Long time away

Wow, I just realized that I had been away from this for a very long time (8 months or so).  After looking at my last post, I think I might know why, and let me share that with you.

Last I wrote, I was having some sever ankle pain.  I finally got it checked out, and my doctor told me to keep off of it for a few weeks, which I did.  I ran a 5K with some pain, but not terrible, so I started training for my 10K a few weeks later.  I felt a lot of pain at this time, so took a lot of rests, and when I actually ran the 10K, well, let’s say that ‘ran’ isn’t the right word.  I ran, then walked, then ran, then walked.  I went back to the doctor, and after a second x-ray, they found a stress fracture in my fibula that had went all the way through.  I was out of running for two months minimum.

I also stopped doing CrossFit WODs at this time, since there was a lot of impact in the workouts on my legs.  I kept lifting weights, but changed my routine up quite a bit.  I also started bicycling a lot, and incorporated some elliptical machine work, and was feeling pretty good.

Finally, my return to the doctor, and he gives me permission to start running again, slowly.  Unfortunately, I had to head to a course for the Army, which ended up making that stipulation impossible (if I told my chain about the injury, I wouldn’t be able to attend the course, and without the course, no promotion).  That brings me to where I’m at now, I’m in VA attending the Advanced Leadership Course.

There’s some good news in this.  Being forced to start running has felt good, instead of causing pain.  So I’ve been picking it up.  Today, I started a running training program from Hal Higdon’s website.

There’s also some bad news in this.  Being away from home, I have found myself eating nothing but crap food!  So that’s changing also.  I was sitting here, eating a pizza tonight, when I felt disgusted with myself.  I looked in the mirror, and although I’m not a super huge person, I was very unhappy with the way my stomach appeared.  My goal is to fix that!  I’m changing what I put into my body.  Being in a hotel for the next couple of months is no reason to let myself go.

So here is what I’m putting out to you.  Do you have any tips to make a healthy living while in a hotel?  I do have a fridge and microwave, but that’s it.  Any tips are greatly appreciated!  I’ll be back to writing more often, so hopefully I get a few hits.  I look forward to hearing from anyone!

 

Rest

This day couldn’t have come at a better time.  It’s Friday, so it’s the end of the work week, I’ve done nine miles this week, so far, so I needed a little rest, not to mention, the filthy fifty kicked my butt.  All of it was definitely worth it, it was a much fitter week than I’ve had in a while.  But, I feel like resting today, so it couldn’t be a better day to have the day off from both workout routines.

Tomorrow is back to it, I have a four mile run and whatever Crossfit routine they plan for anyone following that plan.

Not only that, this is going to be a busy weekend.  I have to paint one of the rooms in the house, and a whole lot of school work to finish.  I’m not excited for any of it honestly, but it will all pay off soon.

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday.  I’m now 28 years old.  I did something I don’t normally do on my birthday, I didn’t take a vacation day.  That’s not completely out of the ordinary, but this time I didn’t take one by choice.  Last year, I was a mobilized reservist, so I didn’t have a choice.

Not only that, but I still got my workout in as well.  I even did this WOD as advertised, didn’t scale anything back.  Five rounds of 400 m (1/4 mile) run, 30 24″ box jumps, and 30 20 lb. medicine ball wall throws.  It was supposed to be for time, and I got the stopwatch ready on my iPhone, but forgot to press start.  I think my time was right around 32 minutes, but not sure, maybe plus or minus a few minutes.  I was warned that the wall throws would be a pain, but the box jumps are what really took it out of me.  Those are tough!  However, this morning, my shoulders are really sore, which could only be from the wall throws.

I had a great birthday though, went to my mom’s house for gumbo and my birthday cookie.  Plus, it’s always fun to see all my nieces and nephews, even just for a little bit.  Now it’s time to get a whole lot of school work in!

Pre-Birthday Dinner

Well, the WOD for today was to rest, and for the most part, I did that.  My job doesn’t entail any strenuous activity anyway, so there wasn’t any worries there.  I do, however, get three hours a week to workout, and get paid, so since I had a three-day work week this week, I still went to the gym.  Nothing exciting, but I needed the 30 minute bicycle ride that I got in.  I’m pleased with seven miles on the stationary bike on a rest day.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so we’re going to my mom’s house for dinner.  My mom is making me gumbo, which is one of my favorite dishes.  Brittany doesn’t like it though, so we went out to dinner tonight, and celebrated my birthday at home, one day early.  It was really nice, she got me some athletic shorts and pants, which I will be using a lot of, and she got me an Apogee Jam, which allows me to play/record my guitar playing on my Mac, or even my iPhone.  Not only that, but we went to Texas Roadhouse, and ate way too much food!  It was delicious, but we ate so much that our stomach’s are hurting, and still brought home leftovers!  To top it off, she bought me a small birthday ice cream cake, that I’m too full to even try, but it looks delicious!

I know, most people don’t care about any of this, but it’s my blog, and I can type if I want to!  Ha Ha!

Not Feeling Well

The past couple of days have not been going so well for me.  I haven’t been to the gym since my first post on here, mostly due to Christmas, which is a bad excuse, I know, but that’s the main reason.  Then starting Monday evening, I started feeling bad.  It was bad enough that I couldn’t eat dinner.  I was up the majority of the night with what I’ll just refer to as a stomach flu.  I felt bad at a number of points because I knew Brittany wasn’t sleeping well either.  I remember thinking that I should just go lay on the couch, but couldn’t force myself to go that far away from the bathroom (maybe subconsciously I knew where I needed to be).

This continued into the majority of Tuesday afternoon, where I started feeling a bit better Tuesday evening.  I woke up today feeling not too bad, so decided I would go back to work.  This was a mistake.  I lasted no time at work, and had to take the rest of the day as a sick day.

Someone posted a comment on my Facebook with Richard Cheese’s cover of Disturbed’s “Down With the Sickness.”  In feeling bad, that definitely made me laugh.

Post Christmas

Even with it not feeling like the season, I had a great Christmas.  Brittany seemed really happy with her gifts, the little ones seemed like they really liked their gifts, and I know I really liked my gifts.  With all the traveling yesterday, I didn’t make it to the gym, and I didn’t make it to see my dad at the cemetery, but it was a great day (and everyone knows that ones a loved one passes, you can wish them a Merry Christmas anywhere, not just in the cemetery).

I look forward to getting back to the gym today.  I’ve already done a lot of cleaning, and have a lot of trash to take out since Brittany is back to work today.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as I did!

Christmas Begins

I’m about to head out the door to what will start my Christmas festivities.  This year isn’t like others for me.  I’m excited, but it still doesn’t seem like it’s Christmas.  Maybe it’s because it’s 50 degrees outside, and I expect Christmas to be much colder.  Maybe it’s because this year will be the first year (excluding my two years in Iraq during Christmas) I’m not waking up in my parents’ house to see what’s under the tree and what Santa brought me and my siblings, which then turned into my nieces and nephews.  I’m not really sure what it is, but something seems off.

Either way, I am still excited.  I look forward to seeing people open their gifts, and I (selfishly) look forward to opening mine.  I look forward to waking up tomorrow morning in my house with my girlfriend, and celebrating our first Christmas together in our home.  Tonight, I go to see my mom’s family that I typically only see once a year, then over to Brittany’s grandparents’ house.  I’ll take a great picture of my seven nieces and nephews for my mom, and that will be great.  Tomorrow will have more traveling and visiting, and hopefully a pause to stop at the cemetery and wish my dad a Merry Christmas.

Above all, I look forward to wishing Jesus a Happy Birthday, as that’s what we’re really celebrating by Christmas.

I hope anyone reading (and all those who aren’t) have a wonderful Christmas, and stay safe.  Even if things seem a bit off, it’s a great time to see family and friends!

Merry Christmas!

The Morning After

Oh wow, I knew the workout yesterday was good, but I woke up and I can barely shrug my shoulders. Who knew a bar with no weight 100 times would cause such a soreness? Normally, I’m not sore until the second day, not so this time!

The 1st…

My first post, as you can probably imagine from the title.  I don’t really know what I’m going to talk about.  I’ll probably mention some random things that come to mind throughout my day.  I’ll probably mention how I feel about my workouts, or maybe my progress in getting into better shape.  Who really knows what I’ll talk about until I decide to talk about them, which alludes to the web address, NicholsRandoms.  I hope that I’ll have some people check it out periodically, and we’ll go from there.