My Professional Pics from Marathon

Here are my professional pics from the marathon.  Also, don't forget the other ones. 

Congrats to the Richards' Brothers

Wanted to give a quick shout out to my brother and I for doing some amazing things this weekend.

My brother got his Crossfit  Level 1 Certificate over the weekend, and he can be found in the third pic here.  I hope to be like him one day!  Congrats yo!

I finished the 2010 Big Sur Marathon.  Pics can be found here. It was an amazing experience.

It's Race Time

Sunday, 6:45AM, my marathon begins.  This is what I'll be seeing during the run.. according to the The Virtual_Tour

If my timing is right, between 8:30am and 9, I should be crossing this, and I'll be half way done.  Wish me luck!  Stay Tuned...

ING Bay To Breakers!!!

Even though I have less then 5 days until my final marathon, I'm so excited to have gotten my ING Bay To Breakers packet in the mail today.  I've enjoyed every one I've ran for the past 5 years.  This is the 99th annual one, so I'm excited to see what is in store... maybe more naked people!  Anyway, can't wait for the fun... in 25 days =)

Good Bye, My Love.

In exactly a week from now, I'll be saying good bye to you...

It's been an amazing journey, but as with all good things, they must come to an end.  I will take with me memories of both pain and unbelievable accomplishment that have molded me into this amazing person I am today.

I still remember the first day we met, the straight away on the track.  Just after 100 meters, I knew I wasn't ready for this, but you didn't leave me either.  You stayed there, day after day, awaiting my return and helping to push me around the track, to the point I said I'm ready for the road.

Then, you brought me an amazing set of friends that helped me to build solid relationships and more over,  gave me a better appreciation of the beauty of my city.  Stepping outside and taking part in it with others opened my eyes to how blessed I am to live here in the Bay.

At this moment, I knew I could consider myself a runner.. thanks to you.

You have helped me to overcome many challenges in my life by giving me time to think.  Life can get rather busy and stressful, but I noticed our moments together de-stresses me and takes me to another world where I forget about 'whats really going on'.

Once being mostly a couch potato, you've gotten me to participate in many races, that have in-turn kept me healthy.  I’ve been fortunate enough to to not have had any injuries as a result of you... but I do recall times where you've dropped the hammer to remind me that you are a major part of my life... 8 mile marker of SJ Rock and Roll Half few years back.. 16 mile marker of NYC Marathon... the pain was unbearable, but this is where my friends helped to keep me going to the end.

I have so much I want to say and thank you for... I can go on and on... but as we both have noticed these past three months, things haven't been the same.

Next Sunday morning, you and I will be together again, in hopefully what I'd like to call our final moments.  It's not going to be easy, especially since I have been avoiding you for awhile now.  I'm expecting the pain and will be ready for it.  Besides the ugly that will come of this, I will see beauty these last 26.2 miles of my life... which wouldn't be possible without you.

Please continue to push and encourage others like you have me.  I'll be around, and you know how to contact me if you've ever in need of an escape.  Until then...

Good Bye, My Love.

What you want first? The Good or the Bad?

Well, I'll start with the GOOD first...

I passed my test!  Man, I was stressing all day yesterday because I've been studying hard for 3 months and it was finally time to face it.  Did I study enough?  Too much?  Not enough?  I didn't even pick up a pencil!  All this was keeping me pretty anxious.. when all that was expected of me was to get in the tub.   Here's a screen shot of my test results....

So, in summary, in a little over three months, I kept the same weight but replaced 5lbs of fat with muscle and dropped 3.5% body fat.  That excited me because I should be able to hit my goal this summer by continuing my 3-4 days a week of Crossfit, random running, and eating healthy.  If you want more info on this testing, let me know.

Now, the BAD!  I ate a KFC Double Down Sandwich (grilled) during lunch... and I have to admit, even though it was good, it has been really hard for me to keep from going to hide under my covers. I.a.m.s.l.e.e.p.y!

There's a lot of hype in the media/public about this sandwich because it's anything but healthy.  Bla Bla, it's America and people should be able to eat what they want.  It's their choice if they want half their days allowed serving of fat and sodium in one sitting.  I liked it (killed it in 2 min) and probably won't have it again since I can do without, but at least I can mark it off my bucket list...

Now... where's my pillow...

Played with My New Toy

Yehhhhhhhhh, it stopped raining!  I had the chance to setup my new toy, the EFX Rings. 

LOL, may not be exciting to you, but for me, I'm wagging my tail.  I found a basketball goal without a rim on it in my neighborhood park... strapped my rings up and went at it.  Actually built myself my own little workout circuit which included laps around the court, push-ups, pulls, dips, and air squats.  Kept my heart rate up and felt the workout in my arms and shoulders.  Other then the cold, it was a nice quickie :)

Excuses... we all have them

It's raining....

It's too cold...

It's very windy...

Every hour today, I returned to the window only to see the same stuff as before.

But then during this one special moment, I found myself returning to the window peeking out... feeling like a puppy looking for his loved ones to return.  At this very moment, I knew what I was seeking.. and it was on the other side of the window.

Why keep 'running' from the window? Well, I knew I had consequences to encounter.. ones I weren't ready for, or hoping to go away over time... Who wants to be wet?  Who wants to be cold?  Nobody likes their ears and toes to freeze off.  No one likes their face, nose, and lips to slapped repeatedly by the wind.  All this sucks.  But I sit there like I have all the time in the world.

I don't.  And I've wasted so much time already.

So, I turn on the music in the crib to get myself ready for the battle ahead.  I throw on the protection:

• shorts... check
• long sleeve shirt... check
• beenie... check
• running shoes..  check
• chapstick... check

I then strap on my weapons of choice:

• mp3 player... check
• headphones... check
• gps watch... check

Now I'm ready for battle...

I know there are so much more higher things to be concerned with then running, but it's my 'simple' example of the many things in life we decide to not do it because of blah blah blah.  Then you end up missing out.  When the wind tunnel hit me, I thought about some runners I passed during the NYC marathon... they were wheel-chaired, visually impaired, blind, and/or an amputee.  Do you think that weather would have stopped them?

Pic of me on the crossfit site!

I'm almost famous.  See second pic on the following link.

Sweatin' Like A Pig

Warmup was 400m jog and then a bunch of suicide sprints and ladder work with jumps and burpees.
Technique was the Split Jerk... did 125lb at 2-2-2-2-2 count.  Can probably do more weight next time.

Slight recovery time and then did the WOD.  Perform the below in downward lines... so 25 pull ups, 15 push ups, 10 kb swings... then back to 20 pull ups, etc.  Goal, sub 15min with 2 poop (72lbs) KBs. 

Pull Ups:                25-20-15-10-5
Push Ups:              15-15-15-15-15
Kettlebell Swings:  10-15-20-25-30

The KB should have been 2 poops, but I did 1.5 poops for first three rounds, and then 1 poop for the last two rounds.  I completed in 15:55.  (or maybe 16:55, lol.  I forgot).  I know one thing, this is a workout!  I was dripping wet =)

my package is here!

stay tuned...

Fight Gone Bad!!!

Warmup was 800m jog along with about 10/15 min of various movements with a 20lb wall ball.  Then I did a Muscle Up, but seemed to already be out of energy, lol.

Then we did the WOD, which is known as 'Fight Gone Bad.'

 In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. We did this for 5 rounds. The stations are:

   1. Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)
   2. Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps)
   3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
   4. Push-press: 75 pounds (Reps)
   5. Row: calories (Calories)

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

I completed 80, 71, 61, 60, and then 61 reps/calories for a total of 333.  Also, I almost met Mr. Pukie...