(#13b) Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon – Part 2 (Awesomeness, Rain, And Falling Behind)

April 29, 2012

Aurora De Lucia running during the Kentucky Derby miniMarathon with her new friend RandyPicking up from yesterday –

That first 5k was awesome. I’d almost forgotten what it’s like to run a pretty super huge race.

This race was basically perfect. There were tons of runners, yet I never once felt crowded or trapped in a certain pace.

Another thing that was completely awesome – as we were running up to the water stop, there was a humongous sign saying “Water Stop.”

All the mile marker signs were also very large. It was nice that everything was so big. When you got tired, you were able to see pretty far into the distance and get excited about what’s coming next.

I was genuinely surprised at every mile marker from 2 to 5. “Mile 5 already? Are you kidding me?” I was still keeping up with Randy and Terry. I couldn’t believe it.

Terry’s a cross-country coach. Of course he wasn’t struggling one bit. Randy was doing his first half marathon! He was full of energy and always ready to keep running.

Somewhere along our run we passed a White Castle. Oh, precious, precious Midwest/east coast. I wanted to run off the course and grab a slider. Of course I didn’t, but I will not go back to Los Angeles before I have at least one!

It started to rain partway through the run! I’d bought a new waterproof phone case at Ragnar last weekend. (They were on sale, and my old phone case was completely falling apart.)

Though I enjoyed my new case, I had wondered whether I really should’ve bought it. (All money is money that could be going toward future races).

When the rain poured down on us, I knew it was a wonderful purchase.

It rained just enough to cool us down, but not enough to make us soaked and uncomfortable.

Randy posing in front of the finisher's backdrop at the Kentucky Derby miniMarathon
This was me distracting Randy before he got his finisher’s photo taken

After I hit mile marker 5 with Randy and Terry, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, I can stick with them ’til the middle of the race.

Sure enough, I do! I’m a little exhausted by this point, but feeling amazing.

We hit 6.55 miles in under an hour and 30 minutes. As we get closer to mile 7, I’m feeling that I’m not gonna be able to keep up. I’m pretty flabbergasted that I’ve made it this long with them. So, I’m gonna go ahead and call this a win.

I’ve warned them that I’m not gonna be able to keep up with them through the whole race. When the time comes, they should run ahead and not feel bad about it.

They had said if I could make it to mile marker 8 with them, they’d walk around Churchill Downs to take in the scenery/ambiance and such. I pushed. I tried. I couldn’t go that fast anymore.

I said “I don’t think I can make it!” Meaning, “I don’t think I can make it at your pace. Please run ahead.” But all the people around me who heard that jumped in immediately with loud encouragement. “Yes you can! Don’t give up!”

I really appreciate the sentiment, but goodness, it was a ton of people jumping on me at once! Don’t sweat it. Nobody freak out. I’m not dropping out of a race with a six hour time limit. I’m just slowing down from my new stranger friends.

I’ll have to be more careful with my wording and volume in the future. Note taken.

I stayed with Terry and Randy until we hit mile marker 7, when I happily let them run ahead. I certainly wasn’t going to slow down too terribly much though. These boys worked too hard pacing me toward a PR for me to let them down now!

Will I ever see them again? Will I make them proud by getting my PR? Find out more tomorrow!

(#13b) Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon – Part 1 (Morning & Corralling)

April 28, 2012

Someone holding a "May the course be with you" sign at the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon
I loved her “May the course be with you” sign

I’m calling this half marathon “13b” because I got lost on the course last weekend, accidentally taking some distance off.

Today started off in sort of a funny way. My dad warned me on the way to my grandma’s, “You have to be careful what time you say you want to get up. If you say you want to get up at 5, she’s going to wake you up an 4:30 to make sure you’re actually going to get up.”

Sure enough, at 4:25, someone is poking me. Yep, it’s my grandma waking me up.

We get ready and head to Louisville. I ditched my headphones for this race, because I had a wonderful time in Havasu opening my ears to the people around me.

(Also, I’m pretty sure I left my favorite headphones on the plane coming out here! Don’t fret too much, I think I have an extra pair of my Sennheiser PMX 60s in my apartment, in case I were to break or lose the pair I totally just lost…)

Last week, I’d worn shoes that aren’t quite broken in all the way. Here’s the thing about those shoes – they fit well and feel incredible on my left foot. They hit me in a weird place on my right foot, which was sort of painful. I think I may have two slightly different sized feet… I’m figuring it out. The point is, my right foot had been hurting a bit, but it felt great this morning. Woo hoo!

The sidewalks were packed with people, but I made it to corral F. I looked around for new running buddies. There were a lot of people in the zone, with earbuds tucked in. There were a couple of pairs of people deep in conversation with each other. And then I saw a group of four people laughing. I told them they looked to be the most fun people in the corral. They welcomed me into their little group with open arms.

Huge Louisville Slugger bat on the side of a building
Some of the Kentucky scenery the boys were pointing out to me

Terry was in the midst of a pretty brilliant idea. There were $500 coupons on our bibs for a car from a dealership down in Louisville, but there was no fine print. He was collecting coupons from everyone who wasn’t going to buy a car, with the plan of going into the dealership, and dumping all the coupons on the table. “Car, please.”

He didn’t keep up with this idea, but I do think trying it would’ve been interesting, if nothing else.

At the beginning of the race, I didn’t try to stay with my new friends, figuring they’d be too fast for me. Not all that long into the first mile, I realized Terry and Randy were just to the left of me, and we were pacing about the same.

I jogged over there and it was a very exciting reunion, even though I’d only been away from them for maybe about .3 miles.

We ran together and they were hilarious and full of energy. We finished the first mile in 12:12. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep that pace up for the next 12.1 miles. But I thought I’d see if I could keep up with the boys through the first 5. Luckily, they slowed down a little, but we were still jogging at a nice pace. I made it through the first 5k with them.

Think I can keep up with them any longer? Find out tomorrow.

Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon Expo

April 27, 2012

Girls covered in dry mud handing out information on a mud race at an expo
Some fun muddy people at the expo

I sped through this expo as my dad circled the block a few times. Cars. They ruin everything/make some things better.

Either way, with 18,000 runners doing this race, he understandably didn’t want to do the whole parking thing. So he circled the building while I did a very quick circle of the expo.

The first thing I saw was the set-up for a pasta dinner, which I think is a brilliant idea – having the dinner in the same place as the expo. It couldn’t be easier than that.

As I wound through the path of booths, I camp upon a set-up about the benefits of beef.

I don’t hear a lot of good stuff about red meat, but here were people at a running expo, giving away activity books full of good messages about beef. They also had free signs available so you could write encouraging words to your runner, with the message on the bottom – “powered by beef.”

Next up, there was a booth for a mud race called “Run the Gauntlet.” The people giving out flyers were dressed up in dried mud. They stood out from other vendors, brought us right into the experience of the day, and made it look fun. Brilliant idea, y’all.

Speaking of “y’all,” Kentucky accents rock.

Ohio tourism had a booth set up. I spun a wheel and won a free pass to Zoombezi Bay. Yee haw! It doesn’t open ‘til the summer, so I probably won’t be around the Midwest. Still cool.

benefits of beef at the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon expo
a blurry picture of the beef booth

I make a quick dash out of the expo, fighting through the large crowd. Then I jump in the car.

(Thank goodness after my pretty recent crazy weekend of actually driving… you know, in an actual car, I’m back to being the passenger. I love when I’m in the Midwest and my dad lovingly takes the incredibly un-fun job of driving. He’s awesome.)

As we go up to Cincinnati (where we’re staying, ‘cause my grandma lives there), I go through my bag of goodies from the expo.

I pull out a gift card for $500 to a new online retailer. What? Are you serious? $500?

I’m reading all the fine print about how they’re giving money to help get the word out. Neither my dad nor I really believes this can be true with no catch, so I jump on my iPhone and check out the website.

Turns out, you have to pay 9% in real money. I guess that’s no so bad… if you wanted anything on the website. But, as far as we could tell, they only sold sunglasses and watches (and not sunglasses that covered huge parts of your face or watches that tracked your running for you). Oh well. We keep looking through the bag.

“At least we got $10 off at Dick’s Sporting Goods!” (reads fine print) “Oh, but it doesn’t apply to Brooks shoes!”

At this point my dad hilariously makes fun of my “bag of disappointment.” Tell me about it, right?

We laughed and laughed, and before you knew it, we were at my grandma’s house. Dinner. Sleep. Kentucky Derby Half Marathon coming up tomorrow!

(#13a) A Run Through Redlands – Part 3 (Getting Lost (And Getting A Snow Cone))

April 26, 2012

Picking up from Aurora De Lucia at the finish of A Run Through the Redlands half marathon 2012, holding her snowcone and medalPart 2 –

I’m going uphill forever. My legs are all, “Uh, Aurora, didn’t we just do this at the Grand Canyon last week?” Immediately following up with, “Whatever, girl. We trust you. We love working out. It’s nice of you not to take us to such a high altitude this time.” You’re welcome.

A couple of women catch up to me, and we walk together-ish.

Miles go by where we don’t see anyone – not a volunteer, not a police officer, nobody. We’re not even the last runners, mind you! It’s a ghost town out there, which is a bit crazy. What if someone had gotten hurt? And with all the dogs in that town, I’m pretty surprised I didn’t get eaten.

For a number of miles, we still see mile markers at least. Even though there are no other cues telling us we’re on course, those let us know we are. Then we get to this point where there are no signs nor volunteers to tell us which way to turn. Which way do we go?!

Super responsible half marathoners know the course and don’t need to rely on volunteers, so I need to shoulder some blame here. I did have my phone. Conceivably I could’ve looked up a map. (Of course, I have the absolute worst sense of direction in the world. Ever. Of anyone. In the world. Ever. Even with a map, I’m not sure I would’ve turned the right way.)

I ask these women where to turn. They say left, seeming confident in their choice. Off we go.

Aurora on a massage table with her snowconeA while later… it’s been a little too long since we’ve seen a mile marker.

We learn we’re off course and hear (from a phone call they make) that we’ll run back into it if we keep on going this way. Full speed ahead, I guess.

Before you know it, we’re almost at the finish line! We’d inadvertently taken a mile (maybe even closer to two?!) off our route. Ugh. I hated merging back on the course feeling cheater-y.

All the “great job” sentiments from people mean way less (if anything) when you don’t feel you really did the half.

I walked past the turn that led to the finish line. As the police officer looked at me sideways, I explained I’d gotten lost and wanted to do a little more distance.

I walked forward and back a few blocks a couple of times. (I didn’t want to lost again, by golly.)

As I came back toward the finish, I saw a booth with snowcones. Sweet Business. I haven’t seen a water stop in who knows how long. This is wonderful.

I stand around talking to the people for a nice long while. (I don’t want my time to be too fast, with the cut mileage and such.)

After a number of minutes, Johannah comes my way asking if I’m ever going to finish the race. I think about ditching the snowcone for the finish, but Jo says it’ll look cooler crossing the finish line with it in my hand. She’s right.

But there wasn’t a race photographer there to catch it! I finished in about 3:23 (with a 4:30 time limit), and they’d already sent the photographer home.

Jeanette was sweet and took some pictures of me. After I crossed, the volunteers handed me a plastic bag that had my medal inside of it. A bag? Hmm. A little anti-climactic, no?

Do medals always come in individual plastic bags first? That kind of seems super wasteful. Maybe it protects them, but goodness that’s a lot of plastic!

After the race, Jeanette gives me the celebrity treatment – driving me all the way back to Los Angeles!

I did two miles on the treadmill to make myself feel better. Luckily, I’m doing more than 52 half marathons, so let’s not even count this as an official half of mine.

Next up – The Kentucky Derby Half!

That Time My Heart Broke. Literally. – Part 3 (First EKG/Weekend in the Hospital)

April 25, 2012

Aurora's EKG after open-heart surgery
(I don’t have any pre-surgery EKGs on my computer, but here’s a post-surgery one)

It’s Wednesday – time to continue on with this series.

Last week, I left off with getting my EKG more than once.

There seemed to be some debate as to whether I was going to be sent home. My understanding is that there was a shift change going on. It kind of seemed as though two doctors were overlapping, and both were sort of in charge.

The one who was about to leave said he was pretty sure something was wrong and wanted to keep me overnight. The one who was coming on seemed to be of the mindset of “eh, you’re probably fine. Let’s send you home.”

Of course, I wanted to leave. I had never in my life missed a show, and I was not about to start now. The doctor who seemed to be starting her shift came in and told me they were going to discharge me. Rock on.

Before the other doctor left, he came in and said that while they were going to discharge me, he didn’t feel completely comfortable with that. He wanted me to promise him that I would come back the next day and get an echocardiogram.

“Um, sure. I guess. Why not?”

“No, really. Really promise me that you’ll do it. It’s important. I want to go home knowing that you’ll do it.”

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

My professor who taught the class I’d passed out in called me later that night, before my show, to see if I was okay. I told him the story, and said I was at the theater and that I guess I’d see tomorrow if anything was really wrong. He assured me that since they didn’t keep me things were probably all right. Yeah, good point. Agreed; they probably are.

Aurora's heart beating in an echocardiogram
My heart during a much later echocardiogram (after open heart surgery)

I told key people at work the story and warned them that there was a tiny chance I wouldn’t be there the next night, but I didn’t anticipate that happening. I mean, really. Theater has always come first. What could ever make me miss a show?

The next day, I dutifully returned to the hospital, as I had promised the nice doctor I would.

They took my EKG yet again. This time, when a doctor came to see me, she seemed pretty shocked that I had been discharged the previous day.

I got the echo. They said it was a little abnormal. That’s when it all really began. All of a sudden I was being admitted to the hospital.

It was weird to have an unexpected experience I wasn’t familiar with whatsoever. I’d seen people be in hospitals on TV, but never that moment when they were admitted. It wasn’t all that special – just paperwork and a wristband.

Still, it felt weird to be doing this brand-new, nothing-to-compare-it-to thing. Often if you’re gonna do something new, you read and prepare. But to have a totally new surprise… It was… Well, it was surprising, I guess.

I called work and guiltily gave them the awful news. They got someone to sub in for me.

Here’s the thing about being admitted to Tufts, with a rare heart condition, on a Friday – they don’t do a lot of their more advanced (non-super-emergent) tests on weekends. A one night stay immediately turned into a three night stay.

If all I was going to do was sit around all weekend, I really wanted to go to work. The hospital people were not keen on that.

I didn’t know whether I had a serious health problem. I didn’t know how much I could fight to be let go, or what the process is with signing an AMA form. I think there are some downsides with an AMA form… I still don’t know, actually. I didn’t look too deeply into it. People at the theater were being cool (well, cool enough at least), and the doctors were being quite serious (making it sound as though it’d be a really bad idea to leave), so I didn’t.

We’ll pick up next time with part 4.

I’m curious, since I’ve been doing this for three weeks now (and since this story is going to go on for many more weeks), is this a story you’re at all interested in? I know people have asked me about my heart condition and time in the hospital, which is why I started doing this every Wednesday night. Obviously, I’m throwing the super non-abridged version at you. So, I’m just curious if anyone likes this series, or if you all just skip reading on Wednesdays and think I should scrap it? Thanks!

(#13a) A Run Through Redlands – Part 2 (Dogs, Dogs, Dogs)

April 24, 2012

A Run Through the Redlands Half Marathon 2012
It was kind of scenic in the Redlands.

Picking up from two days ago (as yesterday’s post established my humongous fear of dogs) –

To say I’m not an “outdoorsy” person is an understatement. I do everything I can to hide from the sun. I don’t know how to swim. I’m petrified of animals.

I enjoy the sweet, sweet indoors. If it were up to me, I would never run on anything but a treadmill. (I suppose it actually is up to me, being that it is my life.)

Even though I’m not much for the outdoors, I like challenges, interacting with the running community, and medals.

Usually, I barely even consider half marathons to be outdoors. I know they are, but city streets are often blocked off, thousands of runners are on the course, and I don’t feel as though I’m super exposed to the elements, I suppose.

This was a small half marathon, through a bunch of residential streets. It was the first one where I saw a runner with his dog in the race! As far as I could tell, this was not a service dog – just a man, wearing a number, out for a 13.1 mile run with his pet.

I passed numerous houses with dogs. Luckily, I couldn’t see most of the dogs, and I could see the owners. So, I figured I was safe.

Trees during a Run Through the Redlands Half Marathon 2012
There were lots of trees on this course.

As the back of the pack thinned out, there were areas where I couldn’t see other runners. Not long after I passed one of the last sets of volunteers, I came upon an area by a narrow street in the middle of a woods-like place. I heard super loud barking. My head darts in the direction of the noise.

To my left, there’s a fence. Behind that fence are two very large, angry looking dogs. I can see their faces, because they are coming out from over the edge of the fence. They’re not struggling one bit to have their face completely visible. I was going to take a picture for you, but I was too terrified of having my face chewed off.

My heart stops for a moment. I look around. Is anybody out there who can save me if things go poorly through here? Are the owners around? …I really hope I don’t lose my Achilles tendons today.

I highly consider making a break for it and running as fast as my short legs can carry me. However, I think that’s going to make the dogs want to chase me, right?

Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna go by very slowly. I won’t look at them. I will walk as far, far away, on the other side of the street as possible. Here goes nothing.

very scary dog yelling as he's half jumped over a fence
It was kind of like this, only worse!… Probably. (Photo credit: http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com)

As I’m walking along the other side of the street, I hear them barking. Their barks turn into a low growl. Uh oh. I don’t think that’s good.

I start to get scared that maybe I’ll turn around and a dog will literally be right behind me, having jumped the fence. Although, I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard them jump over the fence, right?

I just keep walking. Slowly. One foot in front of the other. I finally turn a corner. I can’t hear the dogs anymore. I look around – no dogs in sight. Sigh of relief! I’m still alive!

But I have something like 6 or 7 miles to go… Aye, aye, aye.

Tomorrow, we return to the Wednesday night series about that time my heart broke – literally. Then, Thursday night I’ll finish with part 3.

(As I’m done talking about dogs for now, let me leave you with one last clip from Friends.)

(#13a) A Run Through Redlands – Part 1 (Supportive New Friends, & Course Thinning Out)

April 22, 2012

Johannah in all of her glory. That’s right – 2 medals. She placed in her age group.

I spent the weekend with Jeanette and Johannah (of the Tour de Palm Springs weekend).

The day before the race, Jeanette drove us up the first half of the course (which was mainly all uphill). (Awesome.) I learned that we would basically be running on the sun. (Oh no, not again.)

It was really nice to have people around who thought ahead about the half marathon (knowing the elevation changes and weather forecast before going out on the course). A novel idea, huh?

Last time I learned to forget vanity and routines. I scrapped my normal race outfit in favor of pajama pants and a white tech shirt. Best decision of the day.

With an incline for most of the first half, mixed with running on fire, I figured I’d basically take a 13.1 mile stroll.  (Johannah knocked it out of the park, finishing in 2:06:38.)

I had a nice time walking through the course, doing light jogging here and there. As the crowd thinned out, “Disturbia” came on my iPhone. I start moving my hips as I walk, hoping maybe that’d be some kind of additional workout.

Did I mention uphill? This is basically what you’re looking at for the first 6 miles.

I start to get lost in my tunes, seeing myself onstage at Madison Square Garden, going full out popstar mode. That’s when I see Jeanette with Gatorade. We’ll pretend I wasn’t just completely embarrassing myself there.

Jeanette showed up at a few points along the course to be a personal water/Gatorade station for Johannah and I. Incredible, right?

The course was really well supported for the first few miles. There were volunteers everywhere. The first water station was there before I even hit the first mile marker.

As I was taking a nice walk through the Redlands, the course became less and less supported. Even though there were still a couple of groups of walkers behind me (far enough to where I couldn’t even see them anymore), I came across volunteer after volunteer leaving as I passed.

I got to a water station where people were in the midst of dumping all the water, and warned them more people were coming.

This was a little disheartening. I had a person looking out for me if I needed water or Gatorade. And I’ve done plenty of half marathons, so I don’t need the encouragement that maybe a first timer would.

A pair of women caught up to me later. They were both doing their first half marathon, and they went miles without seeing a soul.

a dog in a yard
One of the many dogs in these neighborhoods that is most likely going to eat my face off. Probably.

We weren’t going to come in right at the time limit either. We were on track to come in at least 50 minutes before the course closed.

I understand that we were going quite slowly, and I appreciate the race director putting such a relaxed time limit on a hard course.

But, my opinion is that if you’re going to take away all the support before a number of people get to it, make it known that support will stop after a certain time (or just make a tighter time limit), please.

The back of the pack was really spread out. At first, I was thinking I enjoyed the scenery and alone time… Until I realized that everyone in Redlands has a dog.

I’ll pick up with dogs tomorrow.

That Whole Driving Thing – (The Road Trip Part of Lake Havasu/Grand Canyon)

April 21, 2012

I’m sure you all were very surprised that I made it back to Los Angeles in one piece. I know my dad and I were!

Every time I called him during my trip, he seemed genuinely shocked that I wasn’t calling to say I had had an accident or some sort of car trouble. He had zero faith in my ability to drive. (I don’t blame him. I had no faith either!) When I called him from San Diego at the beginning of the journey, asking his advice on rental car companies, he went out of his way to think of anything but having me drive a vehicle.

“Well, sweetheart, what about a train? Are there any buses at all that go up there? What about a jet pack?” (He did not actually ask what about a jet pack, but he was really leaning toward me not driving (as was I).) Then I got bold and adventurous, and took the car option.

As I drove away from San Diego, over the next few hours I thought about a lot of things – I thought about how woefully under-prepared I was for a road trip – no CDs, no books on tape, no car charger for my phone. I thought how free I was. No bus schedules. No places I couldn’t get to. I started wondering exactly how long it would take me to drive to New York…

If I wanted water or a Gatorade, I could just stop for one. Of course there was the downside of that whole having to drive thing. You can’t change up your sitting position all the time. You can’t work on your blog, or emails, or anything else you want to work on. It was pretty and freeing for a while, but it’s also imprisoning in some ways. (Imprisoning is too strong of a word, but I wanted the opposite of freeing.) Hours of your life are just being wasted. I think a book on tape would fix that. I also enjoyed singing my face off for parts of the journey.

After driving a while on my way to Lake Havasu, I came into an area that was asking me to slow down for border patrol. Border Patrol?! Where am I? Oh goodness, did I accidentally wander upon Mexico? I know I am horrendous with directions, but really?

As I’m sitting there in a line of cars, I look at my map on my phone. Hmm, no, it doesn’t look like I’m in Mexico. I’m pretty sure I am in fact going north.

I get up to the border patrolman and say, “I didn’t accidentally start going into Mexico, did I?” He is not amused. Very seriously, he says, “Where are you going?” I answer, “The Grand Canyon.” He explains to me that border patrol is not necessarily at the border. They do random stops to make sure nothing illegal is being smuggled in. He asked if I had anything or anybody. No, of course not. Although, I was in a rental and hadn’t checked the trunk, so you never know.

I went about my merry way, barely seeing any civilization for a long stretch. I made a mental note that I had a full tank of gas going into that, so future me would need to remember to get gas while still in civilization on my way back.

I was stopped by border patrol a second time in a different spot. So much patrolling!

However, there never seemed to be any law enforcement around for long, long stretches of road throughout Arizona. People flew by me going probably 120 miles per hour. That’s not an exaggeration. Every girl for herself out there! It is crazy. It kind of made me want to go drive on an autobahn, although I can only imagine how stressful that would be.

As I survived my way through Arizona, I saw this cool sand dune place and people riding these crazy vehicles all over it. I thought about how fun that looked and how as much as I dislike driving, I like the idea of driving around America and stopping at random sites for new adventures. Mental note of possible road trip made.

In a future installment on this same driving subject, I’ll tell you about my trip back from the Grand Canyon. I may or may not have had a small adventure.

Ragnar SWAT Volunteering

April 20, 2012

Official logo of the Ragnar Rely SeriesI wanted to wait until next year (when I’m hopefully faster) to actually run in Ragnar.

This year, I got to enjoy the next best thing – being a SWAT volunteer. SWAT stands for “Sweaty, Wet, and Tired,” because you work a long shift. Mine was only about 13 1/2 hours. I’ve heard that some people go for 24.

In case you haven’t heard of Ragnar, it’s a 200-mile relay that takes place in various cities around the country throughout the year.

I didn’t know anyone running, but thought it sounded fun to volunteer. I put a post on Ragnar’s Facebook page, and found a fun group who needed volunteers. I met one member of the team at the Hollywood Half Marathon, and most of the other members today.

It was a day of hurry up and wait. Every few hours it would just so happen that I’d have to assign volunteers, answer a bunch of questions from runners, and respond to a semi-emergency on the walkie all at once. Then I’d sit around and do nothing for two or three hours until the craziness started up again.

I had an incredible group of volunteers I got to work with. I used to work a lot in theater, and I miss feeling responsible for organizing details and people. They bus parts of the day were an extremely fun challenge.

Aurora gets her own walkie talkie/phone communication system at Exchange 6 at Ragnar SoCal 2012
Look! I got a little communication thing with my name on it and everything. I’m special, right?

I worked at exchange #6, which was the start of the race for the second van. We had check-in, safety briefings, and generally a bunch of stuff going on at our exchange. There was plenty of stuff to do to keep volunteers busy.

In the non-busy parts of the day, I walked around, checking in on lovely volunteers. It was nice to see the action of the day from different places.

One of the few disappointments of the day was when I sat down for a couple of minutes at the back of the check-in tent after a round of checking in on people. The race director came over and saw me doing nothing when someone had just complained to her about a trash can that was overflowing. (The trash filled up so quickly!) Don’t you hate that when the boss catches you at exactly the wrong time?

The only other major disappointment of the day was that I brought my sunscreen from the Grand Canyon with me. I put it under the check in table, and it got packed deep into the big Ragnar truck! Once I realized it was gone, there was really no getting it back.

Everyone always complimented the smell of that sunscreen. It went on easily. I felt very protected by the sun. It was almost a brand new bottle. What a bummer, right? And I didn’t even remember what the magical brand name was! Fortunately, I have a friend working at the Grand Canyon this summer, so Josh should be able to remind me what brand it was.

One thing I learned, from a runner’s standpoint, is that you should get to Ragnar early. People love slap bracelets, and we ran out. Exchange 6 (and Exchange 1) both ran out of a fair amount of stuff. That really sucks for the fast people, because they’re the ones who start latest in the day. For people who didn’t get t-shirts or things, Ragnar made sure there were some waiting at the finish. But still. Check in early if you can, was a lesson I took away from this.

One of the stations we had today was set up next to a booth selling waterproof (Lifeproof) iPhone cases. The more I walked by the booth, the more I wanted that new phone case. My old one was pretty torn up. I’d heard so much about the amazingness of having a waterproof/drop-proof/almost-everything-proof case. For all my crazy running/adventure purposes, it seemed to be a great idea.

big field with runners and volunteers at booths in Anaheim at Exchange 6 during Ragnar 2012

Of course, I am trying not to waste money. Racing all the time is expensive, after all! But, they had a demo with a tank. And the cases were on sale. At the end of the day, I’d been convinced, and got my phone case.

(Edited to add: It rained Portland and other cities. Thankfully, it was a worthwhile purchase.)

Before you knew it, that last runner came through the chute, and the Ragnar staff had their truck out of there soon after.

Incredible secret: If you’re a SWAT volunteer 3 times in one year, you can get a free team entry to Ragnar! I can’t wait to run in this race in the future!

The Grand Canyon! – Part 4 (Struggling to the Finish – The Beautiful, Beautiful Finish)

April 19, 2012

Picking up from Part 3, we’re hiking up South Kaibab.

On the way down, I would not shut up about how pretty the Grand Canyon was. I kept looking down at my feet as we walked. And every time we stopped, I looked up and couldn’t believe where I was. Every time. You’d think the beauty would’ve been all old hat by the third or fourth time it happened. But no. I was amazed every time. And I took forty billion pictures.

On the way up South Kaibab, I finally became more and more over it as time went on. I was so over taking pictures. This thing that had lured me in with its beauty now had me trapped!

I was having an awesome time, but hating how much I was struggling (while the boys around me weren’t struggling at all).

As we get closer and closer to the top, I get slower and slower. Josh starts to fall behind to talk to me. In super labored breathing, I say, “Go. Go do your thing,” I didn’t want to hold him back. And he says, “You’re my thing.” And stays with me!

In any other context, “You’re my thing” might sound weird. But I thought it was the perfect thing to say here. Put that in a movie ’cause that’s where people usually say the exact right things.

Josh on top of the world!… or a portion of the Grand Canyon at least.

While we’re talking about Josh, he actually had another perfect reply moment over an hour later, when I was really feeling guilty about being so slow. I said, “Go. Keep up with your friends.” He said, “You’re my friend.” Was he or was he not on fire that day?

Sometimes I forget how great of a friend Josh is. I also forget how funny and good at listening he is. An example that illustrates both of those qualities – in the canyon, I said a few times how excited I was to cry about all of this later. Much later, when we were hugging goodbye, I asked if we could cry about it. He said, “Well, I know how much you’ve been looking forward to it all day,” See? He listened to my blathering (which I had actually forgotten about), and had a really funny response.

Anyway, enough of that. With only a couple of miles to go, we all stop one more time to eat. I break out the Doritos, since they are pretty much a superfood. Adam seems to think bringing Doritos was a genius idea. Well, shucks. Thanks. Of course I share and bask in the glory of being a total boss at hiking. Well, except for the fact that I was basically out of water by this point. All of the boys had extra, ’cause they were the real bosses of hiking. They sweetly shared.

I struggle like never before in the final mile and half or so of the ascent. I was pretty sure we were never getting out. The trail just wraps around forever, right? There is no exit. I live here now?

I have friends who have hiked the Grand Canyon (other non-hiking friends, mind you) who were all, “Oh, it’s so fun. It’s an amazing hike. We just went down 6 miles and back up. No big deal.” How is it that I am the only person I know who struggles here?

I like to think that it has something to do with the altitude. Someone did point out that I live basically at sea level. 7,000 feet above that is rough.

This has been a very rude awakening for me about how exceptionally hard Kilimanjaro is going to be. I used to think “altitude, schmaltitude.” Nope. I think it matters.

One of these spots would be a nice place to put that pic from the end of the day after we conquered the canyon… too bad it’s on someone else’s camera, since my phone had died by that point. I’m looking at you, Josh!

As we’re walking up the final switchbacks, and I don’t think we’re ever getting out, Josh is pretty sure that we are. He was a great motivator, believing we would get to the end.

I like to think I was still a tiny bit fun at the end, but I was delirious by that point, so what do I know? I was probably a huge cranky pants.

Lo and behold, we turn a corner, and there’s the exit! No way! Laughter through tears (ish) – the best emotion. (I was too tired to actually cry (unless you had needed me to in a show, at which point I’m always game).)

We did it! Over a half marathon distance of the Grand Canyon covered. It was a struggle, but a crazy fun one. The boys were awesome. The scenery was gorgeous. The workout was amazing.

Watch out canyon, I’m coming for you next time! Colorado River and back. I can do it! (Yep, that’s right. Apparently, I didn’t learn anything.)

That Time My Heart Broke. Literally. – Part 2 (I Passed Out In Class)

April 18, 2012

Aurora De Lucia giving a little "I'm under the weather" face
Just a little picture of one of my under the weather faces 😛

Taking a short break from the Grand Canyon –

I’m still trying out this series covering my heart issues/time in the hospital. Since it’s Wednesday night, it’s time for the next installment.

I left off in late July with the doctor saying to come back in a few months if I still felt that something was wrong.

I was really not feeling well in September. In early October, on a Wednesday, I was completely out of energy. Completely. I could barely get out of bed.

That past summer, I had done my first half marathon. Supposedly, I was training for a full marathon. What was happening to me?

I honestly didn’t know if I could make it out of bed and out of my apartment. I wasn’t familiar with emergency rooms, and didn’t want to do something so drastic as to go to a hospital.

I opted to go to an Urgent Care facility, skipping my favorite class in the process. I felt guilty and bummed, skipping that class, but I didn’t think I’d be able to make it through it.

They gave me a once over at Urgent Care, took some blood, told me to go home and rest, and that they’d call with the results. Luckily, we were in performances of the show I was working on, and didn’t have any shows on Wednesdays. I had the whole night off to sleep.

ambulance from with bright lights
(Photo credit: Zoominmedical.com)

I woke up on Thursday feeling even worse than I did on Wednesday. I didn’t have the energy to do anything. I pulled on a hoodie, and left without even brushing my teeth.

I walked into school with my retainer still in. If Urgent Care didn’t find anything urgently wrong, I couldn’t very well miss class.

I think my teacher asked before class if I was feeling okay. I said I was really under the weather, but that I really wanted to be there. I sat in the corner, and just tried not to draw any attention to myself. That plan burst into flames when I passed out in the second half of class.

Guh.

I was so embarrassed when I opened my eyes and was on the floor. Mainly, I was embarrassed that people were around me and I still had my retainer in. Yikes, right?

The paramedics came. Everyone thought it would be a good idea to go to the hospital to see what’s up. Okay then.

They asked me in the ambulance if there was a specific hospital where they should take me. Uh, no. I don’t know. Just take me wherever you take people.

Outside view of Tufts Medical Center sign
(Photo credit: Sampan.org)

 

Once at Tufts Medical Center, an administrative person took my insurance information, and I hung out. I kept watching the clock ’cause I had a show that night. Luckily, this happened in the afternoon, so I knew I’d be okay on time.

I figured they’d probably just tell me to drink a ton of water, or whatever it is they tell people who pass out, and then send me on my way. After all, my doctor dismissed my concerns, and Urgent Care hadn’t seemed to find anything. So, I’m sure I’m just under the weather.

That’s when a medical professional (nurse? doctor? I don’t remember…) entered the room. “Hi Aurora. Have you ever had an EKG before?” “No, why?”
“No reason. I’m just gonna take it again.”

I think I ended up getting it taken 3 times that day. The way they said “No reason. I’m just gonna take it again,” I knew. I knew something was up, but I didn’t know what.

Was something up? Well, being that you know the end of the story is me having open heart surgery, I’m gonna go ahead and guess something was. You’ll see next week in part 3.

The Grand Canyon! – Part 3 (We Found Civilization Again!)

April 17, 2012

from Tonto trailPicking up from Part 2, we continue making our way across Tonto. After we walk a few miles, we end up passing other human beings coming from the opposite direction.

We ask how far they’ve come, and find out we’ve got about another hour to South Kaibab. We cross this water place. I don’t even know what it was. It was bigger than a puddle, smaller than a river – just some area of wet, dirty water.

Of course, as I’m trying to step around it, I step right in it. Oh well. I’m wearing my oldest pair of shoes, and Josh’s sweatpants over my pajama pants. Sorry, man.

By this point, it’s hot out, so my leg dries off quite quickly. The last mile or so of Tonto was where hiking started to get you know, kind of hard. Dr. Brandt (Madonna’s dermatologist) always encourages people not to be outdoors between 11am and 4pm, since those are the hottest, sunniest hours. (Yes, I have read both of his books.)

We’re somewhere smack in the middle of this time as we’re hiking across the Grand Canyon in a path with very little shade. I was putting on sunscreen like I needed it to live. Luckily, since I’m a total boss at hiking, I had lots of water and Gatorade, so gulp, gulp, gulp.

Before you know it, in the distance, I see… “Oh my gosh!” “What is it?” “We made it to the next trail!” The boys thought maybe I had seen something scary when I saw the South Kaibab trail. Let that be a lesson to all of us to be careful about the type of inflection we use when we go across canyons together.

Aurora De Lucia and Jessie hiking on Bright Angel Trail in The Grand Canyon (Anthony in background)
Me and Jessie hiking (Anthony in background)

So, I’m happily freaking out, because we’ve sort of kind of found civilization. The boys start joking that it’s just a mirage, and I need more water. Don’t sweat it; it was not a mirage.

Since I don’t ever have to use the bathroom ever anywhere (ask my dad how weird and awesome it was that I never had to stop on road trips as a kid), I talked to strangers while the boys did their boy business.

There were tons of nice strangers in the canyon that day. All of them seemed so legit. “Oh yeah, I’ve been down to the river and back before. I’m heading down to Phantom Ranch today.” People had their little poles, and real climber-type equipment. People move fast in this canyon! I totally saw all ages and types, ranging from kids to elderly people go faster than me throughout the day.

We take a small break to eat (again). We’ve earned it, by golly! It felt as though it was the longest 2 mile walk I’ve ever done. Probably because it was 4 miles.

Off we go again, up South Kaibab. Oh no. It’s so steep! And hot. I can do this…

I sort of keep up ish for a little while. We play that Contact word game here and there. Usually, I’m yelling from behind. (But it makes it seem even cooler when you don’t say anything for a while. Then all the sudden, the boys are directly above you on one of those switchback things, and you yell out something that helps the game. Yeah, baby.)

They were really good about never abandoning me. They may have been faster, but they kept tabs on me, making sure I wasn’t dead. They were gaining energy as I was losing it, stopping fewer times than on the way down. When they stopped, I would try to walk ahead, knowing they always caught up.

Not that I carry the weight of women everywhere on my shoulders or anything, but I should’ve been representing as the only lady in the group. The only thing I was representing was the group of doofi who thinks they can go from never hiking to hiking a whole bunch of the Grand Canyon. (Doofi, according to the internet, is the plural form of doofus. However, I didn’t find any reliable sources. If you know something different, let me know.)

As the sun kept beating down, and we were on a more “path-y” path (where my legs didn’t need to be as super protected from nature), I ripped off those black sweatpants, in favor of my I Love NY pajamas.

Of course, this meant I now had to carry yet another thing in my bag. Thank goodness for all that time I spent living in New York, where you have to carry everything everywhere. I’m a boss at carrying stuff.

Do we ever make it out of the canyon? I’m guessing yes, since I’m writing this post. But you never know. Find out in Part 4, coming soon.

The Grand Canyon! – Part 2 (Let’s Take the Scenic Route)

April 16, 2012

view of side of Grand Canyon from the first mile or so of Bright Angel Trail
Going down on Bright Angel Trail

Picking up from Part 1,

After that first hard, slushy mile, we come upon a lot of awesome workers putting down whatever it is they put down to make it less muddy. The trail becomes way easier to walk on, and I start really holding my own.

I was worried there for a second that the day was going to be full of me trying to keep my balance, and them being held back. (In case anyone is wondering, I didn’t fall once. Thanks yet again, tap dancing through high school.)

After the ground gets sturdy, not only do I keep up with the boys, I keep up with Anthony at the front of the pack. The boys stop to talk to friends they know working the Grand Canyon that day, and they stop to look at plants and things. I think, “What an awesome day this will be. They like to keep an easy pace, stopping to look at a lot of things. Sweet business.”

I knew that Anthony would be a good person to stick around. I saw earlier that he has a knife (2 knives?). So, he’s the one who’s going to protect me when a bear tries to eat me… Or he’s going to murder us when we reach a secluded place. But, I’m 99.9% sure that he’s going to protect, not murder us. So, it’s all good.

around Tonto trail in Grand CanyonWe keep going along. Anthony regales me with stories. (He’s quite an interesting guy.) We take a little break 3 miles in. (3 miles, already? This Grand Canyon is going to be a total piece of cake.)

As we walk along, I’m already total inviting myself on future hikes. “Guys, this is fun, beautiful, and awesome. I don’t live far away at all. Next time you have an adventure, you should totally give me a call.”

I’m sure they’re thinking, “Who is this stranger inviting herself on future hikes with me?” And I’m thinking, “Oh my goodness, I know people who live and work at the Grand Canyon. How unbelievably cool. They’re gonna know all the cool stuff to do and the best trails and they’re gonna hike all the time. I totes want to be a part of that.”

We make it all the way to beautiful Indian Garden (4.5 miles down) and stop to eat. (Yum.) This is also when we started playing this super fun word game called “Contact.” Ask about it the next time you’re on a road trip (or in a distance running event) with me.

Now that we’ve made it to Indian Garden, it’s time to make a game plan for the rest of the day. Adam (the super experienced hiker) suggests we walk along Tonto until we reach South Kaibab. “It’s only about 2 miles, and it’ll be fun to go up a different, scenic path.”

All of us agree. “Okay, cool. Sounds awesome. Yeah, I’m up for anything.” etc.

Josh House and Jessie at Indian Garden 4.5 miles into the Grand Canyon
Josh and Jessie at Indian Garden

We start heading over on Tonto. This trail is much less traveled than Bright Angel (which is the one we came down). But still no animals or murders, so the day is good. The trail is also a lot narrower and looks to be a little more dangerous.

Okay, cool. Well, I’m just gonna do my very best not to take a wrong step and end up falling to the bottom of the canyon.

For a while, I keep up with Adam, who is now at the front of the pack. I really did not want to be the hiker holding anybody back. I’m sure Adam viewed me as an annoying 5-year-old with my passive questions, though. “Uh, so do you always hike this fast?”

It felt almost like a trail race as we were going across. How did we speed up so much from our super easy downhill decent? It was all good though. I like pushing myself.

a view of the Grand Canyon I took from a field from East Tonto trail to West Tonto trail

After we’d hiked 2 miles with no end in sight, we realize the main trails are more than 2 miles apart. I didn’t mind ’cause I thought it would be fun to spend the whole day hiking anyway. The more distance, the better, right?

As we keep walking along, I fall more toward the back of the pack. It’s me and Anthony walking together all over again. We agree that if either of us fall, we’re gonna save the other person. No man gets left behind!

Someone who can fend off an animal and will save me from a fall? Perfect.

Does he ever have to save me? I’ll tell you more tomorrow in Part 3.

The Grand Canyon! – Part 1 (Going On a Whim & Prepping for the Hike)

April 15, 2012

Grand Canyon view from the top with a little bit of snowHow did I end up in the Grand Canyon on a whim?

On Friday morning, on the way to San Diego, I get a call from one of my friends from high school. He tells me he’s interning at the Grand Canyon all summer, starting a few days ago.

Me: “Los Angeles isn’t all that far. I should totally come visit sometime!” Josh: “Yeah, that’d be awesome!” “Huh. You know, I’m actually in Arizona this weekend for a half marathon… Maybe I could come on Saturday night?” “Really? That’d be sweet.” “Hmmm… Let me see if I can work it out with buses and stuff. I’ll let you know.”

Then, as you know, I ended up renting a car for the weekend. I called Josh on Friday afternoon. “So, I have a car; guess that means I’m coming to the Grand Canyon. Be prepared to hike that sucker!” “Great! We’ll see about that whole hiking thing…”

I get a call right before my half marathon on Saturday. “It’s snowing here.” “What?!”

Snow or no snow, now that I have a car, and am already in Arizona for a race, I’m might as well go see him. At this point, it’d be silly not to, hiking or no hiking. (But I’m still hoping for hiking.)

On Saturday, after a lovely lunch with Wendy and Marty, I hopped in the car and made my way to the Grand Canyon(!) I saw Josh’s sweet digs. Then we went and looked at the Canyon. We could only see a tiny piece of it; it was super foggy out. The one snowy piece we could see was really cool. I couldn’t wait to see how much we could see the next day.

One of these to be replaced with a picture of me and Josh from the day I got there. Josh, this caption is directed at you. Please send me all the lovely pictures when you get a chance… but get a chance in the near future. Thanks. – Aurora. 🙂

We ate dinner at a cute little lodge place, then we went back to his trailer thing.

When we get back there, He gets a text. It’s one of his friends asking if anyone wants to go hiking tomorrow. Aw, yeah! I tell Josh we have to do it. Since his friend is an experienced hiker, and is willing to go out on Sunday, Josh figures the weather won’t be that bad.  So, okay, sure, we can go. (Yay!)

We get a good night’s sleep, and wake up early to go conquer this thing. I had read all the visitor information I got coming into the canyon. I had never been hiking before, so I needed to make sure I was gonna be a total boss out there.

I had come pretty woefully under prepared for this trip. The “hiking” shoes I had were just my running shoes. (Thank goodness I had used my old Asics for the race, instead of my new Brooks Pure Connects. I can only imagine trying to hike in a super lightweight, barely there shoes. Even my Asics were crazy compared to the real hiking boots all the boys had.

Shoes aside, we went to the general store in the morning, and got some Cliff Bars, Saltines, and Doritos (of course). (We already had plenty of water and Gatorade.) Okay, I’ve got lots of fluids and a bunch of salty stuff. I’m totally a hiker. I know what’s up.

Off we go to the Grand Canyon with Josh’s friends – Adam, Anthony, and Jessie. Adam was a super experienced hiker. Jessie was smart and funny. Anthony was an interesting, super positive ray of sunshine throughout the entire day.

(None of those attributes are exclusive to any of them – All 3 were great at hiking. They were all happy, positive, interesting, smart and funny. It was an awesome group. I just gave you the main qualities shown to me by each guy that day to try to help you differentiate as you imagine them in this story.)

At the beginning of the day, we’re all discussing how far down to go.

Me: “Let’s go down to the bottom of this trail.”

“That’s 12 miles in total.”

“Yeah. It’ll be fun.”

“Didn’t you just run a half marathon yesterday.”

“Don’t sweat it.”

“Let’s just go down to Indian Garden (4.5 miles), and we’ll see how we feel.”

“All right, all right.”

So, we start down. The first mile or so was slushy and slippery with all the mud and snow melting from yesterday. I was going oh so slowly in my shoes that were definitely not equipped for this. I’m sure the boys were thinking, “Oh boy, what kind of day do we have ahead of us?”

Did I end up falling over? Did I totally regret suggesting oh so many miles? Possibly. Find out tomorrow in Part 2.

(#12) Havasu Half Marathon

April 14, 2012

Aurora posing with her medal from the Havasu halfIn mile 2, I found this really fun group of runners – Sara, Ben, and Nolan. It was Sara’s first half! Their goal (as was mine) was to finish, with no specific time in mind.

We jogged and talked (and they entertained me) for a couple of miles. I told them there was probably no way I’d be able to keep pace with them for the rest of the race. I’m stronger in the first 4 miles than I am in the middle. (True that.)

They were awesome! They would not take no for an answer. I pushed through mile 4 to stay with them. I wanted to start walking in mile 5. They weren’t having it. “You can do it, Aurora. Come on!”

You’re right. All right. I’m with you. We kept jogging, taking a couple of fast walking breaks here and there.

When we crossed London Bridge, I saw a photographer. “Look! A photographer! Let’s all look like we’re really good at running.” As we passed, the photographer said, “Wow, you all look like you’re really good at running.” How fun, right?

Everyone I met in Havasu was so polite and sweet. Most of the runners wouldn’t even drop their cups on the ground!

Aurora and her new friends running the Havasu half marathon
(I was trying to look cool, but as we can see from the photo they were looking way cooler.)

I saw people look for trash cans, not find any, and then say “I’ll just hold it ’til I get to the next one.” It’s a sweet idea, but this is the first place I’ve ever seen runners be that polite.

I dropped a cup out of habit a couple of times when I didn’t see trash cans after the water stops. I thought, “ugh. You’re being ‘that girl’ – a rude LA person.”

Hopefully no one noticed or cared… I saw some other people doing it. It was the first time I ever felt weird about it…

Around mile 7, I looked at our time and realized, “Holy cow! If we keep this up, I’m going to get a PR. Here we go, friends. 3:14 or better. We can do this!”

We ran together for a while longer. Around mile 9-ish, I became the one saying, “You can do it!” They were saying “Go on without us!”

We did a nice job encouraging each other for so long. I didn’t want to leave without them. Ben told me, “In all seriousness, go on without us. We can’t all keep up, and we want you to achieve your new goal. Go ahead.”

Aurora De Lucia holding a newspaper she's in
Look, I made the papes!

Thanks, Ben. Okay. I’ll miss you all! I ran forward. It wasn’t quite as fun running alone, but I was ready to make my new stranger friends proud!

I fired up some music on my iPhone, and kept on running. At each mile, I was still on pace to break my PR (but not by much).

I passed a familiar face, when I saw Marty (of Wendy and Marty), working a water station..

As I’m running into the final mile, Wendy, sweetly and supportively comes along to jog the last bit with me.

We come around the corner toward the finish. I turn up Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” Sing it to me, Michael! (I think I literally said, “Sing it to me, Michael” out loud.) His voice played in my headphones as I ran to that finish line.

The official half marathon clock hadn’t hit 3:13. My official time: 3:12:02. I did it! A new personal record, y’all. I would not have done it today without the kindness of strangers.

Renting a Car?!

April 13, 2012

I’m sitting at the Greyhound bus station in Los Angeles, California around 4am, when I learn that my bus is actually going to be leaving in the 5 o’clock hour instead of 4:15. No big deal, right? I think this is pretty typical of a morning on the Greyhound bus.

Here’s the problem. When I get to San Diego, around 8 something, the transfer bus to Calexico had left. The next one wasn’t coming until 1. The half marathon wasn’t until Saturday morning, so that shouldn’t seem to be a huge deal, right?

Except that then the next bus to Yuma was in the middle of the night. I had originally planned on getting into Yuma at 11:35am so I could finish the last little part of the road trip with my bffs Wendy and Marty. So much for that.

Not to hate on Greyhound. I take their buses all the time. In the last few years, it seems they really have tried to be a lot better. In the past this would happen every time. This year, I’ve had a lot of on time buses. I see the improvement, and I appreciate that they’re trying.

It doesn’t change the fact that I was practically stranded in San Diego on at 8 o’clock this morning.

I ask the gate agent if they can just send me to Lake Havasu instead. They can. Yet again I’ll get there in the middle of the night. I was thinking maybe that wouldn’t be the biggest deal. I could sleep on the bus and go straight to the half marathon. It would make for a really long day at a lot of layovers in Greyhound stations.

They also wouldn’t put any money toward the ticket to Yuma toward the ticket to Lake Havasu. “But, my first bus was late and it’s changing my arrival time by about 16 or so hours… to go to a place a few hours from here.” “No refunds or exchanges. That’s the policy.” Well, then…

The wheels start turning in my head. I call my dad and ask for his advice on rental car companies. I was a little worried that a rental car would cost a billion dollars (especially for someone under the normal “rental car age.” (Though I had heard that places were starting to be a lot more accommodating to anyone 21 and over. 16 – 20 year olds, you’re on your own!)).

I typed “Rent a car in San Diego” into my iPhone, and called the first place that came up. It happened to be down the street. And they had an incredible weekend special. I took a deep breath. Okay, let’s do this.

I walked down there, and couldn’t believe I was really going to rent a car. “Okay, so I just sign these papers, and pay this amount of money (that’s less than a round trip bus ticket), and you just give me this car for the weekend?” “Yep.” “Wait, that’s it. You just let me take your car?” “Yeah.”

My license is basically for show. I misplace it way more often than I have it. I drive pretty much never. I would not necessarily say I’m the best driver ever. (Okay, I’m a pretty horrible driver.) They didn’t seem to care! (Well, I didn’t really offer up the information that in the last few years I’ve driven a total of probably 8 days.)

Wait a second. You’re just gonna let me have these?

I thought there must be a catch somewhere. I combed that contract and double checked the rate a few times. My sweet dad told me to grab all the insurance possible, and he’d foot the bill for the insurance part. (Thanks, Daddy.) (He knows what’s up.)

I signed the papers. They took me down to the garage. We checked the car for any scratches. (Though it doesn’t matter too much ’cause I’m insured 100% with no deductible for anything that happens to the car – including a scratch. What, what?)

(I felt like Jerry Seinfeld when they asked whether I wanted insurance (2:23 into that clip). Then, the car guy just handed me the keys! (I couldn’t believe people had ever trusted me with a bicycle, but a car?)

I pull out of the garage. Oh my gosh, I’m driving! I’m really, really driving! 10 and 2! 10 and 2! The streets were surprisingly empty for San Diego. The streets were quite empty the whole way, actually.

I made it here alive! Everybody lived!

I have the absolute worst sense of direction of anyone. In the world. Ever. I was pretty positive I was going to end up in Mexico (or maybe even Canada), but I actually made it here to Lake Havasu!

I know. I’m pretty flabbergasted, myself.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the race. (Then I’ll back track to this mini road trip.)

That Time My Heart Broke. Literally. – Part 1 (I Think I’m Getting Sick (You can skip this one.))

April 11, 2012

drawing of a human heart suffering from wolf parkinson white, with alternate pathway in yellow
(Photo credit WeilCornell.Org.)

I suppose it didn’t literally break, being that I was born with a heart problem… But I didn’t know about that heart problem until 2009.

I’m gonna try this new series, in which I eventually tell the whole story of getting sick and being in the hospital (or as I liked to call it, the hops).

The current plan is to do a post every Wednesday night. We’ll see if this turns out to be interesting. I’m learning about blogging, and taking it as it goes. Why not try this and see what happens?

Originally, when I started drafting these posts, I was talking through at least three of them (way too many) about June 25, 2009 – the day Michael Jackson died (and my birthday). That is the day my heart really broke.

(*Note: This post makes me sound pretty crazy and possibly too sad. The hospital stuff gets less emotional (usually). Expect this to (hopefully) be the only crazy, sad post. Feel free to skip this post that’s nuttily mainly about Michael Jackson, and go to part 2.)

I never met Michael Jackson. Yet, he had an incredibly profound impact on my life. Just one example is that I went to Berklee in large part because Quincy Jones (his producer) went there. (I know that’s maybe in the slightly nuts category, but that’s how it is.)

Michael Jackson changed my life. I. did. not. know. how to be a person once he was gone. (I’m still not positive I do.)

Michael Jackson with the sexy looking down, hand sort of in front of face pose from the In The Closet video
(Photo from Michael Jackson’s “In The Closet” shoot)

Not to sound like a complete downer, but on June 25, 2009, I was broken.

I tried to go for a run since that was the only way I knew how to deal with problems, but I broke down and sobbed for hours when “I Wanna Be Where You Are” came on my iPod (while Michael Jackson was on every TV, on every station playing in the gym).

I had the empty glass eyes when I went work, able to get my responsibilities done, but nothing more. When I was able to drag myself to school, I sat in the back of my classes, looking down. Sometimes I wondered what I was doing at Berklee.

Let’s get real. I would’ve worked with Michael Jackson someday. I would’ve done whatever was necessary to make it happen. I believe that. Now it literally cannot happen. There are so few things in this life that are actually completely impossible. Working with him is now one of those things.
[Edited to add: I did go on to work with his family.]

(I hope this is not the first post of this whole blog you’re reading. I promise you I don’t usually sound this crazy, nor this incredibly conceited. Or at least I believe/hope I don’t… I told you to maybe skip this one!)

So, in June/July 2009, I was basically an empty shell of a human being, questioning everything about my life, having no idea how I was going to survive. Within a few weeks of that fateful day, I tried – I tried so hard to put myself back together.

Michael Jackson was able to do anything. I should be able to as well. I tried to remember to eat. I tried to run. I’m strong. I know I’m strong, right?

So, I tried – I laced up my shoes, and gave it a go. My feet weighed 90,000 pounds. I was unbelievably tired all the time.

Homer Simpson running
Why is running so much harder than it used to be? (Photo credit: Fox/Matt Groening (from The Simpsons))

I knew I was upset, but it felt as though something physically was wrong too. I like to think I have wonderful willpower, and I was trying so hard to be a human being again, but I just could not do it.

I don’t even believe in “I can’t.” Anything is possible. But at that one moment in time, for the first time in my life, I thought there was something I could not do.

I went to see a doctor on July 29, 2009, a little over a month after Michael Jackson died.

“Please help. I’m drinking lots of water, and taking iron supplements. I fall asleep throughout the day. I try to run and can’t. What’s happening to me?”

“Give it time. I don’t think the problem’s physical.”

“It must be. I can feel that it’s not in my mind. My willpower is strong. My body is not.”

“Come back in a couple of months and let’s see what’s happening.”

We’ll see what’s happening in part 2, next week.

(#11) Hollywood Half Marathon – Part 4 (Didn’t Set Myself Up Well… But At Least I Was Surprised By Lovely Friends At The Finish!)

April 10, 2012

Aurora kissing her friend Amber on the cheek in front of the Universal Studios Hollywood ballPicking up from yesterday, I never did see a SAG wagon. Anytime I looked behind me, I still saw plenty of people and no wagon. At the turnaround, I had seen people over a mile behind me.

I heard that the SAG wagon at this race was a limo. I’m not sure that’s true, but I guess if you’re ever gonna get picked up in one, that’s the way to do it.

I had a talk with a good friend and fellow runner the other day about how so many different things play into a run – what you ate, how you slept, which shoes you’re wearing, your attitude, and on and on. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.

I slept in my own bed 25 minutes away, so I should’ve had the best sleep of my life. I ended up waking up in the middle of the night, and got maybe 5 hours of sleep.

I ate a little too much before a race. I was up for so long, I kept snacking as I caught up on Grey’s Anatomy, which was unnecessary – the snacking part, not the Grey’s part. Not to mention, as we all know, I wore shoes to a race a bit before they were ready.

Basically, due to my own personal failings I didn’t set myself up for the best race I could’ve had. I think I’ve typed that before here on the blog, in Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans. That race happened to fall the weekend after my previous PR, just as this race fell the weekend after my current PR, so maybe that has something to do with it as well.

Aurora De Lucia posing with her medal at the Hollywood Half Marathon 2012Based on the way I was feeling in the morning, I knew I’d be pushing the time limit on this race, so I kept an eye on my running app at every mile. The first 5k was fine. I got markedly slower while “killing the hill” (or, I guess “lightly causing mild discomfort to the hill”).

I stayed ahead of time limit pace until mile 10-ish when I had slowed down enough to be right at the edge. I was pretty shocked that the SAG wagon was nowhere in sight. I think the race directors were super lenient on the time limit. A number of people finished after me, with some coming in at around 4 hours.

In mile 11 (going uphill), I see Joe (Ragnar runner #7 I’d met that morning), running back toward me. He did my last mile and half-ish with me. He had finished long before me, and was nice enough to stick around and do the end of the race with me!

(He seems to be a really great guy. His girlfriend is overseas serving in the military. He does tons of running events for her, videotaping them, then sending her videos. What a sweetheart, right? It was great to have him around to keep the conversation going for the rest of the race.)

The end of the race was downhill. Sweet business. Joe and I took off for a jog through the finish. There was a little red carpet leading to the finish line, which was pretty cool.

Almost right after I cross the finish, I get a phone call from Fareed! (My lovely friend from Washington DC, who happened to be visiting Los Angeles.)
“Aurora! Congrats on your half marathon!”
“Thank you! I just finished.”
“We’re here.”
“What?!”

Aurora posing with her friends Fareer and Amber after the finish of the Hollywood Half Marathon 2012Turns out he and Amber (my unbelievably stunningly gorgeous, sweetheart, lovely friend, who my entire group of friends is basically completely in love with, because how could we not be?) are there at Universal Studios.

I (obviously) freak out! I cannot believe that my friends put forth the effort to fight LA traffic (with closed roads and all!) to get to a super popular destination, just to be there at my finish.

Joe and I make the trek up from the finish line to the theme park. As I’m waiting to get on the stairs to the overpass, I see my friends down below waving. (Yay!)

Joe and I part ways. I run into Fareed and Amber’s arms, and we went to a lovely brunch together.

I couldn’t imagine a better way to end that race. I absolutely adore them both! What an incredibly lovely surprise.

As you can tell, this race had some growing pains being the first year and all (and I had some bad decision making). But I have no real complaints. I think the race director tried really hard to make a great race. I’m sure the one in 2013 will be even better. And I had an extremely fun day. For what else could I ask?

(#11) Hollywood Half Marathon – Part 3 (No Electrolytes, So I Got My Own!)

April 9, 2012

runners Joe and Aurora on the red carpet finish of the Hollywood Half Marathon 2012, smiling a bit while coming inYesterday, I left off talking about the water stations running out of cups.

So, the volunteers ask the runners to cup their hands out as they run by. All right, that’s not that big of a deal. Then I see a lot of runners – a lot – grabbing the jugs and putting their mouths on them, then running off.

Now, I’m not weird about germs or anything. I know humans have strong immune systems. I share food with my friends, no problem. But, I didn’t think I wanted to drink from a jug that had who knew how many people’s germs on/in/around it. I decided to just forgo water – until around the turnaround, there was a station that still had cups. Yee haw!

At every drink station I passed, I thought, “Maybe the next one will have a drink with electrolytes.” Nope. Next one? Nope. Next one? There never seemed to be any electrolytes to be found.

As the sun came up and started beating down on us, and as we kept traveling up an incline, I really wanted to start shouting, “Will sing and dance for Gatorade!” Maybe, just maybe, a spectator would throw me some.

I didn’t actually start doing showtunes for Gatorade. (And there weren’t all that many spectators, anyway.) At one drink station, I did see a teensy amount of pink in the bottom of a jug.

man spinning a "Kill the Hill" sign at the Hollywood half marathon 2012
a guy spinning the “Kill the Hill” sign (but not near the biggest hill of the course…)

Oh my goodness, they have a drink with electrolytes after all! But, judging by the free-for-all everyone had been having with the water (It was like the Hunger Games out there!) – I decided against drinking it.

For once, I actually had a debit card with me out on the course. There had been a lot of conflicting information about bag check for this race.

It was happening. It wasn’t happening. Back and forth from different information sources on different days. I took the safe route and brought basically nothing extra with me, except my debit card, which I shoved in the back of my phone case.

I kept my eyes peeled for any place that would sell Gatorade. I saw a couple of places on the other side of the (very wide) street, but I wanted a place as close to me as possible. I saw a Starbucks on my side (which would’ve at least had water), but of course there seemed to be a line.

Then I saw it – a 7/11. (Cue heavenly music.) I ran inside, grabbed a water and a Gatorade, got back out on the course, and started downing my drinks!

The streets in LA are like the ones I came across at Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona – they’re tilted. People in cars probably don’t notice, but on foot, you can definitely feel that the middle is higher than the outsides. It was hard to navigate that and try to pick the best parts of the street to stay as even as possible.

As I kept on going, there was this one spectator I kept passing from Alpha Running – a running club in Los Angeles. She was so supportive! I’d met her at the expo, and I saw her at three different times on the course. She kept moving to different locations to see her runners as many times as possible. She kept yelling out, “You can do this, 52 in 52” when she saw me.

10k Finish line at the inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon 2012
Look it’s the finish line! Haha. j/k. Only if you’re doing the 10k!

I’ve heard people complain at Rock ‘n’ Roll events that it’s rough when you’re doing the full marathon, and in the middle of your race, you pass the finish line for the half – hearing everyone screaming and music playing.

I got to experience that a bit myself today when I passed the 10k finish line – which was cool, ending right at Hollywood/Highland. (It wasn’t that big of a deal though. I was ready to keep moving on.)

I turned the corner going back toward Universal. I knew ever since those first miles downhill, that I’d end going uphill. Talk about killing a hill – this is where the real hill was. So, I went up. And up. And up.

I was really pushing the time limit on this one. (3 1/2 hours.) I would never let a SAG wagon take me, but I was getting a little nervous that I might see it.

Did I? Find out tomorrow.

(#11) Hollywood Half Marathon – Part 2 (Inconveniences)

April 8, 2012

Joe and Aurora running under the finish line of the Hollywood Half Marathon 2012Picking up from yesterday, the race starts going through Universal CityWalk.

In theory, this is a great idea. In reality, it’s very crowded and next to impossible to start at any kind of pace you want – well, maybe not in the super fast corrals. It’s probably (hopefully) not that way up there.

I fight to get around very slow walkers all the way through CityWalk, until we finally get out and get tons of space. It’s downhill for a while. (I think maybe about the first 3 miles.) I had just read an article in a running magazine about Boston and how to properly train for the hills. The writer of the article was stressing the importance of not going too fast on downhill sections ’cause you ruin your legs for everything that comes next. I really kept that in mind, and took it oh so easy as we kept going low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low. (Did the Flo Rida song just jump in your head?)

(Side story: I was in the car with my dad a few years ago, and “Low” came on the radio. I hadn’t even heard it yet. He said, “I love this song!” He turned up the radio, and sang along with every word! He is the coolest.)

Joe and Aurora, running along, finishing the Hollywood Half Marathon 2012Back to the half marathon, I saved my legs pretty well while going downhill. I didn’t push too hard. I was doing about 13 minute miles. We passed the Hollywood Bowl, and the big Hollywood/Highland intersection – I guess the iconic Hollywood spots. (I’m not really sure what’s iconic here.)

As I was going along, these peppy women came through and asked everyone to go to the side. We were making way for someone hula hooping through the half marathon. She was working on setting a world record for hula hooping through the most miles – and she did it! (Hey Becky, the gauntlet has been thrown down! You ready to overtake this girl’s world record?)

Once I got to Hollywood and Highland, I decided to finally try to take a real picture (thinking it’d be the most interesting area of the course). Of course when I finally slowed down enough to take a picture – that’s when I saw a photographer! He was the only one I saw on the whole course (other than at the finish).

I tried to get back into a nice looking stride, so he’d hopefully get a nice picture of me, but I think it was too late.

[*Click. Click.* “Oh look, Ripley’s… A photographer? Agh!” *Awkwardly stepping over myself to look as though I was really running* Aaaaaaand epic failure.]

misspelled mile 3 mile marker at the Hollywood half marathon 2012
Photo courtesy of fellow runner Michelle. And yes, it does say “Holywood” (with one “l”). I’m glad other runners pointed this out to me. I thought it was hilarious, and I can’t believe I missed it!

I went pretty slowly for the rest of the way. My body wasn’t hurting, but my feet were (even though I really did have wonderful shoes that I can’t wait to keep breaking in).

It was sort of embarrassing when Joe (who I’d met that morning) and Wendy (of Wendy and Marty) both passed me on the turnaround super early on… and I was there just walking.

The water stops were on the left hand side so they could serve as the water stop for both sides of the turnaround. For easy logistics, I understand. But those dreaded left-side water stations on really wide streets are quite inconvenient. Then again, there aren’t all that many water stops in a half marathon, so it’s not that big of a deal.

Speaking of things that are inconvenient about water stops, they ran out of cups super early on. I know I was having a really slow race, but the one I passed around, I don’t know, maybe mile 4 was also supposed to serve as the one for mile 9 or 10 ish, and by the time I passed it (the first time) it was already out of cups!

The volunteers were real troopers, keeping up high energy and asking people to cup their hands out for water.

There’s a lot more to say about water stations and getting electrolytes (and possibly a small surprise for me…) tomorrow.

(#11) Hollywood Half Marathon – Part 1 (Oof. Trying New Shoes On The Day Of The Race? Tsk Tsk)

April 7, 2012

LA Metro subway car empty in the morning.
The oh-so-crowded LA Metro in the morning

Remember the crowded public transportation in DC? Not here.

During the expo yesterday, the Hollywood Half Marathon’s Facebook page blew up with complaints about traffic and parking. I figured everyone would wise up for race day and say, “Forget it. Let me hop on the subway so I won’t have to worry about any of that.”

Nope. ‘Cause I live in LA.

This morning, in the words of Paolo Nutini, “I put my new shows on, and suddenly everything is right.” I cannot believe I neglected to mention in my post about Ohio that my family bought me a new pair of kicks!

As you know, I’ve kind of been a little obsessed with Brooks ever since I saw the amazing Brooks carnival display in New Orleans.

While in Ohio, I tried some Pure Connects, and was hooked. They’re so light! I can fly in them – and I don’t mean fly as in go super fast, I mean fly as in Peter Pan – get lifted off the ground and fly around.

I’ve been sort of breaking them in-ish, over the last couple of weeks with short jogs or walking. In my heart, I knew I should’ve definitely done more actual long-distance running in them before today.

I knew they weren’t totally broken in, but I figured they were broken in enough. My other pair (my Asics Kayanos) were getting tired of being raced in every week. I knew I really needed to start alternating. I threw caution to the wind and put on my new sneaks.

Aurora's feet in her Pure Brooks Connect minimalist running shoesMy shoes felt so amazing in the morning. As the day wore on they started to feel tighter and hurt a little. Brooks is an awesome company with awesome shoes that shouldn’t take any blame for my mistake.

But definitely, the longer that half marathon went on, the more my feet hurt. I ended the day with 4 blisters (all on the same foot). (You’re welcome for omitting the picture of that.) But, blisters can be fun, so I didn’t mind.

As I get ready for the race, I pull out my Hollywood Half bib, but there aren’t any safety pins to be found. Luckily, I have a number of them left over from other races, so crisis averted.

Also, there weren’t any zip ties or any kind of tying apparatuses that usually comes with timing chips. I just used my shoe laces to hold it in place. Problem solving in the morning. Woot woot.

I head out the door and onto the nearly empty subway, where you would never have any idea that a race is taking place that morning. When I get up to Universal Studios, I’m unbelievably pumped to finally find my very own picture to submit to The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks.

This morning, I also meet Joe, Ragnar runner #7 on the team for which I’ll be volunteering in 2 weeks. (I’m so stoked about that!) He was incredibly nice!

horse at saddleranch at universal studios with extra quotation marks saying "please" don't sit on me
My picture for the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks! The horse’s rump says – I LOVE taking pictures but “PLEASE” don’t sit on ME! Thank you – Which I guess means, “I am NOT saying please. This is not a question, but an order.”

As the race gets closer, we all line up in our corrals. I do an absolutely awful job of trying to find Joey McIntyre. (Read: I don’t try to find him at all… I was caught off guard when he ran in Pasadena, but had ample warning about his appearance in this one.)

I should’ve at least done one of those nonchalant strolls around. “Oh, I’m just checking out the scene… Joey McIntyre? What are you doing here?”

Alas, it was crowded and I lamely didn’t have hope he could be reached by me (the slow common-folk).

By the time my corral crossed the start line about 30 minutes-ish after the race started, my feet were sort of already over it. I’d already been standing around in my new shoes for close to 2 hours. Tsk tsk, Aurora, for not breaking them in.

I’ll pick up here tomorrow!

Hollywood Half Marathon Expo

April 6, 2012

Aurora posing with members of the Run Project team at the Hollywood Half Marathon expo 2012I’m in love! The people at The Run Project, and the project itself, have oh so much of my love.

I made my way around the expo, seeing a lot of races that I’d seen before – which of course I’m sure will happen when someone races every weekend. I’m signed up for most of the races I saw. It’s nice to see the medals out, and to see people getting excited about those races.

So, I’m walking around, jamming to the music that’s playing. (When *Nsync is rocking through the sound system, how could you not dance?) As I turn the corner, there they are – the people of the run project.

They’re dancing too! They’re so fun and excited about life! I met Olympian Jon Rankin. Yeah, you know, just chilling with an Olympian. No big deal. I asked what he was selling. Apparently nothing. He’s jut trying to get people excited about running, and help people pair up with causes.

The excitement at this both is electrifying. If anyone who wasn’t running (such as a runner’s spouse or parent) came to that booth today, I don’t see how they could’ve left without deciding to go to another booth and sign up for a race.

Marilyn Monroe wax figure from Madame Tussauds at the Hollywood Half Marathon expo 2012
Decoration at the well themed expo from Madame Tussauds

When Jon and I were talking about the project and how running can change people’s lives and make the world better, he asked if I wanted to make a video. He said, “Are you in?” (As in R-U-N; Are you in?) Is that genius or is that genius? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure it’s genius! They definitely had me after that. I can’t wait to keep following what they’re doing, and do anything I can to help them out this year.

Running is fun! Running is SO helpful in my life. Unbelievably helpful. Anyone I’ve known who’s become a runner feels happier, has better days, and seems to enjoy life more. Even people I know who started from a wonderful place, and who were nice and happy and fit beforehand, just amplify all of that so much through running. Golly, this is just getting me so excited to run tomorrow!

Let me hop down off my little running soapbox. But before I do, if you’re reading this, and you’re not a runner, I implore you just to do a 5k. Just 3.1 miles. I know you can finish. And you do not have to be fast. As is often heard around the running community, “The last finisher is the slowest winner.”

Running, jogging, walking, whatever you do – getting moving at running events is far too fun to miss out on. And you’re invited! The running community is calling you with open arms that are ready to give you a big hug. Sign up for the race! We’re trying to include you, so please don’t leave yourself out!

Okay, enough of all that business. (Noise of the hydraulic lift of my soapbox coming back down. And, step back onto the ground. And okay, good.)

Tanner and JC presenting Aurora with her Nurse Jackie DVD (blu-ray) at the Hollywood Half Marathon expo 2012
Tanner and JC with my new present

Other expo highlights include meeting Tanner and JC from 100.3 The Sound. They were too funny. (And Tanner’s going to be a famous actor. Keep your eyes peeled!)

They presented me with a free Nurse Jackie Blu-ray disc… Is that how the kids say that? “Blue-ray disc?” That doesn’t sound right. I’m thinking there’s some kind of shorter slang way to say that. Do I just call it a Blu-ray? I’m sorry; you’ll have to excuse me. I was all ready to say DVD as though I was born in 1920 or something.

I also tested out my brand new 52 half marathons in 52 weeks shirt, which was cool. Everyone wanted to be my friend and I felt mighty special. A woman came up to me and said her daughter reads my blog and had just said, “Mom, I think that’s Aurora.” And the mom said, “I don’t think that’s her.” Then they saw my “I love NY” pants and flip-flops, and they new it had to be me! I love that that’s how people know it’s me – an undying, crazy love for New York.

Before you know it, it was time to go home. There’s a 6am start tomorrow!

Honey, I’m Home. (aka Don’t Cry For Me, New York City)

April 5, 2012

I said don’t cry for me, but I will sure as goodness cry for myself as they call my flight to leave! Can you tell my left cheek is wet from my single tear business?

I had an unbelievable amount of fun in New York. I have so very much to say, which will certainly fill blog entries between races probably all the way up until I leave again in three weeks for the Kentucky Derby half.

As of yesterday, I’m back in Los Angeles. I remember when I was only going to go away for a weekend for the Disney Princess half. Right before I left, I decided to stay for one week so I could go to RnR New Orleans. While there, I decided I just didn’t want to go home.

Almost 6 weeks later, I finally made it back to a humongous pile of mail (that I’m still making my way through), some expired yogurt, and an ever filling DVR. (I can finally watch the Academy Awards! Shhh… Don’t tell me what happened.)

Know what’s weird? I feel as though I was just home, and now I’m visiting – and I’ll be going back soon… but that’s not how it works. I live in California.

California is sort of, kind of like home now. I was happy to come back to people who’ve noticed I’ve been gone. The security men in my building have been very welcoming, as has my roommate, as have the people at the grocery store.

When people asked what I did while I was gone, I realized as I was saying it, “Well, I ran 5 half marathons.” Crazy, right? It seems so long since I’ve been here when you say it out loud.

It is nice to come back to such a ridiculously spacious apartment. If I had this same apartment in New York, I’d have to be a gatrillionaire.

Look what was in the mail from Marty and Wendy! A shirt to match hers! How awesome, right?

It was hard to leave NY. On my last night, I went to go see The Book of Mormon (surprise, surprise) and I just couldn’t leave Times Square afterward. I hung out, walking around the city for four hours before I went back to Far Rockaway to get my stuff. And I only did that, ’cause I had to get to the airport.

It took everything I had to get on that plane. Every. Single. Thing. Granted, part of that was my incredible, extreme lack of sleep, which will always make a person more emotional. Part of it was my deep love for New York City, my friends, theater, public transportation, and oh so much more.

I did not handle leaving New York well at all. I ended up crying (just little, few tears crying, not totally sobbing) on the subway, at the counter as I checked my bag, in the security line, at the gate. I just could not get it together! I know I can cry on cue and all, but this was a lot, even for me!

Luckily, I assume anyone who works within the vicinity of any New York airport deals with people straight up sobbing on an hourly basis. (‘Cause how can anyone leave?) So I’m sure my few tears were nothing.

I remember when I moved to LA 8 months ago, and I pretty much had a breakdown at the airport. I expected it then. This time, I knew I was coming back to Cali. No surprises or life decisions there. Somehow, I was still profoundly affected.

I have to take the passion I picked up in New York, and the renewed sense of really living, and the joy and love I received, and keep it close to my heart while I’m here in LA. (After all, “the truth is I never left you.”)

If I was ever going to come back to Cali, I picked the right time! I have a lot to look forward to. Tomorrow, I see my lovely, lovely dentist. My dentist is probably the best thing about living here. (Props to Dr. Dorfman!)

Plus Fareed is visiting this week! And I have the Hollywood Half Marathon coming up on Saturday, which should be loads of fun.

Thanks to my roommate for holding down the fort while I was gone. Thanks to my lovely friends in NY for tickets to shows, hospitality, time, love, everything. Thanks to all of you for continuing to read the blog, and I can’t wait to tell you stories of my trip!

57 Marathons (50 States, DC, and 6 U.S. Territories), 1 Year – Part 2

April 4, 2012

puzzle of the United States of America
Photo from SummerForKids.com

When I started this post a few days ago, I told you I’d give you part 2 after this past weekend’s race, so here it is.

Doing 52 half marathons in 52 weeks, I have definitely had to do some maneuvering of puzzle pieces to make my complete picture. I’ve worked pretty hard, and I’m still not done.

Doing a challenge that is so specific would take a lot of time and energy just to get the schedule together. (Some states have very few marathons each year.)

Most importantly, I’ve learned that races get cancelled. I have already done a few inaugural events this year, and I have more coming up (even one this weekend). I think inaugural events can be super fun. However, I’d need to be somewhat wary about newer or smaller events because they definitely can be cancelled. Already, in the last few weeks, I’ve had to re-work the schedule (and even let go of a series I was doing) because of cancelled races.

Speaking of things unexpectedly being cancelled, and things changing – always buy on Southwest. Always. Always, always, always. I already knew this to be a true statement. But every once in a while, when I’ve been looking for plane tickets for my current challenge… Let me give you an example.

Southwest Airlines logo
(photo from Southwest Airlines)

I was definitely going to do Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle. I was also definitely going to do a race the next day that was part of the SoCal half series.

They were only one night apart, so I was certainly going to fly home from Seattle in the late afternoon/early evening. I could get something set in stone, because why would I possibly need to change this ticket?

When I checked for plane tickets, Virgin America was having a sale, and was a bit less expensive than Southwest. I thought “Virgin is a cool airline. I like their TVs in the back of the headrests. It’s cheaper. Why not?”

Let me tell you why not. A race in the SoCal race series got cancelled. I couldn’t really make that series work anymore, so I could drop that California race if need be.

Then Seattle became a full marathon*, and dropping that half the next day seemed to be a good idea. [*edited to add: Seattle later switched back to being a half again (though I guess that’s kind of my point – things are always changing)]

I’ll either have to race to the airport immediately after the full marathon, with a tiny glimmer of hope that I will make that flight, or pay to change it so I can spend the night hanging out with my family celebrating my first marathon (which is the option most likely to happen.)

If I were on lovely Southwest, I could change the ticket as much as I wanted with no fees. Lesson learned!

I have said “lesson learned” about Southwest before in my life, yet made the same mistake, thinking, “I know it’s smarter to fly on Southwest, but these plans are definitely not changing, so I’ll be fine.” This time I have, for real, learned the lesson that plans that “are not going to change,” really are still pretty likely to change (with me, at least). Southwest, Southwest, Southwest.

The Simpsons rolling around in money
credit: Matt Groening/Fox

Another thing that would be nice is to start out with a whole lot of money (as opposed to paying along the way as you make more money).

If you register for races early, they have lower prices than then do as it gets closer to race day. Not to mention, sometimes you get gifts with race registrations during special promotions (for instance, if you register for any of the Rock ‘n’ Roll races at other Rock ‘n’ Roll races, you get special t-shirts).

It’s also nice that I’m easing into the blog on a smaller challenge. When I started blogging, it took a long time just to figure out on which site I wanted to host the blog (WordPress).

Of course, there’s plenty of other blog stuff still to learn about after that – child themes, staying organized – all that jazz. I’m still learning about the blog and how to make it better. Hopefully by the time the 57 states/territories challenge comes around, I’ll have a better handle on the it all.

Whenever one of us decides to jump into this challenge, let’s remember we have this post to help give us a few pointers as we plan the big adventure.

For now, I’ll keep focusing on the current adventure. (I still don’t have the schedule completely finished!)

(#10) Atlantic City April Fools Half Marathon – Part 3 (A Post-Open-Heart Surgery PR)

April 3, 2012

Aurora De Lucia jumping in the air at the Atlantic City April Fools Half Marathon 2012I left off yesterday around mile 7, on pace to PR.

For the rest of the race, I checked the clock every now and again to see how I was doing. I finished mile 12 just before 3 hours had passed.

Yep. Unless something catastrophic happened, I was going to PR at this race. I lightly jogged the last mile. Figured I should at least finish strong-ish.

Official finishing time – 3:14:39. That’s 8 minutes and 14 seconds better than DC (and 2:25 better than my current post-open-heart-surgery PR). Now we can all say with certainty that I did a similar (this time, faster) race that felt less taxing.

How in the world did I PR today? As I said in the North Carolina post, I think that consistent pacing of fast walking may end up working out better than running followed by slow walking.

I think if walking’s involved, throwing running in there would probably have the best result, but only if I can speed up the walking that comes in between the running. (Speeding up the running portions, and having a longer stride wouldn’t hurt either.)

I also think that this incredibly flat course and perfect weather (with almost no sun) really gets practically all the credit. It’s certainly not me taking good care of myself. I’ve had 18 Crumbs cupcakes this week. Okay, that’s a lie. But I have had some!

(I used to think it was special that I could have Crumbs out here… Then I found out they have one on Hollywood Boulevard. So, I need to slow down on the no-longer-scarce cupcakes.)

I haven’t slept all that much. I certainly haven’t been going to the gym out here (even though I obviously should be). And unless Doritos at 3am in Port Authority, followed by Lucky Charms 3 1/2 hours later at the race site is the new optimum pre-race nutrition plan, I didn’t have that part together either.

Atlantic City Boardwalk on a foggy dayI do still think that being in New York itself has probably helped. There’s so much quick walking always happening out here. I think my fitness level may be improving a teeny bit just by virtue of being here. (I miss living in NY so much, in case I haven’t mentioned that already.)

So there you have it. Inexplicably, I PR’d. (I never understood that phrase, really. I hear people say it all the time. But, what? You “personal recorded?” I don’t think that makes perfect sense, but I think it’s an accepted thing to say, so I’m gonna go ahead and say it.)

They had tons of food waiting for all the runners at the finish and a really nice photographer who patiently got a picture of me jumping (my favorite kind of race picture).

Crossing the finish line was slightly awkward because the photographer was very close to the other side of the finish line, so you kind of wanted to pose, but more than anything, you wanted to make sure you ran all the way through to get your time recorded, and there wasn’t much space. So, it was a little weird, but it all worked out, especially since I got my jumping picture. And really, isn’t that all that matters?

I went back to the Greyhound bus and slept all the way back to Port Authority, then slept on the subway all the way back to Far Rockaway.

It was a fun, simple, enjoyable race with great weather a totally flat course. Number 10 is in the books (well, on the interwebs). (Double digits now, y’all!) Next up: The Hollywood Half.

Tomorrow, as promised, I’ll post part 2 of the posts brainstorming toward the future challenge (hopefully) of 57 marathons all over the country/US territories in 1 year.

(#10) Atlantic City April Fools Half Marathon – Part 2 (Volunteers & Milk)

April 2, 2012

Aurora sort of leaning back with her April Fools Atlantic City 2012 half marathon medalPicking up from yesterday, somewhere between 3 and 4 miles in, we make a turn and go through a neighborhood. Still awake. I got this.

There was one very young, completely adorable little girl at a water stop who said the exact same thing to everyone. It was simple. “Vanilla Gu. You’re doing great. Keep it up!” She literally phrased it the exact same way, using the same inflection to every single runner that passed.

You could tell that an adult (probably a parent) had most likely encouraged her to volunteer, and in the morning coached her on exactly what to say to the runners. It was one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a race, and I got to pass her twice, since the course was a loop.

There was another funny girl at a water stop who said, “Would you like some water?” I reached out for the cup. It was empty. “April Fools!” she said. (Then she handed me one with water in it.) I thought that was hilarious.

I didn’t know what sorts of April Fools’ jokes the course would have – maybe labeling each mile as Mile 1, or who knows? But everything was labeled as it normally is. I didn’t experience any April Fools jokes – other than the one at the water stop.

some water and beach along the Atlantic City boardwalk in the fogAs I got close to the turnaround, a woman in the group of people coming back toward me said, “Aurora?” It was one of my blog followers! I kid you not. This lovely girl, Aimee recognized me in my hat from all my blog pictures, and gave me a hug as she passed. So cool, right? She also let me know that chocolate milk was coming at the turnaround(!) Sweet business.

(And it turns out it wasn’t the race staff who brought milk, it was her friend Pat.)

If you’ve been reading the blog, you know I’ve been questioning milk a lot lately. Well, I’m done with my questioning phase. In every athletic magazine I’ve been reading lately to pass the time on long subway rides, people say milk is good. Doctors say it’s good. Athletes say it’s good.

When I was talking with one of my brilliant friends, whom I trust a ton, about how milk made me nervous and how there are documentaries about how it’s secretly not as good for you as you think it is, he made a joke (with a truth tint to it) about how documentaries are for people who are trying to prove a false point. I said, “not all documentaries.” He basically said, “True, not the ones that are seen and talked about.” Touché

So, until I get any better evidence, I’m going to go about blissfully believing that milk is really good for me and gives me all the calcium I need. And I’m glad, ’cause I freaking love it (both milk and the idea of getting calcium).

Aurora in between poses wth her medal
(caught in between poses)

[Edited to add: I later had various vegan challenges and changed my tune a little. I now try to limit my dairy intake.]

Remember last week when I was flabbergasted at the difference in how two races felt when my times were only 121 seconds off? Well, I know that in half marathons, every second counts. That’s not so super true with me since I’m quite slow. It’s really more about minutes when you’re this slow.

However, even though no one said it to me, in my head, I heard you all saying “121 seconds could make a huge difference in the way you feel. Over 2 minutes? That’s an eternity when it comes to a race.”

I thought it would be nice if I could match or beat my Washington DC time so that I could be flabbergasted about the difference in feel of the races without any of us questioning if it was due to the 121 seconds.

I didn’t set that as an official goal for myself, but I thought it would be nice if it happened.

Somewhere around mile 7/8, I realized I was on track to PR. What?! I’m here sleepwalking through this race, and I’m on track to PR?

Will I be able to pull out a personal record? Find out tomorrow.

(#10) Atlantic City April Fools Half Marathon – Part 1 (Being Lazy & Getting To Jersey)

April 1, 2012

Aurora turned to the side with her April Fools medal in Atlantic City 2012I’m pretty sure I’m the laziest half marathoner. Last week, I talked about taking it easy. This week, same thing.

I took the 3:30am bus to Atlantic City (from New York). This meant I realistically had to leave Far Rockaway around midnight.

I needed to give myself 2 hours to get into the city, plus a chunk of time to wait at the Greyhound station. Since Greyhound is first come, first serve, I’ve been pushed to a later bus before by not getting there early enough. With a half marathon start time to make, I couldn’t get pushed this time.

All that being the case, my plan was to try to sleep as much during the day as possible, wake up in the early evening, get ready, and go.

I’d act as though the night was the morning and as far as my body clock was concerned, I’d be running a half marathon in my late afternoon . Unfortunately, that’s not exactly how it worked.

I went to bed on the morning of the 31st, hoping to sleep late into the day. I woke up tired in the middle of the day, and could not get back to sleep. So much for my brilliant plan. I vegged for a little, figuring at least rest had to be kind of like sleep.

I ended up leaving around 8:30pm, killing some time at the movie theater by Port Authority, watching “Safe House.” (I smell a sequel.)

After the movie, I waited in line at Port Authority while reading a triathlon magazine until thirty minutes or so late, the bus came. Off we all went to Atlantic City.

tiny wodden incline leading to the pier at the Atlantic City Boardwalk
(the only (slight) incline in the whole race)

I took a little nap on the bus, waking up at Bally’s Casino when packet pick-up was starting.

The people at packet pick-up were very kind. We got blue race shirts. (I love when the shirts are anything but white and when they have women’s cut. Check and check. Thanks, April Fools Half Marathon.)

I changed into my race clothes, brushed my teeth, and went to look for coffee. When I got to the café, I didn’t even have enough brain power/focus to remember that I wanted caffeine. I ended up eating some Lucky Charms.

There was some super enjoyable pre-race music (Backstreet Boys) in the hotel all morning.

As it got closer to 8am, I headed outside, dropped my stuff at gear check, and went to the start. They held the race for 15 minutes to help runners who were having trouble parking. (Apparently, Atlantic City was hopping with multiple events this weekend.)

My only goal was to make it through without lying down for a nap in the middle of the race.

Aurora posing with her April Fools Atlantic City half marathon medal 2012 My legs are feeling pretty fresh after taking it easy in North Carolina last week, and I wanted to keep them that way in preparation for the big Hollywood Half next week. I lightly jogged most of the first mile, ’til I slowed down to a walk.

There were a couple of other races that morning – an 11k and a 7k. They both started a little after the half. So, it was funny to have the half field get nice and spread out – just to all of a sudden be in a big pack again, experiencing lots of people passing me… Aaand then again a 3rd time.

This was such a nice, relaxed race, with the first 3 miles all along the boardwalk.

As I passed the first band, the lead singer was coming out very close to the course. He almost looked as though he was gonna start holding the microphone out and getting people to sing with him. Can you imagine – run-by audience participation/karaoke? It sounded fun and silly, but it didn’t happen (as far as I know).

[Edited to add: I did see a half marathon with karaoke for runners later.]

Will I make it to the end before I fall asleep? Find out tomorrow.

57 Marathons (50 States, DC, and 6 U.S. Territories), 1 Year – Part 1 (Wouldn’t It Be Nice…)

March 31, 2012

Photo from the US Government’s website

Don’t get excited. This is not the announcement that I’m changing my 52 in 52 challenge to an every state plus U.S. territories challenge. I’m not.

Although, as of tomorrow, within 10 half marathons, I will have already covered 6 places…

Stop it, Aurora. I think you have at least 25 in California alone this year.

I’m writing this post because sometimes when I daydream, I think about how I’d love to run a marathon (that’s right, preferably a full marathon, so I better get training) in all states and U.S. territories in 1 year.

(We all agree there are 6 territories, right? American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands? Those are the ones the government’s website lists.)

A couple of months ago, I was dreaming that I’d get super crazy fit in secret, and emerge out of nowhere in a few years for this big 57 challenge. But this 52 half marathons in 52 weeks came up sort of out of the blue. And I am so, so glad I’m doing a smaller challenge first.

Even having only done 9 races so far, I’m learning a lot about a year full of racing, and I think these lessons will be helpful when that big year comes around. Someday, when I attempt this challenge (or when we do, when some of you jump in with me), we can peruse this post and remember some things we’re learning from this current challenge.

Homer Simpson hugging a TV with his family's image inside it
Credit: Matt Groening/Fox

In my dream world, I’ll attempt this 57 feat when I’m happily writing on The Simpsons. I’ll somehow find a way to sneak away to a marathon once a week. I’m sure we’ll be super writers who are very fast, never having to come in over the weekend to work on a script.

I’m sure that’s not how it’s going to go down at all. But let a girl dream, okay? Anyway, I sneak out for a marathon once a week and get straight home to keep up working. And if that is how it works out, well more power to me! I will be fine with only going to a state for a few hours to run, ’cause I’ll be working on the freaking Simpsons!

However, if I’m not a writer, and I’m not doing some kind of fun dream job that keeps me in a physical place every week, then the year I decide to do this, I need to either have saved up enough money to not need to work for a full year, or I need to find a job I can do remotely.

I haven’t been home in over 5 weeks, and this is definitely the way to do it, my friend. Exploring different places is fun. (It is possible that what I mean by that is having New York as home base is what’s fun, but I don’t think that’s what I mean…)

I would love to go run a race, spend the rest of the week (or at least a few days) in that place seeing various touristy attractions, trying delicious local specialties, and then moving on to the next race.

Aurora posing by the Universal Studios Orlando ball
Doing a little model pose at Universal Studios Orlando. Oh, how I love traveling

This whole relaxing, visiting, eating thing brings me to my next point, which is that I would really want to be in a body/fitness level that I just want to maintain. (If I’m fit enough to do 57 marathons in a year, I think it’s pretty safe to say I will most likely be at the maintaining level.) While traveling, it is much easier to maintain yourself than improve yourself.

It’s not impossible to travel and improve by any means. The world is a gym. People can still get workouts in, if they want to make time for them. And we don’t have to try every food that someone says is delicious. Even if we do try a lot of stuff, we don’t have to eat any more than a few bites. But it is much easier to maintain than to improve on the road. Not impossible, but it’s the way I’d prefer it for sure.

I couldn’t fit all my thoughts into one post. Part 2 will be coming at you after the posts about the April Fool’s half marathon in Atlantic city tomorrow!

(#9) NC Half Marathon – Odds and Ends (Showers and Such)

March 30, 2012

Aurora running through the finish line of the NC half marathonThere were a few things I forgot to talk about in my previous posts about this race.

As I washed my race clothes today (prepping for Atlantic City this weekend), I remembered shoving my clothes into my bag when I changed at the airport, and I thought about the couple of things I meant to mention.

For one thing, there was this really cool looking Richard Petty Driving Experience on the day of the expo. You could ride in the passenger seat as someone drove you around in a race car (or if you wanted to pay a lot more money, you could drive the race car yourself). For all you NASCAR fans out there, this might be the half marathon for you, for that experience alone.

I thought about doing it, but then I thought “that’s the price of a race entry right there.” I’m not all that familiar with NASCAR, so though I thought it would be super cool, it wasn’t on the top of my priority list. I overheard some people who did it. Everyone seemed to love it. However, I didn’t meet a single woman who liked her photos from the ride. Apparently the suit and the helmet made everyone feel fat. So, remember your good angles, ladies (and gents)!

Even though I didn’t try the driving experience this year, I wanted to mention it on the blog so that I could remember a special reason to go back another year (and to let any of you NASCAR fans know that it existed). (Although, apparently you don’t have to do the half marathon to do it. It exists in many other places, including Walt Disney World.)

The other thing I forgot to talk about – Remember how I was so excited to stay in a host hotel? Well, I learned the downside of staying in one. Apparently, everyone requests a late checkout, so the hotel won’t always grant one. Check out time at that hotel was 11am. I had to check out before the race. (Of course, for faster people this is a non-issue. I suppose the real lesson here might be to get faster.)

When I got to the airport after the race, I changed clothes and shoes. I flew to Cleveland for my layover, then back to New York, then took an airport shuttle to the subway, then rode the subway for an hour and forty-five minutes before I got to take a shower.

I didn’t much care. I don’t really have a sense of smell. Shower, no shower – it’s often all the same to me. The people next to me may have cared, though. Probably not this time, though. It was an easy race in a great climate, and I mainly walked the race. I wasn’t all that sweaty.

Ah, the little things I learn through doing more half marathons and traveling for more of them. I’ll continue learning, and continue racing, this weekend in Atlantic City’s April Fool’s Half Marathon.

Peter and the Starcatcher

March 28, 2012

Aurora and Celia Keenan-Bolger at stage door after Peter and the Starcatcher
It’s a little blurry, but this is me and the gorgeous Celia Keenan-Bolger at the stage door.

My original plan for my blog post tonight was to catch up on all the super fun things I’ve been doing (read: all the Broadway shows I’ve been seeing) over the past week here in New York. But after I saw Peter and the Starcatcher, I was too in awe to talk about anything else.

Peter and the Starcatcher was the only show I can think of that was on my “absolutely must see, no matter what happens” list for this trip to NYC. People had raved about it when it was at the New York Theatre Workshop. I felt as though I was all I heard about for a while.

Not to mention, the incredible Celia Keenan-Bolger was in it. Excuse me while I let my inner musical theater geek come out. (I know a few of you might be thinking, “Your inner musical theater geek hasn’t come out yet? Who have I been listening too every time you talk about musicals?) I have a sort of base musical theater geek that just is who I am. Then, I have the level of geekdom and joy I hit while talking about Jason Michael Snow, or mainly when talking about the original cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

(Don’t worry. This tangent is going to lead us right back around to Peter and the Starcatcher.) Seeing the original cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is hands down the absolute most magical experience I’ve had in a Broadway show. Ever. I saw Spelling Bee 21 times.

peter and the starcatcher on Broadway logo

From then on, every time I heard that Jesse Tyler Ferguson or Celia Keenan-Bolger was going to be in something, I did my very best to go see it. I went and saw Les Mis a few years ago purely because Celia was in it. (She was adorable, as always.)

(My geekiest Celia related confession: I totally sometimes put on the Spelling Bee soundtrack, and do my very best “Celia eyes” and “Celia hands” impressions. She is so expressive and so lovely.) I’ve only met her a few times. I’m pretty positive she doesn’t know who I am, but every time I have met her, she has been so sweet.

So here’s this Broadway show that was an incredibly hot ticket and the talk of the town at the NYTW. And it stars one of my favorite (I think probably my very favorite, actually) Broadway actresses. I must go see this show. Tonight was the first night of previews and I figured I might as well go at my very first opportunity to go.

I ended up sitting right next to Christian Hoff – original cast member of Jersey Boys. Crazy, right? He was very nice. We had a lovely conversation before the show and at intermission.

One of my actor friends (Stanley) from my high school was also there. We ran into each other at the stage door, which was really fun. I hadn’t seen him in a little while, so it was especially nice to see him tonight. As usual, he was quite sweet and lovely.

(Side note: I actually met my own Peter at the stage door (his name was Peter, but probably not Pan). He was so fun and nice (and took that picture of me with Celia).)

3 cast members from Peter and the Starcatcher acting in the show
(I got this photo from www.EW.com)

Phil, another friend of mine from high school (who I’ve happily been seeing a lot in the last week or so) was also there.

Basically, what I’m saying is all the cool kids were there. Where were you?

It’s so hard to pick a favorite show from what I’ve seen all week, but I think of the 10 things I’ve seen so far since I got here last Monday, this was my favorite.

Peter and the Starcatcher was hilarious. It was imaginative. The cast was wonderful and had this fabulous energy about them. I love it. I really loved it. I’m ready to go again!

I know this blog post has mainly focused on Celia, but golly, everyone was so incredible. There was not one weak link in the cast. It was the kind of show that when curtain call starts, you automatically leap out of your seat. Your body physically cannot sit for one more second with all your excitement and joy, and gratitude toward the actors.

I could not clap loudly enough for these talented people. Love, love, love this show. It’s a total must see. That means you really must. see. it. What are you waiting for? Go get to the theater!

(#9) NC Half Marathon – Part 3 (The Finish)

March 27, 2012

Aurora De Lucia smiling in the finisher area with her huge North Carolina half marathon medal 2012I left off yesterday talking about the awesome volunteer cheering for everyone.

There weren’t a ton of spectators along the course, but the ones who were, were stoked to be there. There were two people at different points who shouted, “You’re doing it! You’re really doing it!” Both times I heard it, it reminded me how cool half marathons are.

I decided to do 52 in 52 weeks in large part to make them so normal for me that they’d never seem so impossible ever again.

Not to dwell on that rough part of my life, ‘cause I don’t want it to define me. But, there was a time when I wondered how in the heck I would ever half marathon again. I knew that it was possible. Of course it was possible. I had done one before. (Plus, almost everything is possible.) But it seemed so impossible. I needed to race a lot this year so it would stop seeming that way.

Here I am trying to normalize them, and show that they can be just a fun weekend activity (which they can be). Then there are people out there super trained, running their hearts out (rock on, y’all!). There are also people doing their first half marathon ever.

There are people for whom this half marathon was a huge deal, which is awesome. I mean, half marathons should be kind of a big deal. (Just wait until my first full marathon. I’m gonna act like it’s the biggest deal since the Michael Jackson did the moonwalk.) I thought it was cool to be reminded how just how cool half marathons are.

Aurora with her new friends in the finisher area at the North Carolina half marathon 2012Enough of that tangent. Getting back into the race, Once I see the tunnel to go back into the speedway, I think, “Home stretch, baby! From here, I don’t have to go to any new places. The finish line is in that speedway!”

I run in through the tunnel, and around the various curving paths, until finally I get back onto the track. Sweet business. This is really almost the end. I pass the 12th mile marker (and race car).

In the final mile, there were these two women who would speed up every time I got close to them, and slow down once they felt they were a safe distance in front of me. They looked back at me a fair number of times, checking on my progress. And so it went, speed up a little, slow down. I’d get closer, they’d run ahead, slow down, and on and on.

Well, ladies, you’re inviting a challenge!

When the finish line was in my sights, I took off! I wasn’t positive how much energy they had left vs. how much I had left. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to cross before them, but I was sure gonna try!

I passed them and looked back and smiled at them as I did. Subtext: “Was this what you were asking for? ‘Cause you got it! Let’s race!” But they were tired… They just said good job and kept walking. I was pretty sure that was probably a trick, right? Make me think they weren’t going to push at the end, I’d comfortably jog in, being passed at the last second.

I wasn’t about to let that happen. (Yes, I realize how hilarious it is that I talk about it as though it’s some huge race to the finish when the majority of the field had already left the speedway.) I ran my little heart out through the finish line, keeping my peripheral vision in high gear. (And I finished before they did.)

I got my incredible medal. (It has cars that can move, and one of those big race traffic light things that straight up lights up!)

[wpvideo FUvUKKgi]

As I’m in the finisher area, I hear “Aurora?” I turn around, and there’s Megan of Anna, Jason, and Megan from the expo! Jason had even gotten a special medal for finishing in the top 25.

After the race, sweet Claudia and silly Stephen were kind enough to drive me to the airport! It seemed as though I had just gotten to North Carolina by the time I was leaving. Great race. Great people. Insane medal. I’d be up for this one again in 2013.

(p.s. I gave a few more odds and ends about this race in a later post.)

(#9) NC Half Marathon – Part 2 (Going Around The Speedway)

March 26, 2012

Aurora jumping (with a lot of hair flying in her face) in the finisher area of the North Carolina half marathon 2012
I like this picture – even with the silly-ness of all that hair in my face 😛

Yesterday, I got so wrapped up being flabbergasted by two races – a week apart – feeling so different (even though my time was only 121 seconds different between them), that I kind of neglected to tell the story of the race.

Before the race started, I heard an engine revving like crazy. I think maybe they had a car drive out in front of everyone to start the race, but I couldn’t see it. It was weird, because I didn’t feel as though I was all that far back. (As I said, I’m pretty sure there were fewer than 2,000 people in this race.)

I was toward the back of the runners, and even I got across the start line in two or three minutes. Yet, even only being as far back as I was, I didn’t see the car. I didn’t see a flag wave (if they did that for the car-racing theme). I didn’t even hear a gun go off. I just heard an engine rev for a while. Then all of a sudden, we were all moving forward.

Uh, okay, the race is starting? As I got closer to the start line, I saw the clock going and people speeding up. So yeah, I guess the race is starting!

In the first mile, it was a little hilarious that the first thing everyone saw was mile marker 12. (The course was a loop, so we’d be coming back that way.) There were lots of varied reactions as people passed it, and a whole lot of people reacted.
“Oh, look! We’re almost done. Hahaha.”
“Oooooh why was this the first thing I saw?”
“Great! Can I just go from here?”
Etcetera. I thought hearing everyone comment on it was really funny.

I loved that there were cars by the mile markers (at this very well themed race), because if you were sort of far away from the next mile marker, you could usually see a car in the distance.

Something I found interesting about running around a track is that the strategy changes. (At least mine did, and judging by the people around me, theirs did too.)

Usually, the field of runners is pretty wide. I always try to stay mainly toward the right, being that I’m slow. Today, we all were going as far left as possible. Runners wanted to hug that curve so as not to add any distance to our run. (Also, the track slants up to the right. It could be really rough to run on that incline.)

Army band playing at the North Carolina half marathon 2012
the Army band playing

Some runners ran way up that incline all the way to the right, to the top of the slanting area. (And it slanted a LOT. This was not just a barely noticeable incline.) More power to them for challenging themselves! They also were taking a bunch of pictures of everyone below them. I bet they got some great shots of the field of runners.

After we ran through the Charlotte Motor Speedway, we ran out and around to the ZMax Dragway. Going into and coming out of the dragway, the Army band was playing for us. (Remember Stan who gave me that floss the night before? There he was rocking the mic.)

Mile 8 or 9 was one big hill running back toward the speedway. We had an awesome marching band and color guard cheering us on.

I had some good conversations with various runners/walkers as I kept trucking along. One woman commented, “It doesn’t get any easier.”
I said, “Really? This feels much easier than last week.”
“Last week?!” she said.

We got to talking about 52 half marathons, and Iron Mans (her husband is a triathlete).

One of the most energetic volunteers I’ve seen was at a water stop, cheering for every participant and saying with the utmost spirit, “You have less than 3 miles left! You can do it! You’re gonna make it!” I pretty much adored her. Someone get her to every race, please.

As she said, fewer than three miles left, y’all! I can’t wait to tell you all about the end of the race tomorrow.

(#9) NC Half Marathon – Part 1 (Speed Walking)

March 25, 2012

Aurora De Lucia running along the road at the North Carolina 2012 half marathonBring on Kilimanjaro, baby!

Okay, maybe not really quite yet. But, there were plenty of hills in this race, and they felt awesome. (Granted, I walked them, but at a pretty nice walking pace.)

The weather at the inaugural NC Half was an extremely welcome change was from running on the sun last week! It was nice and cloudy here, with a teeny, tiny hint of rain droplets at one point.

I didn’t really know what struggles the day would bring. I’d slept very little during the week leading up to this (but I had lovely sleep the night before).

I hadn’t even made a plan to get to the start. I looked around at the runners in the lobby/continental breakfast area, and asked if I could hitch a ride with anyone. Luckily, Claudia and Stephen volunteered to take me.

We were floored by the amount of traffic to get into the Speedway. I guess maybe we should’ve been expecting it, but this was a pretty small race (I think fewer than 2,000 participants), and they were opening the gates and gear check and everything around 7. We thought if we left about 5 or 10 minutes before 7 to drive down the street, we’d be okay.

I guess everyone else thought that as well. Apparently, it was not the correct thought. Luckily, Stephen was not running, so he was able to just drop Claudia and me off right by the entrance. Claudia and I booked it to the start line. We made it about 20 seconds before 7:30 (the start time of the race).

Traffic had been such an issue, though, that race officials ended up holding the start for about 10 minutes. I hope everyone ended up making it to the race. People were still sprinting across the speedway to the start as the first runners were crossing the start line.

Before I started, I glanced down at my phone to re-read a text message from yesterday, giving me a little extra inspiration.

My supportive friend Ty, who lives in North Carolina (although not anywhere near Charlotte – which is why he wasn’t there with me), told me to “run hard and run fast!”

I don’t know exactly how “hard and fast” I ran. (Actually, I do. Not that much of either.) But, knowing that he was rooting for me (as he is awesomely wont to do), helped me put excuses of being tired or sore out of my mind, and bring thoughts of, “I can do this” to the front of my mind.

Aurora smiling as she runs underneath the finish line of the North Carolina half marathon 2012My plan for this race was to treat it as sort of a little recovery half marathon. My only focus was finishing comfortably within the time limit, and hopefully feeling great at the end.

Here’s the super weird part – every mile, I’d check in on my time to make sure I was pacing within the time limit (with some wiggle room on top of that). In every mile, I was faster than I thought I was going to be.

I think spending this past week in New York started to make me a faster walker, or maybe I’m just adapting to half marathoning basically every week. I don’t know…

Today, I was 2 minutes and 1 second slower than last week. Last week, I pushed like crazy. I was hurting at the finish. I was pretty sure we all were going to die.

I was only 2 minutes and 1 second slower today, yet I was ready to go for a dance party.

Weird, right? Maybe it’s something about more even pacing as opposed to running hard, tiring myself out, walking slowly, then running and tiring myself out again. Or maybe these hills weren’t quite as bad. (Goodness knows the heat was a big issue there, and a non-issue here.)

The point is, it was a great, successful race. That’s my general overview. Come back tomorrow for more specific, fun details (and to hear about the absolute coolest medal I’ve gotten yet)!

NC Half Marathon Expo

March 24, 2012

Walking to garage for packet pick-up at Charlotte Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway – packet pick-up was in that garage to the left.

NASCAR seems to be pretty big in these parts. Even at the airport, a good amount of stuff was race themed – restaurants and such.

I came straight from the airport to packet pick up at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. These two adorable little girls, who were volunteering at a table with their mother, gave me my bib and the sweet, sweet t-shirt they have here.

This was a pretty small expo. There was a little Coca-Cola truck. I won a free drink koozie from answering their incredibly tough trivia question – whether hydration is important during the race.

Only two races had booths – Myrtle Beach and the Divas series. And I think those might be put on by the same company doing this race. The Myrtle Beach medals are huge and awesome. Too bad I’ve already signed up for a half marathon that day.

"You win!" pop-up screen in the Coca-Cola exhibit

Speaking of medals, the medals for this race were on display. They look incredible! (The crazy moving, light-up medal was the main reason I chose this race.) But you’ll have to wait until I get mine to see it…

On this trip, I went ahead and sprung for a hotel room for a night instead of couchsurfing. I love meeting new people and saving money and all, but I have pulled three all-nighters in New York this week (mainly since I’m staying so far out of the city sometimes it just happens).

If I wanted a shot at a good race, I desperately needed a full night’s sleep in a bed. I picked one of the hotels from the race website, so I knew a bunch of other people would probably be staying there. I awkwardly stood around toward the exit of the expo. “So, uh…anybody going to the Wingate Hotel?”

I actually only asked 3 people before Megan, Jason, and Anna happened into my life. They weren’t even staying at this hotel, but they’re staying close by and were sweet enough to drive me here!

"Welcome athletes" sign at the hotel
Why, thank you!

When I got to the hotel, there was a big sign in the lobby that said, “Welcome Athletes.” Well, thank you very much! This is the first time I’ve stayed in a host hotel before an event. It’s fun. Almost everyone you run into is doing the event.

There were balloons in the lobby. I used to see hotels around my apartment in Boston gear up for the Boston Marathon, but I didn’t really realize places did it for smaller races (or how welcoming it feels when you’re the one doing the event, instead of the one who happens to live in the area, watching from the outside).

I went in my room and immediately fell asleep for hours. I woke up at night and was a little hungry. I set out to find some food, and ended up at Waffle House. It was a little odd that there were “house rules” plastered everywhere about being polite and wearing shirts and paying for your food. Those are pretty much the rules for going to a public establishment, not just for Waffle House, right?

The workers didn’t seem to like each other all that much. They seemed to be yelling at each other a fair amount. I don’t know what’s going on there…

North Carolina red half marathon shirt
Check out this awesome shirt!

When I got back to the hotel, I searched and searched through my bag for the floss that I knew had to be there. I always have floss. How would it be possible for it to not be there? It was nowhere to be found.

I asked the front desk. No floss. I went to a neighboring hotel that had a little store area. No floss. Walked up the street to a gas station (crossing a crazy intersection twice to get there). No floss! Why? Why is there no floss anywhere in this city?

I came back to the hotel, convinced that all hope was lost. As I was walking in, a group of men from the Army band playing tomorrow was walking in as well. Thankfully, Stan had floss for me! I gave him a hug, and went back to my room. My teeth were so very happy.

I had a quick, 20 minute workout on the elliptical (rock on, fitness center!) to gear up a little for tomorrow. Now it’s time for bed (again)!

Memphis (the musical, of course)

March 23, 2012

Aurora and James after Memphis
I couldn’t catch a break with our pictures. I had to crop this one weirdly to hide the fact that somehow I smiled in a way that made it seem as though I was missing a tooth. Then I had a much cuter picture…that I totally ruined by accidentally having the flash on on my camera… Rargh.

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have some of the sweetest, most talented friends around? When I come to New York, it reminds me of high school – theater, theater, theater all the time!

Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing my friend James in Memphis. I went into the show basically knowing nothing about it.

It rocked! Adam Pascal was very different from anything I’d seen him in before (which was pretty much Rent and Rent. (onstage and on-screen). So what did I know? He was believable, sweet, charming, and lovely as Huey.

Montego Glover is crazy talented. I’m pretty sure that goes without saying. This cast also had Derrick Baskin, y’all! (Original cast member in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!) I’m gonna have to stop listing talented people. We’d be here all day. Suffice it to say, they have a stellar cast.

When James came onstage in the first big song and dance number, he gave me a little wink. Ah! How special and cool, right? In the second act, he has a big number of his own, and he BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN! You should see this boy dancing and jumping (basically flying, the way he jumps). Everybody (including me, for sure) went nuts.

[Edited to add: The world found his awesomeness. In 2014, he won a Tony for his performance as the Genie in Aladdin.]

What a fun show! At the end, the audience was up, out of their seats, dancing.

After the show, I met James at the stage door. After he was finished signing autographs for all the lovely, excited fans, he said, “Come on,” and he brought me backstage. What, what? I know. Celebrity treatment, right?

logo for Memphis the musical on BroadwayWe went and hung out on the stage and talked. (Yep. That’s right. Just chillin’ on a Broadway stage. No big.) He is such a sweetheart! It felt as though we hadn’t talked in forever. But he’d kept tabs on me a little through social media.

In my dream world we’d all have time for everyone all the time. But since that’s not how it is, I thought it was nice that he cared about what I was up to, and sort of kept a little pulse on my life. He asked me a bunch of great questions, and is an amazing listener.

Within 3 minutes, he made me feel amazing about myself. He’s inspiring, and full of compliments. I want to carry him around in my pocket so I can always be dreaming, and always thinking I’m great and capable of everything.

Eventually, the time came when it was time for him to meet his family. I sadly said goodbye and went out the stage door.

As I opened the stage door, a large group of people waiting there cheered loudly. I think that before they saw me, they may have thought that I was Adam Pascal. I had a small desire to try to pretend that I was in the chorus, grab some sharpies, and get to signing those Playbills. Instead, I came clean that I wasn’t in the show, but that I really appreciated the applause, nonetheless.

James Monroe Iglehart singing in Memphis
Got this from Playbill.com

The fun crowd and I were just beginning to laugh and talk and be friends when an actual actor in Memphis came out, so I quickly exited the area and let them have their moment.

I don’t know if you remember, but when Memphis won the Tony, there was all this complaining about it from random places (you know…mainly the internet). I heard often that Memphis wasn’t all that special. Going by other people’s attitudes and such, if James weren’t in it, I probably wouldn’t have checked it out. And I would’ve missed out on something great. I’m pretty sure it was my favorite thing I saw all week (and I saw 5 other shows (which you will hear all about soon)).

I guess what I’m saying is, Memphis is awesome. Go see it. And people don’t always know what they’re talking about. Except me. I do know that it’s awesome. So, go see it.

Coming up tomorrow, it’s time to get back in race mode with the NC Half Marathon Expo.

A Few Days in Ohio (Recap)

March 21, 2012

(This was actually another picture from Florida, but it was applicable here.)

I breezed over my stop in Ohio. (It’s been a few busy weeks!) So, let me give you the recap.

Oh, Ohio. I remember when I first graduated high school, and I rushed out of the state as soon as a bus could get me to New York. (And I loved every second of being in NY.)

I used to think that going back to visit Ohio was kind of lame. “I’m a grown up now! I’m busy in a big city.” Blah blah blah. (I was such a little punk, right?) Granted, I really was working a ton. So very much. It’s a little tiring just thinking about it. 😉 So, I really couldn’t visit a lot.

Not all that many years later (let’s get real, I’m still a kid, right?), Ohio is actually sort of cool.

I did a lot of the fun, usual Ohio stuff. My dad lives down the street from a Planet Smoothie(!), so obviously I had that once (twice) a day.

I saw my incredible theater teacher from high school. I’m pretty sure I could write at least four blog entries on how incredible she is. For now, how about I just say that she completely changed my life.

My friend, Staley, and I went to this place I’d never heard of called Katalina’s for his birthday. Thank goodness I’m doing so many half marathons, or I’m pretty sure I’d weigh about 300 pounds after this extended vacation from which it seems as though I’m never going home. Luckily, we didn’t eat any full portions – just tried things here and there. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to move to leave.

We had these Swedish pancake balls with Nutella inside, sweet and spicy bacon with maple syrup, a white chocolate and strawberry cupcake, and more. Is this putting you in a mood for a run, or what? Or maybe a mood to eat.

Staley posing with our smorgasbord on his birthday
Staley with part of our smorgasbord on his birthday.

While in Ohio, I visited my friend Josh. He works at a movie theater and was able to get us free tickets to Friends with Kids. Score.

Speaking of my time with Josh, we also went to eat a delicious new food creation. You know how I never shut up about how much I adore Doritos? Well, have you heard that there is this new thing – Doritos Locos Tacos – at Taco Bell? The tacos were everything we dreamed they would be. Yum.

Speaking of Doritos, while in Ohio, I was talking to one of my friends about how my half marathon training was going, and how nutrition was playing into it. I said, “Well, it was going really well for a while. Then I sprained my ankle. Then I got lazy for a bit. Then – ”
He finished my sentence. “Then you found a bag of Doritos?”
“Yeah! How did you know? Oh, do you read my blog?”
“No, I know you.”

One thing I really enjoyed in Ohio was all the music that came sweeping back into my life. Four of us hung out and sang barbershop together. (Am I, or am I not a total nerd? ‘Cause I feel as though I kind of come off as a complete nerd sometimes in this blog.)

Josh's parents after our delicious dinner
Josh’s parents after dinner. I was going to take a picture of the dinner, but we got distracted by eating…

I also gravitated toward my piano. I remember the Christmas when I got it, and I immediately sat down to play, as though it had always been mine, and belonged underneath my hands.

I’m not the best piano player, but I do enjoy giving a highly emotional rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream.”

Josh’s mother (an award-winning cook) made me and her family a very delicious dinner. Josh’s parents have been so supportive of me for forever. It’s always nice to see them.

Possibly the biggest highlight of the trip: I went with my dad to help him pick out his running shoes(!).I can’t wait to see how they work out.

What an enjoyable, whirlwind trip.

Come back tomorrow for a post about my hilarious sister.

Non-Running Fun in Washington DC

March 20, 2012

Fareed enjoying learning at the National Air and Space Museum
Look how much we’re learning at the National Air and Space Museum!

As you know, I stayed with my lovely friend Fareed.

I have a bunch of little sweet Fareed stories – such as the time he planned a whole birthday night for me of all my favorite stuff, but suffice it to say, he is awesome.

Sometimes I feel as though all I do on this blog is blabber on how about how wonderful everything/everybody is. What can I say? It’s been an amazing (seemingly never-ending) vacation. I’m stopping by a bunch of my favorite people/places/things. How can I not love everything?

Don’t worry. I’ll be a little less starry-eyed beneath rose-colored glasses once I get home at the end of the month. But, we are forbidden from thinking about going to back to Los Angeles for now.

Fareed has such a fun apartment. He and his two great, friendly roommates have inspiring quotes written in chalk all over the walls. It’s super cool.

Speaking of cool, I forgot how much I missed singing with him. He grabbed his guitar off the wall. I was a little hesitant to sing in front of him (I just don’t do it nearly as often as I should nowadays, and he’s super talented), but before you knew it, we were singing “Rolling in the Deep” in harmony. Goodness, can that boy sing!

big family gathering around a dinner tableFareed had to work on the day of the half marathon, but we still had plenty of hang out time while I was there. We spent a little time at the National Air and Space Museum. (Did you know that Washington DC has tons of free museums? (As I said in a post a few days ago, Washington DC is dope.)

We went out to dinner with Fareed’s huge extended family Sunday night. (It was almost Persian New Year.) I made two wonderful new friends. Shadi almost ran a half marathon once, but ended up not doing it. I know she of course can though. Now, she and I have plans to run a marathon in Antarctica in a few years. (Super tentative plans, and a few years may mean many… but we’ll see what we can do.)

Nima and I are going to run half marathons (maybe full marathons) in every country in Europe. Of course, I started looking up my adventure with Nima right after dinner. (How could I not? It sounded so fun.) Here’s the problem. Apparently, many European countries do not host a single marathon or half marathon. I suppose we’re just going to have to organize a bunch of half marathons throughout Europe. It’s gonna be hard, but probably wildly fun – and we’ve got time.

silly selfie of Aurora, her friend, and his young relative at dinnerI started my conversation with Nima saying, “What’s your dream in life?” He asked if I wanted the realistic one or the crazy one. Obviously I wanted the crazy one. I had a feeling that the “crazy” one was going to be the awesome, fun, and still possible. And it pretty much was. He said he wanted to walk (or bike) through all the countries in Europe, continue through Asia, and down into Africa.

We started looking up mileage, and thinking about how far you could go in a day. These are just estimates, so don’t let these numbers plan your big quest through 3 continents, but we came up with the idea that it could take anywhere from 3 years (if you bike a good amount every single day) to 30 years (if you walk the whole way and take a lot of time to sightsee.) 3 years sounded stressful, always moving and maybe not seeing a lot. 30 years sounded really long. That’s why we just compromised on the one year of lots of running through Europe.

It kind of seems as though this year of small adventures very well may lead me into many more years of adventures. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

(#8) Rock ‘n’ Roll USA – Part 3 (Meeting Up With One Of My Favorites At The Finish)

March 19, 2012

Aurora giving a big smile with her Rock 'n' Roll USA 2012 medalContinuing from yesterday…When I started mile 13, I was about 3 hours and 3 minutes in.

I thought it would be nice to finish strong, but more importantly, it’d be nice to not literally melt into the road beneath me.

Even though I finally got to travel downhill, I still had a rough time. My body was over it. All I wanted to do was jump into the biggest pool of ice that’s ever existed. (Obviously, I was going to push forward, even if I had to do it slowly.)

And slowly I did. I finished in just under 3 hours and 23 minutes (3:22:53). That last mile and a tenth took oh such a long time. But I made it! And what were they passing out at the finish? Towels that had been soaked in ice water! Thank you, Competitor Group! I draped that sucker over my shoulders and felt like just maybe, I might not die.

A text came. It was from David! He was there!

Aurora wrapped in the arms of one of her amazing friends at the finish of Rock 'n' Roll USA 2012I made my way out of the finish chute, and happened to see someone I’d been smushed against in the Metro that morning. I said hello and asked about her race. Right when I said that I needed to go find my friend, someone behind me said, “Aurora?” I turned around and standing there in the flesh was David himself.

I threw my arms around him! He hugged me right back. A real honest-to-goodness hug. Not a “half-pat, you’re sweaty, don’t get too close to me” hug, but a “you’re my friend, and I’m so proud of you and happy to hug you right-now” hug.

And I had that dripping wet towel on me! So embarrassing, right? He might not have known that that was ice water and that I wasn’t quite that sweaty. He real-hugged me in spite of all that water all over me, having no idea what kind of water it was! He is amazing, is he not?

He is… I can’t… Man, how do I explain? David is brilliant. He speaks Mandarin, and well, does a bunch of other smart people stuff, but isn’t that a good enough example?

He’s crazy talented.

He is incredibly sweet.

David, in all of his wonderfulness, fought through traffic, and crowds, and re-routed buses, and craziness, and found me at a humongous running event! (Amazing, or amazing? ‘Cause I’m gonna go with amazing.)

David Petrick's promise to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with Aurora
This is the promise he made me on the back of a receipt at dinner. It’s in writing, baby!

He even took care of me(!) – carrying some of my things and filling up my water bottle.

We walked to get burgers at the delicious Good Stuff Eatery. He kindly walked there slowly with me, knowing how tired I was. See, he’s patient too. I have yet to find a flaw of his.

We got burgers – he had a mushroom one since he is yet another friend of mine who doesn’t eat meat.

He was amazing at keeping the conversation going while I’m pretty sure I was suffering from a partially melted brain.

After lunch, alas, he had to go do a bunch of boring grown-up stuff. I walked him to the Metro station and bawled my eyes out. I didn’t really, but I did inside. And I sent him off with some scene-making fake crying.

I am lucky to know him. What more could I want at the finish of her half marathon than to have David stranding there? Great friend. Great race. Great city.

Next week: North Carolina.

(#8) Rock ‘n’ Roll USA – Part 2 (The Heat – The Hot, Hot Heat)

March 18, 2012

Aurora with hands up coming into the Rock 'n' Roll USA finishYesterday, I left off talking about that hill around mile 6. I was sweating profusely.

I cannot get across to you how hot it felt. Go take a walk on the sun, then come back and read this; you’ll pretty much understand.

My pace started to slow. I was dragging up that hill. As I was going up, I couldn’t help but think about how much incredible work is ahead of me until I tackle Mt. Kilimanjaro!

As the race wore on, I came to a spot where they were giving out bananas (the first time I’d seen that on a course)! I was stoked.

I happily peeled back that banana peel, and as I brought it to my mouth, plop! It slipped out of my hands, onto the ground! So depressing. I was too far past the banana people to warrant going back.

I realized why bananas may not be a course favorite – there were banana peels everywhere! I almost slipped on one – I’m sure missing out on one hilarious pratfall. I realized how slippery that area was, and successfully maneuvered through it. (Thank you, tap-dancing through high school for some mighty fine coordination.)

I saw some great spectators at this race – people dresses as the Flash, and Elvis… and many groups dressed as their fun, rowdy selves.

Aurora running (mid-stride) at Rock 'n' Roll USA 2012Being that it was St. Patrick’s day, I passed a lot of people out drinking. One group had a sign saying, “You keep running, I’ll keep drinking” (as they drank from a humongous bottle). Some people even gave out beer around Mile 8.)

People had put up “Worst parade ever,” and other silly signs, down one of the emptier parts of the course. I really appreciated that.

A woman held a sign that said, “Free pugs at the finish.” Of course, that a little bit made me want to run the other way, being that I’m terrified of dogs and all.

I also saw some great shirts saying things such as, “Please let there be somebody behind me to read this,” and “‘Dead Last’ is better than ‘Did Not Finish.'” One of the best ones said, “There is no finish line.”

The course was super cool. We got to go by the Washington Monument, and run toward the Capitol Building. We ran by the beautiful riverfront. It was very Washington-DC-y.

Back to the heat, the hot, hot, heat, we all kept pushing through. I know I kept slowing down. Luckily, I don’t feel alone. Many runners said they went up to 15 minutes slower than they had hoped, just trying to deal with the heat.

Aurora posing with arms outstretched at Rock 'n' Roll USA 2012At one water stop, I poured water down the back of my shirt. I only did it once. I didn’t want to be too wasteful. (Also I’m super vain, of course, and wanted to come into the finish looking all cool and breezy – not all wet). I have learned, though! Forget vanity! By Mile 13, we were all dying.

I saw somebody’s legs in front of me giving out. Someone’s body was basically shutting down before my very eyes. He held onto that fence thing (fence, I guess is actually maybe the word I’m looking for) that surrounds most of the final mile.

Backing up to mile 12 – I kept telling myself, “If you don’t feel as though you can go fast, act as though you can, and you will.” I had some sweet songs come on my iPhone.

I acted my butt off, making a bunch of facial expressions out there, and was able to pull out some nice jogging. Once mile 12 was over, it was really getting to the point where my legs were saying, “You best slow down, girlfriend, because I am not going to cooperate with you if you don’t.”

I can’t wait to pick up with Mile 13 tomorrow.

(#8) Rock ‘n’ Roll USA – Part 1 (Rushing To The Start)

March 17, 2012

crowded subway in Washington DC on the way to Rock 'n' Roll USA 2012
This gives you an idea of the fun crowd on the Metro.

As I mentioned yesterday, I knew that the lovely David Petrick was going to be waiting for me at the finish, so I was ready to do this thing!

When my alarm went off this morning, I realized the phone I thought had been charging all night, actually had not been charging at all.

I woke up with about 40% battery. Knowing I;d want to use my runner app and listen to music, I gave my phone every last second to charge, until I had to book it down to the Metro.

I thought I was running a bit late (which I guess I sort of was, sort of wasn’t – in that I wasn’t in my corral when the first start gun went off, but once I got there, I still had over 30 minutes before my corral started).

Being that I thought I was a little on the late side, I was shocked to see the incredibly packed Metro. I felt so bad for the two people who got off at other stops. They were probably just going about their Saturday, then all of a sudden – “Where am I? What did I get myself into?”

The Metro was full of great bonding. I met Dawn who lives in New York and is looking for someone to go see more musicals with her, so I’m pretty sure that obviously means we’re going to be friends.

subway station full of runners in Washington DCAfter all the runners finally made it to the stop, it took forever for our Metro car’s door to open. It was kind of hilarious. We were so close, but yet so far.

Once we were able to exit the car, there was yet another crowd waiting to get up the stairs and out of the station. (And in DC, you have to insert your Metro card when leaving the station too – so foot traffic got really backed up with a crowd this size.) But we all made it out in time.

Once above ground, I ate a delicious banana. I love that RnR events have fruit around before the race. While I’ve been traveling, I’ve been awful about bringing fruit. So, this was lovely.

Sometime around 8:40am, I crossed the start line. By the end of mile 1, I was already sweating profusely. Dearest race directors throughout the universe, I am begging you not to ever start a race at 8am. At first it was exciting to read that I could “sleep in,” but when I realized how much freakishly hotter it is to race later in the day, I was over the “late” start.

I learn a lot as the year goes on. Two weeks ago in New Orleans, I learned how incredibly important it is to get some walking and stretching in right after you get off the bus. I implemented that, and felt awesome – not bus-lagged at all. (Boom!)

Washington Monument with some runners in front of it during Rock 'n' Roll USA 2012In this race, I think the big lesson was to check the forecast, and bring options for a lighter running outfit.

I have my basic race outfit which I’ve worn to pretty much every race – but it consists of this heavy hat, black pants, and cotton shirt (over a technical shirt). It’s an awesome outfit for racing, but it was absolutely killing me today. Around mile 3, I was ready to start shedding layers until I’d run into the finish naked. (I did not do that.)

I really pushed myself during this race. I had 13.3 minute miles going during my first 5k. Slowly but surely, I slowed down throughout the race. (10k – 1:30:06, 10 miles – 2:31:28.) People had been talking a lot at the expo about the hill that was going to bother everyone around mile 6/7.

Pssh! I thought. Silly. A hill. We’re all strong. We’ll all handle it. Toward the middle of the race, when I was mildly convinced we were all going to die from the heat, I came upon this big-ol’ seemingly-never-ending hill. I realized, “Ah. This is what they were all talking about. Okay. It is hard after all.”

Do I make it through the hill? Do I make it to the finish? Find out more tomorrow.

Rock ‘n’ Roll USA (Washington DC) Expo

March 16, 2012

Brooks Running Carnival at the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon Expo 2012Washington DC is dope!

There are bikeshares everywhere. Public transportation here rocks. It’s a healthy, pretty city. Not to mention what really makes it great – two friends live here, one of whom I’m staying with, and one of whom will meet me at the finish line tomorrow!(!!!)

When I told my dad that David freaking Petrick would be waiting for me at the finish line, my dad said, “Oh, you’ll be running toward David Petrick? So, you’ll be doing it in what, fifty-nine minutes, then?” I’m sure I will delve into how much I adore David soon enough. For now, suffice it to say I love everything single thing about him.

The expo today rocked! Remember Chris from Brooks Running from the New Orleans Expo? Well, check this out –

Chris from Brooks working at the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon Expo 2012
Chris from Brooks keeping busy, earning his keep.

#1) He straight up remembered me! When I went up to him, he was all, “Aurora!” So, that was cool.

(Even though he admitted to never having read the blog – even while knowing I’d mentioned him in a post. So, I assured him I’d thoroughly badmouth him in this post.)

#2) He is moving on up in this world! He’s gone from cool, Brooks ambassador guy to a more superhero, super-management guru (notice, if you will, the t-shirt from last time vs. the “I’m serious” shirt of this time).

Chris helped me pick out some sweet running socks. (I generally hate socks, so I gotta get some great ones for running.)

Hey Brooks, I was about to say give this guy a raise. Then I remembered, you just promoted him. So…good job on that.

This expo was chock full of games, wheels, plinko boards, arts & crafts, and video projects. Companies brought their A games! They really, really wanted us to bank with their banks, use their insurance, drink their milk, run their races, and all that good stuff.

Geico booth at the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon Expo 2012
Geico booth

I spun the wheel at the Geico booth, and landed on “mystery prize.” Spoiler alert: it was a Geico Pez dispenser (which I did not know existed)!

Yet again, I stopped by the chocolate milk booth. I know. I cannot even get started again on my confusion as to whether or not milk is good for me. However, I will say they actually had a physician there, and he said milk absolutely does not leech calcium from your bones. Score one point for milk?

Back up to when I was asking the milk people if they’d heard about the leeching calcium stuff – they were all, “No, of course not. In fact, we have a physician here. Talk to him, for sure.”

I looked over, and everybody was getting this guy’s autograph and taking pictures with him. The little sign about him said he was a marathoner and a triathlete, even doing an Ironman. I thought, yeah, those things are super cool. I wouldn’t expect doing them would make him this popular, but that’s really nice that people care so much about those accomplishments. Nope. Turns out he had been “The Bachelor.”

That makes you look really fast mirror at Brooks area Rock 'n' Roll USA half marathon expo 2012
Brooks makes everything fun, down to the mirror you look in when you try things on.

He seemed genuinely surprised/impressed about 52 half marathons in 52 weeks. I wanted to be like, “dude, you’re an Ironman.” Nonetheless, he was very nice.

What a great expo, followed by dinner with my incredible friend Fareed (who’s graciously opening his home to me this weekend), and his fun group of friends.

Now, it’s time for sleep! I’ve got a race tomorrow!

Odds and Ends from Orlando

March 15, 2012

Aurora posing with her friends Wendy and Marty in front of a puzzle on a tableGreetings from the Greyhound bus.

As I’m heading to my 5th city in 4 weeks, I thought I’d catch up on some odds and ends that got pushed to the side by other posts.

Remember Becky –  Marty’s absolutely lovely mother who had compliment time and everything? (Golly, she’s so sweet.) On one of the days we went to Disney, we learned that she is a hula-hooping champion! (Seriously, she won a contest, hula-hooping hooped for 40 minutes straight.) She showed us her skills in a hula-hoop area (which I didn’t know existed) in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

And don’t even get me started on how fun the Toy Story ride is. You shoot virtual things at various screens throughout the ride. I usually hate virtual stuff, but I love anything in which trying to win is involved. Marty pretty much kicked everyone’s butt at this game. I could’ve easily, literally done nothing but that ride all day until I played it like a boss.

Do you know how Wendy and Marty like to start the morning? They like to drink smoothies and watch Jeopardy!! I am obsessed with game shows. (I totally avidly read Ken Jennings’ blog…and subscribe to his weekly trivia email. I may or may not be sort of a nerd.)

Aurora De Lucia on 1 vs. 100
(I’m in the bottom left corner of the lit boxes. You can click the picture if you want to make it bigger.)

Fact time: I’ve been on a game show – 1 vs 100. If you’re bored one day, feel free to play “Where’s Aurora?”, seeing if you can spot me in the crowd. Heads up: The group I was part of was the Mensa members, so the show had me wear glasses. (Funny, right?) You can watch a few episodes here. (Episode 3 is my favorite.)

[Edited to add: Later, I was also on Price is Right.]

Annnnnnyway, back to the super fun Florida rental house, we also had a great time doing fun puzzles. What I mean by that, is usually Wendy (and sometimes others) would be doing all the hard work. I’d put in about 10 pieces, as though I was really helping. Even if you put in one piece, you get to sign the back of the puzzle when it’s finished.

 

We left a puzzle for whoever stays there next, and now it has our secret messages for them on the back. They’ll have to put the puzzle together to read them. (Spoiler alert: The messages aren’t that secret. They basically say that Wendy did most of the work and I admit to glomming on… Or is that what they say? I guess you’ll have to put it together to find out, next rental house guests!)

I also skipped over going to the oh-so-sad Greyhound bus station. Marty and Wendy were the greatest troopers to put up with me on March 1. I refused to go to bed after leap day, because I wanted to be really, really tired going into my bus ride (and I didn’t want to miss a moment of fun in Orlando!).

Becky hula hooping at Walt Disney World
Becky showing off her hula hoop skillz

Like the sweethearts they are, they went along with that plan. (I’m so glad, because I slept almost the entire 16 hours to New Orleans, which is totally the way to do that trip.)

During the time between leap day and the bus station, I’d go through phases –  I’d get my second wind and seem really awake and normal, then I’d get super tired and quiet. Wendy said I seemed like jello – if you poked me, I’d move a little, then go back to just sitting there still.

Then there was a phase where I thought I was awake and really wanted to be part of the conversation, but I’d kind of make some nonsensical, backwards sentences.

Nonetheless, they kept hanging out with me, and paying attention to me (I think. Unless I was so tired that I thought I was talking to other people, but was really only talking to myself). They just really are so lovely.

Their kindness blew me away – letting me stay in their rental house, and tag along to Disney all the time, taking me out for the best smoothies on the planet. (Obviously that means Planet Smoothie, in case you were wondering. But how could you wonder, considering that’s an established fact in this world?) They’re really, really great. (I meant Wendy and Marty, but that goes for the smoothies as well.)

Come back tomorrow to read about the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA expo.

Adding a FULL Marathon?!

March 14, 2012

Aurora and Caylan
Me and my hilarious sister

While we’re talking about planning the schedule…

I’ve asked my sister a few times if she’d like to do some running events with me. She loves being athletic – playing softball and volleyball. Our dad is doing his first half marathon this year. So why not her too?

She would never have it. “Running? Boring. Hard. Pointless.” Etc.

I figured she would be a lost cause, until one day, whenever she finds something that made her want to run. I’d be here whenever she was ready.

I mentioned to my sister, “There’s this thing called the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World. It happens to fall on the very final weekend of my 52 in 52 challenge. It’s a half marathon on Saturday, followed by a full marathon on Sunday. I think that might just be the best/most exciting/biggest thing to end on.”

My sister: “Oh, a DISNEY race?! Let’s do it!” This idea that I had only put out there in passing has now become her new obsession. She is oh so into it, that’s she’s totally gotten me into it. The Disney races aren’t my favorite races… But this will be a big, fun challenge to end on. (I think. I mean, if you’ve got better ideas for January 13, 2013, hit me!)

If I do this Disney one, you know what that means, right? I’m going to have to run an additional full marathon this year.

I have dreamt of my first marathon for four years now. I don’t want to do one in an admittedly fun place, but a place that isn’t too significant to me for no other reason than “just because.”

Marathon medal from 20th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Marathon (2013) - It says "all our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them"
(Spoiler alert: I did do the Goofy Challenge, and it was in fact inspirational, amazing, and all-around wonderful)

Don’t get me wrong. I am incredibly inspired by Walt Disney. I look up to him a ton, and want to be a lot like him in many ways. However, running-wise, the Disney races don’t really mean anything to me.

I’ve actually been signed up to run a marathon twice in my life. (Let’s hope the third time’s the charm.) I had the time of my life running the 500 Festival Indianapolis Mini in 2009. I was becoming utterly obsessed with running. I signed up to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona marathon taking place in January 2010.

In January 2010, I was in Massachusetts General Hospital every few days getting my blood taken to make sure my blood thinning medication was working – since in December 2009, I was in the hospital for a week with a blood clot on my heart. I also had my meeting with the heart surgeon for my open heart surgery the week of that race. So much for that marathon.

I was cleared to exercise again on June 22, 2010. I struggled a ton coming back (but that’s really a story for a whole ‘nother post). A few months later, I registered for Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle taking place in June 2011. It fell right on my birthday. I thought it would be the best way to ring in my next year. I have family that lives in Seattle, and I had gotten my uncle and cousin revved up about doing the half.

They did the half, and of course experienced incredible joy. I just couldn’t get it together. I wanted to so badly. I struggled way more than I would ever care to admit (but will go ahead and freely admit) while coming back from all that surgery/hospital business. So, I just didn’t go to Seattle.

Aurora running at Rock 'n' Roll Seattle 2012
At Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle – not doing my first full marathon, ’cause I’d already done it earlier in the month…

This can finally be my year. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle half is already on the schedule. I could easily switch it to the full. There aren’t any races I need to do for two weeks leading up to it, so I will most likely have the freshest legs that I’ll have for the whole year. It won’t quite be my birthday yet, so I could still run the race within the same year that I had originally planned to run it.

I’m 98% sure that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle FULL marathon is going in the books. It’s just crazy. I didn’t plan on doing any fulls this year. It just seems so… incredible, breathtaking, magical, (insert your own words here).

I guess play time is over, my friends. It’s time to prep for a grown up race now!

[Edited to add: Later in the year, I changed my mind, and decided to make my first marathon the week before Seattle – The Mohican Marathon. It was important to my family to be at my first marathon, so I agreed to run one in Ohio (even though it’s on a trail!).]

Making the Schedule (aka What in the World Have I Done?)

March 13, 2012

Aurora De Lucia making a silly little stressed face Hey there!

I keep thinking about blogging some odds and ends from the Florida vacation that were pushed back by other things (and possibly a few more thoughts about the awesome Book of Mormon, since apparently only two posts on one musical still might not cut it).

Instead, at the end of the night for the last two nights, when I’ve thought about what to blog, I’ve just reached for some go-to posts that I’d been saving for times I didn’t otherwise know what to post.

Why, when I have so much to talk about, would I need to go to some blogs in storage? Because at the end of the day for the last few days, my brainpower has been totally wiped. I have no thoughts left except those focusing on future races.

Originally, I thought, “Oh, while I’m here in Ohio chilling at my dad’s house, this will be a perfect time to get the year in order – see some friends from high school for a few hours a day, work on the schedule in all my free time, and bing, bang, boom. Everything works out quickly and perfectly.”

Well, I didn’t take into account that even just trying to plan things in the pretty immediate future – time for all my friends from high school, a bus ticket to DC this weekend, a place to stay in Charlotte, North Carolina next weekend, a way to see every person I know in New York when I go back next week, and of course see oh, so many shows there – would take up a lot of time in itself.

I am so unbelievably thankful that I’m getting some time in the midwest/on the east coast and that there are so many wonderful people in my life who want to (or are at least willing to) hang out with me. And I am SO pumped about all of these races. None of this is a burden by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just a little more tricky and a little more time consuming than I originally thought.

You might think it would be easy to just go to any number of websites that have a schedule of all the half marathons all over the country throughout the year, and then pick out a bunch and call it a day. Or you might be think that one could just fly by the seat of one’s pants all year (which is totes what I’m doing right now).

Aurora De Lucia in a close up making a stressed face
Yeah, I got a little camera happy acting stressed and used two stress-posing pictures. I think it’s pretty well established I’m a complete ham for all cameras everywhere, always.

But here’s the thing, in order to maximize your medals (which is obviously of utmost importance ;)) by doing as many series as possible, and to help people be able to meet up with you throughout the year, you kind of have to have a really great idea of what you’re doing.

Some series (such as Rock ‘n’ Roll Heavy Medals) have tons of different choices, so you build those races around the series (such as the Beach Cities Challenge) that are precisely three races with no wiggle room or race decisions to be made by the racers.

It’s surprisingly hard to put all the puzzle pieces together.

My schedule isn’t etched in stone, but I feel good about the fact that it has an awesome shape, and is almost completely made at this point!

At this point, 7 half marathons in, I’m going to predict that the hardest part about the 52 in 52 challenge is the logistics – planning the schedule, planning the travel, figuring out where to stay, keeping registrations and receipts and plane tickets and bus tickets and everything organized, and all that jazz. Just getting up in the morning and completing 13.1 miles 52 times this year will not be the hardest part. At least, I don’t think that yet. Maybe check in around race number 30, and see what kind of song I’m singing then…

Humongous shout out to Gary from Xterra Snow Valley who heard about my fun 52 in 52 adventure and gave me a free race entry! So, let’s all go run that together as a big thank you for the kind-heartedness! (I hear that Johannah‘s in.)

[Edited to add: As thankful as I am for Gary’s kindness, that race didn’t pan out because the person I was going with got injured at the last minute. Yada, yada, yada.]

Also, a big shout out to Chris from Petaluma Moo-Cow Half Marathon for giving me a very steep discount on that race. I feel like a celebrity with all this special treatment! Chris, Gary, thank you both very, very much.

And hey, 52 weeks of half marathoning, bring it on! I’m ready for you!

Do I Regret Doing a Half Marathon on Crutches?

March 12, 2012

Aurora De Lucia coming into the surf city half finish line after a half marathon on crutchesShort answer: Absolutely not.

I thought I would give a post following up on the most recent time I did something a little crazy.

You know how sometimes, when people do sort of crazy things, other people are curious as to how it ended up panning out for them? In case you’re curious about how all of this turned out –

The day after the race, I woke up unbelievably sore. I did not want to move. My arms were more tired than they’d ever been in my life. I didn’t want to lift them for anything.

I am fortunate enough to live in an apartment building that has a jacuzzi. I pretty much lived in that jacuzzi all week. Within a couple of days, I was feeling as though I could pretty much function again, which is good since I had a half marathon in Palm Springs the weekend after the one on crutches.

If I had been able to hobble along the entire course as quickly as I made it through the finish, I would’ve been a much more deserving candidate for such a crazy challenge.

I mentioned before seeing pictures of someone else crossing a finish line on crutches, and how that had inspired me to do it. Of course, she was in way better shape than I am. She had been running full marathons every weekend for a while (probably with times as fast or faster than my times when I “run” my half marathons).

Aurora De Lucia under the finish line banner of the Surf City half marathon 2012I really had to concentrate during the race on not overcompensating. My hip and knee were getting a little worn out because I was putting pressure anywhere I could, to try to keep it off my ankle. This is something I had to keep in mind in the next few races after this one as well. My body could function the way it’s supposed to (especially after my ankle got much better). I just had to let it (…without overcompensating).

As far as I can tell, I didn’t do any extra damage to myself. I feel great and am unbelievably excited to tackle 45 more half marathons this year. I had an incredible day at Surf City. Onlookers, for the most part, made me feel like superwoman.

I don’t regret doing this half marathon. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I knew it was something I would finish, and I feel proud that I did. I think it’s awesome when we human beings can test ourselves, and push ourselves in a new way – and be reminded that we are all capable of so much!

I’m definitely going to work on slowly but surely getting in way better shape, though. With whatever other crazy challenges come my way, it’d be nice if I could take them head on in a good, solid way – instead of barely hanging on by a thread. (But goodness, did I ever hang onto that thread!)

Have you ever done anything kind of crazy that other people maybe thought was incredible (or stupid)? Did you regret it? Did you love it? Did you fall somewhere in between?

I’d love to hear from you!

Catch Up: Xterra Boney Mountain 6k – January 8, 2012

March 11, 2012

close up of Aurora and Erin smiling and holding their medals after the Boney Mountain 6k 2012Woo hoo! As of this post, we’re all caught up on the string of running events I started 7 weeks before this blog.

This race was a real turning point for me. I really have to give it up to my awesome friend, Erin, for inadvertently starting me on my crazy path.

In the 5 weeks (and 6 races) leading up to this race, I’d come into work excited to talk about what race I had just done, and what one was up next. I was always inviting people to run with me, but generally everyone thought it was such a silly idea. “You want me to pay money so I can wake up early on a weekend and go exercise?”
“It’ll be SO fun.”
“Um, doubtful.”

Then one night, I was telling Erin about how I was on the fence about running that weekend. This was before I’d made any kind of official goal to run every weekend. I was saying, “You know, I guess it’s pretty cool that I’ve been running every weekend. But how long am I really going to keep this up? There are very few races this weekend, and they’re pretty far away, so I just don’t know…”

She jumped in and said she’d actually been wanting to run with me this weekend. Music to my ears! Someone was finally willing to go running with me! We decided to do the Xterra Boney Mountain 6k.

As all the racers gathered by the start line, the race officials said over and over, “No matter what you do, follow the blue arrows! Do not follow the red arrows or you’ll end up on the 21k path, which is not where you want to be.”

I made a little comment to Erin – “Gee, I haven’t looked at a single map. I hope I don’t get lost.” We laughed that off. How could I possibly get lost in a race?

scenery Boney Mountain 6k 2012
Some scenery.

I was toward the back of the pack. I’m always slow, and I was trying to be so kind to my body since I had pushed it way too hard the previous weekend.

This was a fairly small race, so the back of the pack was more thinned out than usual. I was in front of a few people, but there were lots of twists and turns, and narrow passages.

Before you knew it, even though I wasn’t actually all that far from people in front of, or behind me, I was alone.

There was this area where it got really, pretty narrow for a little while. I am not an outdoorsy person, which maybe seems a little counter-intutive since I’m out doing half marathons all the time, but I hide from the sun as much as possible, and I’m totally afraid of animals.

I was a bit freaking out, but I obviously couldn’t quit a race! I grabbed onto my clothes as though I was wearing a dress, and ran through the area pretending I was a Disney Princess – doing my best faces while looking all around me, pretending a huntsman was out to get my heart.

Somehow I did end up making it out of there and back to the wider parts of the course. Then, as I was passing photographers, I saw, no joke, a coyote!!! I am so afraid of animals! I asked one of the photographers if I really, honest-to-goodness saw a coyote. Super nonchalantly, he was all, “Yeah, there are a bunch of coyotes here.”

What?! What have I gotten myself into?

Boney Mountain Xterra 6k 2012 Narrow Scenery (blurry)
Narrow area (photo taken during scared, Disney-esque running)

Finally, I’m getting really close to the finish. I’ve done about 3.5 miles. I know it’s coming up soon.

I come to this area where a red arrow is pointing right. A blue arrow is on the other side of the street pointing forward. I can’t go forward (there is no actually forward ) – only left or right, but I figure since it’s on the other side of the street, they must mean left.

I get lost and go over an extra two miles. (I have the absolute most awesome sense of direction, obviously.) I finish at least 10 minutes after the last 6k finisher. I felt so silly!

Nonetheless, it was a fun day and a good workout.

When we went to work the next day all proud and happy, my friend Matt said, “It’s really cool that you’re racing every weekend. You should keep this up.”

Maybe I should, Matt. Maybe I should. (And that was how this started.)

Kinsale St. Patrick’s Day 4 Miler

March 10, 2012

Aurora and her friend Jaime posing with their medals at the end of the Kinsale St. Patrick's Day 4-mile raceMy friend Jaime is a rock star.

(She’s not literally a rock star – performing on stage in front of thousands of people (even though she is a great singer), but, you know, a figurative rock star – a freakishly amazing person.)

She is around six months pregnant (and still so super tiny), and she did a 4-mile race today! Granted, we just walked the whole thing. But, she kept a mighty awesome, quick walking pace.

She could easily keep a conversation going while moving quickly. I think I kept up with her pretty well, but I definitely had to work to make sure I did! She is fast and fit. She’s one incredible pregnant woman, walking two miles almost every day, eating incredibly healthy stuff, and always keeping a positive attitude.

And she’s so cute. She said she was going to hang the medal in the baby’s room and tell her little girl how they did the race together. Adorable, right?

Guess who else did the race with us? My dad! If you’ll remember, he did his first 5k in Los Angeles a few months ago. And he’s doing his first half marathon with me in May!

Daddy at dinner after the Kinsale 4 miler race, giving a huge smile
We forgot to take a picture of my dad right after the race, so here he is at dinner afterward.

And, if all that’s not enough, he’s got a 5k coming up next week. I am so proud of him.

(By the way, I forgot to mention, I’m in Ohio now. I’m just kind of making my way around parts of the east coast, having a grand ol’ time.)

My dad lives about a mile away from my favorite food place ever in the history of the universe – Planet Smoothie! I had some awesome fuel before the race today.

When we got to the race, I spun the wheel at WNCI’s booth and got some free swag (t-shirts and movie passes)! (What could be better pre-race fun than playing games, and winning free stuff?)

The race went through a neighborhood and around a golf course. We saw light beautifully bouncing off a lake as the sun went down.

Neither Jaime, my dad, nor I could figure out why they decided on a 4-mile race instead of a 5k. I don’t know if that has significance to anybody or anything. I enjoyed doing 4 miles, but this was the first 4-mile race I’ve seen. Are you familiar with other 4 mile races?

Also, super shout out to M3S Sports in Ohio. I was doing this trip/race last minute, and I saw the day before that the race had sold out.

cute, pregnant Jaime after Kinsale 4 miler
Look at how cute and tiny she is!

I sent emails to both contact emails I could find on the website, begging and pleading about how I’m visiting Ohio and I’m racing every weekend – and how my wonderful, fit, pregnant friend wanted to get into racing… And is there any way in this world that there are some secret spots available?

It turned out there were! There were only 10 spots they set aside for I don’t know what, but I know they let us have 3 of them. I guess it never hurts to ask, right?

They really made my day by letting us in.

I’m really glad I was able to find a race that gave a medal in town over this weekend. (I want to do at least some race every weekend this year, but it’s certainly not as fun without the bling.) There was not a ton of stuff going on in Ohio (or even the surrounding states) this weekend, so I really lucked out.

Most of all, though, besides the medal, and the race itself – I’m so very glad that Jaime, my dad, and I all got to do the race together!

New York, New York! (You have my heart.)

March 9, 2012

Aurora De Lucia on a plane posing wearing a stranger's hat
I loved this stranger’s hat… so I took it for this photo

You’ve already heard about the insanely incredible Broadway show I went to see.

(I absolutely did not have the patience to stay in chronological order and talk first about the trip there. After I saw that show, how could I talk about anything else but that?)

Now, let’s back track to the plane ride into this magical city. When I woke up in New Orleans on my big travel day, I almost cried tears of joy. Seriously. I was going to New York City!

When I first moved to California 8 months ago, musical theater songs would come on my iPhone, and I’d have the single tear going – knowing that New York is so far away, it might as well be China.

When I put Rock ‘n’ Roll Washington DC on the calendar, I knew I’d have to go to NY while I was out there, because how can you physically go to Washington DC and not stop by NY? I don’t think you can. I think if you get that close to the greatest city in the world, magnets bring you home.

But, this trip was a special surprise two weeks early. The moment I found out Jared was going to be in The Book of Mormon, I made that last minute decision. When I woke up, it hit me – I AM seriously, no joke, for real going to New York freaking City – TODAY!

My heart was beating SO quickly. I thought it might beat straight out of my chest!

I got to the airport, and every time I was in some long, slow line (such as security), I’d ask the person next to me, “Guess where I’m gong?!” I couldn’t keep my excitement in! I was like a 5-year-old in a candy/Justin Bieber/toy store.

Digital Welcome to Laguardia sign in New YorkWhen I got on the plane, I saw a number of people from the New Orleans half marathon.

At the layover in Chicago, someone who had also done the race happened to find me. We ended up talking through the whole layover. By the time we got on the plane, we were already so familiar and having so much fun, the woman in front of us thought we were traveling together.

Brian was super fun, already cracking jokes about me – when the woman told us not to worry ’cause her baby was quiet, he joked about me being the loud one to worry about.

Brian is so adventurous! New Orleans was his first half marathon. Now he’s going to start planning vacations in fun, far away places based on which running events are occurring at the time. So cool, right? One race and he’s hooked! (Isn’t that how it always is?)

Our sweet, kind, awesome flight attendant had great jokes. He came over the speaker and said, “Is this anyone’s black wallet?” Everyone looked up. Then he said, “It’s my wallet. Now that I have your attention…” Everyone burst into laughter.

As I said before, I knew I missed New York. I guess I just didn’t know quite how much I missed it. When I was finally actually in the city, and I first saw perfection outside of the cab’s windows, my shoulders immediately fell to a more comfortable place. I didn’t even realize I’d been holding them tightly! It seemed as though I was able to breathe about three times as deeply. Every single fiber of my being knew I was in New York.

When I got to Times Square, I just wanted to hug the sidewalks. (I didn’t, but I sure did come close to sprawling out on the ground, and trying to hug every inch of the city I could find.)

I could not be happier that I took this trip. Now, if only I could make this trip once a month (week) (by week, I mean day)…

The Book of Mormon (The Musical, of Course) – Part 2 (The “Line Family Fun/Jared is Amazing” Chapter)

March 8, 2012

new friends playing games passing time in the Book of Mormon standing room line
Peter, Kristin, and Lauren playing Botticelli (or at least re-creating playing it for our fun photo-op).

Continuing from yesterday, finally, around 10am someone else showed up. Yee haw!

7 different people came and went at different times within the next hour and a half, flabbergasted that the line was so short.

They were ready to wait, until they each learned that The Book of Mormon does not have matinees on Wednesdays.

Around 12:30, the party really started picking up when Peter and Kristin joined the line. Time flew by as we played Botticelli. (It took about 400 years for us to finally guess Will Wheaton. (Good job, Kristin.))

If any of you are curious as to what time you need to join the standing room line for Book of Mormon tickets, around 3:15 there were 12 people, so that was the point of danger territory – you might get shut out if you came after that. (Of course, this was a Wednesday in the middle of one of the first weeks of March. So, who knows, really?)

A little after 4, one of my friends from high school stopped by to say hi to me! (He had already seen the show. We actually saw the final dress rehearsal together about a year ago.)

Kristin’s friend, Lauren, also showed up around that time. Around 4:30, we all enter the ticket lottery. Kristin’s name gets called! I’m so happy for her and Lauren. They now have front row seats to The Book of Mormon!

The lottery guy moves on to calling the names for the box seats – and Lauren’s name gets called! Lauren and Kristin offered their extra pair of box seats to me and Peter if he wanted, but he decided to stick it out and wait for a pair of standing room tickets, so that he and his friend would be able to see the show together.

As we wondered what to do with the 4th ticket, the girls and I thought why not call Tom, the coffee guy, who waited for hours with me in the morning? Tom came on down to see the show. Isn’t it nice when everything works out perfectly, all tied up in a nice little bow like that?

People who'd won the Book of Mormon lottery with a sad person behind them who didn't win
They won the lottery! But Peter didn’t. That’s his sad face. Wah wah.

I had close to two hours until show time, so I booked it to Penn Station, went in the bathroom, ripped off my gazillion layers of clothes, changed into a dress, and walked quickly back.

The show was incredible. Seriously. As I said, I’d seen it before (and I listen to the soundtrack all the time). I guess I had somehow forgotten in the last 8 months that Broadway is magical. Seriously, honest to goodness, magic.

There is an entire level of happiness and love in this life that I forgot all about while living in California. There is nothing in this world like seeing a Broadway show.

Jared was phenomenal (no surprise there!). I had seen him in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (my favorite show ever) a few years ago. He had this incredible ability to take this kinda annoying character and make him actually, truly lovable. Jared has this incredible quality onstage – you can’t help but love him. (He exudes that quality off the stage as well, actually.)

And don’t even get me started on his wonderful voice. From the moment I saw The Book of Mormon a year ago, I knew that Jared would rock this show like no other. And he did. I had waited so long to finally see him in all of his glory, and I’m unbelievably glad that I was able to!

As I watched some of his biggest moments onstage, I thought, “Look at him! He’s singing his heart out, center stage in a Broadway smash!” He deserves every bit of this awesome-ness.

After the show, we talked for a little while. Jared is one of the most genuinely nice people I’ve ever met. He first met me when I was this totally dorky, musical theater obsessed teenager. (I guess actually not all that much as changed.)

He has always been super duper nice to me since day one. I cannot say enough nice things about him. I will be a total fan of his forever. I cannot wait to see what’s next in store for him! (And I can’t wait to hopefully see him in this show again. It was far too amazing to only see once!)

(p.s. I say more in part 3.)

The Book of Mormon (The Musical, of Course) – Part 1 (The “Waiting for Tickets in the Night/Morning” Chapter)

March 7, 2012

Aurora with a big mouth open smile in a sweatshirt outside The Book of Mormon on BroadwayAn extremely talented, lovely friend of mine – Jared Gertner – is understudying one of the lead roles in The Book of Mormon.

Far, far away in California, I am ridiculously happy for him (and pained for me) every time he goes in. I have been absolutely dying to see him rock the part of Elder Cunningham ever since I first saw the show last year. I knew he would blow everybody away and bring the house down. Today was finally my day to see him in all his glory!

As you know, I’ve been on the east coast lately (for the Disney Princess Half and Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans. Once I signed up for New Orleans, it kind of seemed silly to fly all the way back to Los Angeles). Forget flying back to Cali! I’ll play around the east coast until it’s time for my next race.

On my last night in New Orleans, I wrote Jared, letting him know that I was finally back in the general area of the east coast, and if he went in the show, he absolutely had to let me know.

Within minutes, he had written me back, letting me know that he was on for the whole rest of the week through the Saturday matinee. What?! Oh my gosh! One of my dreams is now possible!

I immediately changed my ticket to fly into New York. Late the next night, I was back at (what feels like) home in NYC!

Around 3am, I headed to the theater. As you’ve most likely heard (assuming you’re hip to the musical theater scene at all, and if you’re not, we should probably change that), The Book of Mormon is the hottest ticket in town. It is next to impossible to get. But, 20-25 standing room only tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis every show. They go on sale one hour before show time.

I had heard of people camping out for tickets. In fact, when I was still living in NY, I had asked the box office out of curiosity what time you should get there for standing room tickets. They said very early. They told me people bring sleeping bags, so get ready.

my luggage all alone outside the Book of Mormon while waiting for standing room only tickets
all my luggage with me in the wee morning hours

I figured I’d go early in the morning/in the middle of the night and give my whole day to this adventure. I arrived at the theater a little before 4am. To my astonishment, no one is there waiting yet.

Around 4:30, a man walks by me. I say, “Every time someone  walks by, I hope they are here to get in line for The Book of Mormon tickets, and they have yet to be here for that.” Turns out he had just gotten off work from the coffee shop down the street, and he stopped and talked to me for – get this – 3 1/2 hours! He wasn’t even actually waiting in line or anything. He was just a stranger keeping another stranger company. Cool, right?

In the middle of the night, it actually was getting pretty cold (at least, cold to me as someone who unfortunately doesn’t live here anymore). I didn’t even bring a coat with me. (I didn’t realize I’d be coming to New York on this trip (that originally started as being one weekend long).)

I still had my luggage with me, since I came straight from the airport. I ended up throwing on 5 shirts, 2 sweatshirts, 3 pairs of pants, and 2 pairs of socks. My new, very nice stranger/friend, Tom, went out and brought back a blanket!

Tom eventually had to go get sleep. (Boring, right?) As the sun came up, I sat bundled almost beyond recognition on a busy Manhattan street, while people on their way to work looked at me as though I was crazy. (Although, what do I care how people are looking at me? I am guaranteed tickets to The Book of Mormon tonight, suckas!)

Around 8:30, I was getting quite tired. I wrapped the straps of one bag around me and sat on my suitcase. I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was convinced I had slept away hours of my wait. 15 minutes had passed.

Lots of fun things happen in the standing room only line. (And the show is incredible!) I can’t wait to tell you more tomorrow!

Manning’s – The Sweetest Restaurant in New Orleans

March 6, 2012

Aurora after eating at Manning's restaurant in New Orleans
(In a bit of a food coma here, but at least a very happy one!)

After the half marathon, I happened upon this place called Manning’s. I took a look at the menu, and most of the appetizers had pepper jelly on them. Sounds weird, right?

I asked what pepper jelly was. Everyone standing by the hostess stand said it was so awesome. They explained that it was a very sweet tasting sauce that they all thought was incredibly delicious. I was a little skeptical, but figured it didn’t hurt to try something new.

I sat down and was greeted by the sweetest waitress I’ve ever met. It’s worth going to Manning’s just for Kandice. Since I was in New Orleans, (vegan friends (Wendy and Marty), close your eyes), I wanted to try some meat I’d never tried. So, I ordered some duck wings.

They were freaking delicious! Also, I’m addicted to pepper jelly now. The name is misleading, because it sounds weird, and pepper doesn’t make me think of anything sweet. But, it is num num num. I didn’t think I’d like wings that were sweet. (I like spicy stuff!) But, seriously, yum.

I wasn’t super duper hungry after that, but I just had to try the poutine (which I’d never even heard of before). All of the people I’d met in the restaurant said it was an absolute must.

Chili cheese fries are in my top favorite foods, and poutine is fries with pork, cheese, and the new pepper jelly I adore so much. I told Kandice I needed to go on “break” from eating. lol! She was really patient as I kept being all, “um, 10 minutes from now?” (She comes back in 10 minutes.) “I’m so sorry. Can I just have 5 more minutes?”

Now, if you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking, “Well, Aurora, it sounds like you didn’t need any more food if you needed to prep for it like that.” Okay, well you might be right. I know being healthy is great, and moderation is great, but I did need more food, because these were crazy good! Don’t worry too much, though. I had a few bites and took the rest to enjoy later.

Mannings logo
(credit: Manning’s logo)

I don’t want to oversell this place, but I’m gonna go ahead and say it was probably the best experience I’ve ever had a restaurant. Yep. I’m saying it.

The hostesses were sweethearts. Kandice was my new friend. The food was all brand new to me, and it tasted incredible! The restaurant was wonderfully well themed with football plays drawn on some walls, and inspiring quotes on others. There were even pictures of the Manning family on the ceiling if you looked up.

After I paid, I scribbled a tiny thank you note to Kandice for her awesomeness on the back of an extra receipt. As I was leaving, I looked at t-shirts with Kisha (the hostess (another new friend of mine)).

(Side note here: I saw that the t-shirts said est. 2012! That’s right, Manning’s is brand new. I’m getting on this bandwagon early, people.)

Anyway, while I was talking to Kisha, Kandice ran over and gave me a hug! How sweet of her! We all took a picture together and said goodbye. So sad. Between the best expo yet, the incredibly fun race, and the best meal I’ve ever had, New Orleans has got me! I’m already ready to go back, and I just left today!

The cab driver on the way to the airport told me to come back next month for Jazz Fest… I wonder if there are any half marathons happening in New Orleans around that time… 😉

(#7) Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans – Part 2 (Justifying Being Slow :-P)

March 5, 2012

Aurora De Lucia leaning forward with a huge open mouth smile, holding up her medal from Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans half marathon 2012Yesterday, I left off around mile 7. At that point in the race, I was still doing pretty well.

I’d been pacing to beat my time from last week’s Disney Princess until mile 8-ish – but I’d been struggling to keep up since mile 1.

There came a point when I thought, “It’s just not my race.” I knew I’d be well within the time limit, even if I just sauntered the rest of the way. So, I started walking.

I allowed myself a few minutes to beat myself up about it. “Oh, Aurora, you shouldn’t have had fried crawfish for dinner last night. You should’ve gone for a nice, really long walk and stretched better after your 16-hour Greyhound bus ride, you silly, silly girl.”

Those things probably mattered a little, but I’m not an elite athlete. (I’m not even a regular, ol’ athlete, really.) I can’t blame a slower race on small details. I had complete control over those details. I could’ve tried to set myself up for a faster race, but I didn’t… And, you know what? I don’t care that I walked about 5 miles of the race. I had an incredible time.

Running is my hobby. It helps take away stress. I cannot allow it to become stressful. (Have I convinced myself yet that it’s okay for me to not improve with every single race – or to not even always stay at the same level as the race before? I know you guys have already moved on – “Geez, girl, I get it!”)

Aurora jumping in the air with wide open smile at the finisher area of Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans 2012After I stopped caring about my time, I pulled over to the side and took pictures and videos of some fun bands (and some of those awesome spectators I talked about yesterday). I went around giving high-fives to fun strangers. I walked and danced to Michael Jackson in my ears as he told me to ease on down the road. I just had a silly, fun time. I loved it!

Earlier I said I’d decided it wasn’t my race. But you know what? It was! I don’t care that I crossed the finish line 3 hours, 37 minutes, and 36 seconds after I crossed the start line.

(I heard someone at the start joke about how once you pay the money to do a race, you should try to be out there as long as you can to get your full money’s worth!)

There were tons of spectators lining the finish as I ran in. (I loved hearing somebody say, “Look, she’s smiling.” (Although, you’d think we’d all be smiling once we can see that finish line.))

Annie, from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena expo was there welcoming runners to the finish, and she remembered me! As I ran past, she said, “Look who it is!”

Just as they promised at the expo, they had chocolate milk for us at the finish. It tasted so good! I was skeptical at first. I don’t think I’d ever even had chocolate milk before.  I LOVE regular milk so much. Why would I ever need chocolate?

Aurora leaning forward in a big grassy area holding up her Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans medalBut, it was totally delicious (which makes me so sad because of the little debate we’re having in the comments section of the post that mentions getting milk at the finish line). I want milk to be really, really good for me and to not leach calcium from my bones!

After the race, I met tons of wonderful new friends! Danielle from New York said she’d go see a Broadway show with me in the next couple of weeks when I’ll be up that way for a half marathon. (DC, NY, it’s all the same. If I’m going all the way to DC, how do I not make a stop in the greatest city in the world?)

Kathryn from Mississippi agreed to do her first half marathon with me! We’re shooting for one before my 52 in 52 challenge is over. I told her I was gonna put it in the blog and she said that means the pressure’s on! You know it, girl! [Edited to add: There’s no link ’cause it didn’t happen. Ah, so many dreams and plans. But alas, they don’t all come true…]

This half marathon gets a gold star for sure. I can’t wait for Rock ‘n’ Roll USA in Washington DC. It’s got a lot to live up to after this!

(#7) Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans – Part 1 (It’s Party Time!)

March 4, 2012

Aurora De Lucia and Annette, her new stranger-friend in a smiling close up in their corral before the start of Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans 2012I am so glad I decided to do Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans!

I started in the party corral. (At least, I like to think of it as the party corral since we were all having so much fun – me and my brand new friends (aka strangers only minutes ago) Annette, and first timers Sean, Shemane, & Melissa.)

I ended up starting at the very front of my corral. So when I took off to an empty road ahead, for 5 hot seconds I pretended like I was actually racing (to win) a half marathon.

There were awesome spectators at this race! Some of the proceeds went to benefit the American Cancer Society, and woman held a sign saying, “Thanks! – survivor ovarian cancer 6 1/2 years – stage 3.” She high-fived a bunch of us as we went by.

Speaking of high-fives, these kids made signs, and they were all about cheering for people as we passed. Multiple people thought the kids were cool and stopped for pictures with/of them, so hopefully the kids felt good about their good deed.

3 kids holding signs at the "official high-5 station" they made at Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans half marathon 2012Yes, I realize how hilarious it is that just last week I was talking about all the traffic from picture taking. We had wide roads here. People stepped off to the side for pictures. I tried to use good picture taking etiquette, as did everyone else I saw. I didn’t experience any traffic jams.

There were tons of families that came out to watch the race together. It was adorable. There was a family with a young kid in a stroller. The mom would point to runners and clap. She was teaching the little kid early on how awesome running is. I thought that was so cool.

There were cheerleading squads from various schools. Shout out to the girls from Gretna Middle school for having tons of enthusiasm both times I saw them, and for giving tons of high-fives and screaming for everyone who went by!

Some people came out with sweet signs such as “Dear Stranger, you’re my hero.” Some people had funny signs including “You’ve got stamina. Call me tonight.” There was even a group of people who brought a makeshift beer area for people around mile 9-ish.

Aurora running by the gate leading people into the finish of Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans half marathon 2012There were rocking volunteers as well. I loved when they’d say anything because of their super cool N’Orleans accents.

Not only did this race have energetic spectators and sweet volunteers, it had incredible runners. I saw a man who was kind of limping (in mile 1). I’m assuming he’s fighting back after an injury. I saw a woman whose shirt said, “I have triplets. What’s your excuse?”

I have a feeling there were thousands of inspirational stories surrounding me. (Heck, anybody who was out there, no matter what his or her story was, finished a half marathon, so I think every one of them is inspirational!)

Speaking of inspiring runners, there were Army soldiers who did the whole thing with their big packs on their backs, one carrying the American flag. Incredible.

Fabulous spectators, volunteers, runners, but don’t forget about the bands! This is my 3rd Rock ‘n’ Roll event of the year, and they always have fun bands playing their hearts out for us. But, there was something special about the New Orleans bands – there were a bunch of jazz bands here! I passed tents with tubas thumping, saxophones singing, trombones blaring. It was wonderful.

a guy in a funny hat with a makeshift beer station during Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans half marathon 2012Now that the whole 13.1 mile scene has been set, let’s bring it back to the beginning. In the first mile, I saw a few people run into the McDonald’s. I’m sure they went just to use the bathroom, but I got a kick out of the idea of runners going up to the counter with their bibs on – “yeah, may I please have a Sausage McMuffin?”

The first few water stations were on the left side of the street in this race. I thought it was a little odd, and I’m sure it probably drove some of the fast runners crazy to have slower people merging into their lane. I’m not fast, so it didn’t affect me. I just thought it was odd.

Around the end of mile 6, I was thinking it’d be nice to have a little pick me up. Lo and behold, as we came into mile 7, there was a water/Gatorade station. Sweet business. But they were out of Gatorade!

Will I make it through to the end without that great rush of electrolytes? Find out tomorrow.

Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Expo

March 3, 2012

People posing excitedly outside the Brooks Running bus at the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans expo
Chris from Brooks is getting us ready to get our stride on. Kenny is beside him. Kristin is getting ready for her first half!

Best expo yet.

Brooks Running rocked this expo. They basically set up a carnival, complete with games and a show. They even had a bus with treadmills. You could run, and they’d take a video of your stride, show it to you, and tell you what kind of shoe to get. Everything about their area was awesome!

I became totally obsessed with this skeeball game. You had to get to 26.2 miles before one of the other three players did. I lost by a hair 3 times in a row. I knew I needed to get out of there, or else I’d be playing skeeball all day and miss the whole expo.

I did a quick run around the expo. It was the fastest I’ve ever gone through one. I picked up pamphlets for a couple of races I hadn’t seen advertised before. Running a race so far from where I live is super cool. I get to see things from a different perspective, and hear about a bunch of east coast events.

fortune teller machine, themed athletically from the Brooks Running area at the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans expo 2012I also saw a chocolate milk booth for the first time. They were making videos and giving out swag. It was a pretty sweet booth – too bad there was a carnival in the expo(!), stealing a bit of their thunder.

They said we’ll get chocolate milk at the finish tomorrow, so that’ll be an exciting change of pace. I hear SO many different things about milk.

I’ve heard it actually depletes your calcium. I’ve also heard that it’s one of the best things you could drink after a running event. Do you have any opinions on this?

After a quick sweep through the expo, I ran back to the party that was the Brooks Running carnival. In my first round back at skeeball – I won! Aw, yeah!

Then I went to get my stride analyzed. I’d always heard that that’s definitely how you should buy running shoes, but I’ve never been cool enough to get running shoes in a store that has treadmills set up with employees who’ll watch you run. This was my chance!

Aurora having a little medal put around her neck after winning at SkeeballAfter my new friend Glen watched me run, he leaned to his coworker and said “I think we might have a Dyad.”

They got excited, which of course made me excited. When I asked why we were so excited, Glen said it was because it’s very rare for someone to have a Dyad as their correct shoe. (In fact, Brooks actually made this shoe specifically for me. (Not really.))

What’s so special about my stride, you ask? I have some kind of special shape and most importantly, even still, there’s no over-pronating for this girl, ya’ll! (Party music plays.)

Have I mentioned this carnival theme is so awesome? They even had this silly, fun, little show in which a lizard jumps off the stage, and this tiny little girl ran away screaming. It was super cute (but I bet she didn’t think so!).

As of now, Brooks is winning sweetest set up, and I am stoked they’ll be in Washington DC as well!

Deddie working the register at Messina's in a food court in New OrleansAfter the expo, I took a little walk around the River Walk Marketplace. I stopped at Messina’s and Deddie made my first Po’ boy ever.

A random person in line walked up to me and out of the blue said I had great skin, immediately making them my new friend. They told me to try the crawfish po’ boy. (They had me at “good skin,” so whatever they suggested, I was going with it.)

And it was delicious.

What a fun day! Now I better get to sleep. I’ve got a half marathon in the morning!

Leap Day at Walt Disney World – Part 2 (Gotta Power Through ‘Til 6am)

March 2, 2012

Aurora De Lucia holding onto a bar at Walt Disney world as her friend pulls her out to the exit at park closing time
I don’t wanna leave…

Continuing from part 1 –

I had somehow made it through the crowd into the Magic Kingdom. My everything was tired – my brain, my body. I felt like they should almost have finisher medals for people who made it through the whole day!

I was incredibly single-minded when I walked into the park. Must have funnel cake. Must. have. funnel cake. Somehow I fought through the crowd to Liberty Square. Once I had my food, I just melted into a puddle of a person, hunching over at a table, picking at it.

I didn’t mention this before, but earlier in the day I’d been a contestant in the American Idol thing they do inside the park. You should’ve been there! Let me tell you, I left all my energy out on that stage. I was dancing, running around, crawling around.

I think on a normal night perhaps I would’ve been less tired – on a night where I’d been fighting for your life/love (on the American Idol Experience stage), it made me all that much more ready for a nap!

Aurora De Lucia fell asleep sitting up on the ferry leaving One More Disney Day (Leap Day 2012) at 6am
…5 minutes later on the ferry going toward the car.

My phone had died hours earlier, so the party trio had made a plan to meet at out locker at 1am. I killed some time riding some long, chill rides (such as Carousel of Progress). Then I headed over to the locker (plopping down on the floor in the process).

Wendy and Marty showed up with Doritos! Mmm, mmm, mmm. They are such sweethearts, aren’t they? (Talk about people who deserve participant medals from this night – the ones who dealt with the 24-hour, refuse-to-sleep, crazy, more-crankypants-than-usual people – are the most deserving of all (especially when they come bearing Doritos.))

Marty asked how I was doing toward hitting every ride in the Magic Kingdom. I said I’d only done about three. When he asked how that was possible since I had been there for about 4 hours, I realized that a large part of my night had revolved around that funnel cake – time to find it, a crazy humongous line that curved all the way into another store, a long time to wait for it to actually be made, then some time picking at it…

Aurora De Lucia belting at the American Idol Experience
(From the American Idol experience earlier in the day)

A little after 3am, one of my friends from high school(!) got off work (at Disney), and we met her at Space Mountain (my favorite ride). We rode it 3 times in a row! (I can’t believe I didn’t even know there were 2 different tracks in it until she told me.)

Before we rode it, Marty said he didn’t like roller-coasters. After the ride, he said he actually kind of liked it. (In fact, he liked it enough to ride it twice!)

After that, we ran over to It’s A Small World and were able to get on the very last boat of the night! (A bunch of rides closed at 4am. Small World was one of them.)

We checked out the People Mover (and since Space Mountain had closed by that point, we got to see it WITH THE LIGHTS ON! Can you even believe it? I couldn’t.

My friend Alison reminded us that Snow White’s Scary Adventures was closing in May, so we made sure to hit that. Before you knew it, it was 6am and the park was closing. I often times see children leaving Disney basically sleeping while “awake,” but I finally saw adults walking out like zombies as well. Disney did it. They finally tuckered out the grown-ups.

Aurora De Lucia at the American Idol Experience in Walt Disney World onstage with the host, holding her number
(One more from the American Idol experience)

Some people just did not want to leave. A few minutes after 6, there were still people in the middle of the park just sitting there. Maybe they wanted to be the very last ones to walk out. Maybe they were just too tired to move one more muscle. Who knows?

I wonder if anyone did all 24 hours then when straight back at 9am when the parks opened again…

We went straight from the Magic Kingdom to truly the happiest place on earth – Planet Smoothie – since it was morning time and businesses were open.

Later that same day, I left for New Orleans.

Leap Day at Walt Disney World – Part 1 (24 Hours at Disney Begins)

March 1, 2012

seeing screens of empty boats coming down Space Mountain at Disney Leap Day 2012
Every screen at Splash Mountain’s picture preview area showed completely empty boats. Empty.

In case you missed it, Walt Disney World was open for 24 hours to celebrate leap day. I took that as a personal challenge to stay there the whole time.

We got to Disney before the sun came up. First ride of the morning – Splash Mountain.

We stood where you can see the boats coming down the drop. Here comes one! Empty. Next one. Empty. Third boat. Empty! That’s right – empty boats, one after another.

We walked right onto Splash Mountain with no wait. No one even got in our log when we were getting out.

Once Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) was open, we headed on over there. The feeling was that if Magic Kingdom was staying open until 6am, we should take advantage of other parks as much as possible during the regular day.

Aurora playing with the musical wall outside the Haunted MansionOriginally, I thought, “Oh, if Disney is open for 24 hours, wouldn’t it be cool if we could try to hit every ride in every park?” (I think it’s possible that I just heard a few of you say “HA!” to that preposterous idea. Right on with that reaction, because it is kind of a ridiculous thought.)

Though I do think that it’s maybe possible to make it happen if you have meticulous planning, incredible physical endurance, and luck on your side… (This may have to be a real goal for a future leap day…)

In the ghost town that was Magic Kingdom during the early hours, I thought, “Wow, I suppose it maybe could be possible to ride every ride today.”

I didn’t even get close. In fact, I didn’t even get close to hitting every ride in Magic Kingdom alone.

I thought I’d be hitting rides every 5 minutes starting at about 2am when everyone else cleared out. (That idea was completely incorrect. More on that later.)

Around lunch time, Wendy and Marty headed back to the house to do some work and take naps. I went over to Epcot and kept going strong. (Well, kept going at least.) I visited all the countries in the World Showcase, getting my little paper teddy bear stamped in each one.

Aurora posing with some friends at the entrance of Walt Disney World in the middle of the night/beginning of the Leap Day Celebration 2012I also adored spending time in the area after the Journey Into Imagination with Figment ride – the place with all the stuff that asks you to explore your imagination.

One cool thing there was this huge memory game wight light panels stretched across a wall. A stranger ended up taking the bottom half, while I took care of the sequence at the top. It was awesome working together with a random person. We actually did pretty well.

I love anything in Disney that reminds me to keep my mind open and think differently. My favorite things in Walt Disney World by far are those that remind me to dream, or those that teach me something about great dreamers from history. It’s an inspiring place.

After all of that, while Epcot was closing, it was time to go rock Magic Kingdom ‘til the sun came up!

On the monorail, a group of people and I were joking, “Wouldn’t it be funny if so many people came out for leap day that the park was at capacity, and we couldn’t get back in? Hardy, har, har, har.”

part of the crowd to get into Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World on Leap Day 2012
Only a small part of the crowd waiting to get in

As the monorail passed Magic Kingdom, we literally, audibly gasped because of the humongous crowd waiting to get in.

We ran down there, and were able to get in the park. But it was crazy! At that point I couldn’t even hear myself think. First off, I’d been at Walt Disney World for about 17 hours already, but mainly because there were people everywhere. Every. Where.

Did I survive the final 8 hours? (I probably did, since I’m writing this blog.) Definitively find out tomorrow!

Blue Man Group/Kobe Japanese Steakhouse

February 29, 2012

Aurora and Marlee posing with some performers after the Blue Man Group show in OrlandoAs this is auto posting, I’m still at Disney World in hour 21 of 24 at the “One More Disney Day” leap day celebration.

While I’m off gallivanting, I thought I’d talk about a fun night in Orlando from earlier this week.

On Monday, I went to see Blue Man Group at Universal CityWalk with my friends Anna, Marlon, and Marlee. It was an amazing show.

The actors were great improvisers, ready for whatever audience participants threw at them. They were also talented musicians who had everyone dancing in the aisles. It was an incredible, fantastic mix of comedy, art, video, skits, and music. I loved it.

After the show, someone came up to us and said to my friend, “You’re Marlee, aren’t you?” She and her family said, “Yes.” The stranger said, “You’re amazing!” (My friend Marlee is an amazing dancer.)

Aurora and Marlee smiling and posing at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Orlando, FLWhen they asked how he knew her, he said, “[sarcastic tone] Really?” By his reaction, you’d think we were asking him how he knew who Janet Jackson was. It was hilarious and awesome. We got a huge kick out of it.

After the show, we went to Anna’s favorite restaurant – Kobe Japanese Steakhouse (which was perfect, since it was the day after her birthday). The food was absolutely delicious (and the conversation was wonderful to match)!

Dinner, a show, catching up with old friends whom I haven’t seen in probably over a year and a half(!), (sounds like I’m beginning a MasterCard commercial here, doesn’t it? “…priceless”). No, but really, it was super fun.

The me from yesterday (who’s writing this) has to go to sleep to prepare for 24 hours of Disney. (And the me from now has to go ride some more rides!) Bye! (Talk to you tomorrow!)

Becky’s Last Day in Orlando

February 28, 2012

Aurora and friends making sad faces as they say goodbye to one of their group members outside the Orlando, Florida airport (MCO)Slowly but surely, our party posse is paring down. Now we are just the party trio.

Becky (Marty’s mom) went back home today. We all threw a humongous tantrum at the airport. (We didn’t really, but we did in our hearts.)

One of the many lovely things about Becky (that I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned on the blog yet) is her “compliment time.” At random points in the day, she would decide to start complimenting everyone in the room. How great is that? I’m pretty sure we should implement this everywhere in the world.

Before going to the airport, we went to eat at this incredible place called Ethos. Remember how I’m playing a make-believe vegan this week? (Well, I kind of, sort of am when I’m hanging out with awesome Wendy and Marty. But I’m kind of, sort of not when I’m with my other friends.)

Anyway, I was with the party posse today, so I was having fun playing a make-believe vegan. If all vegan foods were as good as the ones at Ethos, I could possibly be a real, honest-to-goodness vegan someday. Maybe… I mean, I do love Doritos so very, very much…

Vegan pizza from Ethos
This looks like any regular ol’ pizza, but it’s vegan!

After we ate and went to the saddest place in Orlando (also known as the airport), we went to Planet Smoothie(!!!) to get comfort smoothies. They comforted us as best as smoothies could.

We came home and tried Cranium with 3 people. (Wendy switched between teams.)

Golly, we sound kind of dorky, don’t we? But, it was really fun! (In case you’re keeping a score of the weekend, I was on the winning team again. Yee haw!)

Tomorrow, I’ll be at Disney for 24 hours celebrating Leap Day – since I assume Disney is keeping the park open that long as a personal challenge to me. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

(#6) Disney Princess Half Marathon – Part 2 (Nicely Themed Race & Funny Spectators)

February 27, 2012

Aurora De Lucia with hands up, celebrating her finish at the Disney Princess half marathon 2012Today, we get to focus on the magical parts of the race!

(Yesterday, I talked all about the congestion and such.)

Not surprisingly, the half marathon was themed very well. Disney had songs playing that matched the moods or themes of the characters who were out for pictures.

(For instance there was an area where “Ain’t No Other Man” was playing that had a photo-op with Disney princes (such as Aladdin and Prince Eric).)

There was also this funny area of men dressed in suits who were holding out glass slippers and singing “You Are So Beautiful To Me.” One man was yelling “I love you” to every woman who went by.

Disney makes it extremely clear that this race is all about the ladies. They didn’t let men start in corrals A or B. The results page doesn’t even list any men as finishers (even though I heard that over 1,000 men ran – I was going to check that fact for you, but how can I without men in the results page?…).

Large groups of supportive spectators watched throughout the race. It was nice to see tons of families out so early in the morning, supporting their mom/daughter/etc. I saw a little girl who saw her mom run by. The girl seemed to think it was the coolest thing ever, screaming as though her mom was  rockstar. It was adorable. (I bet that girl becomes a runner someday.)

Somewhere in Mile 4, a bunch of people started saying, “You’re halfway there! You’re halfway there!” I thought it was hilarious. I even heard an official person say over a loudspeaker, “You’re almost halfway there – just around that corner.” Well, that must’ve been one long corner, because unless that corner was over a mile and a half long, the halfway mark was not “just around that corner.”

Aurora giveing a big smile, holding up her Disney Princess half marathon 2012 medalI jogged most of the course today! That means nothing to real, honest-to-goodness runners, but it was an improvement for me.

Around mile 8, as I was really starting to feel as though walking would be fun, Michael Jackson suddenly came on my iPhone. Shockingly, it was the first time an MJ song played during this race. I pushed forward and kept jogging. As he sang out that he was starting with the man in the mirror, I thought, “That’s right. Me too. Sing it, Michael!”

Around mile 11, it started to rain a bit. It was nice to get a quick sprinkle of water. I finished the race in 3:18:04 – still slow, I know. But faster than I was last week. (And according to my app, I actually ran about 13.7 miles ,with all the weaving around on the course. So, I’m gonna go ahead and choose to feel even a smidgen better about it.)

After the race, Wendy, Becky, Marty, and I all hung out and enjoyed Disney World. I can’t wait to tell you more about my Orlando vacation tomorrow.

(#6) Disney Princess Half Marathon – Part 1 (The Disney Roller Coaster)

February 26, 2012

Aurora and Wendy with their medals, crouching down as they get ready to jump at the Disney Princess 2012 raceTrue to Disney, this half marathon was a 13.1 mile roller coaster – a mix of sudden stops, plenty of turns (with all our bobbing and weaving), and colliding human-bumper-cars. (Bumper-humans, I guess, is what that would be called?)

(Heads up – this was a fun race, so please read anything below that sounds like maybe a “complaint” with love and laughter in your voice. I thought it all was more funny than annoying.)

When we ran through the Magic Kingdom, we got funneled from a wide road into a narrower bridge. As we ran up to the bridge – screeeeech! We stopped suddenly, trapped behind a huge, unexplained traffic jam caused by a large group of people who’d come to a complete stop.

Runners started yelling “don’t stop!” I couldn’t tell what was going on. Some of us finally squeezed around. I started jogging again, thinking we were back to doing a half marathon, when the woman running just a bit in front of me suddenly halted.

I ran smack into her.

That’s when I saw a photographer. I realized the incredible gridlock all throughout that bridge was due to people stopping to pose.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a super ham for the camera, but I try to keep up my pace while being one. After all, I am in a half marathon, so I want some action shots, by golly!

Aurora and Wendy jumping in the air at the end of the Disney Princess half marathon 2012The thing I’m learning about Disney running events is that they are Disney events that happen to involve running, as opposed to running events that involve Disney.

There were areas where people could get their picture taken with characters, and lines would form along the side of the course. Okay, that’s cool. But, I came upon one where the line was curving far into the road, literally going to the halfway point of the street. What?! Why are you lining up that way? Did you forget you were in a half marathon?

At some point, in some race, I have almost certainly gotten in someone’s way. I am far from a perfect runner. I still slow down to walk sometimes. (And I am a silly, dancing walker.) But I do my best to stay out of the way of faster people. I keep my eyes open and try to be as considerate as possible to other runners.

Granted, this Disney race had 20,000 people, so I’m sure no matter what, it was going to be crowded. Plus, Disney races have more first time runners than any other races. It’s possible that a lot of people didn’t know to stay to the right when they’re going slower, or to go off to the side for pictures.

Everybody has a first time, and life is a learning experience. So, it’s okay if everyone doesn’t know everything about everything.

Aurora running in a huge crowd of people by the castle in the Disney Princess 2012 half marathon
(I’m to your left, behind the girl in the yellow. (You can click the picture to see it bigger.))

And half marathons should be plenty of fun. I love half marathons and would love it if the whole world shared that love. So, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. But it was an interesting race to say the least.

It certainly made for a great workout since it gave a nice, little test of my agility and coordination.

The lesson (even in this longer distance race) is the same one I learned at my first Disney 5k and implemented in my next Disney 5k.  Unless you are an elite runner who’s going to run far ahead, be up for walking and picture stops. Go into it thinking you’re gonna have a great morning walk with your friends, and you’ll have a ball.

Encourage brand new runners to try their first race with you, leave your Garmin at home, and have a play run. That’s my advice that I will heed at my next Disney race.

As I said, overall, I did have a super fun time, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it tomorrow.

Disney Tangled Royal Family 5k

February 25, 2012

Aurora De Lucia making a big silly face and gesture at the Disney Tangled 5k 2012Remember the last time I ran a Disney 5k and talked on and on about it? Today, I went in knowing what to expect.

Wendy, Marty, and I walked the whole course and had a great time doing it. We exchanged stories. They told me about the time they shot their Jenny Craig commercial. (Cool, huh?)

We talked and laughed (and I totally hammed it up every time I saw a camera).

It was super chill and barely even felt like a 5k. I thought, “What are these water stations doing here on my morning walk? How lovely.”)

Before you knew it, we were at the finish line!

There was a regular smorgasbord of food at the end. The race was giving out bottles of Powerade (full bottles, people). There were bananas, fruit snacks, pre-packed snack boxes with humus, crackers, chocolate, and more.

When we returned home, Becky (Marty’s mom) was sitting at the table and said “I saw your video!” (A teacher in a music production class I’d been taking put forth a challenge (for extra credit) to learn that dance. Challenge accepted.) We all had a big laugh, and I felt special someone was looking me up and enjoying my dancing silliness.

Aurora and her friends dancing into the finish of the Disney's Tangled Royal Family 5k 2012Becky is such a sweetheart. She’s pretty much my new best friend. Get this – later in the day, at a lull in conversation, she started reading my blog out loud! I’m pretty sure she should do an audio version, because she reads it with awesome inflection. She makes every little detail sound interesting.

She subscribed to my blog today. Woot, woot. My popularity is slowly but surely spreading around central Orlando (or possibly just this rental house…)

One of the members of our super fun group went home today. (Sad face.) Before we took Barbara (Marty’s aunt) to the airport, we all got on the subject of Planet Smoothie (my very favorite place of sustenance in the entire world).

Marty, being a genius, said we should go. I didn’t even think about the fact that Planet Smoothies might exist in Orlando.

Nobody freak out, but there was a Planet Smoothie only three short miles away from the airport!

Aurora De Lucia with Becky and Marty drinking delicious Planet SmoothieBy the time we had finished the greatest smoothies known to mankind, we were at Downtown Disney. We explored for a while (and tried some delicious vegan treats at Babycakes). After we’d walked the whole Pleasure Island loop, it was time to come home for another round of Cranium.

Since Barbara had left, we had to even out the teams. Becky was a wonderful partner. She’s quite smart (and does a really cute charades chicken). But, I don’t know in what universe we thought Wendy and Marty should be on the same team. They’ve been married for 13 years. They have telepathic powers!

Needless to say, Becky and I lost. (Sigh) Even still, it was a fun game. (And we are coming for them next time!)

Now it’s time for bed. At 4am, it’ll be time to wake up for our next half marathon. I can’t wait to tell you all about it tomorrow!

Disney Princess Half Marathon Expo

February 24, 2012

Overview from above of lots of booths at the Disney Princess half marathon expo 2012As I was walking into ESPN Wide World of Sports (where the expo was being held), I just so happened to see Marty and Wendy walking out.

I was already planning on seeing them today (considering I’m staying in their rental house!), but this was impeccable timing.

We made a game plan. They awesome-ly took my luggage to their car, and they went to lunch with their family while I went into the expo.

You know how Plinko looks super fun on The Price is Right? got to play a Plinko-ish game for my first time at the Chiquita banana booth! Of course, the top prize was a banana (as opposed to thousands of dollars)… I did not win a banana.

Chiquita banana plinko game board at the Disney Princess half marathon expo 2012I met John, my brand new friend, at the Marine Corps Marathon booth. He was hilarious. I was telling him how I have to get the Rock N Roll Pop Idol medal since it’s as big as my face. He said that we should refer to it from here on out as the “face medal.” (He was spittin’ great ideas all day.)

I asked him how many marathons or half marathons he’d done, and he said none! By the end of our conversation, I got him to agree to run the Marine Corps half marathon with me in 2013.

(It’s possible that he won’t follow through with this… He has my contact info. I don’t have his. But, I’m gonna go ahead and assume that he is going to email me and we are obviously going to run that half marathon next year.)

[Edited to add: That did not happen. Wah wah.]

After the expo, Wendy and Marty came over (with their fun relatives, Becky and Barbara) to pick me up. We went to this nifty Target – but not just any Target. Oh, no. This was a Super Target, which is something I didn’t even know existed. We got Cranium and bananas in the same store!

Princess outside of a carriage at the Disney Princess expo 2012
(You could get your picture taken with princes outside the expo.)

When we were sitting around the table in the rental home, Marty asked me how I liked blogging. Then, he proceeded to talk about my blog! He reads this blog. No joke. He is possibly reading this sentence right now. (Hi, Marty!) Somebody out there is actually reading my blog (regularly)! Golly gee.

Becky and Barbara made us some delicious vegan fajitas for dinner. I’m not a vegan, but Wendy and Marty are, so I get to play a make-believe vegan for the week.

After dinner, we all sat around for a great game of Cranium! I won’t say who was on the winning team. ((cough, cough) I was.)

I’m pretty sure a re-match will most likely occur this week.

Car Entrance to Disney World - The Happiest Place On Earth Overpass SignI am having such an incredible time with this hilarious family. There is non-stop laughter in this house.

Now I gotta get to sleep! I have a 5k in the morning. I can’t wait to tell you all about it tomorrow.

I Added New Orleans to the List

February 22, 2012

Rock N Roll New Orleans Half Marathon Logo
(photo credit: Competitor Group)

Earlier this week, I was still undecided on which race I’d do next weekend.

I had a list of a couple within a few hours of me. Way in the back of my mind, Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans was hanging out. It seemed a little on the silly side to go to a far away city, in which I didn’t know anyone, just to do another RnR race.

But, in the past couple of weeks, I had the best time couchsurfing at Sven’s house. Plus, I had so much fun at my first two Rock N Roll races… And I’d always wanted to go to New Orleans.

Then I thought about the fact that I didn’t have to come home and fly out again. I could spend a few more days with my friends in Orlando, and just change my plane tickets. (Thank you for no change fees and incredible freedom, Southwest!)

A couple of days ago, I decided to register, put in a request for a place in New Orleans on couchsurfing.org, and take the Greyhound from Orlando to New Orleans. Why not, right?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare to leave my apartment in only 4 short hours and be gone for close to 2 weeks! (Yippee!)

[Edited to add: Little did I know, I actually wouldn’t be coming home for about 7 weeks – staying on the east coast to do Rock ‘n’ Roll USA, NC Half marathon, and April Fools’ race in Atlantic City (plus see some Broadway shows, and just generally hang out, travel, and have an all around spectacular, incredible time.]

I Love Running

February 21, 2012

Aurora running while smiling at Rock 'n' Roll PasadenaI am thankful for running.

In case you haven’t noticed by my pictures on this blog or my super slow half marathon times, I am not in the greatest shape. I wouldn’t even go so far as to say I’m in great shape. Probably even “good shape” is pushing it. 🙂 Nonetheless, I adore running.

I’m always thankful for running. I always know how much I love it, but being out for three weeks because of that sprained ankle drove me nuts! Now that I’m back from my short hiatus, I’m falling in love with running all over again.

A nice, long run(/walk) gently pushes stress off my shoulders. It says, “Hey babe, I am here for you. I promise to always and forever help shoulder your burdens, and remind you that you are in control of so many things… And, it’s time to give up worrying about things you can’t control.”

Running in events makes me feel as though I’m part of a humongous team of runners that surrounds me. We all have a common goal, and we’re there to encourage each other. While at the same time, it’s a very individual sport. I’m there to go at the pace I want, and to sometimes get lost in my own world as Michael Jackson jams pump through my headphones. I love that sense of individualism within a sense of community.

Running adds so much to my life. I don’t know what I’d do without it, and I think it’s incredibly silly that I ever lived a life without it!

Aurora running along at Rock 'n' Roll Pasadena 2012As I said, I’m not fit. I am not an athlete. I’m a human being who needs to run. I don’t use running only to deal with stress. I use it to channel the excitement of good news. I use it as a time to ponder the things for which I’m thankful.

If you don’t run, I would love to challenge you to try. You don’t have to run far, just as much as you can handle. When I started, I could only run half a mile before I was pretty sure I was gonna die. Even still, I can’t straight up jog (without walking breaks) anything longer than a 5k.

Running is hard! But, I find it extremely rewarding.

You are not Paula Radcliffe or Deena Kastor – unless you are in which case, what? How did you find my blog? Please say hello! You freaking rock.

You are you. That means you run as fast as you can, and/or as far as you can, and whatever that is, is a success.

You can carry yourself wherever you want to go if you just free yourself to go there. So, let’s go!

Catch Up: Run for Books (Simi Valley) – January 1, 2012

February 20, 2012

Aurora running in pants and a skirt across the finish line of the Simi Valley Run for Books 5k 2012It almost seems a little silly to still be catching up on races from months ago. But I only have two left, so I figure I’ll finish them out to make the blog feel complete.

(As I’ve said, I started this string of running events 7 weeks before I started the blog. That’s why we’re playing catch up.)

This run for books was New Year’s morning. Let me tell you, I ran the crap out of my legs!

At this point, I was thinking, “Oh I’m sort of a runner again.” Little did I know that trails are the worst ever, and they make running about a million times harder.

I went into the other races smarter, sometimes with general time goals – but always with the number one goal being not to get injured. I luckily didn’t get injured in this race, but I did push myself too hard. I was obsessed with getting a “good” 5k time (or at least good for me).

Alas, obstacles kept holding me back. There were hills, and we were running in the dirt. And it was SO windy – so very, very windy.

The beginning of the race was way downhill. Since so many people around me were going fast, I stupidly felt the need to keep up, so I started too quickly. Basically, what I’m saying is, I was a total mess. And I’d almost done the 10k instead! I’m so glad I only had to endure 3.1 miles of this.

The whole staff was incredibly friendly – probably one of the friendliest staffs yet. But the course just killed me… (Well, I kinda did it to myself.)

Of course in the final mile, there was a person behind me that I decided I just had to beat. She made some really great efforts. There were times when she busted out some nice running, but I was not gonna have it. If she ran, I ran! If she ran faster, I ran faster! She gave me a great workout for sure.

a little empty mountain scenery at Run for Books 5k 2012After the race I thanked her for pushing me to do better. She said she was doing her best to catch up to me, but she realized I was just not gonna have it that day. We had a nice little laugh about it.

This race wasn’t too long after the one in which I’d finished dead last. The people in front of me back then acted like I did today, not allowing me to pass them – no matter what happened. I guess sometimes you’re the pusher, and sometimes you’re the person who gets pushed.

Either way, you’re getting a better workout and interacting with other human beings. So, it’s fun in either spot.

(Of course even with the fast downhill beginning, and being pushed in mile 3, it still took me 47:19! Did I mention how windy it was? And how there was a lovely part where we were facing the wind – uphill?)

After the race I had a nice little 3 mile walk to the train station. Nothing like topping off a 3 mile race with a good ol’ 3 mile walk.

(#5) Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena

February 19, 2012

Aurora De Lucia running over the floor banner that says Pasadena 2012 (at Rock 'n' Roll Pasadena)As I was waiting to start RnR Pasadena (in my far-back corral) I heard the race announcer say Joey McIntyre’s running today! What?! Everybody out of my way!

A magical power surged through me. I pushed everyone aside, leapt forward seven corrals, and became an elite runner who could easily keep pace with Joey the whole way.

That didn’t happen at all. Well, he did run the race. (You can see the photo on his twitter.) I didn’t actually cause a scene or push anybody. (But don’t even try me if Chris Kirkpatrick runs one.)

I kept my eyes open a bit on the large turnarounds. Is that him?! Nope. Aw, shucks. (Then again, what was I gonna do if I saw him whiz by me? “Joey! I love – aaand you’re gone.”)

I thought maybe if I pumped up some New Kids in my iPhone, perhaps I could summon him. “Step by Step! Oh, baby!”

I know it doesn’t really work that way, but it would’ve been so cool if it did, right?

Aurora De Lucia looking a bit tired as she finishes out Rock 'n' Roll Pasadena 2012I don’t ever look at the elevation map before a half marathon (which I’m sure is a brilliant idea). I always figure it’ll be a pleasant surprise when I get out there. What a fun surprise this one was. (There were plenty of hills to keep us busy.)

Tons of people were cheering all along the course. When I yelled out, “You’re awesome” to a group of girls holding inspirational signs (who’d been out there for hours), they yelled back “you’re awesome-et!” Huge thanks to everyone who came out and cheered for strangers. (You are the most awesome!)

In case you haven’t been following all the ankle drama, this was my first half marathon that I was able to run again (as opposed to walk). By mile 4, I was totally in heaven.

I didn’t care about my finishing time today. (Then again, when do I ever?) I just wanted to have a nice, super fun, exciting half marathon. I took some good ol’ wide turns, high-fiving spectators and some other runners behind me. I would run some, walk slowly, run again, etc.

I came in with a time of 3:30:27. If only I hadn’t gallivanted around so much, I could’ve done it in under 3:30 (which is what I generally try to do… for now, anyway). But, you know, it was my first one back after my little injury. No pressure.

Mark McGrath with his hands in the air at the Sugar Ray concert after Rock 'n' Roll Pasadena 2012
(the Sugar Ray concert after the show)

(Plus, who in the world (besides me) cares about a 27-second difference on such a slow time? We can start worrying about 27 seconds when it comes to qualifying for Boston.)

As I ran into the finish, there was sweet Annie (from the expo yesterday), in all of her race announcer glory. She high-fived me and said, “There she is! We’re gonna see a lot more of her this year. This is only the beginning.” You got that right!

Surprisingly, Joey McIntyre hadn’t been waiting for me at the finish. Bummer.

Non-bummer: I made it in time to catch the tail end of Sugar Ray’s rocking show. (I just want to fly!)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Expo

February 18, 2012

Chris, Brian, and Toni at the Dodge Booth Rock N Roll Pasadena Expo
Chris, Brian and Toni keeping the party going at the Dodge booth. (They said if I took a picture I had to put it in the blog, and that they were gonna check. Did y’all check?)

Can you believe it? It’s already time for another half marathon tomorrow! Time to get prepped.

I went to Pasadena to pick up my bib (and super sweet t-shirt). I met a bunch of fun people today, and got some random free stuff. Here’s a little gloss over of the expo.

I went to the Dodge booth ’cause this guy,  Andrew, handed me a card, and told me to go get it scanned and I’d see what free thing I won.

I told him if I didn’t win something good I wasn’t going to be friends with him. (Apparently free stuff wasn’t good enough for me unless it was free stuff I wanted.) Luckily, I won a t-shirt, which as far as I was concerned, was the greatest free thing there, so I happily reported back to Andrew that we could indeed be friends – as long as he read this blog. (Nothing’s ever good enough for me, huh?)

Later, I met Annie at the TriRock booth. She is incredible! She had a video of herself doing a triathlon, and she had great stories of her super distances. I asked if she had a blog, ’cause I just had to read more about this girl and follow some of her future amazing adventures. Turned out, she does have a blog where she’s also in the middle of a year-long challenge. She refraining from buying anything new for a year (except food). Basically, she pretty much got cooler by the second.

Jenni and Rob from Team Challenge at Rock N Roll Pasadena ExpoI also met Jenni and Rob from Team Challenge. They did an awesome job convincing me I should do a triathlon.

I told them I just learned how to ride a bike… and I use the term “learned” quite loosely. Rob said, “Perfect. We do our first ride in a big parking lot. We’re here for all levels.” I also said I didn’t know how to swim. They said they help with that too. They make sure that every person on their team is totally prepared for her triathlon.

They also made it sound really easy, because it was a sprint triathlon. So they were all “oh, only a 5k at the end, a super short swim, etc.” Sounds doable, right?

Of course, in the middle of writing this blog post, I’ve done a little internet surfing, reading up on triathlons, and they sound either awesome or terrifying (or both?). All in all, riding a bike sounds pretty dangerous.

A couple of fun eats at the expo included marshmallows in chocolate fondue (to spread the word about “America’s Sweetest Race.”)

There was also Eoni, this cool-seeming company, giving samples of super yummy banana chocolate chip deliciousness that was low in sodium and high in fiber. (I need to remember this brand on my next shopping trip.)

But enough with the food and new friends. Time to go home and get a good night’s race. Tomorrow is race day, baby!

“My First Half Marathon” – Johannah

February 17, 2012

In case you haven’t heard, I’m trying to convince pretty much everyone I know (including strangers) to do a half marathon. Whenever I actually get someone to complete one, I’m very nicely going to ask them to blog about it, if they would be so kind. I will put said entries here in the “My First Half Marathon” series on the blog – which officially starts today!

Without further ado, I give you my guest blogger, Johannah:

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Johannah Ragland with her 1st place age group award in the Palm Springs Half Marathon 2012
(photo credit: Jeanette (Johannah’s mom))

Hey! My name is Johannah, and I just want to say that meeting Aurora and running my first half marathon was certainly interesting.

First, at the Tour de Palm Springs (also my first bike ride), I was standing there with my mom, getting ready to take off. We looked over and see this lady in pajama bottoms and a “Bad” hat. She looked kinda like she just rolled out of bed.

She started talking to us, and she said this was her first bike race. When she said “I killed it in cycling class”, we both assumed she meant a “How to ride your bike class” like they have at REI. When she asked what the little numbers on the handle bars were, my mom asked her if she meant a Spin Class. Yeah… figured this was NOT going to end well, and thought we had better start in front of the wreck that was about to happen. There were HUNDREDS of bikes behind her.

We got to talking about the run the next day, and Aurora said she was doing the half marathon. I was planning to do the 5k, but we had plans to do a half in April. Aurora told me it was not too late to change.

Well, the ride started, and we hoped we would see Aurora (alive) at the finish.
Note the info on the ride was VERY clear that this was a ride, NOT A RACE. Well, I decided to turn it into a race, as did a few others. I managed to finish second.

Palm Springs Half Marathon 2012 medal and 1st place age group award
(photo credit: Johannah)

After the ride, still feeling the adrenaline, I asked my mom to take me to change to the half marathon. I didn’t start freaking out until we got there the next morning and I saw people running to warm up. What had I done!

Not far into the race, I began to run with a very nice woman. I probably would not have done as good if she had not run with me all the way to mile nine. We talked about a lot of things. When I finished, I could not wait to find out my time and get my “Brick”. I somehow managed to get first place for my age division, in two hours and eight minutes. It was really fun.

My mom did her first 5k. I am really happy that she is running now. She did really good.
Meeting Aurora was fun, and I hope to see her at another half marathon!!!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Aurora’s response: I enjoyed meeting both of these lovely women – Johannah and her mother. I cracked up when I read Johannah’s posting. I love it!

I don’t know what possessed me to wear pajama pants. A five-mile bike ride just seemed like such a silly, small thing to do that I thought I should just dress in something “fun” as opposed to “real” workout attire [she says before ripping her pants at the ride].

Also, yeah, I am the worst about calling spin class cycling class. Now that I know they’re actually two different things, I will try to speak correctly.

I had no idea until I read Jo’s entry that there are classes you could take to learn how to ride a bike! Good to know…

Also, just so the world (and Johannah) knows, I stayed to the side of the starting corral until basically everyone had gone by me. I’d realized that bicycling may possibly be a bit harder than I originally imagined. I did my best to be respectful of other riders and not get in anyone’s way during the ride. (And I didn’t cause any accidents! (Yay!))

Super huge congrats to Johannah for winning her age group on the first time out!

(#4) Palm Springs Half Marathon – Part 2 (Not Quite Last & Free Burritos!)

February 16, 2012

Aurora running across the finish line of the Palm Springs half marathon 2012Continuing from yesterday, I was slowing down in mile 8.

Since I knew I was only going to be walking this one, I didn’t start the day with the usual “I’m doing a half marathon today” mindset. I didn’t even remember to eat a banana!

Around mile 8, my energy was starting to fall off, as my discomfort level in my ankle was rising.

Miles 9 -12 took me over 20 minutes each. I took little breaks when I needed them – stopping to stretch a couple of times, and taking a quick seat on a curb for a few minutes.

There was a police officer who rode around on a motorcycle, checking on everybody. There were a few times when I’d happen to be crossing a street at the same time that he’d stop to update other police officers and/or volunteers on how many people were still on the course.

As time went on, that number started to dwindle (without anyone passing me). I asked what was going on and if anyone had gotten injured. He said everyone was fine. People were quitting – quitting!

This was upsetting to me. This race didn’t have a time limit. If someone isn’t injured and they came to finish, what possibly makes them quit?

We all have our own lives, our own pasts, our own needs and reasons for doing anything. Sight unseen, and without hearing the full story, I can’t judge anyone’s reasons to quit. (Truly, I should never be judging anyone in the first place. I think the world would be better (and I would be better) if we all were a little less judgmental.) But, enough on that tangent so I can continue getting my judging on. 😉

Moving on; as I came upon the final mile, I realized there was only one person behind me. And I could see her! I wasn’t sure when exactly she’d crossed the start line, so I wanted to finish full minutes in front of her, just to make sure I wasn’t coming in last. I started speeding it along, even kind of half jogging in the last half a mile or so.

She ended up crossing the finish line about twelve minutes after me. So yet again, I narrowly escaped being last. (Although as we all know, “the last place finisher is just the slowest winner.”)

I took a peek at the results being posted and saw I wasn’t on there. Somehow my chip hadn’t recorded my finish time.

It ended up being no big deal at all. Judging by a photo and my chip start time, the timing company gave me the finish time of 3:55:51. We might not have gotten it down exactly to the second, but I’d say it’s pretty accurate.

My main goal was to finish in under 4 hours, which I definitely did. So, as far as I’m concerned, mission accomplished.

long line of cyclists at Chipotle, waiting for free burritos after the race
Chipotle was packed when we all got free burritos *dance music*

After the race, I went back to Sven’s house. I cannot believe I didn’t mention this in the Tour de Palm Springs posts, but bicyclists got FREE BURRITOS at CHIPOTLE! That’s right. Free. With Guacamole. I saved mine to eat after the half marathon. (Yum!) I got back and ripped it open.

Sven came in and said, “How was it? Tell me everything.”

It was so nice to have another human being there who wanted to hear about the race. It’s probably silly to think that’s cool, but I don’t always have someone waiting for me at home, so I thought that was really fun!

He asked if I came by his house during the race. I said I didn’t think so. He told me there were cones outside earlier and runners coming by all day. We looked at my MapMyWalk app. Sure enough I had gone right by his house!

Of course it was surprising that I didn’t recognize the neighborhood, with my incredible sense of direction and all. (That’s extremely sarcastic because I have the worst sense of direction. I’m surprised I can make it to the finish line of anything without getting lost.)

The cab driver who took me back to the Greyhound station ended up being the same one I’d had on the way to Sven’s house! He was happy to hear I was still alive after going and staying with a complete stranger.

(#4) Palm Springs Half Marathon – Part 1 (Walking On That Weak Ankle, Baby)

February 15, 2012

Aurora doing some dance walking along the Palm Springs 2012 half marathon course
Wendy caught me doing a little dance-walking

This was a struggle. In case you haven’t read, I was coming off an injury.

I’m sure it also didn’t help that I’ve been taking such awesome (read: awful) care of myself this week.

I was really good during my first week on crutches. In my second week, my microwave broke. I took that (mixed with my inability to run) as a grand excuse for an all out free-for-all with ice cream and Doritos …for the entire week!

Even though I had awesome accommodations this weekend, for some reason I had tons of trouble sleeping. (Think that could possibly have something to do with my extreme lack of exercise and poor eating habits of late?)

Around 3am, I had some ankle pain going on. I was a bit worried that perhaps I’d made the wrong choice – that I possibly should’ve brought my crutches, or borrowed a wheelchair. But I knew I’d be fine. I stretched, moved my ankle around, took a quick walk around the living room, and went back to sleep (waking up 3 more times before the morning!).

a big mountain in front of us at the Palm Springs half marathon 2012When I got to the gear check, I was happy to see my friends Wendy & Marty.  As I was talking to Wendy, I got a tap on the shoulder. It was Jeanette (of Jeanette & Johannah), happy to see I’d made it out of the bike ride alive. She let me know I’d convinced Johannah to do the half marathon!

Going by the advice of my doctor and the pleading of my ankle, my plan was to walk the entire race – no jogging.

When the half marathon started, I walked across the start line, which was really anti-climactic. “Oh, here I go walking toward the start. This is so exciting… Now here I go crossing the start(!)… aaaand, here I go walking some more. Huh.”

I felt so silly walking through the crowd of cheering spectators lined up at the start.

My walking pace wasn’t too bad at the beginning. I started off doing 15 to 16-minute miles.

close up of the Palm Springs half marathon medal 2012I tried to keep it interesting by doing a lot of dance walking.

There were tons of turnarounds in this race, making it seem as though a field of runners was always going by me.

It’s possible that some of them thought, “What’s the deal with that silly girl?” But they all had their own race to worry about (as did I), so I don’t think anyone gave it much thought. Who cares how silly I look when I’m trying to have fun?

As the race went on, I started to get slower. Miles 7 and 8 took a little over 17 minutes each. I was in some pain after mile 8. It’s possible I was pushing myself a little hard for my first weekend off crutches, but once I was 8 miles into a half marathon, there was certainly no way I was stopping (especially when there was no time limit)!

Was I able to make it through those last 5 miles? Find out tomorrow.

Couch Surfing in Palm Springs!

February 14, 2012

Aurora with her host Sven while she's couchsurfing in Palm Springs
I know it’s hard to see, but we’re acting like we’re surfing on his couches – get it?

You may have wondered where I stayed the night between the bike ride and the half marathon (or maybe you didn’t, but either way I’m gonna tell you).

I tried CouchSurfing for the first time.

I didn’t know what to expect. I’d read about Sven (my host), but who knew what was going to happen – trying out this new website, staying with strangers? I’m happy to say it was a great experience! I never wanted to leave!

Sven and Moselle (his roommate) are two of the most interesting, fun, and nice people I could’ve hoped to have met. Sven has been keeping this book (which I think was an awesome idea) filled with messages and memories from all the different people he’s hosted – and he has hosted some cool people. One girl was in the middle of biking around the country (or was it the world?). Either way, it was a super big place.

Both Sven and Moselle were incredibly nice. Moselle is another NY transplant who basically hikes for a living (cool, right?). Sven has traveled a ton! He backpacked around Europe, spent a semester in Australia. He’s pretty much the epitome of fascinating.

He’s currently studying to become a teacher. (He decided he was done being an engineer. I love when people stop being in situations they don’t love and go after ones they do. Kudos to him for doing just that.) Also, he is so creative! He does woodworking, painting, and such. Everything he had created was awesome.

A guitar made by Sven
See this guitar? Sven made it.

At first I was worried that maybe my hosts would feel like it was a burden to have a surfer (which was silly). Why would they? I mean, they volunteer to do it!

They never made me feel like I was a burden – even a bit. Their hearts were open as well as their (incredible, sweet, spacious, convenient-to-all-my-events) home.

I can’t even put into words how much this experience surpassed my expectations. (I’m sure that’s exactly what you want in a blogger – someone who can’t describe things.)

As I mentioned, we got invited to that barbecue with the AIDS LifeCycle posse. I told Sven and Moselle, and they were totally up for it!

You may think it’s odd that I thought it was odd for people to be up for mingling with new people and eating some free food – but in Los Angeles it’s pretty common for people to not want to go out for things because of traffic… or not wanting new friends.

Out in Palm Springs, we were game for adventures! Sven’s sweet girlfriend, Erin came over and we all headed to the barbecue together. (Side note: Erin is a great conversationalist. She’s a master of asking people follow-up questions.)

As we talked with the cyclists, I learned more about biking. (You clip into your pedals?! Um, does that sound scary, or what? I feel as though all I would ever do is constantly fall over.)

By the end of the barbecue I wasn’t the only one convinced that I should be doing the week-long bike ride. We all had become pretty sure that it was an excellent idea.

A painting of a woman, done by Sven
Yep, Sven painted this.

These AIDS LifeCycle staffers are incredible salespeople. I’m ready to be a freaking cyclist (as is apparently everyone who ever comes in contact with them)!

(Random note: Sven and Moselle got a free large pack of hot dogs and buns when we left. Score!)

We went back home and got to bed early. How sweet that my hosts were looking out for me! They thought about the fact that I had a half marathon the next day, and they wanted to make sure I had a good amount of rest. So, everyone was sent to bed in the nine o’clock hour. (Did I tell you they were awesome, or what?)

In the morning it was time for half marathon #4.

Tour de Palm Springs Expo

February 13, 2012

James and Michael in front of the AIDS LifeCycle booth at Tour de Palm Springs 2012
James and Michael – two awesome guys working the AIDS LifeCycle booth

The expo lined the streets of the corral area, so I explored a little before and after the race.

I wanted to spend as little time as possible lugging a bike around, so I waited ’til the ride got closer to rent one. This was not the brightest idea anyone’s ever had.

I gave myself almost an hour to rent a bike, which I figured would be plenty of time considering all the rental places were right there. I also called a bike rental shop a week or two beforehand. They said there’d be plenty of bikes, so I figured I was fine.

In the end, I was fine. I don’t know why it took me forever to find a rental. First I was asking around about which booth had rentals. Four of them did, so I kept getting sent in different directions. Every time I found a booth, they were all out of bikes! I don’t know why that was so surprising to me since I was in the last group to start (of five distance options, with the earliest group starting at 6am).

I finally found the elusive fourth booth that surprisingly many people didn’t know about. Shout out to FunSeekers!

little blue see through Piggy Bank from Pacific Premier BankWhile I’m doing shout outs, quick shout out to Pacific Premier Bank for my sweet new piggy bank, also to lovely Mariellen and Burt from Massage Rx. They had a massage booth and were raising money for MS. (Mariellen has MS, and still went out and rocked the bike ride! (Then she gave massages for the rest of the day. So, hats off to her!)

Burt gave me the best massage after the race. I might have to do this ride next year for the massage alone!

One thing that was really cool and fun about this expo was that every single thing was brand new to me – all the jargon, all the fun challenges and events – everything was new.

Did you know that people spend seven days biking from San Francisco to Los Angeles? (Multiple companies host an option for that.) The first booth to tell me about that ride was the California Coast Classic. And… you get finisher medals!

I’ve heard that cyclists like to be “real athletes,” making fun of runners for always wanting something just for being a participant – whereas, as a cyclist, you have to “earn it.”

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that plenty of cyclists like getting medals, and plenty of biking events offer them. I guess that means I can be a cyclist! 😉

balloon arch at the start of the Tour de Palm Springs 2012Another booth that had the San Fran to LA option was the AIDS LifeCycle booth (which was chock full of awesome people, btw).

Everyone really had me convinced that I could (and should) ride a bike many miles a day for a whole week, camping in between – and riding over 500 miles in the process.

Keep in mind, I have a pretty tenuous hold on how to ride a bike. I’m also not sure I would love camping. I mean, I’m awesome at going days without showering (lol), but I’m kind of terrified of animals (and I don’t particularly love the outdoors). Either way, the people working this booth had me convinced!

(Although, I couldn’t ride it this year even if I wanted to be crazy enough to do that, ’cause I already have a half marathon going on during their ride, but you should sign up!)

Not only did AIDS LifeCycle have the best, most fun & noticeable booth, but they also had fun events (some even included free food!) throughout the weekend – a barbecue, a film screening, a recovery ride, and more. I mean that’s a lot of planning and love they put into this weekend!

I can’t wait to tell you about the barbecue and my incredible hosts for the weekend tomorrow!

Tour de Palm Springs – My First Bike Ride! – Part 2 (I Survived My First Cycling Event)

February 12, 2012

Aurora sitting on a bike, smiling, before the Tour de Palm springs 2012Continuing from yesterday:

One thing that’s completely embarrassing about my bike ride is that I forgot to wear a helmet! It somehow didn’t occur to me that bicyclists wear helmets.

I could’ve easily asked for one at the bike rental booth, but no. I took my bike and wandered off. It wasn’t until the start horn was blown and we were all peddling away that I looked up and noticed someone’s helmet.

Oh, fudge! At that point it was too late to turn around (maybe not for a better, more responsible person who would’ve gone to get a helmet and started late).

I felt awful for being such a bad influence on anyone watching the race or reading the blog (not that anyone would follow my lead on that – more likely they would just talk about how much of a dum-dum I was (especially since I didn’t even know how to ride a bike!)).

I felt so bad about it that after the race, I went and got a helmet and came back in through the finish line for a couple of pictures with appropriate headgear.

Back to the actual race, it was definitely interesting going downhill and uphill. It felt a lot different from just adjusting the resistance in spin class. Downhill felt like fun, (somewhat) controlled falling, and uphill was freaking hard!

cyclists walking their bikes into the finish of the Palm Springs 2012 bike rideA bunch of people got off and pushed their bikes up this one hill. There I was thinking I was so cool. “I’m on a bike ride. I shall ride this bike!” Of course I looked silliest, going no faster (read: slower) than people walking their bikes up. But hey, I made it to the top eventually!

When we were coming back toward the finish(!), I saw a cop whom I’d seen at the start. As I’d pedaled away, I’d yelled “I don’t know how to ride a bike!”

When I came back, she happily greeted me with, “You made it?!” I yelled back, “I’m doing it!”

When all the cyclists got to the finish line, so many people were coming in that we didn’t get to ride through. Everyone got off their bikes and we just walked the bikes through, which I sort of thought was funny, especially since cameras were snapping our big finish.

I couldn’t believe I’d gotten back so quickly. I literally have no concept of how long it took me (no timing chips, and I didn’t look at any clocks). An hour-long ride? Half an hour? Whatever it was, it went by quickly.

By the way, yes, I wore pajama pants. Yes, they got stuck in those gear things or whatever it is that a bicycle has. They got a little hole in them. (Note to self, maybe don’t wear pajama pants on the next ride…)

Aurora smiling with her medal at the end of the Tour de Palm Springs race 2012At the end, I got a t-shirt and a medal! There weren’t supposed to be medals for this event, but volunteers had boxes and boxes of medals from 2008.

One meekly asked if I wanted one – as though she was offering me damaged goods. But I was over the moon to get one – it still says the name of the race (though 2008 is on the back).

Sven (whom you’ll totally meet in an upcoming post) pointed out that it was hilarious that they had a ton of medals left over from 2008 – not from last year, or even 2010. Nope, just 2008.

Great point. Where did these medals come from? Why do boxes and boxes of them still exist? I guess it doesn’t really matter. The point is, I have a bike riding medal! Bam!

I used to think bicycling seemed kind of boring. I mean, why bike when you can run, right? But now that I’ve done a bike event, I’ll admit it’s actually way more fun than I ever thought it would be. You get to be in control of this crazy moving contraption and feel the wind rush past you. It can be like your own tiny roller coaster (depending on the hills). I’ve been convinced – cycling can be fun.

The expo for this ride was incredible (and included an invite to a BBQ!) Can’t wait to tell you about it tomorrow!

Tour de Palm Springs – My First Bike Ride! – Part 1 (I Don’t Really Know How to Ride a Bike…)

February 11, 2012

Aurora De Lucia posing with a helmet by a bicycle at the Tour de Palm Springs 2012

I came into this weekend not knowing how to ride a bike.

My dad says I tried when I was little, but I guess I fell and my nose started bleeding. And I was not having that.

Even back then I was a stubborn fighter, demanding an example of a time when riding a bike would be a skill applicable to anything I wanted to do in life. How can you argue with a five-year-old’s logic when it’s rock solid like that?

So, riding a bike is never really a thing I’ve done. But I was already doing the half marathon, and I found out that if you did the half marathon plus a bike ride of any distance, you got a special brick award. We all know how I am about awards.

On the way to the bike race, I’m thinking “I rock spin class at the gym. I’m very coordinated. Obviously, I got this…”

Then, once I get to the bike rental booth, I’m looking at this huge thing (vehicle, machine, mechanism?) and just thinking, “uh… oh yeah, bikes are bigger than people… Sheesh.”

At this point, I’d already come out to Palm Springs, gotten to the starting line, registered for the bike ride, and paid to rent this bike. This ride was on like Donkey Kong (even if I did have to get on a big contraption (which yes, I know is the point of a bike ride)).

Aurora posing with a sign that says Howard Hughes lived here, outside of Howard Hughes' house, at the Tour de Palm Springs 2012
The sign says Howard Hughes lived here. (The Aviator is my favorite movie.)

I wheeled the bike toward the starting corral area and sat on it, trying to figure out how this whole balancing thing works. It was kind of a mess.

I ran into this mom and her young daughter – Jeanette and Johannah – also doing the ride. I asked what the things on my handlebars did. They said something about making pedaling easier or harder. I spilled the beans that I didn’t know how to ride a bike. (Huge shocker to them, I’m sure).

We talked about the extra brick bling for the weekend. Johannah said she was signed up for the 5k, but was thinking about doing the half marathon. Of course I was all, “well, if you’re gonna do 3 miles, I guess you might as well do 13, right?”

As the race drew closer, the family wished me the best of luck, saying they hoped they’d see me at the finish (to make sure I made it out alive).

When the ride started, I wondered how I was ever going to make it five whole miles. I was wobbling left and right, not having the best control over where I was going.

Cheerleaders cheering by a big balloon banner at the Tour de Palm Springs 2012I crossed the start line toward the back, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. Surprisingly, after the crowd thinned a little, I could balance!

I was shouting “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” to strangers who all probably thought, “Why is this grown up lady shouting about how she can ride a bike? We can all ride a bike. Duh.”

I’m so unfamiliar with bike rides; I never had a feel for how many miles I’d done. At any point in the ride you could’ve said I’d done one, or four, or ten, and I’d be all, “Oh, okay.” There were no mile markers on the course (I guess that’s just how bike rides work, yes?) But, I was so concentrated on not dying (or at least crashing), that I didn’t focus too much on how far I’d gone, or how far I had to go.

Tomorrow, we’ll see if I finished alive!

(Spoiler alert: Probably, if I’m writing this. Find out definitively tomorrow.)

(#3) Surf City Half Marathon – The One on Crutches – Part 3 (Finishing!)

February 9, 2012

Aurora De Lucia with a large smile after finally (after over 5 hours) she hobbles in on her crutches to the finish of the Surf City half marathon 2012 (complete with sag wagon behind her)If you’ve  been wondering, yes, I finished! But the real question is, did I finish last?

Yesterday’s post left off around mile 12. My new goal was to not come in last, and that lasted for about one second until that became about 3% of my goal and 97% stayed on just finishing before the time limit in as little pain as possible.

Around mile 13, I knew I had enough time to make it. I happily got started actually using the crutches again on that mile. (It was ridiculously painful to walk without them, but I have no upper body strength and had to keep up).

I was ecstatic to be in mile 13, though it pretty much seemed like the longest mile I’ve ever done. As you can see from my pictures, I grabbed washcloths in the morning and stuck them over my crutches. That really helped. (That’s a tip if you’re planning a half marathon on crutches.)

As I was walking along with my crutches, another sag wagon came up. This incredibly nice woman driving said, “I just want to let you know that you’re doing great, and you’re gonna make it.” It was exactly what I needed to hear.

A super ripped guy across the street didn’t realize the people in the wagon were being so nice. He yelled, “Don’t try to convince her to get in that van! You’re doing it! You’ve gone this far. Nothing can stop you now.” I really appreciated the sentiments.

The sag wagon drove away to go check on other runners, and I kept on hobbling. I passed a man who said, “Oh my gosh, you’re actually finishing! My friend and I saw you start this morning. I have to call and tell him that you’re doing it!”

Aurora giving a big open mouth smile while leaning on her crutches after the Surf City half marathon 2012It took me forever to see that finish line. I kept asking strangers on the street every 10 feet or something ridiculous like that if I was getting close. And people said I was.

Lo and behold, the sweetest thing I could see… In the distance was the finish line! The feeling was indescribable. I was finishing for everyone who said I inspired them to think they could do more. I was finishing for everyone who said I never would. I was finishing for myself.

The announcer was a sweetheart saying, “For real? You’re incredible!” They actually got video!  (If I ever feel like I can’t do something, I’m gonna pop that video in.)

(If you didn’t see it in an earlier post, I came in at 5:07:46 (a mere 1 minute and 3 seconds before the official end of the race).

I didn’t come in last! When the results came out, it turned out there were 7 people who came in behind me. (What?)

After waiting for 13 long miles, it was finally time for that delicious Dairy Queen!

As I was walking away from gear check, I actually saw helpful Marcia from the expo that morning. She remembered me and wanted to make sure I finished. What a sweetheart.


I don’t know if any of these people are reading this, but a quick humongous thank you to the patient staff of Surf City – they still had bananas and water when I finished!

Also, thanks to the spectators and runners for encouraging. Thanks to the people on the sidewalk who gave me pretzels. Thanks to the woman who saw me on a turnaround and said, “I was thinking about quitting, but now that I saw you, I can’t.”

Thanks to YOU reading the blog. I can’t wait to tell you all about the next one – Palm Springs!

(#3) Surf City Half Marathon – The One on Crutches – Part 2 (Crying, Worrying, Rough Times)

February 8, 2012

Aurora De Lucia hoisting her crutches in the air at the end of the Surf City half marathon 2012Picking up from Part 1 –

In mile 5, I threw off the crutches (just holding them in my hands) and hobbled along. I was so sad to have to do that. It was painful. But, I had to figure out a way to keep up.

A sweet stranger on a bike (on his way to the beach) biked a whole mile with me talking about his life, my life, the time limit frustrations of this race, and my sprained ankle. It was awesome to have that company. I really appreciated him.

When we got back out toward the beach, he said goodbye and went surfing. I saw runners I’d seen on a different loop who were still yelling encouragements when they passed me on this one. (If you were one, I can’t thank you enough for all the sweet encouragement you gave me.)

Around mile 7, I was really starting to feel it. I’m not too proud to admit I may or may not have cried (I did). It was hard! And my foot hurt! And that lady in the van thinking the race ended at noon scared the crap out of me! So, I had a good cry for a mile. I think that’s probably good for you, right?

Aurora De Lucia crossing under the Surf City finish line in the half marathon 2012I pulled it together and kept on hobbling. In mile 8, it would’ve been pretty easy to cheat and do the turn around early, since nobody was left back there. I thought about how sweet it would feel to cut off any distance whatsoever. But there was no way I could bring myself to do that.

I walked all the way to the turnaround, building myself up, muttering about having the ability to do anything. “I survived my high school theater program. I can do anything. I’ve lived in New York City. I can do this.” Yeah, just keep talking to yourself, Aurora.

In mile 9, I was pretty hardcore regretting that I hadn’t brought my iPhone. (I didn’t want to deal with having any other stuff when I was already dealing with crutches.) This would’ve been a lovely time for me and Michael Jackson to hang out together.

Since all the other runners were far out in front of me, I busted out into some musical theater songs. There I am, still fighting tears, fighting pain, belting, “You can say what you want; I’m not walking out!”

Later, as I passed a water station (no longer belting out showtunes as I passed volunteers) – even though they were packing up, a sweet guy opened up a box and got me some water. He walked a bit with me and asked what the deal was with my crutches, ’cause apparently people on the radio had been asking about me.

Aurora leaning on her crutches smiling at Surf City half marathon 2012I told him about my ankle, and that the lady in the van scared me. He apologized and said the six-hour time limit definitely did not start when the marathon started, and that I was fine. (I mean, I knew I had to be. But still, he made me feel better.)

I’ve always been slow, but I’ve never been literally at the back of the pack in one of these huge half marathons. Everything was shutting down as I was passing it.

All the water stations and medical tents were empty or emptying out. I even had to get out of the way of street sweepers. It wasn’t the greatest feeling to be all alone, but I was happy to be getting ever closer to the finish.

Around mile 12, I kept seeing a bunch of people who’d already finished walking back to their cars and such. When I saw one woman who wasn’t still wearing her medal, I said, “Congrats! Where’s your medal? You should keep it on all day!” She told me she was also doing the half – and was still in the race!

What?! I’m actually passing somebody…I can’t believe it! My old goal had been just to finish, knowing I was going to come in last. My new goal became finishing anything but last. So I started hobbling faster.

Will I come in last? Find out tomorrow.

(#3) Surf City Half Marathon – Time Limit Confusion

February 7, 2012

 

time limit rules for the Surf City Half Marathon 2012
Oh yeah… I took a screenshot of the rules.

Picking up from yesterday –

As an injured runner, the time limit played a major part in my race. It was something I was extremely concerned about.

I wasn’t going to allow myself to still be behind the finish line when the course closed.

The website states that there is a six-hour time limit. The real question was whether the start of that limit was the start of the race, or when the last runner crossed the start line.

The website said “A wave start will allow you plenty of space along the course, at the aid stations, and at the finish line, without affecting your chip time or the time you have to complete the race. All 1/2 marathon participants will still have the ‘6-hour time limit’ to complete the course.'”

That would lead me to believe that I have 6 hours from when I cross the start line.

I asked an official race employee before the race started when the six-hour time limit began. She said that it started from when the last corral crossed the start line.

I finished in just under 5 hours and 8 minutes (5:07:46), but (with the large field of runners) I didn’t cross the start line until over 51 minutes after the race had started. Since it seems as though the time limit was apparently 6 hours after the start of the race, I guess I came in with 1 minute and 3 seconds to spare.

If the time limit had been six hours for each runner, those 52 available minutes would’ve made a WORLD of difference. In those miles in which I hurt and rushed myself, I could’ve gone at least four minutes slower per mile.

When the official on the bike said that I might as well quit because I wasn’t going to finish, I asked him to confirm that I had 6 hours from when I started. He never got an official answer on his walkie.

Aurora smiling at the end of Surf City half marathon 2012Since he thought the course was closing at 1:45pm (6 hours after the race started), I very painfully threw off the crutches and started hobbling without them. (More on this tomorrow.) It was the only way that I was going to be able to make up some of that lost time.

Later in mile probably 7, a woman in the sag wagon came along and said I wasn’t going to make it. I said no matter what, I would make it – with a six-hour time limit, I’d be fine. She replied that it was 6 hours from when the MARATHON started at SIX AM!(!!)

There was NO WAY I was going to finish by noon. I basically almost had a heart attack right there by the wagon. I tried to explain to her that I had checked the website at least ten times (since I was nervous and injured) to make sure the six-hour limit was for the half. I was positive that the earliest the course could possibly close, no matter how someone looked at it, was 1:45.

She didn’t believe me. She just said well that’s the situation, but “don’t worry about it.” I don’t know in what universe I could’ve just “not worried about it.” Obviously I’m worried about it! I have to finish this race before they close the course!

The guy on the motorcycle behind her also checked on me. I told him what she had said, and he agreed that the course closed at noon! I said “no, no, no. The earliest it could be is 1:45.” He said, “Okay, so you want someone to come get you at 1:45?” I said, “No! No one will have to come get me. I’ll be crossing the finish line!”

All this back and forth was a real headache. It was the only annoying part of a great race. Six hours is an incredibly generous time limit, so my complaints should barely be allowed to exist. But at the end, when I was hurting, I wished beyond wish that I had those extra 52 minutes that I thought/hoped I was going to have.

More than anything I just didn’t like the stress of different people scaring me with different time limits. Although, I am glad the man on the bike said something, because I was pacing as though I had six hours. And I didn’t. I had 5 hours and 9 minutes. But enough about time limits. On to the rest of the actual story tomorrow.

(#3) Surf City Half Marathon – The One on Crutches – Part 1 (The First 5 Miles)

February 6, 2012

Aurora slumping a bit on her crutches at Surf City Half Marathon 2012For anybody who’s missed it, I sprained my ankle on my last half marathon on a trail. (Trail runs are the worst!)

So, I was still on crutches for this half marathon. I thought about whether to do this half. But, here’s the thing: There was a six-hour time limit. I felt fairly comfortable with that.

Plus, I’d seen pictures of this girl who was running marathons every weekend crossing a finish line on crutches. She had broken her hip(!), but hadn’t let it hold her back. She looked unbelievably happy and superhuman at the finish line. I thought this would be my chance to feel that way. (I mean, less so than her. That’s unbelievable, right? But still, somewhat.)

So, I wrapped up my ankle, hopped on my crutches, and off I went. There were definitely two camps of people saying things to me.

There was the camp that made me feel incredible with encouragements such as, “You’re my new hero!” “You’re a champion.” “Go get ’em, girl!” (I loved those people.)

Then there was a camp of people who seemed almost determined to get me to quit. (This camp was much smaller and mainly made up of volunteers, not spectators.)

As I started off in the first mile, everyone passed me (of course). Some took longer than others, but eventually it seemed as though they all passed me. I knew I would be slow, but I didn’t truly anticipate exactly how slow I would be.

I did my best to stay off of my ankle, but within the first mile, my complete lack of upper body strength became very apparent.

I let my foot dangle quite close to the ground – every once in a while letting my toes actually touch that ground to give me a bit of extra push (since I have SO much more strength in my legs than my arms). Still, I was barely putting any real pressure on my right leg, since I had the crutches as a huge help.

The first mile was pretty tough. There were a couple of times when I thought I must be at least slightly crazy to take on this endeavor. Then, just when I thought it might never come, I saw that first mile marker!

Aurora looks down while moving on crutches at the Surf City Half Marathon 2012I knew in that moment that I could definitely finish this half marathon. (I mean, I knew going onto the course that I was going to finish. But something about seeing that very first mile marker made me know “oh, okay, this is very possible.”)

Backtracking a little, about a tenth or two of a mile into the race… I saw a Dairy Queen! Ever since I moved to Los Angeles (about seven months ago) my friend Garrick and I have been talking about the illustrious, mysterious Dairy Queens that exist out here. If you take a trek, you can find one. And there was one right in front of me! Getting to the finish line was now very much about coming back around to that Dairy Queen!

In mile 5, one of the men on bicycles who rides around to check on people came up to me and was pretty flabbergasted that I was still in the race. He said he’d been told that they’d removed me from the course. Like I would ever let anybody remove me. He encouraged me to quit, saying he didn’t think I’d finish. I told him that no matter what happened, I was going to finish this race. Period.

I asked if he could confirm the six-hour time limit for me. This became the beginning of my long day of talking time limits with various event staffers and volunteers.

I’ve never been more concerned with a time limit. I knew that every available minute would be a help for me in this race. This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow (or you can skip the time limit entry and go straight to Part 2.)

Surf City Half Marathon Expo

February 5, 2012

people walking into the Surf City 2012 half marathon expoI went to the sort of mini-expo in the morning, instead of the actual expo, ’cause one of the many things that makes Surf City awesome is that they’ll mail you your bib and timing chip.

Don’t get me wrong, I love expos. I like hearing about races, spinning prize wheels, and meeting new people.

But sometimes it’s hard to get to an expo ’cause you live far away, or are doing a double-event weekend. Being injured, plus relying on public transportation in L.A., while living pretty far from Huntington Beach – I was quite happy to have my bib and chip mailed to me.

A note on how I got there – Public transportation wasn’t open in time to get me from downtown L.A. to Huntington Beach. So I tried this thing called TaskRabbit. Before you knew it, five strangers had already made a bid to drive me way out to the beach first thing in the morning (before the sun even came out). Nathan, this cool, fun, up-and-coming actor was awesomely amazing, coming to get me at 5:30am!

The Surf City expo was really well themed. There were surfboards everywhere and everything had a very “day-on-the-beach” feel. I walked in to get some bobby pins. They were conveniently right on the front table – which was manned by sweet, knowledgable Marcia, who effortlessly handled the tons of people coming by with different needs.

Then I went off to get my (super awesome) t-shirt from the other booth. The t-shirts came in these sweet (also very well-themed) bags. The expo tent seemed kind of like the “cool hang out place” for runners. Lots of people were in there stretching.

It was awesome that there was this huge enclosed area by the start line so that people could stay out of the “cold.” (It really wasn’t actually cold at all that morning (by the time I got there at least), but I’m sure this same idea would be appreciated at some other races.)

the cool expo bag from the Surf City Half Marathon 2012On my way out of the mini expo, I met Dennis and Lea, who were working a timeshares booth.

I walked up to the booth with my normal, “what’s the deal here? What’s happening?” attitude. Dennis said “well, you have to be 25 to sign up, and you look super young.” Yep. “super young.” I was giddy that someone thought I looked so super young.

(I know that in real life I’m always yelling about how much ageism sucks, and how we shouldn’t take joy or compliments in being young because all of that adds to the idea that younger is better – which it’s totally not, because people of all ages have sweet things to add. But, as someone who still wants to be super young and loved, and never get old, and is obsessed with taking care of her skin… I totally took tons of joy out of Dennis calling me super young. (I will become a better person! (Maybe.) I’m working on it…))

Anyway, Dennis and Lea were super nice to me even though I was too young to sign up to hear more about their timeshares. They said they’ll be at some more California events, so I’ll probably run into them here and there this year.

After that fun encounter, I hobbled to the start line. I’ll blog about the race itself tomorrow.

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

February 4, 2012

view of a long bridge by water at the Operation Jack half marathon 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.

a view of the ocean (kinda dark) from the course of the Operation Jack half marathon 2012He 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

Aurora crossing the finish line (from the back) at the Rose Bowl Half Marathon 2012You 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.

Aurora looking to the side while on the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 2012 half marathon courseThere’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!

Aurora De Lucia with her hands up on Splash Mountain!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

group of friends in a blurry photo before the Never Land 5k 2012If 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.

close up of the Disney Never Land 5k medal 2012If 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

a lot of runners with the castle behind them at the Never Land 5k in Disneyland 2012If 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.

medal fromDisney's Never Land 5k 2012The 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.

ferris wheel at Disneyland's Paradise Pier at nightI 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

Aurora smiling with Wendy and Marty at the Neverland 5kI 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

 

view from atop Disney Concert HallMy 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.

 

front sign of the Angels Flight railroadAfterward, 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

people in Holiday outfits running along a path at the beach

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

Aurora giving a little wave while running during the Santa to the Sea 5k 2012Continuing 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

Aurora with a big smile posing with her medal in front of a Christmas treeAs 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!).

Betty and Charlotta posing at the finish of the Pomona 5kI 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

Aurora smiling very large at the finish of the Rose Bowl Race 2012The 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!”

Aurora happily posing in the dark in the middle of the night/morning outside the Rose Bowl before the half marathon 2012Here’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

Aurora in a big smiling close-up with her dadMy 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

Aurora giving a little happy pose after the Universal Studios Say No to Drugs Race 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!”

Aurora giving a little sly face at the Say No To Drugs Race at Universal Studios Hollywood 2012Then 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

Aurora posing with her finisher medal from Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 2012Considering 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!

Aurora running, looking up smiling at Rock 'n' Roll ArizonaNow, 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.

Aurora and her friend Taylor in a close-up posing with their medals after Rock 'n' Roll AZ 2012Unimportant 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!