ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY!

I just rented and watched the movie, "Rocky Balboa" tonight. Let me first admit before the world that I like the first four Rocky movies. I know they are considered campy and cliche by most of the world out there, but I like em!

I rented the movie basically expecting another heaping serving of the same old Rocky movie formula. I have to admit I was a bit surprised at the depth of character developement that went into this one. It is mostly a character piece really that deals with issues of growing older and feeling out of touch with one's potential. It also deals with family relationships. Rocky has to overcome negative feelings from his grown up son who is tired of living in Rocky's shadow. He also has to combat his loneliness as his wife, Adrian, has passed away.

I don't want to get all into the plot and all, but just thought that the film showed alot of guts. Stallone puts his soul out there for the audience, and one can't help but to wonder if he is personally dealing with these similar issues in his real life as he deals with growing older.

The message is clear. Never give up on what you want to do. Don't let other people tell you what you can and can't do. There is a great scene where Rocky puts the smack down on his pouting son, and gives him a talk on the reality of life. Basic message, stop mopping about like a victim and blaming this and that for your failures. Stand up and hit life back with all you have!

All and all a well acted movie with a positive, up-beat message. I think I will be adding this one to my personal library.

Have a turned my blog into a movie critic blog? Nah. I'm just going to start putting crap like this on here too. Books, movies, thoughts, etc.

The Slaughter of Noobies

Had a great day of paintball last Saturday, the 21st. We actually had seventeen people show up to play. We played in the river bottoms which aren't quite yet lush and green so I wore my brown realtree camo which seemed to work superbly.

The weather was what I would call perfect. I'm not sure of the temps but it was on the cool side with the sun behind clouds often, and a few intermittent sprinkles of rain throughout the day. We played for about three hours.

The first game was Mutant. I was on the human team, but a bunch of new and very young players volunteered to be mutants. I felt bad for them as I saw them getting mowed down, so I rushed into the open to give them a chance, and BINGO I was hit, so I joined up with the mutants, who went on to eliminate all humans...as usual!

The next game was Spawn, which we played for quite a long time. I had numerous kills in the game, but was also taken out many times. It was pretty confusing with so many teams. I think in the future with that many players it will be better to play three man teams.

After Spawn we played a game of Grand Bush ( protect the president ) we sent out four snipers, and made history by having our very first female president. She did a good job and ordered her men well. The snipers were defeated easily. Afterwards the four snipers were complaining that 4 vs 13 was just plain impossible. So...Clay, Jon, Blake, and I ( all seasoned players ) volunteered to be the snipers for another game of Grand Bush.

We devised a simple diversion / flank plan. Clay and Blake hung back near the flag that the president is supposed to capture, while Jon and I hid ourselves off to the side. Eventually the president and her men moved right past us and got into a fire fight with Clay and Blake. Once the shooting began, Jon and I made a dash right up the center of the field, and caught the whole group unawares from behind.

The rest of what happened just seems like a blurr to me. I just remember putting my sights on the whole group, and ripping off automatic rounds from the Egrip A-5 with extreme prejudice. I could here Jon's gun next to me doing like wise. The noobies were in a dead panic as they danced around flayling their arms in the air as if trying to swat the paintballs like they were angry hornets. All the while they were yelling "HIT HIT HIT!" But due to some lingering survivors we continued the barrage for a bit more until the entire group had been eliminated.

I almost feel evil for implementing such an effective plan on a group of mostly newbies. But....IT SURE WAS A KICK!!! HA HA HA!

After playing a few times now that my A-5 is all modified to look like the real thing, I am starting to have second thoughts. I find that although the gun sure looks cool, it might actually be impairing my performance as it is now twice as long and twice as heavy and cumbersome. I'm starting to think I made a mistake getting all that after market crap. I might be looking to sell it all, and strip the gun down to it's basic original look. I will still run the Egrip, and a remote line, and probably buy a nice barrel like the kevlar Black Cell from Special Ops Paintball.

First Paintball Day of The Year

Well, I got my first paintballing in for the year. I played on a six acre forested field with about six of us. Not a huge turnout, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

I did pretty good actually. I was quite pleased. I had a total of about seven eliminations, with myself only getting eliminated about three times. Not a bad ratio. I ditched my Flatline barrel and went back to playing with my old Armson, and was very happy with the results. I kinda feel like my old self is back....the old self that oppenents needed to be wary of.

At one point in the game I actually flanked a guy from behind so bad that I ended up too close to shoot him, so called out for him to surrender, which he was more than happy to do. There was another memorable moment when it was two guys vs me and both were moving for me. I was able to eliminate them both as they moved up on me. That was pretty fun.

The field is called Fast Eddy's in Blackfoot, Idaho. I almost didn't go because I'm generally a little shy and felt apprehensive about just showing up by myself and playing with a bunch of guys I didn't know. Amazingly, I got there and actually knew a few people including the owner, who I have played paintball with once before when we just happened to meet up playing outlaw one day. Plus, I made contact with two other players from my home town that were interested in getting together. So, two fresh recruits! That's just what we need.

Well, hopefully there will be more paintball games to report as the summer goes on. Not just his one.

A Ray Of Hope

Well, things may be looking up as far as the fitness goals go. For about a year now, I have been trapped in a bunker at work, and not let out to workout as often as I need to, in order to really make any headway. I have just found out that as of April 1st, I will no longer be required to work in this position. This will most definatley allow me more opportunity to run a more stringent and controlled routine. Hopefully once and for all I can get back into the Body For Life routine and take it all the way this time. I have been so discourage lately as I've seen myself gaining weight over the last year, pound by pound.

In the paintball world I'm a bit frustrated as well. I am hoping to get a game going for sometime in April. The weather should be nice enough by then. I hope. This is Idaho!! But, the major frustration is realizing that I don't have much of a player's pool anymore. Almost all of the original gang is moved away. I'm going to have to try to get out there and recruit some fresh blood into the paintball pool.

I flew my helicopter for the first time of the year. Didn't fly all winter. It flew great. Nice and smooth with no incidents. I am a bit rusty and am not as confident as I was. For now I will just have to take it slow and easy and gain back my confidence. No reason to rush it.

cough....cough

That's been me for the last week. Sunday night I felt a tickle in my throat that caused me to cough a bit. I thought I had inhaled some dust or something when moving a refrigerator. Monday morning while driving to the gym I felt a bit of tightness in my chest associated with a small cough, but I felt well enought, and went through with my workout.

About half way into the workout, I suddenly felt very drained. My lungs were burning, and there was a raspy, raw sensation in the back of my throat. I came to terms with myself and admitted that I must indeed have come down with something. I quit the workout, and went straight to the sauna hoping to sweat out whatever it was afflicting me. Unfortunately some kind of virus has entrenched itself into my system, and has been reeking havoc on me all week. Runny nose, pounding head, stuffy sinuses, terrible cough, aching muscles and joints etc.

The fact that I've been working these last four days hasn't helped me in getting any better. Getting up at 4:30 am every morning, and not getting to bed till 11:00 pm. AAARGH! I get the next three days off, so tonight after I get home, I'm going to do a double dose of Nyquil and try to sleep for three days. Then maybe I will feel better.

Kudos to my wife who has gotten in a workout every day this week, and done a good job on her eating. Meanwhile she leaves me in the dust.

Hmmmm....Go figure

This is strange. In my previous post, I lamented about not being able to lose weight even after a very dedicated week. I also mentioned that my discouragement led to four days of eating oblivion including raw cookie dough late at night on the couch.

The really strange thing is after all that, I weighed myself today, after two days back on the program, and I am down about three and half pounds! What the HECK?! I don't know what to make of it, but I will take what I can get. It's a mystery for sure. It goes to show that you can't rely so much on the scale. I should not have allowed myself to become so discouraged last week.

Today went good. I ran on the treadmill for twenty minutes before coming into work. It was a little tough since my hams are pretty sore from my all out sprint the other day to keep the job, but I did push through it, and it felt good.

As far as food goes, I have stumbled onto a culinary discovery that will make things nicer. When I bring food to work, I try to make it as easy and simple as possible. I love fish, but lately have been finding it harder and harder to gag down a can of tuna a day. Never fear! I found these great little pre cooked, sealed packets of marinated salmon steaks. These are absolutely delicious to me. tonight I had one with a portion of brown rice, and green beans. Bill Phillips would have burst his buttons with pride if he had seen my plate.

Well, that's it for today.

I get to keep my job

Well, another year has come, and once again I had to prove my worthiness to keep wearing a gun as a responder on the job. No biggie, but I still get all nervous for it for some reason. Probably because I'm being timed by an X-Oakland Raiders player. We just call him The Griz around here.

Anyway, to keep my job, every year I am required to run a half mile in under 4:40, and a 40 yard dash starting from a prone position in under 7.8 seconds. I made my run in about forty degrees this year, which was nice compared to the six degrees I ran it in last year. Due to the cool air however, I always try to run a moderate pace and try to beat any land speed records. I ran my half mile in 4:05, and my 40 yards in 6.45. Not bad. Could be better if I could lose a good 3o pounds.

Well, I am working on that. I hate to report that last week after not losing one pound after such a successful week before of working out, I kinda fell off the wagon, and ate whatever for four days, including a bowl of cookie dough with my wife while we watched episodes of 24 till three in the morning. The good news is, I talked to my friend Jon, the personal trainer, and I think we figured out why I didn't lose weight.

Basically, in trying to follow Bill Phillips' advice on working out on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, most mornings I wasn't eating anything till noon! Which is unacceptable according to Jon. Which makes sense. You gotta start the metabolism up asap. So for now on, if I want to do the empty stomach thing, I need to get up and to the gym earlier. No more sleeping in. Otherwise, it would be better for me to just go ahead and eat something before heading to the gym. The other problem, is my diet isn't as strict as it was when I tried Body For Life last spring. Mainly I have been eating these collossal sandwiches, that are probably holding me back as well. So, I'm cutting out the big Dagwood daily sandwich.

I am happy to report that despite my own laziness, today ( monday ) I began once again the program with new hope for success. I had a great upper body weight lifting workout to kick it off. So the new goal is to lose 5 lbs in two weeks. Hopefully I can at least see some results this time. If not, it will almost be tempting to go back on Atkins again. Just for the results. I kinda wonder how it would work to do the Atkins diet while working out the Body For Life way.

nuff for now.

Update

Well, it's been a while! I guess there really hasn't been alot to say about paintball these days. Unfortunatley we only got together once last summer to play and that was the last time I basically posted. Yeah it was pathetic. Even mediocre half-hearted paintballers make it out more often than once a year! Anyway, as we approach the nearing of spring I am in a new mode of enthusiasm for paintball, and am gearing up for what will hopefully be a great summer of balln'.

I think that gearing this blog strictly towards paintball might have been a mistake. There just isn't enough to write about at this point to keep the blog going day in and day out, hence the major lack of posts over the last several months.

So, I have decided to just have a themeless blog. Yep, it's going to go in no particular direction. It's just going to be me. If paintball happens to be dominating my thoughts then the posts will be on paintball, or fitness, or RC aircraft, my job, my family, whatever. But, I still want to specialize on paintball to a degree, and make a concerted effort to still put it at the top of the list.

So now that's out of the way, here is a life update:

As far as the aerial photo business goes, I have all my gear and equipment together, and am just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can get out there and do some flying.

I am back on Body For Life after several false starts. I finally had one solid week without missing a workout, and staying on the right track diet wise. Although for some strange reason I didn't lose one single pound. I am very perplexed. I am not losing faith however, and will continue on and see how this next week goes. So for the record, Week One - 0 pounds lost. =(

As far as paintball goes, after playing last summer, I have decided to give up on the Flat Line barrel for my A-5. Don't get me wrong. It's a good barrel for
reaching out there far. But, the accuracy just isn't up to my standards. So, I have gone back to my trusty old Armson that I bought clear back in 1994. It still does well. Plus, both barrels can be interchanged pretty easily so if I decide I want to go back to the Flat Line it will be no big deal. Chances are though, I will sell it and try to put the money towards the new Tac 8, which would be a serious pistol to have, not that I need one, but really WANT one!







Well, that's all it in a nutshell. I'm not going to go so long this time without a post. Now that I can allow myself other topics to talk about.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.