Jamaican Me Happy

We just got back from our trip to the beautiful island nation of Jamaica. I'm already finding myself missing the place. We had an incredible time soaking in all the culture, food, and fun. I highly recommend it and hope to be back one day. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Oh, and also...

I ran 18.6 miles today in the cold! It was 27 degrees with the wind chill this morning! Yowsers! It was a good run all in all. I'm pretty sore, but that's expected. Next week I'm going for 20 miles...maybe.

It's time for a vacation!

We're finally going to Jamaica!!

Time To Ramp It Up!

Just a few more weeks and it's marathon time! Am I nervous? Not really. Well, maybe just a little. I'm more anxious and excited than I am nervous. Yesterday morning, I completed my longest run to date. I ran 15.11 miles and at a decent average moving pace of 9:04 min/miles. I suspect it would have been better had I not been overly conservative in the first 3 miles. Even so, it's better than my best half marathon time. Next Sunday I'm planning on running 17 miles. And then 20 miles the following week. Then it's time to taper. Wish me luck!

New link added

I just added a link to my brother's new blog. He's dedicating it to all the sweet deals, sweepstakes, and free stuff he finds. Thanks for sharing the wealth, bro.

Whoops! Say good bye to October...

And hello to the greatest month of them all! Give it up for November, ladies and gentlemen. November is great for so many reasons. The weather is cooler, it's a huge month for video game releases, there's Thanksgiving festivities, and there's several birthdays including my own. It all contributes to an overwhelming sense of comfort and excitement for me. I totally dig it.

February Fun

I just got through registering for the AT&T Austin Half Marathon. My cousin and I have been talking about running it for fun for some time now. It fits snugly in between the Houston Full Marathon and the big Texas Independence Relay. We figured it be a fun training run for the TIR. Plus, we'll get to run through scenic Austin, which should be a treat.

http://www.attaustinmarathon.com/cms/default.asp

Get out there and run!

September in Review

Wow. These months sure go by fast. I can't believe it has been well over a month since I've been back from Rome. It's truly frightening how fast time really goes by. Well, September was a real blur. The highlights include cutting both my hair short and my personal best running time down significantly. September marked the official beginning of my training for the Chevron Marathon. It hasn't been all the different from my normal running, but this year is different because I'm really making it official. Other big news includes me getting Halo 3 a day early (because I had won it as a prize through this online promotion). Unfortunately, my xbox 360 became dysfunctional just a few days prior. So I have two options. 1. Send it to Microsoft to repair. 2. Wait a month and a half to use the replacement plan through MicroCenter. I've decided to go with the latter only because I'd rather get a new premium xbox (hopefully with the newer chip and motherboard) with HDMI. I have to officially wait until November 14th before I can do that, however. That's over a month away!! Thank goodness these months are flying by so quickly...

There's no place like Rome

Well, we've been back from Rome for a few days now and I think we're finally getting back into the old routine. The trip was terrific. We did our best to soak in all the sights and sounds of the old city and took hundreds of pictures to prove it (nearly 1,000!). Here's a link to our photo book featuring some of the highlights.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CYsmzJo0bMXtg

Enjoy!

We're going to Jamai...err...Italy!!

So we had planned this much needed vacation months in advanced. We did our research and had everything booked for a nice trip to Jamaica. Then Hurricane Dean shows up and basically says "sike." So, anxious to "get away" we scramble to figure out new vacation plans. The idea of a trip to Europe bubbles up and the wheels are set in motion. We did have plans for a European trip, but that was supposed to be in 2008. Well, things have changed. It's alright though, because we're both very excited about this trip. There are tons of things we're looking forward to seeing and doing. One of things I'm most excited about is running in Rome. There's this incredible park near our hotel that promises to be one of the highlights of the trip. I've read that there's an 8 kilometer loop there too, so I should be able to get some decent distance in. I intend on bringing back a lot of pictures so stay tuned. (revs moped, "Ciao" *)

(*Eddie Izzard reference)

A New Beginning...

I know I've said this many times before, but this time will be different. How do I know this? Well, I really don't, but I really think it will be.

I'll just start with the highlights of what's going on in my life right now.

Married Life:
Things have been great. I think my wife and I have really struck our balance in terms of living together. We make a great team and I completely adore her.

The Family:
Exciting times for the family. My sister is due to give birth within the next week!!! Anyday now, we'll have a new addition to the clan.

The House:
The house has being great, aside of this recurring leak we've been having. The builders are working on it right now, actually. This is the 4th time they've tried to fix it. With any luck, we'll finally get it today.

Running:
So the last time I posted was way back in January right after my second successful Half Marathon. Coincidentally, I just registered for the 2008 Chevron Marathon last night. I'm stepping it up this year by trying the Full Marathon (that's 26.2 miles). I'm pretty excited about it and intend on taking my training much more seriously this season. I'm also planning on running in the Texas Independence Relay race next March (www.texasindependencerelay.com). A team of us will be running the 200 miles that from Gonzalez, Texas to San Jacinto, Texas.

Basketball:
Things are pretty much status quo. I still list it as one of my pure loves. I've been having a nagging injury on my left index finger that has been a real pain, but I try to play through it. I'm planning on playing in a tournament in August.

Gaming:
Gaming has been decent lately. It's a luxury that my wife is really into gaming as well. And not only is she into it, she's just about as competitive as I am about it. So there's always someone to play against. I've won our 2k5 Football offline league this past weekend, which was a treat. My SPM in Battlefield 2142 keeps going up, which is what I like to see. I only play about once a week, but at least it's productive. I just ordered Mario Strikers Charged yesterday. I'm really anxious to play online with the Wii. A lot of good games are coming out this year, so it should make for a pretty interesting holiday season (Call of Duty 4 anybody?). Let's not forget Metroid, Mario Galaxy, and Smash Brothers Brawl. And that's just on the Wii.

Work:
I don't want to dedicate too much space on work so I'll keep it brief. Work is better now that we're not working 60+ hours a week.

Well, that's it for now.

Round 2

So I've been slacking off pretty badly with this blog these last few months. I've kind of lost touch ever since I moved. It's surely not due to the lack of things happening in my life. The most recent notable thing is that I finished my second half marathon this past week. I've been looking forward to it for the last 12 months and it had finally come around. My goal was to better my time from last year. I can happily say that i accomplished that. Last year I finished the 13.1 mile run in 2 hours and 13 minutes at an average pass of 10 minutes 12 seconds per mile. I felt that this was a fairly strong pace and was concerned that I wouldn't be able to improve it. As the race day approached my training intensified. I suddenly devoloped knee problems in my right leg. I feared that this would dampen my performance in my second try at the half and my goal shifted towards finishing in one piece. Fortunately, I was able to hold it together to finish the race in strong time of 2 hours and 7 minutes at an average pace of 9 minutes 42 seconds per mile.