Great Aloha Run Training - Week 7 & Final Thoughts

It's here! The Great Aloha Run begins in 12 hours. This was my last week of training and, just like my entire training plan, it had it's ups and downs. Let's get into it.

Monday – I was feeling good so I went for a 4 mile run around Diamond Head. It felt good. My form was a little rusty at first but it smoothed out in less than a mile. I didn't want to push the pace so instead I focused on maintaining a smooth stride but I decided to pick it up the last half mile. My finishing sprint was pretty decent.

Tuesday – A little concerned because my legs are burning more than expected from Monday's run. In fact, they burned a lot and it was tough walking and moving around. I still did a workout though. For the first time in over a month I went to jiu-jitsu. It went pretty well. I did a few drills and then sparred for half an hour. I didn't get tapped out but I was on the defensive for most of the time. Good fun though.

Wednesday – My legs still burn from running but I can almost walk normal again. I did an hour of stretching at home for a workout. Things were going pretty well until today. My sinuses began acting up on Tuesday and it carried over until today. The reason: Valentines Day! My office was full of flowers, I don't do well with flower. Makes my allergies go nuts. Eyes water, nose runs, sneeze like crazy. Combine this with a small vog attack a few days ago and my cough is back again....yay!...Damn.

Thursday – The legs stopped burning, thank god. The recovery took a lot longer than expected which tells me one thing: I'm in for a load of pain after the Aloha Run. Anyway, I did about 30 minutes of stretching for a workout.

Friday – no workout but I began carbo-loading. I've been reading up on different ways to load up on carbs for an event and found a 3 day carbo-load that fits me. I eat the same amount of food as normal but aim to have 70% of my food as carbs. Made some spaghetti, got me some whole grain bagels, broccoli, carrots, grapes, and bananas. Nutrition should be good...now if this cough will go away over the weekend...

Saturday – no workout, resting and carbing up. I went to the Aloha Run Expo to pick up my race number. I talked to a few vendors that tried to sell me stuff. I got the feeling most of them didn't really know what they were selling because they talked as though they were just reciting a script. Only the guy selling the reusable hot/cold packs and my friend Charlene knew a lot about what they were selling that they could actually talk about it, instead of just tell you about it. By the way, that cough hasn't gone away and doesn't feel like it's going anywhere soon.

Sunday – Slept late last night so I woke up at 8:30am to hopefully start feeling tired and get to bed by 9 tonight. No workout today. Continued eating carbs throughout the day and generally relaxed. I'm starting to yawn and feel a bit tired (it's a little after 7:30pm right now) so I should sleep okay tonight. Tomorrow it's on!

I've had about two months to train for the Aloha Run. I made up a training schedule that blended swimming, jiu-jitsu, long-distance runs, and mid-distance runs. Yeah, none of that happened. Injuries, illness, and vog made me abandon my original training plan and improvise a way to maintain my fitness while recovering. Oh yeah, I'm still coughing and expect to run with it tomorrow.

My goal is to finish the Great Aloha Run in under one hour. Even though my training was less than optimal I still believe I'm capable of achieving the goal. I know I can run the distance. I know I can hold a fast pace. I just need those things to come together tomorrow. I expect it to be tough, painful, and I'm going to have to push myself to keep going. But it's going to be fun! I actually am looking forward to runningn next to the military groups and listen to their sound offs. Actually that's part of my strategy.

The plan is to get to Aloha Stadium early, by 4:30am, to catch the bus downtown where the start line is. I want to have plenty of time to warm up, stretch, and make my way towards the front of the crowd (last year I started in the middle and spent the whole race weaving through people, don't want to do that again). The military starts first followed by the general public. Each military team runs as a group in their own designated military lane and each team has their own sound off. I like to listen to them. I match my pace to them, listen to their sound off, then run up to the next team, and repeat over and over. That usually carries me for the first 3 or 4 miles. Only when they're gone do I really feel like I'm running and I'll be halfway through the race.

Most of all though I like to enjoy the buzz of the event. And the sense of accomplishment at the end feels nice too. It's going to be a good run. Best of luck to everybody running and thanks to those who have read my blogs.

Passion Fruit

Seeds planted will grow,

Let it ripen perfectly?

Or take a bite now?

So I was watching Oprah the other day (yeah, yeah, whatever) and something caught my attention and has held it ever since. On the show she interviewed George Lucas and they briefly talked about what makes a person successful. That thing – which has been echoed on replays of Steve Jobs interviews lately – is passion. “Follow your bliss, follow your passion is the way for you to be the most successful and empowered person.” That's what Oprah said. George basically says to listen to yourself, not to peers, authority figures, or culture. You only need to listen to yourself, something shared with cartoonist and writer Hugh MacLeod. Interesting of course, nothing new, but then Lucas went on to talk about how you can find what your passion is. That's what caught my attention.

Lucas described it as, “when you wake up at 7 in the morning and start working on something then when you go grab a bite to eat you realize it's 7 at night. That's your passion.” Ok. Awesome. There's some sort of baseline to figure it out. So I thought about it in hopes of having some self-discovery about what my passion could be...one problem: I've never had a day like that with anything in my life, ever. Damn! So what's that mean? Am I passionless? Am I some heap of flesh with no drive to apply myself to anything? That would suck...

But no I don't think so. Not accepting that. Mainly because I rarely have that much time to work on one thing of my choosing. There's my job, errands, social plans, and other obligations. Perhaps taking Lucas literally isn't the way to go. So I thought of a different way to look at it: The few times I do have an entire day for myself, what do I do with it?

The last free day that comes to mind was a Friday. I had the day off of work. I slept in to 9 or 10am, made myself breakfast, then went to Starbucks to work on my story. I was there for 3 or 4 hours. I finished the chapter I was working on and did some editing on some previous chapters. Then I went to train jiu-jitsu. After rolling I went home and read a book.

Another day I had to myself was a Monday, another day off of work. Again, I slept in, went to Starbucks and worked on designing a blog and worked on my story a little. When I got home I read a book.

When I think about other days I had off along with free time on the weekends there's one common thread: I work on my story. But is this a passion or is it being diligent on an endeavor I began a year ago?

This brought me to another question: Is passion something that one discovers for themselves or can it be chosen?

I've been pondering the questions in this blog for over a week now (dang Oprah, so thought provoking!) and I can't come to any answers. I can't positively say writing is my passion, or storytelling. What I can say is that I choose to spend my free time engaging in those things. As for passion being discovered versus a choice...that may be too deep to tackle in one blog. Plus I've been pondering it for so long that I may never post this if I wait until I come to some conclusion. Maybe it's one of those the question is more important than the answer things. If anybody reading this has any thoughts please share. I'd love to know your thoughts.

Check out a clip from Oprah's interview

Great Aloha Run Training - Week 6

Last week I was able to get back to a few workouts and I was able to maintain that momentum this week. Here's how the training went:

Monday – I did about forty minutes of stretching. My flexibility has increased nicely since I started stretching more seriously. By no means does that mean I'm flexible though. I can touch my toes easily enough but my back and hips are still very board-like.

Tuesday – I tried doing an Insanity workout. A friend of mine gave me the entire Insanity program and I've been watching what the workouts are like thinking about trying out the whole 60 day program. So why not try one out? I did an interval workout. It's just a little more than half an hour long and it was intense. My calves were shot before the warmup even ended. I had to take several breaks throughout the workout, sweat was dripping all over the floor, and when it was all over I had to clean my floor. It was a good workout. The only complaint is how sore my calves were from it. In fact they're still a little sore as I write this blog...and it's Sunday!

Wednesday – Swim time at Manoa! My friend James is sticking to his swimming routine. I continued to give him some tips on swimming technique and he asked me what kind of drills he could do to improve his stroke. I told him about the finger-drag and the catch-up. Finger-drag is where you keep the tips of your fingers in the water as you bring your arm out of the water during the recovery phase of the arm-stroke. The drill works on the recovery phase because your elbow should be the first thing out of the water and it should always be higher than your wrist. Catch-up is where you start in the streamline position with both arms out in front. One arm is held in the streamline position as the other does an entire arm-stroke. When that arm completes the stroke and returns to the streamline position you switch arms. This drill is meant to work on maintaining good streamlined posture so you move more easily through the water. As for my workout, I hit a pretty good stride. Usually at the Manoa pool I swim no more than 200 meters at a time...I get tired and need a rest. But this time I felt good and was able to do a few sets of 300 meters, and once for 400 meters. In total I swam 1800 meters, a little over a mile. Not too bad with a pair of burning calves.

Thursday – I planned on swimming at the Salt Lake pool with some friends but it was canceled because the pool's heater was broken. Probably a good call because that water is cold enough even when it's heated. Instead we went and ate pizza for dinner. Another good call!

Friday – Rest day, no workout.

Saturday – I did a brief workout at home consisting of push ups and core exercises. Been a while since I've done push ups, I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't too hard. I did 100 total. The core exercises included crunches, and some jiu-jitsu drills (triangles). Just a quick workout.

I searched "cardio" in Google Images and found this.

Sunday – I did some stretching for about 15 minutes then did the P90X abs workout. It's 16 minutes of non-stop core work. Only once I've gotten through the entire thing without taking a break. Today...lots of breaks! I'm expecting my abs to be sore tomorrow.

I didn't go for a run this past week but the workouts I did were pretty good. The way I swam on Tuesday gives me confidence that my cardio is still there. That was never really an issue. Since I began training for the Great Aloha Run I've believed that my lungs will hold up fine. My legs will fail before my lungs do. The Aloha Run is in one week. I want to get at least one run in early this week, do a few other workouts, and then stop by Friday to give plenty of time to rest and recover. Should be a good week!

Great Aloha Run Training - Week 5

The vog has subsided, the air has been clear all week, and thank god! However, just because the air cleared up doesn't mean my lungs did. Still had a cough all week. Wasn't as bad as before, but still there...irritating. But I did manage to get a few workouts in.

Monday I continued with the stretching routine. Check out last week's GAR training blog for more details about it. It's been about 2 weeks since I began dedicating an entire workout to stretching but I already see improvement in my flexibility. When sitting with both legs extended in front of me, I can easily reach my toes and if I curl forward my forehead is only an inch away from my knees. Before I could only reach my toes after a warmup.

Tuesday was a rest day...and a cough day. Really miss running and jiu-jitsu.

Wednesday the cough was pretty light so I decided to go for a swim. I met Waimea and Kalani at the Manoa pool, an Olympic size pool (50 meters in length). Waimea swims, Kalani doesn't...one day we'll get him in the water. Our other friend James was in the water doing laps. He's only been swimming for one month and I gotta say he's doing pretty damn good. I played coach a little bit and gave James some basic tips like keep the legs together to stay streamlined and bend at the elbow during the arm-stroke to engage the back muscles. He'll be a strong swimmer in no time. For my workout, I did about 800 meters, all freestyle. It was my first workout in almost a month...fricken tiring! Before I went to the pool I watched some videos of Ian Thorpe, an Australian Olympic gold medalist. He has one of the most efficient swimming styles of all time so I try to mimic it. If you watch any his Olympic races you'll notice he's the fastest one in the water but his arms move the slowest. He has a very smooth freestyle.

Ian Thorpe swimming freestyle. Check out this video to
get a better look at his style

Thursday was another swim. This time at the Salt Lake pool, which is a short-course pool (25 yards in length). I like the short-course because I can do more flip-turns, those things are fun. I also use the short-course for speed work. I did a few 200 yard swims at a moderate pace followed by some speed swims. I did a few 100 yard builds. I start off at an easy pace and go faster each length. The last length should be almost a sprint. Then I did a few 100 yard intervals: 1^st length easy, 2^nd length fast, 3^rd length moderate, 4^th length sprint. I swam a total of 1200 yards.

Friday was another rest day. I felt good about getting back into the pool the last two days. Unfortunately, my cough was a little worse today. Some friends were having a bbq that night but I decided not to go in order to rest and sleep early. I really want this cough gone.

Saturday I woke up feeling really good. The cough was a lot lighter and there was almost no congestion in my chest. What a relief! No workout today.

Sunday and the cough is almost gone. I did another stretching workout. I also cleaned my place a little. Figured less dust and germs would mean better health.

The Great Aloha Run is in two weeks and I haven't ran in about 3. I figure my cough is mild enough that I can try a light run this week. I'll definitely make my way to the pool again.

Great Aloha Run Training - Week 4

Well this week was much like last week. The vog didn't relent and I was out of commission. No running, no rolling. Just a lot of coughing and a lot of mucus. For me reacting to vog is like being sick without the virus. But I didn't go the whole week being completely inactive.

Honolulu covered in vog

I was in no condition to run...not to mention the air was still voggy hazy so running in it would have just been retarded. I was in no condition to do jiu-jitsu...plus I doubt my training partners would appreciate me coughing and hacking all over them. The most I could really do was stretches so I stretched it out.

I came up with an hour long stretching routine blending postures from Bikram Yoga, some things my buddy Dan (the yoga guy/personal trainer) showed me, and regular static stretches I normally do for running. I start off with five salutations, very beginner level that Dan showed me. Then I do some side bends, or half-moon for the Bikram people, but for me it's hardly a side bend...I'm as flexible as a board and a tricep stretch. Then I do some standing bow pose, standing head-to-knee, triangle pose, and standing separate leg stretch which is basically going spread-eagle and bending forward.

After the standing stretches, which work up a pretty good sweat, I move to ground stretches. I do some hip stretches that Dan showed me then stretch out my back. Bow pose, full locust are pretty intense and even though I feel a lot of stretching going on I really hardly move...yep, flexible as a board. Then I do some cobra/upward dog and downward dog. Those ones feel pretty relaxing by this point. Then I sit down and do some butterfly. The goal is to get the knees to the ground but mine are flapping a good four inches off...yeah my hips don't really open up...like a board! Next is a hamstring stretch with one leg forward. Bikram calls this stretch head-to-knee but for me it's more like 'yay my hands can reach my toes' stretch. I stretch each leg individually then do both legs in front. Finally I finish with some sit 'n twist or spine twist for the Bikram people.

Stretching reminded me how flexible I am not but helped me avoid feeling completely slothish. It was actually a pretty good workout and I built up a good sweat. I did the stretch routine Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. I still have a pretty good cough going but it's getting better. The winds are finally blowing the vog away and the I was happy to wake up on Saturday to clear air. Hopefully the cough will be gone in a few days and I can get a run in this week.

Picture of Vog taken from the space shuttle

Great Aloha Run Training: Week 3

Week 2 brought a lull in my training regiment and unfortunately it continued this week. This week didn't start well and it didn't really end well either. Here's how it went:

Monday – I had the day off and lazed around spending most of the day reading a book. I woke up with a sore throat and I could feel some mucus dripping from my nasal passages causing the discomfort. Slightly concerned I might be getting sick. After popping some vitamins and eating breakfast I began to feel better. Perhaps it's nothing to worry about. Anyway, I decided to do a 4 mile run around Diamond Head at an easy pace later in the day. Don't want to push too hard in case I am getting sick and because I don't want to re-aggravate my back. Even with those things in mind the run was brutal, in fact it sucked. I didn't enjoy it. My legs felt heavy, my ankles were constantly sore, and my left ankle – which is my good ankle – popped over and over again throughout the run. I ran at what felt like a 8:30 to 9 min per mile pace, which is well below what I should normally cruise at. Given the slow pace and how I felt, something very profound, very prodigious, and very dangerous crept into my mind: doubt.

What if I fail? What if I don't make my time goal? What if I don't heal well enough to perform? What if I do heal and I'm simply not good enough? Unrelenting, unforgiving doubt. These things and more plagued my mind during the latter part of the run and stayed with me well after. What's the point? Why even train? My joints feel busted and strained, my legs feel like they can't carry my weight. What's the point if I'm only going to deteriorate further and further? I'm getting older so it's all downhill anyway. Why do anything? I should just retreat into a burrow and let the world and everybody in it pass by ignorant to their inescapable doom...yep all that muck grew out from one twinge of doubt. What a poisonous thing...

The rest of the week I'll just call “Attack of the Vog.” For those who don't know, vog is like volcanic smog caused from volcanic ash. One thing about Hawaii that doesn't happen in very many other places is there's an active volcano on the Big Island and when the winds are just right volcanic ash and gas covers the state. The air becomes hazy and gray...kinda like Los Angeles. Anyway, like many others, vog wreaks havoc on my lungs and sinuses. It's why I had a sore throat on Monday, which I'm sure wasn't made any better by running.

I spent the rest of the week feeling sick and medicated. Tuesday through Thursday I had a sore throat and my nose was going crazy. Friday the congestion began and I spent the weekend coughing up all sorts of goodness. No workouts, needless to say. I did some stretching for about forty minutes on Thursday. A blend of static stretches and yoga stretches. I did more stretches again on Sunday for about an hour. I don't know why I don't stretch more often. There's a good hour or two each day I spend just vegging out with the TV and computer on, not really doing anything. I could at least stretch out a bit.

All in all, the week sucked for training. I'm still recovering from the vog attack and I continue to stretch my lower back. At least I got plenty of rest this week (Nyquil helped with that). And that doubt thing...well let's try not to have another episode of that again...so debilitating. While I think the doubt has waned it has been replaced with the reality that the Great Aloha Run is less than a month away and I'm not training as I should be to hit my mark. Hopefully health finds me this week and I can get back to training.

Crazy Awesome Dream

I was walking through a foggy, misty bog. Visibility was low, only about forty feet. The air was muggy and humid. Ahead to the left loomed the figure of a large tree. It was bare of any leaves and the branches twisted outward. Except for a dark maroon vest, I was wearing all black. Black shirt, black pants, black boots, even black belt and shoelaces. I slowly walked along the muddy pathway keeping my senses sharp for whatever might be hiding in the mist.

I stopped, sensing something might be nearby. Taking a slow breath my mind cleared and became focused. I held my arms out to my sides, palms up, and began to elevate into the air. I moved forward as I rose about twenty feet high then smoothly arced back down to the ground, landing without a sound. I listened...there, a slight rustling to the right.

“I got 'em, He's over here!” somebody shouted. Through the mist the figure of a man emerged. He was dressed like me except his clothes were white and his vest was brown. He's after me, I thought.

I reached for the weapon at my hip and drew a light-saber. I raised it up and noticed my light-saber was red...uh oh, that means I'm the bad guy!

The guy charging me drew his light-saber, it was green...guess he's the good guy. We swung for each others heads, lunged for a killing strike, but neither of us could gain an upper hand. Then I heard other footsteps closing in. Two more guys in white charged for me. For a brief moment my opponent was distracted and I landed a kick to his gut knocking the wind out of him as he doubled over.

The other two were on me in seconds. I parried and avoided their attacks with ease. I moved quick...I wish I moved that well in real life...anyway, I held off my attackers until suddenly the lights came on. Turned out the misty bog was a set inside of an arena. There weren't any stands or bleachers, just walls with blacked-out windows at the top. Whoever was watching us was up there. A voice sounded overhead, “Ok that's enough everybody. Well done. Class is over.”

When I left the arena I found myself walking along an outdoor pathway. Then it hit me, I'm in a Jedi academy! Everybody here is learning the art of using the Force and wielding a light-saber. Hundreds of students studying to become Jedi. The class I was just in was a practical training class and I got to play the role of a Sith while three Jedi attempted to apprehend me. Three-on-one...I must be pretty good, I thought.

I walked along admiring my surroundings. The sky was bright and clear, to one side was a tall angular building made of glass, to the other side was a wide open field with a building on the other side. That's where I was heading.

A man that looked to be in his late thirties came alongside me. “Hey, you did pretty good in there. You'll make a good jedi yet.” I nodded my acknowledgment.

We passed by a group of first year students who whispered amongst themselves, pointing at us as we passed. I heard one of them say, “That's him, that's the guy who fought with Luke. Luke Skywalker!”

The man walking with me smiled, he was flattered to be recognized with such awe. “Off to the dorms then huh?” He asked. I nodded. “Give my regards to Luke. See you next class.”

We parted ways and I walked around the field to the building. There was nothing spectacular about it. A standard rectangular box made of stone, 5 floors high, with windows at each room. I went up a several flights of stairs to the top floor and there was Luke, the legendary Skywalker who brought balance to the force. He never went to college and decided to enroll at the academy to be officially educated in the Jedi arts. Nobody suspected he'd end up like this.

“Hey man.” Luke called, “come check this out it's super important!” It must have been the first day in the dorms because people all around were unpacking and introducing themselves. Luke, who seemed to resemble Uriah Faber...go figure...anyway, he led me into a room and sitting on the bed were two blonde girls chatting with each other. I looked around waiting for something to happen or to see something significant. Luke looked at me wide-eyed in shocked excitement.

“Coed dorms dude!!” Luke yelled. Yeah...nobody thought the legendary Skywalker would become a college junkie. He raised a hand for a high-five. I left.

I walked a while. The campus wasn't isolated being next to a city and it didn't take long for me to walk from the campus into some important, official, town square looking area. Up ahead I spotted a group of guards escorting Darth Vader in custody. Vader's helmet gleamed black with malice and his black cape was drawn around his entire body. I wondered, even if they have Vader's light-saber isn't he bad-ass enough to take out those guards on his own? Turns out the answer is yes.

Vader spun around and force-pushed all the guards away. He flung his arms up, letting his cape fly back to reveal what was underneath. His body gleamed with polished green armor...Darth Vader wore the armor of Master Chief from Halo!! He busted out two sub-machine guns and opened fire at us. I dove behind a pillar for cover. Bullets peppered the marble pillars and walls and bits of rock and dust flew in the air. I heard Vader laugh as he unloaded both guns. The shooting stopped. I peered out from behind the pillar and glimpsed Vader running off faster than anybody could catch him. Must be those Master Chief legs giving him a boost of speed.

I listened in to the guards, who were also Jedi, discuss the incident. “Did you see that? Vader had Spartan armor.” One said.

In the distance we made out Vader's figure running onto a Star Destroyer with a crew of Spartans.

“If the Spartans have allied with Vader, the Spartans may declare war on the Jedi!” another guard said.

“We can defeat them can't we? We have the power of the force on our side.”

“While that may be true, a single Spartan can conquer an entire world.”

That's about where the dream ended. Dang, a battle between Spartans and Jedi! That would be epic!! Who would win? I wish the dream kept going to see what happens next.

And if you're wondering what I was on before I had this dream: Nyquil, well a generic brand of Nyquil. That stuff messes me up...but gives me awesome Star Wars Halo dreams :)