Color Run by Color Vibe

Today is December 12th and the day before my first timed 5k run!! Kinda of nervous and scarred, to be honest I haven’t ran in 2 weeks and Im hoping that I wont kill myself to bad tomorrow. I know why I haven’t ran, its because I’ve been stressed over some things, and yes that is an excuse and those are not expectable. Thats not whats important, whats important is that I keep my head up, and instead of “running” from the stress I need to find a better way. 

So for those of you who don't know already I’ll be running a 5k color run at marine world (discovery kingdom) with the Color Vibe. The weather report says that the rain should stop around 7 am  which is when check in time is, so IF the weather report is correct then we should be good. I got an email from Color Vibe saying that the event is rain or shine, and Im totally ok with that. I set my mind to it and I am going to do it the rain wont hurt me just make me a bit heavier and make the run a bit harder but I got this. 

For those of you that are going to run with me or anyone that is interested in running I have some tips for you that helped me get better.

• Breathe; This is the most important thing, you want to maintain a nice steady breath.
• When you are breathing in pretend like your smelling flowers, nice steady full breath 
• When exhaling pretend that you have a birth cake in front of you an you are blowing out the candles. Never exhaling so hard you spit and making sure you get all the air out of your lungs 
• If you are breathing really heavy, where it almost seems like you can’t get enough air in your lungs then slow it down, 
• Running for distance: don’t push to hard till the end, after all the goal is to make it to the end not having the fast first mile.
• Make sure that you are at a pace that you can maintain for the whole run
• If you don’t know what that pace is (like I did when I first started running) then start at a decent pace and do a run/walk plan 
• Run for 3min and walk for 1
• during the walk if you are out of breathe then put your hand on your head and take two really deep breaths try not to exhale right away, then go to a regular breathing pattern 

Those are the biggest things when it come to running that helped me the most, granted the proper running form and technique are a great help. The breathing and pace are the building blocks needed to get into enough shape so that you can focus on run technique and form later. 

Super Hero training

Yesterday I was worried about what I had to do, I was more or less scared that I wasn't going to be bale to do my work out. It was raining so I had to go to my gym and run, instead of the water front in vallejo like I usually do. It had been way to long since Ive been to the gym, and let me tell you how awesome this place is. It has a swimming pool, hot tube, sauna,basketball court, and all the other stock gym machines and weights. It has everything that I could want or need, and now that I have lost the weight and doing things have become that much easier I cant wait to play on all the things that they have. I am most excited about basketball I feel like I have a fighting chance now that I’m smaller and have better cardio. I don't know how to explain it, I feel like my eyes are open to a whole new realm of possibilities.

Loosing weight is like training to become a super hero, you can run faster jump higher you become stronger. You start to build confidence to do anything things that you worried about in the past is no longer a concern. I would worry about so much all of it was weather or not I was being judged. I would worry about being judged at the gym “look at this fat guy, cant even run a mile under 14 min”, “he doesn’t know what he’s doing, look at him how could he know. Doesn’t look like he works out” is what I used to imagine people were saying in the back of there heads. I no longer do this, I think it was because I was unsure about what I should do. When I went to the gym in the past I never went with a sense of purpose when I was there. I would just move from one random machine to the next, never really working on cardio. Being at the gym yesterday non of that happened I had a sense o
f purpose at the gym. I was training to be a super hero.

A couple of things were different this time, one i had a mission and the only reason why i was there was to run. Two I knew what I was doing, I was going to run/walk 7 miles at what pace and  an idea of how long it would take. Three I made that gym my gym, no one else was there. The first two are about having the knowledge which is key to anything. We as a species fear the unknown, not knowing is the reason for negative thoughts and/or action by a human being. I didn't know what I was doing in the past and thats why negative thoughts, became afraid and was thinking about negative things. When I was at the gym this time I was afraid, but this time it was weather or not I could do the 7 miles. I knew how to do it, but I didn't know if I could, and the only way I was going to find out was to do it one step at a time. Being at the gym with out a trainer of any sort your not going to obtain the knowledge that you need. At that stage my time would have been better spent on research and not at the gym. 

I felt like batman, a man who once feared and who now uses fear as a tool in his utility belt. No longer afraid of what I used to be concurring that allowed me to become “Batman” just like it did for Bruce Wayne. If you think about it Batman is nothing more at the minimum a well trained human being. Other then him not being real and not having his money, why cant any of us the other human beings become Batman? Why cant we be well trained human beings? Any reason that you come up with is B.S. and I do mean any reason. I know of people in wheel chairs training for the olympics they are training to be Batman. So when are you going to start your super hero training?

P.S. Which super hero would you be if you had a choice of any hero dc or marvel? Ironically I would be the Green Lantern, with a full charge on his ring a lantern would stomp all over Batman. With out the ring (not a lantern) Batman would destroy him. Leave a comment below!!

My first 7 mile run can I do it?

Today I have to run 7 miles!! Man that just sounds crazy to me, I do know from last week’s long run I definitely need to pace myself at. I know how to run now and I’ve been doing runs in the past that I never thought I would be able to do, 7 miles still sounds crazy to me. So what do I do, how do I do this? Well it’s pretty simple, one step at a time. Sounds to simple but for me right now I've already done the training for it, so really I just HAVE to do it one step at a time.

So what are the steps before I run these 7 miles? The first one is getting your head right, you have to be at a point of wanting to do it and not needing to do. Their is a big difference between the two, we all have a list of things that we “need” to do  and never gets done. So having the need isn't enough you have to want it. For me it took me getting upset with where I let myself go. I was tiered of it, finding cloths that I like but don't fit, waking up and being aware of my body, being overly insecure (its a human trait, everyone is insecure one way or another)about myself, and the list goes on and on. Nothing could be done to address these issues that I had with myself other then me doing work and start working out. 

When I started I didn't know what I was doing other then the little bit that I had learned over the years. I took what I knew and put it to use, I wasn't worried about what I was going to do next or how long I was going to work out. The important thing is that I wanted it so bad that it didn't matter I just went out there and start doing something. Wanting it made it easier for me to push myself, made it easier to motivate myself not to quite. All of this is due to the fact that I truly want this, if I didn't want this then I would have never ran 2 miles, then 3 miles, then 5 miles, then another 5 miles, and then 4 miles. The 4 mile run was supposed to be a 6 mile run, I didn't make it because I pushed to hard in the beginning try to beat my 1st mile time and my 5k time. Thats what I learned from that, the long runs are not for breaking any other record of mine other then milage. 

After that First work out I went to the internet, looking for anything that I could find on loosing weight. Reading blogs and googling and googling, is all I did for about a week straight, then while I was cleaning my room I found the answer that I was looking for. It was in a free magazine that I got at a jambajuice years ago, It had in it a 12 week program teaching you how to run a Half Marathon. It was designed for beginners which I was and I started to fallow it kinda, I would guess-tamate what the milage was and I wasn't running as hard as I should have. All that changed when I hit up my buddy Cris explaining to him what I wanted to do and that I just needed his help as a workout buddy. Man did I pick the right guy he taught me things about running and breathing that I wouldn't have figured out on my own, and he used to be a big guy like me. So he really knows what its like to be a big guy and to loose it all and keep it off. Everyone isn’t going to have a friend like that they can run with or have been through what your going through. Thats where I come in hopefully my blog post help some of you and I turn into that friend for you. 

Javi's Secret Project

So some of you may have noticed me using this #javissecretproject, and my blogg title “Javi’s Secret Project” and you don’t know what it is. Well Its about me loosing weight, most of you are probably thinking thats not a big surprise. Its more then just me loosing the weight, its about me taking my life by the horns doing things that can’t be done by others. In other words its what I need to do today to have a better tomorrow. My goals today are to loose weight and doing anything that I can with film, thats what I want to do for the rest of my life, to tell stories and to be healthy. Those are my secret projects they are things that only I can do, no one can make me the next big thing in film, I have to do the work I have to create, to reach that point. Obviously the weight loss has to be done by me no one can lose the weight for me, they can lose weight while I lose weight but they cant run in my place. 

I have one more secret, I am going to take my two passions one new one (running/ healthy lifestyle), and two the old one (film/story telling) and combine them together into a film project. With the help of some like minded friends we are building our own production company and this is going to be our first film project. The goal of this project is to build a community of people doing the things that they are passionate about despite what life throws at them. This community is going to show the world that we being humans are capable of doing anything no matter how hard the path we can do it. This is how I hope to change the world for the better by opening peoples eyes to the possibilities of what this world has to offer and holding nothing back. 

In this project I am going to try and show that I am by no means perfect or even close to it. I am simply a human being and by definition I am imperfect, like all of you. One thing that I can guarantee for everyone out there no matter the Secret Project, all of us will fail. It’s okay to fail, thats something most people loose sight of. Failure can bring us so many good things such as, learning about faults that we weren't aware of prior, a new sense of purpose or drive, and it takes away the fear of failing. I want to be as open as possible I want all of you to see me fail, I want you to see me get back up and fight even harder. 

Together we can change the world, this is Javi’s Secret Project. 

P.S. Tell me about your “Secret Project” in the comments below. What is it, how do you hope to accomplish it?

A special thanks to all my friends

Vallejo Water Front, love running at sunset  

Before I started on this journey of becoming healthy, I was a mess and couldn’t do anything that I wanted, I wanted to do so much, but one day I decided that enough was enough and began to workout. Then I began to train for the half marathon, the half marathon is the one thing that will helped me the most. It takes care of so many things that I had problems with. I was self-conscious about my body and the stamina that I had not being able to run for more then 20 or 30 feet before I would get winded. Self confidence is the most important thing to have to be successful. More important then raw talent or a hunger for bigger and better things, it helps to have raw talent and to be hungry but it doesn't  guarantee anything. You can have either of those talent or hunger but if your not confident enough to take the first step then you will never start.

Theres Cris's helping me on a run

For a while there I didn't have confidence, I had this work out plan showing how to train for a half marathon for over two years. I wanted to do the training but I wasn't confident that one I could do it, and two I didn't want to look like this fat guy that couldn't do shit. The fat guy that started running and got winded almost as soon as he started running, that was the guy I was scared of looking like. Well I was that guy I had to realize that and except who I was and who I became, once I became ok with the skin that I was in I reached out to a friend.

I have a friend named Cris who once was a fellow fat guy, he was the friend that I reached out to. I knew that of any of my friends he was the one that could help me out the most, he lived through what I’m living through after all. I still didn't have the self confidence to run on my own, but I did have enough confidence to start working out in my backyard. This is what I did for a while taking what Cris thought me at Evolution Training Center(if your interested in a cardio class or learning a thing or two about Muay Thai hit these guys up here tell them Javi sent you) and doing the same thing in the backyard. I would do at least 12 rounds, I was loosing weight and and my cardio was getting better and better. As it stood I couldn't even keep up with the warmups at the gym and I knew that the work out could be so much better if I had better cardio. Not to mention I wanted to RUN!! I have never ran more then 20 feet, I didn't know what it felt like just to let your body go on the run. Just relaxing and taking each step at a pace above walking feeling the wind brush against my face the whole time that I ran. I wanted to experience that and come to find out for heavy set people like my self running is the best way to cut the fat. I hit Cris up again this time instead of asking him to show me a thing or two about Muay Thai I asked him to help me train for this half marathon. 

Great Group of people thanks for welcoming me to the family 

In the journeys that we take we no longer need to be alone, we all should have friends either in the physical world or the virtual world that are there and have our backs. This world is to big and we are way to connected for someone not to have a friend or a support group, you just have to look. Cris and Jon were not the only ones that have helped me get to the 20lbs weight loss and the major jump in my cardio. Adam and Nancy have been in my corner just as much as Cris and Jon have been. To be honest I don't think that I could have done this with out them, and all of my other friends at work, on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I know that I was the one that did the work, trust me I felt the pain that wasn't shared. All of my friends noticing my weight loss, I could see in their faces that they were happy for me. That me making myself better made them feel as good as it made me feel. 

This is why I am confident enough to write (never been the best writer, had always been a path with more resistance then I wanted) to go to the waterfront in vallejo and run on my own. Each every single one of my friends are a testament of my confidence, they helped build my confidence into a towering skyscraper. Like any good skyscraper once its built it no longer needs the contractor, it stands on its own, designed to take earthquakes and any other “bumps in the road”. 

Thanks to all My friends 

- Javi

Living with fear

Im sitting here at the island in my kitchen, the day after my first 5k run. I have ran the 3.11 miles in the past but never non stop. This time was different, I was wasn't running with a partner and I ran 2.86 miles and walked .25 miles. Never really thought that I would be able to run half a mile let alone 3. It feels good to prove myself wrong mentally and physically all though I am a little sore (just means I actually improved). I have always been my worst critic the one that has talked myself out of so many things. Its weird how we self sabotage sometimes, we want something new in our lives but for some reason when that new thing starts turning into a habit we do something to derail our train. I don't know the reason for everyone else's self sabotage, but mine is because I'm scared of failure. Im not alone in this fear, everyone has it we just handle it differently, some of us are able to use this as a muse and never look back. Other such as myself sees the task at hand and the amount of work and effort that has to go into and that scares use. What happens if I give it my all, I put in all this blood, sweat and tears and nothing comes of it?   The ironic thing is I want nothing more then for my wildest Dreams to come true, but my fear of failing prevents me form making them come true. I tell myself that Im not afraid to fail, that I actually welcome it, for a story with failure init can make some of the best stories out there. I may lie to myself about not being afraid, saying it out loud to friends and to myself or even in my head over and over again. It doesn't change anything lying to myself that is, I think the first thing is to become realistic with myself. Admitting that fear does lives with me everyday, it is a survival instinct after all its meant to put me on my toes. Making me ready to fight or to take flight, in this moment I should harness the fear like a super hero does his power and use it to rescue me from my mediocre life. It works!! Ive used this fear to motivate me forward in the direction that I want to take. The first thing was working out on a regular basses starting the journey of a healthy life. I was afraid of attempting to lose weight again, because if I fail at this it means my life. That fear turned into jet fuel for my rockets, its propelled me to run, then to run even faster, and to push when I say I have no more. I used to hate the days after a good work out, those days were some of the sorest days I have ever had. Now, for one I don't get any where as sore as I used to get and if I'm not sore enough then I know that I need to push even harder next time. I love the pain the next day because it really isn't the type  pain that distracts you it just simply there to remind you that you had a successful day yesterday.