San Diego Padres Opening Day 2017 →
Padres win 7 to 6 against the Giants! Kids are happy that Ninong came down for the game! Good times! Go PADRES!!!
Padres' Exciting 2015 Season and FREE Hoodies!
It's truly an exciting time to be a San Diego Padres! Heck, even MLB.com even agrees!
On the other hand, the Padres are already there. They've done more than just add talent. They've added excitement and expectations. So here's to San Diego. Some will say that winning the offseason doesn't mean much. The Padres would say it's a start to everything else they hope to accomplish.
Just a quick side note too, May 16th is Lightweight Hoodies Giveaway night and my good friend Jeremiah's birthday. I'd say, playing against the Nationals with a free hoodie would make for a great birthday celebration! How about you? Download their 2015 schedule in PDF.
Lightweight Hoodie Promotion Info via SacBuntChris
The Reason the Padres Won on March 30th… SEALs
The awesome hype that helped push the Padres over the Dodgers… the Navy SEAL team parachuting into Petco Park. We did almost have it last night too but we stranded our runners at 3rd and first. Good luck tonight guys! #BeatLA http://youtu.be/F5DuMCFfhdo
Maddux's Respect for Tony Gwynn
Greg Maddux on the secrets to his pitching success via Thomas Boswell for the Washington Post. If you're a San Diego Padres fan, you'll enjoy this!
Maddux should be one of the most-copied pitchers ever, yet few would even know where to begin, because he seldom opened up about what he believed about pitching and why.
First, Maddux was convinced no hitter could tell the speed of a pitch with any meaningful accuracy. To demonstrate, he pointed at a road a quarter-mile away and said it was impossible to tell if a car was going 55, 65 or 75 mph unless there was another car nearby to offer a point of reference.
“You just can’t do it,” he said. Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitches if there are different releases points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher’s hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision.
“Except,” Maddux said, “for that [expletive] Tony Gwynn.”
San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon....CHECK
Fifty three days before my 30th birthday, I completed my first full 26.2 on Sunday participating in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. It was awesome. Signing up a couple of months ago, my wife chose to run the half (13.1) while I convinced myself that this was something I would need to do before "growing" old. If you're not interested in reading the details, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post for my Garmin data as well as the official Rock 'n' Roll Results.
Training: None...more or less absent in terms of distance. It was definitely a bad idea and not a bright one to say the least. I had planned on running at a lighter weight (165 lbs. compared to my current 180 lbs. ) and even planned out a running schedule. Those "plans" didn't take. The longest run I would have done would have been the 10 miles the previous Wednesday while using Gu once at the half way point. A couple of weeks of ago, I completed running ~16 miles on the Ragnar Relay but that was during a 24 hour period so I guess that didn't count?! Next time...(if there is another one) I will definitely train appropriately.
Day -1: Drinking lots of water, picking up Runblondie26 and her husband, hanging out at the Expo (buying my first pair of Newton Running Shoes from Ryan, buying some 2XU Calve Guards and officially signing up for the San Diego TriRock), attending a Padres game followed by some carbo loading w/ Bronx Pizza and carne asada fries. I got the gear together, set the coffee maker and went to bed early.
Day 0: Waking up w/ around 7 hours of sleep, I took a shower, dressed and got ready. Eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, drinking a can of FRS, and sipping some coffee was it for the pre race meal. Adelle, Lindsay and I walked 1.7 miles from the downtown apartment to the start line arriving a little later than originally planned but it worked out after checking in our gear bags which by the way was really quick and easy. Lining up and finding my 4:45 pace group in corral 23, I awaited the starting gun. About 30 minutes later, looking down at my heart rate monitor on my Garmin Edge 500
The pace leader took off to a great start and I purposely lagged behind. The first four miles flew by like none other and when the fork in the road was coming up for the half marathoners to turn north, I'll admit that it did cross my mind, but on I went toward into Downtown. Running in familiar territory was exciting and easy and when I came around mile 9 onto the 163 freeway, I was feeling like a champ! I happened to run into my sister who was just approaching the four mile marker on her way to completing her first half marathon so that was nice. Now this part of the course was pretty awesome in that the marathon closed both sides of the freeways. Running under the bridges were amazing because I actually got to see and appreciate the structures. Running on the freeway was fun up until the downhill portion came up. The road was uneven and sloped towards my left causing a imbalance in my legs and ankles and it only got worse. That's when I can remember first time thinking about the hot spots and ankle pains. Finally getting back towards on Friars approaching my half way point, I once again felt like I could keep on going. Nothing was going to stop me. I was drinking and maintaining hydration along with Gu's, salt packets and FRS chews...things were dandy.
Did I forget to mention that the sun was now beating down and the heat was picking up. Passing by Rose's Donut Shop, (yes I did think about grabbing one to go) Morena Blvd. would prove to be my nemesis. Around mile 18, the walking would start. It probably started around 16 as my feet just started to feel heavy. With 10K to go, I looked down at my watch and was still on pace. Then, it happened... the pace group passed me. I found myself walking a lot more then finally getting over the bridge towards Mission Bay, I knew I was going to finish it.
Motivation was found all along the course. I ended up walking next to a guy that has been doing the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon since the inception in 1998 and was telling me that only 101 runners remained of the original 20,000. He had a pace watch and he told me that we were still good to go even if with a target of 13 minute miles. Easy right?
I just couldn't get comfortable anymore. That's the bottom line. My calves were fine (thanks 2XU), but my quads, hamstrings as well as feet were just about done. I would force myself here and then and it wasn't until right before Fiesta Island did I give it another go. I got a call from Lindsay (who ran a PR 1:36 half marathon) saying that she was waiting for me at the 5K to go mark and would run with me. That was just awesome. She met me at the beginning of Fiesta Island and off we went. Then I came to a halt. I just couldn't do that much more. I was falling far behind and next thing you know, I'm aiming for 5:30. With .2 to go, my fan group cheered me on, Lindsay broke off and I finished strong. Coming in at 5:24, I can say proudly that I finished. Taking my "official" post race picture, I witnessed a couple getting engaged which was pretty awesome. In face, the guy carried the ring w/ him the entire time while running alongside and finishing with his girlfriend. I walked at a very slow crawl grabbing my gear bag and hopped on the bus back to the trolley then over the car. Good times.
Post Run: Once I got home, I took a shower, changed and off we went to grab a Smash Burger. It was good but I couldn't really eat that much. My appetite wasn't all there as my stomach was full fo Gu Gel and whatever other things I was filling up with along the way. When I got home, a little post race ice cream then I crashed for an hour and half. Waking up with a massive, what it felt like hangover associated headache, I hydrated with Gatorade, another can of FRS and got ready for dinner at couples night. I put on more KT tape around my quads and around my feet, and set out. Good times!
Day +1: I woke up feeling good. Sore for sure, but better. Sleep was good, lunch was great and I'm walking again. I hear that I'm suppose to hurt a little more on day +2, but we'll see! I got some great seats for the Padre game, even got a pedicure and ate some good pizza. Yes I said pedicure. At the Padre game, on the way out, I also got a chance to shake hands and snap a photo with the Woz. Yes, the Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and who is a Padre fan through and through! Exciting weekend for sure!
A Beautiful 10K by the Bay!
After yesterday's 30 minute run on the treadmill, I felt good for another, longer run. I figured out a good route along the bay and plus, Adelle and I could enjoy some San Diego sun. Running from our apartment and finally getting on the Embarcadero, we set out at a good relaxed pace for 3.1 miles.
When we reached our turn around point, we took a quick break, then started our way back. Watching the Garmin, I noticed that Adelle and I ended up running the second half at a slightly slower pace which was a let down, but hey, we have nine weeks right?! I was able to snap this quick pic of Adelle wearing her San Diego Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Long sleeve training tech shirt and the awesome weather that we got to enjoy! Check it! I was also able to take a quick picture of the Petco Park from the new pedestrian bridge that goes from the stadium to the Hilton. Good stuff all around!
Now what stinks is the GPS readings and recordings. Compare the two maps below and you'll notice that the Garmin Edge 500 didn't "find" me right away even though it said that it captured my location and the sporadic mapping through downtown is a little off. More or less, with the data from Google Maps, my Garmin Edge 500 and my Nike+ Pedometer, I ran a solid 10K.
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August Update
So the family is finally moved back (75%) to the house which I loved in Rancho Penasquitos and while that's all great, my schedule for August has changed dramatically. I loaded the end of the month with all the trips from the following week giving me another week off in San Diego to help tidy things up. You have to love the oppurtunity of Open Time that allows you to swap things around. All of this just means that I won't be coming back for the rest of the month, or at least might not come back due to the tight squeeze in commuting. If you are around the SoCal area, hit me up. I'll be around till next Sunday, August 10th. CYA! Quick notes: driving back and forth to downtown at around 2200 last night was fun, eating pizza on a curb on 5th with some old friends sure brought back some memories, the padres lost to the giants again, I got two free shirts at the game 1 from from Scripps (thanks Adelle) and the other from the Padres giveaway. I'll post pics of a deal-e-o that ended my night rather early thus the driving back and forth multiple times.
Update: Here are the pictures that I promised. It's House vs. 26' U-Haul! U-Haul won hands down!
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