3.5

I went 3.5 miles in 48 minutes yesterday. A seven minute improvement, which could have been better, but my calves were getting tight so I walked the last ten minutes. I've added 30 seconds to my run/walk splits, as the C25k program dictates. I'm thinking a sub 40 minute 5k is now possible.

Fish fry tonight, so I took a half day.

round up....

I try not to criticize my fellow volunteers in youth sports. I know the countless, thankless hours that generally go into these things. However, I find that I have to vent about the schedule at the end of our hoops season, one that was set up by someone who doesn't have a horse in the race, so to speak. This Thursday, we open play in our own tournament at 5 pm. We then travel to Chrisman to play in a second tournament on Saturday, return home for two games on Sunday to conclude the tournament we're hosting, then back to Chrisman on Tuesday and Saturday to wrap up the year. 6 games in 10 days...FOR 10 YEAR OLDS! These kids need to be learning fundamentals...not playing an NBA schedule. To make matters worse, we're playing teams in Chrisman that we've already played twice this year, so it's not like we're getting varied competition or anything. By the time it wraps up, we'll have played 24 games. That's more than the Jr High, freshmen, or JV played. Too much. Way too much.

Here at work, we've started tracking our running distance in a light hearted contest leading up to the Illinois 5k. One of my talented colleagues created a track complete with little "avatars", and we're racing to be the first to complete 100 training miles. I went 1.8 miles this morning.

lifting...

Found an excellent 15-20 minute dumbell workout in Men's Health . It works EVERYTHING, with an emphasis on the core.


The All-in-One Abs Workout
Istvan Javorek's dumbbell complexes build the entire body while pegging metabolism in the red zone. He designed them to help create Olympic champions in Romania, but you'll enjoy the effects: more muscle, less fat, and a six-pack core.

The Drill
Three times a week, do either complex. For Complex No. 1, do 6 reps of each exercise and move to the next without stopping. For No. 2, do 3 reps of each exercise and move to the next without stopping, building up to 3 total circuits. As you advance, increase the number of circuits.

The Program1. Upright Row2. High Pull Snatch3. Squat Push Press4. Bent-Over Row5. High Pull Snatch

The Technique
Upright Row: Stand with your knees slightly bent and hold a pair of dumbbells at arms' length in front of your thighs, thumbs facing each other and palms facing your thighs. This stance turns your elbows slightly outward and your shoulders slightly inward. Look ahead with your chest up, back straight, and abs tight. Bring the weights up to neck level, keeping the pair aligned. Your elbows should be flared out to ear level. At the top, rise up on your toes. Return to the starting position.

High Pull Snatch: Stand with dumbbells as if you're about to perform an upright row, but lean forward to lower the weights to knee level, keeping your head and neck aligned. This is the starting position. Now raise the weights as you did with the upright row, but don't pause at the top; instead, flip your wrists back to bring the weights overhead, extending your arms fully while rising up on your toes. Return to the starting position. Keep the weights as close to your body as possible throughout the lift.

Squat Push Press: Stand upright and hold dumbbells at your shoulders, palms facing forward. Maintaining this position and looking straight ahead, bend your hips and knees to lower into a full squat, thighs at least parallel to the floor. As you rise from the squat, begin pressing the weights overhead, rising up on your toes at the top, at which point your arms should be fully extended overhead. Return to the starting position.

Bent-Over Row: Stand holding dumbbells at arm's length in front of you, palms facing back. Bend your knees slightly, and bend at the waist so that your back is flat and angled 45 degrees to the floor. Once your body weight is centered on your heels, you're in the starting position. Without altering this position -- no swinging your trunk -- bend your elbows to bring the weights quickly and explosively into your armpits. Return to the starting position at a slower pace.

Treadmilll

Not much to report..I allowed our kids' schedule to knock my exercise program off track until this morning. I did 15 minutes on the treadmill, and I haven't weighed since Sunday.

Mini me served as alterboy for the first time on Sunday, without incident!

#1 son received his first rank promotion in scouts, and will soon test for blue belt in HRD, and the princess continues to excel in school. Her cursive is better than mine...not much of a surprise.....

Finally Friday....

Decided to use today as a rest day. I was set to lift, but found my shoulders were still a bit sore from Wednesday's session. I'll try to go 1.5 tomorrow before basketball. I did 1.75 yesterday, but it didn't feel comfortable.

Speaking of hoops..hats off to the Illini for winning a game they probably shouldn't have. Those 5 Vodka Tonics speak to the difficulty of watching us play from behind against Northwestern, of all teams.

Cookie travels to Unity tomorrow, to Arcola on Sunday, and then we host Tuscola on Monday. What the hell? games on 3 consecutive days for 10 year olds? Great scheduling...not.

he's also alterboy for the first time Sunday morning and then has baseball camp before high tailing it to Arcola for an afternoon contest. La vida loca? More like La Vida estupida.

a night without activities....

Is a blessing in these parts. The kids have church for an hour, and that's all. No hoops, scouts, brownies, martial arts, band, just family night at home. Ahhh.

#1 son and I did the men's health core workout in combination with the Runner's world ab routine from a couple months ago. the mid section is smoldering right now. He's so stubborn that it wouldn't surprise me to see him stick with it and become rock solid as he progresses through his belt ranks in HRD. He'll be testing for Blue belt in the next few weeks....4 away from Black belt.

The 5th grade team fell behind by ten at half time, mounted a furious rally and came up short vs Christman last night. We've lost 8 games, and only two have been non competitive. We've outscored and outplayed our opponents in the second half of 6 of the losses. We've trailed at half time of all three of our victories also. I can't get a handle on how to get them to come out strong. We've had plenty of open shots...just can't get them to fall. Probably a product of this being our first year of basketball. It seems like every single team we play has one player who is much more advanced than the rest of the guys on the floor. We just don't have that stud. We do have a bunch of guys who are genuinely happy for their teammates success...a real team.

I feel remarkably good for having doubled my usual mileage yesterday. I'm thinking I can do the 5k in 38-45 minutes.

Where the sidewalk ends...

There is a place where the sidewalk endsAnd before the street begins,And there the grass grows soft and white,And there the sun burns crimson bright,And there the moon-bird rests from his flightTo cool in the peppermint wind. ( tip of the Boilermaker Stomping Illini hat to Shel Silverstein)

3.5 miles...in about 50 minutes. Way too slow, but make it, I did. and I'm not ready to keel over. My house around Henson Park and back....

Monday Fun day

Got off my fat donkey and went about 1.75 miles this morning. I must be getting old, because every joint in my body is screaming in protest. I've only got nine weeks to go before the Illinois 5k. I've got to ramp up the training if I don't want to embarrass myself.

Plus, I've only got 30 days before I'll be sporting the Speedo in Arizona...

Tuesday blues day

The wintry west extends his blast, And hail and rain does blaw;

Or the stormy north sends driving forth

The blinding sleet and snaw:

While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,

And roars frae bank to brae;And bird and beast in covert rest,

And pass the heartless day. (tip of the PSU Nittany Lions Cap to Robert Burns)

Another day, another painfully cold blast of air from the north. Sucked the good mood right out of me. I'm ready for baseball, golf, fishing (that doesn't include cutting holes in the surface of the lake), barbeques, babes, motorcycles, boats, scantily clad college girls, hikes through the woods, camping, and babes . (I LIKE babes, to paraphrase blazing saddles)

I went to the school and ran for 1/2 hour before basketball last night. i didn't wear my running shoes, stupidly, and my arches were killing me. I'll do a half hour with the weights tonight, and try to have a good week.

5 weeks until Phx, Baybee!

time is relative...

e·ter·ni·ty

(ĭ-tûr'nĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key n. pl. e·ter·ni·ties
Time without beginning or end; infinite time.
The state or quality of being eternal.
The timeless state following death.
The afterlife; immortality.
A very long or seemingly endless time: waited in the dentist's office for an eternity.
//-->[Middle English eternite, from Old French, from Latin aeternitās, from aeternus, eternal; see eternal

An eternity is how long it takes a basketball, shot from the hands of your anxious 10 year old, to travel toward the basket and through the net for the first points he's ever scored in a game.
An eternity is how long it takes your nervous 12 year old to carry a vessel of holy water to a waiting priest without spilling it when he's altar boy for the first time.
At least that's how it seemed to a proud daddy, watching helplessly from the sidelines as his sons began to spread their wings and grow into the kind of men you hope they'll be.

The boys won their second straight game on Saturday...beating Bement 20-15. They're starting to come together as a team, celebrating everyone's contributions, not concerned about their own statistics, and I couldn't be prouder of them.

Not too much to report in BFL news. I lost another 2 pounds, somehow. I'm going running tonight before practice, then lifting tomorrow and such.