Wordless Wednesday: Laguna Beach

Last weekend my friend’s baby shower was held here. You couldn’t ask for a better day. And if you are wondering, this is Laguna Beach, CA.

My view while at a baby shower in Laguna Beach earlier today.

Welcome to “Angry Julie Monday’s Wordless Wednesday Linky”!

If this your first time here, HELLO! I do a link-up every Wednesday! Post a picture(s) and link back to it here. Wordless Wednesday is a great day to post an awesome picture that “speaks” for itself, no words needed.

Be sure to check out Wordless Wednesday Link-Ups at these other sites also:

Project AliciaBetter in BulkCrazy About My BaybahDear CrissyFive Minutes For MomLive and Love…Out LoudNaptime MomtogParenting By DummiesSeven Clown CircusThe Divine Miss Mommy

Also, Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy does “What I Wore Wednesday” every week with a great big link-up.



(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Long Beach Half Marathon Race Recap

It has been several weeks, and almost a month since my first half marathon. I should have posted a race recap quite some time ago, but alas I have actually been training for my second half marathon.

This all started in May when I signed up for the Long Beach ICB Half Marathon. I have these crazy running friends who were encouraging me, so I signed up. I followed Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 Half Marathon Training Program religiously. I only missed one run, which was actually my longest run, a 12-mile one. I was extremely exhausted that day, got up to run, and only made it 3 miles.

The night before the race, I carb loaded at Buca di Beppo with friends who were also racing {KellyCarrie, and Elise}. Of course, those crazy girls were running the full marathon, and I was doing the half marathon. We had a delicious meal and we were ready to race the next morning.

The next morning I got up extra early, like 4am-ish, and got ready for the race. I wore my Team Sparkle tank top, Lululemon Run Shorty Shorts, blue Team Sparkle skirt, and my slime green Saucony Kinvara 3’s on race day. I carpooled to the race with my Super Hero Friends {photo below} Kelly, Carrie, and Elise to the race, because it is a large race and can get chaotic.

The "Girls of Team Sparkle" at The Long Beach Half MarathonCarrie {Wonder Woman), Elise {Bat Girl}, and Kelly {Super Girl} at The Long Beach ICB Marathon 2012. Photo via Kelly {according-to-kelly.com}.

We got to the race with enough time to go to the bathroom one last time, and then we found our places to start.

Pre-Long Beach Half Marathon 2012

I had my usual morning breakfast about an hour before the race; a Muscle Milk and a Dr. Pepper. Don’t judge, it works for me. I need the protein and caffeine to start my day. I found my corral {group} based on my estimated finish time, and got ready to race. It was a bit chaotic as the half marathon and full marathon runners were all starting at the same time. You could feel the excitement in the morning air.

And then the race started. I didn’t have an exact plan for my run, but rather, I just wanted to finish the race. Similar to my training runs, the first six miles were a breeze.  But then, we hit the trail along the beach and the sun was beaming. I started getting really hot. I had my hydration belt on with water and Nuun in my bottles, but I then started drinking water and Powerade at the rest stops along the way {huge mistake}. At about mile 10, my stomach started getting cranky, so I stopped to go to the bathroom. I thought I was ok after that, so I kept running. At about mile 10.5 my stomach got worse, and of course, I had already passed the last restroom.  Well let’s just say that miles 10.5 to 13.1 were not fun. I alternated between a jog/trot and walking because of my stomach. My stomach was getting progressively worse and I didn’t think that I was going to make it to the finish line.

Long Beach ICB Half Marathon 2012 Medal

Luckily, I made it to the finish line, grabbed my medal, and promptly ignored everything else. I asked one of the volunteers, “where is the bathroom?” I ran about a 1/4 of a mile to the bathrooms, and then boom, I had to wait in line. My stomach waited to purge itself until I made it into the porta-potty.  Unfortunately, there was no toilet paper left. HUGE PROBLEM! Stupid me, used a toilet seat cover as toilet paper. Well after being sore and raw for running, this just made my nether regions a bit raw.  It was not pretty. After finally calming down, I found a grassy area and just laid down.  I was lying on the ground thinking, “what the hell did I get myself into?”  Seriously, it was so hot, and I hurt so much. But then, some family friends found me and I finally recovered enough to sit up and chat with them. They probably thought that I was a total freak, but seriously, my stomach was still a bit angry.

I looked at my cellphone to see what time it was, and realized the Kelly, Carrie, and Elise would be finishing their race {full marathon} soon.  I made my way to the finish of the race, and cheered them on at the finish! They all finished together with a marathon finish of 3:58:39.

I had finally cooled off and I took a proper “Official Race Photo” with the step and repeat. Photo below borrowed from The Race Photographer, Brightroom. Ignore the graininess of the photo….cough cough screenshot….And if you are wondering, my final race time was 2:53:03. My 5K time was 34:46, my 10K time was 1:12:45, and my 10 mile time was 2:07:10. So you can see where I started slowing down, ummm right past mile 10. Total stomach fail!

Long Beach Half Marathon-Angry Julie

The lesson for the day: don’t drink you meals, don’t over-hydrate, and don’t drink Powerade during the race. I had way too much sugar in my system plus liquid. I’ve done a few long runs in the past month and I think I have figured out my eating/drinking situation now. I don’t drink anything until about mile 3 now, and then at about every 3 miles or so. I also don’t drink any of my meals (Muscle Milk, Juice It Up, Carnation Instant Breakfast, etc.) on the day that I’m doing a long run/race. And the caffeine, well I need a little of that. And I just need to stick with water or water with Nuun in it during the race.

Post-Long Beach Half Marathon 2012Post-Lunch Photo. You can’t even tell that I feel like I’m dying right there. Seriously, ouch! I just wanted a shower. Good thing you can’t smell me in this photo, because I was gross and nasty.

After we left the race, we headed towards a late lunch at Ruby’s Diner. My stomach still didn’t feel right so I only ate a little bit. After Ruby’s Diner, Kelly and I left to go home. I had carpooled with Kelly, but we made a little stop at the grocery store on the way home. I had some “chafing issues” and Kelly suggested Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. When I got home I took a shower, and slightly screamed a bit. Water hitting chafed areas is not a good feeling. I then applied the “butt paste” and relaxed for a few hours.

Running is kinda like having a baby. You say that you are “never going to do that again” after the pain from having a baby. Yet, people have multiple children, well other people, not me, hahahaha. But silly me, actually signed up for two more half marathons before I even did this first one. I signed up for The Disneyland Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January of 2013, and a late addition to the race schedule, The Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon at Walt Disney World on November 10th. Yes, I have a half marathon next Saturday!!!

So Wednesday night, I will be flying off to Walt Disney World with Kelly for a little half marathon girl’s weekend. It is the weekend before my birthday, so it is my birthday half marathon. And this will also be my first trip to Walt Disney World, yippee!! And the best part, the race is at night, which means my body won’t be all messed up from the time difference between the east and west coast.

Wreck-It Ralph Movie

The movie Wreck-It Ralph came out yesterday and I have to tell you, it was awesome. I’m usually not one to love kid’s movies, but I love love loved Wreck-It Ralph.  My son loved it too. We were lucky to be invited to a preview of the movie about a week ago. I surprised my 7-year old son and took him after his soccer practice one night. I knew that he had seen several previews of the movie and was dying to see it.

Wreck-It Ralph

I have to admit, after seeing one of the previews for the movie, I secretly wanted to see Wreck-It Ralph also. It reminded me of the 80’s when I was a huge video gamer. I liked the simpler times with Pac Man, Frogger, and everything else on my Atari system. These games nowadays are so involved and confusing for me, ok maybe I’m getting old, but I know some people will understand.

My son is a huge gamer himself. Honestly, I think video gaming is in his DNA. My husband is a gamer also. I was totally bummed that the husband didn’t go with us, because he would have loved the movie also. My son promptly sat down with his popcorn and his 3-D glasses and waited for the movie to begin.

Before Wreck-It Ralph started, we were shown a short animation feature from Disney called “Paperman”.  This animated feature was a groundbreaking hybrid approach using computer-generated animation with hand drawn techniques.

Using a minimalist black-and-white style, the short follows the story of a lonely young man (George) in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman (Meg) on his morning commute. Convinced that the girl of his dreams is gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him.

I loved Paperman as it was super sweet and the graphics/hand drawn designs were amazing.  It was great to see hand drawn animation on the big screen. There are some super talented artists out there. Thankfully, computers haven’t taken over the world just quite yet.

My son and I both give “Wreck-It Ralph” thumbs up! I loved all of the characters and thought they were great with having characters that boys and girls would connect with.  There is something for the entire family in this movie.  My son could not stop talking about the movie for several days after seeing it. He went to school the next day and told everyone about it. I think everyone was confused because the movie had not come out yet. I told several other parents that we saw a preview of the movie the night prior, and it is a must-see, especially for people who love video games.

A little synopsis of Wreck-It Ralph:

From Walt Disney Animation Studios and Emmy®-winning director Rich Moore comes “Wreck-It Ralph,” a hilarious, arcade-game-hopping adventure. For decades, Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) has been overshadowed by Fix-It Felix, Jr. (voice of Jack McBrayer), the good-guy star of their game who always gets to save the day. Tired of playing the role of a bad guy, Ralph takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a journey across the arcade through multiple generations of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.

On his quest, Ralph meets tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch) from the first-person action game Hero’s Duty, and feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) from the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush, who may just be his first real friend. But everything changes when a deadly enemy is unleashed, threatening the entire arcade and Vanellope herself. Ralph finally gets his chance to save the day—but can he do it in time? “Wreck-It Ralph” crashes onto the big screen on November 2, 2012, in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.

I think Wreck-It Ralph will be a huge hit in the theaters and I think I need to see it again. I know that my husband will appreciate it, especially with all of the 1980’s video game references.  You know, the 80’s, when I was actually good at video games.

Wreck-It Ralph Coloring Page

For some FREE Printable Wreck-It Ralph coloring pages, please click on the link below:

“Like” WRECK-IT RALPH on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WreckItRalph

 “Follow” WRECK-IT RALPH on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wreckitralph

 Visit the official site: www.disney.com/wreckitralph

Disclosure: My son and I were invited to a media preview of Wreck-It Ralph. We were given free tickets. All opinions and thoughts are mine. Graphics and printables provided via Disney.

Holiday Bake, Sew, and Craft Along

I am over at According to Kelly guest posting today for the Holiday-Inspired Bake Craft Sew Along.

But, I get to help start the holiday season off with a bang, & treat you to an absolutely amazing giveaway as part of our crafty series.

We are giving away a fabulous Prize Package worth more than $700!
One lucky winner will receive…

 

  • Silhouette Portrait: this is Silhouette’s newest electronic cutting tool for personal use. Like a home printer, it plugs into your PC or Mac® with a simple USB cable. However, instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and more up to 8″ wide and 10 feet long. The machine also has the ability to register and cut printed materials.
  • DecoArt Glass Paints & Stencils: non-toxic and enviromently-friendly, DecoArt has one of the widest selection of paints and finishes for arts, crafts, and home decorating, which includes over 25 brands of paint and finishes.
  • $100 Michael’s Gift Card

Simply wait for RaffleCopter to load and enter there!

Be sure to check out all the fabulous craft projects shared this month for this Holiday-Inspired Bake Craft Sew series going on all month long. & Don’t forget head on over to Skip to my Lou & A Southern Fairytale for more chances to win!

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