Got some new shoes today!

New Nike Run Free

I’ve got a lot of events coming up in the next 3 months.  The first is Fight Gone Bad on September 25th.  No, I’m not fighting anyone…click the link to read what it’s all about.  The event raises money for the Wonded Warrior Project, Livestrong, and the Crossfit Foundation.  It should be a lot of fun, and I am confident I will end up with a pretty good score.  If you are interested in donating, my personal fundraising page is located here.  Second is a 15k (9 Miles) race here in Desoto County called the Country Store 15K.  It looks like a great run through a neat little part of Desoto County.  Once those two events are done comes the main event, the St. Jude Marathon here in Memphis, TN!  Yup, I’m going to run 26.2 miles.  I can’t wait.  I have no doubts that all of the training that I’ve done at Faction Strength and Conditioning over the last year (and will do until the race) will allow me to finish this race strong.  I’ve got great coaches that know what they are doing, and I know they can get me in good shape for any competition I decide to participate in.

Anyway, I’m going to start documenting all of my fitness and competition ventures here on the blog.  I haven’t been around much in a long time, so maybe this will give me some good stuff to write about!

New Hole in My Belt

I drilled a new hole in my belt this morning.  That makes two new holes for the black belt, and three for the brown one.  Anyway, while I was drilling the hole in my belt, I realized that I should write something for the blog.  So here is an update.  I weighed in at 172 pounds this morning.  Just to catch you up, I started at 200 pounds  back in October 2009.  On March 3rd, 2009 I had gotten down to 180 and 20% body fat.  Right now I am around 14% body fat (maybe a little less) and 172 pounds.  I am trying to get down to 170 pounds, but really body fat percentage is the new measurement that I am tracking every few weeks now.

Nearing the finish line. Yes, I stole this image...

So, I ran my first Half Marathon last week.  That’s 13.1 miles.  Unfortunately the weather was awful.  It was raining and cold, and early in the morning.  The race started at 7:30 a.m.  I don’t really run a whole lot in comparison to some people who train for these longer races.  I probably run somewhere between 30-40 miles per month.  Maybe a little more if I have time.  My normal run is somewhere between 5-7 miles.  Mostly I do workouts at Crossfit Memphis, and that’s the majority of my training.   The weekend before this race I did one long run of about 10.5 miles.  I was able to finish that run in about 01:45:00.  So, I figured when I ran the half marathon, my time would be somewhere around 02:15:00.  In the end, I finished at 01:54:23.  I am VERY happy with that time since I really wasn’t expecting to break two hours.

Long story short, Crossfit works wonders.  Specifically Crossfit Memphis and Team Faction!

I couldn’t go to the gym today, but I HAD to do something.  I ate a nasty dessert last night for Abbi’s birthday and I’m trying to get five hours of workouts in this week as a personal goal!  So, I kind of made up my own little workout:

Warm Up: 4 rounds 30 seconds each:

• Bowling (Curtsy) Lunges
• Leg Raises
• Overhead squats (With a broom handle)
• Dislocates (With the broom handle)

Workout: 4 rounds

• Run 400m
• 20 Sit Ups
• 15 Push Ups

Next time I’ll go for five rounds and maybe 20 pushups or throw someting else in the mix.  I couldn’t think of anything else.  The good news is that push ups are getting easier.  They are still hard, but I actually made it through this without doing any incline pushups or trying to make it easier…

• Group Warm-up:
  • 3 Rounds, 30 seconds each:
    • Overhead Reverse Lunge
    • Press Snatch Balance
    • Inch Worms
    • Curtsey Lunges
• Strength Work: 10-15 min
  • Bulgarian Split Squats 5-5-5 per leg
• MetCon: 10-30min
  • Alternating Tabata:
    • Alternate for 8 rounds
      • Pushups
      • Pullups
    • Alternate for 8 rounds
      • Situps
      • Kettlebell Swings (m=2 pood)(w=1.5 pood)
    • Alternate for 8 rounds
      • Handstand holds
      • Overhead Squats (m=45#)(w=30#)

Bulgarian split squats were kind of cool.  I was walking funny afterwards though.  I’m recovering faster from pullups and pushups now that I was a few weeks ago.  I still can’t get through the workout without using a band for the pullups though.  That big kettleball was really tough, but one of the guys just grabbed a smaller one and gave to me to use.  I guess he noticed that I was struggling.  Good times!

@ The Economist:

There was a fire in 1991 at a man’s home that killed his three children.  He was executed in 2004, but he was probably innocent:

The blaze killed his three young children. His conviction was largely a result of the testimony of two local arson investigators, who said Mr Willingham had deliberately set the fire. But subsequent reviews found troubling problems with the arson finding. In 2004, as Willingham sat on death row protesting his innocence, an independent investigator reviewed the original report and concluded that the fire was accidental and that the initial investigation was based on “junk science”. That report was sent to the governor’s office and the Board of Pardons and Paroles, but Willingham’s appeals were turned down and he was executed on February 17th 2004.

Wow, good job, Governor!  They had a bunch of other examiners investigate as well, and they came to the conclusion that the fire was accidental.  I hate seeing stuff like this happen.  I’m definitely not against the death penalty, but this just gives the anti-death penalty argument more fuel.

@ Crossfit Memphis:

Murph

• 1 mile Run
• 300 Squats
• 200 Pushups
• 100 Pullups
• 1 mile run

When I looked at this earlier today, I just laughed and thought, “those guys are crazy…this has to be a joke or a type-o.”  It wasn’t either.  Lucky for me, the noobs got to cut this workout in half.  It was still a bitch.  I can’t even imagine doing the real thing.

The new eating habits actually went really well today.  I thought it would be hard but it wasn’t really.  Instead of Monster this morning, I drank black coffee with no sugar.  I didn’t get to do breakfast because I didn’t get to go grocery shopping.  My other two meals during the day were Salsbury Steak w/ Broccoli.  I went up to GNC, and got a Shaker/Mixer and some Whey Protein.  Ran to Kroger for some fish oil and gatorade powder.  I took the fish oil with my meals, and mixed up a gatorade/Protein shake for after the workout.  I ran through Wendy’s and got a small chili and ate that for my last meal tonight.

One two checka, microphone recka!

Today I was very fortunate to have an hour long meeting with Doug and Mike @ Crossfit Memphis about Nutrition.  I’m going to jump into this new diet that they suggest tomorrow.  It’s pretty hard core for a guy like me who loves to eat all kinds of junk, but it’s time for me to get serious and get in shape!  The biggest obstacle is going to be drinking only water.  That means I’m going to have to give up the Monster and Coffee.  I’ve given up Cokes before, but I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the mornings without my Monster or Coffee!  We’ll see how that goes.  I’m pretty positive about it though.  I’m more tired of being a fat ass than I am in love with Pizza and Cheeseburgers ( I think).  Gotta make a trip to the GNC and the Grocery Store…

Update:  Good news!  Black Coffee, No Sugar or Cream and unsweet tea are on the list!!!