Wednesday night I did a 5 mile run with 3 tempo miles.  I hit my goal pace of 9:05 for the tempo miles but it felt like it required a little more effort than it should have.  I'm hoping to get in another easy run tomorrow and looking forward to a long run this weekend.

Next race?

For the first time in about a year, I have NO next race lined up.  It's a weird feeling.

However, I am strongly considering the Chesebro Half Marathon on March 24, 2012.  It's part of the Great Race of Agoura Hills.  The Chesebro half is 5 miles on roads, and 8 miles on trails.

If it rains a lot which can make for unsafe trail conditions on a mountain, you get moved to the other half marathon taking place that same day, all on roads- the Pacific Half Marathon (this apparently happened last year).

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It would not exactly be an ideal course for a PR:

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 But I think the scenery would be nice:

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You may be thinking to yourself, "A trail race in the mountains?  There are no such mountains in New Jersey."  

And you would be correct.

Dan has accepted a job offer near Los Angeles.  After he defends his thesis, we will be moving to California in early February!  In the mean time, I am trying not to freak out too much about our upcoming move and I am distracting myself from the nitty gritty details by looking into west coast races.

Some other trail races that caught my eye include...

The XTERRA Malibu 6k or 22k on April 29th.  I kind of wish there was an in-between option.  The XTERRA Malibu Creek Challenge promises some of the best views in Malibu.

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22k recaps with pictures here and here and here.

22k

6k

My husband also found for me the Leona Valley Trail half marathon (not until September 29, 2012).  There's a nice blog recap with lots of pretty pictures here.  

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But this one is another leg killer:

Clearly there will be lots of trails nearby with some serious elevation change.  No more complaining about the 90 feet of elevation change over a third of a mile that exists immediately behind my apartment.

While I am looking forward to some really scenic trail running, I also hope to break a 2-hour half marathon in 2012 so I am in search of a flatter road race where that might be possible.  

1. Anyone have any race recommendations for the LA area?

2. What is your next race?

3. Also, I am currently accepting successful long-distance or cross-country moving stories.

I have only lived in Western NY and now NJ...our move to CA will be quite an adventure!