Jo Nisha was gifted with free tickets to Wango Tango while she was fundraising for Camp Ronald McDonald, and she was nice enough to invite me along to revel in Bieber fever… because although Usher was the main headliner for the show, it was pretty obvious from their deafening screams that 99.9% of the little girls and MILFs at the Staples Center that night, were there to see the Biebs.

Rest assured, our group fell into the 0.1% who went to heckle the crowd ;)

I now leave you with my Tweets from the night and some pics!

7:28pm: The screaming is deafening in here. Teenage girls got some crazy ass lungs!

7:33pm: Yes. I am ashamed to say I am at #wangotango. Couldn’t turn down free tickets =P

7:40pm: Adam Lambert and some borgs are dancing on stage now #wangotango

7:48pm:Adam Lambert is wearing MC Hammer pants. HOT! #wangotango

8:24pm:Celebrity sighting: David Hasselhoff with girls young enough to be his grand-daughters #wangotango

8:29pm: Haha @castorsosae is going in for a close up pic of hasselhoff. God he’s so old #wangotango

8:32pm: David hasselhoff dancing. Brain about to explode. #wangotango

9:13pm: Seeing some really interesting hoochie dancing tonight #wangotango

9:31pm: Bieber just came out. I am now deaf. #wangotango

9:38pm: Bieber’s got 4 asian brothas for his backup singer #wangotango

9:44pm: Bieber just tried to break dance. Nuff said. #wangotango

9:50pm: The guy is front of us is dancing to justin bieber like he’s in a hip hop video………… #wangotango

9:59pm: Guy next to me: i don’t get bieber. Me: i don’t get the guy in front of us lol #wangotango

Akon

10:15pm: Luda!! #wangotango

10:29pm: Hip hop white boy’s gf is even more entertaining to watch. She’s trying to dance like a sexy stripper. FAIL

and no… I didn’t contract Bieber Fever

This race ended up not being a good one, performance wise, but it was great in so many other ways =)

I drove down to San Diego on Friday afternoon, picked up my race bib from the Del Mar Race Track (along with some crazy cool ass freebies), and then headed on over to the brother’s place where I’d be spending the night. We dined on L&L Hawaiian BBQ that evening and I promptly fell asleep at…. 1:30am. haha =)

I woke up the next morning at around 5ish, got dressed and headed on over to Del Mar. The 5k wasn’t starting until 7:50, but they were closing off the parking lot (for the 10kers) at 7 so 5kers had to get there early. I got there at around 6:30 and scored an uber close parking spot. w00t! =)

As I was sitting in my car, eating a Luna bar (dark cherry, mmmm) I saw Marissa, Ashley, and Kelsey making their way to the start line. With all the women there that day, we still can’t believe we managed to run into each other!

Marissa, Ashley, and me, pre-race

The race itself was pretty awesome. I loved running with all those women and girls, such great camaraderie. The weather was nice, although it got too warm later on. It just wasn’t a great race for my legs. They were still feeling sore and tight from speedwork a couple of days ago. And even tho I could see that my heart rate wasn’t even tipping itself over 155, I couldn’t make them go any faster. I did, however, manage to run negative splits =)

Split 1: 11:43
Split 2: 11:24
Split 3: 10:44
Split 4: 1:21 (8:51 min pace!!!)

Average HR: 151
Average Pace:11:03
Calories Burned: 403
Overall: 466/1346
Age Group: 90/217

post-race!

I look so chipper for someone with screamin’ legs lol

they had a photobooth at the race!

This race had some of the best swag ever. Race registration was only $25, you got to personalize your bibs, you got a sport tech race shirt, a very cute medal, a suuuuuper cute Aflac duck plushie, an ice cold Aflac sponge post-race, an insulated lunch baggy with breakfast (banana, yogurt, muffin, orange juice), a sturdy black, Aflac canvass bag, free photobooth, and some crazy awesome freebies (goodie hair ties, Luna protein bars, pink canvas bags, drinks, etc). Seriously, I plan on doing it again next year!

my medal from the Great Race of Agoura Hills was nice and chunky,
but this is by far the cutest medal I’ve gotten for just a 5k =)

insulated lunch bag

Now that my shorter races are over with, I should be focusing on getting ready for the San Francisco half marathon. I’m nervous but still feeling hopeful that I’ll get it in under 3hrs, even with all those scary, mountainous hills.

by MIA… cause I’ve been Missing in Action. Get it? =D har har har

I can’t believe it’s almost been a full month since I last updated. Sorry, guys! The good news is that I HAVE been running. The bad news is that I haven’t been running enough. Yes, it’s the story of my life. What else is new?

The past few weeks have been pretty jam packed. Get ready for a photo blitz! =)

Midnight Ghetto Bowling

I got off work, picked up the Boy from the airport, pigged out at King Taco (as is our tradition), and then we went midnight bowling at this 24/7 bowling place in Anaheim for a friend’s birthday. It was sooooo fun!

the girls, with the birthday girl (Lauren) in the middle

with Jaymi, who didn’t get off work until close to 1 but still made it out to celebrate

Conan O’Brien – The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour

I’ve never been a huge Conan O’Brien fan, but the Boy LURVES him so we got tickets for his 30 city tour. Before the show, we had dinner at the Veggie Grill. And alls I gotta say is YUM.

I had the carne asada burger and the boy got the chicken sandwich. Everything was delicious, but my fave was definitely the sweet potato fries and the dipping sauce. mmmmmm My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

With our bellies full, we headed on over to the Universal Amphitheater. As we were stopped at the corner of Hollywood and Highland, we saw this rather bizarre group of people dressed up as zombies. It was actually pretty freaky when we saw the first couple of them. I’m not sure what they were doing it for, but I’m guessing it was probably to promote some new movie coming out.

We made it to the Universal Amphitheater with plenty of time. We found our seats and just chillaxed until it began. I wasn’t really sure how I’d like the show, but in the end I actually ended up really enjoying it. It was so freakin’ hilarious. One of my favorite bits of the night was his infamous (as I’m told by the Boy) Walker Texas Ranger bit. He pulls this lever and it plays random and hilariously terrible scenes from the show.

LOL I dunno how that show was on for sooooo long. I suppose it’s all the house wives swooning over Chuck Norris. BTW, did you know that every time Chuck Norris smiles, someone dies? That is, unless he smiles while he’s roundhouse kicking someone in the face. Then two people die. True story.

Through the wonderfulness that is Twitter I found out that Chris and Jen were also at the show, just at the opposite side of the theater =D We managed to find each other at the end of the show to snap this pic.

Sarah, Shane, and Jonah visit

We had a mini-Aesop reunion the following day. It’s funny to think how much time has passed since we were all working at Aesop together. It still feels like it was just yesterday, but in reality, it’s been almost 10 years! From single ladies to mommies, errr… minus 1 (me) from the mommy club, unless you count my two furry little boys =)

Sarah, Shane, and cutie patootie Jonah

lil Colin and Natalie… future wife and hubbie :)

Sarah, me, Cheryl, Sunny – Aesop girlies!

Mother’s Day

Sadly, no pictures from this weekend because I forgot my SD card at home =( On Saturday, we had AYCE Korean bbq.. mmmmmm. On Sunday, my brother and I took my mom to Road Runners to get fitted for her first pair of running shoes! Yippeee! My goal is to have her do the LA Cancer Challenge in October =)

The Running Front

• April 21: 3x800m @ 9:39 pace sandwiched between a 1 mi warm up and a half mile cool down
• April 29: 2×1600 @ 10:30 pace sandwiched between a 1 mi warm up and a half mile cool down
• May 3: 5 mile long run (supposed to be 6, but had weird right knee tweaks so I cut it short)
• May 6: 4x800m @ 9:46 pace sandwiched between a half mile warm up and a half mile cool down
• May 8: Aflac Iron Girl 5k! This was an AWESOME race. Race report pending =)

Total mileage in April, a meager 24.8 =(( Running total in May thus far: 10.1. Also not good. Hoping to at least get into the 30s by the end of the month, if not the 40s. here’s hoping! haha

You may be thinking to yourself.. has she gone mad?? It’s THURSDAY, not Monday!

Nope =) I haven’t gone mad (yet),  but I just couldn’t wait to share this awesome idea that Raciel and I have come up with.

We both have some pretty big goals this year. For one thing, we both want to set PRs for all distances. I personally want to set a huge one for CIM, my redemption marathon, in December. My goal is to do it in around 5:30. Raciel also has an uber crazy October this year with a half marathon (RnR LA), her first sprint triathlon, AND a full marathon (Marine Corps) all coming within a week of each other. Craziness!

So, to say that we must be as fit as we can possibly be to achieve these goals is a total understatement.

Our solution?

We’ve decided to share a training calendar on Google calendar so that we’re both aware of what the other needs to be doing on any given day. There’s nothing like being accountable to someone else to get your butt into gear. At least that’s what we’re hoping! =)

If we aren’t doing our workouts… the virtual metal spatula must be broken out! For those unfamiliar with the metal spatula, no, Raciel and I aren’t into anything kinky! It’s a reference to the movie Run, Fat Boy Run. There, Dennis (the main character) is being trained by his BFF and his landlord, who rides a scooter next to him and smacks him with a metal spatula every time Dennis tries to walk. LOL

So yeah… bring it on! You guys now know what we’ve got to do! FYI, Raciel’s workouts have (RaD) in front of them. Feel free to leave your own metal spatula comments if we aren’t doing our workouts!

= UTTER AWESOMENESS!

Last night I met up with Raciel and Jo Nisha for our almost yearly dinner at Back Home at Lahaina. The Boy tagged along ;)

For the past couple of weeks now, I’ve been trying to fight off a hankering for Hawaiian food. I thought having a small delicious bowl of loco moco at the Local Place last Thursday would quench it, but it only magnified my craving! Go figure. So, while chatting on AIM on Friday, Raciel and I decided, it was time to revisit Back Home at Lahaina for some yummy ono. Raciel luckily lives nearby and can have it whenever she wants, but I haven’t been back since last year, right around this time of year.. right in time for Jo Nisha’s birthday! We sent out an email to our fellow GGPH (Golden Girls Party House) member, Jo, and she was on board to get together for an early dinner on Monday evening.

Raciel celebrated our get together by wearing her Frodo shoes Vibram Five Fingers. They were pretty freakin’ cool! And I couldn’t help but start yearning for a pair myself. But I think I probably should get back into running regularly before I venture into pseudo barefoot running ;)

So, on to the food parade!

After much thought, I decided to go with the Loco Moco plate. What can I say? I’m a sucker for all things gravy and eggs. Oh, and hamburger patties are pretty darn awesome, too! Perhaps this is why I’ve hit a weight loss plateau ;)

heart attack city

The Boy got the Lahaina Fried Chicken, which is always total yums, flavorful and super crispy and juicy.

Raciel got a bbq pork plate and Jo enjoyed a terriyaki chicken plate. I don’t have pics of their plates because I was too busy stuffing my face at this point! haha

As always, we had an AWESOME night, filled with lots of laughter and silliness, because that’s what the GGPH does best! Be silly! We continued our tradition for taking pre- and post-botox pics (no, none of us have ever been botoxed, it’s just another one of our insane inside jokes).


Botoxed in 2009

Botoxed in 2010

pre-botox, with saggy faces and in some serious need for some collagen

post-botox with faces frozen in a crazy smile

the normal GGPH ;)

But what was one of the best parts of the night?

Raciel’s birthday card for Jo Nisha!


Total awesomeness =)

Thanks for such a great night, ladies!