I finished my second race of the month-it was the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. I am stoked and did surprisingly well… I finished in 32 minutes, which is a 9:22 pace. It turns out I came in 7th for all the women at Shutterfly and we had 186 people attend! The race was 3.5 miles around AT&T park but my Nike Plus said I ran 4.36 miles so I am convinced the race was not marked correctly! It definitely felt much longer but either way, I RAN the whole thing!
Posted by Brittany Welby
(That is colored cornstarch in my hands.)
Well, I did it! I completed my first 5k run! I still can’t believe it. My whole life I have hated running, just despised it. And here I am crossing the finish line last week. I ran the 5k in just under 30 minutes and felt great. My legs were a little tired and at some points I was feeling sore but as the paint sprayed me every so often, I knew the finish line wasn’t too far away! My mom was there to snap this photo of me and she said I was about the 20th person to cross the finish line! Woo hooo.. It really feels good to see my progress and accomplish something I never thought was possible. I learned that a lot of running is mental and just telling yourself you can do it. I am mentally stronger now and love that I can push myself even harder than before!
Next up, 3.5 miles in San Francisco for the Shutterfly Corporate challenge in SF!
Posted by Brittany Welby
I can not believe it -last week I ran a mile in 7:44 with M!!
Exactly ONE MONTH until my first 5k!!!!
After my run tonight and about 75 squats and sit-ups I felt like I needed to put something very healthy in my body. I opened my fridge and saw an abundance of fruit so I decided to make a refreshing fruit smoothie. Here is a photo of the ingredients!
All you need to do is add a cup of crushed ice and cranberry juice in the blender with a half a cup of vanilla yogurt to give it a base and nice consistency. Then I added in some seedless watermelon, apricots, and peaches. Make sure to cut the fruit down so it mixes easily. After I blended it all together for about a minute I tried it and it was great but decided my muscles were a little sore so I added some protein powder as well. I have been working out so much and so hard lately that I think I need to take in more protein to stay fit and build my muscles.
Here is a before picture and an after picture with the protein added. It is milk chocolate so you can see the difference in color. It was very yummy and a healthy meal!
Fruit Smoothie
Fruit Smoothie with Chocolate protein powder added
That’s right folks and I can’t believe it either! September 1st, just a week and half before my 3.5 mile race (which was supposed to be my first race ever) up in San Francisco, I am doing the Color Me Rad race with M! I am stoked to be colored rad and look like a bag of Skittles when I am done. You run the 5k and every km people chuck paint at you! Crazy huh? Well it’s not really paint, it’s colored corn starch but gives the same effect! You show up in all white and leave looking like a box of pastels crayons. Just take a look for yourself at these photos. It is going to be awesome.
And more exciting news….I finally got my new running shoes. I played around with Photoshop and altered the photo but look how cute they are! They are Nike Dual Fusion women’s running shoes in metallic silver and desert pink. I ran with them tonight and my first impression was, WOW am I running on Jello? They are so comfy and they have little vents or maybe it is the mesh in the front, but my toes get air and circulation and it feels oh so good! Can’t wait to put some more mileage on them!
Saturday’s run took us by the new mural at San Jose International Airport
Recently as I have begun running more and more I realized there are a few things I learned on my own. As an amateur runner I had no idea on what to wear or how to be comfortable so I thought I should share these tips with any other new runners out there! They might seem silly and small but really make a difference for me and the more comfortable I feel, the easier it is for me to run.
Here are the things I have learned in no order of importance:
I think that is everything that is on my mind right now and I hope it helps you too! What have you learned while running that you wish you knew beforehand that just made life easier?
City Living and Running
Halleluiah! I can’t believe I am even saying this but today M and I ran 5.91 miles! We decided to check out the rest of the trail and kept exploring and before we knew it we were past the San Jose International Airport. I ran almost the whole time but of course we had to stop a few times because I was winded. I also started getting very sore in my hip flexors at about the fourth mile which was something new but I guess expected for my first time. I am sure I will feel it tomorrow too. I definitely need to upgrade and get some new running shoes so if anyone has any recommendations please let me know! We started running around 9am and got back in just about an hour which was awesome. We beat the heat (it was 88 in San Jose today) and got back in time to grab a couple chairs down at the pool. It was a great day for my training and I seriously can’t wait to continue running faster and longer distances. I am actually really looking forward to it!
And if you can’t believe it either, here is the proof! I am on a roll for July!
I am getting pretty close….wouldn’t you say?
If you have been following my blog lately you know the majority of my posts have been about running and trying to get more into the sport. It has always been something I don’t like….actual dread…but recently it has been more of a hobby and daily routine. I have been running on average two miles every day and I am so damn proud of myself! I do it every night when I get home from work and it doesn’t bother me or anything. No matter how tired I am I put on my Nikes and Tuneband (best purchase off Amazon ever) and get running. I bring my puppy Gracie and she loves it. She keeps up with me and trails right behind me. It is so cute and I know she actually looks forward to it too.
I am so excited to announce I will be in my first ever RACE!! Shutterfly (they own Tiny Prints, where I work) is sponsoring the employees to participate in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in September! It is 3.5 miles along the water in San Francisco and I am stoked. The timing COULD NOT be more ideal as now all my running is actually part of a training program. I had no intention of signing up for a race and merely run for exercise but this is perfect. I am slowly increasing my distance and before I know it I will be running 3.5 miles like a pro. Some of you might be chuckling but if you knew me it’s a big deal! I am so so excited and can’t wait to get my first race bib. Exciting stuff!!
Happy Monday! Here are some photos I wanted to share from my lovely weekend. I had my very first ever Garage Sale! It was actually pretty fun but I must say required a lot of prep. Gathering the items, setting up tables in my garage, pricing items, etc. It was supposed to be a community garage sale but only four of us participated! I hope they plan another one this summer or later in the year and I can help promote and market it more. Not many people knew it was happening and were sad they didn’t get to participate! Believe it or not I still have SO much stuff so I need to pack it all up now and donate it to the Salvation Army for families who could really use the stuff.
On Sunday I ran on the beach again! This time we went to Seacliff Beach and ran over 4 miles! I am getting so much better with running and breathing deeper to keep my energy up. It is so nice to see my progress and how much easier running is getting for me. Running on the beach is so relaxing and you get to see so many dogs and families and sea life. We were up and out of there with a great workout completed by noon! And what better way to finish off the day than getting home and jumping in the pool followed by a marathon of Breaking Bad! (We are on Season 1 but hope to catch up by the premiere on July 15th!)
Here are some photos from the weekend.
Peonies to brighten up my room. My faves
My friend rescued these from a box at Costco. Sad, but now they have the best home!
Our entertainment at the Garage Sale! “No, they are not for sale!”
So tired. Look how he passed out! 6 week old terrier mix
The wharf at Seacliff Beach
Miles of beach to run on…..and man did we do that
The last few feet of my run…..look what I found. What a perfect end to my run on the beach! ❤
Happy Monday! I had a wonderful weekend and am keeping up with my goal of running. Friday I ran before work and Saturday had an amazing workout. M and I got up to Santa Cruz by 9am and beat all the traffic. It was 100 degrees in San Jose and Santa Cruz was a perfect 82. We set up our towels on the beach at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and ran up and down the beach. It was about 1.5 miles from one end to the other and we did that twice! Yup, 3 miles on the beach plus 100 sit ups and 100 squats. I was sort of a wimp and ran with my running shoes on and he did it barefoot. What a pro. I couldn’t handle it but I know that’s totally not what running on the beach should be, but I had to. It was still amazing and believe me it was a tough workout! I love the smell of the ocean and sun tan oil and listening to the yelping sea lions under the pier. I discovered that I usually only run on the beach on my vacations but driving up to the coast and doing it on an early morning is so much fun! Only 40 minutes away from home and it feels like a mini vacation!
After our workout we walked up to the boardwalk before they even opened and bought some tickets for the rides. I was so excited to be there and M and I were reminiscing of our childhood trips to the boardwalk and how everything was exactly how we remembered. We rode the Log Ride and got drenched and then the historic Giant Dipper which was a blast. After the rides we took a stroll down to the pier aka the Santa Cruz Wharf and walked around and acted like tourists which was fun. We ended up in the cutest wine bar, Prima Vino, which had amazing views of the ocean. We enjoyed some scrumptious mimosas with fresh fruit juice which was in an ice bin so we could make whatever we wanted. I chose guava for my first one and POG juice for my second. For those of you who have been to Hawaii you know that’s Pineapple, Orange and Guava juice. Delicious! It was such a beautiful day and I am so excited to go back up to the beach and run on some early morning weekends.
The view from the Santa Cruz Wharf (Photo by me)
The Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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