Aurora's Blog

Catch Up: Operation Jack Half Marathon (December 26, 2011)

February 4, 2012

Yep, still catching up on the string of running events I started 7 weeks before I started the blog. (We’re getting there!)

The day after Christmas I finally got off my butt, and did my first half marathon post open heart surgery. Goodness gracious, did it feel great to be back.

I didn’t do a ton of training for Operation Jack. It was silly, really. I was just trying to do some kind of race every week, and a half marathon was the shortest one I could find this week. (It was the day after Christmas, so I suppose people were busy with their families or some such business like that).

Then I thought “well, if I do a half marathon still in 2011, I’ll be able to say I had that big surgery in 2010, then ran another half in 2011. That will sound somewhat close together (even though I waited forever to start running again).

(You can see where my priorities lie. Fitness? Happiness? Not important. How about I just try not to look like a loser? ;))

Nonetheless, I knew I had trained enough. I had no yearning for a fast time. I just wanted to finish happily and injury free. It wasn’t chip timed anyway. (It was clock timed, though.)

I met an incredibly nice runner at the start – Kevin. He was doing marathons in all 50 states. This was number 49! He saved the best for last – Boston, Massachusetts.

He was so supportive. The course was a loop (that marathoners did twice), so I saw him a couple of times while I was out there. Each time he passed with uplifting words making sure I was okay in my first half marathon back. His encouragements out on the course were so helpful.

The course was simple and nice with lots of water all around. I took breaks to stretch. I did jog a fair amount of the course, but I walked a good part as well. I made actual stops at the water stations to catch my breath, hydrate, and say thanks to the volunteers.

I was super chill about the whole thing. The time limit was six hours, so all I wanted was to have fun and stay safe, which I did. I got a finish time of 3:40:04. (I didn’t even come in last!)

Just a few minutes after me, Kevin ran in (from his full marathon). I was happy to be there at the finish to cheer him on!

Finally, after two and half years since my first half marathon, I finished my second one!

52 Half Marathons in 52 Weeks – The Challenge Is Official

February 1, 2012

You caught me. I originally said the blog was about doing a race every weekend (and it was). Slowly but surely, sometime in the last couple of weeks, I’ve decided that I want to do 52 half marathons in 52 weeks.

So, I’m going to.

How did this come about? Good question. It just kinda did.

I was really enjoying running some kind of race every weekend. My friend Matt was being really supportive, telling me all about how cool it’d be if I could keep that going for a whole year.

I agreed it would be pretty cool. But you know what would be even cooler? 52 half marathons.

I love half marathoning. It’s a distance I used to love and be really comfortable with. Though it became a distance that seemed as though I could never get through it again. I’m gonna get through it a whole bunch of times, so that I never have to question again if I can do it.

There’s a little part of me that wishes I would’ve decided this going into the beginning of the year, so that the end of my 52 weeks would coincide with the end of the calendar year. But, I’m happy that I started with Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona on January 15th. I love that the first half marathon in this challenge was with such a lovely friend of mine, and in a city I enjoy.

Plus, a lot of countdowns and lists and other goals end right at the end of the year. This isn’t a New Year’s resolution or anything. So, it’ll be nice to have something that pushes me ahead into the new year.

It should be quite a fun project. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead! Thanks so much for following my adventure!

Back to Disneyland!

January 31, 2012

Captain EO Tribute Poster — (Captain EO poster. Credit: Disney)

There is a bus that goes right outside my apartment multiple times a day that says “Disneyland” on that sign area at the top.(What do you call that thing? A bus marquee?).

I used to pass this bus all the time on my way to work. I’ve thought many times about how awesome it would be to just jump on that bus and go to Disneyland, but I never did…until this weekend (twice)!

The day after the Never Land 5k (Saturday) I went to the park. (In case you didn’t read about the race, I got a twilight ticket with my 5k registration, and you better bet that I was going to use it!)

I finally saw Captain EO for the first time!!! As soon as it was over, I ran around and watched it again.

I’m surprised I only watched it 3 times that day, ‘cause it’s pretty much the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a mix of two of my favorite things – Michael Jackson (the greatest entertainer ever to live), and Luke Skywalker (a sweet, caring Jedi learning he’s capable of more than he thinks). Melding them together by having Michael Jackson himself play a brave Luke Skywalker type – brilliant!

The movie was adorable in all of its ’80s glory – with shots that don’t have the sound matching the lips and so forth.

I won’t say anything else about the awesome plot and incredible one liners ‘cause I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. I’m just ecstatic they brought it back!

Random fact of the day: I kept my arms up on a roller coaster for the first time!

When I was riding Splash Mountain, no one was sitting in front of me, so I wrapped my legs so tightly around the bottom of the back of that seat that if I was gonna fly out of the boat, the seat was gonna fly out as well. So, my hands were free, and I pushed them into the air! *nnn-t, nnn-t, nnn-t [party music]*

Never Land Family Fun Run 5k – Part 3 (Eh, Some More Mild Complaining, But Then Coming Around!)

January 30, 2012

If you’ll remember from yesterday I was complaining. I do know that it’s a little silly to complain. It was just a Fun Run after all! Nonetheless, I’m still not done.

One last complaint. They include a twilight ticket to the park in your fee. (I’m sure that’s a large part of why it’s so expensive.) But, hey Disney, we don’t need it. You can drop the price of the 5k and let us just come out for the race. Thanks.

The twilight ticket can be used to get in the park anytime after 4.

If you go on the day of your 5k, the park closes at 8, and the race doesn’t start until 10:30. So, you only get 4 hours to enjoy the park, and you still have to sit around and kill 2 1/2 hours.

But if you don’t use the ticket that day (so that you can go the next day when the park is open until midnight), you have to pick up your bib by 7pm. Yet again, the race doesn’t start until 10:30, leaving you with 3 1/2 empty hours to kill.

I guess what I’m saying is – please don’t make it mandatory that packet pick-up and the race be on the same day if there’s going to be three and a half hours(!) between the end of packet pick-up and the start of the race. That’s quite a lot of time to kill outside of the park. (Preferably just move packet pick-up down by about 2 1/2 hours.)

Anyway, you all can pay attention again because I’m finally done complaining!

If you want to do a slow 5k and stop for pictures with characters and get pictures in front of rides and things, this race is dope. I can appreciate a race like that because that’s how I treated the one I did at Universal Studios.

If that’s how someone is going to treat the race, they probably don’t want it timed anyway because they don’t want to feel slow or pressured. So, okay. No chip timing. I understand and support that part.

Since I didn’t have a half marathon this weekend, I went in with only one goal. Do a sub 40 minute 5k – make sure I don’t walk a single step – jog the whole way. (After all, it’s only 3 miles.)

I should’ve picked a more appropriate race for a time goal, and just been chill and stopped along the way for pictures on this one. But, I DID do my first sub 40 minute 5k!

Granted, I know that’s super slow; you don’t have to tell me! But that was my goal, and I accomplished it! (Yee yaw!)

As I ran toward the finish (that I couldn’t really see, but knew was around there somewhere), I saw on MapMyRun that I was definitely going to make it in under 40 minutes. As I got closer, I saw that I could maybe make it by Disney’s digital clock as well – not just going from the time I personally crossed the start line.

I pushed a little harder and saw their clock hit 39:59 right as I made it up to the line. I leaped into the air without a second to spare!

Running through Disney at night was very cool. I met a ton of super nice runners and volunteers. Overall I had a sweet, sweet time. The good parts of this race far outweighed the parts I rambled about. I’m really looking forward to my next Disney race next month!

Never Land Family Fun Run 5k – Part 2 (Some Mild Complaining)

January 29, 2012

If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll remember I left off by letting you know I was in Corral A (what?!). And that I’m gonna do some good ol’ fashioned complaining.

Side note: Since they didn’t tell us what corrals we were in and there weren’t any labels on them, no one (for the most part) actually knew which one they were in.

When the race announcers tried to get runners to cheer based on their corrals, and they called for people in corral C, it was dead silent. It was hilarious. The people in that corral just had no idea who they were!

Okay, so, corral A – I found this actually a bit stressful because, as you know, I’m not very fast. I didn’t like the idea of tons of fast people behind me having to pass me. Also, there were tons of walkers in front of me. (I was in the back of that front corral.)

Even though I’m not a competitive athlete, I definitely wanted to jog the whole thing since it’s only 3 miles. I was darting around people for what felt like forever. Not to mention there were characters posing for photo ops with people less than 1/2 a mile into the race (before we’d even had a chance to really thin out or get around people), but for the most part people were courteous, and they were going off to the side of the course for pictures.

In the middle of the race a woman who worked at Disney jumped in the middle of us joggers and started walking backwards, asking everyone to stay behind her so that cast members could cross (even though the cast members weren’t standing right there yet!).

Luckily, I was just seeing this from somewhat of a distance, so it didn’t really slow me down. I just kept moving forward, getting closer to her little makeshift barricade. I could see the people around her getting annoyed. A few people ran right past her, which made her annoyed, but it’s like “hey, lady, you’re standing in the middle of a 5k (in a section of people who are actually moving pretty well), paving the way for cast members who aren’t even ready to cross yet. Of COURSE people are going to run by you.”

Also, the race was not chip timed. There were digital clocks at every mile. Plus, most people had their Garmins or phones or whatever they use, but no official times. Speaking of the mile markers, they were brown…at night. If it weren’t for the digital clocks (or my running app) I easily could’ve missed them. (I didn’t even see the one for mile 1. I noticed the one at mile 2 when people had stopped to take pictures by it.

The finish line was literally a line drawn on the ground(!) – no banner or balloons or anything. I was looking around so hard at the end because I wanted to make sure I finished in under 40 minutes, but I didn’t see where the actual finish line was until just seconds before I crossed it.

Now, I might be sounding a wee bit harsh. I’m usually pretty laid back with races. But this was an expensive 5k!

You could do about 4 normal 5ks for the price of this Disney one. So, I pretty much expected it to be the best 5k anyone has put on ever in the history of 5ks. (I may be slightly exaggerating, but I did think it would be pretty incredible.)

They did light up the castle and have Tinkerbell fly down before the race. They also had fireworks and confetti at the start. It was very Disney-esque. But what about the normal non-Disney running stuff people have come to expect? Put up a banner at the finish, by golly!

Also, while I’m on this track of complaining, let’s talk about our “medals.” They’re cute, but they’re rubber. They’re not even actual medals. Again, if this 5k hadn’t been a billion dollars ($105(!)), then I wouldn’t be so grumble grumble about it…

(Also, I know sometimes people’s attitudes get lost in print. Just for the record, I don’t have any “real” complaints that I’m truly angry about. I’m just saying… )

And as if you haven’t heard enough grumbling, I’ll pick up here tomorrow.

Never Land Family Fun Run 5k – Part 1 (Meeting People & Waiting for the Race)

January 28, 2012

caricature of Aurora De Lucia running — (Got this drawn in Downtown Disney while waiting for the race.)

Overall, this race was a blast! I had a great time and I would be up for it again.

But, there may be a few things that I’m totally going to complain about (but I won’t do that ’til tomorrow’s post).

Once it started to get into the 9 o’clock hour, I went from Downtown Disney (where I was killing time) to the entrance to the park – where I would continue to kill time. I asked some other runners around me where we go to check our bags.

One woman (who’d said she’d volunteered all day, so I assumed she knew what she was talking about) told me that gear check wasn’t until we got inside. I hung out in line waiting to get in, and I met my new best friends, Wendy and Marty.

Wendy’s lost something like 140 pounds! They are so active. She hikes every single day. (I told Wendy she should do the 52 in 52 challenge as well and she decided right then and there that she would!)

Around, I don’t know, maybe 9:40 the entrance to the park re-opened for the runners. It was pretty cool, going in there once everyone else is gone. We were up kinda far in line, so when we walked in, we could actually sort of see how relatively empty the park was before all the 5k runners filled it (which was an interesting & cool sight).

We kept walking forward toward the castle. We were all chattering among ourselves. “Are these corrals?” “What’s happening?” Nobody really knew. It turned out we were in fact getting into our corrals.

Of course soon I realize that bag check actually was outside. (I was a doofus not to realize that.) I say goodbye to my new friends, telling them I hope to get back to them, but we’ll see. They wish me luck. I make a run for it back down Main Street and out of the park. I find the bag check and drop off my stuff.

I come back in the park, this time with a smaller group of stragglers since it’s getting closer to the start time. I look to my left. Lo and behold, it’s the man I met at the expo who’d forgotten his wallet! They let him in based on the ID of his Facebook page! He gave me a huge hug and thanked me for giving him the idea.

I continue to try to make my way back up toward the castle through the now large crowd (of 4,000 people). We’re all stuck far back on Main Street. I break out onto the sidewalk, making a nice little confident jog up toward my new friends (and my old corral). A couple of Disney people look like they might stop me, but nobody bothers me since I look like I know where I’m going.

Suddenly, I see those wondrous people who had been strangers to me just hours before! I’m back where I started! I can’t believe it. The Disney person watching our corral looks like he might say something, but when two people react as though they’re waiting for me, he leaves us alone.

I realized exactly how close we were to the front when the emcee asked us to do the wave and I could see it start.

Wouldn’t you know it? We were in corral A! What a change from corral 22 back in Arizona. Granted, I have no problems being in corral 22. I belong there. I don’t pretend to be a real athlete. I’d hate to be in the way of real athletes. But it certainly was a different feeling being way up front…

I didn’t necessarily like it… This is where the complaining begins – in tomorrow’s post.

Never Land Family Fun Run 5k – Expo

January 27, 2012

I always forget how magical Disneyland is until I get there. As soon as I got off the bus, I heard the cheerful music, saw all the tiny details everywhere (so many mouse ears), and I remembered I was in the “happiest place on Earth.”

I picked up my (cute-looking) bib and went to check out all the booths. I won a Chia Pet at the booth for the Angel’s 5k.

I waited in a long line at the booth for ABC. It was funny because they were giving out themed bags for a cancelled show (Pan Am). I’m sure they wanted us to feel special, like we had something you couldn’t buy anywhere. They must have been right because the line for that booth was long the whole night! (And who am I to judge the prize? I waited in that line!)

You won a bag if you could answer a question about whatever ABC show you spun on the big wheel. My spin landed on Revenge and they asked me on what other ABC show had Emily Van Camp previously acted? (Brothers and Sisters, of course.)

While I was waiting in that line, I met a couple who was supposed to be running the 5k together, but the man had forgotten his wallet all the way out in Palm Springs. Disney wouldn’t let him pick up his packet without his photo ID.

He told me, “all I have is my iPad.” I said “well, you should go on back in, open up your Facebook page for them and say ‘look at all these pictures of me! May I have my bib now? Thanks.'”

He and the woman both looked me like I was a genius. I was 40% joking because I had no idea if it would really work, but, hey, it was worth a try, right? So, he ran out to go check.

By this time, the woman and I were pretty far into the line. The man had to go outside, down the sidewalk, down a ramp and into a whole ‘nother area to go get his bib, so he didn’t make it back before I got to find out what happened. There were moments later in the night when that couple would pop into my mind, and I’d wonder if he got in. (Spoiler alert: I find out later and let you know in tomorrow’s post.)

Exploring Downtown Los Angeles

January 26, 2012

My brilliant friend Melissa is visiting Los Angles. She had this wonderful idea that we would take a free tour of the Disney Concert Hall, which I had no idea existed! (The free tours part…I knew the Concert Hall was there.)

It included more than just the concert hall. We went through the Mark Taper Forum, Disney Concert Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Ahmanson Theatre. We had a docent who was very knowledgable about the history of all the buildings. I didn’t realize there are special founder’s rooms in these buildings (and goodness are they nice!).

One incredible thing I learned was that you can take public stairs on the outside of Disney Concert Hall up to the top and just walk around the top of the building. There’s even a small public park up there! It’s serene, and I think a somewhat well-kept secret. It’s totally gonna be my new hang out place for whenever I want to read or write outside of my awesome apartment.

Afterward, while aimlessly walking around Los Angeles, Melissa and I stumbled upon this thing called Angel’s Flight (which a tourist in our earlier tour group had actually mentioned). It doesn’t do much besides take you up and down a big hill for a quarter, but it was old-timey and cute. (And it’s the shortest railway in the world.)

I’m also amazed at the number of fountains I saw in downtown LA. It seemed like everywhere I looked I saw the words “Water Court.” I wonder how much water is used daily in downtown LA on fountains alone.

Melissa had found this great idea for the day off a list of 100 free things to do in LA. She definitely inspired me to look for lists like that for some future adventures right here in the city in which I live.

Catch Up: Fitness 4 All Santa 10k (December 17, 2011)

January 25, 2012

Originally I had signed up to do only the 5k. But, I had started the running every week business, and the following weekend (Christmas) I couldn’t find any events less than a half marathon distance.

That being the case, I thought it might be wise to try a longer distance this time to sort of build up (though really, shouldn’t I have thought about saving my legs?).

Either way, that was my thought process at the time. Thankfully, it worked out well.

The morning of the race, I asked if I could switch up to the 10k. The race staff was lovely enough to let me.

This was a small race (especially the 10k). I was pacing ahead of some people before the 5k turnaround, but I was faster than very few 10k runners.

I really didn’t want to come in last. I had kind of hoped that I would never come in dead last in a running event, so I made sure that the whole time I was in front of at least one person. In the second half of the race, there were still three people behind me.

I thought I was okay. Then, in the last mile, the guy on the bike who comes around to check on people asked me how I was doing. I said I was doing great. Then he told me I was bringing up the rear.

Of course I quickly said, “no, no, no, there are three people behind me.” He replied that they had gotten tired and took a CAB back to their cars! (What?!)

That’s when I spotted two people in front of me. We were on a public bike path, so not everyone was in the race. Being that these people were dressed in holiday-looking attire, I thought they very well might be.

I asked the man on the bicycle if those people were in the race. Neither of us could really tell from where we were, so I just ran ahead, hoping they were.

the beach — just another beach shot from the race

I finally caught up to them. They were in fact in the race. I ran faster to try to pass them. They realized the last place runner was passing them, so they ran faster. It was battle of wills and legs. They ended up sprinting to the finish.

I wanted so badly to catch them, but my number one goal was just to stay injury free and not push myself too hard on the way back into running. I didn’t go nuts and push myself to a place I didn’t really have. I just sucked it up and jogged on into the finish. I was officially last.

As people say, “the last place finisher is the slowest winner.” I still felt pretty good about the whole thing. I’d rather come in last than not come in at all!

The coolest part about the finish – Santa Claus himself was there to give me my medal.

The race wasn’t chip timed (or even clock timed). But according to my phone, I finished in about an hour and 30 minutes, which was what I’d wanted.

Little random story: Around mile 4/5 I had a slight uphill jog. As it happened, the sun came out from behind a cloud and “Will You Be There?” – an inspirational Michael Jackson song came on my iPod.

It all came together in such a moment of perfect beauty. My eyes welled up just a bit as I thought about how THANKFUL I am to be running! I’m so happy to be allowed to run as much as I want, and to go outside. (I generally dislike the outdoors, but freedom is incredible.) I am so ecstatic to let my legs carry me, and I can’t wait to just keep going farther and farther.

Catch Up: Santa to the Sea 5k (December 11, 2011)

January 24, 2012

Continuing with my catching up of running events –

This was my second 5k of the weekend – and I finished in 40:39! That’s down from 49:44 the previous weekend. My only goal for this one was to finish at least one second faster from than the previous day’s 5k (44:07), and I accomplished that. (Woot. Woot.)

This was a really fun race. Part of it was through a random neighborhood. Some people came out on their balcony to have coffee and watch, which I thought was nice.

As we got farther in, part of it was by the beach, which was pretty.

They played a ton of Michael Jackson at this race’s finish, which made me pretty ecstatic. The finish festivities were something to write home about – free massages, delicious snacks, lovely volunteers, and most importantly, Compete Green had a booth where I got to spin a wheel, and I spun the winning space! I got a free race entry (which of course is super special. They might as well have been giving me gold)!

palm trees at the beach — (on my computer, this is labeled “palm trees – that’s not Christmas” [small laugh]

[Edited to add: Unfortunately, I never did get to use that race entry because of scheduling and blah blah blah. But Compete Green seems like an absolutely wonderful company.

They did let me pass on my race entry to someone else, which was wonderful. They seem very consumer focused, and I’d be happy to do a race with them in the future.]

Everything about this race was awesome – the people, the scenery, the general city of Oxnard, the medals, the staff, etc. All of it. They also do a half marathon here, and it’s going on my list of 52 I want to do this year.

[Edited to add: I did that half marathon.]

Catch Up: Holiday 5k Pomona (December 10, 2011)

January 23, 2012

As I’ve said before, I started this string of running events 7 weeks before I started the blog, so I still have a little catching up to do…

I had a great time at this race! I spent the morning meeting some inspiring runners.

This was the first race back for a man who adored running, but had to take quite a bit of time off due to chemotherapy.

I met a lot of people who were coming back from illness or injury of some kind. That seems to kind of be a trend in 5ks – a race to help transition back into a sport someone loves after something kept her from it.

This race took place around the Pomona fairgrounds, with a nice part of it on a track. The people here were awesome! The volunteers were super nice, and runners were taken care of like no other. It was only a 5k, but we still got nice technical shirts and tons of snacks at the finish.

They even wrapped us up in the plastic at the end as though we were honest to goodness marathoners!

Considering I had another 5k the next day, and was still pretty new to running, yet again, my goal was just to finish, but around mile 2, I realized that if I kept pacing the way I was, I could finish in under 45 minutes (which didn’t seem real to me considering my last one took close to 50!).

I moved along, watching the clock, with the new hope to finish in under 45. And wouldn’t you know it? I finished in 44:07!

At the finish line I started asking a woman, “Can you believe it?! We did it!” She was a sweetheart. We waited together (not long at all) for her friend.

That’s how I met my two new friends Betty and Charlotta. This was their first 5k, and they’re ready for another one!

(#2) Rose Bowl Half Marathon

January 22, 2012

The day of my dad’s first race ever!

I did the half marathon and he did the 5k. I felt bad for him because we didn’t have a car and they didn’t have a gear check. So he carried our goodie bags through his whole 5k! (Rough.)

I didn’t get to see him in all his glory at the finish line, ‘cause I was still out on the half marathon course. But it sounds like he had a great time. At lunch he was even talking about wanting to sign up for another 5k to try to shave two minutes off his time.

As far as the half marathon today, for some reason none of the runners (including myself) knew beforehand that this race was on a trail. (I’m totally not blaming the race. I just don’t think any of use were paying any attention.)

A few different people came up to my dad and me beforehand, all stressed, saying “did you know this is on a TRAIL?!” I don’t fault them for freaking out because I also freak out a little at the word “trail.” I mean, it is a trail after all! Crazy terrain. Possibly Muddy. Animals could come from anywhere! (Probably not, but it totally could happen – I did see a coyote once!) Plus, it’s much harder to run on a trail.

There were a few good miles on the road and boy oh boy, I was all business for those! My feet rejoiced, and I let out an audible sigh of relief every time my feet went from trail to pavement. In that final mile (on the glorious pavement), I was running like a crazy person in a sort of dancing run. I was all “enough of this hiking and stuff. I am out of here!”

Here’s the best part(!) – when I got to the finish, there was my dad waiting for me. He got the DJ to play Michael Jackson! Did I, or did I not say my dad is pretty much the greatest man?

After the race, we went to see a Lakers game! My dad and I have this tradition I love. We go see the Indiana Pacers play in a different arena every year. Let me tell ya, the Pacers WON!

It’s hard to believe since they seem to lose every time we go see them (boy, I miss Reggie), but this time they won. At the end it looked like it could really go either way, but it went our way!

My dad left Monday morning. It rained. Los Angeles was crying about losing him to Ohio, but I will see him again in May for his First half Marathon (in our hometown of Indianapolis)!

Everybody Freak Out! My Dad Is In Town!

January 21, 2012

My dad came to town! He’s pretty much the coolest guy on the planet.

He’s such a sweet dad who still takes extra care of me when he’s in town.

If we’re anything like him and his mom, he’ll never stop babying me – even when I’m a super grown-up (not just a pretty-much-grown-up like I am now).

But love and appreciate that adorable-ness, and assume I always will. I love him a ton (and kinda wish I could see him all the time).

We watched the LA Kings 5k taking place outside of my window. We would’ve been running it, but they don’t give medals. And let’s get real, I’m totally selfish and all about the bling, so if I wasn’t going to get a medal, I wasn’t going to do a 5k (even if it was across the street!).

My dad said that maybe we should’ve done it, commenting “it would’ve been fun to do two 5ks in a row.” Well, we’ll see how he feels about that after his first 5k (which he’ll be doing tomorrow – how exciting!).

By the way, I used to have this idea that every day I’d write something on the blog that made someone laugh that day, but I abandoned that because it either came out in each post already, or it just wasn’t something that seemed worth sharing… However, I thought this was funny, so I’m including one here.

My dad often has me in stitches. In the grocery store he asked me if I had a Kroger card and all sarcastically, like a horrible daughter, I said “well, I have a Shaw’s card” as in “we’re not in Ohio anymore, Daddy.” Then he pointed out that we’re not in Boston anymore either! lol We were actually at a Ralph’s! I guess I live on the west coast now… Silly, silly me.

Catch Up: Universal Studios 5k (December 4, 2011)

January 20, 2012

As I’ve said before, I started this string of running events 7 weeks before I started the blog, so I have a little catching up to do…

The Say No to Drugs race was my first 5k! Little did I know this was the beginning of quite a large adventure that I never saw coming.

This is a sweet 5k!

They don’t give medals (but they do give dog tags). So I almost didn’t do this race (since I have that whole “I only run for medals!” rule). However, I made an exception because of the wonderful course – running through Universal Studios’s backlot.

Packet pick-up was the morning of the race (as it totally should be with 5ks (and possibly even other distances)), but alas, there was no gear check. So I carried the bag with my shirt and goodies throughout the course (the plight of not having a car in Los Angeles).

As I said, the course was bomb! We ran through Wisteria Lane, by Amity Boat Tours, around a bunch of other sets, and even through a plane crash! A lot of people (including me) chose to go slowly and take pictures – basically being more of a tourist than a runner.

the plane crash in the backlot at Universal Studios Hollywood during the Say No To Drugs Race 2012 — going through the plane crash

(Of course it wasn’t necessarily that I was completely “choosing” that, so much as I was partly choosing that, and it was partly chosen for me due to my out of shape-ness.)

The very first part of the race was all downhill so I thought “oh, this’ll be easy.” Of course the last part of the race was all uphill. So that was…super fun.

In the second mile, I noticed a woman behind me who was plugging away as best she could, but I thought she was someone I could beat. Now, I am all for runners being supportive of each other, and I think every person on the course is a champion. I also really believe that in every race I’m only racing myself…

But, I also believe that I’m competitive to sometimes, maybe, a teeny bit of an unhealthy degree (as if that’s even possible, right?).

My new goal became just to outrun this random woman. She was really putting forward some effort at certain points, but if she would go from walking to jogging, so would I. If she would go from jogging to running, so would I.

At first I was nervous about the big, final uphill battle, but the hill was besting her too. She was starting to fall behind. We came to a part with some tight-ish curves, so I couldn’t see people who were too far behind me. I thought “I did it! I’m going to come in before this lady!”

Then I realized that the 5k and 10k veered off from each other near the finish, and being that I didn’t see her again, I think she was actually doing the 10k. It looks like she beat me by the sheer fact that she was doing twice the distance. Wah wah.

I was pretty stoked that there was a bloodmobile at the finish line. I had never given in a bloodmobile – just in hospitals or stand alone donation places. I thought it was a great idea to encourage people to give right after a race. Giving blood made my good feelings about the day multiply (by a whole lot)!

All in all, it was a super fun race that I highly recommend!

(#1) Catch Up: Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona (January 15, 2012)

January 19, 2012

Considering I started this blog 7 weeks into my adventure of doing a running event every week, I need to catch up on some of the old events.

This would be a good time to do last weekend’s Rock N’ Roll AZ!

I went to see my beautiful, incredible, amazing friend Taylor. She’s one of the best people I know.

She’s spent months in Africa helping people. She teaches in a special needs classroom. She’ll be applying to medical school soon. Everything she says is filled with understanding for whomever she’s talking about.

She’s also up for adventures. This was her first half marathon, and I was thrilled to be there for it.

The day before, we went to the Expo and got some cool free swag. (Thanks, Met Life for your rad water bottles!). We also saw all the medals for the heavy medal series (and now I absolutely must achieve “Pop Idol” status – the medal is almost as big as my head!)

We met up with some of her cool friends, went to eat, had a great long bedtime talk about life and things, and went to sleep.

Boom! We woke up as though it was Christmas morning! It was time to go race!

Now, Taylor is an actual runner, runner. I am more um, super slow. She was in corral 4. I was in corral… 22.

I preferred it that way – I wouldn’t want to hold her back. She went up with her other friends. I made some new friends in the back of the pack.

By the time corral 22 crossed the start line, she was probably already on mile 5.

I really enjoyed running through the Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale area. I wouldn’t say it was the most “scenic” route ever, but I passed some restaurants I had gone to with friends before. It was a nice little trip down a small memory lane.

Around I think mile 10 or 11 there were a bunch of awesome, inspirational signs. Some of the quotes included: “If you don’t give something, you will not get anything,” and “nobody who gave his best ever regretted it.”

Of course by the time I’m on mile 10, Taylor had long finished. She was a sweetheart, texting me words of encouragement.

We had talked the night before about doing certain miles while thinking of her wonderful Marine brother (Ty), whose strength inspires us. Mile 12 and a good portion of mile 13 were “Tyler” miles. I thought about him a lot, and made sure I put forth the strength to jog the whole final mile (which is nothing to real runners, but I’m out of shape, and walk many parts of these half marathons!).

Before you knew it, I could see that finish line! I crossed and happily got my medal. Sadly, before you knew it, I was back on that Greyhound bus – having to come back to Los Angeles.

Unimportant side story: There was a funny man at the bus station when I got back who asked why I was wearing a medal. (Yeah, that’s right. I wore it all the way home (instead of tucking it away in my bag like a normal person).)

When I said I’d finished a half marathon he scoffed and said “You only did a HALF marathon? You couldn’t do a WHOLE one?”

Now, I’m as crazy and competitive as the next person. And sure, I’ll think I’m pretty cool when I’m running marathons, but I did think this was a super funny comment coming from a stranger.

When I asked this (very out of shape looking, in case you were wondering) man when the last time was that he ran a marathon, he replied, “I’ve been running around all day!”

*pats head* Okay, marathon guy. Enjoy your judgement. I’m gonna hold this medal dear anyway.

Who Am I? Who, who? Who, who? And Why Do I Blog?

January 18, 2012

Aurora giving a big smile while working with Trash for Teaching — (Picture updated in 2014)

Hey there. I’m Aurora.

I want to do about a million things in my life – become a neurosurgeon, win an EGOT, run marathons in all 50 states, DC, and all American territories in one year, make the world a better place for women (and everyone, really).

I hope to continuously become more of a well-rounded person. I keep many goals, which I’m sure will be discussed on this blog.

I’m starting this blog because I had taken well over a year off from running (which is my favorite hobby), and I desperately needed to get back into it. So, I decided to run a 5k.

One 5k turned into a 5k on both Saturday and Sunday the following weekend. A 10k followed on the weekend after that. I followed that up with a half marathon the next weekend.

Aurora looking to the side and smiling while wearing a big hat (on the CBS studio lot) — (This was the original photo in this post.)

By that point, I was so re-addicted that it just snowballed. I’ve run some sort of running event every week since the first week of December 2011. Now I want to keep running some sort of event every week throughout the entirety of 2012!

But I don’t plan that this blog will stop after 2012. I hope to keep having new adventures, and keep growing every year. This blog will help me keep a memory of all that and share it with you!

I’m sure this blog will have a ton to say about running. But, I’m not going to limit it to just that. This is going to be about trying to live a great adventure-filled life. That will hopefully encompass a lot of different things… We’ll see!

Thanks for reading. Let the adventures begin!

Thanks so much for coming to my blog!

I’m Aurora (as you probably guessed)!

This blog started when I ran 52 half marathons in 52 weeks after open-heart surgery for a weird congenital heart defect (Wolff-Parkinson White).

(That inspired more “52 in 52 weeks” projects you can see if you scroll down to check ’em out!)

I also won a car on The Price is Right (and lost a trip to Mexico on Let’s Make a Deal).

Currently, I’m completing Project 882 – 882 race miles in a year to represent the 882 Americans sexually assaulted every day.

Thanks again for visiting! Stick around, and read today’s post (to your left), or check out the projects (below), and feel free to contact me – let’s be friends! 🙂