Welcome to another flighty edition of Nguyen Update! I'm your host, Brian Nguyen here with the latest headlines:

Filoli Gardens provides get-away for the restless and geriatric

Eager to explore some new enclave of Silicon Valley, I woke up early Saturday morning and set out Bay-Area-Backroads-style to Filoli Gardens ( http://www.filoli.org/ ), a posh and picturesque estate out in the middle of nowhere (Woodside, CA) that was once owned by a wealthy family in the late 1800's, but now open to the public. The refined 19th century mansion pleaseantly reminded me of the boardgame Clue with its old leather-bound books, world maps and antique chandeliers. The gardens outside the mansion were breathtaking in a very classical sense - acres and acres of rose bushes, lily-pads, mazes, fountains, green houses and occasionally the obligatory statue of some Roman diety. In my opinion, the garden rivalled many I'd seen in Europe.

On our way back to the parking lot, I glanced at my watch.

Me: "It's 12:20. I wonder what people our age are doing."

Jared: "Probably waking up..."

Frazzled runner finishes Santa Cruz Half Marathon

   Crossing the finish line at 1 hr 52 mins, I had a decent run at the Santa Cruz Half Marathon despite having overslept and making it to starting line just minutes before the race! I remember darting out of bed, throwing on my dry-fit clothes and chugging a huge glass of ovaltine (big mistake). So much for carbo-loading. I was so scatter-brained that upon reaching the starting line, I realized I forgot my ear-phones in the car, and thus ran with ipod hanging uselessly from my arm. I finished the race with 2 throbbing blisters (don't know how I made it through those last 2 miles) and  the taste of thick, syrupy saliva in my mouth due to dehydration. mmmmm!

Stick It movie inspires ninja to bolster workout regimen
 
  It may not be Tae Kwon Do, nor is it violent by any means, but landing square on your crotch during a balance beam routine sounds worse than getting side-kicked in the gut. Gymnasitics is "like totally" hardcore, as demonstrated time and again in the movie "Stick It," a fun movie in the spirit of "Bring it On" that's not only fun and moralistic, but also inspirational! If these girls can train 6 hours a day and mix cardio and strength training *gasp* then I can definitely use longer workouts. And so far I have! 1.5 hours instead of my normal 45 min. Thanks, "Stick It" - couldn't a' done it without ya!