{2014 Atlanta 10 Miler}

I haven't been posting much about my health and fitness. Back in May, I had my first physical exam. In that physical, I also discovered that I had pre diabetes. My A1C level came back high and I was at risk. I was devastated and at the same time was determined to correct this. I met with a nutritionist and learned to make some changes on my diet. I was eating fairly healthy before this but still needed to modify my carb intake. Proud to say that after 4 months of consistently watching what I ate, I have loss some lbs and reversed my prognosis. I am now officially out of the prediabetic range.

The consistent workout and nutrition has also led me to this awesome race result! A PR for me in all races! I am so happy with the performance. I haven't been running much but have been doing a lot of HIIT and circuit training. I think these workouts came in very handy for my mental strength. Every miles, every hills, I felt strong and I felt like I can tackle it.

This was a 20 mins improvement from last year's 10 miler results.

It was also very nice to be surrounded by friends and family the morning of the race. A really great calming force before the start. Here's Julia and me, ready to tackle the 10 miles ahead of us.

My sister was so sweet and took the kids to their school's cheer zone. They were one of the schools selected to receive a grant from the Atlanta Track Club. Ed and I were both signed up for the race and wasn't sure if the kids can make it to the event. Thanks to Tita Susan, they were able to go and have fun seeing Mom and Dad run the race.

This is me (ignore the goofy face and headset) when I spotted the kids! What a great energy booster.

My sweet and ever supportive friend Ra. Love seeing her at the finish line.

The Cullers conquered this 10 mile race in full force. My super fast husband of course finished this race in a lightning speed!

{Run Club Kick Off}

Rain or shine we were ready to join William's school run club kick off. Ed's a volunteer coach this year and I love seeing his excitement. We are very fortunate to belong to a school with such strong emphasis in healthy living. The Run Club is so popular this year that registration filled up in an hour and half.

Was also proud of  Samantha for being a tough cookie and running the whole mile. I guess the love for running runs in the family :)

Booyah to a great kick off!

{Color Run Race: The Happiest 5K}

It's obvious that over the past year, how much I have fallen in loving with running. I find it relaxing to hear my breathing and I get such a high after each run. One other thing I love about running is doing races. It not only pushes you to harder but it also brings in great friendship and camaraderie. When a group of friends in Facebook decided to build a team for the Atlanta Color Run race, I got so excited and joined them. The race was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and is quite a drive for me, but I am so glad that I ran this one coz I had the best time ever with friends. It truly is the #happiest5K.

Here's a couple of pre-race pictures (aka we are still clean).

A group selfie at the start line. This was so fun! The DJ was rockin' some awesome tunes and the the crowd was getting pumped!

The 5K loops around the track. So cool to see it!

Crossing the finish line.

Post race group pictures. We had the best time! The after party was great and more colors were sprayed across.

Definitely one of the most fun I have ever had in a race. Our team was the best and enjoyed every moment.

{Kid's Kickin Cancer 5K and 1 Mile}

The whole family came out to support our dear friend Darren on his Kid's Kickin Cancer 5K and 1 mile event. Darren beat cancer last year and is going above and beyond to make a difference by organizing this race to benefit the cancer center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. We are so proud of him!

William did good on the 1 miler run. Our lil runner is following his dad's footstep :)

{2013 Atlanta Marathon: 10 Miler}

I got an email a month and half ago about the inaugural Triple Peach VW event. Basically, the Atlanta Track Club partnered with Volkswagen of America for a program designed to improve the Atlanta running experience featuring three of the city's most beloved events: the AJC Peachtree Road Rcae, the Atlanta Marathon or 10 miler and the Atlanta Half Marathon. I just completed the Peachtree Road Race and at the time, I was on high and had this novel idea of partaking on this. I totally forgot the fact that William's birthday party could very well be the day before the 10 miler.

We had the big backyard party(will blog about it later) for William Saturday and it was definitely a busy week leading up to the event. I hadn't been running much and have only been doing crossfit twice a week recently. I was dreading the 10 miler and told Ed the night before, that don't be upset or guilt me if I decided on Sunday morning that I was bailing out on the race. There were so many reasons that tempted me to not go for this race...the birthday party, the fact that race pick up was at downtown on a Saturday morning that William has an early soccer game, the race had a different start and end locations, the cold temps, etc. Believe me...there were plenty of  "excuses" to grab to.

But then there's this part of me, that keeps on saying, that I AM NOT A QUITTER. Part of me that knows that I can not live with the guilt and disappointment of not fulfilling something I signed up for. Ed said that he'll wake up early with me and drop off cars to make it easier for me. He also said, just wait and see how I feel that morning. I laid out my race clothes the night before just for kicks. I tossed and turned the whole night. At 5AM, my alarm clock went off. I took a shower,  still undecided on running this race (who the hecks does that). I walked out of the shower and saw Ed peek out of the blanket. He said "I am proud of you". As I move some more, I started to feel good. My legs were feeling really good this morning. This morning was one of those race days morning, where my body was actually feeling good. I put on my clothes, pinned my bib and drove to the event with Ed following me so we can drop off my car to the finish line. I checked the course limit for the race. I've never done that before!!! 2 1/2 hours course limit. No time goal for me, the goal was to finish this race. My plan for this race was to run as much as I can, and let myself walk whenever I feel like it.

I chatted with a couple of people at the start line. It was so exciting to hear their stories and goals. I heard the start gun, and off we went. The first mile of the race was flat. I looked at my watch and I was at a 10 min mile pace at mile 1. Woohoo. Feeling good. I did a walk the hills and run the flats and downhill strategy for this race. The cool temps felt great. The spectators along the course was awesome. I saw William's Ashford Park Run Club at one of the cheer zone and that pumped me up. I looked up my watch at mile 9 and saw that I had a chance of finishing up the race in under 2 hours. I dig deep and made my way. So happy to see the finish line! I have to admit, this was one of those race where I was honestly not too bashful to brag. The fact that I conquered all the "excuses" made it so much sweeter. It was great reinforcement to me on how much stronger I am of a person...both physically and mentally! Here I am rocking my 10 miler medal and Triple Peach VW medal. I can not wait to add the tag for the Thanksgiving Marathon and complete the challenge. Hopefully, I smart up this time and train for it.

Hooray for an under 2 hours 10 miler!!! A huge thank you to my hubby for being supportive and encouraging. For knowing the right words to say. He's a runner and he completely understand what I was going through.

{13.1}

Another half marathon completed by Ed, and we are certainly proud of him. I'm sure the training for this one has been challenging with the move to a new home and a new job.

On a side note. I am loving this top I got from Target...very Lululemon like with out the pricetag.

Target C9 Champion Women's 3/4 Sleeves

Mr. B ran this race with Ed.  He's been a running champ lately and Ed is very appreciative for the company and push for this race.

The W family spent the night with us since we were so close to the start line. Thankful that we didn't had to wake them kiddos at the crack of dawn. We were able to catch the guys at mile 3 when they ran in front of our house.

What a great weekend of fun it has been!

{Fun Run}

We are extremely blessed to be in a school with a strong PTA group. The community is rallying for our school and we want it to be successful and the best that it can be! One of the biggest fundraising event for the school is the fun run. This is our first year joining this event, and I can see how people get so into it and help the kids raise money. Family and friends can donate a flat fee or per lap dollar amount for each runner.

William did well and raise so much money. Thanks to our generous family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. He told everybody that his school is counting on him. Way to sell it buddy!
He was one of the top funraiser for his school and was declared King of Fun Runner. He also earned his class a bubble party that day! Hooray!

I had a flexible work schedule the day of his fun run, and was able to go in real quick to his school to watch his kindergarten class run their race. You can feel the energy at school that day! It was so fun!!!

All lined up and ready for the race start.

Ready, set, go!!!

The tunnel and mister was definitely a favorite of the kids.

At one point, the parents were asked to walk/run with their kids. Here's my very sweaty err wet runner. He kept pouring water on top of his head to cool off.

They also had a grab their hand and walk with a friend, and it was so cute to see William with his buddy Murray.

William did a great job!!! He ran 27 laps and raise $640 for his school!!! Thank you again friends and family.

So proud of my fun runner.

I also was able to join him for a quick lunch at his school cafeteria. He was smiling big and thanked me for coming to school event. What a sweet kid!

{Run Around The Park Relay}

I had a runderful time at the Run Around The Park Relay with the best team ever....Team High 5

It was a hard course, but we had the best cheerleaders with us and they boosted our team spirit!

Bloody Mary's and Mimosas enjoyed post race for our celebration!

{4th of July 2013: Part 1}

This year wasn't your typical sunshiny 4th of July. We had days of rain the weekend of the 4th, and honestly I was a lil bum about it initially, but snapped out of it and enjoyed every minute of spending time with family and friends. This will be a 2 part post, but I wanted to capture all these special moment coz we are truly blessed to be sharing our life with all these wonderful people!

Our first 4th at our new home, and totally loving the patriotic buntings at our patio. Perfection!

Samantha had her first bike parade at her new school. Tito Nestor's flight from Baltimore came in early, and he was able to come see Samantha's school. Missed my brother, and it was so great to spend some time with him. Unfortunately, the parade was rained out, and they had to moved the event indoors and change it to a dance party.

Lil girl was having so much fun. She even told me that she had to go so she can hang out with her friends. Made me so happy that she's transitioning well to her new environment.

We had our first rainy Peachtree Road Race. It didn't scare our group and we were ready to tackle 6.2 miles, rain or shine.

Rain....we are ready for you!!! Trash bags and all.

It was humid, but all that matter was we have another Peachtree Road Race in the book. And, can we just chat on how awesome Ed is at taking race pictures? Me on the other hand, not too much :(

So grateful to have this time to just soak up some family time.  Feeling extremely blessed.

William has been looking forward to a return trip to the Korean BBQ restaurant. He was so excited to show his Tito Nestor his favorite food.  We also had my cousin and his fiancee  over, they were visiting from California and stopped by real quick to see our new house.

More adventures ahead for Part 2 of our 4th of July.