Top Ten Running Songs

Here's my top ten on my running playlist.  I need new ideas...

#1- Sweet Caroline by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
#2- I Want You To by Weezer
#3- The Rock Show by Blink 182
#4- Young Blood by The Naked and Famous
#5- Jolene by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
#6- Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World
#7- Hey Ya! by OutKast
#8- Jump by FloRida
#9- Young, Wild & Free by Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa
#10- Untouched by The Veronicas

I'd love to see some other top 10 lists.  I know some people don't listen to music or listen to podcasts.  I need my music loud and fast.

Top Ten Reasons I Run

#1 - I started to run because I hated it so much.  Weird I know.  But I was doing Crossfit and all of the WOD's involving runs always made me so mad.  So I took a year off and learned to run.  And I fell in love with it!

#2 - No excuses- Six months before I really decided to become a runner we were in Hawaii.  I didn't want to lose my fitness, so I made a conscious decision to run every day before the family woke up.  I ate & drank a ton while I was there and only gained one pound.  You can run anywhere, anytime!

#3 - Friends- I have met some great people through running.  Some on social networks that I've never met in person, some I've met or become closer to from running.

#4 - Food- I love food and have never been able to eat like good girls are supposed to eat. I eat a lot.  I try to make good food choices, but running lets me eat those extra calories without too much guilt.

#5 - Tech Tops- I've gotten some fun new tops at races along the way.  I love the conversations that start when I wear one of my tops out in public.

#6 - Shock Factor- I love that look when someone asks how far I went and I either say, "10 miles today" or "it was just a short 6 today".

#7 - Pride- I am so proud of myself when I look at how far I've come after only having been running for 13 months.  3 miles used to seem like such an accomplishment.  Now I would only run that distance if it was for a race.  Not because I HAVE to, but because I CAN.

#8 - Bling- I'm not one that picks races for the bling.  But I do have all of my medals on display in my closet.  Every day when I get dressed, I look at those medals and think about how far I've come.

#9 - Gear- I'm a technology junkie, so any excuse to buy something new to help me become a better runner, I'm there.  I love hitting my mileage limit and getting to go buy a new pair of shoes.  I love trying new ways to fuel.  I love it all!

#10 - Solitude- After about 6 months of running, I thought I should find a running group.  I wasn't able to find one in our area that ran at the times I wanted to run.  I did find time to go out on runs on several occasions with other runner friends.  And you know what I found, I prefer to run alone.  I love my friends, and even my hubby, but when I run I like to be alone.  I like to crank up my music and zone out.  I don't want to worry about talking to someone or pacing them.  I just want to run and let my thoughts wonder.

Surf City Recap

I waited a bit to do my recap because I've had many different thoughts on this race.  Overall I have to say it was terrific!  The entire weekend was a lot of fun and the race was flawless.  We stayed at the Huntington Hyatt so that we'd be able to walk to the start without worrying about parking.  We went down on Friday and had dinner with friends at Captain Jack's in Sunset Beach.  It's one of our favorite places to eat when we're down there.

Saturday, we hit the expo early so that we could avoid the crowds.  It was a beautiful day and I think if we'd gone much later it could've gotten hot in the tents.  It was organized and had lots of great vendors.  That evening we had a large group for dinner and carbo loading at Mamma D's in Newport Beach.  Another fabulous meal with outstanding service.

Woke up at 5:50 on Sunday, ready to run!  We walked over to our friends trailer and toasted my bagel and enjoyed a cup of coffee.  Around 7:00, my twitter friend @CarrieSinCa stopped by to introduce herself.  My friends (that don't do The Twitter) thought I was insane to invite someone I've never met over.  One friend (who shall remain nameless) even wanted to know what her half PR was because she didn't want to feel intimidated by someone super fast coming by!  Runners are funny!  Anyway, it was great to meet her and my friends all thought she was awesome for stopping by to say hi!

Finally it was time to line up.  It was an amazing day and the race started on time.  I felt great most of the race.  The inclines didn't bother me at all.  I didn't like the downhill more than the uphill.  That was the only time my knee gave me any trouble.  But as soon as we flattened out, I was feeling good again.

I keep my playlist on shuffle so that I'm always surprised on my runs.  This was the first time I've ever encountered ALL of my old songs coming up.  I didn't have one new song and it was bumming me out. So I started double clicking my headphones to fast forward songs I didn't like around mile 5.  At mile 8 I realized I wasn't hearing my splits.  I pulled out my phone to find out my runmeter had turned off just past mile 6!  I was so bummed that I wouldn't have an accurate time.  But I just turned it on and kept going.

When I past the finish line the clock read 2:07.  I was bummed because I thought we'd started about 4 minutes in.  All of my splits seemed to be on track for a sub 2 run so I walked through the finish a little dejected.  I didn't see anyone I knew, so I decided to head back to the trailer, where we'd agreed to meet.  I ran into my hubby and our buddy who'd been taking pictures of us along the route.  They told me our wave didn't start until nearly 8 minutes and that I'd definitely finished sub 2.  That brought my spirits up! Soon after Sarah showed up and a few minutes behind her was Lisa.  They both had great runs as well!

Lisa said that this race always posts results same day.  So around noon I checked out the results page. It had my 3 mile split and my 8 mile split but didn't show a finish time.  Lisa and Sarah both had times posted and were very happy with their results!  I finally went by the tent and asked about my results.  I was told that meant I didn't finish.  I assured him that I did finish and had a good time (for me!).  He said that once my splits were confirmed that the back up system was in place and my time would be posted.  He said it would be up by 3PM that day.  It wasn't.  So I waited until Tuesday and then I filed a form with them requesting that they look into my results.  By Thursday I had an official race time!  I was so happy to have an official time.  But it seemed a little generous.  My official time was 1:55:02.  That seems a little fast.  After using what I had from runmeter and looking at my start and finish time, I'd estimated I was somewhere between 1:57-1:59.  Now most people don't complain about a faster time than they'd figured, but since it now is a new PR I want it to be accurate.  At this point I'm sticking with the time and knowing that if I want another PR, then I'll just have to run faster!

So overall, I really  have no complaints about this race.  Everything about it ran smoothly and we had a fabulous weekend with friends to boot.  I will definitely do it again!  Oh and my hubby did a great job taking pictures for us!!