Thanks Rocky for fixing up your old bike for me to use.
Look! It's me on my new bike! (Rocky's REALLY OLD one.)
Thanks to my new bike I will be number 1!!!
Bicycle Race – Queen by musicnomad
Jan 192011
Jan 182011
Stephen Colbert is right. Bears are a huge threat to America. If America is at war with Bears the front lines are in San Luis Obispo, and the running brothers experienced this first hand.
When my brother first brought up this project, my first thought was, “what about the bears?” But I eventually accepted that we may run into a bear or two throughout our entire training program. I told myself, that risk was acceptable in comparison to the enjoyment and fullfillment we would get from this project. On our very first run through San Luis we arrived at the Mission and encountered the first Bear of our training program, a gigantic Grizzly jabbing at the water. He wasn’t bothered by us but we kept our distance.
After surviving our first close encounter, on our very first run, we continued on our run. Fully satisified by the laws of statistics that we would not encounter another deadly creature we continued our run along the stream that runs by the San Luis Mission and through downtown.
I am leading the way, on this dark gloomy rainy night at about 11:00 pm we emerge from behind a building and….. BEAR!!!! It was croached in an attack position waiting for anyone to come out from behind the building only a few feet away. Startled I jump away from the bear, Zeb seeing me follows in my cat like evasion tactics but we quickly are frozen in our tracks.
After further investigation we confirm that this bear is as harmless as the bear at the Mission. An obviously hilarous jokster placed this bear in this particular location to startle people like us. IT WORKED.
So one day into our training and we have already encountered my full anticpation of bears for our entire training program. Unbelievable. We will keep you abreast of any future close calls with bears.
Jan 182011
In my interview with Mitch Roberts, he made a suggestion to me and our readers, he said “Go Gluten Free.” When he suggested this I thought I had gone Gluten-free my whole life, because I thought it was referring to the muscle on my rear-end. Turns out, Mitch was talking about something else entirely.
Gluten-free is a diet, completely free of Gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, malts and triticale. Mitch said that he did not realize how much Gluten affected him and that by going Gluten free for a time period, he felt much healthier as a result. He recommended that everyone should try it for at least a week to see how you feel afterwards. Perhaps later along in the training process I may try to go “Gluten Free” for a week or two.
Mitch, thanks for the advice and enlightening us all about “Going Gluten Free.”
Jan 172011
Michael Nunez has joined The Running Brothers team. Mike has been one of my best friends since High School. He’s the type of guy who would do anything for you and is quite handy as well. Today, we completed our first run, a 2.4 mile run around Chino Hills and the guys in pretty good shape. I still dusted him in our run, but he gave a valiant effort.
Michael runs his own business, Adaptive Flooring, where he installs all types of flooring. He has been doing flooring for nearly 8 years now, is personable, adaptable and works hard to make sure that his customers are happy.
We are always looking for more people like Mike to add to The Running Brothers Team so if you are interested in exercising with us, don’t be shy, just ask.
Jan 142011
I love to view comments made our posts in order to check out other blogs, one such comment sent me to a series of blogs called Sweat365. I asked one of these blogger, Mitch Roberts, about his affiliation with Sweat365 and how it works. According to Mitch, Sweat365 is a social networking blog used to log workouts and connect with other athletes.
Mitch typically uses Sweat 365 as a way to log all of his times, but occasionaly includes blog posts. He has made many friends through Sweat365 and actually has kept in contact with other athletes to help motivate each other.
On his website, mitchr.sweat365.com, Mitch uses several Side Bar Widgets, which can be found on the Dashbord. He uses Logbook 2 to record the distances for his workouts and a countdown timer set for Cour d’Alene where he plans on completing his next Ironman event. (Rocky, these look like really cool widgets, we should look into getting some for our page)
Sweat365 looks like a good way to meet others who like to run, bike and swim. If you plan on running, biking or swimming, it is worth looking into as it’s a community of like-minded individuals who will keep up on their workouts and try to motivate you to keep up on yours.
Jan 102011
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mitch Roberts, I would love to introduce him to you. Mitch wrote the very first comment on The Running Brothers blog, so I guess you can say that Mitch is our first hero. Mitch knows a thing or two about training and competing in Ironman events which is why his comment to the question, “When can I call myself an Ironman?” . . . was so invaluable.
Mitch Roberts, a man with many passions, loves spending time with his family, the Washington Huskies, long bike rides with friends, training with his wife, having beers with friends, competing in iron man events, cooking, golfing, road trips, traveling, and anything that allows him to spend time with his son.
He got interested in triathalon training while in Hawaii during the Ironman competition in Kona. He completed his first Ironman in 2009 in Canada. His wife is also a triathalete and their son has started competing with them as well.
The greatest thing about blogging, Mitch said, is making friends and “virtual friends,“ from all over the world. His wife also has her own blog, her article entitled A Girls Guide to Farmer Flow, in which she was finally able to “farmer blow” while running as a girl, Mitch says is hilarious.
(Never heard the terms farmer blow, or farmer flow, perhaps I should research this further, but it doesn’t sound like the sort of thing one should be posting articles about . . . 😉 . . . )
Mitch is affiliated with an online group, Sweat365.com, he began blogging with them when he began training for his first marathon. He knew the owners and now can update his blog daily with the progress he is making in his training.
One success story that Mitch shared with me was about a friend of his who had weighed 320 pounds before beginning to train. Through diet and exercise, his friend lost 140 pounds and is now a triathalete.
Mitch has completed three Ironman Canada events and has signed up for a 4th in Idaho. “Crossing those finish lines is such an amazing feeling,” Mitch said.
He loves the training because it has become a social event for him. Every Friday three of his friends head to the local YMCA for a swim and then grab a coffee.
In 2007, he trained with his wife for their first event, “it was one of my most favorite moments in my life to not only finish, but to be able to run down the finish line chute with my wife and son.”
After completing three Ironmans, Mitch definitely knows what he is talking about. Mitch recommends finding a plan and sticking with it, listening to how others train and listen to your body. If you are constantly tired or sore, something is wrong, fix it before it gets worse. He also said not to be a victim, if you’re complaining about running or training then this lifestyle may not be for you. He thinks athletes should experience the full enjoyment of the training and the completion of the goal.
As this is not just a blog about running, but a blog about making life more enjoyable, I asked Mitch what is something that he would recommend that everyone get the opportunity to do in their lifetime. For Mitch, he said to travel to Europe, London, Paris, southern France, Italy, and Ireland, to love as if you will never get hurt, to “go Gluten Free” (another phrase I am unfamiliar with) for two weeks, don’t buy frozen pizza. As far as running is concerned, “sign up for something, anything, and train fully.”
If you are interested in finding out more about Mitch Roberts, I recommend that you check his blog, http://mitchr.sweat365.com/. Mitch, you are our hero. Keep up the good work, we’ll be checking in with you frequently.
Jan 082011
So far, this weekend isn’t quite what I had hoped. I had a lot of plans, which included golfing, a Laker game, Anahiem Ducks skills competition, a soccer game, and birthday gathering. In all of that I still wanted to get my second 4 minute mile attempt in. Unfortunently, my fist trip to Staples center left some of my weekend plans up in the air. The Lakers did win though.
So like my brother, I too, have been making an effort to limit my alcohol consumption. My reasons are slightly different than my brother. I need to get in shape and according to my doctor my liver would like me to get in shape as well. Since July I have limited myself to maybe a dozen beers and at the Laker game I did a few more (not too much) and got home really late (2 pm). Waking up this morning I felt like crap, not a hangover just a generally crappy feeling.
So I did my scheduled activities but I just didn’t feel up to the four minute challenge. I remember when I was younger I used to be able to bounce back from those sorts of things, but I guess my body won’t let me do that any more.
I guess this next week I will have to kick my butt a little harder on these workouts to make up for it.
Jan 052011
I don’t want to flood my posts with my exercise routine; however, I do think it’s important to update everyone on the progress I’m making, so every Wednesday I will post the amount of exercise I have done for the week and my total amount.
Total Amount:
Running = 9.8 miles (27.5 miles to downtown L.A.)
Swimming = 4100 meters or 2.5 miles (34.8 miles to downtown L.A.)
Total = 12.3 miles (25 miles to downtown L.A.)
Dec 082010
I felt like I needed a rest day, so today was spent thinking about running. When we started this project we came up with many goals and thought we would check them off as we accomplished them (we will find a way to post those soon). The ultimate goals were to run a marathon and an Ironman for my brother. That is several months off, so we came up with some goals that are inbetween our current limitations and the ultimate goal.
I recently finished an half marathon, with minimal training and my body made sure to tell me that was the absolute limit for distance running right now. BTW, the Silver Strand Half Marathon is great event and great for first timers, no hills and great views.
So now I want to find out where I am on another goal, the 4 minute mile. I had to describe this goal when I brought it up because my brother and sister, they thought I wanted to run a mile in 4 minutes and 0 seconds. I like to think of myself as a realist and I am not the next US olympic miler. However, I feel I can run a 4 minute 59 second mile.
So here we go, this weekend will be my first timed mile since junior year of high school when I ran a 5:08. On that day I also ran a 52.3 400M and 2:12 800m, for those of you that are familar with the order of events for high school track meets, that was a tough triple. That day resulted in one of the worst cases of butt lock I have ever experience. This weekend, I plan go to a local high school and give my best shot at the 4 minute mile. I may watch on of my favorate movies “4 minutes” to give me motivation. Hopefully, Roger Bannister will help me out on this one. Wish me luck!
Dec 082010
One of the things I find interesting in life is routines. My life has always been dictated by these daily routines; however, these routines fluctuate. I know that to be an Ironman, my routine will certainly have to change, so let me inform you about my routine for the past 2 months, knowing that this will all change.
I usually wake up whenever my body tells me too, which is typically around 11 AM. I will then, log on to the computer to check for emails and then, head into the kitchen, make a cup of coffee and sometimes a bowl of cereal. Then, it’s time to work on my business that usually consists of sending emails, updating my webpage, making phone calls, etc. Around 2 o’clock is when I actually do have to work, you see, I run my own tutoring company in Chino Hills, CA. www.thecatutoringsolution.com. Typically I tutor from about 2:30 to 5:30. Afterwards, I will grab some fast food and spend about $6, which is my meal for the day, then I head home and either spending time with the girlfriend, or working on the business, until about 10 PM. At night, I read books related to business, or tutoring, but sometimes just for fun until about 2 AM, which is when I fall asleep.
Why am I telling you this? Throughout this process, I know that my routines will change, I also know that I will have to become healthier. I want you to be able to see the changes that have been made in my life as a result of setting this goal, and see that it has improved it for the better.
Have you gone through a routine change for the better? How did it affect you?
By the way, woke up sicker than yesteday, being sick is no fun.