2008 in Review

2008 has definitely been a great year. As the year comes to a close, here are some highlights of 2008.

- Rang in the New Year in Oregon with family and then went snowshoeing around Mt Hood on Jan 1st 2008.

- Traveled to Australia with 2 middle school friends whom I’ve not seen since middle school. Highlights of the trip includes: The Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, and Uluru.

- Attended a high school friend’s wedding back in Hong Kong.
- Went to my first SF Pillow Fight!

- Trained and completed Wildflower Triathlon, San Jose International Triathlon, and Vineman 70.3.

- Portland Red Bull Flugtag!

- Had a chance to meet Michellie Jones, silver medalist in the 2000 Sydney Olympics Women’s Triathlon

- Finally got certified in Scuba Diving with PADI: Open Water & Advanced Open Water.

- Signed up for Iron Team and now training to complete my first IRONMAN.

Photos from 2008 can be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/njunaphum.
Here’s to a great year and looking forward to 2009! Cheers!

ATHLETE

I recently came across poster for a documentary called ATHLETE. The documentary examines the growing popularity of endurance sport, featuring a diverse group of individuals who are redefining what it means to be an “athlete”. The movie will feature two cancer survivors among the cast. One diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and the other with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. What makes it more exciting is that both are also members of Team In Training! I will give a full review once I watch it. For now check out the official website!

http://athletemovie.com/Athlete_Movie_Web_Site.html

Cool Runnings

My new running shoe feels oh so good! It was definitely long overdue, since I’ve had my old pair for over a year. I am now a proud owner of the new Asics 2140


Remember to replace your running shoes after about 300-400 miles!

Kick-Off Weekend

Saturday was the official kick-off for Ironteam. We had a chance to meet our coaches for the season, went over the training schedule for the next few months and just talked about the season in general. I am definitely excited about the season, but I am also concern about how this whole Ironman training is going to suck the life out of me. After Iron University where we went over swim drills, bike equipments, and run skill, we had our first workout. It was an hour of butt kicking core workout! After about 60 crunches, my abs were definitely not happy with me.

Sunday was a bike workout and calls for Hill Repeats. Hill Repeats is exactly what it sounds like. Find a road that has a steady incline, ride up, come back down, and do it again. So Mike K, Kristie, Helen and I met up at Sunol and headed out towards Calaveras for our hill climb. The last time I was on my bike was back in September, so I was taking it easy riding up the hill and getting my leg muscles use to riding again. My legs held up pretty well, it was other areas that were having problems. After about 3 miles of uphill, I had to get out of the saddle as that general area was getting numb. “It ain’t fun when your junk in numb “ as Mike puts it. After 22 miles and 2 hill climbs, it was definitely numb down there. Always a great way to start a season!

The Journey Begins

It's official! I signed up to do IRONMAN Louisville on August 30th, 2009 with Team in Training! And of course I'm fundraising as it wouldn't be the same without TNT.

I will periodically update this blog throughout the season so you can tell me how crazy I am. Training doesn't start til November 8th, so I will be back with more update then.

Cheers!