03/02/2012 - Interns vs Steven

Yes, I lost.  Shut up.

My senior was messing with the interns.  She challenged one to race me finishing some work.  This turned into me racing four interns.  This turned into a physical race.  This turned into lets do a relay.  This turned into a 1.25 mile steven 1.00 mile intern handicap.

This turned into a company event with 50+ onlookers.  I lost by about 5 seconds.  Unbelievable.  Should have trained.  Unbelievable.  The partners are talking about making "The Race" into an annual event.

03/11/2012 - The 408k (4.97 miles)

I started a running club at work and we ran our first race together this past weekend in San Jose.  The San Jose 408k sold out at 3,000 participants - a lot larger than I expected.

For the past couple months I've been working out 9 times per week, but it's a mixture of different cardio (not all running) and weight training.  I was not training specifically for this race, but now I kind of wish that I did.

I didn't get to the race late, but I also didn't get there early.  As a result I ended up starting towards the back and it was really hard to weave through all the slow people.  As a result, my first mile ended up being 7:40 which is a lot slower than I would have liked.  (My overall pace ended up being a 6:32/mile)

I think that my peak for a race this distance would probably be around 6:00/mile if I trained for it - I would have got 15th place.

Don't get me wrong - I still had a great time at the race, but situations like these make me wonder about potential.  I want to run twice per day for a month and see how well I can do in a race.  Could be a goal for the future!

Sidenote:  I played in a basketball game after the race in this league with my best friends.  The other team had a guy that was like 6'4, 350.  At one point I ran into him and it knocked the wind out of me.  I don't think he even noticed that I ran into him.  Sigh.

Sidenote 2:  My running club is all girls.  We have one other guy besides me.  I feel like all the people I work with are female.  The other day we went to lunch and it was me, 16 girls, and a gay guy.

July 19, 2010 - wow

01/15/2012 - Redding Marathon (26.2 miles)

First, I'd like to thank the many people that text messaged me words of encouragement in the days surrounding my first marathon.  It was really touching that so many of you remembered and cared.  I'd also like to give a very, very special thanks to my Dad for making the trip to Redding and always providing his support for my goals.

We left at 2:30 AM from Stockton to arrive in Redding for signups at 6:00 AM.  It 

was...cold.

I had no idea what to expect from this race.  The farthest I've EVER ran before was 13.1 miles.  So add 13.1 miles to the farthest you've ever ran and try to pace yourself for that distance...impossible.  I was even more worried that my knee pain would inhibit me from finishing the race.

The course was beautiful.  You start out by running across the Shasta Dam and you end at the Sundial bridge:

SUMMARY OF RACE

Mile 1 - Wow, the view is gorgeous.  My knee feels funny, but at least it doesn't hurt.

Mile 3 - I'm actually running a marathon!  This is so cool!

Mile 7 - Frost covers the paths.  Worried about slipping and hurting my knee.

Mile 9 - Relay leg #1 ends.  Relay leg #2 runners start passing marathon runners.  I'm pretty sure we were all thinking, "F you guys."

Mile 10 - Rolling hills begin.  Not tired at all, but knee getting sore.

Mile 14 - Are you kidding me?  4 miles of rolling hills?

Mile 16 - My GPS watch dies.  Starting to get tired.

Mile 18 - Loop done?  Oh wait..there's a SECOND LOOP?  Ahhhh

Mile 20 - I can't lift my right leg more than 2 inches from the ground.  Knee too tight/Pain.

Mile 21 - Every 5 seconds I considered walking.  No, I can do it.

Mile 22 - Maybe I can't do it.

Mile 23 - Just a 5k left.

Mile 25 - Hardest mile of the entire course.  So tempted to walk.  Running so slowly.

Mile 26 - Adrenaline rush

Last .2 - Pushed it through the finish.  Victory...

The relay teams wore white numbers and the full marathon runners wore yellow numbers.  By the end of the race I had an extreme sense of pride in being a yellow numbered runner for one day of my life.  I know that I'll never be a regular marathon runner, but I will always remember this experience and look back on it with pride.

My goal was to run the whole way and finish in 4 hours.  I ended up finishing 80th out of 219 in a time of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 20 seconds (9:09/mile).  Funnily enough, my half marathon goal last January was 2 hours and I finished in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 39 seconds...unreal.

It was a good weekend.  Congrats 49ers.

49er game with Grant

49er game with Sharon

Dinner with Carissa = bread = CARBS for the race!

Numbers

8 - Margin of victory for Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucus

33.84 - Miles that I ran last week

10 - Hours of vacation that I accrue per month

-21 - Difference in my peak weight from four years ago and now

5 - My favorite players' new number on the LA Clippers

10 - Days until I run my first full marathon

01/15/2012 - 26.2

Redding Marathon

My claim to fame, TNT - Ask Charles

Sadly, this is the closest I will ever come to sports fame...

NBA Eastern Conference Finals - 2011
Bulls v Heat, Game 4, Heat lead 2-1
Ask Charles - halftime segment:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apuKZgae6do&feature=youtu.be

 ...unless I can somehow convince Michelle Kwan to marry me.