Spectrum kickboxing at 8am...brand new mix with the freshest new tracks! Damn that DJ made my day!

Ping

The Stevenson Fitness new social networking is the bomb. If this works correctly this will post on my blog site.

Working on this ping thing

working really hard to figure out this ping thing.

If I take one more drink...

Memorial Day weekend is almost here, bringing with it another sunny California summer.  Fresh air, sunshine, bbqs, and perhaps some "adult" beverages are probably in your near future.  Yes, it's true, I too like to consume the occasional cocktail as much as the next guy, (though, some would argue, probably more then the next guy) BUT I also like to put in considerable time in the gym staying healthy and fit.  A conflict of interest?  Not necessarily.  I put my thinking cap on, did some good ol' fashioned research, and came up with the following tidbits of information regarding how alcohol effects your physical fitness and weight gain/loss.  Let's call it a "Summer Strategy" on consumption.  I hope you find it helpful.

First off, what is alcohol, really?  Or better yet, what ISN'T alcohol?  Alcohol is not a protein, carbohydrate, or fat.  Alcohol is, well, alcohol.  It has 7 calories per gram.  Protein, carbs, and fat all have nutritional value but alcohol has none.  Alcohol calories are completely "empty" calories.  Alcohol is also a toxin, or a foreign substance you're introducing to your body.  Very little ingested alcohol is actually stored in our system (in our fat, specifically). Instead, it is prioritized and removed from our system.  It is expelled in several different ways, including the following: in your breath, tears, carried out in urine, and through oxidation in the liver.  The process in the liver turns alcohol into acetate which then becomes your body's primary fuel source. Put simply, the body will stop burning fat as fuel in order to metabolize the alcohol.  Alcohol basically shuts down normal metabolism and stops fat burning.  It also prevents the body from processing any food you consume (the food that's still in your body by the end of the night, that is) which means that your kung pao chicken will then be stored as fat.  Alcohol is also a diuretic, and with increased trips to the bathroom, alcohol leads to dehydration.  As your body loses more and more water, you also lose minerals that are very valuable in physiological processes, negatively affecting the body's performance, kinda' slowing things down.  Oh, and let's not forget the many negative effects alcohol has on the liver, nervous system, stomach, etc.  Sheesh.  I think I'm bummin' myself out.

Another effect of partaking in the spirits, or so I've heard, is alcohol can skew your thinking, diminish your will power, and lower your inhibitions.  I found this terribly hard to believe until the Great Cisco's Happy Hour Incident of 2003, but that is a whole other blog :-)  Moving on.  Alcohol is also an appetite stimulant.  Combine this with your lowered level of self-control, and who knows what kind of deep-fried-smoothered-in-melted-cheese-dipped-in-ranch mistake you might stumble in to.  SOOOOO, if you've been keeping up so far, alcohol slows your system down, causes foods to turn to fat easier, and can cause you to eat more "bad" foods.  Yikes.  This is probably killing some of you right now, but fear not!  There's hope.

The truth is, if you are in the process of "getting fit", meaning you are still working to achieve a certain goal, be it in regards to your weight, or fitness, or both, then, to be honest, it is hard to justify drinking alcohol.  There is just no upside and too many negatives.  So, if you are working really hard at attaining fitness goals, and you absolutely must drink, keep drinking at a minimum and choose the lowest calorie alcohols and mixers.  Just remind yourself that every time you go boozin' you are taking a multitude of steps backwards for every hard-earned step forward.  BUT...

If you have worked hard, stuck to a plan, and attained your physial fitness goals, you are in the clear...sorta'.  If you are in what we'll call "maintenance mode", then drinking responsibly is no big deal.  Seriously, it's not.  Let's face it, most of us like to drink alcohol.  It's at parties.  It's great for relaxing.  It goes great with a hearty meal.  So drink up, but remember, in regards to your physical fitness, the key is drinking "responsibly."  I am what you might call a "90/10" guy.  It's a simple method or "gauge" which means that if you spend 90% of the time eating right, exercising, and taking care of yourself, then use the other 10% of time to have a few beers, eat that cheesecake, or put some extra mustard and ketchup on that corndog.  I like to think that through the 90, I have earned the 10, elliminating a lot of the guilt that goes with the occasional bowl or two or five of Cap'N Crunch with Crunch Berries.  You earned it.  Live a little.

Here are some quick tips to manage alcohol consumption in a fitness lifestyle:

1) Do NOT drink during a fat loss program.  The "negatives" are too numerous to list.

2) Do NOT drink daily.  Save it for happy hour on Friday or that party on Saturday night. (but not consecutively)
3) Manage your food intake.  When you know you will be drinking, try and eat nutritiously going into it.
4) Sneak a few non-alcoholic drinks in between cocktails, a.k.a. HYDRATE!  Water works best (duh).

5) Most importantly:  ENJOY WITHOUT GUILT!  If you choose to drink, and you normally lead a healthy lifestyle, do NOT beat yourself up afterwards.  Remember, you earned it.

2 Keys to physical change: Variation and Instensity

Your body changes because it has to!  And there are 2 variables that make it "have to" change.  They are variation and intensity.  This is important to remember as you approach your workouts so that you get the results you are looking for.  

I know many people who complain that they go to the gym 3 times a week, every week and they aren't seeing results.  What I notice when talking to them is that most people do the exact same thing every time they go to the gym.  The fact of the matter is the human body is very good at adaptation and efficiency.  The bottom line is the longer you do the same exercises or activities the less of a "challenge" it is, therefore the less benefit you get from it.

 Let's look at cardio for a moment.   If you run 3 miles 3 days a week, without any variation, after your body goes through its initial adaptation, it really doesn't need to change anymore.  And to top that off, since your body is now "good" at running 3 miles, the heart rate doesn't elevate as high and your calorie burn goes down.  So you are getting much less benefit from the same exercise because your body has now adapted.

The result is the same with resistance training.  If you do the same exercises and the same weights, your body adapts and you get less benefit.  With lifting, you break down muscle and it rebuilds tighter and stronger.  You do this by pushing to a level you can't do.  For example, your 10th rep of a 10 rep set is a struggle, your body has to change to handle that load.  If you can easily perform a 10th rep of a 10 rep set, your body has no need to change so it doesn't.  Like cardio, your body adapts to a lifting protocol and if you don't mix things up you will plateau.

So what do you have to do to keep your body from becoming used to your workouts?  You have to have variation and intensity.  

Variation is simple.  It means always changing up aspects of your workout.  You can do this by exercise selection, amount of reps, amount of sets, varying your rest between exercises, and changing the loads you are lifting.  

Intensity is how hard you do what you are doing.  You can simply "go through the motions"  or you can push through harder and faster.  While the former will yield little results the latter produces the greatest body change!

The best way to insure that you have variation is to write stuff down!  I have always been a pretty fit person, but recently I hit a major plateau.  I started writing stuff down.  Now I make sure that I change up the exercises every 4 weeks and I am constantly changing the weight.  I have since broken through the plateau and am seeing some good results.  Simply seeing it on a piece of paper keeps you conscious and holds you accountable.  As far as intensity goes, that is all on you!  At the end of a set you should feel like you worked.  If you finish an exercise and could have done a few more reps then the intensity is probably not high enough.  The good thing about variation is that usually forces you to keep the intensity up because there is always something different forcing you to do something you are not used to thus making you work harder.

So basically, your body will change if it has to.  If you are doing the same old thing all the time your body has no reason to change, but it you are continually changing workout variables and pushing your intensity the body MUST change to accommodate the demand!  So work different and work hard and you will reach all of your fitness goals!

A "great" Great Race

I can still remember the first time I ran a major race.  It was the Silver Strand half marathon in San Diego this year.  It was truly an awe inspiring experience.  Being the top-tier olympic-level physical specimen that I am, I was able to finish the race with a personal best time and a grin that spanned my face from ear to ear, an accomplishment I achieved without even training for the race.  I have only God to thank for my physical gifts that I am blessed with and thus, it is my responsibility to share my gifts with mankind.  Little did I know my chance to share my blessings would come a few short months later, in my very next race: The 10K Great Race of Agoura.

Now we all know that an athlete of my caliber has a natural and undying competitive streak.  In fact, until my intern Bray, I had never heard of a concept called "second place" (I believe that what it is called).  Whether it was winning multiple national martial arts titles, annihilating weight lifting competitions, or dominating dart championships, I have never been stopped.  Because of this, there was never a doubt in my mind that I would in fact win the 10K Great Race of Agoura and more than likely set a course record.  Due to the significance of this race I did implement a strict "run 3 miles once every 2 weeks" training protocol which I stuck to religiously.  Also, in an ingenious veteran racer move, I grew a beard to create more air resistance to further intensify my rigorous preparation.  In fact, my beard created such drag, cars would drive behind me in my draft.  Chris Stevenson, The Genetic Jackhammer, was finely tuned as humanly possible, no, as super-humanly possible and was poised to saunter his way to a monumental finish.

But this is where my story would take an unexpected turn, and I would be lucky enough to finally give back.

A young boy named Cole, who was also entering the 10K Great Race of Agoura, set for himself an incredible goal: To beat me, Chris Stevenson.  Now, anyone with half a brain, or even no brain at all, would know that this poor diluted child would have absolutely no chance of beating one of the greatest athletes in the world, nay, universe.  But Cole has looked up to me for quite a long time and often expressed his desire to grow up and be just like me.  The kid has a keen eye for greatness.  Let's race.

As we lined up at the start, it hit me.  It hit me hard and fast, like Bray hitting an all you can eat buffet.  Could there be something more important than adding another trophy to my collection? I have climbed to the top of the mountain and swam to the bottom of the sea.  Did I really have any more to prove?  It was at that very moment as I looked at poor Cole trembling in fear and awe of my massive being, I knew my purpose.  This day, my purpose was not to win.  My purpose was to help this young boy become a man by LETTING HIM WIN.  Being the humble, generous, and selfless role model that I am I decided to put my competitive nature aside, which is as difficult for me as it is for someone to put aside their desire to breath, in order to use this race to build Cole's confidence, ultimately, positively affecting the rest of his life.  This would be the moment my young admirer would learn all things are possible, and to shoot for his dreams and never ever give up.  Thanks to my sacrifice, Cole would start the race as a boy and cross the finish line as a man!

The race begins!  I run next to Cole and allow him to go stride for stride with greatness.  I PRETEND to be breathing hard, which is extremely difficult, due to my highly advanced cardiovascular system.  I throw in a few moans and groans to sell the whole work.  As I run, I enter deep into meditation in order to take control of my body on a level known only to the most elite athletes.  With this level of control, I can actually force myself to sweat profusely just by willing my body to do so.  I use this skill since the running is not a challenge, but I must, for Cole's sake, make him believe he is beating me and that I am working really hard.  Then it hits me!  I'm really going to go for it.  I'm going to let him get so far ahead that he really REALLY believes this whole farce.  I slow down without making it obvious.  Once he was out of my sight, deep down inside, I knew the real winner today was me.  I smiled knowing that my unselfish good deed would be successful.  I ran the rest of the race with a feeling of satisfaction and pride, knowing how much I helped build Cole's self-esteem and self-confidence.  In fact, at this moment, I realize I have helped EVERYONE running this race, by allowing all of the other competitors to have a chance.  Still, most importantly today, I have helped a boy become a man.  It truly was a great race.

Q&A: If I want to lose weight should I do cardio or weight training?

Unfortunately the answer to this question is not one or the other.  Both play an important role in weight loss, and let's not forget the importance of proper nutrition.  To understand why, let's re-examine the purpose of each component.  Weight training builds muscle and keeps it active.  Muscle is the only metabolic tissue in the body which means it is the only place fat can be burned.  Doing proper cardiovascular training puts the body in a state where muscle can potentially burn a lot of fat.  And if you have eaten properly, the chemistry in your body is correct and those first two components will work effectively.  Therefore for optimal fat loss (notice I didn't say weight loss since we are all concerned about being lean which means losing body fat) you really need to address all 3 of these pieces.  If any component is missing you may make some progress but you are not likely to accomplish the goals you set out to achieve.  

You can check out a previous blog called "plain and simple truth" for a more in depth look at the 3 components necessary for body transformation! 

Let's eat!

I know a lot of people have trouble staying on the right eating path.  I do a pretty good job with my nutrition so I thought I would share my process with everyone with the hope of giving people a fairly good example.  By the way, the point is not that I am exceptional with my fitness, but rather to show that if an attention-deficit-scatterbrained guy like me can do it, anybody can!

THE PREP: Every Friday morning my wife goes to the grocery store and buys groceries for the week. (thanks honey :-) She says she spends about 45 minutes there each trip.  I give her the list, which I get from the meals that Holly (Stevenson Fitness's awesome nutritionist) has created for me, and in addition to the staples that our family needs, she buys my food for the week.  On Sunday, I prep my meals for the week. Make some sandwiches, bag some carrots, put pieces of fruit in a bag, etc...  This includes 2 snacks, a pre-workout snack, and lunch.  This takes me around 40 minutes.  So not counting breakfast and dinner (which I'll get to in a minute), in less than an hour and a half, I am good to go for a full week.  

A TYPICAL DAY: It takes me about 5 minutes in the morning to grab a banana, put a nutra-grain waffle in the toaster, microwave some eggs (which I portion out the night before in literally 1 minute) and pour a glass of milk.  It takes no time to prep a snack or to make or buy lunch, since I put all my snacks and lunches together on Sunday.  As far as dinner goes, my wife usually cooks or I will cook, and by cooking I mean picking something up on the way home from work.   Dinner at home always consists of a protein (chicken, steak, fish), a green vegetable (salad, asparagus, broccoli), and a carbohydrate (jasmine rice, baked potato, pasta). Prepping dinner in the morning can save time in the evening.  Set out, thaw and/or marinade your protein so that it's ready for cooking when you get home.  There are some really good ways to marinade meats, poultry, etc., so that your meal is not only healthy but flavorful.  If you need to bring food in, keep in mind that there are healthy alternatives out there (Tacone, Subway, even items at fast food restaurants).  What's important is that you make an educated selection, so that you don't blow your nutritional day.  I am happy to provide anyone with some suggestions, and you can also look up most menu items from restaurants online to determine their nutritional values. Now as we know, per my last blog, this allows me to eat the right foods every three to four hours.  My metabolism stays revved up, my energy is high, I'm staying healthy and I feel great!

THE POINT:  It is really not that hard to eat right if you plan correctly.  In addition to it being cost effective, and actually saving you time, it will allow you to become the most lean, healthy and strong person that you can be!

The plain and simple truth

People are always asking what to do to lose weight.  Do I do tons of cardio? Eat less? Does lifting weights help?  The purpose of this blog is to shed a little light on a very confusing subject.  So here goes.

I want to preface my explanation with a thought.  Think of it as reprogramming your body to be lean instead of  calories in/calories out.  Does burning more calories than one takes in (calories in vs. calories out) work for weight loss?  Yes...BUT...come on now, you know there was a ''BUT'' coming!  It does work for as long as you are able to maintain the caloric deficit, but it does nothing to improve your metabolism.  As a matter of fact it actually slows it down.   You create the deficit by doing one of two things, overtraining or under-eating.  Overtraining leads to pain and injuries.  Under-eating leads to malnourishment, lack of energy and most significant, loss of lean muscle tissue. (You'll know why this his a big deal after you read the next few paragraphs).   The bottom line is with the calories in/calories out approach will help you lose weight in the short term.  Some of the lost lbs are  from fat, but a lot is water and muscle tissue.  The bottom line is it "works" if you are looking for a temporary short term fix that will ultimately slow your metabolism :-)

So here it is...not my system or idea...just a little thing called science.  There is no secret or magic, weight loss, or more accurately fat loss, is a combination of eating right, lifting weights and doing cardio.  The more accurately you do all three, the better the results.  If you lift and eat fairly well but don't do cardio, you may get some results but probably not what you are looking for.  If you do cardio and lift, but don't eat right, its the same.  The bottom line if you accurately address all three components you will get the results you are looking for!

Lifting- Muscle burns fat!  It is the only tissue in the body that can do that.  When you are performing a good resistance training program you are building and activating muscle.  The more you do this the bigger, better and stronger you fat burning "engine" becomes.  Now that you've got the engine, you need to run it!

Cardio- Cardio is running your engine.  It puts you in a state where you have the potential to burn a lot of fat.  Fat burns when you are in an aerobic state.  Aerobic means "with oxygen".  Which means the stronger your metabolism is the more fat you burn all day long!  I mean, with are technically using oxygen all day, right?  When you increase the intensity and do it over a longer duration at a good intensity, your body needs to expend more fuel.  So during good cardio activity, you can burn a lot of fat, if you have fueled right! 

Eating- Now in order for the engine to run, you have to fuel it right!  This is where proper eating comes into play.  This is far more complex than this blog so I am going to give you the nutshell explanation!  Fat is burnt in a 2 step process.  It is released from a cell and sent through the blood stream to muscle to be burned.  (see, you gotta have muscle :-) ) In order for this to happen your blood sugar has to be level.  Blood sugar controls everything.  To regulate blood sugar you need the right combination of nutrients in the right amounts at the right time.  Sounds kinda complicated but it's really not!  Your body can regulate blood sugar for 3 to 4 hours, thus you need to eat every 3 to 4 hours.  As far as the amount goes, you never want to be hungry after a meal.  You want to feel full but not over full or bloated.   As far as the content goes, every meal must contain a protein, a little fat, and 2 types of carb (energy carbs and nutrient carbs).  Any lack of protein will lead to a rise in blood sugar.  Any lack of carbs will cause the body to canabalize protein for fuel, which catabolizes muscle.  (we know that is bad now, because muscle is the engine and the last thing we want to do is damage the engine) Everything in the body is built from protein.  Fat aids in certain metabolic processes and it helps slow digestion and keeps you feeling full.  Energy carbs (grains, wheats, etc) are the preferred source of energy and nutrient carbs (fruits and veggies) give you the vitamins and minerals that keep you healthy.  This is the optimal food combination to keep blood sugar level.  You fuel like this and you put your body into the correct state to burn fat.

So if you are lifting, performing cardio and eating correctly you have the potential to reprogram your body into a fat burning machine!  That means when you stray from the path (for example at a wicked holiday party filled with cookies, cupcakes and Corona ;-)) you don't suffer that much.  Your body will burn through the "bad" food quickly with minimal damage.  You literally become a fat burning machine!  Man, of of a sudden I am really hungry.   Going go crush a turkey on whole wheat sandwich loaded with veggies and an apple :-)

Happy Holidays

Every year since Stevenson Fitness has been open we have had a staff holiday party.  This year I did things a little different.  I was thinking about what makes Stevenson Fitness so great, and it is not just the staff, it is the members as well.  So we had the first ever "everyone is welcome" Stevenson Fitness holiday party.  And as I suspected, it was awesome!

I can't lie, I was a little nervous about putting this together.  It would have been horrible if no one showed up. I was thinking that we would probably have a decent turn out, with people coming and going during the 2 hour time we had allotted.  I have never been so pleased to be so wrong!  Most of the gym members did in fact show up and stayed the whole time!  It was so awesome!

Carla did an awesome job organizing the whole shindig.  Chrissy helped with the newsletter and flyers to promote it.  Jenna did most of the shopping.  Julie brought in some decorations and tasty deserts.  Holly brought in veggie trays (nutritional nerd:-) ) Marisa and Kevin helped decorate the gym.  Bray volunteered to dress up as Santa.  Okay, well he lost a bet and had to...too bad USC couldn't have scored just a few more points against UCLA.   Many of the vendors in our plaza donated great prizes which were raffled off.  Saralyn's donated some delicious food.  And of course Hal showed up with a grocery cart full of corona.  So many people, staff and members alike, contributed so much to make this event so fun.  My cheeks were literally sore from the huge smile that was plastered on my face the whole night.  It was absolutely awesome!

People won prizes.  Kids played on the equipment.  My son ran around with his face covered in chocolate cake.  Members talked and bonded with each other.  In a room that is normally filled with push ups and sit ups there were cocktails and cookies.  In a room where you normally hear grunting and shouts of "how many more reps?",  you heard laughing and holiday music.  People all stayed well past "closing time".  Everyone even helped clean up.   This event really summed up the whole mantra of Stevenson Fitness which is family and community.  Everyone had a really great time, from men to women and adults to kids.  The diversity was incredible.  I received emails and texts before I went to bed that night from people telling me what a good time they had and suggesting future events.  It was really really awesome!

Afterwards several of us went to a local bar called the Canyon Club.  They had a great 80's cover band and people continued to sip...er...chug cocktails  and dance the night away.  I want to give a shout out to Chris V. for awaking from a deep sleep and coming out to make sure everyone got home safely.  As my near perfect night was winding down,  I began to give hugs and thanks and say my goodbyes.  As I gave my last hug and watched Rachelle, who offered me a ride, head to the exit, and before I went to meet Jessica and Chris to head home I stopped for a moment.  I just paused and smiled, reliving the great night that had just occurred.  I awoke from my temporary reflecting daze, now ready to leave and I realized....EVERYBODY LEFT ME!!!!!!!!!  I had no money and my cell phone was dead, so I began my 45 minute walk in the freezing cold to my home!  Chapped lips and a runny nose aside, the night was still in fact awesome!

Stevenson Fitness Summer BBQ coming 2009!

Thanksgiving thoughts...

I have 2 thoughts that I think help people keep a good perspective on life...they seems, well, thanksgiving-ish to me...

1)appreciation of progress

2)realizing an increased sense of potential

I know that I am, as are many of us, guilty of sometimes doing a little too much of number 2 and not enough of number 1.  I think about how I can make my business grow or how I can get in better shape.  And that is a good thing!  It is important to know that you can improve yourself.  It is important to set goals and go after them.  BUT, it is equally as important to realize what you've done and what you have.  To look back at how fit you have become, or how far you have come with your family, or how you've built a business.  I mean, what's the point of working for more, if you never really appreciate what you have???

So as I am setting personal goals for my family, business and myself to be the best I can be, I am also stepping back, taking a deep breathe and smiling because I realize how great life is.  I have a great family, great friends, and great gym (with great members ;-) )...and for all of this, and for all of you, I am truly thankful.

The half marathon

"Where there's a will there's a way...and big big blisters!"

Let me preface this by stating that as many of you may or may not know, I am an athlete.  I sprint, olympic weightlift, and I used to be a competitive martial artist.  I do not, however, distance run.  I am not built for it, I don't enjoy it and I never do it!  That being said...

The night before the half marathon in Coronado, California, I sat with my wife at a restaurant/bar called "Nicky Rottens" in San Diego's historic gaslamp district and watched Brock Lesnar pound on Randy Couture in a UFC pay per view event.  After seeing Lesnar repeatedly drop his fists onto a prone Couture's face for 10 straight seconds I posed a question to my wife.  I said "How bad do you think that hurts?".   Little did I know that I would know that pain, only mine lasted for about 2 and a half hours :-)

I am not a runner.  I do very short duration cardio and lots of lifting.  At Stevenson Fitness we wanted to create more opportunities for people to work together.  So a client approached me about creating a running team to train and run a half marathon.  I thought it was a great idea (it turned out that it was in fact a great idea).  I helped her put the team together not realizing that now they expected me to run.  What have I done?  I now have to run 13.1 miles.  I get tired driving that far.  Am I really going to be able to do this.

Race time.  I lined up at very back of the crowd.  I had 2 goals: 1 was to finish and 2 was to never stop running.  I can't lie, i had my doubts.  As I looked at the people in front of me I saw a lady with balloons that said 2:30.  That is where I set my goal.  I would try and stay behind them.  That is a good pace for me.  The buzzer went off and the race was on.

The race was to benefit handicapped athletes.  It was very inspiring to see, other than the fact that most of the handicapped people were kicking my butt!  I did manage to pass a group of blind runners.  The bummer was they couldn't see me ;-) But in all seriousness, it really felt great to see so many people coming together for a good cause.

The first 4 miles were pretty uneventful.  I actually surprised myself and felt pretty darn good.   It did, however, create a false sense of what was to come. I think I expected to feel this way the whole time.  This would not be the case.  I started to realize that at mile 5.

There is in fact a "runner's high" and I hit it! I felt great!  For about a minute, then it was over and I hit something that was the onset of what must be called "runner's low".  

Uh oh.  Why are the inside of both of my feet burning?  That would turn out to be the 2 golf ball sized blood blisters that were forming on my feet.  They were the kind of blisters that elicit a high pitched "yikes!" from people I showed them to.  Oh well, i'm tough, sort of, I can take it, i mean it's only another...uh...8.1 freakin' miles! Checklist: 2 burning feet.

So now i'm trying to run on the outside of my feet to avoid putting pressure on the blisters that will definitely leave scars, which makes the outside of my knees hurt.  I am definitely breaking down and I still have a long way to go.  So I look at the guy rumbling along in front of me.  He is older, maybe mid-sixties, and not the leanest guy around.  I read the back of his homemade tank top.  It read "Hell, i'm slow!  But i'm doing it!"  As I nod my head as if I was saying "good job old man", I realized something.  I'm freakin' behind him!!!  So I pick up my pace because of a stupid condition I have (like most men) known as "ego", which does nothing but exacerbate my burning feet and recently added burning knees.  Checklist: 2 burning feet and 2 burning knees.

There are always little things that newbies don't know.  At mile 6 my left shoulder and back started hurting.  Apparently, even though it is small, when you carry an ipod in the same hand it takes its toll on your body after 6 miles.  I switched hands but the damage had been done.  So let's look at the checklist: 2 burning feet, 2 burning knees, 1 burning left shoulder and neck...sweet!

So its 95 degrees with no breeze.  I was getting a little warm to say the least.  The nice thing is there are water stations every mile and a half or so.  So I had been pretty smart and taken 2 cups at every station, 1 to drink and 1 to dump on my head to cool down.  This plan was going really well until the surprise gatorade station.  Why would I assume that all of a sudden there was something other than water in those cups.  You would think Gatorade would at least have a banner or poster, but nooooooooooooo!  So 7 miles in I chug a cup of water and dump a cup of gatorade on my head.  Not sure if you know this but Gatorade is really really sticky.  My sun glasses are now stuck to my face and it has dripped into my eyes.  Checklist: 2 burning feet, 2 burning knees, 1 burning left shoulder and neck, and 2 burning eyes. 

Goo?  I ate something called goo!  Everyone told me that i would need to re-fuel half way through so make sure I get some "goo" at mile 8.  First of all I should have known by the name "goo" that it would not taste good and probably not have a good consistency.  And a note to all supplement manufactures, taking a gross product and giving it the flavor of a good food (in my case apple pie flavored) does NOT NOT NOT make it taste good at all!  And apparently goo gives you gas.  Checklist:2 burning feet, 2 burning knees, 1 burning left shoulder and neck, 2 burning eyes and 1 upset stomach.

My wife is really cool.  She is 7 months pregnant and she is an avid runner.  She's done many races including the LA marathon.  She, in support of me, offered to meet me at mile 10 and run the rest with me.  This was absolutely awesome!  Truth is I really needed motivation and encouragement at that point and she delivered.  But here is the kicker.  She is 7 months pregnant but no one knows that she jumped in at mile 10.  People just assumed that she ran the whole thing.  She heard shouts of "you go girl","so awesome" and woos and cheers in general.  And I looked like an unselfish hero who slowed down to help and support her.  The ironic truth is that I was in fact slowing her down and couldn't finish without her keeping me from quitting.  Thanks honey :-)

Mile 12- The last mile.  I think the body knows when it is almost done and taunts you by shutting down right before it hits the end of something.  For example, when you have to go to the bathroom really bad, the closer you get to the toilet the worse the pressure on your bowels gets.  That is the way mile 12 was for me.  It seemed much longer than all the other individual miles.  When I made the last turn, and could see the actual finish line, it looked like I would never get there.  For a second I thought it was a joke like the carrot held in front of the horse that he could never actually catch.  But I ran and it got closer, and closer and closer.  I looked back at my wife and then took off sprinting. (not because I am an awesome runner, but I sure as hell was going to get this done as soon as possible).  I crossed the finish line.  I had done it.  I finished and had done so without stopping.  Final Checklist: 2 burning feet, 2 burning knees, 1 burning left shoulder and neck, 2 burning eyes, 1 upset stomach, and 1 REALLY BIG SENSE OF PRIDE!

The truth of the matter is this.  Where there is a will there is a way.  If you set your mind to something you can do it, no matter what it is.  As long as you don't give up when you hit adversity and difficulty, and blisters for that matter, you can achieve whatever you want.  It is important to remember that the only thing that can stop you is you.  That being said, despite the pain and soreness ( that is still lingering), it was a great experience that included commradery, teamwork, persistence, determination, inspiration and a ton of other awesome values.  I was really glad I did and wouldn't trade this experience for anything at all...blisters and all :-)

P.S. I am officially retired from distance running :-)