Hello fellow 365-ers! Happy Monday!

I just got back to LA from my hometown of Milwaukee, WI where I spent a great weekend with family and friends.  While I was there, my mom and I celebrated Mother’s Day by running Milwaukee’s lakefront bike path.  The path runs along over five miles of beautiful Lake Michigan coastline and was bustling with mothers and their children out enjoying the spring weather.  Like me, my mom is a relatively new runner, but what she lacks in experience she makes up for in enthusiasm.  We’ve run a few short races together and they’ve all been really great.  It was wonderful to see her and a great treat to go out running with her.

Because of travel complications, I missed out on my usual workout today (though I definitely did some intense running from Concourse A to Concourse G changing planes at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport) so I’ll have to go double hard tomorrow.  This Sunday I plan on running 20 miles in preparation for my marathon, which is only 3 weeks away!!

Happy workouts everyone!  See you next week

I started a new job today! After much deliberation as to what my next step would be, I’ve decided to stay in the entertainment industry and pursue “the dream” (whatever that means). I’m working as an assistant at a small post-production company that works in film editing. The day went really well and I definitely think I made the right decision.

That being said, I wasn’t without my share of first day jitters. When I got home from work I felt very good about the day’s accomplishments, but still had lingering feelings of stress in need of release. Thankfully it was a beautiful day here in Los Angeles, and there were still a couple of hours of sunlight left, so I hit the pavement and ran a quick 4.5 miles around my neighborhood. I was all smiles when I got home, feeling great about how everything went.

I’m heading back to my home state of Wisconsin on Friday for a long weekend, so next week’s blog will be from the Dairy State! I’m gonna try and convince one of my family members to snap some photos of me in my WAO365 gear, so hopefully the drought of pictures won’t last too much longer.  Have a great week everyone!

What’s up everybody, happy Monday!  It’s been another strong week of workouts for old Derek, even though the SoCal weather hasn’t included the sunshine I normally brag about here on the blog.

I attempted an 18-mile run yesterday, my longest distance in some time, but hit a wall around mile 14 and could only muster 16.  I clocked a 10-minute mile, two minutes longer than what I’ve been running on my shorter runs, which led me to the realization I need some work on my pacing.  Nonetheless, it was a helpful rehearsal for the big show, which is a month and one day from today.

Not really up for another big run so soon, I took it easy today on a quick 5k with some minor lifting and core strengthening afterward.

See y’all next week!

-Derek

It was a beautiful weekend here in Los Angeles and with the perfect weather, I made sure to make time for lots of outdoor activity. I got in runs of various lengths the past few days with a strenuous 9 and a half miler this morning.  While I am very jealous of all of the travelling Nick has been doing, it has been nice to be at home and have some consistency in my workouts.

As I mentioned in my early 365 blogs, before I committed to being the Monday Team Leader I was really good at thinking up reasons why not to get exercise.  I was too tired, I got home too late from work, the weather wasn’t nice, or a million others; there was always some lame vindication for my laziness.  But after blogging for ten weeks I haven’t felt the need to conjure up any excuses for myself in a long while. I haven’t missed a day of running in something like two weeks and haven’t gone a day without some sort of activity in even longer. With marathon day rapidly approaching, I’m feeling good and strong and ready to compete. Getting into a strict routine and maintaining accountability to this blog has been crucial in keeping me motivated and diligent.

So keep at it!  If you need motivation to get started, sign up for an event and plan a workout schedule.  Or even better, follow one of the 365 Team Leaders!  It is a great cause and it’ll keep you active!

I hope everyone has a great week!  See you all next Monday.

-Derek

Happy Monday 365-ers! I hope everyone had a great weekend and got in lots of good exercise!

I’ve grown a little tired of doing so much running lately, so I’ve been substituting extra miles on the old bicycle for the usual jogs. Sunday was a particularly good day to be a Los Angeles cyclist as the city held one of its regular CicLAvias. The city closed off over ten miles of downtown road for the event, leaving the streets car-free for thousands of bikers, skaters, runners, and walkers. Having to dodge cars and buses on my ride this morning definitely left me longing to live in a more bike friendly city. I found a nice thirteen-mile bike lane from my house to the beach that doesn’t have too many cars whizzing by, but the idea of someone opening their car door on me is constantly in the back of my mind. Nonetheless, biking has become my new favorite hobby and I hope to keep logging lots of miles.

Have a wonderful week! See you next Monday!

-Derek

This past weekend I found myself back in my old stomping grounds of Brooklyn, NY, the town I called home for almost a year after college.  I love Los Angeles and being able to call myself an Angelino, but from the moment I landed at La Guardia I was filled with pains of nostalgia for my days as a New Yorker.

I moved to Brooklyn as a poor unpaid intern, living on the small savings I’d amassed from college jobs.  Not being able to afford a gym membership (though I did make sure to always have enough money for New York- style pizza and Brooklyn Lager), those first few months proved to be quite hazardous to my waistline.  When I finally became too disgusted with my lack of exercise, it dawned on me that I didn’t need to pay to workout; I could transform the city into my gym.  I turned scaffolding into pull-up bars, used park benches for dips and picnic tables for push-ups.  Anything Central Park had to offer, it was mine for the using.

Though I’ve been more ardent with my workouts, and have invested in dumbbells, a yoga ball, and iron gym since moving to Los Angeles, I still try to incorporate the skills I learned on the East Coast to my West Coast workouts.  I rode my bike over to the Santa Monica trail this morning and utilized every park bench I saw on the path.  I still don’t belong to a gym, but I am a tax paying California resident so I’m gonna get my money’s worth.  After a nice bike ride, I ran the three and a half miles along Santa Monica Blvd and got in some good cross training in the process.

See you all next Monday!  Spring has sprung, so let’s all make the most of it.

-Derek

Congrats to the Baltimore 365-ers for their success in what sounded like a great weekend.  When Nick first got me involved in WAO365 he mentioned trying to get a Los Angeles event going at some point, so I’m excited to make that dream a reality somewhere down the line.

I went on a wicked fun camping trip to Death Valley this past weekend, which included lots of hiking and some awesome climbing.  Death Valley has some really amazing walks and some of the most inspiring scenery I’ve ever seen.  Blustery sand dunes, gorgeous vistas of red rocks, epic salt flats, volcanic craters, and the lowest elevation in North America- Death Valley’s got it all.  While some of the people in my group had trouble with the heat (it reached 97 degrees mid-day Saturday) and the extensive mileage we logged, I felt in top form.  I was a little worried that I’d be sore or tired out on my morning run today, but there wasn’t an ounce of lethargy in my legs.  I’m definitely in fighting shape for this marathon coming up in less than two months.

I’m going back to my old stomping grounds of Brooklyn next weekend so I imagine I’ll be getting lots of walking in next weekend as well.  Hope everyone has a great week!

-Derek

P.S. Yup, still no pictures.  My bad.

Hey 365ers, happy Monday!  From what I gather the temperatures were unseasonably warm everywhere but here in LA this past weekend, so I hope everyone was able to make the most of it.

After several weeks of excitement, my life has gotten back to a certain level of normalcy and I’ve been able to ease back into my standard workout routine.

Been getting in lots of running and a decent amount of cross training, which has left me feeling quite fit and strong.  I went out for a nice little 5k as the sun was setting tonight, which made for a very pleasant end to the day.  Eleven weeks til my marathon and I’m feeling good!

Best of luck to the Baltimore 365ers this weekend!  The event should be a smash hit!

See y’all next week!

-Derek

P.S. Sorry I still don’t have any pictures up.  I did take some this past weekend but they’re on my roommate’s camera.  Perhaps next week.

Earlier this evening I returned to Los Angeles from a long week of snowboarding in Vail, Colorado with the rest of the Eby flock.  I’m feeling a bit brain dead from lack of sleep, lots of activity, and the labors of travel so I’ll keep this week’s post short and sweet.

While we didn’t see any fresh powder out on the slopes, the conditions were still excellent.  It’d been a few years since I’d strapped on a snowboard so I was a bit worried about how rusty my skills had become.  Thankfully, all my hesitation vanished after a few runs.  I felt incredibly confident in my abilities and cruised nicely.

It being as late in the season as it was, the crowds were at a minimum, so we pretty much had the run of the mountain.  My old man and I made it a point to be on the first chair lift ride up every morning and finish just as strong at the end of the day, so we got in a lot of good riding.  My current tiredness was well earned- it was a great trip.

Walking around downtown Vail, you can’t help but acknowledge the impact a small army group, the 10^th Mountain Division, had in shaping the small ski-town.  The 10^th Mountain Division is the only division in the United States Army to specialize in combat under harsh terrain and intense weather conditions.  While they’re most renowned for their work fighting for the Allies in Italy in World War II, this unique mountain warfare unit is still active in the Middle East, dealing with the most critical of situations.

Just before entering downtown Vail, an oversized statue of a 10th Mountain Division soldier dressed in full uniform, with skis and riffle, is prominently displayed in memory of the soldiers who trained at Camp Hale, a small town just outside of Vail.  Ski historians contend the enormous impact that the returning veterans of the 10^th Mountain Division had on the post-WWII development of recreational skiing.   Veterans founded ski resorts, designed runs, perfected equipment, and became coaches, instructors, lift operators, patrollers, and racers.  Vail itself was founded by a wounded 10th Mountain Division veteran, returning from World War II to the area of the Rockies that he loved the most.  I know I’m personally indebted to the soldiers of the 10^th Mountain Division, not only for protecting our nation, but also for helping usher in the rise of the sport I love so much.

All right everybody it’s past my bedtime.  See you all next week!  Sooner or later I promise to get some pictures up.

-Derek

I got it back.

That feeling.  That desire.  That need to go running.  The sense that my whole day is hinged upon having a good run.  It’s a feeling that’s escaped me for a long time but has happily returned.

I had a buddy in town last week and we went jogging every day.  Most days I didn’t really want to go I just felt like I had to go.  As I mentioned in last week’s post, he and I have a tendency to test each other’s limits.  There’s a constant competition between the two of us that festers beneath everything we do.   He’s a far better runner than I am and a far tougher hombre, so I constantly found myself pushing to the edge to keep up with him.  We did several long beach runs in Santa Monica, a couple of swims, a two-day backpacking hike in Joshua Tree, and a lot more.  And it all paid off!  I woke up this morning, the day after he split town, itching to get out and be active.  Not that feeling of burden where I know I should but I really don’t want to.  I really wanted to.  And I felt great!  I went hard and long and when I was done I felt like I could retrace those four miles and do it all over again.  I’ve been out running everyday for the past ten days, and each day I feel better and better.  I feel like I’m finally a real runner again.  I’m on my way back to marathon shape.

I’m Colorado bound Wednesday for a little snowboarding trip, so next week’s post will be from higher elevations.  Here’s to hoping for some fresh powder and some good skiing!

Have a great week 365-ers!