Late to the party, but never one to miss out. I’m joining in on the fun that Miss Zippy created for us running folk, #YearOfRunning13. Let’s take a look at the year through a series of questions. I’m only number 90 on the link up, so there are plenty of you that can still join in on the fun.

Best race experience? 

This one is easy for me. Not only was it the best race experience of the year, but flat-out the BEST race I have ever run. It was in March at the Oakland Running Festival. It was the first time I broke 4-hours at the marathon distance, as well as the first time I ran 26.2 miles WITHOUT taking a walk break. What made it special was that the entire was… dare I say it, perfect? I ran a text-book race from start to finish. I felt great the entire time and finished with a smile on my face the last two miles. On a challenging, but familiar course, I flat-out ran the race of my life and executed my race plan like a machine.
READ ABOUT IT HERE.

Love this pic as we are running, talking and both smiling.

Best run? 

5 miles on a treadmill, next to the amazing RunEMZ. The funny thing is, I think this was the first time I had been on a treadmill in at least a couple years. Emily was running for 24-hours on a treadmill going for 100 miles to help raise money and awareness for Education in India. By the end of it, she would run 108.88 miles and raise close to $25,000. I was able to meet her before she started and help cheer her on throughout the day on social media, but it was when I was able to jump on the treadmill next to her that made my day. To be a part of something much bigger than all of us and to spend one hour out of her 22+ hour run, was enough to make me realize (even more) that we are a part of something bigger.
READ ABOUT IT HERE.  

Best new piece of gear?  

Has to be my Nike+ watch. I finally had to retire the “brick” – otherwise known as the Garmin 305. I was running with the trusty, but over-sized 305 for 5+ years and when I decided to move onto a new one, there was really nothing wrong with it… it was just time. I had been doing a lot of runs during my lunch hour and trying to find a signal in the middle of downtown San Francisco was tough. It was time to move onto a new watch that would be able to find a signal a little bit easier. I was a fan of the Nike watch and how it looked, and I jumped right in. I adopted the new tracking system through the Nike+ app and was instantly in love with the user experience. As a designer, I like things that look pretty. Check it out here.

Me and the First Lady showing off our kicks.

Runner up:
I’m also really into the new pair of Barefooters that a friend sent me to try out. They are an environmentally friendly shoe made of CorksiLite™ (“combines the best physical properties of cork and silicone”) that can help aid recovery post race in giving you that natural feeling of walking barefoot, but also giving you the protection your foot needs. They look kinda like Crocs, but are SO much cooler, trust me. I used to throw on my slippers post-run and walk around the house playing with the First Lady, now I slip on my Barefooters and allow my tired feet to recover and feel like they are being massaged with the grooved insoles. Plus, the Fist Lady thinks I look pretty cool in my “red shoes.”
ENTER TO WIN YOUR OWN PAIR (and a $500 gift card)

Best piece of running advice you received? 

This is actually something I said to someone else, that I later realized was just as valuable to me as well. “You are never running alone.” I said it to a friend who I wanted to know that when they run — or any of us — we are not doing this on our own. We are surrounded by an amazing running community that cheers for each other when we succeed and supports one another when we fall just a bit short. We are also running with our loved ones in our hearts, including those that are next to us physically and spiritually. It wasn’t until recently, that it really hit home. I won’t go into too much detail, but I had a moment at CIM that I shared with my friend that instantly made me think of her and know that at that moment, I indeed, was not running alone.

Most inspirational runner? 

This one is easy as well. It’s the amazing Jen of KineticFix.com. I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Boston Strong event in San Francisco earlier in the year. It was an amazing day that will always be one of the most memorable experiences in my life and I have the wonderful running community to thank for that. When I met Jen and we spoke, there was something that stood out. I don’t know if it was the sincerity in her voice or something, but you know when you meet someone and you just sort of connect? Well, that. We chatted about doing some miles together (as she was new to living in the SF) and when we were able to connect later in the year, we went out for a 7-8 mile run and the miles just flew by. She was training for the Nike Women’s Marathon and looking to improve on her 1st marathon time from 2002. Her journey through 2013 was an inspiring one, setting new PRs at the 10k, 13.1 and 26.2 distances… I’m looking forward to running with her more in 2014 and know that she has some major goals to knock down in the future.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? 

Knowledge gained, mission accomplished… ready for the next goal.

That is pretty vague, right? Well, I had some goals set for the year: (1) I wanted to run another 50 mile race and hopefully try to qualify for Western States. Although I fell short (knowledge gained part), I learned from it and it helped me become a stronger runner. (2) I finally broke the 1:40 mark at the half and the 3:40 mark at the full (mission accomplished part). The next goal? Well, that’s another post, but the immediate goal is to break 3:30 in mid-January at #RnRAZ (tweet up?).

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WEGO Health Activist Nomination

I was nominated for an award over at WEGo Health. Endorse me here. Just click the ENDORSE button below my logo.

You can also nominate your favorite Health Activist here. I’ve been nominating several people over the past week and you can nominate more than one person for each award, so go crazy. But nominations end 12/31, so don’t wait too long.

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Cheers to a successful 2013 and an optimistic 2014.