Category Archives: running buddies

Mother’s Day Giveaway!

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This is what it's all about!

How I love my precious family- this is what it’s all about!

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day- I had such a fantastic day relaxing and spending time with my wonderful hubby and gorgeous children. Whether you spent time with your mom or received much pampering as a mom, I hope you got to take advantage of the day and were reminded of just how special moms are, how we work to make sure the lives of our children are The Best, and how limitless our capacity for love can be.

While I love, love, love my family to bits, I also make sure to wish a Happy Day to my peer moms- the girlfriends I spent just about every day of the week with when my kids were just babies, the women who are there to reassure me when I doubt my ability as a mom, those sisters who offer lots of hugs on top of a couple hours of babysitting time with the occasional glass of wine and shoulder to cry on right when you need it most.

In 2009, I started a mommy running group and our first race together was the See Jane Run 5K and Half Marathon.  Today, to celebrate my fellow mommies, women, girlfriends, and sisters, I am giving away 3 entries to the upcoming See Jane Run race for Chocolate and Champagne here in the Bay Area! Read on to find out how to enter… Continue reading →

Guardsmen “Training” Run

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The Guardsmen is a non-profit, volunteer based group of Bay Area men that work together to assist and improve the lives of at-risk/inner-city youth through educational and outdoor activities. I found out about The Guardsmen last year when I ran their Presidio 10 fundraising race- it was, and is, one of my most favorite races to date! So when I caught their Free Training Run event on Facebook, I signed right up and anticipated a mellow 10 miler.

Yesterday morning, Andrea and I drove out to the Inn at the Presidio in San Francisco to run with The Guardsmen.  I’m not sure what those Guardsmen are training for but I haven’t run a course this difficult in… hmmmm… NEVER! Continue reading →

Anya’s Ultramarathoning Awesomeness

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Anya at the finish line of her very first ultra!

I already introduced you to my friend Kate and her Ultramarathoning Awesomeness, and now for part two, I would like you to meet Anya!

I met Anya during our first season with Team in Training but it really wasn’t until our second season together as mentors that we got really close, especially on those 6am, very dark, very cold, very wet buddy runs.  She is probably going to kill me for saying this but not only is Anya an amazing runner but is she such a sweetheart!  Don’t let the fact that she wears all black fool you- she is kind, funny as heck, and the type of person that will tell you what you need to hear even if you don’t want to hear it!  I LOVE THAT!

After completing 2 seasons of road running with TNT, Anya informed me that she was going to go Ultra.  And, honestly, I was very surprised! Knowing the struggles she had on the road, I was a little concerned for my friend that jumping from a road half to a trail ultra may just ruin Anya for life; but, knowing this team and these Coaches, she was in the best hands ever.  Within just a few runs on the trail, Anya was hooked!  And here is what she had to say about it…

Continue reading →

Race Recap: Ragnar Napa, Leg 2

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I went out to dinner with some friends last night and was talking about my Ragnar Napa experience.  Upon hearing my story, they crinkled their noses and shook their heads, saying, “Ugh, that sounds horrible! Why would you want to do that?”

Well, why wouldn’t I?  Not only do I love running but to do it amongst a team of 11 other happy, funny, joyful people was just so much fun, an experience I will never forget.  I admit it was hard at times but anyone can endure anything for 36 hours, right?  We bonded, we laughed, we sang, we danced, we ate, we talked almost non-stop and we ran- I consider myself very lucky to have the physical ability as well as the means to participate in an event as huge as this.  So yes, I would most definitely do it again.

36 hours of running and only smiles and laughter at the end! YAY RAGNAR!!! (photo credit: Anya)

And now for leg 2…

Continue reading →

Race Recap: Ragnar Napa, Leg 1

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Okay, okay, I know it’s been way too long since I’ve posted but in my defense, life has just been so busy lately!  Plus, my lap top is on the fritz so the spot where I normally sit to write isn’t available, and that’s really messed me up.  I know, I’m weird.

Even though I haven’t been blogging about running doesn’t mean I haven’t been running.  I’ve resumed my regular work out and run schedule and was honored to be a part of a Ragnar team this past weekend.

Team At A Medium Pace!!! (photo credit: Van 1 team mate, Allison)

If you don’t know what Ragnar is, it is an overnight, 200 mile team relay that takes roughly 36 hours to complete.  Teams of 12 runners hop in vans and take turns running 3 legs over 2 days and one night and even though that may sound like complete and utter craziness, let me tell you IT WAS SO MUCH FUN and ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Halfs, Part 2: Hollywood

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If you read Part 1, you know that just 2 weeks following the Oakland Half Marathon, Hubby and I hopped on a plane bound for Los Angeles to run the Hollywood Half Marathon on April 7th.  Originally, I made the plan to run Hollywood with a handful of my favorite TNT buddies but Hubby was quite intrigued and since I found a great coupon for registration, he decided to sign up too. Continue reading →

Race Recap: California International Marathon Relay

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On the heels of our last successful marathon relay, Big Sur in May, I suggested to my mommy running group that we go for the California International Marathon Relay next, at that time, just 7 months away.  As soon as 3 other people said yes, I made it official, registered our team, and we all moved on with our lives.

This was the 3rd marathon relay I have organized and participated in.  You would think it would be easy to manage myself plus 3 other people, I mean, it’s no Ragnar, right?  A LOT can change in a short period of time and, just as it happened with the the last 2 relays, once we hit a month or so away from this one, the issues starting coming up… one team mate decided to do the Rock n’ Roll half marathon in Las Vegas instead so needed a replacement, and then another team mate wanted to drop as well (I guilted her into staying on though), then there was the whole pre-race-packet-pick-up mania, hotel logistics, pre-race-dinner disagreements, shuttle confusion, on and on… Continue reading →

Race Recap: US Half Marathon

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I’ve raced near, around, and under the Golden Gate Bridge several times but have always wanted to actually run across it, so when a friend offered up her bib for the US Half Marathon this past Sunday- I jumped at the chance to finally complete that goal.

Little did I know what lay ahead… Continue reading →

Today’s Reason: Running Buddies

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When I began my health and wellness journey nearly 5 years ago, I started taking class three days a week with Oakland Adventure Boot Camp and fell into a pattern of early mornings where I would listen to the instruction, not talk to anyone, and just focus on getting the workout done.  The fact that I never really spoke to anyone in boot camp may seem shocking to some because if you know me, you know I can talk.  I mean, I really talk. Like A LOT.

For 3 years of boot camp, I shied away from speaking to anyone unless they spoke to me first, and would even skip the days where we had partner workouts so that I could spend more time exercising and less time chatting. Back then, I swore that an efficient work out would be completely jeopardized by another person in tow. Continue reading →