Steve's Sports/Outdoors/Travel Blog

Payperpost V4.0

2009-08-21T13:09:00.002-05:00

I just found out that Payperpost has a new version 4.0, I wonder how much different or better it's become since my days of using the old version. Here's a link if anyone wants to check it out PayPerPost v4.0. Who knows maybe you can earn some $$ blogging.

Later!

-Steve

Relaxing at home

2009-08-21T13:07:00.002-05:00

Today is a quiet relaxing day, I'm pretty bored and waiting for a computer part and I need to go downtown later.

At least I managed to get an hour tempo run in, it was sweet, it was 60mins for about 9.5 miles, not too shabby for someone getting back into shape.

Alright I gotta figure out something to do.

Renting vs owning a house

2009-08-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

Since I'm back in Montreal, I've decided not to move back into my parents house and find an apartment downtown. I know in Montreal they aren't big about having large corporations manage tons of properties but back when I was in the United States for school there were many of these companies. I just saw a link about Real Property Management and they seem like a decent company to be your landlord. I don't know I don't like mine and he's just a small guy, but maybe having a bigger company with rules and people accountable might help. If anyone's looking for properties in the US take a look at what they have.

Alright back to work, more later,

-Steve

Time to bring this blog back?

2009-08-19T15:32:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting at home on this hot Montreal day and I'm thinking of bringing back my old blogs, there are a bunch of blogging sites out there, I'm still part of Payperpost and some others, and I figure if I'm not going to earn tons of cash at work might as well do something with the free time I'll have this semester.

If anyone has any other suggestions fire away!

Travel Insurance

2008-01-03T20:06:00.000-05:00

While I was traveling during the Christmas break I was offered traveler's insurance by my airline. I declined since I had insurance in Canada and the US (I'm lucky in that regard) but it made me think a little bit. Having traveled to China, Europe and other far off places, I know that the need for insurance is great, but how many people really pick up the option to get traveler's insurance when they buy their tickets?

That's why grabbing a small insurance policy, even one that's as little as $1 a day while you're away, can be a lifesaver. It can cover things like medical emergencies in a country, emergency evacuation, a doctor's visit, and etc. Click here for a FREE Quote and check how much it is for you, I'm sure it's worth it to save yourself from the medical bills in the end.

Enjoy the new year guys, happy trails!

-Steve

Very good video on Africa

2007-12-10T23:07:00.000-05:00

I saw this video on Africa, specifically on Lagos, Nigeria, and since I haven't posted anything on my blogs in a while I figured someone might enjoy it. Not to spoil the video but it's on one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the world, it's really worth the 15 mins to take a look.

Enjoy and hopefully post a comment,

-Steve

TheNewsRoom.com - Bring news to your site and earn cash for linking to content!

2007-06-12T00:40:00.000-05:00

I loved blogging about sports, but the thing that's missing with blogging is that sometimes it's too much "talking" and not enough demonstration, so to speak. Wouldn't it be great to link to a news story you're talking about, or post a video on a sporting event you're talking about, so that people reading your blog can catch up to speed? Imagine posting news like that and being able to earn money from the views you get from the people visiting your site?

At The News Room you can embed or mashup video from major press agencies like The Associated Press or Reuters and earn while doing so. The news can be on anything from Technology (great for my other blog) to Sports (see an example down below). It's really easy to embed videos, as you can see from the video below on the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, which Ottawa lost I might add, pretty much anyone can do it. It's simple and you can earn up to $4 per thousand impressions (CPM) for visits on your site. Sounds like a great idea, get views to your site, provide news to accompany it, and earn some cash on the side.

I'm hoping to use them more often with related news, so check out the video below and of course let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,
-Steve

Personal Training

2007-06-11T23:33:00.000-05:00

Today I was working out with my roomate's boyfriend, who is a friend of mine from my days at LIU as well, and I'm just thinking about it since I've never had a personal trainer work out with me apart from a coach.

I'm pretty knowledgable since I've gotten a degree in Athletic Training and Sports Sciences, and since I've lifted for a very long time, over 11 years, but still have never had a person pretty much one-on-one workout with me. It's a new feeling but it's pretty cool. I do the same thing for other people, when I take them to the gym, or when I write a program down, but it's cool being on the other side for once.

Anyone have any thoughts on personal training, I can go on and on but I'm thinking of a more abstract point of view right now, but as per usual, comment away!

-Steve

Random thoughts : Religion and Faith

2007-06-01T17:34:00.000-05:00

I don't know about most of you guys but I'm not a very religious guy, I may even be Agnostic or an Atheist, I really don't know which to settle on right now. I was born Catholic, from which you can read more info HERE about being a roman catholic, but I still don't know if I want to follow a religion or not. I respect people who are good and believe in a higher power, not people who think they are Clairvoyant or whatever, but for me the topic of Religion & Faith is a strange one that requires a lot of thought.

What are your thoughts on religion? Maybe I should've posted this on my personal blog, but hey, I'll spread the thoughts and the love all around.

Post your comments and thoughts,

-Steve

Lifted again and running!

2007-06-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

Yep, just a quick update on the running, since I'm a) not travelling much and b) not spending too much time outdoors (until this weekend, but more on that later). I've actually started running real distance, like 4-5 mile runs at decent pace. I've only ran 3-4 days out of the last 2 weeks but hey at least it's a start to getting back into shape.

I still don't know what I want to do, but hopefully running around will get my mind and body focused and me thinking about the possibilities.

I also lifted on Wednesday, and I plan on lifting tomorrow as well, more power to me!

More later,

-Steve

Thoughts on the Seduce A Celeb contest at GoFish.com

2007-05-27T15:44:00.000-05:00

Honestly, who wouldn't want to travel to Hollywood and have a nice date with a hot actress? GoFish.com is having a contest for users to submit video's in order to Secude a celeb and win their heart. The actress in the video below is Mirelly Taylor, who's appeared in movies such as Kiss me Again, Serving Sara and in television shows including "Las Vegas", "Punk'd" and "Numb3rs". I think it's a cool idea to have people do as she says and have the community at large vote on who wins the dates. If you've seen any of the videos from the contestants you'll laugh too, it's pretty funny. I personally haven't met many actress that have been on big time shows, and I can't remember see Mirelly personally, since I've barely watched Punk'd a couple of times, and the other shows I've pretty much never watched. Anyone a fan of hers? Who's really out there to win a date? or you just trying to get a video on the internet for millions to see for themselves and get into Hollywood that way? There's tons of Free videos at GoFish.com, so maybe you can get your own channel or watch some other videos if you're not into the whole contest thing.

There's my 2 cents, now go make some videos and earn yourself a date!

-Steve

Decisions decisions

2007-05-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Just relaxing here at work about to go running and I've been thinking about the long debate in my head. I still don't know what I want to do later on with my running career. Unfortunately for me, my last couple of races as a collegiate athlete didn't go so well, since I didn't even make the finals in my 2 events that I was a favorite to do so in and I also tanked during the 4x800m relay at conference championships. That makes the decision tougher, because I still feel I have something to prove in track.

The other direction for me is moving up to 5K and 10K's and competing in the local road racing circuit. It would be fun to do that but I don't know if I want that just yet. I still have until September to decide, since there's no way I'll have serious time to train until then, but for now we'll just have to see.

More later,

-Steve

Bid on prizes and win some free stuff on Bid4prizes.com

2007-05-24T23:20:00.000-05:00

As you all know, I'm an outdoors sporty kind of guy. Since I'm outdoors all day, especially when I'm covering events as an Athletic Trainer, you need a good set of shades. Crappy sunglasses won't cut it, you'll look ugly and they'll break easily. That's why I want to win that $500 Gift card to Sunglasses Hut. I'm sure a real pair of Oakleys, not the fake ones I have now, wouldn't break the second I drop them. Bid4prizes.com is an interesting site operating on the whole lowest bid concept. You bid on a prize, and they'll say if you're above or below the lowest bid. The object is to get closest to the amount that the bid is currently at, but that amount can go up or down depending on who bids where. It can be anywhere from a dollar to 500 dollars. Their site has more explanations but it's free to bid so why not. Can't hurt to try.

Enjoy the site and let me know if you guys win something.

-Steve

Wow it's been a month

2007-05-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

I know this is my second blog on blogspot but I feel bad about not updating for a month. In april I had more free time than I do now, well at least in April I had a stable internet connection instead of my amazing Tmobile EDGE internet (sarcasm). It's slow but it gets the job done but you need to set aside way more time than usual due to the lack of speed of EDGE, it's only 2-3x faster than 56k, and I don't think it's that fast either.

As for running, it's a really long story, I feel like back dating some posts but I think that's not fair to you guys. I want to tell the story of my conference meet, which was my last collegiate race but it didn't go well and I didn't have the motivation until now to write about it online. Now it's just water under the bridge and I'm moving forward with my running, which is another post in itself.

More coming soon, I won't say tomorrow but I'll say this week, after the DSL arrives, lol.

-Steve

TheRunnersGuide.com - A new site for runners

2007-04-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

I've been running for over 11 years on a competitive level participating in Track and Field and other forms of distance running so when people ask me about running I always got something to say. I've read many books, including the Daniel's Running Formula and Martin and Coe's Better Training for Distance Runners, so I'm not exactly a running guru but I know my stuff. That's why I try to keep tabs on what's going with running around the web, from major sport races to sites like letsrun.com.

In looking at those sites, I've noticed a new site pop up called The Runners Guide. Normally I'm not one for the beginning running sites but I decided to take a look on the quality of the non-major running sites and I was presently surprised. The site has a bunch of small articles with tips for runners, from track athletes performing the sprints to distance runners. In particular their Benefits of Running article was very good and to the point, with factual information, since I am an Athletic Trainer and Sports Science major I know my physiology. Not too bad for a starting site.

The Runners Guide is off to a great start in my books, however there's always room for improvements. I would like more news and updates on the front page, as well tie in the other pages, the Blog and the forum, more prominently on the front page, they're great and should get more attention. Overall I think it's a nice running site for beginners to seasoned runners alike looking for some training tips, so check it out, and of course, post your thoughts.

-Steve

Hockey and Track news

2007-04-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

Yep, since my Canadiens are not in the playoffs, I haven't been following the NHL as much as I'd like too. Unfortunately I'm a busy American with fewer chances to watch NHL playoff games than what I'd be able to do if I was in Canada which has contributed to the lack of playoff games for me.

My boss went to see the Rangers game on Tuesday or Wednesday night (can't remember), where they sweeped the Atlanta Thrashers, and I can just imagine the Garden on a night like that.

As for me, track news is few and far between, since it has been an off week due to school conflicting with my running schedule. I had a really great practice on Monday afternoon, but haven't really run seriously since then. No worries I have a big race at Wagner this weekend, and a light practice tomorrow, so I'll be fine.

I'll post more tomorrow about the meet, the METS championships at St-John's, but for now I'll just take care of the priorities, food and rest.

More news tomorrow,

-Steve

Need a personal loan?

2007-04-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

As I've mentionned before, I've been looking at maybe taking a persoanl loan to finance my trip to China this summer. There's a nice site out there if you're looking for a personal loan, payday loan or anything in between. IT's a nice quick site with tips, news, alternative loan programs and more. Right now they got a Carnival of Budgeting hosted on their site, which is good because they got tons of links to other sites on finance, budgeting, loans and more, so you'll get more than just loan news. Overall it's a nice starting site headed in the right direction, and one that I'll be checking up more and more to learn more about them.

Enjoy,

-Steve

Stuck at Wagner College in Staten Island

2007-04-17T14:48:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog post from the Island of Staten as I like to say, I'm in the Wagner College Athletic Training room waiting for LAX (Lacrosse) to practice.

Nothing going on in Sports today that's interesting me, Arsenal plays today, they beat Bolton to maintain the 4th spot in the FA Premier League so they're on their way to the Champions League.

Anything going on with you guys? C'mon people!

-Steve

Need to cleanse your system?

2007-04-16T23:26:00.000-05:00

I know many people who believe in cleansing their colon or entire digestive system of all the toxins. They go on diets, take diuretics, drink only tea, or use other ways to do this. This may not be the way to go, especially if it causes side-effects like loose stools, cramping and more. There's a Dual Action Cleanse product out now that's an all-natural herbal formula. It may be what these people need to cleanse while preventing the terrible side effects of cleansing.

If you cleanse yourself regularly, check this product out, and as always, post your thoughts/comments.

-Steve

32 dead as Gunman kills students at Virginia Tech

2007-04-16T22:14:00.000-05:00

Since Virginia Tech is a big football school and this is my non-tech blog I figured talking about the incident would be appropriate here.

As I linked to the Yahoo! News Report, a gunman killed 32 people at the Virginia Tech Campus today. I found out about it during my lunch break at work, and was pretty shocked. It's amazing how someone could just walk onto campus and open fire in this day and age but somehow this guy not only walked into the dorms in the early morning he walked into a larger part of the campus, chain some doors to a Lecture hall, and shoot more people. I don't have much of an opinion since there's so few facts right now so if anyone else knows much more please share.

There won't be many answers for some time, so I'm just going to have to sympathize with the victims of this shooting and their friends and family.

-Steve

Things needed when travelling

2007-04-12T12:14:00.000-05:00

I was speaking to my friend Carter last night trying to figure out details for our trip to China and the things I'm going to need to step before leaving. One of the key aspects is having a bank account that's a) accessible worldwide and b) accessible from the Internet. I may not be traveling to the UK this time so I'll be using one of my local bank accounts but those living in the United Kingdom should check out The Co-Operative Bank for it's range of products, including it's online banking accounts, which could be great for reaching overseas. I wouldn't hesitate to check it out, since their accounts can be managed online from anywhere in the world it seems like a good option for travelers.

Other things I have been working on are travel tickets and VISA's, but those are stories for another time when I get more info to share with you guys. Enjoy the tips,

-Steve

It's raining in NYC

2007-04-12T11:08:00.000-05:00

Not a great day in New York today, since it's pretty much a torrential downpour over here. I even went to cover football practice for the NYPD but they had to watch film since the field was nearly flooded.

As for me, yesterday I had mini-meet at Wagner College, it's a Quad-Meet where 4 teams show up, run enough races to make the meet official for all teams, then leave. We used it as a workout, and I ran the 4x800m and the 400m. I didn't run that well, only running a 2:04 split for my 800m leg and a 54.4 for the 400m, but it was a workout and I wasn't too disappointed.

Alright that's all that's going on for now with me, more later,

-Steve

Time for some free stuff

2007-04-10T19:11:00.000-05:00

Normally I reserve the free stuff for my other blog (The Beginnings of a Blog) but I've never given links or much advice to anything so I might as well share some with you guys today.

Everyone who has a computer should have some Anti-Virus. I mean Anti-Virus is basic protection, and you can now get it for free. If you're looking for software, what beats free, and to get some free Antivirus you should check out this site called www.freeantivirusinfo.com. They offer not only a free copy of Norton Anti-Virus, but other free software such as Firefox, Skype, etc all bundled together by Google. It can't hurt to check it out, so why not give it a shot, I use these myself, so I definately recommend them.

Enjoy,

-Steve

Montreal lost, Tiger Woods lost, not a good weekend for my favorites

2007-04-10T17:48:00.000-05:00

As you know, I've always loved the Montreal Canadiens. I thought they had it all setup to make the playoffs and do well, they were ahead in points and all they had to do was beat Toronto. Somehow they failed, and failed in the most improbable way. Not only did they have the lead going into the 3rd period but they seemed to have all the momentum. Oh well, another disappointing year for the Habs.

Yea and Tiger Woods didn't disappoint me as badly, however he easily could've won the Masters. He was only 2 strokes back, and stayed exactly where he started the day, whereas the people who beat him came from behind to do so. Maybe if he hadn't shattered his club he could've done so.

Yea just ranting about this past weekend, I didn't do any better at Duke, so maybe I should throw myself down the same hole.

Alright more rants later,

-Steve

Drug Rehabilitation

2007-04-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

I do work with some Drug rehabilitation patients at the PT clinic and I've heard some stories about what works and what doesn't. Let me tell you, there's some weird places out there, not to mention some weird people, who think that the best way to rehabilitate is to medicate. I don't think that's the case at all, I think a whole philosophy on changing the whole person, their habits, they way of thinking, in order to re-establish their self needs to take place. That's why when looking at drug rehab places like StoneHawk work because they work on the person's mind, not their body. They let the person figure out what's right, what's wrong, by teaching ethics, morals. No useless group therapy, they empower the person to change for himself.

Personally I think it's the way to go, may not be the place for you but check it out, it's a different approach but one that looks to make positive changes on the person himself.

Enjoy the health review,

-Steve

Exhausted from travelling

2007-04-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

Just got back in today from Duke, and lucky for me I got to fly back early. My flight at was 7am from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which wasn't big but not that small either, however I didn't expect to have to walk to my plane outside. I'm just not used to flying these regional jets yet I guess. I was exhausted from getting up at 5:30am to get there and i didn't get much time to eat or settle in before going to Wagner for my Men's Lacrosse game.

Wagner lost the game 12-6 to Providence, but they made some strides, hopefully they can come back strong for the rest of their games this season. As for me I got the night to relax, no sports or anything, however I am pissed off the Canadiens lost tonight, they're out of the playoffs, the f-ing bums.

Oh well another day, more later

-Steve

Need some help with that diet, try the Nueslim Diet Pill

2007-04-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big fan of diet pills for personal use, as being a Sports Science major and Athletic Trainer I know that most dieting goals can be met through a steady combination of improved diet and exercise habits. However, for some people it just isn't enough, or time efficient, and a diet pill might be the tool for them. Nueslim, a new pill out there that's receiving some great feedback, could be that tool for you. It's reasonably priced at $9.95 a bottle, with a lifetime money back guarantee, which is rare in the diet industry. Pretty good deal so that if it doesn't work you can take it back and get your money back, so why not try it out if you need that boost.

Enjoy,

-Steven

A disappointing day, but lessons learned

2007-04-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

Yep I'm in North Carolina for the day for the Duke Invitational at Duke University for track, and unfortunately it didn't go as planned. I was supposed to run 2 races, the 400m and the 1500m, however I took myself out of the race even before I got on the track. I don't really know what I was thinking but I wasn't thinking about the race, I had found out I had not made the seeded section of the 1500m which meant I had the unseeded 400m and 1500m pretty much within 2 hours of each other. What did I do? I let it get to my head and tried to "chill" on the 400m. That was a mistake, since I ran pretty slow and just relaxed. I should've have done that and I paid for it with a 53.3, which is unacceptable.

Then 2 hours later, with that on my mind, some words from coach, me feeling tired from the race and the hills, I ran the 1500m. Once again I wasn't focused, didn't feel confident, and I ran like it. I ran my first 800m of the race fine in 2:09, but then I just crashed and burned. I don't know why I did it, I'm much better than that, however I just let it go to run a 4:21, a joke. I learned a big lesson today, that if I think negative, don't feel confident and feel tired I'll run exactly how I feel. I need to get back to that positive mindset I had in high school.

I'm going to go out this Wednesday at Wagner, and accomplish that, no excuses.

-Steve

Visiting NY and a need a chiropractor?

2007-04-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

I'm not one who's had much experience with chiropractors, I'm an Athletic Trainer and we work mostly with Physical Therapists or Orthopedic Doctors but my track coach and other people swear by them. Well if you're looking for a Chiropractic Clinic that also specializes in Neurology check out Spine and Sports Medicine New York. They got a New York Neurologist Physician on staff and deal with things from Sports Injuries to back pain management. I'm Brooklyn based so I haven't heard much about them, but the outside of their office is nice, it's on Madison near GoodBurger, so check them out if your in Manhattan and need some help.

Enjoy,

-Steve

Photo's from Miami and others

2007-04-01T21:15:00.000-05:00

Since I've been lazy, I haven't moved nor blogged on my personal site, yet I did upload pictures on facebook.

Here's the Full Album on Facebook, not everything is on there so if you want to see pictures my other friends posted sign up and add me as a friend :)

Here's my favorite picture, me and the boys, just cuz I look good :p

Want to get your sport site to be #1 in Google?

2007-04-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

I know everyone wants to have visitors and be a number one site whenever someone searches for sports like hockey, soccer or even the smaller sports like track in Google. I mean who doesn't want to have good search engine results, it could really kill traffic to your site. That's why great search engine optimization is important for every site, and the guys at Etrafficjams have a solution to help you if you're not reaching your goals. They guarantee top 10 placement in Google, MSN and Yahoo or they give you your money back (minus the initial service fee), which is a great way to get huge amounts of traffic to your site. Imagine if everything was pay for performance like that, maybe I'd get some bonuses from LIU, lol.

Check them out and give your site a boost, enjoy!

-Steve

Track results roundup for the last couple of weeks

2007-04-01T19:18:00.000-05:00

It's the end of my 3rd week of outdoors and I haven't been keeping you guys up to date on my track results lately so I thought I'd change that and list you some meet by meet results.

In Miami, a couple weeks back, I only ran the 1500m, and unfortunately, I didn't run well since my hip was bothering me. I ran a 4:14 in the slow heat, which was 7th in that heat but far from a great time, wasn't too please but I really shouldn't have run it.

The next week however I atoned for my bad races in Wake Forest. I ran 2 races, the 400m on the first day and a 1500m on the second day. I opened up with a 52.4 with was good for a distance runner running the 400m and followed it up with a 4:08 in the 1500m, which wasn't bad since I was getting back into my form in that race. I did identify some weaknesses in that race but hopefully I'll be able to shape up and fix my mistakes.

This last weekend I was at the University of Maryland, in College Park, where I ran the 800m and the 4x400m. The relay was just for a workout, nothing serious or demanding, and I ran a 52.6, not fast but it was cold and late. I did run better in the 800m, where I ran a 1:58.3, but it wasn't that great since I had a slow heat, strong wind on the back stretch, and the race took out way too slow for some really good times.

That's the roundup for now, I'm running at Duke University this weekend, more details soon,

-Steve

Everyone needs health insurance

2007-03-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

Being an athlete, and someone who works as an Athletic Trainer in a PT clinic, I really know the importance of Health Insurance, without it most of our patients wouldn't be able to get therapy. It's crucial to have Health Insurance for pretty much anyone these days, just being young don't mean anything, the minute you tear your ACL or injure your ankle where you going to go? This site here has great Health Insurance quotes from all over, whether you're looking for Colorado Health Insurance or anywhere else. Check them out and see what's affordable to you, trust me you're going to need some.

There's my advice for the night, enjoy!

-Steve

Nice article about the Montreal Canadiens

2007-03-30T22:15:00.000-05:00

I was reading ESPN the other week and usually it lacks very good hockey coverage due to Hockey being the 4th major sport in the US however I actually read a great article on my favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens. It wasn't a very positive article, but some of the sentiments were right on the money on the state of the Montreal Canadiens.

Check it out hockey fans, great read!

More later from Maryland,

-Steve

Article on my other Blog, merging sports and electronics

2007-03-28T19:42:00.000-05:00

Just going to link you guys quickly to an article on my other main tech blog speaking about how Arsenal and Emirates stadium is sending instant replays and live stats to PSP users. I think it's great news so that sports fans can get the goal they missed or another replay with some stats to boot. Now to steal from the article too much but the full article is HERE.

As for updates I'm sorry my trip to North Carolina and Wake Forest for a track meet have kept me pretty busy. I know I've promised some pictures, maybe I'll just make a public link to my Facebook photo album.

Alright more later, time to review things at the library,

-Steve

Pingo phone cards for the road.

2007-03-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

I'm on the road again and unfortunately when you're on the road a lot you need to have some calling cards to call home, which in my place is Canada, or for my friend who needs calling cards for haiti phone calls I've always gone with Pingo. Pingo has great rates, like 2 cents to Canada, instead of my phone with Tmobile. Whenever I don't have my Pingo calling cards with me, I have to use Tmobile's international rates, which is 20cents a minute to Canada, so that's 10 times more per minute. Yep it's not great, which is why Pingo is a great option for me. If you need to keep in touch with people in foreign lands or just need a great option for calling cards check out Pingo.

Enjoy,

-Steve

Up in North Carolina

2007-03-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

Yep I didn't get around to posting pics of Miami (due to time constraints this) so instead I'm at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, relaxing in my hotel room. It's weird because I'm staying at a really nice hotel, well it's a Hotel and Spa, with free Wifi and Continental breakfast, so it's a definite step up from the Ramada we stayed in for a week.

We're playing the new Video Game, Soul Calibur 3, in the hotel. Yes I know very interesting but hey it's all I have for today. Maybe I'll able to explore Winston-Salem more, since it seems to be a happening place.

Alright more later,

P.S. Karen I would have pics but I'm on a borrow laptop, I'll get some up soon I swear!

-Steve

Lack of posts from vacation

2007-03-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

I feel I've totally neglected my infant blog while I was away in Florida. Sure I've posted on my other blog a couple of times, posted some pictures on facebook, but I haven't really gotten the chance to post here.

I think I'm going to make a giant post tomorrow (or later tonight, lol) with some funny pictures and sights from the trip, why not, you people read my travel blog, maybe I should post some travelling pictures.

Once again I apologize for missing a week, but hey, when you're training and having fun time flies!

-Steve

Credit Card thinking while on vacation

2007-03-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

Since I'm here in Miami I've been going over my finances and doing rough calculations for the months ahead and looking over my 2 credit cards. I was a little reluctant to have 2 credit cards at first but overall I find that if you can manage your cards and only use one at a time you're fine. It's often a wise decision to do some balance transfers if you have a high interest beginning card with a lot of debt you can get a 0% credit card, which is low interest to save you money while you pay it off. There's also tons of credit cards with nice things like cash back, no annual fees and other perks like Air Miles, so why not compare credit cards and find out which one is for you. I'm thinking of getting another card, I keep getting offers, but of course doing my research is key and whenever anyone is looking for one check around, there's always options.

There's my advice for the night, enjoy!

-Steve

Greetings from Miami

2007-03-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

It's been tough to post here since the internet connection is iffy and I don't have a great laptop but just letting everyone know I'm here and I'm alive, lol.

I spent the last 2 days on South Beach, enjoying the sun, grabbing some Wet Willies (they make these slush cocktails that are famous and full of alcohol, great for Spring Break), cruising Washington Ave and Ocean Dr, looking at all the hotels, bars and lounges. It's great and I'm getting a nice tan.

The place we're staying at, which is the Ramada in Hialeah, sucks but whatever I'm in Florida for free so I can't complain.

Alright more news over the week, I'll try to post/link to some pictures.

More later,

-Steve

Yoga, what you guys think?

2007-03-07T20:05:00.001-05:00

I just did Yoga for the first time on Friday, it was really nice since I had never done it before and it was great. It was really relaxing, and I felt great from the stretching and strengthening exercises we were doing. I didn't know much about doing Yoga before I started, but since I've started I've been doing some research. A good place to go to is Yogawiz. There you can Learn About Yoga Poses and Yoga Health Benefits for free. Pretty awesome site if you want to learn.

Check it out and tell me what you think,

-Steve

Bad day for my sports teams

2007-03-07T19:30:00.000-05:00

Yea it wasn't a good day of my teams today, since Arsenal tied their match in the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven 1-1 but they lost the 2nd match therefore losing on a 2-1 aggregate. I don't feel so bad since Barcelona also got knocked out, which was good since I wanted Liverpool to win, but still, my Gunners have no chance for silverware this year. What can you do? Also Thierry Henry is injured now, as they rushed him to play, so that's another big blow for us. Hopefully the youngsters can keep us up there in the Premiership.

As for my other favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens, they didn't play, but they're not in 8th place anymore, since Toronto won last night. They play the Atlanta Thrashers in Atlanta tonight, so hopefully they'll will and get that spot back, they REALLY need it.

Alright more later, I don't feel like talking about track as I hurt my hamstring and itdon't feel too good right now.

-Steve

Great sports blog from a fellow Montrealer and great workouts

2007-03-06T21:33:00.000-05:00

Long tuesday at the PT clinic today, well at least I got to study, which was really nice due to the cold there weren't many patients. Then I had the chance to run afterwards in the very nice Equinox Gym (which is where the PT clinic is located in) where I did a nice Tempo run with decreasing pace. I went 7:00min/mile pace, then 6:30, then 6:00, then 5:45, then 5:30 for my fastest mile, then came back up to 7:00 for the last mile of my 6 mile run. I felt great, so happy.

Also I want to mention this blog I frequent from Montreal (my Hometown and the town I'll ALWAYS root for no matter what) that focuses on Sports. The guy's name is Frank and like me he's a big Habs fan, so you have to visit his blog, which is called Overtime. The URL for it is http://overtim.blogspot.com/ so now you have no reason not to visit it :)

Alright time to relax, morning practice at 7am tomorrow :(

-Steve

Sandals for Miami?

2007-03-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

I was just looking through my things seeing what I have and what I'm going to need for the trip and I was like, I don't have sandals for the beach. Sure I have cheap sandals I use for the shower but nice rainbow sandals from Active-Sandals. You need some comfy sandals, especially in a case like me where I'm going to be walking around all day, and I want them to last so rainbow sandals are the way to go (and I don't look like a hippy as if I were wearing Bickenstocks).

Check them out, the styles are pretty nice.

-Steve

Can't wait until Miami, well, just for the time off

2007-03-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

The ETA until my Miami trip is one week, and I'm excited. It'll mean the end of a tough week at work, school and track, and some REALLY nice weather. We're not going to be staying downtown or anywhere near South Beach, my coaches have taken care of that. Hopefully however it won't be the dirty Ramada Inn in Hialeah, which is right next to Miami International and in the middle of nowhere. Supposedly we're staying in a Marriott, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

Anything I should try to do in Miami apart from the whole South Beach thing? I'm looking for suggestions, since last time wasn't too fun as far as locations and sight seeing goes.

-Steve

Wirefly National Marathon in Washington DC on March 24th

2007-02-28T20:34:00.000-05:00

Hey, since I'm not running myself I might advertise for a marathon I've heard about in Washington, DC, on March 24th. It's the Wirefly National Marathon, which is obviously sponsored by Wirefly and is a marathon around the greater Washington DC area and looks pretty interesting to me. Unfortunately I'm still running track or I'd consider running it since it's a Boston Marathon qualifier for all you fast guys out there as it's sanctionned by the USATF.

Just looking over the course map and elevation profile for you guys, it's a pretty decently flat course, a couple small rolling hills then a solid hill (75 ft elevation) around the 19th mile, so right before you hit the wall you'll get hit with a nice uphill but after that it flattens out 2 miles later and you can coast it in. I don't know how fast times are there since the winner only ran a 2:30, which isn't that fast so either the course is challenging still or the quality of the field wasn't up to par. That can be good for those looking to score a bit of prize money. Also the half-marathon had a winner with a 1:08 time, which is pretty nice, so the course isn't that slow, it really depends on the field.

There's other reason to run the marathon though. It's a great challenger for those non-runners or beginning runners out there, and it's for a good cause. The Wirefly National Marathon benefits a number of causes such under the League of Charities, such as the YMCA, Special Olympics, etc. You have to admit running and helping out people is a great thing, for yourself and for those you're helping out.

If you're looking for a spring marathon or willing to give it a shot, check out the Wirefly National Marathon in Washington, DC. As usual, post your thoughts on it? What marathons or races you run?

-Steve

Week off running and Yoga

2007-02-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

Hey no track updates this week since I have the week off. It's nice not having to run at 7am, or run twice a day. I've been relaxing, I only lifted and ran 3 miles Monday and today, and I feel great. I lifed 225 easily on my squats (full squats), went through my workout no problem, ran 7min mile pace easily and I feel rested.

Friday I'm going to run and lift but with one change, I'm going to attempt Yoga for the first time. It looks like a challenge, I've never done it, nor have I even been flexible either, so I'm really looking forward to it. What you guys think? Ever done Yoga? Let me know.

-Steve

Nice new health site, great for a quick reference

2007-02-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

I was looking for some quick article on Arthritis to give to my mother when I stumbled upon this new health site. It's a Medical Health Information Resource with articles on everything from Fibromyalgia to Skin Care. The best thing about the site is that the articles aren't long, they're brief and to the point while still being very easy to understand for the common person. They're made for real people, not doctors, so if something's bothering you, take a look for some quick info, might help you out.

Thanks,

-Steve

Negatives and Positives at the NYU Last Chance

2007-02-24T17:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my last chance to qualify for IC4A's, which is a championship meet where entries get in on time, and unfortunately, I didn't qualify. I had a good shot of making it in the 1000m, I was ranked 8th, was in the fast heat, yet it didn't pan out. I could blame the fact that the WHOLE heat ran slow, no one in the heat made the qualifying standard, but people in the other heat did, so there's really no excuse, I should've gotten up and ran.

The second race of the day was a big positive for me in that I overcame my fear to take the lead and PUSH. I was the lead off leg of the Distance Medley Relay, which is a 1200-400-800-1600 meter relay, so I left it off, and I ran a really solid time of 3:08 for my split. Overall we improved like 6 seconds, but I improved like 8 seconds, so we slowed down as a team apart from me, so we got work to do.

That was the last race of my indoor season, which was a pretty decent season, where I learnt a lot, but it was my last season as a collegiate athlete. Last chance is outdoors, and I got nothing left to lose.

More later,

-Steve

Nice car site, Lemonfree.com

2007-02-21T21:12:00.000-05:00

I'm in need of an automobile to take on weekend road-trips, since the Greyhound can only take you so far, and one of the best used cars sites I've found has to be Lemonfree.com. They have easily one of the largest Used Cars classifieds or directories that I've seen, much bigger than Craigslist. It's really a great site since it not only has the car you're looking for, but the information on the car in boxes comparing the different models and engines, the recalls on the cars, the crash test results, mileage on the highway. Take for example Honda Civics, if you search for one, then select it, all this will appear, making your decision easier which helps you choose the right car.

I love Civics, my father has owned 2, and I'm looking into getting a 97 or a 98 for myself. Anyone else have any good Used Cars they want to share with me? Post away,

-Steve

Another race this weekend, and an interesting story of a Sudanese basketball player

2007-02-21T21:05:00.000-05:00

Hey once again I've had another tough week at practice, 6x300m at under 43 seconds, so that's pretty exhausting, but overall I'm still in one piece. I have what could be my last indoor race of the season. It's called the NYU Last Chance meet, it's on Friday at the Armory, and it's a place where people who haven't made standards in their events to quality for IC4A or NCAA championships give it a last shot. I'm going to try to qualify in the 1000m, I'm ranked 8th so I have a shot.

Also in other news I read a really good article on a Sudanese basketball player who's from war-torn Sudan (the region close to Darfur I think). He has a really riviting story of what he's been through with his home country, his family and his career. It's quite amazing to tell the truth, and worth the read. You can check it out HERE if you want.

Enjoy!

-Steve

Help make some money blogging for Payperpost

2007-02-15T22:52:00.000-05:00

I haven't spoken much about Payperpost on this blog since it's relatively new compared to my long established blog but I've been with Payperpost for over 6 months on my other, more established blog. What payperpost has allowed me to do is great, I've been able to pay my school taxes (going to NYC on a track scholarship isn't free), have some spending money, buy my parents gifts, including paying for the installation of Satellite TV for them and much more.

The next big thing for my Payperpost money is going to be helping finance that trip to China I've been talking about in a post below. Every dollar I make with Payperpost, and I've nearly made $2000, I'm only 19 dollars shy, will help make that trip a reality. Payperpost has been great to me, they've sent me some free stuff. I love writing about products and things I enjoy, just like the Eurail site I spoke about earlier, since I've actually taken the train around Europe and I have first hand experience. I don't see it so much as sponsored content but as promoting the things you like and enjoy. Maybe that's me, but I love Payperpost and their staff, and I'm 100% sure you will as well.

Check them out at http://www.payperpost.com and get paid to blog about the things you love!

-Steve

Peter Forsberg Traded!

2007-02-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry if you're not a hockey fan but there's some big news in the NHL tonight. Peter Forsberg, the 1991 1st round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers who played most of his career in Quebec City/Colorado before returning to the Flyers a couple of seasons ago, has been traded to the Nashville Predators.

What the Flyers got in return were forward Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent and two draft picks.

Pretty amazing news, since it means Nashville is even stronger now with the addition of Forsberg they can really make a serious charge for the cup. Sure they lose out on some long-term future stability after losing 1st and 3rd round picks but that's the price you pay to win sometimes.

On other sports news my favorite soccer team Arsenal beat Bolton 3-1 to advance in the FA Cup, just thought I remind you guys since it happened on Tuesday.

Enjoy my sports update,

-Steve

When travelling to Europe, think about getting a Eurail Pass

2007-02-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

When me and Carter went to Europe in the summer of 2004, we had 10 days to travel around and we had to choose the best and most economical option of getting around since we had such a short time. Being that we wanted to get around the most countries without the logistics, costs and hassles of an airport, we bought a Eurail student pass, which is similar to the eurail global pass but it's for those under 26. It allowed us 5 days of unlimited travel around Europe, minus a few fees for extras such as our Hotel Car which gave us a good nights sleep from Milan to Barcelona. It's a great way to travel and it's cheap, we only paid 150 pound, and it saved us easily double that. Check out the RailShopper.com for more information on all the Eurail pass types, it really could save you a lot of time and money, and make your travel much easier.

Enjoy the free tip!

-Steve

Trip to China, planning has begun

2007-02-15T18:31:00.000-05:00

Yep for those who don't know I'm hoping to take a trip to China in the 2nd half of August until the 1st week of September. The dates aren't 100% certain yet since and my friend, Carter, who has a house down there, haven't figured out the details but we've begun to undertake the details and logistics of taking the trip down there.

So far a flight to Beijing from New York is around $1000, which isn't too bad, but then we gotta figure out how to get from Beijing to my friends house, then what we're going to do, and all those little things. So far we want to visit Tibet, Great Wall, and many other things. It should be a great way to start off my post-university life.

More news later, but anyone with any suggestions/tips for airfare or travel to China is welcome.

-Steve

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

2007-02-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

I'm a sports fan, and so is my father, so I've been reading the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition for many years now. It's great since I've seen all the models come and go, from Tyra Banks to Kathy Ireland and Heidi Klum, pretty much all of them. This year they choose Beyonce for the cover, which is pretty sweet since she's beautiful and she's the in girl right now. You guys can go direct to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition website for all the pictures, and this year they got a great amount of mobile content in the form of cell phone wallpapers. They're straight from the photo shoots in the magazine, and they're only $1.99 to get your favorite model directly on your phone with you all the time. Can't go wrong with that, since having a nice model on your background can make anyone's day better, even on a day like this.

Check it out and tell me which one you pick, I enjoy this one below, she's smoking.

Hope that makes your day a bit better, it's helping mine after the long day,

-Steve

Tough Practice

2007-02-14T19:32:00.000-05:00

It seems I only come here to talk about the tough practices or races and not the easy ones. Maybe that's only because I remember the hard ones and don't care about the easy ones, lol.

Today there's a snow storm in New York, so instead of running morning practice, I had to run at 6:15am for 30 mins on the treadmill. Normally easy but it makes you feel tired later on in the day. So around comes 3pm, I'm already feeling crappy, and we have a hard workout, 800-400-400 with little rest in between. The times were 2:12 for 800m, and 64 for the 400m, not the toughest times but still tough since we had 2 days off and I was up early today. Luckily I hit all my times, 2:11, 2:12 for the 2 800's, and 64.4,64.4,64.3 and 62.7 for the 400's, so I managed to get through it. I felt like throwing up after but I did it.

Yep not too interesting but that's pretty much what I feel like on this crappy day.

More later,

-Steve

Need an orthopaedics surgeon? Try Gustafson Orthopaedics

2007-02-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

Those who know me know I've battled injuries throughout my track career, and unfortunately those injuries took me out of competition for the better part of 2 years. I had 2 cartilage tears in my hip, which caused me tremendous amounts of Joint Pain, one inside the acetabulum and another in the labrum which holds the bone into the hip joint (the Athletic Trainer in me is talking right now). The only way to deal with these kind of tears is through rehabilitation or surgery. The rehab didn't go well, however surgery worked for me. That's why having a good orthopaedist is instrumental in recovering from these kinds of injuries. A good docter, like Dr. Allen Gustafson, who's a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, can provide you the basis for dealing with these kinds of injuries and many other types of joint or bone pain. They have a complete protocol involving the following steps:

* Thorough evaluation and accurate diagnosis of joint pain
* Effective treatment recommendations
* Patient education resources
* Expert surgical intervention, if needed
* A complete recovery program

It's a very complete program, similar to what my clients get at the Athletic Training room I work at, and I definetly recommend it. Check out Dr. Gustafson's website to learn more about this and let me know how it's working out for you.

Thanks,

-Steve

Good day for me at Conference!

2007-02-12T17:08:00.000-05:00

Yea just updating you guys on the races on Sunday. Unfortunately things don't always go to plan, I wanted to medal, I was ranked 4th in the 800m and was hoping to improve on that. I came 6th, and ran a time slower than the day before, but I was happy on how I ran the race. Things just didn't work for me.

I also ran the Mile, where I finished 8th but managed to set an Indoor personal best at 4:25. I'm much faster than that, I didn't even feel that good but ran hard and just couldn't turn on the jets went I want to at the end of the race.

My last event for the day was the Distance Medley Relay. I led it off, running an average 3:16 for the 1200m, however I was only in 5th when I handed off the Baton. My fresher teammates were able to get our team into 4th place by the time we handed off the baton to our last member, Dan, who was running the mile leg. He ran his heart out, and unfortunately, as he was crossing the line, he got passed at the end, and hit the guy who passed him with the stick. He didn't mean to, it was a kind of reaction, and instead of finishing 5th we were Disqualified. IT happens however I'm still proud of my team, we ran our hearts out, it just didn't happen for us.

I'm just happy at the overall weekend, who knew I could come back from Hip Surgery to be a conference finalist in 2 events and compete for medals. The best thing is that I keep improving, so things are looking good for outdoors. I just can't wait for the weather to improve.

My indoor season isn't done yet, so more news from the indoor track will be coming.

Until then, enjoy some of the other aspects of this blog,

-Steve

Place I want to visit for today - Bulgaria

2007-02-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

Since Bulgaria just joined the EU I've heard a lot of good things about the country. They got some nice beaches, great ski resorts and tons of nice sites and places to visit. I haven't been to any former communist countries yet but I think I'd make Bulgaria one of the first countries I visit in Eastern Europe. I'm guessing property in Bulgaria has to be cheap to, and if it's on the rise then maybe it might be a good investment. What you guys think?

More later,

-Steve

Updates from Maryland and the NEC Indoor Championships

2007-02-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, quick post updating everyone how I did on Saturday at the NEC Championships (read previous posts for more details) in Landover, MD.

I made the finals in both the 800m and the Mile! It's a first at NEC's for me but it should've happened many years ago but various things such as injuries, lack of fitness and lack of experience.

So that means I don't only have 2 Finals today to run, I have the Distance Medley Relay, for a total of 3 races for the day.

Yep long day, wish me luck and there'll be updates later.

-Steve

Random places I want to visit

2007-02-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

When I travelled to Europe in the Summer of 2004, I had a blast and visit many countries, including Italy. I found Italy had the most history, it seemed everywhere in Rome and it was beautiful. I wonder how expensive Italian property must be, can't be too cheap in Rome, even more in Venice, another place I was fortunate enough to visit. I just found out George Clooney has a house there too, must be nice.

Alright that's my random travel thought for the day.

Enjoy,

-Steve

NEC Indoor Conference Championships!

2007-02-09T23:36:00.000-05:00

Hey I'm in the hotel waiting for my races tomorrow. I'm running the Mile, which takes place at 1:20pm, and the 800m, wich is around 4, so I have enough time to recover for the 800m.

Yep I'm a little nervous, I took an ice bath so I'm nice and relaxed, my muscles don't feel like crap. Don't know wat else to say, just gotta represent my school, get into the finals on Sunday, and feel good.

Alright enough for now,

-Steve

Can't wait for conference

2007-02-08T18:55:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving tomorrow for the NEC (Northeast Conference) Indoor Track and Field Championships in Prince George Country, Maryland. It's exciting for me this year since I'm in great enough shape to compete for a medal, not just making a final. It was tough last year going there and not making the finals nor being able to run the DMR, and now I've gotten to exactly where I should be.

I'm going to post more about it but that's the only thing going on. Track workouts have been great, and I feel great, so let's see what happens.

More later,

-Steve

Yes the Colts won

2007-02-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

As everyone probably knows by know, the Colts have won the Super Bowl by the score of 29-17. It was actually a closer game than the score suggested, with the Bears defence keeping them in the game, unfortunately Rex Grossman and the bears offence couldn't get it going at all and they lost.

There's a lot of talk about Peyton Manning shedding the curse of never winning the big game, but all he did was play smart, his teammates really did all the work, with Addai and Rhodes coming up big and the Defence shutting down the Bears all he had to do was not lose the game.

Also, I hear some rumours about Tony Dungy possibly leaving the Colts and retiring, I wonder why he would do that, unless he's tired or still reeling from the loss of his son. He's got the Super Bowl champions, a great offence, a defence that works, why wouldn't he come back.

Anyways that's my sports rant for the day, and the Canadiens won.

More tomorrow on track,

-Steve

Super Bowl Predictions?

2007-02-04T19:10:00.000-05:00

Bored at the library as usual waiting to watch the Big Game today. I know everyone is talking about it, the newspapers, internet, ESPN, every other TV station, etc. But since the Colts are 7 point favorites who do you think will win? Will it be the Colts with their powerful offence? Or will it be the Bears and their ferocious D?

I'm going for the Colts, but you never know with the Super Bowl. Anyways post your thoughts/predictions.

-Steve

Hey I'm ranked 4th in the NEC in the 800m

2007-02-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

Wow I actually have a decent ranking for once in an event. I'm ranked 4th in the 800m after my 1:56 yesterday. There's still some other races around but I shouldn't be any worse than 5th. Maybe I can even medal at conference if things go well.

Update as I write this, I just checked the Performance Rankings of the NEC at Direct Athletics and I'm still 4th, however there's 5 guys at 1:57, so it's crowded at the top. Should be interesting this weekend.

Alright more later, including Super Bowl stuff and predictions!

-Steve

Just got back from Yale

2007-02-03T22:04:00.000-05:00

I have never run a track race in Conneticut nor have I been to Yale so it was interesting when Coach Sandiford took us up there to run today. I had heard the track was fast, since it was a banked 200m Mondo rubber track, but never ran there so I didn't know what to expect. I wished I had more time to explore, since there was a lot of nice facilities and things to see but I was there for business, not pleasure pretty much. Overall I was happy with the track but all wasn't good once I was about to start my first race, the Mile.

We all got up to the line, and there wasn't much space since it's a 4 lane track and once everyone moved up I was pushed in between 2 ppl. That made me off balance and before the gun went off I fell and false started. I wasn't too happy and they DQ'ed me. Oh well I was pissed but there's not much I could do about it.

Next up was the 800m, and while I was still fuming from the Mile I had to set it aside and run the race. I had my former teammates from Canada who had gotten scholarships to Georgetown there watching me and I couldn't let them down. So I went out, ran really nice splits of 56 on the 1st 400 and followed up with a 60 second 2nd 400 and ran a 1:56.79. I finished 3rd but I was set since I had a good heat and we all ran hard. I wonder how that places me in terms of the conference.

Alright more later,

-Steve

Waste of time at the New Balance Collegiate Invitiational

2007-02-03T02:01:00.000-05:00

Yea I just spent all day today at the New Balance collegiate invitiational in the Bronx today. I didn't even get to run so it was a real waste of time. I was supposed to be in the 1000m but they only ran 3 heats so I was an alternate. Therefore I had to wait for people to strach from the race to run. People did since I saw some people not start the race yet they wouldn't allow me nor my teammate to run. It was crock of crap (for lack of better words).

Oh well going to Yale tomorrow to run there in their meet, should be good and fast and a lot of decent schools are going. More news tomorrow,

-Steve

Tough day today, nothing like a hard workout

2007-01-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

Yea I had a really tough workout today which nearly killed me. It was a descending ladder of 1000-800-600-400-200. I was still ticked off from my mile this weekend so I took out and ran really hard my first repeat. I can through the 800 split of my 1000 faster than what I had to run for the 800, so I ran the next 800 kinda hurt. I didn't run well on the 600 either, but by the time the 400 came around, I hit 62 and then I finished strong with a 28 for the last 200.

These times may not mean much to you guys, but to me, it's a good sign I'm ready, and that even if I'm tired, I can still recover and run well. I should take that lesson into my next race, which is still up in the air. More on that later,

Alright off to shower, I stink since I haven't had time to take a shower since practice,

-Steve

I tanked

2007-01-27T16:56:00.000-05:00

I ran a horrible race at Boston. I was feeling good, had some new shoes, was in the right heat, just choked and ran other people's races. I still ran a 4:31 after quitting at 200m left. I never felt right, I should've taken the lead and gone out. I came around too slow, there's just so many should've and could'ves and would'ves that I just don't wanna go over every point.

Yea you can see I'm still mad. Whatever, bad races happen, and I need to get over it. Tomorrow I got a workout, and I'll take out my aggression there.

Btw the Amtrak was fun and nice, just like European trains. Too bad it's just really expensive, unlike the train in Europe. It was clean, modern, had electrical plugs for each passenger, and it had ample room. I liked the experience overall.

Alright more later,

-Steve

Stuck at the Armory, waiting to go to Boston

2007-01-26T19:12:00.000-05:00

Hey I'm just bored at the Armory, if you've read my other blog you'll see I have to wait here all day before going to Boston with my coach. I'm going to be taking the Amtrak, which should be fun since I've never taken it before. I wanted to take it back from Montreal but it would've been too slow and it was already booked. I'm glad I didn't since it allowed me to be there for the installation of the Bell Express Vu I ordered for my parents.

It's going to be weird being on a train in the US. I'm so used to the Coach Bus or flying in the US I'm not accustommed to it. We'll just have to see how it is.

More from when I get there, and it's FREEZING in New York, don't think of coming down here, lol.

-Steve

Long week back, now the Great Dane Invitational

2007-01-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

This week I'm again back at the Armory, for the last in a set of 3 races in a row there. It'll be good to get out of here next week for the Terrier Classic up in Boston, but since I'm stuck in New York I had to take care of business.

Coach was impressed by my run of two 4:30s pretty much back to back so she wanted to see what I could do in the 3000m again. I wanted to see what I could do in a speed situation after that 4x800m so I asked to do an 800m, so she obliged. It was a great meet for me, since I started out the day running the 800 and I ran a 1:59.22, a new indoor 800m Personal Best. It felt great and easy, ran a 28 for the 1st 200m (remember indoor 200m tracks), then 3 consecutive 30's, they were 30.XX but they totalled for a 1:59. Then I had the 3000m, and since I was feeling good from the 800m I just went out and did what I could. It was a smaller meet, and I was put into the Seeded section of the 3000m, meaning I was in the fastest heat, and I didn't disappoint, running 8:58, a new Indoors Personal Best in the 3000m. Yep I was estatic, since I had the strength now to run a short and long race in the same day and still run respectable times.

Now to get my revenge on the Mile, off to Boston!

-Steve

Can anyone believe how well the Canadians are playing?

2007-01-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

I spoken about this at my other blog earlier in the year but since I've started this new sports and travel blog I thought I might as well post about it here.

My favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens, have seemed to be resurging this year. A couple of weeks ago they were 4th in the Eastern Conference, only a couple of points back. Now they've had a minor losing streak but it still hasn't taken much away from them. Micheal Ryder and Saku Koivu are playing amazing, along with Cristobal Huet and Sheldon Sourray. The last 2 even made it to the All-Stair game.

Anyways I don't want to rant and rave about hockey all day, but who's your favorite team? do you follow hockey? Post away,

-Steve

My Disclosure Policy

2007-01-15T18:48:00.000-05:00

This policy is valid from 15 January 2007

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Another week another Track Meet

2007-01-13T02:00:00.000-05:00

While I'm still on Winter Break at LIU track don't take no break, so we have our season meet of the break at the NYU Gotham Cup which takes place at everyone's favorite track, The Armory, up in Washington Heights, Manhattan, NY. This time we're running our 1st DMR of the season, where I'm running the Mile leg, and I'm running the Mile individually. The DMR is the short form for the Distance Medley relay, where a team of 4 runners run 4 different legs. The leadoff leg runs a 1200m, then the 2nd leg runs a 400m, he hands off to the 800m leg and lastly the anchor leg runs a 1600m, or metric mile.

So I had the individual mile first, and I went out in 2:10, a little slow, but then lost focus and couldn't run the way I wanted too. Don't know why but I ended up running a 4:30.5, which is slow by my standards since I had run a 4:27 the year before. Next up was the Medley, and Dan led it off, ran 3:14, nothing spectacular, followed by a 52.8 in the 400m by Akil. Then Kel ran a 2:01/2:02, also subpar for him and then he handed it off to me. I ran a 4:31, but the way I ran it was really strong, since I went out in a 2:14 and came back in a 2:16, which meant I was getting stronger. I didn't run that fast of a time either, but running 2 4:30's back to back is a good sign of strength, we'll see what it earns me later.

Yep more later, or after the next race if I get lazy again, lol

-Steve

Back in NYC - Fordham Invitational

2007-01-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

Back to New York I am, and with that it means more training and running. It's good being back for that reason, and the meal money doesn't hurt, however I'm not in my permanent room and that's annoying.

The trip back on the Greyhound was fun since I met this nice lady from Long Island who was a runner so it was interesting talking to her. Then I crashed at my friends house in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, which isn't as bad as people make it seem. Then I was in the dorms and off to the Fordham Invitational up in the Armory Track & Field Center, which is up in Washington Heights, the northern part of the Island of Manhattan in New York City.

I ran 2 race today, the 1000m and the 4x800m. The 1000m didn't go so well, I didn't attack and only tried to run the last 150m, that usually doesn't work and you don't get a great time doing that. So I ended up with the subpar time of 2:36. Next we ran a 4x800m relay, which was fun and interesting, it's not a traditional race Indoors for us since there's no 4x800m at Conference Championships but we had run. We ended up in 8:09, not a great time, however I ended up running a 1:59.5 split for my leg, the fastest split on the team, so I was happy with that result as well. Hey I might be an 800m runner after all, we'll see.

Alright more news as the week progresses,

-Steve

Training during the break is tough - Visit to St-Lazare

2006-12-27T21:26:00.000-05:00

Yea I'm back home and even though I'm on vacation I still find it tough to train. I still don't have that much free time so finding the time or the will to get out and run, or get down to McGill to lift since they closed the track isn't fun. I managed to get 4 days last week, so hopefully this week will be better. We'll see. At least I'm having fun with my friends and I'm not being stupid by partying too much.

Oh yea interesting thing is that I went to St-Lazare yesterday and had a bonfire outside with Silo, Cicilic and a whole bunch of friends from High School. Was pretty awesome. I'm trying to put the pictures up on my personal Blog but we'll have to see once I figure it all once I'm done with it. Check out facebook for more info on that.

More later,

-Steve

2 Days off for sickness then McGill is closed

2006-12-22T00:33:00.000-05:00

Hey, been enjoying my break at home except for the fact that I've been sick the last 2 days. I think it's cause I went out that Monday night after I wrote my last post and went for an hour in the freezing cold with a huge windchill. Also might be my house, it's really dusty and we got a new dog called Mya so I might not be adjusted to her yet.

So I took the last 2 days off, I know I shouldn't sometimes it happens. Whatever I got off my butt and took care of all my Passport stuff today, since I had a feeling it wouldn't get done it time and my mom bugging me to do it. Me and Cicilic went to the office, chilled downtown, then I went to the Track with Cicilic. I had a 5x1200m workout at 2:24-2:28 through the 800 for the 1200m. I was feeling good until my last one where my sickness/lack of fitness caught up and I couldn't finish it. I decided not to push and just relaxed. I hit my times for the 1st 4 repeats, so I was happpy.

I also taught Cicilic a bunch of exercises, we'll see how that goes with him, or if he'll continue doing them.

Maybe tomorrow I'll go lifting since the track is close, we'll see, more later,

-Steve

It's been a while

2006-12-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

Yea I know I've been kinda slacking on this blog but I'm not going to neglect it. I had 2 races recently, one on the 3rd and one on the 10th, and I did pretty good at both of them. I came 4th in the 3000m with a time of 9:11.XX, I was in 2nd most of the race then 2 guys came after me at the end.

The second day, the 10th, was the Patch Track Open at FDU (used to be a patch track, no so much anymore). We were supposed to run 2 races, the 4x800m then the 1000m right after to get in a good workout however it didn't go to plan and we only ran the 1000m. I was racing against a bunch of people, including 3 Kenyans and an NEC Champion/NCAA Finalist. I went toe to toe with the NEC Champion/Kenyan guy from FDU and I took the lead in the last lap, with 150m to go. Then we both sprinted with 100m and he got me by .1 seconds at the line so I came 2nd. Blast! Could've had him.

Now I'm on my winter break, might log my travels or track training here,

Alright off to relax.

-Steve

First Indoor Meet Coming up!

2006-12-02T20:32:00.000-05:00

Yep just relaxing tonight, big race tomorrow. Running the 3000m at the Indoor Track at Seton Hall, in South Orange, NJ. I dunno what to think, since it's my true senior year (last year didn't count since I had eligibility left) but I feel like I haven't accomplished what I set out to do before I even came to this school. I'm in some of the best shape of my life, it's about time I get it done. When I came here I think I could've easily been Northeast Conference Champion, maybe do well on the regional scene, or at least compete with the best. Injuries lack of fitness have taken their toll, but I think it's my time to shine. It all starts tomorrow, the first of 6 long months of hard training, fast competition, and long weekends.

Wish me luck and I'll give you guys the details tomorrow,

-Steve

Brooks Big Boi Challenge and updates

2006-11-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

Yea the week after conference I decided not to take it off and just run the Brooks Manhattan Big Boi Challenge. I don't remember what place I came in but I ran an average 27:39 and it wasn't a spectacular race. I think we were losing some focus after the long cross-country season that was tough because we had a lot of injuries and people who were ineligible.

Since then I've been resuming my training and getting my focus back. Things have been good and I'm happy. We run our first indoor race December 3rd so I'm gearing up for that.

Alright more later,

-Steve

Didn't do so well

2006-10-28T19:28:00.000-05:00

If you read my major blog you'll have found that I didn't do so well on my race this weekend. I came 25th when I was easily expecting a top 14 finish which would've put me as an All-Conference selection. Unfortunetly I was sick in the car ride before the race which gave me a stitch and prevented me from going as hard as I wanted. I ran as hard I as could with the pain, even pushed when I saw some people try to pass me, but overall I wasn't too pleased with how this went down. Oh well, at least I have Indoors and Outdoors, and I'm still quite fit, so who knows what will happen, lol.

Alright going out tonight to celebrate Igda's party, peace!

-Steve

NEC Conference Championships Tomorrow!

2006-10-26T21:27:00.000-05:00

Yea my big race is tomorrow. I'm psyched and ready to go. It's one of my last cross-country races where I can do really well so I'm expecting something nice here. I have the potential to easily be top 14 which is All-Conference so I'm going to go for it. It's at Van Courtland Park in the Bronx, NY, so it's just a short drive away. I hope I get some sleep, don't want to be too excited/nervous, lol. Wish me luck! I'll post results tomorrow.

-Steve

Focus of this blog

2006-10-15T15:28:00.000-05:00

I know I've started this blog to chronicle my sports, my travels and anything generally outdoor related by I'm wondering what direction should I take. I know I'm going to talk a lot about Track, since I love it, but should I talk a lot about places where I want to go, or sports and what's going on with that. I don't know. I think I'm going to slowly build this up with some track, then figure out what I want to do with it.

Anyone got any thoughts? Shout it out, don't be afraid.

-Steve

First post!

2006-10-04T23:18:00.000-05:00

Starting up a new blog to cover my track stuff, or my outdoor adventures, or travelling and etc, so here's the beginning!