Book Nerd and Ranger/Assassin

[torpedotor]

Well. I figured it was about time to begin "unlurking" as another user put it. I've been reading Nerd Fitness on and off for maybe a year now. (Thank you, Stumbleupon!) But lately, I've been following more closely, actually decided to get an account, and chose to participate instead of just reading.

 

So, a little about myself: I've grown up my whole life in the same medium-sized town in the suburbs of Chicago--even attending college there. (I just graduated a few weeks ago, actually. Woot!) I have traveled a little bit--Mexico, Canada, and France--but I am finally leaving "home" to start my own adventure for real. (Can't help but think of Bilbo's advice to Frodo.) So I am off to Washington, DC in one week for a summer-long internship, and then hopefully a job after that.

 

Nerd credentials: I've always been an avid reader, so most of my nerdiness comes from that aspect of my life. I read the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles or Narnia and was hooked on fantasy stories at a young age. Read the Silmarillion in sixth grade. Read The Chronicles of Narnia seven times in one summer (yep, all seven books, seven times, in three months). I loved LotR and tCoN so much that I went through and read most of the authors' other works (e.g. The Space Trilogy, The Great Divorce, Silmarillion, various Tolkien short stories). I continue to read a lot and actually created a list of 150 books that I want to read before I die. (I'm at 53/150 right now I believe.) I can also be pretty nerdy about movies (e.g. Star Wars) and video games (e.g. Assassin's Creed) and tv shows (e.g. Lost), especially when they have a compelling story with amazing characters. (If anyone needs a book suggestion, I'm your man.)

 

My fitness story: I actually grew up in a fit family. My dad was a college football player who made the practice squad for an NFL team. (Bear down!) My mom is a marathon runner (currently injured) who has competed in over 30 marathons and countless other races and has a top time of 2:52. My younger brother and sister both run track in college (and are really good) and in high school they competed in three sports each.

Myself? I played basketball until junior high when you had to try out. Cut. I played baseball until high school when you had to try out. Cut. I played football for two years (8th and 9th grade) but I was too small (5'3", 120 lbs as a freshman), so I quit. And then I joined theater! Yeah. Nobody ever joked about that. (*sarcasm*) When I got to college, I decided I didn't want to be small forever, and found a group of guys that worked out almost every night of the week. We did Insanity, P90X, picked up swimming, ran, and then started do bodyweight and dumbbell exercise routines that we made up on our own. Just last year, though, we did mostly big lifts with lots of barbell training (pull-ups, push-ups/bench, squats, and deadlifts).

 

Who I am now: Now, I'm pretty comfortable with my size/weight/body composition. I'm pretty healthy and I'm pretty satisfied with my diet and exercise routine. However, I'm moving to DC in seven days! That means everything is about to get shaken up. So I need to start figuring out an exercise regimen and a diet plan for my new life. Pro: I'm really competitive, which has benefitted me as I trained with a group. Con: I won't have a group in DC. Pro: I know how to eat well. Con: I need to eat healthy on a budget. (Not impossible, I know, just a little more difficult.)

Also, right now I'm a Ranger, but I'm thinking about trying to become an Assassin. I'm not exactly sure where to start, though. I'd love to do parkour and have started doing a little gymnastics training on my own, but I seriously have no idea what I am doing.

 

So yeah, that's me in a nutshell. I'd love to connect with any other Nerds living in DC this summer. And if you've got any advice, lay it on me. That's why I'm here. (Did I miss anything?)

[hysteriapathy]

Congrats on graduating! Good luck in D.C. and I hope you find some Nerds to hang out with.

[torpedotor]

Thanks! I hope so, too. Once I'm out there, I'll probably check the message boards to see if there are any meet-ups planned.

[WriterGuy]

Another book nerd in the house! Welcome and it looks like you have a good hold of what you want to do and have achieved quite a lot. Good job on having your shit together mine is not really all there at the moment, so it's good to see health-oriented book nerds out there. Gets me determined to succeed on my own. 

 

I think I have read Sillmarilion 7 times to actually get all the names right.  

[torpedotor]

The Silmarillion is definitely a book I need to read again. I really enjoyed the histories, even if they were confusing at the time. A second or third read-through might help me out, too.

 

And yeah, I currently have my shit together. During college, I had a nice routine set up, a great group of workout partners, and a steady diet. But now, I'm going to be working 8:30 to 6:00 (and commuting 30 minutes each way), will have no workout partners, and will need to adapt to a budget-stretched diet. I'm the kind of person who works really well having everything scheduled and planned out, so I've been trying to use this week (the last week before I start my summer internship) to plan out my daily schedule so I can work out three or four times a week and get enough protein and fruits and vegetables to stay pretty healthy.

[WriterGuy]

Those working hours can certainly cause you some trouble when trying to find free time for yourself. It's good you're planning ahead, because it'll really be a tough one. When I get exhausted - I say screw it all and just go with the flow, so am looking to break that cycle. 

 

Good luck and what is your intern job? 

[Adi]

Hey ! Nice to find a book nerd here ...

I'm reading The Silmarillion for the first time currently ..and the names are something I haven't quite gotten down properly yet.

[torpedotor]

WriterGuy: It's a three-month internship with a Senator from my state in his DC office. (So complicating my "plans" will be moving to a new city and dealing with that, too.) Thanks for the well wishes. I'm sure it'll work out.

Adi: Good luck. Always nice to meet a fellow book nerd, especially a Tolkien lover. I don't know when I'll be able to get around to reading The Silmarillion again. Hopefully in the Fall or Winter. Good luck with it!