The goal is to start doing pull-ups 5 times a day on the pull-up bar in the kitchen.
By the end of August, I wanna be able to do 20 in a row with ease.
Start doing push-ups again.
Running every night and every morning.
Biking more.
Ab blasting constantly.

I need to motivate myself. I wanna rock the Rough Rider Marathon.

More to come soon.

Fresh Love for Rotten Fruit

Created by Mingle2.com (Dating for non-zombies)

I haven't been the best at updating this lately.
I went backpacking in Montana. Photos to come. Three miles a day with 35 pounds on my back. It was great. Now I'm back in Dinkytown. I need to start running every day. I need to fix my bike tire. I need to get new rollerblades.

But I am happy. Life is good. It's time to start weight-lifting again and conforming my body into the solid steel god statue it is meant to be.

A new life

So I have now moved into Dinkytown. Now is the time to start working out again. I need to go crazy with workouts again. Push-ups, yoga, abs, back, and I need to find a set of weights. I'm hoping to get some climbing equipment back from Bismarck in order to start climbing again. Then some weight-lifting afterwards. So, expect some actual updates again. I'm gonna go for a good old fashion run tomorrow.

Still Recall My Name

Tiny blue lobsters compose what is the color in my eyes. They are surrounded entirely by the white-sandy beach that they live on. Every momeny of their existance is spent avoiding the red rivers that flow into the black bed of cavier on which they reside. Day and night they stir the cavier to prevent the red rivers from filling the great gourd of darkness and dying their azure shells to a bloody red that would end their distingueshed royalty that is the blue shell. Despite their unity in purpose, the lobsters are not without their factions. There are the pirates, the poets, the demons, the dreamers, and so many more. The tiny blue lobsters that crawl through the air ducts and ventilation shafts that are filled with hidden cheeseburgers and boxes of candy which are focused completely on illness and nothingness. There are the tiny blue lobsters that are choreograohed within the confines of January and those dark fantasies of little voices that speak those rhythms and specialties of doorslamming in the cinemas and radio transmissions. No one can ignore the tiny little lobsters wrapped within afgan buttons of juicy vinyl drippings of quirky kisses and leather bootstraps. These young Heidi proteges color their eyes with a different blue granola than the other composite crawfathers. These dark blotters of ambient pain reside on a cavier that churns all the faster than the Hessean mobiles that have been within my pupils before the days when the red rivers began to flow. It is these pro-active gunthic deligations on which the future of the nurturing neon laughter resides. These rook-shanked mirrors of bent-over curliness clearly know not to pass the buck from dancer-to-dancer in this wolfy foreverness of death-to-death loneliness and abandonment. Despite the tiny blue cannon crestacian's cranium, their bulbous brains are feeding footsteps on steel staircases that hypnotize the hip-hop legends from their thrones on top of Blues Mountain. These legends send forth their crowns made of sweet antelope jaws unto the new millenium. The souls of the next generation are seduced into a cyclic effort of churning cavier and fresh flannel flowing freely within the red rivers. These Bohemian promises of times-yet-to-come tread their way into the perfect probiscus of the tiny blue lobster's spleens. Time means nothing to these tiny blue lobsters; they die before they are born and are canned or jarred before fear has ever entered the formation of dark, juicy cavier. Ah, but what is fear to those creatures which know no time? They fear others which do not reside in Chronos's Kingdom of Clicking and Clocks and Ticking and Tocks. They fear the mighty roar of the green lion whose mane is made of a fierce fire that burns brightly in my hollow heart. It is these creatures that make the red rivers flow. It is this rampous roaring that makes the dye flow to the royalty of the tiny blue lobster. It is this beast that fills the royal lobsters with a damned dread; it is this beast which also proposes the purpose to these lordly lobsters. The never-ending dance of these princes of ports is to avoid the wicked waters of the red rivers.

New Places

Ah, Rock Springs, Wyoming. A desolate wasteland of pure beauty is laid out in front of me.

This is going to be a challenge. I'll be back in a January to a level of sanity for which I am only hoping currently.

Ignorance

Ah, let me ignore the rest of my workout. Or rather, let me not post it here because I don't feel like it. It's time to be in Texas. It's nice to be here. It's warm.

It's okay, I was just talking in my sleep.

Eggplant and Hippo

There is a title link to a delicious eggplant lasagna recipe. It's amazing and delicious. You don't need as much oil as suggested, so there are quite a few adaptions you can make with this recipe.

The workout for today wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I had a belief that after yesterday's run, I wouldn't even be able to get out of my bed. Today's regiment was as follows:
Abs: superset of normal abs and leg raises.
Seated Cable Row
Seated Row Machine
Lat Pulldown
Lower back (reverse sit-ups)
Standing dumbbell curls

After this I did a few square jumps and high kicks. Felt pretty good and energetic. However, when I went for a run with my sister, my stomach was killing me. I'm not sure why yet, but it's happening. It's a bit frustrating. Maybe I'm too dehydrated.

I'm excited for climbing tonight. My arms are already sore and my back is a bit tight, but I'm gonna rockit anyway. Tomorrow I will work mainly on legs and take a day off of running.

In my head, I know I'm not running the Fargo Marathon, but JUST IN CASE, I want to be ready for any random marathon that comes along. I want to run another marathon this year. I just don't know when, so I need to always be prepared. What goals do I need to set for myself?

Off the Charts - Joshua Bell Article

I don't really agree with some of the ideas in this article (click title), but it's hilarious none-the-less. I've always wondered what it would be like to have somebody truly famous playing in a subway to see if anyone would care. Somebody beat me to it. I was born too young.

Today's workout was absolute madness. It was hardcore. I have a bad feeling that tomorrow I will be useless. I just hope I have enough strength to climb the wall tomorrow night.

Monday, Week 3

First, I began with my normal ab routine, back sit-ups, and leg raises.
Decline Bar Bench
Lying Dumbbell Bench
Incline Flye
Shoulder Press
Reverse Flye
Tricep Pulldown with Rope
Dips

After a brief interim, my sister and I went for an hour run by the river. We did all the hills trails. It was great, but it's absolutely going to screw me tomorrow. Oh well. Just in case that marathon comes along, I will be prepared.

Flower Pots Made of Iron

Nothing much to speak of today. Good fun last night listening to blues and telling stories. I believe I'm becoming more and more disjointed from reality and it's beginning to trouble me less and less. I had a dream (a nightmare really) about the end of civilization as we know it. I've never been so convinced something was real. I can't remember the last time I had a nightmare, but I wouldn't even call this that, it seemed more like living the future. But enough about that, since I think it's a bit redunkulous anyway.

Here's a poem I wrote today. It's not good and it has no purpose. Just blathering.
Follow God and follow through,
Loving Him in all you do.
Care for others no matter what.
Give to others what you've got.
Pray for others all the time.
Let God's love take your mind,
Then let it flow out to the earth,
That all mankind may know its worth.

Nothing much to say on that. Just felt like getting some writing done again. It's like starting over.

Voice Calling Me Back Home

A special treat for you all today. Here is a picture of me rock climbing in Norway. Yes, I most definitely made the climb. It was a struggle at first, and I was a bit nervous not being tied in anywhere, but I pulled through with my amazing climbing ability.
For anyone that doesn't know anything about my home state of Nodak, I highly suggest clicking on the title link. It will bring you to the most reliable and comprehensive guide to the state. It also features a good history of the state.

Today was a blustery day. Despite the wind of death, my sister and I decided to run a fast 6 miles along the river. We averaged 8 minute miles, which was quite surprising, but also reassuring. After the other 6 mile runs we've been doing, I knew that it had to happen sometime, it just required a change of scenery.

Then we stopped by Optimum Fitness and did some Tibetan yoga. Then a shortened workout since I'm not meant to be doing anything today but recovering. Today's routine was:
Pull-ups: 3 sets of 10. It felt good to get that energy out.
Dumbbell bench: 3 sets of 15, increasing 5lbs per hand each set.
Lunges: Just 2 sets of 8 per leg. I figured I needed to give my legs a break since their workout was yesterday anyway.
Forearms: 3 sets of 35. It was good to work this a lot. Get those climbing muscles ready for next tuesday.
Ab routine/back sit-ups. Always a good idea.

I've started to get a little angry with this 3 week routine that I started. I don't feel as though it focuses on the core as much as it should. In my opinion, there are 4 excercises that should be done everyday. Push-ups, pull-ups, abs, and back sit-ups. The core needs to be strong and ready for anything. Doing these four every day is a great way to success. I can't imagine many other excercises that can be done anywhere (provided you have something on which to pull-up) and produce such amazing results. You can even toss in a few other excercises and get a full body workout, but I believe these 4 to be critical to anyone and everyone.

Ketchup, Mushrooms, and Artichoke Hearts

No link for this post. Nothing much going on. Just want to catch up on my routine. Today was a good day. I got to walk for a few miles outside with the bright sun shining on my back. My goal is to be tan before anyone else (<-sometimes I lie).

Today's routine:
Abs: superset of routine and leg raises
Donkey calf raises <-One warm-up set of 40, then 3 sets of 50.
Leg extensions
Leg curls
Lying lateral flye

It was all good. The lying lateral flye helped me to open up my chest a little more. I could feel the tightness on my right arm. I kept it at a lower weight so that I could loosen up a little.

The following is one of my favorite recipes given to me by my friend Pangifone:
1½ cups broccoli, chopped
1½ cups cauliflower, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
5 tbsp of natural peanut butter
Directions:
In a large soup pot, sauté the broccoli, cauliflower, onions, ginger, garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper in oil on medium heat until vegetables are tender. Add the stock, tomatoes, and nut butter. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
I like to use crushed red pepper also. It's a bit spicy, cause I also add a little extra ginger and more garlic. The natural peanut butter isn't necessary, it's just to help to make it vegan-friendly. A conveinant trick shown to me by Pangifone is to buy a stir fry mix, which eliminates doing the first three ingredients. It also adds a bit more to it. There's a lot of room for changes and adaptions to this recipe, and it's delicious and filling! Not to mention it is a tremendously healthy meal.

How Can You Leave Me Now?

For some redunkulous reason, I've been a bit pre-occupied with Ursa Major. I thin I called on it in my sleep for power the other night. Sometimes the strangest things enter my head when I'm in The Land of Beyond.

Obviously I'm still a day behind on my workout posts. So here is yesterday's routine:
Supersets: wide grip pulldownwithincline bench press. This was great, and I can feel my incline press really improving.
Shoulder press
Dumbbell lateral raise
Lying tricep extension
Barbell curl.

In the evening I did some climbing. It was great. I had 4 really good climbs. Well, okay, one of the climbs was not so good. It's that stupid dog bowl hold that always messes me up. I feel like I use all my strength on that one hold. It frustrates me to no end. But the climbing was glorious otherwise. I was full of energy and having a great time.

Red Fish, Blue Fish

My apologies for missing yesterday's post and work out. I was a bit distracted by the delicious red fish meal I had at the Pirogue Grille (click the title). Oh, it was amazing. After dinner my family and I sauntered over to Mr. Delicious for some aptly named delicious cheesecake. The warmth of the sun shone upon us and delivered good moods and spirits to everyone.

So here was my routine for yesterday:
Abs: superset of normal routine with leg raises
Leg curls
Leg extensions
Lunge with dumbbells
Seated Calf Raises

The lunge just about killed me. After the six mile run that my sister and I did the day before, my legs were not feeling too hot. I didn't stretch out after the run, and then made the same blunder on Wednesday. We went out just for twenty minutes, since we were short on time before our reservation at the Pirogue.

Living Vicariously Through my Father

Ah, April Fool's Day. Always a good time. Who knows what kind of madness can be done on this day with full justification. For the first year in a long time (as long as I can remember), I've got nothing planned. I haven't even really thought about anything particularly destructive I want to do. Pathetic. Loki and Winneboujou are weakening and crying over my lack of dedication. I can only hope that somebody else is paying them homage today.

Today's Workout
First was a superset with abs and leg raises.
Wide-grip pulldown
T-bar row
Back Hyperextension
Seated Dumbbell Curl

Next time, I will hurt you all. No, that's really not true at all. I want to create something great. I believe that I am destined for great things.

I Could Lift These

Seriously? Digging parts of it up? Doesn't make much sense. Oh well. They do their own thing over on that little island.

Today's lifting regiment was fun-filled. I added my usual ab workout and back excercise to the list. I don't like that this program doesn't have ab and back work everyday. I suppose I have a bit of a different idea of what needs more focus. As per usual, I did 3 sets of each excercise. This time I decided to push my body to make sure that I did at least up to 12. I pushed myself way too hard on some of them, but they were mostly all machines, so the chance of injuring myself wasn't too great.
Dumbbell Inclined Bench
Chest Press
Pec Deck
Shoulder Press
Rear Deltoid Flye
Overhead Tricep Extensions


The overhead tricep extensions nearly broke me. Luckily it was the last thing to do.

For Whom to Vote

It is an election year. I present you the poster of the candidate for whom I am voting. Really, why choose the lesser evil? Why not choose the most evil you possibly could?

Since I have been taking the weekend off from lifting weights, I have allowed myself a few indulgences. One of these was some split-pea soup (it had a ham base and tiny little bits of ham) and another was a large amount of rum. Well, it wasn't really that large, but it had been a while since I had any. During the rumification, my sister (who remains sober) decided we need to write haiku. So there we sat at a concert, writing haiku. The following haiku were written by either my sister or myself.
Jackson Hole,
And breaking my neck
Brought me God.

Midnight beer
On the Missouri.
Perfection.

Cowboy hats
Upon their blonde hair:
True women.

Dakota Snow
So white and fluffy.
Forgiveness.

Tic-Tac-Toe
On chilly barstools
Is pointless.

Dead leaves
Revealed by melted snow.
North Dakota spring.

Sadness is
A tree in Brooklyn
Not growing.

Old Alice
Has no looking glass
Anymore.

To shimmer
And be happy is
The true path.

Thinking about
Tyler can bring a
Smile to me.

Outside wind
Fouling up my hair
Brings true joy.

Whips, handcuffs
And other dark arts
Are skanky.

Changing hair
Is a reflection
Of one's self.

Swedish boy
Sitting at the bar
Much too young.

Happy sad
Girl looking at me
In mirror.

Snubbed by you
In the parking lot
Is fucked up.

Happiness
Unattainable
Out of reach.

Before My Time

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then, looking upon His creation and seeing its imperfection, God decided to improve upon it by creating the greatest sandwhich in all eternity: the Monte Cristo. Nothing can compare with its excellence. The question, "Can God create a sandwhich so fattening that even His arteries will clog," is answered in this sandwhich. It's an indulgence only to be truly enjoyed when you have attained enlightenment. Only then can a person truly understand the bodhi-mind that is the Monte Cristo.

Today is going to be a bit of a cheat day. The recommended workout for my weight program is being skipped. It consists of abs and leg work. I don't feel as though this is good enough though. I will work on my shoulders a little, my back, and my biceps. I'll do the recommended abs and leg work, but I feel as though it's cheating too much. I'm taking the weekend off, isn't that good enough for the routine?

Cherry Tree Caroline

I really have no reason for posting this picture. I just felt like it'd be fun. Little remembrance of Glasgow. It was a grand ole time for Hannah's birthday. I belive this was actually for Steve's birthday though. Anyway, having our own huge room in a hostel for a party was a lot of fun. It was a great idea and the skittles vodka was well worth the gut-rot.

But that was a different time. Today's workout was grand. It was a step-up from what I normally do. I RARELY do supersets, but today I did.
Supersets combine two or more exercises with similar motions to maximize the amount of work of an individual muscle or group of muscles. The exercises are performed with no rest period between the exercises.
The supersets I performed today were as follows:
Incline press with bent-over row. I moved immediately from the incline press to the bent-over row. I didn't even take a break between sets, but did all 3 sets in a row.
Dip and pull-up. This was really hard doing supersets. Once again, I didn't take a break between the sets at all. It was rough. I normally only do sets of 10 for the dips, and sets of 10 for the pull-ups. Instead, today I pushed myself as hard as possible and did 15 reps for each set. I get the feeling tomorrow is going to lead to my body being broken.
The rest of my workout was pretty chill. After my supersets, I did my ab routine and lower back routine. This time I used a 25lb weight for the lower back. Then I finished it off with the following:
Military Press
Dumbbell Kickback.

In the end, it was a great work-out today. Not sure about climbing tonight. It would be good, but I'm not feeling like going all the way out to the university tonight.

No Conquest Can Ever Be Complete

Today's workout seemed quite easy. It focused mainly on legs, and didn't even feel challenging to somebody like myself. It was supposed to be an even easier ab routine today, but I stuck to yesterday's ab routine instead. As per usual, 3 sets of 8-15.
Wednesday's Routine
Ab Routine: for more info, see yesterday's post.
Back sit-ups Just for fun
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Pull-ups3 sets of 5. I wasn't supposed to do this today.
Upright Row
Body Weight Squats
Standing Calf Raises

It was a pretty easy day today. After all this, I went for a 6 mile run with my sister. It wasn't too fast, but it still took us less than an hour.

For anyone and everyone that missed it, there was an amazing claymation version of Peter and the Wolf on PBS this evening. It was wonderful. I need to find it somewhere.

Exertion of Energy

Today's workout came out with plenty of results. It started out with my ab routine (eased a little bit).
Here's the list of the easier ab routine:
Leg throws 17 (Middle-left-middle-right-middle, etc.)
Leg-ups 10 seconds
Side sit-ups 10 on each side
Opposite arm-opposite knee 30 (15 each side)
Bicycle arm-opposite knee 30 (15 each side)
Flutter kicks 10 seconds
The reason I did the easier ab routine is that I had to do abs three times instead of my usual 1 long session. It might be worth my while to switch to something like that. Once again, everything was 3 sets of 10-15 reps. So here's the routine for my Tuesday:
Abs 3 sets of the aforementioned routine.
Let Pulldown
Seated Row
Lower back aka: reverse sit-ups
Preacher Curls
EZ-bar curls

I'm not much for bicep curls in any way, shape, or form. I'm not against them, but I normally just use a bar and do 3 sets of 15. I don't do multiple excercises for them, unless pull-ups are considered bicep work. Most of the time I do pull-ups for my back, not my biceps.

I'm starting to get slightly bored with some of my workouts. I need to switch it up or watch some kind of inspirational sports-related movie. Yeah, I'm a sucker like that.

A New Era

Here are the excercises I did for today. I started a new weight-lifting program, today. I did 3 sets of 8-15 reps for each excercise.
Chest
Bench press
Incline dumbbell press
Recline chest flye
Shoulder
Shoulder press
Dumbbell lateral raise
Barbell upright row
Tricep
Cable pushdown
Lying dumbbell extension

The barbell upright row was absolutely incredible. It helped relieve a know I had in my shoulder. I also realized that it was that excercise that I've needed all along. That's what's been holding back my progress with my shoulders.

This train don't carry no jokers.

The Leatherwing Bat

Not many people are strong enough to support two full grown adults on their body at the same time. I am amazing though. I walked around the room and even did a little trott with both of them on me.

Today I learned that it is easier for me to carry 70lbs for 10ft than just to lift it up to a shelf at the height of my shoulders. Strange. I didn't get much for weights today though. Quite sad. However, tomorrow I will make up for it. Then on Monday I will begin my new three week training plan. I will post every day's workout.

Last Great Ski of the Season

I got back to Bismarck to warm weather. No snow is left in the city. It's sad. It's heart-breaking. I got my last great ski of the season up north of Duluth. One day was all downhill for probably 4k and uphill for 6k. Then, downhill skiing that 6k was absolute heaven. I've never felt so good xc-skiing.

The next day we did a 10k loop around Pincushion Mountain. It was so much fun. It was uphill enough to really wear a person down, but not enough to make one lose hope. Classic skiing is such a glorious workout. I think I can stalk a deer and kill it while I'm skiing. My new year's goal will come true.

Back in the gym lifting weights again. It feels nice to be actively using my body again. Even a month of inactivity just made me feel terrible. And the food...why must everything be so exhausting to eat? It's time to make a serious change in my eating habits.

Well Deserved and Well Drained

A couple of days ago, I just didn't feel like eating meat. "Going vegetarian" would be a poor choice of wording for it. It's moreso just having had a meat overdose the last however-long. I never used to eat meat for more than three or four days a week. It used to be something that was a bit of an indulgence for me. Suddenly, every dinner has meat as the main dish. It's just getting boring.

So I'm going no-meat for a while. No health reasons. No moral reasons. Just need to let my body and mind desire the taste again. A major issue I have currently is everyone saying "How are you going to get your protein?!" Umm, the same way I always do. From the multitude of other sources besides meat. I can still eat eggs (that taste hasn't disappeared). I can still eat grains, peanut butter, nuts, legumes, etc. What is it with people? If there's ANYTHING that I need more of, it's carbohydrates (and fruits...mmm...I could always use more of that).

Snowshoe Dance of the Chippewa

For some stupid reason, I can't find any good information on how to do the snowshoe dance. I may have to go to the library and do some real research. I believe that this is why global climate change is happening. We haven't been holding up the traditions that the Great Spirit wanted. We haven't been appeasing them. I've given up on Chione. I think she has forsaken North America. Instead, I shall petition the gods of this country.

I want to go cross country skiing. I want to go snowshoeing. I want to play in the snow. I hold onto the dreary hope that North Dakota will hold its own tradition. More snow in March and April than any other months.

It looks like the marathon may not happen for me this year. I feel betrayed because of it. But that just gives me more time to be ready for the next one. Perhaps Grandma's. Perhaps I shall destroy it.

50 Blocks to the Square

I'm getting back into the swing of things. Rocked my yoga. The last few weeks I've been skipping the breathing excercises and the relaxation phase. This was a poor choice. Now that I've gotten back into the full yoga session, I'm feeling a lot better.

Went for a half-an-hour run with my sister right before brunch. It's shaping up to be a beautiful day. The run was amazing, even though I destroyed my right calf yesterday. Eventually it will even itself out again. I'm in no rush otherwise.

Tomorrow I am going to start weight-lifting again. I'm really excited for it. It's going to be grand to be building muscle again.

Picking Up Hitchhikers

Back home in good ole Bismarck. Colorado was great and Texas was a blast. Got in some good runs there. My neck and back are slightly destroyed from too much traveling. It's getting to be a bit of a pain having to be too tall for the 95th percentile.

Long discussion on yoga last night. I need to improve my yoga more and more. So many positions so much to do.

The Advent of Television

The swim yesterday was great. Did a lot of aqua jogging and did some lap swimming. This morning I did some running in order to get used to early morning running. It was frigid and the cool air made my ears pound even though I was wearing a hat. My yoga has come to a bit of a standstill because of the car ride during last week.

I leave for Colorado tomorrow. Hopefully the run there will be good. The interview may be my main priority, but there's no reason to forsake running.

Global Warming Isn't Happening

What beautiful weather yesterday and today! I joined the masses as I shuffled my way along the river path from Pioneer Park to Sertoma. The cool breeze off the river kept the temp at an even 35 degrees F. Beautiful. The sun was shining and the run that I got in was absolute glory.

Many people will make a comment on the warmness of the weather and say something like "That's global warming for you." Sadly, it isn't. Global warming will begin as "global cold as a witch's tit" as the ice caps melt and change the average planetary temp. Then, as the air temp eventually begins to rise from the heating of the earth's core, the temps will rise and the dew point will do whatever the hell it does when the temps are redunkulous. I'm excited. My goal is to evolve before everyone else.

The winter has been a bit strange. However, maybe it's all the other winters that were strange and the last few have been normal. I believe that the most snow falls in North Dakota in March and April. What's to say this year is different?

Plan is to do some swimming today to work more on the cardio-vascular system and rock the immunities. I need to use that sauna and bleed out all my impurities.

Yesterday: ran 4 miles and walked 10 miles. Don't I feel awesome...

Pain and Suffering

Over the last week, I believe that I logged almost 40 hours in the car. 17 hours to Logan, UT.; 16 hours from Logan to Hill City, SD.; and about 6 hours touring around South Dakota and going back to North Dakota.

I think that because of the constant carring my neck got messed up. The muscles are just a little tight at the base of the skull. Gotta do some stretching to combat it. I'm guessing the muscles on my back tightened up too much and the lack of activity pulled at my neck.

Hall of the Mountain King

Greetings from Utah. Here I sit on "the Island" of Logan, UT. This morning's run was absolutely beautiful. Good half-hour running through the streets of the island. The fresh mountain air is a bit different on the lungs, but it feels good. I know that I had to run a little bit slower today since I'm not quite acclimated to the altitude here. I kept the pace low enough so that I'm not sore tomorrow.

The mountains are absolutely beautiful. Logan seems to be a great location. It's surrounded by mounrains on almost all sides. I think if I lived here, I would be in even better shape. What beauty! The women aren't too shabby looking either. However, I have it on good authority that everyone near my age is already married and has six children. So while they may be attractive, they're taken. Oh well. There must be some singles out there.

She'll Never Sleep With You

I've been cross country skiing everyday for the past week. It's been glorious. It's a new type of soreness. Stretches the legs out in interesting areas. I can see why it's viewed as one of the best workouts out there. It's incredible to feel the glide of the skis under the snow. It's wonderful to feel the sweat soak the body even though it's frigid outside.

But perhaps it's the ability to adjust to the cold air that's so amazing for the cardiovascular system. Skiing today was beautiful. It was a bit too warm and the snow was too sticky, but it helps to get different conditions every so often.

A strict regiment of good food, stretching, and cardio work. My weight-lifting is over for the time being. I will begin weight-lifting again when I'm settled in more. For now I just need to make sure that my body doesn't degenerate into nothingness. As long as I stay physically active and am able to eat properly, it won't happen.

Found out today that grapefruit and alcohol is a bad mix. This was not by personal experience, it was information gathered from a comrade. Apparently grapefruit slows down the metabolism rate SPECIFICALLY for alcohol. It makes you unable to properly absorb the alcohol and can screw up the liver a lot.

Learning to Cope

I've been quite busy lately. I've been studying for various tests and preparing for presentations. It feels good. It feels good to be excercising my mind again. Meanwhile, I've been sticking with three yoga routines a day.

Sometime next week I'm going to check out Pinwheel Yoga. I haven't heard anything about it yet, but it seems to be the only real yoga instruction place in Bismarck.

Today I went cross country skiing for an hour and a half. It felt absolutely incredible. The amounts of snow that dumped on Bismarck today were wonderful. They claim it was 4 inches. The wind blew lots of snow all over, with plenty blown onto the ski trail.

This weekend is the Book Across the Bay ski race in Ashland/Bayfield, Wisconsin. Sadly I'm going to miss it.

Meditation

The last few days have been spent in meditation and relaxation. I have continued my usual workouts (with some cross country skiing added in for enjoyment). I've been mentally going through all of my muscles and relaxing them.

It's important to pay attention to the way the body is. When walking out in the cold, are the shoulders hunched? When sitting at a desk or computer, is the body slouching? Are the teeth clenched? Are the hands making tight fists? Are the legs too tense?

Paying attention to the body everyday is important. How can one expect to loosen any muscles or relieve soreness when the everyday activities are contributing to the pain?

I've also been thinking about my eating habits. I need to become more retroactive when it comes to food. Why should I compromise when it comes to my sources of energy? This seems like a poor choice. I suppose that the most important things for my body are food and sleep. I'm obviously active enough, so there isn't an issue there.

When I determine a new positive diet, I shall post it. In the meantime, I will try to stay away from foods that take my energy away. If I plan to do incredibly well on the Fargo marathon, I need to start now with the goal in mind.

Skiing in Sub-zero

Today's workout included cross country skiing. It was frigid outside, but I got working enough that it was really warm. I was out for about an hour. It was a great workout. Only problem was that there wasn't enough snow and I had to make my own tracks. It was great, but I really worked my calves hard. Never really did that from skiing before, but these are different skis than I'm used to. I also got to do some skate skiing.
Then I went to Optimum and did some more upperbody work today. I've been having some problems with my shoulder from lifting too much too soon on my shoulders. I didn't wait for my muscle memory to catch up. It's okay though, because my shoulder is fine, it's just a little sore. While my friend would swear by trigger point massage, I think it also stems from the fact that I've been ignoring stretcing my shoulders.
I did a morning session of yoga, two afternoon sessions (one normal and one Tibetan), and an evening session. Necessary? Not particularly. There's no reason NOT to do it though. It stretches out the body. It helps a person feel better and healthier.
I didn't run with Phil. Instead, I spent the time starting on my New Year's resolution:
Hand-stand push-ups.
Today I acheived lowering myself to where my elbows were almost 90 degrees and pushing myself back up. I did five of those, and it took almost all of my strength. I'm guessing at this rate I will be able to accomplish full hand-stand push-ups by the second week in February.

Because I didn't go for a run today, I did an extra set of ab work. I need to start sculpting my abs more before the marathon. It's amazing how important the core muscles are to any and every sport.

Human Body as a Machine

As I recall studying in some class along the way (physiology or biology or something), it takes over 50 muscles to take one step forward. I believe it was 54 or something of the sort. The way that all the muscles are interlocked and work with the tendons and the bones is absolutely incredible. Is it really a surprise that injuries can easily happen, and when they do they just put a body out of use for a while.

Another good way to look at it is an "energy in = energy out" kind of concept. Losing weight isn't nearly as complicated as some people would like to lead you to believe. A simple formula is "eat less, walk more." While this is a very simple idea, it makes sense. When eating, try not to think about feeling full or good tasting food. Instead, start to think about foods that make you feel energized. I can't stress this enough. Then, start to think about how many calories are burned during a normal day. A nutritionist should be able to help calculate the caloric intake necessary for a day. My caloric intake is 3500 calories a day. In an average workout, I am burning about 1000 of those calories. If I want to lower my weight, I would simply lower my calories for the day (without cutting out essential vitamins).

Thyroid problem? We'll come to that another day.

Upper Body

Today I focused all of my efforts on my upper body. This includes biceps, triceps, lats, deltoids, traps, etc. While most weight-lifters are focusing on one area a day, I focus on sections. I prefer to work on my entire upper body one day and my lower body the next day. Of course, every day contains some of the same areas.
Every day I do push-ups, pull-ups (alternate days with pull-ups and chin-ups), calves, quads, abs, and lower back. These are the most important muscle groups to my body. Abs and lower back are two things that must be done every day. A strong core is more important than anything else in my body. My legs are also important and are worked on every day to varying extent (lower body days they are worked on a lot, and upper body days they are subjected to endurance excercises).
Every day I find it important to do a minimum of 50 push-ups. This can be split in different ways, but can never be included in my bench presses. I also find it important to do pull-ups every day, generally 3 sets of 10 per day. This helps keep my arms and back active, but not overworked. Just using your own body weight is acceptable on these fronts.

I had my standard breakfast of 2 packets of oatmeal. Then for lunch I had peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches on honey oat bread. Never underestimate the importance of a pb&j. The peanut butter helps to replenish the muscles while preventing muscle soreness. The jelly (or bannana jam in my case - thanks Pangie for the jam) is good for fructose and simple carbohydrates. The bread is good for soaking up any lactic acid built up inside the stomach (though not suggested for those with stomach lining problems). In short, pb&j is an excellent fuel source. After my workout, I ate a couple granola bars and had some hard boiled eggs after a whey protein drink. While I never used to use whey protein, the benefits of using it while trying to sculpt the body are limitless. I suggest a caramel/chocolate flavor. It's delicious. For the evening meal, I had a mondo burrito from Taco Del Mar. Not the healthiest suggestion, but it's packed with energy and also tasty. I was tempted to get the Alaskan fish for meat, but went with seasoned pork instead. The jalepenos were an excellent addition and also helped keep me warm on cold nights like tonight.

Sadly, I had an indulgence this evening. Being a Tuesday, I made my way to the Walrus for a couple beers and some good music. I had two beers, which is not the best for my training, yet still enjoyable and positive for my mentality.

The snow is falling in Bismarck, which makes me believe that I can go cross country skiing and running tomorrow. So, I will probably go xc skiing before lifting weights and go running with Phil after lifting. The time to hesitate is through. The Fargo marathon approaches more rapidly than one might think. I need to be ready.

After the Battle of Marathon

Today my friend Kris called me to inform me he's going to run the Fargo Marathon. Then he convinced me to run it with him.

So I now have a goal. By the time May 17th comes around, I am going to be back into marathon-shape. I am going to redeem myself from the shameful performance that I had during the Twin Cities Marathon. This year I will get sub-4. Less than 4 hours will be no problem.

Today I took the day off. I did my morning yoga of the sun salutation. I had two packets of oatmeal with almonds for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and chili for dinner. I'm planning to do my tibetan yoga this evening before I go to bed in order to loosen up my back before lifting again tomorrow. The pizza for lunch was a poor decision, but sometimes you need some poor food in your diet.

Tomorrow will mark the first day of training for the marathon. From now on, running will be my main focus.

Eating oatmeal every morning is great for health and for energy. It's a good protein because of how slowly it digests. Keeps you fueled until noon when you can refill your engines. It's one of those meals that makes me feel like I actually have energy instead of making me feel sluggish. I suggest oatmeal every morning with a bit of cocoa powder and some almonds. ACTUAL cocoa powder and not hot chocolate powder. The bitterness is important, just don't put too much cocoa powder in, it needs less than a teaspoon.

In order to become a god...

I am on my way to make my body a weapon. The goal is to become as athletic as possible, as one of the greeks of ancient times. I believe I will begin to have olympic events held so that I can compete against others in manly events.
The order of the goals:
1. Get my body in shape.
2. Get my mind in shape.
3. Get my life in shape.
So shall it go. I will begin to write down my eating habits and excercise habits in order for others to follow my example.