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.

Meanwhile...

Well, another three months have past and I'm now living with my wife in our very own home. Things have been going very well for us lately. We're really starting to settle down in our new home. Life is good.

SpaceMonkey Update!

Geez! I haven't posted anything since April! I know I've really dropped the ball on this. So much has been going on in the last few months. Oh, how time flies when you get a little older.

I can confidently say as of this moment, things are going swell on all fronts. That's nothing to take for granted. The last 12 months have quite a rollercoaster ride. Life has really settled down. It's just the calm before the storm though I suppose. Things are about to change pretty dramatically for me pretty soon. I'll be moving into our new house in a week. Talk about big changes. Moving away from the family I love so dearly won't be an easy thing. Fortunately for me, I've always been good at seeing things from a wider perspective. In the grand scheme of things, life is just as it should be. My wife and I are about to start the next big chapter in our lives and we look forward to all it has in store for us.

Wish us luck!

Smash Makes it Better

The day started pretty rough for me. I woke up 30 minutes late. I barely got any sleep. Then on my way to work, I get rear-ended while sitting at a stop light. Fortunately, it was just a minor fender-bender and there was no new noticeable damage. I get to work, and I'm inundated with a ton of new work issues. On top of that, a stored procedure I had written was giving me some problems. I felt like I was at a melting point, and it was only 11:00 A.M.

I get an IM from Dan and Jackie asking if I felt up for a Smash lunch. I regretfully declined, concluding that I just didn't have the time. A half an hour later and I decided I just needed some fresh air (in the form of a session of Smash Brothers). I'm telling you, there's no medicine like Smash. Everyone was at the top of their games. Jackie was throwing down some combos I have never seen her try before. Dan's knees were particularly electric. And I was trying some new stuff out as Fox with a decent amount of success (I got some nice shine-blinds in). A quick hour lunch filled with knuckle sandwiches and I was good to go.

...Sigh...I love Smash.

Construction Begins!!

Big news! Construction our our house is finally starting! After about a month of sitting idle, our house will be more than just a plot of dirt!

March B-day Madness!

So it's that time of the year again. Spring, flowers, basketball, and a lot of birthdays. We're not even past mid-month yet!

Company Flag Football!

Just what the doctor ordered. The pressures of the past week had been building, and I was starting to really feel it. Luckily, I had the weekend to look forward to, which included a friendly flag football game with some co-workers. We had been planning the event for a couple of weeks and were hoping Mother Nature wouldn't ruin it all. Fortunately, the weather wasn't as bad as predicted and the festivities went on as planned. We had a good turn out which included many of our bosses and colleagues. It was great to get out of the work environment and just have fun.

As for the game, I had a couple of picks and a couple of TDs for the night, but my team came up short at the end. All in all, it was a blast.

Fortress of Solitude

Big news today. We officially signed the contract for our new home. (woohah!) After being delayed almost a week, we were finally able to make things official. I'm relieved that we were able to get it done before the price increase next week. Now we can look forward to all the cool things like picking out our interior options and watching our house grow like a Chia pet.

Race Day Pictures! (finally)