July 30, 2013

the void is filled

After almost 2 years of searching for something to fill the spot of triathlon I've finally found something I'm excited about. I'm going to try my hand at olympic weightlifting! My 1st event will be in Sept. The competition in September I'm doing just for fun. I wont be trying to throw around big weights or impress anyone. I'll just be trying to get some experience and have some fun. My 2nd olympic weightlifting competition will be held in early November. Not only will I be taking the 2nd event more seriously, I'm hoping to no longer be a super heavy weight. I need to weight 105 kilograms or less to no longer be a super heavy weight, which means I need to lose 32 pounds in just over 3 months. I started my diet yesterday.

Wish me luck!

July 05, 2013

gains and losses

Yesterday I went to the corrections academy gym with a buddy of mine. We maxed on our bench and squat. In the last 3 weeks I've added 20 pounds to my bench and 30 pounds to my squat! After the strength work we did a WOD. It was as many reps as possible in 16 min of:
1 min power cleans
1 min sit ups
1 min dips
1 min DB thrusters

I completed 178 reps. It was a good day.

July 04, 2013

vacation and never shaving again!

A few days ago my family and I got back from visiting my family in Lubbock Texas. We love it there. Once I retire from the state and my wife graduates from nursing school we are going to move there. We found our dream home in Lubbock at 6105 Knoxville Dr. Obviosly it will have sold by the time I retire (1 year 11 months from now), but we'll buy a house in the same neighborhood.  We had a great time. To good aparently. I came back weighing 261 pounds. My 20 year high school reunion in next summer. Time to get my fat butt on a diet. My goal is 200 lbs by my reunion.

I jioned the military at the age of 17, then became a manager at a pet shop, then started a career at the State Pennitentiary. I've had to stay clean shaven at each of those jobs. After years of having to stay clean shaven my dream has come true!!!! The NM State Pennitentiary has changed it's shaving policy!! We are allowed to grow beards and goatees now!!!! This is the results of me growing my beard for 3 days. I'm never shaving again!!!!

July 01, 2013

Buffalo Springs Lake triathlon 2013 new course recod and 2014 registration

I was here in Lubbock Texas the weekend of the BSLT 70.3 triathlon ( I didn't race). It was a perfect day for a triathlon. It was under 90 degrees, there was clouds in the sky blocking the sun, and there was no wind- the year I raced the BSLT it got close to 110 degrees! This was the 24th year of the BSLT and Gregg Bennett broke the course record with a screaming fast time of 3:48:58.

 
Next year will be the 25th year of the BSLT and they are having a special on the registration.


25th Anniversary Special: Enter for 2014 by July 3 for only $199!
We’re turning 25 in 2014! To kick off the anniversary celebrations, we are offering an exclusive 25th Anniversary Entry Special. Enter the password BSL25 to unlock the Early Bird Special category rate.
We know it’s a year out, but we also know it’s going to be one heck of a celebration! The 25thAnniversary experience will feature:
  • Unique Finisher Awards for every IRONMAN 70.3 finisher
  • The Golf Course Hill is back! The hill you love to hate is making a comeback.
  • 40 age group slots & 3 Hancycle slots to the 2014 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Mont -Tremblant , 3 Handcycle slots to IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN KONA, HI
  • 25th Anniversary Finisher Shirt
  • 25th Anniversary Participant Back PackCommit to 2014, and enter online for a great deal on an amazing IRONMAN 70.3 experience!

CrossFit box's in Lubbock Texas and a proper cool down

While visiting family here in Lubbock Texas I wanted to visit a CrossFit box. There were 7 to choose from:

Flatland CrossFit
CrossFit Throne
CrossFit Wild West
CrossFit Paladin
Capstone CrossFit
Compass CrossFit
Hubbcity CrossFit

I googled reviews for each CrossFit box. There was only 1 review for all 7 box’s, it was on Yelp. It was for CapStone CrossFit and it had an excellent review.

Next I called all 7 box’s and asked what the drop in policy and fees were.

-Hubbcity CF and Paladin CF didn't answer their phone, I left a couple messages with the questions I had but they never returned my calls.

-Flatland CF and CF Wild West was $15 for my wife, $15 for myself ($30 total) for the entire time I was visiting Lubbock, or the purchase of a shirt ($20).

-CF Throne was $20 per day per weekday visit, Saturdays workout was offered free. $80 for the 3 days for my wife and I.

-Capstone CF was $13 per day per person $78 for my wife and for all 3 days.

-And Compass CF said if I was a member of a box anywhere else in the world we could attend their box for free as long as I was visiting Lubbock.

We chose Compass CrossFit. My cousin Greg went with me the first day. Even though he wasn’t a member of a box anywhere else they still let him workout for free. The members were extremely friendly and welcoming, the workout was great, and the trainer (Tim) was friendly and informative. He took the time to explain the workout, the proper form of all the exercises before the workout began. He spent some extra time explaining things to my cousin since he was a CF virgin.


Compass CrossFit had a couple things I'd never seen before, their clock not only had a timer but also tracked the rounds completed. Post workout the gym members kept track of their workouts on wodify, I'd always tracked my workouts old school on a pad of paper. I like the idea of my WOD being recorded online where I can look at it anytime or compare previous workouts. I think once I get home I'm going to start an account with Wodify.

After the workout they had all of us do a cool down 400 meter jog. I've been wanting to start doing a cool down on my own post WOD. Instead of stopping completely from an intense aerobic or strength training session it is very important to slow down gradually for about 5 minutes or longer. Cooling down prevents venous pooling when coronary blood flow demand is very high. In other words the heart is a very a efficient pump, its great at pushing blood to the areas being worked out. But the heart can only push blood. Of course, if you've pumped blood up to the brain, gravity will bring it back to the heart. But what about the blood in your legs, how does it get back to the heart? Not so obvious, is it? It's almost a design flaw. There ought to be two extra sub-hearts, one in each foot, to return blood to the main heart. What happens instead is that the muscles act as mini hearts. Each time a muscle contracts it pushes blood out of it and into your veins. And here's why you need to "cooldown." If you've been out running or doing a WOD, a lot of blood has been directed down to your leg muscles to support your running. If you stop exercising and just stand there or decide to sit in a chair, the muscles stop contracting. The pooled blood just stagnates there and the blood volume available for the rest of your body reaches dangerously low levels. There are some people, myself included who believe that not cooling down sufficiently over time can damage the heart. So I need to start cooling down, I haven't been. And then in theory after my cool down I should stretch. I should, but I never stretch. Never will.