SAY WHAT?

Desperate need for $$ or a Legit Case???

2011-03-17T22:58:00.000-04:00

When I heard this news I was shocked. A NYC mother is suing an expensive preschool because after 3 weeks of classes it jeopardized the kid's chances of getting into an elite private school or, one day, the Ivy League. WOW!!

The law suit claims that all the kid learned were colors and shapes?.. The mother claims that her kid is very smart.. if you ask me, she did not get it from the mother. Maybe, just maybe the kid was not as smart as she claims and they had to take the kid back to basics? who knows, but She paid $19,000 based on the schools rep and she didn't bother to check out a few classes before making a large payment like that?
According to the news the kid only attended 3 weeks of classes. If you ask me, three weeks is a bit to rushed to determine how the rest of the school year will be like.

Sounds to me like my $6,000 a year daycare/Pre-school is giving my 4 year old a rich kid's education, teaching her way more than that fancy school is teaching rich kids in Manhattan. My kid is way passed the colors and shapes. She now knows what basic colors to mix to get other colors, she knows how to count to 75 in English and Spanish without any help. She's now reading and writing in both English and Spanish, and more. Shit my kid knows how to put a computer together, I have the picture to prove it ----------->

... Seems to me like this lady needs my daycare.. LOL

In the mother's defense I have to say that as a parent we all want the best for our kids. If paying outrageous amounts of $$ for your kid's education tells you that you are doing the best for them, then so be it. I know that if I had money like that, I might pay as well... Ok ok. maybe not that much money.. seriously $19,000? Maybe the colors and shapes were "Special" colors and shapes, lol... I am sorry but that's just crazy...

Comment as you see fit.. :-)

Breakfast with Strangers

2010-08-28T10:22:00.001-04:00

We came to Main St, Flushing, Queens. While Joyce was doing her hair, Jocelyn and I went for a mini adventure. While trying to get Jocelyn to decide what to have for breakfast, we went to Tai-pan. A great well known in the area Asian cafe.

The place is always packed, but Jocelyn wanted to eat on a table. We had to wait for a bit, but from all the way at the back I heard a "hey, amigo" lol a table with 3 Asian people, two old ladies and a guy. They called me over and said, "come come please sit here. Lol

The table barely fit 3 trays not to mention 4.. Jocelyn was all shy, but behaved.. All three people were complete strangers to each other, but there they were, eating and sharing a table like they were family.

The guy's name was Jimmy, the oldest lady maybe in her 80s was Lin and she said she like young men..and had the courage to ask me if I was single.. Lmao.. I am a tough cookie to crack, but this lady made me blush...she even said,, "oh, it's ok, don't be shy... I don't bite, I don't even have teeth any more.. See" yes she showed me that she had no teeth... The other lady was I think Kim.. Hope I am spelling them correctly, then again, I always hope I spelled my notes correctly.

To my surprise, all of them spoke Spanish. Lol the oldest lady spoke almost perfectly. They spoke better spanish than English. Lol.. And suddenly we were 5 complete strangers enjoying breakfast and old stories from the old lady.

I said it before and I'll say it again.. I love the Asian culture. Fun fun morning.

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Location:38th Ave,,United States

The Run That Almost Didn't Happen 2.28 mil (23:48 min)

2010-07-23T23:38:00.002-04:00

This run almost didn't happen. Towards the end of the day, 3 people decided to show up with wireless problems. Our policy prevents us from doing any work other than network related on personal laptops. This includes OS updates and so on.. Since our network uses Bradford and their machines were out of date, they failed. Of curse they were not going to just let it go and go home to update their machine. Luckily they were only missing one update and I was able to get them running.

As I was closing the work order a 4th person walked in saying "Oh thank God you are still open, I think I have a virus can you fix it?" I said, Sorry, you'll have to leave it or bring it back monday for a scan, to make it short, it was already 5:10 and I was still trying to explain to her that there was no way to know if she really had something without scanning the dam machine, and a scan would not take 5 minutes.. Finally convinced her to leave the dam thing so I could scan it Monday morning.

I was so upset that it was already 5:15 and about to miss my run. Joyce leaves her office at 5pm and gets to me around 5:20-5:30 if there is little or no traffic. 95 was clear so I only had enough time to get dressed.. anywho.. I figured "I still have some time, let me go for at least 1 mile to get he legs moving" got dressed in a jiffy and headed out.

Since I already know where the 1 mile marker is, I decided to not pay attention to the watch today. I only set them up and forgot about them. Half way into the first mile I sent a text to Joyce. "you'll probably have to wait a bit for me" lol

I was at mile 1 when she texted that she was 5 min away. I said "I'll be there in 10" lol and I actually made it back in close to 10 min. On the way back, I was a little out of breath, but I pushed. After getting back to the college and checking my records, I noticed that I cut down some time..not much but from that to nothing. In fact my 1st mile was at a pace of 9:22 and the 2nd mile 10:49 this was due to the two walks coming back up hills. so woohoo

As much as I like this route, I need to find a better one. Two long hilly streets are too slanted and I noticed that my leg struggles there. Right now my knee is bothering me a bit, I guess from going faster than previous runs and the constant slanted streets. I guess if I run this weekend it will be on the TM.
I have to admit, it was a bad idea to not pay attention to the watch. In doing this, I didn't noticed that I was going faster than I should, and caused me the little discomfort on the knee. But I also have to say; it was good to not have the stress of how fast or slow I was going during the run..

Over all and to finish this long ass post. I am very happy right now to see that I am cutting time off my runs. Even though I am stuck in the 2-4 mile runs for now, well 1-3 to more exact. I haven't been able to do 4 miles yet, but who cares.. wait, I do..

My Crazy After Work Run Outdoors 2.46 mil (27 min)

2010-07-20T00:46:00.000-04:00

Ok this is the Nike+ record, but my Run Keeper says 2.59 miles. The run started really good. I was all hyper and ready to take on the world.. Thank God I took water with me. I was so excited about going out for a run this afternoon, that I only bother to check if it was going to rain, but not the outside temp.

Since I was in the zone, the heat didn't bother me 'till after mile 1, well by the time I got to mile one, the heat just bitchslaped me and laugh on my face.

On my way back from Glen Island I just didn't have it in me anymore. All that excitement and happy thought turned bitter. I was forced to take more walks than I would have wanted.. it was just too hot and those dam hills...

Towards the last 2 blocks to the building entrance at work, I was just running without a clue.. really, it was exhausted. I got to the entrance and I couldn't be happier that it was over.. Dorothy a good friend and coworker saw me and said.. "Israel!!! are you crazy? it is almost 100 degrees outside, what in the world are you doing running in this heat? How fast is your heart rate rate now?" I said, "honestly, I dunno, but right now I feel like I should just drop and die on the sidewalk" she laugh and gave me other motherly advice, in good faith. She is a sweet lady.

Over all, the run went ok I guess. I pulled the same distance with a minute less on Saturday, but to my defense.. it was on the treadmill with and AC running. Today's run was outdoors, in 97 freaking degrees and a bunch of little hills that just take it out of you if out of shape.

My gear is ready for tomorrow afternoon. what? Yes... going out there one more time tomorrow. Legs are holding up, just sore, no knee pain, but I am still a chicken-shit to run outdoors without a brace. This time, I will try to keep my pace a bit slower so that I can run longer and avoid walks like today killing my over all pace.

My Crazy Commute today

2010-07-06T23:56:00.005-04:00

Ok, so I was sent to a work order in Brooklyn, NY. I had been debating between letting Joyce take the car or me drive her, drive to Brooklyn and then go all the way back to White Plains to pick her up.

I made the choice to take public transportation to save me the traffic and gas. I had no idea that it was going to be this hot. The temp at home right before I left was 101. Luckily I din't have to wait long for the bus but the #6 train took a while.

As I got into the train something hit me.. "Dr. Zizmore" is still alive? That dude was old already the first time I saw his add back in 1995. Anyway, train was crowded so it wasn't till Grand Central that I was able to sit. The sit did not bother me at all, but the fact that I heard that stupid "Protect yourself", as well as the "all pkgs are subject to random search by the police" announcements 27 times.

It's not only enough to know that some crazy ass dude is out to get us all, but really, do we have to be reminded every second of our day by the city?

From 14th street all the way to Fulton St station, I was annoyed by a guy who decided to turn the train car into his own gym/monkey bar. The guy had to weight at least 200lbs and was not able to lift himself. He tried with a lot of effort I guess, because he sounded out of breath. Instead of pulling up, he was just hanging and swinging since the train was moving.

The car was almost full and either the doorman/conductor saw him or some one told him. He came out of the cabin and told him to get off, after a few bad words exchange between the two of them, Fulton St was coming up and I got off.

Took the A train to Brooklyn and I was forced to make a decision; look at the guy dancing to very loud MJ music, or look at the girl across with her left boob popped out. She fell asleep and was wearing a sort of loose tube top. She crossed her arms and since she was asleep the arms were weighing the top down. An old lady that got in with me and sat down next to me said "hay bendito, esta pobre mujer con la teta de fuera" she was Dominican so it sounded hilarious. She asked me if she should wake her up, I said "I think so, will look better if you do it than me" but deep inside "Dam it" lmao.

The lady woke up and needless to say she was all embarrassed. I got off and got to the Campus where I was told that the user was not going to be in till noon. So I took advantage of time and began to set up the new PC. The office was hot and not fun at all.

Upon completing the order, I headed out and stopped at Dunkin Donut to buy a bottle of water. To my surprise, the dam fridge was locked. Now, what is the point to have a fridge like that? If I have to get in line to tell you I need you to open the fridge. Won't it be easier to have the fridge behind the register instead, rather than next to the front door?

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Pro Sports Challenge With Benefit Mall

2010-06-28T15:24:00.001-04:00

My family and I have been doing charity races for 2 years now. I have to say that it has been a great way to give back to the community and spend your day in a healthy environment. However, I had never been to an event like the one we attended this past Saturday June 26th, 2010.

The office where my wife works, Benefit Mall, takes part on a yearly event at the New Canaan HS in Connecticut. It is called Pro Sports Challenge. The event has taken place since 1976 and was founded with the intention to move family members with severe and profound mental retardation closer to their parents' homes in Fairfield County. The Center is a 24 hour direct care residential program operated by the State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Retardation. The Center is comprised of 12 apartments with six people residing in each apartment, an Adult Day Program, and an Administration Building. In short, it is for a great cause. If you want to read more about this organization here is the link SportsChallenge

It was like a Gladiator type of deal but milder. The challenges were simple, however it was proved that if you do not keep active even with the simplest of activities as jumping, "you are in big doodoo" when it comes to a competition. The activities were as followed:

1- Obstacle Course
2- Running Water Balloon Relay
3- Long Jump
4-Tug of War
5- Basketball Shooting
6- Softball Throwing
7- Sack Race

Each team was form by 4 men and 4 women and the prices of course were Gold, Silver & Bronze medals. There were 5 color divisions: Red, Green, Yellow, Blue & Purple. We were in the Green division. Each division had 4 teams.
Even though every one was competing for the medal, the spirit of sportsmanship was all over. Every one had a great vibe.

Our first stop, The Long Jump: We all thought that we will be running and jumping for the long jump. Boy, was I for a surprise. The rule was; "You jump from the starting point and the next person in your team jumps from where you landed and so on" The trick here was NEVER fall backwards. or your distance will be where your hands land. Every one was doing fine.. a little jump here a little jump there. I came to play and I though I had jump pretty far for a fat boy..lol but on the lading, I landed on my heels, hurt my knee and tried for the life of me to stay up but tripped backwards and gave 3 steps back. Same thing happened to another team before me and they did not take any points off so we all argued ours and won. :), however, we finished 3rd on that challenge.

Next, Water Balloon Relay: I said, piece of cake, but after displaying my jumping abilities, I had to wear my knee brace. We all had to run carrying a water balloon without dropping it, if you pop it, you had to start all over again. As you came back to the starting line, you had to pass the balloon to the next member and so on. When it came to my turn, the person that handed me the balloon was carrying it by the little knot so when I grabbed it I didn't have a good grip on it. So I dropped it half way but luckily the balloon kept rolling the same direction I was going so I picked it up fairly easy and didn't cost us much, but we were again in 3rd place.

Next was the Softball Throw: Needless to say I don't like baseball so throwing the ball and make it go through a hoop is not my game. We all got 5 balls to throw, the distance was a good 15 feet away maybe more. I got 1 out of the 5. The first one was too short, the 2nd went in, the rest kept hitting the inside edge of the tire causing it to bounce back. Again, we got 3rd place on this challenge so we were not doing too bad.

Next Basketball Shooting: Another sport I was never meant to play, lol. Each team member had 30 seconds to shoot and score as many as one could. LMAO, the first few were too short the next were hitting the ring on the inside but bouncing back.. Only made one basket but one of the girls in the team kicked ass and I lost count after 7 of her baskets. So we got 3rd place AGAIN.

Next, Sack Race: This is an old time favorite of mine. I have not done a sack race since I was 10 years old, and I am not kidding. So this one was a lot of fun. Too bad the distance was too short. I was one of the last ones in the team to take my turn, but I flew on this one. Again, we were 3rd.. Starting to see a pattern? lol After this last one, we all headed to the Cafeteria for lunch.

After lunch we headed to the school's gym for a contest and the chance to win $100,000. The participants of this challenge are randomly picked (let's just say ok to that). So only 4 people are picked. Sadly no one was able to make a 3 point shot or the half court shot. After this we all headed back to the field for the last two remaining events.

Next, The Obstacle Course: You had to zigzagged around 5 cones, go through a set of 6 tires, go under a limbo looking thingy, run and turn at the cone located about 30 feet away and do the limbo thing again, followed by a big Pad that you had to jump on or rolled over it to then zigzagged through some real obstacle race obstacles. .lol (sorry, I don't know what they are called). We all had to do it. Some sadly missed some cones, one knocked off the limbo thingy, and some missed some of the last 5 obstacles. This was the second challenge where I did really good.
I was worried about the tires and falling on my ass, but went well. Our team got 2nd place in the division in this event Time wise, but after the penalties we landed on 4th. We all thought, hey we still have one more "Tug off".

Yes, next is Tug Off War: Ok, I was by far the shortest male in the team followed by the shortest female in the team (Joyce), and I was told that I was the strongest member of the team... WHAT? don't ask me how they came up with that but oh well. I was chosen to go at the end of the rope. I saw some of the players from the other team and said "ok not bad, may turn out ok" That was before I saw Arnold, freaking California's governor Arnold. When I saw that wall of muscle I was like WTF?? He grabbed the other end of the rope and they blew the whistle. It was over in a few seconds.. As soon as the signal went off, I was literally skiing on the grass.. All I had too do was pull tricks and I was skiing on water..the guy pulled like a freaking bull and we had no chance at all. This and the obstacle race got us disqualified and lost the Bronze medal. :-(..

Man,, now I have another challenge to look forward to next year.. yes.. more workout more jumping, more basketball and more softball throwing is needed.. lol but I have a year to get it done.. lol
In all, this was by far the coolest event I have ever taken part on.. It would be great to put my own team together and go for the gold but the entry fee is $1500.00 yes, it is for a great cause, but ouch.. lol

Thank you Benefit Mall for letting me be part of this event. Pictures and video of this event are coming up soon

First Full Mile Run W/No Pain. 1.13 Mil (11:19 min)

2010-06-16T11:57:00.012-04:00

Ok, so two things are happening.

1- Since I am not running, I am lacking that boost I used to get to keep active and workout.

2- Gaining weight.. Slowly but surely.. uggh..

Every run I have done since the marathon has ended in lots or serious pain, forcing me to have more rest days than active days. The fear of causing the injury to get worse is always there so the "Run With Caution"sign is always in my mind. I can't run faster for fear of pain, I cant run longer, for fear of pain, I cant run often for fear of pain.. What a pain in the ass.. really..

I wanted to run again this past Sunday, but fearing it was too soon to do so, I held back. Don't get me wrong, the itch and desire to run is still there. The urge to take on The Long Island Marathon again is 100% there. There is no way I will let this go that easy. Yes I finished the marathon and I got my medal beating the clock by 20 minutes. However, I am not pleased one bit with it.

We got home last night and Joyce gave me the Ok to go out for a run, LOL, no I didn't need permission, but she was cooking dinner and I wanted to make sure I had enough time to go and come back. I got dressed and ready. Now, I have to be honest, I was a bit nervous about this run, I didn't know what to expect and if my knee was going to take it. In an effort to make this a painless run, I wore my knee brace again (it hasn't been helping but I wore it anyway)

Headed out my usual route at a upper 9 pace. I tried to keep it steady, short strides and tried not to think about what could happen.

I got to my only hill on this 1 mile route which is a nice steep one. I noticed that after clearing it, I wasn't getting that usual tingly sensation on the back of my knee (so much for not thinking too much huh?) I figured I was going to feel it shortly after so I kept close attention to any signs. Got to the half mile marker and nothing. I was not going to stop and check so I kept running. Went down the hill on my way back and nothing, got to .80 on my Nike and still nothing.. Please note that by this distance I had already stopped 3 times on previous runs.

Got to Edison and Lafayette which is about 3 blocks from the house, and holy Crap, next thing I know I was half a block from the house.. HA.. I managed to run a mile none stop.. How sad but how great it felt.
- Sad because after running 13-20 miles to try and run 1 single mile none stop is... well I am sticking with sad.. I know it's due to an injury but still, one cannot help thinking like that.

- Great: because for over a month I have not been able to do this, so to finish 1 mile with no pain, is not only great but it is also a PR.. lol.

With no races for the rest of the year (at least for me) I will be focusing on endurance more than speed. For example. I will stick to the 1 mile run for the next 2 weeks. and if it continues to to be painless, I will add another mile for another 2 weeks and so and so on. The goal is to show the knee who is boss and get it back to shape slowly without killing it.

This will also help me get use to run long distances without the need of taking walks. It will be a long process but at the end it will be worth it (at least in my head seems that way) Looks like I will be getting my Garmin back pretty soon. :-)

After the run, I jumped on the chin-up bar and did 50 and 20 crunches. Even though I ran only a mile, my body felt as if I had run 13. It is crazy how fast your body looses that endurance.

Attempt To Run #2

2010-05-25T10:49:00.000-04:00

This is a pretty good run/walk, however, it also made me realize that I did a number on my knee this time. Recovery may take much longer than expected.

The plan to run was there since Friday, but kept putting it off due to unexpected things at home and at work. I got my gear on and was kinda excited to get back on the road.. specially after the first half mile, but we'll get there in a bit.. lol. The target distance for this run was 1 mile. It was simple run to test the legs, nothing crazy. This time I wore my knee brace to make sure the knee had enough support and my ankle wrap. I noticed my ankle bothering the whole day yesterday so I didn't want to take any chances.
The weather was simply great for a long run, but good enough for a test drive as well. I have no idea what happened to me, but I miscalculated the distance and lost track of where I was.. instead of turning back at half a mile, I kept running. I kept a constant 9:30-9:40 pace and just felt great, no pain, no discomfort. I did feel out of shape, I noticed I was breathing a bit too hard, but it was expected since I have not been able to run for almost a month now. I was so tempted to step it up a bit, but i kept hearing a little voice that sounded just like Joyce telling, "don't do it, you never listen" LOl so I had to keep it at the pace I was running. It wasn't till I got to .80 when I realized "SHIT, I still have to run back home" lol I figured my legs were feeling great, so may be able to run straight back if I keep it at this pace.

Little did I know my knee was going to start acting up exactly at 1 mile.. It's like it was on a timer. lol exactly at 1 mile I felt a little discomfort so I slowed down and eventually had to walk. I stopped my run on my Nike and began to time my walk home. I figured. "Well, the target was to run 1 mile and i did" lol so not at all a failure. I kept walking and around .30 or so I tried to run again. I was able to run a few block before feeling the same discomfort again. I walked again from there.. I kept walking till I reached Edison and Lafayette which is about .20 from the house and I started to run. Managed to run all the way to the house from there. Let me be clear.. The discomfort I felt was not pain. I avoided the pain during the run and after the run.

As I got home I had some time to do some pullups/chinups/ab work. Joyce was almost done with dinner so I had to cut it short.

55 chinups
11 pullups
55 suspended crunched (leg ups) whatever you want to call them all i know is that my abs are sore right now. lol

Few things to consider for the next run and many more to come 'till 100%.

1- No more road for me.. I noticed that pavement is not helping my situation so our treadmill will be put to work again.
2- Always, wear the knee brace, it helped big time.
3- Stretch before and after the run (noticed it made a difference)
4- Focus on more weight loss. Have not gain much, but enough for me to feel the difference when running.
5- Keep focused on the goal to recovery and not rush it. this included reading the body and the signs it gives you.. knowing when to quit is a big one, one I refuse to learn, but have to adapt to it for now.. uggghhh

Sadly, I will not be ready for my next 5K which is in June 6th. but I guess I can do the run walk thing :-)

My First Carbo-Load Dinner

2010-05-01T02:00:00.002-04:00

We decided to go to the dinner this morning. We didn't have anything planned for tonight, so why not go for a free dinner?. Luckily the dinner was at the same location as the expo, so we decided to go over to the Expo and get out pkgs and then hit the dinner.

We all got our #s and enjoyed a bit of what the expo had to offer. On our way through the maze of vendors, I turned to the right and notice some one that looked familiar. Even the guy said, hey, I know I know you, but I can't point my finger where.. I never forger a face, and it bugged me that I knew him but could not remember from where. So we walked out from that booth with a free shower timer.. :) lol which reminds me, I forgot to use it tonight. lol

We looked for information about Jocelyns' fun run tomorrow, but they told us that the registration is done the same day of the race. Jocelyn is all exited about the race. She was telling me about how she was going to run really fast, and after she finishes, she would get a medal.. :). Of curse she was looking for her Bib, but got her to understand she will get it tomorrow.

We moved up to the end of the xpo to get out shirts and found out that the shirts were made with dry-fit material. Really nice shirt if you ask me.. not a cotton like other races. Oh yeah, we got a hat as well. The pkg also included:
1 chap-stick, 1 keychain, 1 bracelet, 1 red pouch with first aid items. All inside a really nice bag (pic below). After getting out shirts we left the expo to make it to the dinner.

The dinner was held at "The Cradle Of Aviation Museum". According to the notes, this museum hosts the only IMAX theater in Long Island. Jocelyn was all excited to see planes. There were planes on the ceiling among other cool aviation related items. The music was pretty catchy and the environment was great. Jocelyn got to make some new friends while dancing to the music.

We finished our meals and left for home, and I am still puzzled by the guy I saw at the expo. I still can't remember where I meet him before. WTH?

More pictures of tonight's event.

Field Trip To Road Runners Sports Store

2010-04-25T01:35:00.003-04:00

We needed to get some new shoes so, we decided to go up to Paramus, NJ and visit the Road Runners Sport store. I was itching to try two different shoes, the Mizuno Elixir 5 and the new Puma Velosis 1 or the Vectana 1. Sadly, the store did not carry any of them so I ended up trying out literally all of the shoes in the Stability section of the store (I am not kidding).

Joyce went in and was able to pic one fairly quick. When it comes to shoes, I am very picky.. Not so picky with clothes as I am with shoes.. I look at color, brand etc. I currently use the Asics 2150 and love them, but I wanted something new and different. I got bored with the color blue on my shoes and wanted something flashy, something you don't see every day. I could not just order something online because I could not try what I saw online. The guy who was helping us clearly love Nikes. That was his first recommendation, so I went along and tried the Lunar Elite+.. they felt good on my foot and for a minute I actually thought of getting them. The color was this cool green/yellow/white.. (hey, I said I wanted something you don't see every day right? lol) Once I started walking, my arch started to feel discomfort, so I sent them back.

Next in line was the Adidas adiStar Salvation. The cost? $140. After trying them, I was willing to pay the price. They look good, felt good why didn't I buy them? they felt too heavy as I started walking. I tried some New Balance, but they didn't have the whole line so the only ones they had were in the $140 and up. Did not like any of them. Next were the Mizuno Wave Alchemy 9.. Ahh we got a winner.. The shoes were just great.. great fit, felt great when I walked, but the color just didn't do for me. However, I kept them as top choice. After driving the guy crazy going back and forth with shoe boxes, he decided to bring me the last two I had not tried and went to assist some one else while I made a decision. On of the shoes was the Saucony Progrid Guide 3.. Was like love at first sight once I put them on. At first I was not digging the color blue on them but I could not argue with how my feet felt. Yup, we definitely got a winner this time. :-) How long did this take? 1:30 hrs.

While we were waiting for the guy to finish helping some one else. Joyce found me a pair of compression shorts for the marathon.. awww.. :-) When he was ready, we went up to the register and as he was ringing the stuff up, I realized that I needed something to hold my gels and chomps while doing the marathon so I asked the guy. He started showing me the Bib holder but was too small of a pouch so again, I was undecided on what to get and started to browse. Finally, I got a waist pouch by Nathan. So the guy finally got to ring the stuff up, only to find out that the shoes were in the wrong box. So he went to the back and got a new one. He asked... "So you want the brand new ones or the ones you already tried?" I asked. those are the same ones right? Yes he said.. just brand new.. I said, "Ok, why not" We paid and left..

We decided to go to Hulligan's for lunch at Houlihan's. Food was simply great. The whole time was so positive.. to me it was like a date with Joyce, but with Jocelyn in it. After finishing lunch, we headed home. Needless to say, Route 4 was packed.. the GW Bridge was backed up for about 2 miles, I95 North was a parking lot, I had to get off on University Ave to get around 95 via local street. Took us almost 2 hrs to get home. We drove by some crazy neighborhoods.. some that put a chill up your spine, lol. We passed a Men's clothing store with the following sign "Buy 1 suit Get 2 Free" I said What? I asked Joyce if I was reading it right, but the one that took the cake was a girl waling on E Tremont Ave. She was wearing shorts, thin white short, oh yeah.. nothing under, not even a thong. A guy was walking behind her drooling over it.. Joyce and I were cracking up at the guy.

After a long drive home and the site of a girl displaying the Amazon (if u get my drift) we finally got home. I took out the stuff out of the bag and started to get ready to setup my shoes for tomorrow when disaster stroke. WTF? this are the wrong shoes... they are not wide.. Remember the box switch? yup that did it, I didn't notice the width change. SOB... I called the store and explained.. I had only three choices.. 1) Drive back and exchange them now. 2) Wait 'till next week to go back and exchange because they are close Sundays. 3) Mail them back and wait for exchange.. What did I do? well, I wanted my shoes, so I drove back to NJ.. lol... got home an hour later with my shoes.. :-) . I am ready for tomorrow.. Woohoo..

2010 JFK 5k "3.10 mil) Run (29:57 min)

2010-04-18T19:52:00.005-04:00

Lets begin by saying; "Today was tough and disappointing" How? Well, the run is NOT called JFK 5k Run. It is called JFK Runway Run. Why? because it is held at a JFK Airport Runway. For a few days before the race, their website has been displaying "Due to airport security, changes to the route have been made. Details at registration on race day" I called the # when I saw this and asked what type of changes were made or if the date had been changed. They refused to give any information over the phone. All they said was "All information will be giving to all participants on race day"All they could tell me was that the date was still the same.

When we got to JFK, we saw that the finish line was right at the entrance of building 14. Joyce asked me if I knew anything about it, I said nope.. lol. As we were waiting for the the race to start, we over heard a lady ask the official with the speaker... "Why is the finish line here?" the guy said "Oh, the FAA closed the runway 20 min ago so we had to reroute the route. Bullshit.. they knew days ahead and for fear of people not showing up and demanding a refund they didn't say anything till the very last minute. They knew if people would have asked for a refund, they were in the right to do so since they were not delivering what they had promised. The lady who asked said "Oh no,, I came from NJ to register today thinking I was going to run on the runway" the guy said.. "Oh, I know, but you will have a flat course just like the runway".

The new route took all runners through the local road at JFK giving only view to the cargo buildings, cars passing by on the Van Wyck Expressway and airport personnel on their coffee break. I get a better scenery by my house than that. The entire run went by and I did not see a single airplane. I don't understand why if they knew the runway was closed days ahead, they didn't simply postponed the race. People would have been more understanding about this than make a unethical change like this to keep their $$$.

The route was so tight that for the first half of the first mile, you could not move anywhere. People were trying to make way by running through grass, sidewalk and going the against incoming traffic. Oh yeah, they did not close the entire street. Only one lane out of the two way two lane road. Like I said, it was so tight and with over 1000 runners, it took a while before you got some breathing room. The other thing that didn't seem right was that all runners, and walkers were mixed in, so you had to work your way around the walkers as well.

I was keeping it slow but on the upper 8s to lower 9 to make sure I didn't kill the ankle. My ankle started to give me some trouble on the small hill before mile 1, but I thought, maybe once it warms up. Mile 1 came and my right calf began to get tight in addition to the ankle, and I had to stop cold. My calf got loosen and the ankle felt a bit better so I resumed running. Upon getting to mile 2 I began to feel the same thing but a bit harder.. to the point of feeling a cramp coming on my right calf.. I had to stop again and stretch it and kinda massage it. I resume running and 2 min late my left foot and began to feel numb.. The ankle brace I was wearing apparently began to feel too tight and was cutting blood flow to my foot, and without realizing I was putting more pressure on my right leg causing the cramp like feeling.. I loosen the strap and felt instant relief.. My left foot felt better but not my right calf. I was able to pick up my pace within the last mile, but too late to get a personal PR. I did manage to come in under 30 min on my Garmin. However the official clock marked 30 something.. Weird.. i started my Garmin as soon as I heard the gun go off and It took me a good minute to cross the starting line. Oh well.

Oh.. did I mention that I was giving the wrong Bib #? LOL I received Bib #226. While still at the race site, I checked the results and could not find myself. So I figured, it will be posted later tonight. The results were posted by the time I got home. When I checked my bib #, the name under that bib was some one else's. Joyce's # was 233 and my dad was 234, so I tried searching in that range. I found out my bib was supposed to be 232 and showed as if I did not run. Yes "THE CHERRY ON TOP" lol So I called and got a hold of Rudy about it who said to email him all the info and he will have it fixed. This is the same thing that Joyce was told last year and never heard back from them since the email was sent and was never corrected. Lets see if Rudy will keep his word.

Not completely disappointed with my time. I was originally shooting for a slow run, but even with my stops and problems, I managed to come in under 30 min, and still get a new PR on this race. so Woohoo.. LOL.

Bike Ride With Jocelyn 1.07 miles (Not Kidding)

2010-04-05T17:25:00.001-04:00

Grandma and Grandpa got Jocelyn a bike yesterday afternoon, obviously, she was all excited. Since daycare is closed today, I was the appointed person to stay home with her... Jocelyn and I made a deal early in the morning.. "If She behave, ate her food and took a shower, I would take her out to ride the bike" She said OTAY (Okay).

We were all ready to go around 11AM when she said to me "Daddy, I am hungry" So, I went ahead and prepared Mac&Cheese and some chicken strips. After we finished, she grabbed her helmet and told me that she was ready.

Joyce took the car to work today and the ride to the park is roughly 2 miles, so we rode along the sidewalk instead.. I was thinking that Jocelyn will at least get tired by the 3 block.. lol she surprised me by riding a whole mile, actually a bit over a mile. By the time we got within a block from the house, she told me that she was tired and that it was hard. She also mentioned that she wanted ice scream. I could not say no after that ride.. The first thing she did as we got in the house was "ask for ice scream". We had a cone each and right after she crashed on the sofa.. she was exhausted.

I forgot to take my Garmin with me today or at least my nike+ uggghh.. so no miles to load but its ok. I mapped the route to see how far we went and it made my day to see that a 3 year old would push that hard. Who knows what her reasons were to get that done, but she did it. Although, I think one of them was me telling her "If you get off and walk, I will leave the bike right here, because I will not carry it home" Her face looked worried when I said that.. lol but if this did it.. mission accomplished.. LOL

LIRRC 8 Mile Relay Race

2010-03-21T18:01:00.006-04:00

I have to say that I was not expecting this to be good race for me. Turns out it was an amazing race. We got there with plenty of time to register. I had originally understood that 4X2 meant "4 miles by 2 people" LOL well I learned today that it means "4 people, 2 miles each" oh well.. So good thing we had 4 people. The lineup: 1st leg= Joyce, 2nd leg= Dave R.(my coworker), 3rd leg= Me, and my dad had the last one.

I was a bit nervous due to my ankle. It had been bothering me over night and was bothering me the whole time we were waiting for the race to start, but I knew that once it had warmed up, it would feel ok. Joyce took off and the pressure was on for every one. The first runner came in at 12+ minutes.. Obviously, we all felt intimidated by this, but in the heat of the race, we were all cheering and just having a good time.

Joyce came in and David took off. 17 minutes later he came and I was shacking in my boots. I was afraid that my ankle was going to be a big factor on my time.. On my first steps I felt my ankle tight, and hurt for a few seconds.. I took off a bit too fast, but I think it helped put my ankle in place. I felt a quick pull on my shin and a big relieve right after..
I kept going at an upper 7 pace and felt no pain, so it was a no brainer; I kept going at that pace. I figured I was going to last only a mile at that pace, but once I got the 1 mile marker, I still felt good, not tired and no pain. I saw that I was catching up to 3 runners, so I kept pushing and made it my goal to pass at least one of them. Ended up passing them and gaining about a good minute or so of distance.

When I saw the last 1/2 mile marker, I knew I was almost home, so no way I was going to slow down. at the last quarter mile or so, I saw this old lady that took off a good 4-5 minutes before me. I began to push at the last turn to see if I could catch up to her and still the overall place on the 3 leg, but she was too far, so I was only able to beat her by a 2 seconds window. My dad took off and 15:06 minutes later he came in, giving us a group time of 1:06:35. The team's overall place was 11th. The team's open category place was 4th, and thanks to my dad's age, we got 1st place in the Senior group division.. LOL. This was funny.. we saw that they were marking the places on the board as the last leg runners were coming in, and saw a 1 on our team under my dad's name. So, obviously, we thought that he had gotten 1st place in his age group. Turns out the whole team was given medals under the Senior division.. lol Dave was cracking up and excited that he was getting one being his very first race ever.

After the race my ankle began to cool off and therefore, it began to hurt again. Left the race site limping but proud. Now in the comfort of my house, I can cry like a bitch about how much the ankle is bothering me, but feel better once I look at the medal. :-), and at the fact that for the first time, I pulled the same pace as my dad did.. Well sort of.. just a few seconds off. If my ankle would have been ok, I think I would have beaten my dad today.. Oh well. Next time.

Great day, with great people and amazing results.. what can possibly make this day go blah?? oh yeah.. the though of "tomorrow is Monday" lol .....

Home again?

2010-03-15T14:53:00.005-04:00

Ok, so the day didn't go as planned. This morning, on my way to drop Joyce off at her new job, I got a message from the main office saying; "the college is closed due to power loss" So, I got yet another day off. LOl cool huh? Gave me time to run some errands before going back and pick up Jocelyn. I wanted to run, but I waited at the bank for too long and I didn't have breakfast. Got home around 10 with enough time to eat something. Left the house 11:30 and got Jocelyn by 12 noon. On our way back, I asked Jocelyn: " what would you like to eat for lunch?" she said Pizzas, I guessed she meant Pizza. lol We went o the pizzeria which is located a the corner by our house. The plan was simple.. pick up and go home to eat.. little did I know, Jocelyn was going to make a friend.. A 4 year old girl was so interested in Jocelyn since we walked in. While we were waiting for the slices, the little girl came to the table we were sitting and stated to talk to Jocelyn.

Jocelyn looked excited and opened up to the little girl. I got up to go pay the guy and as I did, the little made her mom move her plate to where Jocelyn was sitting. Our slices were in a box since they were to go, but I felt bad to just take off, and since Jocelyn was having a nice conversation with the little girl I had to ask the guy to get me two plates and cut Jocelyn's slice in pieces. They talked as if they had known each other for a long time. The mom and I were laughing at the topics.. the little girl said, "oh, I love (not like, but love) your pink shirt" Jocelyn replied; "I like your shoes" Jocelyn brought up the weather and the rain, the little girl talked about her father's car not working so they had to use grandma's car. I have no idea what Jocelyn said, but

she mentioned "my car".. I have never seen Jocelyn on a conversation with another kid.. its amazing how much they understand and how well they can elaborate a conversation. They were both showing off how well they knew how to count, by counting the fans on the ceiling, the tables and chairs, even how many pieces of pizza they had left on their plates. On the picture below, they were both trying to spell the sign on the window (they both got it right too.) lol

The last topic of the day was about their babies.. the little girl had a TY Cat named "kitty" lol figures..lol so Jocelyn mentioned that she had 3 babies: "a monkey, a tiger, and a sea-ion (sea lion) lol, Oh and that she also had 3 ballies; a pink one, a blue one and a white one... she did not forget about her birds either.. lol she told the little girl that she has 2 birdies at home; "a blue and and a yellow one" The little girls mom was amazed by Jocelyn's character and how well she behave and how nice she talked and played.. she asked me for my #, I said; "lady, are you crazy? you are married and so am I" LOL just kitting. I bet some of you went "OMG" LOL .. The conversation came to and end when Jocelyn said "Daddy, I wanna make Peepee" lol Freaking pizzeria does not have a bathroom, so Jocelyn said she could hold it. The house is literally 2 doors away, lol so we said bye and ran home.. lol

Jocelyn is a sleep now, but she is sleeping on the sofa, which means; "I can't run 'till she wakes up" and from the looks of it.. by then, we'll be getting ready to go get Joyce at work. So hopefully, I'll run tonight, if not, I will at least do some core... It has been a very interesting day for me so far.. hope it continues and stays that way.

Celebrating With Mommy.

2010-03-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

We went out on Friday night to celebrate a new chapter in Mommy's life. "Joyce's last day at her 8 year old job". WOW, I know. Almost as long as we have been married. In this economy, it is easier said than done to go out and get a new job. So we are very proud of you Joyce (baby), and we wish you nothing but the best on your new job.

Mommy wanted to enjoy some hibachi, so we took off to Edos. The best and and closest hibachi place. We like Benihana, but driving 45 minutes, with Jocelyn already hungry, to Long Island to wait another 45 minutes to be seated, didn't seem like a good idea.

We were seated fairly quick and Jocelyn who has been there 3 times now (not counting Benihana), was enjoying the hibachi show at the other tables. In occasions, she would join me by clapping when the staff would sing Happy Birthday to other guests. Our chef came to the table and began to prepare everything.. Sadly, he scared Jocelyn when he began his show by slamming the spatula and fork on the grill. After this, Jocelyn didn't want to sit by herself, rather she wanted to sit on mommy's lap. For a good while Joyce had to manage eating the appetizer. Didn't take long for Jocelyn to open up and get back to her chair.. After this, it was smooth sailing for all of us.. Jocelyn did really good with the chopsticks. While all the other grownups were eating with forks, the 3 year old was using chopsticks... cute.....

Here are some pics of our night out:

Mommy's New Job Celebration At Edos

We had an amazing time, great food, and a nice relaxing time back at home while enjoying some Netflix.

Again, Joyce... Congratulations on your new job, kick ass and show them what you can do. ;-) Jocelyn and I are very, very, proud of you. We love you with all our hearts and wish you only success.. Muah...
you are indeed the best mom and wife ever.. We are blessed to have you in our lives..

For the love of the sport? or for the $$$?...

2010-03-05T16:05:00.002-05:00

WARNING: If you are a NYRR fanatic, you may get pissed by reading this. LOL Oh well..
As you all know, I like controversial topics. Why? they are fun, and they are a great way to also learn about a topic, and YES it is a lot of fun to see people's reactions and comments.

A while back, I was talking to two co-workers who also run, about upcoming races. One said; "I am dying to run the NYC Marathon and will pay any amount to run it". The other said; "hey, give me a map and I'll run the course for free, any day of the week" I share his idea too.. Sure you will not be able to run over the Verrazano bridge, but is it worth $200 to cross it on foot?, when you can do it in your car for $11 and even cheaper if you have EZ-Pass. Is it the attention you'll get while running it, that drives you to pay that much? easily solved.. you try running over the Verrazano bridge and see how much attention you'll get.. with in 2 minutes or less you will be surrounded by men and women, but what you think are fireworks, are gunshots to the air followed by "Drop to the floor and don't move" lol The headlines will say "I had the wrong date for the Marathon, and a picture of you with surprised face". How is that for attention?

It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, we all like to be rewarded or get something back for our $$. After all, almost all of us work hard for it. I was crushed on my very first Half Marathon. I had read that all finishers would receive a shirt, finisher's medal and other goodies. When I crossed the line I was looking for the person holding the medals. I was so excited about getting one that I probably looked like I had just being dumped when I found out that there were no medals that day.. I had a printout of the page showing that, but when I got back home that day I checked the website again and the medal part had been removed. Oh well, I got one the next half I did in CA.

My favorite club right now is the Long Island Road Runners. It is not as big as the New York Road Runners, but it's nice. Why do I like them? They are all about the runners and promoting the sport. They are not out there trying to get rich at the expense of other runners. To compare:

1-The NYRR membership: $40/yr. Long Island's? $16 for individuals and $21 for a family of 4.

2-The cost for each race: NYRR $30-$200+ (not kidding). LIRRC $9 and $5 for members period.

No, I am not promoting LIRRC, simply comparing the clubs. It seems like Hosting races have become big business. Has me thinking of doing that myself so I can finally drive a Mercedes. LOL I still don't understand why some organizations charge so much, and claim that their goal is to promote the sport and a healthy life. I understand that getting the medals cost money, making the shirt cost money, getting the bibs and chips cost money, but how much does all of that really cost? where does all of that money go to.. They can't say, they have to pay all the people that worked at the event... would be funny, because 80% of the people working at the events are volunteers, and some if not all (in some cases) the goodies are donated by companies promoting their products. It seems that our fees are paying for the CEO's trip to the Caribbean, their head quarter's mortgage, the prize money for the winners.. sorry, but I hardly doubt the guys at NYRR will pull out that $$ out of their pockets out of kindness. anyway..

The other day, they had a 1 mile race in the city, who? NYRR who else.. lol.. 1 mile, the fee? over $30, you can do a half marathon for that price. What amazes me, is the fact that those organizations get away with those charges, because they know people will pay the money even though they know its outrageous, and if you are doing a marathon, to simply say "Hey, I ran NYC, BOSTON, etc etc". What happened to the love for the sport? I can see it from the runners who some times go to the extreme to do a race, but not from the organization(s). I understand that a lot of work and time goes into organizing an event, but come on.. In the case of a marathon, they should charge at least $50 to the none Elite runners, which entitles them to a shirt, chip and medal, and charge whatever they want to the Elites since there is money involved for winning the marathon (depending on the marathon). The marathon I am doing in May is in Long Island, NY. The fee is $50 and I am getting a medal and a shirt.. same thing I would be getting at NYC, just $150 less. After all, that is all you really need.. something to remind you of that experience. Goodness, even to get a picture of you at the race will cost you an arm and a leg, unless you don't mind having the watermark on your picture.

I was talking to two co-workers who also run, about upcoming races. One said that he is dying to run the NYC Marathon and will pay any amount to run it. The other said. "hey, give me a map and I'll run the course for free, any day of the week" I share his idea too.. Sure you will not be able to run over the Verrazano bridge, but is it worth $200 to cross it on foot?, when you can do it in your car for $11 and even cheaper if you have EZ-Pass. lol, is it the attention you'll get while running it? easily solved.. you try running over the Verrazano bridge and see how much attention you'll get.. with in 2 minutes or less you will be surrounded by man and woman, but what you think are fireworks, are gunshots to the air followed by "Drop to the floor and don't move" lol The headlines will say "I had the wrong date for the Marathon, and a picture of you with surprised face".

In my opinion, I think it is crazy to pay that much for a run/race. With this said, I do have great respect for those who do it and achieve the goal of crossing the finish line, specially on the marathons. A marathon is not something some one can just get up in the morning and say "hmmm I feel like running a marathon today" and go on about it.. But I am sure some random runners actually do that.. I would love to meet one of them one day, and get his/her inside on that. I would not buy the book they wrote to find out time he got up or how many times they snooze the alarm clock before they go out for a run.

Do I think some organizations take full advantage of runners who love the sport? Oh Yeah, many, not all do. Should we boycott the NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc etc Marathons? HAHA! could be fun to see what would happen if people actually do something like this. But can that be done? Possibly.. Will you see me marching at one of them with a sign? probably not. But I do believe that there should be a regulation on the costs for this events, after all, don't they all claim that they are all about the sport, and not the money?...

The long awaited results for Team #17..

2010-03-01T12:18:00.003-05:00

In the past few days, there was great commotion about something I posted. Anyway.. not going to base everything on it. I have been waiting to see the results from our Relay Race at Prospect Park on Feb 21st. For some reason it is not listed on their "Race Results" page, but found it via a follower.. I still dunno who it is but glad to have you as a follower. I have learned my lesson in not mentioning names so I wont say it was chickenunderpants. ooops I said too much. HAHA j/k..

Anyway, I am happy to report that our time was not 1:26, but 1:25:35.. woohoo.. Not bad at all. So to confirm, I did pass #90.. :-) here is a link to the actual results page.... I don't want any one saying later on that I am making it up.. ;-)

Yes, the other team was fast, the runner I passed was fast, so I take my hat and pay my respects to team #90. The reason I make such a fuzz about this, is because it was a challenge for me as a runner to have done this. When I race, I usually spot one or two runners that start out faster than me and use them as pointers and my goal to beat them. Is it wrong to do this? Nah... why? you use whatever drives you to do your race and beat a time (it is called a race after all). You are there to be clean competitive. You do not start feeling bad about slower runners and let pass you just to be nice, right? So far the only one that I have never been able to beat is my own dad.. lol he may be old, but freaking fast, very efficient with his time too. When I grow up I want to be just like him. LOL

Something funny I found out too is, the name of out team was literally "The Three Stooges".. When we were brainstorming about a name, I was being myself and in a joking way said "The Three Stooges".. Little did I know, that's what was used when the team was registered.. LOL Cool.. it would have been hilarious, if there was some one calling out the name of the teams as they crossed the line.. LOL hey, its a fun race.. gotta have fun right?

Again, this race was a great race. Lots of fun, a lot of things learned.. for one, "slow down on that big ass hill" I am still feeling the effects from it..

Using iFit Live

2010-03-01T02:15:00.005-05:00

Let me begin by saying that iFit is a great tool. It definitely made a believer out of me, and it only took one workout to convince me.
For those who've heard a bit about iFit or if this is your first time hearing about iFit; here are some highlights about this feature. You can read more about this features here...

1- Run The Globe: iFit Live, powered by Google Maps, is the first ever technology that combines large-format fitness equipment and Google Maps technology. With this new technology, you can get on your treadmill, elliptical or strider at home and run or hike through national parks, world-famous cities and scenic outdoor locations on special iFit trails found at iFit.com.

2- This Will Keep You Running: If running the globe isn't part of your program, perhaps working out with Jillian Michaels, TV's Toughest Trainer, is! On iFit.com you'll find all you can handle with Jillian's Fat Shredding workouts. And best of all, you'll actually hear Jillian coach you through each step. Talk about motivation!

3- Track It So You Can Attack It: With your own profile on iFit.com, you can track every workout and watch virtually every calorie. And when you compare that against your fitness goals, iFit will automatically adjust your workouts to keep you on track.

4- WOW It's Wireless: Now with our newest iFit technology, you can manage your entire fitness profile wirelessly. The iFit module makes communication between your fitness equipment and your iFit.com profile automatic. As you work out, your progress is uploaded almost instantly. Plus, each of your new workouts can be downloaded directly to your fitness equipment.

iFit works as advertised. Once the workout is downloaded to your machine, it is all smooth sailing "sort of speak", but lets take a look at some highlights that are not mentioned at all or until you get ready to use the module.

- Lets start with Setting up an account with iFit. If you like getting free stuff, you will like this a lot. When you buy the module from NordicTrack, you have two options; a) Buy the module with a 1 month subscription and you will pay 9.95/month thereafter. b) Buy the module with 1 year subscription for $139.94 total. We got lucky and took advantage of a promo they had and ended up with a free 1 year membership (no longer available). No this is not the free part...
Once you get your module, and sign up for iFit you will be told that the site is running on beta. What does this mean? You will not be charged or the membership you bought will not start counting until "BETA" is removed from their site. Until then, you can use all the features iFit offers for free.

- Next, getting the module to work with your Home Wireless Network. The module works with WPA/WPA2/WEP security settings. If your network is hidden (not broadcasting) it will not work. If you have a MAC address restriction list for your wireless network, you may have a hard time finding the module's MAC address. It is not listed anywhere in the documentation included with the module, so you may be forced to remove this setting on your router in order to get your iFit to work.

- Next is using the iFit web site. Once you create your account, and have followed all the steps to upgrade the firmware on your machine. You'll get to add workouts and send them over to your equipment. Note that you will not be able to send or save any custom workouts until you have upgraded and synced your equipment. The site is very simple and straight forward.. It is very easy to enter information and update your daily workout/eating data. However the site and logs are a bit too simple for my taste.

If you happen to have more people in your household that will use the machine, you can set up user accounts (it wont cost you extra) I am not sure how many user accounts you are able to create under one account. So far I only have mine and my wife's. My guess is at least 4. Each user has their own profile and can set their own goals, join their own events and map their own routes. The machine will prompt you to select a user each time you are going to use it. I found this little feature very convenient.

- Routes and mapping. You will find a lot of different workouts to use. The beauty of using iFit, is that you can map your own route. Yes, you can map a trail or regular street route and run it on your treadmill. The treadmill will simulate the incline on your route. Like everything that sounds too good to be truth, this is one of them. The idea of mapping a route is great, but the catch is; "you can only map a route 10 miles or less" So if you have a 13 mile run or more that you want to do, you will have to split it in two or three depending on how many miles you intend to run. Not been able to map more than 10 miles is not the only thing you will find odd. If you are mapping a round trip run, you will have to trace the entire route manually. There is no round trip button, so it will take you a while to get your run mapped.

Upon completing your workout, your route will be removed from the list of workouts and the next one on the list will take priority. If you plan to run a route more than once, I suggest adding it to your favorites for easy access. If you join an event, this will take priority over any routes 'till completed or removed. The list of workouts is similar to a Netflix Queue. As soon as you are done with one run, the next one moves up and will load upon you pressing the Enter Key on your machine. You can alter the order of your workouts at will.

The first time you use iFit live to do a workout, you will greeted by this screen. It will of curse have your name. Simply select "Load Workouts" and it will do exactly that. The work out will not begin until you press START. The data will sync almost instantly to the iFit website even as you run, so rest assure that your workout will upload without you needing to do anything else.

You can change the speed and incline during the workout if you find yourself in the need to do so. I found myself in the need to lower the speed at some points.. it all depends on the user.

As I said before, this feature works very well and will definitely make your workout equipment more enjoyable. Is it worth the expense? I think so. One thing you need to keep in mind. It is not the same as running on the street. When running outdoors, you get to speed up or slow down at any given point at your convenience. Hills play a big roll on how fast or how much you will slow down on your run. On the treadmill you are running at a constant speed and if you are not careful you could injure yourself. Trust me, I hurt my knees tackling several hills without changing the speed.

You will definitely get to love it, and will find it very useful. I give the iFit an 8 out 10. They will get my 10 until they fix the round trip issues and the limit to 10 miles per route.

#90

2010-02-22T15:06:00.001-05:00

First things first...this is so cool, you guys found this blog, don't mean to sound like an A#%$@ (too late I guess) but it is cool to know others are reading your blog..
Second- I believe you guys were ahead unless you still had one more runner to go.. so YAY. you were killing us. I simply got lucky to come in at the time I did. ..

Now, I believe every one has the right to post what happened or what one saw or heard at an event.. They are called reports.. or whatever you want to call them. We can both sit in front of out PC/Macs and type back and forth about who said or did not say. I do see your point on me trash talking..

#1- The word trash talking is deff not a good choice of word in that sentence. I do have to correct the part where I said that you guys were trash talking. The sentence is not meant to say that you guys were trash talking the entire time I was waiting for my dad. That indeed was a bad choice of word... as a matter of fact the entire sentence "The girl was trash talking other runners" is incorrect, and for that I do apologize. My wife did mention last night, that the sentence was difficult to understand and could be misunderstood. (She is deff going to love this one.)

#2- Posting detail info like names, or in this case bib #s was also a not cool thing to do.. My fault for always being too detail about the things I see.. This is indeed trash talking and that is not cool. However, it was not done intentionally, but it part of my race report. As you may possibly writer in yours,, "After finishing our race, I found this blog where this SOB trashed talked about our team.. etc, etc, etc) so I do give you that,, and again, I publicly apologize for that. It was never my intention to portrait you as bad people.

With that said.. I cannot take back about the moron part.. because that is what I heard.. and as I said before, we can all go back and forth on this a life time. All I can say is "that is what I heard". If i had the slightest doubt that I heard wrong I will retract myself, I can admit my mistakes. Something I need to clarify is that my post is not emphasizing on you guys or what I heard or trying to make you the bad guys of the race. If it was or if I wanted to really trashed talk, I would have wrote a whole blog post just about that.. but that was never my intention, I simply happened to throw that in there, because it was one of the things that happened during the race that popped in my head as I was typing. "I guess I will be expecting an email from the race coordinators about my comment on the porto potties as well"...

Other things happened that popped up after I posted the blog, like: how cold it was, how crazy I though some people were to wear sleeveless shirts and shorts, how ridiculous I looked in what I was wearing that day, how the guy I passed as I was sprinting to the finish line said "Mother efer" but we congratulated each other with a big smile as he crossed the line and so on.. The only reason why I mentioned #90 again later on towards the end, is because I really thought the runner was fast, and catching up to her after taking off minutes after was a big deal to me as a runner.
If you got offended by what I said, I am sorry, again, it was never my intention to portrait you as a bad person... i will fix the wording on the main post to make sure other readers do not get that impression.

You are always welcome to comment on any of the blogs here.. Like I said before, it is exciting to see that others are reading this blog..

10 mile Cherry Tree Relay Race - Brooklyn, NY

2010-02-21T18:48:00.004-05:00

Lets begin by saying; "This was so much freaking fun" Our first race for 2010 and turns out to be a great family event. We had originally made plans to do this race with Michelle, a friend from DailyMile.com. Sadly she got injured and was not able to run. We asked my dad if he was interested in doing the race, needless to say he said yes. We left the house around 8:20 am and made it to Brooklyn in 20 minutes. It took us longer to find the race site and parking than getting to Brooklyn Bridge. We got lost as we got to Prospect Park we ended up around the Zoo and Botanical garden entrances. When we realized it, Joyce TomTomed the address to the Bishop Ford HS, but we concluded that it was too far to walk back with Jocelyn and make it in time to the race. I made a turn on 8th ave and the next thing we know, we were right in front of the race site. How? well, I dunno because I was honestly lost. We found parking half a block away from the entrance, and from there things worked pretty good.

We got to the site 30 min before the race started. First one up was Joyce.. The original plan was to leave Jocelyn with my dad at home while we did the race. Since he joined us, the plan changed to take turns watching Jocelyn. I was first to stand watch, 2 minutes before the race started all runners doing the first leg were called to the starting point and all relays to the relay spot. Jocelyn decided to call for a bathroom break. lol She was a trooper, there were at least 10 people ahead of us and no one was willing to let a 3 year old go first. When we finally made it in.. both Jocelyn and I went.. "Eewwwwww" You do not want to know how that one went, but it went well thank God.. As we were waiting for Joyce to finish the first lap, my dad was already waiting at the relay station. Jocelyn found a stick twice her size to play with.. Pictures and videos here....

Joyce finished here lap and My dad took off. I figured he was going to finish in 20-25 min. I wanted to go to the bathroom because it was too cold...lol but Joyce was in the bathroom with Jocelyn so I was watching the stuff. By the time they got back time was running short and the the line was getting bigger. So I didn't go. There was a lot of people screaming and cheering (except Michelle. LOL j/k) but one in particular was #90. The girl was trash talking other runners and talking to her friend about how she was going to have the best time in her team. I felt bad for one of the runners that came in and his partner was MIA.. lol he went back and forth looking for the other team member. And she just said "Oh man what a moron" The guy found his relay and life went on as it should be.

My dad came in at 26 min which was not bad at all.. I took off and I though I was going slow. HA.. I checked my Garmin and it was reading a 5:26 pace and I was already at .20. I was shocked, specially after confirming with my Nike that I was running at that pace.. I slowed down, according to me... Mile 1 came in and the Garmin showed 7:56 pace "WHAT?" I was feeling really good, not tired, I felt fresh. Guess who I saw at mile 1? yeah that #90 girl. She took off a good 3-4 minutes before me and I caught up to her at mile 1. I heard of a hill at Prospect, but I was not expecting this SOB to be so long.. I was determined to tackle the sucker, and that's exactly what I did..of course my pace slowed down,, the Hill beat me but all the way at the top when my legs just could not keep up.. So I took quick walk. It was literally 5-10 seconds Just to loosen up the right knee. The #90 passed me when I took this walk but she was not too far from me. Mile 2 came up and was still feeling good, so I began to speed up again. I passed that girl and I kept increasing the pace little by little. The longest stretch was from mile 3 to the finish line. LOL I was trying to eyed the crowd so that could start sprinting.. As soon as I saw the crowd it was Flash Gordon time.. LOL I was sprinting from 3.10 till the finish line. I saw Joyce who tried to get a pic of me or a vid of me but I was too fast for the camera.. LOL .. woohoo... I crossed the finish line at 1:26:?? Which means I got a new 5K PR, but I just dunno what the exact time is and the data on Garmin is not making it any easier, but if some one can figure it out, please let me know. :-)

The race was a great experience and a great first race for the year. We didn't get to meet Michelle today, but we got to text a lot in past 2 days.. at the end, the event turned out to be awesome. After the race, we headed to Larchmont for brunch and then home. Amazing, Amazing day.

My flat tire

2010-02-17T00:59:00.001-05:00

Today was my first day back to work from a long weekend. Needless to say, there was a lot of work to do at the office today. It was expected, it was nothing I could not handle, I said to myself this morning. Everything was going nice and smooth 'till one laptop decided to simply not want to get fixed. It was one thing after another. At the end, I ended up backing up and re-imaging the hard drive.

I wanted to go home so badly that I was practically running to the car. When I got to my car, it was covered with ice. Got to clean the driver's side, but to clean the other side I had to move the car. There was a pile of snow preventing to get to it. I moved the car, went around to clean the ice, and something got me to look down. I am not sure what but thank God I did. I would have not noticed the flat.

Oviously I had to say a few if not many bad words. Not only was it cold, the bolts were frozen, there was snow an ice all over, but I was under a tree full of snow and when the wind blew, the snow would fall on me.. Oh yeah, I didn't have any gloves with me, so it was not going to be pretty. I posted my note and got to work on replacing the tire. I called Joyce who was at my dad's waiting for me with dinner, and told her I was going to be late. My dad offered to come by and help but I said no. He came by anyway.

Before my dad got there I got to loosen up the bolts. Trust me, I got my workout for the night with that. I have a small heavy duty Jack, but I took it down 2 weeks ago because it took too much space. I had to use that POS Jack that comes with the spare.. I got the car up and I swear I thought the car was going to fall on it's side. Due to the ice, the Jack kept sliding causing the car to fall. I tried it 3 time and got the same result. Thank God my dad came by. I swapped the tired in a personal recod time of 35 seconds.. Well I was counting as I did this. Why? Because after my dad tried to lift the car, guess what happened? Yup, it went down hard.

What did we do? I liftet the car, to avoid the car from falling again, my dad got on the back and was pushing forward. When he said go, it was go time... I looked like the little blue forklift in the movie Cars.. (you the part where he changes 4 tires at the last race? Well, that one).

Got the car going and needless to say, I had to drive slow. The road was covered in ice. We thought, hey maybe the highway is clean... HaHa... Nope, I was so affraid driving in that much ice with the spare on. I was doing 25 on the highway. We made it to a flat fix thing, where we waited at least 25 min to get service. The tire had a big nail, thank goodness it was not on the side. The guy said "it's going to be $20" I said, huh? Why so much? For a moment there, i thought I was dealing with The NY Road Runners... Oooh.. Yes I said it.. They over-price their runs way too much....$30 for a 1 mile run?? Come on, that's BS..

Anyway...His reply; "Well, it $12 now since it's dark, and $8 to put it back on" I was cool with the $12, but dude, $8 to put it back on... I thought to myself.. I'll put it back on... screw it.. But I did not want to deal with that again so I paid the guy the $20. I should put my own flat fix hut... You add that $$ up and you'll notice, they make a killing a day, and it's all cash.. Lol

Got home 9 something... But Jocelyn gave me a nice big huh and kiss as I walked in so that cheered me up... Not to mention Joyce's kiss and that nice meal she had ready.

What did we learned today? Absolutely NOTHING.. Lol all I want is to go to bed now.
Oh yeah... Lol, when we got home, we could not get into the parking lot... The freaking lock on the gate is frozen... Had to park on the street. Lol good luck to whoever is going to open the lock tomorrow morning..

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Our Very First Treadmill

2010-02-09T13:09:00.003-05:00

Ok, so we have been contemplating the idea of getting our own treadmill. I have to say, it is not an easy task. Took us months to decide on one and at the end we ended up getting a different model. With Tax season here, its is easier to get this done. You know how it is, you spend the $$ before even getting your refund check.

- First rule when shopping for a treadmill or anything big from a retail store: Do not believe everything the salesman tells you.
- Second rule: Do not believe a salesman that doesn't give you actual measurement, rather he shows you using himself as a ruler. (BIG NO NO)
- Third rule: If you live on a second floor apartment with no elevator, and if you have the extra $$ and do not mind spending a bit extra to have it delivered.. (Freaking Do it)

Since my mom is away helping my sister after surgery in TX, we have been hanging around with my dad a lot. It works for all of us; we get a sitter and he gets dinner and next day lunch prepared by Joyce (she's a sweet heart). So we ended up at my dad's last night and the treadmill topic came to the table during dinner. In all the excitement he got us to call Nordic Track and place and order. While Joyce was on the phone with them, I was on the laptop checking Sears's website to compare prices and all that good stuff. Turns out we were going to have to wait 2 weeks or so to have it shipped. On top of that if we wanted to have it installed, it was going to cost us $150. So we said, Nah.. lets go to sears and we can have it delivered by this Saturday.

We called Sears and started to place the order when my dad came up with the bright idea.. "Why don't you go pick it up now? see if they have it in stock at Cross County Mall." Yes, it was a nice idea and we fell for it. The guy on the phone said that the store had plenty of them in stock and they closed at 9:30pm. it was then 8:20pm. The store is only 10-15 min away from my parents so we made it there with plenty of time and knowing exactly what we wanted it was supposed to be much easier. Joyce stayed home with Jocelyn because we would not fit in the Matrix once the box was in.

We wanted the Nordic Track T5 zi. When we got there the salesman explained the difference between the motors and showed us other models with commercial motors. The lucky one coming home with me was the Nordic Track A2550. The salesman asked if we were having it shipped or taking it with us.. The fee for delivery and setting it was $65 weekdays and $75 weekends. My dad and I asked. How big is the box? the guy said."let me go check for you and we go from there". when he got back he said. Well, what are you driving? I said a Toyota Matrix. He said; the box will fit.. Using himself as a ruler he said; its about this high and this wide.. My dad and I looked at each other sand said; "ahh it fits, no big deal" LOL.

We paid for it and I went to get the car. 5 minutes later we see this guy come out with a box twice my size and as wide as a coffin. All my dad said was "oh shit". The guy asked where the care was and when he saw it he started to laugh.. He said.. are you sure you want to take this? I was having second thoughts but my dad said. "sure.. just put it in and we'll take care of the rest.. We folded the seats and pushed as much as we could but the dam box was too big, so the box was sticking out of the car.
We tied the hatch and drove 20 min on the highway praying there were no cops around. with the temps ins low 20's and the hatch opened, we were freezing in the car even though we had the heat going.

We made it home, it was windy, it was freaking cold and we still had to take the box out and carry it 18 steep steps to the 2nd floor. The box probably weighted 200+lbs. We only managed to get the box from the car to the front door of the building. The box was too bulky to be carried so we decided to simply do it the Hispanic way.. "pull the dam thing out of the box on the street and carry it piece by piece" seriously, there was no other way. We took everything out of the box, I wish I took pictures, but it was way too cold to take my time for it and my dad was already showing signs of grumpiness. We made sure we didn't misplaced anything and took the small parts upstairs. Hey this was easy and fast.. then came the belt and motor....

My dad was being brave and said that he will push where the motor was and I would pull the other end. He couldn't get the thing off the floor. So obviously we switch places, but in this case, I was pulling the motor rather than pushing. Thank God I have been working out. We managed to pull the freaking machine to the apartment where later I realized that it was a freaking monster.. But after all of that I said.. F it.. I am not bringing this back to sears.. lol. Took my dad back to his house and picked up Joyce and Jocelyn. Jocelyn's reaction to the mess when she came up was: "what happen? it's broken.. daddy fix it. I want to run" LOL

I started working on it as soon as we got home, it was 10:30 by then. Joyce gave Jocelyn a bath and made some coffee, put Jocelyn to bed while I was working on the machine. I was surprised how easy it was to put it together. Even though the manual was a bit confusing. The list of parts was all the way at the back of the manual and the pics of the screws were at the front page.. so you constantly had to flip back and forth.

We managed to put the arms in place and the handles. Oh yeah we did this 3 times. At first we forgot to put in a cover that goes at the bottom of the arms. So we had to unscrew the handles. The bolts were so hard to get in both ways it was no joke. Then when it was time to put in the dashboard, we had tighten the bolts a bit too hard that the handle was not latching with the dash. So we had to unscrew it all over again.. We kept asking ourselves "why are this things so freaking hard?" My hands were red and shacking from all the force I was using to get them in and out. We just kept going and got to fix the problem so that the dashboard would fit.

Once the Dashboard was on we noticed that we had a weird set of screws left over. LOL What happened? well my little assistant mixed up the screws, but not entirely her fault. The way the instructions are in the manual is very confusing so I was surprised we didn't mix the whole thing.

The bolts that were so tight were in the wrong spot and they were bigger than the correct ones. So yes we had to take then out again. and put the correct bolts. Once we had everything in place and made sure it was not going to fall apart, we just had fun with it and test some of the features.. It was 3am and we didn't want to do anything crazy and wake up Jocelyn, but apparently Joyce will be doing the honors tonight.

The machine is big but nice.. not noisy at all. Joyce likes it and thats all that matters to be honest. She's happy, I am happy, we are all happy.. even Jocelyn is happy because she thinks she is going to run on it. lol.

So, what did we learned about this? Pay the extra $65-75 to have it delivered and installed people.. or at least delivered if you are like me and like to put things together. ;-)

Is Walking A Form Of Cheating? or Is Walking A Need?

2010-02-08T17:03:00.001-05:00

Ok, I agree, the word Cheating sounds rough. I titled it like this after a chat with my dad yesterday afternoon. He went out to do his very first 13 miler yesterday morning. I mapped the route for him two nights before. The map showed a 13.12 mile run but when he ran it, it only recorded 12.75 on his Nike+ in 2:03hrs.

Now, what does all of this have to do with walking? Well when I got back from running and I got to sit down and relax after freaking out over my horrible new shiny blood blister on my right foot. LOL yes.. Ewwww too.. My dad and I were talking about his run. He was bragging about him running non stop, but that came to an end when I told him that I ran 13.7 in 2:02 hr.. I explained to him that after mile 3 I made quick stops every 2 miles to get a bit of gatorade. He started laughing and said.. "ohhh that's cheating" you can't say that you ran that long when you walked part of the run.

Hmmm. Now, the question is; Is it cheating to take a quick walk here and there durning a run? there are so many ways to see this. Based on my experience alone, I have to take quick walks regardless.

1- After 4-5 miles of non stop running I need to start taking liquids, and I have not yet master the art of running and drinking at the same time.. My gatorade ends up all over my shirt and face. I've tried it. lol

2- Having a history of knee injuries, me running is against everything the Dr has told me. lol I am not supposed to play soccer, nor run for long periods of time. Screw the Dr I am running.. LOL what does he know right?

The liquid factor is not a big deal to be honest, I only need a few steps to get this done and I can be back to my regular pace in just seconds 'till I have the need to get water again. That usually happens every two or 3 miles after the first 5 miles. The longest I have run without stopping is 6 miles and I have only done this once in my entire life. The funny part is that I didn't do this on a treadmill but on the road. I never really understood how I did that.

The knee factor is a different issue. Now this is what happens; As stated before, I can run 5 miles non stop.. I can last for another 2 or so miles before starting to feel this really uncomfortable pressure on my knees. The first few times this happened and I did not payed attention, I ended up injured for almost 3 weeks without running. I noticed that taking a quick walk once it starts it helps me relieve that pressure and it actually stops completely allowing me to run for another mile or 2 before it starts again. So I have to do this throughout the rest of my run or depending on how hard the run is.

Lately I have been doing my long runs in a very hilly area so the walking part has become a big factor. However, I have noticed a decrease in my time for 13 and 15 mile runs, so even with a few walks, my times are getting shorter. it does not mean I am getting faster pace wise, because when I run I am keeping my regular pace 8:40-9:30.. my overall pace is crappy to my standards because I track my walks rather than pausing my Nike and Garmin. I figured, the clock at the race is not going to stop every time I take a walk so why should I do it while training?

Like I said, this is based on my own experience. Other people may have different reasons for taking a walk or two. I can see my dad's point when she says. "when you race you are doing a run not a run/walk, so if you walk then you are cheating" Again, I can see his point but I do not agree with it one bit. lol

My day at the Lower Manhattan Campus...

2010-02-02T12:43:00.002-05:00

As stated earlier on a previous post. I had a work order at one of our campuses in the city. Located right across from the WTC site. I got there by 10 am and was very productive for the first hr or so. I got to set up a new DotMatrix printer, and troubleshoot a PC at the library.. The user who needed the DotMatrix printer was not in when I arrived so I simply installed it and did a test page to get things moving. The rest of that work order was to set up the printer to work with the Client Access program (AS400). which should have been resolved automatically.

The user happens to be the Campus Director's Assistant. She came in 45 min late, and still under the effects of a wild party the night before.. Goodness you could smell the alcohol from across the office. To top it off it seems like she didn't even have time to shower before coming to work.. uggh.. I have smelled cleaner homeless people.. seriously.
When she came in, I asked her to simply log in and test printing from the program. While she was trying to get this done I was working on other things to be productive with my time and make it to my lunch date with Joyce. It was already quarter to 12 and she had not tested the printer. She came up to me around 12:20 to tell me that she could not log into the AS400.. When I saw how she was entering her info, I could tell she was not entering the correct password, but insisted on it being the correct one. She gave me the password and I entered it and TADA.(she had butter fingers). it worked, but the printer would print. Have I mention that I hate printers and the AS400 Client Access program? lol

I made some changes to the settings but I was still having the same problem. So I called a coworker for advise. Both of us were trying to fix this and while he was doing something remotely I noticed that the user had loaded the paper onto the wrong feeder. FYI, a DotMatrix printer uses a form type of paper.. the paper has holes on each side of the page that helps it move along the feeder track.. anyway here is a pic of what they look like. lol

I went ahead and began to fix the way the paper was loaded. Well apparently this user should be doing my job instead because she went off at me asking me why did I move the paper?. I wanted to explain calmly that she was compete idiot, using nice words but instead I explained why I had done that. But she didn't want to listen. She later realized that she was wrong and proceeded to load the paper on the correct feeder, but she loaded it backwards. I tried to help her but her "I am not an idiot answer" did it for me and I left it alone. Once we got the printer working she went ahead and did not only printed a contract.. she went ahead a did a whole batch. Needless to say they were being printed on an upside down form.. and she had the nerve to ask,, "why is it doing this? why is it now printing the wrong way? didn't you fix the problem?" lol The director came in and sounded upset asking me what was going on. I tried to explain to her but the assistant kept nagging so another lady that works there jumped in and explain what happened. The assistant got called into the main office and 10 minutes later she came up and said thanks for fixing my printer.. lol

I was running late for lunch but I made it.. I have to say this was the best part of the entire day. We went to Pax. I have not been there in years. Had my old fav "chicken fajita with chipotle sauce" it was great. We enjoyed a nice conversation while having a nice lunch.

When I got back to the campus, I got stuck with Mrs Idrinkalot again. She had all sorts of problems due to not knowing how to use a program. I lost so much time with her that I didn't have time to finish my last work order which was to upgrade and update 4 laptops. Thankfully, 2 out of the 4 were out so only worked on 2 of them. This things were so out of date that I was not going to have enough time to finish them by 5pm and I was not planning on staying after that.. So I brought them back with me.. I swear I look like I had to be stopped by the NYPD at City Hall. I had two laptop bags and my own bag.. I didn't care if they stopped me to check the bag,, I mean, they do what they have to do to keep it safe in the city, but I was just more concerned with the time I was going to waste doing that.. Thank God they did not stop me.. and I passed right in front of at least 25 cops, no lie.. over 20 cops at City Hall's 4-5-6 train station. mean while 0 of them at Hunts Point, 3 ave and other bad stations, anyway. I got to meet with Joyce at 33rd street and went home together :-). Oh yeah.. I made DailyMile Ambassador. woohoo. I wonder if we are going to get our own embassy in different countries.. if so, I'll take Thailand or Japan. LOL

You Gotta Love NYC

2010-02-01T14:25:00.003-05:00

It's a cold morning, yet pleasant. The thought of going down to city is uggh, but it comes with the job. However, you can't help thinking; what a great city this one is.

Where else would you find an MTA worker arguing with a homeless guy who was asking be let into the station for free? Meanwhile a group of high school students jumped over and got in without paying. Lol the irony.

Train was empty so got a seat.. Woohoo. Parkchester station came up and two ladies were having an argument about the new office manager.. One said "that B%# better not get on my nerves or I will
F@%^# her up". Mean while a girl sat down next to listening to her iPod which was blasting with annoying regeton music.. Really, wth people? there is better music out there. I was listening to the same beat till 68th St. Where another girl came up and sat accross from me and I swear, if I had not seen her headphones I would have given her for a nut case. She was bahbling and making hand movements that made the old lady sitting next to her move to a diff section of the car. She smiled when she saw I was stearring (well it was hard not to) I smile back but with the thought "ahh you freak" in my head. Lol

42nd came up.. Lol and the guy who sat next to had a plastic bag with a dvd player. He turn it on and the sound was blasting to "moaning and give it to me you beep beep beep" The guy did appologized and switched the movie and from 33rd till Canal Street him I were enjoying a relaxing time watching Avatar. I am telling you, only in NY.

Got to my work order an well that is a story for another time.

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Location:Park Row,New York,United States

A Day In the City

2010-01-20T00:13:00.011-05:00

I had a work order at one of our campuses in the city. It is located right across the WTC site. It took me a while to get there this morning due to some complications. I took the 6 train all the way down to City Hall. Needless to say, the train was slow. Where else can you find an old lady sitting with her grandson knitting a Yarmulke (yamaka) sitting next to two hooker looking girls in their early 20's talking about how their night was and how many guys they were with and who was the biggest job. Keep in mind that the train was packed and the conversation was very loud and explicit.

I managed to take a quick snap of the lady knitting. I found it pretty cool. Sadly the lighting is crappy but you can still see what she is doing with her hands.

I took another snap at Canal St. Station. which I have not seen in ages. Where an Asian couple seemed to be lost and were trying to ask for directions. Sadly, no one wanted to help and they were being ignored, I guess because they barely spoke English. They were at the other side of the car, so I was waiting to see if any one from their side will help before I got up and help. From what I understood they were trying to get to 34th St so they were way off. Luckily an old man gave them the correct directions and if they understood and followed it I can assume they got there with no problem.

So much for being a diverse city right? It really bothers me when you see people like that. Luckily not every one is that way. Same thing happened to Joyce and I on our way back home. We meet up at 33rd St and Park and got some well deserved Starbucks. We got back on the train and around 51st St station some people got off leaving some seats empty. Some guy just cut off Joyce to beat her tot he seat and he sat down with his legs wide open as if his balls were swollen or something and let no one sit down. Joyce found another sit across from the A-hole. The thought of me forcing myself on the seat crossed my mind but why ruin the time I was having with Joyce. After all, we only get to take the train home together once in a while.

My day did not go as planned during my work order. To be honest it was a nightmare. Nothing went right 'till the last minute. However, the campus director was kind enough to buy my coworker and I lunch. So meeting with Joyce after work was what I needed. I was so tired and stressed that I was not able to put in a run. We meet up with my parents who had Jocelyn and had a pretty good dinner with them. The next best thing that happened to me today was Jocelyn screaming happily "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" and running towards me to give me a hug.. what made it even better is the "I love you" she said to me as I picked her up and gave her a kiss. Really put the finishing touch on my day. :-)
I did work out when I got home, did some pull-ups, crunches, push-ups followed by a nice relaxing shower. Now off to bed. Here are some pics I took on my way in and out of work today.

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A bright morning start..

2010-01-19T09:04:00.000-05:00

I thought my day was going to start smooth and early. I was out of the house by 8am. Took Joyce to the train. Took Jocelyn to daycare, I even delivered some toys to the daycare. Then I stopped at the bank/DMV. At MCU you now have to wait for your # to be called to go up to the window. Which I think it's an ok idea. Rather than having you stand in a long line, you get to sit and wait to be called. It looked like every one decided to hit the bank at the same time today. So many people. Took me almost an hr to get out of there.

I blame Dailymile for my delay. Lol, while I was waiting for my # to be called, I was comfy reading some postings on DM and missed read my #082 for 084. How? Lol I don't know, DM and the fact of me being half asleep even after a shower have a lot to do with it. I saw 084 being called and I almost ran to the window, I handed my # and another lady came up to me and said. Oh you also have 084? O said I guess I do. The guy at the window said "excuse me Sr, but you missed your #. yours it's 082, you are going to have to get another # and wait" huh? The guy that was sitting next to me had #127 and about 30 more people had come in with him, and it took almost 45 min to get from 061 to 084. No way I was going to wait that long.

I went to the manager and explained what happen. I did mentioned it was my fault for being an idiot and not knowing my #s lol. She said no problem, I'll take care of it. She also said that the guy at the window had to help me after he was done with the lady and not send me to get another #. Long story short, manager rang me up and took care of the deposit. "Thanks Kathy".

Now off to work, at the city today, right by the WTC site. 5 PCs to troubleshoot and 3 new staff setups. Fun, fun, fun... Oh yeah, I'll get to ride the subway with my baby on the way home tonight. Woohoo.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Bronx,United States

Day Off With Jocelyn

2010-01-12T15:27:00.000-05:00

I had to stay with Jocelyn on Monday. She was feeling sick and had a fever of 101. She did good, took a nap, ate, she even play Wii Fit and Wii Music with me. After her fever went down she was the same old Jocelyn she always is.. but towards the end of the day she got hit by the cold again.
This morning she was coughing a lot, so I had to take her to the Dr to make sure she was ok and nothing else other than a simple cold was affecting her.

I told her as soon as she woke up that we were going to the Dr's and she was all excited about that.. Funny, she didn't like it before. When we got to the Dr's office she was still excited about seeing the Dr. All she talked about was,"Dr this Dr that". They called us into room #1 and as soon as we walked in this was her reaction. Her face changed and she got more serious looking.
When the Dr sat her on that bed looking thing to check her, Jocelyn look like she was about to cry.

Thankfully everything went smooth. Dr. confirmed that Jocelyn only had a simple cold, lungs are clean, throat is fine as well. However, due to the fever yesterday and high temperature reading at the Dr's, she may end up at home again tomorrow.

Right after the Dr. she wanted chicken. This in the revised dictionary of the Jocelyn language means (chicken nuggets from McDonald's) lol. she saw the sing when we got of the building.
We got home with our lunch and were watching Nick Jr's Yo Gabba Gabba show.. I can't stand the show but it got a song stuck in my head today.. it was performed by The Aggrolites. The name of the song? Banana.. go figure.. Here enjoy.. lol

The Aggrolites - Banana (Yo Gabba Gabba!)

WTF | MySpace Video

Joined A Gym

2010-01-09T12:53:00.000-05:00

We learned that Planet Fitness was having a promotion; "sign up for $1 and $10/month" there are no contracts and you can cancel at any time. We went to check it out and there wasn't much to ask or talk about with the recruter everything was very straight forward.

We are currently members at the wellness center where I work but it's hard to get to during the weekends. So the only one taking advantage of it is me, since I can use it during the day at lunch time.

For $10 a month is not bad. I will probably use it more during the weekends now that is cold. And as a bonus I'll start building some muscle again. Lol I am sure Joyce would not mind.

My Running Gear (Winter Edition)

2010-01-08T11:44:00.015-05:00

This is a list of my running gear. For starters the main piece of equipment are the shoes. If you don't have good shoes or the right shoes for that matter, you are in trouble. I went through 3 different pairs to find the ones I use now Ascis 4150. My first pair was an UnderArmor set. I ran a bit over 500 miles on those. I Replaced them with the new Nike Lunar Glides which were great at first but started giving me problems after a week. I returned them and exchanged them for the Nike AirMax 2009 model. Those puppies were great and I ran close to 200 miles 'till my right foot began to show sighs of trouble. I still have those shoes and used them as casual sneakers now.. There have been by far the most expensive pair of shoes I ever bought in my life at a $160 price, cant just throw them away.

The next one is my Nike+ sports band and shoe pod. Ever since I got this thing it has never left my side on a run. If I happen to forget this little thing I simply won't run, it is that important to me, specially if I am participating in challenges which is 90% of the time. At first I started with Nike+ using my iPod Nano so I could listen to music while running. But later on I found that my pace followed the music beat, so I learned to run without music. This is the exact color I wear.

Sadly, The Nike+ Sport's band cannot be trusted with your pace and distance. It tends to fluctuate and it constantly needs to be calibrated which is not hard, but can be annoying depending on your mood. Some other people say otherwise but I can only share my experience with it. Regardless, I love this little gadget, this is one of the reasons I stayed motivated to keep running. I can run without my Garmin, but I cannot run without my Nike band.

The third most important gadget is the Garmin Forerunner. No this is not a GPS that guides you through the best route or tells you where to make the next turn. This amazing gadget simply tacks you run via GPS and maps it for you. But most important, it tracks your pace, distance, heart rate during a run. There are so many things you can do with this thing to improve your running. Last year I was borrowing Joyce's 305 model and it helped me a lot in improving my pace. As Christmas approached, she got me my very own Garmin, but not just any Garmin, she got me the latest model the Forerunner 310XT. All this thing needs is to be able to give you the time when in standby mode and it would the the ultimate gadget, but it doesn't (unless I am missing something). I love the Virtual Partner feature.. i still haven't been able to beat it in an entire run, but soon. I can only use the Garmin outdoors even though you could use it indoors with a POD but I don't find it fun. That's where the Nike+ becomes very important. I am new to this model so I am still learning how to use it's features and trying to get the most out of it.

Next on the list is the iPhone 3GS. WHY? simple, it is Nike+ enabled. Making it a most have item. This is not only my stay in touch tool in the gym while using wifi, or a peace of mind in case of an emergency in an outdoor run. This is my backup in case I forget my Nike+ Sport's Band. Nothing amazing about this little guy, just a fancier way to see your run data during your workout. At the end, it's just another Sport's Band.

For the weather, well, you can't go anywhere without your underwear so that is a most, at least for me. lol Followed by a moisture wicking/dry fit shirt underneath this Champion Soft Shell jacket which is also moisture wicking. This jacket was fairly cheap compare to others I've seen at Sports Authority. This one was under $40 at Target and I have used it in a low 20 degree weather and kept me warm. I guess it's all about layers.

The next item is what makes Joyce go "WoW" when she sees it on me.. It's the tight. Even though she goes WOW, I still think I look stupid in it. I would not wear it unless I am using it under a short or pants. Seriously, they call them tights for a reason.

Next is the Yak-Trax. I haven't use them yet but I am sure I will soon, and if not, then there is always next winter season. Last but not least, it's the Cap and gloves. I use the Nike Running Skull. It fits Ok and it overlaps down to my ears so they get some protection as well. When I wear this thing I definitely do not look good at all, but running is not a fashion contest, and when it comes to keeping warm, I just don't care. I don't put cologne before going out on a run, so who cares right?

Israel Rizo's Athlete Profile at Athlinks.com

2010-01-07T02:28:00.000-05:00

Israel Rizo's Athlete Profile at Athlinks.com

A Brave Attempt Or A Foolish Goal?

2010-01-05T01:27:00.017-05:00

As some of you may know, I am a runner. Or at least I like to think so. Last year was a year of many life changes and my first year doing official races. Ok, so I have not run much in the past 2 weeks. Excuses? I have many.. but I have to keep moving forward.

On October 2009, I ran the Long Beach, CA Half Marathon, while my wife (Joyce) did the full. That same day I made a promise to Joyce. To run the Long Beach, CA Marathon with her.

I have to say that some people are being very supporting about this idea, while other, well.. not really. In my sister's words to Joyce last year when she mentioned she was doing the marathon

"Have you ran that distance before?" lol.. I can proudly say.... NOPE.

Never in my life the idea of running crossed my mind. Not to mention running a marathon. In fact, I used to be one of those people that thought people who ran them were plain crazy. Funny how things work. Now, I am one of those crazy people. :-) My wife calls me stubborn, and she may be right... the more people tell me NO or the more they try to put you down. The more I wan to go for it and prove them wrong. Joyce and I learned about the Long Island Marathon a few weeks ago and decided to go for it. The Marathon is in May 2nd.

With a record of a couple of 14+ miles runs, and two official Half Marathon races in a period of 9 moths... What the hell am I thinking taking on this bad boy.. (check the pic for an idea of what the incline will be like on this race). It is scary to think I only have less than 4 months to prepare and to come up with at least 3 20 mile runs till then to even come close to finish this race before passing out. Oh yeah.. FUN and the chance to say "I ran a marathon and you can't" LOL .. to all those who say "you won't finish". What are my expectations? NONE... I guess the only goal here is to finish in one piece. I am not looking to make the NY Times front page.

I am not setting a time goal for my first marathon. I plan to go slow but steady, after all, this will be one of the maybe 3 marathons I plan to do in 2010. That is not including all the races I did in 2009 to see how much improvement I've made since. So this year promises to be packed with events.

Maybe it is a brave attempt to do this marathon in May. Perhaps I am setting my standards to high, making it a foolish Goal to achieve. But if so; where does "I can do anything I set my mind to" fit for me?. Some one once told me at the end of a race "Any one can finish a race, but not every one can win it". I think it is the other way around; What is every one running for? what are they trying to achieve? For some an actual 1st place trophy is the only thing that drives them. For others the simple fact of getting to the race on time is their goal.

Others simply want to run a race and beat their personal record. I have seen people give up after 15 min in the race, so NO, not every one can finish a race, but every one can be a winner in so many ways.

With this said, I am going to go win myself the title of "Marathoner" on May 2nd. I will run the yellow route on the map to your right, and will finish. How? I don't know yet, but I know it will be on my own two feet :-).

click here to enlarge

Finding The Motivation to do Core workouts.

2009-12-29T14:21:00.014-05:00

It has been really cold, and other things have taken priority over running. I have been trying to be good with food and keeping my weight, so I am happy about that. Joyce got me my very own Garmin and she went all out getting me the 310XT, but I could not take it for a run this morning because it was way too windy and too cold to do so.

Something I have been struggling with is my core routine. I can't seem to keep up with it, but this is an old issue, which may no logger be an issue for me. YES, we got the Wii Fit… I originally wanted it to play the Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics game, but after going through the Wii Fit Plus settings and fooling around with the workout and games… you can't help it but to fall in love with the dam thing.

Now I have something I can use to do some core training and some strength workouts.. and with the visual result chart this thing has well it will encourage me to do it and beat my scores.. This thing so much

fun,, Jocelyn our 2year old already knows how to move around several of the mini games that uses the Wii board.. I think it was money well spent. Anything to stay fit, and anything to make it fun and keep at it.

My favorite game/training are; the Rhythm Kung-Fu. This is a lot of fun and all of the Strength Training routines. I heard that the EA Sports Active for the Wii has more of a workout feeling than the Fit Plus so I may pick it up today, but if not, the Fit Plus will be good enough for now. These are some of the workouts available.

Wii Fit Mini Games

This thing would kick ass if all or some of the mini games were Wi-Fi capable,, for example the Free Run game.. it would be so freaking awesome if I could compete with others online on a 5K run and so on. I hope they do this soon.

The fun after a blizzard

2009-12-20T14:54:00.014-05:00

When people hear the word "BLIZZARD" they automatically panic. Who is going to shovel, I need salt, my tires are not for the snow, I will miss a day of work, etc. What ever the case is, there is always a reason why we hate blizzards.

This is different for kids.. the fact that they will miss a day of school, gives them something to look forward to, and of curse not to mention all the snow games you can play.. my favorite; SNOW BALL FIGHT..

Joyce and I had a good reason to look forward to this blizzard. This is the very first time Jocelyn, our 2 year old daughter will be able to go out and play in the snow. Last year she really didn't seem interested in going out in the snow not to mention touch it (she was only 1 and barely walking).. Last night she was all excited when she saw snow fall, and all she kept talking about on our slow way home from Target was "I want to make a snowman". By the time we got home we already had about a good inch of snow, so we dressed up and went out for a bit.. but she turned sour when we said, "Ok, time go inside" lol she was having too much fun. We told her that we were going to go again in the morning and we will make a snowman.

This morning at 8am, she came in the room and woke me up and said.. "daddy, outside, snowman" she did not forget. lol.

I had a couple of thing to do first. So while mommy was making breakfast, I was outside clearing a path with the landlord and cleaning my car. We are lucky to have a parking lot all to ourselves in the weekend, so it was just a matter of collecting the snow and make the balls.. with no one to bother us and not having to worry about Jocelyn getting hurt by crazy kids, we had our fun for a couple of hrs. The result.. a snowman as tall as Joyce, if I didn't know better, I'd say they were sisters.. :-).

What have I been up to?

2009-12-19T14:30:00.006-05:00

For starters, the holidays are coming and with them so are the dates which IT gets to do network maintenance and we all try to finish or at least try to catch up with all of of projects. The past few days we have been putting things together and coming up with a plan that will work for us to get as much done as possible while the college community is out.

So far my main project is to run maintenance on all UPS at the server room. Install and make sure that PowerShute is working on all servers.

Yes, the next few days promises to be fun. The good thing is that some of this things will not take too long to do so I will not be working 'till 5 most of the days.

Other little things I have been doing at home include building a new site since I gave up my ME account with Apple. $150 + tax per year for email, and a homepage seems a bit too pricy.. Yes you get the sync contacts, and iDisk feature, but honestly, do I need it? nah,, I can do the same thing with google or Yahoo for free and if I need to access files on the go, I can easily access my home network from anywhere. Now I am using Google Sites to build the new site. Not as easy as doing it with iWeb, but it wouldn't be fun if it was always easy. Check it out www.ijrizo.com. Adding new things daily so keep checking it for changes and let me know what you think.

Aside from from the site since I no longer have my page with Mobile Me. I had to move my blog to Blogger.com. So I have been playing with settings and customizing the look. There is really not much you can change on it, but it has to look the way I want, otherwise what's the point of having your own blog page.

The site and blog are not the only things keeping me busy. The Academic Computing department at the college replaced the entire Mac Lab with new iMacs and put the old Power Macs G4s in storage, just in case they would find a use for them. That was almost a year ago. Ever since, that department and I have a really good relationship. Not to mention that Annie "former DM member" now works there and is a really good friend. Any way; going back and forth with the head of that department he mentioned that he was planning to get rid of the old Power Macs. I said in a joking way "oh can I have one?" he said "mmm sure, why not?" lol. So I brought home the sucker with its flat screen thinking that I would use is to set up games for Jocelyn. Guess what? I ended up switching machines with her. I gave her my old egg shell G4 iMac since I can only run OS X 10.4.11 vs this sucker now running 10.5.8 with 3GB of Ram and dual 17" displays.. lol hey can you blame me? lol. So I have been busy loading software and transferring data from my MacBook and getting it just the way I like it.

I was thinking of buying a Mac Mini for X-Mas but after getting this Power Mac for FREE, well I can use that $ for something else. Pays to be nice to people. Sadly that does not apply to every one but in this case, I got a nice reward.. Can't wait for them to replace the iMacs.. lmao.

Where are my tantarans?

2009-12-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

As we got out out of the house on Thursday, we got hit by a beautiful day an weather.. I was not planning to run that day but after seeing the day I told Joyce “I am going to come back for my running gear after dropping you off” and so I did, but I was running late for work so I was rushing getting my stuff. Half way to work some thing hit me. “did I pack my tantarans?” shoot I am not sure. I got to work and at the parking lot I check and indeed, I forgot to pack them. No running.. :-(

When I told joyce she said. “LMAO... why don’t you just flip them when you are done.”

So, I had a work order at an external campus located in Coop_City, NY. The order seem simple and straight forward.

1- Bring New Temp Network printer to campus

2- Remove the old one and put it in storage while the parts needed to fix it arrive

3- Set all public and staff machine in the library to print to this printer.

Simple wont you say? Well, no one told me that the printer I was bringing was half my size in a box slightly bigger than the machine itself. Heavy you say? LOL There was no one willing to help carry that dam thing to the car and no hand trucks.. Usually we do not carry anything this big ourselves, we have maintenance handle it. But since this was an emergency, our department made an exception. Lucky me..

I carried the machine out to my car.. (2007 Toyota Matrix). box would not fit.. LOL I made one las attempt to put it in saying to myself. “if this does not go in now, we’ll have to reschedule” but the freaking box went in with some force.. Once I got to the other campus, I had the same problem, no one was willing to help carry that monster. Getting it in was a challenge. Getting out was a bitch.. lol but I got it out.

Oh yeah. did I mention that I was missing out on Free Pizza back at the office that day? anyway. As I walked in with the printer some one from security approached me and asked me for help with some wireless problems he was having with his laptop. I put carried the printer to the library (mind he did not even offered to help me with the printer) I came back to get him out of the way and fix the problem. Went back to the Library and setup the printer. Got it all done in less then 30 min.. Thank God. As I was making some changes to the public machines. The guy I helped came back .. as I saw him I said to my self “ahhh shit, now what?” To my surprise, he asked “Did you have lunch yet?” I said no. He then said. “Oh perfect, my treat, I am going over tot he pizzeria, how many slice would you like? my treat” I said no thanks but he insisted so I had to say ok to one slice and a soda.. Yes.. I know.. lesson learned.

As I was leaving the campus, I realized. “hey I can go get my tantarans now and go for that run”. So I drove home and got them. Went back to work by noon with enough time to relax before my run at 2 which I was planning to run to Glen Island.. 10 minutes to 2 before me leaving for my run we got a call from a user and I was the only tech available to assist. I had to fix some issues remotely to his PC that took me almost an hr causing me to miss my run.. All that trying to get my tantarans and I ended up not running. :-( LOL

I did my race. Now what?

2009-12-18T12:17:00.000-05:00

As a runner myself, I set goals to conquer and work hard to do so. Some of those goals include;

1- Running faster

2- Run a longer distance

3- Finish/win a race

The one thing I notice in many of us runners is that when we set up a race challenge whether it is a simple 5K or a full marathon we train hard for it. Every single run we do is towards that challenge. Race day comes.. our heart beats faster as the gun shot gets closer and closer.

As we take off on our race, our minds take off as well and lots of thoughts about our training rush into our heads.. (did I train enough?. Should I increase my pace now?. Am I going too fast? Shit what am I doing here?)

After a few minutes of this another set of thoughts come into play;

(How much longer is left? Who is wearing perfume? OMG did he poop his shorts? yup, yes he did. What was she thinking wearing that for the race? oops, some one forgot to put on a bra... and so on). When we finally get a few yards away from the finish line, we say (Dam, I did it).

Whoever is waiting for us at the finish line give us our pat on the back saying.. “way to go man, we are proud of you, now lets go eat”. We get home, shower, post our report on DM, FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace whatever site you have, and after a few min the question syncs.. Now what?

What’s next?. Some of us go through a process where it’s hard to find a reason to go back out and run because there is no more challenge. Going out for a run becomes the challenge. For some others is worse specially if your race did not go as planned or are not happy with the results.. Our minds just close into a state of whining. (I could have done better. I can’t believe I failed. and so) on and no matter what others say, that is all that is in that runner’s mind. How do we go from “running is part of our routine” to “why do I want to run?”