Happy Holiday

2008 San Gabriel Valley Spring Team In Training (partial)

The San Gabriel Valley Team In Training and your humble blogger like to say happy holiday to you all. Please eat, sleep, and eat some more. You can leave the exercise to the team. Some of the team members will start the new year by running the Rose Parade route at 4:30am on new year day. So yes, leave the running to us!

Running on your birthday

Today it's Dorian and Anna birthday, but guess what... they made it to the training.

They are the one that are passing birthday cookies.

I ran 12 miles today and I feel fine... til I finish. I don't remember twisting my ankle, but when I stop, it started to hurt... a lot. Just like the good old hiking day, I was pretty much limping the whole day. Lucky, my car is right next to me... instead of 7 miles away =)

I hope my ankle recover in time so that I can do the New Year Rose Parade Run. I have been looking forward to it and I definitely want to do it! We'll see how it goes.

First time icing after the training

I made my Goal... $5000

This is what I told my coaches, captains, mentors, and my honored teammates:

Hi all, I got some donation the last few days and I was at $4943 today. When I come back from the Hill training and I got another $57! I still need to send in my checks but I unofficially made it! I probably are not as excited as some of you because I am cold and I am hungry (It was raining that night and I went to my training... outdoor!) I just want to share this great news with all of you. There is no need to pad my shoulder because every single one of you made this possible. Without our coaches, the manager, the different captains, mentors, my favorite teammates (all), and our most respected honored teammates, there won't be a team. And if there is no team, somebody like me wouldn't sign up. So Yes, we should each pad our own shoulders. I'll try to see if I can get more donation in, but as much as I want to earn that 6 pair of dress socks and the Tiffany bracelet for my future wife, I don't think I will make $10,000 (unless I start eating Mag and Cheese = Maggot and Cheese) Now I am going to cook that steak, see you all on Sat.

Louis

P.S. My other teammate Dorian made her $5000 mark a few days later

Happy Holiday to my Mountain Friends

For people who knows how to read a USGS topo map, I just want to say Happy Holiday and be safe in the Wilderness. I have been busy kicking cancer's butt. But once I finish the LA Marathon, you'll find me on the trail once again.

I want to have a piece of hiking with me when I run, so I will be wearing my Mountain Heardwear Cap during my trainings and the marathon =)

My new Mountain Hardwear Cap: I picked the same color because I know Wayne must of pick that color so that he can hike faster.

Louis a.k.a. Little Wayne

2007/12/23: Unknown location that all of you have been to

SIR Wayne Bannister (2008 HPS Committee: Mountain Records)

2007/07/15: Wayne's HPS List Finisher on top of Smith Mountain

Fail Attempt: I tried the picture with a bagel... it's not the same!

2007/12/22: Team In Training Sat Pratice

Making of the little Wayne picture: Last week I received the cap and I bought the small Pocky all ready to go. But before I knew it my brother ate the Pocky!!! So I have to postpone the picture shot for another week =(

My lastest Team In Training Equipment!

Since I want my friends and teammates to be able to find me in the Marathon, I got this Mountain Hardwear Orange Rain Cap (Waterproof) and this Orange Shirt. I am so happy with the purchase because I always wanted to wear my hiking stuff when I run. I wanted to wear a piece of hiking stuff with me to show people how much I like to hike and this Mountain Hardwear Cap is just solution!

It's nice to hike again

I went to Inspiration Point today. I am very happy to hike on some light snow =)

Santa Monica - Venice Christmas Run - 10K

The SGV TNT saga continues with the 2nd Team Race. Like Janet Jackson, many of us experienced Wardrobe Malfunction before the race but we were abled to figure it out. I took a lot of pictures of my teammates during the race but apparently Heather, Frank, Pam, Christy and Sandra are too fast too furious for my camera. Well... suck to be fast in this aspect =P

Our very own TNT SGV Spring 08 Speed Demon.

Heather: 45:07 total 7:17 mins per mile pace

Frank: 46:13 total: 7:28 mins per mile pace

Louis: 57:04 total 9:13 mins per mile pace

Heather won't stand a chance against me... in an eating contest!

I can only take pictures of these girls when they stand still... because THEY ARE TOO FAST!

(our left to right: Christy, Pam, Heather(middle), and Sandra)

Mentor Patty and I. She checks on me to make sure my training and fundraing are on tracks. She also offers support and advises.

Mission Accomplished!

Caltech Glee Clubs Holiday Concert starting Katie Dunn, Erisa Hines, Devin Kipp and Ravi Prakash

Tonight I went to a concert where 4 of my very good hiking friends are in it. Let's just say they are awesome! If you throw me up there, I think people need to go to the hospital. Good well done all of you =)

Cookie Hamburger Fundraiser

What does it take to get $128 donation? You can do it by eating a cookie hamburger combo. For some strange reasons my coworkers will give me money if I drink half a cup of chocolate syrup, eat honey with french fries, and this Cookie Burger thing with 2 cookies, 2 layers of whip cream, and a hamburger patty. During the challenge, one of my coworker throw me a pack of soy sauce and tell me to eat it with my food. Being a good showsman I pour the soy sauce onto my honey fries. Let me tell you... it tastes weird.

After I finish this challenge, my coworkers told me to do another one of this with Mag and Cheese. I was like... Mag and Cheese? And they were like... yes... maggot and cheese. I can picture a bowl of maggots swiming on the cheese. I do want to get more donations for Team In Training, but I figure I don't want to get sick. So I kindly decline their offer. I did suggest to my coworkers that I may do it with a scorpion or something, but they say Mag and Cheese sounds catchy... *_*

Favorite Quote of this whole thing: When I told my coworkers I am not doing the Mag and Cheese thing, Teo told me "Hey if you don't do it... cancer win!". Thanks Teo... I'll keep this in mind =)

Promotional Poster

Geez that's just one layer of cream

Toooo sweet. At one point I actually was about the choke... but since the only thing I can drink is chocolate syrup, I suck it up and continue

I did it Team In Training, an extra $128 for finding a cure!!!

Bone Marrow Drive

So there is a Bone Marrow Registration today after team training. For those of you who doesn't know what it is, some cancer patients need bone marrow transplants in order to survive. By storing your DNA sample in the bank, doctor can check to see if there is a possible match. I have been thinking for the whole week about this. From what I heard this can be very painful and poses some risks. To make the story short, I finally decided to register because Bone Marrow is something that I can regrow in a few weeks. There are risks involve but hey... if I don't donate to that someone that someone will die.

Teammate Dorian and her nephew Tyler. Tyler is our 5 year old honored teammate who is fighting the Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma diease. He is also Dorian's running coach! Tyler is an UCLA fan, if you guys have some Burins stuff and would like to give it to this little tropper, send it my way and I'll forward it to Tyler. Thanks!

Hill Training #1

From tonight til early Jan, I will be doing hill training every Tue night. This training is designed to improve team's endurance and strength. I'll report to you guys in a few weeks to see if this does anything =)

Mt Baldy 2nd Anniversary Hike

Why Mt Baldy? Because it's a 11 miles hike with 4000ft of gain... that's like 2.5X as high as Taipei 101. You starts from around 6000ft and you get to the top at 10,064ft. So yes, it's still a tough mountain for me and I love it!

Back in 11/19/2005, the guy on the left has no clue about hiking a big mountain. As you can see, he is very very cold. You think the sweater help him? No No No... If the sweater works, he would of be able to 'feel' his hand on the way down. This is the coldest Louis have ever feel. (well ok, I think my first night camping on the snow is colder, but that's another story).

Fast forward for about a year. Layers of clothes, extra food, first aid kit, ice axe, crampons... etc He knows what's he is doing. Good Job Louis!

Fast forward for another year. This guy on the left have summit Mt Baldy over 10x and I think he actually lost track of how many time he summit. But this year he is up on Baldy with the Team In Training spirit. Let's see what he is up to next year.

Coach Kiley Inspiring Speech

The start of the speech
What I thought is a normal 6 miles Rose Bowl training turn out to be one of the most emotional experience I have with Team In Training. Before I get involved Team In Training, I always thought I fund raise to only find a cure for Leukemia. I know I am doing something good and I know I am making a difference with the few people I know. But my personnel connection kind of stop there.
However, my perception have been changing. My honored teammate Virginia Garner taught me that she is alive today because of Team In Training. Gleevec enables Virginia live a normal life (as long as she takes the drug) and this drug was made possible by research funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Little 5 years old Tyler and Coach Matt's brother give me new perspective about cancer and life value.
Today, Coach Kiley told us about his Dad's experience with cancer. The speech is very very emotional for Coach Kiley and the rest of the team. While Coach Kiley is talking, I can hear people sobbing. I am close to sobbing myself. I am not sure what to do. I notice some of my teammates down to listen, and I feel like this is the appropriate thing to do. However, I have a strong urge to look at Coach Kiley. I know Coach Kiley wants to tell us his story and remind the team that we are making a difference. I want to receive everything he said and I feel like looking at him is part of the receiving, so as much as I am not comfortable looking at Coach Kiley, I look at him for the whole speech. This is my way of showing respect to Coach Kiley and his Dad.
After the speech I feel like I am more connected to the cause. I am thankful to join Team In Training and I am more thankful to make a difference to people who have cancer. I would like to thanks all my donors again. Remember, your donation is making a big impact to cancer patient lives!

Louis

I hate writing but I want to make a difference!

My coworker Mike Merchant always tell me don't say bad thing about myself. But today, I just want to say... I AM A VERY VERY BAD WRITER. I am a Java Application Developer and I can write computer code all day long... but I seriously can't write jack!!! This is the reason why I am an Java Application Developer.... not a writer. As much as I hate writing, I want to write about all these positive experience I received from TNT training. I want to make a difference. Anyway, while I am trying very hard to figure out how to write my blog entry about Coach Kiley. My friend Mike Chan aimed me.

You can see my frustration below on my AIM chart.

Maj0rH4x** (5:29:28 PM): plan on goin to the museum again?
kenshin01 (5:29:36 PM): not this week
kenshin01 (5:29:39 PM): I am writing my marathon blog
kenshin01 (5:29:42 PM): and I am hiking Mt Baldy tomorrow
kenshin01 (5:29:43 PM): you know what
kenshin01 (5:29:49 PM): I HATE WRITING!
kenshin01 (5:29:57 PM): but I need to write my blog =)
Maj0rH4x** (5:30:00 PM): lol
kenshin01 (5:30:11 PM): I want to express what I experienced to my friends regarding to my TNT training
kenshin01 (5:30:19 PM): I hope you are reading it @*#$!
kenshin01 (5:30:21 PM): Die Die Die!!!
kenshin01 (5:30:25 PM): geez when I need to write I want to eat... let's go eat!!!

I am glad MajorH4x** a.k.a. Mike Chan (note: ** is used to protect his identity) aimed me. Now that I get the I HATE WRITING thing off of my chest, I hope this will help me to write my blog about Coach Kiley. I'll finish the blog today... *_*

I can't lift my thigh!

I went to TNT cross training tonight and we spend a lot of time exercising our thighs. We were doing this thigh exercise wjere I am suppose to lift my thigh high! But guess what, after couple of sets, I can't lift my right thigh up. It's kind of crazy how I can't control my muscle. Now I know I really need to focus on my thigh. Well I am going to hike this sunday to condition my thigh. I am planning to go to Mt Baldy this sunday to train on my thigh and to get some high elevation exercise... shh... don't tell my coaches about this hike as they want us to rest more!

First Team Race: Calabasas Classic 5K

I went to my first Team in Training face today and I had a lot fun running with my teammates. My time is 0:30:50, that's a 0:09:56 per mile pace. Definitely not my fastest but I am happy with the time because I carried a wrist pack with water and I wasn't really pushing just to make sure my knee is OK with my current weight. I am 13Th over 21 in my age group. Coach Matt and Justin are also in the same age group and they are #7 and #8. Well, you can't compare an apple with an orange you know =)

I am sure I will do a lot better if I lose some weight. Like I said in my previous blog, I need to focus on losing weight. I am looking forward to the Santa Monica/Venice Beach Christmas Run10K race on 12/08/07.

If you want to look at the complete result, you can check out the result at http://www.tricalifornia.com/timing/results07/cbc/cbcresults.htm

I am doing well with training and fundraiser... but not this!

Shame on Me!!!

So I weight myself today and I am currently at 203.6 lbs with 23.5% body fat. No wonder I am having a hard time running! I know I know, shame on me right?. I think my legs are stronger than ever from my crazy hiking/backpacking trips over the summer. But I think these extra fat does put a lot of stress on my knee when I run. So for now, I am not going to run at full speed until I drop some weight. I know I can get down to 180 something in a matter of weeks by eating properly. We'll see how this goes.

Go Team! Go Tyler!

Dorian talks about Tyler's experience
Before our Sat practice, my teammate Dorian shares the reason why she runs for the LA marathon. She is running for her 5 years old nephew Tyler who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Tyler is a big Bruins fan. If you want to support Tyler, please bring me Bruins stuff and I can forward them to Dorian.

As soon as Dorian finished, my name was mention and I was like no way... I swear I didn't take an extra singlet!!! As it turns out I am the top fundraiser to-date and the coach only wants to recognize my fundraiser effort. THANKS EVERYONE, CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!

The training was fun as I get to run on trail for a little bit... getting in touch with my hiking side you know =)

In case you wonder how I look like in team in training... here is a picture of me. I think my gray running shirt doesn't match with my white singlet... so I am going to buy a white one soon =)

Over $3000... just like that!

As of today, I have $3568.25 in my fundraising account. It's insane!!! It's kind of like how insane these marscots are!



Thanks The Alvazzi Family, Tim, T-bone, Hey1, Jenny, Tiffany, Seri, Taro, The Alonzo Family, Ronnie, Josephine, jack, Danny, Grandma, Clarence and Robert.

Training Cancel =(

Due to recent fires, Coach Kiley canceled today's training =(

On a side note, I started sending out my thank you letters. Since I want to be 'official', I handwritten all addresses! And it's tiring *_*

Couple of things...

On Oct 14, I raised over $1000. During the last 8 days, my donors donated another $1000+ and we broke the $2000 barrier! I don't really know what to say except Thank you. I'll make sure I have fun writing thank you letters =)

below: John and Melissa 'enjoy' the
cold weather during WTC snow camp
Anyway, I got home today and I need to follow my training by jogging for 30 minutes. Wanting to rest a little, I talked to a few people online and I was able to get some donations. That was cool! By the time I finish the fundraising stuff, I decided to skip a day of training and watch Heroes.

So 15 mins after Heroes I got a notification email about a new donation. I opened the email and saw John/Melissa's name so I was like sweet... another one of my Wilderness Travel Course buddies make a donation. I called them to say thank you and they crack up after picking up the call because they didn't expect me to call them like 3 minutes after they donated. During the call Melissa told me she think she knows Hangyee and Eric because she started working at this new job and there are two persons with the same names. I was like... no way I know Hangyee and Eric when we went to high school together. What a small world!

So after I hang up, I went to Almansor park and did my 30.

Thanks May, Calvin, Jennifer, Kinny, Peter, Lee, Marie, Ravi, Michael, Cat, Tam, Jonathan, Connie, Carlon, Douglas, John and Melissa.

Secret Donor...

You know who you are... E2 Devon. Thank you so much!!! I am totally speechless!

First Team Training

I got off work a bit early today just to make sure I get to the Arcadia High School by 6:30pm. The traffic was light so I got there at 6:15pm and I am the first trainee to be there. As people are coming in I saw some new faces that I haven't met at the Kick Off Party. The staffs did the official staff introduction and we headed out for the pace assessment session. Basically we need to run 3.1 miles. Since I don't want to push myself TOO MUCH, I just go at my own pace and got assign to a slower group. I'll work my way up to prevent over training.

USD 1000

With Van's donation, I reached over the $1000 mark!

Thanks you Da, Vicent, Andy, Michael, Paul, Pamela, Kelli, Steve, Hang Yee, Kellie, Kevin, Connie, May Sheung, Lawson, and Van! Without your donations, I wouldn't hit 1000 without all your help!

With over 1000 dollars, I would like to present you... the Thousand Islands Lake on my Mount Davis trip

Team In Training Kick Off Party

TNT Kick Off

During the TNT Info session I got a flyer about the TNT Spring Kick Off Party on 10/13/2007. I quickly realized that I am going to a 2 days Wilderness Travel Course backpacking trip that weekend with Robert Meyers. I gave it some thoughts and I decide to cancel my trip. Robert was very cool about it so Thank You Robert.

When I got to the place there was like a ton of people in gym. I found my team table and introduce myself to the staff. I picked up my singlet and realize that it is kind of tight. Knowing I will drop some weight in the next few weeks, I stick with size large. I would like to say here that a large singlet is smaller than a large T-Shirt OK!!!

After getting my singlet I walked around to the different information tables and got a lot of great idea about fundraising. One thing that caught my eye is this Win a Date with a Firemen or Police. Someone did a fundraiser where girls can bet for a date with Firemen or Polices. I thought about my male friends... and I was like... hmm... this is not going to work. So I move on. I stopped at the Ironman Triathlon and I dropped my jaw. Those people are doing a 2.4 mile swim following by 112 miles of bike ride and a marathon (26.2 miles). I think if I can do it... I will be... lean?

During the presentation a man in his late 20's talked about how cancer change his life when he was diagnosed at 17. During the last decade he had 3 different kind of cancers and a heart transplant. And guess what, he finished a triathlon after the transplant!

Offical training starts 10/17/2007

Coworker War

War is general bad. People killed, trees burned, steaks overcooked... you know what I mean.

But today, war has a better meaning

When Paul the ex-classmate/friend/coworker try to donate money to my site today, he notice my other coworker Da already donated $50. Not allowing his colleagues to beat him, he donated $51 to remind Da who's the boss. When I told Da about Paul's action, Da declared Paul as the Axis of Evil and retaliated Paul's evilness by adding another $1.01. So now... the war is on!

This! Is! SPARTA!

This woman got 300 pages of bill on i-phone. I got $300 donation!

I setup my online TNT fundraiser account today and I got $300 bucks! Not bad for someone who never fund raise before... if you look pass the fact that I donated $250 myself =P

My friend Da is the first one to donate beside the Evil Louis... Yay for Da

The beginning of a very long journey

Pay for 400-500 bucks for regular training, or train with Team In Training that fund raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society... that is the question.

Ever since Grace told me about her LA marathon 07 training with Team In Training , I have been thinking a lot about this program. I want to take this marathon opportunity to fund raise money for a good cause, but at the same time I don't know if I can fund raise all these money (I need to donate the rest if I am short on the minimum amount!). Leaning toward to join, I went to the Team In Training Information Meetings at Altadena.

After a couple of detours I finally arrived at the info meeting. As I was walking into the meeting room, I was greet by coaches for different events such as Marathon (26.2 miles run), Century Bike Ride (100 miles), and Triathlon . During the meeting people talk about Leukemia & Lymphoma, the different types of evenings TNT trains...etc

I wasn't really listening to the info as I was thinking hard to see if I really want to sign up at the spot. I figured if I don't sign up at the spot, I may not sign up at the end. I KNOW this is a huge commitment... the training, less hiking, the fundraising. 18 weeks of training, numerous miles, and the 26.2 miles on race day, it's a very long journey. I know I can think about these stuff all day long, but if I don't take a big step forward, I will always remain at the same spot.

So after the info meeting, I paid for the registration and signed up! Just like that =P