13 years ago
Friday, October 13, 2006
Cool Stuff....Very Cool
Just a quick explanaiton of the pics below. I had the chance to go down to Utah and particpate in the production of an episode of Home Makeover Utah. Readers of this blog don't know that on the side of my nine to five, I have been trying to break into the aerial photography and video business via small unmanned RC helicopters. I ma just about ready to open my own doors for business. Anyway, these are some pics of me working along side Gary Travis, notable RC heli pilot and cinematographer, at the shoot. He was allowing me the chance to work with him and operate the camera for him that day. It was cool. Hopefully I will get the chance to work similarly with him in the future. And hopefully I can get my own thing going.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
ALMOST PARADISE
Wow! I finally get to recap a day of paintball on here.
On Saturday July 8th ( way too late in the summer to be having the first paintball game of the year ) ten of us gathered at the field I've nicknamed, Ruby Ridge. For some pics and a description you can see the previous post. Ben was taking pictures at this game, so maybe I can eventually get some emailed to me to post on here.
We started at about eleven in the morning. The weather was sunny and somewhere in the mid to upper eighties I guess. It was a little hot for my taste, but the heat didn't seem to affect anyone's ability to have a great time! Aside from a couple of quick games of center flag we spent the next four hours playing strictly an attack and defend type game using the old farm house.
All in all it turned out to be a pretty action-packed day. I brought five hundred rounds with me, and only had about forty or so left at the end of a just a few hours. For me, that's a lot of shooting. We had the following players show up:
Brady
Jon
Joe
Ben
Steve
Phil
Blake
Clay
Rusty
Brian
My favorite kill of the day has to be when I was on the attacking team. We had killed all the defenders in the house except for one. After giving him a few chances to surrender and come out with no response, I decided to make an entry into the house. With my team mates covering me through the windows I made a rush from the front door and into a corner in the living room. I looked back at the doorway to see that Joe had followed me and was in the doorway. I was looking at him getting ready to take the hallway, when I saw him suddenly look up at the ceiling. My eyes instinctively followed his to the half exposed, rotting rafters ten feet up.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Rusty, the last defender, standing above the doorway precariously balanced on the rafters, drawing aim - trying to find a clear shot at me through the rotten boards and slats. With my A-5 set to full auto I immediately fired a good ten round burst into his belly and chest, the final round ending up in a big green splat between the eyes. He had opened fire at me at the same time, but somehow had missed me. Unfortunately for him, Joe and several others opened up on him the same time I did. Stunned and blinded Rusty continued firing his gun off. I was yelling, "he's out! He's dead! . . . Rusty YOU ARE DEAD!" One of his rounds hit me in the upper left thigh before he finally got a hold of himself and quit firing. I'm not sure how many hits he had recieved by that time.
My favorite death of mine, had to be my second time as a defender in the house. I don't remember much about the particulars of that battle, just how it ended. I do remember attackers getting up to the windows and sticking their guns in and firing wildly around the room. Once I shot Joe in the wrist three times as he jammed his gun through the window opening. To be a defender in the house is a crazy experience. The sound of the paintballs impacting on the walls is really wild. The guns all sound so different in there too. It just basically sounds like all hell is breaking loose, and it actually pretty much is!
Anyway, it was down to Steve and I as the last defenders, and the situation was getting desperate. Paintballs where flying everywhere, and we were pushed back into the last two rooms of the house with big open windows all around us. Suddenly I hear Steve yell "grenade!" I could't believe my eyes when I saw a Tippmann Squadbuster flopping around on the floor at Steve's feet spraying blue paint all over his pant legs. I have to say that in my fifteen plus years of paintballing that is the first time I have ever seen a grenade eliminate a player. A few moments later, all by myself, I was eventually overwhelmed and eliminated. I believe Clay did the honors through a window that was on my left.
The other memorable moment was Joe's big charge at center flag. Joe and his whole team decided that they would all sprint in the open towards the flag while shooting simultaneously. They hoped to overwhelm us with aggressive speed and fire power. We read what they were going to do, and when the game began we all went to one knee and hosed them with hundreds of rounds as they ran to the flag. I can honestly say I never let off the trigger the entire duration of the game. None of us did. I would have to guess that it was about twenty seconds of non-stop firing before it was over. I went through probably one hundred rounds just in twenty seconds.
To sum it all up, it was probably one of the most memorable days of paintball I've had. What an awesome place to play, and what a great bunch of guys to play with. I hope we can do it again soon. I invite my fellow players who were there with me to post comments and tell us your favorite kill, and favorite death.
Out.
On Saturday July 8th ( way too late in the summer to be having the first paintball game of the year ) ten of us gathered at the field I've nicknamed, Ruby Ridge. For some pics and a description you can see the previous post. Ben was taking pictures at this game, so maybe I can eventually get some emailed to me to post on here.
We started at about eleven in the morning. The weather was sunny and somewhere in the mid to upper eighties I guess. It was a little hot for my taste, but the heat didn't seem to affect anyone's ability to have a great time! Aside from a couple of quick games of center flag we spent the next four hours playing strictly an attack and defend type game using the old farm house.
All in all it turned out to be a pretty action-packed day. I brought five hundred rounds with me, and only had about forty or so left at the end of a just a few hours. For me, that's a lot of shooting. We had the following players show up:
Brady
Jon
Joe
Ben
Steve
Phil
Blake
Clay
Rusty
Brian
My favorite kill of the day has to be when I was on the attacking team. We had killed all the defenders in the house except for one. After giving him a few chances to surrender and come out with no response, I decided to make an entry into the house. With my team mates covering me through the windows I made a rush from the front door and into a corner in the living room. I looked back at the doorway to see that Joe had followed me and was in the doorway. I was looking at him getting ready to take the hallway, when I saw him suddenly look up at the ceiling. My eyes instinctively followed his to the half exposed, rotting rafters ten feet up.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Rusty, the last defender, standing above the doorway precariously balanced on the rafters, drawing aim - trying to find a clear shot at me through the rotten boards and slats. With my A-5 set to full auto I immediately fired a good ten round burst into his belly and chest, the final round ending up in a big green splat between the eyes. He had opened fire at me at the same time, but somehow had missed me. Unfortunately for him, Joe and several others opened up on him the same time I did. Stunned and blinded Rusty continued firing his gun off. I was yelling, "he's out! He's dead! . . . Rusty YOU ARE DEAD!" One of his rounds hit me in the upper left thigh before he finally got a hold of himself and quit firing. I'm not sure how many hits he had recieved by that time.
My favorite death of mine, had to be my second time as a defender in the house. I don't remember much about the particulars of that battle, just how it ended. I do remember attackers getting up to the windows and sticking their guns in and firing wildly around the room. Once I shot Joe in the wrist three times as he jammed his gun through the window opening. To be a defender in the house is a crazy experience. The sound of the paintballs impacting on the walls is really wild. The guns all sound so different in there too. It just basically sounds like all hell is breaking loose, and it actually pretty much is!
Anyway, it was down to Steve and I as the last defenders, and the situation was getting desperate. Paintballs where flying everywhere, and we were pushed back into the last two rooms of the house with big open windows all around us. Suddenly I hear Steve yell "grenade!" I could't believe my eyes when I saw a Tippmann Squadbuster flopping around on the floor at Steve's feet spraying blue paint all over his pant legs. I have to say that in my fifteen plus years of paintballing that is the first time I have ever seen a grenade eliminate a player. A few moments later, all by myself, I was eventually overwhelmed and eliminated. I believe Clay did the honors through a window that was on my left.
The other memorable moment was Joe's big charge at center flag. Joe and his whole team decided that they would all sprint in the open towards the flag while shooting simultaneously. They hoped to overwhelm us with aggressive speed and fire power. We read what they were going to do, and when the game began we all went to one knee and hosed them with hundreds of rounds as they ran to the flag. I can honestly say I never let off the trigger the entire duration of the game. None of us did. I would have to guess that it was about twenty seconds of non-stop firing before it was over. I went through probably one hundred rounds just in twenty seconds.
To sum it all up, it was probably one of the most memorable days of paintball I've had. What an awesome place to play, and what a great bunch of guys to play with. I hope we can do it again soon. I invite my fellow players who were there with me to post comments and tell us your favorite kill, and favorite death.
Out.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Knockn' on Heaven's Door
Finally a paintball update!
Well, we have officially set July 7th or the 8th as a game to get together and finally play some paintball. I personally don't plan on waiting that long, but that's the day that everyone is going to travel to come play this one.
Today I found what has to be the COOLEST place I've ever seen to play paintball. I've nicknamed the place, Ruby Ridge.
It is an old abandoned farm stead about a three mile drive from my home. How great is that?! There is an old house, along with out buildings, canals, bridges, and sheds. It's all over grown with tall grass, weeds, and trees. This is an ideal spot to play. I can't freakn' wait!
I am so excited for the new dynamics that buildings and structures, along with canals of water are going to add to our playing experience. Plus it has a lot of trees, brush and open areas. It's the best of all worlds.
I just hope it isn't too good to be true. I hope the property owner doesn't change his mind and decide to not allow it.
Anyway, not a real long entry today. Just wanted to talk about the new place to play.
Started Body For Life back up yesterday after three weeks off and four pounds added. Gotta get back on it. current weight: 12lbs
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Limbo
Well, I am currently floating around in diet limbo for the moment. Body For Life was going great. It still is I guess. This last monday began week six. So far it's gone like this: Week one lost two pounds, week two lost three pounds, week three lost three pounds, week four gained one pound, week five lost two pounds, Week six gained three.
Beginning weight 217 lbs. Current weight 211 lbs. Total weight loss = 6 lbs I was down to 208 lbs at one point making a total loss of 9 lbs.
There has been the complication this week of my wife giving birth to our third child ( a boy ). Because of that I have been on the "my wife just had a baby" program, which consists of eating lots of frozen pizza, fruity pebbles, and the only excersice I get is chasing the other two kids around, doing dishes, laundrey, etc.
I am happy to say that the diet is going great otherwise. Those three pounds gained will be gone as soon as I can get my life back into the regular routine. Despite the weight loss, I have also begun to notice an increase in muscularity. Nothing that would blow you away, but changes are taking place. Changes that feel good. I can't wait to get back on it. I think this is going to be the path to my goal, and it feels good to be on that path.
I think that I will allow myself a two or three week extension on the twelve week program to make up for the last two weeks.
------
The weather has gotten very nice lately. The temps are in the upper eighties the last few days. I have been fondling my paintball gun wishing to get out and play. I have heard that the river bottoms where we usually meet to play is currently under water from the snow run-off. I have a friend that owns some land up in the foothills, several acres, and mentioned to me that we could play there if we want. It would be a little farther to drive, but it would also be a basic private field for us. That would be awesome. I just need to hook up with him, and have him drive me out there, so I can know how to get there.
As far as putting a competitve team goes, I haven't given it as much thought lately. I am a bit discouraged over it. Joe is moving out of state to the Mid West to got to med school. Jon and Ben both live three and four hours away. That just leaves a few of us here to form the team. Hopefully I can do some major recruiting this summer and come up with at least five or six guys who'd be interested in joining the team. Maybe by Fall we can actually start some serious team training.
Anyway, once the baby situation gets squared up, and life gets back to normal a little bit, I will schedule the first game of the year. Although it probably won't be eveyone else's first game.
Beginning weight 217 lbs. Current weight 211 lbs. Total weight loss = 6 lbs I was down to 208 lbs at one point making a total loss of 9 lbs.
There has been the complication this week of my wife giving birth to our third child ( a boy ). Because of that I have been on the "my wife just had a baby" program, which consists of eating lots of frozen pizza, fruity pebbles, and the only excersice I get is chasing the other two kids around, doing dishes, laundrey, etc.
I am happy to say that the diet is going great otherwise. Those three pounds gained will be gone as soon as I can get my life back into the regular routine. Despite the weight loss, I have also begun to notice an increase in muscularity. Nothing that would blow you away, but changes are taking place. Changes that feel good. I can't wait to get back on it. I think this is going to be the path to my goal, and it feels good to be on that path.
I think that I will allow myself a two or three week extension on the twelve week program to make up for the last two weeks.
------
The weather has gotten very nice lately. The temps are in the upper eighties the last few days. I have been fondling my paintball gun wishing to get out and play. I have heard that the river bottoms where we usually meet to play is currently under water from the snow run-off. I have a friend that owns some land up in the foothills, several acres, and mentioned to me that we could play there if we want. It would be a little farther to drive, but it would also be a basic private field for us. That would be awesome. I just need to hook up with him, and have him drive me out there, so I can know how to get there.
As far as putting a competitve team goes, I haven't given it as much thought lately. I am a bit discouraged over it. Joe is moving out of state to the Mid West to got to med school. Jon and Ben both live three and four hours away. That just leaves a few of us here to form the team. Hopefully I can do some major recruiting this summer and come up with at least five or six guys who'd be interested in joining the team. Maybe by Fall we can actually start some serious team training.
Anyway, once the baby situation gets squared up, and life gets back to normal a little bit, I will schedule the first game of the year. Although it probably won't be eveyone else's first game.
Limbo
Well, I am currently floating around in diet limbo for the moment. Body For Life was going great. It still is I guess. This last monday began week six. So far it's gone like this: Week one lost two pounds, week two lost three pounds, week three lost three pounds, week four gained one pound, week five lost two pounds, Week six gained three.
Beginning weight 217 lbs. Current weight 211 lbs. Total weight loss = 6 lbs I was down to 208 lbs at one point making a total loss of 9 lbs.
There has been the complication this week of my wife giving birth to our third child ( a boy ). Because of that I have been on the "my wife just had a baby" program, which consists of eating lots of frozen pizza, fruity pebbles, and the only excersice I get is chasing the other two kids around, doing dishes, laundrey, etc.
I am happy to say that the diet is going great otherwise. Those three pounds gained will be gone as soon as I can get my life back into the regular routine. Despite the weight loss, I have also begun to notice an increase in muscularity. Nothing that would blow you away, but changes are taking place. Changes that feel good. I can't wait to get back on it. I think this is going to be the path to my goal, and it feels good to be on that path.
I think that I will allow myself a two or three week extension on the twelve week program to make up for the last two weeks.
------
The weather has gotten very nice lately. The temps are in the upper eighties the last few days. I have been fondling my paintball gun wishing to get out and play. I have heard that the river bottoms where we usually meet to play is currently under water from the snow run-off. I have a friend that owns some land up in the foothills, several acres, and mentioned to me that we could play there if we want. It would be a little farther to drive, but it would also be a basic private field for us. That would be awesome. I just need to hook up with him, and have him drive me out there, so I can know how to get there.
As far as putting a competitve team goes, I haven't given it as much thought lately. I am a bit discouraged over it. Joe is moving out of state to the Mid West to got to med school. Jon and Ben both live three and four hours away. That just leaves a few of us here to form the team. Hopefully I can do some major recruiting this summer and come up with at least five or six guys who'd be interested in joining the team. Maybe by Fall we can actually start some serious team training.
Anyway, once the baby situation gets squared up, and life gets back to normal a little bit, I will schedule the first game of the year. Although it probably won't be eveyone else's first game.
Beginning weight 217 lbs. Current weight 211 lbs. Total weight loss = 6 lbs I was down to 208 lbs at one point making a total loss of 9 lbs.
There has been the complication this week of my wife giving birth to our third child ( a boy ). Because of that I have been on the "my wife just had a baby" program, which consists of eating lots of frozen pizza, fruity pebbles, and the only excersice I get is chasing the other two kids around, doing dishes, laundrey, etc.
I am happy to say that the diet is going great otherwise. Those three pounds gained will be gone as soon as I can get my life back into the regular routine. Despite the weight loss, I have also begun to notice an increase in muscularity. Nothing that would blow you away, but changes are taking place. Changes that feel good. I can't wait to get back on it. I think this is going to be the path to my goal, and it feels good to be on that path.
I think that I will allow myself a two or three week extension on the twelve week program to make up for the last two weeks.
------
The weather has gotten very nice lately. The temps are in the upper eighties the last few days. I have been fondling my paintball gun wishing to get out and play. I have heard that the river bottoms where we usually meet to play is currently under water from the snow run-off. I have a friend that owns some land up in the foothills, several acres, and mentioned to me that we could play there if we want. It would be a little farther to drive, but it would also be a basic private field for us. That would be awesome. I just need to hook up with him, and have him drive me out there, so I can know how to get there.
As far as putting a competitve team goes, I haven't given it as much thought lately. I am a bit discouraged over it. Joe is moving out of state to the Mid West to got to med school. Jon and Ben both live three and four hours away. That just leaves a few of us here to form the team. Hopefully I can do some major recruiting this summer and come up with at least five or six guys who'd be interested in joining the team. Maybe by Fall we can actually start some serious team training.
Anyway, once the baby situation gets squared up, and life gets back to normal a little bit, I will schedule the first game of the year. Although it probably won't be eveyone else's first game.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
So Far So Good
Ok. It has been about two weeks since I began Body For Life. Today is actually day sixteen. It seems to be going pretty good so far. In two weeks I've lost five pounds. My friend, the personal trainer who recommended this, says that five pounds in two weeks is terrific. So, I am pretty excited.
I have been keeping a journal where I log every workout, and every meal. It has been helpful to go back and look at previous workouts and use the numbers to plan future workouts. It also has been a great motivator. Knowing that I have to write down my workouts and meals in a journal helps keep me in line. I also took before pictures, and am going to take pictures every four weeks throughout the entire twelve week program, so I can track my progress that way. This is also a great motivator. Knowing that my next pictures are in two weeks makes me want to really work hard over these next couple weeks. I wonder if any change will be noticeable in just four weeks.
I am feeling pretty good so far. I can feel my muscles hardening, and my waist line seems to be getting smaller just by the feel of my pants. The energy level seems good, and the diet is actually a pleasure to be on in comparison to the low-carb dieting I was doing before. For the record: Starting weight: 217 lbs. After week one: 215 lbs. After week two: 212 lbs. Total loss so far: 5 lbs.
I thought we'd have played some paintball by now, but the weather has been atrocious! It's been snowing the last two days. This is one of the worst springs I think in my memory. Today is looking pretty good though. I think I will go fly my radio controlled helicopter.
I have been keeping a journal where I log every workout, and every meal. It has been helpful to go back and look at previous workouts and use the numbers to plan future workouts. It also has been a great motivator. Knowing that I have to write down my workouts and meals in a journal helps keep me in line. I also took before pictures, and am going to take pictures every four weeks throughout the entire twelve week program, so I can track my progress that way. This is also a great motivator. Knowing that my next pictures are in two weeks makes me want to really work hard over these next couple weeks. I wonder if any change will be noticeable in just four weeks.
I am feeling pretty good so far. I can feel my muscles hardening, and my waist line seems to be getting smaller just by the feel of my pants. The energy level seems good, and the diet is actually a pleasure to be on in comparison to the low-carb dieting I was doing before. For the record: Starting weight: 217 lbs. After week one: 215 lbs. After week two: 212 lbs. Total loss so far: 5 lbs.
I thought we'd have played some paintball by now, but the weather has been atrocious! It's been snowing the last two days. This is one of the worst springs I think in my memory. Today is looking pretty good though. I think I will go fly my radio controlled helicopter.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Unexpected Surprise
Today was day one of my attempt at the Body For Life twelve week program. I got up this morning at 7:30 and was at the gym working out by 8:10. I planned ahead of time what my work out would consist of last night, going by the guidlines in the Body For Life program.
I have always considered myself a hard-hitting customer when it came to weight training, so I wasn't too concerned about today's work out. In fact, I will admit that I was a little skeptical at first. Is it possible to really get in a good weight training work out in just forty five minutes? Especially when training chest, shoulders, back, triceps and biceps? Personally, I thought that this work out would be a little amateurish for me. I figured Bill Phillips had designed it for those with little or no experience in the gym.
I am here to say that this morning I got served a big slice of humble pie! This work out was intense! I felt the blood rushing to my muscles after each exercise. I could barely keep my arms from shaking on the steering wheel on the drive home. In fact, It hit me so hard, I was unable to finish the work out. I walked out on the last few sets of biceps. I was just too exhausted to continue. Bile was rising up in my stomach from exersion, and I felt like I was going to vomit if I continued! So much for my earlier concerns.
Tomorrow will be a cardio day. No need to get up early and head to the gym. I can do that on my treadmill here at home. So, here I begin the journey with the first day being a success as far as I'm concerned even though I didn't finish the work out. I still pushed myself.
Day 1 - 217 lbs
I have always considered myself a hard-hitting customer when it came to weight training, so I wasn't too concerned about today's work out. In fact, I will admit that I was a little skeptical at first. Is it possible to really get in a good weight training work out in just forty five minutes? Especially when training chest, shoulders, back, triceps and biceps? Personally, I thought that this work out would be a little amateurish for me. I figured Bill Phillips had designed it for those with little or no experience in the gym.
I am here to say that this morning I got served a big slice of humble pie! This work out was intense! I felt the blood rushing to my muscles after each exercise. I could barely keep my arms from shaking on the steering wheel on the drive home. In fact, It hit me so hard, I was unable to finish the work out. I walked out on the last few sets of biceps. I was just too exhausted to continue. Bile was rising up in my stomach from exersion, and I felt like I was going to vomit if I continued! So much for my earlier concerns.
Tomorrow will be a cardio day. No need to get up early and head to the gym. I can do that on my treadmill here at home. So, here I begin the journey with the first day being a success as far as I'm concerned even though I didn't finish the work out. I still pushed myself.
Day 1 - 217 lbs
Friday, March 31, 2006
It's The Final Countdown
The weather is still snow and rain forecasted for the next ten days! So, paintball is still out of the question. Even if it was nice, we'd still be playing in a mud bog. The weather can't be hideous forever can it?
I just finished "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips, and my eyes have been opened. Apparantly I've been going about this whole get in shape journey all wrong. The book makes a lot of sense, and I have decided to accept Mr. Phillips' twelve challenge. Today is Friday, and I have decided to mark this monday as my first day. I'm pretty excited, and yet a little aprehensive. I see the before and after pics of people who've succeeded following this program, and I get all excited. I can't believe the change these people were able to make in just twelve weeks!
I guess the only thing that I am nervous about is getting all the workouts in. Without going into a lot of detail, the nature of my job is going to make some days virtually impossible to work out. I'm going to give it my best however. A missed workout here and there shouldn't destroy everything. The good news is that under Bill's program the workouts are pretty short, so squeezing them into a busy schedule shouldn't be as tough.
Anyway, I plan to keep a regular update on here as to my progress, and workouts and dieting and stuff. I think I will take a before picture, and then one every three weeks, so I can see a photographic record of my progress.
We shall see how it goes.
I just finished "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips, and my eyes have been opened. Apparantly I've been going about this whole get in shape journey all wrong. The book makes a lot of sense, and I have decided to accept Mr. Phillips' twelve challenge. Today is Friday, and I have decided to mark this monday as my first day. I'm pretty excited, and yet a little aprehensive. I see the before and after pics of people who've succeeded following this program, and I get all excited. I can't believe the change these people were able to make in just twelve weeks!
I guess the only thing that I am nervous about is getting all the workouts in. Without going into a lot of detail, the nature of my job is going to make some days virtually impossible to work out. I'm going to give it my best however. A missed workout here and there shouldn't destroy everything. The good news is that under Bill's program the workouts are pretty short, so squeezing them into a busy schedule shouldn't be as tough.
Anyway, I plan to keep a regular update on here as to my progress, and workouts and dieting and stuff. I think I will take a before picture, and then one every three weeks, so I can see a photographic record of my progress.
We shall see how it goes.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Desperate times are calling
Today is another judgement day. I weighed myself, and found that I've lost maybe one pound at most. I am just a little over 209 now, according to the mechanical scale. Maybe I've lost a little more, since it seems like I was on the heavy side of 210 last week. All in all, it's no great cause for celebration. I'm happy that I didn't gain at least. This week wasn't filled with an abundance of workouts either, so I can't complain too much. Work was just scheduled so that the work out opportunities weren't there. I am happy to report that twice during this week I broke my running records on the treadmill. I've never been much of a runner, and have never run continuously for more than three miles in thirty minutes.
At the beginning of the week I did run 3.25 miles. I hit the 3 mile mark at 29:20 min, and continued on just for the sake of breaking my record to 3.25. I am happy to report that this morning I broke that record. I started at a 10:00 min mile pace for 5 min. Then I increased the speed to 8:34 and ran that for 15 min. Then back to 10:00 for 5 min. and back to 8:34 for the last 5 min. In the end I have the following new records:
Longest time to stay at an 8:34 pace = 15 min.
Fastest time to run 3 miles = 27:10 min
Farthest to ever run without a rest = 3.5 miles
So, the weight loss may not be going as fast as I'd like it to, but there is some progress and something to be proud of. Also, have gotten some comments that my face is looking slimmer from a couple people, and my pants and duty belt at work seem to be fitting looser. I wonder if I am depending too much on the scale. I have been lifting weights a lot, and eating a lot of protein, so maybe I'm losing some body fat, while building some muscle, and therefore weight loss isn't translating to the scale.
Be that as it may, I'm thinking of adding Hydroxycut™ to the equation. To be honest it goes against my principles. I'm not a big beleiver in using drugs and supplements to attain fitness. If you can't attain it naturally, you won't be able to maintain it naturally. That's been my philosophy on that. But since this last ten pounds has been so stubborn coming off, I'm starting to think about using it just to fire off these last ten to fifteen pounds. Then go cold turkey. I am going to call the nutrition store today, and ask some questions. How does it work? Does it suppress appetite, or increase metabolism, or both?
Well, that's about it for now. Nothing paintball worthy to report today. It snowed last night, and the 30-40 mph winds are blowing it all over today. Looks like a scene from the Antarctic. Just waiting for the weather to warm up. That's it for now.
At the beginning of the week I did run 3.25 miles. I hit the 3 mile mark at 29:20 min, and continued on just for the sake of breaking my record to 3.25. I am happy to report that this morning I broke that record. I started at a 10:00 min mile pace for 5 min. Then I increased the speed to 8:34 and ran that for 15 min. Then back to 10:00 for 5 min. and back to 8:34 for the last 5 min. In the end I have the following new records:
Longest time to stay at an 8:34 pace = 15 min.
Fastest time to run 3 miles = 27:10 min
Farthest to ever run without a rest = 3.5 miles
So, the weight loss may not be going as fast as I'd like it to, but there is some progress and something to be proud of. Also, have gotten some comments that my face is looking slimmer from a couple people, and my pants and duty belt at work seem to be fitting looser. I wonder if I am depending too much on the scale. I have been lifting weights a lot, and eating a lot of protein, so maybe I'm losing some body fat, while building some muscle, and therefore weight loss isn't translating to the scale.
Be that as it may, I'm thinking of adding Hydroxycut™ to the equation. To be honest it goes against my principles. I'm not a big beleiver in using drugs and supplements to attain fitness. If you can't attain it naturally, you won't be able to maintain it naturally. That's been my philosophy on that. But since this last ten pounds has been so stubborn coming off, I'm starting to think about using it just to fire off these last ten to fifteen pounds. Then go cold turkey. I am going to call the nutrition store today, and ask some questions. How does it work? Does it suppress appetite, or increase metabolism, or both?
Well, that's about it for now. Nothing paintball worthy to report today. It snowed last night, and the 30-40 mph winds are blowing it all over today. Looks like a scene from the Antarctic. Just waiting for the weather to warm up. That's it for now.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The Joy of Outfoxing
Out of boredom, I thought I'd post one of my favorite paintball memories, for posterity.
It was sometime in the mid-nineties, and a group of about ten of us had gathered for some recreational play in some river bottoms that line the banks of the Snake River. After a few friendly games, we noticed another group of about ten guys in full camo approaching us, paintball guns slung over their shoulders. They too had the same idea. They seemed like nice guys, and it wasn't long before it was decided we should band up and play together as one large group.
We played a few mixed games with them. By mixed, I mean we were all mingled together...no us vs them mentality. It was all fun and games, until they decided that they wanted to take us on. Their most out-spoken player said, " Hey how about us versus you guys for a game?" Suddenly the competitive juices started to flow. Don't get me wrong. They were the consumate good sports, but you could feel that somehow a lot of pride was being laid on the line. We all felt a burning need to beat these guys, and show them who was king.
We agreed. The format would be simple. Elimination. Each team would start from opposite ends of the field. The goal was simply to eliminate the other team. No flag to capture or other objectives to win. The last team with a surviving player on the field won. We seperated and startd walking to our respective sides of the field. My mind raced for some kind of strategy to use against these guys. I was more used to capturing a flag or achieving some other objective in order to win.
Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. It would be a risky plan, but if we could pull it off it would work great. When the whistle blew to start the game. We sprinted towards the other team as fast and as quietly as we could. When we reached close to mid-field we quickly went about burying our team mate, Jon, under a pile of branches, grass, and leaves. With Jon completely camo'd, and the other team not in sight yet, we faded back towards our base, taking cover in the trees and undergrowth.
It wasn't long before the other team began to appear in a skirmish line, emerging from the forest- one by one- like phantoms from a mist. We let them come a little closer, and opened fire. For a little bit we traded fire with them, until they eliminated one of our guys. That was our signal to fall back slowly. As we fell back, they naturally pushed forward, and to my much delight, they pushed right on past Jon, who still lay motionless under his hiding spot. Once we knew they were past Jon, we stopped our feigned retreat, and really opened up aggresively on them, moving, shooting, flanking, and pushing up a little. This was all to cause distraction - to get them so they had tunnel vision. Jon waited patiently for his signal to start the main phase of the plan.
With a loud war cry, I charged like a kamikaze towards the other team, firing at them as fast and wildly as I could, and also keeping myself in the open to present an irresistable target. The other team fell for my distraction technique, as all of them were firing like mad to take me out. Which in fact, they did. I felt the hot sting as several paintballs impacted on my chest and legs. Raising my hands I called myself out and started walking over to the side. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jon emerge smoothly from hiding. His gun reminded me of a coiled snake about to strike as I watched him take aim at the back of one of the unsuspecting opponents.
To wrap things up, let me just say, Jon had single handidly eliminated at least half of the other team, before any of them had any idea what was happening. The remaining four opponents collapsed on themseleves as our team rushed in for the kill. With Jon firing a hail storm of rounds at them from behind, and seven of our guys doing the same from the front, while charging and flanking, they didn't stand a chance.
The game was over. There were handshakes and smiles. War stories shared. The other guys were in utter awe.
One of my favorite things about paintball is when you put together a plan as a team, and follow that plan, using solid tactics and team work, and come out on top. It really is the icing on the cake in the sport for me.
It was sometime in the mid-nineties, and a group of about ten of us had gathered for some recreational play in some river bottoms that line the banks of the Snake River. After a few friendly games, we noticed another group of about ten guys in full camo approaching us, paintball guns slung over their shoulders. They too had the same idea. They seemed like nice guys, and it wasn't long before it was decided we should band up and play together as one large group.
We played a few mixed games with them. By mixed, I mean we were all mingled together...no us vs them mentality. It was all fun and games, until they decided that they wanted to take us on. Their most out-spoken player said, " Hey how about us versus you guys for a game?" Suddenly the competitive juices started to flow. Don't get me wrong. They were the consumate good sports, but you could feel that somehow a lot of pride was being laid on the line. We all felt a burning need to beat these guys, and show them who was king.
We agreed. The format would be simple. Elimination. Each team would start from opposite ends of the field. The goal was simply to eliminate the other team. No flag to capture or other objectives to win. The last team with a surviving player on the field won. We seperated and startd walking to our respective sides of the field. My mind raced for some kind of strategy to use against these guys. I was more used to capturing a flag or achieving some other objective in order to win.
Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. It would be a risky plan, but if we could pull it off it would work great. When the whistle blew to start the game. We sprinted towards the other team as fast and as quietly as we could. When we reached close to mid-field we quickly went about burying our team mate, Jon, under a pile of branches, grass, and leaves. With Jon completely camo'd, and the other team not in sight yet, we faded back towards our base, taking cover in the trees and undergrowth.
It wasn't long before the other team began to appear in a skirmish line, emerging from the forest- one by one- like phantoms from a mist. We let them come a little closer, and opened fire. For a little bit we traded fire with them, until they eliminated one of our guys. That was our signal to fall back slowly. As we fell back, they naturally pushed forward, and to my much delight, they pushed right on past Jon, who still lay motionless under his hiding spot. Once we knew they were past Jon, we stopped our feigned retreat, and really opened up aggresively on them, moving, shooting, flanking, and pushing up a little. This was all to cause distraction - to get them so they had tunnel vision. Jon waited patiently for his signal to start the main phase of the plan.
With a loud war cry, I charged like a kamikaze towards the other team, firing at them as fast and wildly as I could, and also keeping myself in the open to present an irresistable target. The other team fell for my distraction technique, as all of them were firing like mad to take me out. Which in fact, they did. I felt the hot sting as several paintballs impacted on my chest and legs. Raising my hands I called myself out and started walking over to the side. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jon emerge smoothly from hiding. His gun reminded me of a coiled snake about to strike as I watched him take aim at the back of one of the unsuspecting opponents.
To wrap things up, let me just say, Jon had single handidly eliminated at least half of the other team, before any of them had any idea what was happening. The remaining four opponents collapsed on themseleves as our team rushed in for the kill. With Jon firing a hail storm of rounds at them from behind, and seven of our guys doing the same from the front, while charging and flanking, they didn't stand a chance.
The game was over. There were handshakes and smiles. War stories shared. The other guys were in utter awe.
One of my favorite things about paintball is when you put together a plan as a team, and follow that plan, using solid tactics and team work, and come out on top. It really is the icing on the cake in the sport for me.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
HItting The Wall
210 lbs! For the second week in a row! I'm kinda bummed. 210 seems to be my wall lately. I can't seem to drop below that number anymore. A couple of years ago, I was able to get down to 195. Now I can't seem to get past 210! I know however, that I havn't been as diligent this time around as I was last time. Last time there was no cheating whatsover! Not even little sugar-free candies. I guess I can't complain too much. I did cheat three of the last six days or so. Actually, maybe 210 is good news. I cheated quite a bit, and didn't gain any weight. On top of that, I didn't get the chance to work out as often as I wanted at work. Only two workouts out of five days. So, maybe being able to sit back and say that I had a crappy week, and was still able to maintain my weight is a good thing. I guess I'm just tired of getting stopped at 210. The difference is, is that usually at this point, I would yo yo back up to 215, and then start the cycle over again. NOT THIS TIME! I won't give into dispair this week! I will stay with the diet this week, and I will workout when I can.
The workouts are going to be the hard part. I will be spending a lot of time assigned to a post this next set of work days that won't give me a chance to workout. You have to understand. I work a twelve hour shift combined with an hour and a half commute each way. I leave the door at 5 Am / PM and don't get home until 8:30 AM / PM Not really a chance to workout after work. But, maybe I can get in some quick ten min. runs or something on the treadmill. Bottom line, I plan to be under 210 next week. I'm going to attack this.
I'm glad I sat down to post on my blog. Before I sat down to write, the left-over pizza, and rasberry filled donuts were calling my name without mercy. Now I feel a boost of strength to resist those calls.
No paintball news this week. The weather is warming up. Much of the snow is melted. The temps were in the mid 40s this week. Right now it's pouring and the wind is blowing. The ground is a soggy mud pit. But, you can tell warmer weather is around the corner. Hopefully I will be posting some paintball related stuff soon. That's it for this week.
The workouts are going to be the hard part. I will be spending a lot of time assigned to a post this next set of work days that won't give me a chance to workout. You have to understand. I work a twelve hour shift combined with an hour and a half commute each way. I leave the door at 5 Am / PM and don't get home until 8:30 AM / PM Not really a chance to workout after work. But, maybe I can get in some quick ten min. runs or something on the treadmill. Bottom line, I plan to be under 210 next week. I'm going to attack this.
I'm glad I sat down to post on my blog. Before I sat down to write, the left-over pizza, and rasberry filled donuts were calling my name without mercy. Now I feel a boost of strength to resist those calls.
No paintball news this week. The weather is warming up. Much of the snow is melted. The temps were in the mid 40s this week. Right now it's pouring and the wind is blowing. The ground is a soggy mud pit. But, you can tell warmer weather is around the corner. Hopefully I will be posting some paintball related stuff soon. That's it for this week.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Lose weight.....throw grenades!
Today is day five since my new recommitment to losing weight. I promised myself that I would post my results every week on here, to kind of help motivate me, and as a way to track my progress.
So here's how the last four days went.
Thursday: Started diet. Ran for 2.5 miles on treadmill. Later that night at work had a good chest / triceps / stairmaster workout
Friday: Woke up ran 2 miles on treadmill. Had back / biceps / stairmaster workout later that night at work
Saturday: No workout at all. I had to deal with frozen water pipes when I woke up, and at work I was stationed in a high secure area where working out is not possble. I will refer to the area for now on as the bunker.
Sunday: Once again, no workout because of the bunker again.
Monday: Ran 2.5 on the treadmill first thing in the morning. Also weighed myself ----210 lbs = a 5 lbs loss. not bad.
Now I am at a crucial point. I usually can get down to 210 and then I destroy it all by cheating on the diet. Well, today would have normally been a cheat day, but not today. I am hanging in there. I really want to kick the effort into overdrive, and see how fast I can get down to 200. I think I will do some lifting later tonight Back and biceps.
PAINTBALL
So, it's still snowing. Talked a lot this week with Clay and Jon about the itch to play. We all agree that it't time for winter to end. I got my A5 all pimped out exactly how I want it now. It has a stock, raised sight rail, Egrip, 42mm red dot sight, flatline barrel, raider shroud, and false magazine. I have to admit, it's a little heavy now with all that stuff on it, but it sure is wicked looking! I will post a pic of it in the future.
I was going to get rid of the Flatline barrel, cause I felt like it wasn't as accurate as I'd like, but then I realized I had gone with a remote last summer and no stock, so there wasn't anything to brace against my shoulder. The inaccuracy I experienced might have been due to that. So, I am going to give the Flatline another chance. It's worth it since the barrel puts 150 ft of extra range on your gun, that others don't have.
The only other thing, is I found this cool kit you can get: refillable grenades.
We as a group have never used grenades hardley. Mostly due to the expense. A typical paintball grenade averages around $5.00 a piece! That's just too much money for most of us. Although there have been many times when a grenade would have come in handy, for the money we do without. Except maybe for now. These grenades average 1$ a piece. Much better. I still need to talk the guys into going in on the refill kit. For practice purposes we could just fill them with water. I talked to Clay, and he's for it. I gotta find eight guys willing to fork over $12.50. That would get them 3 grenades, each one reusable up to five times. So, $12.50 for 15 grenades essentially. That's only 83 cents a pop. You can't ask for much better.
So here's how the last four days went.
Thursday: Started diet. Ran for 2.5 miles on treadmill. Later that night at work had a good chest / triceps / stairmaster workout
Friday: Woke up ran 2 miles on treadmill. Had back / biceps / stairmaster workout later that night at work
Saturday: No workout at all. I had to deal with frozen water pipes when I woke up, and at work I was stationed in a high secure area where working out is not possble. I will refer to the area for now on as the bunker.
Sunday: Once again, no workout because of the bunker again.
Monday: Ran 2.5 on the treadmill first thing in the morning. Also weighed myself ----210 lbs = a 5 lbs loss. not bad.
Now I am at a crucial point. I usually can get down to 210 and then I destroy it all by cheating on the diet. Well, today would have normally been a cheat day, but not today. I am hanging in there. I really want to kick the effort into overdrive, and see how fast I can get down to 200. I think I will do some lifting later tonight Back and biceps.
PAINTBALL
So, it's still snowing. Talked a lot this week with Clay and Jon about the itch to play. We all agree that it't time for winter to end. I got my A5 all pimped out exactly how I want it now. It has a stock, raised sight rail, Egrip, 42mm red dot sight, flatline barrel, raider shroud, and false magazine. I have to admit, it's a little heavy now with all that stuff on it, but it sure is wicked looking! I will post a pic of it in the future.
I was going to get rid of the Flatline barrel, cause I felt like it wasn't as accurate as I'd like, but then I realized I had gone with a remote last summer and no stock, so there wasn't anything to brace against my shoulder. The inaccuracy I experienced might have been due to that. So, I am going to give the Flatline another chance. It's worth it since the barrel puts 150 ft of extra range on your gun, that others don't have.
The only other thing, is I found this cool kit you can get: refillable grenades.
We as a group have never used grenades hardley. Mostly due to the expense. A typical paintball grenade averages around $5.00 a piece! That's just too much money for most of us. Although there have been many times when a grenade would have come in handy, for the money we do without. Except maybe for now. These grenades average 1$ a piece. Much better. I still need to talk the guys into going in on the refill kit. For practice purposes we could just fill them with water. I talked to Clay, and he's for it. I gotta find eight guys willing to fork over $12.50. That would get them 3 grenades, each one reusable up to five times. So, $12.50 for 15 grenades essentially. That's only 83 cents a pop. You can't ask for much better.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
I Think I Can...I Think I Can
I guess for this post, I’m blogging just for the sake of blogging. We got three inches of snow today. BAH! It’s supposed to be getting warmer. Spring is right around the corner...right? Anyway, there isn’t much to report in the paintball world, which is the main theme now of my blog. If the weather ever warms up, then perhaps I will become more active here.
Thanks to idahopaintball.com. I have learned of a tournament being held in Ontario, Oregon in May. There isn’t a whole lot of information available yet. All I know is it’s the first weekend of May, and is a four man team tactical scenario tourney of some kind. Sounds right up our alley. I’ll have to wait until more information is available. It would be a five hour drive, but we could stay at Ben’s ( team mate ) house in Boise to cut costs. Right now I’m thinking we could have Myself, Jon, Joe, and Ben as the team, and Rett whitesalamander. as an alternate, and moral, and logistical support. He could drive down from Portland for the event. We will have to wait and see how the details fan out. More later.
As far as my personal fitness gains go, I’ve been better sadly. At this point, I am on a text book Yo Yo diet. I will start up Atkins, and do it faithfully for a week, and lose three to five pounds, then go off the diet for a few days and destroy any progress. This has been going on now for a couple of months, and I am just about fed up with myself. I am on the verge of a major rebirth. I can feel the personal loathing building to a boiling point. I know I have it in me to do what I need to do to accomplish my goals. For now the plan is to use Atkins faithfully to get down to two hundred pounds. Once there, I will switch from Atkins to the Body For Life program by Bill Phillips. I will use healthy diet, and plenty of activity and exercise to maintain a weight under two hundred. Every few weeks, I will switch back to an Atkins type diet to try to lose a few more pounds. Hopefully after a while, I can be closer to one ninety by doing this.
Part of that plan is to make myself more accountable for my failures as I blogged about before. For now on, I will be recording in this blog my fitness ups and downs as often as possible. At least once a week, I will make a report including times worked out, what work outs consisted of, diet, and current weight. I figure it will help keep me in line knowing that I have to post the results on the internet for all the world to see.
So here goes the first entry:
As of now my weight is 215 lbs. I lifted weights yesterday. chest and triceps. No cardio. I am pretty sore today, so that’s good. Benched more than usual. Which is weird, cause it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve lifted. Today, I worked a long shift, and didn’t get the chance to workout. I followed a strict Atkins diet all day, which I destroyed by eating pizza, a donut, and some candy when I got home. Tomorrow is a new day. NO CHEATING! and I will workout. There’s no excuse not to.
Thanks to idahopaintball.com. I have learned of a tournament being held in Ontario, Oregon in May. There isn’t a whole lot of information available yet. All I know is it’s the first weekend of May, and is a four man team tactical scenario tourney of some kind. Sounds right up our alley. I’ll have to wait until more information is available. It would be a five hour drive, but we could stay at Ben’s ( team mate ) house in Boise to cut costs. Right now I’m thinking we could have Myself, Jon, Joe, and Ben as the team, and Rett whitesalamander. as an alternate, and moral, and logistical support. He could drive down from Portland for the event. We will have to wait and see how the details fan out. More later.
As far as my personal fitness gains go, I’ve been better sadly. At this point, I am on a text book Yo Yo diet. I will start up Atkins, and do it faithfully for a week, and lose three to five pounds, then go off the diet for a few days and destroy any progress. This has been going on now for a couple of months, and I am just about fed up with myself. I am on the verge of a major rebirth. I can feel the personal loathing building to a boiling point. I know I have it in me to do what I need to do to accomplish my goals. For now the plan is to use Atkins faithfully to get down to two hundred pounds. Once there, I will switch from Atkins to the Body For Life program by Bill Phillips. I will use healthy diet, and plenty of activity and exercise to maintain a weight under two hundred. Every few weeks, I will switch back to an Atkins type diet to try to lose a few more pounds. Hopefully after a while, I can be closer to one ninety by doing this.
Part of that plan is to make myself more accountable for my failures as I blogged about before. For now on, I will be recording in this blog my fitness ups and downs as often as possible. At least once a week, I will make a report including times worked out, what work outs consisted of, diet, and current weight. I figure it will help keep me in line knowing that I have to post the results on the internet for all the world to see.
So here goes the first entry:
As of now my weight is 215 lbs. I lifted weights yesterday. chest and triceps. No cardio. I am pretty sore today, so that’s good. Benched more than usual. Which is weird, cause it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve lifted. Today, I worked a long shift, and didn’t get the chance to workout. I followed a strict Atkins diet all day, which I destroyed by eating pizza, a donut, and some candy when I got home. Tomorrow is a new day. NO CHEATING! and I will workout. There’s no excuse not to.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Every dog has his day. . .FINALLY!
You are looking at Costello, the Alaskan Malamute who has taken best in show for the 2006 AKC Eukanuba dog show. What a specimen! I mean look at the neck, head, chest, and massive paws of this stud. This is no small honor for the behemoth dog. He took home near $80,000 in awards and prizes. He is the first dog in the history of the show to take home ALL the top honors single "pawed" And not only did he take best in show, but he also resoundingly won the viewer's choice award too! Incredible.
Why am I making such a big deal about this? I am a big dog lover. Currently I have three of them mooching their existence off of me, including. . .yep you guessed it; an Alaskan Malamute.
This is Kodiak. Sorry about the photo, I pulled it off of a low res video, and he was moving, so it's a bit blurry. He's eight years old, and one hundred and sixty pounds of teddy bearish, snuggling, fur-shedding, affection. This is a great breed, despite the wolfish appearance. Very loving gentle giants, who can get serious if the situation calls for it.
Anyway, cheers for Costello! I have been waiting for a Malamute to win for a long time.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
The Great American Hero!
Well, you are looking at him. A classic G.I. Joe action figure like I remember him from my childhood of the 80s. What a great toy. My brother and I had several G.I. Joes including vehicles, and played with them constantly. Other kids were into He-Man, or Star Wars, but for me and my brother it was G.I. Joe all the way! I loved how when you bought a new action figure, the back of the package would have a little profile on the character. His age, birthplace, specialties, and how he came to join the Team. I was especially proud of Alpine, the expert G.I. Joe mountaineer, because he was born in Idaho, and that's where he learned to climb so good.
Now that I'm grown and have a son of my own, I have regretted that G.I. Joe seems to have fallen from his former grace. I don't know how or why it happened, but sometime in the 90s the toys began to decline. The scuplting, and imagination that went into the characters didn't seem up to snuff. The vehicles got more and more ridiculous. The ultimate sin was when they started making honorary team members out of celebrities like Mr. T. The utlimate being a figure of Refrigirator Perry of the Chicago Bears, weilding a steel football attached to a chain. This was the clap of doom to the great traditions of G.I. Joe in my mind.
Now the reason for this post. I have often wished that someone would come out with a similar toy like the old G.I. Joe, so that my kid can enjoy the same fun that I had. Yeah, there are some cheap knock offs out there, and some honestly, aren't too bad. But last night, as I browsed the toy aisle with my kids, all my fantasies came true when I saw the resurrection of my old hero. There he was not only in his former glory, but in glory to surpass my wildest expectations. The G.I. Joe Sigma 6 series action figure. Eight inches of fully posable, well made, studliness.
I am so glad to see this revival in coolness. In fact I might have to buy a few of my own. ( just for collectable purposes of course )
I might have to start with one of my favorites, Snake Eyes.
Isn't he so COOL?
GOOOOOO JOE!!!!!
Monday, January 09, 2006
Accountability
I did something today that I haven't done in a few months. Something that I've come to believe is vital to my own success in achieving my personal fitness goals.
I weighed myself.
Yep. That's right. I have been ignoring the scale for the last few months. Mostly because I knew it had nothing good to tell me. So, like an Ostrich with its head in the sand, I walked past the scale every day, refusing to acknowlede it.
This morning I realized that by ignoring the scale, I wasn't holding myself accountable for my life style. As long as I didn't step on the scale, I would never really know how bad I'd been lately. I realized that if I'm ever going to achieve my desires, then I have to hold myself accountable.
For now on I will weigh myself once a week, and force myself to behold the consequences of my actions for the week, whether they be good or bad. I think this could be one of those things that might give me just that little extra boost of will power to overcome the little temptations that come my way during the week. That donut might be less appealing if I know I have to confront myself on that scale in a few more days. Or it could give me the motivation to get that work out in that I'm thinking about skipping. I will say to myself, " you don't want to just weight the same as you did last week do you?"
This week I got in two workouts while at work. Nothing major to report. Some weight lifting, some running etc. I didn't go too hard, as I am just getting back into a routine. I will gradually increase the intensity as time goes on. My new goal is to work out at home on my days off more often, not just while at work. My major goal this week is to workout on my birthday to help counter the cake and ice cream coming later that night. I mean it IS my birthday after all. I'll be 33.
No paintball news so far, as we are still under a blanket of snow.
I weighed myself.
Yep. That's right. I have been ignoring the scale for the last few months. Mostly because I knew it had nothing good to tell me. So, like an Ostrich with its head in the sand, I walked past the scale every day, refusing to acknowlede it.
This morning I realized that by ignoring the scale, I wasn't holding myself accountable for my life style. As long as I didn't step on the scale, I would never really know how bad I'd been lately. I realized that if I'm ever going to achieve my desires, then I have to hold myself accountable.
For now on I will weigh myself once a week, and force myself to behold the consequences of my actions for the week, whether they be good or bad. I think this could be one of those things that might give me just that little extra boost of will power to overcome the little temptations that come my way during the week. That donut might be less appealing if I know I have to confront myself on that scale in a few more days. Or it could give me the motivation to get that work out in that I'm thinking about skipping. I will say to myself, " you don't want to just weight the same as you did last week do you?"
This week I got in two workouts while at work. Nothing major to report. Some weight lifting, some running etc. I didn't go too hard, as I am just getting back into a routine. I will gradually increase the intensity as time goes on. My new goal is to work out at home on my days off more often, not just while at work. My major goal this week is to workout on my birthday to help counter the cake and ice cream coming later that night. I mean it IS my birthday after all. I'll be 33.
No paintball news so far, as we are still under a blanket of snow.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Rethinking The Spec Ops Positions
After a little thought, I am wondering if it would be a mistake to follow the Specops positions too rigidly. Don't get me wrong. I still like the idea of positions, but I think having certain players locked into certain roles might not allow for the flexibility that I'd like to see on my team.
Here are the positions and how I feel about them currently
COMMANDER - I think out of all of them, this position is the most neccessary. Even if you intend to do nothing else, I think it would be pure foolishness not to elect a commander for the team. So for now that one stays.
Sniper - I'm up in the air on this one. I hate to see someone so locked into this position that they aren't capable of anything else should the need arise. I'd like to see more what I call a sharp shooter. Someone who has the basic ambush, observation, and technical shooting skills as a sniper, but his equipment is such that he can step up and switch to something else in a second without being limited by his gear, ammo and gun. In short. I'd love the whole team to be able to assume this postion, and unassume it at any given time.
DAGGER - This is supposed to be a light weight, hard charging forward guy. It should be played by someone of a smaller frame, quick, and in good shape. according to Specops, he should always be found at the fore front of the fight mixing it up in an aggressive fashion. I guess I have no problem with this position. Except again, I would rather see someone that can play this, but when the situation calls for it he can settle down, or play back when needed. Or be sent on a stealth mission instead of something in your face. But, having someone who's willing to play this aggresively would be nice.
SABRE - this is the medium rifleman. In my opinion this is the foundation of the team. This is what everyone on the team should be capable of playing. A whole team of Sabres that can switch to sniper or dagger and back out again when they want would be fine with me. These are the guys who get the job done through the use of good team work and solid common sense tactics.
BROADSWORD - This is a heavy rifleman. not as mobile as the Sabre. He carries a lot ammo and grenades and is not afraid to use them. He should be laying down a lot of supressive fire, keeping the enemy at bay. This is ok, I guess. I would rather just take a Sabre or two, and alott them more ammo, and call upon them for cover fire when needed. No need for a specialized position here.
HAMMER - The only thing seperating a Hammer from a Broadsword, is a special gun you have to buy from Specops, that is capable of firing off 30 rnds a second. So, in my opinion this is a luxury position, not a necessary one. If I had a player willing to go out and by the Hammer gun, then yeah sure that would be fine with me.
Anyway, I am not trying to cast a bad light on Specops. I like the basic idea of positions. But, I think each team needs to tailor those positions to fit their own needs.
For me, I see us all mostly being a bunch of Sabres with mabye one or two guys willing to run up front as daggers, and a couple of guys packing more ammo to lay down lots of fire when needed. And everyone on the team being well skilled in ambush, camoflauge, and flanking like a sniper. Basically a bunch of Sabres who can adapt their tactics and style fluidly from situation to situation.
That's the team I think we should be trying to achieve.
A side note. I used to get comments when I talked about other stuff. Hmmmmm must not be anyone out there who cares about paintball. :(
Here are the positions and how I feel about them currently
COMMANDER - I think out of all of them, this position is the most neccessary. Even if you intend to do nothing else, I think it would be pure foolishness not to elect a commander for the team. So for now that one stays.
Sniper - I'm up in the air on this one. I hate to see someone so locked into this position that they aren't capable of anything else should the need arise. I'd like to see more what I call a sharp shooter. Someone who has the basic ambush, observation, and technical shooting skills as a sniper, but his equipment is such that he can step up and switch to something else in a second without being limited by his gear, ammo and gun. In short. I'd love the whole team to be able to assume this postion, and unassume it at any given time.
DAGGER - This is supposed to be a light weight, hard charging forward guy. It should be played by someone of a smaller frame, quick, and in good shape. according to Specops, he should always be found at the fore front of the fight mixing it up in an aggressive fashion. I guess I have no problem with this position. Except again, I would rather see someone that can play this, but when the situation calls for it he can settle down, or play back when needed. Or be sent on a stealth mission instead of something in your face. But, having someone who's willing to play this aggresively would be nice.
SABRE - this is the medium rifleman. In my opinion this is the foundation of the team. This is what everyone on the team should be capable of playing. A whole team of Sabres that can switch to sniper or dagger and back out again when they want would be fine with me. These are the guys who get the job done through the use of good team work and solid common sense tactics.
BROADSWORD - This is a heavy rifleman. not as mobile as the Sabre. He carries a lot ammo and grenades and is not afraid to use them. He should be laying down a lot of supressive fire, keeping the enemy at bay. This is ok, I guess. I would rather just take a Sabre or two, and alott them more ammo, and call upon them for cover fire when needed. No need for a specialized position here.
HAMMER - The only thing seperating a Hammer from a Broadsword, is a special gun you have to buy from Specops, that is capable of firing off 30 rnds a second. So, in my opinion this is a luxury position, not a necessary one. If I had a player willing to go out and by the Hammer gun, then yeah sure that would be fine with me.
Anyway, I am not trying to cast a bad light on Specops. I like the basic idea of positions. But, I think each team needs to tailor those positions to fit their own needs.
For me, I see us all mostly being a bunch of Sabres with mabye one or two guys willing to run up front as daggers, and a couple of guys packing more ammo to lay down lots of fire when needed. And everyone on the team being well skilled in ambush, camoflauge, and flanking like a sniper. Basically a bunch of Sabres who can adapt their tactics and style fluidly from situation to situation.
That's the team I think we should be trying to achieve.
A side note. I used to get comments when I talked about other stuff. Hmmmmm must not be anyone out there who cares about paintball. :(
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