Happy Birthday Brianna

Gotta wish my little girl a very very Happy Birthday. She's turning 12 today and the every now and then I get a glimpse of the little baby I once knew. The 1 year old with the curly pigtails and huge smile. The cutest 2 year old you'll ever see missing their front 4 teeth. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her and I know she felt the same. I think she knew I was right for her and her mom before her mom was sure.
She and I have shared plenty of Father/Daughter moments, and I look forward to many more. She feels comfortable talking to me and I hope that doesn't go away as she gets older. So Brianna, Happy 12th Birthday. I Love you

Turning the big 400!!!

Alright so according to Nike+ I have 399 runs that have added up to 1131.3 miles. Yeah I know the mileage could be higher but what's important is the next run will be the 400th. When I started running (cue the twinkling music and fog) back in 2006 , I didn't have a set number of runs as a goal. My goal was to lose weight. Lots of it. Months earlier I was sitting in the Dr.'s office being told I was near 300 pounds. It was the way he was talking to me that really got my attention. I felt like I was auditioning for a modeling gig of somesort and he was telling me I was a whale. He didn't say those exact words but I did feel like a peice of meat. A piece of meat with a lot of fat on it.

Anyway I have improved a lot since my first run in 2006. A single lap nonstop at a high school track was an accomplishment for me in the beginning. I couldn't run long even when I was a skinny kid but 1 lap shouldn't be an accomplishment. I've come a long way since then. In August 2008, my wife and I signed up for a Nike+ 10k race. I'll tell you right now I didn't win. I know we both felt like we accomplished something huge. The Kanye West concert at the finish line was sweet too. 2008 was also the year when I ran the the longest distance. I set out early one Sunday morning determined to make it to my dad's house in Echo Park. About halfway into my run my "crew" showed up told supply me with whatever I needed. My wife and my son were with me from that point on inspiring me to keep going. Anthony even joined me for a few strides.Literally a few strides. I remember as I was coming around the Police Academy in Elysian Park and I saw other people walking and running , I kept thinking to myself "I started my run in Pasadena and now I was about 14.5 miles away". Anna and Anthony, you kept me moving forward.

As a kid I was told many times how my Dad loved running. How he ran track in high school and I did go with him once to a 5k he ran as part of some work picnic or something. But I as of yet have gotten the chance to run with him. I biked alongside as he ran around Echo Park lake at least once way back in the day. I asked him to join us at the race last year but I had no luck. Maybe I would have had a better chance if I asked years sooner.

So Anthony, I'm still waiting to run with you son. Don't make me wait too long. I want to thank my family for helping me to achieve my goals. I love you all.

Going Looooong

Allright so I've had enough of Jay-Z in my ear constantly saying/asking " Get your swag back daddy, Where your focus at?" I hope yesterdays run will be enough to quiet him down for a while. My run was over 9 miles in about 1 1/2 hours.So I left the house before 6:30am and ran from home to a 7-11 in Highland Park. Anna had to stop at work so this worked out pretty good. I made it to Ave. 52 and Fig before 8:00 and she picked me up. Being that this was my longest run of the year, I think I did great. I wanted Tony to join me on his bike but when I tried to wake him up, all he said was, " Think about me when you're running" so I took the hint and ran like Han...you know.... Solo. He'll join me eventually. Maybe on my next long trip to Dad's house. He better be home next time. pretty good. Oh yeah just a tip for anyone who wants to run and take a Soy Joy with them. Make sure you have water to drink with it or good luck getting it down.

On The Road Again

You can call me Willie Nelson cuz I'm on the road again. I've put in 10 miles this month and though that may not sound like alot, the first six months of this year only produced about 80 miles so 10 in a week is pretty good. The most I've run in a week is 30 miles so I need to work my way back up. In 2008 I finished with a total of 639ish miles. So far this year I have a total of about 90 so if I stay focused this time I might be able to make it to maybe 400. We'll see how it goes. I do need some new music though. My motivating song right now is D.O.A. by Jay-Z. Any ideas?