27 January 2007
Training Day 12
It is (was) Friday! I am just now hitting the rack after unwinding with some Half-Life: Source. Today has been a pretty bad day with class sucking, my throat feeling worse and worse, and a sudden evening field day formation costing me all my PT time. Oh well. Tomorrow (today) is a new day.
25 January 2007
Training Day 11
Another day... Tomorrow is Friday! w00t! Here's hoping everything goes well. Today I felt a little better about my sickness (probably what the baby has) and was more alert. I still feel a bit lazy.
Language: I am seated between the airman who hates everything about the language, this course, and now the military and the airman who is frail, talks about her sexual history in class, and guffaws at "Semper Fidelis." At least the first airman is competent. The latter just drives me insane. Today's class hours were unimpressive and my homework was four exercises from the book. However, I did receive a keen new study aid today.
Marathon: Three miles in 39:35. The Momrine was feeling under the weather due to being smoked yesterday, a sick baby, having what the sick baby has, and those womanly troubles that make me happy and sad to be a man. Happy that I don't have them. Sad that I get to deal with them anyways. Still, she pushed herself hard today despite feeling ill and that is awesome.
Metaphysics: My dreams have been pretty weird since I started remembering them with my resolution to write them down. It'll be curious to see how they develop over time. Today's relaxation drill when much better than last night's as I actually managed to get my back to loosen up.
Gaming: "Resistance: Fall of Man" looks sweet. Too bad I don't have a PS3, the money, or the time.
Language: I am seated between the airman who hates everything about the language, this course, and now the military and the airman who is frail, talks about her sexual history in class, and guffaws at "Semper Fidelis." At least the first airman is competent. The latter just drives me insane. Today's class hours were unimpressive and my homework was four exercises from the book. However, I did receive a keen new study aid today.
Marathon: Three miles in 39:35. The Momrine was feeling under the weather due to being smoked yesterday, a sick baby, having what the sick baby has, and those womanly troubles that make me happy and sad to be a man. Happy that I don't have them. Sad that I get to deal with them anyways. Still, she pushed herself hard today despite feeling ill and that is awesome.
Metaphysics: My dreams have been pretty weird since I started remembering them with my resolution to write them down. It'll be curious to see how they develop over time. Today's relaxation drill when much better than last night's as I actually managed to get my back to loosen up.
Gaming: "Resistance: Fall of Man" looks sweet. Too bad I don't have a PS3, the money, or the time.
24 January 2007
Training Day 10
Today was a sort of off-day... I kept on thinking it was Tuesday for some reason.
Language: I didn't do too well on my vocab preview quiz for some reason. Maybe I grade myself harder than the other students grade themselves. Regardless of how I did on the quiz, I tore the exercises up and seemed to grasp material quicker and easier than my peers. I just need to find a way to work on my listening and speaking skills. For homework I had five exercises from the homework book.
Marathon: Today the Momrine and I ran the PFT course. She complains a bit but I couldn't be prouder. We shaved at least two minutes off of her previous time and I cut out one of the walking breaks from the run. She also, for all the talk she does about being tired or dying, seems to pick up the pace periodically of her own volition. Right now we are debating doing a mud run and a half marathon.
Fitness: Today was day two of my training cycle and it feels good!
Standing Curls: 20 lbs each for 10/11/10 reps
Forearm Extensions: 10/12/12 lbs each for 12/10/9 reps
Neck Front: 10 lbs for 12/12/12 reps
Tricep Extension: 30/35/40 lbs for 12/12/12 reps
45 Curls: 15 lbs for 10/11/9
Forearm Curls: 15/20/25 lbs for 12/12/10 reps
Neck Back: 10 lbs for 12/12/12 reps
"Skull Crushers": 20/25/30 lbs for 12/12/7 - cut short due to improper form
I need to get my weight lifting trainer DVD back and correct my form. I also think I am starting to approach the point of needing a spotter. I dropped the dumbbells on my chest once on Monday but a bar on my forehead would be much worse.
Metaphysics: Today I wrote an entry in my dream diary and started working on my relaxation techniques. I need to get the bare-bones basics down before I even hope of doing more and, right now, I'm not doing too hot. Saturday I am chatting with my family for some pointers.
Gaming: I've been feeling kind of wiped today so I'm taking a load off with a bit of Half-Life: Source. Old? Sure. But it's still fun and it's already paid for. Today was blowing up parts of Black Mesa and introducing head crabs to your friend and mine: the glock. Mmmmmm. Even extradimensional aliens love the taste of hot, hot lead shoved down whatever passes for their windpipe. Of course, there is also the crowbar.
Language: I didn't do too well on my vocab preview quiz for some reason. Maybe I grade myself harder than the other students grade themselves. Regardless of how I did on the quiz, I tore the exercises up and seemed to grasp material quicker and easier than my peers. I just need to find a way to work on my listening and speaking skills. For homework I had five exercises from the homework book.
Marathon: Today the Momrine and I ran the PFT course. She complains a bit but I couldn't be prouder. We shaved at least two minutes off of her previous time and I cut out one of the walking breaks from the run. She also, for all the talk she does about being tired or dying, seems to pick up the pace periodically of her own volition. Right now we are debating doing a mud run and a half marathon.
Fitness: Today was day two of my training cycle and it feels good!
Standing Curls: 20 lbs each for 10/11/10 reps
Forearm Extensions: 10/12/12 lbs each for 12/10/9 reps
Neck Front: 10 lbs for 12/12/12 reps
Tricep Extension: 30/35/40 lbs for 12/12/12 reps
45 Curls: 15 lbs for 10/11/9
Forearm Curls: 15/20/25 lbs for 12/12/10 reps
Neck Back: 10 lbs for 12/12/12 reps
"Skull Crushers": 20/25/30 lbs for 12/12/7 - cut short due to improper form
I need to get my weight lifting trainer DVD back and correct my form. I also think I am starting to approach the point of needing a spotter. I dropped the dumbbells on my chest once on Monday but a bar on my forehead would be much worse.
Metaphysics: Today I wrote an entry in my dream diary and started working on my relaxation techniques. I need to get the bare-bones basics down before I even hope of doing more and, right now, I'm not doing too hot. Saturday I am chatting with my family for some pointers.
Gaming: I've been feeling kind of wiped today so I'm taking a load off with a bit of Half-Life: Source. Old? Sure. But it's still fun and it's already paid for. Today was blowing up parts of Black Mesa and introducing head crabs to your friend and mine: the glock. Mmmmmm. Even extradimensional aliens love the taste of hot, hot lead shoved down whatever passes for their windpipe. Of course, there is also the crowbar.
23 January 2007
Training Day 9
Today was a day of rest from the marathon training so I focused my energies on other projects. Not that running wasn't on my mind. I've started eyeing the Army Garrison 6mi Mud Run in March and the Big Sur International Marathon on April 29th (which is one week before my Avenue Marathon with the Momrine). It'll be tough but when will I have the chance to run these marathons again? I need to seize the chance now and my body can handle it if I treat it right and don't push it to the point of breaking. It helps that I am in the marathons for the experience and the personal fitness as opposed to a score.
I also found out today that my command knows who I am and is watching how I perform in my new class. I had my suspicions that was the case. It's sort of a give-in when the XO wants to kill you but your SNCOIC says otherwise and the CO sides with the SNCOIC. Oorah Master Guns. Oorah CO. Now I just need to keep my grades up in class, PT hard, train hard, and leave this post with another chevron and a meritorious mast or two to prove that their faith in my was well-placed.
Language: Today sucked even more than yesterday so I am hitting the rack early. The speaking practice afterwards was pretty horrific but I made through it and my teacher was helpful. I seem to do really well with reading at least. For tonight's study I did a chunk of my daily review then wrote a journal entry with the new vocab I am going to be tested on tomorrow.
College: If I take just a couple more courses I can leave this post with an AA degree. Therefore, I took my "College 101" course to get my TA from the Corps to get those last couple courses. What I expected to be an online course with test turned out to be a 49 page .pdf with a certificate I fill out and print on my own. Nice. At least that is one more thing off the checklist.
I also found out today that my command knows who I am and is watching how I perform in my new class. I had my suspicions that was the case. It's sort of a give-in when the XO wants to kill you but your SNCOIC says otherwise and the CO sides with the SNCOIC. Oorah Master Guns. Oorah CO. Now I just need to keep my grades up in class, PT hard, train hard, and leave this post with another chevron and a meritorious mast or two to prove that their faith in my was well-placed.
Language: Today sucked even more than yesterday so I am hitting the rack early. The speaking practice afterwards was pretty horrific but I made through it and my teacher was helpful. I seem to do really well with reading at least. For tonight's study I did a chunk of my daily review then wrote a journal entry with the new vocab I am going to be tested on tomorrow.
College: If I take just a couple more courses I can leave this post with an AA degree. Therefore, I took my "College 101" course to get my TA from the Corps to get those last couple courses. What I expected to be an online course with test turned out to be a 49 page .pdf with a certificate I fill out and print on my own. Nice. At least that is one more thing off the checklist.
Training Day 8
This was supposed to go up last night but Blogger freaked out on me. Yesterday was really busy but productive. I need more hours in the day.
Language: Class sucked yesterday because I didn't have a lot of sleep and was feeling a bit sick. Still, I managed to do pretty well on most of the exercises and even seemed to be one of the more competent students that day. Still, it felt like class took much longer than usual. I hate the passive hours where I am just supposed to sit there and listen. For homework I had to do five exercises from the book and I worked on my daily vocab, as always.
Marathon: Yesterday was a cross-training day after our long run so the Momrine and I rode the stationary bikes at the on-base fitness center. I had set mine to 'cardio' and it started increasing the resistance to try and increase my heart rate. Then it maxed out and my heart rate still wasn't up to 160bpm but my quadriceps sure were burning. Therefore, I figured that my cardio was awesome but that my muscular endurance needed work so I rode some flat ground for a bit then set the bike to 'hill pro.' So I smoked myself. I don't know why but, while running and weight lifting hardly ever make me sweat, biking always does.
Fitness: I started lifting again yesterday. My program is based on the SCARS program (which feels and works really well) with some slight modifications to the reps based on a bowflex plan I did. Basically, my reps are a range. I have to do the minimum amount of reps or I decrease weight. If I hit the maximum amount of reps, I increase weight. The ideal weight is when my muscles fail somewhere between those two values. The muscle failure during good, slow repetitions is what sends the signal to my muscles to adapt and overcome.
Yesterday was day one so my first circuit consisted of three runs of the following...
Upper Abs: 3sec pause
Upper Chest: 30lbs each
Tibia Curls: 45lbs
Shoulder Pull Down: 110lbs
The second circuit was also three runs...
Lower Abs: 3sec pause
Lower Chest: 30lbs each
Calf Raises: 50lbs
Back Rows: 110lbs
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday in that, despite not having lifted for months, my weights didn't drop. I leaped right in where I had left off and will be increasing weight for next week.
Metaphysics: Another new tag! Yesterday, my book Modern Magick finally came in. I had been studying this text before I enlisted and enjoyed success and knowledge with it so it is finally time to pick it back up. I'll have to write more about metaphysics and faith at some point.
Language: Class sucked yesterday because I didn't have a lot of sleep and was feeling a bit sick. Still, I managed to do pretty well on most of the exercises and even seemed to be one of the more competent students that day. Still, it felt like class took much longer than usual. I hate the passive hours where I am just supposed to sit there and listen. For homework I had to do five exercises from the book and I worked on my daily vocab, as always.
Marathon: Yesterday was a cross-training day after our long run so the Momrine and I rode the stationary bikes at the on-base fitness center. I had set mine to 'cardio' and it started increasing the resistance to try and increase my heart rate. Then it maxed out and my heart rate still wasn't up to 160bpm but my quadriceps sure were burning. Therefore, I figured that my cardio was awesome but that my muscular endurance needed work so I rode some flat ground for a bit then set the bike to 'hill pro.' So I smoked myself. I don't know why but, while running and weight lifting hardly ever make me sweat, biking always does.
Fitness: I started lifting again yesterday. My program is based on the SCARS program (which feels and works really well) with some slight modifications to the reps based on a bowflex plan I did. Basically, my reps are a range. I have to do the minimum amount of reps or I decrease weight. If I hit the maximum amount of reps, I increase weight. The ideal weight is when my muscles fail somewhere between those two values. The muscle failure during good, slow repetitions is what sends the signal to my muscles to adapt and overcome.
Yesterday was day one so my first circuit consisted of three runs of the following...
Upper Abs: 3sec pause
Upper Chest: 30lbs each
Tibia Curls: 45lbs
Shoulder Pull Down: 110lbs
The second circuit was also three runs...
Lower Abs: 3sec pause
Lower Chest: 30lbs each
Calf Raises: 50lbs
Back Rows: 110lbs
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday in that, despite not having lifted for months, my weights didn't drop. I leaped right in where I had left off and will be increasing weight for next week.
Metaphysics: Another new tag! Yesterday, my book Modern Magick finally came in. I had been studying this text before I enlisted and enjoyed success and knowledge with it so it is finally time to pick it back up. I'll have to write more about metaphysics and faith at some point.
22 January 2007
Training Day 7
Today was... interesting. Which is why this post is going up the next day but before I hit the rack.
Language: Today I wrote about my history of vehicular incidents and studied the next chapter's vocab. It was a pretty light day, all-told, because of everything else that happened.
Marathon: Today the Momrine and I ran our first long run. It was for six miles (twice around the PFT course) and took us 1:27:48 (hours:minutes:seconds) to complete. Yes, that is really slow. However! That is the first time the Momrine has ever ran that far and it's after not running for months thanks to her baby... Well, there was that little 30min run earlier this week but that was a warm-up. I'm really, really proud of her, to be perfectly honest. It takes considerable dedication to push yourself that hard.
Plus, there is the 'little' detail of the fact that, if not for her, I wouldn't even be attempting this.
Gaming: One of my friends introduced me to the game "Mount & Blade" today. Even from the little bit I've played of the shareware trial (as the game is still in development) it was a lot of fun. Combat is challenging but I am getting better at it. I can't wait until I figure out how to properly couch a lance so that I can lead my heavy cavalry thundering across the plains to deal death and destruction to whatever faction has aroused my ire this particular day.
Personal: I could say something here about what my current situation feels like but I would just come across like a jerk. Instead, I will tell you about what I read today. Today I read WW2-era political comics by Dr. Seuss. Yes, that Dr. Seuss. I found the parallels between WW2 and the Iraq War to be striking. Name the complacency, greed, and ignorance of the masses; the petty squabbles, political agendas, and indecisiveness of congress; the dearth of red tape; an under-estimated enemy; and a 6th column press. It's heartening to see that these are not new problems facing us as we can look to the past to see that, even with all that, America still rose to the challenge of stamping out two great evils in the world. Now we just need to cut some red tape, drop some politically-correct baggage, and hit the enemy where it hurts.
Language: Today I wrote about my history of vehicular incidents and studied the next chapter's vocab. It was a pretty light day, all-told, because of everything else that happened.
Marathon: Today the Momrine and I ran our first long run. It was for six miles (twice around the PFT course) and took us 1:27:48 (hours:minutes:seconds) to complete. Yes, that is really slow. However! That is the first time the Momrine has ever ran that far and it's after not running for months thanks to her baby... Well, there was that little 30min run earlier this week but that was a warm-up. I'm really, really proud of her, to be perfectly honest. It takes considerable dedication to push yourself that hard.
Plus, there is the 'little' detail of the fact that, if not for her, I wouldn't even be attempting this.
Gaming: One of my friends introduced me to the game "Mount & Blade" today. Even from the little bit I've played of the shareware trial (as the game is still in development) it was a lot of fun. Combat is challenging but I am getting better at it. I can't wait until I figure out how to properly couch a lance so that I can lead my heavy cavalry thundering across the plains to deal death and destruction to whatever faction has aroused my ire this particular day.
Personal: I could say something here about what my current situation feels like but I would just come across like a jerk. Instead, I will tell you about what I read today. Today I read WW2-era political comics by Dr. Seuss. Yes, that Dr. Seuss. I found the parallels between WW2 and the Iraq War to be striking. Name the complacency, greed, and ignorance of the masses; the petty squabbles, political agendas, and indecisiveness of congress; the dearth of red tape; an under-estimated enemy; and a 6th column press. It's heartening to see that these are not new problems facing us as we can look to the past to see that, even with all that, America still rose to the challenge of stamping out two great evils in the world. Now we just need to cut some red tape, drop some politically-correct baggage, and hit the enemy where it hurts.
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