Monday, February 9, 2009

Week 1 of the F-Cancer Challenge

Week #1 (2/1/09 to 2/8/09)*

Swim - 2 miles
Bike - 0 miles
Run - 19 miles

*Typically weeks will go from Monday to Sunday, but I'm including an extra day for the 1st of the month. No particular reason why, that just how triathletes do it.

I'm a little embarassed about this post, but I signed myself up for it, and will be sure to never let it happen again. I don't have any excuses. I just didn't train as much as I should've during week 1 of the challenge and I'm already behind on one specific challenge from Cheryl. See below.

Cheryl's Challenge

I will donate $4 if you sing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go... Read More” while running that 1 mile.

I will donate $45 if you take a video of you singing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” while running that one mile (or run for at least the duration of the song). you also have to post it public to facebook by 2/5/2009. i will subtract $1 from my donation for every day it is not posted. okay, maybe you can make it private for certain people. that is negotiable.

I highly doubt this is the kind of challenge we’re supposed to give, and it probably doesn’t really benefit your training thaaat much. sorry. nonetheless, I hope you accept it.

This should help you:


I will post the results of that challenge soon (hopefully after this weekend!).

While this past week was light on training, I experienced a few events that I just wanted to touch upon:
  1. First of all, I went to my old high school to see my old wrestling team. It brought flashbacks of a time when all I cared about was winning. It was pretty awesome because I remembered how fired up I used to get and just how sweet winning was. I was lucky to see my old high school previously ranked #2 in the county come through with an upset by beating the #1 team in the county. I love that winning feeling so its about time I get it back through triathlon.
  2. Last week, unfortunately, I learned that an acquaintance of mine, Pat Antonio, lost his mother to lung cancer . It really hit me hard because I remembered just how devastated and messed up I was right after. I came out a much stronger and better person as I'm sure he will. Anyway, I'm dedicating my initiative to Amelita Antonio in addition to both my mom and my aunt and the many others that have been touch by this disease. I'll be posting up a special challenge in honor of Amelita Antonio in the coming weeks. All money received from that special challenge will be donated in honor of her. Stay tuned.
  3. This weekend was warm. I can't believe how giddy I got about running outside. I ended up running my longest distance thus far and it felt great. I almost forgot how awesome a nice long run in the outdoors can be.
  4. One of the small things in life that I truly appreciate is listening to the right song at the perfect time during a workout. During my long run I hit a few walls, but its awesome how a song was able to lift me up when I hit the wall. A few of these songs are:
    • Eminem - Till I Collapse


    • Eminem - 8 Mile Road

    • Kanye West - Stronger

    • John Cafferty - Hearts on Fire (from Rocky IV Soundtrack)


    • Survivor - Burning Heart (from Rocky IV Soundtrack)

    • Rocky IV Training Montage

    • Robert Tepper - No Easy Way Out (from Rocky IV Soundtrack)

      • Note: I love Rocky I, II, III, IV, and VI. Rocky V was an unfortunate mishap. F*ck you Tommy Gun. I'm working on a separate ode to Rocky blog entry. Stay tuned!

    • John Legend - Green Light (yes, that just happened)

    • Alicia Keys - If I Ain't Got You Dio Remix (i know, that just happened too. anyway, special shout out to my summer of S.A.M. boys on this one)
5. And finally, I realized how lucky I am to have never dealt with significant injury (knock on wood). To those that are fighting back from injury, I'm right there with you. Where there's a will, there's a way. Just keep working hard and find a way to work with the body you have. As Kevin Garnett profoundly said after winning the chip, "Nothing is Impossible!" Keep in mind, Lance Armstrong had lung and brain cancer like my mom and should've probably died. He had other plans though and went on to win 5 Tour de France's and is going for another one this year.

That just about wraps up my weekly dose of random thoughts from a triathlete with ADD. Week 2 is starting and its been good so far so please visit this blog and remember to donate often.

http://firstgiving.com/f-cancer

Comments welcomed! I'd actually appreciate any other songs you guys listen to when you workout.



3 comments:

krismendoza.com said...

"fire it up' by busta & "lose yourself" by eminem. makes the titi hard every time i go for a run (or elliptical for now ;)

Jay Legaspi said...

Hey homie. :)

Cancer is a big thing in my family too... just wanted to say kudos to you and your push. keep at it brother. :)

Anonymous said...

you deserve a western hand grip for your dedication and cuteness. i'm surprised no Justin on your playlist. ANY song w/his angelic voice gets it up instantly...INSTANTLY!