Ragnar Relay Routes

Looking over my Runner 4 profile, (Leg 4, Leg 16, Leg 28) what's 4.3 miles | Moderate / 5.6 miles | Hard / 5.7 miles | Hard for a total of 15.6 miles!? I'm definitely capable of doing that. I guess I should try running Miramar Lake at different intervals all throughout the day. Who's with me for some Saturday fun day training? Maybe we should hit it on Friday night for a lap and then do another on Saturday morning? If you don't want to click on any of the above links, here are the profiles of each of my runs. The last one looks like a little bit of a doozy with that last minute incline, but I'm all for the 24 hour challenge!

Training since Last Week

If you haven't followed me in the last week or so on foursquare or twitter or on my Garmin Connect Profile, you can see that I've been busy traveling (working) everywhere and working out very lightly, if anything. It's hard to recover from a 55 mile bike ride then hop on the red eye back to work. Last Sunday, I was mostly mush and tried to run a little on Monday (.87 miles back and forth to the Crystal City Mall in Washington DC) but found out I was still sore so that was a no go. My true intentions were to pick up some daily vitamins from the GNC shop since I left everything back at home. <-- #FAIL

Here is Garmin profile of my ~55 mile ride that I did last Saturday with Trek San Diego. I rode with group B2 but then fell back to B3 then fell somewhere between the groups and ended up finishing on my own. It was a little rainy and I like to think that I performed well during some parts, but once again, near the end, I was faltering a bit and ended up resting too many times.

Ragnar Relay: It's Official!

First off, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read all about the Ragnar Relay on the official about page. I'm excited to announce that I signed up / volunteered myself to become part of my friend's team and celebrate his 30th birthday with this race! This individual, Jack Pham, also happens to be the person who introduced Adelle to me when he put together an awesome BBQ way back for Memorial Day 2000. He was also my UCSD freshman year roommate's high school classmate. I just can't believe that it's been over 10 years since all this! Back to the race. I will be participating in the Ragnar Relay So Cal edition which will cover ~200 miles from Huntington Beach, CA to Coronado Island, San Diego from April 15th to April 16th and am running as the 4th Runner covering a total of 15.4 miles.

I just came back from the first team meeting, and I'm super excited! There's a lot to prepare for in my journey to running my first marathon (San Diego Rock 'n' Roll on June 5th) and this is just one of the ways that I'm motivating myself.

PICTURE THIS: You and 11 of your buddies running relay style, day and night, in a 200-mile running event through Southern California. Starting south of Los Angeles in beautiful Huntington Beach your team of 12 runners will head south down the pacific coast. Along the way you will pass through Anaheim, Carlsbad, Del Mar and La Jolla. The race (and your stamina) will wrap up near San Diego on beautiful Coronado Island. This race had better make your running calendar; you really won’t want to miss it.

Ride w/ me this Saturday!

I was thinking of making this an awesome type ride where if you beat me, I have to buy you lunch, but I'm thinking that it might get a bit costly. So instead, I'll buy a round of beers if you come out and ride! My plans for this week are to get re-fitted on my bicycle, and get a quick tuneup (it's been about two years for a professional tune). During the Week 6 ride, I didn't feel that good in terms of positioning on my bike and even had to stop and raise my seat a couple of times. Definitely frustrating. The ride this Saturday is Week 08 of the Spring 2011 San Diego Century Training series sponsored by Trek San Diego and will once again start out at Peet's Coffee in Torrey Highlands. This is a 55 mile ride slated to ride past Top Gun/Mission Valley and include the La Jolla Loop. It's going to be a great morning with temperatures in the low 60s with a slight chance of rain but I'll be crossing my fingers. I'm hoping that the forecast improves but that it doesn't get too hot. Last ride, I ran out of water at 10 miles to go and my Garmin Edge 500 said that it got to around 89.5F!

The full details of the ride can be found here. I'd love to see you out there w/ me and a few of my other friends. And hey, while you are at it, check out my Tour de Cure fundraiser page and support me in my ride. Just head over to http://main.diabetes.org/goto/elijah. Any donation would be awesome!

Trek San Diego Century Training Week 6

I started receiving emails about Trek San Diego's weekly rides but it wasn't until today that I was able to finally participate and ride with the gang. This ride was setup as Trek San Diego's Century Training Week 6 // 45 miles. I invited a few people but when it came down to the final start, it was Matt Krawczak and Brian Dudley that showed up. Granted it was an early 7:30AM start but it was all worth it. I went to sleep a late last night clocking in only 5 hours of sleep, which on a scale of 1-10, only ranked about a 6. Maybe it was the anticipation of the ride or maybe the fact that I ate an entire California Burrito at 12:30am which served as my carb loading.

I woke up at 5:30am without an alarm and couldn't get back to sleep so I just gathered my things, drank some juices, ate a Fiber One bar and headed out. I still felt full but excited and when I arrived at the parking lot, it only got more more energized.

Starting out the ride, we kept a casual pace saving the energy for the climbs that were along our route. An easy pace throughout until we got to those hills. If you click on the map below, you'll be able to to go through the entire route along with my speed, elevation, heart rate and cadence charts along with a temperature chart. I'll rate this ride also a 6 out of 10. I haven't ridden in such a long time and I've been only targeting 1-1.5 hrs so this was a challenge. Good company all around made it a great ride followed by some burger goodness at Islands!

There are more rides coming up so check out the schedule and don't forget, this training is all for my goal of riding the Tour de Cure Century this upcoming May 7th. Support me by donating anything from $1.00 to whatever you can to help and find a cure for diabetes. Click here to reach my Tour de Cure page.

Miramar Lake #2 + Bay to Breakers!

Another good run at a good pace but I definitely know that I can do better. Maybe I'll do two laps next time at this pace and then see what's up. After today's run, I'm starting to feel confident which is a good thing. So... I said in a previous post that I was considering running Bay to Breakers 100th Anniversary and today, I registered my wife and I. Low and behold, it's selling out as I was only able to register for the "F" Corral; the last group in the race. I'm looking forward to a Saturday night in San Francisco as well as the race on Sunday the 15th of May. Should be fun!

Here's my run data from below using my Garmin Edge 500.

My First Miramar Lake of many

Every since I can remember, the very idea of running around a lake was always daunting. Let alone the veracity of the environment ridden with competitive runners (or maybe just looking like they are and like myself all decked out in Nike gear), the once you go half way or even just around the first bend you cannot turn back and all the little indentations creating the optical illusion like you're almost there...Miramar Lake has been that thorn in my side. Well, I like to come out and say, I DID IT! I ran it with my wife Adelle and actually also started out with her friend Esther Choi. It's always nice to have a running buddy but being the first time, I wanted to take it easy. I guess to be honest, her marathon like pace wasn't something that I could keep up with anyways, so I hung back and ran with the wifey. It was a good feeling as the only way that I have ever circled the lake was in a car and on a bike. I shall conquer it over again and make it my doggy. Yea, that's right...my doggy.

My Tour de Cure Page

If you haven't already clicked on the link leading you to my Tour de Cure Page, I thought that I would also put it here on elijahnicolas.com.  Here it is! Growing up and why I ride

Accompanying my grandmother to multiple eye exams, ultimately an eye transplant and seeing her struggle with the pains in her feet was all part of my growing up.  I would massage her after a long walk around the block, up hill to the local 7-11 then back and just always thought it was normal that she would ache.  I didn't understand until my middle school years that my grandmother was actually suffering from diabetes.  Her kidneys started to fail thus her start on dialysis when I was in middle school.  It always left her too weak to do our walks and I hated seeing her get back from the treatment but it was necessary.

We moved her to the downstairs bedroom so that she wouldn't have to climb stairs anymore and I got use to checking her glucose every morning before leaving for school.  All part of a normal morning of a twelve year old right?  I remember some mornings when she would start acting loopy, which I got use to knowing it meant it she was low on sugar.  So, I would rush to take her glucose reading, which sometimes fell to the 20s, to where I would begin to force feed her mini Snickers and orange juice and sometimes we had to call 911.  It was tough and she passed on strong, quiet and ever so thoughtful in November of '95.

Seeing her struggle with the disease made me more conscious of how detrimental it could be to not only the individual suffering through it but the family surrounding the person.  It is why I chose to support this cause.  I just so happen to also be of Filipino / Asian descent which increases my chances of living the same plight.  So I ask of you...

Please Support Me in Tour de Cure!

I will be cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fundraising event this year and you can support me with a donation by selecting the "Click Here to Sponsor Me" link. No matter how small or large, your generous gift will help improve the lives of more than 23.6 million Americans who suffer from diabetes, in the hope that future generations can live in a world without this disease. Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes. So let's get in gear and ride to beat diabetes!

Thank you for making a generous contribution to this cause that is so important to me!  This ride is for you Grandma Meli! Love, JJ

About Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors appear to play roles. There are 23.6 million Americans living with diabetes, a disease that is outpacing heart disease, cancer and AIDS. Diabetes is a disease that has deadly serious consequences, and there is no cure.

American Diabetes Association presents Tour de Cure:San Diego

Did you know that pilots can lose their medical certificates if diagnosed with diabetes?  That's what I'm scared of once I get a little older.  It becomes a personal dilemma. I've haven't done a fundraiser since the elementary school magazine drive or middle school band chocolate candy bar drive for and I thought that it would only do me good to start again with helping the cause. This year, for 2011, I have decided to ride for a Cure.  More specifically, a cure for Diabetes (PubMed / WebMD).  In knowing my family and I, or just Asian Filipinos in general, we are prone to this debilitating disease.  A couple personal notes include; my grandmother on my mother's side passing away when I was in high school due to complications from diabetes, my father-in-law dealing with this disease on a daily basis, and a good friend who lives with it and is able to control it. Some days are good, some are bad, but I see it everyday and I know that you do too.  By riding and getting your sponsorship, I would like to help this Association not only raise money but awareness for the cause. There are so many ones out there, but this time around, I'm all for the ADA.

Please support me in riding a 100 mile century ride on May 7, 2011.   I figured that I could raise around $500 (up from the initial $150) only because of my friends on Facebook.  If you donate at least $1, or even $5, I can easily reach this goal.

I'll be posting from time to time here on elijahnicolas.com and/or http://main.diabetes.org/goto/elijah. By clicking on either the hyperlink, you can easily help contribute to this worthy cause.

If you want to ride with me and form a team, I'm all for it! Let's do this together!

It's March!!!

Feels like March came rather quickly this year and with that, it's always a good excuse to update and tell you what's been going on.  This year, I've been motivated more than ever to to finally get into shape.  It has, maybe a little to do with me turning the big three-oh, but I've noticed the fact that my metabolism, eating habits and general lifestyle is slowing down, getting worse and rapidly evolving when it comes to priorities. I have officially signed up for the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon on June 5th and the Tour de Cure San Diego Century Ride which takes place just one month earlier  on May 7, 2011.  I can't say that I've officially setup my fundraising website for the Tour de Cure but I will have it up and running in the next few days.  I promise.

Competitor San Diego just updated, revised and released the official race route for this year's marathon (PDF) and included an elevation map too!  As you can see, there's a good climb / gradient starting at mile seven which, if you think about it, after you've finished the uphill battle, could reinvigorate you signaling that you're awesome done!  I can assure you that's the way I'll be thinking about it.

Thinking about other races, I'm seriously considering the Carlsbad 5K where I'm aiming for the All Day 25K (Five 5K) Challenge. I'm in it really just for the medal but I guess by Sunday April 3rd, I'll already be within 60 days of the full marathon so running a half should be alright right?  I even get breaks here and there between each 5K!  I'll know how I feel about it after today when I run Miramar Lake for the first time.  If I can do it without bonking out, I should be alright.

I'm also thinking about Bay to Breakers 2011 being the 100th anniversary on May 15th.  It's calmed down considerably with the removal and strict policy of no alcohol, but hey, it's a family deal right?  Should be safer and cleaner and... they also have a medal!  A 12K race isn't that bad right?  Who wants in on this one?!  With that, I better get back to my other job at adellelijah.com.

I still haven't done any official swim lesions so until I feel comfortable swimming 1500 meters, I will be holding off on the decision to race San Diego TriRock Olympic distance.

Taking it in Stride

Putting on the running shoes that I was so excited for at the beginning of the month was a little harder than I originally thought. To be honest, I haven't ran / jogged / or even exercised since January 6th. Getting home from commuting, or arriving at the hotel exhausted from a day of flying around the cold and wintry midwest / east coast, and just getting back into the groove usually kills the mood. The only mood it doesn't kill is going out for some dinner and grabbing a drink. Bad I know especially for the workout that I need to be having. Discipline is key for sure, but I'll admit it here, as I might have before, flying sure does take it out of you.

Well, today, I did it! I put on the shoes, and embarrassingly, although not as bad as originally thought it would be, put on the only shorts I have here in San Diego.Yes, they are my Tri Shorts made by 2XU which are a blue tinged with purple. They call it Royal Blue so whatever. I didn't have a sport sweat tee so a white tee sufficed. Definitely heavier but I put on the headsets and went out. Here's a rough sketch of the route and when I ended up taking a picture at the stop point, RunKeeper Pro, unknowingly to me, paused the workout. I didn't realize it until I got back to the apartment.

Check out the amazing day though!

Check out the map down below. I took a cut up and over the San Diego Convention Center to do some stares which definitely added a small component to the early part of the workout. Good stuff all and in all!

View Larger Map

Off to a Bang for 2011

So far, 4 days into 2011, I've already logged two good workouts, bought some new running shoes (Nike Lunarglides+ 2) that I think I'll be training and running my first marathon with and have posted both on adellelijah.com and elijahnicolas.com! It's a constant barrage of staying busy and trying to utilize the time I have whether laying over at an airport or working while commuting using Gogo's Inflight WiFi. It's a bummer that the free WiFi, sponsored by Google's Chrome over the Holiday Season, has expired so I'm back to paying for it but count it as a business expense right? I'm currently working on more write-ups and reviews for the next few days and my wife even has a couple in the pipeline. I couldn't be more excited to finally get things going again. For now, here's my bucket list for 2011.

1) Run a Marathon before I'm 30 (San Diego Rock 'N Roll is in June and my birthday is in July) 2) Work up towards an Olympic Triathlon distance for the San Diego Tri-Rock 3) Ride a century either for the Tour de Cure of San Diego Century 4) Continue to post from 3-5 entries a week for either elijahnicolas.com or adellelijah.com 5) Focus more in the future on my cloud based endeavors 6) Eat healthier and less 7) Get down to my racing weight by June which is actually 20 lbs in 6 months

Check out the new Nike Lunarglide+ 2s!  A little loud as they didn't have the Wolf Grey / Blue combo at Road Runner Sports, San Diego.

Here's a quick pic of New Year's Eve 2011 celebrating it with great friends at Stingaree San Diego. Over priced at $50.00 presale and nothing included. Never doing that again.

November...now December...onto 2011

It's just like yesterday that I had a plan to blog everyday even about the daily news, but being inundated with a variety of tasks and goals, it's rather difficult to decide on how I want to write things and / or whether I want to write them for adellelijah.com.  The distinction and separation is going to happen soon enough as my focus comes into alignment. I'm once again ready to take on the challenge of staying physically fit and have been at it since the 19th of this month going at least 1 hr a day running or biking.  I'm setting myself up for the San Diego Rock 'N Roll Marathon in June as well as the Tour de Cure in San Diego Century cycling ride in March..or is it May?? ?

For now, stay tuned once again as we take on the next year with bigger goals in mind and a fresher start.  Thanks for hanging out!

If I can keep up the workouts like I did in July, pre-wedding, pre first triathlon, pre...whatever...I'll be more than ecstatic!  Check it out here from Garmin Connect!