The First Step

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been taking an extended running break. And I still stand by the viewpoint, that every runner needs to take a break once in a while between training. But, that doesn't mean a break comes without a price. If you don't maintain some level of fitness during the break, you can't expect to jump back to the same level of running easily. In fact, that could be downright painful and you'd have to start all over again. So, did all of the surfing, hiking, and climbing during my break help with the maintenance? Sort of...

Last night was my first training run for the winter. I can honestly say that it wasn't as painful as it could have been, but my body was dreading it with all the recalcitrance it could muster. For some reason, my feet felt like 10 pound lead weights for the first mile. That's when you supposedly have to buckle down and focus on your motivation points. But really, I tried my best to zone out and get through it, kind of like giving blood or getting an immunization. On the other hand, while I may not have had a great run, my body did feel amazing afterwards. My skin was tingling, my heart was racing, and I was completely out of breath. And it felt like my body had gone through some sort of awakening from hibernation.

No matter what, starting over at the beginning is going to be hard for anything, especially when I've already reached a certain level. But, I'm going to have to start somewhere and the sooner I take that first step, the sooner I can get back to where I want to be. It's just a good thing my lazy ass has a backup plan, aka...Raquel nagging me every 10 minutes to go for a run that I said I'd do, but would allow myself to get deterred by a House marathon.

I'm back!

Apologies all around for my absence, folks. It's been a very busy couple of weeks: finishing one of my projects at work, moving offices, and taking a nice long vacation with Raquel. But, don't think that I've been lazing around and giving up on workouts just because life is busy. While home in Hawaii, I did manage to either do a hike, snorkel, or surf every day. Sadly, none of those workouts involved running unless you count running through the mall to buy macadamia nut chocolates. Thus, I've luxuriated in a three-week vacation from running.

Now, I wish I could say that I've enjoyed this vacation without any regrets or guilt. But this vacation included my mom, and she has a knack for guilting me into feeling that I'm not living up to my potential. I am, by no means, criticizing my mom for being overly critical of me. Because I know that there is no one else in this world who can push me beyond my limits (in a good way) like her, except for myself. However, her delivery could use some work. Telling me that I've gained all my weight back, and that my fashion style has become masculine due to that weight gain is not very nice, although effective. Incidentally folks, taking a break between races is ok. It gives your body a chance for some well-deserved, much-needed rest.

Anyway, it's back to training for me, especially to counteract the holiday meal effects. Now, I know that I've explained my motivation to run before. But, I think it's a good exercise to revisit and expand on those reasons. I'm running because I want to live long enough to enjoy life with my future wife and kids. I'm running because I want to one day inspire my kids to try hard to accomplish their goals. I'm running because after a good workout, life magically becomes more manageable. But most of all, I'm running for myself; not to please other people, like my mom. To me, running is a sport that is just between you and the road. And the only thing that should ever be between you and the road is a pair of socks and running shoes.

Page 56

Sorry gang, I think I've been a bit absent from my blog lately. It's because I haven't had that many inspiring runs or taken any pictures of the food I've cooked. So here's my fun, random post of the day inspired by Sidewalk Monkey's last post.

Here are the rules:
* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the next sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Here's mine:
"If the command is 'done', the code does a break to terminate the loop". --Chris Spear, System Verilog for Verification, 2006.

That sounded poetic, right? In a nerdy sort of way? Maybe? Shucks, I wish I was at home when I posted this entry, because I actually do have an interesting book that I'm reading there instead of my geeky one at work.

P.S. Thanks for giving both of us the idea, May!

Runners are gassy

I've had my annoying share of gym faux pas committed to me during treadmill days: sweat flung on me and intensive BO emanating from my neighbor. But last night's incident, while still gross, was inevitable. After taking a week of break after the SJ Half Marathon, I dragged my butt back to the gym to start over from the basics. The plan was to run an easy 5K to stretch my legs and reawaken my stubborn drive to succeed in endurance sports. So naturally, the day that I decided to jump back on the bandwagon was the day that the gym became ridiculously packed.

After waiting for 15 minutes, I finally finagled a free treadmill by staring the last runner down. And excited with my acquisition, I hopped on without noting what kind of treadmill neighbor I had. However, his presence soon waved it's ugly head at me during my second mile, when he started passing gas. I have no idea what that man had for dinner, but it was darn potent. Now, I'm not going to get mad at the guy because sometimes that isn't something you can control. But, usually I'll only have to endure the torture for just a minute or two. I could smell this guy's gas for half a mile of running! Thankfully, he was finished with his run when I was at mile 2.5. Unfortunately, that's when the man on the other side of me started with his gaseous performance until I finished my run.

I must say that despite feeling like I was running through a sewer plant, that was one of the best runs I've had in a while. In fact, I think I mangaged to hit a "runner's high" moment for myself, because I felt like my legs could go on forever and I physically felt like I was floating. I love it when this happens, especially because it's rather rare for me. Yippie! Although, I have absolutely no suggestions on how to overcome the gassy neighbor obstacle. If there aren't any other free treadmills, I don't know what to do. But, I'm open to suggestions.

Game Face

Yesterday I just received the pictures taken of me during the SJ Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I must say that I'm a lot happier with these photos than I was with the SF Half Marathon. Why? Well, because I don't look constipated in these photos like I do in the last ones. But more specifically, it allowed me an opportunity to see a snapshot of my running form/technique.

In these photos, I've managed to relax my shoulders and upper body while running, which is something that I've been consciously trying to improve for my form. I know it sounds backwards, but many elite athletes try to be zen and relaxed while they are competing. It not only improves performance, but also is more efficient for your body. And I know I sound like an obsessed little fan girl right now, but Michael Phelps is a master at relaxing while competing and look where that got him. In any case, even though I'm not trying to be an elite athlete, I would still like to be performing at my best and have minimal pain after a workout.

These pictures show that I am truly "running tall" towards the finish line as opposed to my SF Marathon photos where my shoulders were scrunched up to my cheeks. I'll take this small victory as the one saving grace from this race. Now all I have to do is work on my game face, because I think I look a little too angry.

Recipe of the Day: Thai Pumpkin Curry

One of Raquel's favorite thai restaurants is Osha Thai Restaurant in San Francisco. And tonight's dinner was inspired by our favorite dish there: Thai Kabocha Pumpkin Curry. I ended up searching the internet and modifying this Thai Red Curry recipe. Now, I've never cooked with Kabocha Pumpkin before. So as I was preparing it, it felt like doing battle with a brick! Here's a tip I found elsewhere that will help in the preparation: Before cutting the pumpkin, place the whole pumpkin in 1/2 an inch of boiling water for about 5-10 minutes. Then, you can cut it up after it has cooled.

Here are the modifications I made for this particular recipe:

-use light (reduced fat) coconut milk
-use low sodium chicken broth
-I ended up using chicken instead of shrimp, but that's just cause I didn't have any shrimp
-add bamboo, and sliced red bell pepper instead of tomatoes and frozen peas
-add a handful of fresh basil
-add garlic to season the chicken (saute the chicken before you start the curry, and set it aside till the end)
-serve it over brown rice instead of white rice

Raquel loved my recreation of Osha's dish, and I thought it was tasty too. In my opinion, I don't think it's to their level of yummy goodness, but at least I don't feel as guilty when I eat it.

Recipe of the Day: Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

Last week I had to take a sick day because of a massive headache. I'm not sure what caused it, but I've never been able to sit still when I'm sick at home. So, I ended up baking a healthier version of Food Network's Chocolate Chip Cookies. How is it healthy? Well, you've got to know the tips for healthy baking. For this batch, here's what I substituted:

-add roasted pecans for healthy protein.

-use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate (dark chocolate is better for you as far as sweets go)

-use half the amount of regular flour and substitute whole wheat flour for the rest of it.

-use "I can't believe it's not butter" instead of real butter

As you can see, the color turns out darker than it normally does, but I can assure you that it tastes just as good. Give it a shot!