Running the Streets of Hollywood
2012/04/08 at 7:36 pm | Posted in Exercise, Health, Inspiration, Life, lifestyle change, Motivation, Photos, weight loss, weight loss blog | 2 CommentsTags: 5k, california, Exercise, hollywood, running
I’m pretty sure my Facebook friends are tired of hearing about it with all the stuff I’ve posted there, so here’s the last time they will see anything about it – until next year, at least.
I had the pleasure of running a 5k in that ran along the streets of Hollywood, CA. Well, down Hollywood Boulevard and back at least.
The inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon and 5k/10k took place this Saturday and despite its problems (as I will detail later), it was a great time. How often is it that you can run down Hollywood Boulevard with thousands of others and not be a part of a mob of angry citizens up in arms about [insert source of frustration here]?
But as I said, there were some issues that were outlined by some runners later, including:
Parking: Not an issue for me because I rode the MTA trains to the venue and to Universal City Hilton to pick up my bib and timing chip on Friday. Once there, though, I witnessed what other participants would later complain about: traffic going in and coming out of the hotel was disastrous. Not only that, even if you took the train to the hotel, you had to walk up a massive hill to get there. And I heard that finding a spot was next to impossible and leaving the hotel as well as the event itself was almost impossible. Again, I thank [insert appropriate deity here] for the MTA.
Cups: Again, this was an issue that I hadn’t dealt with personally but read about on Hollywood Half’s Facebook page. Apparently there was a serious lack of cups along the half marathon route which did not sit well with many. Being I ran the 5k, I didn’t have the need to hydrate as often as the half-marathoners so I didn’t even notice the problem. Water was handed out at the end of the run as were bagels and bananas.
No Electrolytes: Lack of what your body needs during a long run was also a strike against the organizers of the event. Again, not an issue for the 5k runners. In fact many of them reported no complaints about the event.
All in all, I did have a great time and even set a new personal record for a 5k:
Is it the best? Of course not, but it’s my best and that’s all that matters to the guy who used to be 300 pounds. For comparison, here’s what I logged on Fitness Tracker.
Honestly, the way I finished, I’m considering a 10k later this year.
Like all inaugural events, it was a learning experience for the organizers to improve upon for next year’s event which I am already looking forward to.
And by then, who knows? I might be running in the half marathon.
For more pictures from the event, click here.
Like this:
Weight Gain
2012/03/22 at 9:39 pm | Posted in Discipline, Exercise, Health, Inspiration, Photos, weight loss, weight loss blog | Comments OffTags: Health, lifestyle change, weight, weight loss blog
Hey, it’s a post! From the guy who used to post here quite frequently!
I know, I know. It’s been at least a few months since my last. Sorry about that. But at least this time I’ve got a little more to write about and despite the post’s title, you’ll see that things are for the better.
As I mentioned in this post, I have been working out – some can debate this – with the original Xbox 360 game Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. Keep in mind this is the first version and not the 2012 version.
At any rate, I’ve been using it at least 3 times a week when I’m not running at night, something I’ve started to do once again in preparation for the 5ks I have coming up. And while I thought that the Xbox workouts weren’t doing much good other than getting my heart rate going, today I noticed something that made me change my mind.
I got home from work and changed into a shirt that, as you will soon see, I’ve had for a few years. But when I put it on this time I had noticed something different.
Here’s how I looked in 2008 at 205 lbs. with said shirt:
And here I am today at 213 lbs. with the same shirt:
For a better view, here’s a side-by-side comparison.
As you can tell (at least by the somewhat bulging pecs), there’s a lot more definition in my chest and that I’ve grown a goatee since the first photo was taken. That or I just shrunk my shirt. No, seriously, I do notice a difference sans shirt.
My arms and legs are also a bit thinner but more muscular which I attribute to the running and cycling and as far as the upper body goes, I’ve been following the programs on Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. In particular, I’ve been sticking to the cardio kickboxing and the Sleeve-Busting Arms Workout programs but I also downloaded the Gunnar Peterson G Fit workout last night and…yeah, it was pretty intense. It’s the reason I’m writing and not working out tonight.
To sort of speed up the process, I substituted the recommended 5 lb. weights with 10 lb. dumbbells which seems to be doing the trick.
So overall, things look a bit more refined even if I have crept up to size 38 pants. Just remember: I started at size 48 and got as low as 36. But I’m just glad to see that the most noticeable weight gain has been mostly muscle and very little fat.
That’s all I got for now. Until next time… 
Upcoming Events and More Updates
2012/01/22 at 1:05 pm | Posted in Discipline, Exercise, Health, Inspiration, Life, weight loss, weight loss blog | Comments OffTags: Exercise, weight, weight loss blog, xbox, your shape fitness evolved
Hey, do you smell that? It’s the smell of a new blog post and I bet you’re all excited and stuff!
I have a new list of events I will be participating in this year. Ready? Here we go!
Hollywood Half Marathon 5k, April 7, 2012: The beginning of the year is always busy for me so I decided I’d let the first few months slide and start my events with this, the inaugural running of the Hollywood Half Marathon. This event will guide runners down two of Hollywood’s most famous streets – Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset – and finishes up at the Kodak Theater. It looks like a fairly simple run and as of now, it looks like one of the most organized and events I’ve done. Check out their Facebook page for constant updates. It’s gonna be a rockin’ event and I’ll be glad to be part of its history. And come on, who wouldn’t want one of these sweet finisher’s awards?
WetNWild5k, June 16, 1012: I participated in this event last year because it seemed like it would be a lot of fun. It sure was but unfortunately, the venue – Wild Rivers in Irvine, CA – was closed temporarily to make way for a new housing complex. I thought that this would be the end of the line for this crazy 5k.
Not to worry. The organizers managed to schedule the event another venue which is closer to home: Knott’s Soak City. The idea is still the same and yes, I’m sure it will be just as fun as last year. One of the many advantages about this event being close to home is that I know the area really well and will know exactly where to eat after the run. The choices are many…!
Long Beach Marathon Bike Tour, October 7, 2012: For the 3rd year in a row, I will mount my bike and be riding in this event. I bested my time last year and an hoping to do the same again this year.
So what else is there? Provided I can cough up the money for more events, I will definitely do so. The Del Mar Mud Run was insanely fun but just a bit too far to go, even if I did win an entry to the event. Still, I’d love to another event similar to that one.
Moving on. My weight continues to creep ever so higher but guess what? It’s a good thing and here’s why:
As my Lean Weight app clearly indicates, my muscle mass continues to go higher. This is fine with me because it means that the fat is dropping off and the muscle is packing on. I’m real happy with these results.
What have I been doing differently? In addition to my usual Sunday bike ride of at least 15 miles, I recently purchased Kinect and the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved game for a change of pace. It consists of stuff like cardio kickboxing which is good because I haven’t been to my classes in a bit due to the holidays and fighting off a bad cold. While others will argue that these “fitness games” are no real substitute for the real thing, I have to admit that after an hour of doing it, I’m sweating pretty good. And since the chart you see above indicates the addition of body mass after purchasing the game, then I’d say it was making a bit of a difference. Either way, it’s a good change of pace. Hey, Wii Fit practically got me to start jogging because I got tired of standing on once place.
Well, that’s all for now. I may have another post later or tomorrow because it centers around a product I should have written about a long time ago: Clean Bottle. You’ll see why when you read it.
Thanks for reading. If you made a resolution to lose weight this year, forget it. They never work. Instead, make a commitment to lose weight and follow through with it by changing the way you live. You will succeed – believe me, I know!
My Blogs Will Be Dark for 24 Hours Starting Tomorrow
2012/01/17 at 6:58 pm | Posted in Health | Comments OffTags: censorship, congress, government, sopa, sopa blackout
On January 18, 2012 from 6 am to 6 pm 6 am the following day, I will be joining sites such as Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and others in showing my opposition to SOPA.
During those 12 24 hours, all of my blogs (listed below) will be set to “private” in order to bring awareness to what SOPA really and truly is: censorship of the Internet. You will not be able to access anything on any of my blogs so that you get an idea of how things may unfold if Congress decides to pass the bill. Additionally, I will refrain from posting on any social media outlet. I will be silent and will also be enforcing the silence. Because I can.
When you try to visit any of my blogs, you will get nothing but a warning page stating that the blog has been set to “private” and cannot be viewed. This means that all of you readers who have come here in search of information regarding Virgin Mobile phones, weight loss, etc. won’t get what you are looking for — by my choice.
Don’t let Congress have that kind of authority on the one thing they need to stay away from and haven’t screwed up yet.
Take action. Stand up to SOPA.
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My affected blogs:
Kickboxing Class
2011/11/16 at 11:26 pm | Posted in Discipline, Exercise, Health, Inspiration, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog | Comments OffTags: Exercise, Health, weight, weight loss blog
Before I get into this post, I want mention a few things.
First, to thanks Fat2Fit Radio for once again mentioning my blog on their podcast! You can give it a listen here.
Second, where I am with my maintenance. Believe it or not, I’m still hovering around the 205 range and, not surprising to me or probably any other readers, still nowhere near the illusive goal of 190. I think I need to make peace with the fact that I may not ever reach that goal or if I do get close, it won’t be for very long if I want to build up some more muscle and kill the fat.
Third, the domain has finally been mapped to the blog! I know, it took me some time to do but at least I got around to it. Working all that overtime definitely paid off
Okay, now to the meat of this post. I took my first kickboxing class last night and let me tell you, it was definitely something. How intense was it? I can’t lift my arms above my head very well at the moment and class was over 24 hours ago. I worked muscles I didn’t even know I had, I sweat like mad, and also learned some handy martial arts moves that will come in handy the next time someone decides to get all up in my grill.
The first half consisted of some simple stretching and exercises which then led into the more intense stuff: medicine ball, running on all fours, and learning the aforementioned defensive moves. Probably the most surprising part was how doing something as simple as outstretching your arms to your sides and raising them slightly for 5 minutes can really work your arm muscles — and make them as sore as anything the following day. Well, that and holding an 8 lb. medicine ball above your head for a few minutes. Either way, my arms are grimacing and can barely be raised above my head at the moment, but it feels so right.
Another exercise involved working with a step: hopping on and off and keeping one foot on it all times. Not too bad until the trainer asks you to speed up.
Then there was the punching. The trainer stood in front of me with a punching mitt on each and and told me to start off slow then go hard. As my punches continued to get faster and harder, I really began to feel my upper arms turn to mush and the punches started to slow and had less intensity. I was almost to the point of throwing in the towel but my trainer insisted I keep going, pushing me and encouraging me along the way.
It worked. I made it, despite there being little to no kicking involved. But our legs did get a workout with some of the other exercises er did. I have to give a shout-out to the facility, The Fitness Mecca in Signal Hill, CA, and to Dana and Rich who are both good people and were glad to have me there. I enjoyed it and will definitely be returning very soon.
I’d also like to mention this. I was able to get these classes through a deal with Amazon Local/Living Social, which is kind of like Groupon in that it offers ridiculous discounts on local restaurants and services. In my case, $20 got me 20 classes and 5 smoothies at The Fitness Mecca. By comparison, individual classes run $10 each and smoothies are somewhere between $3 and $5. I was also able to score a 45 minute session with a personal trainer as well as 4 classes of my choice at another local facility for the same price. The offers seem to be much better than anything Active Schwaggle offers, even if you are a Active Advantage member (which I am). Sign up for the Living Social 1-Day Deal and you won’t regret it. Saving money and getting in shape — does it get any better?
Despite my soreness, I am definitely going to kickboxing again next Tuesday and also interested in taking something else like spinning or even yoga. I’ve got 19 classes and 5 smoothies left so I think I’m in pretty good shape
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