Killing the gnome

I don't know if it is actually possible to die from boredom, but I am at the least teetering on the edge of sanity. I played plants VS zombies for approx. 6 hours yesterday. Looks like I'm approaching an equally stimulating itinerary today. It could be worse. I could be using my intellect for the greater good of humanity. or I could be selling hot dogs from one of those cool little wiener carts. I think testing adult diapers would be more fulfilling than what I'm doing. It's not that I hate my job. I don't. I'd just like to jam finger through my eyeball to break the monotony.
I have been "working out" this go around in Houston. I've noticed an interesting trend in this particular hotel "fitness center". the room consists of three treadmills, three elliptical machines, a stationary bike, and a stair climber. on the other side of the room you've got this rather ingenious cable weight station thingy. It's actually pretty nice cuz you can hit a lot of things if you have an imagination. For example, tonight I'm going steal some snooty prick's neck tie, strap it to the machine, and drag the whole damn thing around the room for laps. Oh, and it has a fat pullup bar. Next to that are two adjustable benches and dumbells up to 50lbs. A bunch of bosu balls and mirrors all round. I wouldn't normally call this a trend, but it's happened exactly the same the last two days. The last time I was here, I recall a similar occurrence. This evening I'll confirm my suspicions. It goes like this: I walk in the room and every man not on a treadmill either finds one or suddenly realizes that they have something much more urgent that needs addressing anywhere in the world except that room. If a female is present or comes in behind me the treadmills are also vacated. I don't know if it's because I'm wearing a t-shirt that hasn't been washed in about six months or if the world really is packed full of a bunch of insecure nancy-boys. Geez, I'm not that big. And I've got a beer gut that rivals the Pilsbury D-Boy. What the F is going on in this world?! And then I think, "Huh, cool. got the place to myself again." I'll take that anyday over watching middle age dudes wearing short shorts from 1982 doing situps on a giant bouncy ball. Peace. I gotta get back to my game.

Wed

Why I love having my very own gym: Because it freaking Rocks! Interesting workout yesterday. Started out with squats: 380x3, 400x3, 425x5. My squats are progressing nicely and this makes me happy. Then we moved outside and did some tire flips in the mud. I haven't done these in a while and the mud didn't really help with traction or gripping, but it was fun all the same. To finnish off we decided on some heavy short sled drags. Down and back was roughly 100'. We started with one plate on the sled and added one every round. Made it up to four plates before everyone was ready to puke and collapse. Except for me, of course, because I'm Superman. Only I don't wear red and blue tights. Anymore, at least.

Half Psychotic, Sick, Hypnotic

So, last week pretty much just sucked the big one. Two weeks ago I quit drinking, started running, eat really good, hit all my weights in the gym and just pretty much felt great. You'd think that would be addictive. Last week I got in two crappy workouts, quit sleeping in exchange for boozing, and pretty much just drove my blood pressure up until I felt like complete hell. Why, oh why must I actually choose between one or the other? How is that even a choice that must be conciously made? Over and over and over... Oh well. At least I'm inserting some healthy weeks in these days. That never was the case before. On a positive note, we got the gym set up at my house. A bit like a dream come true, to be honest. There are still some kinks to workout, but it should be cool. Plus I can now implement my strongman aparati to the mix without having to split up sessions. Now, if the weather would just hurry up and be not hot, that would be A-OK.

Bench Press:
WU
300 x 3
320 x 3
340 x 3

Friday's numbers

Just wanted to stay on top of the numbers archiving.

Flat bench press:
WU
285 x 5
300 x 5
320 x 5

Flat DB bench:
75lbs x 15, 12, 10

pullups

Cheers to the cold

Got below 50 today. for the first time in six months, I've stopped sweating. To celebrate, watch this and your winter juices shall start flowing.

http://www.seventhlayer.com/dump/terje's.wmv

Physical Abuse

Well, I'm motivated for the moment. So I'm gonna ride this pony till it dies. Apparantly I've had nothing really motivating me enough in the last 5 years to change my evil ways and improve myself. Right now I have absolutely no desire to touch alcahol. None. I honestly can't say that's happened before. I feel like I could go the rest of my life and never take another drink, and I would never miss it. This is very odd for me. Who knows? Maybe I've stumbled upon what God has had planned for me all along. Maybe not. But something has definately changed for the better.

Deadlifts:
WU
5 x 385
5 x 415
5 x 435

Good Mornings (no belt)
95lbs x 10 x 3

Weighted situps:
+25 lbs x 20 x 3

Drove to the house and decided I had more in the tank.
Sled "sprints" with harness:
160lbs x 6 for roughly 50 meters

A plan is forming

So I started a new 5 week weight cycle yesterday.
Overhead presses: 190 x 5, 205 x 5, 215 x 5. Hooray.
More importantly, I strapped on my HR monitor and went for an honest to goodness run this morning. That was humbling. I'm not in so good shape, eh? But, I have a goal now. One in which peak physical fitness is an absolute necessity. I'm exploring a possible career change, but I'm not going to say much more than that about it. Never know who is reading this stupid thing. At the moment, it's pretty much just a pipe dream; but I think there is enough of a chance to motivate me to get my ass in shape and actually go all out for it. It scares me to think about packing up and moving for another job. We've certainly got our little comfort zone here. But the truth is, I'm no more comfortable here than I was when we moved here over five years ago. I have one of the most meaningless jobs I can imagine. All I do is help rich guys get richer. That's it. They were drilling oil wells long before the advent of computers. I just can't imagine waking up ten years from now doing the same thing in the same place that I'm at now. This job has undeniably been a blessing, but in my heart I feel like it's time to move on. I have no idea when that will happen or how, but I feel it coming. Please pray for us. I believe we're going to have some hard decisions to make over the course of the next year.

red river motorcycle trails, inc

Man trip starts today!

Muenster, TX here we come. We're closing Doc's pub down tonight. Breakfast in the Biergarten tomorrow. Some mad crazy riding. some lounging. some reflection. Then back to Doc's to reboot. All the makings of a great weekend.

Next trip should be climbing or skiing, or both.

Happy Friday!