YEAR 5 of Godfather Sean's NEW YEARS DAY tradition - the ROSE PARADE RUN!!!

Since I don't really drink during holiday, I find this event to be very very awesome!!! I went in 08 and I am going again in Jan 1, 2009!!!

This is pictures from Jan 1, 2008
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4091131_o6Ucf

Ask me if you have more questions. You can do half way and take metro rail back... so you can make this a 5 miles run.

New Year’s Day TRADITIONS - details on the 5th ANNUAL ROSE PARADE RUN (Godfather Sean style)!
As always, I am sharing one of my dearest and most favorite(est) traditions... you must join us for this run or bike or roller-blade with us!

THE SEAN LEONARD NEW YEAR'S MORN ROSE PARADE RUN 2009 EDITION / YEAR 5!
WHO: Jimmy Dean (me), Martini, Godfather Sean & ANYONE else who is crazy enough to join us for some F-U-N!
WHAT: our silly-crazy, half-drunk, sleep deprived FIRST run of the year!
WHEN: Thursday morning, January 1st, 2009! Between 4:30-4:45am!!
WHERE: E Orange Grove Blvd AT N Sierra Madre Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107
WHY: Why not!? It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on, and that's even kinda optional, although spending DAY 1 of any year in jail isn't much fun, you just have to be FASTER than the poe-poe!

BEFORE PHOTO 2007!


















DURING PHOTO - 2008

AFTER PHOTOS (YEARS 3 & 4 / 2007 & 2008)!

The Rose Parade route is almost exactly 5-miles through Pasadena, from the END of the Rose Bowl Parade route to the START. We MEET at 4:30am and start running around 4:45-5:00am!!! After a casual 5-miler (where we now have fun pace groups since we've become so BIG), we spend about 30-minutes walking past all of the Rose Parade floats cued up for the parade. We then turn around (close to 6:30am) and run the 5-miles BACK to the end. The coolest thing is we have about 5-15,000 spectators who have camped out ALL NIGHT LONG along the route. People YELL at us, come run with us (drunk), and high five us on the way out and back. We play games like counting the "Run Forrest, Run(s)!" and the "cat calls" and have a GRAND old time. Near the end of the run, between 7:30am-8am, the parade is about to begin and a STEALTH BOMBER and helicopters fly over us, which is an amazing way to END the first official run of the year (unless you ran at midnight too). We then go as a group to a little greasy spoon (Conrad’s Diner) and eat pancakes and share great company while the Rose Parade passes by a few blocks away.

Come join us! Tell others you know (who may not even be on MySpace OR Facebook) and we'll be a monster group of 50-100 runners (bikers and roller-bladers are also quite welcome, however, bikes CAN be a bit challenging to navigate through the float area) out there!

Ronald will be there!!!

Give $1 to make a difference for one family

I was talking to one of my triathlon teammate today and she told me she adopted a family for x’mas. She said she doesn’t know what to buy and she needs to give them gifts this Sunday. She said they have a wish list but it’s kind of sad because all items listed are necessities (instead of toys…etc).

She didn’t ask me for money but I gave her what I had in my gym bag(we were going to swim training… that’s why I have my gym bag). I would like to invite you to join me to make a difference for this family. I figure if enough of you donate one dollar each, we should have enough to buy a supermarket gift card or something so that this family can at least have a good x’mas dinner… or have money to buy their necessities. I have a few toys at home so I will probably donate them too.

I will see my teammate sat. Please let me know if you want to chip in $1. You can be a super star by giving $5!

Sincerely,

Louis

Tyler and Santa

I got a message from Dorian today. I am happy to see that Tyler is getting back to the old him. Slowly but surely =)

This is what Tyler's mom said "Not one to waste time when it comes to holiday celebrations, Tyler made sure he got in a visit to Santa this weekend."

Dealing with Leukemia when you are 3

Tamer(3) with his sister Yasmin (8 months)

Dealing with Leukemia since you are 3 years old? That's what Tamer and his family are doing. My teammate Dena told me her friend's son Tamer just diagnosed with Leukemia on Friday and he is currently in City of Hope. His platelets were so low, he had to have numerous blood transfusions. On Sat he had bone marrow biopsy so that the doctor can find out exactly the type of Leukemia Tamer has. Read Morehe will start Chemo on Today (Monday).

I am deeply helpless about these news. I think it's suck for a child to go thru this as they have a butt load of future in front of them. They learn about all these medical terms, lose hair, vomit like no others... all before he even go to school!

Please pray for Tamer. If you want to know more or help, please let me know.

Thanks for your help!!!

Louis

First Bike Training

I got to LA zoo half an hour before the training. I started riding south and it was super cold. I can't really feel my fingers!!! I also get scolded by running a stop sign on my bike. The truck behind me drove up to me and told me I am on a vehicle and I need to stop at stop sign. I did slow down and I did not see people around... that's why I roll the stop sign. Well it's my fault and I told him yes sir! I didn't want to say anything especially when I am wearing my TNT jersey.

We started training and we were divide up in two groups. The beginner group and the not so beginner group. Good thing is everyone know how to ride a bike (well at least the one that show up on sat). Although I know how to change my tire and I can ride my bike for 2-3 hours. I opt for the beginner group just so I can learn everything!

We did some drills, we learned how to change tires, and we head out.

Coach Paul explains the proper riding position (Model: Doom)

Doom shows us how to change tire and tube (for those of you who doesn't know, there is a tube inside a tire. You actually inflate the tube, not the tire =P)

I was one of the faster people in the 'beginner' group so I stopped riding and took some pictures. At first mentors thought I was in trouble. After they saw me with my camera they smile. A few people fall off their bikes (because they can't unclip in time). But all and all it was a fun experience. We went to breakfast after.

action shot

Breakfast at Alcove Cafe & Bakery: I had smoked salmon breakfast stack - two potato pancakes topped with smoked salmon, poached eggs, creme fraiche and fresh drill, served with seasonal fresh fruit. For those of you who know me, you know I don't usually eat fruits. Since I don't want to tell all my fit teammates I don't eat fruits, I ate them all =P Good Job Louis!

Rode 10.91 miles today with 735ft of gain. (735ft? ready???)

$9.99 per lbs

Thanksgiving food was good.

I should be happy and thankful but not so much. Here is why.

Being meat hungry (as always), I went to Hows market two days back and got myself 2 4.5-lbs USDA Prime grade Rib Roast. It costs 9.99 per lb so that's like 90 bucks right there. Whatever, it's the holiday... I just pay without thinking too much.

My brother also bought this huge turkey and other stuff. My brother was also doing the cooking so I knew our dinner will be good.

Then I sat on the computer to read more news about Mumbai and I feel bad about thanksgiving. There are crisis out there and I am eating my Rib Roast. Nothing to be thankful about!

Beside Mumbai, there are a few things that made me come up with that thought. Our economic is down so a lot of people are asking for help. Food Bank don't have enough turkeys so they give out chickens. Remember the rain on Wednesday? People were waiting in line for their free thanksgiving meal under the rain. While all these are going on you get people who lost EVERYTHING in the fires... the list go on and on.

So yes, I am not too thankful.

Then when I told one of my marathon teammate about this she said you should be thankful. You still have your job, you have a lot of friends. and you still have a place to live. Since I am not a 'holiday' person, I just can't justify myself spending 90 bucks on beef alone when others are struggling. Could of use that money for better use.

You can tell me, people die everyday of starvation Sunshine, you can give most of your money to save the world. You don't have to wait until thanksgiving!

I agree with you that I can do more to our society, but I am not there yet. I am not so giving to the point there I can give up everything I have. But, Sunshine Louis has been giving more and more. After Team In Training I give a lot more to charities. $50 here and $50 there. And just 2008 alone, I donated over $2000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

You may think. $2000 on cancer research? Are you freaking kidding me? You are not the only one. I have that thought too. For $2000, I can feed hundreds of family in Africa. Help people in China, South East Asia... heck you can even buy chicken, sheep, cow, Llama for families in Africa. True, true. The money can do so much more to save more people than the life we save from just blood-related cancers alone. But remember. I started giving more because of Team In Training (benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). My money may save more lives if I were to donate it to feed hungry family in Africa. But I think the fact that I donate more now it's a start. And it's a good start. You can say, I don't have money or I don't have time. If you don't have money, you can volunteer. If you don't have time, donate money to the charity of your choice. It's that simple.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Contact Lens

There are a lot of things attach to ironman training beside the actual training. A number of my teammates have been shopping for a bike while others go look for stuff like running watch and water bottles. As for me, I got contact lens so that I'll have a easier time transitioning in my events.

I went to the Kaiser Version Center today to pick up my contact lens and to learn how to put them on. My eye got all red because I took forever to put them on. I also realized that the lens are not as clear as my prescription eyeglasses. The doctor was like can you read those letters and I was like... hmm... hmm... F? I am 'supposed' to use them for a few days this week and go back for a check up next week. We'll see about that. I also picked up my new eyeglasses yesterday... yay!!!

The old one (top) was so beat up that I have been gluing it with super glue =P

Beginner Swimming Lesson at the Rosebowl Aquatics Center

I went for a jog before the lesson and I bumped into my Marathon Teammate Holly. I think she is currently training for a half marathon next year.

After the run I drove to the aquatic center. While waiting for my instructor to show up, Marathon Teammate Jane flagged me down to say hi as she is doing lap swimming at the aquatic center. Jane is an assistant coach for the SGV Marathon Team and she offers aqua jogging training for those of us who got injured during the season.

Several minutes later my swimming instructor show up and I started my lesson. There were 4 of us. The instructor, one girl, one women, and I. I was very happy to have that 3 to 1 ratio because I definitely need the attention. Out of the 3 of us the girl can't swim, the women and I know a little bit. We did some drills with the board and I was pretty good at that. We then do the superman thing that I did during my training. I still have problem breathing =(. So far I think I am the one that know the most. We then try the free float thing facing the water. For some reason my legs keep sinking. I need to constantly kick the water to stay afloat. The girls on the other hand, float like... hmm... a foam? Anyway, we then move on to the back float. Again, the girls are doing fine. Me? I keep sinking!!! The instructor told us what to do. But every time I try, my leg keep sinking. Then I will bend my back, sink, and take on water thru my nose. Note to self: Nose Clip!!!

After we finished with the floating (in my case sinking), we moved on to freestyle swimming. I was doing ok but I still couldn't breath that well. I then ask the instructor how I should breath. She gave me a few pointer and oh boy that make the biggest difference! I start swimming and breathing... something I haven't done since I was a kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The instructor knew I was doing ok so she focused more on the other girls. I continued to partrice until the end of the session.

For once I feel like I have a chance to finish the ironman!!!

Here is a clip I found about the Aquatic Center

Bye Bye Camera

My Canon SD 800IS is broken so it's time for a new one. The lifespan of my SD 800 is actually very very short (almost 2 years). BUT, I took it everywhere and I took a lot of pictures (maybe 40GB?). I went to Mt Shasta, Mt Whitney, Japan, Hong Kong, and numerous places. I was amazed at how the camera still works after the case crack open.

Case is cracked on my old camera

Every scar has a story

I looked around and decided to get the Canon SD 990IS or the Canon SD 880IS. I ended up getting the SD 990 at the Alhambra Costco because that's what they have. When I got home, I realized the lady gave me the wrong camera!!! She gave me Canon SD 890IS (old model) instead of 990. I made it back to Costco (10 minutes before they close) to get an exchange only to find out she gave me the wrong one again. I pointed out her mistake and she finally... finally gave me the right one.

So now you all know... CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT CAMERA!!!

Ash and Bike don't mix

The coach told us to take it easy today because of the ash but I did a bike ride anyway. I was fine during the ride but my throat was very dry after. Listen to the Coach I must!

P.S. I think my bike form got better. I was more stable with my core so that I can transfer more energy to the pedal.

Pool Shopping and books

I joined 24 hours fitness today so that I have a pool to swim. I did some drills. Still suck at it.

Also I got two swimming books several days ago. My coworkers and friends have been laughing about as they don't think a book will help. Here are covers of the two books.

Swimming, steps to success: I really like this book because it starts you off from the basic. It also has tons of diagrams and it tells you your likely mistake if you cannot do a certain drill!

This is a book recommended by my marathon teammate, I haven't really dig into it yet.

Well I know nothing beat getting lessons but I think books help. Hey they have pictures!!!

Running > Swimming

Training was good today. We did some running drills and I ran for 3.5 miles. I took a few pictures of my teammates and they were surprised to see me snapping pictures during the run.

Mentors bought breakfast after training. Thank you Mentors!!!

I did struggle during the run because I was sleepy, dehydrated, and tired from jumping around at the Polysics Concert. It's awesome that I get to see them in USA. (P.S.: My favorite band is still Go! Go! 7188)

Kayo is soo hot

So after the training, I went to my ex-coworker's wedding. It was Peter that took my resume to Kaiser (Thank you Peter!). I took a lot of pictures and I was having a lot of fun until.... I started dancing. Apparently the stupid MC has this game where each tables pick one person and have that person come out to the stage. I was like whatever. As it turn out the MJ wants us to do a dance battery (He should know that some people can't dance). Let me tell me, there are two things that I know I can't do. Swimming and Dancing... and I did both this week. OMG it was a disaster! If Doom (my mentor) found out about this, she may make me transfer cause she is like this amazing dancer!

New year resolution... learn how to dance!

So yes, I survived the swim and the dance *_*

After Thoughts

Am I going to quit? Heck no! Am I going to work hard to improve my swimming? You Bet!

I learned a lot from my first training. I haven't swim for maybe over 10 years and I think I need to start from the ground up.

I panic in the water. I need to take my time and relax.

I forgot how to breath so I need to focus on that. I actually practiced breathing on the way home and I think I did a pretty good job. Long exhale, short inhale, one after another.

I think part of the problem I have is that the way you breath when you swim is different than how I normally breath on hikes. When I hike my breathing is very short. Especially when you are high up in the mountain because there are less oxygen so naturally you breath more often. At sea level Oxygen Percent is around 20.9% But at 10,000ft (Mt Baldy, one of my favorite hike) we are talking about 14.2% And with peaks in the Sierra Nevada we are talking about stuff like 13000-14505 feet with 12.2%. Sometime I breath 2-3 times between steps... like the video below

Going up to Mt Shasta (14,179ft)... I was definitely breath fast

So for me, my instinct is to breath fast when I really need oxygen. But since I am in the water that cannot happen. As a result I panic, lose my form, and have to stand up to breath =P

Anyway, I am going to look for a pool to swim and I am also going to look at lessons outside of training just to get some extra coaching. Coach gave us some drills. But my main focus for now is to get comfortable with water and learn to breath. I am sure I can catch up with everything else.

I THOUGHT I KIND OF KNOW HOW TO SWIM... I WAS WRONG

So, today finally came. It's not one of those omg I am finally going on a vacation kind of day... it's omg I have a final today and I did not study kind of day. I was hoping that I get food poisoning so I don't have to go. Unfortunately I did not get food posioning so I head out from work at around 5:30pm.

It took me over 1 hour and 20 minutes to go from Pasadena to Culver City Municipal Plunge. Right then I know I have to endure 9 months of traffic! Not a bad thing because Tender Green and *cough* Honey's Kettle *cough* are 2 minutes away from the pool!!! Anyway there are 2 swim lessons. One at 7:00 pm and the second one at 7:45pm. I decided to attend the second one so that I can check out what people do. While a lot of teammates swim like a fish, there are also people who need improvement (eg me). I was amazed by how fast the fish people swim!!!

So after the first group are done, coach Paul summon us in a circle. He divided us in two groups so we can do different drills. The fish people start swimming laps. For the rest of us Paul want us to swim across to warm up before we start our actually drills.

So I started swimming freestyle (if you can call my freestyle) and I was like... hmm... not that bad. Then everything turn into hell when I need to breath. I find out I cannot breath. I try to exhale/inhale and I sink back to the water faster than I can breath. Since I try to get my head up high, my body sink a lot when my head get back to the water. Then I would need to paddle up to the surface, 'try' to breath, then sink. The cycle continues. By then it wasn't a matter do I look cool in the water, it's a matter of survive! Long story short I stand up a lot during the drill just to breath. I also took in some water and I splashed my teammates =P

I managed to stay with the drills for 45 minutes and I was very proud that I survived. After the training most of us went to a dive bar to drink, eat, and sing karaoke. Since I am not a drinker I left the bar and went to Tito's Taco with teammate Matt. The food is good!

Eye Exam X 90rpm

Today I went to get my eye exam today for contact. I am getting contact because I don't want to buy prescription swim goggle and I want to get a pair of cycling sunglasses without prescription. Just like swimming, this is one of the thing that I am not looking forward to because I just don't like touching my eyeball. By getting contact, I don't have to spend on prescription lens and I don't have that turn around time to fill my prescription.

3 eye doctor appointments =P

Beside the eye appointments, I also rode my bike for an hour with an average pedal speed of 90 rpm. I have been riding my bike for several months so I thought this will be easy. I set my bike computer to give me an alert every time my cadence (the number of revolutions of the crank per minute) go below 90rpm.

So I started my ride and I seem to have no problem with that. But I did notice a big different of how I pedal. What I realized is that my cadence for just riding regularly is actually kind of low... maybe around 60-80 and I think the ride is kind of smooth. But when I am doing 90 rpm I notice my legs doesn't usually go that fast so I have to put more effort into pedaling. Because I am making a lot of motion the ride feel bumpy. I knew I have some work to do because my pedaling technique is not right. Instead of transferring all the energy to the pedal, I am wasting energy because I am kind of bounding on the bike (I was riding so fast the motion put my body upward away from the saddle... thus I get that bumpy feeling).

While all these are going on my damn computer keep beeping because my cadence is too low. I am glad that thing beep so that I know I need to pedal faster. Well, one hour passed and I was tired. My butt hurt and the area between my legs hurt because of chafing (I pedal very fast thus a lot of rubbing)

cadence graph for my bike training

workoutlog.com

I got an email from Coach Paul about my training schedule website. Workoutlog.com is a website where coaches can upload your work load and you can respond by updating your workout. I think this is a good idea because you don't really want to log 'I ran 30 minutes today' when you didn't. It makes you want to work out =)

Check out the screen shot below. I told you I have training 6 days a week!

screen shot of workoutlog.com

Polysics Ticket + Swimming Goggle + Watch Return + 30 minutes Run

When you are in the marathon team the must have is a pair of good running shoe. When you are in a triathlon team, you need to have swimming goggle, swim suit, a bike, and good running shoe. Since I don't have goggle and swimming wear, I decided to get it today before my Thur Swim Practice at Culver City.

I went to Santa Anita mall and parked next Macy's. I went to Macy's gift department to purchase my Polysics Concert Ticket for Friday (Note: If you buy your tickets from Macy's you don't have to pay the order processing fee from ticketbastard)

I then went to Sport Chalet to check out swim goggles. Unlike most people who pick out a goggle based on the look and price, I actually took them out and try them on. Anyway I didn't want to go all crazy and opened unopened goggles so I only tried the one that has like a box where you can open them. Since Godfather Sean told me to get a goggle with clear lens I am limited to a few choice.

When I tried the first pair I was like... wow I am so Chinese because my eye were so small from the goggle being too tight! After a few try I picked up the a goggle from TYR (I thought they make cars =P )

I then went looking for a swimming short. So I was looking at 3 different types. Swim Short, Jammer (I didn't know they exist until I see them), and racer (what we normal people call speedo). Since I don't really know how to swim I picked up the short because I think speed isn't really that important as this point (plus I am doing my teammate a favor)

After the stressful goggle/short shopping I went to REI to return my GPS watch (I got a new one because one of the button from the old one doesn't work well).

And I finished the night with a 30 minutes light jog at the Almansor Park

Running with Godfather Sean

I ran 8.5 miles today just to get my some mileage in before the Pasadena Half Marathon. I got to the Rose Bowl at around 8:30 am. There were 5 of us today: Gail, Megan, Matt, Godfather Sean, and I. I know Godfather Sean from the new year run but I never actually run with him before. Erin was supposed to come but she did not show up.

While we were running Godfather Sean shared some of his vast experience to me and I definitely benefited from that! One day I will bug him to get me in the WB Tri Team =P

God Father Sean with WB Jersey (Picture taken during the Disneyland Half Marathon)

Tour De Foothill

I skipped my first training today and did the Tour De Foothill (50km ride with around 900ft of gain). When I was at the Long Beach Bike Ride I made a mistake of starting with the slow people because it was way too crowded!!! So this time I start off fast and race with the fastest group. The problem is... they were too fast for me... so after a while I lost them. Luckily there were coming up so I wasn't alone the hold time. This is an opened road race so there are cars driving along us. It took a bit to get used to but I gotten more comfortable as I ride along.

I finished in 2 hours (which is around 15 miles per hour). Not bad with those hills and stop lights.

It's good to see my good friend/ex coworker after the race.

Louis and Ferdin the ex coworker

When I got home I realized I have a flat. One of the sharp seed thing poke my tube! It's good cause I have an excuse to change the tube =P

Last Supper Week 'Kick Off'

As much as Coach Paul told me not to do anything this week, I leaded a hike to the Hollywood Sign
I did have thai food at Thai Patio after the hike =)

Season Kick Off!

When I got the email from the Ironteam's Campaign Manager I found out that we have 6 mentors and 5 of them are women. I thought to myself. Great, they can probably break me in half like a pencil. So I refer them as 'tough' women long before I even meet them.

So today I went to Team In Training Spring 2009 Kick Off and as I predicted, they all look tough. Just look at the coach. He can probably pick my arms off as if he is picking legs off a spider!

Tough Coach Paul

Anyway, Coach Paul told us to take it easy this week. Spend more time with family and don't exercise. I was like... wow, it's kind of like last supper. I will follow his advice for the coming week. Eat Eat Eat. I am calling it my last supper week.