2009 Year in Review

In 2009, I…

Ran two marathons (Arizona and San Diego) Ran three half marathons

No picture of my third half known as "the port-o-potty race"

Did my FIRST (and second) Sprint Tri (and spent lots of time asking my Tri Guru questions about Tri's)

Spectated with awesome signs

Had lots of fun times with friends.

(actually, Sarah, was this race fun?)

Went on lots of fun trips with Mr. Pi...

2009 was a great year!

9 goals of 2009 recap:

1. Run three marathons--Ran two of three then, needed a break.

2. Run a half in 2:15 or less--I did PR but not with 2:15, this is going on the goals list for next year.

3. Run 1000 miles for the year--I came in pretty dang close with 961.32. (I caught a cold in Cali and don't see any running happening this week. BOO)

4. Run a 100 mile month (without getting injured!)--Check! I ran three 100 mile months.

5. Read at least 1 book per month--I read over 12 books for the year not necessarily one per month but I'm going to say "check" to this one too.

6. Contribute more regularly to my savings--Check (still a work in progress)

7. Pay off my car--Check!

8. Be more social (i.e. plan more Portland Blogger happy hours J)--Check! Many fun happy hours were had.

9. Lose 15 lbs (this being the most cliché goal but losing 15 would take the weight I’ve gained off, plus a couple of pounds…I’m hoping losing weight will help bring up my speed)--Um, I didn't gain anything this year =).

Stay tuned for 2010 race calendar and goals!

Merry Christmas Eve

I’ve had a great vacation so far and as promised, I’m as giddy as ever for tomorrow morning! We had a good drive down for Oregon to Cali, Zoey stayed all snuggly in her blankets in her crate.

Mr. Pi and I have gone on some great runs too. In Sac, along with spending lots of time with my Dad we also met Kristen for a run along the American River bike trail. Kristen and I went 8 miles together and talked the whole time. I added another 2 miles after she hit the road for a total of 10. Mr. Pi went a total of 14 and also had a great run.

That white thing is a crane. We also saw bunnies with white puffy tails!

Another runner just ahead of us.

Here we are at the end of 8 miles.

After Sacramento we went to the woods to Grass Valley to visit my Mom. Zoey got spoiled with two whole bags of fun goodies--toys and treats. Here she is trying to get her present from Grandma. (I'll be doing a whole post on my Christmas presents sometime after tomorrow.)

We also got in a good run. It was cold but nice and sunny! I ran on a mix of trails and pavement. It was a hard run, the cold, the elevation and the HILLS made for a tough workout. 5 miles done nonetheless.


From there we went even further north to Mr. Pi's parents house. We met Sarah for a run in Bidwell park. I wish I had worn shorts, it was soooooo warm and sunny. Mr. Pi, Sarah and I ran 8 miles together through the park on a mix of trails and pavement. We kept up a good clip (at least for me), I was tired at the end of 8 miles but thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Up by the trail.

Mr. Pi and Sarah looking at the pretty canyon.

Someone on twitters said this picture looked like "Hey look at that big bear!" and me saying "Hey guys strike a pose." Luckily, there weren't any bears. It sure was pretty.

Here's the trail. We were only on it for a short while. It was pretty technical for this non-trail runner but it was gorgeous.

Here's the paved part of the trail.

Mr. Pi and I after 8 miles in the park.

I took a nice relaxing yoga class this morning. Ran a nice and easy 5k on the treadmill, did a few weights and some abs/pushups. Another gorgeous and warm day in NorCal.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! May Santa bring you lots of fun presents.

Winner Dean K Book & Sugoi Tights Review

Several new commentors for the Dean K book giveaway. I separated the entries by book since several of you had read one book but not the other. If you didn’t indicate having read either book your name went in for both books. By using random.org I pulled the following winners…

Tall Mom wins 50 in 50

X-Country-squared wins UltramarathonMan

Congrats ladies! Email me at ambitiousalisa@gmail.com with your address and I’ll send the books next week.

Onto my tights review. I was lucky enough to have Sugoi send me a pair of Piston 200 compression tights a few weeks ago (actually probably like a month or two). I’m new to the world of running tights. When I lived in California, I didn’t need them; when I lived in Boston, I ran in sweat pants and long johns because it was THAT cold; last winter in the northwest I did lots of treadmill running to avoid the rain and cold. I have been pretty self conscious about tights for two reasons: 1) All of the running pants I own are a wee bit on the short side so I thought tights would just look like capris or worse and 2) They are SPANDEX, full leg spandex! When I received my Sugoi’s in the mail and pulled them out of their VERY small bag I thought “no way are these going to fit.” Oh the wonder of spandex. Don’t get me wrong these puppies are TIGHT but stretchy too. The hardest part about getting them on is fitting the tiny foot holes over my HUGE, Paris Hilton, size 11 feet. Once I got them on I examined myself in the mirror carefully. I wasn’t going to go out in public in SPANDEX if I looked bad. Surprisingly, for being waist to foot spandex, I didn’t look too bad. I ran around my apartment a little to give them a little test and I didn’t feel giggly, I felt sucked in and strong. Here I am in my spandex glory!

I’ve worn these tights probably a dozen or more times. I cannot say ENOUGH great things about them. They are so comfortable! I don’t feel like I’m wearing any pants at all (yes, this is a good thing). Another thing I noticed is that my calfs don’t get nearly as tight. I was stopping to stretch my calfs often during long runs. When I wear the tights, the calf pain is MUCH less. I’m new to the compression world. In fact, I’ve scoffed at “compression wear” multiple times and wondered why people paid for it. Now I get it. I have a pair of Nike “recovery socks.” These are not compression socks. They are cozy but they are NOT like my tights. After being so impressed with these tights, I’ve even considered purchasing a pair of REAL compression socks. In the summertime, I won’t be wearing my tights but I’d like the same calf pain lessening benefit.

I’ve also worn these tights for two long bike rides. I wore bike shorts under them both times. I didn’t think I could fit bike shorts underneath but like I said before they are TIGHT but also stretchy! Tights were wind proof and kept me nice and toasty. Biking in spandex!

The only negative thing I’ll say about the tights is that they aren’t made for really cold temps. Portland had a bit of an arctic blast last week and the temps dropped to below 20 in the morning and about 25-30 for a high. I wore the tights for an after work run, temp probably 28ish, I was totally fine. I wore them for a morning run, car temp said 15, was not so fine. I should have double layered that morning. Keep in mind I’m speaking as someone who is in general cold. My ideal running temperature is 60-70 so it could very well just be me.

The price tag. I found these on http://www.runningwarehouse.com/ for $89.95. Pricey but TOTALLY worth it. In fact, I may buy myself another pair after the holidays. Runningwarehouse.com is also great because they have 2-day free shipping. Mr. Pi and I buy all of our shoes through that site.

Sugoi Piston 200’s get a double thumbs up from me!

Baby it's cold outside

Actually it warmed up today to a whopping 40! Who ever thought I would think 40 was an improvement?

My weekend was uber productive, Mr. Pi and I pretty much got all of our shopping done on Saturday. Saturday night I was doing this...We also got Mr. Pi a little present...

Spartacus has a new friend!

Sunday we got in a very cold and icy run. We tried a different route and it was really nice. I felt like the entire city was out running. I was amazed by how many people I saw in SHORTS! It was 25ish degrees outside! Crazy! Sunday was one of the slowest runs I’ve had in a long time. I was definitely cautious of the ice and resorted to a mere shuffle in some spots. I also ate it on the Hawthorne Bridge. I slipped and barely caught myself before totally falling on my arse. It wasn’t my best run but I made it and felt great the rest of the day.

Brrrrr, frosty and icy!

Cool fog on the river.

Hawthorne Bridge...where I ate it!

I’m still on my quest for 1000 miles this year. Currently, at 924.67, I’m not sure I’m going to make it but I’m going to keep plugging away. I’m still getting in my crazyweights classes but other things have fallen a bit off. I’ve been concentrating on running to get in those miles! Last week, I had two great runs and two that I’m just glad got done.

Tuesday-AM weights class/PM Great run with Gazelle on Terwilliger
Wednesday-AM Great speedy FREEZING run with co-worker/PM girls night with Emily and Jen
Thursday-Off/Concert with Mr. Pi and Sarah yay!
Friday-PM run with co-worker on Terwilliger (not so great run)
Saturday-Shopping!
Sunday-AM run with co-worker and Mr. Pi (not a great run but a pretty one at least)

I’ve had a few people ask me about my 2010 race plans. I am going to do a post on my 2010 goals and race schedule sometime this week or next. I’m going to leave you with a picture of Zoey, doesn’t this look nice?!?!?!

‘Tis the Season Giveaway

It’s that time of year…Starbucks has their red cups, the gloves/scarfs resurface from the back of the closest, the lines at the stores grow longer and colored lights light up the night on neighborhood streets. I love the holidays! I love Christmas music and the anticipation of Christmas morning almost as much as I did when I was a kid (well, maybe not quite as much). I love spending time with family and friends who live far away. I love holiday treats, though I’m trying to be good. I love presents both GIVING and receiving. I just love all of it.

As I was streaming my holiday music at work, I was thinking about my Christmas playlist. Christmas morning can be a little hectic as my husband’s family is large and ever growing so a run in the morning might not work out but I’m hoping to squeeze in a run sometime that day (or the day before or day after or all three). I already have running plans with Kristen on Monday, Dec 21—yay! For the past two years I’ve made a special Christmas music playlist for use only during the week of Christmas. My top five Xmas songs:

1. Little Saint Nick (Love the Beach Boys)
2. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (For some reason the scene from Home Alone always pops into my head when I hear this song)
3. White Christmas (Who doesn’t love Bing?)
4. Blue Christmas (I spent many years in Hawaii at Christmas and this seemed to be a favorite at the beach restaurants there so it always reminds me of Hawaii.)
5. Run, Run Rudolph (Run, Run, Run!)

In the spirit of the season, I’m hosting another giveaway for all of you. Many of you have probably already read Dean Karnazes’s books but for those of you who haven’t, I’m giving away 50 in 50: I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!

and

Ultramarathon Man for two lucky Ambitious readers. Even if you’ve read these books maybe someone else in your life hasn’t and you can pass them along.

To enter, leave me a comment telling me your favorite holiday song.

(Even if you’re not entering the contest, I still want to hear your favorite holiday songs!)

Contest ends Wednesday, Dec. 16th.

Lots and Lots of PRs

All sorts of PR’s were had this weekend. My best friend Kristen along with RoadBunner and I think Audrey too, all PR’d at CIM. Aron, qualified for Boston also at CIM—great job lady way to end your 2009 race season! Other CIM runner shout outs go to ChicRunner (you maniac!), Tara (also a maniac, I think) and Maritza (way to finish your 7^th marathon strong). Hopefully I’m not leaving any other CIM runners out.

So these weren’t the ONLY PR’s of the weekend. On Saturday, Mr. Pi and I completed a PR distance bike ride—44.316 miles! Awhile back Jen suggested I look into the “Rubber to the Road” series. (Its two books of rides around the Portland area.) We’ve been scoping out rides for a week or so and decided if the weather was nice we’d try one out. Well, it’s been really sunny in Portland lately so we decided to give the Mt. Angel ride a go. So this ride was great, nice country roads with very little traffic however, the directions and the description were both a little off.

First, the directions. There were a couple of roads that had different names or turned into the road on their map. Let’s just say, thank goodness for the iphone!

Second, the description. So 99.9% of the description was correct. It was back country roads with very little traffic. There were hops fields galore (which Mr. Pi and I want to come back and see in the spring). However, there were hills! At mile 30 we turned and saw the first of three, what I would consider major hills. Let’s just say, mile 30 was not where I wanted to start seeing hills.

Hops field bare for the winter.

About halfway.

Pretty views of the valley and surrounding hills.

Still flat here.

Mr. Pi and his PB&J. I should have eaten one too.

Stopped, probably looking at the directions.

Just past our biking mileage PR.

And, we're DONE.

This is how Mr. Pi felt after 44.316 miles.

Here's me...thinking about Starbucks! Extra hot please.

Anyway, we survived getting up them and down them. (I practiced not braking and using the downhills to get up the uphills. I saw a max speed at one point of 31 MPH, that’s a max speed PR for me. I told ya the PR’s just keep on coming.) I had one freak out moment going up the last major hill, there was lots of profanity and yelling BUT I got up the damn hill. To be honest, if I hadn’t been clipped in I probably would have walked my bike up that last hill but I was too afraid of falling over trying to unclip myself. After that last hill it was just small rollers which were fine.

I learned several things on this ride:

1. Going from a max distance of 30ish miles to almost 45 was a HUGE jump and not one I would recommend to anyone else. Our average speed suffered. First 22.5 miles average 14 MPH. Finish average 12.9. I think maybe I’ll stick to 20-30 mile rides for awhile and work on getting faster, HILLS and stopping less.

2. I need a fueling plan. I didn’t know when to drink or eat and since I rarely get thirsty or hungry riding I need to create a plan and try it out.

3. I need some serious cold weather gear if I’m going to try to ride some through the winter. My feet, hands, head, and legs were FROZEN. Temperature never got above 40.

4. I get really snotty when the weather gets cold (this happens running or even just walking outside) so I think I might try taking something to dry it out a little next time. Right now I have a bright red nose just like Rudolph!

5. I need to work on hill training. At one point I saw a 4.5 MPH on my bike computer going up the hill.

Overall though it was an amazing ride with Mr. Pi—we did it!

Today, I ran a baby run of 4.5 miles. My legs aren’t so much sore as they are heavy. But my real reason for not doing a long run was because it was f’ing cold outside! It never got above 32.5!!!! I started out with Zoey and thought I’d take her 4 miles drop her back off at the house and decide if I wanted to go back out. By the time I got back after 4.5 miles, I was freezing and the wind was so brutal my already raw nose was hurting and my eyes were stinging so I called it a day.

This week I also tried out a Masters swimming club. I’m going to check out all the ones in town before February and then make a decision. They group was great however, I’m leaving my options open.

I’m counting the days until I go home to see family and friends! 11 full days left in Portland then it is time to head home to Cali! Goal for the week---finish Xmas shopping! I started off so well and was half done by mid-October but then fell off the shopping wagon.

Review: GoLite TraveLite Tote

I was sent an awesome GoLite bag for review. The minute I received it in the mail, I transferred all my work stuff and purse contents over to give it a try. About GoLite: GoLite's long term objective is to mitigate 100% of their environmental footprint and to be a model corporation in how they treat their people, communities and environment. They can say this, and prove it, as they use a comprehensive, metrics-based path to sustainability. It can be, and is, measured. GoLite is not interested in launching just a few “green” products or a couple of eco-fiber collections. They are addressing 100% of their operations and 100% of their products. This means that all of their products are almost, if not made completely from 100% recycled and recyclable materials, but also the WAY that these products are made doesn't harm the environment. A lot of companies claim they have green products, and they might, but some of the practices of making these "green" products come with a huge toll on the environment. GoLite is actually improving product quality and technical performance, not sacrificing them, nor sacraficing the planet.


The bag I reviewed, TraveLite Tote is 8 oz of 100% recycled material. It might have been a tent in another life. Or, it might have been someone's backpack that went trekking through Nepal. The tote is part of the TraveLite™ Collection, which is made with Tier 1 recycled nylon – making it the first-ever eco-friendly carry gear of its kind.



My thoughts: At first glance I wasn’t crazy about the color, I’m not a huge green fan (but there are others online) but I’ve grown to really like it. It’s very fall. I really can’t say enough great things about this bag. There are TONS of pockets, both on the inside and outside.

Pockets on the outside! Umbrella a NW staple (though the weather has been GORGEOUS lately) and my waterbottle.Another pocket, on the backside.This doesn't even do it justice. It might look full but there is TONS of room and I have some work papers, a magazine, my laptop, a notebook, my wallet, sunglasses, etc.Oh yeah, there is a pocket on the INSIDE for a thermos! That's not a tiny thermos either. Here's me modeling and Zoey looking on saying "you're crazy mommy, can we play now?"

For me, it’s the perfect size to take to work. I can fit my laptop, paperwork and my lunch conveniently without things spilling over the top. I even use one of the outer pockets for a water bottle. With the zipper top and easy access pockets, it’d be a great commuter bag if you’re on a train or bus. On that note, this is my ideal traveling bag. It’s big enough for my laptop without being so unwieldy that it would be hard to carry on. The straps are comfy too, that’s always a pet peeve of mine. When my bag gets heavy I don’t want my straps digging into my shoulders.

The only use that I have found challenging is taking it to the gym. I am usually a morning gym go-er and that means I have a ton-o-crap in tow (i.e. hairdryer, makeup bag, towel, shower shoes, work clothes etc). This bag is a wee too small for me to take it to the gym in the morning. However, if I was going on a weekend or in the evening when I wouldn’t need to shower and change my clothes it’d be just fine.

Finally, I live in the NW and so far have resisted the hippy-granola ways of the grunge population (remember my post about the granola-ized bathroom at my work) however, there is something to be said for a company who prides itself on sustainability. The price tag for sustainability is usually higher and this bag is no different. However, when compared to other travel bags comparable in size, it’s price tag is about average.
If you’re not in the market for a travel tote, GoLite has several other products. Here are a couple I’m eyeing!

I’ve been considering trying a new waterbelt, instead of the small bottles, trying one bigger bottle: http://www.golite.com/Product/ProdDetail.aspx?p=PA5914&mc=147&t=&lat=

I really like this top: http://www.golite.com/Product/ProdDetail.aspx?p=AW3531&mc=139&t=top&lat=top

How can I not like these pants, their “cali” pants: http://www.golite.com/Product/ProdDetail.aspx?p=AW3499&mc=139&t=bottom&lat=bottom

Here’s a link to the main page, shop away! http://www.golite.com/main/home.aspx