LB Marathon weekend, I am a beach bum

We have been juggling through October. Trying to manage work (so much work), school/volunteer obligations, kid schedules/sports/activities, home and the Dodgers. 

Over the second weekend of October, JT ran the Aquarium Kids 1 mile Run for the 3rd consecutive year, (Here is 2011 and Here is 2012) HeaBug had her first in-house gymnastics meet, and Mr. B and I ran the Long Beach International Half Marathon.

Dads were unable to get away from work this morning (last year they biked the course) but the rest of us Booths made our way to downtown for the kids to participate in the run. JT came in 5th in his age group!

HeaBug participated in an In-House gymnastics meet. It was the first in a monthly series of three meets to acquaint the girls with the process and experience of competing. There were 4 events, Bars, Beam, Vault and Floor. These little gymnasts were so super cute!! She did a great job!

Mr B got home about 10:30 at night, we were out the door by 5:30am. Greek yogurt and red bull for breakfast.

We prepaid to park in the parking structure at the Pike. After finding a spot on the roof, we made our way down to the starting line. The waves took off at scent intervals. In truth I didn't even care if we were late, I was just so glad to be hanging out with my favorite person. 

I paced Mr B for about 3 miles and we made good time, about 9:30 minutes per mile. Then came the Powerade table where we kind of got separated. He was ahead of me, now following an old Asian man in an orange running club jersey but I had them both in my line of sight. At the mile 4 loop I had to stop to use the restroom and lost them both. At 5.5 I finally texted Mr B that running separately was not the date I had in mind. He stopped following orang shirt man and waited for me as I rounded the lighthouse. We then ran together until mile 7 when he got a horrible hamstring cramp! We pull over to stretch it out and as he does, there's ANOTHER cramp! This time on his quad. Poor guy. I know they can be so painful. We slowed our pace down a lot and did most of the rest at a walk some/jog some. Mr B kept telling me that I could go ahead but this run was about getting to be together and while I am pretty competitive, I'm not a PR chaser either. My goal for any/every race is Just Don't Die. And to finish of course.

We crossed that finish line at 3 hours on the money. Earlier when trying to convince/encourage Mr B to participate with me, I said I'd drink the free beer with him at the end. We don't drink anymore, aside from sips of champagne at a wedding or swishes or wine at a food pairing, for a variety of reasons but mostly for our health. But I'll tell you, something about sitting in that beer garden, live music and tires from running a half marathon, elated from doing something I love with someone I love, drinking our free ice cold Michelob Ultra while eating cheez-it's and a rice krispy treat from the post race bag... Well, it's going down in my mind and my favorite post race moment to date. 

We made our way to Johns first, limping in and ready to order the chili fries that we earned just burning through and estimated 1800 calories... We ended up with a chicken club and a Greek salad. Live life on the edge right?! Lol.

He enjoyed lunch with me and then this guy, he went back out to the job site Rock Steady was working on. 

Kudos to Mr B for running a half marathon on no training.

He is crazy.  He is amazing and I am glad every single moment of the day that I'm his girl. 

The OC Half Marathon and Completing the Beach Cities Challenge

The Health Expo volunteers,
assisting with the check in process
and handing out t-shirts and bibs
were tons of Elders and
Sister Missionaries from my church.
It really threw me off at first and
then, I just realized it was plain
rad. 

May 5th.  Beach Cities Challenge. Check.

A few months ago, I ran (ish) the Surf City 1/2 marathon. It was the second race of 3 to complete the Beach Cities Challenge. Long Beach, Surf City, OC.

It's been a goal of mine and today, I finished.

The OC marathon is point to point. You don't run a giant loop. It was my first experience with this and as far as races go, I think I prefer the loop.

I hadn't been running a whole lot but Mr. B and I have been enjoying OC Fitness Boot Camp, working out together and with a group of great people three mornings a week before the kids get up. We got a deal on Groupon and it's been a rad way to hang out together. Some gnarly decline, jack knife hand walk outs totally pinched something in my neck and I was on the desperate search for chiropractic attention. Thank GOODNESS a friend referred me to Dr. Ryan of Lampson Family Chiropractic. Whew.

My sweet pal Ash was also running OC as the first race of her Beach Cities Challenge so we carpooled that AM. The event requested to park at the OC fairgrounds (where the race would end and the finish line festival would be held) and then catch a shuttle to the starting line (at Fashion Island in Newport Beach). The organization was lame and we ended up waiting over an hour to catch the shuttle (even though we arrived well before our assigned shuttle times) and got to the starting line 45 minutes after the gun. All these people? We're getting off the bus and just going. We stopped to take a quick picture before a quick stretch and getting on the good foot. 

I am not a fast runner. But right now, that's not my goal. I'm still focusing on the JUST FINISH mentality. As I got dressed that morning I knew I'd wear my compression socks which make a huge difference when I run over 8 miles. I decided to wear a skort and a sleeved shirt. I don't really do shorts but the more I question why, the sillier I feel. Another post about body image coming very soon. I feel the need to think on these words a little more before pushing it out there.

I wore my Dodger hat (which I've worn for every race)... I kind of feel like it's lucky. And even if it isn't lucky, it helps with the sweat that will inevitably happen due to my crazy thick Hawaiian Girl hair. So Thank You hat... and I love you Dodgers. (haters gonna hate)

 Save for my hat and phone I left all of my other gadgets, support equipment at home. I usually wear a hydration belt that holds water, chia drink, electrolyte replacement liquid. I generally take pieces of gum and maybe clif shot blocks or a gel/goo packet. I decided a few weeks ago that I would approach this run with a different mind set. That I would avoid the hullaballoo. The unnecessary, the over anxiety, the worrying, over thinking... yeah all of that. Rubbish.

A few days before this race, I did a hypnotherapy session at Unwind the Mind with this super cool chick I met at Book Club! She is so cool and has this amazing and super calming voice. I figured I could give it a try. I feel generally pretty balanced in the rest of my life and was looking to her to help me control and maintain that level of peace during this run. Most of running is mental anyway. She gave me a key phrase, "Pass it". I practiced worrying myself silly over things that brought feelings of tension and then just "Pass it". After a few rounds of that, I really felt like I could apply that phrase to so many different things.

So that's what I did. I took my three cough drops in the key pocket of my skort, my excellent playlist and the knowledge that my love and best friend would be there at the finish line and I ran 13.1 miles. According to my GPS, with the weaving I did 13.75 but who's keeping track?

There were hills. Like no joke hills. The other races that I've done have been fairly flat, with a few inclines but nothing too drastic. Wowzer there were hills. It's all good though, one of the best parts about climbing a hill is getting to fly down the other side.

With 3/4 miles to go to finish, I took out my head phones and let myself enjoy the noise around me. The cheering at the finish. These people don't have to cheer for me and I appreciate their energy so I repay that with smiling and waving and putting some pep in my step.

 I saw his face first, then heard his "Alright Babe!" immediately after. 

I would go to the moon for this man. 

I smiled so big and did a little jig when I crossed. I made my way to the snack bags (which the kids would raid when I got home), post race photo, and went in search of my medal. See that sucker? over .75 lbs! Yeah. That's what I'm talkin' about. 

So that post race high lingers for quite a while. I felt great. Didn't limp to the car, didn't fall asleep right away. We got home and after I showered we went to Brunch and then took the kids to see Iron Man 3.
I was pretty sore the next day but got up to go to our bootcamp workout anyway... just trying to cement that Like a Boss feeling.

Woot Woot!

Spring Break 2013 in Hawaii

10 months ago we booked 5 tickets to Hawaii using miles on our Hawaiian Miles Visa. Complete, roundtrip. bam. Two weeks later, that awesome Mr. B suggests we take Maga as she was celebrating her 50th. (It's actually what we gave her as her present). Mr. B got the airline tickets and I was put in charge of finding us a great place to stay. Since there were six of us, we were looking at two hotel rooms. Alternatively, I decided to look at renting a house. I found the most amazing place! As we didn't pay for the flights, I figured we could splurge a little on the stay and MAN was it worth it.

Poor HeaBug was still fevered and JT was coughing like he had the plague. Our flight was in the evening out of LAX on a Monday. Since we'd booked the tickets so far in advance (for a 12pm flight) the flight times were changed (to a 5pm flight). Our first 5 tickets were placed on hold, not canceled but not confirmed seats either. Good thing Mr. B got it sorted out the few days before we left! We had the confirmed seats but they were scattered throughout the plane. Traveling with two little ones, that is just not an option for me. We asked the lady when we checked out bags and she says there is nothing she can do, flight is full. Once we got through security (Which we flew through considering, little shoutout to my bugs for being awesome travelers) I went up to the desk to work my politeness. I let the Hawaiian in my voice come out a little and took poor sick, sad Hea up on my hip. This lady was happy to help. She accommodated us to put the kids in between Mr. B and myself, Breezer was one row back to the right and Maga was right behind us. What a little Mahalo can do. AND they had leis for HeaBug and JT at the gate, with wishes of "Hope bebe feels better". LOVE!

After the 5ish hour flight, we were all feeling a little like junk. We originally rented two compact cars as it was cheaper than getting a loser cruiser  mini van. But the lady at the desk said she could hook it up with a mom-mobile van. It's all good, we could all ride comfortably together. Plus, cheaper was better!

We left Honolulu, crossing the island to get to Waialua on the North Shore which was where we were staying for the week. Putting faith in Google maps, we finally pulled into a cul-de-sac and it said we were there. Looking around, the middle of the night, it didn't feel like we were in the right place. It was dark so it was pretty hard to see. Mr. B pulls out his flashlight and we get out of the van and walk down what looks like an alley or a driveway. Thankfully it was the latter of the two. We opened the wood sliding gate and pulled the car into the space. There are two units. As we used the garage door opener in the garage, it accidentally opened the other unit's garage. We must have scared them something good! Ground level was the garage, in the front door and up a flight of stairs, we walked into an amazing living room. Even at night, we knew this place was cherry. The 2nd floor held the living room with a fold down queen sized futon situated in front of the full wall pocket doors, dining room kitchen, bar a hallway and a full bath. The 3rd floor housed a bedroom, laundry, full bath, and the master bedroom, also with full wall pocket doors and a balcony with an en suite powder room and bath.

This is what I woke up to the very next morning. Not even out of bed, just looking to the right. Happy girl.

Looking off the balcony.

And THAT sunrise. My oh my, Waialua I love you.


We knew we needed to snag some breakfast before we went to the PCC, which was our plan for the day. So we headed in to eat at Cafe Haleiwa. Yum.

Polynesian Cultural Center was lots of fun

 Fun fact... if you've visited the Samoan Village at the PCC... this is the SAME GUY!

 Ali'i lu'au. Even though she was sick, girfren got up to do the hula.

 We toured Iolani Palace in Honolulu. Even the kids listened to their own audio tours walking through time.

 We celebrated Mr. B's birthday at the Chart House. Poor sick girl was still sick. At this point I was also full on sick, JT was coughing like he had the plague and Mr. B was getting sick. (Breeze was two days behind).

 We loved playing in the "backyard".

 The Dole Plantation was good fun.

 Hiking up to and swimming in Waimea Falls was amaaazing. The water was SO cold when we first got in but we were fine after a minute.

Still a little grumpy

We ate at so many awesome places! We got to catch up with a mainland friend! Thank you Yelp, we were never at a loss for food options.

 We were finally well enough to breathe through the snorkels so we visited beautiful Hanauma Bay.

Hawaii was amazing. We were all sad to leave. The kids and Mr. B are convinced we need to buy a place so we can come back whenever we want. The property we stayed on was so beautiful, it felt like a little slice of heaven on earth. Best Spring Break.