The Integrious Project

Mar 232011
 

My brother and I have been running for quite some time now and we’d like to make a shout out to one of our heroes, Beau Hodson.  Beau Hodson runs his own website, http://www.integriousproject.com/.  The Integrious Project is designed to bring the word integrious back into common usage.  Currently, the word integrity has no adjective to describe someone and it is Beau’s mission to make integrious that word. 

Not only is Beau committed to making the word integrious a certified word in the dictionary, but he is also promoting the ideology behind the word.  He is hoping to bring about a movement of people who act with integrity on a daily basis.  The Running Brothers support Beau Hodson’s goal and we have been encouraging him every step of the way.  If you are interested in finding out more about Beau Hodson and The Integrious Project, visit his website, http://www.integriousproject.com/.

Zeb’s Race on the Base Run

Mar 222011
 

My brother and I only had a few minutes to spare when we made it to the starting line.  My parents, sister and good friend, Dusty Edwards were there for support.  They got in positions with their cameras and my brother and I pretended to stretch prior to the race.  The starting pistol went off and the race was underway.  I immediately pushed my brother to knock him off-balance so that I could have a clear path ahead.  From that point on, I never looked back. 

I felt like I was keeping a really good pace, passing people left and right.  Although, I began to tire after about the second mile and the last mile was a bit of a struggle as people began passing me telling me to keep going . . . I guess I looked like I was about to keel over or something. 

I made it into the staging area and was well ahead of most of the runners, I quickly gathered my bike and sped off in my brand new Cannondale bicycle.

Race on the Base . . . Late???

Mar 212011
 

I told my brother I would pick him up around 830 to head to Los Alamitos from his house in Corona.  Los Alamitos is close to an hour away, so I assumed that we would have plenty of time to make it to the military base . . . and boy, was I wrong. 

It had rained heavily the night before and three roads were closed or altered on the way to my brother’s house when I arrived at 845.  He was sitting in his garage waiting for me and we left almost immediately from his house.  The drive to Los Alamitos lasted an hour, but the line to enter the base was enormous and moved slowly.  I was nervous and my blood pressure was rising as I did not want to be the cause for us to miss our race.  We had to run to the check-in tent which seemed like it was a mile away from where we parked. 

We rushed to check-in and realized that we were one of the last people to do so.  The staging area was probably another half-mile away from the check-in tent so we were rushing to accomplish everything on time and eventually did, but I was stressed out.  The good thing about being late was I didn’t really have any time to think about the race, we just set our stuff up, rushed to the starting line and within minutes we were off. 

Everything worked out in the end, but it sure was hectic.  I learned a valuable lesson at The Race on the Base and will be sure taht I am always early to my future events to make sure that all goes according to plan and that I am nice and relaxed on race day.  My brother played it off pretty smoothly, but he did tell me we should leave earlier.  I’m not going to say I’m stubborn and Rocky would never say “I told you so.”  But, if I were him I sure would have.

March 18 – My 30th Birthday

Mar 202011
 

On March 18, 2011, my 30th birthday, I headed to Vegas for one of our heros, Michael Nunez’s bachelor party. My brother was also along for the ride and we had a variety of plans to train once in Vegas.  As soon as we got on the bus; however, we knew that no training would be accomplished over the weekend.

We had a great time, about as much fun as twelve guys could have.  And if you thought the Hangover was a good movie, let’s just say they could have made a franchise of movies about our trips to Vegas.

One thing I will point out about our trip to Vegas was that we did have the valet give us the wrong car, which we then drove around town, where we stumbled across the world’s largest pinball arcade.  When we reached our destination, we had a nearly nude man hop out of the trunk right in front of the arcade.

In case you don’t believe me, here’s the picture to prove it . . .

Day 30 of the 30-Day Challenge

Mar 192011
 

My goal was to be in the best shape of my life at the age of 30 and although I am close, I did not quite make my goal. I went to the gym religiously for the first 20 days of the challenge, but my mental toughness began to wane and I copped out early giving myself one week to relax prior to my 30th Birthday.

I really feel like I have been doing an excellent job at keeping up with my training program. There have been a few hiccups here and there, but all in all I am getting more training in. So far, the most difficult part for me to stick to is completing the swimming portion of my training each week. The pool can become quite boring and the clorinated water has an effect on your body that does not want to make you stay in there for too long.

At 30, I can not say that I am in the best shape of my life, but I can say that I will be in the best shape of my life at the age of 30. That I can guarantee.

Partying or training?

Mar 182011
 

The running brothers have a big weekend this weekend. Zeb has been doing great with his training and I have been…..well I am trying. But this weekend is going to Vegas for a bachalor party for one of our heros.

We obviously have to go to Las Vegas because the running brothers support our heros and if we happen to have a good time in the process we do. We were talking and my brother said he wanted to get all of his training in this week before we head out to vegas. I on the other hand, am not a stud, and can’t do that so I am left with a question: Should I party hard or tame things down as part of my training and preparation for the marathon on May 1?

After a mental debate I have come to the conclusion that partying is part of training. We need to have a good time every once in a while to help keep us focused on our goals and give our minds a break.

So I am gonna party….. no…. train super hard this weekend. But don’t worry we will figure out a way to not get into to much trouble.

Ironman Training Week #11

Mar 172011
 

Weekly Amount:

Running = 15.5 miles
Biking = 52 miles
Swimming = 4000 M or 2.5 miles
Total Amount: 70 miles

Overall Amount:

Running = 136.5 miles (105.5 miles to Las Vegas)
Biking = 424 miles (549 miles to Seattle)
Swimming = 41,200 meters or 28.2 miles (9.1 miles to Los Angeles)
Total = 587 miles (456 miles to Seattle)

Accomplishments:

Vacation training

Mar 162011
 

This past weekend was a great weekend for me. I got to go so spring training in Phoenix with my Dad, we saw three baseball games, golfed two great course and meet up with some great friends.

It was a lot of fun and I came back well rested and rejuvinated for work and training but I didn’t get to train at all. However, my dad who has been a gym rat for the past year in a half, did make it to the hotel gym. I just couldn’t motivate myself to go to the gym.

I have a question for our followers: How do you train on vacation? do you have any tricks to not let your vacations affection training?

The Post Race Blues

Mar 152011
 

When I completed The Rose Bowl Half-Marathon, I was stoked. I had such a good time and was proud that I was able to complete the entire course without ever having even come close to running that kind of distance before. After the race; however, it was a different story. My knees were killing me and I could barely walk let alone train for anything.

That is when the Post Race Blues grabbed a hold of me. I became extremely depressed and questioned everything I was doing from my business to my friends and family. It was a time of self-reflection, but boy it hit me hard. My brother mentioned the post race blues in one of his articles which got me wondering if other athletes experienced the same things. Turns out many of them do.

One google search provided a plethora of articles about the Post Race Blues which is highly common. Many people attributed it to the accomplishment of a goal and then having to decide what the next goal should be, but for me this wasn’t the case. Because I had no idea that I would be running a half marathon until just a few hours before the event.

Many people attribute the post race blues to the reactions in your body that accompany the amount of physical exertion that takes place in a run that long, especially when someone is not appropriately trained and this sounds right to me. The post race blues was a difficult time for me, but it only lasted a few days and once my legs began to heal and I was able to get back to my training all was right with the world again.

Q & A with Peter Engwall from AuggiesDad.Sweat365.com

Mar 142011
 

Why do you compete in endurance events? What goals do you have?

Initially for me, competing, or should I say, participating in endurance events came as a way to help me stay focused on the end result of losing weight.  I needed something to look forward to one summer, so I decided to sign up for my first Sprint Tri.  Now 4 years/3 seasons, (out 1 season due to injury), I’m looking at doing a Full Ironman in November.  I got hooked!  I have three main goals this year for me and my endurance adventures.  1st Goal – Go Sub 3 hours at my Olympic Distance race in July.  2nd Goal – Go Sub 17 Hours for my Full Ironman, (I have a time I’d really like to hit, but I’m really looking forward to finishing, and, I’m keeping that time in my head and not sharing.) 3rd goal is to get and remain injury free. 

Do you have any memorable experiences that you’d like to share with us?

Where should I start? Marrying my best friend?  The birth of my son? Being on the Oprah Show.  Finishing my first Sprint Tri.  Crossing the finishing line in my very first “race”, getting a finishers medal and landing in my wife’s arms.  Crossing the finish line at my very first 1/2 Marathon, my very first 1/2 Ironman…Pick one.  They are all extremely memorable.  I haven’t and won’t forget any of them.

What do you enjoy most about training?  The least?

I enjoy “getting away from it all” the most about training.  In other words, when I swim, bike or run, my mind is solely focused on those things that I am doing and the rest of the world is all a blurr…All of the other things just go away.  I also enjoy the camaraderie of it all.  Training, (read = pain) with friends is a lot more fun than pain without friends.  They keep us honest.  The least…Well, all good things must come to and end, right?  In other words, getting back into the “real world”.

Any recommendations for someone who is new to endurance training?

Find people who are 1) Smarter than you are about what you’re about to do.  And 2) Find someone faster than you.  Smarter will help you learn the right things about the sport.  They can help you figure out what to do and what NOT to do.  Depending on what distance or goal you’re looking at doing, you don’t necessarily need a coach, but at least someone who has been involved in the sport for awhile, and knows what they are doing.  Finding someone faster than you makes training a lot of fun.  You’ve got to keep up, which, in turn, makes you faster.
 
Could you please tell us about auggiesdad.sweat365.com? 

http://auggiesdad.sweat365.com/ It’s a place I go to remember how many days is it until my next event, (or, more importantly a place I go to remind myself I’ve only got X amount of days until my Ironman, and then I say, ‘HOLY SH@!$%T’!.  It’s a place I go to track my workouts.  It’s a place I go to see how far I’ve swum, biked, and ran year to date.  It’s my little place in the internet space.

What was your inspiration for starting your blog? Has your blog changed since you started?

My inspiration for starting was just so I could hang with the cool kids…No, I’m kidding.  I thought it would be a hoot to see how far I go and track distances.  A place to write about what I see when I swim, bike and run.  My own little place for everyone and anyone to see, whenever they’d like.  If they want to. 

How has keeping a blog enhanced your running experience? 

It shows me how far I’ve gone. It motivates me to go further, (when I’m not injured).  It inspires me to keep moving.  Move More, Every Day.  I like to see results, so when those results grow on a daily basis, (as in, when I log my workouts), those results grow.  That moves me more tomorrow than today!

Do you have a particular post that you’re proud of?

http://sweat365.com/blog/2008/05/14/lifestyle-changes-yield-big-results/  (pretty self explanatory as to why it’s my most proud post…But, let me know if you’d like me to go into details). It’s not technically a post on my blog, but it’s a post on sweat which features me, which I wrote the answers to.

What has been your most rewarding experience through your blog so far?

Meeting new people and making new friends.  When you start reading other members questions, comments or blogs, you get to meet all kinds of interesting people from all over the place.  And, some who just so happen to be local.  So, you throw out an invite for a run, and before you know it, you’ve got a group ready to meet up for a run.  Then a little while longer you’ve got a training ride together.  Not too much later you’re heading out for a run and coffee, and the learning continues, and you get new friends! 

What are your favorite websites or blogs related to running?

http://runningbrothers.com/ and slowtwitch.com mostly.

Do you have any tips or ideas for a new running blogger?

Be yourself. Be true to whom you are, have fun! And, to steal a slogan from Brooks Running…”Run Happy!”

What are you most passionate about?

My family. My friends.

What is something that you think everyone should do at least once in their lifetime?

WOW, to pick one is difficult.  The list is huge…But, I guess, I’d like to make someone elses life just that much happier.  Change the life of someone else for the better.

You can learn more about Peter Engwall by visiting his website, auggiesdad.sweat365.com

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