Tag: Embarcadero

HMT: Days 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17 “What the Bikram!!”

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HMT: Days 13, 14, 15, 16, & 17

HMT: Days 13, 14, 15, 16, & 17

Day 13 – 50 min cross

This day, I decided to do a few things. I started with 20 minutes on the stationary bike. I wanted to stay on for 30 minutes, but it was just too boring and my glutes weren’t enjoying the ride. After that good 20 minute warm-up I did 15 minutes of jump rope. After this, I finished up with 15 minutes of shadow boxing with 5 lb weights. I would say that this day was a pretty light day. I definitely did not want to push it too hard because I had a 7-mile run the following day.

Day 14 – 7 mile run

AT&T Park: Home of the San Francisco Giants

AT&T Park: Home of the San Francisco Giants

AT&T Park to the San Francisco Maritime Museum and back to AT&T Park

AT&T Park to the SF Maritime Museum and back

Day 14 was a pretty awesome day. First of all it was Easter Sunday and I just felt good when I woke up. I started my run early because I had 12:00 Mass. I got to the city, found parking right in front of AT&T Park, and started my run around 9:30am. This was my first outdoor run where I listened to music and my goodness did it make a difference. I love music, but I never really wanted to listen to any when running outdoors; before this day, I always wanted to hear “nature” when I ran outside. The music actually helped me during my run, especially the last part of my run. And I shouldn’t say I listened to “music” because in actuality I had one song on repeat: Tygas “I’m Faded” Listening to this song on repeat helped me zone out a little easier because I liked the song and didn’t have to fidget with my iPod to change the track. At about mile 5 or 6 I began to get a bit tired, but I kept up with the rhythm of the song and it prevented me from slowing down too much. I finished the 7.12 mile run in 1:03:22 and I felt really good after. It was a beautiful day in the city and the running conditions were just perfect for me. During my run, I saw a few runners who had just completed the US Half Marathon and it motivated me to keep running; I can’t wait for my first Half on May 5th!

Day 15 – Stretch and Strengthen

Stretch & strengthen?!?! HAH! I didn’t bother to do anything but sit on the couch and watch these beautiful little girls all day. Sometimes I need to remind myself WHY I run and these 2 girls are 2 big reasons why. I want to be healthy for them and I want to be a healthy father when it’s time for me to have children of my own. I love these girls!

My precious nieces: Caeli Rosel (2) and Chloe Jordyn (5 months)

My precious nieces: Caeli Rosel (2) and Chloe Jordyn (3 months)

Day 16 – 4.5 mile run

Lake Merced on a rainy day

Lake Merced on a rainy day

This is what I posted on my Facebook  account when I checked-in to Lake Merced:

“It’s going to be a grind: rain, sweat belt, beanie, gloves, sweater, 4.5 miles. Get some!“

I’m glad that I ran despite the rain and wind because I know that race day conditions won’t always be favorable. I focused on attacking the hills, letting my legs “go” during the downhill parts and pushing through the wind as opposed to allowing it to slow me down. It was a great/challenging run and it made me a better runner.

Day 17 – 3 mile run or cross

I don’t know if it was because I skipped my workout on Monday, but I felt pretty damn good today! Not only did I do a 3 mile run, not only did I do some strengthening exercises, but I also went to my first Bikram Hot Yoga class this morning! Ok, for all of you who have been to a bikram hot yoga class before or for those of you who go on a daily basis, let me say this: YOU GUYS ARE FREAKIN’ NUTS!!!! OMG, that had to be the craziest 90 minutes of my life!! No joke, I was in the “Savasana” pose for the last 45 minutes of the the class (for those of you who aren’t familiar with yoga, the “Savasana” pose is better known as the “Corpse” pose where you just lie on your back like a corpse and just breathe). The first 20 minutes of the class I was an All-Star though, attempting each exercise, not wiping my face with my towel, not even touching my bottle of water, etc., then the downward spiral began. My heart was racing, my vision was getting blurry, I was disoriented, every breath burned and I felt like there was absolutely no way I was NOT going to pass out at some point during this class. I looked over to my girlfriend 30 minutes into the class to see how she was doing and it seemed like she had been in Savasana for a good 10 minutes already, so I joined her LOL. Even in this corpse pose I felt like I was going to pass out; it felt like there was no escaping this, everything I did just made me more hot and miserable. It was such a crazy experience, but I’m glad that I did it. After the class I felt rejuvenated and refreshed; I felt gooooood. And I’m so very proud of my girlfriend for staying in there for the whole 90 minutes, she’s such a trooper. Oh, and we’re going tomorrow morning again! But we’re not going to try and be All-Stars like we did today, we’re going to take our time, take more breaks, and put lots of ice in our water bottles.

Well that was my last 5 days of HMT, only 23 more days til my first Half! I’m so excited! I hope all have a great rest of the week, Cheers!

What a Weekend!

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This weekend was awesome!

Saturday: My day started bright and early as I got up at 6:30 to prepare for the long day ahead of me. At 8:30 I trained my client, Eric, at DIAKADI. We had a great session; we started off with running a mile (he shaved 9 seconds off his time) and we spent the rest of the session hitting the focus mitts. After our session we both headed over to Fleet Feet on Chestnut to get some new running shoes. It was such a beautiful day in the city that I had to let the top down on my mom’s “Mighty Blue” Miata on our drive over to Chestnut. When we got into Fleet Feet we were immediately greeted by the employee at the front desk. He quickly called another employee over to help Eric and I get fitted. Jason was the guy who helped me out; he was very attentive and very knowledgable about shoes, running, and proper gait mechanics. He showed me 3 pairs of running shoes that he said would work well with me. He had me try on all 3 and had me run to the front door and back with them (they even allow you to test them out on the sidewalk if you wanted to get a better idea of how they run). I went with the last pair he showed me: Brooks Ravenna 3s. They felt pretty damn good compared to the Nikes and Mizunos he showed me. Eric and I were in and out of there in 25 minutes, which was appropriate because we were parked in a 30 minute meter!

After spending the first half of the day in The City, I headed over to Fremont in the Easy Bay with a couple of my friends to hike Mission Peak. This was my second time hiking Mission Peak, but my first time hiking it wearing a 20 lb. weight vest. I had no choice! Gordon (the former Marine) hiked with a 30 lb. vest and Jeff (the crazy MMA/Muay Thai fighter) hiked with a 35 lb. vest; I couldn’t go up there without carrying something! If you haven’t been to Mission Peak before, there’s 2 paths that people normally take: the “LEFT SIDE” and the “RIGHT SIDE.” The LEFT is a wide fire road that zig zags up the mountain and is the path that most people choose. The RIGHT isn’t as popular as the LEFT side because, imo, its a tougher hike. The path isn’t as “carved out” as the LEFT and it has 2 or 3 hills that are pretty damn steep and pretty tough to climb. The hike with a 20 lb vest sucked, but the reward you get when you finally reach the top is amazing. We got to the top as the sun was setting and, my God, what a beautiful view! We sat down, had some tangerines, ate half a sandwich, and just admired the beauty before us. After about 10 minutes at the top we headed back down the mountain. On our way home, we rewarded ourselves and stopped by In-N-Out where I had a 4×4, animal style, and some fries with no salt. I then went home to KTFO!

Sunday: Sunday was the day that I had been planning for the past week and half. My friends and I (there were 8 of us total) ran from AT&T Park to the Golden Gate Bridge and then back to AT&T Park; it was amazing! The conditions were perfect for running! The sun was warm, there were no clouds, the breeze was refreshing, and the Embarcadero wasn’t too crowded. I wasn’t sure if breaking in my new Brooks with a ~13 mile run was a good idea, but it held up! After we all reached the Golden Gate Bridge we walked over to The Sports Basement to get some GU and then headed over to Chestnut to grab a bite to eat. We decided to get some burgers at Super Duper Burger. The food was really good, I went with the 100% Natural Free Range Chicken Breast sandwich with lettuce, tomato, red onions and roasted portobello. I also ordered a side of fries with no salt. This was a good 30 minute pit stop before our run back to AT&T Park; we ate, we stretched, we walked over to Fort Mason Green and began our run back to AT&T.

What a weekend! I had a fun, productive and healthy weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend both Saturday and Sunday. The weather was awesome both days and I spent both days with great friends. Thank you Lord for this past weekend! All this is yours and I am very thankful for your many blessings.