So much for maintaining my weekly posts here! I guess I should just jump right into it, before I get into other tangents:
On January 27th, I ran the Carlsbad (half) Marathon. That was a special weekend because my sis, Minel, was celebrating her 10th year running marathons (Carlsbad being her first ever 26.2mi race!) Our Parental units accompanied us down to Carlsbad and cheered on my sis. She didn’t PR, but the act of completing the race was inspiring throughout (and of course, we had fun!) Oh, I did get my first PR of the year (about a minute and 52 seconds better than my previous best in half marathons; chip time: 2:24:43) and then enjoyed the remainder of the day shopping in La Jolla and having my favourite gluten-free cupcake, aptly named “Death by Chocolate” (from Cups, a cupcake-ry in La Jolla. ^_^)
February 1st marked the first of six siblings to enter the “Masters” age group (LOL). Belated birfday greetings again to my sis Annelle. We didn’t get to bring her to Hollywood Men đ but had a fun time singing the night away at a Karaoke bar. The following weekend, however, we were greeted with sombre news — our uncle (my dad’s older brother) had a stroke, went into a coma, and passed away. My sis and I were all packed for Mammoth that Friday, the 8th, but rerouted to Palm Springs (where my uncle was on a mini-break with his fiancĂŠe) and went straight to hospital where he was still on life-support. It was definitely an emotionally draining weekend as we stayed for our dad and cousins. It’s moments like these, however, that you are reminded of the kindness of people — my friend, Graham, had a home in Palm Springs which he and his wife lease out; by chance it was available and we were able to rent it for the weekend. The beautiful home (Palm Springs Luxe) provided us with much needed rest AND serenity: my parents had not slept for over 24 hours (they drove Thursday night from Vegas to Palm Springs and were at the hospital ’til Friday evening), my brother had to drive back to LA that evening (he left at 1am on Saturday), so the short nap he took ensured his safe return home. I even got to watch my Chelsea match on that Saturday morning and my dad was able to call his younger brothers via Skype thanks to the in-home WiFi. Literally a blessing to have been able to stay in that house, rather than a motel room (which was the only available space at that time due to Palm Springs being booked!). Thank you again, Graham & Kim for your hospitality!
Finally, last weekend, I ran and course PR’d the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena half marathon. A stark difference (as far as attendance) from last year: in 2012, I ran this with my sis Minel, Irene (who was running for Annelle, cos she had broken her leg at that time), bro (who debuted in this race; his first ever half), and Irene’s work colleague, Ritsuko. This year it was only my sis and I at the race (though, we also ran into Oscar, one of our other running friends). Despite the crazy temps (it was super cold in the morning and then HOT an hour into the race), my sis and I had fun. She was actually considering of just doing the 5k (despite being registered for the half), but changed her mind when she saw the 3:00 pace group! LOL. She ended up finishing at 3:00 (plus a few seconds over)! So proud of her, but scared at the same time as we had not run in a fortnight. Oh, highlight of the weekend: we also “met” Deena Kastor at the expo and I got to see her lead in the course (she had just turned 40, too, and Pasadena was her first race in the Masters category). Anyway, see my pics below (she signed my bib, and I got to tell her that I saw her at LA Marathon last year… I’m such a running fangirl xD)
Anyway, Â here’s to the last two weeks of February!
