A Blast from the Past: GEM City!

April Recap?

So I missed my monthly update last month. It's all a blur to me now that we're already past mid May. I'm having a hard to recalling all the April highlights. The three big things that come to mind are my wife's knee surgery, the release of Mario Kart Wii, and the release of GTA IV. That's not to say those three things are of equal importance to me. Obviously, my wife health is number one. (See honey, I DO love you more than games!)

She's doing fairly well. She's in the middle of rehab. The procedure went without a hitch so it's just a matter of seeing how well her knee responds. We're staying hopeful.

As for the games, I'm currently enjoying both still. I promise to post full impressions soon. I promise...

The Texas Independence Relay 2008 Recap

It has been almost a week since the relay and I still can't stop thinking about it. It was such an incredible weekend. I really don't think I could do it justice by describing it here. Everything was great. That's not to say that everything went according to plan, but we still had a fantastic time.

We got in on Friday evening and stayed in Flatonia, which was about 25 minutes away from Gonzales. We stayed at a lovely bread and breakfast called the Olle Hotel that I would highly recommend. The place was gorgeous and Katherine, the owner, was the sweetest hostess. We had a team dinner that night at this steak house a few blocks away. Most of us ordered pasta, of course. After dinner, we returned to the hotel and had a last team meeting before our early start to the race the next morning. We adjourned and tried to enjoy the last bit of real rest before our adventure began.

We got up at 4:30 AM for breakfast and checked out shortly after 5:00. We had a little bit of trouble locating the starting area for the race, even while using our GPS navigation systems. We had a scheduled start time of 6:24 and it looked as though we'd surely be late for it. They has us park a block or two away from the actual starting area, so we rushed to the check in table as soon as we could to get our race bibs and other goodies. We then had to rush over to the starting line while trying to pin our bibs on our shirts. We were late, but they allowed us to start about 15 minutes later than our scheduled start. Our race had officially started.

So the way it works is that your entire team runs this "Prologue leg" before starting on the actual legs. The prologue leg was just 1.15 miles long, but it was a great way to get the team pumped up for the race. My cousin Duy flew through the first leg then handed it to me for the second. I was excited to be the second runner and knew that I would benefit from the early start. A super dense fog still blanketed the area so it was difficult to see more than a few hundred feet away. I caught up to a runner in front of me and chatted with her for about half a mile. She was from an all teacher running team from the Woodlands. We had a nice little chat before we parted ways. I finished my short 4.85 miles at a decent pace and handed it off to our strongest and most experienced runner, Parker. This next leg was rated the most difficult due to its distance and net uphill elevation gain. I had complete confidence in him and expected him to run at a very strong pace, despite knowing that he had had kidney stones removed just a week before (for the record, his doctors strongly advised he not run). The leg was 8.78 miles long and since I knew he was capable of a long distance pace of 6 minutes/mile, we made sure to get to the exchange early. As we waited for his silhouette to break the fog, we starting seeing runners on teams I knew I had already passed. We looked at the clock and started to grow concerned. We called him on the designated runner's cell phone to check up on him. I asked him how he was doing. He replied "Bad. I'm really hurting." At that point I just wanted to make sure he didn't seriously hurt himself and hoped he was close enough to the exchange point where we could help him. A little less then ten minutes later, we see him. It's obvious that he's struggling but he makes a strong sprint towards us. He hands of the race bracelet to my cousin Quan, then just collapses to the ground. We did everything we could to rehydrate him and get him comfortable. It was clear that the race was over for him. On the drive to the next exchange, we were scheduled to meet up the rest of the team. I tried to figure out how I would break the news for them. Deep down, I concluded that our chances of finishing on time were shot with our strongest runner out and his three difficult legs remaining to be distributed among the team. Little did I know that this moment would be the defining moment for me for the entire weekend. I broke the news to the team and was totally impressed with how the team just pulled together to figure out the solution. We ended up switching up several leg assignments. Three of them volunteered to take on an additional leg, and we switched my brother Long to two of Parker's remaining legs. Though I felt good about the decision, I was serious worried about my little brother. I knew he had been training hard, but he was relatively new to running and had never run more than five miles in the gym. And now, I was asking him to run a mid-day 6.36 mile leg and a late night 6.76 mile leg. At the exchange where Long was to take over for Parker, I spent a great deal of time talking with him. I gave him pointers and reminded him to stick with what he felt comfortable with. I made sure he got his gear on and instructed him how to use it. I kept following him to make sure he was ready. And when he finally got the hand off, I watched him speed away. I was anxious and nervous to see how he'd do in the mid-day heat for such a distance. As soon as I got word that he finished, I realized that he had done great. At that moment, I couldn't have been more proud of him.

It should be noted that everyone on this team did an outstanding job. Everyone made huge contributions and I feel truly honored to have been a part of it. We had our ups and downs, but we kept at it and outperformed my every expectation. I am so proud of everyone and I can't wait to do it again.

One more running event weekend...

Just a couple of more days and we'll be off on the last (?) of the running events for early 2008. It's the inaugural Texas Independence Relay!! And since we are the first officially registered team in event history, hopefully we can make it a good one. Here's the brief skinny:
-200+ miles stretching from Gonzales, TX to San Jacinto, TX.
-12 Runners
-3 Support Team Members
-2 Vans
-Loads of fun and adventure!

I'll post the weekend details when we get back. Hopefully we'll come back with those phat medals and a boat load of great memories. Wish us luck!

Austin Half Marathon Recap

So I finally got to bed around 12:30 AM. After what seemed like a brief sleep, I found myself lying restlessly in bed. The alarm rang at 4:45 AM and I rolled out of bed. I didn't feel completely rested but I felt ready. I kept with my usual morning training routine and had a peanut butter sandwich, a half banana, and some juice (actually some mineral water since I had no juice with me). We parked in a parking garage about 5 blocks away from the starting line. I didn't mind the walk, but my poor wife had to endure the distance on her bum knee (she's such a trooper!). I had arranged to meet up a couple of friends prior to the start of the race. We started moving to our starting corrals around 6:40. The starting system wasn't done in waves like the Houston marathon so I was expecting a lot congestion for the first several miles. The race went well. The hills were definitely a challenge, but the course was fun to run on. My only real gripe was that the water stations weren't set up to be on both sides. Because of this there was always a lot of people cutting across to get to the side where the water was being handed out. The setup just made for more slow down and bottlenecks. All in all, it was a very enjoyable race that I'd love to do again. I finished in 2:02. Not too bad. I was trying to keep my expectations low since I was expecting the hills to be a challenge. And they certainly were. I chuckled every time the supporters would cheer us on by saying "Keep going runners! It's all downhill from here." The runners next to me would grumble and say things like "oh, I've heard that one before..." I kept telling myself to treat it as another training run. As the race progressed, I just couldn't resist the thought of smashing my previous half marathon times. I didn't exactly smash them, but I did improve from them.

I need to send a special thanks to my loving wife who subjected herself to the chilly weather and the constant walking. I love you!

Also, great job Rigo and Sheila! It was Rigo's second half marathon and Sheila's first. They both did incredible.

Austin Half Marathon!

After a rough weekend last week, we're in Austin preparing for the Austin Half Marathon. I'm pretty excited to run it since it's the very first time running an event outside of Houston. And what better place to do it then our lovely state capital. I'd like to talk more about it but it's getting late and I need some rest before my 4:30 AM wake up tomorrow. Wish me luck!

The Marathon!!

The alarm goes off at 4:45 AM. I check my knee. It feels almost normal! No significant swelling. No stiffness. I can finally walk normally! I'll have a chance to run the marathon today! I'm excited. I strap on the IT band and patella band as precautionary measures.

It's 6:30 AM, it's time to head off to the starting corrals. I can feel the adrenaline. Maybe I'll have a great run. I'm thinking "I want to get under 4 hours and 30 minutes." The gun goes off and everyone gives a loud cheer. Within seconds, I pass the starting gate. I can hear the chirps of everyone's stopwatch. I look to my right and I can see the sun come up. "Here we go again" I think to myself with a smile. Miles one through nine melt away. They're over in no time and I'm feeling fresh as a daisy. This is where the Half Marathon turn round point is. Beyond this point is completely new territory for me. This is the side of the race I have never seen. The crowd of runners thins out as well as the number of spectators. It gets a lot quieter. It starts to feel more like my weekly training runs. I'm well ahead of the 4:15 pace group. At this rate I'll finish around 4 hours and 10 minutes. I'm excited about my chances. Another few miles melt away and I find myself at mile 15. I'm expecting to see my wonderful wife soon. I just know seeing her and my family will give me some inspiration. I've got to make sure to look cool when I pass them. I have to let her know my knee is doing just fine. The mile 16 marker passes and I'm constantly scanning the crowds for her yellow sweater. My eyes are grabbed by any flash of yellow along the sidelines. I still haven't spotted her yet. All of the sudden I see a familar face. It's my cousin Frances! She yells "They're close! They're just two bus stops down!" My eyes light up and I push on. I spot the first bus stop about 300 hundred feet away. I see the second just after that. And then I see them waving. It's my wife and brother! It looks like she's asking me something. I figure she's wondering where my cousin is. I use my thumb and point backwards. Now it looks like she's asking if I want to take off my skull cap and gloves. I gesture as to say no and I run off. The next couple of miles go by and I start thinking that I should grab for some fruit. I grab a banana and an orange slice. Things are going dandy. I'm on my 20th mile and I'm starting to feel some lactic acid building up in my quads. They're starting to twitch. I worry that a cramp may be setting in. At mile 21, the cramps are setting in. I try to run through it but it is becoming difficult. I'll have to stop and stretch it out. I don't want to lose too much time, but the cramps are taking longer than expected to work out. I get back into the stream and continue running. I run for a few hundred feet and the cramps come back. I start becoming really concerned. I'm so close to the end. Only a few more miles to go. I have to fight through it. I run some more. I'm forced to stop again to stretch and massage. I continue this pattern until I get back to downtown. At this point, the 4:15 pace group and the 4:30 pace group have caught up with me and have passed me. I feel frustrated and disappointed. A part of me feels miserable. I hear the cheers of encouragement. "C'mon Phil! (yeah, many spectators misread my bib and called me 'Phil') You're almost there!" I try to push on but my quads feel like solid marble. I stagger into downtown and see my cousin Frances again. I see her aiming her fancy SLR camera at me and I think "I've gotta look cool for the shot." I start moving my feet and run. She says "they're just up ahead." I decide that I must run the last stretch no matter what. If my quads explode, I have to keep running. So I do exactly that. All of the sudden I see them. It's like a breath of fresh air. I see my wife, brother, and some good friends on the sidelines. I hear them cheer. "GOOO PHI!" The moment is incredibly touching. It's the beautifully pleasant sound of familiarity. I give the last few hundred feet my all. I'm amazed that my legs are still even able to move in their solid state. I see the big timer on the finish line gate. The pain is excruciating. I close my eyes for a moment and keep pushing. A moment later I find myself crossing the last timing strip. Almost immediately, a man comes to me and congratulates me as though he knows me. I'm almost startled by it. He grabs my shoulder and says "You did it! Even through all the pain, you did it! You did it!" I appreciate the camaraderie. I smile and reach out to his hand to say thank you. I notice he's got the finisher's medal already on. He must have come back out to support the other runners. I love that about the running community. Several other volunteers are also there to congratulate me. I limp forward into the convention center. Volunteers are lined up to pass out medals. I'm not sure which line to get into. I know there are some for the half marathoners and some for the full marathoners. I look around almost lost. And I see this lady rush up to me to congratulate me. She puts the medal around my neck and I finally know it's time to rest.

I finished at 4 hours 41 minutes 14 seconds (10 minutes after gun time). Not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least I've got something to beat next year.

I'd like to send out a very heartfelt "thank you" to my wife, my family, and my friends who supported me out there. Your support meant the world to me. You see, the thing about running is it makes you feel like you're somewhere else. It feels like living an entire lifetime in the span of a few hours. And when you finally see a familiar face in crowd? Well, that's like finding home again.

-phi

Check out the last 30 seconds of my race. I show up around the 16th second. I'm wearing grey.

First Last Week's Recap...

So this is what happened last week. I bought those knee straps and knee sleeve. I did a couple of short runs on the tread mill in my neighborhood gym. It felt okay. I figured I could get used to it. So on Wednesday I went to the gym anxious to give it a full work out. I got in a few games of full court basketball before I hit the tread mill. Then lifted some weights with Dan. The knee felt fine. I even did some reps on the calf lift machine at 195 lbs. So I got cleaned up and went to work. A few hours of sitting go by before I get up out of my chair. I noticed that my left knee felt stiff. I checked it for swelling and I didn't detect much. As the day went on I noticed that the swelling and stiffness worsened. I grew quite concerned. I didn't remember doing anything unsual at the gym. No hard falls, no trauma, no anything. I decide I should ice it and keep it elevated. I do that for the rest of the day and hope for the best. That evening, I checked my knee before going to bed and I noticed that the knee was more swollen than it was before. Now I start to really worry. The next morning I was disappointed to wake with the knee in the same state. At work, I felt distracted the entire morning. Would I be able to run the marathon? Would I be able to walk to my car?? I didn't want to go so the doctor for fear of him telling me not to run the marathon under any circumstances. After a little talk with Dan, I decide to do the smart thing and have it looked at. So I call my doctor and leave early from work. The doctor checks my knee for any structural damage by bending it and torquing it in different directions. He tells me my ligaments seem fine and that I must have done something to my knee to cause it to start to swell. He tells me I should stay off of it and to take some anti-inflammatory medicine. I told him that I was planning to run the marathon that Sunday. He tells me that ideally I shouldn't and that in the worst case scenario I my cause internal bleeding in my knee, which would be very bad. He said that if I must run I should rest it until then and take it easy on the run. I did just that and fortunately the swelling subsided just in time for...

Just a few more days...

until marathon day! I'm feeling pretty good about it. However, I admit I am a bit nervous about my knee. My knee has started giving me some problems in the last couple of weeks. There is some discomfort in my left knee and I'm hoping it doesn't worsen during the run. I'm convinced that it's my iliotibial band (ITB Syndrome). It was worse last year after some careless training. This year, I decided to train smarter and I was hoping to stay completely injury free this season. All was going so well until a couple of weeks ago. I've just purchased a knee brace/sleeve and patella knee straps in hopes of reducing the discomfort during the marathon. I'll have to get out there to give those straps some test runs first though. Well, wish me luck!

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.