a rainy (and cold!) sunday.

for the first time in a longgg time, the weather got cold on sunday (and by cold, i mean mid-70s..don’t laugh).  even though it rains a lot in hawaii, it rarely gets cool enough to wear a sweatshirt, so i was pretty stoked on the weather.  we spent the day on the north shore like always and while reis surfed, i hung out at a friend’s house.  we both studied (by the way, my online city college classes are kicking my butt.  pathetic, i know) and then she made me homemade hot chocolate.  oh my goodness it was so delish and i felt so cozy drinking it on a rainy day.  she even has a foamer-thing that made the hot choc all frothy.  YUM.  when reis got in from surfing i begged him to go running with me and he finally gave in.  this was his first time running and dang, that boy is FAST for a first timer.  especially in the rain!  let’s just say our run was a casual jog for him and a speedwork-gasping-for-air-sprint for me.  what the heck?  why are guys naturally faster at everything?  now i’m trying to convince him to run a race with me!  he took some of my runner’s world magazines last night so i’m secretly thinking he loved it.  woohoo!

gunstock ranch trail half marathon.

whoah whoah.  brace yourselves people.  i think this post has the most writing in jayAdores history.  but i love talking about running, so that is probably why.

ya know how i said i had no time goals for my trail half mary?  that was the best decision EVER.  i had SO much fun running on saturday and i seriously just love this race.  i ran the SLOWEST half marathon i have ever run (minus when i ran this race last year and got lost for 2 miles..i just don’t count that one), but given my lack of training and the gnarly (and plentiful) hills and trails and rocks and mud, i really don’t care too much.  all other races i run throughout the year are road races and because i know those are easier to PR on, i try harder.  does anyone else not try as hard when you know it’s a course you can’t PR on?

reis’ good friend christian and i ran together on saturday morning, but he is mr. speedster and left me in his dust.  i ate half a kid’s clif z-bar before the race and that was perfect because i hate eating anything when i run in the morning.  the weather was absolutely perfect: it rained a little bit, it was cool, breezy, and cloudy.  awesome blossom.  the course was gorgeous.  and au nauturale.  i dodged a crapload (literally) of horse and cow manure the entire course.  the hills and rocks were pretty insane.  it flattened out mid-course, but only for a couple miles.  i walked  A LOT which i never normally do in races, but it felt more like a “rigorous hike” at some points.  it’s pretty crazy too – the herd of runners thins out mid-run and at times you feel like you are completely by yourself in the mountains!  they had about 4 or 5 aid stations along the trails and they were awesome.  the volunteers were great and so friendly and they gave out this really good electrolyte drink that i swear gave me a second wind with every swig.  i carried clif shotbloks with me and only ate one square.  when i am running, eating anything sounds so unappetizing so i had to force it down.  who knows if it helped.  probably not.

(i gave reis my camera to take pics of us and when i went to look through his shots, i became pretty convinced he has a man-crush on christian.  he took a billion of christian and he told me it was to test the lighting and the settings so he could get good ones of me when i came in.  sure…)

in every race i run, i usually experience an “oh-my-gosh-i-hate-this-so-much-and-running-sucks” moment that goes away the second i cross the finish line, but i didn’t come anywhere near that on saturday.  which translates into: i didn’t push myself.  i wasn’t even sore on sunday.  now i kinda wish i tried harder.  but oh well, i’ve decided this race will be my “fun run” every year!  i finished around 2:18, which according to athlinks.com is about 26 minutes longer than my average half mary time.  (p.s. is anyone else as obsessed with athlinks.com as much as i am?  i am too lazy to write down all my times and so its like my favorite thing.  it categorizes all of your races and times and tells you your PR for each distance you run..so cool!)

reis says he feels lame always being a “running groupie” at my races, so i am trying to convince him to actually run one with me.  too bad the only sports he will participate in have to involve the ocean.  but then again, i love having my own personal race photog.  $40 for official race photos?  ya no thanks.  overall, this race was awesome and fun and beautiful and just reminded me why i love running.  i am already super stoked on my next half mary in a few weeks!

my favorite things.

this weekend was spent doing a bunch of my favorite things:

1. eating pizza (yahhhh carbo-loading)

2. running a super fun half marathon (race recap to come later this week!)

3. lunch at kono’s

4. post-race meal = chicken macademia nut pesto sandwich + iced mocha (i had a mad craving for chocolate milk after the race and hadn’t had my daily coffee yet, so an iced mocha hit. the. spot.)

5. beach time with my loverboy

6. tanning on this gorg beach in amazing weather

6. spending the whole weekend on the north shore

(unpictured: 7. saturday night dinner with our good friends kezia and ashton. where we talked/laughed for hours.  love nights like those!)

ooo i love weekends!

i’m running a half marathon tomorrow.

 

and i haven’t done that in awhile.  eeks.

tomorrow i’m running a trail half marathon on the north shore and i’m super excited!  i’m severely undertrained (i had the best of intentions to get my rear in gear on a regular running routine but have failed pretty bad. aka i have only run a handful of times this month), but that’s a-okay because this race is SO much fun.  i ran it last year and out of the 16-something races i ran last year, this one was my absolute favorite!  it’s a small, local race with the nicest people and the most beautiful course.  although —  i am a tad bit worried for the following reasons:

1) i haven’t run 13.1 miles since this race (which was 5 months ago, btw).

2) i haven’t run trails since i ran this race a year ago (oops).

3) this course is dang hilly (and there are cows, horses, and other wild animals on the course!)

4) and it’s gonna be a hotttt (you think i’d be used to this by now..)

time goals are non-existent for this race and i’m okay with that.  we are headed to the north shore tonight after i get off of work and staying with reis’ parents for the weekend.  see ya on monday!

 

breakfast at bogart’s.

saturday morning we had breakfast at bogart’s.  (i’ve raved about it before here.)  we are the most indecisive couple when it comes to deciding where to eat.  i admit, it’s 98% my fault considering reis will eat anything and everything and i am the picky one who doesn’t like eggs (which rules out lots of breakfast places), fish (rules out lots of dinner places), and a billion other foods.  oops.  after i-kid-you-not an hour and a half, we decided on bogart’s!  except when we got there, their kitchen was backed up 25 minutes and since we already wasted way too much time deciding where to go, we were over it and just got coffee (caramel macchiato for reis//latte for me) and blueberry scones.  i know i’ve said it before, but if you ever come to oahu, you HAVE to go here.  for breakfast or lunch, it is so delish!  but be willing to wait awhile, it’s a popular zone.

currently missing: california.

i can honestly say for the past 2 1/2 years i have lived here, i have never been homesick.  of course i miss my family and friends, but i have never actually missed the place because i love hawaii so much.  but this week — oh heck — i have been missing california like crazy!  good thing i am going home for thanksgiving for a quick trip because this girl needs it.  bring on the cooler temps, drinking hot chocolate without sweating, cozying up in sweatpants and sweatshirts, boots, uggs, scarves, the whole bit!  plus i am so stoked that i won’t be missing my high school girlfriends’ annual black friday starbucks get-together!!  wahooo!  let the countdown begin!

(p.s. this post may have something to do with the 3 geckos that are currently taking up precious real estate IN MY KITCHEN.  they run so fast they are impossible to catch.  believe me, i’ve tried.  did i mention that geckos play dead??  i seriously wish i was kidding you.  it is just ridiculous.  oh, and the 2 cockroaches that have joined the crew.  i mean, come on gecks, if you are at least gonna invade my space, do your dang job and eat the roaches!  thanks.  and if you are a HI resident, yes, i am a complete wuss and hate those foul creatures.  they literally cause me to lose sleep because i’m afraid i am going to wake up to one staring at me.  oh man california, i really miss you and your non-bugginess).

woo. rant ovaaa.  happy friday ya’ll.  have a great weekend!