Sunday, April 26, 2015

Girls On The Run 5K!!

Today I joined RunningFrida for another year of Girls On The Run 5K! I've done it with her a couple times and I absolutely LOVE everything about this race- what it stands for, what it helps promote, how organized it is, and I especially love meeting all the girls and watching their faces light up as the cross their first finish line!!
(Stole this from Maria's Facebook!)
This picture really says it! They were all nervous and quite before the race, but after- they were SO excited and kept looking at their medals talking about how they already wanted to do another one. Makes my heart happy!!
Sprinting to the finish!!
If you ever have an opportunity to be involved with Girls On The Run- do it! Don't even hesitate, you won't regret it!

I will say, that it is absolutely hysterical to watch the dad/men run with the girls verses the women/moms. The moms are always really sweet and encouraging constantly telling the girls what a great job they are doing (I totally do this too, because I am genuinely impressed with the fast pace some of these young girls can hold!). They'll say stuff like "Let me know if you need to walk" or if they are walking: "Let's try running again at the next light pole!" Always so sweet!
Then we have the men, who approach the Running Buddy technique a little differently. Haha!! They are constantly checking their watches and say things like "We can't keep stopping and starting, we need to run the whole time" and "Since we got water, we need to pick up the pace and hold a XX minute mile!" The girls I think find it funny watching the men/dads struggle their competitiveness nature. It is SUPER cute to watch the difference.

*Have you ever been involved with Girls On The Run? 

*Are you a super competitive runner or more relaxed?

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Out of town visitors for the week!

Two of our cousins, Jess and Damion, came down to Arizona to hang out with us and celebrate their 10 year anniversary! We packed so many fun activities into the week, it was so much fun!

They got here while I was at Relay For Life on Friday, so after I finally got a few hours of sleep I met them for my nephews soccer game Saturday, at 10am! (Remember how I left Relay For Life at 6am? Yeah, I was still pretty exhausted.)
It's so hilarious to watch tiny kids playing soccer, they all just follow each other around the field! haha!
After the game we went to lunch and hung out. Since they drove from Colorado, they brought us our Christmas gifts from our bonus-mom. Probably the best gift I've ever received! She made each of us a blanket out of my dads old shirts! Everything from his work shirts to his Ironman Support shirt-- she even put his Team Sprinkles and Glitter shirt on there!!! I absolutely loved it and may have cried.
(My sisters, was just a sweet with all the shirts he had made with the pictures of him and her kids.)
'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' had to work at Macello's to help out with a catering event (the place where we met), so we thought it would be fun to go in for dinner and see him.
After dinner, we headed over to B.A.D. Bingo (Bingo After Dark) with our cousins. SO. MUCH. FUN! Even though we didn't win a penny, we still had a lot of funny playing and chair dancing. haha!
Sunday, we hit up the outlet mall for some shopping and had a BBQ at my sisters.

Monday after work, we all met up at Top Golf. This place has been all over social media lately, and now I can see why! We had so much fun there- even my little niece and nephew loved playing with their mini clubs!!
Tuesday, they bought us all tickets to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game! None of us are really that into baseball, but we definitely had a good time eating all the ballpark food while trying to figure out the selfie photobooth machine! haha!!
The ultimate selfie!! 
It took us WAY too many tries to figure out how to use the photobooth that that had! haha!!

Wednesday was our last day with them because Thursday was their actual anniversary and they were heading out to a nice resort on the other side of town on their way back to Colorado.

We went to Ruslter's Roost- which is where my dad chooses to go EVERY.SINGLE.TIME he comes to town. He absolutely loves so they wanted to see what all the hype was about. :)

My niece and nephew felt obligated to take them down the slide at least 10 times- you know, so they really got the full experience! ;)
And we had cotton candy for dessert. We said goodbye in the parking lot where they showed us their custom made, engraved bowling balls that they brought with them! I could not stop laughing!

It was so much fun having them visit for the week! We did so much and I can't wait to them again!!

*How long have you and your significant other been together? 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and I will celebrate 10 years this October! It's crazy how fast the time goes!!

*Do you like sports? 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Relay For Life!

I did Relay For Life a few years ago with my cousins and it was a blast! I loved the fun raising events we did, the friendships I made, and the actual event was so amazing. I always knew I wanted to do it again, so when my friend, Vero made a team, I quickly joined Los Luchadores.
So after work I ran home and quickly changed and packed up a bag for the night with some extra clothes and snacks.

Last time I did Relay For Life I had a goal to walk all 12 hours. I did and ended up walking about 17 miles. I was SO sore and so tried at the end, my mom came to drive me home. I got home and had about an hour before The Cheetah Run 5K. I remember my mom picking me up and instantly falling back asleep in the car as she drove me to the race. I could hardly move when I tried to get out of the car.
Anyways, this year I had a goal to walk at least a marathon over the 12 hours. I got there right before it started and immediately started walking. My team started to arrive and it was SO much fun! They had cancer survivors talk about their struggle (and victory) with cancer, as well as bands, singers, dance teams, and midnight yoga.
The sunset over the mountains was so pretty. And I always love when they light the luminaries around the track. 
I tried running 1 lap after I would walk 3-4. It felt good and was doing a good job of keeping me warm. Most of my team left as the activities starting shutting down and everyone was gone by 2am.

This event was a lot smaller than the one I had done previously, and when it got to be about 3am, they ended up shutting off all the stadium lights (so people could sleep in their tents) and I was the only one walking the makeshift track in the dark. It made it REALLY hard to stay away and keep walking- I was freezing and starting to get pretty sore.

I ended up leaving right at 6am, even though they were going to serve breakfast and have a closing speech. I was too sore and tired to stay any longer and still had a 45 minute drive home.

I barely hit 30 miles- but I did it! I've never felt such satisfaction as I did crawling into bed as the sun was coming up- I felt like I could have slept for a week!
My reason for walking, my dad. 
*Have you ever done Relay For Life? 

*What are some of your favorite charity events?

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Marquee Race Recap!! (2nd place!)

Holy guacamole! Today was such a FUN day! (I forgot what it was like to go into a race fully prepared and how much fun it is. ;) It's definitely been awhile for me! haha!!)
I decided to sign up for this race pretty last minute, but wanted to do a smaller, easier race as a confidence booster after my first DNF at Ironman New Zealand. I have a few Olympic races coming up, so I signed up for the Sprint.
The night before the race, we went to our friends wedding reception and had way too much fun! I love when all our friends are able to get together- I feel like it doesn't happen nearly enough!
We left the reception around 9:30pm and got In N' Out on the way home- I know, totally great pre-race fuel right?! I kept telling myself it was only a sprint, to try to feel less guilty about it. ;)
The race started ridiculously early, so we had woke up about 4:30am and got down to Tempe Town Lake around 5:40. ('Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' was not too happy about the early start time (especially for a sprint!) and joked that I better PR to make it worth it- or place!!)
I got my transition area set up and then met up with some friends before the race started. So, so, SO unbeleively grateful to have as many friends there as I did cheering me on! (And the entire Arizona crew from IMNZ was there too!!) I told them if they saw me out there to tell me to go faster and push the pace. ;) I was in one of the last waves, so I had awhile to wait.
Tribe's Facebook got a pic of all my people!! 
We finally got into the water and I started at the very front right next to the buoy, hoping I would be able to swim straight buoy-to-buoy. I did and it was awesome! I felt like I was holding a good pace and never felt tired or unfocused.

I quickly exited the water and saw our friend Todd (from IMNZ!), quickly said hi, got my wet suit stripped off and hurried into transition.
I quickly put my shoes, helmet, and glasses on and took off out of transition and got out on the bike. The bike was strange for me. I felt like I was by myself for a majority of the course. I would pass a few people here and see people heading the opposite way, but I've never been so alone in a race before, it was different- haha! When I was finishing up my last loop on the bike and making the final turn back to transistion, 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' was there was ALL of our friends who were screaming at the top of their lungs "GO KIM", "FASTER!" "PUSH IT! EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" I laughed, but threw a gear on and pushed the pace for that final stretch. My friends are seriously amazing!!
I LOVE when races have free photos!! 
Finished the bike and quickly made my way back into transition. 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' was shouting from the fence that I was doing a lot better than he thought, and I really needed to push it on the run. I knew I needed to, but was worried I wouldn't be able to with how hard I pushed it on the bike.
I flew out of transition passing 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' one more time, who yelled for me to "GO HARD!". I nodded and repeatedly told myself I only had to run 1.5 miles out and then I would be headed to the finish.
I tried to push the pace as much as I could (but looking back, I still think I know I could have gone faster). I made it to the turnaround and was happy to be headed to the finish.
I grabbed some water and set off to find 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter'. I ran into my friend Rachel (we did our first Ironman together) who moved to Wisconsin! I was SO surprised and excited to see her!
I found 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and he asked me what my time was- I had no idea, so we started walking over to the results area.
P.S. Do you like my new race glasses? 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter got them for me! (I think he was annoyed with me wearing my regular HUGE sunglasses for races! haha!!)
Along the way, we ran into Jamie (from IMNZ) and he asked what my number was. I told him and he got the most excited and happy look on his face! He was I was going to be pleasantly surprised with my result as I got 2nd or 3rd in my age group.
Shocked, I headed over to the monitor displaying the results, and sure enough I got 2nd place!!
I went into this race wanting a confidence booster and definitely got one! We waited around for the awards ceremony (all our friends waited too- and cheered ridiculously loud for me- I love them!) where I received the biggest (heaviest) medal I've ever seen and a 30% off coupon for Destination Kona- super excited to use that!

Such a fun race, everything went great. Everything was really organized and I don't think I could complain about anything. 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' brought out the GoPro and made this video of the race. It's awesome, check it out!!

*What do you usually eat before a race?

*What's your favorite part about racing? For me, it's when you're close enough to see the finish line.  ;)

Friday, April 3, 2015

Shoe Show!!

Remember last year how RunningFrida did an art exhibit for Inspired Soles? Well she signed up for it again this year and tonight was the show.

It was at a different, bigger venue this year and was more like a huge party! They had a mariachi band, appitizers and drinks, and even Miss. Latina Arizona and Miss. Teen Latina Arizona were there!

Ice Cream!


A Pinata shoe filled with candy!! So creative! 
We had a ton of fun with their photo booth set up and all of their props!
I tried to use as many props as possible! ;)
The shoes this year we incredible! They had a lot of returning artist who we amazing last year and improved SO much over the last year. Maria did a pair of shoes and they were SO detailed and gorgeous- I loved them!
On one side she had an extremely detailed painting of a brother and sister, and the inside was painted with flowers. SO gorgeous!!


Every year I leave this show feeling so inspired and creative. These artist are so beyond talented it's amazing!
Congrats Maria on another successful exhibit! (Her shoes sold for $200 dollars!!)

*Do you like doing creative things? 

*Anyone have any races this weekend?