Category: Get Better

Wooden on Leadership

Wooden on Leadership — Introduction

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Wooden on Leadership

Wooden on Leadership

This is one of the books that I will be reading once I start my Sports Management Program at USF on January 8th. I love reading these types of books so I thought I’d get a headstart. I’m super excited to get started in this program; 2013 is going to be a great year!

Just like my post, “Start With Why — Chapter 1: Assume You Know,” I will bullet point all the parts of each chapter of Wooden on Leadership that I find interesting.

  • Balance is crucial in everything we do. Along with love it’s among the most important things in life. 
  • Leadership is all about helping others achieve their own greatness by helping the organization to succeed.
  • How you run the race — your planning, preparation, practice and performance — counts for everything. Winning or losing is a by-product, an aftereffect, of that effort.
  • Effort is the ultimate measure of your success.
  • COMPETE ONLY AGAINST YOURSELF — Set your standards high; namely, do the absolute best of which you are capable. Focus on running the race rather than winning it. Do those things necessary to bring forth your personal best and don’t lose sleep worrying about the competition. Let the competition lose sleep worrying about you.
  • You must define success as making the complete effort to maximize your ability, skills, and potential in whatever circumstances — good or bad — may exist.
  • My standard of success counted most to me.
  • Before you can lead others, you must be able to lead yourself.
  • Learn to master the 4 P’s: Planning, Preparation, Practice and Performance. These are key to successful execution.
  • Write down the tasks, initiatives, and actions that each member of your team needs to do to perform at his or her peak level.

15 Minutes of… “Hungry for Change” Part I

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Hungry for Change

Hungry for Change

Here are my takeaways from the first 15 minutes of this documentary:

  • we are not eating foods anymore, we are eating “food-like” products and they are adorned and made to look better and smell better so that people are attracted to them. They are made to have a long shelf life and the main objective is not really to give us a healthy product, its to give us a product that will make a lot of profit for the company that is producing it. 
  • we’re moving less and we’re consuming so much nutrient-less calories; these two things combined is the issue. these things combined create an obesity epidemic, a low energy epidemic, a fog in cognition, and we begin to lose the will to take self-responsibility. When we lose the will to take self-responsibility, we turn it all over to a doctor who is only able to prescribe a pharmaceutical pill that doesn’t address the real issues, which are buried and complex.
  • “the average American consumes more than 150 pounds of sugar and sweeteners each year.” – US Department of Agriculture
  • “we are overfed, but we are also starving to death”
  • as a species, the big challenge is to find calories and our body is biologically adapted to this; we seek calorie sources, particularly fats and sugars
  • when we taste something fatty or sweet, our bodies want more of it because for our hunter gatherer ancestors, fat and sugar meant survival
  • our bodies are programmed to “store up” for the “winter,” but the “winter” doesn’t come because we have so many sources of “food” today.
  • hunter-gatherer “gardeners” have an extremely HIGH amount of nutrition and an extremely LOW amount of calories in their food. Compared to our society: we have a high amount of calories, but a low amount of nutritional value
  • we have so many calorie sources, but our body still has the same signals that are ancestors had. so when we eat sweets and fatty foods, our body wants more because it is programmed to behave in a “feast or famine” environment. The problem is that we have FEAST, but there is no famine.
  • we could eat 10,000 calories a day, but if we are not getting the specific nutrients we need, then we are starving on a nutritional basis. and if we are starving on a nutritional basis, our body will remain hungry to get those specific nutrients. man-made foods (like bread and sugar and table salt) trick our body into thinking we’re getting those nutrients.
  • the biggest cause of obesity is addiction
  • we know we shouldn’t eat bad foods, but we don’t know WHY we continue to eat those bad foods

New Year’s Day 10K!

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New Year's Day 10K

New Year’s Day 10K

 

Brazen New Year’s Day 10K. @chabeez finished 3rd in our age group with a time of 47:01. I finished 5th in our age group with a time of 55:46. I don’t know what it is, but both races I’ve run with Charlie have had some crazy hills! The first 1.5 miles was the same as my 5K on Saturday; it was smooth and easy with a few small hills, but once you get passed that 1.5 mile marker, the course becomes ALL trail. And from mile 2 to mile 3.2 it was all uphill! I tried my hardest to not walk up the hill but half way up I had to. Once you reach the top (the turnaround point) it was all down hill. My big take away from this race: schedule some hill runs into my workout from now on. This race was important to me for a few reasons. The main reason was my momma @ruelyn. She’s been so strong since her diagnosis and she has motivated me to be stronger, better, healthier, and more faithful. No more excuses in 2013. If my momma could fight and stay strong through all this, I should not have any excuses whatsoever. Keep fighting, stay hydrated and remember to take your meds mah! I love you! I also wanted to start the New Year the way I want the whole year to go. I literally want to “RUN” 2013. I want running to be my main thing this year. Ever since my Lola passed, running has been my “escape” and my “therapy,” and I love that I’ve gotten to that point with running. I’m not running to win the race, I’m running just to run; I’m running because it feels so damn good. The medals and the health benefits are just by-products. I share with you my “WHYs” because those are the most important things in life; WHY do you do what you do? Remember your “WHYs” and all the “HOWs” will be easy. If your “WHYs” are powerful enough, you can and will achieve anything and everything. I wish you all a very happy and very blessed New Year! God Bless #ypowr #health #wellness #fitness #run #running #brazen #10K

And check this out:

New Year's Eve Medal

New Year’s Eve Medal

 

New Year's Day Medal

New Year’s Day Medal

 

NYE & NYD Medals combined!

NYE & NYD Medals combined!

 

 

Start With Why — Chapter 1: Assume You Know

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Start With Why

Start With Why

I started read this book and I want to post the more interesting elements that grab my attention. And I’ll do it in bullet form 🙂

  • behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths; we make decisions based on what we think we know. For example; “not too long ago, we all believed that the world was flat, that if we traveled too far we would literally fall of the edge of the earth. It wasn’t until that minor detail was revealed — the world is round — that behaviors changed on a massive scale… The correction of a simple false assumption moved the human race forward.”
  • whatever the result (of our decisions), we make decisions based on a perception of the world that may not, in fact, be completely accurate.
  • so how can we ensure that all our decisions will yield the best results for reasons that are fully within our control? Logic dictates that more information and data are key… More data, however, doesn’t always help, especially if a flawed assumption set the whole process in motion in the first place.”
  • assumptions, even when based on sound research, can lead us astray
  • “… they engineered the outcome they wanted from the beginning. if they didn’t achieve their desired outcome, they understood it was because of a decision they made at the start of the process.”
  • “when faced with a result that doesn’t go according to plan, a series of perfectly effective short-term tactics are used until the desired outcome is achieved. But how structurally sound are those solutions?”
  • “… great leaders understand the value in the things we cannot see.”
  • “there are those who decide to manipulate  the door to fit to achieve the desired result and there are those who start from somewhere very different. though both courses of action may yield similar short-term results, it is what we can’t see that makes long-term success more predictable for only one: the one that understood why the doors need to fit by design and not be default.”

Half Marathon #2: US Half Marathon

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The US Half Marathon on November 4th, 2012 was my 2nd half marathon and boy was it a tough one. The course had a few hills, but that wasn’t why this was a tough race for me. My training for this half marathon wasn’t as good as I had hoped it would be. I had a Vegas trip that made me miss a week of running and I also bought some new basketball shoes that literally tore up my feet, so that took me out for another 2 weeks. I also think that the running program that I was on was a little too aggressive for me. It had a “pace run” once a week and I think that I may have set too ambitious of a goal for only my 2nd half marathon. My goal for this race was 1:45, which is an 8:00 minute mile pace and about 10 minutes quicker than my first half. The reason why I didn’t like this program and the pace runs was because it took out the fun and the freedom from my running. I started thinking about my finish time a little too much and stopped focusing on my love for running. There were a few times during the training that I knew I was over-training, but I decided to push through it thinking that that was the only way that I was going to improve. Over-training: the one thing I caution my own clients about every week, yet it was something I was doing during this training. The good thing is that I learned from this experience. Not that I have strayed too far away from it, but I want to get back to the point I was at when I first read “Born to Run.” I want to love running like I did when I first started running.

 

As for the race, I finished at 2:14:52. There were a couple of times I walked, I tied my shoes a few times, and use the potty once. It wasn’t my cleanest race and I blame it on my lack of proper training leading up to it. But like I said, I learned from this experience and I’m excited to run my next half.

 

I just started training for my 3rd Half Marathon and this time my only goal is to run. Cheers!

 

Mile 10

Mile 10

Training for my 2nd Half Marathon!

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So after the Western Pacific Half Marathon, I took a few weeks off from running to rest my feet and legs from all the miles it had covered during training. And then I decided to plan for my 2nd Half Marathon. This time around I decided to follow Hal Higdon’s

Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Novice 2 Program

Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Novice 2 Program

 

This training program had me set a goal for my 2nd Half Marathon, something that the Novice 1 Program didn’t have me do. I decided to set a goal of 01:45:00, which works out to be an 8-minute pace throughout the course of a Half Marathon. I figured it was a little ambitious, but I went with it.

 

Here are my Instagram posts from my 5K and 10K experiences:

 

Bear Creek Trail 5K

My first race in my Vibrams

My first race in my Vibrams

“Another 5K under our belts. It was my first official race wearing my Vibram KSOs and it sucked!!! Well, not that bad, but it did slow me down a little bit and I got a bruise on the side of my right foot. The “swag” we got at this race was by far the best of all the races we’ve done: 2 shirts, a really nice medal, 2 cans of coke for our gfs (btw, thanks for the support ladies), good post-race food, a purple bag of goodies, etc. And the race cost only $29 to register!! One thing I learned: don’t wear my Vibram KSOs on future trail races. Happy Saturday everyone!!”

Drag-N-Fly Trail 10K

10K #2

10K #2

 

“Drag-N-Fly 10K…. Charlie 2nd overall, 1st in age group = 48:26 (7:19 pace). Me 23rd overall, 4th in age group = 1:02:44 (9:29 pace). This 10K was no joke! I never knew Antioch had hills like the ones we ran up. Definitely one of the tougher races I’ve participated in. S/o to my brother Charlie for running his first official race since his Cross Country days in high school; my homie killlled it. #brazen #brazenracing #dragnfly #10K #run #running”

So those were my most recent races. I was supposed to run the San Jose Rock ‘n Roll Half, but registration was way too expensive. So my next race will be the US Half in San Francisco on November 4th! I haven’t been able to run or work out these past few weeks because I bought of pair of Kobe’s to hoop in and they realllllly messed up my feet. They’re healed now, so I’ll be training hard these next 2 weeks. I hope everyone is running well! Cheers!

My First Half Marathon

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The Western Pacific Half Marathon was back in May, but here is what I posted on my Instagram right after I completed the race:

 

Mile 11

 

“It’s still crazy to me that I ran 13.1 miles today. S/o to anyone who completes a full marathon because if you asked me to do what I did today twice, I’d slap you in your face! At mile 8, I felt my right hip flexor acting up, at mile 9 my right ankle stiffened up, and around mile 10 my right knee started hurting, but I pushed through to the end. Time to take it easy with my runs for a month and focus on resistance training more. And again, s/o to my brother Gordon! We did it bro, 13.1 effin’ miles. It’s just the beginning. #getsome #everyday………. Mile 11 of our very first Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and we got smiles on our faces. Trust me fam, if you want to be a runner, you have to learn (or relearn) to enjoy it, you have to want to run, you have to respect your feet, your body and the ground you’re running on. You have to grow to love running. Don’t run for anything other than your love for running; everything else will come: the health, the fitness, the abs, the endurance, etc. Don’t disrespect running by feeling that you HAVE to run! You don’t HAVE to run, you GET to run!!! #BornToRun #everyday #getsome #ypowr”

I Was On the Radio!

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HELLLLOOOO!!

It’s been so long since my last post, but I’ve been super busy! It’s not that I stopped caring about my “ypowr” or WordPress, I just had something else come up; something new and exciting! On May 21, 2012, I started my new job as Program Director for Health & Wellness at the Central YMCA in San Jose, California!!!! Woot woot!! It’s such an awesome position and I am very blessed to have been given the opportunity. It’s a lot of work, but I’m lovin’ it!! I’ll let you all know more about it on my next post, which will be a video post!

But this post is about my experience on KSFS: The Cycle. My good friend Mr. Conclara was (and I saw “was” because he just graduated, woo!!) a student in the Broadcasting and Electronic Communication Arts (BECA) Program at San Francisco State University and actually hosted a radio show (The Cycle) every Tuesday during his final semester. He asked me if I would be a guest on the show and I immediately said yes. So here’s is the recording, I hope you all enjoy it!

Sorry again for not posting much lately, but I’m back on it! I promise! Cheers!

Just click on this link and enjoy: KSFS: The Cycle

HMT: Days 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36 “Just Around the Corner”

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HMT: Days 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36

HMT: Days 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36

Day 30: 5 mile run

5 miles in 39 minutes; one of my best treadmill runs

5 miles in 39 minutes; one of my best treadmill runs

This 5 mile run felt really good. I started with an easy pace and gradually increased the speed throughout the run. This was def. one of the best runs I’ve ever had on a treadmill. I have to thank my brothers Ant and Gordon for pushing me through this workout. For the past week or so, we’ve been texting each other each others runs, and these texts have served as motivation to keep pushing.

Day 31: 3 mile run or cross

Today was a very light day. I chose to do some cross training so that I could conserve my legs for the 10 mile run that I had scheduled for the Sunday upcoming. I chose to do 30 minutes of boxing drills with my brother Jeff. We did a few rounds with the mitts followed by a few rounds of light contact drills. Jeff has been training Muay Thai for close to 3 years now and has always been the go-to-guy for everything boxing. He’s really helped sharpen my boxing skills and has always given me a great workout with the mitts.

Day 32: 5 mile run + strength

5 miler

5 miler

Today’s run was just an ok run. I wasn’t really feeling it today, so instead of forcing myself to run a good time, I listened to my body and  took it real easy. I would run a mile, then walk a quarter mile, run a mile and then walk a quarter mile and continued this for the entire run. It’s getting real close to my Half Marathon and I don’t really want to push too hard during my running days if I’m not feeling up to it. It took me 55 minutes to complete these 5 miles and I was absolutely ok with that. After this run, I did some back, shoulder and tricep exercises.

Day 33: Rest

If you ever come to my neck of the woods, you MUST visit Little Lucca . On this rest day, all I did was watch the SF Giants game and consume this bad boy (I did not eat the remote. I just placed it in the photo to show you how ginormous this sandwich is.)

Crab Sandwich from Little Lucca... MmMmMmMmMmmmmmmm

Crab Sandwich from Little Lucca... MmMmMmMmMmmmmmmm

Day 34: 60 min cross

Ok, I approached this cross training day a little differently: I just hit the “Start” button on my iPhone stopwatch and did anything for an hour. I do not remember exactly what I did, but there was jump roping, burpees, lunges, pull-ups, bicep curls and much much more.

Hit start and work for an hour

Hit start and get to work

Day 35: 10 mile run

Oh hell yes, my first 10 mile run! And this wasn’t just any 10 miles, it was 10 miles around Lake Merced. Gordon and I started off with a very easy pace, but then picked it up every mile. At Mile 4, I had some water and walked while I drank instead of running while trying to drink. I tried to run while drinking during my 10K, but that did not turn out well; water in my nose + water in my eyes = not good. At Mile 8, I was about to reach into my pocket and pull out the GU packet that I had but I decided to push through, but I don’t think I’ll do that during the Half. I think I will have water and Mile 4, GU at Mile 8, and water and/or GU at mile 12. Here’s the break down of our run

My first 10 Mile run, I loved it!

My first 10 Mile run, I loved it!

Day 36: Stretch and Strengthen

Today I spent a lot of time with the foam roller. I took the knots out of my IT Band, adductors, quads, and calves. I also did a good amount of static stretching for my hamstrings and hip flexors. For my strength training, I did 2 chest, 2 bicep and 2 leg exercises. I didn’t push too hard today; I really want this week to be an easy week because my FIRST EVER HALF MARATHON is just around the corner! Holler!

I hope all is well with you all! Cheers!

HMT: Days 24, 25, 26, 26 & 28

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HMT: Days 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28

HMT: Days 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28

Day 24: 3 mile run or cross

I did my 3 mile run on the treadmill at Crunch. It was a very very very light and easy run. I ran at 6.5 pretty much the whole time and just focused on my breathing and staying relaxed. I think I’ve said this before, but my 3 mile runs are getting really really easy and I love it. I can’t wait til my 5 and 6 mile runs feel like nothing.

Day 25: 5 mile run & strength

5 mile treadmill run

5 mile treadmill run

This run felt really good (as you can see by the happy face). I started this run at 7.0 and finished the last 2 miles at 8.0 and 8.5 respectively. I’m happy to know that I was able to run at those speeds for the last two miles. As much as I like running on the treadmill, I think I will make all my runs from now on outdoor runs. Of course if the weather is bad, I will have to use the treadmill, but there’s been some beautiful days recently and I’ve been choosing to run on the treadmill. From now on, outdoors for me; I’m excited!

Day 26: Rest or easy run

I decided to rest on Friday because my 10-K trail run was actually on Saturday instead of Sunday. I spoke to one of my young clients a few day earlier and asked her for advice for my first 10-K. The reason I asked her was because she was a cross country runner and a very athletic person. She told me to have some spaghetti for lunch the day before and more carbs with some protein for dinner the night before; so that’s what I did. For lunch I had Lemon Pesto Linguini and for dinner I went to my favorite sushi spot: American Sushi House. And hell yes, I had the All-You-Can-Easy sushi. This is what I had:

2 orders of  American Roll – Shrimp Tempura & avocado topped with 5 types of fish

American Roll mMmMmMmMmmmmmm

American Roll mMmMmMmMmmmmmm (photo taken a few weeks ago, during my first run in with All-You-Can-Eat)

1 order of Bruce Roll – Shrimp Tempura, spicy tuna & avocado topped with 5 types of fish

Bruce Roll, my 2nd favorite roll

Bruce Roll, my 2nd favorite roll (photo taken a few weeks ago, during my first run in with All-You-Can-Eat)

Day 27: Rest 10-K

The 10-K that I ran was the Diablo Trails Challenge by Brazen Racing. It was in Walnut Creek which is about a 45 minute drive for my place. The race was fun and that’s exactly how I wanted to attack the race; I wanted this race to be a “fun run.” As I continue to read Born to Run, I’ve been falling in love with running a lot more and have been trying to enjoy my runs. I’ve been looking at all my runs as “fun runs” as opposed to going on these runs with the mindset of beating my previous time, and this race was perfect for a “fun run” mindset. I did not expect all the “elements” that this race had to offer: the running through creeks where the water ran knee high, the mud, the pot holes, the high grass, and the 2 crazy steep hills. At the beginning, I tried to carefully step on the rocks that poked out of the creek so as to not get my Brooks wet, but midway through as I saw that there were going to be more than 1 or 2 creeks (there were about 15 total throughout the race), I decided to just get down and dirty and run in and through the water; and boy was it refreshing! Yea, my shoes felt heavy after and my socks were soaked, but I had a blast running! Just like I was a kid again, running through the “back woods” of my city with my cousins, jumping through puddles and shhtuff.

 

Like I did after my 5-K race, I think I summed up my 10-K experience best on my Instagram picture with my family after the race. Here are a few pics of me and Gordon before and after the race and a picture with my girlfriend, my eldest cousin and his daughter

After registering and receiving our bibs

After registering and receiving our bibs

I got to the start/finish line a little later than I wanted to, but it was just enough time to take care of everything. I used the bathroom twice, I was able to do a few lunges, put on some sun block and drink a cup of water.

After the race with our first ever (but not last) medals

Left: Gordon (1:01:04 = 9th in age group) & Right: JR (1:04:19 = 11th in age group)... Age group = 25-29

Gordon and I were pretty damn elated after the race! We both felt very accomplished after our first ever 10K and I’m so happy to have shared this experience with him. I think today was the start of our love and respect for the “running world.”

(Left to Right): my woman, me, my eldest cousin Jose, and his daughter Sheila

(Left to Right): my woman, me, my eldest cousin Jose, and his daughter Sheila

“My fam came out to support! I run because I have a family who I want to be healthy for. I run so that I could tell my nephews and nieces that they could do whatever they want if they put their mind to it; that if they want something bad enough, they could get it. I want to be an example for my family. I want my nephews and nieces and my own future kids to know that sometimes in life you’ll want to stop, you’ll want to quit but you MUST keep moving. Health and fitness is a lifestyle. It’s NOT about how much you can lift, whether you have a 6-pack or not, how far or fast you could run or how high you could jump; health and fitness is being supportive, it’s respect, it’s love, it’s compassion, it’s motivation, it’s teamwork, it’s found in others. So many times during this run I turned to someone who was struggling and said “great job, you could do it!” The look on their faces was priceless and the sound of their “thank you” made my heart smile. I run for my family and friends and I run for thise experiences; nothing else. Why > How. #ypowr”

 

 

Day 28: 10-K Rest

Today my mother took me to a massage place that offered a 60-minute massage for $20….. only $20?!?! I was a little iffy about going to this place, but my legs were pretty sore from yesterdays run so I was willing to give it a shot. Out of 5 stars, I would rate it a 3.5. I specifically told the front desk girl that I only wanted my legs to be worked on, but I guess she didn’t forward the message to the therapist. I didn’t bother to correct her when she started with my head and neck because: egh, its only $20. The upper body massage was just “aiiiggghhttt.” The lower body/leg/foot massage was……. $20 worth? One thing I did like was that she kicked my feets ass (does that make sense?). She worked my feet pretty well, but too bad it was only for about 45 seconds. To be honest, my legs felt pretty refreshed after, but I’ve had massages before and I’ve had better. Would I go back to this place? Probably not, unless my mom pays for it again 😉