I know that I’m very behind in chronicling all about my NYC fitness adventures but this past Saturday in LA was a day I needed to blog about immediately because it had everything this blog stands for in one day – food, fitness, family and Duran Duran!

I was in nostalgia heaven this weekend because Saturday was the second annual Awesome 80’s Run at the famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena (a place where I’ve done some running and some yoga in the past).  As a fitness and 80’s freak, there was no better way to be welcomed to California than by this race in 2012 – my profile picture on my About Page is from this 2012 run.   I think my picture below tells you only an inkling of how excited I was for this year’s race:

I put a glimpse of my outfit on Instagram and my friend Allie at Vitatrain4life reminded me that I needed to have some Duran Duran in my ensemble, I wanted to let her (and my fellow Duranies) know that I did indeed represent!

7 And The Ragged Tiger 1984 Tour shirt around my waist in the back.

Much like the joyous atmosphere that you’ll find at The Color Run, the Awesome 80’s Run is pure camp – there’s also great music, crazy (bad?!) fashion and smile-worthy pop culture references all around.  There were some amazing costumes but these 2 were some of my favorites:

Can’t you just hear “In Your Eyes” and “We Are Devo”?

Although I was happy to be at the run, my actual running was far from my best athletic showing.   I have a tendency to get caught up in the excitement of a race and run too fast at the start and true to form, I did it again (no “Oops, I Did It Again” as Britney is NOT from the 80’s).  However,  I did learn a different valuable running lesson:

I will never, ever run a race without bringing my own water.  

I left my hydration bottles at home and planned to rely on the water stations but I felt parched super early.  I often forget how dry the atmosphere is in California!  I’m convinced that my laziness keeps me in a consistent state of some form of dehydration (Bad dietitian, Bad dietitian!).

Overall, the Awesome 80’s Run is a race I love – the spirit (and music) can’t be beat!  They also have one of the coolest medals around (2012 was a cassette tape and 2013 was Darth Vader).

Darth Vader Medals are cool!

Don’t be alarmed (a subtle 80’s reference for those who appreciate the amazing Mike Peters) because I didn’t forget the food!

After the race, the family wanted to celebrate at the Urth Caffe in Pasadena only to find that it wasn’t open to the public yet (review to come once it does though) so we went to the location in the Arts District of LA (an area with a vibe similar to that of Red Hook or Williamsburg, Brooklyn).  Urth Caffe is an organic coffee company and restaurant with delicious drinks and food.  I learned about this place way before I moved to LA from my days of watching “Entourage – the fam took me for Mother’s Day and I’ve been hooked ever since!

Urth Caffe Arts District – the Green Tea Latte looks as good as it tastes!

Overall, it was an Awesome day in LA – food, fitness, family and Duran Duran all had their place.  After all the frenzied time we spent in NY recently, it was great to cement such a fun LA family tradition.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that Jay and Wild Boy love this race as much as I do:

My Awesome Cheer Squad and yes, Wild Boy is in full Dark Knight regalia.

Do you have a favorite themed race?  There seem to be so many new ones popping up!  If not, is there one you’d like to try?