Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate......: 02/12/2012

Saturday, February 18, 2012

30ish years ago (warning: slightly edgy video, but you have to click play first) and NRC docs for 2/11-2/18/2012....

There were plenty of things for which I had a large margin of improvement. I wasn't really fond of most physical activity and I loved food (plenty of it) and that resulted in a nearly inevitable status of ballooning up...

At 41ish, I am getting better at some of those things. As an example, I'm leaner and meaner (but not really mean) than ever before (post boot camp is a close second). I can run a fair distance and I'm looking to double that by the end of this year. I occasionally partake in some physical challenges of varying degrees of difficulty/silliness and areas of endeavor. Witness last weekend or the time I successfully completed the "gallon challenge". However, one thing I'm still fairly bad at is roller skating. I woke up to do an arm workout with an old high school buddy this morning. After chilling at home for a few hours afterward, I went out for a brief 4.5 miles just to keep the blood pumping. The same high school buddy and his family thought it would be fun to go roller skating in the afternoon. It definitely was, but...

I STILL SUCK AT SKATING!

If I practice, I'm sure I will improve. In the meantime, I had multiple (re)introductions to the floor. At least I'm pretty good at falling and I'm sure I provided some measure of comic relief...

Plus, I still have great taste (I know, totally subjective) in music...

Exhibit 1 - Armin van Buuren presents Gaia - J'ai Envie de Toi

Exhibit 2 (the slightly edgy one) - LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

NRC docs for Browns Ferry for the week of 2/11-2/18/2012

Now looking forward to some P90X2 Yoga with Ric and Tony Horton in the morning...

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Brief weekend recap; Happy Valentine's Day; Obligatory NRC ADAMS stuff from last week

So, I'll start by saying that this past weekend was MOST EXCELLENT! It all started on Friday with a fairly uneventful drive from here to Greensboro, GA. By the time we arrived, it was pretty much time to crash to be ready for what turned out to be the most physically challenging event I have ever particpated in. It was awesome to have someone else out there running. Thanks and congratulations, Shawn. Additionally, it was utterly cool to have someone else who ended up running along most of the course and taking some great pictures along the way (not to mention running in the half marathon the next day). Thanks (and also congrats), Tina. I won't go into too many specifics about how rough the TM course was. One of my biggest challenges was being VERY cold. Example?

Further Saturday Tough Mudder pix from Georgia can be viewed here.

After that was done, it was about noon GA time and we set out for Birmingham, AL. By the time we were all set up in the hotel room, it was dinner time. Tasty food. Beyond that, a few e-mails and it was time to crash again. Another early and colder morning (at least there was no water involved) set the mood for Sunday morning's little 2-2.5 hour romp through Birmingham. The women I was there to run with did a SUPERB job! Personally, I was just happy to have finished. My knee was killing me. Congrats and/or thanks to all parties involved in running/being there (Shawn, Tina, Sarah, Stephanie, Michael)!

After the drive home, I had to drive into Huntsville to meet Suzanne at her parents' house. We had planned to go have a nice dinner (early Valentine's since I have odd hours this week) at Bonefish Grill. Dinner was great and capped off by a serious dessert from their "Specials" menu. CHOCOLATE CREME BRULEE!!! That was truly some excellent dessert.

Speaking of the above:

Happy Valentine's Day

A special Valentine's shout-out to Suzanne!

On a drier note, here's what the NRC posted in ADAMS about Browns Ferry the week of 2/4-2/11/2012: