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.

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…

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!

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

It’s been a month since I did my bike tour and 5k and while I wrote about them on my personal blog, I simply didn’t do it here. Shame on me. At any rate, here’s a copy of that post for your enjoyment. I’ll have a little bit more later on tonight.

Enjoy!

—

Well, this last week sure was a busy one.

As I had mentioned in this post, I rode my bike in the Long Beach Marathon Bike Tour for the second year in a row. That means that it was another day of waking up at the crack of dawn (or 4am to be precise), preparing my stuff, eating breakfast and then making my way downtown to find my assigned parking lot, ride my bike to the starting line, then wait for the 6:30 start time. A lot of preparation but a lot of fun.

In the end, I trimmed my time down to 1:42:43 which is about 5 minutes less than my time last year. It was a beautiful day and it’s always humbling to be riding the bike trail along the beach to see the sun rise with the sound of the waves crashing in the background. I love this event and look forward to it in 2012.

Do I look exhausted?

Nah, I was fine. I could have gone a bit longer but hey, 26.2 miles was cool. And in case you didn’t track me, here’s how it looked:

Believe me, it’s not all that bad.

With that done, it was time for the rest of the week in which I worked overtime on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the latter two days going in at 6:30 am. And oh, did I mention that I also worked my night job on Thursday and Friday from 5:15 to 8:30 or so? Told you I was busy.

But wait, there’s more! On Saturday, I participated in my first 5k mud run down at the Del Mar Fairground/Racetrack which is just within the San Diego city limits. While not as early as the morning of the bike tour, I woke up and pretty much did the same thing in terms of preparation, breakfast, etc. Then, of course, hit the highway for the 90-minute drive to beautiful San Diego.

I’ll admit that the mud run was about the toughest and most unsanitary thing I’d ever done in my life but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was also one of the most memorable and fun. It’s a party atmosphere at the event and all participants get a free beer at the end (although I ended up giving my ticket to someone since I don’t drink). My finish time was 46:47.5 and keep in mind that’s with trudging through mud and over obstacles.

As far as the course goes, it’s crazy. There are obstacles such as tires, walls, hills and of course, mud pits. Most of those are not too bad to deal with but crawling through the mud pits proved to be tough for a few reasons.

First, there is netting above the pit so you have no choice but to crawl on your belly to get through. As the run continues, the netting gets lower so by the last one you are up to your chin in mud.

Second, the mud is more like infield clay from a baseball diamond so it will really do a number on your knees if you aren’t careful. I survived without much damage.

Also, it’s hard to wipe mud from your eyes when your hands and shirt are covered in the stuff. Next time: goggles. Another thing to remember is that regardless of how light an outfit you wear, it will still absorb liquid and that weighs you down like mad.

So how did I fare? Here’s how I went into it…

…and here’s how I came out of it:

Great event, great volunteers, great crowd. There’s just not much more you can ask for.

Well, except for maybe eating one of these afterward:

This here is a 1/2 pound Steerburger which from Boll Weevil, a restaurant with locations only in the San Diego area. All my life, I’d been going to the original one on Midway but it was closed down years ago. Whether I was in town to visit relatives or go to a ballgame, I never made a trip to San Diego without going home with one of these babies in my belly, and Saturday was no exception.

I’ll work off the calories later. I was enjoying the day too much at this point

If you really want to do this, check my weight loss Twitter feed at @200by40 for a post that says something like, “200by40 Just began a cycling workout using #Endomondo. Follow me live: http://bit.ly/otuxqp”. That link goes to last week’s ride but when you see the one for tomorrow at about 6 am PST, that will be the bike tour.

So go ahead and cheer me on in the manner people seem to do everything from having sex to engaging in political activism these days – online!

See you at the finish line

This was taken before the run and will post a few more taken with an actual camera (not phone) later.

Summary: finished in about 42:00 or so but I’ll post my official time when I get home. Right now I’m relaxing with the family at Wild Rivers where we had to run through a wading pool of sorts.

Had a great time and looking forward to doing it again!

UPDATE 8/28/11: Alright, since I’ve got some time to do it, here are some highlights/memorable events from the run.

The day started at 5am since I had planned on leaving by 6am to get there in plenty of time for the start at 8am. Irvine isn’t exactly a long drive but when you go to events like this, you just never know what the traffic will be like so it’s always best to plan for any unexpected delays.

We did get there in plenty of time so we checked out the few exhibitor booths that were there. I tried a sample of a drink called Body Armour and it wasn’t too bad so I need to look for that the next time I’m shopping. We sat around for about 30 minutes before I had to get in line according to my anticipated finishing time, do some pre-race stretching, listen to some of the rules, etc.

This is a shot of the field from where I was standing, in the “29:00 – ???” group:

After the National Anthem and a prayer (more people seemed attentive to the former than the latter), the horn sounded and we were off. We trudged along through the parking lot of Wild Rivers and out onto the sidewalk the made a u-turn, where the first water station was. It was poorly manned and most of us had to wait for our water to be poured which is not good.

Despite that, I have to admit that I felt pretty good as I started on my way and at about the first mile, I was in my zone as I usually am. The run came back into the parking lot and started to wind through Wild Rivers itself for the first of two laps. During the second lap, we had to run/walk/wade through this (photo was taken after the run):

This was a most welcomed break from the rest of the course which at times was rather narrow and definitely blocked with walkers and people with strollers, who should have been kept at the rear of the field. Not only that, the wait to get into this Lazy River was just ridiculous as some people removed their shoes before entering.

Up until this point, according to my Endomondo app, I was averaging 11:30 per mile but my lap time for the last mile dropped dramatically as I “ran” through the river: 16:40. If not for that, I could have finished in about 34 minutes or so but considering the wait time and the conditions (but especially the wait time), this was not unexpected.

I crossed the finish line at 42:29 with an average pace of 13:14 according to my chip results. And in case you’re wondering what 5k looks like, here’s the course as recorded by Endomondo:

That seems like a good distance but once you’re up and running, it’s really not. Here’s the portion of the course known as the Lazy River, as noted by the dark blue line:

And although I didn’t finish anywhere near the Top 3 in my age group, that didn’t stop me from pretending I did:

So despite the event’s flaws, I had a good time participating as well as hanging out at Wild Rivers afterward. Next event: the Long Beach Marathon Bike Tour on October 9, 2011. I started my preparation by buying new tires today so I’m ready for that one.

Oh, and those Asics running shoes I’m wearing? I bought them at Savers a few months back for a mere $3.50. They were practically new and half price on the day we were shopping, so that saved me some money for sure

By the way, part of the run is a challenge to “Beat the Cow” or someone running in a cow costume since the Chick-Fil-A is a huge sponsor. And if you do beat the cow, you get a free meal.

Did I beat the cow?

No, I didn’t. I got beat by a dude in a cow costume. But at least I wasn’t a sore loser about it:

I told the bovine I was disappointed for not beating them but there’s no shame in that. The cow consoled me with a friendly pat on the back. We’re cool.

I’m done for the night. My legs are starting to feel the effects of the run and I need to relax!

Shannon Davis lost an incredible 300 pounds by doing something most people never think about doing: moving. No, not geographically relocating herself from one part of the world to the other, but just by getting up and exercising, weightlifting, etc.

Can you imagine that? Someone had the wherewithal to do a little research and realize that hey, this is possible without having to resort to gimmicky fad diets or some kind of risky surgery. Quite simply, Shannon Davis got it and boy, did she run with it.

While I will link to the original article here, I’ll go ahead and post the text below for future reference (and in case the link dies). And do yourself a favor and watch the video – you will be inspired. It’s also worth nothing that the food she ate wasn’t something ridiculous, either. It was simply about portion control and eating the right foods, not something funky like a can of diet drink or a single carrot and broccoli. She ate regular meals and stuck to it.

Again, imagine that!

What struck me about Shannon’s story was that it was not entirely unlike my own. While never the same weight she was, I know exactly about the intimidation, the stress, the downright depressing nature of being overweight and feeling helpless about it. But when her friends started to tell her she was going to die from her obesity (almost the way my doctor hinted at it with me), she turned the switch on and never looked back which is exactly what I’ve done.

So go ahead and read the article, courtesy ABC News. Oh, one more thing. I’ve removed all the links from the original article as they were an injustice to anybody who has ever lost weight through hard work. It seems ABC was trying to push their own agenda by advertising weight loss gimmicks within the article, to which I said, “Uh, no thanks.”

I was especially displeased to see a link to weight loss advice from “Dr.” Oz. whom I wouldn’t trust if my life depended on him. Why? Because any doctor that thinks it’s okay to promote trashy garbage like this…

…is only interested in a paycheck from the studios and tabloids, not the health of his patients.

So please, America, stop watching this guy and lose weight the right way: through hard work and exercise.

Me and Shannon Davis did

Amazing Weight Loss: Woman Sheds 300 Pounds on Her Own

By RYAN OWENS, JAMES SCHOLZ and NATASHA SINGH

June 10, 2011

For every pound you want to drop, there’s a diet plan, surgery, high-tech gadget or reality-TV show promising to get you to your goal, faster, cheaper and easier than the rest.

But what happens if you strip away the conveniences of today’s high-tech, “we want it now” world, and try to lose the weight the hard way?

One Colorado woman did just that and succeeded, losing 300 pounds in nearly three years all on her own, with no surgery or gimmicky diet to take credit.

“There is no magic bullet,” Shannon Davis told “Good Morning America.”“You cannot lose weight without putting in the time and effort.

“It’s not easy. It’s simple sweat equity.”

And sweat is certainly something that Davis — a 39-year-old master’s degree student who also works full time and cares for her mother — knows something about.

She is now committed to a seven-days-per-week workout routine that consists of an hour of cardio for four days and weightlifting with her trainer the other three.

That is a far cry from where Davis found herself three years ago — a 589 pound woman unable to leave her Broomfield, Colo., home, much less jump on a treadmill.

“I was afraid to go out,” Davis told “GMA.” “I knew people would stare, judge me and make comments about me.”

Comments from her friends made her say enough was enough. They warned her she was going to die if she didn’t change.

So she got off the couch and headed for a local gym, but couldn’t even make it one step on the treadmill.

“There was no way I could walk on the treadmill at 589 pounds,” she said.

But she kept moving.

“I’d go back to the pool and walk back-and-forth for an hour,” Davis recalled of the first days in her weight-loss journey. “I didn’t want people to see me. I wanted to be invisible.

“Things have changed a little bit,” she said.

Gaining While Losing

Changes for Davis have come not just on the outside — she now stands as literally half the woman she used to be — but on the inside as well.

She no longer beats herself up over food cravings and has learned to enjoy an indulgence, in balance with her everyday, healthy diet.

“Everybody messes up,” Davis said. “That’s the thing about dieting everyone needs to learn: Everyone makes mistakes.”

Davis says she follows a healthy diet of three simple meals per day, and stays satisfied with the reduced intake compared to her previous daily calories by focusing on the quality of the food, not the quantity.

“I eat quality food,” she said. “Lots of greens, lots of vegetables, lots of lean meats. I love apples.”

But that doesn’t mean she’s immune to cravings. She has learned, over a long, hard three years, how to handle them.

“If there’s a cookie around, I want the cookie,” Davis said of her favorite treat. “You have to forgive yourself and you have to indulge on occasion.”

But indulging for Davis now means celebrating with friends, not food, something she would have never even considered three years ago when she spent her days alone in her home.

This weekend Davis will host a “300 Pound Down Party,” bringing together the network of friends from across the country she’s assembled along her journey down the scale.

Each friend is on a path similar to Davis’, an element she sees as crucial to her weight-loss success.

“It’s so important to surround yourself with the best people — people who won’t sabotage you, won’t say, ‘I don’t think you’re going to make it today, won’t put you down,’” she said.

Davis’ journey has led her now to want to give to others the tools she used to succeed on her own.

Davis says her next step, far from that first step she took to the gym so many years, and pounds, ago, is to start a nonprofit organization to pay for gym memberships and personal trainers for obese people.

Asked if she was proud of her body, she replied, “I’m getting there.”

“I’ve got some work to do still, but it’s been a long journey,” she said. “I know where I started from and I know how I looked then, and I know how I look now and it’s a lot different now.”

Courtesy and copyright 2011 ABC News

“The only way you can hurt the body is not use it.” – Jack LaLanne

For those of you unfamiliar with LaLanne, he was the original fitness guru who preached about living a healthy lifestyle through exercise and proper nutrition.

Today’s fitness celebrities owe a debt of gratitude to Jack LaLanne, who was once quoted as calling organic foods “a bunch of bull.” He was also known for amazing feats of strength and endurance every year which, by the way, he started at age 40.

Here’s a list of his accomplishments courtesy of his Web site:

1954 Age 40: Swam the length of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge underwater with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks… an undisputed world record.

1955 Age 41: Swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, CA.

1956 Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on “You Asked for It, a TV Show with Art Baker.

1957 Age 43: Swam the treacherous Golden Gate Channel, towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser. This involved fighting the cold, swift ocean currents that made the 1 mile swim a 6 ½ mile test of strength and endurance.

1958 Age 44: Maneuvered a paddleboard 30 miles, 9-½ hours non-stop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore.

1959 Age 45: Completed 1,000 pushups and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hours and 22
minutes. “Happy” is born and The Jack LaLanne Show goes nationwide

1974 Age 60: Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1975 Age 61: Swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1976 Age 62: Commemorating the “Spirit of ‘76”, swam 1 mile in Long Beach Harbor, handcuffed, shackled and towing 13 boats (representing the 13 original colonies) containing 76 people.

1979 Age 65: Towed 65 boats filled with 6,500-pounds of Louisiana Pacific wood pulp while handcuffed and shackled in Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan.

1980 Age 66: Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.

1984 Age 70: Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 ½ miles.
1992 Age 78: Academy of Body Building and Fitness Award

1994 Age 80: State of California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness Lifetime Achievement Award

1996 Age 82: Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award

1999 Age 85: Spirit of Muscle Beach Award

2002 Age 88: Jack receives his very own star on the Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame

2004 Age 90: Jack celebrates his birthday with a major media blitz in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. ESPN Classic runs a 24 Hour marathon of the original Jack LaLanne Shows

2005 Age 91: Received the Jack Webb Award from the Los Angeles Police Historical Society, the Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award, Interglobal’s International Infomercial Award, the Freddie, Medical Media Public Service Award, and he was a Free Spirit honoree at Al Neuharth’s Freedom Forum.

2007 Age 93: Received the Treasures of Los Angeles Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from Muscle Beach, and the Y.M.C.A. Impact Award.

2008 Age 94: Inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Parker Seminars Award, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities from the Southern California University of Health Sciences, receives the People of Vision Award from the RP International, receives the Heroes Humanity Award, and was inducted into the Gallery of Legends hosted by the World Acrobatics Society.

2009 Age 95: Jack receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Club Industry. Jack LaLanne days were observed in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

It seemed to work. He lived to be 95.

Rest in peace, good sir.

I ran in my first 5k, a fundraiser for Anthony’s school. The event also consisted of a 1k kid’s Fun Run in which Anthony did participate but because he’s still recovering from whatever it is he has (namely a bad cough), he took it easy but I was with him the entire time. He got a medal for finishing; I got oranges and pancakes afterwards.

Now for someone that was once 300 pounds, I have to admit that running in a 5k–let alone doing any running–would have never been on my schedule of things to do. That calendar usually only consisted of the return date of the McRib Sandwich highlighted and circled many, many times over.

Not so much anymore. I signed up for the event and did little preparation for it other than my occasional treadmill running at night. I had become so used to running on the treadmill that everything below the waist had gotten accustomed to the feel of it, mainly the resistance or lack thereof. Then one day I decided to go out for a jog on pavement and soon regretted that decision.

It was from that experience that I chose not to run in the Disneyland 5k, an event I had swore to run in once I had met my weight loss goal back in 2008. I never did for fear of screwing up my knees.

Laboring under that delusion for years had given me plenty of excuses to put off running in the many 5k events that are held around the area, but today I decided to put that excuse to the side and, no matter how I felt, run the entire event.

At least that’s what I had told myself.

As I was waiting in the starting line I was still doubting my physical ability to go through with running the 3+ miles. I fiddled with the Nike + GPS app on my iPod and chose to listen to my usual running music: my Workout Playlist consisting of a load of songs that always keep me going. Once the whistle was blown and the crowd started to move it hit me: it was a beautiful Sunday morning and Anthony’s school was going to get a lot of money out of this event.

I hit Play on the iPod, put it in gear and started to jog away. And it wasn’t easy at first.

As I started to make my way, I was met by my neighbor, Rick, who was also having difficulty deciding if he was going to run or walk the event. He ended up walking for a bit as I continued my slow-but-steady pace down the route.

There were water stations at each mile. At Mile 1, I slowed down a bit to grab a cup of water and quench my thirst. I continued on my merry way and before I knew it, I had caught up to Rick and his brother. I guess they passed me as I paused for my cup of water. Either way, I passed them later on down the road and we continued to do so until Rick finally left me in the dust.

I kept chugging along to Mile 2 and still felt great. The feet weren’t sore nor were my knees, but my legs were (and still are) another story. But I didn’t let any of that stop me and I kept plugging away.

Mile 3. Fun! Almost there! By now I was definitely starting to feel fatigued but knowing that the finish line was lurking just around the corner, I hit PowerSong on the Nike + GPS app and was greeted to Genesis’ “Turn It On Again“. This would be the song that would carry me to the end of the race.

And it was perfect. I crossed the line right about when the song ended, had my barcode scanned, and that was that. The final results:

• Place: 148th
• Time: 37:11

So, do you think I’m happy with these results? You bet I am! This was something I’ll definitely remember and look forward to next November. It also have me the confidence to participate in the 2011 Disneyland 5k, which I will most definitely do.

All in all it was a fantastic day for both the inaugural run of this event and for me personally for running the entire time, not giving in to whatever my mind have been telling me. No excuses–I made the commitment and followed through with it.

Oh, and for those cyclists who thought we were impeding on “their” territory by using the San Gabriel River bike trail near El Dorado Park for just a few hours, who also voiced their profanity-laden displeasure to participants and volunteers as they rode by us? I hope your collective ego was satisfied. We were on this public trail–sporadically, I might add–for a mere two hours today. We’re so sorry to have interrupted your Tour de Long Beach for a few seconds as you whizzed by us and all for the sake of raising money for our kids’ school. We’ll try not to inconvenience you next time, mmmmkay?

Just kidding. I hope there are twice as many runner there for next year’s event, so get your clever little insults ready for us. We’ll just do like we did today: laugh and keep going. I ride those trails too and don’t get perturbed when there’s a slowpoke in front of me. You just step on it and go around. Not hard.

That’s it. I’m gonna take it easy for a bit. I’m tired–but very happy