Beach Run

Accountability report #1: I did not run my 5 miles on Friday.  I actually hung out at my buddy's house drinking some very good red wine.

But today, I ran 3-4 miles on Sand Dollar Beach, a nice sandy beach in Aptos, CA.  The problem with beach running is that it is hard to track on a google map and I did not bring my iPhone with my imapmyrun app running.  Maybe I should invest in a garmin GPS watch afterall.

Meet Renee

Renee is one of the players on the U11G comp soccer team that I coach. Renee was diagnosed with Burkett's Lymphoma Stage 3 on Aug 4th 2008. For the following 3 months after diagnosis she went through very intensive chemotherapy with her final dose on Oct 24th 2008. At this point she is in remission with no known cancerous cells and is again playing soccer at a competitive level.

Renee's family is very thankful to Lucille Packard and the doctors and nurses and staff from oncology for helping Renee go through the ordeal of recovery. The research done for understanding and treating this complex cell disorder is very appreciated not only by her family but also all who have seen a loved one suffering from lymphoma or leukemia or any cancer for that matter. Renee and her family hope this research continues until all of us can figure out the cause and the cure of these cancers with a 100% chance of remission.

Renee, I'm training for this triathlon in your honor. You are my hero. Your determination to fight Lymphoma is truly inspiring.

Day 3, 107 more to go before T-day

Played another indoor soccer game.  This time we won and I scored a goal with a header.  For those of you who saw Messi's beautiful goal in the Champions League final yesterday, it was definitely not in the same class :-)

So as my reward, I ran 2.4 miles tonight at a 9:15 min mile pace.  I'm going to try to run 5 miles tomorrow.

A good chiropractor is worth millions

In addition to hurting my knee, I pulled a muscle in my lower right shoulder.  I actually had to leave work early because I no longer could type.  So I called my Chiropractor and was able to get a last minute appointment.  Dr Brian Ota is a "3 for the price of 1".  Other than being a really good sports chiropractor, he's a shaman and great fitness instigator.  He's the one who kept nagging me to compete in a triathlon and the one who really made me believe I could do this. Anyways, long story short, he worked on my upper back, cracked me a couple times, put me on ice and told me that I should be ok and that yes that I had no excuse not to run tonight.

So here's one for you doc, I ran 4 miles this evening, and my shoulder did not bother me in the least.  And yes, I will follow your advice and ice it before going to bed.  Thanks.

soccer + running = some pain

So yesterday I played indoor soccer for 45 minutes and then decided to go for a 2 mile run after dinner. I did not stretch enough and today I'm paying the price. My knee hurts. But in the good spirit of accountability, I cannot use this as an excuse... So I have to some running or biking today.

This is it, I'm committed

I've been talking about competing in a triathlon for a while now.  Even from before I got into shape I've been dreaming of this.  But after getting into shape, I really thought I could do it.  So I decided to sign up for a Sprint distance triathlon.  But I would always find some lame excuse not to do the actual sign up.... (probably pretty familiar to some of you).

So last week, there was a Team in Training (TNT) information meeting at work (Cisco if have to ask).  And one of the TNT events was the Pacific Grove Triathlon.  The choice was the Sprint or the Olympic distance.  And since I think I could do a sprint today, I decided to sign up for the Olympic distance.  1.5 km swimming; 40 km biking and 10 km running.  The big day is September 12.

So this blog is to document my daily progress (or lack thereof) and to keep me accountable to myself.