Early last Wednesday my girlfriend and I left for New York City (first time for both of us), and we returned late Sunday evening. We both had a blast! Below is a summary of what we were able to accomplish in the time we were there, along with my comments.
Wednesday
1. We departed at 5:10am Wednesday morning.
2. We arrived at Carlo's Bakery (aka "Cake Boss") in Hoboken, NJ, at 12:13pm, a 7hr 3min drive. We stopped 1 time for gas. It was nearly impossible finding a parking spot in Hoboken's narrow alleyways, but we were able to find one next to a park by the river. We walked to Carlo's Bakery then got in line across the street. We waited for 1 hour 45 minutes until we got to the front of that waiting line, and received our ticket (when inside the store they call number-by-number to take your order, like the BMV). Then we were moved to the next line right outside the store, where we waited another 20 minutes. Then we were finally allowed into the store and waited another 25 minutes to have our number called. All in all we spent 2hr 30min in line and in the store at Carlo's Bakery. We got a few cookies and a small cake for the 2 of us (which melted into a puddle by the time we got to our hotel). It was a fun experience, and we're glad we did it; but if we went again, we would NOT do this again. We saw most the people from the Cake Boss show except the main character, Buddy (although he was there, and someone else in line saw him in the back alley loading a large cake into a vehicle). Again, cool attraction, but not worth the time. I just now ate my cookie that I bought last Wednesday, and it was still great! (saved 1 for co-worker and 1 for myself, and we ate them together). After Carlo's Bakery, we spent a little time on the Hoboken pier to get our first glance of the NYC skyline. WOW! It was absolutely breathtaking and beautiful.
3. At 3:55pm we left Hoboken for our hotel (Country Inn & Suites) in Long Island City. I got my first taste of driving in downtown New York City (crossed right through Times Square). I kept wanted to say "Driving in New York isn't that bad!" but I didn't because I did not want to jinx myself. We arrived at our hotel by 4:50pm (55min drive, was supposed to be 28min according to GPS). Our hotel was GREAT all week! The area was kind of shady, but just a 2-3 minute walk to the express Queensboro Plaza subway station (Yellow NQR, Purple 7) and a short 5-minute ride to Times Square. Very clean hotel, courteous employees, and everything we needed including free wi-fi, free continental breakfast, and FREE Parking! However, there were only 7 parking spots right in front of the hotel boxed in by parallel-parked taxis. We parked in an alley 1 minute from the hotel for the first day and nabbed one of the open spots on Thursday, and parked there right next to the front door the rest of the week. Worked out perfectly!
4. By 6:00 we were off to visit Times Square for the first time. While there we visited the M&M World, Hershey store, Disney store.
5. For dinner we wanted to get the best pizza in New York City. There were 3-4 we could have chosen from, but we decided to eat at Lombardi's Pizza in Little Italy. It was very good pizza, and we'd definitely go back! It ended up costing us about $32 including tip. After Lombardi's, we went back to the hotel.
Thursday
1. Thursday morning we slept in a little then started our day with the 10:00am reservation at the Federal Reserve Museum. It was not the vault access tour (booked a long time ago), so it was basically a view at the history of coins and money... definitely not worth it. Had some fun trying to get past security guards to the non-employee entrance since they weren't clearly marked, but we finally got inside. Haha!
2. After that, we went to Ground Zero which was totally fenced off for the construction of the new building going up. The new building is going to be amazing! It will be 110 floors (same amount as the original WTC buildings), and there will be a tall spiral at the top making the building 1776 feet tall (signifying our independence). It was about 1/2 constructed when we saw it. We also went into the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site (store) to look at pictures and scaled-down models of the new to-be site. After that we looked at the St. Paul's Chapel & Cemetery which were across the street.
3. Next on our list was the Trinity Church. This place was really cool! The cemetery outside was obviously from the movie National Treasure where Nicholas Cage gets shot at. Inside it was very pretty, but not as pretty as St Patrick's cathedral we saw on Friday.
4. For the next little bit, we hit the NYSE building, a New York City hot dog stand, and the Charging Bull. We could not get into the NYSE building, but we walked around it and saw the heavy security. Just behind it, next to the hot dog stand we ate at, was a statue of George Washington, marking the spot where he first took oath of office. Very cool! The Charging Bull was cool to see, too, but there were lots of young teenagers who didn't understand how to take turns or be polite in groups, so we didn't get many good pictures there.
5. Next after that cluster of attractions was the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Immigration Museum. We boarded the ferry at Battery Park. The first stop let us off at Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. Tickets for Crown access were booked back in January, so we only walked around the statue. It was still pretty cool and bigger than I thought it was going to be. Then we boarded the ferry to Ellis Island to see the Immigration Museum which was also a neat place to see, given its history and relevance to our nation's heritage.
6. All of these were done by 3 or 4pm, so we had plenty of time that evening to do whatever we wanted. First we stopped by Times Square at the TKTS booth to see if we could get a cheap Broadway show, but the line was wayyyy too long, we opted out of a show. Our New York Pass granted free access to Madame Tussious, the wax museum of famous people, so we went in there. It got old after a while, but some of the exhibits were pretty cool and VERY life-like! We took lots of pictures. The girlfriend wanted the pics more than I did... I was very bored. Had we spent money on it, I would have been upset. Haha! After that, we headed back to the hotel for a break for our feet, which were killing us!
7. For dinner we went to a highly-recommended sports bar & grill, Mudville 9 Saloon. We got wings and a burger and watched the NFL Draft's 1st round (well, most of it). The food was absolutely wonderful! The service was very poor. We would definitely go back just for the food!
Friday
1. Our plan for Friday was to be on the Today Show! So, we got up at 4am and were at Rockefeller Center by 5am for the 7am start time. Around 5:15am, someone asked us "You're not here for the Today Show, are you?" We responded "Yes," and he said "There is no show today. There is only the viewing party on Times Square." We had seen the bleachers and projector screen on Times Square but had not heard a word about the actual Today Show being cancelled. So we went over to the Variety Cafe for breakfast - a few muffins/bagels and orange juice/coffee - and walked around the area for a while and saw a few places including St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was very, very nice!!
2. Originally scheduled for after our 9:30am NBC Studio Tour, we were able to pump Top of the Rock up to its opening time of 8am. We absolutely LOVED the view from the top of this building, even more so than the Empire State Building! There were 3 floors you could view from at your own pace - 77, 78, 79 - and all 3 were great. The view South to all the huge buildings was astounding, and to the North to see Central Park was also amazing. Great view!
3. After the Top of the Rock, we arrived downstairs well in time for our 9:30am NBC Studio Tour, which took us through many different floors and sets for shows such as Nightly News, Dr. Oz, and Saturday Night Live. This was a fun, informative, and interactive tour that I would recommend, although it didn't seem to last that long. While we were sitting in the staging area waiting for the tour to start, someone went around offering free stand-by tickets for the Jimmy Fallon show's taping later that evening around 5:30pm. We took two tickets and figured we'd go and see if we got in. I'll cover this in a little bit.
4. Then we hit the Museum of Sex. We thought it'd be more of a historical/anatomy-type museum, but once you got off the first floor, all the walls were filled with monitors displaying pornographic videos of different "types" of sex. Very weird and uncomfortable. It was kinda funny at the same time, though.
5. Next, we took the subway to Times Square and walked the mile to the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum, which my girlfriend was very excited about. We not only got to tour the ship and all its decks (flight deck with all the helicopters and airplanes was very neat), but we also got a tour of the inside of a submarine. It took longer than I thought it would, but it was fun and we were able to get back to our hotel in time for...
6. .. the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon! We arrived at the specified location at 3:45pm to let them mark down our stand-by ticket numbers, then at 4:15pm they announced that we were, in fact, going to be allowed into the show! On top of that, they pulled my girlfriend and me aside and asked if we would mind being on stage with Aretha Franklin while she sang. We obviously accepted the offer! So if you watched the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon on NBC Friday night, you can see my girlfriend and me up on the back-left stage grooving to the music a little bit. The balcony on the right had lots more face time than us, though. It was still a lot of fun and had some funny segments throughout the show!
7. After the show we went back to Times Square to see what it was like on a Friday night. WOW! It was nearly impossible to move and go anywhere on Times Square, across any intersection or sidewalk... completely packed! I'm glad when I drove through Times Square that it was not like this. Wow.
8. For dinner that night we stayed in our hotel and ordered from Jessi's Deli. Our feet and ankles were killing us, and we did not want to go back into town; so we just ordered in. I would not recommend this place. They said it'd take 45 minutes, and it ended up taking 1 1/2 hours! And the food was not even that good. We ended up finishing dinner around 10:30pm, so it was nice having those 1-2 hours to relax and rest our feet for the next day, which was Central Park and lots of walking!
Saturday
1. We were able to sleep in a bit on Saturday and got to Central Park right around 10:00am. We casually strolled through the park on the beautiful Saturday morning and got to see the finish of some kind of 1-mile/5k race, which had the Southeast corner of the park packed! We arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by 11:00am and were there until 12:25pm. We then continued on our way through Central Park, up to the largest lake in the park, and headed back down. It was neat seeing all the elementary-age baseball teams playing in all the parks, kids playing basketball, others playing Ultimate Frisbee, hundreds of people running or riding bikes, and just everyone in general outside enjoying the sunshine. We then went Southwest to Strawberry Fields, and finished the park by 2:00pm.
2. At that time, we took the subway down to Washington Square Park and Greenwich Village. There we saw 3 men putting on an act in the middle of the park and got some good video of them doing stunts and such. It was funny and cool at the same time. After that, we went to Herald Square to visit the largest store in the world, Macy's! We weren't there long, but just wanted to step inside so we could say we've been in the largest store in the world. And it is absolutely huge! My glasses for some reason had one of the lenses get popped out the day before, and I was unable to get it back in; so we stopped by the Oakley store on Times Square and let them fix it for me.
3. For dinner we ate at Planet Hollywood on Times Square. We both had New York Passes which gave us $10 off per pass, so it was $20 off our bill, or else we probably wouldn't have eaten there. The prices still weren't bad anyway. It was a fun atmosphere, good food, and a place that we knew we wanted to hit all along. After dinner we finally found the shop that my girlfriend had seen our first night there but forgot what/where it was - Grand Slam. It was there that we got our shirts, picture frames, shot glasses, etc.
4. After shopping around a bit, we went off to the Empire State Building to see New York City from up top, but this time at night. There was lots of security and so many hoops to jump through to get to the top, but it is all understandable, and they had the process down pat. Once we got to the top, though, it was SO PACKED! We preferred the Top of the Rock much more than the Empire State Building's observatory deck mostly because of the crowd and awkward fence around the edge of the deck. It was still fun seeing the city from up top at night, though! We went to Times Square one last time that night, and then headed back to the hotel.
Sunday
1. We had to check out of our hotel by noon Sunday, so we didn't want to do anything downtown beforehand and rick not getting back in time. So we checked out and drove over to Pier 83 next to the Intrepid and rode a Circle Line Cruise boat called The Beast, which goes 40+ mph from the pier down the skyline of Manhattan, to the Statue of Liberty, and back! It was lots of fun flying through the bay and a nice way to end the trip, seeing the entire length and width of the city in just over a half hour.
2. We ended up leaving for home at 1:45pm and arrived back at 9:58pm, including a stop for gas and a stop for dinner at Perkins.
All in all, we had a GREAT time! Our feet and ankles were the most sore they've ever been, but the fun and experiences we shared were well worth it! We can't wait to go back again, this time with my parents, who have expressed interest to go again, and want us to go since we did such a good job (with YOUR help) planning and executing the trip with such aggressive and realistic goals/plans. I can't stress enough how much we appreciate the help we received from those on JJHuddle and OhioChatter regarding our trip.
My favorite part of the trip was either our first time in Times Square at night (or Friday night when it was packed!), and being at the Top of the Rock and seeing the city from up above. Everything was great, though. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed the summary!
May 4, 2011
February 17, 2011
P90X: Day 21 - Week 3 Complete (workouts postponed)
Date: 02/11/2011
Day 21 - Week 3 Complete
I completed week 3 of P90X successfully. I couldn’t be happier with my results so far. After going through the workouts for the third time, I continue to not only increase my reps in just about every exercise, but I’m also improving my form and increasing the weights on exercises with weight resistance. On top of that, I’m not getting nearly as exhausted after each workout. Sure, I am spent and sweating a ton after just about every workout, especially those with Ab Ripper X on the end, but I have not had the feeling like I was going to puke since the first one or two days of the program.
I have had a number of free meals at work this week, so the nutrition plan was a little harder to follow. However, I made up for it during breakfast, dinner, and in my snacks. I’m trying my best to follow the nutrition plan, so that’s all I can ask of myself. I must say, though, that it’s been fun trying to cook new things, especially fried eggs (yes, I know… I had never cooked eggs before!) and other things.
With all that said, I am sad to report that I will have to postpone my P90X workouts for probably a month or two because of heavily-increasing time constraints. The basketball season has been tough to get through, especially on the week days; and with the district tournaments coming up of which my dad and I attend and do stats for every game, most of those games are week days (two games per night), so it’s was going to be tough to get all those workouts in after those late nights four nights a week or more. On top of that, my work schedule has increased dramatically, averaging over an hour and a half later arrival at home than I am used to which has definitely cut into my time for workouts and other things at home. On top of both those, my weekends are always busy with my girlfriend. She has been very supportive of me and my working out, so it is not her fault. It’s just hard to try to coordinate our already busy schedules so we can see each other (mainly on the weekends) and still get my workouts in, some of which are impossible at her apartment because of the lack of room, pull-up bar, and other hindrances.
I feel bad having to postpone the program for now, but do not worry – I will be starting back up again at some point!
Day 21 - Week 3 Complete
I completed week 3 of P90X successfully. I couldn’t be happier with my results so far. After going through the workouts for the third time, I continue to not only increase my reps in just about every exercise, but I’m also improving my form and increasing the weights on exercises with weight resistance. On top of that, I’m not getting nearly as exhausted after each workout. Sure, I am spent and sweating a ton after just about every workout, especially those with Ab Ripper X on the end, but I have not had the feeling like I was going to puke since the first one or two days of the program.
I have had a number of free meals at work this week, so the nutrition plan was a little harder to follow. However, I made up for it during breakfast, dinner, and in my snacks. I’m trying my best to follow the nutrition plan, so that’s all I can ask of myself. I must say, though, that it’s been fun trying to cook new things, especially fried eggs (yes, I know… I had never cooked eggs before!) and other things.
With all that said, I am sad to report that I will have to postpone my P90X workouts for probably a month or two because of heavily-increasing time constraints. The basketball season has been tough to get through, especially on the week days; and with the district tournaments coming up of which my dad and I attend and do stats for every game, most of those games are week days (two games per night), so it’s was going to be tough to get all those workouts in after those late nights four nights a week or more. On top of that, my work schedule has increased dramatically, averaging over an hour and a half later arrival at home than I am used to which has definitely cut into my time for workouts and other things at home. On top of both those, my weekends are always busy with my girlfriend. She has been very supportive of me and my working out, so it is not her fault. It’s just hard to try to coordinate our already busy schedules so we can see each other (mainly on the weekends) and still get my workouts in, some of which are impossible at her apartment because of the lack of room, pull-up bar, and other hindrances.
I feel bad having to postpone the program for now, but do not worry – I will be starting back up again at some point!
February 6, 2011
P90X: Day 14 - Week 2 Complete
Date: 02/04/2011
Day 14 - Week 2 Complete
Well, it’s been a week since my last update; and as promised, I’ll be posting an entry at least once a week. My second time through the workouts went very well. The main thing I noticed in the second week was my increased reps and improved form in the Ab Ripper X workouts. Each time I seemed to get further and further into the routine before I needed to take a break. Ever since Day 1 when I learned my lesson to pace myself, I’ve done a much better job at that and have seen the results of being able to push myself a little more when my body is hurting as opposed to getting very few, non-helpful reps later in the workouts.
So far, I’ve done the Plyometrics workout at Jennifer’s apartment (and fitness room) both times because of the high ceiling and room to move around. I am not sure what I’m going to do when the time comes when I have to do this at my house since I have low ceilings and a shaky house in the living room (when I land on the floor). I could always go to the Triway High School weight room, but then I’d have to take my laptop with me to play the DVD and probably get some weird looks if there is anyone else there. The good thing, though, is that my Plyometrics day is Sunday which makes that less likely.
I see that after week 3 I change my workout schedule a bit to include some new workouts and stop doing others, so I’ll be working hard this week to get maximum reps the 2nd time through the workouts so I know what weights & reps to do when I pick back up on the particular workouts. As for now, though, the workouts are going well. I feel good during the day, my reps and weights are increasing, and I’m having fun. Sure, it’s kind of funny at times to listen to the instructor and his weird phrases, but at other times it’s exciting to be working out “with” someone who cares so much about it.
My diet is going pretty well, but I’ve had a few lapses in the last week with free meals at work and being invited by my parents to eat out a time or two. However, whenever we have those meals, I am still trying to consider portion size and types of food groups, even though the food itself might not be as healthy as some of the stuff I buy at the grocery store. That being said, all in all I feel good about the nutrition plan. This coming weekend I’ll be going to the grocery store to stock up for another two weeks. This time Jennifer will be with me, so maybe that will help get a little more variety in my diet since, when I went shopping for myself, I was heavy on ham and chicken, since they’re two of my favorite foods! Variety sounds really good right now since a few foods (and healthy, allowed snacks) are getting old.
With week 3 coming up, the main thing I’m going to need to focus on is sticking with it. The later into the program I get while still sticking with the workouts and diet, the harder it gets to stop doing so while getting closer and closer to the end goal. Also, in a few weeks I re-measure myself and take updated photographs, so I’m excited for those as well and to see how I’ve progressed thus far.
Day 14 - Week 2 Complete
Well, it’s been a week since my last update; and as promised, I’ll be posting an entry at least once a week. My second time through the workouts went very well. The main thing I noticed in the second week was my increased reps and improved form in the Ab Ripper X workouts. Each time I seemed to get further and further into the routine before I needed to take a break. Ever since Day 1 when I learned my lesson to pace myself, I’ve done a much better job at that and have seen the results of being able to push myself a little more when my body is hurting as opposed to getting very few, non-helpful reps later in the workouts.
So far, I’ve done the Plyometrics workout at Jennifer’s apartment (and fitness room) both times because of the high ceiling and room to move around. I am not sure what I’m going to do when the time comes when I have to do this at my house since I have low ceilings and a shaky house in the living room (when I land on the floor). I could always go to the Triway High School weight room, but then I’d have to take my laptop with me to play the DVD and probably get some weird looks if there is anyone else there. The good thing, though, is that my Plyometrics day is Sunday which makes that less likely.
I see that after week 3 I change my workout schedule a bit to include some new workouts and stop doing others, so I’ll be working hard this week to get maximum reps the 2nd time through the workouts so I know what weights & reps to do when I pick back up on the particular workouts. As for now, though, the workouts are going well. I feel good during the day, my reps and weights are increasing, and I’m having fun. Sure, it’s kind of funny at times to listen to the instructor and his weird phrases, but at other times it’s exciting to be working out “with” someone who cares so much about it.
My diet is going pretty well, but I’ve had a few lapses in the last week with free meals at work and being invited by my parents to eat out a time or two. However, whenever we have those meals, I am still trying to consider portion size and types of food groups, even though the food itself might not be as healthy as some of the stuff I buy at the grocery store. That being said, all in all I feel good about the nutrition plan. This coming weekend I’ll be going to the grocery store to stock up for another two weeks. This time Jennifer will be with me, so maybe that will help get a little more variety in my diet since, when I went shopping for myself, I was heavy on ham and chicken, since they’re two of my favorite foods! Variety sounds really good right now since a few foods (and healthy, allowed snacks) are getting old.
With week 3 coming up, the main thing I’m going to need to focus on is sticking with it. The later into the program I get while still sticking with the workouts and diet, the harder it gets to stop doing so while getting closer and closer to the end goal. Also, in a few weeks I re-measure myself and take updated photographs, so I’m excited for those as well and to see how I’ve progressed thus far.
January 29, 2011
P90X: Day 7 - X Stretch
Date: 01/28/2011
Workout: X Stretch
Day 7
This stretching routing was just what I needed late on a Friday after a physically and emotionally taxing week of intense workouts, long work days, and tough sports losses. Right now I feel as loose as ever and quite rejuvenated for it being 12:15 AM Saturday morning. My diet was more in line today, which I am glad to report. Tomorrow I start week 2 of P90X. I think I am going to start writing blogs once a week from now on since I’ve already gone through each workout once. In a few weeks I will start my second phase when the workout schedule changes and a few new routines are introduced. At that time I’ll get back to a daily blog entry until all the workouts and the new program has been covered. As for now, I feel great after the first week. I am not very sore any more other than a little bit in my upper calf. Other than that, I’m ready to attack my second week and see if I can improve my form, reps, and overall performance in P90X. I’m only 7 days through a 90 day journey, but I feel great so far!
Workout: X Stretch
Day 7
This stretching routing was just what I needed late on a Friday after a physically and emotionally taxing week of intense workouts, long work days, and tough sports losses. Right now I feel as loose as ever and quite rejuvenated for it being 12:15 AM Saturday morning. My diet was more in line today, which I am glad to report. Tomorrow I start week 2 of P90X. I think I am going to start writing blogs once a week from now on since I’ve already gone through each workout once. In a few weeks I will start my second phase when the workout schedule changes and a few new routines are introduced. At that time I’ll get back to a daily blog entry until all the workouts and the new program has been covered. As for now, I feel great after the first week. I am not very sore any more other than a little bit in my upper calf. Other than that, I’m ready to attack my second week and see if I can improve my form, reps, and overall performance in P90X. I’m only 7 days through a 90 day journey, but I feel great so far!
January 27, 2011
P90X: Day 6 - Kenpo X
Date: 01/27/2011
Workout: Kenpo X
Day 6
If there was any day I needed strictly cardio to burn some calories, this was it. I’ve been doing great with my diet this week, but we at work had a team dinner tonight at a nice Italian restaurant, which was tough to resist. I did well for a while as I refrained from eating as much of the good bread as I normally would and limited myself to only two pieces of appetizers. Then I went for the pork chop with green beans and mashed potatoes instead of my staple – chicken parmesan with pasta. However, I felt like I had already broken some rules, so I ordered dessert: a piece of rich chocolate cake with fudge in the middle and ice cream on top, sprinkled with cocoa. It was all very, very good food and a very good time, but my body was probably kicking me for doing that to it after the (good) food I’ve been eating all week.
Either way, the food didn’t affect my workout tonight other than some oddly tasting breath that came up during parts of it. (I hope that didn’t gross you out.) For the most part, the Kenpo X workout was loaded with technical moves and coordination of more than one body part at a time. For instance, I had trouble at first making sure the correct hand was throwing the punch while the correct heel was twisting and my hips were opening up the correct way. After about a third of the reps for each exercise, I finally got the hang of them. The next time around I think I’ll be 200% better than I was tonight. I think I finally have the moves down. Also, the earlier combination moves/punches will be a little easer having gone through them.
I worked out downstairs in my basement because it’s a harder floor so I didn’t mess up my carpet upstairs while wearing shoes, since I knew I’d want to wear shoes for this one. In the end, I’m not totally convinced that shoes are a necessity. However, they did help a lot with some of the balance kicks and so on, especially if I start doing them the hard way without letting my feet touch the ground in between reps. I think that’s a ways down the road, but I can definitely see myself doing that at some point.
Tomorrow is the X Stretch, which I am excited to have reached. We have a basketball game tomorrow night, so I’ll be doing this when I get home, then showering and heading to bed. It will be a nice way to start the weekend. All in all after my first week of P90X has almost been completed, I’m very, very confident that I’ll be able to fit this in my schedule, complete the workouts, follow my diet, and see some real results!
Workout: Kenpo X
Day 6
If there was any day I needed strictly cardio to burn some calories, this was it. I’ve been doing great with my diet this week, but we at work had a team dinner tonight at a nice Italian restaurant, which was tough to resist. I did well for a while as I refrained from eating as much of the good bread as I normally would and limited myself to only two pieces of appetizers. Then I went for the pork chop with green beans and mashed potatoes instead of my staple – chicken parmesan with pasta. However, I felt like I had already broken some rules, so I ordered dessert: a piece of rich chocolate cake with fudge in the middle and ice cream on top, sprinkled with cocoa. It was all very, very good food and a very good time, but my body was probably kicking me for doing that to it after the (good) food I’ve been eating all week.
Either way, the food didn’t affect my workout tonight other than some oddly tasting breath that came up during parts of it. (I hope that didn’t gross you out.) For the most part, the Kenpo X workout was loaded with technical moves and coordination of more than one body part at a time. For instance, I had trouble at first making sure the correct hand was throwing the punch while the correct heel was twisting and my hips were opening up the correct way. After about a third of the reps for each exercise, I finally got the hang of them. The next time around I think I’ll be 200% better than I was tonight. I think I finally have the moves down. Also, the earlier combination moves/punches will be a little easer having gone through them.
I worked out downstairs in my basement because it’s a harder floor so I didn’t mess up my carpet upstairs while wearing shoes, since I knew I’d want to wear shoes for this one. In the end, I’m not totally convinced that shoes are a necessity. However, they did help a lot with some of the balance kicks and so on, especially if I start doing them the hard way without letting my feet touch the ground in between reps. I think that’s a ways down the road, but I can definitely see myself doing that at some point.
Tomorrow is the X Stretch, which I am excited to have reached. We have a basketball game tomorrow night, so I’ll be doing this when I get home, then showering and heading to bed. It will be a nice way to start the weekend. All in all after my first week of P90X has almost been completed, I’m very, very confident that I’ll be able to fit this in my schedule, complete the workouts, follow my diet, and see some real results!
January 26, 2011
P90X: Day 5 - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Date: 01/26/2011
Workout: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 5
Today was not nearly as frustrating or demoralizing as yesterday’s Yoga X workout, but it was still angrily tough. The wall sits in the middle of the workout (both double-leg and single-leg) were killers in between everything else. However, it was nice to have a few of the pull-up/chin-up routines to split up the leg exercises, as well. I still am not doing very well with the pull-ups – anywhere between 1 and 3 reps each set before I have to use the chair to get 3-4 more. If I were to just do one set of pull-ups, I could do 6, 7, or even 8 or 9. However, when it’s put in the middle of a workout, my performance isn’t nearly what I’d want it to be. How these people in the videos are doing 15-25 pull-ups for each set is beyond me! I can keep up with them for the most part on most the workouts, but there is absolutely no chance in other parts.
I was worried going into the leg workout that I’d have to bring up some of my heavier weights (35-50 lbs) from the basement depending on the exercise; but after skimming through the video beforehand, that thought quickly was nullified with all the 5-20 lb. recommendations. I was very surprised and very pleased with the level of intensity all the exercises brought to my legs and back despite the low weight. If I had to pick one exercise that hurt the most other than the wall sits, it has to have been the calf raises at the end. I picked 15 lbs which worked out very well and allowed me to get all the reps in with good form, but each rep through the last two sets brought cramp-like sensations to my calf muscles.
Oh – I am getting better and better at Ab Ripper X… I think. The first 2-3 exercises are going more smoothly, and I’m almost able to complete all of them without any breaks. Of course, this extra effort early on is affecting my performance later in the workout, but I’m still managing pretty well. I am excited to see this improvement, and we’ll see where it goes.
My diet took a little dive today as I had two chocolate chunk cookies at work. The rest of my diet has been doing very well with lots of ham, chicken, and vegetables as well as healthy snacks throughout the day to make sure I keep my metabolism going. However, after a long 10 ½ hour day at work, I was really craving something delicious (other than the chicken, ham, and turkey salad I had for lunch). I apologize to the diet police, but I just had to. Don’t tell anybody! I’ll be back on track tomorrow. To be honest, though, I’ve been doing a very good job at abiding by my nutrition plan, if I do say so myself. There have been many times I’ve respectfully rejected delicious and enticing foods which I normally would gobble right up, and I normally replace it with something along the lines of an apple, carrots, or a low-fat yogurt. Another key I’m trying to stress is portion control. I still feel full after every meal, which is great, and I do not see any weight gain. I actually weighed myself when I got home from work tonight (after having breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack at work), and I am still down 3+ pounds from where I was this point last week. I am going to keep at it.
It looks like I have Kenpo X tomorrows, so I’ll be working out in my basement for the first time. I’ve been doing all my workouts upstairs in my living room on the carpet, which is not preferred. However, it’s the only place with easy access to the pull-up bar. I may start doing all workouts downstairs that don’t require the pull-up bar so that I don’t get my carpet any dirtier than it is right now. (Don’t get me wrong. My carpet is not really bad or anything. But I don’t want to make it a habit of doing everything up here.) Anyway, where I do my workout in my house is irrelevant. I just need to make sure I do my workout, no matter where, and I’ll be fine. I am loving this program so far!
Workout: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 5
Today was not nearly as frustrating or demoralizing as yesterday’s Yoga X workout, but it was still angrily tough. The wall sits in the middle of the workout (both double-leg and single-leg) were killers in between everything else. However, it was nice to have a few of the pull-up/chin-up routines to split up the leg exercises, as well. I still am not doing very well with the pull-ups – anywhere between 1 and 3 reps each set before I have to use the chair to get 3-4 more. If I were to just do one set of pull-ups, I could do 6, 7, or even 8 or 9. However, when it’s put in the middle of a workout, my performance isn’t nearly what I’d want it to be. How these people in the videos are doing 15-25 pull-ups for each set is beyond me! I can keep up with them for the most part on most the workouts, but there is absolutely no chance in other parts.
I was worried going into the leg workout that I’d have to bring up some of my heavier weights (35-50 lbs) from the basement depending on the exercise; but after skimming through the video beforehand, that thought quickly was nullified with all the 5-20 lb. recommendations. I was very surprised and very pleased with the level of intensity all the exercises brought to my legs and back despite the low weight. If I had to pick one exercise that hurt the most other than the wall sits, it has to have been the calf raises at the end. I picked 15 lbs which worked out very well and allowed me to get all the reps in with good form, but each rep through the last two sets brought cramp-like sensations to my calf muscles.
Oh – I am getting better and better at Ab Ripper X… I think. The first 2-3 exercises are going more smoothly, and I’m almost able to complete all of them without any breaks. Of course, this extra effort early on is affecting my performance later in the workout, but I’m still managing pretty well. I am excited to see this improvement, and we’ll see where it goes.
My diet took a little dive today as I had two chocolate chunk cookies at work. The rest of my diet has been doing very well with lots of ham, chicken, and vegetables as well as healthy snacks throughout the day to make sure I keep my metabolism going. However, after a long 10 ½ hour day at work, I was really craving something delicious (other than the chicken, ham, and turkey salad I had for lunch). I apologize to the diet police, but I just had to. Don’t tell anybody! I’ll be back on track tomorrow. To be honest, though, I’ve been doing a very good job at abiding by my nutrition plan, if I do say so myself. There have been many times I’ve respectfully rejected delicious and enticing foods which I normally would gobble right up, and I normally replace it with something along the lines of an apple, carrots, or a low-fat yogurt. Another key I’m trying to stress is portion control. I still feel full after every meal, which is great, and I do not see any weight gain. I actually weighed myself when I got home from work tonight (after having breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack at work), and I am still down 3+ pounds from where I was this point last week. I am going to keep at it.
It looks like I have Kenpo X tomorrows, so I’ll be working out in my basement for the first time. I’ve been doing all my workouts upstairs in my living room on the carpet, which is not preferred. However, it’s the only place with easy access to the pull-up bar. I may start doing all workouts downstairs that don’t require the pull-up bar so that I don’t get my carpet any dirtier than it is right now. (Don’t get me wrong. My carpet is not really bad or anything. But I don’t want to make it a habit of doing everything up here.) Anyway, where I do my workout in my house is irrelevant. I just need to make sure I do my workout, no matter where, and I’ll be fine. I am loving this program so far!
January 25, 2011
P90X: Day 4 - Yoga X
Date: 01/25/2011
Workout: Yoga X
Day 4
Oh. My. Goodness. The first 40 minutes of the 1 hour 30 minute workout was ridiculously hard! I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy workout since nothing in this program is. However, I was hoping it’d be a little more on the lighter side. The first half of the workout was just the opposite. I found myself only completing about half of the reps they were doing or skipping certain parts that I knew I wouldn’t be albe to do and then jumping back in when they started a new exercise or formation. Don’t get me wrong – I still tried every formation and got each one at least once or twice, but I was not getting the extension or extreme angles of those in the video, which I guess is kind of impossible.
The first 40 minutes went by so slowly I was contemplating stopping the DVD and calling it night especially since I didn’t get home until 9:15 PM and started the DVD around 9:45 PM. However, I’m glad I stuck it out through the hardest part. I was thrilled to hear about halfway through that the “hard” stuff was over and that the rest was simply balance-related. Even though they were just for balance, they were still tough, especially some of the twisting ones. My left hip is much, much less flexible than my right hip. I was thinking I was doing something wrong at first, but then later I heard Tony Horton say the same thing that his left hip was not as flexible as his right. Some of those twists really hurt and killed my left hip, but I think it’s something I can improve.
I can definitely see myself improving my flexibility in these exercises over the next 90 days, but I’m going to have to make sure I do the exercises as they are meant, such as flexing the feet instead of pointing them. It definitely puts an extra, uncomfortable strain on them, but it’s worth it. I had some issues with a few others when it came to making sure my legs were straight and not angled; but again, that will come with time, I hope.
All in all, I feel a lot better now, and I know what to expect the next time I do Yoga X. As for me being sore the last few days, today was not nearly as bad. I had a few spots that were a little sluggish, but I was not in any pain and had no uncomfortable feelings all day long. Hopefully I don’t experience any more pain like I did the last two days. Anyway, it is 11:50 PM, and I need to head to bed. I have Legs & Back tomorrow. Good night. Zzz…
Workout: Yoga X
Day 4
Oh. My. Goodness. The first 40 minutes of the 1 hour 30 minute workout was ridiculously hard! I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy workout since nothing in this program is. However, I was hoping it’d be a little more on the lighter side. The first half of the workout was just the opposite. I found myself only completing about half of the reps they were doing or skipping certain parts that I knew I wouldn’t be albe to do and then jumping back in when they started a new exercise or formation. Don’t get me wrong – I still tried every formation and got each one at least once or twice, but I was not getting the extension or extreme angles of those in the video, which I guess is kind of impossible.
The first 40 minutes went by so slowly I was contemplating stopping the DVD and calling it night especially since I didn’t get home until 9:15 PM and started the DVD around 9:45 PM. However, I’m glad I stuck it out through the hardest part. I was thrilled to hear about halfway through that the “hard” stuff was over and that the rest was simply balance-related. Even though they were just for balance, they were still tough, especially some of the twisting ones. My left hip is much, much less flexible than my right hip. I was thinking I was doing something wrong at first, but then later I heard Tony Horton say the same thing that his left hip was not as flexible as his right. Some of those twists really hurt and killed my left hip, but I think it’s something I can improve.
I can definitely see myself improving my flexibility in these exercises over the next 90 days, but I’m going to have to make sure I do the exercises as they are meant, such as flexing the feet instead of pointing them. It definitely puts an extra, uncomfortable strain on them, but it’s worth it. I had some issues with a few others when it came to making sure my legs were straight and not angled; but again, that will come with time, I hope.
All in all, I feel a lot better now, and I know what to expect the next time I do Yoga X. As for me being sore the last few days, today was not nearly as bad. I had a few spots that were a little sluggish, but I was not in any pain and had no uncomfortable feelings all day long. Hopefully I don’t experience any more pain like I did the last two days. Anyway, it is 11:50 PM, and I need to head to bed. I have Legs & Back tomorrow. Good night. Zzz…
January 24, 2011
P90X: Day 3 - Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Date: 01/24/2011
Workout: Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 3
All day today and most of last night I was ludicrously sore! Normally feeling sore in the muscles and having a slightly hard time moving fluidly is not a problem. However, this time I was in actual pain almost all day long after not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep overnight. My neck hurt the most and gave me the most trouble throughout the day, and I could not get it stretched or loosened up enough. My triceps hurt even though I hadn’t worked them yet. My ribs hurt. I was sore and hurting all over.
However, as soon as I started my workout tonight after getting home from work, my body loosened up, and my exercises went as planned. As listed above, I had Shoulders & Arms tonight. This was a more traditional workout that I’m used to doing in the gym, but some of the moves were very creative and challenging. The first time through it was tough picking the right dumbbell weight for each exercise, so it was great receiving tips on which exercises to lighten up on since I had never heard of some of them before and thus didn’t know where to begin. All in all, I think my beginning weights were very appropriate except for the laying down tricep extensions, which I underestimated the first time around.
Some of the tips they gave on the exercises like twisting the wrist at the top of a curl were things I had heard a little about before, and it was nice to hear it reinforced here and seeing everyone in the video doing it. This was by far the easiest of the three workouts so far, but I think that’s mainly because of the body part being exercised and how common it is in most weight lifting routines people do. With that said, I’ll say again that it was challenging and creative and definitely well worth it! I know it’s a good workout when I can’t get my elbow above my head to stretch when I’m done; and if I do happen to get my elbow way up there, it feels as if I’m going to snap my arm off!
As a whole tonight, I’m very pleased and happy with this workout. I think it’s complete, well put together, creative, challenging, and has a good pace. Of course it wasn’t fun having Ab Ripper X at the end, but I think that workout is wearing on me, too. I was able to do a few more reps in each of the exercises this time, and I definitely had better form than when I completed the workout two days ago. It’s amazing what just going through the DVD one time can do.
As for my diet, I am eating the right amount of foods in all the food groups (piling up on protein, getting a fair share of veggies, a little dairy, a fruit, and very few carbs). However, I’m pleased to say that I’m still getting full when I eat. I was worried going in that I was going to starve myself, but that isn’t happening yet. I’m going to start taking my foods down just slightly to see if I can shoot for slightly better results, but we’ll see what I end up doing when the time comes. (I ate some gummy bears today. Oh no!)
Tomorrow I have Yoga X, which I hear is the longest workout. However, I have an away basketball game right after work. After the game I’m going to try to come home as soon as possible and get right into the workout, because I don’t want to miss a day this early in the program. It’s going to be tough to stay motivated and on track, but I am committed!
Workout: Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 3
All day today and most of last night I was ludicrously sore! Normally feeling sore in the muscles and having a slightly hard time moving fluidly is not a problem. However, this time I was in actual pain almost all day long after not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep overnight. My neck hurt the most and gave me the most trouble throughout the day, and I could not get it stretched or loosened up enough. My triceps hurt even though I hadn’t worked them yet. My ribs hurt. I was sore and hurting all over.
However, as soon as I started my workout tonight after getting home from work, my body loosened up, and my exercises went as planned. As listed above, I had Shoulders & Arms tonight. This was a more traditional workout that I’m used to doing in the gym, but some of the moves were very creative and challenging. The first time through it was tough picking the right dumbbell weight for each exercise, so it was great receiving tips on which exercises to lighten up on since I had never heard of some of them before and thus didn’t know where to begin. All in all, I think my beginning weights were very appropriate except for the laying down tricep extensions, which I underestimated the first time around.
Some of the tips they gave on the exercises like twisting the wrist at the top of a curl were things I had heard a little about before, and it was nice to hear it reinforced here and seeing everyone in the video doing it. This was by far the easiest of the three workouts so far, but I think that’s mainly because of the body part being exercised and how common it is in most weight lifting routines people do. With that said, I’ll say again that it was challenging and creative and definitely well worth it! I know it’s a good workout when I can’t get my elbow above my head to stretch when I’m done; and if I do happen to get my elbow way up there, it feels as if I’m going to snap my arm off!
As a whole tonight, I’m very pleased and happy with this workout. I think it’s complete, well put together, creative, challenging, and has a good pace. Of course it wasn’t fun having Ab Ripper X at the end, but I think that workout is wearing on me, too. I was able to do a few more reps in each of the exercises this time, and I definitely had better form than when I completed the workout two days ago. It’s amazing what just going through the DVD one time can do.
As for my diet, I am eating the right amount of foods in all the food groups (piling up on protein, getting a fair share of veggies, a little dairy, a fruit, and very few carbs). However, I’m pleased to say that I’m still getting full when I eat. I was worried going in that I was going to starve myself, but that isn’t happening yet. I’m going to start taking my foods down just slightly to see if I can shoot for slightly better results, but we’ll see what I end up doing when the time comes. (I ate some gummy bears today. Oh no!)
Tomorrow I have Yoga X, which I hear is the longest workout. However, I have an away basketball game right after work. After the game I’m going to try to come home as soon as possible and get right into the workout, because I don’t want to miss a day this early in the program. It’s going to be tough to stay motivated and on track, but I am committed!
January 23, 2011
P90X: Day 2 - Plyometrics
Date: 01/23/2011
Workout: Plyometrics
Day 2
Going into this Plyometrics workout, I had heard many say that this was by far the toughest, most challenging, and most intense workout there is in P90X. Well, one thing is for sure – it is 56+ minutes of non-stop movement in ways I wasn’t used to moving. However, it wasn’t as tough as I thought it’d be. I think that may have been partly due to the fact that I was doing it in a close-confines apartment with people living below that I didn’t want to disturb. I was still able to do all the workouts as directed but maybe not as exaggerated as I might have if I was on a basement floor.
My girlfriend and I started our “get fit” programs, however alike or different they may be, together earlier this week, so we’re trying to do as many workouts together as possible so we can motivate each other not only to start the workouts but also to do our best during them. We both had been driving for about an hour when we met at her apartment. Then we both changed and jumped right into the workout without wasting much time. Plus we wanted to be able to watch as much football today as possible, so that was another reason we jumped right in.
As the workout started, the warm-up sequence was definitely one that brought sweat to my brow along with some heavy breathing. However, I think it was definitely worth it to get ready for the “real” exercises in the workout. We both struggled for the first 20-25 minutes of the workout for some reason. We were doing all the exercises as described, and we were getting our butts beat! However, we were doing everything right the 2nd half of the workout, but for some reason the 2nd half was much easier than the first half. I don’t know. Maybe it was just me. But, like I alluded to earlier, some of it may have been our slight limitations inside the apartment wearing socks on carpet and having people below us we didn’t want to disturb (which made us focus on landing on our toes as softly as possible as is recommended in the video).
Either way, it was definitely a tough workout and one that I repeatedly commented that I wouldn’t mind putting my baseball players through during conditioning. I’m sure I’ll bring this up to Coach Carmichael in the next week or so as he prepares for open gyms. I hope the kids enjoy this one!
Workout: Plyometrics
Day 2
Going into this Plyometrics workout, I had heard many say that this was by far the toughest, most challenging, and most intense workout there is in P90X. Well, one thing is for sure – it is 56+ minutes of non-stop movement in ways I wasn’t used to moving. However, it wasn’t as tough as I thought it’d be. I think that may have been partly due to the fact that I was doing it in a close-confines apartment with people living below that I didn’t want to disturb. I was still able to do all the workouts as directed but maybe not as exaggerated as I might have if I was on a basement floor.
My girlfriend and I started our “get fit” programs, however alike or different they may be, together earlier this week, so we’re trying to do as many workouts together as possible so we can motivate each other not only to start the workouts but also to do our best during them. We both had been driving for about an hour when we met at her apartment. Then we both changed and jumped right into the workout without wasting much time. Plus we wanted to be able to watch as much football today as possible, so that was another reason we jumped right in.
As the workout started, the warm-up sequence was definitely one that brought sweat to my brow along with some heavy breathing. However, I think it was definitely worth it to get ready for the “real” exercises in the workout. We both struggled for the first 20-25 minutes of the workout for some reason. We were doing all the exercises as described, and we were getting our butts beat! However, we were doing everything right the 2nd half of the workout, but for some reason the 2nd half was much easier than the first half. I don’t know. Maybe it was just me. But, like I alluded to earlier, some of it may have been our slight limitations inside the apartment wearing socks on carpet and having people below us we didn’t want to disturb (which made us focus on landing on our toes as softly as possible as is recommended in the video).
Either way, it was definitely a tough workout and one that I repeatedly commented that I wouldn’t mind putting my baseball players through during conditioning. I’m sure I’ll bring this up to Coach Carmichael in the next week or so as he prepares for open gyms. I hope the kids enjoy this one!
January 22, 2011
P90X: Day 1 - Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Date: 01/22/2011
Workout: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 1
My goodness! Ab Ripper X is one heckuva workout! I thought I’d always been good with abdominal exercises, but this one set me straight. Not so good. However, after about 45 minutes of cooling down, showering, and eating lunch, I’m starting to feel a little better; but don’t get me wrong – my midsection was burning! As for the Chest & Back workout, it was definitely tough as I expected. However, it seemed to go by quickly. It’s definitely beneficial having the countdown timer on the bottom of the screen to serve as some encouragement as the workout goes on.
One of the main lessons I learned, and I learned it early on, was that I need to pace myself. I had watched the video yesterday and also today, and I had heard them preach pacing yourself. However, I wanted to make sure early on that I was getting the most out of my workout, and I found myself going to failure instead of getting an amount of reps that caused a burn but not exhaustion (yet). My numbers the second half of the workout definitely decreased, especially the pull-ups. However, I still made sure I worked on them and used the chair as much as possible, when needed.
I was pretty nervous leading up to the workout. I wanted to get new pictures taken since the ones I took before my Fit Test didn’t come out very well (poor lighting, bad focus, etc.), so my parents came over on their way home from the store and helped take the photos. I was very pleased with those. My parents stayed over for a bit, and my dad and I watched Ohio State’s basketball team beat Illinois. I put off the workout until I was done watching the basketball game on TV, and once my parents left it took me a few more minutes to finally say “Alright, it’s time to get started.” However, I’m glad that I did it. Now that I know what I’m getting into, it may be somewhat difficult to get the DVD going every day. However, I can guarantee that the burn and intensity of the workout has me 100% convinced that the results you see on the television and on the internet are REAL and can definitely be achieved through this program as long as it is followed correctly. I have worked out enough in my life to know what a good, effective workout feels like, and P90X absolutely fits that title.
Going forward the hardest thing will be finding time to get my workout in every day when 1) I have a basketball game on a week night or 2) I am staying at my girlfriend’s apartment on the weekend. However, I think as long as I don’t need a pull-up bar, I’ll be able to move weights in my car to wherever I’ll be to make sure I can perform the exercises. Right now I am filling up with a banana and some approved protein foods to refill my body within my diet as set forth in the nutrition guide. I am not going with the P90X supplements since I’ve never been high on any supplements in my life. I’ve always wanted to be “all natural” and get the best “all natural” results as possible without any abnormal assistance.
We’ll see how tomorrow goes, but I’m feeling good about this!
Workout: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 1
My goodness! Ab Ripper X is one heckuva workout! I thought I’d always been good with abdominal exercises, but this one set me straight. Not so good. However, after about 45 minutes of cooling down, showering, and eating lunch, I’m starting to feel a little better; but don’t get me wrong – my midsection was burning! As for the Chest & Back workout, it was definitely tough as I expected. However, it seemed to go by quickly. It’s definitely beneficial having the countdown timer on the bottom of the screen to serve as some encouragement as the workout goes on.
One of the main lessons I learned, and I learned it early on, was that I need to pace myself. I had watched the video yesterday and also today, and I had heard them preach pacing yourself. However, I wanted to make sure early on that I was getting the most out of my workout, and I found myself going to failure instead of getting an amount of reps that caused a burn but not exhaustion (yet). My numbers the second half of the workout definitely decreased, especially the pull-ups. However, I still made sure I worked on them and used the chair as much as possible, when needed.
I was pretty nervous leading up to the workout. I wanted to get new pictures taken since the ones I took before my Fit Test didn’t come out very well (poor lighting, bad focus, etc.), so my parents came over on their way home from the store and helped take the photos. I was very pleased with those. My parents stayed over for a bit, and my dad and I watched Ohio State’s basketball team beat Illinois. I put off the workout until I was done watching the basketball game on TV, and once my parents left it took me a few more minutes to finally say “Alright, it’s time to get started.” However, I’m glad that I did it. Now that I know what I’m getting into, it may be somewhat difficult to get the DVD going every day. However, I can guarantee that the burn and intensity of the workout has me 100% convinced that the results you see on the television and on the internet are REAL and can definitely be achieved through this program as long as it is followed correctly. I have worked out enough in my life to know what a good, effective workout feels like, and P90X absolutely fits that title.
Going forward the hardest thing will be finding time to get my workout in every day when 1) I have a basketball game on a week night or 2) I am staying at my girlfriend’s apartment on the weekend. However, I think as long as I don’t need a pull-up bar, I’ll be able to move weights in my car to wherever I’ll be to make sure I can perform the exercises. Right now I am filling up with a banana and some approved protein foods to refill my body within my diet as set forth in the nutrition guide. I am not going with the P90X supplements since I’ve never been high on any supplements in my life. I’ve always wanted to be “all natural” and get the best “all natural” results as possible without any abnormal assistance.
We’ll see how tomorrow goes, but I’m feeling good about this!
P90X: Fit Test
Date: 01/18/2011
Workout: Fit Test
Today I started my P90X journey. For the last 1 ½-2 years I’ve been putting it off since I didn’t have my own dumbbells or the time. However, I finally got my dumbbells, so I knew it was time to get the ball rolling. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do about the nutrition plan – I think I’m going to follow the types and portions of foods but not exactly the recipes at this point. It’s just too expensive and too time-consuming for my lifestyle. However, if I can get into a rhythm with this and get more comfortable with the time requirements, I may look into following it a little more closely. But I haven’t even started, yet, so there’s so much left to find out about the whole system.
When I first started the Fit Test, I was halfway through my warm-ups when I realized I forgot to take my “before” pictures. So I stopped, took some pictures by myself (had to set up the timer on my camera, which didn’t work very well). I was not impressed with the photos because of poor lighting and positioning in the photos, so I think I’ll get some new photos this weekend before I start Day 1 of P90X.
Once I got started, I felt good. I got 9 ¾ pull-ups, which I was happy with. A week or two ago, I think I got around 10 or 11, but I’m sure there were other factors both then and now. Then I went outside to the South brick wall of my house to record my vertical jump since the ceilings in my house were too low. I used black electrical tape to mark the different spots and left them there since it was cold and rainy, and I was in my shorts. The end result was a 22” vertical – I was pumped! I came back inside and proceeded to complete 33 push-ups. At this point I was starting to enjoy the 4-minute break suggested in between exercises.
Next was the toe touch, which I’ve never been good at. I finished with a -4”, which means I was 4” short of touching my toes. I’m sure that will go down as I get further into this program and exercise more regularly. After a short 3-4 minute break (4 minutes was recommended), I started my wall sits. It started out rough for the first 15 seconds which seemed to take forever, but I think it’s because I haven’t worked my quads in forever. The next minute flew by, however, and I finally bottomed out at 1 minute 44 seconds. Bicep curls were next. I had a few weights on my kitchen floor that I had brought in from the car, and luckily the 25 lb weights were there, since I knew that’s what I wanted to use. I pumped out 17 reps with them; and both arms felt pretty equal, which I was happy about.
The toughest part of the workout, I thought, was the “in & outs” abdominal exercise. After completing 40 reps, I felt like I had to throw up during my 4-minute break. This was the low point of the workout where I didn’t know if I was going to be able to complete the last exercise – jumping jacks for 2 minutes. I did, though, and recorded my heart rate at the recommended times: 156 beats per minute (bpm) immediately after the exercise, 122 bpm after 1 minute, 120 bpm after 2 minutes, 116 bpm after 3 minutes, and 114 bpm after 4 minutes. My heart rate didn’t seem to decrease much from 1 minute to 4 minutes, but my body was definitely feeling better and relaxing during this time. Thankfully I texted my girlfriend my results, and she reminded me to stretch afterwards, or else I would have forgotten… and that’s always been something I’ve stressed – stretching after working out. I was surprised it was not part of the Fit Test instructions.
Now that my Fit Test has been completed, all that’s left is to get my grocery list in order, buy the groceries, read up on the first week’s worth of exercises, maybe watch a video or two to get acclimated to what I’ll be doing, then jumping in and doing the work. It’s just about time to BRING IT!
I am excited to embark on this journey, but it won’t happen without a lot of discipline and motivation from others, especially my girlfriend who is starting a fitness regimen of her own at the same time. I can’t wait to see where this goes. I just hope I can consistently do it. I’m still a little worried I won’t give it (P90X) the time it deserves, but I’m going to try my best!
Workout: Fit Test
Today I started my P90X journey. For the last 1 ½-2 years I’ve been putting it off since I didn’t have my own dumbbells or the time. However, I finally got my dumbbells, so I knew it was time to get the ball rolling. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do about the nutrition plan – I think I’m going to follow the types and portions of foods but not exactly the recipes at this point. It’s just too expensive and too time-consuming for my lifestyle. However, if I can get into a rhythm with this and get more comfortable with the time requirements, I may look into following it a little more closely. But I haven’t even started, yet, so there’s so much left to find out about the whole system.
When I first started the Fit Test, I was halfway through my warm-ups when I realized I forgot to take my “before” pictures. So I stopped, took some pictures by myself (had to set up the timer on my camera, which didn’t work very well). I was not impressed with the photos because of poor lighting and positioning in the photos, so I think I’ll get some new photos this weekend before I start Day 1 of P90X.
Once I got started, I felt good. I got 9 ¾ pull-ups, which I was happy with. A week or two ago, I think I got around 10 or 11, but I’m sure there were other factors both then and now. Then I went outside to the South brick wall of my house to record my vertical jump since the ceilings in my house were too low. I used black electrical tape to mark the different spots and left them there since it was cold and rainy, and I was in my shorts. The end result was a 22” vertical – I was pumped! I came back inside and proceeded to complete 33 push-ups. At this point I was starting to enjoy the 4-minute break suggested in between exercises.
Next was the toe touch, which I’ve never been good at. I finished with a -4”, which means I was 4” short of touching my toes. I’m sure that will go down as I get further into this program and exercise more regularly. After a short 3-4 minute break (4 minutes was recommended), I started my wall sits. It started out rough for the first 15 seconds which seemed to take forever, but I think it’s because I haven’t worked my quads in forever. The next minute flew by, however, and I finally bottomed out at 1 minute 44 seconds. Bicep curls were next. I had a few weights on my kitchen floor that I had brought in from the car, and luckily the 25 lb weights were there, since I knew that’s what I wanted to use. I pumped out 17 reps with them; and both arms felt pretty equal, which I was happy about.
The toughest part of the workout, I thought, was the “in & outs” abdominal exercise. After completing 40 reps, I felt like I had to throw up during my 4-minute break. This was the low point of the workout where I didn’t know if I was going to be able to complete the last exercise – jumping jacks for 2 minutes. I did, though, and recorded my heart rate at the recommended times: 156 beats per minute (bpm) immediately after the exercise, 122 bpm after 1 minute, 120 bpm after 2 minutes, 116 bpm after 3 minutes, and 114 bpm after 4 minutes. My heart rate didn’t seem to decrease much from 1 minute to 4 minutes, but my body was definitely feeling better and relaxing during this time. Thankfully I texted my girlfriend my results, and she reminded me to stretch afterwards, or else I would have forgotten… and that’s always been something I’ve stressed – stretching after working out. I was surprised it was not part of the Fit Test instructions.
Now that my Fit Test has been completed, all that’s left is to get my grocery list in order, buy the groceries, read up on the first week’s worth of exercises, maybe watch a video or two to get acclimated to what I’ll be doing, then jumping in and doing the work. It’s just about time to BRING IT!
I am excited to embark on this journey, but it won’t happen without a lot of discipline and motivation from others, especially my girlfriend who is starting a fitness regimen of her own at the same time. I can’t wait to see where this goes. I just hope I can consistently do it. I’m still a little worried I won’t give it (P90X) the time it deserves, but I’m going to try my best!
November 3, 2010
Football Playoffs, Take Three
What better time of the year is there than football season in the Fall? It's hard not to enjoy the atmosphere, weather, and beautiful surroundings we have during this time of year as Summer is fading away and Winter is creeping up slowly but surely. Football season is awesome, but it gets even better when the playoffs start. In high school, there are 10 weeks in the regular season, and the playoffs (5 weeks long) begin immediately afterward. This Friday kicks off the 2010 Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) football playoffs, and Triway will be in attendance for the third straight year, a school record for consecutive appearances.
The playoffs are broken into 6 divisions with Division 1 (DI) being the largest and Division 6 (DVI) being the smallest. While Ohio is known for its high level of play in high school football, as was recognized in Rivals.com's annual review, most of the dominant teams are at the DI level. Teams that have set the rich tradition in our state are schools such as Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, Massillon Washington, St. Edward, Cincinnati Elder, St. Ignatius, Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (DIII), Steubenville (DIII), and many, many others. However, the Triway Titans will take on another tradition-rich school in this Friday's DIV Region 14 regional quarterfinal with whom the Titans are very familiar - the Orrville Red Riders.
Although it may pain many of us diehard Titan fans to admit it, Orrville has proven over the decades to be one of the best and most consistent small school football programs in the state. For more information on that, check out my friend Tim's most recent blog entry. The numbers (and company they are among) are very impressive. As far as I’m concerned, the Red Riders are the Titans’ #1 rival in all sports. It’s always been this way when I was growing up, and my father tells me it was the same way when he was in school, before graduating in 1979. If you ask me for a ranking of rivals, it goes #1 – Orrville, …, …, #2 – West Holmes, #3 – Waynedale, #4 – Fairless (largely due to the robbery that was the 2007 district championship basketball game). As I tried to show as pictorially as possible, there is a big gap between #1 and the rest. Although Orrville is our biggest rival, wins against them have been few and far between over the span of 38 meetings between the two. Every win we get, though, like last year’s 28-14 victory over the star-studded, highly-touted Orrville squad, is cherished.
The part that makes this game tough for us is that we are playing at Orrville Red Rider Stadium, a place where the Triway Titans have only won once, way back in 1975. History (and records, and such) are meant to be broken, and so are streaks, which I would consider in the same category. Just as Clear Fork had never beaten Orrville, they traveled to Orrville in week 9 this year and throttled the red & black 33-0. Weird things happen. Sure, that Clear Fork team may be loaded and a monster to stop in DIV, but the streak was stopped nonetheless. Who’s to say we can’t stop our streak of losses at Orrville Red Rider Stadium?
If you mention anything to an Orrville fan that even resembles the slightest hint of optimism in our team’s chances against the world-beating Red Riders, you’ll be laughed at, ganged up on, and made fun of for as long as they have the opportunity. It’s just the way they are. Orrville fans, when it comes to athletics, have a bad case of a superiority complex. Very bad. Having said that, though, I also must say they have every right to be cocky, arrogant, and, most of all, confident. Their kids grow up wanting to play sports and be an Orrville Red Rider and wear red & black and play under the lights or in the gymnasium. That’s just what Orrville’s about – it’s a true sports town in every sense of the phrase. If I admire anything about this school – and believe me, there aren’t many things – it’s the atmosphere, mentality, and tradition they’ve built around athletics and continuing that legacy set before them many decades ago.
There. I got my praise of Orrville out of the way. Now to the week 11 match-up which will determine who stays alive in the hunt for a championship (however unlikely) and who goes home. This is a rematch of when we met them in week 2 of this season, also at Orrville. We lost 41-19 in a game that got out of hand in the 3rd quarter and saw us try too hard to get back into the game after that and never got close again. In that game, Orrville completed passes of 27, 25, 31, 53, 21, 30, 36, 27, and 17 yards. Some of them were short passes with gains after the catch and others were lobs, jump balls on which an Orrville receiver made a great play. They had a well-rounded offensive attack which I don’t think we anticipated, and it didn’t help that we played West Holmes in week 1, either. Our first drive was a success as we marched right down the field and scored a touchdown, only to fail on the 2-point conversion, when our kicking game was non-existent, and watch as the Riders came right back with a scoring drive of their own. Had we had one more successful drive in the next 1 or 2 drives, it could have and would have been a different game. However, football is a game of momentum, and we never had it after the 10:39 mark of the 1st quarter.
In order for Triway to win this time around, they will need to do a few things.
1) Our offensive line and running back(s) will have to handle the pressure Orrville attempts to put on Carmichael in the backfield, allowing him time to find his receivers. When Carmichael has time, as opposing defenses who have tried to sit back and load the defensive backfield have found, Derek WILL deliver to an open receiver. If he has time, I have confidence that we can methodically work drives down the field, chewing up clock, keeping Orrville’s offense of the field, and hopefully scoring points at the end.
2) Our wide receivers need to get off the line of scrimmage. The last time we met, we were breaking in a few new wide receivers, and they got a rude awakening when they were met with some of the most physical bump-and-run coverages they saw all year. Our Sophomore and Junior wide receivers filling in for a star-studded Senior class of receivers last year, grew up after that game and have produced ever since. If they can get off the ball and get timing in sync with Derek, it will take a load of pressure off the QB who might not have a lot of time to wait for them to get open.
3) Last of all, we need to stop the big play. Last game the big play hurt us big time, especially through the air. Orrville had three runs of 23 yards or more, as well. If we can make them sustain drives, just like they’re going to do to us, we have a chance. But if Orrville is able to stretch the field with the long ball, that will only open up the inside even more for their rushing attack which I think has been underused this season.
Along those lines, a lot of the Orrville fans’ talk has been about the quarterback and either praising or critiquing his play. However, I think it’s their running game is what will make them go. Having two or three very good backs out of the backfield and two or three or four very good receivers going down the field, it’s hard to cover all of it. However, our team has faced better teams and won (not referring to this season).
Will this game be a challenge? Oh golly, yes! Orrville is the big favorite coming in with Drew Pasteur (Fantastic50.net) predicting a 14-victory for the Red Riders and Calpreps predicting an Orrville victory as well. Statistically, Orrville has arguably the #1 toughest schedule in DIV while Triway’s is a mere 80th. With that in mind, Orrville is the popular pick by the prognosticators. However, just like any rivalry, you can throw the records out. You can throw the previous meeting out between the two this season. You can disregard any notion of what might or might not happen; because what happens this Friday night is all that matters. Take, for example, the 2005 Massillon vs McKinley rivalry. In last game of the regular season, 9-0 Canton McKinley hosted 9-0 Massillon Washington and proceeded to take them to the woodshed by a tune of 38-8. However, three weeks later in the regional championship, Massillon got its revenge, whooping the Bulldogs 21-3 in the regional championship and went on to lose in the state championship game to a dominant Cincinnati St. Xavier team.
This just goes to show that anything can happen. Don’t get me wrong, though – I don’t need anyone to work any miracles for us to beat Orrville this Friday. Our kids know what they have to do, and Orrville’s kids know what they have to do. It will come down to intensity, execution, half-time adjustments, and more execution in the second half. That’s it. In a matter of five hours, the tailgating, pregame warm-ups, hype, regulation, celebrations, and aftermath all will have been completed. All our kids need to do is, for 5 hours (actually less), focus on the task at hand and do their job to the best of their ability. We have talented, smart, and competitive kids on this team (as does every team), and our kids know how to win. This is not David vs. Goliath, although some may want to make it sound that way. We don’t need to kill anybody to get a win this Friday. We just need to score more points.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
The playoffs are broken into 6 divisions with Division 1 (DI) being the largest and Division 6 (DVI) being the smallest. While Ohio is known for its high level of play in high school football, as was recognized in Rivals.com's annual review, most of the dominant teams are at the DI level. Teams that have set the rich tradition in our state are schools such as Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, Massillon Washington, St. Edward, Cincinnati Elder, St. Ignatius, Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (DIII), Steubenville (DIII), and many, many others. However, the Triway Titans will take on another tradition-rich school in this Friday's DIV Region 14 regional quarterfinal with whom the Titans are very familiar - the Orrville Red Riders.
Although it may pain many of us diehard Titan fans to admit it, Orrville has proven over the decades to be one of the best and most consistent small school football programs in the state. For more information on that, check out my friend Tim's most recent blog entry. The numbers (and company they are among) are very impressive. As far as I’m concerned, the Red Riders are the Titans’ #1 rival in all sports. It’s always been this way when I was growing up, and my father tells me it was the same way when he was in school, before graduating in 1979. If you ask me for a ranking of rivals, it goes #1 – Orrville, …, …, #2 – West Holmes, #3 – Waynedale, #4 – Fairless (largely due to the robbery that was the 2007 district championship basketball game). As I tried to show as pictorially as possible, there is a big gap between #1 and the rest. Although Orrville is our biggest rival, wins against them have been few and far between over the span of 38 meetings between the two. Every win we get, though, like last year’s 28-14 victory over the star-studded, highly-touted Orrville squad, is cherished.
The part that makes this game tough for us is that we are playing at Orrville Red Rider Stadium, a place where the Triway Titans have only won once, way back in 1975. History (and records, and such) are meant to be broken, and so are streaks, which I would consider in the same category. Just as Clear Fork had never beaten Orrville, they traveled to Orrville in week 9 this year and throttled the red & black 33-0. Weird things happen. Sure, that Clear Fork team may be loaded and a monster to stop in DIV, but the streak was stopped nonetheless. Who’s to say we can’t stop our streak of losses at Orrville Red Rider Stadium?
If you mention anything to an Orrville fan that even resembles the slightest hint of optimism in our team’s chances against the world-beating Red Riders, you’ll be laughed at, ganged up on, and made fun of for as long as they have the opportunity. It’s just the way they are. Orrville fans, when it comes to athletics, have a bad case of a superiority complex. Very bad. Having said that, though, I also must say they have every right to be cocky, arrogant, and, most of all, confident. Their kids grow up wanting to play sports and be an Orrville Red Rider and wear red & black and play under the lights or in the gymnasium. That’s just what Orrville’s about – it’s a true sports town in every sense of the phrase. If I admire anything about this school – and believe me, there aren’t many things – it’s the atmosphere, mentality, and tradition they’ve built around athletics and continuing that legacy set before them many decades ago.
There. I got my praise of Orrville out of the way. Now to the week 11 match-up which will determine who stays alive in the hunt for a championship (however unlikely) and who goes home. This is a rematch of when we met them in week 2 of this season, also at Orrville. We lost 41-19 in a game that got out of hand in the 3rd quarter and saw us try too hard to get back into the game after that and never got close again. In that game, Orrville completed passes of 27, 25, 31, 53, 21, 30, 36, 27, and 17 yards. Some of them were short passes with gains after the catch and others were lobs, jump balls on which an Orrville receiver made a great play. They had a well-rounded offensive attack which I don’t think we anticipated, and it didn’t help that we played West Holmes in week 1, either. Our first drive was a success as we marched right down the field and scored a touchdown, only to fail on the 2-point conversion, when our kicking game was non-existent, and watch as the Riders came right back with a scoring drive of their own. Had we had one more successful drive in the next 1 or 2 drives, it could have and would have been a different game. However, football is a game of momentum, and we never had it after the 10:39 mark of the 1st quarter.
In order for Triway to win this time around, they will need to do a few things.
1) Our offensive line and running back(s) will have to handle the pressure Orrville attempts to put on Carmichael in the backfield, allowing him time to find his receivers. When Carmichael has time, as opposing defenses who have tried to sit back and load the defensive backfield have found, Derek WILL deliver to an open receiver. If he has time, I have confidence that we can methodically work drives down the field, chewing up clock, keeping Orrville’s offense of the field, and hopefully scoring points at the end.
2) Our wide receivers need to get off the line of scrimmage. The last time we met, we were breaking in a few new wide receivers, and they got a rude awakening when they were met with some of the most physical bump-and-run coverages they saw all year. Our Sophomore and Junior wide receivers filling in for a star-studded Senior class of receivers last year, grew up after that game and have produced ever since. If they can get off the ball and get timing in sync with Derek, it will take a load of pressure off the QB who might not have a lot of time to wait for them to get open.
3) Last of all, we need to stop the big play. Last game the big play hurt us big time, especially through the air. Orrville had three runs of 23 yards or more, as well. If we can make them sustain drives, just like they’re going to do to us, we have a chance. But if Orrville is able to stretch the field with the long ball, that will only open up the inside even more for their rushing attack which I think has been underused this season.
Along those lines, a lot of the Orrville fans’ talk has been about the quarterback and either praising or critiquing his play. However, I think it’s their running game is what will make them go. Having two or three very good backs out of the backfield and two or three or four very good receivers going down the field, it’s hard to cover all of it. However, our team has faced better teams and won (not referring to this season).
Will this game be a challenge? Oh golly, yes! Orrville is the big favorite coming in with Drew Pasteur (Fantastic50.net) predicting a 14-victory for the Red Riders and Calpreps predicting an Orrville victory as well. Statistically, Orrville has arguably the #1 toughest schedule in DIV while Triway’s is a mere 80th. With that in mind, Orrville is the popular pick by the prognosticators. However, just like any rivalry, you can throw the records out. You can throw the previous meeting out between the two this season. You can disregard any notion of what might or might not happen; because what happens this Friday night is all that matters. Take, for example, the 2005 Massillon vs McKinley rivalry. In last game of the regular season, 9-0 Canton McKinley hosted 9-0 Massillon Washington and proceeded to take them to the woodshed by a tune of 38-8. However, three weeks later in the regional championship, Massillon got its revenge, whooping the Bulldogs 21-3 in the regional championship and went on to lose in the state championship game to a dominant Cincinnati St. Xavier team.
This just goes to show that anything can happen. Don’t get me wrong, though – I don’t need anyone to work any miracles for us to beat Orrville this Friday. Our kids know what they have to do, and Orrville’s kids know what they have to do. It will come down to intensity, execution, half-time adjustments, and more execution in the second half. That’s it. In a matter of five hours, the tailgating, pregame warm-ups, hype, regulation, celebrations, and aftermath all will have been completed. All our kids need to do is, for 5 hours (actually less), focus on the task at hand and do their job to the best of their ability. We have talented, smart, and competitive kids on this team (as does every team), and our kids know how to win. This is not David vs. Goliath, although some may want to make it sound that way. We don’t need to kill anybody to get a win this Friday. We just need to score more points.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
October 25, 2010
Pre-Halloween Busy-ness
So, things have gotten crazy lately. Normally my weekdays during football season are empty and relaxing, but I’ve been busy out the wazoo the last few weeks! Don’t get me wrong – I like having things to do, and the things I do I enjoy! But it’s just been crazy. A couple Saturdays ago my computer decided it didn’t want to turn on, so I took a few days fixing that, which really set back my Android development. Then I got backed up on my high school football playoff projections Excel workbook, so that took a few days to get my projections developed and presented online. Then the other nights leftover I end up having things scheduled during them. Again, all the things I’ve been doing on my week nights I like doing! Especially in the rare instances when Jennifer and I get to spend time together outside the weekend; but it’s just been crazy busy!
High school football is big right now with league championships and the playoffs all being decided in the last few weeks. Triway needs Manchester to lose to CVCA this Friday in order to claim a share of the PAC-7 title, but chances of the Panthers losing to the Royals are slim to none. But even though we may not win the league, it looks like we’re going to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight year, which will be a school record. Before Triway’s playoff appearance my junior year, we had only 1 playoff appearance in school history. Now since that 2003 campaign, the total has accumulated to 5! (including this year) We are not going to be a favorite in week 11 since we’ll be traveling to somewhere in the likes of Orrville, Genoa, or Elyria to play some very good teams. However, our kids are resilient and are able to pull something off if they put their minds and efforts into it.
How ‘bout them Browns? Wow! For the third straight season, the Cleveland Browns have beaten the defending super bowl champion. This time it was the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome! How cool, huh? Something else that is pretty cool (or ironic, or coincidental, or just plain weird!) is that just a few days ago Drew Brees, the Saints’ quarterback, had a son named “Bowen”, and on Sunday Brees was intercepted by a Browns defender with the last name of Bowens, who returned both interceptions for touchdowns. A 30-17 win is always fun to watch, especially when it’s against the defending Super Bowl champions at their place. That’s what the Browns have been like this year, though – at times they show signs of greatness and of a team that is gritty, tough, and can play with anyone (mostly in the 1st half). But whenever the 2nd half comes around, things start to fall apart, we get less aggressive, and for some reason the other team is always able to adjust and execute much better than us in the last two quarters. Coaching? Who knows? It’s just frustrating. But we beat the Saints! Now if only we could beat the Steelers or the Ravens.
Every week during the high school football season, our local paper, The Daily Record in Wooster, has a pick’em contest between all the sports writers. Every week they also have a guest picker. I got a little lucky last week when my name came up and was chosen to be the guest picker for week 10, which is this week! I just got home from The Daily Record’s headquarters where I got to fill out my picks for the weekend (which includes high school, college, and professional football games) and fill out a questionnaire for the brief blurb they’ll write about me under everyone’s picks. It’s always fun to see who the guest picker is this week, and this week it’ll be me! I’m hoping not to make a fool of myself. Supposedly there are prizes if I do so well, and I get all the available prizes if I beat every single one of the other every-week pickers. We’ll see how I do!
Later this week Jennifer and I are going to a haunted house, something which we were hoping to do this past weekend while the weather was awesome but didn’t work out. There are a couple of them out there which we are considering, but I think we’ll end up going to The Haunted School and Laboratory in Akron or Hauntville in Elyria. If we want to go to my preferred location, Carnival of Horrors, we’ll hae to wait until the weekend since it’s not open during the week. It’s been at least 5 or 6 years since I’ve been to a haunted house, so I’m pumped! Any time I get to spend time with Jennifer is a blast, especially when it’s something like this.
Have a great week, everyone! I’ll see if I can come back and make another post before Halloween, but I can’t guarantee anything.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
High school football is big right now with league championships and the playoffs all being decided in the last few weeks. Triway needs Manchester to lose to CVCA this Friday in order to claim a share of the PAC-7 title, but chances of the Panthers losing to the Royals are slim to none. But even though we may not win the league, it looks like we’re going to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight year, which will be a school record. Before Triway’s playoff appearance my junior year, we had only 1 playoff appearance in school history. Now since that 2003 campaign, the total has accumulated to 5! (including this year) We are not going to be a favorite in week 11 since we’ll be traveling to somewhere in the likes of Orrville, Genoa, or Elyria to play some very good teams. However, our kids are resilient and are able to pull something off if they put their minds and efforts into it.
How ‘bout them Browns? Wow! For the third straight season, the Cleveland Browns have beaten the defending super bowl champion. This time it was the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome! How cool, huh? Something else that is pretty cool (or ironic, or coincidental, or just plain weird!) is that just a few days ago Drew Brees, the Saints’ quarterback, had a son named “Bowen”, and on Sunday Brees was intercepted by a Browns defender with the last name of Bowens, who returned both interceptions for touchdowns. A 30-17 win is always fun to watch, especially when it’s against the defending Super Bowl champions at their place. That’s what the Browns have been like this year, though – at times they show signs of greatness and of a team that is gritty, tough, and can play with anyone (mostly in the 1st half). But whenever the 2nd half comes around, things start to fall apart, we get less aggressive, and for some reason the other team is always able to adjust and execute much better than us in the last two quarters. Coaching? Who knows? It’s just frustrating. But we beat the Saints! Now if only we could beat the Steelers or the Ravens.
Every week during the high school football season, our local paper, The Daily Record in Wooster, has a pick’em contest between all the sports writers. Every week they also have a guest picker. I got a little lucky last week when my name came up and was chosen to be the guest picker for week 10, which is this week! I just got home from The Daily Record’s headquarters where I got to fill out my picks for the weekend (which includes high school, college, and professional football games) and fill out a questionnaire for the brief blurb they’ll write about me under everyone’s picks. It’s always fun to see who the guest picker is this week, and this week it’ll be me! I’m hoping not to make a fool of myself. Supposedly there are prizes if I do so well, and I get all the available prizes if I beat every single one of the other every-week pickers. We’ll see how I do!
Later this week Jennifer and I are going to a haunted house, something which we were hoping to do this past weekend while the weather was awesome but didn’t work out. There are a couple of them out there which we are considering, but I think we’ll end up going to The Haunted School and Laboratory in Akron or Hauntville in Elyria. If we want to go to my preferred location, Carnival of Horrors, we’ll hae to wait until the weekend since it’s not open during the week. It’s been at least 5 or 6 years since I’ve been to a haunted house, so I’m pumped! Any time I get to spend time with Jennifer is a blast, especially when it’s something like this.
Have a great week, everyone! I’ll see if I can come back and make another post before Halloween, but I can’t guarantee anything.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
October 13, 2010
Android Development Begins
The last two nights I’ve spent numerous hours on development of applications for my Android cell phone – the HTC Droid Incredible. Up until this week I never really got into the development frame of mind, but a co-worker recently got the same phone as me and has motivated me to start development along with him. I have not yet made anything of any importance or value, yet, but I’m learning some things that can and will come in handy down the road. I am excited for where this is heading and really think I can develop an app or two which I can use a great deal!
My ultimate goal is to create an application that I can use on my phone that keeps statistics for a football game, allowing me to enter offensive and defensive stats, create reports, and eventually (way out in the future) sync it with MaxPreps.com where I upload stats every weekend. I'm starting very simple for now, but I think I can pull this off eventually! Tonight I made some applications that 1) allowed me to draw stuff on the screen in different colors, shapes, and sizes, 2) allowed me to click a button, select a user from my Contacts, and press another button to call that user, and 3) moved a mole around my screen every so many milliseconds, and if I tapped it in time, the screen would vibrate and speed up the moving mole or else slow down the speed to increase my chances of tapping it. It was fun, but not really applicable for what I need... yet!
Switching subjects, I just got off the phone with Jennifer to say “good night”, and all I can do is smile. I don’t know why. I’m just smiling thinking about her. She does that a lot to me! (I can hear Jennifer now… “Sorry.” Haha!) We have had a couple fun weekends already this past month and it will only continue to get busier and busier as we get closer to Halloween, football playoffs, Thanksgiving, and the holiday season in general. It’s going to be a blast, though! This past Sunday, October 10, marked nine months that she and I have been an “official” couple. It’s gone by so fast that I haven’t really had time to sit down and think how much I appreciate her and everything she stands for, and also the great way she treats me. I never thought someone could treat me so well. But she does! Thank you, Jennifer. I hope to return the favor to the best of my ability. :-)
It’s not really getting late right now (only 10:10 PM), but it feels late. I’ve even been getting good sleep lately, but I think sitting at my computer for so long after I already sit at a computer all day has been taking a toll. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll go for a run when I get back to my house. Or maybe I’ll do laundry. I don’t like to lump things together all in one night, but maybe I’ll have to. I know I’d be more efficient and productive that way, but it’s just not how my mind works. Oh well.
Anyway, nothing else is really going on right now other than the norm. Off to bed!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
My ultimate goal is to create an application that I can use on my phone that keeps statistics for a football game, allowing me to enter offensive and defensive stats, create reports, and eventually (way out in the future) sync it with MaxPreps.com where I upload stats every weekend. I'm starting very simple for now, but I think I can pull this off eventually! Tonight I made some applications that 1) allowed me to draw stuff on the screen in different colors, shapes, and sizes, 2) allowed me to click a button, select a user from my Contacts, and press another button to call that user, and 3) moved a mole around my screen every so many milliseconds, and if I tapped it in time, the screen would vibrate and speed up the moving mole or else slow down the speed to increase my chances of tapping it. It was fun, but not really applicable for what I need... yet!
Switching subjects, I just got off the phone with Jennifer to say “good night”, and all I can do is smile. I don’t know why. I’m just smiling thinking about her. She does that a lot to me! (I can hear Jennifer now… “Sorry.” Haha!) We have had a couple fun weekends already this past month and it will only continue to get busier and busier as we get closer to Halloween, football playoffs, Thanksgiving, and the holiday season in general. It’s going to be a blast, though! This past Sunday, October 10, marked nine months that she and I have been an “official” couple. It’s gone by so fast that I haven’t really had time to sit down and think how much I appreciate her and everything she stands for, and also the great way she treats me. I never thought someone could treat me so well. But she does! Thank you, Jennifer. I hope to return the favor to the best of my ability. :-)
It’s not really getting late right now (only 10:10 PM), but it feels late. I’ve even been getting good sleep lately, but I think sitting at my computer for so long after I already sit at a computer all day has been taking a toll. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll go for a run when I get back to my house. Or maybe I’ll do laundry. I don’t like to lump things together all in one night, but maybe I’ll have to. I know I’d be more efficient and productive that way, but it’s just not how my mind works. Oh well.
Anyway, nothing else is really going on right now other than the norm. Off to bed!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
September 27, 2010
Marathon Relay Complete, Next is Hocking Hills
I am sitting here at my computer watching Monday Night Countdown counting down the minutes until Monday Night Football starts on ESPN between the Bears and the Packers. I think I mentioned this last year, but it’s great having a girlfriend who not only tolerates but enjoys sitting on the couch watching football on Saturday and/or Sunday afternoons! Sure, we’re not going to do it all the time; but when the big game is on, it’s comforting knowing that she doesn’t mind it one bit. Haha! Thank you, Jenn, for being so cool. You really make me smile!
This past Saturday I ran in the Akron Marathon Relay with some co-workers. It is a 5-person relay that goes the full length of the 26.2-mile marathon. The legs’ distances are 3.5 miles, 5.7 miles, 6.3 miles, 2.8 miles, and 7.9 miles. My leg was originally scheduled to be the 3.5-mile leg, but one of the team members had a slight injury with his foot that prompted us to switch up the order to give him an easier leg. So, the team all voted for me to take his 5.7-mile leg. At first I was not thrilled at all about it since I’ve been working at our non-headquarters location for a while and had gotten out of my running routine and was not as prepared for that type of distance. However, it was best for the team, so I agreed and took on the challenge. After a few hard weeks of preparation, I think I did pretty well, running an 8:28 pace for those 5.7 miles. Normally my pace for 3.5 miles is right around 8:00 or 8:05 per mile (I ran an 8:07 pace for a 5-mile race in Canton in August, but that was when I was going well with my routine).
Anyway, our team gave our goals/predictions for how we all thought we’d do with our respective legs, and the estimated finish time came out to 3 hours, 41 minutes. On race day, though, we actually ran 3 hours, 36 minutes! The weather was perfect for a race! At the start of the race the weather called for 51 degrees, and it was very close to that, probably in the mid-50’s. It was chilly before the race began; but once your body gets going, that temperature feels great. It didn’t get windy until later in the day, so that was a plus.
Now that the big race of the year is over, it’s going to be tough to keep up the routine of running 3 times a week. However, having co-workers and our running circle of friends that motivate each other to get out there, I think I’ll be fine. That’s one of my goals this winter – to keep running through the Fall and Winter months.
OH! Jennifer and I are going to Hocking Hills this Saturday. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. It was actually my Senior year of high school during our Science Club trip. Jenn has never been there, so I am excited to expose her to the trails, cliffs, and other fascinating objects of nature. It might be cold and/or wet, but it’ll be worth it. The one thing that stinks, though, is that the night before we have a football game at Indian Valley’s varsity football field, which is in Gnadenhutten. Where is that, you might ask? It is about 20 minutes South of New Philadelphia. It’s a haul! We are going to get back late Friday night, so sleep will be at a premium this week. Ugh!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
This past Saturday I ran in the Akron Marathon Relay with some co-workers. It is a 5-person relay that goes the full length of the 26.2-mile marathon. The legs’ distances are 3.5 miles, 5.7 miles, 6.3 miles, 2.8 miles, and 7.9 miles. My leg was originally scheduled to be the 3.5-mile leg, but one of the team members had a slight injury with his foot that prompted us to switch up the order to give him an easier leg. So, the team all voted for me to take his 5.7-mile leg. At first I was not thrilled at all about it since I’ve been working at our non-headquarters location for a while and had gotten out of my running routine and was not as prepared for that type of distance. However, it was best for the team, so I agreed and took on the challenge. After a few hard weeks of preparation, I think I did pretty well, running an 8:28 pace for those 5.7 miles. Normally my pace for 3.5 miles is right around 8:00 or 8:05 per mile (I ran an 8:07 pace for a 5-mile race in Canton in August, but that was when I was going well with my routine).
Anyway, our team gave our goals/predictions for how we all thought we’d do with our respective legs, and the estimated finish time came out to 3 hours, 41 minutes. On race day, though, we actually ran 3 hours, 36 minutes! The weather was perfect for a race! At the start of the race the weather called for 51 degrees, and it was very close to that, probably in the mid-50’s. It was chilly before the race began; but once your body gets going, that temperature feels great. It didn’t get windy until later in the day, so that was a plus.
Now that the big race of the year is over, it’s going to be tough to keep up the routine of running 3 times a week. However, having co-workers and our running circle of friends that motivate each other to get out there, I think I’ll be fine. That’s one of my goals this winter – to keep running through the Fall and Winter months.
OH! Jennifer and I are going to Hocking Hills this Saturday. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. It was actually my Senior year of high school during our Science Club trip. Jenn has never been there, so I am excited to expose her to the trails, cliffs, and other fascinating objects of nature. It might be cold and/or wet, but it’ll be worth it. The one thing that stinks, though, is that the night before we have a football game at Indian Valley’s varsity football field, which is in Gnadenhutten. Where is that, you might ask? It is about 20 minutes South of New Philadelphia. It’s a haul! We are going to get back late Friday night, so sleep will be at a premium this week. Ugh!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
September 22, 2010
Vote for Basil Marceaux.com
Well, don’t vote for him. But have you seen this guy’s videos online? Supposedly it’s legit and he is actually running for governor of Tennessee. In the case you have not yet heard of Basil Marceaux.com, here are some Youtube links to videos of him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvaeHllwtw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOlM1pPMNBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnx-SqMYknI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livOU_WtQ9Q
I think it’s funny that he refers to himself as Basil Marceaux.com, always adding the “dot com” on the end. Haha! Other parts of his videos that crack me up are the following:
1) He will force everyone to own a gun. If someone does not own a gun, he will fine that person $10.
2) Supposedly, according to his web site (which does not actually look like a web site), if someone votes for him and he wins, that person will be immune from all state crimes the rest of that person’s life.
3) His method of making money is planting high-concentration vegetation on all vacant lots in the state then selling the gas produced by the vegetation.
4) His stance on health care is that dental should be included in all base health care packages. His reasoning? Straight from his web site: “.. a tooth aches hurt than a back aches and no teeths depresses people.”
5) Last but not least, I must mention his demeanor and poor public speaking skills.
I’m sure if you watch any of the above-posted videos, you’ll catch my drift. Other than Basil Marceaux.com, other videos that have caught my eye recently have been those of Flash Mob and Improv Everywhere. They are very similar to each other but also different. One day earlier this week I spent over two hours watching both of their videos on Youtube. It was a blast but probably a waste of time. Hmm. Yes, it was a waste of time. Haha!
OK. Enough about videos. Life’s been hectic but a good hectic. I’ve been really busy with work being in the other office the last month combined with doing things on the weekends (and a few week nights in between) with Jennifer. Working in the other office puts me closer to her so meeting up after work has been easier as of late! Football is still going strong for the both of us – Triway is 3-1 and looks to have a strong team yet again this season. My Browns lost again on their way to being 0-2 while her Steelers got another win to go to 2-0. Her Wolverines are 3-0, too, but my Buckeyes are 3-0 as well. I’m sure we’ll be doing some trash talking until the two big-time rivals meet up on November 27.
Ugh. My head is spinning right now, and it’s tough to stay focused, so I’m going to call it a day. Have a good one!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvaeHllwtw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOlM1pPMNBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnx-SqMYknI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livOU_WtQ9Q
I think it’s funny that he refers to himself as Basil Marceaux.com, always adding the “dot com” on the end. Haha! Other parts of his videos that crack me up are the following:
1) He will force everyone to own a gun. If someone does not own a gun, he will fine that person $10.
2) Supposedly, according to his web site (which does not actually look like a web site), if someone votes for him and he wins, that person will be immune from all state crimes the rest of that person’s life.
3) His method of making money is planting high-concentration vegetation on all vacant lots in the state then selling the gas produced by the vegetation.
4) His stance on health care is that dental should be included in all base health care packages. His reasoning? Straight from his web site: “.. a tooth aches hurt than a back aches and no teeths depresses people.”
5) Last but not least, I must mention his demeanor and poor public speaking skills.
I’m sure if you watch any of the above-posted videos, you’ll catch my drift. Other than Basil Marceaux.com, other videos that have caught my eye recently have been those of Flash Mob and Improv Everywhere. They are very similar to each other but also different. One day earlier this week I spent over two hours watching both of their videos on Youtube. It was a blast but probably a waste of time. Hmm. Yes, it was a waste of time. Haha!
OK. Enough about videos. Life’s been hectic but a good hectic. I’ve been really busy with work being in the other office the last month combined with doing things on the weekends (and a few week nights in between) with Jennifer. Working in the other office puts me closer to her so meeting up after work has been easier as of late! Football is still going strong for the both of us – Triway is 3-1 and looks to have a strong team yet again this season. My Browns lost again on their way to being 0-2 while her Steelers got another win to go to 2-0. Her Wolverines are 3-0, too, but my Buckeyes are 3-0 as well. I’m sure we’ll be doing some trash talking until the two big-time rivals meet up on November 27.
Ugh. My head is spinning right now, and it’s tough to stay focused, so I’m going to call it a day. Have a good one!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
September 16, 2010
"Coughing" Up the Football?
Tonight I think I am taking Jennifer into the emergency room to have her checked out for the coughing episodes she’s been having for over a month, now. For a while it was just an annoying cough that sometimes made her short of breath; but more recently, she has had more and more pain develop in and around her side, rib, and chest area. Last night it was getting worse for her as it crept around to her back and made her stiff and in even more pain. Two nights ago we had the choice to either take her to the hospital or tough it out another night. That night we chose to stay in and see what happened in the next 24-36 hours while resting, stocking up on tea and Gatorade, and staying warm. It worked for a while got went downhill again last night, so we’re getting her checked out. I hope it isn’t anything serious. It may be a torn muscle from coughing all the time – this is what most people seem to think it is after first hearing about the issue. However, the heavier pain she’s been feeling makes us think it might either be a rib issue or something more serious. But hopefully it is nothing more than a bad cough and some stress on the rest of her body because of it.
The Wayne County Fair, famous as one of the best fairs in the state of Ohio, came to an end last night. While it was going on, though, Jennifer was able to get a taste. Saturday after the Buckeyes beat Miami, FL (woot woot!), we headed on over to the fair to check out all the vendors and get some fair food. She had never had Lerch’s donuts, so that was the first local delicacy to which she was introduced. Actually, she had eaten some before at the vendor by the old Hawkins Market; but this was real fair food, and nothing beats that! Afterward, we walked around some more, checking out tractors and livestock, until it was time to head back home. Sunday we went to church, came back home to watch the Browns and her Steelers (ugh), then headed back to the fair to get more of a glimpse in the daytime. We ended up getting some Smith’s Ruggles ice cream before heading back to her place Sunday evening. Overall, she said she really enjoyed the fair and had a lot of fun.
The Triway football team got a win last Friday against Waynedale. The Golden Bears are now 0-3, so it wasn’t that impressive for us, especially since we only won by 7 (41-34), but they have been in every game competitively, plus they are a backyard rival of ours. This week we start PAC-7 play against Tuslaw at home. The Mustangs are 2-1 like us and have a big-time passing offense like us. It looks as if the weather will hold out and allow both teams to impose their will on the other (if they so choose). If neither team’s defense steps up, there could be some rather large numbers put up on the scoreboard. I just hope we have a bigger number!
The Browns lost Sunday after starting the game looking like a legitimate NFL football team. But that didn’t last long, and the Browns eventually faded in their loss to Tampa Bay. The weekend was all good, though, since the Buckeyes beat Miami, FL on Saturday in a marquee college football match-up. The Bucks are not yet where they need to be to win the national championship (or even make it there), but the win over Miami, even with all the interceptions we needed to win, was a big confidence booster for our team. I just hope we don’t have a big let down like last year against Purdue. There are some tough games on our schedule, so it’ll be a meat grinder once we get into Big 10 play. It’s fall, so there is lots of football going on wherever you look, and I love it!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
The Wayne County Fair, famous as one of the best fairs in the state of Ohio, came to an end last night. While it was going on, though, Jennifer was able to get a taste. Saturday after the Buckeyes beat Miami, FL (woot woot!), we headed on over to the fair to check out all the vendors and get some fair food. She had never had Lerch’s donuts, so that was the first local delicacy to which she was introduced. Actually, she had eaten some before at the vendor by the old Hawkins Market; but this was real fair food, and nothing beats that! Afterward, we walked around some more, checking out tractors and livestock, until it was time to head back home. Sunday we went to church, came back home to watch the Browns and her Steelers (ugh), then headed back to the fair to get more of a glimpse in the daytime. We ended up getting some Smith’s Ruggles ice cream before heading back to her place Sunday evening. Overall, she said she really enjoyed the fair and had a lot of fun.
The Triway football team got a win last Friday against Waynedale. The Golden Bears are now 0-3, so it wasn’t that impressive for us, especially since we only won by 7 (41-34), but they have been in every game competitively, plus they are a backyard rival of ours. This week we start PAC-7 play against Tuslaw at home. The Mustangs are 2-1 like us and have a big-time passing offense like us. It looks as if the weather will hold out and allow both teams to impose their will on the other (if they so choose). If neither team’s defense steps up, there could be some rather large numbers put up on the scoreboard. I just hope we have a bigger number!
The Browns lost Sunday after starting the game looking like a legitimate NFL football team. But that didn’t last long, and the Browns eventually faded in their loss to Tampa Bay. The weekend was all good, though, since the Buckeyes beat Miami, FL on Saturday in a marquee college football match-up. The Bucks are not yet where they need to be to win the national championship (or even make it there), but the win over Miami, even with all the interceptions we needed to win, was a big confidence booster for our team. I just hope we don’t have a big let down like last year against Purdue. There are some tough games on our schedule, so it’ll be a meat grinder once we get into Big 10 play. It’s fall, so there is lots of football going on wherever you look, and I love it!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
September 9, 2010
Double Rainbow
It’s almost week 3 of high school football already. Wow! Those first two weeks of football went by fast! But if and when high school football ends, we still have college football to take us to the end of the year. Ohio State got their opening week win over Marshall as expected. However, this week is a much tougher opponent, Miami, FL. They’re going to want some revenge after what they thought was a controversial ending to the national championship almost a decade ago. Here is a poster from the national championship game at the moment the pass interference occurred, making it difficult to argue against the call the referee made. (click for full picture)
But anyway, Triway’s varsity football team got beat up last week by Orrville. Many thought we were the favorite going in, but I’m not sure really why. Newspapers were talking us up and making outlandish predictions for the post-season, but we may not even make it to the playoffs! OK. So maybe we’ll make it to the playoffs, but we will likely face another first-round exit. I’m not saying we’re a bad team, because we are not; but we are not at the same level as the others in our region right now that routinely make it to the playoffs. This Friday we host another backyard rival, Waynedale, to complete non-league play. Waynedale comes into the game 0-2, and we are 1-1. However, the Golden Bears have a good defense that I think could give us some fits with their physicality and good coaching. It will be a tough game, but I think we’ll emerge victorious. All that matters is the “W”.
Jennifer and I have been uber-busy the past few weeks! We only get to see each other on the weekends, so we make sure we’re together at those times when possible. However, sometimes when we have obligations and events going on during the weekend, it accounts for a lot of driving and hopping around from place to place. Neither of us dislikes it, but sometimes it’s nice to have a relaxed weekend, which I think this coming weekend will be. She does not work Friday, so I’m picking her up tonight, and we’re heading back to my place. I need to drop off my car at the shop for its 50,000 mile check-up, but that’s it. Friday night we have the football game. Then Saturday we don’t have much to do at all other than watch college football and probably more Everybody Loves Raymond. Sunday we’ll probably go to church but don’t have much else scheduled that day other than probably taking in a few NFL games. It’s great having a girlfriend that not only doesn’t mind, but enjoys watching sports on television. She was by herself last night at her apartment and was watching the Indians. How cool is that?
Moving on to another topic – I have changed the ring tones on my cell phone. For my call ring tone I have changed it to the Double Rainbow Remix by AutoTune. If you have not seen the original video because of which that song was made, you are missing out! Go here for the original video of a double rainbow videotaped by a guy out in the mountains. It’s hilarious if you watch the whole thing. Anyway, a group made a remix of it called the Double Rainbow Song. The actual song in the background is now out on mp3, and I have it stored on my web server. If you would like a copy, here is the link.
On my Droid Incredible there’s an app called Ringdroid which allows me to download and import music files then crop/cut them, and save the resulting clip as a ring tone or notification (text) sound. Part of the Double Rainbow song is my ring tone, and my text message notification sound is part of the ESPN SportsCenter theme. In the following clip I cut out from 0:03 – 0:06 when the three distinctive beeps will sound. It’s a pretty neat sound for text messages, I think!
That’s been the fun in my life the last few days while I’ve been doing other housework that was neglected the last few weeks. Oh. That reminds me. I need to mow tonight. It’s been exactly two weeks, but that’s about right since the Autumn season does not make my grass grow nearly as fast as the Spring season did. Boy, am I glad it’s not Spring any more! Anyway, my lunch break is almost up, so I better get going. I’ll see you on the other side of this soon-to-be-relaxing weekend.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
But anyway, Triway’s varsity football team got beat up last week by Orrville. Many thought we were the favorite going in, but I’m not sure really why. Newspapers were talking us up and making outlandish predictions for the post-season, but we may not even make it to the playoffs! OK. So maybe we’ll make it to the playoffs, but we will likely face another first-round exit. I’m not saying we’re a bad team, because we are not; but we are not at the same level as the others in our region right now that routinely make it to the playoffs. This Friday we host another backyard rival, Waynedale, to complete non-league play. Waynedale comes into the game 0-2, and we are 1-1. However, the Golden Bears have a good defense that I think could give us some fits with their physicality and good coaching. It will be a tough game, but I think we’ll emerge victorious. All that matters is the “W”.
Jennifer and I have been uber-busy the past few weeks! We only get to see each other on the weekends, so we make sure we’re together at those times when possible. However, sometimes when we have obligations and events going on during the weekend, it accounts for a lot of driving and hopping around from place to place. Neither of us dislikes it, but sometimes it’s nice to have a relaxed weekend, which I think this coming weekend will be. She does not work Friday, so I’m picking her up tonight, and we’re heading back to my place. I need to drop off my car at the shop for its 50,000 mile check-up, but that’s it. Friday night we have the football game. Then Saturday we don’t have much to do at all other than watch college football and probably more Everybody Loves Raymond. Sunday we’ll probably go to church but don’t have much else scheduled that day other than probably taking in a few NFL games. It’s great having a girlfriend that not only doesn’t mind, but enjoys watching sports on television. She was by herself last night at her apartment and was watching the Indians. How cool is that?
Moving on to another topic – I have changed the ring tones on my cell phone. For my call ring tone I have changed it to the Double Rainbow Remix by AutoTune. If you have not seen the original video because of which that song was made, you are missing out! Go here for the original video of a double rainbow videotaped by a guy out in the mountains. It’s hilarious if you watch the whole thing. Anyway, a group made a remix of it called the Double Rainbow Song. The actual song in the background is now out on mp3, and I have it stored on my web server. If you would like a copy, here is the link.
On my Droid Incredible there’s an app called Ringdroid which allows me to download and import music files then crop/cut them, and save the resulting clip as a ring tone or notification (text) sound. Part of the Double Rainbow song is my ring tone, and my text message notification sound is part of the ESPN SportsCenter theme. In the following clip I cut out from 0:03 – 0:06 when the three distinctive beeps will sound. It’s a pretty neat sound for text messages, I think!
That’s been the fun in my life the last few days while I’ve been doing other housework that was neglected the last few weeks. Oh. That reminds me. I need to mow tonight. It’s been exactly two weeks, but that’s about right since the Autumn season does not make my grass grow nearly as fast as the Spring season did. Boy, am I glad it’s not Spring any more! Anyway, my lunch break is almost up, so I better get going. I’ll see you on the other side of this soon-to-be-relaxing weekend.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
August 30, 2010
Football Has Begun
Football season has begun! This past Friday the Triway Titans started their season with an emphatic win over backyard rival West Holmes, cruising to a 48-6 victory. Last year when we opened the season at West Holmes’ field, we were up 27-7 going into the 4th quarter but gave up 21 points in that final period for what was one of the worst heartbreaking losses a Triway team has had to stomach for some time. There was no doubt last Friday, though. Our defense dominated West Holmes’ offense and would have dominated them the rest of the game had we not put in our 2nd and 3rd string defenders in the 3rd and 4th quarters. On the other side of the ball, our offense could have scored 70 points, but instead we decided to work on our ground game.
Week 1 is gone, now, and it’s time to focus on our biggest rival – Orrville. Two years ago at their place we had them on the ropes, driving for a potential game-winning drive with 3 minutes to go but fumbled the ball (and the game) away. Last year we got the first win against Orrville in a while, and it was oh so sweet! Now we have another good team, and we’re hoping to make it two in a row against Orrville. However, there is one monster of a statistic that we’ll have to overcome: Triway has never beaten Orrville at Orrville. Ever. It’s time for a change.
Anyway, today is my 24th birthday. Woo hoo! I don’t really have much planned other than work and then a fantasy football draft tonight at 7:30 PM. It kind of stinks having it right in the middle of the evening, but I’m not going to ask the league commissioner to change the draft time just for little ol’ me. Besides, it’ll be fun!
Speaking of fun, it was fun last night playing Life the board game last night with Jennifer. I lost, though. Yes – I lost in the game of Life. I was a doctor but then lost my job, became a police officer, then had to go back to school, and finally was a retired veterinarian. I had a nice log cabin and was engaged (but never married). My total assets amassed $1.15 million while Jennifer’s added up to $1.6 million. Ouch! But good for her. Haha! It was annoying having to set up the game, though. There were plastic bridges and houses we had to break out of little tinker plastic sets then hook onto the board. There were game cards and spinners and pieces of cardboard that we had to organize and set up before we could begin. It was a mess, but we finally figured it out and got to play the game. (I now own the Yahtzee, Monopoly, and Life board games.)
I’m ready to take a nap right now. I’m working in our company’s remote office today, not in our normal location. We went to Five Guys Burgers for lunch, and it was very good. But just like on Thanksgiving Day, I am ready for a nap! And it’s not even 1:10 PM yet! But my lunch break is over, so it’s time to get back to work.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
Week 1 is gone, now, and it’s time to focus on our biggest rival – Orrville. Two years ago at their place we had them on the ropes, driving for a potential game-winning drive with 3 minutes to go but fumbled the ball (and the game) away. Last year we got the first win against Orrville in a while, and it was oh so sweet! Now we have another good team, and we’re hoping to make it two in a row against Orrville. However, there is one monster of a statistic that we’ll have to overcome: Triway has never beaten Orrville at Orrville. Ever. It’s time for a change.
Anyway, today is my 24th birthday. Woo hoo! I don’t really have much planned other than work and then a fantasy football draft tonight at 7:30 PM. It kind of stinks having it right in the middle of the evening, but I’m not going to ask the league commissioner to change the draft time just for little ol’ me. Besides, it’ll be fun!
Speaking of fun, it was fun last night playing Life the board game last night with Jennifer. I lost, though. Yes – I lost in the game of Life. I was a doctor but then lost my job, became a police officer, then had to go back to school, and finally was a retired veterinarian. I had a nice log cabin and was engaged (but never married). My total assets amassed $1.15 million while Jennifer’s added up to $1.6 million. Ouch! But good for her. Haha! It was annoying having to set up the game, though. There were plastic bridges and houses we had to break out of little tinker plastic sets then hook onto the board. There were game cards and spinners and pieces of cardboard that we had to organize and set up before we could begin. It was a mess, but we finally figured it out and got to play the game. (I now own the Yahtzee, Monopoly, and Life board games.)
I’m ready to take a nap right now. I’m working in our company’s remote office today, not in our normal location. We went to Five Guys Burgers for lunch, and it was very good. But just like on Thanksgiving Day, I am ready for a nap! And it’s not even 1:10 PM yet! But my lunch break is over, so it’s time to get back to work.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
August 24, 2010
Twitter and Softball and Mowing, Oh My
I have been very busy lately with softball, house and yard work, hanging out with Jennifer, and lots of football. It’s been two full weeks since I last posted an update on this blog. I’m here now, though, so it’s A-OK! I just finished mowing my yard, which I hadn’t been able to do for twelve days! That should tell you how here-and-there I’ve been. I just got out of the shower and will be on the phone in a bit chatting with Jenn, so that’ll be a good ending to my day. Then I only have three more days until the high school football season starts! I can hardly wait for Friday night to roll around, itching for that 7:00 PM opening kickoff. Mmm…
I created a Twitter account yesterday. (Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/AndrewMarcum) For the longest time I swore I would never use Twitter since I thought it was useless; I would always say “It’s just a glorified Facebook status update.” Basically, it is! You can only have updates of 140 characters or less, and people can share or reply to those updates. However, once I joined, I found out so much more about it that I didn’t know, like the ability to “follow” people or create sub-pages with lists of certain followers similar to a newsfeed mailing list. I am going to be using Twitter this Autumn for posting and receiving scoring updates for local high school football games. I have “followed” a few other Twitter accounts from around here and in Stark County which are compiling football scores, and I plan to use those to help my never-ending endeavor to know the score to almost every game in Northeast Ohio!
Aside from creating a Twitter account, the next big accomplishment (well, more of a milestone than an accomplishment) was getting the Triway varsity football roster uploaded to MaxPreps. I’m the statistician for Triway’s football team just like I am for the varsity basketball and baseball teams; so duties such as posting rosters and stats and sometimes calling them into various newspapers falls on me. I enjoy it, though, and don’t really consider it “work” like some might. When the games start this Friday, I’ll be busy not only keeping stats for the game but also, at the same time, coordinating my text update ring of over 25 people from across Wayne, Holmes, Ashland, and Stark Counties. It’s a busy time but so much fun!
What else is going on? Umm… I don’t know, but there’s lots of stuff. I am going to Geauga Lake (or some water park, I’m not sure which) this weekend, so that will be fun. Then I have more softball this Sunday. Oh yah, last Sunday started the tournament for the double-header Sundays league in Lakewood. We won our first game in the bracket to advance into the double-elimination tournament. Then we lost our next game to get put into the loser’s bracket. Now we play this coming Sunday at 4:00 PM. If we win, we play again at 6:00 PM. However, if we lose, we are done. I finished the regular season 1st in batting average, 1st in home runs, 1st in on-base percentage, 1st in slugging percentage, 2nd in hits, 2nd in doubles, 2nd in triples, 3rd in runs scored, 3rd in walks, and 5th in RBI’s. That’s a pretty good line, if I do say so myself! Those numbers did not even include my 5-for-7 day with a walk, sacrifice fly, 3 runs scored, and an RBI in our two tournament games last Sunday. Hopefully we can get two more wins this Sunday, but sadly I don’t see that happening. We’ll find out then, though! Until then, see ya!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
I created a Twitter account yesterday. (Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/AndrewMarcum) For the longest time I swore I would never use Twitter since I thought it was useless; I would always say “It’s just a glorified Facebook status update.” Basically, it is! You can only have updates of 140 characters or less, and people can share or reply to those updates. However, once I joined, I found out so much more about it that I didn’t know, like the ability to “follow” people or create sub-pages with lists of certain followers similar to a newsfeed mailing list. I am going to be using Twitter this Autumn for posting and receiving scoring updates for local high school football games. I have “followed” a few other Twitter accounts from around here and in Stark County which are compiling football scores, and I plan to use those to help my never-ending endeavor to know the score to almost every game in Northeast Ohio!
Aside from creating a Twitter account, the next big accomplishment (well, more of a milestone than an accomplishment) was getting the Triway varsity football roster uploaded to MaxPreps. I’m the statistician for Triway’s football team just like I am for the varsity basketball and baseball teams; so duties such as posting rosters and stats and sometimes calling them into various newspapers falls on me. I enjoy it, though, and don’t really consider it “work” like some might. When the games start this Friday, I’ll be busy not only keeping stats for the game but also, at the same time, coordinating my text update ring of over 25 people from across Wayne, Holmes, Ashland, and Stark Counties. It’s a busy time but so much fun!
What else is going on? Umm… I don’t know, but there’s lots of stuff. I am going to Geauga Lake (or some water park, I’m not sure which) this weekend, so that will be fun. Then I have more softball this Sunday. Oh yah, last Sunday started the tournament for the double-header Sundays league in Lakewood. We won our first game in the bracket to advance into the double-elimination tournament. Then we lost our next game to get put into the loser’s bracket. Now we play this coming Sunday at 4:00 PM. If we win, we play again at 6:00 PM. However, if we lose, we are done. I finished the regular season 1st in batting average, 1st in home runs, 1st in on-base percentage, 1st in slugging percentage, 2nd in hits, 2nd in doubles, 2nd in triples, 3rd in runs scored, 3rd in walks, and 5th in RBI’s. That’s a pretty good line, if I do say so myself! Those numbers did not even include my 5-for-7 day with a walk, sacrifice fly, 3 runs scored, and an RBI in our two tournament games last Sunday. Hopefully we can get two more wins this Sunday, but sadly I don’t see that happening. We’ll find out then, though! Until then, see ya!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
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