Catching Up!

I remember when I first started this blog, I had an entry every day, for like two straight months. One of my friends said, "That'll change real quick. It'll be much less frequent very soon." So, he was right! Between work and a lot of other lame excuses, I haven't kept up. Not that I haven't had anything to say or report, just didn't get to it.

The good news is that I'm still holding fast in my diet and exercise. Still a vegan. Still drinking green smoothies in the morning , still working out diligently, albeit changing my workout routines a bit. I'll detail those changes in a later post, but needless to say, change in a workout routine is always good.

I did complete the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon in 2:15:59. I ran the previous two in 2:03:20 and 2:03:45 respectively, so it definitely wasn't my fastest time. I took it pretty easy, because my training showed that my times were not fast and my effort level was still high, which for me was a sign to take it easy. My ankle held up, thank goodness, and I recovered in just a day or two.

There was two casualties as part of the race. I know, "Casualties? What do you mean?" Casualties are not usually part of a race, but it happens. Two people died during the race, Rose Lo and Brandon Whitehurst. May they rest in peace, and may their friends and families find strength. I think I passed one of them near the end of the race, there were several people there, and I thought I should've stopped to help, but I kept running, thinking the race officials had it covered. But, it definitely made me rethink any thought of sprinting the last few miles in. I slowed down, and used the last few miles to cool down and recover. I saw my kids and my wife near the finish line, so they gave me the boost I needed to finish it off. But, my mind was still on the runners who were down, and their well being. When I found out that two of the runners had died afterwards, and learned more about their backgrounds (one a young mother and wife, the other a newlywed), I couldn't help but feel a terrible loss. You don't run a race thinking that anything catastrophic is going to happen, and for sure, none of your friends and family are never prepared for any news like that. Life is so precious and short.

My next goal is to run the San Francisco Marathon in July 2010. This will be my last 26.2 mile race. I've run two before, so three for a lifetime will be my goal, one for each of my kids. And I will personally dedicate this race to Rose Lo and Brandon Whitehurst. I will run 13.1 for Rose and 13.1 for Brandon. And remember, I'm running this marathon as a vegan. I think we've done the math before in a previous post. Pilipino, Vegan, Marathon Finisher. Very rare indeed.

Well, the holidays are coming, and I wanted to wish all of you an early happy holiday wish. Take this time to re-evaluate your diet and exercise program, and use the holiday time to improve them. Try a "Turkey Trot," typically a 5k/10k walk/run on Thanksgiving morning. Try to have something healthy to eat. For us, we're going to have a "Vegan Thanksgiving" at our place, the first we've ever done. It'll be fun to see how creative we can be, and how many leftovers there will be afterwards. And I'll probably jog 10 miles in the early morning, just for fun.