Fitness Goals

A brief history on me and fitness. I'm one of those people that have always tried to play some type of sport throughout my life. Those times in life that I haven't can only be blamed on two reasons laziness or injury with one often leading to the other.

My most recent serious injury happened last year on a bike; I was trying to be 15 again. I found out that I am not 15 and my little stunt lead to a six months of no running and the "I don't care, I'm over it" mentality.

I have to thank Ray, my most inspiring workout partner for making me sign up for the Camp Pendleton Mud run. With his encouragement I pulled myself together and started to try to get in shape again. I don't know if it's because I am getting older, but getting back into shape was harder than I remember it being. My goal was to try to build the foundation I had lost in the previous six months and finish the race in one piece. To give you an example of how out of shape I was, I remember Matt saying that it would be a "Medical Miracle" if I could actually finish it. To make a long story short, after several months I was able to complete the Mud Run (1:33:00) and four weeks later complete the Santa Cruz Wharf to Wharf (1:12:00).

I'm pretty happy with being able to at least finish, considering initially a two minute walk was a challenge but with the Mud Run and the Wharf to Wharf checked off (I like checking stuff off) it's time to evaluate where my fitness levels stand. After the last 10k I realized that I am at the point that simply finishing isn't good enough. I think that it's time for new, faster, harder goals. Considering I just had a birthday and the next Mud Run is about a year away, here are my new fitness goals for the next year. Twelve months to whip myself into shape!

Long Term Goals

1. Run the Camp Pendleton Mud Run in 1 hr 10 min [primary goal]
   
2. Finish 275 lbs, 10 times on my last set of bench

Mid Long Term

1. Run 6 miles in 50 minutes [This one is scary]
2. Finish a 1/2 marathon
   

Mid Term Goals

1. Run 6 miles in one hour

Shorter Term Goal

1. Run 3 miles in 30 minutes
2. Get to the third hole on my belt (been trying at this one for a while)

First Time Out using this as a Bench Mark

• Running - 2.41 in 30 minutes.
• Bench - 135lbs 10 times
  

Flight Stats

Andrew is coming to visit this weekend and again I have turned to this handy website Flight Stats. It tells me if his flight is delayed, when it departs and when the plane touches down. The text messages it sends are a bit cryptic and the number of texts received per flight seem to vary. Other than that the site is intuitive and the service is reliable. I haven't used it for anything more than setting text alerts about incoming/departing flights but it has a lot of different functionality for the avid traveler. *** 1/2

Norton Removal Tool

I was trying to uninstall Norton Anti-virus from a Window's Vista laptop. I went through the normal add/remove programs and guess what...it didn't work! When I clicked on the uninstall it ran fine, looked like it was doing its job. I was about to find out that the uninstall doesn't work quite right. Apparently it leaves some pieces of the program behind. One of those pieces has something to do with the way the browser accesses the internet, I think something to do with the DNS, but not quite sure.

With the uninstall complete I couldn't access the internet using the browser. I could ping a site but that's about it. After getting over my initial frustration I did a bit of research and found the Norton Removal Tool. I downloaded it, ran it, and success! Everything seems to be working great. ****

Hunan Garden, Palo Alto

This place is great! The seating is indoor/outdoor. It has these great fish tanks built right into the walls on one side and the other is a big window that looks out to the peaceful garden. It is all very serene with just enough energy to make it feel like you should be having fun. The wait so far has been non existent, the service is friendly and efficient without being to pushy. The drinks here are great and very strong and a great price. The food is good too! I especially enjoy the Orange Chicken. If your looking for a place in Palo Alto to relax with some great food all for a decent price this is the place. ****

HDMI Cables

It was suggested to me to buy HDMI Cables from MonoPrice apparently they have great deals and sale quality products.