run streak day 55 in the books! First day of the year that I've run indoors on a treadmill. I hate treadmills! Lol. Decided to mix in a resistance workout with my run today since I'm leveraging the hotel fitness room while traveling for work. I've discovered along the way that no matter how challenging something is if its made a priority it can be completed. The runs themselves are the easy part. Its the mental aspect that is the challenge everyday. When your work days become 14 hours due to travel and coworkers want to grab dinner and drinks afterwards. These things make it difficult to stay focused and keep your eyes on the prize. Its so much easier to go with the flow and and convince yourself that you've done a good job. 55 days is better than you've ever done. Truth is if the goal is 365 then although 55 is great, it isn't good enough. In order to reach your goals sacrifices will need to be made no matter the nature of the goal. Given the determination anything can be accomplished. If Jordan stopped after getting 1 ring then Kobe wouldn't be the player he is today trying to get 6 rings after 20 years in the league. Its that hunger that drives individuals to reach and exceeds goals. With that said im going to eat dinner now because im starving!!!! #rsd365 #cantstopwontstop

#RSD46

Happy Valentines and Presidents weekend everyone!  #RSD46 and still going strong!  Was an amazing weekend as I was able to enjoy some amazing weather while spending the weekend in Ocean Shores with my wonderful lady. I planned to get one of my runs in on the beach but decided I would just knock it out as soon as I got home.

Hope all the run streakers and fellow runners are out there still going strong no matter the weather.  Tonight's run just at dusk allowed me to enjoy an amazing fire red sky from the afterglow of the sunset over the water near Chambers.  I've got a work trip coming up pretty soon here and I'm Starting to wonder where and how I'll be running.  Guess I'll figure it out when the time comes!  until next time....

#Run365 #RuntoLive #LivetoRun

He's Back!

I'm back!  I have been completely slacking on this blog haven't I!?!?  Well I guess as long as I keep running that's what's important.

Last I left this blog was before I went Skiing (attempted to) up at Crystal Mt.  That day was a struggle.  drove all the way up there testing out my new ski rack and the weather took a turn for the worst and it was raining and windy as hell.  We got there and the top half of the mt was on wind hold which meant there was really only one run and tickets were still selling for full price.  This was way too much money to me for one run in the pouring rain.  They had a big demo sale going on so I decided to shop and kill some time in case they decided to open up the mt or discount the lift tickets, of which they did neither.  Ironically enough they had a pair of skis that I had checked out at REI and Sturtevants a few weeks before and they were brand new demo skis with bindings.  And to me $65 for a lift ticket on a rainy day was too much money but I ended up spending $500 on new skis that day!  Ended up just having a beer and heading home for the day but I was super stoked to get new skis and I was able to get home early and get my run in!

The past couple weeks I've had my fair share of challenges and remained committed to #run365.  This past Friday was our annual work banquet which alot of coworkers call it our "prom".  It's a fun night to dress up and attend the annual awards ceremony with partner and company hosted dinner and drinks.  All of this sounds awesome but since I had to work early that day I forgot to set my alarm early enough to attempt a morning run.  Not being prepared for such I didn't bring any clothes to run during my lunch break either.  Leaving directly from work to the banquet gave me little time to do anything other than change into my formal attire and head out.  Shout out to my man D Groll for getting the after party started!  You'll have to give the new cats dance lessons in the yoga studio at work!  haha After deciding to go out for drinks with the guys post banquet the only option I had was to run when I got home.  Several drinks later I made it home for that late night run fueled with vodka tonics and Cab Sav, annnnnnd there might have been a shot or two of fireball in there as well.

So with an almost 2 week blogging hiatus, a new pair of skis and a drunken late night run in the books I'm as committed as ever to making this work.  I've got my eyeball on my first event of the year for Feb 8th and it's something I've never done!  Trail duathalon consisting of a 10k trail run and 15 mile trail bike ride.  Sounds right up my alley!  They've split the runs into two 5k's one being before the bike leg and one after.  This will be a great time to break out that underused Mt bike I have sitting on it's rack and put it to use.

With that said I'm signing off.    #run365

It is absolutely pouring outside right now and the last thing I want to do is run outside in this weather yet all I can think about is reaching my goal and what jacket I should wear.

The upside to all this rain means that it's snowing in the mountains!  I'm planning to make it up to Crystal on Saturday for my first trip to the mt this season.  See if I can shake some of the rust off.  That's going to be a tough day to get this run in. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Looks like I'm off to get this run in before it gets any later.  Hope all goes well.  I had taco bell today.....  Wish me luck!

Still at it like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest!

I'm back!!!!  13 days in and it feels great!  Everyday that passes I feel stronger and I cant wait to work my way back up into the teens for my long runs.  I've yet to have any long runs due to time constraints and other prior engagements.  All that being said there is always time.... if you make time.
The past few days have definitely been a test.  Saturday was a great short run.  Got out on the road in the late morning and I think it was 1 of only 2 or so runs in daylight this year.  I would have never thought I would get so much use out of a headlamp but damn that thing has come in handy!  Now maybe I can actually use it for camping/hiking soon.

After the run Saturday my gf and I decided to clean up some post holiday/new year mess that was still sitting around before meeting some friends to see Tommy Davidson perform stand-up.  We arrived at the show a little early to get in line and parking was of course difficult in downtown Seattle.  I ended up parking in Westlake Center parking garage and heading to the show.  The performers were funny and it was definitely a good time.  Upon returning to my car the parking garage was completely locked with big steel gates!  I had no clue this garage was not 24/7.  At that point it was late, my gf and I were tired, and she was wearing heels while we were walking in the rain and not happy with me at all.  (but wasn't it my car locked in a garage in downtown Seattle?)  Thank God my brother lives about 2 miles away from Westlake so we just hopped in a cab and crashed there for the night and returned for my car in the morning.  Thanks again bro!

Even after that exhausting Saturday night Sunday turned out to be an amazing day.  I got to spend some time with my dad, brother and his gf and watch some football.  We ended up having brunch together and just goofed around most of the day.  All this led to me taking another late night run on Sunday and putting that headlamp to good use!

Tonight as I'm laying in bed writing and reflecting on this evenings run in the brisk cold dry weather on this amazingly clear night, I cant help but think about how amazing the stars looked and how tiny we really are in comparison.  There is an entire world out there waiting to be explored.  This reminded me of something I've always thought of when setting goals.  As lofty as your goals may be it's important to always shoot for the moon, for even if you miss you'll still land amongst the stars.

Good morning and welcome back!  Been a busy few days and I've started to feel that making time for a quick run everyday has almost become an obsession!  I can't even focus on my day unless I know when I can squeeze in time for a run. I should probably start thinking the same thing about this blog......

I've been blessed with the amazing company of my beautiful lady on my runs the last few days.  Thursday was a nice night run after work from my house to the apple orchard and back as this has been my go to route since beginning this journey.  Friday was a little more difficult.

Friday I had to go in to work an hour early and had plans for date night and I didn't want that to postpone or delay my plans for the evening.  That being said I decided to get up a bit early and get my run in before work.  Good and bad idea all at the same time!  It was so damn cold outside I couldn't feel my face!  It was nice to get it done early and not have to worry about it after work.

I was again accompanied by my gf on that cold Friday morning.  I'm so impressed at her progression in such a short time with running.  She hasn't decided to attempt a streak in any matter but she enjoys coming out and running with me and supporting this journey of mine.  It seems every day she runs with me she sees improvement and loves it!  The joy in a new runners eyes and voice as they see themselves make strides towards better pace times and fitness levels is awesome to see!  She doesn't even know it yet but her elation with the progress that she has made is truly inspiring to me and makes me want to push even harder to reach my goals.

I guess that's my post for the weekend.  Off to get in this Saturday run and start my day!  I guess it's time to start looking at some events to run in....

ooooh wee!  The last thing I wanted to do after getting home from work tonight was run.  After driving to the Lakers game and going for the midnight run last night coupled with a crazy day at the office all I wanted to do was get some sleep.  I could not have been happier after I finished.  I decided I'd take the run tonight nice and easy and use it as sort of a rest day run with very low expectations.  I opted to wear compression socks today primarily for warmth and they were absolutely a huge help.  I have never really ran with them and opted to wear them more for recovery during training for longer runs.  Now I feel like I need to invest in more!.  When I got out there everything changed.  Attitude immediately took a positive turn.  Began to feel again like I could conquer anything!  

All in all it was an easy run and I have yet to run more than about 1.25 miles a day but if I've learned anything from this it's perseverance.  Everyday that I run, the light at the end of the tunnel gets that much brighter and the goal seems that much closer and attainable.  So here's to 359 more days of running and getting a few more bibs and medals under my belt!