What?

Am I the only person I know that doesn't have punctuation in their blog title?

If you will note the right side of my blog ----->

goes on runs has a period (insert inappropriate joke about not menstruating due to being pregnant)

get your floaties has ... at the end

this is us (much like her husband's blog) has ... at the end

Me: no punctuation.

Instead of adding unnecessary punctuation to my blog title I could just meet new people and add their non-punctuation marked blog titles to my blog list...

hmmm... an intriguing idea.

Fun game... how many words can you spot that I misspelled?  Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog where the wifey will tell me (and I in turn tell you) how may words I spelled incorrectly.

ARSM out

Ahh, shin splints...my old friend

The wifey asked me about yesterday's blog title... funny I thought she would remember it since it was a reference to the Fall Out Boy Concert we went to... but she doesn't remember so good.

Before the song "I don't care" they played what I call Church music and one of the guys said that the band wasn't just here to play music. They wanted to bring healing into our troubled lives.  One of the guys asked people what their biggest problem in life was. After the person told him he said he could solve their problem and shouted "I don't care!".  He did this a few times "solving" each person's problems with "I don't care!".  So I figured I would give it a shot and see if it would help my work situation.  And I think it has.

Today...well what a day.  If you look to the right you will see that I did a lot today.  My new rule in regards to the gym. The only way I am allowed to get there is to run there.  If I am fortunate enough to get a ride back then so be it, but I have to run to the gym if I want to go in it. Why catch a ride back? Too much running will cause me to get hurt.  And running 2.5 miles isn't that bad. Running 5 miles can be. And lastly if I run to the gym I get sweaty but I have time to cool down while I am there. When I run back to work I get sweaty but I have no real cool down period. Once back at work it is time to shower and change.  Cold showers help cooling the core temperature but not well enough. It is common for guys to still be sweating for like an hour after they stop running. I don't want to be sitting at my desk dripping sweat. Gross.

Anyways, while running to the gym today I noticed that friendly pain creeping back into my shins.  I need to ice it and relax some, but isn't that why God made the weekend? I will take the weekend off of running and try to ice my shins some. 

Anyways, pain usually is a sign of injury so tonight's question is what is the worst injury you have had? Mine, umm nothing serious just a lot of small things over my life time.  I've been: dropped on my head (big sis aka: goes on runs), hit in the head with a metal bat, punched in the face...more than I can count, kicked/hit/punched in the groin numerous times; I have recieved: concussions...yes, scars...you bet, stress fractures...yes but that sounds really wimpy compared to the rest of my list, brusied bones...that too; I have: cut a finger off, stabbed my self in the foot with a knife,  used the top of my head to break bricks and cinder blocks;  the wifey says I spontaneously bleed at night... but... with all that I have never been in a hospital over night (not counting being a baby) and I have never broken a bone in my body.  (knock on wood)

Fall Out Boy's Evangelical Spiritual Healing: I DON'T CARE!!!

Well today at work I got fed up with not really doing anything.  I still don't really have a job. Hopefully that will change next week but for now, still nothing. I seriously don't do anything. I don't enjoy what I am doing so there is no real push to work on my self paced acquisition courses.  So today I decided I just don't care anymore. My new professional goal is to get into really good shape. I feel like I am back on a navy ship again. No real purpose in life except to eat, sleep and workout.  So today I changed in PT clothes around 1015, left work to go workout around 1030 returned around 1245, stayed in PT clothes and hung around the office until about 1345, then showered and changed back into my cammies. I am going to start leaving work at 1030 and not return until 1300.  I used to leave a bit (15-30mins) after 1100 and returned with enough time to shower and change and to be back at my desk by 1300.  Now... who cares when I return and if I am even dressed in a uniform or not.  Not Me!!!

So today, I ran to the gym (2.5 miles), went swimming for 50 mins (1800 m) and then ran back to work (2.5 miles).  Why only 50 mins and not complete the full hour you say? Good question. By the time I left ever lane was filled with dudes swimming and they all were faster than me.  They even did the "feet over head" flip turn when they got to the wall.  I just tap the wall and turn around. These guys were like real swimmers.  The water in the pool got rough with all this turbulence plus I got tired of being lapped.  Anyways, I figured 50 mins was better than nothing and I was pretty tired too.  So I got out and ran back to work.

That's all I got.  The brother-in-law (wifey side) was at the Grand Canyon yesterday. How cool is that? So that brings me to today's question:

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon and if so when was it, who did you go with and what did you do there.

Me: I say I have never been although that may not be true.  If I have been I was too little to remember so I don't count it. I guess I went with the family and we probably just stopped, looked at it, dad took a video documentary of it, we got back in the car and left.  But that is just a guess. I don't know...

This one has no name... I just call it blog

Well my "wear-it-for-2 weeks" heart monitor showed up today.  Considering the monitor is like the size of a PDA it came in a huge box.  Like 2 shoe boxes taped together, size.  Anyways, they also had to call me and tell me how to set it up.  And as I type this a guy from the monitoring company keeps calling me to tell me to "move the black sensor 1 inch down and 1 inch closer to your sternum".  How does he know that? Big brother is totally watching now.  I should code my blogs for the next two weeks just in case.

The bird flew west at dawn and landed on the edge of the window.  Green Mini-van and 5621...

If you don't know what that means then don't worry. As long as big brother doesn't know, we are all ok...

Snap back to reality (but make believe is so much more fun) oh there goes gravity, oh there goes rabbit (9 Mile reference)... anyways...the heart monitor.

So it is hooked up and it is very fancy.  It can send me text messages from the company and I can send them info on me.  (I should practice my text typing...lol, gr8, rotfl, 4NR, 2nite, INADBIPOOTV, NE14KFC... I promise you those are all real text message shorthands...  http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php) Anyways...The last monitor only had me hit an "event" button when I felt something, but this one lets me enter how I feel and at what activity level the feeling occurred at.  So, if my heart rate starts beating 198 bmp when I am bench pressing (as it did today) I can tell them that my activity level was moderate even thought my pulse was very high.  So for the next two weeks I will wear this piece of advanced technology (you can thank the space program for it) and we will see what develops.  

Today I went for a run and whenever my heart rate got too high I would stop and let it slow down then keep running. I was running at an 8:30 pace which isn't that fast. More of a jog if you will.  So when the heart rate monitor hit 180 I would stop.  The weird thing is, when I was doing pull-ups and stuff after I stopped running my heart rate was still like 175ish... it was like I never even stopped running.  Who has a heart rate of 177 while doing pull-ups?  Even better question...who has a heart rate of 198 while lifting weights?  Huh?  For a good description of what I think is up with my heart read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palpitation#The_heart_.22stops.22

Anyways, today's question is...

what was the coolest place you have ever traveled to?

I would say the island of Kauai was the coolest place I have been to.  The Na Pali coast line hike was so cool.  My fav place i've been so far in life.  What say you?

- ARSM out

Just got bored and left...

Work was so boring today that I just up and went home... it is nice to have a job that I can just leave when I want to.  Capt Cueball is playing supermom at home and was a no show at work.  Capt Ponch was there but he actually works every now and again.  

Hit the gym today, tried to keep the cardio low and easy until I hear more from the Dr about the ticker.  So until then I will keep on keeping on.

ARSM out-

A project completed...finally

Ok, the garage project started ummm... Jan 1st and I finally finished it today.  No one ever said I was fast.  Here are the pics of the man garage.

Publish Post

Work bench extraordinaire

Work bench from the other side.

This is a cabinet that I filled with Marine Corps stuff

Over the car storage cabinets

The 3rd row of seats to the wifey's car, now hanging on the wall

Last pic of the work bench but you can see the overhead cabinets better

Special thanks to Marmie and Mr Dennis.

Before and After...

Totally unrelated to anything a triathlon but here are a few pics before and after I photoshopped them...  The wifey thinks adding fake clouds is so over rated.  I think it adds a nice touch making each picture look like a picturesque day... what say you?

Real:

Enhanced:

Real:

Enhanced:

Real:

Enhanced:

Real photo courtesy of Mrs Captain Cueball:

Enhanced:

My first tri (or is it try)

Well I finished my first triathlon.  Although it was a very short one it was still fun.  Not very hard but it was fun to get out there and do one.  The wifey and I woke up around 6am so we could leave by 630.  We drove to Clermont, Fl which was about an hour away.  We got there and I linked up with someone who was going to let me borrow a wesuit.  Long story short, I rented one online and it didn't show up on time so I called a friend who called a friend and eventually put me in touch with someone who had a wetsuit I could borrow.  Moving along...

So I finally get my number and my goody bag and get to the transition area to set up my stuff.  I laid out my bike stuff and my running stuff and waited around.  

I finally got into the borrowed wetsuit and the race began.  The 400m swim turned into more like a 200m swim and a 200 meter water run. The lake was quite shallow and it took a long while to get to where we needed to swim.  The toughest part was determining what the fastest way to get through the water was.  Once I got to where I couldn't run anymore, but I could still walk was it faster and more energy efficient to swim or walk?  I would swim for a few strokes and then realize the people I was next to were going just as fast as I was but they were walking.  So I would stop and walk, but that made my legs tired and knowing that i had to bike and run, was it better to swim? But then swimming is a lot more tiring overall than walking so was walking the best option? This back and forth went on in my head for a long time.  I finally finished the walk/swim portion and transitioned into the bike.  The transition took a little longer than I would have liked but not bad overall.  Once on the bike I felt a lot more comfortable than I felt in the water.  Because this was a first triathlon for most people, there were people riding mountain bikes and one guy was even riding a beach cruiser. It was funny until I realized that he was beating me and by a lot.  Anyways, I kept pedaling and the 9 miles went by quickly.  I got off the bike and put my running shoes on.  The 2 mile run started off on a very sandy path which made for slower running but it ended on regular dirt which I appreciated.  I think most people were very tired by this point because I passed a lot of people.  
In the end, my goal was 1 hour and I finished a few seconds ahead of that.  And my second goal was to let no one pass me. And no one did.  Well except in the swim maybe.  But no one came up from behind me in the bike or on the run, which is always a goal: always be the one passing people.  At the end I was bumbed there was no medal to show for my efforts, but oh well.  It was still fun. I am looking forward to the next one. The next one is in a month and is a legitimate distance and will require a legitimate effort.  

Here are some pics the wifey took...

Me setting up my gear.

I had to test out the water before I got in...65* = brrrr.

A funny sign next to the water's edge.  Not something you want to see right before you go swimming...

A self portrait before it all began.  I was going to make a "that's what she said" joke about all that rubber I was wearing, but decided against it.

The start of the race...can you find waldo?

Me during the bike portion

And at the finish... I know I could be a walking Nike poster. And no I am not sponsored by them; yet.

Triathlon Eve

Well tomorrow is my first triathlon. Well kind of. Technically it is my first official 3 sport event, but it is a sprint triathlon so I hardly count it.  400m swim, 9 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run.  Like I said, very short but it is mostly just getting out there and learning what a triathlon is about. So we will see. 

Anyways, had a follow up appointment today with the Dr and he could not find any reason my heart beats so fast. So for now, I am ok.  But he is going to keep working on it. I will wear a heart monitor for two weeks only taking it off to shower or swim.  Hopefully this longer duration will show the Dr something, anything.  

But like I said, I am not too worried. He said I should be ok.  

Well today's question is, what physical endeavor have you always wanted to accomplish but either never have yet or you have accomplished?  If you have not completed when are you planning to?

For me I want to accomplish a full Ironman in under 13 hours. That is an endeavor I would like to accomplish and hopefully I will do that this November. 

Dr. Who or should I say Dr What?

Well I have still been keeping up with the training, but I have tried to keep running to a minimum and keep it at an easy pace as to not upset the heart before my Dr appointment.  I actually did a bi-athlon on Saturday.  I swam for 30 mins (1000m) and then rode the bike for an hour (17 miles).  All this while keeping a low heart rate. 

Anyways, I went to the Dr today and it sucked.  Very anti-climatic.  I prepared myself for an intense ordeal. I was hydrating all day, didn't work out before hand and even wore running clothes and shoes to the appointment.  So at the appointment the Dr listened to my heart, took a sonogram of my heart, did a stress test, and I am currently wearing a mini-EKG for the next 24 hours.  When he listened to my heart he asked me "did you feel that?", I was like umm...no, why?  He didn't say. I am not sure what he heard. Did my heart skip a beat, beat too many times, did it start whistling the Marine Corps hymn? Who knows.  After that, they did a sonogram of my heart, which I have to be honest is a hoax.  I think all you see is a bunch of squiggly lines and depending on what kind of Dr it is determines what kind of news they tell you.  I mean, the picture they took of "my heart" could have just as easily been a picture of a baby.  Totally unrecognizable.  Much like a child's art, it was total crap.  You couldn't see anything.  I might be pregnant, who knows?  Then the very anticipated stress test. Now like I said, I showed up expecting a STRESS test. I was expecting for these Drs to really test my heart out.  I was in a controlled environment with proper medical supervision... lets see how much stress the ol' heart can take.  I was expecting all the Drs to gather around and watch as a human heart beats off the chart.  I was expecting something out of Rocky (the one where he fights the russian) and all these newspaper guys and Drs are all around and someone says "a normal person punches at 50 pounds per square inch.  Dragov will now puch. (dragov punches board) As you can see Dragov punches at 500 pounds a square inch."  Everyone then ooh and ahhs like they just witnessed a medical miracle.  I figured someone would say a normal heart beats at 193 bmp = 100%, while as we can see "Super Man" beats at 230bpm; then everyone would ooh and ahh.  Quite the contrary though...  The stress test took 14 mins and I never really broke a sweat.  They only push you until you reach your 100% bpm (220-your age).  Once I hit 193 the test was over.  How lame is that?  I brought my ipod.  I had it on with my headphones in, just waiting for the test to get hard and the running to get tough.  The test chick probably thought I was so stupid for bringing an ipod to the stress test.  But I was expecting to but on a show.  I was going to show them something a human heart isn't supposed to do.  I guess not. I guess I will save that for some other time.  And lastly they gave me a heart monitor that records my heart rate for the next 24 hours.  No showering, yuck.  They said no working out, but then I explained when I work out is when my heart really gets going.  So now they said it is ok to work out. So tomorrow I will get on a treadmill and run like I haven't run in a week and let the monitor in my pocket record medical history.  Or not.  I know I am bit over dramatic but it is better than being under dramatic.  Can you be under-dramatic? I think you can in Europe.

Anyways, I have decided to do away with the top 5 list and start something that might promote interaction... so now we have the question of the day.  Everyday* I will post a new question that people can reply to.  So today's question is:

What is the longest run you have ever been on (distance or time)?  It can be a marathon or running from the police...just what was your longest run.  Mine was in Okinawa, Japan. Jan 1st 2007 a buddy of mine and I ran an impromptu marathon.  It took us 4 hours.  I haven't run that long (time) ever again.  I have done another Marathon since though.  

*legal note: everyday being a very loose interpretation of what a day is. Think of "day" in an abstract sort of timeline, not literal. 

California dreamin, on such a winter's day

Well last week the wifey and I were back in San Diego. I was there for work, she was there because it was almost free.  The gov paid for a hotel, rental car, my flight and my food...all we had to pay for was her flight and everything else was included in my stay.  Sweet! So, while working hard (ha ha ha) I took the time to run a bit (sorry Big Daddy), lift weights and even got a little swim in.  While I was running on the beach at sunset (eat your heart out every where else in the USA) I was took the time to relect on how awesome SoCal is.  Where else can you go to the beach in January and work on your tan?  I mean tropical islands, yes... NorCal or the east coast,no.  

Anyways training continues back here in Orlando. 

I have a Dr Apt next monday with a cardiologist.  That whole rapid heart beat thing has me concerned. Anyways, no problem for a super man. 

I have my sprint Triathlon next weekend. Should be easy but a fun event. We will see.