It's a Wonderful Run 5k - December 15, 2013

Whoaaaa, another post from me?!

You know it.

I decided very last minute (like... on Friday) to sign up for a local 5K, which was today.

One of my friends, who's kiiiind of a big deal in the running community, was running it and I've been wanting to run a race that he's in for a while.

It was a small race which I LOVE. It gave me a little bit of hope that perhaps I could place. But more on that later.

I got there about an hour before Start Time. I should've listened to Jon when he told me that it was a small race because I certainly didn't have to be there that early. So I had a lot of time to stretch and stand around.

The race was well organized. It was held at a Catholic high school, they had mass beforehand but I had actually arrived too late to partake in that. We did say Our Father before the race itself and then all recited the Pledge of Allegiance. No national anthem, no big speech, and an on-time start: can you beat that? I don't think so!

I hydrated really well the day before my race knowing how hot & humid it'd be, but I dont think that nutritionally I really did that well. Last night Dan was at work and I had popcorn as an afternoon snack then just cereal for dinner. (he's the cook in the relationship)

Started out feeling really strong and even throughout the whole thing I thought I was holding a decent pace. Small race but didn't feel like I was really being passed by many and I felt strong. Little tired on mile 3, but Ali's voice "why would you ever stop on the last mile?" rang in my head and I pushed myself.

Plus, I knew Jon was going to shoot for a sub-16 min finish and then run the route again as a cool down so I HAD to be sure that I'd finish before he finished his 'next round.'

I don't have a Garmin and I had the notifications turned off on my Nike+ so I had no idea what kind of pace I was going and usually that helps me. But when I came down the final stretch and saw the clock say "32" ... I have to admit that I was disappointed in myself.

I went to the cafeteria where they were posting the results to see if Jon had broken the record for the race which was his goal, and he had! He ran 15:37, a 5:02/mile pace. And upon talking to him later, he was even disappointed! If it had been cooler he thinks he could've been sub-5/mile. Guess it goes to show that no one's ever truly pleased with what they do; there's always room for improvement.

I checked out my results as soon as they were posted. 7th in my age group... if only i had been 6 months earlier and fell into the 30 year old age group; i would've placed 3rd and earned my first award! But alas... didn't happen.

Since I've been out of practice with blogging, I hate to admit  that I forgot to take ANY pics!

Results:
Time: 32:10
10:23/mile pace
7 out of 9 in my age group
Overall: 142 out of 274
Results


*Note: There was no start mat, so times were gun time, not chip time. So mayyyybe I was sub-32?! Let's hope.

Nicaragua / Rancho Santana, Nov 2013

Lo siento for my more-than-month-long hiatus from the blogging world. Did you miss me? Yeah yeah yeah. Sure ya did.

The trip to Nicaragua was part of a work Mobile Symposium for reps from each division of Agora to meet together off-site to discuss how we can better reach our customers via mobile. Not only did I leave with a ton of takeaways for my division to implement... I made so many connections and got to talk to so many people within Agora that that in itself was rewarding.

Agora purchased a plot of land in Nicaragua and has been developing it into a residential community. You should check it out: Rancho Santana. Highly recommend it; for vacation or investment opportunity.

View from clubhouse to the Pacific

I shared a condo located walking distance to the Clubhouse with a fellow co-worker from my division as well as with another guy from Agora HQ. They were the best and I really lucked out to be "stuck" with them for the time I was.

Sure, we had meetings Mon-Weds from 8:30 to 3:30-4ish. But we also could sign up for activities at 7:30am and afternoon. I was able to take some hikes... surf lessons (private in fact, no one else showed up. AND we spoke in Spanish the whole time; awesome practice!), kayaking (also quite an experience... it was in more of a "Muddy creek" and the guide couldn't come with us because we were over capacity. It was me and 3 guys and let's just say it was a bonding experience... while it was smelly, dirty, and trashy DURING the trip... that's the kind of stuff that makes the best memories, right?!). 

Hike down to Playa Escondida

 In the one morning I didn't have any planned activities (due to a scheduling conflict actually), I took a walk by myself from my condo to the "main road" and saw the horse stable... It IS a ranch afterall! The grounds were absolutely beautiful. Plus we were there right at the tail end of rainy season... And while it DID rain each afternoon it really only made the grounds that much more beautiful.

 

 

 

How gorgeous is this?!

 One of the hikes I took in the afternoon was the Lava Shelf Walk. During low tide, you're able to walk along the hardened lava which is right up against the Pacific. We were walking along here right at sunset and it was too pretty to be able to truly capture it in pics.

Perfectly timed wave crashing onto the Lava Shelf

During our hike to Playa Escondida, we were unable to see any monkeys. This was day #1 so we were all so excited to see as much as we could (though that never really faded during the whole trip)... so our guide had a car pick us up, take us off the ranch and to a local restaurant that has 2 monkeys on site. I even got to feed them a banana!

Feeding a monkey! He jumped onto the pants of the guy in the yellow shirt so I was a liiiiittle apprehensive.

Of course, the sunsets were to die for.

view from just outside our patio

While I didn't get any running in... and I ate a LOT, I was still able to do the hikes and surfing and stay active. I would love to go back to Rancho Santana with a group of friends. It really is affordable if you go there with  a group.

I only have my job to thank for this amazing opportunity.