Warrior Dash 2011 A Recap.......

Yesterday was the Warrior Dash, It was possibly one of the best afternoons that I've spent...ever. It's not about finishing with a competitive time, even though there is a winner, how do you know what's competitive when it's a 3 mile race across junk cars, hay bales, under barbed wire and over logs and up cargo nets and through tires.....The fact that you hit the finish line with a huge smile on your face lets you know that you were competitive.



You're not an Official Warrior until you get your official warrior headdress.
Yes, you need to start the race with clean clothes, the cleaner the better.








Oh yea, I forgot to mention the two fire pits you have to hurdle just one obstacle shy of the finish line...the last obstacle you ask....well it's the Muddy Mayhem pit so just in case you are on fire the muddy murky dank water will extinguish your flames....






Lots and lots of costumes...the Harlem Globetrotters showed up.











The Jolly Green Giant and Mullet Man also made an appearance. These guys were drinking beer before the race...my kind of guys.











Batman and Robin without any alcohol...these guys were actually stretching and warming up.








If you make it across the finish line you get a medal! In 46 years of life this is the first time that I've ever gotten a medal......







Mud, Sweat and Beer - In this case one for each hand! Both Light Beers which equals one real beer, I think.

My wife filmed my amazing jumping skills...it's no wonder the hair on my shins is missing.

These guys filmed the race with a helmet cam....a pretty decent representation of the race.

and yes this counts as a CT I finished in 47:58 and placed 2404 out of 5159....

Accomplishments week of 1/28

This Past Week
I didn't travel
I didn't have any beer - some whiskey
Lost a CE last night to wings
Gained close to a pound
13 miles of cardio
Started a new workout template that I actually like



221.2 ahhh the mighty scale displaying my hearty wing fest from last night.
Not that concerned, I'm sure between the salt in the wings and the 4 or 5 Diet Cokes that washed them down it's a well deserved gain.






I need to get the calories up more, more almonds, peanut butter more calories dense foods. I'm burning 3000 calories per week on exercise alone I can afford to add some calories.

Jan 28

I got to work from the house today so I treated myself to a homemade bowl of shrimp and brown fried rice, Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries....Mmmmm Mmmmm good. Unfortunately any gained health advantage from my lunch was lost at dinner time - 18 wings later I left a full and satisfied customer - on well a CE lost. The only saving grace might have been the fact that I had a double header today, a CE in the morning and then a RT before dinner. How did I manage to demolish 18 wings less than an hour after working out? Who knows but I did take in a whole bunch of protein at dinner.

Managed to walk at a 4MPH pace this morning...sunny and Friday...sweet.

Last session of the new template and I like it each of the sessions. I'm planning on working in some sloshpipe exercises, sled work and farmers walks. I took measurements on Jan 1st and re-took again this evening - 11lbs gone and 1" missing from the waistline, an 1" off the thighs, 1/2" off the biceps, 1/2" off of the chest and as usual nothing missing from the calves....still 19 1/2"..

A day without laughter is a day wasted. Charlie Chaplin

Jan 27

A bright a beautiful South Florida morning - time for a walkabout

Right at 52 minutes - It was sunny and in the 50's most everyone was bundled up - everyone except me the relocated Georgia boy short sleeves and shorts. Just a few pictures from this mornings walk.....






This is Legacy Park a small park located at the local boat ramp and doc. I've spent many an evening with my wife down here fishing aka "Feeding the fish".






Mommy Duck and her ducklings hanging out on the dock waiting to be fed. One thing about the local ducks...when they're babies they're cute...when they're grown these ducks are ugly as hell.





The clock tower on our round-a-bout. The clock chimes every half hour the round-a-bout no one around here has any idea how to navigate it.





Lots of green grass, palm trees and sunshine. I call it Chamber of Commerce weather. Most of these houses were built in the 60's and have lots of varying and unique architecture.





One of the many many canals around my house- lots of fishing and lots of places for boating.






This is the local Aquatic Center..I grew up around this area and during that time this was the local community pool over the years they've built it out to include slides, water canons and wading pools. I'm of course to big for most of the attractions.




I can say that I've officially found "The End Of The Road". I've walked down this street many a times and I've never noticed this sign.

Jan 26

It's been one of those weeks where I'm not on the road and it's been nice...This evening my wife made a wonderful Weight Watchers Chicken with Black Bean Chili dinner.
1 lb ground chicken
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup dry red wine or water
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, undrained
1 can (14.5-oz) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes with jalapeno peppers, undrained
6 Tbsp low-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook the ground round in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until brown, stirring to crumble. Add chopped onion and the next 7 ingredients (onion through garlic), and cook for 7 minutes or until onion is tender. Place meat mixture in an slow cooker, and stir in beans and tomatoes. Cover with lid, and cook on LOW for 4 hours. Spoon into bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

257 Calories; 10g Fat (36.1% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 48mg Cholesterol; 578mg Sodium

I managed two servings and I've got some for lunch tomorrow...sweet!

Getting more into this new template and still feeling muscles ache that haven't ached in a while.....I cut the rest periods down to 60 seconds and started with about 10 minutes of stretching and foam rolling.



I managed to get in a four mile walk while my wife was in school. Several folks were still burning their Christmas lights....more power to you! Keep 'em burning till Easter I say. Most of the time that I walk or run in a new place I just start out and sometimes I manage to easily find my way back to the car sometimes it's not so easy and it adds an extra mile or so to my trek....but the nice thing with Runkeeper is that it lets you see the route you've walked.....

Germ-a-phobe?

The Seven Germiest Places

By April Daley

Using your local ATM is like sticking your hand in a public toilet, a recent British study finds.

Researchers from BioCote, an antibacterial product coating company, swabbed keypads on ATMs and the seats of nearby public restrooms. They found both contained bacteria that caused diarrhea and other illnesses—and the ATMs carried more bacteria than the toilets. Nasty.

Here are six other spots that are dirtier than you’d expect.

The Self Checkout at Your Supermarket

100 percent of the stands in supermarkets tested by germ expert, Chuck Gerbra, Ph.D. of the University of Arizona, had bacteria on them. More than 70 percent had coliform, commonly found in feces and aquatic environments.

Touch Screens

iPod, iPad, and tablet touch screens are covered with more contaminants than anything else tested, Dr. Gerba found. A simple solution: Spray a damp lint-free cloth with sanitizing spray made specifically for electronics—regular disinfectant products can damage your screen. Use a dry cloth to buff the screen until all fingerprints and smudge are gone. READ MORE

Enough to scare you? Me, not so much..I make sure that I participate in the normal hygiene routines - washing before meals, after certain normal body functions and I try not to put my fingers in my mouth much, my Mom helped me with that one when I was two years old. I've never really gotten into the hype of the germaphobes. I shake hands with people several times a day, I use public restrooms and water fountains without giving it a second thought. I sleep in hotels, drive rent-a-cars and fly on planes several times each week and I never really give it a second thought about the cleanliness of the things I touch...Now I'm not running my fingers across the dashboard of a rent-a-car and then rubbing my eyes but I generally don't go out of my way to avoid germy situations.

I see lots of people carrying those small bottles of hand sanitizer and for some reason those are the people that always seem to be getting sick. I have a theory about the hand sanitizer people...these folks have totally jacked around their immune system with that slimy clear gel that as soon as the little bit of a crazy germ comes in contact with them BOOM they get sick because their natural immune system is so out of whack. I take my vitamins, try to get enough rest and exercise and every year I get a cold, some years worse than others but every so often the germs win.

The article is informative I never would have thought about washing my reusable grocery bags until I read the story.

So till next time and by the way I like the hand sanitizer with the sparkles in it, nice touch....

Jan 24

Hanging out with my wife at Starbucks this evening....how did we ever survive with dial-up internet? Once you connect to their WiFi and hit their landing page they have categories to browse I choose wellness and then was presented with many choices one of which was local runs and rides..I clicked on the link and found no less than 25 local places to run or ride all marked with distances and elevations. Being in Florida most of the elevations were 1".


Got in a RT before a marathon day of phone calls and projects. Changed up the routine a bit...added some exercises that I haven't done in a while and this evening I can actually feel some muscle soreness in places that I haven't felt it in quite some time. That is always a welcome feeling.

A Fan Of Design

I'm actually a huge fan of design. From something a simple as a pair of Chinese Tranquility Balls to the beauty and simple lines of a Chrome Prowler, I appreciate functional and beautiful and simple and original design...all in one item or or individually.

Years ago I can across Tom Peters and immediately felt this connection with his ideas and the way he wrote. In the past I've used him for ideas. Tom has his own ideas on design as well.
OK all that to get to this....Over the weekend I came across this interview with Scott Summit of Bespoke Innovations.
Here's a bit of it: "We recently caught up with Scott Summit, the industrial designer behind San-Francisco-based Bespoke Innovations, at AU 2010, where he was one of the keynote speakers. Bespoke Innovations has a clear mission: Apply good industrial design and rapid prototyping techniques to make kick-ass prosthetics. They don't do off-the-shelf parts--they interview amputees, find out what makes them tick, and design some seriously cool custom limbs based on their interests and tastes."
I'm fortunate no one in my family or for that matter no one that I know of has a prosthetic limb. I've seen some of the interesting designs of athletic prosthetics, but I figured that the cool design was based on it's function not what it looked like.
Why shouldn't someone have a prosthetic limb that reflects their personality? I have ink on my body, my ear is pierced, my head shaved and I have a goatee..so my personality must say that I want to look like everyone else. That aside, it's pretty damn cool that someone designs outside the box (I really dislike that phrase) but it's cooler that people have recognized it.

Jan 23

A very uneventful weekend (for a change) no travel, no major projects just a few trips to the grocery store, working in the yard, cooking on the grill and a couple of adult beverages...not beer...

Saturday afternoon I got in an RT..nothing that crazy..I got the sloshpipe out as well as the weight sled, and from the inspiration of TNTMan I tried doing countdown sets...I made it through 7 before the wheels came off..I think these may need to be their own session or at least at the beginning not the end of the workout.


I got to try out my new running shoes this afternoon....sweet. I love Nike Air Max shoes. The South FL weather was sunny with a slight breeze. The run was finished with firing the grill up for a ginger infused flank steak, and as the coals heated I kicked back with a glass of Gentlemen Jack on ice. It was a nice weekend.

Accomplishments week of 1/21

This Past Week
2 trips out of town (Tampa FL, Baltimore MD)
Saw snow for the second time this year
Had 2 beers last Saturday
Lost 3 CE's this week (Beer, Italian food on Tuesday and wings last night)
Lost 11lbs since Jan-5

Managed to only drop 1 lb this week - I'm sure this is a reflection of only lifting one day this week instead of 3 as opposed to the loss of the 3 CE's.

Nutrition Breakdown

Grams	Calories
Calories	1,836
Fat	85.2
Saturated	25.9
Polyunsaturated	14.0
Monounsaturated	32.1
Carbohydrate	90.5
Dietary Fiber	19.9
Protein	170.0
Alcohol	0.0

My carb intake is way below my goal and so are the calories, which is not good because I know how my body will react as it adapts to the lesser caloric intake -----I hold onto fat and lose muscle mass.

Today will be spent working in the yard with a RT and some slosh pipe work in the afternoon.

MFT

First I'll say I'm not a runner...seriously. I run/walk 3 or 4 times a week and at most I'll end up running/walking 400 miles over the course of the year, but I wouldn't say that I'm a runner.
To me runners are always those folks with single digit body fat numbers, they wear matching synthetic running shirts and shorts, own very technical watches for tracking laps, heart rate etc......they consistently turn in sub 10 minutes miles. Those things are not me. I usually run in cut-off sweat pants or basketball shorts or as my wife kindly calls them "Wife Repellent Shorts"...I wear cotton t-shirts which are heavy with sweat after a run....maybe there is something to all that synthetic material after all.
If you were to look at me the one thing that might tip you off that I might run at more than just the Domino's Pizza guy is my shoes. I love my Nike Air Max running shoes! I bought my first pair last year..they were a 2009 model..Nike actually date stamps their shoes. From the first time I wore them I was in heaven, they are the most comfortable shoe that I've ever worn. So comfortable that I have worn them for more than just running, they've been through countless airports, hiking on my honeymoon and more grocery store trips than I could ever count and this has resulted in them showing their age...
Well yesterday afternoon my wife surprised me with a brand new pair of Nike Air Max Livestrong edition....sweet. Putting aside thoughts on what Lance Armstrong did or didn't do during his cycling days what he started with Livestrong is nothing short of amazing. I wear a yellow bracelet it helps me to remember my family, friends and loved ones...many of which have beat cancer, are dealing with cancer and unfortunately have succumbed to cancer. My bracelet keeps me focused on doing whatever I humanly can to keep my body cancer free.
So this weekend I'll break in those new shoes, I'll wear them with pride, think of those family, friends and loved ones..yes Nike Air Max's are one of My Favorite Things.

Jan 20

I woke up this morning threw a frozen banana, blueberries, milk and a scoop of protein powder into MFT and created my 300 calorie breakfast drink. As I got ready for my morning workout I looked out back and noticed my kettlebells and decided that it was time to start working them back into my workout.....It became Kettlebell Thursday this morning. KB Snatches and foam rolling to warm up with then followed up by an intense 46 minute RT session......


I think that the fat loss template I was following is officially kaput....I'm sure it works but it's just so damn boring. The kettlebell swings managed to get the heart rate elevated just as the squat thrusts did....all in all a good workout.





I'm fighting a bit of a cold...I just love being trapped in airplanes several days a week...so I took my lunch hour and went for a run hoping that I could sweat this bug out of my system. 10 hours later I'm feeling better than I did this morning.

Jan 19

Everyday I try to learn something - today I learned that's very hard (almost impossible) to take a picture while using an elliptical....for some reason the picture comes out blurry no matter how slow you go.
This morning I was up at 5:00am and in the hotels fitness center...why so early? Because of the meal the night before. LIBERATORE's of Timonium for their Chicken Parmigiana & Calamari...Wow what a meal. Fresh sauce and fresh chicken made for a mouth watering dish.
So I lost a CE on the 52 Day Challenge, was worth it? Yeah..........

Warrior Dash 12 Days And Counting

2011 Central Florida Scottish Highland Games

Loaded up the sled yesterday and headed North to the 2011 Central Florida Scottish Highland Games in Orlando FL. The weather cooperated and stayed cool and slightly cloudy.

There were traditional Scottish crafts such as iron and leather working.

Scottish Country Dancing was also represented.

You also had a variety of Noggin Knocker sticks if you needed one.

Then onto the events.......there was weight for height. We saw some near weight for skull smashes as the competitors bodies started to fatigue.

The crowd favorite was the caber toss.

I, of course, had to try a few kilts on just for size...does this make my butt look big?

Fooducate and Beer

What would a Saturday night be without a bit of Fooducation and......Beer

As one that spends more than fair share of time in grocery stores here's an app that I find invaluable...Fooducate...scan the barcode on any food item and it will give you a grade, calories per serving and tips about the product.
The best part is that it will give you better options...kind of like Eat This Not This but without having to pay $10 for the book

Beers Of The Week(end)

My participation in the 52DC has limited my utter enjoyment of the barley and hops...but what's 52 day out of a long long life......a lot I tell you when it comes to beer. As I've I always said "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Benjamin Franklin

First up Full Sail Amber ....I've always been a fan of amber beers, those light and low carb beers simply require me to drink to much to find my "Happy Place". I drank this with my Beef and Broccoli dinner and wished that I had bought another as I would have been inclined to help out cleaning the kitchen.





As a native Texan Shiner Bock has always been close to my heart.....but as the taste buds mature it's one of those those that I've kind of left a bit behind. I cracked the top on this one during dinner preparation and almost broke into a verse or two of Deep In The Heart Of Texas..... maybe if I had a few more on hand the taste buds would have COME back to life for this brew...until then there's a reason that we call it the Republic of Texas.

Accomplishments week of 1/14

This Past Week
3 nights out of town (Tampa FL, Nashville TN & Port Charlotte FL)
Saw snow for the first time this year
Still no beer
Lost 10lbs since Jan-5


11 days into the Winter 52DC and here's where I stand.....The Clean Eats (CE) are going as planned. The Resistance Training (RT) & Cardio Training (CT) numbers are ahead of schedule but I'm really concentrating on getting the exercise in whenever I have the time.
The 40-4-40 is a reflection of the CT's & RT's. The Warrior Dash (Mud, Sweat & Beer.....baby) isn't till the end of the month and this morning I hit my weight loss goal.

I decided to change my weigh in day to coincide with my weekly accomplishment post.

221.4 was what greeted me one the scale this morning! After all these years I've learned at least one thing about my body and it is the relationship between carbs and weight gain and weight loss.....The goal has been to keep the carbs somewhere around 150 grams, using FitDay this has been repetitively easy and I can see a daily, weekly and monthly breakdown of my calories, nutrition and weight..