Hello gang, happy Monday! I don’t know about you but I’ve been overtaken by Olympic fever the past few days.  I have never before been all that into the two-week competition, but something is definitely different this year.  Maybe it is because I spent my junior year of college in London, and every aerial shot of the city brings on intense pains of nostalgia.  Maybe because I’ve gotten to know the Karwoski brothers, and I’ve come to realize the intense dedication it takes to be an Olympic level athlete.  Perhaps my increased interest is due to the fact that I’ve begun taking my own workouts more seriously.  Or maybe I’m just more patriotic in my old age.  Whatever the reason, I’ve been completely enamored.

Anyway, it has encouraged me to exercise more.  I dug the old iron gym out from the back of my closet tonight and put it to use.  Can’t say I was terribly satisfied with my results, but at least I’m actually using it again.  Oh, and I signed up for the Rock N’ Roll Los Angeles mini-Half Marathon on Halloween.  If you read my post last week I was flirting with the idea, and over the course of the week I decided to do it.  Should be a fun day and good practice for my half marathon a week later.  Maybe I’ll wear a costume or something.  Plus that day will mark my third year anniversary as an Angelino!

Alright, I’m gonna go watch some swimming.  See you all next week!

-Derek

Said goodbye to my boy Karwoski on Friday.  It was sad to see him go, but I’m excited about his inevitable achievements in the years to come.  He’s gonna do big things out on the East Coast and I couldn’t be happier for him.  As long as I get a ticket to the 2016 Olympics that is…

I guess that means I’m holding down WAO365 Los Angeles on my own.

I had a good six-mile run in the neighborhood this evening.  Been slowly working up to 13 miles for the Malibu half-marathon I’m running with my mom in November.  I got an email today about the Los Angeles Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon in October, and it really tempted me to sign up.  I really enjoyed the San Diego Rock N’ Roll and I imagine Los Angeles will be just as nice.  Plus it is on Halloween, which will certainly add to the festivities.  I’ll let you know next week what I decide to do.

Hope everyone is doing well.  Keep working hard!

See ya next week!

-Derek

Wassup Team Monday!  Hope the weekend was a great one for everyone!  I was back in my college town of Madison, Wisconsin this past weekend, living it up with some of my old college pals.  An old roommate of mine was getting married, which proved a great excuse to get the bros together and reenact some undergrad adventures.

The weather in Madison was just gorgeous, so we hit up the green for a nice 18 holes Saturday afternoon.  I can’t say I did very well, or even respectable for that matter, but I had fun.  Afterward, we went to the batting cages to smack some baseballs; an activity I was only mildly better at.  Nonetheless, it was a real blast, and I realized how much I miss incorporating activities into exercising.  Running and cycling are great workouts, and provide their own set of rewards, but nothing is as fun as team exercise.  I suppose that is why I love races so much; they are events with hundreds of people all striving for the same goal.  I really miss being on a team, and I think I’m going to try and incorporate more group or event exercise into my life.  Exercise doesn’t seem like quite the chore when you’re enjoying it.

See y’all next week.

-Derek

Hey Team Monday, welcome back to the working week.  I hope everyone had a great weekend and got to spend some time outdoors.  It was hot here in LA but from what I gather the rest of the nation was even hotter!  I talked to my folks in Wisconsin and they told me it was over 100 degrees on the Fourth of July! Good heavens!

Not much new to report from my end.  The past week’s workouts went quite well; having Wednesday off of work made for a good opportunity for a long bike ride.   Today I went for a quick 5k at sunset, which proved to be quite pleasant.

Instead of a long entry this week, I’ll give you guys something I don’t offer up much; a picture!  I’m sure most of you have no idea what I even look like, so here’s one of me repping my dri-fit on a beach run.

Enjoy your week!  See you next Monday.

Happy (almost) 4^th of July everybody!  The 4^th is my absolute favorite holiday for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it serves as a great excuse for guilt free grilling, beer drinking, and meat eating.  This is my first year not spending the holiday in Wisconsin with my family.  I must admit this has left me a little bummed, but I’m excited to see what a West Coast 4^th of July has to offer.  Of course I’ve gotta give a big shout out to all the troops and their families that continue to make our freedom possible.  I hope all of our fine servicemen get to spend some time with, or at least get to talk to, the ones they love on the most American of holidays.

Workouts have been going well; I’ve been running as much as I can in an effort to stay in some semblance of summer shape.  I’m not up to my pre-marathon mileage quite yet but I feel strong and healthy.

Happy 4^th everyone!  Stay healthy and safe!

-Derek

Hey gang, its Monday again, which means its sadly back to the grind of the workweek.  I’ll tell you, its amazing how quickly the weekend flies past.

The past weekend was a great one for me; my buddy was in town on leave from his Navy deployment and we tore it up.  He’d been out on a ship the past eight months, training, helping impoverished nations, and sailing the seas, so I think hanging with a landlubber like me was a nice treat for him.

While we were hanging yesterday, he taught me an awesome workout he and his buddies would do to pass the time on the ship.  It’s a pretty basic cardio routine involving a deck of cards, some squats, sit-ups, squat thrusts, and push-ups.

You start with a deck of cards and assign each suit an exercise.  When I tried it this evening I assigned sit-ups to hearts, pull-ups to diamonds, squat thrusts to clubs, and push-ups to spades, but any variation will do.  Shuffle the deck and pull a card.  I believe the first card I pulled was the two of clubs, which meant I did two squat thrusts.  Do the exercise and pull another card.  Face cards are assigned the value or ten and Aces eleven.  So, for example you pull the Jack of Hearts, you do ten sit-ups.  It sounds a little silly but I’ll tell you, it was wicked hard.  I got through only about a third of the deck before I was totally spent.  It’s a really fun and different kinda way to work out though.  Try it out this week!

Alright guys, hope all of your workouts are going well.  Catch ya next week!

-Derek

Hey guys, just as I promised last Monday, I signed up for a race this week!  I’ll be running the Malibu Half Marathon with my dear old mother in November!  I honestly don’t know how all the pieces fell into place, but she told me she wanted to run a race with me, and next thing we knew we were signed up for the Malibu.  She’ll be flying out to Los Angeles November 8^th and we’ll be running along the Pacific Coast November 11^th.  I’m very excited!  Maybe this summer I can get her to do a couple of guest blogs to see how her training is coming!

As for me, I’ve gotta get my butt in gear!  Its beach season here in Los Angeles and I’ve been nothing but lethargic lately.  The occasional bike ride and 5k isn’t cutting it.  I ran about five miles tonight and felt like an old man when I got home!  Time to ramp it up and get back into marathon mode.  Only four and a half months until the Malibu Half Marathon!

Hey gang, happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I laid low for the most part though I did get in a little after- dinner stroll to the grocery store this evening.  My mom asked me this afternoon when I planned to go running again and I replied with a very ambivalent “soon.”  Without a goal and lack of any sort of motivation, I must admit I have been very hard-pressed to strap on the sneakers and put foot to pavement.  I guess I need that looming threat or deadline to keep me focused.

But I can’t fall into that trap!  That’s what happened to me after my last race!  I got lazy in the months following the big run and got severely out of shape.  Not again.  This week I’m gonna find some sort of race and sign up- I promise.  Whether it be a 5k or something a little longer, this time next week I’ll have a new goal to work towards.  In the meantime however, here’s the pic I promised you last week.  Apologies for not getting it up properly last time.

I did it!  After five months packed full of running, cross-training, blogging, and mental trepidation, marathon day has come and gone with great success.

My friend and running partner Rosie and I drove down to San Diego late Friday night from Los Angeles to get an early start on the weekend.  We got some food and toured around a little bit, but we wanted to save our energy for the upcoming days so we turned in early.  After breakfast Saturday morning, we met up with Sarah, the other member of our merry band of runners, and hit the expo.  We got our bibs, t-shirts, and loaded up on lots of free goodies.  It was an excellently organized and efficient event, which proved to be the case for the race as a whole.  From start to finish, everything was perfectly planned, organized, and executed.

After a couple hours of wandering around the expo, testing out the latest and greatest drinks, goos, supplements, bars, and snacks, we hit the road.  As part of the race packet, every participant in the Rock N’ Roll San Diego Marathon got a free ticket to Sea World, where we toured around for the afternoon.  After a few shows, a couple rides, and some intense whale watching, we hightailed it outta there for Little Italy where we did some last meal carbo loading.  The whole week prior to the marathon I’d been trying to get in as many calories as I could, particularly in the form of carbs, which I really think helped a lot.  In some of my practice runs prior to the race I felt a little lethargic and low on energy, but I had none of that yesterday.

We got up at 4am yesterday morning to get ready for our 6:45 start time.  Those few hours before a race always feature a strange mix of excitement and nervousness that go unmatched by any other experience.  I have a strange pre-race tradition of drinking a cup of coffee and a Gatorade followed by a banana.  I do it before any race I’m in and I really think it helps.  I mixed in a protein bar for good measure this time, an addition that proved to be a successful one.  I laced up my sneakers, pinned on my bib, and put on my 365 dri-fit; I was ready to go.

By 6:30 I was at the starting line in Balboa Park.  I heard reports that there were 27,000 participants in the event, and I believe it.  The place was packed with runners of all ages from all over the world.  One runner in my corral who got a special shout out was an Army Captain in full camo with boots, pack and all.  I passed him initially but after a bathroom break at mile 10 I saw him again, chugging along down the course.  He definitely was working hard, but he seemed to be doing pretty well for himself all told.

Because we were a few corrals in, we didn’t start the race until closer to 7am, but when the horn blew and we all took off, I felt like a million bucks.  For the first couple of miles Rosie, Sarah, and I ran together, taking in the scenery and enjoying the camaraderie, but once the crowd dispersed and everyone began to settle into their own pace we got separated.  I wasn’t too upset about this.  Running is a very individual, almost mental thing, especially in a race of this caliber.  I was happy to get into my own headspace and start going.

The course itself was amazing.  Every half mile or so they had a different band, playing various types of music that just really kept me going.  My friend asked me today what it was about the bands that I dug so much and I couldn’t really pinpoint it.  Not having an iPod, it first and foremost gave me something to listen to.  More importantly however, it gave me something to get excited about every half mile.  I almost felt like I was in a video game, reaching checkpoints as I completed little missions.  Run through Balboa Park, hit the Reggae band checkpoint.  Go through the Mission District, get the Rock N’ Roll checkpoint.  Make it through Petco field, get the Jazz band.  It was just a really cool thing that I’d never seen before and that I think really helped me a lot.

I ran the first 5k in 18 minutes, a PR by a long shot for me, though I definitely slowed down from there on out.  To be perfectly honest I’m not sure my exact times for any of the other mileage markers but I do know I finished the race in about 4 hours and 46 minutes.  This was pretty much the time I expected, putting me in at about a 10-minute mile.  The first 13.1 felt easy.  I remember crossing the halfway mark thinking I was gonna win the whole race.  I really did.  I had grand plans of sitting under a tree, calling my mother and telling her I was quitting my job to be a full time marathoner.  Unfortunately, I lost this ill-conceived level of confidence in the second 13.1.  By about mile sixteen I had some slight aches in my knees and by mile 20 my legs felt really sore.  I alternated between walking and running for the next five miles, kicking myself for not better having paced the front half.  Runners whom I passed miles earlier raced past me with ache free legs and grins on their faces.  I felt a little disappointed about my performance and my need to walk, but I’m definitely glad I didn’t push myself into injury.  And, I ran the last mile.  That I am proud of.  Before the race I promised myself I’d do that at least.  My legs were pounding and I was completely drained, but I ran across the finish line.

So, all and all, it was a good race.  After a little ice and some relaxation, I’m free of any aches and pains and I feel a tremendous level of accomplishment.  I’d run plenty of races before and I’d done a couple of marathons in years past, but this one seemed really special.  I was totally out of shape when I started, but through some hard work and this amazing blog, I really got my act together.  So thank you all for reading me every week.  I guess I have to find a new challenge now!

And, best of all, I finally have some pictures!  I’ll slowly roll ’em out over the next couple of weeks.

-Derek

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope everyone had a wonderful three-day weekend and had an opportunity to get outside and get in some activity!  Los Angeles was gorgeous this weekend and I made sure to make the most of it.  I got in some ample beach time at Santa Monica Beach yesterday and had a nice long walk with my roommate’s dog today.

There is a lot that could and should be said on this Memorial Day about the service of our troops to this great nation, but anything I might say would be preaching to the choir.   By taking the WAO365-pledge, you’ve all made a selfless commitment to the men and women of the armed services, their families, and the United States of America.  Freedom does not come without a price and it is the soldiers who pay the debt.  Veterans and families of fallen soldiers remain too often underserved and underappreciated, and WAO is making great strides to acknowledge this.  I’m very proud to be a Team Leader for We Are One 365 and I’m happy that every time I sport my WAO365 apparel, it is for a great cause.   The men and women in uniform have made and continue to make tremendous sacrifices, both on the battlefield and at home, and I am incredibly grateful for all they’ve done.

After more than five months of training, marathon weekend is almost here.  Next weekend it all goes down.  I’ll be wearing my WAO365 dri-fit, running for the troops.  After a 20miler last Sunday, I’ve been tapering off, getting most of my miles in via long walks.  I feel good and strong and ready for the big race.

I’ll be heading down to San Diego Friday night, carbo loading Saturday, and running 26.2 along the Pacific Ocean Sunday morning.  It should be a great weekend.  I’ll have a full rundown of how things go next week in my post.

Until then, happy exercising!

-Derek