Wednesday, December 15, 2010

On, Wisconsin!

I had an awesome Thanksgiving back in San Francisco (setting 2 PRs within 3 days and having a huge boost to my confidence that I'm running decently on the hills out here), and I just returned from spending the last 10 days at my parents' house in Wisconsin for a belated Thanksgiving/early Christmas with my family. I had a very cupcake-themed holiday celebration and I actually enjoyed nearly every minute of it.

First, I made these little beauts for the fam-damily (completely vegan and totally amazing)...
Then Ron sent me a nice little image of cupcakes he found, with a note that they reminded him of me! I definitely don't mind being associated with these sweet treats...
And then Rad Runner went on to host an amazing one-of-a-kind giveaway that involves this gorgeous little running machine. Go check out her friend's work for other beautiful figurines!
Could this holiday have been any sweeter?

WHY, YES. YES IT COULD HAVE.

I recently started a speed-training program for the next race I'm running, so I got to spend plenty of my vacation time running in a frigid storm... the same storm that took down the Metrodome's roof and left my brothers and me shoveling 20" inches of snow from my parents' driveway.

While I did get to do a few slow and steady outdoor runs on packed snow and thick ice...
I spent most of my time running in my friend's workout room at her apartment...
On the treadmill at my dad's middle school...
And in the weightroom of the building I used to work in. Now that's what I call a vacation!

So what race am I training for?

During my recent Nuun giveaway, the Giveaway Gods smiled down on me and I won runner's rambles' 13.1 Marathon - Los Angeles giveaway. I debated even entering since it's not in my backyard (and I never win anything) but I still entered, and crazily, I won.

Soooo, ladies and gentlemen, on January 16th, 2011, I'm registered to run this fun race...
I'll be staying with this fun girl (who is also running it!)...
And this fun guy and I are going to have our fastest half marathon yet! Or, our first half marathon yet, since he seems to think I ditched him at the U.S Half Marathon even though he's the one who started in front of me. ;)
Moral of the story: I'm really looking forward to a speedy run in Los Angeles in a few weeks, and an even funner party extravaganza weekend with my cupcake-loving runner friends.

Happy holidays!

15 comments:

  1. Ahhhhhhhhh a photo with Ron. my [not so] secret idol.

    Love the cupcakes...........recipe???? please?

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  2. Oh man! I'm coming to Los Angeles the weekend immediately before that one for work (the 7-9ish). What a bummer--if it was one week later I would totally do that race, and it would've been fun to meet up! Oh well...better luck next time.

    Nice winter running gear--mine is all black (unintentionally) so I look like a ninja with the hat and neck thing and coat, etc. heh.

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  3. How cool is that? What a great way to thaw out from winter. And those cupcakes are beautiful--how do you do that?

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  4. Hey A,

    Those cupcakes look amazing! That is so awesome that you won an entry into the half marathon! Good luck! I bet it is great to get back to San Francisco and away from all the snow we have here. Did you get your fill of shoveling? Bummer that we didn't get to do a race while you were here. Perhaps on your next visit back here we can find a race to run with the other Julie too. It would be so fun to race/meet you both!

    Thanks for the Nuun! I love it! I can't believe I waited until now to try it. Thanks for hosting the giveaway so that I would try it. I love the banananuun...mmmm! I can't wait to try the cola flavored one. This is going to be a great way to hydrate during my marathon training.

    Thanks!
    Julie

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  5. Those cupcakes look fabulous - is the recipe easy??? Glad you had a great holiday in the COLD - at least you can fly away from it now!!!

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  6. Hi A,
    Those cupcakes are so beautiful..you did such a fantastic job with them:)

    Yay for doing a half in January! I am sucking it up and running the frozen half again....it might be painful as I have not been training worth a darn:)

    I have to dust off my mill!! So not looking forward to running on that thing.

    Take care A! I miss you:) Hugs!

    Do me a favor and e-mail me.

    jkaiser4 at fairview.org

    I need your address:)

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  7. My plan is to train for the half by eating nuthin’ but cupcakes and Diet Sprite. I’m kidding, I can’t stand Diet Sprite *snicker*

    Today was National Cupcake Day so I did what every good American would do and ate carrot cake (with a cupcake chaser).

    Happy holidays and safe travels!!

    Ron

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  8. OK, after your winter run, I guess I should stop whining about 35 degrees and wind - no snow here. I'm such a baby about the cold and would love to wear a face mask, but in Arkansas, I would just look like a burglar. :) Our winters are cold to me but mild compared to Wisconsin!
    Good luck in the LA half, and Merry Christmas!

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  9. those cupcakes are works of art. Are they for eating? :)
    And to think that here, in CA we are complaining because we had frost on the grass this morning. By mid-day it will be 56F. Tough, though winter.

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  10. Beeeeeeeeeeh, best post ever it got me that excited! WEEEEEEEEEE! I want pictures of cupcakes sent to my phone damn-it! Email me that speed work out plan if you can???
    xo - c- u- soon
    Rad

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  11. Congrats on winning the giveaway! As much as I hate treadmills I feel like they help with my speedwork and I can actually run fast with decent form instead of the flailing that I tend to do when I run around track. My good friend Maritza (www.marathonmaritza.com) will be running that race too :)

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  12. Wisconsin looks just gorgeous and reminds me a lot of my home in Indiana!

    But, on that note, you're very lucky to live in such a gorgeous place like SF!

    Have a wonderful weekend,
    Matty B.

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