Nike Women's Races

Ever since the last Nike Women's race finished in San Fransico I am itching to know when the 2016 races will be held. Especially for Taiwan. I may be going to Taiwan again next year and it would be nice to plan a trip around the race or maybe even consider another country. Well so much for Japan. The registration started in August and now its closed. Bummer. Hong Kong maybe? Well even if there isn't a race in Taiwan there are so many other races I can do there. I never realized that Taiwanese people loved running. For a small country there's a different race every week and in every major city/district. They have lots of fun runs like the Hello Kitty run, but Taiwan is also host to the Ironman. That shows that running or just fitness in general is big in Taiwan.
I figured that if I knew early if there was going to be a Nike run in Taiwan then I could think about maybe doing the half-marathon option. I've been going back and forth about doing a half marathon mainly because the thought of running 13.1 miles freaks me out. I know to some people its nothing, but to me I'm still getting over the fact I could even run a 10K. Plus I'm just starting to incorporate more long runs regularly. When I was running my 5 miles on Sunday I was thinking about my grandfather and that if there was a half marathon I'd do it for him. The more I think of my grandfather the more I tell myself to stop thinking so much about it and just go for it. I mean might as well go big. Once they post the races up I'll start thinking more about it. Why can't they just post it already. I want to know.

July Running

Finally I was consistent with my running last week. I was reviewing my Nike+ App and found out that March I ran pretty consistently, but after March that's another story. I guess it would help if I bothered to look at the little tally of how many miles I've ran that month. I never really noticed that was there until now. This is actually motivating me to run more next month. My main goal is just to keep up the running consistent and enjoying my runs. The miles don't really matter to me as much as keeping it consistent. There were some months where my running was on and off. When I don't keep the running consistent getting back into running becomes a struggle. When my running starts struggle that's when I start to question and doubt my running abilities. Well last week was good and this week wasn't that great, but started I August off with a an interval run. This was my first time using the Runtastic Pro app. I like how it has features like interval runs, but I guess since my GPS was off it didn't record any of my miles. 

Nike Womens 10K Taipei, Taiwan

This is a late post of the Nike Women's 10K. Since the day I signed up I was super excited to be running my first Nike Women's race. I was so amazed at the amount of people running the 10K and the half marathon. The shear excitement of running a race where my parents was born helped me run this race. My training before the race was on and off. It wasn't the best, but going to run clubs helped me keep my running consistent. I was also able to make to Nike Run Club Taipei and was able to do some speed training. There was quite a few people at Nike Run Club, but not same as run club back in the states. I feel like run club in the states can rake in a ton of people some nights. Few days before the race my mom was trying to arrange a cab to come and pick us up at 4am, but I guess taxis don't really run around that time, unless your going to the airport which is far basically more money. Thank god for my dad's best friend from college. He volunteered to bring my mom and I to the starting line. I arrived at the starting line area around 5am since I didn't need to check anything in. The 10K didn't start until 6am. They had warm-up activities for each race. Stretching & a bit of Zumba. The race started at 6am and we started running. A few minutes into running I started to feel a bit of cramping in my stomach. Since it was the beginning I didn't want to stop, plus it wasn't that bad. After a few more minutes of running it went away. It was fun running the streets & freeways of Taiwan. Since there was over 9,000 people running the 10K running was sort of packed, but it was easy to weave around the slow runners if necessary. When we were crossing this bridge/freeway there was an local high school orchestra playing classical music. That I've never seen at a race so it was different and unique. When I was nearing the end of the race I had one of those "when is this going to end" moments, because every corner I turned I thought it was the end. When ran through the finish line I got a bit emotional because so happy that I was able to run in the country where my ancestors was from. After finishing I was greeted with a single rose and the finishers necklace. It obviously wasn't Tiffany's, but I still loved it. Seeing how many people ran the half marathon it is something I may consider doing one day. I never knew Taiwanese people were that into running. I've always had this misconception that Taiwanese people in general didn't like to workout. Especially the women since they were always super skinny and pale. Well now I know that they probably run to stay skinny. I can't wait to get back home to run club. Going to run club here is literally a trek with the metro system.

Nike Womens 10K Taiwan

About 11-10 days till the Nike Women's race in Taipei. I say "about" since technically Taiwan is a day ahead. This will be my 2nd 10k I've ever done and my first race abroad. I'm hoping I can get in a run or two before the race so I get used the weather & environment. Supposedly the weather should be still on the cold side, which I don't mind. Rather that it be hot and humid. Though normally in April Taiwan starts to warm up. I think global warming is bringing this cold air from the north. Interesting just like California, Taiwan is going through its own drought. I haven't gotten any recent email about the race so everything must be a go or there isn't major changes to the race if there is any. I do need to have my mom reread the rules I printed out that's written in Chinese. I wished they had a English version so it would be easier for me to figure out the details. Once a week of Chinese school wasn't much help. LOL. There was something about not being be allowed to get water from non designated water stations. I guess they are afraid of family members maybe handing a runner a Red Bull or something. I don't even know if wearing a tutu is even allowed, so I'm still debating if I should bother bringing it with me. On the Nike Taiwan Facebook page I was able to find the jewelry they will be giving out. I'd be surprised if it was Tiffany's, but either way I still love it. Training wise I've still been consistently running, but wished I had done some long runs. Main thing about my running is that I still love it. I've read articles where people end up hating running or stop running after training for big races and I would never want to get to that point.

Coaster Run 5K 2015

This is my 3rd Coaster Run 5k. Just like every year it's held at Knotts Berry Farm. Still my favorite race out of all the races I've ever done. Mostly because no other race can you get a Snoopy medal. If I could only do one race a year it would have to be this one. I didn't PR, but that wasn't really my goal with this one. Not sure if it's just me, but this race I found hard to really run without weaving around people. Apparently walkers got mixed in with runners. This year the Knotts Buffet brunch didn't land the same day as the race which was a bit of a bummer, but a good opportunity to try out Black Bear Diner in Buena Park.  I can't wait to do this race next year. Maybe I'll be doing the 10K.