I know it’s Tuesday, and I should have done a weekend recap yesterday, but whatevers.

There were some good eats on Saturday. Went to Mitsuwa Market to get some boxed sushi with my Umma:

(^I get my big smile and dimples from her, hehe)

I guess she was really excited about it, hahaha. Pretty nice to have all that sushi for around 20 bucks. Then I kept her company while she ran some errands and went grocery shopping. I feel like a kid again

Then at night, went to CPK to celebrate two birthdays!

Neal turned 29, and Jeff turned 20!

And if you know me, I love ordering salads. Not only because they’re healthy, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE vegetables and all sorts of colorful goodies!

If you know this, then you know that’ I’ve ordered many a salad in my day. MANY. And I now have my favorite….

CPK’s Moroccan-spiced chicken salad:

That is the full size (MASSIVE). It has everything I love: chicken (with Moroccan spice), butternut squash, red beets, avocados, almonds, carrots, dates, chopped eggs, cranberries, and champagne vinaigrette (which I ordered on the side). If you love those ingredients, go to CPK and order this salad. DO IT. You’ll raise your arms in victory after you finish it. Ask whoever I ate with. I really did that. It was THAT good.

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Fast forward to Sunday and some of the young adult and I went to Mitsuwa Market again! I got another boxed sushi and some people got Japanese Ramen. We finished it off with a green tea ice cream bar, which was incredibly delicious, thick, and rich, and PERFECT for a hot hot day.

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Fast forward to today’s lunch.

I introduce to you the “Whatever-is-in-the-fridge-Thai-noodle-stir-fry”

It has bell peppers, yellow squash/zucchini, onions, garlic, Thai peanut powder/seasoning, spicy peanut dressing, and eggs. Oh, and lots and lots of black peppers on top.

I will pretty much be making stuff like that until the whole fridge is empty. Moving out forces me to use stuff I have put off using (like angel hair pasta? Why’d I even buy that?? And that Thai peanut powder, which I should have used earlier).

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I’m halfway done with my finals. My approach is a little too relaxed. I’m watching Running Man and playing MyVegas. HAH. Must be getting ready for a summer trip already!

Are you disciplined and good with time management? Or do you “work better under pressure”?

Today’s run? I finally decided to take it outdoors. I haven’t really been doing many training runs outside. I’ve done all my tempo’s and easy runs on the treadmill. My long runs were done outside, but usually from pacing or falling apart in races.

I’m also moving out of my school house this week, so I think I knew I would miss having Lake Merced AND the Pacific Ocean to run beside. So I went out and decided to do around 7 or 8 miles.

First mile was a warm-up: 8:37. Pretty good, but it was mostly downhill, so it was a little fast.

Then 8:09. “Whoas. Slow down a tiny bit, Michelle…”

And then 8:01. “That’s weird, it doesn’t feel that fast…”

7:55, 7:49, 7:50, 7:54, 7:56.

8 miles done.

WHAT THE HECK was that??? And that wasn’t even on flat land (okay, rollers and slight uphill during the whole last mile).

What’s going on? Why am I suddenly able to run sub-8:00 with such ease?

Then I remembered that one week before my first marathon, I also ran 8 miles, pretty much all under 8:00. Haha. I was excited and nervous as can be!

This Sunday, I will be running my 4th marathon in Ojai. The last one I did was just for fun/training. The one before that was when it was raining sideways and my ITB was hurting from mile 3.

Goal? To PR… pretty much have to break 3:40. I have to run around 8:20 average pace to PR.

Will the stars align? Can I trust in the training that I put in? Am I in racing shape? Gee, I sure hope so.

Glad I got to get some of that nervousness out in a nice run today. My adrenaline levels have now been replaced with endorphins

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Went running in this new top:

(Instagram: meeshelkim. BTW, if you follow me, you will see that I am super not good at instagramming, hehe).

[Also, if you want to know where I got the top, it's from Ellie. If you check out the site, you'll see how they put fitness and fashion together! If you join, it's $50 for two items... and you can skip months when you don't want something from that month's collection. It may sound like a lot, but I've definitely spent more than that for a workout top/pants from Target].

I loved it! It kept me cool and it felt awesome to wear it while running next to the ocean.

Only bad thing? How it’s white, and when I get super sweaty, you can see my soft and squishy one pack through it. Slightly less cute when that happens.

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Okay. Time to study.

Last week of school, and last week of living in this house. So sad (BTW, I dropped off Joanna at the Greyhound today. I’M SO SAD, but I’m also so glad that God blessed me with a roommate who totally gets me!).

Hope you have a good week, everyone!

Michelle has provided these tips in hopes to educate others on how to lead a more motivating and less stressful life. Michelle believes a more focused approach on our health will result in a more balanced life. Michelle says she is thankful to work with Blessedwiththunderthighs in working together to share her ideas!

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Women’s Health Week a Launchpad to Get Fit

Because women are more apt to focus on their outward appearance and body image than men, National Women’s Health Week, which began May 12th, provides an excellent chance for women of all ages to learn how to maintain the look they want through a healthy lifestyle. Research shows that the key to women’s health is striking a balance between a nutritious diet, regular exercise and adapting one’s lifestyle to meet special needs.

A Nutritious Diet

Healthy eating habits should be formed early on, but Women’s Health Week is a great time to begin a healthful meal plan full of vegetables, whole grains and lean protein sources. In addition to eating foods packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber, women should limit their dependence on pre-package, processed and fast foods, which usually lack nutrients and go overboard with fat, sugar and salt. Choosing foods in their whole, natural state or packaged foods with five or fewer ingredients are good ways to maintain good health and shed pounds. For strong bones, choose low-fat calcium rich foods such as 1 percent or skim dairy milk or soy, rice or almond milk. While limiting fats also promotes weight-loss, women should consume plenty of “heart-healthy” omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Choose salmon, light canned tuna and other fish to get these brain-boosting fats into your diet. Or, try sprinkling ground flaxseed over cereal for a vegetarian source. The more healthfully you eat, the less you will crave sugary, processed snacks. As an added bonus, replacing low-nutrient with nutrient-dense choices will not only increase your energy, but improve your complexion and strength of your hair.

Regular Exercise

The second pillar of a healthy lifestyle is regular exercise, which burns calories, builds muscle and bone mass and even can improve mental health. Women who want to shed excess weight will see results by adding short, 30-minute aerobic workouts, such as brisk walking, cycling, jogging or joining a dance class 3 or 4 times a week. To improve circulation, digestion and mood, try out a low-impact Pilates or yoga classes, which focus on stretching and building core strength. Build muscle and strong bones by using weight machines, free weights and strength-building exercise regimens.

Adapting According to the Situation

Nutrition and exercise are important for everyone, but what happens when a woman goes through a big life adjustment? Pregnancy and menopause are all examples of conditions that will cause a woman to adjust her diet and exercise program to meet her individual needs. With the help of a doctor or dietitian, pregnant women can adjust their meal plan to include the additional calories, calcium and other nutrients needed to nurture the growing baby in their womb. A fitness coach can also help expectant mothers modify a workout plan to be gentle on softening joints and avoid back injuries. Older women must also take special steps to account for the changing hormones that come with menopause. These women often need to stay vigilant against heart disease by restricting sodium and cholesterol. Adding calcium sources can also protect against osteoporosis and broken bones.

Getting started is always the hardest part! Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, increase your fitness, or achieve a specific fitness goal, the first step is usually the toughest. What all fitness goals require is inspiration. An inspiration board can be a constant source of that needed inspiration.

Your inspiration board could have pictures; inspirational quotations, goals, recipes, important statistics, and anything else that helps you get on track. Let’s look at some specific ideas that will help you getting and stay motivated.

The above example:

Smoothie- A part of my personal goal live a more balanced, healthy life, I need to incorporate my nutritious snacks into my daily diet.

Bike- Since I am not very athletic, simple activities like bike riding are a fun way to stay active without doing anything too strenuous on the body.  I love beach bikes with the big baskets!

Sneakers- An easy to way to stir up some motivation is to treat yourself to some new workout gear!  Choose fun colors that will make you excited to show them off at the gym!

Paleo Pizza- Luckily we live in an age where finding delicious healthy recipes like Mediterranean Paleo Pizza. Mmmmm! I am not on the Paleo diet, but this recipe sounds really tasty!  If you’re going to start eating healthier, it’s best to keep an open mind and try new things.

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Sorry that this is coming toward the end of National Women’s Health week… but it doesn’t really matter. Today is the day you can start to make better decisions for yourself

Thanks, Michelle, for sharing your multi-faceted approach to health and wellness! I hope you all learned something new and gained insight from these tips!

We kind of went on an adventure to find a good place to get some pictures.

Here was a spot near Fort… Mason? I forget.

We had some of these normal ones, and then we started to get all silly:

GOOD, LORD! We were laughing SO HARD!

And here are some out-takes:

You can see why we laughed so much. I have the “speed” setting on my camera where it takes like three or four pictures super fast. Hence, you can see all the in-between movements, too. It’s pretty hilarious.

Anyways…

We went off to find a different location. It just happened to be much closer to the bridge, and almost under it.

I just love these girls (Allison and Joanna)!

I told them to dance and this is what happened:

^I still crack up every time I see this, hahahaha.

And I love these kinds of candid pictures:

Also… this is me and Joanna trying to “be cool”:

Anyways, I’m so blessed to have had these girls as my roommates! Living in a house with them was super fun

It’s kind of bittersweet as the year winds down because we will all be moving out by the end of next week.

(Oh, yeah. And we all have our SFSU sweatshirts on. Gotta represent, yeah?).

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We ate dinner, attempted to do some studying, and then Joanna and I went to the track to bust out a couple miles.

With the totals of walking there and back, with three miles (I think around 8:15 pace), we did 4 miles in about 39 minutes.

While Joanna washed up, I did AbRipperX. It was especially hard last night, making my abs burn WAY more than usual. I didn’t really know why until I saw that I was still wearing my shoes. Good, Lord! Who knew that adding a few ounces to each foot could make that workout so much harder??

To end the day, the three of us plopped ourselves on the couch and watched a couple episodes of Arrested Development. The 4th season is coming out soon, so we’re pretty much going to get ourselves ready for it.

It was such a fun day yesterday. We were kind of sad that we chose the last week of living together to do all this hanging out. We regretted not making it a weekly thing.

But seriously. I’m so glad to have lived with them and hope to keep in touch next year, too! (being that I’m 25, I have to apply through a different system to get on-campus housing and will most likely not get to live with either of them. BOOOO).

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Did you like the roommates you were with in your first years in college?

Anyone know a better spot to take pictures with the Golden Gate Bridge?

Have you done AbRipperX? Love it or hate it or wanna try it?

My taper was actually supposed to start last week, but I think two weeks out  could be enough time. So last Saturday, I had the 18-mile Mermaid Run and the (poorly organized) Rave Run.

On Sunday, I did an Insanity video. 41 minutes. Soooo crazy tough,  but I was kind of surprised that I could be jumping around the morning after the 18 miles. I realized that I was not sore at all because I didn’t actually get to run it very fast since I was pooped for more than half of the race.

Anywho, Monday was a complete rest day. It was more like a catch-up day for all the finals crap that I have coming up!

Yesterday, I followed the little plan that I have and did “2 mile race pace“. Joanna and I walked to the track, did one mile w/u together, and then I took off to do two miles.

Weird thing is… the first of the 2-mile-race-pace felt really hard. I don’t know if it’s because of the crazy and constant wind, but it felt like a struggle to even hold an 8:45 pace. “Oh, great. I’ve reached burn out. Guess I won’t even PR this time around,” I thought. My thoughts became so negative and pessimistic… kind of not how a runner should be thinking. Luckily, by the third lap, I was actually warmed up, and I was able to pick up the pace without it feeling difficult. 1st mile, 8:36.

And then the second mile felt super easy. 8:15. That’s actually the race pace I would have to average to get a BQ. To PR? I’d just have to run something under 8:24ish.

After the 2 miles, Joanna and I jogged one more lap and walked back home.

My calves were feeling tight, so I decided to do some yoga. P90X’s YogaX is generally my first choice. Only do it until all of the moving variations and vinyasa stuff is done. About 47 minutes. I love following up running with yoga.

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Quick confession: I have not studied my Bible in just over a week. I allow stupid meaningless things like, “Oh, I have to study,” or “I have to sleep because I have a race tomorrow,” and “I’m too tired,” to become excuses.

I know that with my earthly relationships, even when I’m busy, I will make time to hang out. Why can’t I do that with an eternal relationship with My Heavenly Father?

I’ll study it today (and when I say ‘study’, it means read it carefully and with constant reflection/application… not just breeze through and think, ‘OK! I’m done reading a chapter! Now I’m going to go back to living my life however I want to!‘). You’re keeping me accountable to it!

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I only did 3.75 miles (including the jog/walks) yesterday. Today or tomorrow, I’m supposed to do 5 miles with ten 100m strides. These tapering runs sound fun

Do you follow a plan for training for marathons? (I follow this one from Runner’s World).

Do you stick to the plan?

Do you get antsy during the taper weeks?

It started off like any morning where I wake up before 6 a.m. to get ready. BUT THEN, things happened.

My family was sleeping I didn’t want to wake them up by grinding the coffee beans (which I usually grind the night before, but I forgot). I had green tea instead. First time doing that. 

And then instead of my usual race-day attire (pretty much always the same pink tank because it has pockets in the back to stash my GUs and keys), I wore a blue tank. First time doing that. First time not taking my own GUs.

I knew a bunch of the Running Addicts had already started on their long run (those who were not racing). Got to meet up with the Running Addicts women who were running the race. There were actually a bunch of them who were running the Sirena 18!

My plan was to just start out pretty slowly and then try to pick up the pace after mile 3 or 4. I think I was able to do that, putting down some miles that were around 8:00, 8:04, 8:06. Niceness. All I had to do was keep up that pace.

And then… I got to an aid station around mile 6. They did not offer GU, but only had the Powerade gel stuff. First time having this in a race. 

Immediately when I ate it, it made me feel queasy. The texture was incredibly watery and the taste was like medicine. Two minutes later, I yacked. First time throwing up during a race. 

I think that was around mile 7? I’m not sure. All I knew was that it was too far to run back to that aid station for water, so I just kept running. That’s when I started to feel like crap. It was getting warmer and I started to feel really dehydrated.

Linh’s picture says it all:

Hahaha! I think this was a little before mile 9, meaning I was not even halfway, and already it felt like it was the last two miles of the race. That was a first. 

But here’s the cool part. After the turn around around mile 11, as I made my way back to the Quarry Lakes, reinforcements came in!

They were there to help all the RA’s stay strong and keep chugging on. Even if I seemed to have been exhausted and complaining (I think I was a little bit freaked out about having thrown up… since it never happened to me before), I truly appreciated their encouragements! Also, for much of the race, I was running by myself and had no music. Boo. So boring. It’s so much more fun to run with friends

Ron was nice enough to pace me for a few miles. I tried to just keep with the 8:30 pace he was setting, but I got toooooo pooped by mile 15 or 16. At this point, I wasn’t looking at my Garmin at all. I just wanted to finish.

Thank Jesus, I finished (somehow, I was able to finish strong at the end!).

But then, I felt super duper light-headed, seeing spots everywhere, and almost in a state of euphoria (not the runner’s high feeling. It was something kind of scary). “Oh, crap. I’m dying.” First time feeling like that after a race. 

I grabbed a water and slowly walked to my car. I was laying in the back seat for just a bit. “At least if I pass out, I’ll already be laying down. Someone will find me.” But the feeling passed, and I was able to get up and walk back to the finish area.

Oh, coconut water. You have never tasted so freaking amazing before:

And how did I do? 2:29:45, 13th overall. 4th in age division.

Tammy finished in 11th place and FIRST in her age group (she always does . She is an incredibly tough woman!).

I don’t feel too bad about the 4th in age division… if you look at the top 4 women who finished, 3 of them are in my age group. I miss being in the 20-24 age group. Everyone gets faster from here on out… I gotta step up my training.

Anywho, great job to all the finishers, and thank you so much RA pacers/cheerleaders/superheroes. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Overall, even though this was probably the crappiest I have ever felt in a race, I think I learned a lot of things from this experience:

1. Always test out the clothes you’ll wear on race day… or for me, I should just stick to what has worked in the past.

2. Keep the raceday morning routine the same (COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE).

3. Always test out whatever fuel there will be on the course (avoid Powerade’s gel… at least for me. It just does not work).

4. If all else fails, have your awesome running friends come in to help you through those tough miles and give you an energy boost.

5. I’m considering bringing my own hydration stuff to my races… maybe just a little one in case I need it.

6. I need to stop being a DRAMA QUEEN and just buck up

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I went to Joe’s to eat lunch, take a nap, and then watch the Grizzlies v. Thunder game. OMG, it was a great game! So close, pretty much throughout the whole thing. If it was any other game and it was not that close, I would have just fallen asleep. This game kept me engaged the whole time!

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Then I made my way to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds for the Rave Run!

I tatted up my younger brother while we were waiting. It was pretty fun, haha:

Then Chimi and John arrived:

And we were waiting and hanging out together to pass the time.

I also ran into Hannah (I used to be her Sunday school teacher when she was in middle school AND in high school). Now she’s all grown up and it makes me feel super old.

^Whoa. My slight bow-leggedness is pretty emphasized here. Anyways…

We waited for it to get dark. Pretty much keeping each other company and standing there for over an hour:

And it finally started to get dark… and really really crowded:

The announcer said there were like 15,000 to 20,000 people there!? I bet close to 20,000 people registered, but I doubt they all showed up. Anyways, I could believe there were 15K peoples. It was mad crowded and congested.

The course wasn’t lit up all the way. Some parts were kind of dangerous because it was really dark and rocky. Other parts were better because it was lit up:

But the finish line was waaaay too backed up to actually go through (people were all clogged in there, taking pictures with each other and stuff). Chimi and I did not care about taking a picture in there, so we went around:

We hung out on the bleachers a bit, grubbing on McDonald’s and some food truck banh mi.

Actually, I wasn’t really grubbing because I had some bad allergies. I think it was all the dust from the course. Oh, well. It was like 10:30 p.m. anyways. Later, Jacki, Jonathan, and Stephen joined us:

Doing a night-time run was a first. Would I do this again? NOPE. It was a nice fun run (one of those gimmicky ones that can be fun to do with friends). It was something that was nice to do just once, but I kind of hated how crowded it was. Also, they started the race about 40 minutes after they said they would. I know it’s not a real race, but c’mon… forty minutes??

At least I got some cool pictures out of it

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Needless to say, it was a long day. I slept pretty well except for waking up super early to make breakfast for Mother’s Day. I woke up Michael to help me. He made those pancakes in a daze, said “Happy Mother’s Day” and went back to sleep. Hahaha

And why did we do what 10-year-olds do (according to Joe)? It was reminiscent of what we did as kids AND… we have no monies. Haha. I think she appreciated it:

^Followed this recipe to make the buckwheat pancakes. Added bananas to make them sweeter. Added jam instead of syrup because we’re a jam-type of folk.

Mama was curious how we made it. My parents were able to tell it was super healthy, but still really yummy.

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What is the worst thing that has happened to you in a race?

Do you like those “gimmicky” races (such as ones with obstacles, the Color runs, the rave runs)?

Happy Mother’s Day!

Treadmill:

2 miles w/u at 7.1 mph

2 miles tempo around 8.2 mph

2 miles c/d around 7.4 mph

It was quick and easy, and I was out of there super fast!

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Yesterday, it was a relaxed morning. Around 11:00 am, Joe and I went to watch Iron Man 3. It was definitely entertaining!… and that’s all I’ll say about the movie.

For lunch, we went to Five Guys. I’ve never actually eaten there before, but I was down for a burger.

My burger had lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, and mustard.

Okay. That picture makes it look a little funky, but it was a good, solid burger. Nothing mind-blowing, but I wouldn’t mind getting it when I feel like having a burger (unless In-n-Out is around the corner).

The nice thing about this location is that it was super close to Pinkberry!

Joe and I split the medium original tart (with raspberries, strawberries, almonds, waffle thingy, and dark chocolate crunchy stuff).

Then I had to go home and have the most stressful 2 hours EVER! I am making a video for one of my finals, and it was all going great until the stupid thing decides to close the program. I thought I couldn’t retrieve the file, so I just started it again.

And then the program closed again.

I wanted to outside and sprint up and down our steep driveway. GAAHHHH!

Eventually, I tried really really hard and was able to find out where I could retrieve it. I felt like a tech genius.

I also felt a little bad because I left like 50 texts on my older brother’s cell phone, giving him up-to-the-minute status reports of “OMG, it keeps closing and I don’t know how to retrieve it!” and “Oh, wait, I think I know how.” and “Oh, wait, NO! I still can’t retrieve it!”

I can now say that I am about 75% done with the video! PRAISE THE LORD!

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For today’s race, I pretty have zero expectations. My legs feel really sore from sitting in a chair all day. Also my back is crazy sore! It must be from hunching over the computer as I edited. Dangit. 

So in preparation for the race, all I did was eat a lot and become sore from sitting in a chair. Hooray.

And that’s why I have no expectations for this race. Actually, I expect to finish. That’s about it

Oh, crap, knock on wood.

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And then in the evening, I will be running the Rave Run (5K) in San Jose. I think I’ll be seeing a lot of familiar faces there!

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Anyone who is racing this weekend? Do tell

What is the most random-number-of-miles race that you’ve run? [My first race ever was a 4.2 mile race. That and the 18-miler are pretty random to me]

She had to go back and forth and do some laundry in the middle, but she pretty much did the majority of the circuits.

It was the hour-long Max Interval something-something.

Most of the language you heard during that hour was of the “holy sh*t” variety. It also consisted of me asking stupid questions like, “This is so insane, huh?”

Needless to say, she made it through, even after she said after a couple circuits at the end that she was DONE, she ended up doing the next one… and the one after that… until it was over.

We may have gone just a little bit insane. The sweat and heavy breathing should have made us end up on the floor… but perhaps we were smiling all huge because we made it through the whole workout!

She went on to get washed up, and I ended up doing AbRipperX and about 7 minutes of shoulder/arm burnouts (where I use light hand weights and do 20+ moves, letting the burn build up like crazy. I barely rest during these moves).

Joanna claims that this would be her first and last time doing this Insanity business, but I think I can get her to do one of the easier ab ones… and then sneak in a harder one here and there, hehehe. [BTW, Joanna only reads this blog occasionally... but she seems to always read the ones where I talk about my plans for tricking my roommates into working out, hahaha].

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Yesterday was a complete rest day. In fact, I ate a whole lot, too. Garsh. Something with this gloomy, overcast weather makes me want to lay in bed and do nothing. Oh, yeah, I took a 3.5 hour nap, too.

With all the schoolwork piling up, and the last week of school coming around the corner, I would usually be freaking out by now. Good thing I got to get some stress relief through these workouts! Now, it’s time to get back to work.

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Have you tried the Insanity videos?

Are you the one in your group of friends who is always talking about running/working out?

Yesterday, I decided to just rest up for the whole day. I got to conduct a bunch of short interviews for one of my classes (Asian American Health Studies. FASCINATING class!). There was a short post-retreat meeting, and then Juni treated the retreat planners out to dinner! He yelped for an Italian restaurant, and we went with A Bellagio, which is in Downtown Campbell, super close to our church.

BTW, Juni really really loves having his picture taken. If ever you meet him, take many many pictures of him and with him. He’ll be so happy. 

There was an awesome appetizer with some yummy mozzarella cheese, basil, prosciutto (which I don’t usually eat, but this one was not too bad), tomatoes, and olive oil:

For my entree, I got a pasta dish with spaghetti, a bunch of seafood, and white wine marinara. 

It was really good except I should have switched for a different noodle (not a huge fan of spaghetti).

Even though we were stuffed because of a bunch of bread and the heavy meal, we had to try some of the desserts. 

It was a nice time for me, Tammy, and Juni to hang out and discuss random stuff, with a whole lot of good food. Thanks for treating us out, Juni!

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My brother came back from Atlanta last night. I was so excited, and we were going to stay up and watch Running Man, but the site was being super slowskies and then we got tired around midnight. 

GARSH. Feel so old now. Can’t even stay up passed 12:00 am haha.

But this morning, we were up pretty early and hung out with my parents a bit while eating breakfast. Then we went to the gym!

He was basketballing and I was treadmilling.

8.50 miles in 67:20. Then I did a cooldown walk for 0.25 mile. 

But apparently, Michael was doing plyo and planning on shooting around some more with his friend, so I had to keep myself occupied for another half hour.

I got on the elliptical and busted out an insane 30 minutes of sweating and pedaling with different inclines and resistances. CRRRAAAAZY. By the end of all this, I pretty much looked like I was pushed into a swimming pool and just came out of the water. NO JOKE. 

I think it was all the carboloading from the Italian food last night! Anyways, it was a good workout and my last hard workout (until after the Mermaid Run 18-miler this weekend). 

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Came home, washed up, and my mom made THIS:

This salad has soba noodles, arugula, hard-boiled egg, chicken, salmon, carrots, some seaweed topping stuff she made, and her own dressing.

This is a dressing that many a Korean households will have on hand. It could be made with different amounts/ratios of the key ingredients (soy sauce and some kind of oil). My mom likes to use lots of lemon juice and sugar in it, too. She said she went pretty light on the sugar. 

She also added some sesame seeds to the dressing, because she knows I love ground sesame seeds.

You can tell by the salad, and how it is dressed very lightly, that she knows what I like to eat. Well, she also knows what’s healthy, so she made this lunch for the whole family (and frequently packs it for lunch for my brother).

I remember times when I was super little and thought my mom was the coolest, smartest, prettiest, awesomest woman alive. Then there came a time in middle school when I thought everything she did was kinda sorta embarrassing. 

Now? I’m pretty much back to how I used to think when I was little. She is an incredible woman and a wonderful mother/friend/daughter/person. I have so much respect for everything she does! (haha, it’s like a Mother’s Day post that came early). 

Even if she says something once in a while that I feel like is nagging at that moment… I know later on that she is right and she says everything out of love. She really knows what is best for us. It’s true what they say: Mother knows best

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Right now, Michael and I are at Starbucks doing a lot of studying. 

Whoa. It is super bright out.

Anyways, the guy just finished taking all his finals in his first year of law school, and he’s ALREADY studying something now??? His over-achieving ways are kind of super annoying sometimes. 

Hehehe, I joke . I’m impressed with his self-discipline!

We got some Odwalla protein shake drinks as a snack:

And we are going to split a Venti Green Tea Frap (being that it’s the Happy hour business from 3 to 5pm).

It has already been such a productive day! Looks like the summer will be pretty productive if I end up hanging out with the little brother like this

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Hope you’re having a good start to the week!

On Friday, I went over to Joe’s after class and we went to the gym to workout.

I don’t know if it’s the heat or something, but I ran what was supposed to be an easy 5-miler on the treadmill, but it 7.1 mph felt like 8.1 mph. Goodness. I was so happy to be off of that thing.

Went on the rowing machine for like 2.5 minutes. Loved it! I should incorporate it more into my warm-ups, since it pretty much gets the whole body working.

Then we went to church at night for sisters’ and brothers’ accountability and prayer group. Noel led the study for the sisters about Godly Womanhood. It was awesome, considering how most feminists get super angry/upset about what the Bible appears to be saying to women.

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Fast forward to Saturday morning, and I’m up at 5:30 am to get ready to pace for the Western Pacific Half Marathon in Fremont. This race was put on by Brazen Racing, and it featured pretty much every distance: 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon.

The Running Addicts were pacing the half and the full. Major props to those who paced the full marathon. It was like a million degrees out there (or maybe high 70′s or low 80′s? I dunno). BTW, many of these photo creds go to Linh!

So as a person holding the pace group stick, people will ask you some questions. Here are some FAQ’s from yesterday:

Q; “Hey, so what’s the pace per mile for 2:10?” [I was the 2:10 pacer yesterday]

A: “9:55.”  [Each of us had a pace band with not only the pace, but the mile splits. If we do not get one provided for us, we just Sharpie it on our arms or find other creative ways to make sure we have it].

Q: “So how did you get to be a pacer?”

A: “I am a member of a Bay Area running group called The Running Addicts. The group gets asked to be pacers for many of the local races.”

Q: “Is it hard to run with the stick? Doesn’t your arm get tired?”

A: “No, not really. It’s actually really light and I stop noticing it’s there after a while. I assume it would be a little harder for a full marathon or if it was really windy.”

Q: “So does this feel like just a warm-up for you?”

A: “Well, to insure that the pacers can get in at their pace times, we are put into a pace group that is much slower than our race pace.” [Which pretty much is just saying "YUP"]

Q: “Do you just run at that pace and know it, or do you have to keep checking your watch?”

A: “I constantly have to look at my Garmin and adjust my speed accordingly.” [In races, I have that desire to pass people, which makes me pick up the speed a lot... so I just had to rein it in]

Q: “Are you on pace?” [Asked frequently during the race]

A: “You betcha.”

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The common theme of my presence in the last three miles… as soon as they see me approaching or passing them, they’d say:

“Aww, crap!”

“I knew this moment would come eventually.”

“Oh, great, it’s you!”

“Are you on pace??? DANGIT!”

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I gotta hand it to all of these finishers. It was a pretty warm morning, and the trail got pretty hot and dusty.

Also, if it were not for the wonderful volunteers at each of the aid stations, we would have all turned back into dust out there. Always thank the volunteers! They (men, women, young and old) are out there early to prep the tables/stations, and probably get one too many Dixie cups of sports drink dropped on their shoes.

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Yesterday, I had someone who was able to stick with me for the ENTIRE RACE! That almost never happens!

Meet Lori:

She was so nice, kept me company, and worked her skinny legs off to stick with my pace to the very end! She told me later that she is pretty sure that she PR’d by about 40 seconds (or something like that). ISN’T THAT AWESOME?

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According to my Garmin, I ran 13.2 miles. Darns. Perhaps that’s why I was 10 seconds over my 2:10 time. Ahhh, well.

I’m sort of glad you can’t tell how unbelievably sweaty I was after this race. I also became a few shades darker, haha.

All-in-all, I enjoyed pacing this race, and I’m so glad I had to opportunity to be a pace group leader. I guess this course was also really good for pacing because it’s pretty much FLAT.

GREAT JOB TO ALL THE RUNNING ADDICTS PACERS!

Next pacing gig? The first half marathon of the SF Marathon + Half!!!

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After the race, I stuck around a little bit to wait for some of the marathon pacers. Again, I was astonished at how accurate their times were, and for being able to make it through 26.2 miles of dirt/gravel paths to get within SECONDS of their pace times!

Then I drove down towards San Jose and stopped by at a Starbucks to change and get an iced coffee. Again, it was le freaking chaud. HOT. 

I went to the park where there was a celebration for Eliyah’s 1st birthday! Russell and Susan hosted this nice party at the park for their cutie pie daughter:

They did the Korean 1st birthday tradition (dol) where she gets to pick between several objects, indicating what kind of future the baby will have. the dollar means she’ll be a financial guru (or rich), the ball means she’ll be an athlete, the book means she’ll be an intellectual, etc. We all had a chance to guess what she would pick, and I guessed the book.

She picked the book!

And oh, man. There was so much food at this party!

In fact, I got to take home a couple pounds of fruit and soba noodle salad. It was super yummmmm.

I also got to see Urijah, who turned one year old the day I ran the Big Sur Marathon.

Actually, he was pretty much walking around everywhere the whole time. He even kept walking toward the other kids playing volleyball because he was pretty sure he could school some fools.

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I can’t believe Urijah and Eliyah are already a year old!!! I still remember the first day when I got to meet up with Noel and Susan when they just found out about the pregnancies. CRRRRAAAZY how time flies!

Happy Birthday, Eliyah! You are incredibly loved and blessed to have such amazing parents and a bazillion aunties and uncles who will just want to spoil you!

^(She was super happy to get that strawberry, HEHE! So cute).

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Today, I will be churching, and maybe running at the gym, and then dinnering with some church folk. It will be another long day, but a good one. I can tell

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!