Philadelphia in May

So, I suck at blogging. Over a month ago, Lauren and I flew to Philadelphia with our moms to tour the city and take care of "business" for a week. We spent a few days sightseeing and managed to squeeze in several tasty restaurants as well.

Unknowingly, the week we decided to travel happened to be graduation weekend for many schools, so finding a reasonably priced hotel was nearly impossible. We ended up staying at the Sheraton in Society Hill. There was a "confusion" with our room reservation, so we were treated to a full breakfast every morning, on the house. Score!

Because we were only in Philadelphia for a week, we weren't able to do a lot of touristy things, but here's a list of some of the places we were able to visit:

* Eastern State Penitentiary
Leti is basically obsessed with prisons, so this place was obviously a must-see. I'm not the best person to travel with if you want to spend a lot of time touring historical places/museums...I had enough of that throughout my childhood, I'll meet you in the gift shop! But, I actually enjoyed this audio tour and learned some pretty interesting things. Like, did you know many prisons initially modeled their facilities after this one?

* Betsy Ross' House
We also decided to try the audio tour here, but it wasn't nearly as pleasant as the penitentiary because...school field trips! Being a home and all, there wasn't much space to spread out/walk, and all of the noisy kids really tested my patience, and I'm not one to usually be bothered by stuff like that. Since I do like sewing, it was however interesting to see a reenactment of where Betsy sewed the first American flags.

* Liberty Bell
I'm pretty sure this was Lauren's favorite part of the whole trip; she's seriously been so excited to see the cracked bell. Being a free exhibit, the line to see the actual bell was a little long, but if you're into the historical aspect of the city, then you have to go here. Fun fact: There were some tears shed as a result of the symbolic nature of the Liberty Bell (not by me). History can have that effect, you guys.

* Independence Hall
Like the Liberty Bell, this exhibit was also free, and since it's such a popular tourist attraction, you have to go to the visitor's center beforehand to get a ticket with a designated time for your assigned tour. I'll be honest, out of the four of us, no one enjoyed the tour. Our particular tour guide was a jerk to say the least. He rushed us through the tour, was condescending, and basically acted like a "know-it-all". Not cool. But after talking to another guide and addressing our concerns, it seems like we weren't the only ones to feel that way about that specific guide. As long as you're lucky enough to get a better (nicer/friendlier) guide, I'm sure you'll enjoy the tour.

* Reading Terminal Market
Basically, this is a large indoor daily market with dozens and dozens of vendors. We went on a day where the Amish were absent, but if you plan it right, you can buy bread, produce, jams, or crafts from the Amish. So cool!

* Philadelphia Mint
We didn't have much time to enjoy this attraction; I needed several more hours here to take it all in. I think I spent an entire hour reading a timeline about the history of the United States. I definitely want to come back and finish my self-guided tour. Who wouldn't want to learn about how money is made?

Now let's move onto the more important things in life, food:

* Blackbird Pizzeria
The whole restaurant is vegan! Such a bittersweet thing. So many things to choose from, but this makes deciding so difficult! I opted for the pizza and ordered a large one, thinking I'd share with everyone else. But it turned out that they were too full after their own meals, so I sadly ended up wasting a lot. I also bought an "everything but the kitchen sink" cookie to save for latter, and it was delicious!

 

* HipCityVeg
This is my new favorite restaurant on the East Coast. They have a small menu, but everything here is also vegan. I knew right away what I wanted to order. Three words. Chicken. Ranch. Burger. That is all. Oh, and a chocolate shake. This is seriously one of the best places for a vegan to eat in the entire world.

* Campo's
The only vegan item they had on their menu was a vegan Philly Cheesesteak, so I happily ordered that as I used to like the omnivore version. The sandwich was okay, but I don't think I'd go there again as the service was horrible. The cooks were nice, but the cashier lady was rude and ruined my experience.

* Reading Terminal Market
Yes, they have so much food here too! I order a falafel wrap and dolmas for lunch from Kamal's Middle Eastern Specialties. I'd pass on the dolmas next time, but the falafel was good. The best part of the market though is all of the vegan desserts. I got two slices of lemon bundt cake from the Metropolitan Bakery, and from the Flying Monkey Bakery I bought a chocolate chip cookie, chocolate cupcake, and a mini lemon bundt cake. All vegan! Oh my goodness, that mini lemon bundt cake and chocolate cupcake were to die for. When I'm in the area again, I'll venture to the market just for these two treats. So worth it!

We also added several mugs to our Starbucks "You are Here" collection: Nashville, Philadelphia, Denver, and Colorado. Layovers definitely count in my strong stance about only buying mugs from places I'm actually at.

I didn't pull out my big camera as much as I wanted, but at least cell phones now come equipped with a pretty decent camera, right?

Congrats Nate!

Nate graduated from high school today, and we celebrated at Buca di Beppo following the ceremony.

I haven't gotten him a graduation gift yet, but my other brother and my sister are still waiting for their gifts from their respective graduations last year. I guess I better get on that!

Congratulations Nate, have an awesome time at Dominican!

Late Night Rambles

As I'm sitting in front of my computer waiting for my nails to dry before I can go to sleep, I thought I'd write a blog post and share some randomness to kick start the weekend!

Lauren and I will be moving soon, so in preparation we said goodbye to our container garden for the time being. We'll be moving in with her mom for the next few months, so Leti is baby-sitting our plants until we make the official move. We still have full access to our little garden, but currently I'm only able to see the tiny plants about once a week. I guess that's better than never being able to see them again though, and I know they'll be in good hands.

Tomorrow my youngest brother, Nate, is graduating from high school...hence the waiting for my nails to dry.

I just finished reading "Lucky"; it's probably one of the best books I've read recently. Two other books that I recently read and loved are "The Interestings" and "The Fault in Our Stars". I will definitely be seeing the latter once it comes out in theaters.

I bought a Fit Bit about a week ago and have been using it to track my daily steps since. I'm amazed at how little I walk during a regular day. It's been pretty hard to find the time to get in 10,000 steps...I MUST make this a priority for now on!

I love the idea of the Less Stress Project. One of my biggest downfalls and attributes that I want to work on is my stress level. Sometimes the smallest things in life get me so worked up and make me so anxious. I want to turn my stress and anxiety into productivity so that I can get more things done during the day and appreciate all of the little things in my life.

Since January 1, I've been keeping up with my version of Project 365. I plan to share more about the entirety of my personal take on the concept later, but I've been diligently taking a picture everyday, so much so that's it's basically become second nature to me.

I want to get back into sewing mode and sew more clothes for myself. I have piles of fabric and old clothes that are dying to be made into something pretty. Thank you for all the inspiration, Me-Made-May!

Well now that my nails are just about dry, I guess it's time to go to bed so that I can wake up early and watch my brother graduate!

Container Garden Update

I recently shared a picture of the first little baby tomato! It's still very green, but very exciting nonetheless.

So, I thought I'd share and show how the rest of our container garden is doing. I watched a handful of Youtube videos about planting and harvesting the other day, and now I'm even more obsessed with our tiny garden. I also apologize in advance for all of the pictures; I'm sorry I'm not sorry!

As I mentioned before, the tomato plant is growing super tall and wide. After I spotted the first little tomato, I spent the next several weeks looking for more tomato buds compulsively. There's currently over a dozen little green tomatoes now! We also finally added a cage...better late than never. Look how big the first little green tomato is now!

 

The zucchini plant is getting huge. Flowers are beginning to grow, but they haven't bloomed yet.

Both cucumber plants have grown since being planted, and the Japanese cucumber plant just started showing signs of real cucumbers! We also just added cages, don't worry.

The strawberry plant has about a dozen flowers with teeny tiny strawberry buds. They started off green, but now they look brown...I hope that's supposed to happen. There are two larger red strawberries that I'm pretty certain have stopped growing. I'm thinking they're ready to be picked?

We've already used some basil in several different meals, and it tastes excellent! I must admit though, I didn't know the correct way to harvest the basil at first. I just picked off the biggest leaves, no matter where they were on the plant. After watching some videos, I learned that you have to look at a basil plant in layers. When you go to harvest the herb, simply break the entire top layer of leaves off.

The flower seeds that Lauren planted are looking good too. Now it looks like more than just a pot filled with soil. Hopefully the green shoots turn into pretty flowers soon instead of looking like a bowl of weeds.

I'm seriously in love with admiring our plants. Every morning before we leave for work, Lauren and I look at their growth, and I drool over their changes. I'll definitely be sharing further updates on our container garden as more growth ensues.

American River Parkway Half Marathon 2014

On Saturday I participated in the American River Parkway Half Marathon for the second year in a row. I guess I should really refer to it as an "ultra" half marathon though, as the course was closer to 13.65 miles rather than 13.1. It was purely accidental, so I couldn't be too upset.

I haven't been running much since the American River 50 several weeks ago. I've still been having foot pain, and honestly I've been losing my motivation to keep running. So, initially I thought I'd just look at this race as a "fun run". But come race morning, my inner-competitiveness kicked in and I knew I had to PR. Lauren brought up a good point, that we've PR'd every half marathon we've run so far except the Davis Moo-nlight (so hot!), so I had the urge to power through and PR again.

Lauren, Leti, Marissa, Heather, and I met up with one another before the race. Lauren, Leti, and I started together, and Marissa and Heather began with one another after us. I can't speak too much for them, but I do know that Marissa took off at mile 2, and Lauren and I separated from Leti shortly after the first mile.

I started the race at a much faster pace than I normally run, and I was okay with that. I knew that I would be running 8:1 intervals, so I felt comfortable with running faster knowing that I'd get a walk break pretty soon. Lauren and I completed the first 3 miles or so with an average pace of about 9'40'' per mile. Soon after the third mile marker our pace slowed down to around 10 minutes per mile. We kept this pace until mile 7.5 where we took it a little bit slower. It was at this point that everyone started to notice their GPS watches were way off compared to the mile marker signs. I think this changed our mood and made us a tad less motivated because with an extra half mile, there was no way we could PR.

We did pick up our pace again around mile 12.5 though. Knowing that I was almost done gave me a burst of momentum. Hearing all of the cheering at the finish line from other SacFit members was so encouraging, and seeing Dan at the finish and my dad shortly after was also great.

The race director ended up taking the extra long course into consideration; he was able to officially recalculate all of our times. My recalculated time was 2:13:47 which means I did PR! Even though it is only by 33 seconds, a PR is a PR!
 
Now onto fuel and hydration. About an hour before the start, I ate a chocolate chip Clif bar, my go-to running breakfast. Throughout the race there were aid stations with water and an electrolyte drink about every other mile. I ended up drinking a cup of electrolytes every time, except for the last mile. I didn't want to waste any time stopping with just a mile left, and I felt fine so I knew I'd be okay without it. I carried my handheld water bottle throughout the entire race as well, and ended up drinking a total of 20 ounces of water while I was running. I ate eight Clif shot blocks as well: 3 around mile 5, 3 around mile 10, and 2 around mile 12. This particular regimen of water, electrolytes, and fuel worked out perfectly for me.

What's cool about this race is that there is an entirely separate course just for walkers. They start at the same location as the runners, but run in the opposite direction. Both courses are an out-and-back route, so that walkers and runners finish at the same point. My mom walked her very first half marathon which is pretty neat. We all were able to witness her cross the finish line which I think and hope she appreciated.

This year's race weather was so much nicer than last year. Compared to last year's dreaded heat, this year's early morning fog and slightly overcast, yet dry sky was perfect. As of now, my next race is not till June...but I should probably start running more regularly again.

First Tomato Growth

Look at this little guy; isn't it so cute? Lauren and I spent some time today trimming our tomato plant (picking the suckers off), and by chance we spotted the first little baby tomato. Even though it's still green, it's awesome! I love being able to step outside and marvel at our plants' continuous changes.

I didn't have time (I was too lazy) to take pictures of the other plants, but I'll definitely share an update of the other plants soon!

American River 50

On April 5 I ran 50 miles! Well technically I didn't run all of it, I walked a good portion of it too. But hey, that was the plan...walk the hills, run the rest. And that's basically what I did.

In January I signed up for this race, mostly because I wanted to earn the cool finisher's jacket and I wanted to be an "ultra runner", but also because I wanted to challenge myself. I'd run several half marathons and one marathon before so I figured it was time to run even farther. As Lauren says, "we aren't fast runners, so we have to run longer distances for people to be impressed".

To help me with this feat, I joined SacFit Ultras and have been training with them since the beginning of January. All of that hard work and those long weekend workouts definitely paid off. My biggest goal for the entire race was finishing in under 14 hours so that I could earn my awesome Patagonia finisher's jacket.

April 5th I woke up at 2:30 AM to complete my 50 miles. Lauren, Leti, and I approached the start line around 6 AM and met others from our running group. It was so cold at the start, but I knew I had to wear shorts as I would warm up in no time.

This race was so well organized with plenty of fully stocked aid stations. It also helped tremendously that we were able to have our crew at the majority of the aid stations, and we were allowed to have a pacer run with us starting at mile 24.5ish. From my multiple training runs I've come to know the course by the aid stations' names. I finished the race about two weeks ago, and even now I remember my experience by how I felt and what happened at these points of interest. Many many many years from now I want to be able to look back and be able to recall all of the emotions I felt throughout my race. So in an effort to help me be able to reminisce in the future, I wanted to write out a brief, yet pretty detailed list of how I felt/what happened relative to the aid stations. Here it goes!

Mile 0: Start- Started at the back of wave 2, with only 5 other runners behind me. Lauren, Leti, Tammy, Chelsie, Al, Scott, and I started together.

Mile 4.97: Folsom Point- I felt so strong and all of my worries of not being able to finish quickly slipped away. It was awesome seeing several SacFit volunteers at the aid station.

Mile 12.77: Willow Creek- Dan, our crew chief met us here with all of our medical supplies and extra fuel and water. The majority of our group had to take a bathroom break. Yes, I've done my business on the trails many times before, but if I have the option of using an outhouse then I'm going to use it! I snagged some orange slices and potato chips at this station.

Mile 16.98: Main Bar- More superstar SacFit volunteers at this aid station! In between Willow Creek and Main Bar, my right foot started hurting and I starting feeling really nauseated. I thought I needed more salt, so I ate a boiled potato piece and put way too much salt on it...that definitely didn't make me feel any better.

Mile 20.18: Negro Bar- This was the first place I saw Marissa, Heather, my uncle, and my dad. It was so nice to see so many people I knew. I took Ibuprofen for my foot.

Mile 24.31: Beal's Point- This was the first place we were allowed to have a pacer, but because I was running with so  many other people from our group, I opted not to have a pacer at this point. My right foot was still hurting a lot, but I knew I had to keep going. I ate several handfuls of Pringles, but I still felt nauseated due to the nuun I was drinking. I stopped adding nuun to my water, and I think this helped a lot. Marissa, Heather, Dan, my uncle, and my dad were also here.

Mile 29.45: Granite Bay- Marissa, Heather, and Dan met us here. I filled up my Camelback with ice and water. The ice was such a nice treat! I ate another handful of Pringles.

Mile 34.67: Buzzard's Cove- I was feeling really lousy at this point, I just wanted to be done. I remembered hearing that if you're feeling crummy, you should drink soda; the carbonation and caffeine will make you feel better. So I drank ice cold coke and it tasted so good!

Mile 38.14: Horseshoe Bar- More coke and potato chips helped me keep going. By this point I wasn't nauseated anymore, but I was still having a lot of foot pain. My left foot started hurting too...I was in so much pain. The rest of my body felt completely fine, but my feet were killing me. Right after we left Horseshoe Bar, we heard someone throwing up and continuing to run...it made me want to run faster to get out of there!

Mile 40.94: Rattlesnake Bar- Marissa, Heather, and Dan were here. I ate more potato chips and took more Ibuprofen. Marissa, Heather, and Rick started pacing us at this point.

Mile 43.92: Dowdin's Post- This aid station was run completely by SacFit volunteers. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces. My feet were in so much pain at this point; I also began to have shooting pain up my right arch. I was in a horrible mood and didn't want to talk to anyone. This was probably the hardest leg of the entire run for me due to the pain, but I was so close to finishing.

Mile 47.56: Last Gasp- I ate a chocolate Gu about a mile before climbing the Beast so I'd hopefully have extra energy to help carry me up. My foot pains continued, but the rest of my body felt great. I didn't have any muscle pains and I was never out of breath. There were mile markers the last three miles of the race which helped me keep going, knowing that I was almost to the finish.

Mile 50: Finish- Even though Lauren and I ran the entire race with Leti, Tammy, and Chelsie, the two of us took off with about 0.1 miles left because the others were greeting friends and family. I finished the race in 12 hours, 30 minutes, and 19 seconds...just one second before Lauren, and two seconds before Leti. As soon as I crossed the finish line I received my finisher's medal and jacket! My dad, aunt, and grandma were there to watch me cross the finish line; my grandma even brought me flowers! Tons of SacFit runners and friends also greeted us at the finish, it was such an awesome feeling! We all took tons of pictures at the finish line before heading off to the SacFit tent. Lauren and Leti got massages afterwards, then the three of us joined the rest of SacFit to watch the rest of our team finish.

I did everything I wanted to accomplish that day. I ran/walked 50 miles. I finished in under the 14-hour cutoff to earn a finisher's jacket. I had fun. Even though 50 miles doesn't really seem that fun, it was the camaraderie that truly got me through the race. I enjoyed running with several of my SacFit peers and I looked forward to seeing my family at certain aid stations.

I'd like to run another ultra race, whether it be a 50k, another 50 miles, or a 100k. As of right now I don't have plans for another race, but I know I need to set another race goal for myself. That's what keeps me going. I want to stay in shape, I need to keep exercising during the week, and I love being able to treat myself to desserts without feeling guilty.