Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Recovery Hike with Friends! March 15, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 5:25 pm
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After my 20 miles on Saturday, I wanted to stretch my legs out, and get some fresh air. The Los Angeles Racers had a hike planned, and it was perfect timing!


Look at those mountains! We hiked along the ridge and back for an hour. I had so much fun catching up with my friend Ashley!

We had our trusty trail leader too….That’s Abby!


What a perfect way to spend a beautiful Sunday morning.
(Sorry East Coasters… I know you’re being hammered with rain! But out here… the sky is clear and blue! Come visit!)

And just for fun… here’s a picture my friend “Bucket” took of me and Peter on Saturday’s run.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering… after a midnight bedtime last night…. the 5:30am challenge is officially dead. I’m glad it lasted all of 5 days. But now I need my sleep. 🙂

 

Do you have Guts? March 13, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 7:56 pm
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Last night, I went to see an Upright Citizens Brigade show with my friend Erica! 

It was really, really funny, but to me, the best part was that the special guest was Mike O’Malley! You may know him now from Parenthood, Glee, My Name is Earl or Yes, Dear (among others). But for me, I know him from GUTS!!!!! I used to LOVE that show!


 

Guts…. do you have it?

 

The Nixon Library! January 30, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 5:45 pm
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A couple of weeks ago, it rained poured in Los Angeles, so we headed down to the Nixon Presidential Library to be “tourists in our own city” for a day. It took us a while to get down there because of the rain traffic, but it was worth the visit. 

But back up a little, before we got there, we had a great lunch at the Roadhouse Grill. It’s one of those “eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor” type of places. It was great! We got way too much food…including some big drinks!

I got a rootbeer float… part beverage..part dessert. 🙂

Then we headed to the Nixon Library. In the lobby, they had a HUGE legoland display set up. Everything on it was made out of legos! How cool is this!


The library was built on the property of Nixon’s birthplace. His house is still there! Too bad it was raining!
 
They usually let you go inside his house and see how it looked when he was born, but it was closed because of the weather. Instead, they had a “dollhouse” set up so you could imagine what it really is.




Here is what the house looks like from the back. The rain let up for a few minutes so we went out real quick to take a peek!

 
Mr. and Mrs. Nixon are buried in the backyard.


The rest of the museum is really incredible, and we were sad we didn’t have more time in there. There is so much history that happened during his presidency. We really liked looking at the exhibit about Russia because we recognized a lot of the places in the pictures.

There was also a pretty awesome exhibit on Space Travel. A lot of really cool stuff to see.

All in all, a really great place to visit. Highly recommended!

 

It just takes some time…. January 16, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles,Marathons,Training,Uncategorized — Kelocity @ 11:25 am
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Last night, we went out to a British Pub down the street to celebrate JR’s birthday!

It was great! I knew I had to get up and run in the morning, so I kept it simple with a Seltzer and Cranberry. But check out Irving’s concoction! It was coffee, baileys and whipped cream. He had two! I was jealous. 


This morning, I set out to conquer a 9 mile run per my training plan. We headed to Griffith Park for a change of scenery and some hills. We met up with the lovely LA Racers, which is always a fun time.

I was representing my Dana-Farber team today!
 

In the background, you can see the Los Angeles Zoo! I love LA. 

I settled into a 5:5 interval (five minutes running/five minutes walking) and my pace was actually pretty close to what it is when I run 5:1 intervals. It just proves that a little extra walking is not going to kill my time… it may actually help my time so I dont get exhausted at the end. 

My stats:
Mile 1 – 11:54
Mile 2 – 12:34
Mile 3 – 11:50
Mile 4 – 11:47
Mile 5 – 11:49
Mile 6 – 19:29 (included a rest stop break at the car!)
Mile 7 – 16:10 (walked wth the hubby for a mile!)
Mile 8 – 12:16
Mile 9 – 11:22

Wow, that’s a lot of miles, huh? Not my best pace ever, but it was just so gorgeous out today, I really enjoyed this run.

Towards the end, It Just Takes Some Time by Jimmy Eat World came onto my Ipod and I was laughing at some of the lyrics:

Hey, don’t write yourself off yet…
Just try your best, try everything you can.
And don’t you worry what they tell themselves when you’re away.
It just takes some time,
little girl you’re in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine,
everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
Live right now.
Yeah, just be yourself.
It doesn’t matter if it’s good enough for someone else.

Those lyrics were totally keeping me going at the end. Everything will be alright. I felt like I could have pounded out a few more miles, but I didn’t want to push it. It was pretty rewarding. 

Next week, I go into Double-Digits!! My Boston Marathon race is 50% training and 50% fundraising for the amazing Dana-Farber. Don’t forget, you can support me here!

 

A Glorious Beach Run! January 10, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles,Marathons,Training — Kelocity @ 1:31 pm
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I was a little nervous for my planned 7 miler today. It will be my first long run since the begining of December. But I knew I had to conquer it to get back on schedule for Boston. My group was meeting at the Becah today, and it was the PERFECT day for a run. I got there early and enjoyed the scenery for a while before everyone got there. 

Don’t you love my camera timer? I put it on the hood of my car to capture this. haha 

I really tried to stretch out my calves and my hamstrings so my shins wouldn’t hurt during the run. I now believe fully that tight calves were the reason for my shin splints. Lesson learned.

Stretch, stretch, stretch!…. oh and enjoy the scenery while you do it!

I did the whole 7 miles at 5:1 intervals to ease back into it, and it was PERFECT. I was able to maintain it and everything felt awesome. She’s back in the game!

My splits:
Mile 1 –  10:31
Mile 2 – 11:05
Mile 3 – 11:53
Mile 4 – 13:16 (Included a stretch break!)
Mile 5 – 11:58
Mile 6 – 12:43
Mile 7 – 19:05 (A cool down mile)

And what’s the second most important thing to running besides stretching?? ICING! And what better way to do this than nature’s ice bath! The Ocean!

After we finished, we plunged into the ocean to cool down our muscles! It felt gooooood!


(If you look quick, doesn’t that  look like snow? But it’s really the waves behind me!)

The girls who braved the cold in the name of muscle recovery!

I just love Los Angeles! You can’t beat this on a Sunday morning!

My shins are thanking me for this:

Team Spirit for the Los Angeles Racers!

Natalia got down in the sand! That’s dedication!

Afterwards, we found had to rinse all the sand off!

What a great run!