Spur of the moment racing

I did two new things on Sat:

1) Decide to run a race the morning of

2) show up to/run/finish the race all by myself

I decided running a race would be a much more fun way of getting a run in. I wanted James to run it with me too, but the waves were too good, apparently, so he went surfing instead. Since when are waves>running, anyways? ;)

The race was the UCSB Turkey Trot "10K". I honestly didn't even notice the fact that I was there all alone until after I registered, and had a bunch of time to kill by myself. In college or high school, I would have felt totally awkward and insecure showing up to something all by myself like that, but on Sat, I felt completely at ease just hanging out with me, myself, and I.

My, my. My little Julia's all grown up. Tear.

I ran 1.5 miles to warm up, and just kind of hung out near the starting area stretching and such. Right before the race, there was a group warm up exercise led by a local personal trainer. Unlike in Maui, this warm up was very well organized and executed. The instructor had us "jacking" and squatting and push-upping. "If you're tired already, you're in trouble!" she yelled at one point, and I had to gulp... but apparently others felt the squats too, as one girl yelled back "Oh no! I'm in trouble!" I love small races. Everyone feels more comfortable and just wants to have fun.

The course was actually very poorly thought out, in my opinion. First of all, the first 2 miles is very hilly. (Pansies like me don't like hills!) Second, they had us running on this trail which is hardly wide enough for one person. What made it worse is that they had us running back along the trail, which meant that the faster people had to cross the slower people on a trail that's not wide enough for even one person. Even worse was that some people were running with their dogs. Without leashes. Ugh. (BTW, it's cool that races allow people to run with dogs/strollers/etc. But leashes should be mandatory!) This made it difficult to pass anyone, or run fast. Good thing I wasn't racing, as this would surely have pissed me off.

The other bad thing about the race was that they didn't have an aid station until mile 5. The weather was in the upper 70's without the cloud in the sky. I was DYING of thirst by that point. Seriously DYING. Who puts the one and only aid station at mile 5?

The "10K" ended up being 6.75 miles. Again, good thing I wasn't going for time! In the last quarter mile or so, I made a new friend. I discovered he is also running the Santa Barbara marathon; he's running it as a relay, and he is running the last leg. In my opinion, the last leg is the best, because you're the one who gets to cross the finish line!) We ended up crossing the finish line together. Race friends make me happy :)

I left right after I finished to pick up James by the beach, so I have no idea what my time was. I don't even care. I had fun. I ran. That's all that matters :)

Here is the Race Shirt and freebies I scored: Jelly Bean Sport Beans. I'm excited to try them. I actually love the race shirt. I love the brown trim!

After the race, I absolutely refused to stay indoors. I mean, it was 70+ degrees out, without a cloud in the sky! The best thing to do? Go for a shoreline walk!

It doesn't look it, but this sammie was gigantor.

And then we met the most acrobatic puppy ever:

Incredible.

We ended up walking 4.5 miles, which brought my total mileage to close to 13 miles. Oops. So much for tapering! But it's ok, cause I am not gonna even have time to work out this week.

Bring on the turkey and gravy, baby :)

There are some place you just DON'T listen to your iPod!

Recently, I read a blog post on Runner's World called It's Not About the iPod. It talked about a woman who got a DQ at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon because she was listening to her iPod, even though she was aware of it being against the official rules. This piqued my interest not because I like my iPod, but because much of the conversation centered around following rules...or not. Mark Remy, the author, asks

I mean, is it just me, guys? Am I the only one who finds this creeping disrespect for rules, this sort of "Up Yours, I'll Do What I Want," "Me First" attitude just a little alarming?

Or should I crank up some Jay Z and just... tune it all out?

Now yesterday, I mentioned I've been told I'm like Angela from the Office. I have to admit that its not only because I like cats. I too like to follow the rules. I grew up in Japan. Enough said.
And when I moved to America a few years ago, I too, like Mark Remy, found the disrespecting of rules here quite... different. Let's just say it was a pretty huge culture shock. I mean.... people wanted to fight the rules about everything... even small petty things like the color of the T-shirt they were assigned to in a group activity. (really? Is your free t-shirt so important to you that you need to go complain to the supervisor about it...?)

I'm digressing a little here, but you get my drift. Last night, I mentioned that I was going to the ballet. The ballet was amazing, and I truly enjoyed the show. But I wouldn't be writing this post had a not seen this one particular thing.

A guy (most likely a college student) wearing his headphones and listening to his iPod/iPhone through the performance.

WTF...??? Seriously? Seriously? You go all the way to see a ballet, and you listen to your iPod? While these people on stage have worked thier butts off to perfect the art to deliver a feeling of magic, a feeling of spectacle? The precise dance, the impecable Tchaikovsky music, the dedication to the art.... it all meant nothing compared to the Jay-Z or Linkin Park or Miley Cyrus or whoever it was he was listening to.

I just think it was so disrespectful and distasteful. I don't have anything against iPods. Like the Runner's World article said, the issue at hand isn't even about the iPod. It's about having respect for the organization that's making the event possible and trying to provide everyone a great experience. I don't know... it just makes me feel sad to think about how some people believe their own immediate pleasure/gratification is MUCH more important than anyone else's, and disregards the fact that thier actions are offensive/disrespectful to others. Yes I know I am a little naive. But still....it makes me sad.

I know this has nothing to do with running, but I just really wanted to talk about it and throw it out there. I think having respect is a really important topic for running though, and especially racing. And I also know that runners tend to be very introspective, reflective, observant, and intelligent people, so maybe you can share your wisdom with me. But you can totally feel free to disagree with me too, and tell me I'm wrong. Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture. Please do enlighten me. Oh and yes, you can call Angela.