My name is Lloyd and was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada. I'm of Filipino and Jamaican descent and have family all over the globe. I've been fortunate enough to have traveled to quite a few places and often have relatives to stay with. Before running, I was somewhat active, as I played basketball, ball hockey and soccer. Those who know me, know that I'm a huge Knicks fan, enjoy Transformers and love to dress up. I've been a Knicks fan since 1990 when I first started watching the game of basketball. Most people were a Bulls/Jordan fan. Me, I took to liking Patrick Ewing, mostly because of the Jamaican connection. I've been through the ups of the 90's, never strayed when they were down in the 2000's, but loving the current 2010's team with Carmelo Anthony and company. As for Transformers, they are part of my childhood. I watched the cartoons, played with the toys and enjoyed the 86 movie. I of course lost interest during my teens, but peaked again at a comic convention where I purchased 2 modernized versions of Starscream and Rodimus around 2005. It's been a hobby of mine ever since. I of course love the current movies, despite not being trilled about the character or toy designs. As for dressing up, I'm referring to Halloween or theme parties. Below (coming soon) are some recent pics of some of my costumes. Other than that, I enjoy hanging out with friends, watching movies and partaking in various activities or festivals Winnipeg has to offer.
This is how I got into running. I ran very little and randomly in the past. It was
so seldom, that I wouldn't consider myself a runner at the time. I
really started running a little less than a year ago, about the
beginning of July 2012. The reason I started running was to release
frustrations I had with a girl. I hadn't been seeing her very long, but
I could see it possibly going somewhere. She then had a tragic event
in her life that cause her to become distant. I gave her some space and
after about 3 weeks she ended things saying it wasn't fair to me. In
this time, I had started running just to clear my head. I was trying to
eat healthier and combined with running, I started to lose weight. It
felt good. Because I work shift work, I don't always sleep well, day or
night. I began to sleep better though. Even after only a little over a
month, I was getting compliments on looking slimmer. Initially I started out running 3km several times a week and worked
myself up to 5km. Through Mapmyrun, I would post my activities on Facebook and had a stretch where I ran 21 straight days of 5km. Talking
to a friend, she said I shouldn't run daily. I need to allow my body
to rest. I followed her advice and gave myself a couple rest days each
week. My cousin Tony also noticed my constant 5k's and gave me the kick
in the butt I needed to improve. He said he had seen enough of these
5km runs, and wanted to see me run further. I immediately bumped myself
to 6km and later 7km and he gave me positive feedback regarding this. I kept up my running all through the fall and into winter. I used to fear the winter and stay indoors as much as possible. Fellow Winnipeggers know what I mean. But since I was running, I became acclimatized to the cold, as I would dress in appropriately in layers and my face well covered. I also wore a pair of Nike Air Pegasus GTX which are insulated, water resistant and has trail grip. On top of that, I used grips on my shoes for great traction on the ice. I had then signed up for my first race, The Brita Resolution Run 5k and later 2 half marathons, The Fargo half in May and Manitoba Half in June. I began training for them in December.
Why The Twelfth Mile Marker? Well while running the Fargo half, I past numerous mile markers. When I came across the Mile 12 marker and took a pic. A half marathon being 13.1 miles, I then knew that I was almost done, only 1 more mile to go. I used this as extra motivation in pushing through and completing my first half marathon. Again at the Manitoba half, I came across their 12MI marker and snapped a pic. I thought I could run most of it, but unfortunately suffered some calf cramping that I had to stretch out. So whatever I set out to do, I will look out for my "twelfth mile marker" and fight to the end to accomplish my goals. He I will share my experiences in running and training as I continue the challenge or running half marathons and various other races. I may also write about other activities and possibly some of my other interests as things come up. Hopefully you enjoy my blog or at least bits and pieces of it. Feel free to comment or post about experiences you can relate to. Keep running, or if you don't, I encourage you to start. It's an activity that brings joy into my life and I'm sure it will do the same for you.
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