Don't Stop!!

We are doing this!

This last Saturday at Lake Chabot we doubled our attendance and had 6 people running together. Joining Drew, Daniel and myself was Marisa, Nick and Bell, a nurse I work with in the ER. It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining and a cool breeze to our backs. With all of the rain we have been having lately, all of the plants, trees and shrubs are a vibrant green with a soft trail to run on - it was perfect.

The second week can be hard to make it through, a little sore and the pressure of improving your performance can leave you out of breath and exhausted just as you begin. You MUST push through this pain, the first 5-10 minutes are the hardest. Try to get yourself "in the groove" when you run, where it feels like clockwork and you can keep a pace that is comfortable for you.

All of the rolling hills at Lake Chabot are kicking our butts; but, each time we are able to run a little bit longer and faster. Our total mileage was 6.3 miles in an hour on Saturday and we are slowly approaching the halfway mark to the 13.4 miles we will have to run in November - which is very exciting.

May is just about over which gives us about 4 months until the mud run and 5 months until the half marathon, the progress a person can make in 4-5 months with consistent training can be amazing. Look at your goal and do not loose sight of it.

This is Nick and Bell running up the first part of the unpaved trail

Nick was literally 50 yards ahead of us the entire time, we decided from now on he will be known as Nick "Running Wolf" Salazar

I really feel like this picture puts these hills into perspective. When you are running over 6 miles, these make you so tired but are great for your endurance.




Keep up the great work everyone, push through the pain, go get out there and exercise!

Training

Training has officially begun!!!

We decided this week to go for a sure thing: Lake Chabot
We ran 5-6 miles this time, a huge step up from when we started back in early February. Running the unpaved section is very difficult with a huge uphill climb and many rolling hills which made 2 miles feel like 10. All I know is that in just a few short months we will be tackling that uphill climb like the scene in Rocky where he climbs the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This is Daniel at the start of this massive hill, we couldn't keep up.

Trying to run up this monster of a hill used many of my reserves and I felt exhausted the rest of the time; but, with determination and the motivation from Drew and Dan I made it. I'll be sure to bring water the next time.
Lake Chabot is about a 12.4 mile loop around the lake which will be a great place to train for the half marathon. Running long distances are easier when you have more to look at and changing scenery.
Hopefully a few more people will join us next week for our Saturday run. Get out there and run everyone!!

Drew and Daniel after running up one of the rolling hills

At the finish line, where water never tasted so good

Just Getting Started

With some new motivation over the last few weeks, a few of us finally decided to finally get out and run as a group; but, it never happened...
Saturday was an an epic fail due to a flea market and a track meet at Chabot college. So, we decided to get breakfast at Mimi's Cafe instead. Nick had just finished his last day of training the previous night; so, we decided to celebrate. Next week we are definitely changing the location.
On the other hand, Drew and I ran 6 miles through Fremont/Newark the other day. The trail was calm and went through the historic Ardenwood Farm.
We took a walk break on one of the busy streets and a huge Bud Light truck stopped in front of us. I instantly imagined we were in a commercial, all we needed was the truck driver to run out, pop open the sliding door and pull out a couple of ice cold bud lights. This would have made an amazing instant street party; and of coarse; Thin Lizzy's The boys are back in town would be blasting with many of us dancing in the street.
Hopefully, this Saturday will not be a bust and we will get the exercise we have all been craving to do on these perfect Saturday mornings.

My 12 Favorite Things: Exercise

This idea was taken from a Magazine called Outdoor where they reviewed 51 of their favorite things about the outdoors. I'm doing a more simplified version of that and trying to gear it towards exercise. Please feel free to comment on your favorite things you may have.

1. Sleep: your body needs at least 6-9 hours of sleep every night to maintain itself. In a recent issue of National Geographic, a study was done where mice were kept awake 24/7 and they all died within days. Sleep is essential for good workouts. People who have good sleeping habits are correlated to living longer, feeling happier and healthier. Regular exercise should give you better sleep patterns and sleep/wake cycles. "Having sleep problems? Go hike 20 miles, I bet you won't have a problem sleeping after that."
2. Runners or Exercise High: don't burn a fatty - go burn some calories! There are no pain killers like natural pain killers. People who exercise often and for long periods of time can get what is known as a "runners high" or "exercise high" where your body releases natural pain killers and gives you certain feelings of euphoria. I wouldn't suggest only exercising for this reason alone; but hey, its just an added bonus.
3. Post-Workout meal: There is nothing like working your ass off at the gym, track or trail and getting some much needed calories back into your body afterwards. Omelets, pancakes and hash browns...bring it on. By all means this is not the best post-workout meal, but it's damn good. Men's health says that chocolate or regular milk is a perfect post workout meal. Peanut butter and jelly is also a good post workout meal as well. Don't forget the water!! Hey, speaking of water....
4. H2O: "Gatoraaaade!" No way Jose, water should be the only drink of choice before, during and after your workout; in fact, drink this stuff all day. I don't need to tell you how much of our body is made up of water if you made it past the 3rd grade. An easy way to know how much water to drink is your body weight in ounces divided by two - give or take. Example: weight =130lbs then 130 ounces divided by 2 = 75 ounces/day When you are really working hard outside in the heat, nothing tastes better than an ice cold glass of water.
5. I-Pod/MP3: music has come such a long way the last 10 years. Music can make someone feel stronger and more motivated. Nothing feels better than hearing your new favorite song while working up a sweat. I'm so glad we have a world of digital music now because I was so tired of hearing my portable CD player skip every time I took a running step. Plus, the batteries were so expensive.
6. Progress Progress Progress: the more you do something, the better you will get. Practice makes perfect. You may think you suck at first, you may think you suck now, even after working out for a long time. Be optimistic, look at where you started from and see how far you've come. Every workout is progress to try and make yourself better. Try writing down everything you did each time you exercise and in 2 months look at how you progress. As long as you stick with it you will see PROGRESS.
7. Sweat: sorry ladies but your wrong, sweat IS sexy! We sweat to keep our bodies cool and at a proper temperature. Sweating is part of exercising. If you're not sweating, your not exercising! Embrace the sweat, but guys, please do not embrace the B.O. Wear deodorant.
8. Body transformation: lets face it, many people diet and exercise to try and look a little better and more importantly feel better about their physical appearance. There are so many commercials out there making us feel bad about the way we look now. Exercising will give you better muscle tone and burn fat making you look more lean. Seeing your stomach get flatter, biceps get bigger or whatever your looking for is always a good feeling when you wake up and look in the mirror. Changing your physical appearance is fun but it is important not to be obsessive about it. You know those girls on the commercials? They really DON'T eat Carl's Jr. and they probably throw it up after the video shoot anyway, so don't take it seriously.
9. Ice: the most under appreciated therapy in the exercise world. Do you have an injury, aches, or pains? Ice it, with lots of ice! 15 minutes with a cloth barrier in between you and your skin every hour to two hours. It works better than any anti-inflammatory or pain killer you can take. Give it time and give it a chance. Want to be really tough? Take an ice bath, this is what those pro athletes do when they have injuries. Not to mention, ice feels great in the summertime on your face or in your water when you need a break.
10. Sore Muscles: having soreness in your muscles makes you feel accomplished that you really pushed yourself. When you exercise, your muscles tear and rebuild making you feel sore. You may even feel the peak of sore muscles 24 hours after working out. When you first start working out, the sore muscles may make you feel miserable making it hard to walk, lift your arms or even sit on the John. If you are really sore, you had a really good workout.
11. Be Fit Lifestyle: it's hard not to become addicted. Exercising daily and eating healthy will help you live longer. Remember, it's ok if you fall off the horse, the most important thing is to GET BACK ON and DONT GIVE UP. Having an active and fit lifestyle will do so many positive things for your body, mind and soul.
12. Celebration: life is too short, make sure you celebrate all of your accomplishments with friends and family. What you do IS a big deal and don't let any one else tell you otherwise. Be proud of what you do and make sure to live it up. This also gives you time to reflect on everything you have done to get to that point. Just like exercise, life is hard work. So make sure to take the time to kick back, relax and celebrate.

Getting Started

Starting a workout regime is often both a daunting and overwhelming task. Compare it to that first day of school, when the teacher gives you a syllabus and shows you all the work that will be expected the entire semester/year. With so many different workouts and diets out there, it is hard to know which one is best.
Especially for a beginner, its hard to know which workout is most effective. In fact, some may not even know where to start. Especially in place like gym where someone who has no experience using the machines and/or free weights. It's easy to feel more embarrassed rather than actually accomplished with your workout when you don't know what you are doing.

"The hardest part is walking through the door" is a phrase I have heard over and over again about exercising. I do agree that walking through the door is part of the challenge with exercising; but, for the newbie at the gym the hardest part is what to be done and how to do it correctly. A person who is new to the gym may be motivated to walk through the door; but, may feel intimidated about using some of the equipment. If you do exercises efficiently and correctly you will see results quicker, you will work out safer and be more productive. Going to the gym and getting a good workout will make you want to go more often. Anyone can walk through a gym door, but what you actually do in the gym is what's going to give you results.

A personal trainer, an experienced friend or books are great ways to know what workout will work best for you. It all depends on why you are training. Are you doing it for health, loosing weight, cardiovascular fitness, muscle toning, muscle gaining, competitive events or do you just want to adjust your physical appearance? When you narrow these down it narrows the broad spectrum of workouts that are out there.

A good piece of advice I can give you is to break a sweat a least 4 days a week. You don't have to feel exhausted after a workout; in fact, you should be energized. 20-30 minutes should give you enough of a workout to break a sweat. This is idea will help to maintain your body weight and prevent health problems such as Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease.

Today I was inspired and ran almost 4 miles before I went to work. I knew I just needed to get out in the fresh air and run. What is great about running is it's free, all you need is the motivation and some decent running shoes. Start slow and work your way up, start with walking if you have to. The main thing to keep in mind about all exercise is safety, so that you prevent injury and your workouts will continue.

The half marathon is coming up fast and for all of us who need to start, START! It doesn't matter how fast or far but that you are getting out there. Your body needs time to adjust to running 4-5 days a week. All of your ligaments, tendons and bones will adjust over time. Don't feel embarrassed if you are not sure how to start, just ask and we'll tell you all about it.

Big Sur Mud Run 2010

The Big Sur Mud Run!

This is where it all began, where the few of us took on a challenge that we knew nothing about. All we knew is that we wanted something different, something new and this seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. The website looked promising, with many pictures and a great description of what the race offered...MUD!! The race was sponsored by the Army which meant there would be a drill Sergeant every quarter mile to "motivate you." We knew that inexperienced civilians like ourselves would have no chance at finishing this race if it weren't taken seriously.

I've always been a big fan of mud, even as a kid I remember making gigantic mud pies in the backyard after a fresh week of rain. Taking an old aluminum pie pan and sopping up huge amounts of mud and smoothing over the tops as if they were ready to be displayed in a glass window for sale.

The idea of the mud run made us motivated, it lit a spark, to get in shape and have fun doing it. Daniel and I started going to the gym 4 days a week and running every Saturday. When I decided to sign up for the run, I made a pact with myself to exercise every Saturday whether it be running, hiking or cross-training.

We met as group that first Saturday at Lake Chabot, 9am. A cold and breezy February morning we stretched and decided to run just over a 3 mile loop as a practice run, a starting point, a place we could go back in 2 months and say "wow, this is so easy now." We all finished the run, tired, sore and some of us...injured. Lets just say that some of us couldn't make the second day of training. Week by week we slowly increased our pace and speed with our endurance getting better.

We ended up having a group of 5 running the race together when the time came. 9am on race day we were ready to go, the first group to run, when you arrived you could hear the count of the drill Sergeant getting everyone warmed up, we were there, we made it and training was over, now the real test. We were off and ready to go, excited to start the run, we felt the race would be tolerable at this point, we even thought it might be easy. "We can run 5 miles no problem now, this should be a piece of cake." We were wrong. The race started fine, running on asphalt and slightly uphill, nothing we haven't done before. 1 mile done, 4 more to go. The first mud pit comes ahead, it ends up being a hug hole in the ground filled with water with 3 foot barriers we have to jump over. This obstacle was pretty easy, but it added 5-10 pounds of water and mud for us to carry for the rest of the race. What was even worse was now came the hard part: running on a trail, in the sand, uphill, for the next 3 miles. This doesn't seem like much on paper; but, it ended up being a real challenge especially since none of our training consisted of running uphill, in sand, with an extra 10 pounds of weight.

The second mud pit had us jump over a 6 foot wall and crawl in a mud hole on our elbows and knees. I ran so hard to that 6 foot wall and cleared it no problem, dove into the mud and crawled my way out as if my life depended on it.We kept running and reached the beer and water station. The last thing I wanted at this point was a beer, so I grabbed a cup of water, took a few sips and splashed the rest on Drew's head and we kept running.
The third mud pit was the most intense, away from all the spectators so the drill sergeants could yell as much as they wanted. We were running down a really steep hill with the sergeants screaming at us, the obstacle started with walking on balance beam with mud 5 feet below on each side, continued with jumping over another 6 foot wall, crawling through another mud pit and doing 10 push ups.


When I jumped the second 6 foot wall at the 3rd station, I swung my leg too wide and hit someone next to me, I got yelled at and was surprised they didn't make me do push ups as punishment. We knew we were almost done and when we saw the last mud pit with everyone cheering we had a boost of energy. This mud pit had a covering over it which forced you crawl and you only had about1 1/2 feet of space on top of you. This pit was long, about 25 feet. The mud was so heavy that it pulled down my shorts and as I got out of the pit I had to pull them back up letting everyone see my underwear.

As you can see we were all in tie dye shirts, this made us a target at every single military checkpoint screaming:

"Lets go! Why don't you go brighten up someone else's day"


"Hey Tie Dye, pick up the pace"


"Uh OHH, looks like we've got some grateful dead fans here"


After a while we even started singing Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair)" and throwing up peace signs as we ran by during the taunting. It was all in good fun and it looked as if though they were not going to stop the tie dye jokes so we were firing right back.

Crossing that finish line was such an achievement for all of us, after the last mud pit we were exhausted physically but we pushed through and crossed the finish line strong. We were covered in mud, from head to toe and it felt great.

A new start

Its May!!

Since the start of the new year, myself and a few friends have been very ambitious in our journey of getting in shape and experiencing a whole new world of compitition not only against each other, but also in the form of half marathons, mud runs, 5k's and the dreaded full marathon. I am no psychic; but, I have a feeling... that the upcoming summer will be very active. This blog is aimed at capturing upcoming summer activities so we may see our progress, struggles and fun that we have this year.

Many of us are signed up for the upcoming half marathon in Big Sur, November 19th. I can honestly say that I have never tackled such a large quantity of running before, but I am excited to start the training for this new experience as well as crossing the finish line. To many of us this race seems attainable and also impossible. What seems to be keeping me so motivated to do it is all the people I am doing it with. "We're doing this together and together we can do anything!"
I have just signed up for an event in October called "Tough Mudders" where it is a 7 mile course with 17 different challenging obstacles. When I look at the website for this race and read all the different challenges, I have to hold my breath to keep myself from screaming with excitement. Lets just say it brings me back to the old football days of grit, muscle and hard work. The kind of race where every weakness poccessed is right in front of you, staring you in the face. This is more than a challenge, it's scary as hell and makes me want to loose my lunch...and breakfast. How can anyone get through a race like this? I will tell you, It takes commitment, drive and perserverance, this is what I hope to capture this summer as we all train for these two events because it's going to be hard and something we may look back on later in life and say "how the hell did we do that?"
Well, this is how...