Inspirational Record!!!

Kudos and my hats off to Kelly Gneiting! This article is truly inspirational and amazing! It defines the guts and glory, determination, drive, unwillingness to give up, and heart.

Oh...Epic!!!

Article:

The heaviest person to ever complete a marathon weighed 275 pounds. Add that weight plus the total weight of a great long-distance runner (about 120 pounds) and you'll get Kelly Gneiting.
Gneiting, a three-time U.S. sumo champion, tipped the scales at 400 pounds when he began this weekend's Los Angeles Marathon. Nine hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds later he crossed the finish line and set the Guinness World Record for being the heaviest person to ever complete the 26.2-mile race.

The 400-pound American jogged the first eight miles of the race and walked the last 18, often stopping at intersections and stoplights because he was well behind the 13-minute-per-mile pace set by race organizers. He says he became delirious after mile 10 and only realized he hit the 15-mile mark when a friend gave him a clean pair of socks.

"I was really struggling in the last five miles," he said to the Los Angeles Times, "but I said to myself, 'If I have to crawl, I will.'"

When he finally finished, he had set the weight world record and a personal best by over two hours. "I'd like to see the Kenyan improve his marathon time by two hours," he joked.

Gneiting weighed 200 pounds in college but says he packed on the weight after getting married. He became a sumo wrestler 11 years ago and won his first national title four years later. Despite his weight, Gneiting says he's still fit and wants to prove it by competing in other competitions. Next up? Swimming the English Channel.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Sumo-wrestler-becomes-heaviest-man-to-ever-finis?urn=oly-wp14

Tech 4 O Accelerator Running watch

I recently purchased a Tech 4 O Accelerator Carbon watch a couple of weeks ago and I'm still toying with it, trying to figure it out and get used to it. The watch is really nice for what it's made for and I got a really good deal on it off of ebay, paid $45 and this watch usually sells for $75...Not too shabby eh!

I like the features on it and find it to come handy, which include:

                        - Functions without a belt clip or footpod

- Easy to use menu with up and down scrolling indicators

- Exceptionally reliable readings in every situation, regardless of conditions

- Includes: Speed, distance calories, actual exercise time, 

- Time/Date/Day, Black light display and pedometer with 7 day/10 week memory

- Includes daily step counter schedule, Dual time zone, Daily alarm, Stopwatch and countdown timer   

The features I find most intriguing is it can calculate your average speed (MPH), distance, caloric expenditure, total exercise time and the stop watch/countdown timer.

Decision Made!

So I made up my mind and kept the Asics Gel Kayano 16's and returned the Sauconys. I ran for 40 minutes with my Asics and they feel great. All I have to do now is break them in some more.

A+ for Gel Kayano 16



Chuck Norris Approved!



Running Shoes

I've been doing research and reading a lot about good, quality running shoes. I do it for my own knowledge and my own advantage, because I wouldn't want to run with cheap, low quality shoes, now would I? Of course not!...And you'd be surprise just how much the shoes make a huge difference. There's multiple ways to understand what type of shoes you need, based on how your feet roll of the foot from heel to toe through the foot strike, etc... Underpronation VS Overpronation. Then there's your foot type; Normal arch (Neutral Pronation), Low arch (flat feet/Overpronation), High arch (Underpronations)...and so on! I had to read a lot to understand all this and figure out what shoe type I'll need.

One strategy I used, is wet/damp your feet and step on cardboard. It shapes the bottom of your foot, so you can see which arch you have....OR....You can simply just go to a running store and speak to the store rep., hence, most if not all should know what they're talking about because they do work at a running store.

I found my feet to be an average/neutral arch. So stability type shoes are made towards my feet type.




Nike Zoom Equalon+3

 So, my first running shoe I purchased was a Nike Zoom Equalon+3. I've had these shoes for over 1 year and they are still comfortable and doing just great. At first I did feel discomfort on my ankles and it did feel somewhat hard running on, but you always have to break in the shoes. One thing I found out and this works for me, I'm not saying it'll work for everyone else. But, I don't like the stock insoles that shoes come with, so I always take them out and put in new/upgraded insoles. I feel it adds more cushion and feels better for my feet. So that helped me out a lot and made a big difference, to me at least!


Saucony Progrid Guide 3


Now, every shoe does wear and tear or has a life frame on them. So, now I'm in a dilemma with purchasing new shoes. One pair I purchased was a pair of Saucony Progrid Guide 3. I must say, these shoes feel great and snug really nice on my feet. I took them for a run, and noticed my ankles starting to hurt again, I probably just need to break them in, but I benched these shoes...for now.




Asics GEL-Kayano 16

The next pair of shoes I ordered were, Asics GEL-Kayano 16's. These shoes also feel really good on my feet, plus they have great reviews. I'm debating which pair to keep, or maybe I should just keep both, LOL. But I'm gonna need to make up a decision soon, because I need to put mileage on them and adapt my feet, since the Cellcom Marathon is coming up in 2 months.



I pair my running shoes with one of these and it makes it 2X more comfy! Now, these insoles here are made for high arch type feet, which isn't me but they do feel good, plus I'll be experimenting more with other insoles as well.



RSS Neutral Cushion Plus Insoles



Training

I continued to keep running, but never considered training for 3K, 5K, 10K, marathons, etc...I only ran to get rid of my belly fat, love handles, man junk, etc...Plus, I feel at peace when I go for a run and it's always a great feeling. Then I came to a conclusion that I needed to be more productive with my runs, so I decided to somewhat change my mentality to train for marathon running. It's working out good so far, ahem....except at the same time I want to train for BJJ and tournaments. Which doing both is really kinda difficult on my knees because I'll have knee pains that flair up from time to time. Running takes a lot of stress on my knees and so does BJJ. So it's 50/50. I just have to be smart with my knees and rest/ice it accordingly.

I'm currently training for a full marathon, which is a little over 26 miles. At first, I didn't want to push myself for the full marathon and run the half marathon instead. But I decided to go for the full because I feel it's really a true test to myself and how far can I push my body to it's limits. Just thinking about 26+ miles is really scary and intimidating, but at the same time while I'm training for it, I feel excited to take on the challenge. It's not like I'm racing anyone or there's a winner or loser because everyone's a winner when running marathons. You can run it in 2 hours or 8 hours, who are we to judge? That's the beautiful thing about marathons, that it's a 1 person, just you, just myself goal and our own challenge. Everyone's a winner! As long as I pass that finish line, I know I completed my own challenge/test.

Besides that, you're running for a purpose, for a goal, for a reason, contributing to a cause, such as heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, etc...And I came to my own personal goal, reason, purpose, whichever you want to call it. I want to run for cancer, I want to run for Khomsey Moua, I want to run for kidney diseases, so I'll run for my older brother Dar and my mom, I run because I have to and not because I want to, I want to run to better "me" as an individual or person, to better myself in life. It's the exact same mentality I have when I compete in a BJJ tournament. It's all for a purpose and cause. But when I say, "I want to do this...and I want to do that..etc..." It will soon turn into "I will do this...and I will do that." Once I lace up my shoes and step on that road and the horn sounds, the run begins, then thats when it turns to, "I WILL"....

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."
- Oprah Winfrey

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."
- Emil Zatopek, 1952 Olympic Marathon gold medalist

Running

I really started running back when I was 18 years old living in Syracuse, NY with my older sister. I know! I was a late bloomer, mostly because when I was younger, I didn't go to school, always skipped, was getting high and drinking a lot, just being young and dumb and never considered other productive activities. Thank god I grew up!


So, while I was away from it all, I had lots and lots of time to myself. And working out and running was my way of killing time because I didn't know anybody else and had nowhere to go. So I bought some cheap shoes from Payless and didn't know any better about quality running shoes and the difference it makes...hahahaha...The only place I ran was around the neighborhood and that worked out fine for me.


So, I guess thats when it all started.