March 29th, 2009 — Uncategorized
I can’t believe it myself. I beat my target time and finished the Marathon without a hitch.
This was my first Marathon and my second race in general since I did a 5K before I decided to run the Marathon. Given that I’ve been a runner for less than a year, I can’t be happier with my results.
The experience was amazing, the course is very beautiful and the cheering was really encouraging. I think I’ve fallen for running, real bad. Can’t wait to run my next one and run in different places.
Seeing my family get excited along the way was beyond description. Unfortunately they didn’t make it in time for the finish line but just thinking they would be there helped a lot.
This Marathon is very hilly, one of the those with most elevation changes in the US. Yes, more than NY or Boston and I really felt it, specially because there are many long hills along the last miles. It did affected my pace substantially so I’m hopeful that I can make a better time at a flatter course.
Getting there. Woke up at 5 am.
Along the way…
The results:
Average Pace 8:19,
10K: 50:43,
Half: 1:45:40,
20 Miles: 2:43:06,
Marathon: 3:38:10
Trying to steer away from getting too cheesy, this is my Oscar speech part:
I thank Valois, José Espinel and Franco who got me on this “doing a Marathon” thing.
To Titi whose support really made this possible in many respects. To my kids, both for inspiring me as for passing time without me while I trained.
To my parents and sister for always believing in me, always supporting me and always being there, even if some couldn’t physically be.
To Meme, for teaching me so many things, specially about enduring, which is what this race is all about.
To the rest of my family and to my friends for your friendships.
Nuf Said
March 25th, 2009 — Uncategorized
I’m getting ready for the Atlanta ING Marathon which will be run on Sunday the 29th of March (this coming Sunday).
If you want to show up and cheer me up along the way, here are some tips on how to follow my progress and when I may be in the different cheering locations along the track.
The Marathon starts at 7 am sharp at the Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta.
This is the course of the Marathon (2009 Route Map and Street List ):
There is some official Race Day Information here
“The Cheering Zone will supply plenty of inflatable noisemakers and “Go Runners!” signs. All you do is provide the enthusiasm and NOISE!
ING Cheering Zone- Marietta Street – the exciting final mile of the race!
Following the Runners Along the Course
Friends and family members of ING Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon participants are encouraged to use MARTA, Atlanta’s rapid transit system, to follow and support along the course. Several key MARTA stations fall along the route of the ING Georgia Marathon to include Five Points, MLK Memorial, Inman Park/Reynoldstown, East Lake, Decatur, Midtown, North Avenue, and Peachtree Center stations. MARTA Breeze cards will be available for purchase at the ING Georgia Marathon Health & Fitness Expo. For more information on MARTA, visit www.itsmarta.com.”
This is a close up of the Start/Finish area:
I’m hoping to finish the marathon around 11 am if all goes well. My expected average pace should be 8:22 minutes per mile, which should help you calculate where I may be along the course.
If things go according to plan, I may be around these times at these key locations (Download PDF):
If I’m not there at these times, things are either turning out too good to be true or not as good as planned…
You can find out where I’m at by tracking me live through this website.
Any positive energy is always welcome.
November 2nd, 2008 — Uncategorized
I’ve managed to be at a fit level I never could have hoped to achieve. I’m feeling better than ever and I’ve stopped “dieting” to loose weight. I now eat many more calories but I still do count them daily and also I continue to exercise strongly.
The hardest part, according to many, is keeping the weight off. Some studies show that the great majority of people who loose a lot of weight, gain it all back and even end up worse than when they started. Well, I’m determined to prevent that from happening to me. That’s why I keep setting goals to myself. The only difference is that now my goals are not really related to weight but to athletic fitness.
Setting goals makes it more interesting and challenging. That’s pretty much the way I said to myself in January that I would loose weight, now I’ve made the decision to start competing in running and biking events. Thus I will start training for the Atlanta Marathon in March. Let’s see how I do. 
So, where am I now?
My weight oscillates between 152 and 155 and that’s where I want to stay. Nevertheless, my body is still changing. I guess I’m loosing fat and gaining muscle weight because my waist keeps getting smaller. When I started this effort I was wearing pants size 36 and now I’m wearing 30 loosely, I even have some pants size 29 that fit perfectly. Even my shoes have changed half a size.
I’m now exercising every day, even if only doing pushups, I do something. My routine is to do a couple of days of strength training and the rest aerobic, either mountain biking or running. Last time I ran I did 7.8 miles in 50 minutes, which is not bad at all but for the marathon I would have to be able to sustain that much longer, maybe around 4 hours for the full marathon.
You can check my status at Gyminee.com in my profile page.
Here is a snapshot of today’s numbers:
July 26th, 2008 — Uncategorized
I’ve always been kind of chubby, except when I was a young kid around 7 when I was thin. But since I moved to the US, my weight started to increase. By last december I was as fat as I’ve ever been and I started really feeling bad about it. I had Vanessa and Patrick was on the oven. I began to worry about my overall health and how long I would last for my children. I never really worried about that but now more than ever I remembered Meme who always said she never wanted to be a burden to her children.
I knew that the beginning of the year would be light in work, mostly because I wouldn’t be able to travel on the month’s around Patrick’s birth and INNOVATION probably wouldn’t assign me a bid project until he was born. It was the perfect time to do something about my health. No more excuses, I had the time and the motivation to change.
Thus, when I returned to Atlanta in January I weighted myself to a hefty 216 pounds and vowed I would never be fat again. And thus my journey began.
I decided to take a simple strategy. Take it easy at the beginning and increase the effort as I progressed. My initial diet was very simple and easy to follow. Just reduce portions. Eat everything I wanted but in smaller quantities. The other goal was to exercise daily, even if it was a little. The pounds started to drop.
As motivation I decided that every 5 pounds lost I would take a reward. The reward wasn’t triggered when I reached the weight marker but when I spent more than a week below the marker. Thus I would go out, eat whatever I wanted that day and resume my regimen.
I used Gyminee.com to track my exercise. Bought a Polar and rode mountain bicycle as much as possible. At the beginning I would also do elliptical machine at home while watching a movie or playing XBox. I was a fun way to get used to the habit of exercising, which is key to the whole process.
Everyone knows the first few pounds are the easiest. True. It got harder as I progressed, thus I had to increase the regimen. At one of the plateaus, I decided to start counting calories. Gyminee.com allows you to track what you eat and also gives you calorie intake goals depending on your current condition and your objectives. This has required the highest discipline since it’s really difficult to track what you eat, specially when you have to go to a restaurant and can’t measure portions. Ironically, its easier to control calories when you eat at fast food places because you know exactly how many calories you are eating and if you pick smart, there are good alternatives.
The most important part about counting calories is that if you are disciplined and don’t fool yourself (a lot of people do), you learn to eat less and make the right choices. Every calorie counts so those you make fun of people who eat the Big Mac but drink Diet Coke should think again. That Diet Coke could be saving you as many calories as eating half the fries…
My exercise goal for the whole period (January up until now) has been to burn 1000 calories per day. That is a lot, specially as one progresses. At the beginning it was very easy, one loop on the bike at Big Creek would take me near an hour and I would burn nearly 1000 calories. Now, since I’m lighter and in a better shape, I have to make 2.2 loops in order to burn 1000 calories. I had to adjust my Polar every 5 pounds lost so that the calorie consumption calculations were precise.
My goals also progressed. My first goal (set in January) was to get down to 180 pounds. When I got there I decided to get down to 170 and when I got there my doctor told me that I would be better off around 155-170. Thus my final goal was set at 160 pounds.
Using the Tanita from the beginning I would weigh myself and calculate BMI a few times a day but I only recorded in Gyminee the weight I took as soon as I woke up. Thus all the points in the chart are taken at the same time. Measuring myself often helped signal changes in patterns and make adjustments as I progressed.
When I reached 170 pounds I also added a goal of Body Fat Index, which is the measure that really matters. When I started, which I regret I didn’t track from the beginning, I was at about 40%. Healthy would be below 25% and athletic would be below 19% for men. My final goal is 17%, which I’ve reached recently.
When I left to Caracas I had passed the 160 pound marker but didn’t know what would happen during the trip. So, on my return I was expecting that I’ve recovered some weight. Its a good thing that I controlled myself and even though it was hard to estimate caloric content for most things I ate, it seems that I did a good job and despite not beign able to exercise more, I managed to sustain the weight I left with.
Turns out today I weighted 159 pounds, which means I’ve triggered my final reward. Thus I’m getting my BMW. NOT!
I guess it will be Fogo de Chao again.
What happens now?
I don’t want to loose more weight, in fact I may gain some in muscle. Now my goal is to keep the 17% Body Fat Index and improve my upper body muscles. Since I did mostly Mountain Biking, I’m a bit unbalanced muscle wise.
I will replace aerobic exercise with strength training and follow a combined workout with a lower calorie burn goal per aerobic session.
In terms of diet, I will keep tracking my consumption. This is the only way for the pounds not to return. I may be less strict about precision. At least while I don’t gain weight. I’m also switching to a maintenance diet which means I can eat more calories per day.
Worst case scenario, I can resume my intensity get rid of whatever I loose. It should be easy as long as I keep track of everything. The mistake is to let pounds come back and do nothing about it.
That was then, this is now. And that is that.
June 14th, 2008 — Uncategorized
I was invited to the Advisory Board of Full Sail University in Orlando. I’m incredibly impressed with this university. There is nothing like it in the US and maybe even the world. There may be equivalent or better facilities in other universities or training centers but none that encompasses so many disciplines and with such cutting edge level.
Just to give you an idea of the progressiveness of this school, EVERY student gets a pre-loaded Mac Book Pro when they enter.
Here is a video tour:
[flv:/video/FullSail-S.flv 480 360]
Here are some pictures from my trip. Makes you want to go back to school!!
Full Sail are incredible hosts, they put me at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, which is recognized not only by the celebrities that stay there but by the incredible art collection. It even has a gallery inside the hotel.
Amanda Watlington and Nell Thompson at the welcome dinner
More industry experts and Full Sail staff at the dinner. Al (to the left) has more than 30 years as a music industry lawyer.
Very good Surf & Turf
With my friend Luis Emiro Garcia
Tim thought it was unfair that I never appear in the pictures
Luis Emiro at the dinner
Venezuelan artist Marianne Lerbs was coincidentally exhibited at the floor I stayed in at the Grand Bohemian
My place at the board room
They gave us a tour of the facilities, this is a shot at a class on Computer Animation theory
Electric cars to go around campus
One of the computer animation labs. This one is in session and is all Mac based. They are learning Shake now.
The studio backlot
The students build their own sets and record their own programs
Broadcast quality High Definition production studio.
Music recording class in session with a Grammy award winning professor
Theater for surround sound mixing and video editing on a large scale.
Green screen studio
Motion Capture studio. The red spots (lights) are actually infrared cameras to capture the actor’s movements
The Backlot has its own Jumbotron to exhibit studen’ts work, play movies, concerts and internal messages.
Everyone’s office at Full Sail is a collection of memorabilia, toys and interesting stuff. This is Nell Thompson’s collection.
February 1st, 2008 — Uncategorized
Yesterday I gave a presentation at the American Press Institute in Washington DC as part of the seminar the 24/7 Newsroom. I spoke about the newsroom of the future. It went very well.
When compared to last year’s seminar, I was surprised to see the audience with Macs on a 2:1 ratio. Go Apple!
October 26th, 2007 — Uncategorized
