mightstone2k answers the call of the wild

[mightstone2k]

waist = belly button

hips - iliac crest

correct?

Any idea what your chest is at?

Yes to waist. Hips I'm measuring at the widest point, which is about mid-glute height. Chest is 40", measured halfway between top of armpit and nipple.

Just make sure you slice it first, otherwise you'll have to thaw the whole thing.

Good call. I wouldn't have thought of that.

[mightstone2k]

190 lbs. Somehow, I gained nearly seven pounds of water weight overnight. That's impressive; I didn't know the human body was capable of quite that much.

Anyway... coffee is my friend. In about an hour, I'll determine if I'm capable of kettlebelling this morning.

[mightstone2k]

I know, I've been gone for a few weeks now. But quick update: Bar results are in. I passed.

[The Most Loathed]

Congrats!

[ladylydia]

Hooray!!

[mightstone2k]

Thank y'all very much

[mightstone2k]

Big update time, but first, the numbers:

Height: 72"

Weight: 185.2 lbs

Neck: 15"

Chest: 40.5"

Waist: 33.5"

Hips: 39.5"

Bodyfat: 15.1%

My weight is up a couple pounds. And now that I'm measuring my waist at my belly button, that is up an inch and body fat percentage is up about 2 percent (which is probably a more accurate assessment). But yesterday, John remarked that I was much bigger than when we first arrived in Oregon, and the "mirror test" is so far pleasing me just fine. So I need to dial in my diet a bit, but otherwise I should be good.

Training

Kettlebells: S&S is still trucking along. In part of my quest for better posture, I've started going through Kelly Starrett's bracing sequence before each swing set. It takes more time, but it keeps my trunk tight through the swings far more easily than Al Ciampa's sequence, if I remember to focus on it. I'm also dialing in the form on 1HS. 16kg is too light to really test myself, form-wise, so I ordered my replacement 24kg (Rogue Fitness).

Running: I still haven't started running. I went to a Chi Running class in Portland, which made me really start thinking about running form and posture and all of that. Running scares me because I don't want to be one of those people who destroys his body by running poorly. So I got home and promptly began reading Ready to Run, which is K-Starr's follow-up book to Supple Leopard. Underwear collecting? Probably. I'm about halfway through, but in all events, I will probably start running after this weekend.

Mobility and other: Mobility-wise, I have made it a daily practice to do a full-body joint mobility routine. It takes about 15 minutes. And I am working on spending 10 min/day in a deep squat position. Once I'm done with R2R and have started running, I'm going to add a 10 minute dose of body maintenance to my day. My work environment is such that I can afford to carve out this much time and dedicate it to training, mobility, and maintenance, so I'm going to take advantage of it.

I've also started the PLP program to supplement my kettlebelling. I needed a way to force push-ups into my training, and throwing pull-ups in the mix sounded like a good idea too. From what I hear, the best way to pass the PFT is to have pushing strength with strict form, not pushing endurance. About a week out from the test, then you start practicing with "testing form," which doesn't force any strength adaptations, but lets you push more quickly and with less effort. So I'm taking Al C's advice there, and PLP sounds like a good way to build that strength.

Life

German practice is going well. I'm now 18% fluent, according to DuoLingo! Work is also going well. I finished putting together all the case-related stuff that was my responsibility (all tort and contract stuff), and that will go out to counsel today. Then, at long last, I can start working on the textbook! Which will be much more fun, frankly. It was rough going, having my first case be something that I'm so close to personally.

One final aside. Being done with law school and Bar prep (hopefully forever on the latter), I've had lots of time to think about my life and what I want out of my future. I resolved to do a thing over the weekend, and I did it on Tuesday. That wheel is irrevocably in motion now, and waiting for the inevitable response is preying on my mind. There's a particular sense of powerlessness that comes along with it, which is another reason I will not mind being drunk and surrounded by these two friends in particular over the weekend. If anyone can take my mind off this thing, it's them. I'm being deliberately vague for now because I'm just superstitious enough to think I'll jinx myself by talking about it and my hopes about it before any response. Details will come once stuff happens; hopefully happy details, but details either way.

So, this. When I was in my last year of college, I proposed to my then-girlfriend, who was going off to medical school in Chicago (which is why I went to a Chicago law school). Unfortunately, a first-year med student and first-year law student who haven't yet fully matured is a pressure cooker, and we went our separate ways. But we stayed in touch and still hung out socially in Chicago while we continued our schooling.

Having all of this post-Bar reflective time, I finally admitted to myself that I still loved her, and that my initial assumption that "breakups are forever" was a cop-out. So I wrote her a letter explaining how I felt, and asking if she was willing to give it another chance. Unfortunately, she told me that she cannot do a long-distance relationship again (she's now in SoCal), especially when (effectively) we'd be starting from scratch. She's in the Air Force's medical corps, so she knows what I'm in for in terms of where I'll live and such. Chalk that up in the "Fail" column.

At least I know. After her residency, she will be assigned to a base... somewhere. I will be on my second base by then, and our living preferences are different enough that the odds of us being stationed at the same one are very low. Plus, she wants out after her service obligation, and I want to be a careerist. So, effectively, that was a permanent no (although God has his own plans; I'm just working with what I've got).

But now I know. I can go to wherever and not be looking back to the girl I left behind. I want to go overseas for my first assignment, and that's going to be much easier without trying to maintain a long-distance relationship, especially not one that would (likely) be with a very serious eye toward marriage on both sides. I had to know. I had high hopes that it would work out, but either way, I had to know if the door was open or closed. And now I know that it's closed.

Getting that response is part of what sent me off the wires for two weeks. It also spurred the emphasis on mobility and PLP that developed in the interim, so there's some immediate benefits there (heh).

So that's that. We're going for Irish food and drink tonight to celebrate a number of things, including the Bar results. Otherwise, my day is blessedly free of work-related obligations. I think a three-day weekend is certainly in order. Maybe I'll prowl the internet to get ideas for a Columbia Gorge hike in the near future; one of the students told me that I have to go hike it. Duty calls!

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[The Most Loathed]

sounds like and excellent few days.

[mightstone2k]

It has been, overall. Utterly random thought: I wish to relocate to Ireland and get in touch with my inner Celt. That is all.

[mightstone2k]

I'm calling it a rest day on kettlebells today. Mentally, I just want a lazy Saturday, and it's been three weeks since my last off day. So I'm going to take it rather than force myself to focus. Almost done with joint mobility and PLP, then it's R&R.

[mightstone2k]

This past weekend was much less of a blowout than anticipated, but I'm okay with that. One of my Chicago friends made a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit, and she came bearing gifts from Hawaii. Gifts that included a bag of dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts, which I may or may not have eaten as soon as I saw it. So good!! We all stayed up til an absurd time talking, and Saturday was mostly lazing around feeling like we got hit by a collective train. The grand celebration ended up being a lot of grocery store sushi. My kind of party, in other words.

 

Kettlebells: I adjusted my swing stance so I have neutral feet, rather than toes out. I find I'm better able to activate my posterior chain in that stance, and the resulting increase in power is noticeable. The downside is that I've been coping with serious DOMS since Sunday. Apparently I wasn't using my adductors and hamstrings much in my old stance. It's significantly less today; I've been VooDoo flossing my knees and upper legs in my quest for superior movement, and it brings the pain and stiffness down. My 24 kg should be arriving today, which means I'll get to do the continuous swing test this weekend.

 

Hiking: After my morning workout Sunday, I went to Portland to sell some books at Powell's and explore. I went to Forest Park and spent some hours hiking (about 8.5 miles). It's a beautiful park, and you can see the Willamette River from most parts of the Wildwood trail. I have to pick up a friend at the Portland airport Saturday night, so I'll probably go up early and do more exploring.

 

Cutting: Sunday was also the first day of a cut. I need to rein in my eating habits and shed some of the excess fat I've put on. Not much, but some. So far I have come in between 400-500 calories under maintenance (including KB calories), but I don't include PLP or hiking calories. I woke up hungry for the first time today, but it's been tolerable so far. I'm going for drinks with one of the students Friday night, so I'm going to allow myself to eat at maintenance then (which means one, maybe two drinks, which is more my style anyway). Hitting my daily protein goal hasn't been a problem so far. I'll see where I'm at after two weeks and reassess.

[ladylydia]

Voodoo flossing?

[mightstone2k]

Voodoo flossing?

 

It's a technique Kelly Starrett uses (developed? I don't know who to credit for that). You take a rubber band or similar compressive band (like bike tubing, I think, but I bought the actual bands a few years ago) and wrap it tightly around the target area, then move the target area through full range of motion. When you start feeling all numb and tingly, take the band off. Then all the blood and lymph rushes back to the area, which encourages healing and cleaning out the area. For me, it's had a great effect at loosening up tight areas and reducing pain.

[mightstone2k]

Part of the S&S program is an every-two-weeks test of your work capacity, in the form of taking a bell that's one or two sizes lighter than your working weight and doing nonstop swings until ... well, until you stop. You're not supposed to add that until your normal working weight (for men) is 32kg. I've felt comfortable with 32kg for 2HS for about a month now, and I have a 24kg again, so I took it for a spin: 67 2HS in 1:58. I could have kept going, but stopped it when I did because my forearms were burning, it was my first time doing this, and I wanted to see how this would affect TGUs without ruining me entirely for them. They felt normal, so when I retest in two weeks, I'll push the envelope a bit more.

 

The cut is going well, although I have a constant sense of wanting to eat something (not really hunger, just a noticeable desire to eat ALL OF THE TIME). Having guesstimated the weight of the steaks I'm eating for dinner, I'll be about 520 calories under maintenance before going out for drinks. If I keep it to one pint of cider, I should still come in 300 calories under and with my protein goal met (cottage cheese is a godsend). Even two pints should bring me to about maintenance. That's still a net win, since I'm getting social time out of the deal.

 

Tomorrow I'm planning another wake-up, work-out, go-hike day, although Portland has an 80% chance of rain in the afternoon. A little Pacific Northwest drizzle won't stop me, but I'll see how the forecast is faring. I'm planning on doing the Angel's Rest-Devil's Rest loop; that's a solid 10.9 miles. I committed to filling in the Walk to Mordor just so I can give myself some fun motive to get out and walk more. I'm only counting hikes, runs, and long, deliberate walks. Moseying aimlessly around downtown just isn't worth obsessing over. I backdated to the westward drive, which gives me the Mt. Sentinel hike in Missoula, both times around the Trail of Ten Falls, and the Forest Park hike from last weekend (all of which were easily determinable distances, which is why I picked them). So far I'm at 30.2 miles, which means I can see across Woody End to the River, and am about 43 miles from the house in Crickhollow. Hee... this is fun Anyway, I'm supposed to pick up Red at the Portland Airport tomorrow at 21:45, which is why I'm wedded to hiking in that area tomorrow. If I can while away the afternoon in the Gorge, I can zip over to the airport and grab a late dinner (there's a place there that does some good sushi). Re: the cut, I'm going to eat back my kettlebell and hiking calories, but shoot for 400-500 under that new total. According to MFP, cross-country hiking (the least strenuous of the three options) for 3 hours (assuming I complete all 10.9 miles at a pace just over 3 mph) is 1500 calories (at my weight today). I'm not willing to have that big of a deficit on a day when I'm doing kettlebells, PLP, and that long of a hike. Nope. Eating about 3500 calories (maintenance + KBs + hike = 4000ish) sounds like heaven to me, and still comes in 500 under.

 

I did some lawyering today in the campaign against the moving company (unofficially, since all we're doing is dealing with them directly). There's no compromise coming there, so he's submitting it to the credit card company for resolution. And I've made some progress on my next pet project (in addition to the textbook, not in lieu of). I'll keep that under my hat for now, until I've seen if my target audience will bite. Stay tuned for news on that front!

 

Little bit of mobility, some steak and parsnips (in the new air fryer), then out for a walk and some face-time with people my age. Solid Friday.

[mightstone2k]

Height: 72"

Weight: 184.0 lbs

Neck: 15.25"

Chest: 40.0"

Waist: 33.5"

Hips: 39.75"

Bodyfat: 15.0%

Numbers up. Kettlebells next, then off to the Gorge. I'm skipping PLP today, but that's okay; I'll pick that up again tomorrow. Never two in a row!

[mightstone2k]

My hike on Saturday was brief, but intense. The trail to Angel's Rest is entirely uphill, with some stunning views (sorry, I'm not much of a camera person, so taking pictures never crossed my mind). The grade and terrain was sufficiently challenging without killing me. When I was about halfway up the mountain, the rain and wind started. I had a rain shell and my ruck is rain resistant, so I was fine up to the top. The view of the Gorge from there is gorgeous. I stopped to eat lunch (baked & cooled potatoes and chicken sausages), then decided to turn back. I didn't know the terrain for the loop out to Devil's Rest and I wasn't carrying enough cold weather layers (wet and cold is no fun), so I retraced my steps. Two-and-a-quarter hours of hill hiking with a >10 lb. load was a heck of a workout, and reaffirmed my love of hiking. John has a friend coming in this weekend, so I might steal the car again and try the full loop. The weather is supposed to be much better.

 

On the work front, we've made very little progress on the textbook. There's two and a half months left until Christmas, and the goal is to have it done in time for next semester, so he can abandon the old text entirely. We really need to get moving on that. His unrelated to-do list keeps getting new things on it, which is distracting from the main goal. I'm trying to cross off as much of that list as possible so I can just bear down on my share. Once the blinders go on, that shit will get done fast.

 

But I have another pet project that suddenly looks like it's going to go somewhere fast. My alma mater had a veterans advocacy clinic, with the primary purpose of assisting veterans appeal denials of their medical benefits. We had a huge client base in the Chicagoland area. Naturally, I have a soft spot for helping veterans, and there seems to be a large veteran population in Oregon. My side hustle is going to be pitching a similar clinic to the law school. John tells me that the administration wants to add clinics, there seems to be office space for one, and (fortuitously) Abby met a student on the flight out here who is (1) a Navy vet, (2) trying to pitch a veterans advocacy class, (3) started a graduate student veterans group on campus, and (4) is very, very interested in starting a veterans advocacy clinic. The omens are good: I can pitch this to a receptive administration, connect them to my alma mater's clinic for help getting off the ground, and this student can generate interest among the student body in working at such a clinic.

 

As of right now, John is going to connect me to his primary administration liaison, and Abby is trying to set up plans with this student on Thursday, which she invited me to tag along for. I feel good about this.

[mightstone2k]

Height: 72"

Weight: 186.8 lbs

Neck: 14.75"

Chest: 39.25"

Waist: 33.75"

Hips: 39.0"

Bodyfat: 15.7%

The numbers are all trending in a bad direction. I haven't been successful with the cut over the past couple days with Red here. I tried to convince myself that I would just eat at maintenance for a couple days, and managed that for one. Then I went over, with more sugar and sodium than planned. I'm hoping the increased weight and body fat percentage are just water retention, but that's hope and wishes right now.

On the plus side, the chance of rain in the Columbia Gorge has gone to virtually nil today, so I'm going to hit the 'bells, then head up there for the 10.9 mile loop hike. A day on the mountain (and out of the house, away from the boredom and the food) will do wonders for me. Most of my gear is packed; just need to fill up the hydration bladder and GO.

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[mightstone2k]

Not much to report, except that I ate like an asshole after Saturday's hike, started swinging 24kg OHS, and am looking at the Eagle Creek-Tunnel Falls hike in the Columbia Gorge on Friday.

But the big news is that my walk back from Hertz on Tuesday got me to Farmer Maggot's house. 63 miles on the way to Mordor!

Possibly a better update to come later, when I'm not on my phone procrastinating my workout.

[mightstone2k]

Height: 72"
Weight: 185.0 lbs
Neck: 15.0"
Chest: 39.75"
Waist: 33.5"
Hips: 39.25"
Bodyfat: 15.1%

 

The numbers are staying more or less within the same range as usual. Bodyfat has been steady (since I started measuring my waist at the proper location) around 15% for about a month. I have no real emotional response to the numbers this week. Yesterday was non-stop swing day. I got 70T with a 24 kg bell in 1:57. That's an addition of three swings in the same time with the same bell. Statistically, that might be a blip, although I did the test at 07:00 instead of 09:00 as I did last time. For being mostly zombified, I'll call that an improvement.

 

The reason for the early morning workout was because yesterday was also my weekly hike. I did the Eagle Creek-Tunnel Falls hike, and was on the trail for 5:30 hours. Unlike any hike involving Angel's Rest, this one was a long, steady, and gradual ascent from the trailhead to Tunnel Falls. The total elevation gain here was 1640 feet, which is more than the gain from the AR trailhead to AR itself (1450 feet), but that ascent is continuous over 6 miles, as opposed to the brutal ascent that one must make in 2.3 miles to get to Angel's Rest. And instead of ascending a mountain, this trail goes along another gorge that branches off the Columbia Gorge.

 

Hiking, for me, is a chance to zen out. I find myself not focusing on anything other than the terrain, fueling myself, and rucking hard. Thoughts come and go, but never stick, and I never actively think about anything in particular. It's just me, the trail, and the ruck; it's the closest I've come to moo shim (empty mind) in quite some time. I may be in a holding pattern whilst in Oregon, but this is good country to be in without sinking roots. I work and train during the week, then take a day to vanish into the wilderness with nothing but a pack to reset and cleanse my soul.

 

And to eat copious amounts of food. I'm experimenting with day hike nutrition. When I did my hike in Forest Park, I had some lunch meat and a bag of sugar snap peas; I hit a wall pretty quickly that day. Since MFP told me how many thousands of calories a ruck was burning, I decided to fuel appropriately. In the name of science, I'm logging each hike's rations and the pros/cons of each. My Angel's Rest-Devil's Rest loop was fueled by 5 Aidell's chicken & apple sausages, 10.4 oz of Parmesan Reggiano, and 35.4 oz of baked and cooled potatoes (2525 cal, 128F/196C (mostly starch)/170P). Yesterday, I took out 18 dried apple rings (no sugar added), 5 Aidell's chicken & apple sausages, 8 oz of horseradish cheddar, and 6.54 oz peanut M&Ms (2 sharing size bags) (3020 cal, 180F/219C (mostly sugar)/125P).

 

On both hikes, I ate a bit every few hours and never hit a wall. I had consistent energy the whole way through. The real difference is that yesterday, I was carrying much less weight in food, and the rations took up much less space. That's a net positive. The only downsides to yesterday's load-out are: (1) the carbs were all in sugar. I'm not sure how I feel about that, health-wise, but the fueling effect was the same; (2) the artificial crap loaded into the M&Ms. That might be trying to be too perfect and healthy. On the plus side, I retained far less water weight yesterday (2 lb gain compared to about 4 lb) and never felt as bloated and "heavy" as I did on the potato-eating hike. Next time, I might try a fat-fueled hike, mostly meats and cheese, and see how that affects my energy levels. I saw a Primal Blueprint article about relying on fat-burning to fuel a hike; I'll have to dig it up again. But this is play-time, essentially. I get to learn what makes my body happy while hiking, and figure out how to optimize my fuel choices (based on taste, weight, effect, volume, etc). Yay science!

 

The hike also brought my Mordor trip through Crickhollow and into the Old Forest (76.4 miles). But, the path has just disappeared, and this is not a good place to be lost in!

 

I'm still sorting plans for my trip back to Chicago for swearing in. My mother hasn't committed to coming yet, so my lodging is up in the air. If she comes, we'll just split a hotel room. But if she doesn't, I'm debating between crashing at a friend's apartment or getting a hostel/AirBnB for the long weekend. I like the idea of finding my own place because it gives me more freedom of action, without worrying about being in someone else's home. I always feel underfoot or somehow rude just for being there. Or I adjust my own habits to match theirs, which works on the bedtime side, but less so on the wake-up side. But crashing on a couch is free. I'll already be spending money on food and travel, plus the holidays are going to be their own expenses (food and miscellany for Thanksgiving, and the same plus airfare for Christmas). I have some time to mull it over, at least until we figure out my mom's plans.

[The Most Loathed]

The most challenging part of hiking on fat fuel, in my opinion, is that there aren't many good fatty foods that pack well. My wife and I had success with Justin's Almond Butter packets this summer when we did some hiking. They pack well and are single servings. I also found some MacroBars that worked well. not as well as real food but not bad.

[mightstone2k]

The most challenging part of hiking on fat fuel, in my opinion, is that there aren't many good fatty foods that pack well. My wife and I had success with Justin's Almond Butter packets this summer when we did some hiking. They pack well and are single servings. I also found some MacroBars that worked well. not as well as real food but not bad.

I was thinking hard cheese and precooked sausages, like the Aidells (or cured meat, like salami). For a day hike, those should pack well enough, and keep my protein up to boot. Those Justin's Almond Butter packs sound interesting. I've seen them in stores and never given them a second thought, but using them for hiking fuel is brilliant. Were they filling enough? What downsides did you notice about them?

[The Most Loathed]

We would stop frequently and I would have either a nutrition bar (marcroBar or some protein bars the brand of which I don't recall) or one almond butter and one apple. I found the almond butter/apple stops to be more satisfying from a food standpoint. It's nothing like a meal but the pairing of a little bit of each macro and some fiber was really good.

[mightstone2k]

Duly noted. I will file that info away for a couple hikes from now. Fat-fueling is going to be an experiment for later, because MT sent us a basket full of Halloween candy. Her being her, it's not fun-sized stuff. So I socked away a bunch of peanut and almond M&Ms and some Snickers pumpkins. My compromise is that I will only eat those, and only as hiking fuel. Result: I have enough candy to serve my purposes for two more hikes! Go MT.

 

In other news, I got my first assignment for the Air Force: Yokota AFB, Japan. I will probably ship over in late April/early May, which means I only have so much more time state-side before going to the Pacific. I'm both surprised and excited. I thought for sure it would be Europe. The Pacific is not a place I would have gone out of my way to visit, but now I get forced out of my comfort zone to immerse myself in Japanese culture for three years. This is awesome, honestly. Of all the places in Asia I would want to go, Japan is the frontrunner. I've been interested in the samurai since I started my martial arts journey, and now I get to go to their ancestral homeland. ALL of the martial arts! And ALL of the sushi!!!

[The Most Loathed]

Congratulations on your first assignment! Enjoy the opportunities. It's easy to fall into base life and never really get out.

[mightstone2k]

Height: 72"
Weight: 184.6 lbs
Neck: 15"
Chest: 39"
Waist: 32.75"
Hips: 39.25"
Bodyfat: 13.5%

 

Congratulations on your first assignment! Enjoy the opportunities. It's easy to fall into base life and never really get out.

 

Thank you!