Upcoming Race Plans

1 Comment »

February 27th, 2008

After taking a short break after Emily and I ran the San Francisco Half Marathon, I am ready to start training for my next event. I have decided to be somewhat ambitious and do a series of different events over the next 6 months. Here is my tentative plan:

• Wildflower Olympic Triathlon – May 4
• Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic – June 12-13
• Alcatraz 100 “Swim with the Centurions” – July 26

If anyone wants to join me at any of these races, let me know.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is – Stickk.com

No Comments »

February 19th, 2008

So I came across an interesting new startup on Techcrunch the other day – stickk.com.  The idea is to make a “contract” with yourself to help you reach your goals.  Basically, you are putting up real money which you will lose if you fail to meet your goal.  This obviously gives a big financial incentive to follow through and hopefully accomplish your goals.  You can designate the money to go to a charity, an anti-charity (for example, if you hate guns than you don’t want the money to end up going to the NRA), or to a friend.  Having the money go to a friend is like making a bet and having an objective 3rd party hold the money for you until you see how it turns out.

I think it is a great idea and have decided to try it out.  So last night, I made a contract with myself to lose some weight.  One of my goals for the year was to weigh 215 lbs and maintain that weight through the year.  So I am using Stickk.com to help motivate me to get started.  Wish me luck!

My First Half Marathon!

1 Comment »

February 3rd, 2008

Emily and I just finished the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon. We made it! Despite some inclement weather, the run went really, really well. We finished in 2:09:57 (according to my watch), which means that we beat our goal of 10 minutes/mile. We kept a good pace through the whole race and were able to finish strong – we passed a ton of people in the last 2 miles. We had been training for this race for the last 2 months. Our training included running in the snow in Elkhart in sub-freezing temperatures and running in 80+ degree weather through the parks of Buenos Aires, Argentina. So we have been all over, but we have stuck to our training program and it paid off today.

The weather wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We were expecting rain so Emily and I made a run to Sports Basement yesterday to get some rain gear for the race. At the start of the run, the weather was fine, but the last 3-4 miles were pretty bad. As we ran along Great Ocean Blvd., the rain started coming down and there was a really strong headwind. But we fought through it and still made our time. Also, after we crossed the finish line, the sun came back out and we were able to warm up a little.

This was the farthest I have ever run in my life. Distance running isn’t very easy for me, and I am proud that I was able to do it. Finishing a 1/2 marathon was one of my goals for the year. Now I am one step closer to another item on my lifelist – Finish a Marathon, although I have a lot more training to do to get there…

Update: Race results are now online.  I finished 2859/4691 overall and beat Emily by 1 second!

Salmon Days 10k

No Comments »

October 7th, 2007

Only my brother Jon and his fiancee Nina would think to run in a race the day before their wedding. Not only did they decide to run in the Salmon Days 10k Run, but also to dress up in full bride and groom outfits for the race too. With Jon wearing a real tux shirt and bow tie and Nina wearing a white dress she picked up a thrift store, they were the hit of the event. The announcer loved them, and they got interviewed by the local Issaquah newspaper.

Emily and I ran the 10k too. I was only planning on running the 5k, but at the last minute, Emily was able to convince me to run the 10k with her. We couldn’t keep up with the bride and groom, but we had a good time.

Here are the Results:

Emily & I finished 670 and 671 respectively.
Jon & Nina are listed as “The Groom” and “The Bride” in the results.

Bridge to Bridge 7K

No Comments »

October 3rd, 2007

This past Sunday I ran in the Bridge to Bridge 7k, which, as the name implies, is from the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge (ok, it’s really from the ferry building to the Presidio, but let’s not get technical). It was a really nice day for a run, and I had a lot of fun. My goal was to run 9 minute miles, but I ended up doing even better than I expected.

Here are my results:

Time: 37:48

Distance: 7 kilometers = 3.35 miles

Pace: 8:41 minutes/mile



19th in age group (16-29)

65th out of all males

102nd OVERALL (out of 833)

Granite Bay Triathlon

1 Comment »

September 19th, 2007

This past Sunday I finished my first triathlon – the Granite Bay Sprint Triathlon. They claim that it is the “California’s toughest Sprint triathlon”, but I think that is only because it is slightly longer than a typical sprint tri. My friend Basil, who had done it last year, told me about it and did it again this year with me. After just having ankle surgery back in April, it was good to have a goal to work towards to get back into shape. Being injured and going through physical therapy can be a very discouraging process, but thanks to the great training plan that my brother, Jon, and his fiancee, Nina, put together for me, I was able to slowly work my way back into shape. My ankle felt good and didn’t give me any problems during the race. I guess that means I am officially recovered.

My goal was just to finish the race, but I was very happy and surprised by my results. I even managed to get an award for placing 4th in my division (the website results now show that I got 3rd!). I should probably note that I was competing in the “Clydesdale” division, which is any male who weighs over 200 lbs. This division was actually a lot more competitive than you might think. If I had been competing in my age group, I would have placed 4th (and knocked Basil out of the top 5, I might add).

Overall, it was a great experience. Competing in a triathlon has been a goal of mine for awhile, and now I get to check it off my lifelist. But that doesn’t mean I am done with tri’s, I have a feeling I am just getting started…

Results

A note on the results: they didn’t break out the transition times from the splits. The water level in the lake was really low this year, so the run from the water up to the bike was probably about .75 miles over some sand and rocky parts in barefeet. According to the monitor on my bike, I finished the ride in 41 minutes so it took me 10 minutes to run up the beach and get onto my bike.