Friday, November 25, 2011

Some not so smart things that worked out well

Did not have my JCC card and they were going to charge me $5 for a replacement. Asked for a temporary card as I am sure it was in my laptop bag.
Went to the same locker that I always used and it turned out my card was in my locker. 

The next not so smart thing was my run. Sometimes If I get to the run area early I put in a couple of miles but I was far early and I put in 9 miles. 
Someone mentioned being able to run a half and I decided to run an additional four miles to round it to 13 miles on a Tuesday afternoon but it was hard to keep up with all of those that had not thought it was a good idea to run 9 miles before running so I went off and blazed my own path. 
One of my friends not knowing this was the plan was asking where I was off to (Askew Grill) and some people were concerned. 
I did not eat anything during my impromptu half marathon (that got me over 100 miles for the month and 1300 miles for 2011) so it was not a great idea. 

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 12:54 AM 0 comments

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Yesterday was a damn good day even if I lost a windshield wiper

As the subject suggests, yesterday was a damn good day. 

Woke up and made the decision to let go of some nonsense issues that had been bugging me. 

Drove into the first session of the training program, weather was perfect, sunny, little chilly, everyone else was complaining about temperature but me. 
Every session starts with a timed two mile run to calibrate. Felt good, cardio, legs felt strong. Somehow I made it to turn around at 8:03 and finished at 16:15 which was the fast two miles I have run since 1988. 
Was elated, all of the shitty runs in the rain, all of the little things paid off.

Was in a really great mood. Made my way to the Ranch Opposite of Fred of Lombardi's where they had IPA's. 

With old friends and new made our way to Nicks Crispy Taco and then the Buccaner, Molly Stones, Boom Boom Room and the Brunos. 
Also a foam roller was purchased. 

Recorded the podcast and then had the best Turkey in the history of the world. 

Walked back to the Marcusmobile and then on the way to Daly City but then one of the wipers fell off. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Current Open Positions

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posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 5:50 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Run and Korean BBQ, good Tuesday, random thoughts...

Had a really nice run around the Lake. Had good company and a nice sunset. My favorite time of day is dusk. 
At 1269 for the year which is 102 miles from my stretch goal of 1372 which is my total of 2009 and 2010 combined. 
Making running conducive is key. I remember a teammate from Oxon Hill said, "the hardest part of running is putting on your shoes" 

Made me think how I got into running for the first time. Was at a wrestling camp which I hated and one day, we all had to do a run. I was (and still) would never consider myself fast or quick but was able to finish before 80% of everybody. The next season I started running with the cross country team and my wrestling career ended. Ran last three years of high school and my biggest regret is not continuing to run. 
Ran on occasion as other things became more important. Those things (Dotcom parties, Happy Hours) did not have a good ROI. 
Would run for a few weeks prior to Bay to Breakers and it took a lot to run it. 

A friend of mine's wife had started a walking program in her community, which got me a pedometer. 
A year later I got a job at Google and I knew I had to do something, as they feed you breakfast lunch and dinner. 
Got an iPod nano and have covered over 4100 miles. Goal is 12400 miles before 2020. 


Thinking towards next year, thinking about finally running a full marathon(s) which would be the San Francisco full and perhaps the Marine Corp Marathon. 

After the run went to Japantown for Korean food. Turns out they have a K Town in Korea. 
All you can eat and they service with a button. 


posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 2:08 PM 0 comments

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Yesterday was fun because of 11/15/1988


Before the Mortified show I was nervous.
At some time I heard George Foreman mention that he was always nervous before fights. Try to channel it. 
The audience was amazingly receptive. People asked if I recorded any of the songs, I could imagine recording them with the Decemberist like Brian Wilson. 

Going to Jupiter was fun and the BART ride was even entertaining. 



--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Current Open Positions

Twitter

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 6:36 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Thoughts on the whole Penn State situation

I have been getting a few questions about the whole situation with Joe Paterno and Penn State.
First off it bums me out to no end. 

Watching the coverage with video from State College made me wish I missed this news cycle. 

I think that Penn State made the right decision to fire Joe Paterno and I would not envy having to make the decision. 
Sometimes doing the right thing is unpopular and incredibally difficult but still the right thing to do.
I am pretty sure Joe Paterno feels it was the right thing. 


posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 9:34 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 07, 2011

US Half Chewbacca

First off listen to the podcast

Yesterday ran the USHalf which I have done each year since 2007 (when it was my first half marathon) 
Was annoyed they sell themselves as being a "green" race BUT forced everyone to make a separate trip into the city to pick up their race numbers BUT did not have the shirts. Genius.

Last year it rained and Saturday night the rain was coming down like a Taylor Dayne video. 
Sunday morning was the time change so I kept on having to do calculations in my head about what time I had to get up, drive into the city, park, stand around etc.

I hate waking up early but I do like driving on the deserted highway into the city. Drove past the urban camping.

Turned out you needed to bring a bag because the USHalf is "going green" BUT you still needed to drive into the city to pick up your bib. 
Stuffed my sweatshirt into a fence at the start line. 

Spoke to people who had come from West Virginia and Romania. 

The race went well until the bottlenecks on the Golden Gate Bridge. (3x). We ran up into the Marin Headlands and the song, We Built this City came on as I was entering the bridge. 

Finished it in 2:22 which was my 2nd best half marathon time. Was happy with it considering the hills and bottlenecks.
Did not get a medal at the end and felt like Chewbacca at the end of Star Wars Episode IV. I am going to give my drawer full of medals to medals for mettle. 

Walked back to the Marcusmobile and I was happy that Kickball was cancelled so went to the JCC for foam rolling and then to Trader Joes. 

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 7:26 AM 0 comments

Saturday, November 05, 2011

USHalf tomorrow

Tomorrow I am running the USHalf so I am not going Ice Skating on the edge of buildings today.
Overall, today will be a mellow low key day, I may buy a bunch of peanut butter (crunchy), may even try to corner the market. 

Will be going into the city (Sports Basement) to pick up my number. I always like it when races mail you the damn thing, I do not care about the booth offering weird gels. 
Afterwards will be having Pho in the Richmond. 

A low key day. Watched the Trip on Netflix instant. Between Netflix, Hulu and reading stuff on my Kindle, I realize that afterwards I have to rate everything and in a (very) small way I am having an impact on these people that are far more talented than myself (like the guy who wrote Warren Piece, an interesting book) 
Same thing goes for Yelp reviews, sometimes they are helpful, sometimes they are just whiny, in fact most are whiny, except for mine when I am reviewing a gas station without hoses that reach to both sides. 

Glad the weather has gotten a bit colder as I do not run well when it is hot. 

On another note, listen to the podcast

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 11:24 AM 0 comments