Get Moving!

I didn't write too much about my last race because quite frankly I was a little embarassed. Let's face it, for me, it was a dismal performance. Since then I had only ran once until today! This is coming from a kid who ran 4-5 days a week. Twice in 2 weeks = not cool.

In the last few days my body has felt like it needed something. Perhaps a kick in the....well, this is a kids program. Today my buddy Dave and I pulled out a 7 miler at a 8:16 pace. It was a hard effort. From a scale 1-10, during the first half of the run, I'd put it at a 9.5. It was not pretty. I was relieved to reach the 3.5 mile turnaround.

When did running get so hard? It wasn't nearly this hard just a few months ago. I ran a 1:37 half marathon in mid October. Does one really fall of the wagon that quickly? YES! Maybe it was the 14 mile bike ride two days ago?...nah. No excuses. Running right now is not fun because I've stopped doing it consistently in the last few months.

That's with anything in life. When you have momentum, keep going. Don't stop. It starts with a simple excuse....I don't feel good today, I'll run tomorrow....Ah, I'm tired, I'll go later...I don't feel like it right now. NO! STOP! Put an end to excuses! The buck stops here! With running, it stops with me! No more skipping out on runs, no excuses, even if it's a few miles. It's better than nothing. No more skipping out on boxing (yes I box, but Kelli is much better at it than I am!). 3-4 days a week of 45 minutes of pure insanity is all it takes for boxing. No excuses!

If you're chasing your dream, you know what you need to do. Don't put it off. It's easy to not do anything. It's easy to quit. That's why most peolpe do. Write Make yourself accountable to someone.

Well, this post is making me accountable for running. I will run when I have to. No excuses! Race times will reveal the truth...

It's A Love/Hate Thing

Guess what I made?! Sauerkraut aka Cabbage Kraut! Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. Fermentation is just converting carbohydrates into alcohol or better defined, converting sugars into ethanol.

I did this by shredding a head of cabbage, 1t salt per 10C of shreds, massaged it for a loooong time until I created a lot of juice, added unknown amounts of cracked black peppercorn, bay leaves and dill, then finally put it into a bowl to ferment. I used the outer leaves of the cabbage to create an air tight fit over the kraut. I pressed a small flat bowl over the center to really get the kraut deep into its juices. To keep it all in place, I filled up a quart Mason jar with water and placed it in the bowl, again assuring the kraut was in its juices. I laid a tea towel over the whole batch and set it on the lower portion of our bookshelf. I let it sit for 5 days....

Depending on temperature, it can take 3-14 days. I was just too excited so I to test it out. Good thing I did! This sucker was going dry!!!! Another day or two I'd be eating cabbage leather. We did have a couple warm days this week (75F) so I'm sure that didn't help. Next time I think I will juice some cabbage in my Green Star then add it to the massaged bunch. That will ensure it won't dry out. I also don't think I had the cabbage leaves tight enough around the kraut. This was a given when I noticed the edges curling up :-P.

Sauerkraut has a ton of Vitamin C (when it's not pasteurized or heated) as well as our friend the lactobacilli bacteria (if fermented correctly). There's actually 3 phases of the fermentation. A different bacteria takes over in each phase, lactobacilli being the last. For those concerned about pH level, it is on the acidic side. I wish I knew where abouts but maybe you can comment with the answer :). If you are sensitive to acidic foods, just eat a little at a time.

You're supposed to keep the kraut in an "anaerobic" environment. This is where I begin to compare cabbage kraut with running. What???...Cabbage and running???

I'm a runner and athletes hear a lot about "anaerobic" and "aerobic" exercise. You might find this at the gym on cardio machines. Well, to put it simple, anaerobic means "without air". When you're sprinting to the finish line and you can barely breathe, you're running in the anaerobic zone which is almost to your VO2 Max (Volume of Oxygen). You're essentially out of air. Then again, when it's the finish line, all adrenaline takes over and it's an out of body experience. Before you know it, you're 8" off the ground in a full sprint, one that even 100m World Record Holder Usain Bolt would be proud of.

With me, running is a love/hate thing. You can train all you want, but yet, come race day it's a hit or miss. Kind of like making kraut...sometimes it turns out great, sometimes, not so much. Though, it's a definite miss if you don't train at all lol. I've learned that the hard way. I have a race coming up on Super Bowl Sunday. It's my 3rd Surf City 1/2 Marathon in a row and 4th out of 5. It was my first ever race 5 years ago. Pretty crazy to think that I've been sort of running that long. Thanks Dave! The goal for the race?...unknown. Ideally a sub 1:40...but I'm not sure if I want to exert that kind of energy when the real race is March 21st, the L.A. Marathon :).

Running is just one of those things that I hate when I'm doing it but I love it when I'm done. I hate the thought of running but I love the way it makes me feel when I'm done. Race day numbers seems to always be better than expected, when you train properly. I guess that's the point of it. Work hard for 2-3 months and it pays off. That's a good philosophy with anything in life.

Enjoy life! Eat well. Work hard. Exercise. Love life!

So Exciting!

My first blog ever. I consider myself a "techie", yet I've resisted specific social network-ish movements throughout the past few years, blogging being one of them. Why now?...I feel I have information to share. I feel inspired by life. I hear the voices, I read the signs, the time is now.

So what's this blog site about? Raw food. Health. Those are statements. Yes, plain and simple statements but in depth, they're complicated. I'm inspired to spread the message in a way that people will "get it". I can't change people's minds, only they can do that on their own. I can only lead them to the water per se.

A little about me
I have the most beautiful soon to be wife anyone could ever have, Kelli :). She pushes me because she believes in me. She inspires me. Every day I wake up, I want to be a better man than I was the day before, all for her. If it weren't for her and God, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I grew up in a city called Waterbury located in the beautiful state of Connecticut. I graduated college in 2003 from the University of New Haven with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. In 2005 I followed a dream. The dream that began in 1998 eventually led me to Los Angeles, California. When something is in your head and you can't get it out of your mind....when you just know its right...you'd do anything for it.....well that's how I felt about moving to California. I searched and searched and searched for a job here. Years went by before I got my chance. The day of my interview was also the first day I had ever visited California. I felt at home. Three weeks later my car was packed and I was driving cross country with my college buddy Jeff.

I grew up as an athletic child and was fairly health conscious before moving to California. It was only fitting that I continued my exercising in sunny SoCal! That's where I began running with a colleague, now my best friend, Dave. We've ran over a dozen 1/2 Marathon races together. He's done a few marathons in which I've chickened out on.

I was always looking for ways to improve my health and that lead to my raw food journey. Being aware of my body's needs, a couple of months into dating Kelli, she wanted to do a cleanse. I was all for it! If it were a Draft, I'd be the first in line! During our 10-Day Master Cleanse, she mentioned that if we were cleansing our bodies, it only makes sense to replace it with raw organic foods. You know that look on your face when you bite into a lemon?...yea well...that was me. I thought this cleansing thing had taken a chunk out of her cerebral cortex, buuuuuut, since I'd do anything for her, I had to support her. We were/are a team. Plus it made sense. I'm wired like an engineer. It was sound and logical. A week later after attempting recipes, I knew this was it! This was what I wanted to do. I loved the creativity of converting a cooked recipe to a raw version while capturing all of the health benefits! The dream began. It's not easy leaving an engineering job to pursuit a career in raw food culinary arts but it was all I could think of. Sixteen months went by before I got my chance.

I graduated from the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute (www.rawfoodchef.com) as an Associate Chef and Instructor.

So the journey begins, one blog, one recipe, one life at a time.