Shred the Gnar!

This weekend me and the guys went to Northstar at Tahoe for their opening day of skiing! I was so excited all week long to finally get my new snowboard on some fresh snow, and I was more than excited to get all of the guys to go snowboarding with me! We were originally going to go to Boreal, but it wasn't big enough for me so we kept driving.

The guys signed up for a lesson, and I was able to hang out with them for a little bit while they were learning. I got in a few runs on my own (there were only 6 trails open on the mountain that day).

Learning to snowboard is such an intense workout, that the guys were sweating their butts off.


Stephen! Haha he probably wishes he had gloves on at this point.


Max making his way down the little slope!



John was really getting the hang of the snowboard! Just goofing off a bit and getting some sweet air!

Needless to say I was so happy to be snowboarding; everyone knows it's my favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. I brought the guys up the chairlift and we got such a cute picture of us (from left to right: John, Me, Stephen and Max). They did so well on their first day. I was so proud! They had some tough falls, but who doesn't when learning to snowboard. Stephen bigtime got the hang of things.

Coming down from the top of the mountain.

I treated the guys to some beers and hot chocolates after a tough day of learning to snowboard. I really was so happy they did so well. I hope they really liked it because I'm going to be dragging them to Tahoe every weekend from now on.

Malibu Half Marathon

Over the past few months while I've been living in the beautiful state of California, I have been running my butt off. The reason for this? I, along with Greta Aiken, committed to run the Malibu Half Marathon (Greta, being the insane person that she is...ran the full marathon). The 13.1 miles I signed up for a few months ago, would be the longest run I have ever completed in my entire life.

When I initially signed up for this race, I think I was running at the most about 1 to 2 miles. Man oh man those were the days. I'd only run about 2-3 times a week, mostly at the Intel fitness center (Running in 100 degree weather was not too appealing to me). As summer progressed to fall, the days started getting cooler, allowing me to go on longer, more enjoyable runs out around Folsom. Running on a treadmill gets extremely boring after 4 miles. At the beginning of fall, I was getting up there in mileage, going for 3 to 5 mile runs. I'd say October was my best month of all. That was when I really started kicking it into gear going out on nice 7 or 8 mile run, about 3 times a week. I was really starting to feel comfortable on these longer runs, but they were still a push.

Last week, before the race, I was definitely feeling some nerves. I had at the most run 10 miles, my feet were still healing from a few Halloween injuries, and the race was less than a week away. I went out for a nice 8.5 miler Monday, and a short 4 miler on Wednesday, and after that I called it quits. I wanted to rest as much as possible before Nov. 15th.

I had such a great fan base coming down to see me run! I can't imagine it's too exciting watching people run 13+ miles, but I love each and every one of them for coming down to support me. All the roommates (John, Max, and Stephen), Eric, and Carrie with her family, came to Malibu to watch me and Greta run.

We showed up to Carrie's house in Brea Saturday morning around 1AM; the boys sprawled out in the living room while I slept with Carrie in her bed. I needed a good rest anyways :). Saturday morning, Carrie's dad took us out to a fantastic breakfast at the Original House of Pancakes, where I stuffed my face full of blueberry pancakes. Carrie stayed at home for the day while the rest of us journeyed up to Malibu so I could pick up my racing gear.

After I grabbed my race bib and other free stuff, we found a cheap place to stay for the night, and then we went to the beach. Greta and her mom and dad came to join us. Max and Stephen actually went swimming in the water, even though it was cold.

Greta and I enjoying the scenery.

Greta's Parents taking a stroll on the beach.

The sun setting on the ocean in Malibu. Didn't see the green flash though!

Enjoying the sunset.

We all went out to dinner at Islands for some delicious burgers. Had some great laughs and some great food. After that we went our separate ways for Me, Greta and her mom to rest up for our big races. The boys kept me up for a bit while making a poster for me and Greta, but they ended up finishing it in the morning.

I was pretty nervous when I got up in the morning, and everyone (except Stephen) drove me to the bus to be brought to the starting line. I had about an hour before the race to stretch, hang out, and mentally prepare. We waited for the elite marathon runners to go through before the half marathon started.

Overall the race was really enjoyable. It was warmer than I expected, but the views were beautiful, when I actually took the chance to look to my right. Most of the half marathon was uphill, so it definitely took a toll on my time. My feet were hurting through most of the race, thanks to some lovely blisters all over my right foot. My main goal was to run the entire race, and that's exactly what I did. I had a great "metal mix" to listen to that definitely motivated me up those tough hills.

My race consisted of the 13.1 miles at the end.

After 10 miles of running, I was really excited that I was going to finish this race. The last 3.1 miles almost seemed like nothing. After running that far, you really have nothing to lose. As I was coming to the finish line, I saw Carrie, her dad, and her dad's girlfriend cheering me on, which pushed me along the last stretch. I came around the corner, and on the final few yards were my roommates and my friend Eric cheering me on. It was so nice seeing them at the finish line!

So happy to be finishing the race.

Crossing the finish line in 2:15:12. Not bad for my first half marathon!


Such a beautiful sign! DOODLE JUMP!


Met up with them after I received my medal, sweet towel and lunchbox full of food! I needed to rehydrate like crazy.


Greta and her mom powering through the Marathon. Greta did an amazing job for her first marathon!

The run was great. I can't believe I actually had fun running 13.1 miles. I took a week off to give my poor feet a rest; they were covered in blisters after that race. I was up and running this week, and man I can't wait to get ready for another race.

Brains...BRAINS!!!!

For Halloween this year, Max, John, and I could not think of anything to be, but Max came up with the great idea for being zombies! Stephen was celebrating Halloween back home in Indiana.

Before getting zombified, we had to run to the store to buy candy for the little trick-or-treaters around the neighborhood. They were so cute! Ghosts, princesses, a Michael Jackson, all sorts of adorable costumes. We also carved pumpkins and got some candles for the front of our house.

Max with the candy. His pumpkin's on the left, Stephen and mine is on the right.

John and Me giving some candy away.

Getting ready to be a zombie was pretty fun. Max had all sorts of stuff like latex, fake blood, make-up and so on to make us scary looking zombies. I went out in the yard, got some dirt and twigs to make the outfit more realistic. We went down to Davis with a few other guys from work, and got to experience some college fun - a lot different than the Folsom area for sure.

I'm the only zombie around that's dead and smiling!


Doing a little "Thriller" with Ceasar. His name is really Ceasar.

The night was overall a lot of fun, but I did end up paying for it the next day. I had to rest up a lot from the long night, but it was worth it! BRAAAINS.