Justin's Adventures
I describe myself as an interesting mixture of spices. I have all kinds of interesting and crazy things mixed into me that make me unique... just like everyone else, except I'm spicier....
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Motorcycle Rides
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Should I come back to Blogging? - Cycling - The New Hobby
I met a LDS Spaniard from Barcelona when I was serving in Santiago de Compostela back in the summer of 2001. He had just completed riding his mountain bike from the boarder of France all the way to Santiago in 10 days. I was blown away by how much strength this guy had and it has since lit a fire in me that has been with me ever since. I knew that someday I wanted to return to do the Camino, but I didn't know how or when, because I wasn't into cycling, and I knew there would be no way that I would be able to get a full month off work to be able to walk it.
I've been back to Spain a handful of times since coming home from Spain from my 2 year mission, but have only returned to the Northern Coast 2 times.
This year I decided to by a bicycle and get into a new sport to keep me in shape. I didn't know what I wanted to do between mountain bike and road biking, so I bought a Schwinn Hybrid bike from Walmart, so I can have a little of both. Since then, my roommate Caz has been a big inspiration to me, since he works at a bicycle shop and has several types of very nice and costly bikes. He showed me Strava and how addicting it is.
I've been doing anywhere from 15 to 30 plus mile biking trips each time I get on my bike. I recently cycled 31 miles one Saturday evening and another 50 miles the following Sunday morning in order to complete the 131km Strava Gran Fondo challenge in July. I don't have a light bike with toe clips, I don't have a cool skin tight jersey, though I have some nice gel padded cycling shorts, but I find that I am able to keep pushing myself. The more I do it, the further I want to go, even though I must say, the 50 miles after doing 30 was killer on my legs turning them into jello. I had over 2,500 ft elevation gain between the two days. I later recovered from sore legs 2 days later and was ready for more.
The following weekend I did a 14 mile round trip hike to the top of Mt. Timponogos with a Spanish friend who had never been. We went up Saturday evening and camped in the meadows and then finished on Sunday. It was pretty tough carrying such a heavy pack with tent and sleeping gear, but I did it and feel my legs are much stronger now because of it. We took our time, but I think we did it round trip in around 8-9 hours. Keep in mind you are also going up at least a mile in elevation.
All the exercise is getting me excited to do the Camino which I have been planning for a couple of months now. I already booked my bike rental in Spain and hotel in Bilbao where I will be starting. It's becoming more and more real every day.
I have put a lot of thought an planning into the trip and been keeping track of web pages I come across, such as blogs and other important forum information with details about the Camino from others who have done it. A month from today I will be flying to Spain to start the Camino in hopes of crossing off another item from my bucket list.
Reading others' blogs has been motivational to want to do the same, but I don't know if I want to do do live blogging, because I am the type who is always on the go with little time to stop and want to write. I will for sure keep a journal, but I'm not exactly sure yet when I will transcribe.
Overall, I am thinking about writing on this blog again more often to be able share my experiences on the Camino, because I have found it so helpful to read from other bloggers doing the same.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Real Salt Lake vs BYU Exhibition game Recap
I came eager and ready to get my mission accomplished. I sat with Brian Kamler, who is a sports color analyst for ESPN700, so I knew I could listen to him and his partner call the game and I could listen to it to make sure my notes were also correct. The game went well and I came up with nearly 4 pages of notes. I talked with MLS.com writer Randy Davis, and he told me that he was asked to write a recap by one of the RSL interns. I told him I was doing the same, so we both agreed to write a different kind of angle on the game, so it wasn't the same.
I came home that evening after the 1-1 tie game and doing some interviews and helping PR with the journalists. I thought I had a deadline, so I worked fervently. After about 2 and a half hours I finally finished my RECAP that I wrote in a rush. I emailed it into my boss.
It has been 2 days since then, and he has not emailed me back giving me any kind of feed back. I emailed him again Sunday morning with a slightly altered version of the release just in case...Still no reply over a day later. I went onto RSL's website only to find that Randy's version of his RECAP had been published, and not mine. He has some quote from players and the head coach, who we didn't even interview after the game. He did a great job as always, but I'm a little upset that mine didn't go up as well. It's more of a play-by-play recap, and I thought I did well writing it. So i'm a little upset that it didn't get published after spending my entire Saturday evening and night working on it. If my release wasn't needed, it would have been nice to know, and I wouldn't have written it. Either way, I didn't want it to go to waste, so Ithought I would post my RECAP Release, so that it can be another sample of my writing to my blog.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Taekwondo Students Prepare for National Competition
I have been working on a press release for the martial arts school that my little brother Eric attends. They are trying to create a little bit of awareness about the program and get others interested in possibly sponsoring the school, or individual martial art students. Some of them, along with my brother, need to raise $2500 by the end of June to go to a national competition in California. Let's see who decides to run this press release I wrote
Local Taekwondo Students Compete In Preparation For National Competition
Lindon, Utah- April 25, 2011- Beyond Sports Taekwondo will be hosting a Wasatch Exhibition competition Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 9 a.m. to give forefront experience in tournament combating to students who will fight against top competitors from around the country at a national Taekwondo competition this June in San Jose, Calif.
Taekwondo is a martial arts self-defense sport fairly new to Utah, but has been steadily growing in the Utah County area. Not only do students learn self-defense, but also learn how to master forms that enable students to have controlled techniques that aid in the development of leaderships skills.
There are those Students who want to move on to nationals in hopes of attaining experience on a national level, but due to the high expense of traveling to nationals, only a fraction of students will be able to participate. Finding sponsorship has always been a challenge to obtain, yet is vital in order to help students advance in this rigorous sport.
Master Instructor Taralyn Sorenson at Beyond Sports Taekwondo said, “The main bulk of what I do is all about creating great kids out of leadership programs to give them self-control and discipline skills.”
Not only do students receive martial art instruction, but they also have the opportunity to become instructors and assist in teaching students in lower belt classes.
“I hope to one day qualify to compete in the U.S. Olympics. By helping to instruct lower belt students, I feel like it helps me to understand the techniques better to help me to reach that goal someday,” said 16-year-old Eric Nixon who holds a 2nd degree Black Belt.
Taekwondo is the name of the martial art turned modern international sport which has been independently developed over about 20 centuries in Korea. The main feature of Taekwondo is that it is a free-fighting combat sport using bare hands and feet to repel an opponent. Taekwondo no more the sport of an eastern small country, Korea, has become one of the world's most prominent sports participated in by some 40 million people in more than 142 countries. The International Olympic Committee admitted the Taekwondo as an official event of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Australia. As a result, Taekwondo is poised to take another leap in its advance towards new dimensions. All events are open to the public.
For more information:
Beyond Sports Taekwondo: 801-796-0412, www.beyondsportsutah.com
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