Kauai Adventure Part 2

The Next couple of days I ended up camping at the beach and doing some hiking. I did some hiking in Waimi Canyon and part of the Na Pali Coast line. Very beautiful. It was definitly an adventure. I even got stuck on the sand on the 4x4 I rented. Got woken up by roaster every morning. Since it is winter there, it rains almost every day but the temperature is pleasant enough. I felt relaxed and good while I was over there.

One of my campsiteNa Pali Coastline

To view more picture visit my Picasa Gallery at
http://picasaweb.google.com/runandcycle/HawaiiKauaiTrip2008#

And the marathon
http://picasaweb.google.com/runandcycle/Honolulu2008#

The adventure continues in Kauai....

At Waimie Canyon

Well, having no license or ID with only a copy of my License from the clinic before I lost it and a police report that I lost my Driver License, I took off to the airport. Now, finding the Chevy Impala in the parking lot of the Hotel was an ordeal. Not only did I get on the wrong floor, but I got into 2 wrong vehicle sitting right next to each other. One was an Impala and the other one was a Malibu. What I learned is that I can open the door to both cars with my key, but unable to start it. I was perplexed. Why and where is my car, I swear I parked it here, yet my GPS is not here, unless someone stole it. The key chain said a different license plate. Hmmmm, they could not have gotten it wrong? Could they? So, I eventually figured out that It was down one floor. I was sweating like a pig at this time... and so thirsty. I go off to the airport.
So Eventually, I got on the plane to Kauai with a secondary search, was able to rent a car and I was on my way. Since I was still sick, I decided to stay at the resort for a night and then go camping and hiking until Thursday.
More to come

Honolulu Marathon: Done

Well, Marathon #12 is done and boy what an experience.... Not only did I have to battle the rain for the first 13 miles, but it was so crowded I could not get around the people especially when it narrowed the route. I also had problems breathing through my nose because of the congestion. I had a cold all week and have been battling it for awhile.
More later on the marathon... but boy what a dilema I found myself in. I carried my License for my ID in case there was some issue and I put it in the same case as my camera. I now remember taking my camera out and running at the same time to take a video... that is when my license must have fallen out... I freaked out when I discovered it missing at mile 23... Holy.. I need it to board the plane to rent a car....etc.
I made a police report and that will be good enough, contact the director of the marathon and he will call me if he finds it. Called the Car rental to make sure I can use the report to rent a car and I am also having my passport Fedex to my hotel room in Kauai...

Wow... hope that is the last of that....

More later

Aloha - Will there be a marathon???

It poured heavy this afternoon. They are predicting rain for the race....ugh.. it is going to be a wet one.... I am in Honolulu and going to run in a monsoon...woohoooo

Aloha From Hawaii 2

Well, I am feeling better but as a precautionary measure I decided to go to the clinic. After I picked up my race packet, I asked the Hotel at the Hilton Village Hotel where is the closest clinic and to my surprise they provide free transportation to and from the clinic. Went to the clinic and got in right away. The doctor gave me the OK to go and run. I have no sinus infection and its just a cold. Obviously if I feel bad, I will stop. So my marathon is a go, but as far as time.. that will have to probably wait for another time. I am not at my peak performance.

For more pictures check out
http://picasaweb.google.com/runandcycle/Honolulu2008#

Aloha from Hawaii

Yes!! made it and what a long flight.. 9 hours. Ugh.. I was so restless. Watch some movies that I had, tried to take a nap while listening to my mp3 and then tried to read something. Finally we arrived, rented a car from National, since my the Advantage went bankrupt... ahahha..

It is 85 degree here in Honolulu
Some pics

Nadia, Deb, me and Ed

View from my balcony

You have so much Gold in you

you have so much Gold in you, just dig deep within yourself and find it.
I did my last workout and a bit of pilates before leaving for marathon. I had to take it very light, since I need to recover from this cold. I have not had a cold in 5 years and now I do.. Maybe its my nerves. But I am confident I will be better. Here are some pics from my health club.

Honolulu, Here I come, want to where I am?

The time is here again, where I am about to take off on another adventure.. this time it will find me in Honolulu and Kauai. I am going to run the Honolulu Marathon on Dec 14th and then fly to Kauai for a couple of days of hiking and camping. I will be hiking on Dec 16th, camping at the beach on the 17th and hiking out on the 18th. I will turn on my Spotter on the Dec 16th and the 18th

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0I8lU8YFxqu9pRESRAiozTpdPm4si3ghm

Once I turn it on, you will be able check my location via a google map every 10 minutes.

Very cool

Danny

TNT Fundraiser at Irish Eyes 2008

Cheers!! Danny bartending

What fun time we had bartending at our FUndraiser at Irish Eyes. This is the best place for fundraiser. 2519 N. Lincoln Ave. We took turns on bartending. All of my mentee, Niclole, Randi, Stephanie, Mike, Debbie and Nadia all did awesome. We did silent Auction, Raffles.

It was the best Bar fundraser ever.

Thank you all

One Marathon a Month in 2009??

Wow, I just had a crazy idea... but depending on how I do in Honolulu and what my time comes out to be... I might consider running 1 marathon a month in 2009. If I feel the way I did on my 20 mile run, then I should not have a problem. My 20 miler went great 2 weeks ago and felt no soreness or pain whatsoever. In fact I did in under 3 hours. If I feel great, I actually might go for it, which will change my plans for training for a tri. There is so much I want to do as far as the physical aspect. If I am able to run 1 marathon a month next year, then I am going to attempt to run an ultra in 2010 or maybe by the end of 2009. Meaning I would run either a 50 mile or 100 mile race.
Note: The # is the marathon number I have done, so by the end of 2009, I would have ran 23 marathon in 5 years in total.

Here is my tentative schedule for 2009

#	Date	Name	Location
12	12/14/2008	Honolulu Marathon	Honolulu
13	1/18/2009	PF Chang Marathon	Arizona
14	2/7/2009	Sedona Marathon	Arizona
15	3/21/2009	Suntrust National Marathon	Washington DC
16	4/11/2009	Illinois Marathon	Champaing, Il
17	5/3/2009	Flying Pigs Marathon	Cinininati, OH
18	6/27/2009	Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon	Seattle, WA
19	7/11/2009	Leadville Trail Marathon	Leadville, CO
20	8/30/2009	Quebec city Marathon	Quebec
	Sept	Cycling
21	10/25/2009	Marine Corp Marathon	Washington DC
22	11/1/2009	New Yor City Marathon	New York
23	12/7/2009	Las Vegas Marathon	Las Vegas

TNT Honolulu Training for 11/27/2008

Today ran for 2 hours on less then 4 hours of sleep. I did not feel too well to begin with and did not have a good run, or at least it was not my best from all the training I have done, but I survived. I had some kick left at the end. Next week is our last week of training before I head out to Honolulu.

Here are some stats on our run

Per mile

Summary

TNT Honolulu Training for 11/22/2008 - 20 miler

The mileage

Well, I had a terrific training for my 20 miler, except that I had tech difficulties with my Garmin. I forgot to turn it off and it was still recording as I stopped and wonder around...and driving home. So I had to delete the laps, but I ended up deleting the last lap.. ugh.. But basically I did 20 miles in 2:50, under 3 hours. So, I am guessing that my marathon should fall under 4 hours without a problem. I am hoping. we will see what happens, you never know about the race day.

That is it for now.

First Dahn Yoga

I had my first intro class to Dahn yoga. I found it very interesting. I naturally felt the same philosophy of what was taught already in my mind. I was told I am a lot more intuitive then she thought. I am at a much higher level then she thought also. Which gave me hope. We went through several exercises and I am more flexible then she also thought. At one point, I was laying down with two vibrating ball in each hand outward and a warm blanket on the center of my stomach. After several forms laying this way... I started to mediate more on my body and had a heaviness but lightness feeling to my body. As she checked my energy from my mid section, there was a long moment that I felt like my body was floating. I almost jerked to prevent from falling, but realized that I was still laying on the floor. I had to consciously tell myself I am not really floating but on the floor. It was an interesting experience.
The instructor definitely told me that she has not seen someone experience this right away... that I have the mind and the core, but my mind is not connecting to my body. There is tension on my right shoulder and I have a lot of deep emotional pain... that needs to be released.

There is so much energy I felt after leaving... I think this is a good think... so I signed up for 3 month and see what happens....

Finding purpose

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.
Roosevelt, Eleanor


Yes, today, I am straying away from my usual blog entries of adventures, workout... fitness and moving on to more spiritual and philosophy. It has been some time I made an entries about this topic.
The quote above I love, just read and think about it. Concentrate on each word. Don't just read the words, but understand what it is trying to tell you. Without me realizing it, I give joy to others that I never realized that I do. It is nothing big, but it tends to mean a lot to the person I am giving it. Maybe it is a just a simple smile, or a thought, or a word that brings joy to their heart. I think at a soul level we are looking for some sort of happiness and a need to connect with other. As soulful human we tend to feel the need to belong to something big, bigger then all of us. There is a need of all of us to be accepted without judgement. As human we do anything we can, right or wrong to achieve happiness or acceptance. As I look at the world, I feel pesstimistic but as I look at individual humans I feel optimistic.
There is so much we can give to each other... words of support, words of encouragement, a small token of appreciation, but there is one valuable gift that we can all give and it is the only gift that is consider to be a nonrenewable resource, it is precious. What is it? Its time. Give time to others, giving the gift of interest and your time to them is one of the greatest gift you can give.

What greater way of expressing love, than by devoting time to those we care about and those in need? Walt Whitman, the poet, expressed it this way, "Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity. When I give, I give myself." When we give to our friends, we draw them closer. When we give to our enemies, we change them into friends.

As a mentor to runners, this is the creed that I follow by.... Give my time is valuable. To me time is an important assets. Giving a choice between money or time, I would choose time. Why, because Life is made out of moments of time that if you bond them together creates experience. Life is bits and pieces of moments of time. It is who you are. You are based on your past and present.

As the holiday approaches, don't be overwhelmed by the commericialism, just focus on the true meaning of christmas and accept, love and embrace your friends and family without judgement.

that is it for me now

Fang's Chinese Cooking class Fundraiser

Learning to cook Dublin's

Can you guess which one is mine??

One of my runners, had a great idea for fundraiser for LLS. Chinese cooking class. It was so much fun and a learning experience. Met a lot of great people that brought lots of pleasure to have met them. I still need to practice to perfect this art.... toughter then it looks

TNT Honolulu Training for 11/15/2008

After 14 mile run

There are days that just seem to fall perfectly in place. You don't understand why or how but just learned to accept it and embrace those days. I had one of those days where I just knew I would have a good run. Looking back, I am still perplexed as to why, if I was so stressed out from works issues, not getting enough sleep, training hard with weights at the gym and not taking Hot yoga and Pilates. Felt tired most of the week. Today, it just came together. I got run with Nicole and Mike, I then decided that I have warmed up enough and wanted to kick it in higher gear. My goal that I thought of while running was to do 14 miles just under 2 hours. Well, did not quite make it, but manage to do 14 miles in 2 hours flat. All of my mentees did awesome. I waited for each and everyone of them. They are doing so great and very proud of them.

Hot Yoga again - 11/13/2008

One of the poses

Thursday night had another great Bikram yoga class. This one felt a bit tougher. Towards the end I felt I was getting drained. I was so tired, I was moving slower and slower. It was actually a lot tougher then my first one. The heat is 105 with 40% humidity so, it is not like a suana, more of a drier heat, but I guarantee you it is a good workout both physically, mentally and spiritually. The trick is to focus on yourself and not be concern about other. The more you practice the better you get. The pose above took me a coupld of tries to actually achieve. Quite exciting.

Until next one

Debbie and Stephanie's Fundraiser 08

Went to another great fundriaser. It was so much fun. I held my drinking down to a minimum, since it is a work day and had to be sober for that.
The fundraiser was held at Mac's Bar on Division street. The food was excellent. I had the bowtie pasta with Salmon.
Debbie and Steph threw raffles and wow, I won a dinner for 2 at Mac's... I never win anything.

Thanks

Tried Pilates ---- on a roll

Ok, I am now out of control.... I tried Pilates this afternoon during my lunch time and loved it. I think I found my thing that brings peace through motion. I feel so relaxed and a sense of well being. So, I will continue for now, doing Bikram and Pilates a couple of times a week, including my weightlifting and core exercise and running. Yes, my life has suddenly became busy with these activities.

Pilates is a bit different. There are more strenght involved in it. Since I workout my core before taking the class, i was a bit spended.

More later

My First HOT Yoga - Bikram Yoga

Ok, it's official, I am hooked on yoga... I would have to blame it on one of my good friends Nadia. Every since my first Saturday Yoga class that she threw it as a fundraiser, I felt great and new I would like it. At the same time, I wanted a bit of a push. Something a bit more tougher. So I found Bikram Yoga, just across the street. I went for my first class this evening, and wow, its HOT. 105 degrees!! The first 2 minutes I was dripping in sweat. I took off my shirt, a bit shy...hehhee. There were a total of 38 people in the class(yes, I counted) most of them ladies, a few men. The instructor took us through several moves. I made most of the move, but there were a couple of them I could almost do. What great fun. I highly recommend it.
So, what is the big deal??? This is straight from there website at http://www.105f.com/

The room is hot because the heat helps to:

• detoxify your boyd through sweating
• protect muscles for deeper stretching
• thin the blood to clear the circulatory system
• increase heart rate for better cardio workout
• promote thizothrophy , the softening of bodily tissue into an optimal state for reorganization

So what in the world is Bikram Yoga?

Also known as "hot yoga" was developed by Bikram Choudhury and is a 90 minutes comprised of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises practiced in 105 hot room.

The benefits of this type of yoga is:

• Sleep deeply
• reduce stress
• set skin aglow
• lubiricate joints
• improve posture
• strengthen heart
• increaase stamina
• normalize weight
• expand lungs and control breath
• enchance physical performance
• heal and prevent injuries
• stretch and tone muscles
• increase spein flexiblity
• bolster inmunes system
• relieve chronic pain
• enjoy mental clarity

Words to live by....

I found this in one of favorite blog at http://trailgirl.blogspot.com/

Ths are truly words to lve by and exactly how feel:

Thanks Catra for those beautiful words


Compassion....Feel the pain of others. Understand their struggles and disappointments, their hardships and inadequacies, and open your heart to them. Realize that everyone is doing the best they possibly can. Judge no one. But rather, cradle all of humanity in your heart

Grand Canyon Hike 2008 Video Completed

I finally finished the GC 08 hike video for Michelle and my sister Rosy... enjoy

TNT Honolulu Training for 11/08/2008

We had a great run today. I ended up doing 21 miles and felt great. I think I am on my way to a under 4 hour marathon. The only thing that really killed me was the first 8 miles with the backpack that had my subwoofer, 2 speakers and a power genertor that weight about 20 ibs on my back. The backpack is not meant from running, it kept swinging back and forth. I could not wait until I dropped it off on my first loop. After dropping it off, I felt a lot lighter and faster. I was flying by at 8:15, 8:30 min miles....

Afterwards at 2:30, went for yoga that Nadia was doing as a fundraiser, which I loved. Never did yoga but felt really good afterwards.

Today, however, I feel a bit stiff, due to my 21 mile run.

More stats later

Great song to match a feeling

Me in a blurry state of mind

"Blurry"
By Puddle of Mudd

Everything's so blurry
and everyone's so fake
and everybody's empty
and everything is so messed up
pre-occupied without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
you could be my scene
you know that i'll protect you
from all of the obscene
I wonder what you're doing
imagine where you are
there's oceans in between us
but that's not very far

Can you take it all away
can you take it all away
well ya shoved it in my face
this pain you gave to me
Can you take it all away
can you take it all away
well ya shoved it my face

Everyone is changing
there's noone left that's real
to make up your own ending
and let me know just how you feel
cause I am lost without you
I cannot live at all
my whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
you could be my scene
you know that i will save you
from all of the unclean
I wonder what you're doing
I wonder where you are
There's oceans in between us
but that's not very far

[Chorus]

Nobody told me what you thought
nobody told me what to say
everyone showed you where to turn
told you when to runaway
nobody told you where to hide
nobody told you what to say
everyone showed you where to turn
showed you when to runaway

[Chorus]

This pain you gave to me

You take it all
You take it all away...
This pain you gave to me
You take it all away
This pain you gave to me
Take it all away
This pain you gave to me

Marie - Bodybuilding Competition

Wow, Marie did awesome... she won her division and overall. Good job girl....looking tight...

Randi's and Mike fundraiser

Randi and Mike had a great fundraiser. Here are some great pictures

Danny and April

Marius and Danny Nicole and April

TNT Honolulu Training for 11/01/2008

Another great weather for running. We did 80 minutes of running, although I did the last 40 minutes slower then the last, so I ended up doing 1:25 for 8.25 miles. Everyone looked really good out there.
Sorry for the blurry pictures.

Fundraiser party 10/25/2008

Well, Nadia and I had an awesome party for our fundraiser.
Here are some pictures

TNT Honolulu Training for 10/25/2008 Stats

Here are the stats from the run. I got a negative split which pushed me to run faster.

TNT Honolulu Training for 10/25/2008

It was a great day for a run, but a bit chilly at the start. Everyone did an awesome 16 or 10 miler. I am very proud of them all. Robert, a friend from work, came with me and we both had a good run, even during our side trip to the waterfall.

Stats to follow on the 16 milers