Big Goal for 2020

First of all, I can't believe it's 2020! I ended the last few months of 2019 by getting braces, which is something I've wanted to do for the past 4 years, to fix my crooked teeth. The cost of it held me back for a long time, but I finally decided it's worth it to have good teeth! An unexpected benefit of getting braces was that I lost weight. My teeth hurt so much the first two months that I had to put wax on them all the time and I only took off the wax to eat once a day; otherwise I just drank liquids through a straw. So I ended up finally losing the 20 pounds that I've been wanting to lose for the past 3 years!

Starting off 2020, I'm feeling better about my teeth and my body, and I'm feeling ready to crush some other goals I've had for awhile! The number one goal I'm going after is to complete a Half Ironman! I've wanted to do a triathlon for a few years, but it's expensive and you need a good bike and a place to swim. I don't know a lot about bikes, and the thought of having to do the research and trying to find a good triathlon bike for an affordable price kept this goal on the back burner.

However, one day when I was working in the ice cream shop, an older gentleman came in with a 70.3 shirt. I asked him if he had done a Half Ironman, and we started talking all about it. He told me that when he first started training, he couldn't swim one length of the pool! And he said that he also didn't have a good bike at first. He started off with spin classes at the gym for awhile before he bought a bike. Somehow this was so encouraging to me! If someone else can start at ground zero like that, then I can too!

I haven't signed up for the race quite yet, but I've taken some steps towards being ready. I joined the YMCA so I now have access to bikes, spin classes, and the pool. I've already been doing some biking and swimming to pre-train. I pulled out my "Simple 70.3 Training Plan" that I printed out in 2015 and wrote down all the workouts in my calendar. So I'm definitely a few steps farther along now and thinking I can really start training for this thing in February.

A crucial next step is finding a good bike. The customer I talked to recommended a facebook group for used triathlon gear, and I've been checking it to see if I can find a used bike that's affordable. Also in the past few years, I met my friend Lacy in Hawaii. She's done 2 Ironmans, so I've been able to ask her all my questions and get great advice from her. She's going to send me some of the gear, including a tri suit and bike water bottle.

I'm excited to start training and learning more about the Half Ironman. There are many things that are still daunting. The long bike ride in an aero position scares me (and using clip-on pedals). The open water swim scares me (even though I'm a good swimmer, I don't want to get kicked in the face!). Running after doing all that biking scares me (I'm worried my legs will be jello). I'll need to figure out my nutrition and race gear and basically everything! But I'm finally ready to tackle this goal!

Kulia Half Marathon and Kona Beer Fest

I never got around to posting about the Kulia race, but it was the only half marathon I ran in 2019. Lacy and I ran it together and it was a great chance to catch up with each other on my visit to the Big Island. Lacy does the run/walk method, so I stayed with her and we chatted the whole time. It was a net downhill, so not too hard cardiovascularly, but running downhill takes more of a toll on my legs, so I was a little sore afterwards. There was no parking at the starting area- I had to wake up super early, take a shuttle to Waimea, and then we ran back to Kona.

Official Time: 2:27:59
Pace: 11:17

The Kona beer festival was the same day so after running we got to enjoy beer and all you can eat food! I won 4 free tickets to the beer festival and a 3 day hotel stay at the King Kam at last year's event which was the coolest birthday present! The beer festival is awesome, so I was excited to get to come back for my birthday this year. The Kona Brew Fest is awesome -  there are so many good beers and all kinds of different foods from the local Hawaiian restaurants. I only wish I could eat and drink more before getting full because I wanted to try everything!

Richmond Race, Take 7

This year was my 7th time running the Richmond half marathon or marathon! It was my first race back in 2011 and I ran either the half or full marathon every year since then, with the exception of last year when I was working in Hawaii. Now that my streak is broken, I'm probably going to do some other fall races in the future, so this may be my last time running Richmond for awhile.

Since this was my swan song to the Richmond race, I wanted to get a sub 2 and PR the course. But I haven't exactly been running stellar speeds lately, so I wasn't sure if I had it in me to sub-2 this year. Kyle encouraged me to go for it and said he would run the last 6 miles with me.

For the first 7 miles, I was just trying to keep each mile under 9 minutes and trying to make it to mile 7 where Kyle was waiting for me. I had to push myself to keep the pace, but I did pretty well the first 7 miles. Only the second mile was over 9 minutes. I thought if I could just get to Kyle, he could pace me for the rest of the race.

Then I got to mile 7 and the hilly section in Bryan Park, and started falling apart. Kyle jumped in with me, and my friends were on the sidelines cheering, but I suddenly realized how tired I was. Around mile 9 I had to stop and walk for a full minute. At mile 10 I walked a little bit more while Kyle ran to the side to get me more Gatorade. Several of those middle miles were over 9 minutes.

With only three miles left, I was still tired but I was so close! And I knew that I could still get under two hours if I ran the rest. Kyle stayed with me, but a little bit ahead to pace me, and he wouldn't let me quit! I know this race so well that running through the downtown area in the last mile felt like the end already. I knew that big downhill finish was coming up!

I crossed the finish line on Brown's Isle with a sub-2 and a PR for the Richmond course. It's my third best time for a half marathon so far. I couldn't have done it without Kyle, because honestly the entire second half of the race was a struggle! I was really thankful for the perfect race weather which made it a little better. At the end I felt sick and had to sit down for awhile. I was proud of how hard I pushed myself despite not feeling my best during a race. This was also my 30th half marathon!

Official Time: 1:58:28
Pace: 9:02

Later that day, we all went to a small beer festival and celebrated!

Kauai Half Marathon

I signed up for the Kauai half marathon thinking I'd be back working on Big Island, and could just island hop over to Kauai for the race. It turns out my plans changed and I didn't come back to work on Kauai, but I decided to make the trip anyway and have a reunion with Audrey and Lacy!

I loved the Kauai Half Marathon. I think I got lucky and  happened to run it on a weekend that was less humid and hot than typical for Kauai. My friends and I woke up to cloudy skies and cooler weather than normal. We could still feel the humidity in the air, but it wasn't as bad as usual that day. We walked out to the start when it was still slightly dark and started the race early in the morning.

The course was beautiful! We ran through a tunnel of trees, saw the mountains in the distance, and finished along the beach. My favorite part was the local Hawaiian culture along the course. There were hulu dancers of all ages, drummers, fire sticks, and dancers at different points performing traditional Hawaiian routines. That was fun to see!

Lacy wanted to do her run/walk method, but Audrey wanted to try to run the whole thing, so I ran with her. I had a great time running at a casual pace and just enjoying the scenery, the music, and the Hawaiian dances along the way. At one point, we saw 2 guys running with bilateral prosthetics- it was very inspiring!

The finish area had free beer, snacks, and beautiful views of the ocean. We hung out for awhile recovering from the race and watching several HUGE sea turtles swim in the ocean right offshore. Although I've seen plenty of sea turtles living in Hawaii, it never gets old to spot them from the beach.

Despite a few hills, I really enjoyed this race. Also have to mention we had a delicious Italian dinner the night before at LaSpezia. It was the most amazing pasta, perfect for a pre-race meal. And I couldn't go back to Kauai without getting brunch at Kountry Kitchen again. They have the best coffee and breakfast ever!

All in all, a great race, and a fabulous weekend with some of my best friends!

Official Results: 2:15:25
Pace: 10:21

Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon

I love going to Nashville and wanted to run my Tennessee half marathon there. It worked out that my friend Audrey also decided to run the half, and Emily had signed up for the marathon, so we all met up in Nashville! I had come off a month of vacation time so only partially trained (typical me). Audrey and I decided to run together and just had fun running through some beautiful Nashville neighborhoods, and along the river. It was hilly and pretty warm, but I enjoyed the race.

The night of the race we went out to the country bars and had a fun girls night! I always love going to Nashville!

Race Results: 2:16:12

Reputation: favorite moments from T. Swift's album

It's taken me this long to write a post about Reputation, because I still don't know how I feel about it. I like it. I enjoy many of the songs, But I don't have clear favorites like I did with 1989. When I listened to 1989, I settled on my faves pretty quickly: Blank Space. All You Had To Do Was Stay. Wildest Dreams. I Know Places. I still love those four songs. My top faves were surrounded by others I enjoyed almost as much. Style. Welcome to New York. Shake it Off. Bad Blood. I even came to love songs I didn't initially like that much: Out of the Woods. This Love. Clean. There was very little not to like.

Reputation had big shoes to fill. I was worried when I heard the first single, Look What You Made Me Do. I didn't care for it. (Although I absolutely loved the music video and consider it one of Taylor's best!) Luckily there are much better songs than LWYMMD on Reputation. I still can't pick one song that stands out above the rest. Here are all my favorites.

Getaway Car
This is the song that stood out when I first listened to the entire album. It's fun, catchy, and has some great lines.

"The ties were black, the lies were white"
"I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed"
"We never had a shotgun shot in the dark"

"Should've known I'd be the first to leave
Think about the place where you first met me"

And ultimately, "Nothing good starts in a getaway car"

Delicate
Then this was my favorite for awhile (before it started getting overplayed on the radio). I think anyone can relate to being in a new relationship that feels fragile- when you're afraid of saying too much for fear of scaring the other person away before they even really know you.

"Dark jeans and your Nikes, look at you.
Oh damn, never seen that color blue.
Just think of the fun things we could do"

"Third floor on the West side, me and you
Handsome, you're a mansion with a view
Do the girls back home touch you like I do?"

And finally, "We can't make any promises, now can we babe? But you can make me a drink"

King of My Heart
Took me a couple listens, but I like this one a lot. My sister said it's my song, because it opens with "I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own. I made up my mind I'm better off being alone." lol. I'm not the biggest fan of the chorus, but I love the pre-chorus, the verses, and the bridge, so that more than makes up for it. This might be my current favorite? Other memorable lines:

"Now you try on calling me baby like tryin' on clothes" (loooove how she says "tryin' on clothes")

"Cause all the boys in their expensive cars
With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars (love how she pronounces every syllable of "Jag-u-ars")
Never took me quite where you do"

"Is this the end of all the endings?
My broken bones are mending
From all these nights we're spending
Up on the roof with a school girl crush
Drinking beer out of plastic cups
Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff
Baby, all at once, this is enough"

Ready For It
It's hard to know how much I really like this one, because it was her second single after LWYMMD. I loved it at first, and the rest of Tay's album wasn't out yet, so I played it all the damn time. By the time Reputation was finally released, I was over it a little bit. But I still like it.

"He can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor
Every lover known in comparison is a failure"

"In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, bay-bee hmmmm"

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
This one is just fun. And refreshingly non-subtle. Taylor gets one more revenge song, but it's way better than LWYMMD.

It starts off so nice:
"Everyone swimming in a champagne sea"
"Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year"

Then all of a sudden Taylor's "shaking her head" and "locking the gates"

She doesn't mince words.
"You stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand"
"Therein lies the issue, friends don't try to trick you"

And the chorus is hilariously condescending:
"This is why we can't have nice things, darling
Because you break them, I have to take them away-a-a-a"

So far those are the top 5. But I also really like:

Don't Blame Me - I like the soulful sound and the comparison of love to a drug. It reminds me of Hozier's "Take Me To Church" and brings back memories of Kesha's "Your Love Is My Drug" at the same time. ("trip of my life, every time you're touching me") ("Lord save me, my drug is my baby, I'll be using for the rest of my life").

I Did Something Bad - I liked this song better once I heard it in concert. It was just exponentially better live. The beat, the drop, the atmosphere, the smoke, the fireworks - the experience was incredible. Favorite line: "this is how the world works, you gotta leave before you get left". Taylor at her most cynical. (PS. I hate the burning witches line, but some people love it??)

Call It What You Want - It's not my favorite song, but I love some of the lines. Of the two softer ballads, I like this one better than New Years Day.

"My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took my crown but it's alright"

"All the drama queens taking swings
All the jokers dressing up as kings
They fade to nothing when I look at him"

"And I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burned, I never learn, at least I did one thing right...
Starry eyes sparking up my darkest night"

I feel like Call It What You Want kind of sums up the whole album. Taylor made some mistakes and had to deal with some major blows to her public image, but in the midst of it, she found love. According to her poem, "a love that was really something, not just the idea of something". Taylor disappeared for awhile, but now she's back from the dead, and lets us all know "I'm doing better than I ever was".

Taylor Swift Faves

In honor of going to see Taylor Swift's concert tonight, here are some of my T. Swift favorites.

Best music videos:
1. Look What You Made Me Do
2. Blank Space
3. Mine
4. Wildest Dreams
5. Shake It Off
6. Our Song
7. You Belong With Me
8. Love Story
9. Picture to Burn
10. Bad Blood

Favorite songs: (these change in order pretty frequently)
1. Blank Space
2. All Too Well
3. I Know Places
4. All You Had To Do Was Stay
5. Fearless
6. I Knew You Were Trouble
7. Wildest Dreams
8. Come Back... Be Here
9. King of My Heart
10. Ready For It
11. Should've said No
12. State of Grace
13. Getaway Car
14. Last Kiss
15. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Best Album:
1. 1989
2. Reputation
3. Red
4. Taylor Swift
5. Fearless
6. Speak Now