Slacker

Well, Friday is finally here and I am wiped out. I would have not thought that i would be, but I am. I did not go workout yesterday because I was worn out. I think that I have not been eating enough because I have not had any energy and have been having headaches. I went to sleep pretty early and feel pretty good today.

So tomorrow I will be working out and looking forward to it.

Have a good one.

What a weekend

Well, I am back at work and all I can say is what a weekend. If you did not know, I went back to Monroe/West Monroe to be with family for the holiday. It was pretty good and very busy. You know I had every intention of running over the weekend but guess what, that did not happen. I have a few pics that you can see at the bottom from when we visited my mother.

Well, I started back exercising yesterday and it really hurt. I ate some stir-fry for lunch but I would have thought it would have gotten though me before working out at 6, but I just felt like crap. I know one thing that I did have was a sinus headache and that was not fun. A lot of people there did not have their nutrition logs and now for here on, if you don't have your logs you will be singled out and you will do more workouts. Needless to say, I will have mine today.

Here is an email that I got today, I know it has been floating around for awhile, but it is the first time that I have heard of it.

SEC Football

Planning for the fall football season in the South is radically different than up North. For those who are planning a football trip South, here are some helpful hints.

Women's Accessories:
NORTH: Chap Stick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterprooof mascara, and a fifth of bourbon. Money not necessary - that's what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

Fathers:
NORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America .

Heroes:
NORTH: Rudy Giuliani.
SOUTH: Herschel Walker & Peyton Manning.

Getting Tickets:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus, make a large financial contribution, and put name on a waiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because they have20classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hung over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and wave to the idiots up north who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never broadcast from their campus.

Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance from the Dave Matthews Band, who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask "Where's the stadium?" When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it is the state's third largest city.

Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room fo r bourbon.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH: Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.

Commentary (Male):
NORTH: "Nice play."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Commentary (Female):
NORTH: "My, this certainly is a violent sport."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for next week's game.

Well, here are the pics that I promised earlier, enjoy.



and

Feeling better

Well, I got up and got the kids to school and went and ate donuts with Megan and Mason. They both enjoyed it very much. Mason ate pretty good considering what he usually eats. I did not eat that well, but that is ok, I can splurge one day a week I think.

Did some reading this morning and found a blog post about taking the Marine Corps Fitness Test, and I think I will add that to my goal. The Marine Corps Fitness tests consists of three exercises: pull-ups, crunches, and a 3.0 mile run. The events are “designed to test the strength and stamina of the upper body, midsection, and lower body, as well as the efficiency of the cardiovascular system.

Pull-ups

Find yourself a pull-up bar. If you don’t have one, just go to a park and use the monkey bars. They’re perfect for pull-ups. I also highly recommend investing in the Iron Gym Pull-Up Bar. It’s one of the best and most useful things I ever bought. And you’ll be able to use it at home once the fitness test is done to keep improving your strength.

To begin the test, grab the bar, both palms facing either forward or towards you. I would do it palms facing towards you. It’s easier that way.

The correct starting position begins with your arms fully extended beneath the bar and your feet off the ground.

One rep consists of raising the body with the arms until the chin is above the bar and then lowering your body until your arms are fully extended. The object of this test is to measure your performance from a dead hang position. Thus, whipping, leg kicking, or leg kipping are not allowed and pull-ups using these assistance methods do not count.

You don’t have a time limit to perform your pull-ups, but as soon as you let go, the test is over.

Abdominal Crunches

The ab crunch test has a two minute limit. Perform as many crunches as you can in two minutes.

Cross your arms across your chest or rib cage with no gap existing between the arms and chest/rib cage. Both arms must remain in constant contact with the chest/rib cage throughout the exercise. A single repetition consists of raising your upper body from the starting position until both forearms or elbows simultaneously touch the thighs, and then returning to the starting position with the shoulder blades touching the ground.

Your butt must remain in constant contact with the ground.

You can have a buddy hold your legs or feet, at or below the knees. If you don’t have a buddy, place your feet under a couch or some other sturdy object.

3.0 Mile Run

Mark out a 3 mile course. One way of doing this is to reset your car’s trip odometer and drive a flat course in your neighborhood to mark out the 3 miles. Another idea is to go to a high school or college track. It’s flat, clear of any obstacles, and it’s measured out for you. Four times around the track is one mile. So for three miles, you’ll have to run around it twelve times.

Time yourself with a stopwatch to see how fast you can run 3.o miles. Run as fast as you can.

Minimum Fitness Requirements

The Department of the Navy has established minimum fitness requirements for all Marines depending on their age to ensure that they’re ready for combat. Most of us probably won’t see action in Afghanistan, but if you can meet the fitness requirements for these tests, you’ll know that you have the physical condition to take on most of life’s challenges. The minimum requirements below would give a soldier enough points to meet a class three standard.

Age	Pull-Ups	Crunches	3-Mile Run
17-26	3	50	28:00
27-39	3	45	29:00
40-45	3	45	30:00
>46+	3	40	33:00

After you establish your base, start working on improving through regular exercise. Take the test again in a month to see how much you’ve improved. Try making it a goal to score a perfect 300 on the test.

I got this information from artofmanliness.com. I will see how it works out, will keep you updated. I will be going for the minimum requirements. Got to have a goal, right?

Tonights the night...

to sleep. I am tired, really tired. Today for my workout, we did a lot of cardio. It started with a mile jog, then a set of drills that included may suicides and ended up with revers crunches. After all that I had to walk a quarter mile home. I am looking forward to the weekend, and since I will be out of town you might not see many updates.

Till we see each other again..

My son

Well, another day, another dollar. I had an appointment this morning to take my son to the doctor to get a consult about getting ear tubes. I found out today that his ears are so blocked that he is probably only hearing everything at about half as loud as normal. We now have an appointment for next week to get some ear tubes put in.

One more thing that I realized is that I suck at filling out forms. I am glad that I did not turn in the paperwork before my wife corrected my work. It is sad I know but I now know that filling out forms is not my forte.

On to my workout..

Well, I was not able to workout yesterday because I gave blood for the American Red Cross. So yesterday was core day and I missed it. There is some part of me that is a little happy that I missed it but mostly I was a little upset. I am not sure what I will be doing today but since I was off yesterday, I am sure today will suck pretty badly :-)

My eating is still pretty crappy, today a bagel with cream cheese and for lunch a chicken sandwich. I was going to go home for lunch but was unable to because of a conference call at 12. Tonight I hope that I can eat something that will be a little better, but you never know. I am thinking about cooking some fish, very good for you (if you don't fry it)

Soccer day

Well, my daughter had her first soccer practice yesterday and I think she really enjoyed it. I was amazed at how much she ran and never slowed down. I think that she will really enjoy it. Below is a pic that I snapped.



It has been a pretty eventful day here at work. For the past month or so they have been prepping an area for a new 2250KW generator install and they finally started installing it today. Below are some pics that I took of the generator and what it looks like if anyone is interested.





I am pretty sore from working out yesterday. We ended up doing a lot of lunges and right now I am begining to get pretty sore. I need to work it out some. Today we will be working on core and I am ready for it. I have been feeling pretty good at the end of the working so I am thinking that today will push me pretty good as I know my core is not that good.

Feeling good

So far so good, I have been getting into the workouts at the park, so yesterdays workout was pretty good. I felt really good after it, not very exausted. My eating has been getting better, I have been trying to eat more whole grains with fruits and veggies. I take a multi-vitamin in the morning before work and it really seems to help me get the day started.

Today it is my daughters first day of soccer class, she is looking forward to it. I will take some pictures and put it up later today/tomorrow.

It was funny yesterday, she ended up working out with me at the park. We ran a circut where at first we did push ups, then we ran to some cones and did 25 jumping jacks. After that we ran around a small field and up a large hill and did 50 arm raises while in a squat position. We then ran down the hill across the street and did suicides and finishing up with 25 leg raised crunches. We did this 3 times and Megan did it once. When we got home, she was pretty tired. She ate and then went right to bed.

Today I had special K for breakfast and will go home and eat some fruit with a low fat high protein lunch which will consist of a turkey rollup. I might end up jogging during lunch since I won't be able to make the workout tonight due to Megans soccer.

Till next time