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.

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

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!

As far as my weight goes, I’m still hovering around 205 with the chances of reaching my goal weight of 190 by September not looking very promising. I’ll try but honestly, I’m getting comfortable with where I’m at, even if it’s a little over the 200 lb. mark. Again, I’ll try but won’t be terribly disappointed if I don’t make it since I’m still happy to have reached the point I’m at now.

But regardless of what I weigh, whether I’m running or cycling or whatever, I’m staying busy and loving it. And just last Sunday, I did something different to shake up the routine instead of the regular ride to the beach and back (about 20 miles): I rode to the local park and ran 5k on the track and let me tell you, it felt great. I once rode there and walked 5k but never ran so this was definitely a challenge but in the end, it was fantastic and something I need to do again.

Speaking of staying busy, I’ve added a new column on the right side entitled Upcoming Events. It’s just a simple schedule of events that I have registered for and will be partaking in and includes links to the event’s site and registration page via Active.com.

So far, here’s what I’ll be doing:

• August 27, 2011: Wet-N-Wild 5k, Irvine, CA. Register via Active.com
• October 9, 2011: Long Beach Marathon 26.2-Mile Bike Tour, Long Beach, CA. Register via Active.com
• October 15, 2011: Del Mar Mud Run 5k, San Diego, CA. Register via Active.com
• November 2011: Run Like It’s Recess 5k, a local fundraising event for my son’s school.

Awaiting Registration/Considering:

• January 27, 2012: Never Land Family Fun Run, Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA. Register via Active.com

I will keep adding to these and once the events are done, I will post comments and pictures if I have any. It should be a lot of fun and a way to remind readers that even though I’m active now, it doesn’t mean I always was.

Need some proof? How about this picture?

Some scouring turned up this photo from 2001. Yeah, uh, that’s me in my Big Mac/3-item combo Chinese food days. Strangely I didn’t think there was anything wrong with my personal appearance or health and could very well still be this big – had I chosen to be.

But I didn’t. Here’s a more recent picture with my boy, enjoying the day at Disneyland:

I’d say there was a slight difference, no?

Remember, folks, it’s possible. You just have to want it bad enough and work hard to get it.

I may have a post for tomorrow as well so hang in there. Thanks again for reading and I hope you get motivated into doing some active events of your own

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

Good idea? Any thoughts?

I’m feeling pretty good today knowing I’ve been on track and eating right. All of my meals have been planned so I should be okay for the entire day.

Tonight is an exercise night so it’s either outside for a 3-mile walk/jog or indoors for crunches and weights. I’m thinking since I made my tuna salad for lunch, I might go out for a walk but who knows what I’ll decide.

And honesty, either would be fine with me

What’s more, the study went further than just a bunch of questions over the phone. I was also asked if I would like to put my name in a pool of potential participants for a more in-depth study that included taking my weight, height, etc. I gladly submitted my name and just last week, I was called for the tests. In return, I would be rewarded even more money: a $50 Visa gift card. Sign me up!

The results were as follows (according to my memory of the event):

• Height: 5’ 10” but that hasn’t changed in years.
• Weight: 209. Yeah that’s right, it looks like I gained a little back but keep in mind that I was also wearing shorts and a shirt so chances are that this threw it off a bit. As a matter of fact, my weight this morning was 206 so all things considered, I’m staying at a reasonable weight – but still not entirely happy about the gain. Read on.
• Waist Measurement: 40”
• Hip Measurement: 42.5”
• Blood pressure: they took three different measurements at five minute intervals. The average between all three was about 100/65. Not too bad.

So after all of that, I was given two $25 gift cards and both of them went into our gas tanks. Pretty sad if you think about it…

At any rate, my weight. It’s been creeping up here and there and I’ve been having difficulty in maintaining myself at around the 200 lbs. level which is where I’ve been averaging since meeting my goal.

It seems my exercise habits sort of fell apart over the past few months and I simply got a little lazy. Hey, you have to admit that after years of following a strict routine of nutrition and exercise, it would get a bit tiring. And that’s pretty much where I landed.

But thankfully, lately I’ve been kicking myself into doing what needs to be done by doing either of the following on alternating days (and taking one day off somewhere in the week):

• Walk or run a 5k or at least 3 miles
• Weightlifting, ab crunches, and punching bag

And what exactly do I do on my nights off from all of that? Blog about it, of course

For a change of pace, I started to head out for early morning bike rides as well. As a matter of fact, I rode some 20 miles on Sunday:

As you can see, the beach is a only about 8 miles from home and it’s the one place I love to ride to, take a break, enjoy some “me” time, and re-energize with a CLIF Shot Energy Gel (Mocha, please).

So now that I’m trying to get back on track, what’s next? Here’s what’s next.

As you know, I’ve been trying like heck to hit that elusive 190 lb. goal and I just never seem to make it for whatever reason. That’s why I am now making this proclamation:

I will reach 190 by September 27, 2011, the 3 year anniversary of meeting my goal of 200 lbs. or less.

That gives me 169 days to lose 16 pounds or about .5 lb. per week. With the way things have been lately, it will be tough but I’m committed to make it happen.

I guess that means I will have to buy some new batteries for my scale which was something I was trying to avoid because I wanted to conduct an experiment of sorts.

Keeping in mind my weight the day that the batteries died, I wanted to see how far I could go without weighing myself and seeing if I would lose anything.

In only one day, I noticed a significant change in a few things. First, I wasn’t so obsessed with jumping on that scale and preparing myself for some kind of disappointment as things have been lately.

Second, I was making smarter food choices with every meal and snack knowing that I wasn’t going to let the scale dictate my meals for me; I had to do it for myself.

Finally, I felt better about myself overall and a little lighter the following morning. Not relying on the scale made me even more accountable for my actions which is something that is necessary when you are trying to lose weight.

So with that, it seems on back on track. 169 days until I reach my goal.

Will I make it? Stay tuned and find out!

If this is your first time visiting 200by40.com I want to welcome you. The short story behind this blog is quite simple: I had set a goal to weigh 200 lbs. by my 40th birthday in 2009. With about 50 lbs. to lose, I decided that I would blog about everything that was going through my mind during that time, and I mean everything. Whether it was frustration with pounds not coming off or a review of a food item or weight loss aid (be it a gadget or otherwise), I wrote about it. I also took progress pictures so readers could see how a normal guy like me went from nearly 300 lbs. and lazy to 193 lbs. (my lowest point) and running, cycling, and just enjoying life.

All this by eating right and exercising without feeling sorry for myself. Like I’ve preached from the beginning, make no excuses and have no regrets. Just turn the switch to ON and don’t let anybody stop you!

It was also my intention that this blog serve as an inspiration to those who may be having trouble losing weight after trying everything short of lap-band or gastric bypass surgery, which I have a strong opinion against.

While I don’t blog here as often as I used to, go ahead and look around and see what it took to lose over 100 lbs. Sure, I’ve gained a few back over the years but I am working on that at the moment and look forward to reaching the elusive goal of 190 lbs. sometime this year.

Okay, so the Automattic Worldwide 5k. I am subscribed to a bunch of RSS feeds with Google Reader with WordPress being one of them. I read about this and figured since I already run or walk nearly 5k every other night, I might as well go for it.

First things first, WordPress is suggesting the Android app MapMyWalk as a tool to help participants track their time and distance. I chose not to since I am already a faithful Endomondo user and even wrote a post about it not that long ago. I figured since I have been uploading all of my stats there that I might as well keep on using it for this event.

So here are the stats from tonight’s run, courtesy of Endomondo:

While I had the app set for Running, I sort of went back and forth between jogging and walking. Either way, I got it done and will take a day off tomorrow and do my alternative exercising: ab crunches, weightlifting, and the punching bag. Gotta have a little variety. And if you’ve never done 5k and are interested in seeing exactly how far it is, here you go:

The numbers represent the mile markers and the other dots are where I started and finished the jog/walk. It may look like a lot but once you get used to it, it’s really nothing. When I was unemployed, it wasn’t uncommon for me to walk 5 miles at a time. Not only was it great exercise, it gave me some peace and quite during a tough time in my life.

Unless I take my dog with me, my walks tend to be uneventful. He makes them as…well, difficult as he possibly can with all his pulling and tugging. (For the record, he failed obedience class .) But tonight I decided to go dog-less and actually came across something interesting.

There is a stretch of dirt pathway that starts a little past the 1 Mile Marker on the image above and since I do this at night, I always have a mini flashlight with me.

I hit the path and came to a point where I felt the need to slow down and drink some water. As I did that, something in the darkness caught my eye. I grabbed the flashlight and pointed it in the direction of what appeared to be a white piece with a hand-written message on it. This paper beautifully and conspicuously placed between two chain link fence segments, its creator obviously wanting people to stop and read it.

Here’s what it read:

“The world is full of shipping clerks who have read the Harvard classics.”
– Charles Bukowski

I had a moment of deep, meaningful thought as I took a sip of water. Then I continued on my way home.

No, this isn’t a picture of me at the finish line as the rules suggest but hey, I thought it was interesting enough to include for this little entry – and possible Freshly Pressed status

At any rate, that’s what I’ve got for this challenge. I’m sure I will run or walk 5k at least a few more times before the April 10th deadline and I hope that you do, too.

And if you haven’t, make now the time to do it and let it be the start of a healthy habit that lasts a lifetime.

Take it from me, that guy who used to eat 3-item combos from a Chinese food restaurant at least 3 times a week and where they knew my name. I haven’t been back since (but still do enjoy Chinese food in moderation, of course).

I also hope you’ve enjoyed your visit here and maybe even found a bit of inspiration to change the way you live and be the thinner person you’ve always wanted to be. Let’s just say that while I still have a pair of size 48 pants somewhere in the house, I definitely enjoy wearing 36 and 38 instead!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you come back!

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