Sunday, July 8, 2012
RunGordoRun3.0
Since today is the NYC TRI... Thought it would be a good day to start blogging again. Here it goes.
So, it's been a while. About 9months of my wife's pregnancy and two months of relocating, new jobbing, and a whole lot of procrastinating. Been just Gordo for the last few months. Haven't even contemplated running. Every time I've looked at someone jogging I've looked the other way.
Am I ashamed, a little. Am I disappointed in myself. Probably. Do I regret falling off the wagon. Nope. The last few months have been a time for self reflection. Its been humbling. It's helped me put things in proper prospective. As I begin my road back to respectability it will be with a more balanced approach. Sustainable. Sometimes in our journey we get singularly focused on our goals that we lose sight of what is happening around us. Though it is "our" journey, there is life outside of that journey. I personally do not want to miss out because of my focus. So I am back. Hopefully better than ever.
So I've registers for 2 races so far. A 5k in September and a 10k in October. Still deciding which half I'll be shooting for but it'll probably be the 13.1 series in Fort Lauderdale. I liked the one I raced in last year in Queens. I'll keep you posted.
Well, thanks for being patient and hope you keep following. Will definitely have more content moving forward.
Vaya,
Gordo
Saturday, January 21, 2012
From pen to pad...to Mac.
Check out the next T-Shirt Design... Let me know what you think. If you would like one just let me know the size so that I can have them made.
Also..special thanks to www.directimageprint.com. I literally sketched out the images on paper..took a picture on my phone and sent it to them and they made it happen. Fast!. Consider using them for your design needs.
Vaya!
Gordo
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Are you still with me?
Hey Guys,
I know I've been off grid for a bit. But I am currently in the midst of a thaw. To be honest, I have done nothing that could be mistaken for active in the last few months. I can blame it on many things but I can also just admit that I let myself get sidetracked. The key to any journey is to find your way back on course when you get side tracked. As of today, my scenic route is coming to an end. I recommit to a healthy life. Tomorrow...stepping on the scale to see how much damage I have inflicted. And then lacing up my kicks to start burning the cals, increasing the miles, and cutting the fat.
Goals for 2012:
Half Marathon: Not sure which one yet. But April or May...depending on when RunGorditaRun gives birth to our 2nd little one. Goal is to break the 2hr 30m.
Half Ironman: Miami 70.3 October 28th. Goal is just to survive. And finish under the 8 hours.
Hope everyone keeps following. Promise not to go MIA again.
Vaya,
Gordo
I know I've been off grid for a bit. But I am currently in the midst of a thaw. To be honest, I have done nothing that could be mistaken for active in the last few months. I can blame it on many things but I can also just admit that I let myself get sidetracked. The key to any journey is to find your way back on course when you get side tracked. As of today, my scenic route is coming to an end. I recommit to a healthy life. Tomorrow...stepping on the scale to see how much damage I have inflicted. And then lacing up my kicks to start burning the cals, increasing the miles, and cutting the fat.
Goals for 2012:
Half Marathon: Not sure which one yet. But April or May...depending on when RunGorditaRun gives birth to our 2nd little one. Goal is to break the 2hr 30m.
Half Ironman: Miami 70.3 October 28th. Goal is just to survive. And finish under the 8 hours.
Hope everyone keeps following. Promise not to go MIA again.
Vaya,
Gordo
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Tough Mudder Focker!
Hey guys...here is a piece on Tough Mudder...our resident Big Mike finally recovered enough to jot some notes down. Enjoy. And good job Mike.
Tough Mudder 2011.
As I sit to write this, I am still recovering from the soreness that I brought upon myself this past Sunday Nov 13th. That was when 8 co-workers and I took off after a monster truck and so commenced 4 hours of grueling pain, exhaustion and ultimately sheer satisfaction. It was the start of the Tri-State Tough Mudder challenge perhaps the hardest physical challenge any of us had ever participated in.
For those who don’t know The Tough Mudder is a 12mile course complete with 33 military style obstacles. Created by British Special Forces, it is billed as the toughest event on the planet. What I can say for sure is that the Tough Mudder people take perverse pleasure in making you as cold, dirty, and overall as uncomfortable as humanly possible. All the while pushing you to the brink of physical exhaustion, and challenging you to find strength from places you didn’t know you had it in order to get past the next challenge. Then of course just when you think your home free and the finish line is insight the last challenge is running through electrical wires, which take it from me are very much charged and yes they hurt.
The Mudder as a challenge is something that was hard to train for as it places physical demand and strain on your body on a variety of different levels. Personally I needed to spend more time working on my endurance. Throughout most of my training I never put in more than 2-3miles of running at a time, and that stopped a couple weeks before the challenge. Instead I spent more time working on strength training exercises, which I felt I would need more to overcome such events as Climbing up a rope ladder 15’ from a freezing lake, climbing over 8’ and 12’ walls, running up a half pipe, carrying a tire around a track, and crossing a small pond using monkey bars just to name a few. I also worked on crawling around my apartment on my stomach in an attempt to recreate crawling under barbed wire, crawling through underground trenches, and navigating through an industrial strength plastic tube ( not easy when your 6’3” and 250lbs. ). Then there is the stuff that there was just no way to prepare for like jumping into a garbage dumpster filled ¾ way with ice water, trekking through 100 yards on mud the goes from being ankle deep to chest deep, or running through a trench with bushels of burning hay on either side.
However the most essentially aspect of the Mudder, and were I felt most equipped is team work. The Tough Mudder is extremely difficult to attempt solo, and people who found themselves alone quickly attached themselves to other groups. Our group of 9 would from time to time grow as people needed a hand to get past an obstacle. The Moto of Tough Mudder is that it is not a race. It’s a challenge and so the goal is not how fast you can do it, but that you can do it all. Some participants will not finish the course and more than a few required medical attention by the time all was said and done. My team I can’t say enough about how we helped each other through it. When your body just wants to drop it’s your group cheering you on that keeps your legs moving. When you hit a 12’ wall they’re the ones that boost you or pull you up. Or they simply wait for you to catch up when you’re out of breath and are falling behind. We all thankfully made it through in one piece. We all came out with an assortment of scratches, black and blues, and pulled muscles but still in one piece. Now as we pass each other at work we all feel just a bit closer to each other than we did before. That’s because among the hundreds at work…we alone, we 9 are TOUGH MUDDERS!
For all of this effort the prize for completing the challenge is a cup of beer (best drink I ever had), a Tough Mudder t-shirt, and the Orange Tough Mudder headband (this is thetrue prize). The headband is not for sale anywhere. The only way to get one is to complete the course. I wore mine proudly the entire day at work my first day back. It’s your testament that when needed to you can push yourself to your very limits and complete something special and extremely challenging. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do it again next year Oct 27th 2012. For even more insight go to the Toughmudder.com website and learn more of this event plus feel free to shoot me any question to the rungordorun site.
Big Mike TOUGH MUDDER!
NOV2011
Tough Mudder 2011.
As I sit to write this, I am still recovering from the soreness that I brought upon myself this past Sunday Nov 13th. That was when 8 co-workers and I took off after a monster truck and so commenced 4 hours of grueling pain, exhaustion and ultimately sheer satisfaction. It was the start of the Tri-State Tough Mudder challenge perhaps the hardest physical challenge any of us had ever participated in.
For those who don’t know The Tough Mudder is a 12mile course complete with 33 military style obstacles. Created by British Special Forces, it is billed as the toughest event on the planet. What I can say for sure is that the Tough Mudder people take perverse pleasure in making you as cold, dirty, and overall as uncomfortable as humanly possible. All the while pushing you to the brink of physical exhaustion, and challenging you to find strength from places you didn’t know you had it in order to get past the next challenge. Then of course just when you think your home free and the finish line is insight the last challenge is running through electrical wires, which take it from me are very much charged and yes they hurt.
The Mudder as a challenge is something that was hard to train for as it places physical demand and strain on your body on a variety of different levels. Personally I needed to spend more time working on my endurance. Throughout most of my training I never put in more than 2-3miles of running at a time, and that stopped a couple weeks before the challenge. Instead I spent more time working on strength training exercises, which I felt I would need more to overcome such events as Climbing up a rope ladder 15’ from a freezing lake, climbing over 8’ and 12’ walls, running up a half pipe, carrying a tire around a track, and crossing a small pond using monkey bars just to name a few. I also worked on crawling around my apartment on my stomach in an attempt to recreate crawling under barbed wire, crawling through underground trenches, and navigating through an industrial strength plastic tube ( not easy when your 6’3” and 250lbs. ). Then there is the stuff that there was just no way to prepare for like jumping into a garbage dumpster filled ¾ way with ice water, trekking through 100 yards on mud the goes from being ankle deep to chest deep, or running through a trench with bushels of burning hay on either side.
However the most essentially aspect of the Mudder, and were I felt most equipped is team work. The Tough Mudder is extremely difficult to attempt solo, and people who found themselves alone quickly attached themselves to other groups. Our group of 9 would from time to time grow as people needed a hand to get past an obstacle. The Moto of Tough Mudder is that it is not a race. It’s a challenge and so the goal is not how fast you can do it, but that you can do it all. Some participants will not finish the course and more than a few required medical attention by the time all was said and done. My team I can’t say enough about how we helped each other through it. When your body just wants to drop it’s your group cheering you on that keeps your legs moving. When you hit a 12’ wall they’re the ones that boost you or pull you up. Or they simply wait for you to catch up when you’re out of breath and are falling behind. We all thankfully made it through in one piece. We all came out with an assortment of scratches, black and blues, and pulled muscles but still in one piece. Now as we pass each other at work we all feel just a bit closer to each other than we did before. That’s because among the hundreds at work…we alone, we 9 are TOUGH MUDDERS!
For all of this effort the prize for completing the challenge is a cup of beer (best drink I ever had), a Tough Mudder t-shirt, and the Orange Tough Mudder headband (this is thetrue prize). The headband is not for sale anywhere. The only way to get one is to complete the course. I wore mine proudly the entire day at work my first day back. It’s your testament that when needed to you can push yourself to your very limits and complete something special and extremely challenging. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do it again next year Oct 27th 2012. For even more insight go to the Toughmudder.com website and learn more of this event plus feel free to shoot me any question to the rungordorun site.
Big Mike TOUGH MUDDER!
NOV2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Postcard from the edge
Hey guys,
Just wanted to send a quick post. Have been off grid for a while. Realized that I've stetched myself a bit thin. Weight loss...if it's about anything, it is about balance. I guess life in general is the same. I think I became so shorted sighted on my weight loss goals that I lost sight on other important things...to the detriment of the most important people in my life. So here I sit typing. A bit more aware of my surroundings, a bit heavier, and recommitted. To my journey and to all the important aspects of my life.
Here's to striking the right balance. I'll Update with a bit more substance soon.
Vaya!
Gordo.
Just wanted to send a quick post. Have been off grid for a while. Realized that I've stetched myself a bit thin. Weight loss...if it's about anything, it is about balance. I guess life in general is the same. I think I became so shorted sighted on my weight loss goals that I lost sight on other important things...to the detriment of the most important people in my life. So here I sit typing. A bit more aware of my surroundings, a bit heavier, and recommitted. To my journey and to all the important aspects of my life.
Here's to striking the right balance. I'll Update with a bit more substance soon.
Vaya!
Gordo.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Updates
Hey guys!
New content up. Check out Big Mike's Corner, EatGordoEat, and Friends of Gordo pages. A lot more stuff to come. Very much under construction.
Vaya!
Gordo
New content up. Check out Big Mike's Corner, EatGordoEat, and Friends of Gordo pages. A lot more stuff to come. Very much under construction.
Vaya!
Gordo
Monday, September 5, 2011
Short Circuit!
So I wanted to get back into circuit training. My initial success with losing lbs came from using the Biggest Loser Boot Camp
work out DVDs. They were great for beginners and I was able to lose about 35lbs in the first 6 months of my journey. But then I discovered running, biking, swimming and I kind of lost the routine of the circuit training. I figured I was burning enough calories without it. During this latest regression I figured I would bring it back to where I started and picked up the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30
DVD. My plan was to incorporate the dvd workouts with my running so that I can cut a few more calories while I train for my next half marathon
. A good way to jump start my fat burning and rebuild my total body conditioning.
I just finished my first session. And I am exhausted. It is a challenging workout. First, because she uses a 3,2,1 method. Strength, cardio, abs. Second, because my conditioning is non-existant at the moment. At least for circuit training. During a run I know what my limits are and how to conserve energy. This ability is either a good thing or a bad thing but according to my scale I need to break my plateau. The dvd gives you an intense 20 minute workout with a beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. I completed the beginner and it was not the easiest. I am sure if you are in great shape this DVD is no problem but for us Gordos out there it will be a good tool to maximize your workout time. So I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes.
Update: August 7th look out for new content on the website. I wanted to get it out by the first but had some delays. But 7 is a lucky number!
Vaya!
Gordo
work out DVDs. They were great for beginners and I was able to lose about 35lbs in the first 6 months of my journey. But then I discovered running, biking, swimming and I kind of lost the routine of the circuit training. I figured I was burning enough calories without it. During this latest regression I figured I would bring it back to where I started and picked up the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD. My plan was to incorporate the dvd workouts with my running so that I can cut a few more calories while I train for my next half marathon. A good way to jump start my fat burning and rebuild my total body conditioning. I just finished my first session. And I am exhausted. It is a challenging workout. First, because she uses a 3,2,1 method. Strength, cardio, abs. Second, because my conditioning is non-existant at the moment. At least for circuit training. During a run I know what my limits are and how to conserve energy. This ability is either a good thing or a bad thing but according to my scale I need to break my plateau. The dvd gives you an intense 20 minute workout with a beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. I completed the beginner and it was not the easiest. I am sure if you are in great shape this DVD is no problem but for us Gordos out there it will be a good tool to maximize your workout time. So I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes.
Update: August 7th look out for new content on the website. I wanted to get it out by the first but had some delays. But 7 is a lucky number!
Vaya!
Gordo
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