Adventurers of the Lucky Vale VII

[Sciread77]

New challenge. New Year. New man?

 

Probably not new man. I don’t really believe in New Years Resolutions or dramatic changes. I mean, sometimes they’re successful. But being here on NF has really taught me the value of Kaizen. Incremental change is powerful.  
 

I’m still working on my previous goals, with a physical test probably coming in early to mid February. 
 

Goals 

1. Sleep. I’ll never reach my goals without it. 
2. Push-ups and sit-ups. I need to roughly double the number I can do; I’m shooting for 50+ sit-ups and 55+ pushups. I’m also doing pull-ups and things like Supermans to keep myself balanced. 
3. Running. I’m less concerned about a 1.5-mile run than I am the sprint. I’ve been running stairs, which helps. But I really need to start running outside more, too. And more distance. I’m shooting for a 10:30 1.5-mile and a 45-second 300m. Ultimately, that’s cutting around 4 minutes odd the 1.5-mile and 17 seconds off the 300m. 
4. Stay grounded with my immediate family and avoid unnecessary drama with the extended family. I value these relationships, and it’s unlikely I’ll reach any of these goals if I’m burning emotional energy. 
5. Eat quality food. I’ll need good fuel to make this happen. I’ve had far more dramatic performance increases when I was younger, but even then I had nice quality food as opposed to empty calories. 
6.  Avoid injury. I can’t afford 6 weeks of recovery. 

 

I gain a couple of pounds over the Christmas holiday, but I’m not terribly concerned about it. Here’s my progress:

Sit-ups 

Starting: 28 (10/31)

Current: 41

Minimum: 35

Goal: 50

I’ve added 13 in 2 months, and my goal has me adding slightly more in the next roughly 6 weeks. It’ll be a push but doable. And the goals are designed to have give. 

 

300m Sprint

Starting: 72 seconds (10/31)

Current: 53 seconds 

Minimum: 52.4 seconds

Goal: 45 seconds
I’ve knocked a tremendous 19 seconds off my 300m. I’m super excited and proud. This run is still my biggest concern of all. I’ve never sprinted this fast over a distance or been that fast of a sprinter. When I finish what I do, I’m dead and it’s the second of the events. And I think a lot of my improvement had been studying sprinting technique. That said, I do think I can shave most if not all of that 8 seconds off with regular sprinting practice, even given that each additional second is harder to trim. 

 

Pushups

Starting: 15 (10/31)

Current: 25

Minimum: 30

Goal: 55
Realistically, I probably won’t hit this goal. But I can get a category or two beyond the minimum and I will still fight to add as many as possible here. 

 

1.5 mile/2400m run

Starting: 14:22 (11/07)

Current: 13:30 (as of 12/1, need to retest)
Minimum: 12:24

Goal: 10:30

 

I’m hoping to retest the 1.5m tomorrow at lunch, after the medical exam takes my blood pressure. BP has been down as of late but no reason to spike it right before a checkup! I know I’ve got a huge chunk left to go to reach this goal, but the fortunate part here is that the sprint training above also benefits this long run time, and I think I’m going to post a pretty substantial improvement when I test. Too bad this isn’t high school, college, or when I taught and coached wrestling because I was running these in about 8:30 back then. 
 

Even so, I’m super proud and excited by my progress, given that it blows away most of my abilities in these skills over the last decade. 

[WolfDreamer]

First and following!

 

 

[Sciread77]

 

1.5 mile/2400m run

Starting: 14:22 (11/07)

Current: 11:42 (as of 12/31)
Minimum: 12:24

Goal: 10:30

woohoo!!!!

[WolfDreamer]

2 hours ago, Sciread77 said:

woohoo!!!!

 

[annyshay]

[Sciread77]

19 hours ago, annyshay said:

Like the treasure from a sunken pirate wreck. 

[oromendur]

On 12/30/2019 at 1:12 PM, Sciread77 said:

Even so, I’m super proud and excited by my progress, given that it blows away most of my abilities in these skills over the last decade.

 

Your progress and your numbers are excellent and you *should* be super proud.

 

On 12/31/2019 at 1:40 PM, Sciread77 said:

woohoo!!!!

 

Dude! You are going to pass this test. I know you want to get more than the minimums, and you should definitely keep up the training pressure to avoid unnecessary stress about skating the edge on test day, but YOU ARE TOTALLY GOING TO PASS and it is amazing!! 

 

[Sciread77]

4 hours ago, oromendur said:

 

Your progress and your numbers are excellent and you *should* be super proud.

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

Quote

Dude! You are going to pass this test. I know you want to get more than the minimums, and you should definitely keep up the training pressure to avoid unnecessary stress about skating the edge on test day, but YOU ARE TOTALLY GOING TO PASS and it is amazing!! 

 

 

Well, the trick is that I have to get the minimum in each, but I have to score a minimum number of overall points at well. So I have to score beyond the minimum in at least one (and I’d have to be practically superhuman in it) or score above the minimum on several. If it was just minimums, I’d be comfortable. But I’m far enough away from scoring sufficient points that I still have a lot of work to do to make it. 
 

Still, I’m really excited about the progress. It gives me hope. I also told my parents general details about the job I’m interviewing for and my sister and brother-in-law more details. I’m happy with the support and a little surprised my parents took the announcement that I might have to move away in the next year so well. Which IS disappointing as far as timing goes, because they’re retiring in the next year. 

[Sciread77]

I managed to do 500 pushups over the last 2 days. I’m doing it a little differently now that I’m on the tail end here. I’ve the goal of 200-275 for 37 days. These will be split between maximum sets, “just get it done throughout the day” sets, and blood flow restricted sets depending on the day.  The BFR sets will be done in a counter, the point being that the lesser effort doesn’t usually cause muscle damage and will allow the muscles to recover while still activating fast-twitch muscles, giving me volume that is pretty close to free. My max isn’t increasing as fast as I want and I think lack of volume is part of the issue. 
 

1. Max

2. Throughout 

3. BFR

4. BFR
 

On running, I’ve been taking a few days break. Running on the YMCA indoor track is murder on my shins and calves, I think because I’m in a constant state of turning, accelerating, or decelerating there. They’re feeling more normal again today, though, so I’ll probably run again tonight or tomorrow. 
 

I also need to hit sit-ups because I’ve completely stalled on progress at 39.  I hit 41 on 12/13 but haven’t been above 39 since. I’m positive it’s because I have been doing fewer of them after my initial success. 
 

Starting soon, I’ll be taking the whole physical test at least once a week. 
 

Jessie is out of town today and will be until Saturday night. I helped her pack before bed so it was kinda late. I’m hoping to get the house put together while she is gone. She’ll be gone for her birthday, sadly. But we’re celebrating it Sunday. 
 

 

 

[Sciread77]

I tested again today, on a whim and under strict protocol. 
 

Sit-ups: 42 (More than the bare minimum to pass)

300m sprint: 52 seconds even, a new best, and the first official passing score I’ve had in the event

Push ups: 21. My arms just went dead. The sprint is just murder on me. I gotta train hard so I can get a passing score like this and still function for the next two events. 
1.5 mile run: 13:18. Not passing, or even in the same ballpark as my best. 
 

My overall score is the same as my last test, I just traded my passing score in the run for the sprint. But it’s progress in the hardest event for me so I’m doing something right. I think I made the right decision pushing hard on the pushups too. 
 

I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 2 days; I was up late helping Jessie pack for her trip and I had a very hard time going to sleep last night. So I’m going to focus on getting a lot of good sleep the next two nights, eat more than a banana and 2 bites of sour apples, and retest again Saturday. For the rest of today, I’ll be hitting sit-ups and BFR push-ups. Maybe, depending on how the kids get to sleep, I’ll do some running tonight before bed. 

[Sciread77]

Fate intervened, and an ice storm forced Jessie home a day early. So no retest today. But it was a good day. I made steaks and we roasted s’mores in the fireplace. 
 

Jessie has an interview in KC next weekend. She’s a serious competitor for the position. If she is offered and takes it, I’ll stop what I’m applying to and focus on that geographic area. Her sister-cousin lives there, as do many of our friends, and it’s a great city to raise a family in. Other than the abject loneliness I felt before I met Jessie or existing friends moved out there, it was wonderful. 
 

(I moved there to teach and coach in 2007, and many of my friends followed in 2008 and 2009. I’d have killed to have known Jessie and her friends during that time.)

[Sciread77]

Fate intervened, and an ice storm forced Jessie home a day early. So no retest today. But it was a good day. I made steaks and we roasted s’mores in the fireplace. 
 

Jessie has an interview in KC next weekend. She’s a serious competitor for the position. If she is offered and takes it, I’ll stop what I’m applying to and focus on that geographic area. Her sister-cousin lives there, as do many of our friends, and it’s a great city to raise a family in. Other than the abject loneliness I felt before I met Jessie or existing friends moved out there, it was wonderful. 
 

(I moved there to teach and coach in 2007, and many of my friends followed in 2008 and 2009. I’d have killed to have known Jessie and her friends during that time.)

[Sciread77]

I’m utterly exhausted. Rex has been having sleep issues, and so has Bo Peep. Alternating, of course. I started to do pushups today and just kinda collapsed after only a handful of sets. Being so tired, I decided to hold off and focus on knocking out the crap ton of overly complicated product trainings everyone has to have done by Friday. Each one takes about 2 hours. So far, I’ve failed the least. The second course had some broken test questions that I identified and reported. Hopefully, the others have better updates. 
 

I’d be in bed now but an overly excited puppy had an accident on Rex’s comforter, which is in the washing machine. Heck, the kid and the dog are in my spot in the bed now lol. 
 

I keep alternating between feeling good/motivated/hopeful and hopeless/unfocused. I think I’ve been feeling disconnected from any community outside of my family lately. A friend of mine started a group chat for our old Star Wars Roleplaying social circle. We have a Facebook group too, but this is a little more private and active, and include a running SW RPG. It’s been fun and I’ve really enjoyed it. Doesn’t take nearly the time it did when I was younger, and we’ve already had countless hours ironing out rules and etiquette. And most of us have been friends for a quarter of a century. Some of us chat or interact regularly, but I haven’t had this level of connectedness to my childhood friends since the Great Star Wars Potato Post of 2016-2017. 
 

And with that, the washer kicked off and everyone else is totally asleep. I’m going to finish up and hit the sack. 

[Sciread77]

So we got Rex a weighted blanket and he loves it. He’s been sleeping a lot better. Bo Peep has been sick. Woody is doing well but wants to get back to running/sports. 
 

Jessie had her interview last Friday. They said she’d hear this week on Wednesday or Thursday. She’s not entirely sure if she wants another job in the same field, but I think she also wants to have the opportunity to decline and really think about it too. 
 

I had an internal interview today with a newly-forming group that I would absolutely love to work with. But we’ll see how that goes. I’m almost afraid to want it so bad for fear of the disappointment that not getting in would entail. Most of my job interviews have ended in some kind of disappointment over the last few years. It’s a far cry from the summer of 2014 when I got three offers to choose from at once. This one in particular blends my experiences, training, and the things I love most about working where I do. These have mostly been absent from my current position and I sort of ran out of things in the other one. I love new groups and building thing s from the ground up. I love tackling problems and doing meaningful work. 
 

The weather is murdering my head. It’s basically been lots of migraines. I’ve not been doing as much physical training, though I ran sprints yesterday as well as to the post office and back to mail a package. I need to keep up the sprints for sure. 
 

Jessie cleaned out the laundry room and reorganized it on Monday. I think it’ll help her (and us) mentally. I’m hoping that we can start conquering one room at a time and get everything together. So much stuff just doesn’t have a home and it’s just impossible to fully clean and tidy when that’s the case. 
 

I would be happy for any of the changes coming up. Jessie getting a job in KC would likely force me to change companies and open opportunities for me in a city we love. The long-running job I’ve been interviewing for would totally change things. And the one I interviewed for today would, too. 
 

I’ve been in the SW RP in a lot of my free time and it’s been fun. And a nice way to connect with old friends, too. It’s relatively private. My biggest fear is one of my exes, who were involved when we were kids, joining the thing. The ones I’m thinking of would cause trouble for either myself or one of my good friends who is also in the group, as they occasionally try to weasel back into our lives and there is no place for them. Particularly given the discomfort it would cause our wives. Neither of us is willing to do that. 
 

 

[Sciread77]

Jessie did not get the KC job offer. It’s disappointing, because it would have been a good confidence boost. But since the interview there, and the area we’d have to move to for work proximity not feeling like the home the rest Kansas City does, and this promotion opportunity I have, the fact that she’d have to shape another person’s program into hers yet again (she’s already done that 3 times in 5 years and she really just got this one set up the way she wants), she was leaning heavily towards turning it down for the last week. 
 

It’s too bad, because KC is a great place. With lots of opportunity for both of us. It doesn’t help that our family who lives there is, surprise, looking to move back to the StL area, though. 
 

We’re both excited for my job opportunities, the most recent I’d which would pay so much more and put us more on the post-MBA financial ground we expected. 
 

I’m working from home today due to the ice and we’re all sick so the whole family is here.  

[Sciread77]

Today, I finally reached the push-up AMRAP record I set for myself in August 2017. I’m back at 28.  It’s progress, but there’s still a long way to go to hit my goal.  Eek. At least two more will get me to a passing minimum as long as I make up for it elsewhere. Eek. 
 

Situps are staying fairly strong. Sprinting appears to be improving, and I’ve been doing small amounts of it daily. The 1.5 mile is improving too. I’ve developed shin splits so I got new inserts today and reinstituted supportive PT exercises last night.  
 

Jessie and I started the Xtend Barre program last night. “It sounds really fun, and it’s a killer lower body workout,” he said, after finishing the 10-minute intro class.  It’s going to be a lot harder tonight! After the 7-day on-ramp I won’t be doing it as much as Jessie until after the physical test, though! Now is not the time to overtrain, but I think some could be really good for balancing out the running. 
 

 

 

 

[Sciread77]

My test will be March 3 at 7:30 am. I have longer than I thought. Not by a lot, but by a potentially important amount. I aim to not waste it. 

[Sciread77]

I am tired. Work has really picked up; as of a week ago we’re two people short and the team’s workload will be roughly tripling next week. We’ve got one new person in training who isn’t allowed to work yet and we’re trying to hire another, but it’s a big change from the slow pace we’ve had. One of the new responsibilities hit last week and I was basically busy all day every day.

 

Which I wouldn’t care about as much if, again, I was in a different kind of position. As it is, being invisible as a best-case scenario without other challenges and just a logging through the grind is really wearing on me. 
 

Monday, I’m hopping on a plane for an interview and I’ll be back Tuesday evening. That’s exciting. It’s part of the long process. I’m trying to get the house and stuff back in order so Jessie doesn’t die with the kids And they don’t die either; her hours are so long they’ll have to leave an hour before they get up and they’ll get home after they go to bed unless they stay at their grandmas’, which they’re going to do as long as my stuff is basically automated or already done. 
 

My nephew’s birthday party is tomorrow and Jessie is working 12 hours on a fundraiser. Btw, if you’re looking for a mattress hit me up and I can hook you up. 
 

The boys are playing outside and Bo Peep is napping right now. Jessie is still sick and I’d rather be napping, except that I prefer them to play outside on nice days instead of video games in the basement.