Event #9 of 30 - 10K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day!

This was a lot of fun. Mel and I took advantage of great babysitting by the grandparents and ran this 10K on Thanksgiving morning. A surprising amount of people were at the Walnut Creek Sports & Fitness Turkey Trot and we had the honor of hearing a few words before the event from Biggest Loser star Bernie Salazar.

I haven't quite reached my current goal of running a 10K in 45 minutes, but I didn't do too bad this time at 47:25. Here are my stats:

10K Overall place: 81 (out of 546 total finishers)
Place by sex: 63
Place in age division: 21
Pace: 7:37

Since this was a Thanksgiving event, and food is the best part of Thanksgiving, followed closely by spending time with family :), I was curious about how my exercise may have facilitated my increased consumption. So, for starters: the "average American will consume about 3,000 calories on Thanksgiving," according to the American Council on Exercise. I burned about 750 calories at the Turkey Trot, and my daily calorie needs, according to the calculator at ehow.com, are around 2990. So, I might have consumed about 3,000, but needed 2990, which means that I was 10 over my limit. But since I ran a 10K that morning and burned about 750 calories maybe I lost a little weight! A pound is equivalent to 3500 calories. Does this mean that I lost about one fifth of a pound for indulging!?

I think it's fair to say that it's not a bad idea to run a Turkey Trot next year.

Event #8 of 30 - SkirtChaser 5K in Golden Gate Park

Mel, Finn, Jen, Erin and I ran in a fun event this weekend: The Skirt Chaser 5K. The ladies started 3 minutes ahead of the guys and we had to do our best to catch up. By the time Finn and I reached the love of our lives, he was fast asleep in the jogging stroller and I had a great time finishing the race with Mel. I'm glad that my family participated in my 8th event since August. I think we're doing a Turkey Trot next.

Event #7 of 30 - 50 in 50 10K Trail Run

Today's event was a one of a kind running experience. John Jeha set out to complete 50 events in 50 weeks in his 50th year, and this was his 50th event! Congrats to him for taking on and completing the challenge, and thanks to him for inspiring many, I'm sure.

Check out his blog to read about more of his events and about his cause, the Challenged Athletes Foundation: http://johnjeha.com/Blog/

This event was small-- mostly friends of John and supporters of his events. It was cool for me to be a part of this and to hear stories from these runners, most of whom seemed to have participated in multiple Ironman triathlons and have done other crazy things like endurance swimming events. I'm not quite there yet...

The run started out on a section of the Iron Horse Trail in Alamo, CA and we did most of the running up in the hills and trails of Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. The views and terrain were beautiful, and I enjoyed running through cattle pastures (right next to a couple of cows, one of which relieved himself as we passed) and chatting with a handful of great athletes. We ended up running about 7.25 miles, so it was post-billed as a "10K plus event."

Event #6 of 30 - 17th Annual Lafayette Reservoir Run

Short recap of the 10K I did on October 25th, 2009:
It was great fun to see the community enthusiasm at this event, including the highlight for me of a community band playing the theme song to "The Simpsons." Once again, I missed out on a Johnny's Donuts excursion after the race because Johnny's is closed on Sundays. A moment of inspiration occurred for me when I saw the elite mile runners streaking past before the main event started. 4:07 was the winning time for the mile! Here's a video of the race:

Sports Basement Elite Mile

My quest to run a 45 minute 10K is getting closer. This was a tougher course than expected, with a good amount of hills on the course. Here are my race stats:

Time: 49:09
Pace: 7:55/M
Place: 75 out of 437 overall for 10K
Place: 14 out of 51 for age group (M 30 to 39)

Event #5 of 30 - Primo's Run for Education

The whole family participated in this event on Sunday, with Finn participating by kicking back in the jogging stroller. We had fun watching the horde of kids zig-zagging through the Danville and San Ramon streets to finish the 5K with ease. Afterward we tried to celebrate the event with a trip to our favorite donut spot, Johnny's Donuts in Lafayette, but overlooked the fact that they're closed on Sundays, so headed to the Rising Loafer instead. The potatoes were tasty and Finn had a fun time playing with sugar packets and cleaning the window with his napkin.

Event #4 of 30 - The Portland Marathon!

I did it.

Here are my results:

Overall: 3933 out of 8133
Men: 2442 out of 3835
M 30-34: 408 out of 590
Age/Grade: 45.99% Place: 5208
Finish: 4:31:38 Pace: 10:22
Tag Time: 4:31:38
Gun Time: 4:33:43

Split Times

10 Km: 52:09 Pace: 8:24
8.9 Mi: 1:15:11 Pace: 8:27
Half: 1:52:40 Pace: 8:36
17.5 Mi: 2:37:53 Pace: 9:02
20 Mi: 3:06:10 Pace: 9:19
21.1 Mi: 3:20:21 Pace: 9:30

It feels good to have my first marathon under my belt. Lots of thanks go out to Mel, Finn, JoJo, and Pat for being my supportive pit crew!

There were many moments of excitement and many tiring moments, including: good bands playing along the way to pump up the runners, the chilly Portland weather keeping us cool, shots of beer near the end of the race, gummy bear stops, a barefoot runner sighting, being chased by 3 National Guard troops because my race bib was hidden under my running jacket upon entrance to the St. Johns Bridge, seeing my wonderful pit crew at multiple points on the race, bagpipers, being inspired by the elite runners blowing past us on the turnaround, listening to Santana, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, AC/DC, keeping to an 8:30 pace until about 15 miles, hitting my wall at 22 miles, making it through the last 4 miles in survival mode, and replenishing some calories burned immediately after the race with a tall chocolate milk, 1 bunch of grapes, a banana, 2 peanut butter cookies, 2 chocolate chip cookies, and a bag of Fritos. Then I had 2 lunches worth of Mexican food. 3,500 Calories burned!

Next event: Primo's Run for Education this Sunday, October 11th in San Ramon, CA.

Ran a marathon today- more details to follow on the blog

Ran 2 miles today to loosen up for 26.2 tomorrow! Bib #3618 Portland Marathon

Portland Marathon in one week!

My training for the Portland Marathon is near the end and I've been running low mileage this week and will run low miles over the next week in preparation for the big event a week from today.

Before training for this marathon, the longest distance I've ever run was 13.1 miles at the U.S. Half Marathon in San Francisco a few years ago. During the training for this marathon, which I started about 3 months ago, I have run over 13.1 miles on 6 occasions, including two 20 mile runs in the last few weeks. If I didn't feel like a runner before, there is no question about it now.

Today's run (8 miles) was inspiring because I met a guy, Josh, at Lake Merritt who was running 10 laps around Lake Merritt for his 40th birthday. That's a distance of 50K, or about 31 miles. I joined him on his last lap and was amazed that he was able to carry on a conversation after having run more than a marathon's worth of mileage, and that he seemed like he could run at least another few laps if he had to. Happy birthday to Josh!

Oh yeah-- I forgot to post about event #3 of 30 that the whole family did last weekend. We did the 5K Heart Walk in Danville, Ca and helped to raise over $10,000 with Melanie's coworkers! Only 27 events left until August 13th, 2010.

Event #2 of 30 -- Time is on Your Side

I haven't made the time to sit down and blog lately. Here's a short recap of the sprint triathlon last week in Pleasanton. My sister-in-law helped me to kick of the year of events by encouraging me to sign up for the Tri for Fun. We had a great time and I felt like I accomplished my goal of a good swim leg. This has been an area of anxiety for me because an open water swim with hundreds of people in a mob is vastly different than swimming laps in a pool. It's difficult to train for, but I've learned a couple of things each time. A couple of tips that worked this time: starting near the back of the pack allowed for a bit more room without taking an elbow or foot in my side. I also focused more on breathing and sighting than on swimming technique and tried my best to not panic. It seemed to work well and my overall time wasn't too bad.

Today marked another event under my belt for the year of 30 events. A neighbor reminded me that the Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders was hosting a 5K/10K run today. I decided at the last minute to combine this event with my long run this morning as part of my training for the upcoming Portland Marathon. So I ran down to the lake (about a 5K distance), signed up for the event a couple of minutes before it started (thanks to the volunteers for helping me speed through the sign up process!), ran the 10K, and then ran back home (another 5K). It made the run go much faster for me to be surrounded by these laid back and friendly runners. The unique aspect of this event was that instead of listing the finishers by fastest time, the winners were the people who could guess their pace the best. I'm not sure what time I ended up running, and hope to find the results online later this week, but my guess was 50:30 for the 10K.

UPDATE: The results are in: http://www.lmjs.gwebservice.com/. My guess was 1:01 off.

When I reached by neighborhood after the run, I celebrated by sucking down a chocolate milkshake as a post-run snack. :)

Set a new PR today for longest distance run: 18 miles

Set a new PR today for longest distance run: 18 miles

Completed 1st of 30 events today! Pleasanton Tri for Fun: 1:15:01

Back in the Game

O.k., the cold was annoying and slowed me down a bit, but I'm back to a full training schedule, with over 30 miles of running in the last week. My bro was in town during the last week and a highlight of his time here was a bike ride that we took into San Francisco (with the help of BART), along the Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason, etc. and over the Golden Gate Bridge and back. We were astounded by the chilly, foggy, and windy weather near the bridge after having sunny, warm weather in Oakland. O.k., not that surprised by the change in weather, but we weren't quite prepared. Thanks for riding with me, Bro.

Two weeks until the 22nd Annual Tri For Fun in Pleasanton. This event will kick off the 30 events in my 30th year! Help me celebrate by sponsoring a race or two, donating to the American Heart Association, or donating to Students Run Oakland. (See the links in the sidebar for more info)

Waiting on the Bench

This week is turning out to be a bit frustrating in terms of my training schedule. I'm out of commission for a few days due to a cold.

My neighbor did brave a morning run with me on Tuesday which was great.

Hope to be back in the game soon. Does anyone have experience exercising while sick? Good or bad? Maybe I'll go for a short run to sweat this cold out...

Brick Workout with Family and a Long Run

The workouts this weekend helped me to feel ready for the upcoming year of events. Stacy, Gabe, (my sis- and bro- in laws) and I did a swim/run brick workout at the Shadow Cliffs Regional Park yesterday, in Pleasanton, CA as a rehearsal for the 22nd Annual Tri For Fun happening there on August 15th (my first of 30 events over the next year!).

The brick helped me to visualize and acclimate to the open water swim (my least favorite part of triathlons), and it was a lot of fun to exercise with the family. Shadow Cliffs seems like a great training ground for more triathlons in the future.

Today's workout marked the second-longest distance I've run continuously: 12.8 miles! The highlights: listening to a couple of Santana albums, feeling in the zone on several occasions during the run, a high-five with another runner at the lake doing multiple laps, shouting "Go Hawks" and experiencing a knowing look of University of Iowa pride from a runner wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes t-shirt, and checking off another great run in preparation for the Portland Marathon in October.

Here's how the schedule of events is shaping up so far. I don't yet have 30 events on the calendar. Send me ideas for more events and sign up for some with me.

Year 30 Events:

Event Date Time Type of Event Fees Location of Event Distance Reg? 22nd Annual Tri For Fun 8/15/2009 7:00 a.m. Triathlon $59.96 Shadow Cliffs Regional Park; 2500 Stanley Boulevard; Pleasanton, CA 400 yard swim / 11 mile bike / 3.1 mile run yes . Time Is On Your Side 10K 8/23/2009 9:00 a.m. Run $8 Lake Merritt, Sailboat House, 568 Bellevue Ave.; Oakland, CA 10K no . Windmill 10K 8/30/2009 9:00 a.m. Run $5 Golden Gate Park; San Francisco, CA 10K no . Redwood Park Trail Run 9/5/2009 8:30 a.m. Run $35 Redwood Regional Park; Oakland, CA 20K no . Lazarex Cancer Foundation Hope in Motion Half Marathon 9/13/2009 8:00 a.m. Run $50 Lake Merritt; Oakland, CA Half Marathon no . 2009 East Bay Start! Heart Walk 9/20/2009 Walk $0 Danville Livery and Mercantile; Danville, CA yes . Portland Marathon 10/4/2009 7:00 a.m. Run $100 Downtown Portland, OR 26.2 miles yes . East Bay Front Runners Pride Run & Walk 10/10/2009 9:00 a.m. Run $20 Lakeside Park, Lake Merritt, Downtown Oakland 10K no . Rocky Ridge Trail Half Marathon 10/24/2009 8:30 a.m. Run $49 Las Trampas Regional Park; San Ramon, CA Half Marathon no . US Half Marathon 11/1/2009 7:00 a.m. Run $60 Aquatic Park & Muni Pier; San Francisco, CA 13.1 miles no . Mermaid San Francisco Run 11/14/2009 8:00 a.m. Run $50 Crissy Field - East Beach; San Francisco, CA 10K no

Pleased to support Students Run Oakland

Well, the early morning runs are taking a bit of extra mental toughness because I'm not a morning person and usually prefer to run in the afternoon. Today's run was easier than my first morning run attempt yesterday, so hope the pattern continues.

Although I'm not too excited at this point to rewire my brain and schedule for morning runs, I'm very happy that I've found a great main cause to support over the next year.

Students Run Oakland is a fantastic local program for youth that provides structured physical fitness training, mentoring, and nutrition education. They do this while training for the LA Marathon.

I've set up a giving campaign on active.com to raise money for Students Run Oakland, and hope to raise $6,000 during my year of 30 events. Help support a great cause: http://www.active.com/donate/year30events

Ran before work today against all odds (although hit snooze a few times still)

Running, Rowing, and Roasting

In the last week I've heard a few people mention books by Hal Higdon on marathon training, and I don't have a lot of time left for the Portland Marathon on October 4th. Melanie found a link to a marathon training schedule that I'm now using, from Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Guide. According to the guide, I needed to run 9 miles today. So we packed up the jogging stroller and went to the lake this afternoon.

By the 8.5 mile mark I ran out of water and the heat/sun was starting to wear me out, so I walked the last .5 miles and called it a day. Mel and Finn made a couple of laps around the lake too, and were watching all of the boats in the 2009 United States Rowing Association Southwest Masters Regionals.

Music of the day: "Rubber Soul," by the Beatles and the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

Headed out for a 9 mile run at Lake Merritt w/ the fam

Taking Turns

Mel went out for a run around the lake today while Finn and I were still sleeping. After sleeping in, breakfast, and a bit of coffee, it was my turn to run. The weather was cool and overcast-- just right for a longer weekend run (7.1 miles today).

Highlights of today's run: listening to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (great, laid-back music for a longer moderate run), running by the Grand Lake Farmer's Market with all of the good smells and sights, trying out my new Under Armour compression shorts from REI, running with the seemingly hundreds of Oakland residents around the lake, and getting back to a decent pace at this distance.

Listen to "Angel Band," by The Stanley Brothers, from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

Headed out for a seven-miler

Gagged by a Gaggle of Gnats

Went out for a run without a destination in mind today, and cut through Dimond Park to run down one of the Dimond Canyon Hiking Trails. My efforts were temporarily thwarted by a gaggle (pack? pride? herd?) of gnarly gnats. As I ran along the scenic, shaded, cool trail, the gnats formed a moving cloud around my head. Making a 180 degree turn after about 1 minute of this attack, I decided to run through the better manicured neighborhoods of the Oakland hills, among the lavender bushes and bougainvilleas. Today's run: 5.5 miles. Does anyone have a good 3 month marathon training plan?

Lake Merritt is a great training ground

Lake Merritt in Oakland, California is the setting of many training runs and some of the events I'll participate in over the next year. It makes for a great running location due to the beautiful scenery, excellent weather conditions, lots of folks walking and running, it's flat, and one lap is 5k. Join me for a run there on some weekdays after work or on weekend mornings.

Doing the Tri for Fun in Pleasanton on Aug. 15 w/ Stacy!

Help me raise money for the American Heart Association. Will do the Heart Walk on Sun., Sept. 20. Find out more: http://heartwalk.kintera.org/eastbayca/year30events

Just set up my Blogger, Twitter, and Facebook accounts to receive mobile updates on my year30events progress.

Gearing Up

I'm turning 30 next month, and my wife issued a great challenge to me: to compete in 30 events during my 30th year. Sounds like fun to me! So I'm gearing up for the year ahead by starting this blog, building a race schedule, seeking sponsorships, updating my Twitter account, and looking for ideas to make this happen. Stay tuned and stay connected by clicking on any or all of the "Follow Me" social networking tools in the sidebar to track my progress.

How to Cultivate Compassion in Your Life

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~ Dalai Lama
Why develop compassion in your life? Well, there are scientific studies that suggest there are physical benefits to practicing compassion.[1] But there are other benefits as well, and these are emotional and spiritual. The main benefit is that it helps you to be more happy, and brings others around you to be more happy. If we agree that it is a common aim of each of us to strive to be happy, then compassion is one of the main tools for achieving that happiness. It is therefore of utmost importance that we cultivate compassion in our lives and practice compassion every day.
How do we do that? This guide contains 7 different practices that you can try out and perhaps incorporate into your every day life.

Steps

1. Develop a morning ritual. Greet each morning with a ritual. Try this one, suggested by the Dalai Lama: “Today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” Then, when you’ve done this, try one of the practices below.
   
2. Practice empathy. The first step in cultivating compassion is to develop empathy for your fellow human beings. Many of us believe that we have empathy, and on some level nearly all of us do. But many times we are centered on ourselves and we let our sense of empathy get rusty. Try this practice: Imagine that a loved one is suffering. Something terrible has happened to him or her. Now try to imagine the pain they are going through. Imagine the suffering in as much detail as possible. After doing this practice for a couple of weeks, you should try moving on to imagining the suffering of others you know, not just those who are close to you.
   
   • To keep empathy from turning into sympathy, keep your focus on the other person, rather than allowing your empathy to shift your focus to your own experience and memory of suffering.[2]
     
   
   
3. Practice commonalities. Instead of recognizing the differences between yourself and others, try to recognize what you have in common. At the root of it all, we are all human beings. We need food, and shelter, and love. We crave attention, and recognition, and affection, and above all, happiness. Reflect on these commonalities you have with every other human being, and ignore the differences. One favorite exercise comes from a great article from Ode Magazine — it’s a five-step exercise to try when you meet friends and strangers. Do it discreetly and try to do all the steps with the same person. With your attention geared to the other person, tell yourself:[3]
   
   1. Step 1: “Just like me, this person is seeking happiness in his/her life.”
      
   2. Step 2: “Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life.”
      
   3. Step 3: “Just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair.”
      
   4. Step 4: “Just like me, this person is seeking to fill his/her needs.”
      
   5. Step 5: “Just like me, this person is learning about life.”
      
   
   
4. Practice relief of suffering. Once you can empathize with another person, and understand his humanity and suffering, the next step is to want that person to be free from suffering. This is the heart of compassion — actually the definition of it. Try this exercise: Imagine the suffering of a human being you’ve met recently. Now imagine that you are the one going through that suffering. Reflect on how much you would like that suffering to end. Reflect on how happy you would be if another human being desired your suffering to end, and acted upon it. Open your heart to that human being and if you feel even a little that you’d want their suffering to end, reflect on that feeling. That’s the feeling that you want to develop. With constant practice, that feeling can be grown and nurtured.
   
   • A study suggests that the more you meditate on compassion, the more your brain reorganizes itself to feel empathy towards others.[4]
     
   
   
5. Practice the act of kindness. Now that you’ve gotten good at the fourth practice, take the exercise a step further. Imagine again the suffering of someone you know or met recently. Imagine again that you are that person, and are going through that suffering. Now imagine that another human being would like your suffering to end — perhaps your mother or another loved one. What would you like for that person to do to end your suffering? Now reverse roles: you are the person who desires for the other person’s suffering to end. Imagine that you do something to help ease the suffering, or end it completely. Once you get good at this stage, practice doing something small each day to help end the suffering of others, even in a tiny way. Even a smile, or a kind word, or doing an errand or chore, or just talking about a problem with another person. Practice doing something kind to help ease the suffering of others. When you are good at this, find a way to make it a daily practice, and eventually a throughout-the-day practice.
   
6. Move beyond to practice compassion for those who mistreat us. The final stage in these compassion practices is to not only want to ease the suffering of those we love and meet, but even those who mistreat us. When we encounter someone who mistreats us, instead of acting in anger, withdraw. Later, when you are calm and more detached, reflect on that person who mistreated you. Try to imagine the background of that person. Try to imagine what that person was taught as a child. Try to imagine the day or week that person was going through, and what kind of bad things had happened to that person. Try to imagine the mood and state of mind that person was in — the suffering that person must have been going through to mistreat you that way. And understand that their action was not about you, but about what they were going through. Now think some more about the suffering of that poor person, and see if you can imagine trying to stop the suffering of that person. And then reflect that if you mistreated someone, and they acted with kindness and compassion toward you, whether that would make you less likely to mistreat that person the next time, and more likely to be kind to that person. Once you have mastered this practice of reflection, try acting with compassion and understanding the next time a person treats you. Do it in little doses, until you are good at it. Practice makes perfect.
   
   • It will take time to manage your emotions to the extent that you can practice full compassion, but the following techniques will help; in addition, people who practiced them in a study produced 100 percent more DHEA, which is a hormone that counteracts the aging process, and 23 percent less cortisol — the “stress hormone.”[5]
     
     • Cut-through: Observe your feelings, focusing on your heart. Pretend you're someone outside of the situation, giving yourself advice like "Relax, it's no big deal." Imagine your negative feelings getting absorbed and diffused by your heart. This will help you transform rather than repress your negative feelings.[6]
       
     • Heart lock-in: Quiet your mind and focus your attention on your heart. Tap into feelings that you have towards someone or something you love easily, and try to stay with that feeling for ten or fifteen minutes. Then imagine sending those feelings to yourself and others.[7]
       
     
     
   • You may also want to read How to Forgive.
     
   
   
7. Develop an evening routine. It is highly recommended that you take a few minutes before you go to bed to reflect upon your day. Think about the people you met and talked to, and how you treated each other. Think about your goal that you stated this morning, to act with compassion towards others. How well did you do? What could you do better? What did you learn from your experiences today? And if you have time, try one of the above practices and exercises.
   

Tips

• These compassionate practices can be done anywhere, any time. At work, at home, on the road, while traveling, while at a store, while at the home of a friend or family member. By sandwiching your day with a morning and evening ritual, you can frame your day properly, in an attitude of trying to practice compassion and develop it within yourself. And with practice, you can begin to do it throughout the day, and throughout your lifetime. This, above all, will bring happiness to your life and to those around you.
  

Things You'll Need

• Ritual
  
• Routine
  
• Healthy diet
  
• Positive thinking
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Be Kind
  
• How to Practice Courtesy and Kindness
  
• How to Practice Random Acts of Kindness
  
• How to Maintain Good Spiritual Health
  

Sources and Citations

• Original source of article, Zen Habits, A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life with 7 Practices. Shared with appreciation under an uncopyright licence.
  

1. ↑ http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/10/07/compassion.meditation.may.improve.physical.and.emotional.responses.psychological.stress


2. ↑ http://bexhuff.com/2008/05/empathy-vs-sympathy


3. ↑ http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/44/love_thy_neighbour_for_he_is_me/


4. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2008/03/27/hscout613899.html


5. ↑ http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart-emotional-balance.html


6. ↑ http://www.pbs.org/bodyandsoul/203/heartmath.htm


7. ↑ http://www.pbs.org/bodyandsoul/203/heartmath.htm

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