Blueridge Mountain run

A few pics from this afternoons long run in Blueridge.

Smells like a Hippie

So today's workout of the day (WOD) which did not look bad on paper but, paired with a snatch session and hanging leg raises ended up making me and my gym smell like one big hippie. Some call it the natural smell..some call it body odor..it's a mix between hobo and Jerry Garcia. I felt an immediate urge to bathe after completing the workout. It's crazy how these simple looking WOD's destroy me every time.
WOD-
Five rounds for time of
20 Pullups
30 dumbbell swings 1.5 pood (54lbs)
40 double unders

Additional exercises-
6x1 95lb snatch
1x8 65lb snatch for form

5x10 hanging leg raises
....and yes, I cheated form to get through the sets as fast as possible..

Hill Sprints...

Hill sprints tonight were done in the dark while raining along with my 4 mile short run......needless to say Blythe now has a Dad that will probably be walking funny tomorrow. Motivation was tough with rain hitting me in the face but it turned out to be a great workout. Looking forward to some more Dan John training tomorrow! http://danjohn.net/

Great Read!

Last week I nabbed a copy of Dan John's book "Never Let Go". It is by far one of the best books I've read in a while. It's really been a slap in the face for my training. I'm pumped about implementing some of his methods and trying things the "old school" way for a while. I have had tender hams for two days since trying his deadlift routine which lasted almost an hour and today will bring hill sprints in the rain!

The Walter WOD

I created a wild workout of the day (WOD) lift for my co-worker and I to do today. Wednesday is his turn to create the WOD and so far, here is what we have:

Strength
Body weight benches amrap 2x
8 muscle up pull ups
2x12 heavy curls
Cool down
20 double unders
20 knees to elbows

Today's WOD I made, coupled with an additional evening run has me wrecked. Tomorrow will probably be an off day to prepare for Wednesdays torture. Okay...realistically I know I will have to do some type of workout tomorrow so let's just say it will be a light run. Thanks @walterteach!

The Sells WOD

Thanks @walterteach for blogging our lift!

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The Sells WOD

Warmup-25 burpees

Items needed- bar with medium load 95 lb., 24' box, 50 lb. dumbbells, 95 lb dumbells, 10 lb. forearm rope bar, 45 lb. bumper

-Clean and jerk 95 lb. 15 reps

-Box jumps 24' 15

-50 lb. Turkish get ups 8 (4L 4 R)

-take a lap around small gym farmer's walk carrying 95 lb. dumbells grab water on way back in

-Clean and jerk 15 reps with burpee after each rep

-Box jumps with 45 lb. soccer throw in plate throw 15

-Turkish get up 8 and a 10 lb. forearm plate roll 8 reps

-take a farmers carry lap again with weight and water if needed

-Clean and jerk 15 reps with ab rollout after each rep

-Box jump with a round of agility dots or ladder after each rep 15

Turkish getup into overhead tricep extension after each getup 15

This is what special Ed coworkers do to each other at 6:30 on Monday morning.

Cool down was an ice shower in a 75 year old gym stall. My workout comes in Wednesday, Good Game!

Dave

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How about a nap?

Anyone up for a nap?

Stress relief

Prescription stress relief with the iron!

A few reasons to stay at home today

I received these pictures at lunch from Kate today and all I could think of was how could leave my princess at home while I'm away at work. I always used to wonder how and why people stayed at home with their kids and now I know!

Special education subs..... Geeze

Great post from a friend and colleague below. @walterteach

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Special education subs..... Geeze

I want to preface this post by saying I am not a perfect teacher and i am not a "special person" because I can handle teaching special education.

I am always floored by the individual's who sign up to substitute special education. They tend to fall into one of the 4 categories

53% have no clue about special Ed and are extremely uncomfortable around the kids I teach. This really just angers me.

36% think our students are "sweet" and sub with us because they think we go to the store and watch movies all days. These are the subs that ask me ignorant questions.

12% - 1 of the first two types or random person who kinda gets it and is trainable. They see that there is more and want to learn and make a difference.

2% these are previous special Ed teachers and some paras who are fabulous. Also the odd person who loves and accepts unconditionally. I have only ever seen 2 of these subs!

Dave

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"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that..."

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"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that..."

"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds."

— Henry Rollins - The Iron"

Dave

Sent from my iPhone

Favorite new picture

So, the photo below has become my new favorite family picture of the girls and I.

First Half-Marathon

So, I can finally say that my first half-marathon is behind me. I completed the Atlanta half on Thanksgiving this past week. It was exhilarating, exhausting, and an all around amazing experience. My goal was to come in under 2 hours and although I did not meet that, I was pleased with my 2:01 that included an emergency bathroom stop at mile 10. I just could not bring myself to pee on myself like the older gentlemen did in front of me at mile 11. I came away from this race so excited that I signed up for a new race the next day (Xterra thrill in the hills trail run half-marathon). I recently told a running partner that I was in search of my niche activity that would keep me coming back and I can now say that I may have found it. I did a sprint tri a few months back and thought surely, I'll be addicted to these but nope, it just did not feel the same as my half marathon. I can't wait until my recovery phase is over to start training for the next race. I'm taking a good 13 days off from leg work and planning to pick back up afterwards. In the meantime workouts will be a mix of crossfit/men's fitness magazine/and the ole Notre Dame 1970's book that I have sworn by for years. In my prep for this next race I plan to try not to lean out too much and maintain my lifts with more regularity. At times, during this last training phase..it seemed all I ever did was run and forget about my lift days.

Race prep

So, the race is coming up in two weeks now. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous even though I trained way past my plan. Did a 10 mile trail run yesterday at Passive Park here in Social Circle and my hips/ankles are feeling it today! Time to taper the runs before race day comes.

Iron Dungeon

So, this posting initiated from our recent new camera purchase. Kate and I had to get a new camera before the baby comes so I may or may not have decided to learn to use the camera via weight room photos.. I was just hoping to practice taking some shots a give a glimpse of our work out room.

 

                                               Power tower pull up bars...spent many evenings hanging from these..

                                         Overview of the power tower, weight tree, and treadmill in the background.

                                    Weight tree with some extra bars....

 

                                             Weighted vest or what I like to call the torture vest, knocked out two miles with this thing one night around the subdivision and burned out the knees for a few days.

                                                 Another shot of the weight tree

                                                 The back to the roman chair portion of the power tower

                                           Treadmill that has a good many miles on it and was getting used a good bit until I started getting into long runs and the treadmill became too boring

                                           Overall shot of the bench area

                                      My dad bought me this book at a library sale for 75cents I have been using it for the last 5 years off and on.

   

Shot of the pushup bars on the power tower, spent a lot of nights here and also use them to transition between burpees

Great CBI trip and an eye opener at Taco Bell

Today my kids and I went to the local Target. Having had a not so good experience there the last time I went with one of my classes it was a tremendous relief to have such a laid back calm trip today. I was able to work one on one with some of my students on skills for pedestrian safety and making shopping decisions. On the way home this evening I ended up stopping by Taco Bell because I left really late from work. I was politely helped by a former student and slapped in the face with the reality that I should realize that many of the kids that I teach may end up being the ones that fix my food. Long story short, I had to put myself in check and realize that for some people....fast food industry is as good as it gets and that if I get onions I did not order on my burrito or incorrect change....maybe its not their fault but mine instead for not spending enough time teaching them the skills needed.

New Runners group and potential workout

So, last night I participated in my first runners growth group with Eastridge Community Church. I have to say that I had a really good time and got some solid training in. I am looking forward to next weeks meeting and the relationships that develop out of it. Today a good friend of mine and colleague @walterteach suggested that I try his new Navy Seal workout that he came across through an ex-SEAL. Now, I am off to try this new workout and see if I can survive it!

Sped Lift and Father's Day Family Target Shoot

Infamous Gym Bag




 This blog covers last Friday which was the 17th and Fathers day which was yesterday on the 19th. Late Thursday evening I was cleaning out the truck and detailing the interior when I got a twitter message form my friend from work, Walter. He was asking me if I would like to workout with him in the morning.I looked at the message, thought about it for a few minutes and then decided to go for it. I had just filled my truck up, and one random trip to Athens would not hurt anything. I made it to CCHS Friday morning around 8 a.m. and Walter and I spent a few minutes catching up before we started lifting. It is funny how many things we have in common. Once in the gym we each kind of naturally went our separate ways with iPhones blasting Pandora into our ears. He was most likely listening to some type of Tool metal station or a Grateful Dead hippie mix while I was jamming to some Cascada techno! I usually alternate between techno and death metal when lifting. Quite a contrast but, it seems to be what I generally gravitate towards. It is also funny how each of our workouts has its own ritualistic importance to each of us. I choose a mix of this random Notre Dame workout that I got from a book that my dad bought me for 10 cents at a yard sale like 15 years ago....who knew it would become a 5 plus year obsession of mine to use only its workouts. Walter has his own routine and we occasionally come together to share new ideas. We spent this entire past year working out together before and after work and have each adopted quite a few of each others exercises. I threw in a picture of my dog Yogi looking up at me after I got home from lifting with Walter. I felt as if the expression on his face was saying "do you really need all that crap on your bag to exercise"? Ha!




                                                                                                                                                                

 Yogi

Dad and my sister

L to R, Chester, Katie, Dad, Emily, Aaron

The pictures above are from this years father's day. We had the usual get together at Kate's grandparents house and then made it over to my parents house which is pictured above. After dinner my brother in-law brought out a couple of guns that he wanted to do some target shooting with. I think it is hilarious that he and my sister now have conceal carry permits and even more hilarious that my 100 lb sister carries a Desert Eagle .380! We shot the .22 rifle, .22 pistol, .380 pistol, and my .44 mag that I just happened to have in the truck thanks to my new handy truck holster that my in-laws bought me for fathers day. We had a blast shooting..literally and Dad offered many shooting tips from his days in the GBI. The day was great and it felt very weird getting father's day gifts this year but at the same time very exciting. I am looking forward to October when Blythe will be part of our adventures!

Lazy Day

Today started earlier than usual because I had to meet my dad with the trailer to haul his lawn mower in for repair. After dropping off the lawn mower we spent roughly an hour in the pool hall where I routinely lost over and over! We left the pool hall and enjoyed a pretty decent lunch at Butcher Block and then made our way back to their house in the country.

Mom recently returned from Europe and took over 1200 photos while on her trip so....I had the task of burning them to cd for her. I ended up using 7 cd's and enjoyed part of Rowan Atkinson's Greatest Hits on Netflix while waiting for the discs to burn. I also found a couple of new retro gaming blogs to follow. After wrapping up the cd's I came back to our house with the idea of doing some chores but it turned into listening to a bit of the Stern show and falling asleep until Kate called on her way home from work. She got a response form her co-worker today regarding what type of supplements her husband takes and I ended doing some research online to find out more about them. Needless to say...I ended up making a substantial purchase from Vitamin Shoppe which proved to be the cheapest of all the sites I visited. I am looking forward to receiving my shipment and giving the new mix a try! Unfortunately, today is leg day and at some point I need to go strap on the belt and grunt out some squats..not looking forward to it. I am also hoping to throw in a little psone action at some point tonight, maybe with a little Tekken action. Below are a few pics that I nabbed of mom and dad's dogs Ernie and Lexi. I think it is obvious that she feeds them a little more than dry food only... ha!

Another summer day

Today started with the usual getting up and eating breakfast while checking social media updates. I made the rounds doing some housework, caught a little of the Stern show, and started working on research as to how to re-finance our house. I also did a little more detective work on childcare for Blythe and was pleased to find that there may be someone in our subdivision that could keep her! I managed to squeeze in a little Ridge Racer on psone as well. Late in the afternoon I spent a couple of hours at the YMCA triathlon training. Training today really took it out of me and it seemed as if the measly 5k portion would never end. It's always awkward when your on the treadmill soaking wet with sweat because you can't help but wonder if everyone is saying "look at that idiot, sweat much?". I was glad that today was a tri training day because juice heads seemed to be overtaking the weight area barking and hollering like a bunch of morons. I don't mind all the noise but please spend more time lifting than talking.. I am looking forward to tomorrow because I will be shooting pool with dad in the morning and tackling a mini tech project around lunch. Hope to squeeze in a good lift sometime tomorrow and possibly hit the Vitamin Shoppe to grab the new mix Kate found for me.

First post

Today was another great summer adventure. The morning opened with a ride on the scooter over to my sisters house to resolve a computer problem. The afternoon consisted of some cleaning around the house and a great lift at the YMCA. The most exciting part of the day was getting to game with a friend for a while. I also racked 30 plus psone titles for $5.00! I came home, spent some time with Kate watching the ever intriguing movie "Rudy", and ended up googling blog info for a while.