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7 Mile - Lap Times

H.M.T. III – Week 7 Recap

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HMT III: Week 7

HMT III: Week 7

Monday 12/31/12

New Year’s Eve!! I spent New Year’s Eve at my Sister’s place and kept it pretty low key because I had a New Year’s Day 10K the following morning. I did take 3 shots of Henny, but my brother-in-law was kind enough to make them half shots because he knew what I had planned that next morning. I didn’t strengthen this day because I wanted to rest my body for the 10K, BUT I did stretch (somewhat). On my way to my sister’s place, I stopped by a running store and bought this bad boy:

The Stick

The Stick

So I was rolling out my quads, calves and IT Band the whole day. After eating and playing with my nieces, I went to sleep around 9pm and asked my sister to wake me up for the countdown…. she forgot! But she did wake me up right after the countdown and I was able to wish all my family Happy New Year.

Tuesday 01/01/13

Check out my New Year’s Day 10K! post.

Wednesday 01/02/13

I was supposed to run, BUT I was still recovering from my 10K, so I just relaxed this day.

Thursday 01/03/13

I did strengthen my back, shoulder and triceps this day. After resistance training, I hopped on the treadmill for my 4.5-mile run and ended up only running half a mile; my legs still weren’t ready after that 10K (that hill was nuts, for me anyways).

10K Elevation Chart

10K Elevation Chart

Friday 01/04/13

Rest Day!!!! Yes please!!!!

Saturday 01/05/13

My lady and I started off this Saturday by volunteering a food bank with a few of my staff from the Y. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun doing what we were doing. After the food bank we had lunch and after lunch I KTFO!! My body, my legs still needed some good rest.

Sunday 01/06/13

Today was my 7-miler. I wasn’t too sure how this run would go because I haven’t really ran since my 10K and my legs still felt a little tired. Here’s my run:

Lake Merced

Lake Merced

7 Mile - Lap Times

7 Mile – Lap Times

My legs felt really heavy today and I think its because I have been eating way too much Quinoa! I just started eating that shtuff and I have fallen in love with it. I spoke to my buddy about my run today and he told me that Quinoa definitely makes you feel a little heavier. So after I spoke with him, I went to Chipotle and got me a Chicken Fajita Bowl with EXTRA RICE! I think I haven’t been consuming too much carbs this past week (because of Quinoa) and that’s why this 7-miler was a little tougher than usual.

I you haven’t noticed yet, I have posted something every day this year! This is one of my goals for 2013: to post something on my blog everyday! I hope all of your running is going well! Cheers to 2013!!

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 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 & 23

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HMT: Days 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, & 23

HMT: Days 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, & 23

Day 18: 4.4 run + Strength

HMT: Day 18s 4.4 Miles

HMT: Day 18s 4.4 Miles

I wasn’t too excited about this run because of my Bikram ass kicking the day before, but it actually went pretty well. These short runs are getting really really easy. And that’s crazy to me because before training for this Half, I would dread running 3 miles. Lately, I’ve been pushing hard on the last mile or mile and a half on my treadmill runs because I want to improve my kick at the end of my races. On this day I finished my last mile with a 7-min pace and it felt gooood. For the strength portion of this day, I did a very quick circuit of chest, biceps and legs.

Day 19: Rest

Hell yes!

Day 20: 50 minute cross training

Today I took a spin class at Crunch called “‘The Ride.” This was my second spin class and I wasn’t sure what to expect because the first spin class kicked my ass real bad; it was a Bikram type of ass kicking that day. John was the spin instructor and he was awesome. He had someone else ride his bike while we walked around yelling and motivating us. The best part of his class was the music. He had a great mix of new and old school hip-hop and if you know me, you know I love hip-hop music when I work out. I also liked his class because he gave us 2, maybe 3, 2 minute rests after a crazy hill. I think I’ll start attending his class every Saturday from now on.

Day 21: 8 mile run

Sundays 8-miler around Lake Merced

Sundays 8-miler around Lake Merced

Let me start off by saying that I looooooove Lake Merced…… except for that damn hill. A full lap around Lake Merced is 4.4 miles, so in order for me and Gordon to do 8 miles we had to run a few parts of the lake again and the damn hill was part of it. Quite honestly, I may be the only person who calls it a hill, cuz it just a very gradual rise over a about 100 yards. The rise isn’t too sharp, but its definitely the toughest part of the run and it definitely slows me down. Other than the hill, the rest of the run is very doable and we actually had a good pace the first time around. Before the run, I thought the toughest part was going to be tackling the hill the second time. Surprisingly, I felt really good going into the hill the second time around and decided to attack it. I went as fast as I could and it felt pretty good. I know it was just an 8 mile run, but an 8 mile run around Lake Merced is a huge mental win for me. To even take on that hill once is a pain for me, so running it twice in one day was a great feat and I know its going to prepare me well for my Half on May 5th.

Day 22: Stretch & Strenghthen

Stretch & Strengthen…. HAH! After that 8-miler yesterday? Hell no! I decided to listen to my body and take the day off. So what did I do? I slept til about 12, woke up, showered, went to American Sushi House and had all you can eat sushi and finished the day by going to the San Francisco Giants vs Philadelphia Phillies game. It was Timmy vs Halladay, so it was a great game to go to. Yes, Timmy stunk it up real bad that day, but I still had a great time with my love and my friends. If you haven’t been to AT&T Park yet, you’re def. missing out. I started the game like I always do, with a Crazy Crab Sammie, Garlic Fries and a Stella. It was my first game of the season and it felt really good to be back at the park. It was a great day off!

(Top Left) My Lady & I - (Top Right) Crazy Crab Sandwich - (Bottom Left) Garlic Fries - (Bottom Right) AT&T Park

(Top Left) My Lady & I - (Top Right) Crazy Crab Sandwich - (Bottom Left) Garlic Fries - (Bottom Right) AT&T Park

Day 23: 5 mile run

HMT Day 23s 5 miler

HMT Day 23s 5 miler

Ok, today’s gym session started off horribly because I left my headphones at home!! I hate when I do that!! I decided not to make it a big deal though and convinced myself that it was a good thing I left them at home. I felt that it was sort of a challenge, and recently I’ve been more accepting of challenges, especially those that pertain to my running. Besides that, today’s run felt really really really good. I usually start my treadmill runs at 6.5 for a good 5 minutes, but today I started off at 7.2. And I would increase it every couple of minutes by .2 or .3. Again, I finished off the last 2 miles pretty fast (to my standards). I ran mile 3 at 8.0 and ran mile 4 at 8.5. Like I said earlier, these shorter runs are getting a lot easier and I’m lovin’ it.

I hope you all are having a great week. I’m going to read some Born to Run now, cheers!

HMT: Days 7 & 8

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HMT: Days 7 & 8

HMT: Days 7 & 8

Day 7 was 5K day! The 5K that I ran was Kaiser Permanentes First Annual Running of the Elk held in Elk Grove, CA. This race had a half marathon, a half marathon relay and the 5K.

Kaiser Permanentes First Annual Running of the Elk

Kaiser Permanentes First Annual Running of the Elk

I think I summed up my first 5K experience best when I Instagram’d a photo of me and my brother immediately after the race:

JR: #2913 (22:47:36; 8th place). Gordon: #1936 (22:43:00; 7th place).... One of the best experiences of my life. I know it's just a 5K (~3 miles), but there was more to it. There was a mental component to it that I didn't really expect. Within the first 5 minutes I was like "wtf did I get myself into?! This a pretty fast pace!! I don't think I could do this"... But then I just kept running... S/o to my brother Gordon for running this with me. This is my first of many races!! Thank you Lord for today and thank you Lord for the opportunity and the ability to participate in this. All of this is yours and I hope you enjoyed this race as much as I did. Happy Palm Sunday everyone!

"JR: #2913 (22:47:36; 8th place). Gordon: #1936 (22:43:00; 7th place).... One of the best experiences of my life. I know it's just a 5K (~3 miles), but there was more to it. There was a mental component to it that I didn't really expect. Within the first 5 minutes I was like "wtf did I get myself into?! This a pretty fast pace!! I don't think I could do this"... But then I just kept running... S/o to my brother Gordon for running this with me. This is my first of many races!! Thank you Lord for today and thank you Lord for the opportunity and the ability to participate in this. All of this is yours and I hope you enjoyed this race as much as I did. Happy Palm Sunday everyone!" - Instagram: iamjohnross

And if you have an Instagram, please follow me at: iamjohnross

Here are a few souvenirs from yesterday. Another thing I didn’t expect after my first official race: loving all the free stuff you get when you complete the race. I could see this becoming a big reason why I run; I’ve always loved collecting stuff. I can’t wait for my first medal!

Souvenirs from the 5K

Souvenirs from the 5K

Day 8 was a “Stretch and Strengthen” Day. So today I spent a good 30 minutes on the foam roller, SMRing my IT, my quads, my ADductors, my calves, and my piriformis. I also did a good amount of static stretches after my strength training. My strength training consisted of 2 back, 2 shoulder, and 2 tricep exercises…… oh yea, and 1,000 bicep curls.

"Oh, I can barely lift my right arm 'cause I did so many." - Ron Burgundy

"Oh, I can barely lift my right arm 'cause I did so many." - Ron Burgundy

And one last thing: I found out yesterday from my friend at Racing the States that Caballo Blanco was found dead yesterday. I don’t want to say too much other than this: thank you, Caballo, for inspiring me to run, but more importantly thank you for inspiring me to be a better human being. If you’ve never heard of him before, please take some time to read up on his life.

Caballo Blanco

Caballo Blanco

I hope all your weekends were awesome and I hope this week goes well for you all! Work hard! Cheers!