My first Great Aloha Run... (or run in general)

It's been a week since the 2011 Great Aloha Run, but unfortunately, I've only had time to blog about it now. It was my first run, and a great experience.


I was never the athletic type of person. If anything, I would go swimming or hiking--not running as a form of "exercise". However, two months ago, my friend and coworker Jennifer told us at work that we would be forming a team for the run and encouraged us to join the run. At first I was a bit hesistant knowing that I didn't exercise, much less run at all. I decided to join because I found out quite a few of my coworkers are joining as well, and a lot of them didn't run either.


A month and a half or so ago, I decided to train for the run just so I wouldn't suck the day of the run and to do my best to see I would fare with other people.
Basically, my goals were:
-Not to embarass myself and be one of those people on the run ending up needing medical assistance
-Finish the race
-Attempt to do so in two hours or less


My goal time probably didn't seem hard to a lot people, but I thought it was enough for me being that it was my first run ever and not knowing what to expect. The first time I started training for the run with my running buddy, I totally sucked. It was about 15 minutes per mile with me slowing down and walking in order to catch my breath. I ran about two to three times a week about an hour each time and slowly started to improve.


By the time the run came, I felt good about being able to do the run in two hours a less, although I've never ran eight miles at once (the closest was 5.7 miles). A few days prior to the race, I went to load up on carbs. (According to my friends, you should load up a week before the race. Then, on the day of the race, don't each too much in the morning or you get nauseous)

Picked up my packet the weekend before the run which contained my running number and a computer chip is attached to the shoes to track each person's running time. (I found the computer chip pretty interesting as it was something totally new to me. It starts timing you once you pass the start line mat and stops at the finish line mat, so that people don't all need to start at the same time to be timed accurately.)

I prepped the night before by getting everything ready so that I wouldn't have to go looking for it early in the morning. Went to buy a running belt the day before the race, uploaded songs to my mp3 player, and had a banana the night before and the morning of the race so that it would lessen the chance of me getting cramps.

On the day of the race, I was very surprised at the sheer volume of people attending the race. I knew the run was a popular one and that a lot of people attend it each year, but being there seeing the masses of people was a different thing. Once the run started, I ran with my two work friends (Jen & Donnie) and kept up with them until we passed mile 4. They ran faster than me, so after a while I just needed to catch my breath and go at my own pace. After about ten minutes on my own pace, I lost traces of them. I finished the race at my own pace, going slower than when I first began once we hit an incline. Without my friends running by me, I relied on my music, adrenaline, and those people on the side of the road to push me through the rest of the race. As I passed the second incline and saw the stadium not to far ahead, I felt some relief it would be over soon. Then as I finally saw the finish line, I sprinted towards it the last 20 seconds of my race. Surprisingly afterwards, I saw my friends in front of me. As I passed the finishing line, I saw the time was 1:48:39. However, later I was estatic to find out my official time was 1:34:15. I never thought I would've ran it so well. I think running with my friends had a lot to do with it as I pushed myself to keep up with their pace.

Note to self: Do not attempt to go to work after doing an 8 mile run. (I feel like our company were the only insane ones doing so)

The world of obsoletes...

Upon cleaning out my room and at cleaning at work due to renovation, I've found a lot of items to be obsolote. It was funny. I could still remember using some of these obsolete items like it was not that long ago. It seems that the world is moving so fast that there is so much new technology out every minute. Here's some of the stuff I found:

-Correction fluid: Or what is now know as correction tape. I'm sure correction fluid still exists, but really, who still uses them? To have to use a brush/pen to go over your mistakes, and have to wait or blow the paper til it dries before you can write on it, now just seems kind of silly. (I stole that bottle from work, though when I was cleaning out my room, I did find I still had a correction fluid pen)

-Floppy disks: That's been.... almost a decade or so ago? We sure have come far from floppy disks now. From floppy disks, we moved onto zip drives, then burning information on CDs, and now tiny USBs that can hold so much information! My coworker had made a comment that he doesn't even know if there are any computers out there that have floppy drives anymore. Well, surprisingly, I still have my old computer which my dad uses, which does have a floppy drive. Now there are even very tiny external hard drives, which makes my huge external hard drive look like a dinosaur. :(

-VHS tapes: I grew up watching all my Chinese drama on these before the days of VCD and DVDs. Do they even make anything on VHS anymore?



-Old school phone: This is actually still present and working currently in my house. My dad insists on having an old school dial phone instead of a "modern" one because he says in case the power goes out, you can still dial out. -_- This thing is loud and obnoxious. I don't even remember when was the last time someone called the landline and it was for me. Who uses these nowadays or even landlines in general (except for businesses) when there are cell phones? It led me to thinking how life even went about before when cell phones existed. I remember when cell phones weren't yet popular, I would actually use a landline, and sometimes even talk for hours at night in which my dad would start yelling that I'm holding up the phone line. Now, it's gone wireless and a phone is used more than just calling people. It's sends texts (which I think some people use this function than an actual phone), is a calendar/organizer, and has capabilities that computers have.

-Phone books (not pictured): Phones going wireless led me to thinking, does anyone even use phonebooks anymore? I know they still pass them around, but how many people actually still use them? I know Generation Y definitely doesn't. Why use a phone book when you can just search for anything and everything online and get it instantly? I think the companies should stop or reduce printing these, and save trees instead.

A new year upon us..

It’s been quite a while since I’ve blogged or read others’ blogs. The holidays were hectic, but passed by like a breeze. I thought about stopping my blog after not writing for so long. Sometimes I’m too lazy to blog, or feel it’s hard to blog because my life is uninteresting to think of topics to write about. However, to my surprise, I still get comments here and there, which got me motivated to keep writing knowing there’s people out there that still read what I write, despite me thinking my life is becoming uninteresting.
Anywho, a recap of the past year’s resolution results: I had made two main resolutions which was to be healthier (as is probably everyone else’s) and more productive/less lazy. I think I did make a conscious effort to be healthier by changing some of my habits like what I eat in the morning, my portions, drinking more water, and getting adequate sleep. I had kept up with exercise for a while, but things stopped once I went on a trip, and never picked back up.


Being productive and less lazy was not-so-much accomplished. Not much to say about it, but that I’ll keep it for this year’s resolutions.


2011 Goals


-Get back into exercising, especially since I’ll be attending the Great Aloha Run next month.


-De-clutter (see one of my previous posts)


-Take more pictures. I finally upgraded to a DSLR, so I am hoping to put the camera to use and get familiar with it.


-Write a PostSecret card and mail it in or slip it into the book in the store. It’s such a brilliant idea and I’m surprised of the creativity and thought people put into their postcards. I think it’d be a nice surprise if I left one in a PostSecret book.


-Go without spending money on clothes for six months. It’s quite a restraint, but I know I’ve splurged enough after Christmas. Also, my room can’t handle more clothing if I don’t do some cleaning out first. Hopefully, if I don’t go to the mall or clothing websites, I won’t be tempted to buy anything. Out of sight, out of mind.

25 in 25

Twenty five things I learned in twenty fives years, in no particular order...........

1. Going to college and getting good grades doesn’t necessarily secure you a good paying job in the real world2. Don’t drive a car that is too big for you, even though it’s a nice car.

3. Start saving money early.

4. Everyone has their own goals and dreams. Don’t judge others.

5. The “what I want to be when I grow up” we write about in elementary school doesn’t come true for the vast majority.

6. Cheese is delicious. I wish I knew how good it was earlier.

7. Friends are important in life, but at the same time, we have to understand the level of friendship we have with are friends will change throughout our life.

8. Change is inevitable. It’s up to you to see the glass as half full or half empty.

9. Everyone should travel to a foreign country at least once. It is such an eye opener to experience other cultures.

10. I often have too much on my plate than I can handle—both literally and metaphorically.

11. Buy life insurance and buy it when you’re young. The earlier you buy it, the less your monthly premium will be.

12. Knowledge is power only when you apply the knowledge.

13. It’s not always what you know, but who you know.

14. Be the change you want to see.

15. “Love—everyone wants it, but not everyone finds it.”

16. Smiling is the universal icebreaker.

17. Exercise. Your metabolism slows down dramatically when you get older and if you have to sit on your butt eight hours a day.

18. Everyone needs an indulgence every now and then.

19. It isn’t worth it to go shopping on Black Friday. You’d make better use of your time sleeping in.

20. Alcohol isn’t as great as it’s made out to be, especially if you’re allergic to it.

21. I need to think before I speak. Not everyone can handle bluntness.

22. Be kind and helpful to the people you cross paths with in your life. You never know when you’ll cross paths again or when you may need their help.

23. Sleep is important. However, sleeping and being a college student are two things that don’t go together.

24. Women over-complicate things; men over-simplify things.

25. Live. Laugh. Learn. Love.

The Frugalist

Now more than ever before, people are trying to find ways to lower their debt, cut spending and save more. If there's one thing we've learned from the recession, it's to live within your means. It sounds simple really---spend less than your net income. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done. Luckily, I was able to learn about saving money prior to the recession. (I'm Chinese, so it was probably already in my blood) A friend of mine taught me about budgeting, which has been very helpful. It definitely takes some time, but surely makes a difference. It makes you aware of the the things you're spending money on--what is needed, which are pleasure, and what things can be cut down to reach certain financial goals whether it be being debt free or saving money.


I'm glad to say that with budgeting and cautious spending, I'm in a financially good state. I'm not rich to be splurging, but nor am I not in debt or struggling like many other people are right now, especially those without jobs.


I've learned there are only two ways to save money: 1) increase income 2) decrease spending. I was able to increase income a tad bit with a new job, but when I didn't have a new job, I turned to decreasing spending.


Ways I save money:
-Use store brand cosmetics instead of spending on expensive brands. Many drug-store brands are made from the same manufacturer as name brands with the similar ingredients, but targeted to different audiences.
-Bringing home lunch to work. Food can be a big drain of money and bringing home lunch certainly helps.
-Shop on sale from everyday items to clothes, accessories, etc. I like to use sites like Amazon and eBay to buy things like books, computer accessories, etc. If you're shopping online, remember to Google to check if there are and promo codes for the site you're shopping at.
-Getting my multi-media for "free". Yeah, it's bad, I know. However, if I had to pay for all the movies I watch, music and programs I had, that would be a shit load of money.
-Having a regular cell phone. Yep. I have a regular phone with 500 mins and 400 texts. No fancy texting or smart phone with expensive data plans.


"A dollar saved is two dollars earned"

Updates

How did the year creep by so quickly? I swear it felt like I was just making my New Year's resolutions about dieting a few months back. The year started out pretty horribly, but I can say it's turned out pretty great so far, mostly due to the change in job.


I'm quite happy to be working in a totally different work environment in which my coworkers and boss are great people. I can't say I'm passionate about my job, but I like it enough. I'm also super stoked about being able to become the merchandise coordinator after just four months of being in the customer service position.


As for the goals and projects, I'm still trying to work on most of them. I'm still trying to work on "The Flat Stomach Project", although, I haven't been exercising consistently lately. At least I've been able to drop a few pounds and maintain it with conscious eating.


I've decided to abort the project that I've been working on when I was hermiting. It's not something that I was really into, and I need to find something that I'm more interesting in working on, instead of forcing myself to work on it.


My decluttering project is still active, although, it's quite a daunting task. Going through all my magazines is taking a lot longer than I had though. I haven't even gone through my other stuff yet. Perhaps I need to do some prioritizing and time management.

Decluttering

It's another one of those sleepless nights because I wasn't feeling well and went to sleep earlier. So, I guess it's time to blog as I find late night/early morning is the best times for me to write. I've been reading a book lately called "Stress-proof Your Life". (It was one of those on sale books that I found at Border's, but it does give some good tips)


It says that one of the reasons people are stressed is because of the place they live in. I think that's absolutely true and believe that's what's happening to me, but I've just never wanted to admit it before. Although, life is going pretty dandy currently, it does bother me that my room is a mess. I'm one of those people that look totally normal and up keep with on the outside that you wouldn't know I had a messy room if you didn't know me. However, I know I have too much stuff in my room, but I've just didn't want to deal with it or convince myself that the stuff is ok to have. There are so many other things that I would rather be doing than de-cluttering and throwing out stuff, but I think it's time to own up to my crap. I want to be able to come home from work and not feel overwhelmed with what I see everyday. Sometimes I feel guilty being out instead of trying to clean out my room, but yet, I don't even know where to start because just thinking about it makes me not want to do it.


Things I need to take care of:
-Go through all my clothes and donate the ones I don't wear anymore. I have a lot of clothes, or so that's what it feels like. I have so much clothes that part of it consumes my bed and I have a hard time keeping up with doing laundry. I'm beginning to notice that some of my clothes still have the tag on them. *sigh*
-Going through magazines and books, and getting rid of some of them. I must say, this one is a hard one, because it's very dear to my heart. Although it's just fashion magazines, I feel like it's a part that represents me. I have parting issues because a part of me still one day wants to use it as inspiration to do something fashion-related again. I still also own most of my college books and projects, as it's something that I think might be useful in the future that I'm not ready to let go yet.
-Organizing my sewing essentials and fabric. This one falls in the category of the previous one. I think I have about five boxes of fabric that I've collected through my college years, bought thinking I would use in the future, and from one of my previous jobs. Although I'm in no way ready to give it up, I think I need to organize it better. Perhaps a few of those plastic drawers.
-Throwing out old bills, statements, pay stubs, etc and organizing my papers. I don't keep a lot of papers, because I don't like having to store them and I also would rather go green and be emailed something. However, the papers I do have aren't really kept in one place. It's scattered in different places around my desk, and I need to find a better way of organizing everything. Maybe investing in a hanging file thing would help.
-Finding a way to organize my knick-knacks. I just have things around in my room that doesn't really belong to any prominent category, so therefore, it's not organized and just laid around the desk where there is space.
-Putting up wall decals. This is actually a project from last year, when our apartment was renovated. I bought some flower wall decals thinking it would be nice for my new room. However, after cutting out a good 50+ flowers, I gave up on the idea after thinking about how time consuming it would be to lay everything out to how I want it and to stick each one on with the sticky paper. This isn't top priority, but still something I'd want to do.


This is definitely not one of those one weekend projects for me, however, I want to at least be done by the holidays. October seems to be a busy month for me: October birthdays, film festival, and Halloween. I hope I can manage my time more wisely and be able to slowly work on it.