On treadmill running...

On days that "The Man" is beating you down and you can't escape his clutches with enough daylight to run, a treadmill run is the way to go. My only qualm is that it's indoors. No wind in your hair (unless you have a fan attachment), no pretty trees (unless you're watching the travel channel), and no fresh smells wafting from nature (unless you like BO). So how do you keep your focus for 4-6 miles on a machine that's not going anywhere?

Well, here are my personal tips for treadmill running:

1. Vary your speed a lot by running intervals. This actually gives you a better workout than staying at a steady pace the whole time. Plus, it gives you something to focus on so you don't get bored. This kind of running constitutes as a speed workout, and helps to increase your average pace in a race.

2. Elevate your treadmill to a steeper grade. This applies to hill workouts. Last year, I had the great misfortune of finding out my race route had hills DURING my run. That's called being ill-prepared, boys and girls. And now I know better. At any rate, I need the occasional hill workout, and this is the less strenuous way because the treadmill is easier on your knees than pavement. So feel the burn and push through the pain. Remember to stretch afterwards.

3. iPod. I LOVE my iPod. Actually, my iPod has kept me on track so much, that I'm dedicating a whole other post for my iPod. So you'll have to wait until then..

4. Schedule around TV shows. Thanks to my girlfriend, Raquel, if I'm not training then I'm a couch potato. I swear, I've never watched so much tv in my life. I never had cable in highschool, and I didn't own a tv in college (grad school)! So while I know a lot of you think there is nothing good on, tv is fascinating to me. Call me a hick, but I'm even entertained by the weather channel (well, only if there's a natural disaster).

5. Avoid the stench. Contrary to what most people believe about techie professionals, I'm not rich enough to own my own treadmill. However, I do have a nice gym discount from my company. So, running on the treadmill for me equates to going to the gym. I'm sure that most of you can relate to occasionally encountering the Mr. Stinky, who doesn't wear deodorant, jumping on the treadmill next to you. Don't try to be polite and suffer through this, like I used to. It's NOT worth it people, especially if you sacrifice the run and give up early. If you still want to be discreet, go to the bathroom, and come back to another treadmill. But, if you feel so inclined, turn to him and say, "Dude, you REEK! Degree Men: learn it, live it, love it."

I worked those apple bottom jeans.

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Just because I'm training, does not mean I'm going to jettison my social life. But it means I've had to be more creative when I hang with my friends, ie: less booze/greasy food, more cross training. So one of my best friends, Victor, and I enrolled in a fun beginning hip hop class to stretch out those leg muscles. Now, I don't claim to be a fantastic dancer. My formal dance training has been limited to Hula. But that at least prepared me to connect beats to movement. Apparently, alcohol-induced booty shaking doesn't qualify as true hip-hop training. Who would've thought?!

Our teacher's style does not incorporate, as he likes to put it: "skanky Britney Spears booty popping" . While I personally find that style wildly entertaining, I opted for his more sedate approach because I feel it adds more personality. His style is specifically "Urban Hip Hop", which is the same style as his friends, the Jabbawockeez (the amazing dancers in the video above). With the proper execution, I think it appears phenomenally clean and precise. But for novices like me, it looks like I have ants down my shirt. Luckily, Victor and I don't take it too seriously and we're in it to have fun; ultimately enticing our friend, Noel, to join us last night. Boy, was he in for a surprise...

Instead of our normal easy-going beginner class, our teacher brought his dancer friends; launching us into the intermediate realm. It was akin to leaping from the first stage to the last stage of Dance Dance Revolution (not that I've ever played). They twirled, leaped, and bounced like there was no tomorrow. And not to be outdone, Victor and I threw it down with everything we had. Now I'd like to tell you that this played out like a spectacular dance movie, with the underdog, us, winning the showdown. But, let's face it folks, Janet Jackson, I am not.

In the end though, we still danced better than we ever have before. My friends and I were beaming and giggling, despite the sweat. So naturally, that merited a well-deserved meal afterwards. To me, dance is an art form that benefits not only the audience, but the dancer himself/herself. And if I'm smiling at the end, that was a dance well danced.

Note: Check back in with Victor and me in a couple of months though, and we'll tear up the dance floor with those people, Step Up 2 style!! Accept defeat? NEVER!!!

Learn balance, Daniel-san.....Balance.

A huge problem with my training has been learning how to balance my life with my regiment. I've always been slightly envious of those life-long runners who can seemingly weave their social lives into their running schedules seamlessly. Not only that, but they even manage to effortlessly stay on track with the standard athlete diet. I realize that I'm putting these people on a pedestal, but I've got to have role models.

Unlike them, I'm a late bloomer when it comes to running. I think I may have even cheated on my 1.5 mile run test in highschool PE (I was one lap short, shh...don't tell). So naturally, I've also had a hard time changing how I eat. I'm a Hawaii-born girl. We like to eat a huge variety of different foods...and we like to eat a LOT of it. Now, I'm never going to be able to change my taste or the fact that I'm an innate foodie. But, I'm dedicated enough to my goal to agreeably suffer through a daily menu that has less panache than normal. That being said, I can't exactly force my friends and family to do the same.

This past weekend was my monthly mahjong night. A time when I can have my close friends (L and J) over to play mahjong with my girlfriend, Raquel, and me. (Note: I'm using my gf's full first name because she's already revealed herself in my comments.) Now usually this fun-filled night involves elaborate cooking and quite a bit of drinking. Luckily, it was my turn to host this often boisterous bacchanalia, which means that I could create healthy dishes as well as abstain from too much alcohol. But as always, my good intentions were wrestled to the ground.

I did manage to create a meal which was healthy and tasty: Brown Rice, Sauteed Baby Bak Choy, and 2 whole steamed fish (chinese style: ginger, green onions, light soy sauce, and sesame oil). However, I fell off the band wagon as soon as J popped open the first bottle of white wine. Between the 4 of us, we downed 3 entire bottles of wine and Raquel didn't even drink a whole glass. Now if I had only cheated with the alcohol I wouldn't feel as guilty. But how could I refuse Raquel's request for Chocolate Lava Cake and ice cream? How could anyone?

Overall, it was night of decadence and gluttony. And now the guilt is slowly creeping over my shoulders just as the dark chocolate was slowly oozing out of that lava cake. I'm dreading my next run and how lethargic my limbs will feel. But hey...if you do the crime, you better be able to push through the punishment. And for now, that will be my balance. Next time, my balance will involve no ice cream and only one glass of wine. Stop giving me that look people, I need to be setting achievable goals in the beginning!

L and J, even though I competely over-indulged, that was a fantastic night! Thanks!

Gluttony = 1, Surfrunner = 0.

Back to running...

Note: I'm writing this post after I helped another close friend celebrate his bday this morning with a smorgasbord of greasy dim sum. sigh...Moral of the story: If you're going to cheat, go all the way.

Motivation!

So one of the big reasons I started this blog is because I've hit a motivational slump in my training. Everyone gets this, running or otherwise. How are you supposed to get excited about putting yourself through torture? Working out for 2-3 hours, 6 days a week can become monotonous and painful. What possesses people to pull themselves out of a warm bed at 5 am to traipse around in the freezing cold all in the name of fitness? Secretly, I think it's because of people like Jessica Alba (circa "Into the Blue"). Girls want bodies like her or boys/girls want to get hot bodies to attract someone like her.

But, for the hardcore lovers of this sport I'd like to think that their reasons are a lot less shallow. I'm assuming they run to improve their health; to fundraise for a well deserving organization; to destress; or to enjoy the purity of running itself. My original reasons were far less altruistic. I just wanted to prove I could finish a half-marathon just like the rest of my Bay Area friends. Yeah...it was indirect peer pressure. But, after a while I actually appreciated running for what it was to me, the physical expression of me taking better control of my life. Ok, I admit it.. I also bought into all those Nike commercials with the incredible athletes that looked like they owned the road. But, who wouldn't want that???

As always though, life gets in the way and takes over. You figure out that you have a lot better things to do than stare at the pretty trees while you torture your body. The monotony has driven me to become slightly disenchanted. And that's where this running journal and the internet comes in. C'mon people, share your stories. Tell me I'm not the only idiotic one doing this. Why do you guys run?

p.s. Getting Jessica Alba's body may not be my primary motivation, but it'd be a nice side effect.

Hello World!

Aloha kakou and welcome to my blog! So why blog about running? It's one of the simplest activities you could do, so what makes it so interesting? Au contraire...ever since I've started running, I realized how complicated it can be. Training schedules, nutrition plans, running form, types of gear, and the list goes on and on. But it's not what's complicated that I think makes running special, it's the simplicity. It's a paradox. You have to speed up to slow down.

As a society, I think we've become so fast paced that we never actually look at the world. It takes something simple like running to make you focus and truly appreciate your surroundings. Running is so inherently easy and mechanical. Put yourself on automatic and watch the leaves turn color, smell the salty lake, or better yet....watch the back of the cute runner in front of you.