One Week Free!

If you haven't tried it already, I suggest you check out CrossFit. If you happen to live in San Diego, I'd check out CrossFit858. Owner and Director Mark Lin is an awesome coach and he's enlisted some of the finest in the SoCal area to help the box out. Sign up for the free introductory week and tell 'em I sent ya. If you need a little "About CrossFit" just hit the link!

CrossFit 858: Opens 12.2 from Sean Horton on Vimeo.

I do wish that I could manage my flying schedule a lot better and make a consistent effort but I will get there one way or the other as this is my Latest Endeavour(9 months later).

Latest Endeavour

Two things.  1) I've just been accepted into 2XU's 2012 Ambassador Program and I'm super stoked.  I can already feel that it's giving me that extra edge to not only train but to bring it to the next level! If you have the time, check out their awesome clearance section for some great deals of up to 40% off! Just click here.

I've been stuck on my current level of physique weighing between 165-190 lbs for the last two years and I need to manage that.  As of this morning, I'm at 186.6 w/ a HIGH BMI of 26.0 / 146 lb Lean mass and 40.6 Fat mass.  (all these measurements have been calculated with Withings iPhone App WiScale)  I paired it up with a Tanita Irongirl scale because it was on sale at 75% off so until I find the need for the BC1000 or when Withings producers a better scale with more readouts, I'll hold off.

Eating on the road has its challenges and working out at hotels does have its drawbacks.  Because of that, I'll be taking it up a notch and actually be documenting it more here on elijahnicolas.com.  That's just an intro to number two; my dedication to Crossfit.  Check out my buddy Ryan Espiritu's blog.  He makes an awesome comparison between "Marathon Ry | Crossfit Ry" and he definitely is a great inspiration.

I let him down last week after he took one for the team partnering with me for the partner WOD and I blew chunks 5-8 minutes into the workout.  Way to pull for my slack.  SWAG!

Crossfit Ry takes better race pictures than Marathon Ry.

 

 

This post won't last long because having pictures of Ryan on my blog aren't my type of thing.

Great Run at Miramar Lake

Waking up sore as heck from the 12 minutes of CrossFit last Saturday with Ryan Espiritu, I couldn't walk in any good posture as my abs weren't fully stretching and my shoulders / arms were in a constant ache. Yes, I know that it means I'm beyond "out of shape", but today was Monday so that meant that running was in the cards. I also wanted to continue the break in period of my Newton Running Shoes that I bought at the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Expo. I didn't run yesterday but had a great time "hiking" up Black Mountain with my mom. It was a way to get my mom walking around again and out of the house and I surely enjoyed the good chats. I didn't know that from my house in PQ to the top was approximately 2.2-3 miles.  To add to the unknown, walking in some 9 year old New Balance Walking shoes wasn't the best idea.   As I walked uphill, it was fine but then downhill was painful. I ended up walking barefoot from the top of Laurentian all the way home.

 

Back to today, my wife and I woke up in the latter part of the morning, had a good breakfast and lounged around until Jojo came over and hung out for a bit. We decided that we should walk around a bit and made our way to the local Albertson's where we bought Tuesday $3 San Diego County Fair tickets. We stuck to our plans and drove up to Miramar Lake for the 5 mile loop w/ Mary P. I wasn't feeling too well as my soreness was getting the best of me, at the same time, I was just in a so-so mood but I knew that deep down, I needed to run. I need to make it a habit if I really want to start getting serious about some of these races!

Mary brought her friend Rachelle who mentioned that she's more of a boxer and that she doesn't run that often. I said it's awesome and then convinced Mary to start using RunKeeper Pro as its a good way of keeping records. Mary also was running in her KSO Trek Vibrams which are pretty cool.

We chatted, stretched very little and then took off as a group. Adelle started flying ahead of us three while I just fell to a good pace. I kept it going great for about 2.5 miles then needed to walk a bit to wipe the sweat off of my sunglasses. The pace was good all the way through and I could feel myself adjusting to the shoes.

Around mile 4, my right ankle started to ache a bit. I know that I pronate and that the break in period is going to prove to be a little difficult as I transition to being a midfoot / front foot runner but I kept on charging. There were instances where I mentally told myself to push harder and so I did. I kept the pace up, even hung around and paced another guy and finished strong. My sunglasses kept on fogging up good, but in the end, I'm loving my shoes.

Yes, I've already put 10 miles on 'em and I probably should start "breaking" in slower but it's just awesome to get out there and get going. Check out the data below! Well, my Garmin Edge 500 data mysteriously disappeared and cannot be recovered (big failure Garmin!), so with that check out the graphic below from my Nike+ Running page.  Good thing I use two different devices to track my run huh?

End of the Month Run

After four days of cold and bitter weather, I landed in San Diego two nights ago and then immediately prepared for some hot yoga. Being awake for over 17 hours and just coming off of a 4 hour flight isn't necessarily the best way to prep for the hotness, but Adelle and I still went for it. I almost didn't have a choice but none the less, I enjoy it. The following morning, I wake up from a zombie attacking / survival mode dream (yes, I blame the yoga and dehydration status), and am wide awake. Adelle heads out for her shift and I just hang out until I get the will power to head out for my San Diego Harbor Loop. I guess some of you, namely a Mr. Ryan Espiritu, might not consider it a "loop" but I do. I guess you can call it an out and back but and just because I want Ryan to still be my friend, I official concede.

I felt good heading out but I didn't hydrate properly and the sun was definitely beating down on me. The first three miles were great great running at under a 10 minute pace, but then it went to crap. I got a phone call, my headset stopped working for a minute and then when I started to head back, the 11:00 sun got the best of me. I didn't bring any water with me and I wasn't prepared for the heat. I would find a pace runner here and there, but ended up walking more on the way back and could never find the initial stride that I had. Overall, I'd say that I felt like a 6/10 and when I got back to the apartment, I drank and drank, and drank...and now I'm sitting here blogging. Good times all around!

Here are some awesome pictures of the beautiful weather thanks to an awesome high pressure ridge just to the north. You have here the Downtown San Diego skyline with some sailboats scattering the bay and the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and the Coronado Bay Bridge. Awesome day for a run!

Free Giveaways via Comments (via @dcrainmakerblog)

Click here or here directly dcrainmaker.com to enter for a free Garmin Forerunner 110 from DCRainmaker! I've been reading his reviews and it was because of him that I bought the Garmin 500 setup w/ the Premium HR monitor and cadence sensor for my 2009 Specialized Roubaix Expert. I'm loving it!

I love free stuff but even more so when I win 'em! Stay tuned at adellelijah.com for a comment giveaway coming up in the next few weeks!

By the way, a friend of mine, Ryan Espiritu, setup a new blog documenting his journey in training for multiple marathons. Awesomely titled "Marathonin', Like Pimpin', Ain't Easy. My Pursuit of (running) Happiness" Check it out here: http://three-fifty-nine-fifty-nine.blogspot.com/