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).