College Park Cares 5k

Results: Check Your time here
I wanted to set a new PR for this race, my stretch goal was 20 minutes or under. Although I set a new PR, I didn’t meet my stretch goal. I overexerted myself in the last half marathon and was recovering from shin splints. I couldn’t put in the extra mileage to build up my endurance. No excuses though, I gotta train harder for the next one.

The course started at the Ellen Linson swimming pool at 9:00AM. 

College Park Cares 5k map

 

Artemesia Lake

What drew me to this 5k was the fact that it loop  through Lake Artemesia. When I was living in Greenbelt I used to love going here for a jog and fishing. The lake is just as how I remember it, however it was a different experience having to run as fast as I could away from it to get to the finish line. The weather was more humid than usual, but that didn’t really bother the 102 runners that were ready to take it on. 

I finished in 24:25 at a pace of 7:52 per mile.  This put me at 36/102 place. I am happy with the results but a bit dissappointed because I know that I could do better had I pushed harder. I was 4 minutes and 26 seconds too slow. Getting up at 7am to drive 30 minutes to put in 10+ miles was taking a toll on my tolerance. Laziness got the better of me and the results speak for itself

I was humbled by my performance and will train harder to reach my sub 20 minutes goal. Ultimately I hope to qualify for Boston working up from qualifying time for 5k, 10k, 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and 26.2  

Filed under: Running , 5k, Boston, college park cares result, college parks cares, lake artemesia, MCRRc, qualifying

Are you corrupted ?

 

What do you see ?

OK seriously, wtf ? dolphins, I don’t see any dolphins. All I see is a couple being very “intimate”, the girl got a very nice rack. I’ve stared at the pictures for about 3 minutes now and I still don’t see any dolphins. I guess I have a corrupted mind.

But comeon wtf ? dolphins, I judge any dude that can look at that picture and tell me that he actually saw dolphins and not two people going at it inside a bottle. Never mind the fact that they’re doing it in a bottle, but what does dolphins have to do with it ? 

Alright its  been at least 10 minutes, I still don’t see any f*cking dolphins, f*ck this, I got better things to do. GTFO here, dolphins… pftttt.

Filed under: I have a dirty mind , corrupted, dirty mind, dolphins, intimate, sex in a bottle

Biking is fun… really

60 Miles. Yea that’s what he said. The most any of us have rode our bike before is about 30 miles. Our legs were dead afterward, how on earth would we manage 60 ? But being boys we do not back down from challenges and made plans to conquer the great 60 miler. We set out on Saturday morning (9/20/2008) at 8:30AM from the Carderock’s Recreation area leading into the C&O Canal.

C&O Canal

Yep that’s us. Minus me cause I was behind snapping pictures. That’s what I do, I bring along my camera and take pictures of random things that pique my interest.

Charlotte

Like Charlotte here. How did I came upon Charlotte ? Glad you ask. The route we planned was to start out from Carderock and ride for about 25 miles up to White’s Ferry then head into Leesburg and finally get on the Washington & Old Dominion trail to head back to Fairfax. I found Charlotte making a home on the ferry as we were crossing the river to get to Leesburg. She didn’t feel the need to communicate with me hence no message in the web.

White's Ferry

I snapped this picture because I like to people to know where I’ve been. It make me seem cooler than I really am. I know what you’re thinking, Wow this guy have been to White’s Ferry, I would like to be his friend and join him on these awesome trips. Well, ok you convinced me, I will definitely hollar the next time we cook up some crazy awesome trips.

The Entrance

Confederate Flag

This turned out to be a really good picture and it feature a confederate flag so I had to post it. The South shall rise again.. err maybe not.

Once we got off the ferry we head out to route 15 to find out way to Leesburg.

Heading to Leesburg

The trees on the road provided us with much needed shade as we were a little tired after riding for about 2+ hours.

26.35 Miles

I looked at the newly installed computer for my bike and it seem we’ve been riding for a little over 26 miles. 

Leesburg

We finally made it to Leesburg in a little over 30 minutes later. I was treated to the sights of downtown Leesburg. Perhaps it was the combination of nice weather, weekend and the fact that we finally stopped to break I really like Leesburg. It seem like a great place to live in, the people were friendly and the town had a welcoming feel to it. 

We decided to have lunch in Leesburg and after riding around looking for a suitable place to eat we settled for German food. 

Currybratswert

I ordered Currybratswert with fries, at least I think that’s what I ordered. It was delicious, the curry flavor was a nice touch. I devoured it in under 10 minutes. After taking some time to recover and let the food digest we head out to the Washington & Old Dominion trail to get back to Fairfax.

Heading out

 We managed to ride for about 5 miles and were suddenly reminded of why 60 miles was a bad idea.

Washington & Old Dominion trail

 Our legs were cramped up and every attempt to pedal forward were in vain. We stopped to stretch and refuel as we got a long way to go before reaching our destination. We were all writhing about on the grass ready to admit defeat and call in reinforcement, after about 15 minutes of downtown we decided to power through it. It only got worse from there on, we took 6 breaks from mile 35 to 55. Oh the pain, the agony, damn whoever suggested this trip. 60 miles my ASS. @#$@#$%@#

Finally we made it back at 4:45PM. 8 hours and 15 minutes later. We’ve done it.  Next time 75 miles… maybe. Wanna come ?

Filed under: Biking , 60 miles, bad idea, Biking, C&O Canal, Carderock, W&OD Trail, White's Ferry

The Parks Half Marathon 2008

Montgomery County Road Runner’s Club website : http://www.mcrrc.org
Join the club and enroll in their First Time Marathon program, you’ll be amaze by the results

2008 Results http://www.mcrrc.org/racing/2008/20080914ParksHalfMarathon.htm

Coverage of the race by RunWashington.com http://www.runwashington.com/news/sep08parkshmrpt.html

Pictures of almost all runners are available at Edward Johnson’s site http://edwardjohnson.com/running/parks/index.html

Runners traversing the narrow path through the Parks

Starting mile, Veirs Mill Road

The Parks Half Marathon (http://www.parkshalfmarathon.com), a premier race held by Montgomery County Road Runners Club to showcase the county’s parks system had its 3rd debut today at 7:00AM. I’ve been looking forward to September 14 for a while now. Ever since the Annapolis 10 miler I’ve been training diligently to find a comfortable pace to run the Marines Corps Marathon this coming October 26. I am starting to take training a bit more seriously now, I want to know what my best is. On Saturday, I  did everything I was suppose to to get ready for the race, I loaded up on carbs, minimized my walking distances and slept at 10PM so I can get at 5:30AM to get ready. I even bought Frank Shorter’s running gears shorts and tank top to see if it make a difference

The shorts were well, really short. My pasty white quads were publicly exhibited to about 2000+ runners this morning. There might have been a wardrobe malfunction incident, I knew something was wrong when a girl, running beside me was giggling. Her giggling suddenly made me self conscious so I looked down to see if any body parts was making any unplanned appearances. NOPE, everything was where it should be, but just to play it safe I sped up passed her to avoid any awkward conversations. We would argue about exactly what she saw and made her giggle, I would then make awkward jokes telling her that it get even smaller in water. She would laugh but deep down I’d know she’s not laughing with me but rather at me. Its best just to avoid the drama and heartache.

Just last Sunday I ran on the very same course as part of a training run with the FTMers (First Time Marathoners) For once I know what the course would be like before the actual run. This turn out to be more of a nuisance then a blessing. Confident that I know the course I took off blazing through it. Around mile marker 4 I knew I started out way too fast and needed to slow it down. I sweat profusely and by mile 5 I was completely drenched. I made casual remarks to other runners that the shower was nice and they should try it also. I get the occasional laugh but I know they’re thinking to themselves “man this dude sweat A LOT”. I decided to take it easy from mile 4-7 so I would have some reserve for the negative split. I felt uneasy as people were passing me but I stuck to the plan and ran a slower pace until mile 7. I was pumped when I saw the mile 8 marker. I had plenty of reserve left so I decided to go a bit faster. I caught up with the 9:00 minute pacer and stayed with her until mile 12. I am not sure what her name was but she did a great job pacing us, if it weren’t for her friend egging me on to keep going after the last water stop I would’ve slowed down tremendously. At mile marker 12 I decided to sprint like a bat out of hell. My goal for this race is 2 hours, my watch showed 1:55 with 3/4 mile to go, I hauled ass and managed to pass the finish line with a gun time of 2:00:05

I MADE IT. 2 hours, I started in the 3rd wave so I was about 3 minutes behind the gun time. I realized that I had ran a sub 2 hours half marathon. I discretely pumped my fist in celebration of a race well ran. The official result showed that I ranked 769/2037. Not too shabby My next races are a 5k and another half marathon. I hope to get a PR for each event.

Course Map

Course Map - Satellite View

Street View

Street View

Me almost at the finish line.

Almost there

FINISH!!!

 I smell foooood, so I sprinted like a fat kid on a cake run.

Filed under: Running , 13.1, half marathon, MCRRc, parks half marathon, shorts shorts

Do as I say, not as I do

I am no longer the youngest member in my immediate family. That day is long gone, ever since my sister came to live with us, that title is no longer mine. The honor belong to her 2 kids, my 15 year old nephew and 8 year old niece. I didn’t think much of it then but now I realize how much I miss being the youngest in the family. I no longer have to luxury to sleep in late, complain about the shortage of fruits or stay up until 4am watching anime. NO SIR, I have to be a responsible adult now that I have a nephew that’s looking up to me. 

That kid doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. Half the time I don’t even do any of the things I told him he should do. I feel like a hypocrite criticizing him, so in an effort to hold up the image of someone worth looking up to I am putting forth my best effort at being an adult. So far things are progressing better than expected. Who know ? maybe if it work out I might consider making this grown up thing permanent. Just kidding, I still snicker when I hear the word “balls” and “boobies”. Damn it, I am never gonna grow up am I ?
 

Growing up sucks!! Mario forever.

Filed under: Idon't want to grow up , adult, growing up, keeping up appearance

Driving at 6 in the morning

So there I was, driving by myself to Shady Grove metro station at 6am. There were almost noone else on the road. I’ve come to appreciate these quietscent Sunday morning drives as it give me time to reflect. Mostly about things of utmost importance like why the hell did I not gas up before leaving today ? or whether shorts shorts really make you a faster runner. 

Music put me in a good mood and keep me awake on these early morning drives. As I was in deep thought pondering the significance of shorts shorts I caught sound of this interesting opening melody of the current song that was playing from my “summer 2008 awesome mix” cd, I took an interest and devoted my attention to the song.

The song was “Say” by One Republic. The first line I heard was Ryan Tedder asking if I knew “where my heart is ? ” and whether I “can find it ?” Or did I “trade it for something, somewhere” and its “better just to have it”. 
I wasn’t really expecting such a heart to heart conversation so early in the morning but it was Ryan asking so I indulged his curiosity. No Ryan, I am not sure where my heart is, I guess if I wanted to find it I can probably feel it out. Its either on the left or right chest, I always get it mixed up. Why would I trade it ? Hell yes its better to have it, you kinda need it to live and all.

As soon as I replied, he went on asking …

“Do you know where your love is
Do you think that you lost it
You felt it so strong but nothings
Turned out how you want it “

Obviously I misunderstood his question, I have a tendency of always taking things for its literal meaning. But from these questions Ryan had me at his mercy. Yes I once had feelings for someone but got shot down so now its long gone, I did felt it “so strong” but like he said, it didn’t “turned out” exactly how I “want it”.

Yes Ryan, I am “a lonely soul” and its because I “won’t let go… of anything” I hold. I wish that I could be like you and proclaim to the world that “all I need is the air I breathe… and a place to rest my head” 

By this time he was dangerously hitting all the crucial emotions I had been going through for the past few months so I got defensive and told him off. YOU KNOW WHAT RYAN, you don’t F*CKIN KNOW ME MAN, just because you STOP & STARED and told your girl that its too late for her to APOLOGIZE doesn’t mean you F*CKIN know what I am going through. As I finished my last thought I promptly hit next to avoid having to talk to this asshole again, I was greeted with Ryan’s lament of him “holding on a rope
that “Got [him] 10 feet off the ground”…

SUMABITCH…

 

Ryan Tedder - apparently all he need is air and a place to rest his head.

Filed under: I appreciate good music , a place to rest my head, all i need is the air i breathe, apologize, one republic, ryan tedder, say

So I run

I made a bet with myself that I could run 5k within 20 minutes. I even signed up for a local 5k race to make it official. Currently I run 3 days a week at Centennial Park in Columbia Maryland. 

My training ground. Centennial Park, Columbia Maryland

Each lap around the lake is roughly 2.4 miles. This was the very lake that put me to shame when I first picked up running. Half way out and I was done for. After a while I started to be able to do a whole lap and now as part of my marathon training I put in 4 laps per run, 3 days a week. 

My fastest lap around the lake is currently 20:15 I have some work to do before I can do 3.2 miles (5K) in 20 minutes.  The race isn’t until September 27, 2008 so I have a little under 3 weeks to put in my best training efforts. I need to be able to run a 6:26 pace and finish a lap within 15:26 if I am to make my goal. This is  no easy task but I will give it my all.

Filed under: Running , 5k, centennial park, columbia, maryland, time trials

I concede

I am not one to give up without a fight but there are battles that cannot be won. The battles fought for this particular war are hair raising. I am of course talking about my epic battles with baldness. It has been a losing war ever since I started college. Somehow, somewhere a long time ago, before I was born, the Fates got together and decided to give me baldness to even out all my other awesome qualities. I’ve spent the past few years lamenting my hairless fate but I think its time I own up to it and accept it. Unlike other chums I will not resort to hair restoration methods. Bosley, Rogain, Pubich (may be advertised under a different name), are for men that are in denial. Most of the men I’ve seen clinging desperately to their hairy past are wasting their money. EVERYONE know its a toupee and even if the hair do grow back, they look like they were surgically transplanted from your pubic region. I will not be oblivious to such apparent deformities so I for one will not go under the knife. I cannot in good conscience let these men go on living while oblivious to this fact. I will go out of my way to tell them that it looks like pubic hair. 

NO matter what.. its pubic hair

 Not that my fate is any better but I think owning up to it is a lot better then hiding from it.

Me with long hair

This is me with normal hair, well normal for me anyway. Jealous much ? this is back when the bowl cut was in style, yea… As you can see I am not very photogenic, either that or I am never ready on the count of 3. 

Not much hair

This is me now, not a heck lot of hair left. I’ve come to terms with it. This is actually one of the better picture that I’ve taken.

Filed under: Acceptance , Acceptance, bald, baldness, life sucks, pubic hair

Rafael Nadal is an a$$hole

Edit: 2-25-2009 This article DOES NOT reflect my attitude toward Rafa, he’s a great tennis player. I got mad respect for him. Its just a joke guys I don’t need anymore people telling me that I am the real a$$hole and that  I am just jealous

Well I mean, don’t  get me wrong. He’s a great tennis player. I was watching when he tore Roger Federer apart at the French open and also at Wimbledon where he gave it his all to finally take the title from Federer and with it the number 1 world ranking spot. I am just not very fond of his intimidation and distraction tactics. Anyone who ever saw Nadal play either live or on national television know that he’s not shy to pick his wedgie. Case in point, look at the picture below.

dude going at it like nobody is looking

You’re all fooled if you think he has an actual wedgie to pick, this is just one of his many distraction tactics employed to confuse and ultimately break down his opponent.  The tight shorts shorts and revealing tidy whities are a mean to an end. An ultimate end where he humiliate the other player on live national television.

Tennis is war, fought on various turfs and Nadal is the Sun Tzu of the court. Normally, during his matches, Nadal will play it coy and pretend to be under pressure, he will give up the first set. The trap is then set and classic Nadal I&D (Intimidation & Distractions) tactics will come into play.

First he will innocently pick his wedgie to distract his opponent, not sure what’s going on over on the other side of the court, his opponent is probably thinking, wow poor guy, the pressure must be getting to him, he’s picking his wedgie in public and not even realizing it. Before he ever got the chance to finish the thought Nadal had already taken the first game. The games now stand a 1-0 with Nadal leading. At the start of game two Nadal will pull out his ace and throw in an orgasmic groan after every shot that connect. At this point his opponent is totally distraught, WTF is going on ? he was just picking his wedgie and now he’s having an orgasm every time he return a shot, are we playing tennis or are we engaging in violent buttseck ? Yet again, another game won without much effort. The score now stand at 2-0.

It get worse from then on, knowing that he had broken his opponent’s concentration Nadal will bring out his “A” game and proceed to utterly destroy him, winning in straight sets, game after game.

What does Nadal do when the match is over and another opponent defeated ? He DOES NOT graciously shake the other player’s hand. No Nadal celebrate with style…

Unsportman like conduct

Yes I kid you not, after every win he will get into the above position and proceed to furiously air hump the heck outta the racquet while screaming sexual profanity to proclaim his dominance. WHO’S YOUR TENNIS DADDY HUH HUH ? CAN YOU SAY IT… RAFAEL MUTHEREFFING NADAL B1TCH!!!!!

What an a$$ hole.

Filed under: Keen observations of the mundane , Rafael Nadal, tennis, war

I hate dogs

Yes you heard me. I stand by this bold statement. I HATE dogs, why you ask ? dogs are the whores of the animal kingdom. Take a little time to let this statement sink in and you’ll realize how true it is. Sure they’re cute as puppies and I wouldn’t mind petting one or two now and then but they’re gotta learn to respect your space.

As said whores they’re too needy, they always want the be the center of attention, its always ME ME ME. Take for example the simple interaction of the ball throw, sure it was amusing the first few times when he actually brought it back to you. But it gets old man, where’s the excitement ? where’s the adventure ? yes I threw the ball, yes you found the damn ball, wtf do u want ? leave me the f**k alone, damn annoying little thing.

Don’t be fooled by their cheap whores trick when they loyally greet you after a long day of work, this is just a pretense so you would either feel compel/obligated to take them for a walk or throw the ball around at the park. I for one, am not fooled by such ploys.

I prefer cats over dogs. Cats have something I’d like to call pride, they would never stoop to the level of dogs, the whores they are. Cats are not needy, actually they don’t give a shit about you. They’re independent, they got their own thing to do, wtf u threw that ball for fool, if u expect it back u better get ur self a dog, ain’t no self respecting cat gonna retrieve it for you.

Give them a place to do their business, a ball of yarn and maybe scratch their belly a few times and ya’ll get along famously. That’s all there is to cats. No silly mind games, no drama, and no balls. If I ever felt the need for a pet I would get myself a cat. Sure they’re stuckup assholes, but I got no problem with that. They’re a lot better than those needy whores, err dogs.

 

take that u whore

 

Let go of me u damn heathen

Look at that jerk, picking on a helpless cat like that. Jerkass!

Filed under: When at work I think about any and everything but work , cats rules dogs drools, i hate dogs