Rubber Ducky Half Marathon

So I finally did it! The big day came and it started off with rain. Not down pour but constant rain. I had mentally prepared for this because the weather forecasted for rain for the whole week. I was just trying to be hopeful that the day of the run would be cloudy with no rain for just 2 hours but that didn't happen. I set my alarm for 7:20am cause the run started at 9am. I slept around 10:30pm the night before so I had plenty of rest before the big day. I prepped my outfit the day before as well and charged my fitbit, earbuds and phone. The day before I also carbed up a bit. Had pasta, poutine and hot dog. I woke up around 6:30am that morning cause I was worried that I didn't wake up on time. I think its the nerves that got to me. It was fine I felt rested. Woke up changed and did a 5 min stretch. I didn't drink any liquids in the morning because I have a small bladder and I tend to cramp up if I have anything in my stomach. We got there around 7:30 and pinned our race number on our shirts, our time card on our shoes and I was ready to go. I think it was about 9 degrees that morning and it surely felt cold. I wore my merino wool long sleeve, my Nike shorts and my trail running shoes with the under armour cap. We got to the start line and they did another 5 min warm up before the race. My fitbit listed my heart rate was about 107. I was very eager to finish the race cause it was cold and wet I only ran once in the rain and it was 8k so I didn't know how well I would do in the rain. Another issue was that this was my 3-4 time wearing my trail runners. I've always been training with my other runners which weren't waterproof and these were the ones that I got fitted for. I also didn't know how my skin will react to two hours of being in the rain with sweat as well.

The race started and my bf and his friend, Hanz decided to run the same pace as me throughout the run. My bf told me that I would be running a constant 5:30 pace. So I followed him. He did tell me that we will start a little faster to avoid the crowds. So we started off at around a pace of 4:20. I usually train at about 6:30-5:30 so 4:20 was quite fast for me so my heart was just pumping out of my chest. The adrenaline was strong but it helped me warm up faster cause it was cold. At first many ppl past me by but later around the 5-9k mark ppl started to die down. I started to get tired at the 5k mark but I kept going. After the 10k we had to look around Burnaby lake again for another 11.1k. My shoes were super helping with the puddles. At first I started to dodge them but the more you ran the more you realize it was more work to dodge the puddles then to run through them.

At about 16k that is when my body felt the run. I know my weakness usually hits at this point but I just continued to run. There were a couple of times when I held a further distance from my bf playing catch up but I just continued to run. I forgot to mention that when I started to run I had to pee. Not badly but I did. But I knew if I ran hard enough it will go away. Nope didn't happen but I tried not to think about it during the run. I also had two cramps during my run one on my right abdomen and another on the left. But I still trekked on. My breathing was heavy and my heart rate was high but I kept on going. There was twice also that I almost sprained my ankle due to the branches coming up from the ground. They were slippery and wet like the bridge but thank goodness my shoes corrected my slip. Or else I would struggle my way to the finish line.

At about 18k I decided its going to be over soon just keep going. And at 20 I knew I had to go go go that I'm almost there once I saw the finish line I sprinted all the way. Making 25th place along with my bf and Hanz. I'm so grateful to have made it. The 14 weeks of training really did help. I was panting at the end and cold but it was well worth it.

I'm so grateful for my bf for being my constant supporter in my life. He has made a better and healthier me. He has taught me to be strong, to be confident and to never give up. And I'm so thankful to have him in my life. I'm so grateful to have Hanz there to run beside me for running with me during my training. I'm so grateful to have such a great friend.

This race has taught me that anything is possible. You just need to work for it. Just do it, don't give up and keep running!

Golden Princess Cruise

This year for my mom's 59th birthday we decided to chip in as siblings to treat her on a 5 day cruise. We left on Saturday Sept 21 and came back on Wed Sept 25. The cruise will take us to Ketchikan, Alaska. This is the first time I ever took a cruise so the minimum number of luggage is 1 per person with a 40 lb weight limit. The boarding started at 12:30pm and reading online you should be there 3 hours prior to the departure time which was 4:30pm. We got to the boarding location about 1:30pm that day and that day turned out to be the busiest day of the year. There was 3 cruise ships boarding of a total of 9,000 people. So it was awfully long waiting time. We waited about 3+hrs. The boat also left late around 6:30pm. Once we got on we decided to unpack and grab "lunch" Thank goodness I had a snack in the morning before boarding because we didn't eat till like 6pm for the whole day. We went straight for the international buffet which consisted of your basics: salad, fruit, soup, rice, pasta etc. It was mediocre the best thing I had that day was salad with honey Dijon sauce and pineapple. Everything else was meh. The room we shared between my 2 sibling was quite small but nevertheless it was clean and comfy. The tv was huge about a 40+ size lg tv. There was movies and regular viewing shows available which included my favourite: FOOD NETWORK!
We walked around to check out the area there was a couple of swimming pools: outdoors and in, hot tubs, outdoor and indoor theatres, human sized chess, basketball court, fitness gym, spa, etc. Everyday we had a schedule of activities we could do such as: fitness classes (paid and unpaid), salsa dancing, tai chi, line dancing, outdoor movies such as Dark Phoenix, Avengers etc. My usual routine on the cruise was wake up around 7-8am, go to the gym, run, shower, grab breakfast at the buffet, or at the fine dining area, go check out the activities, have lunch, check out more activities, have dinner, check out activities and then head to bed around 11-12pm. The boat was quite long and it was 16 floors so there is no shortage of walking. Food was better at the fine dining area. You can choose to reserve a time for your dinner seating or you can choose to do anytime dining which is what me and my family chose to do. Its more convenient that way the only issue is that you can only dine after 6:15pm. The quality of food is much better and nicely presented. You can order as much as you like and the service is friendlier. You don't have to dress up but you can do if you wanted nice pictures taken during the dinner service. One great thing that happened is that I didn't get sea sick. My little sister and mom did on the first day but taking gravel that day helped. And afterwards they were fine.
My final thoughts regarding cruises is first: you really have to embrace the activities on the boat or else you will get board easily. No my way of travelling I prefer to go sight seeing and being on land but its definitely a good experience to give it a try. The cruise was clean, comfortable and the people there were friendly. Besides the food everything was great. I had a great time at the art auction and I wished I had the money to spend to purchase the art that was shown.
Ketchikan, Alaska is very similar to BC with the mountains, the rain and the environment. The town was quite small you can literally go from one end of the area to the other side in 30 mins time. It was pouring rain that day when we had our stop so it wasn't very memorable but other wise its very small. I would recommend longer cruise times to fully experience Alaska probably about 7+ days.