Turn and face the strain
Ch-ch-changes!
Gotta love some Bowie.
Month #3 of 2011 begins tomorrow, marking the last 90 days in the apartment. With my cousin moving back home to her parents, I'm reluctantly moving back to mine. I'm definitely going to miss having my own quiet space and that feeling of freedom after work where I can just kick back and relax... and oh my God, I'm going to be back in that tiny house with my parents again... okay breathe... breaaaaathhe...
[exhales]
I can do it. Six months, I can do this... saving up money, planning to buy a house of my own, and the time will fly. These first two months of 2011 certainly did, so the six months (at minimum) that I'll be at home should go fast as well. Knock on wood. I'll just probably be asking various friends if they want to go to a bar every evening after work... (Just kidding... kinda/sorta.)
My treat to myself though, at least I'm contemplating, is to go to New York in the summer. See the sights, a Broadway show or two, and escape... I've got the vacation hours, I'll have the money from being at home again, so I think a little action in the Big Apple for this theatre lover is appropriate.
Speaking of theatre, I have an audition tomorrow. A small local theatre company is putting on a production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I'm going to just go for it. I'm seriously not expecting anything, since I have no theatre resume to my name, save for high school drama class (ten years ago) and skits I've been in at Flood. But since they're okay with that (I did ask first) and I had put down "go to an audition" in my 2009 list of goals (but never did that year or in 2010), I figure "why not now?" I just want to get out there and feel that pressure of theatre again, even if for two minutes. I already have my song picked out and the sheet music too! (It's not Bowie.)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
TOW The Cowbell
Back in the days of 2005, I frequented Lestat's Coffee House for concerts on a pretty regular basis. A musician friend of mine, Pete, played a monthly show there and eventually I started getting called out from the stage. Whether that was to bring my camcorder up to him so he can play around with it, or to sing backup to Little Red Corvette ("whooo hooo hoooo!"), I was always extremely nervous to get up there, yet always game. (Such is me - always nervous, but always game. Maybe that should be my motto.) Anyways, on one of his monthly shows, a group of us got called up. Actually, I forget the setup, but we knew we were going up there to join him, which is why I brought my cowbell (which I still have, thankyouverymuch) and Tyler brought a toy trumpet. Luckily, Chris brought his camera and managed to tape this "faceoff" performance of cowbell vs. trumpet during Little Red Corvette.
Thought I'd share this here. :)
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Not talking about raindrops on roses, or whiskers on kittens...
This week's episode of "How I Met Your Mother" featured Barney Stinson doing a rip on Oprah's Favorite Things, which caused me to think: "what were some of MY favorite things in 2010?"
AppleTV
Camelbak water bottle
Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Incredibly sweet, right? It's also what inspired me to write the speech that I did for...
Chris and Jordan's Wedding
I like weddings. I've had a good time at the few I've been to... but it's a whole other thing to be a part of one when it's not just one, but two of your closest friends uniting. Sure, it happens on TV a lot. But seeing it happen in real life, and seeing the expressions of love and joy on their faces... it's a pretty beautiful thing. Inside I just kept wanting to go "awwwwww", but I had to stand still. Anyways, I'm super thankful to have been blessed by these two over the years, and it's also made me thankful for the little things from the past - such as MySpace and Spring Awakening - and reminds me to keep trusting in God's planning and timing. Because who knows what the little things from last week or tomorrow might bring?
And that sums up my 2010 Favorite Things. :)
(in no particular order)
Homemade Tortilla Chips
I have an addiction. And I've boiled it down to this: crispy carbohydrates. I love them. French fries, potato chips, tortilla chips. But these things tend to be fried and not exactly healthy for you... until I came across the idea to get corn tortillas, season them a bit, spray some cooking spray, bake for 13 minutes at 375, and voila! A healthy alternative for me to get my crunch on! One corn tortilla has less than a gram of fat, only 15 grams of carbs, and makes 8 chips. Dip in salsa, and it's all good.
Non-fat Greek yogurt
Keeping with the healthy theme, I've been getting down on some of this stuff. Non-fat, otherwise the fully loaded kind is laden with bad stuff. But this is a great snack when you want something dessert-ish, and has double the protein of regular yogurt. Throw in a bit of crunched toffee bits for flavoring up plain yogurt, or buy the pre-fruited kind.
iPhone 4
You already know about this. You either have one, want one, or don't care. I am in love with mine, and the various camera apps (namely, Hipstamatic and Instagram).
You already know about this. You either have one, want one, or don't care. I am in love with mine, and the various camera apps (namely, Hipstamatic and Instagram).
AppleTV
I was skeptical about this product, but I love it. It's not for everyone, but it's been great for my particular needs. I eliminated cable TV altogether to save money, since I have my ways of downloading the TV shows I do watch anyway, and I can stream all my media (music, videos, pictures) from my laptop to my big-screen TV. I can watch one thing on my laptop while streaming another movie from my laptop to the AppleTV (and thus my living room). And it allows me to access Netflix streaming and YouTube as well. Pretty cool.
2011 Hyundai Sonata SE
So I got a new car this year, and I'm pretty happy with the choice that I made. Not too flashy or expensive, but certainly has plenty of cool features and should serve me well as I go into my late 20s and early 30s. I think this car says "Ryan" more than my two previous trucks did.
So I got a new car this year, and I'm pretty happy with the choice that I made. Not too flashy or expensive, but certainly has plenty of cool features and should serve me well as I go into my late 20s and early 30s. I think this car says "Ryan" more than my two previous trucks did.
Camelbak water bottle
Upon recommendations from friends, this is the water bottle I decided to try and am so glad I did. It's caused me to up my water consumption like 10 fold, and I use it all the time, even forgoing the use of glasses in my own home. It's spill-proof, easy-to-sip from, and comes in various colors.
Modern Family
A hilarious comedy. It's not saccharine-sweet like the Full House-type shows of the 90s (which I loved too), but it's got plenty of heart. The cast chemistry is perfect, the characters are all a joy to watch even when they're being silly, and it's definitely worthy of the Emmy Award for Best Comedy.
A hilarious comedy. It's not saccharine-sweet like the Full House-type shows of the 90s (which I loved too), but it's got plenty of heart. The cast chemistry is perfect, the characters are all a joy to watch even when they're being silly, and it's definitely worthy of the Emmy Award for Best Comedy.
Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells
One of the new things I've gotten that I use almost every day. Easily adjustable weights that go from 5 lbs to 52 lbs. Definitely glad I invested in these, so that I can workout in my room - seeing them right by my desk, I have no excuse to not get some sort of workout in daily.
I've had a man-crush this year, and it's this guy. It's not just "In the Heights" and the fact that he composed the music, wrote the lyrics, and freaking starred in it on Broadway and in the LA production (which I am SO lucky to have seen). He's just so talented! He's writing a new musical based off "Bring It On", a rap CD from the perspective of Alexander Hamilton (yes, the one shot by Aaron Burr), and in his recent wedding, he organized a rad thing at the reception to surprise his wife, wherein he and the wedding party did a choreographed number to "To Life" from "Fiddler on the Roof". Check out the YouTube video.
Incredibly sweet, right? It's also what inspired me to write the speech that I did for...
I like weddings. I've had a good time at the few I've been to... but it's a whole other thing to be a part of one when it's not just one, but two of your closest friends uniting. Sure, it happens on TV a lot. But seeing it happen in real life, and seeing the expressions of love and joy on their faces... it's a pretty beautiful thing. Inside I just kept wanting to go "awwwwww", but I had to stand still. Anyways, I'm super thankful to have been blessed by these two over the years, and it's also made me thankful for the little things from the past - such as MySpace and Spring Awakening - and reminds me to keep trusting in God's planning and timing. Because who knows what the little things from last week or tomorrow might bring?
And that sums up my 2010 Favorite Things. :)
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Starbucks Time + Old Memories
It's Coffeeshop Saturday!
I had to bring in my car to the Hyundai dealership to get some work done, and was told it would be a few hours. Knowing this in advance, I brought my trusty laptop, a book, homework, study aids, and water bottle and planned to just sit in the dealer's wait area and attempt to be productive.
And then as I drove to the dealer, I spotted the Starbucks directly across the street and thought "jackpot!" I needed food anyway, AAAAANNND (TM Jordan) I've been craving their caramel apple spice. As my cousin once stated (and I agree), "it's like melted Cinnabon in a drink!" Now if only there was a shot that fit this bill too...
Going through some old files on my laptop, I found old scripts I'd written back in high school. My senior year was 10 years ago - I still can't believe that... it's such a trip to read through things I'd written back in the day. I was a fan of the parody, apparently. This one script, for example, was for Drama class, and it was a group project. We needed to adapt a Shakespearean play, and ours was "As You Like It", and we ended up modernizing it and changed the names of the girls to "Romy" and "Michelle". It's very hilarious to read now, in that it's both intentionally funny but strangely juvenile from the perspective of a 26 year old, but the scripts I wrote always got A's. :)
Junior high English (8th grade specifically) was one of my favorite years though... My "big" script that year (which I no longer have, sadly) ended up being a kidnapping caper, but still had the parody aspect to it because it started off with a rip on "Unsolved Mysteries". That show freaked me out as a kid. I remember coming home from AWANA, and it'd be on TV with it's mysterious music, dark tales, and creepy host, who I named the narrator of my script after -- "Robert Pancakestack". The plot details escape me, I just remember they were preposterous but made for a fun time when the teacher assigned parts and we read them aloud in class. As the writer, I was always really nervous, but they always went over well with everyone - and the teacher, who gave me an A+...
Speaking of 8th grade memories, Brian McKnight's "Anytime" has been looping through my headphones. Loved that CD back in the day too!
Anyways - I think maybe I'll sign up for a playwriting class at Grossmont this semester. Depends on what the class schedule looks like, but mostly because the anatomy/physiology classes I want are already full. (The daytime ones aren't, but those won't fit with my work schedule, sadly.)
I had to bring in my car to the Hyundai dealership to get some work done, and was told it would be a few hours. Knowing this in advance, I brought my trusty laptop, a book, homework, study aids, and water bottle and planned to just sit in the dealer's wait area and attempt to be productive.
And then as I drove to the dealer, I spotted the Starbucks directly across the street and thought "jackpot!" I needed food anyway, AAAAANNND (TM Jordan) I've been craving their caramel apple spice. As my cousin once stated (and I agree), "it's like melted Cinnabon in a drink!" Now if only there was a shot that fit this bill too...
Going through some old files on my laptop, I found old scripts I'd written back in high school. My senior year was 10 years ago - I still can't believe that... it's such a trip to read through things I'd written back in the day. I was a fan of the parody, apparently. This one script, for example, was for Drama class, and it was a group project. We needed to adapt a Shakespearean play, and ours was "As You Like It", and we ended up modernizing it and changed the names of the girls to "Romy" and "Michelle". It's very hilarious to read now, in that it's both intentionally funny but strangely juvenile from the perspective of a 26 year old, but the scripts I wrote always got A's. :)
Junior high English (8th grade specifically) was one of my favorite years though... My "big" script that year (which I no longer have, sadly) ended up being a kidnapping caper, but still had the parody aspect to it because it started off with a rip on "Unsolved Mysteries". That show freaked me out as a kid. I remember coming home from AWANA, and it'd be on TV with it's mysterious music, dark tales, and creepy host, who I named the narrator of my script after -- "Robert Pancakestack". The plot details escape me, I just remember they were preposterous but made for a fun time when the teacher assigned parts and we read them aloud in class. As the writer, I was always really nervous, but they always went over well with everyone - and the teacher, who gave me an A+...
Speaking of 8th grade memories, Brian McKnight's "Anytime" has been looping through my headphones. Loved that CD back in the day too!
Anyways - I think maybe I'll sign up for a playwriting class at Grossmont this semester. Depends on what the class schedule looks like, but mostly because the anatomy/physiology classes I want are already full. (The daytime ones aren't, but those won't fit with my work schedule, sadly.)
Saturday, November 20, 2010
TOW Ry Became a Pott-head
It's Saturday night, approximately 5:45pm, and in half an hour, Team OSF will be picking me up and we'll be on our way to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1"!
I'm pretty excited. In past years, I tried fighting the whole Harry Potter phenomena. I didn't care to read the books, or want to see the movies. But I had no real reason to be anti-Potter, other than the sake of wanting to buck the popular trend.
Besides that, I'm not exactly known for seeing movies. And as for the films that I do see in theaters, I'm known for falling asleep during them. (I'm Ryan. Have you met me?) Although, I was pretty awake and engrossed in the last movie I saw, "The Social Network". Fascinating story and good performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake. (Though, like the SNL skit asked, when are you gonna make more music, JT? I just wanna dance!)
Anyways. Back to Harry Potter. Friends over the years have enjoyed them, my roomie (cousin Cheryl) has been a super-fan since the beginning, and so I've known bits and pieces and seen portions of the movies, but never got caught up in it or paid close attention. But seeing the trailer for HP7 got me intrigued. Gone was my perception of a kiddish fun wizard tale in Britain, as it was replaced by a darker grittier world of dark lords and sorcery (so my first impression of the trailer left me, anyways).
So last Friday, with one week until the 7th movie premiere, I thought "let's do this." I decided to watch all six previous films to catch up, and over the course of the week, I finished the challenge. And to celebrate Jordan finishing up her long paper for school, we soon depart for Fashion Valley to see Harry battle He Who Shall Not Be Named!
I'm pretty excited. In past years, I tried fighting the whole Harry Potter phenomena. I didn't care to read the books, or want to see the movies. But I had no real reason to be anti-Potter, other than the sake of wanting to buck the popular trend.
Besides that, I'm not exactly known for seeing movies. And as for the films that I do see in theaters, I'm known for falling asleep during them. (I'm Ryan. Have you met me?) Although, I was pretty awake and engrossed in the last movie I saw, "The Social Network". Fascinating story and good performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake. (Though, like the SNL skit asked, when are you gonna make more music, JT? I just wanna dance!)
Anyways. Back to Harry Potter. Friends over the years have enjoyed them, my roomie (cousin Cheryl) has been a super-fan since the beginning, and so I've known bits and pieces and seen portions of the movies, but never got caught up in it or paid close attention. But seeing the trailer for HP7 got me intrigued. Gone was my perception of a kiddish fun wizard tale in Britain, as it was replaced by a darker grittier world of dark lords and sorcery (so my first impression of the trailer left me, anyways).
So last Friday, with one week until the 7th movie premiere, I thought "let's do this." I decided to watch all six previous films to catch up, and over the course of the week, I finished the challenge. And to celebrate Jordan finishing up her long paper for school, we soon depart for Fashion Valley to see Harry battle He Who Shall Not Be Named!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
You think I'm pretty without any makeup on.
Song of the Blog: "Teenage Dream", by... ok, technically this song is by Katy Perry. I knew this song has been out there for awhile, I just never heard it because I don't listen to the radio and I don't really seek out the music of Katy Perry. And I was content living in a world where I didn't know all the words to it... but that ship has sailed. On this week's upcoming episode of "Glee", there will be a performance of the song - and I managed to download it early and now it's my new favorite thing. It's acapella, and hella catchy and fun. It's not even New Directions singing it - it's a rival guys academy glee club, and they're pretty fantastic.
I'm swooning a little bit. Just a little. I mean, the song is no "Awake My Soul" from Mumford and Sons, for example. It's definite fluff, but I love it. And dang, I really wish I'd joined an acapella group and/or glee club back in college! I was in the gospel choir for two quarters, but we never did fun contemporary numbers. I want to sing and sway - to quote Rachel Berry, "swaying in background can.be.fun!" :P
Anyways.
Saturday (11/6) was a good day. Got to spend the afternoon hanging with Chris, joining him on some errands, but then we grabbed an early dinner at Hooleys. I don't go to Hooleys too often, but I think I need to... good food, good drinks, good atmosphere. I had this Guinness BBQ chicken "pizza" that was on a potato pancake - it sounded interesting on the menu, so I went for it. Very delicious! Where can I get this Guinness BBQ sauce too?!? It paired up well with my Guinness pint, and based off a tip I read, we ordered the Guinness ice cream.... super delicious! Add some Heath toffee bits in there and I would be in bliss. Highly recommend trying these items if you visit Hooleys.
In the evening, I went solo to Lestat's to see my friend Saba perform a solo acoustic set. Haven't seen her perform a show in a few years. She's moved to LA and I haven't been as into the scene as I was back in 2004-2006, so it was rad to see her on stage again. She was the first one up, so after she was done, I met up with her and my other friends Pete and Cass at the Ould Sod down the block for drinks (Happy!Ry was out) and some fun hanging. Pete and Cass always make me smile, and it was just fun being out and chilling with friends, catching up, taking pics, and getting dating advice, haha...
Anyways, here's a show (full band set) of Saba's (from 2005!!!) that I recorded and uploaded to the Live Music Archive, if anyone wants to check out a live recording. I like her solo (softer) acoustic sets better, personally, but this is the set that I recorded with the help of Chris.
http://www.archive.org/details/saba2005-08-12.at831.shnf
Oh. Also, last night was Daylight Savings Time. I witnessed it! Well I was awake for it anyways, haha. We had been hanging at the Ould Sod for awhile, and when we left there was a truck making street tacos. Normally I don't stop by these trucks, but I guess the post-drinking munchies hit us. But these tacos? AMAZING. And only a dollar! Seriously, I would drive out there at night again just to get them. But it was almost 2am when we were eating out there. And then I got home and it was just after 1. Gotta love getting an hour back!
I'm swooning a little bit. Just a little. I mean, the song is no "Awake My Soul" from Mumford and Sons, for example. It's definite fluff, but I love it. And dang, I really wish I'd joined an acapella group and/or glee club back in college! I was in the gospel choir for two quarters, but we never did fun contemporary numbers. I want to sing and sway - to quote Rachel Berry, "swaying in background can.be.fun!" :P
Anyways.
Saturday (11/6) was a good day. Got to spend the afternoon hanging with Chris, joining him on some errands, but then we grabbed an early dinner at Hooleys. I don't go to Hooleys too often, but I think I need to... good food, good drinks, good atmosphere. I had this Guinness BBQ chicken "pizza" that was on a potato pancake - it sounded interesting on the menu, so I went for it. Very delicious! Where can I get this Guinness BBQ sauce too?!? It paired up well with my Guinness pint, and based off a tip I read, we ordered the Guinness ice cream.... super delicious! Add some Heath toffee bits in there and I would be in bliss. Highly recommend trying these items if you visit Hooleys.
In the evening, I went solo to Lestat's to see my friend Saba perform a solo acoustic set. Haven't seen her perform a show in a few years. She's moved to LA and I haven't been as into the scene as I was back in 2004-2006, so it was rad to see her on stage again. She was the first one up, so after she was done, I met up with her and my other friends Pete and Cass at the Ould Sod down the block for drinks (Happy!Ry was out) and some fun hanging. Pete and Cass always make me smile, and it was just fun being out and chilling with friends, catching up, taking pics, and getting dating advice, haha...
Anyways, here's a show (full band set) of Saba's (from 2005!!!) that I recorded and uploaded to the Live Music Archive, if anyone wants to check out a live recording. I like her solo (softer) acoustic sets better, personally, but this is the set that I recorded with the help of Chris.
http://www.archive.org/details/saba2005-08-12.at831.shnf
Oh. Also, last night was Daylight Savings Time. I witnessed it! Well I was awake for it anyways, haha. We had been hanging at the Ould Sod for awhile, and when we left there was a truck making street tacos. Normally I don't stop by these trucks, but I guess the post-drinking munchies hit us. But these tacos? AMAZING. And only a dollar! Seriously, I would drive out there at night again just to get them. But it was almost 2am when we were eating out there. And then I got home and it was just after 1. Gotta love getting an hour back!
Monday, October 18, 2010
TOW The Marathon
TOW = The One With... it's a naming convention that the show "Friends" used when naming their episodes. Such as "TOW The Embryos"... "TOW (The One Where) Ross Finds Out"...
A brief history: so way back in 2009, when Chris and I first went on the 3hree 6ixty 5ive program he created, one of my goals for 2009 was to run a marathon, even though I hate running. 2009 came and went, and then I carried the goal into 2010. It started off well enough, since I joined Team in Training with my cousin and some friends and we got our months of training going. But then with two weeks before the race, I wasn't allowed to run in the Rock and Roll Marathon due to fundraising issues. It was starting to seem like another year would pass with the goal still remaining on my bucket list...
Then during the summer, I found out about the Long Beach Marathon and made that my new goal. I told my old roomie Ben about it, he was down to run it too (making it his first marathon), and in July we started the training process.
Well, he started training. Me... not so much. I was running, but not as often, and not nearly for as long. I think since my 20 mile run at the end of May, the farthest I've ran is 6 miles.
A full marathon is 26.2 miles... big difference. And more than 4 months have gone by since that 20 mile run. So yeah, not that prepared for Long Beach. But that wasn't going to stop me.
A week before the big day, I almost switched to doing just the half marathon, due to my lack of training. But I've already done an official half-marathon before. And since the goal was to complete a full marathon - I figured regardless of how unprepared I felt, "go big or go home."
So we got to the site and off we went... Ben's a good runner, and I wasn't going to try to keep up with him. I expected him to finish in 5 hours, and he did (4:53). So I did my own thing, starting off by walking really briskly so as not to burn off too much energy, and then doing the run/walk thing around mile 8.
The first half was fine. Mile 13 came around and I felt like I still had plenty of energy. I was hydrating at energy stations, eating the gel packs... got a second burst of energy when we ran through CSU Long Beach, as they had different student organizations there to cheer on the runners - I even got a high five! And even before then, because I was running in my Team in Training shirt, I was getting some thumbs-up and "GO TEAM!' cheers from other runners who've probably been affiliated with TnT before.
And then came the last six miles. By this point, my legs wanted to die. They were cramping, sore, energy was low and I was out of gel packs. Fewer crowds were around b/c I was in the back of the pack so the majority of runners had finished. So I was alone, and having to mentally push myself through... I was warned about this. You're physically drained, but you're not going to quit now, not when you're so close... I was exhausted, running alone, and the music from my headphones wasn't helping as much as before. My cousin (when she ran the Rock and Roll) experienced all that. She said she had gotten emotional and wanted to give up too. But some of her family was there to cheer her on from the sidelines (seeing them a few miles before the finish), and one of the TnT coaches was there too to give encouragement.
I didn't have any family or friends in Long Beach, so it added to the whole mental challenge -- that fight of wanting to give up and feeling empty but trying to push through. I felt so stupid, on the verge of breaking down, thinking that I all I wanted was to see my mom and just get a hug from the one who loves me most, blah blah blah... I knew I'd be physically tired, but I wasn't expecting all of that... it was so unexpectedly tough.
At the last mile marker, when I was at my lowest, two ladies came walking up and asked me I was ok. I said I was hanging in there, and they told me to join them. One of them had already finished, but she came back to help her friend finish - pretty awesome of her, right? And then of course doubly awesome that they'd stop to encourage me and tell me to stick with them, and just talk it out as we continued our slow march to the finish. That helped a great deal. Right before we got to the 26 mile marker, so with just .2 miles left until the finish line, Rita (the one who had already finished and had plenty of energy left) was all "alright Ryan, I know you've got a little more left in you, I want you to run to the finish."
I'm pretty sure I gave her a look that said "uhhh no" while I mustered out an "I can't..."
She'd say "yes you can, finish strong!"
I'd say "alright fine, I guess I'll try".
She said "no, don't try, you got this!"
And with that, I relented, thanked them both, and gave that last push to run towards the finish line, to the photographer waiting there, who prompted me to throw my arms up in celebration before snapping the shot.
Apparently it took me 45 minutes to finish those last two miles, and my final time isn't great (6:45, compared to my time for the AFC 1/2 Marathon back in August, where I finished in 2:30) - but I don't care. I finished! I met my goal, I got it done, I can cross the item off my bucket list, and count myself in the 1% of the world that's completed a marathon. :)
And I don't plan on doing another full marathon any time soon... next big run: the Carlsbad Half Marathon - the first of the Triple Crown events I plan to complete in 2011!
A brief history: so way back in 2009, when Chris and I first went on the 3hree 6ixty 5ive program he created, one of my goals for 2009 was to run a marathon, even though I hate running. 2009 came and went, and then I carried the goal into 2010. It started off well enough, since I joined Team in Training with my cousin and some friends and we got our months of training going. But then with two weeks before the race, I wasn't allowed to run in the Rock and Roll Marathon due to fundraising issues. It was starting to seem like another year would pass with the goal still remaining on my bucket list...
Then during the summer, I found out about the Long Beach Marathon and made that my new goal. I told my old roomie Ben about it, he was down to run it too (making it his first marathon), and in July we started the training process.
Well, he started training. Me... not so much. I was running, but not as often, and not nearly for as long. I think since my 20 mile run at the end of May, the farthest I've ran is 6 miles.
A full marathon is 26.2 miles... big difference. And more than 4 months have gone by since that 20 mile run. So yeah, not that prepared for Long Beach. But that wasn't going to stop me.
A week before the big day, I almost switched to doing just the half marathon, due to my lack of training. But I've already done an official half-marathon before. And since the goal was to complete a full marathon - I figured regardless of how unprepared I felt, "go big or go home."
So we got to the site and off we went... Ben's a good runner, and I wasn't going to try to keep up with him. I expected him to finish in 5 hours, and he did (4:53). So I did my own thing, starting off by walking really briskly so as not to burn off too much energy, and then doing the run/walk thing around mile 8.
The first half was fine. Mile 13 came around and I felt like I still had plenty of energy. I was hydrating at energy stations, eating the gel packs... got a second burst of energy when we ran through CSU Long Beach, as they had different student organizations there to cheer on the runners - I even got a high five! And even before then, because I was running in my Team in Training shirt, I was getting some thumbs-up and "GO TEAM!' cheers from other runners who've probably been affiliated with TnT before.
And then came the last six miles. By this point, my legs wanted to die. They were cramping, sore, energy was low and I was out of gel packs. Fewer crowds were around b/c I was in the back of the pack so the majority of runners had finished. So I was alone, and having to mentally push myself through... I was warned about this. You're physically drained, but you're not going to quit now, not when you're so close... I was exhausted, running alone, and the music from my headphones wasn't helping as much as before. My cousin (when she ran the Rock and Roll) experienced all that. She said she had gotten emotional and wanted to give up too. But some of her family was there to cheer her on from the sidelines (seeing them a few miles before the finish), and one of the TnT coaches was there too to give encouragement.
I didn't have any family or friends in Long Beach, so it added to the whole mental challenge -- that fight of wanting to give up and feeling empty but trying to push through. I felt so stupid, on the verge of breaking down, thinking that I all I wanted was to see my mom and just get a hug from the one who loves me most, blah blah blah... I knew I'd be physically tired, but I wasn't expecting all of that... it was so unexpectedly tough.
At the last mile marker, when I was at my lowest, two ladies came walking up and asked me I was ok. I said I was hanging in there, and they told me to join them. One of them had already finished, but she came back to help her friend finish - pretty awesome of her, right? And then of course doubly awesome that they'd stop to encourage me and tell me to stick with them, and just talk it out as we continued our slow march to the finish. That helped a great deal. Right before we got to the 26 mile marker, so with just .2 miles left until the finish line, Rita (the one who had already finished and had plenty of energy left) was all "alright Ryan, I know you've got a little more left in you, I want you to run to the finish."
I'm pretty sure I gave her a look that said "uhhh no" while I mustered out an "I can't..."
She'd say "yes you can, finish strong!"
I'd say "alright fine, I guess I'll try".
She said "no, don't try, you got this!"
And with that, I relented, thanked them both, and gave that last push to run towards the finish line, to the photographer waiting there, who prompted me to throw my arms up in celebration before snapping the shot.
Apparently it took me 45 minutes to finish those last two miles, and my final time isn't great (6:45, compared to my time for the AFC 1/2 Marathon back in August, where I finished in 2:30) - but I don't care. I finished! I met my goal, I got it done, I can cross the item off my bucket list, and count myself in the 1% of the world that's completed a marathon. :)
And I don't plan on doing another full marathon any time soon... next big run: the Carlsbad Half Marathon - the first of the Triple Crown events I plan to complete in 2011!
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