Month: June 2012

Babys at the Beach!

We have amazing friends. Honestly. The Friday before Memorial Day weekend SB gets a call asking to go to the beach for the weekend. Um. YES! The last few weeks of school are brutal for a teacher so I was in desperate need of a getaway. We packed, bought sunscreen, and hoped in the car by 8pm that night. 6 sleepy hours and one speeding ticket later we arrived in the middle of the night to the beach house. I could hear the waves in the distance. I swear I could live at the beach. I’m sure having sand in every place possible would eventually get old, but…..nah, it wouldn’t. I LOVE the beach. Chase does too. Also, this was baby Lane’s first trip to the ocean! Now I can’t downplay this next statement: taking a baby to the beach is one of the hardest damn things ever. After lugging chairs and beach tents and bags and coolers (well yeah), and sand toys, and SAND SPURS….well you get the idea. However….once you do make it down to the water, unload the loot, get that baby in the water and open a cold one…all is right in the world. Thankfully Lane loves the water and slept like, well, like a baby for hours on the beach. The fresh air and natural noise maker made for some good Zzz’s for all of us. Kit and Bob were fabulous, gracious hosts and we owe them big time. Their little one is very close to Lane’s age, so it’s really nice to spend time with another couple that understands the ups and downs of infants. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Thankfully, we are heading BACK to almost this same location in July with some of SB’s family. This time for a whole week. That way we can drag the shit down to the beach and leave it there for 7 days. Happy Freakin’ Summer!!

P90x: 40+ days

This post is about 10 days over due. Here’s my 30 day pic for P90x.

P90x - Day 30

As you can see, I have achieved results! On day 30 I had more definition in my arms, legs, back, shoulders, stomach, and smile. I was feeling fantastic and wanted more. This however was short lived. Shortly after my day 30 awesomeness I departed for a 3 day field trip for Chase’s PC class. It’s hard enough doing P90x at home, but it’s impossible to do any sort of exercise while tending to a gaggle of 4th/5th graders and walking around learning about maritime forests and such. So when I got home I was feeling rather bleh. Three days of cafeteria food and sand in my ass had taken it’s toll. However, I was ready to jump back to it on Thursday! I crushed another workout and was back in the swing of things. That is, until the next day when we were invited to hang with some friends at a beach house for the weekend! How could we possibly turn this down?! The beach trip in general is for another post and I’ll let Jess handle that one. I had great intentions and  packed my DVDs and some gear for a few workouts at the beach. Well as anyone who’s ever been to the beach will tell you, that is pretty much a wash and workouts are most likely not going to happen. Tack on a few kids, some wicked sunburn, and a few drinks and I can kiss those days goodbye.

Ouch!

By Tuesday I was feeling dreadful and wanted to either exercise the toxins out of my body or die. Well, I have a family to look after so I decided to exercise. Again, there were obstacles all over the place. From a sunburn that left me itching all of my skin off to a hand that looked like a zombie attack (an injury suffered while digging a trench from our sand castle to the ocean), it looked as if it was going to be another battle to get my routines in. I would do my best to exercise here and there, but it just wasn’t the same. I felt like I had lost my drive. I could feel myself slipping further and further from my goal and the scale was certainly reflecting this.

Then came the wall. The 215lb wall that I was either going to bust through or let stop me. Some how I had gained 3 more pounds that my starting weight. Luckily I didn’t let it stop me. It took some time and a lot of internal struggle, but as of this morning I feel like I’m back in the driver’s seat. I am now at 209lbs and am ready for my next exercise.

Last nights workout was probably one of the toughest ones I’ve done in the past 40+ days. I did not eat well yesterday and certainly did not provide the right fuel for my body to do a great workout. But with the encouragement of my wife (who is also doing daily exercise routines btw) I got out there and did some Plyo X. It wasn’t easy, and I threw up before finishing, but I finished. I got over that hurdle and am so happy I did. I’m not ready to finish the second half of this program and get to that goal fitness level that I have set for myself. I feel great and I can’t wait for my next routine. I know the next 45 days will bring struggles, hurdles, and all manner of things to slow me down, but I am determined to see this thing through. I may be exactly where I am today in terms of weight and muscle or I may be “fit as a fiddle”, as Tony Horton would say. Only time will tell.

Oh, and as I mentioned earlier my wife is now doing her own daily workouts. She’s stuck to it so far and I am exceedingly proud of her and can’t wait to see her awesome results. I have faith in her and know she will bust through it. Stay tuned for more!