5k!

u know, my very VERY first race i've done since my modern era (post ls) was the 2005 nike runhitwonder. it was a 5k around the ghettos of la, but i enjoyed the run. i don't even remember how fast i ran it, because it wasn't that important. i stopped by every music stand listening to all these wonderful one hit wonders blasting out their bests. there was even sir mix a lot!

anyways, since then i've run quite a few races, 5k's, 10k's, 5 milers, half marathons and full marathons. and for me time wasn't all that important. especially for the races that were on the longer side (if you've seen my pics from my la marathon outings, you know it's more of a picnic through la than an actual marathon run).

but there have been races where i actually tried to run at a good pace...because they were all very short (5k's). and i think the fastest i've run in one was under 24 mins for the santa monica classics 5000 in 2007.

well...that was 3 years and many more in my knee years ago. anyways, i met up with my accountability brother, brian, last night at the rosebowl. and instead of running the usual outerloop 10k, we decided to run the inner loop twice.

while we were running, we noticed 2 things that differed from running the outerloop - (1) other runners and (2) we weren't talking at all. you see, seeing all these other runners, we naturally started running a lot faster than our usual pace. and since we were running at a faster pace than we were used to, we couldn't even talk

well, i only ran the loop once. after that one loop, i was done. but checking at my watch, i noticed i finished it in 25:27. That's not half bad! that's under 8:30min/mile pace!

anyways, my entire body was burning and aching. but it felt good to know that i could still run a 5k at a brisk pace. well, brisk being relative.

well, as you can guess, we celebrated our run with appeasing our hungry belly monsters at the paseo yardhouse. btw, their spicy tuna roll is the bomb! and so are their roast beef dip sandie!

detours

n. a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure; especially : a roundabout way temporarily replacing part of a route (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

in life, we run into circumstances that force us to take detours. usually they are road/traffic related, which just cause mild annoyances as 3 lanes converge into 1, having to make 4 left turns to get on the freeway etc. or it could be more substantial and have a profound influence in shaping your life - like you may have to take a job out in st. louis for a few years to put in your due for that promotion in your company. detours pop up suddenly and without a warning. and what it does is to prove that in our life's journey, it's not always a straight and smooth path to where you want to get to. but ultimately you find yourself back on the path you want to be on. or sometimes you may continue down that path of detour completely.

anyways, i don't know why i wrote all that up there. it provides no coherency to what i'm about write for this post...errrrrrr

so, yesterday (wed) i continued my trend of packing lunch (this time, another ny steak with freshly home made salsa and a cup of brown rice). but my boss comes to my office and asks "did you bring lunch today?" i answered "yes" to which he goes "eat it tomorrow, let's go have lunch"

ok, so what do i do? i leave it in the fridge for tomorrow (which is today) and we go have lunch at curry house right across the street.

the Culprit: bossman and the hayashi omurice from curry house

so my plan for packed lunch went kaputz.

next, my plan for hitting the gym. i came to work at 7:30am so i can leave by 5:30 to hit the gym, run a couple of miles and sleep early. wellllllllll, on my way home, i call my bestfriend from college, tommy who lives in arcadia, to confirm our dinner this sat and he tells me he's having a dinner in walnut with his wife! and i'm going yur in my town and you don't even call me?!?! so i immediately make a detour and go meet him at this sulungtang place on colima and fairway (who knew this place existed?).

my original plan was to just catch up real quick with him and his wife and go on my merry way to the gym. next thing i know, i see this in front of me:

the Culprit: college bestie and a bowl of sulungtang

by the time we get all caught up with our tales of post-30 life, it was almost 10pm! no gym for me...so i went home and to drown out my disappointment at not going to the gym as planned, i devoured 3 packs of Suhleim (this korean milk shake thingy).

major failure.

so today, i determined that i'll never deviate from my course - i shall eat my healthy snacks and eat my lunch that i brought yesterday and hit up the 10k at the rosebowl with brian!

well, guess what. my managing director from matzalan was up today and he goes, "hey, let's grab lunch". we go get chinese, and it's like an msg-bomb. and for the first time, i experience the msg effect - where you get super headachey, mouth feeling dry and extremely drowsy.

the cure? 10k at the rosebowl!

success? YES!!!! A MAJOR ONE!!! brian and i finished it in 1:07. that's about 10mins/mile for the whole route.

doh! moment: once again, to celebrate our awesome run, we decided to go to the slaw dog on lake. we are firm believers in rewarding ourselves. and oh man oh man. look at what we had:

truffle oiled parmesan cheese drenched fries

the Thai Dog - BOMB!!! and

the entire feast, including the reuben dog. BOMB!

anyways, i've got much work cut out for me. i realized that you can plan and plan, and even if you want to stay on course, sometimes detours are necessary (perhaps not like the ones i took). eitherway, i hope that these detours, or more like deviation from my plan, will make less of an appearance as i continue down the road of recovery!!!!