First Run of the Year!

Today the weather got up over 50 degrees! I hope it stays this way. I think it will and spring should be well on its way. I even got to sit out on the deck a little bit!

Jenny and I enjoying some deck time

Anyways it was a good day of working out for me. I started the morning with a a little Kenpo. Its like a kickboxing workout. Even though I feel kinda silly when I do it, it is a purdy good workout. I then biked the three miles into school. After school I biked home and got ready to do a little run.

Jenny laced up here brand new Nike Free's. This brand of Nike shoe has kind of a similar concept to the Five Finger shoes that I talked about a few posts ago. The sole is thinner and much more flexible than a regular shoe. There isn't a large heel pad like a regular running shoe as well. This is basically the exact opposite of a running shoe that I was told to wear in high school. Her shoes are purdy cool though. She customized all the colors using the NikeID website. You can customize any shoe that Nike makes. Check it out.

Jenny's Custom Nike Free's

I strapped on my Five Fingers shoes. Not only was this the first run of the year but also the first run in my new shoes! The run actually went really good. I had heard that it takes a while to get used to having little to nothing between you and the road and running using a toe-strike method instead of a heel first approach. The first thing I noticed was that my feet were incredibly light. It felt like there was nothing there! I wasn't even too winded after our 3 mile jaunt but I have been biking a lot lately so that is probably part of it. The only thing that I really noticed was that my calves were a little tight afterward. Tight like I was using some muscles that I didn't know were there. Kind of the same sensation as when you roller blade or something like that.

Nike Free and Five Fingers

I'm really interested to see how this foot shoe thing plays out. I've read some of the research that says that running toe first is more a more natural way to run and that modern running shoes with their heel first approach isn't they things should be. Some of the research says that even some running injuries can be prevented by using either the Nike Free or the Five Fingers Shoes. I think that even Saucony has a shoe that works the same way. These shoes just simulate a barefoot type of running. Kinda cool. Agree or don't. I'm kinda skeptical. I have been running in traditional shoes for a very long time. You know like forever so we'll see. If you want to read more there is a Harvard Study about barefoot running that you can check out.

I'll let you know how it works out

Omlettes!!

Today I woke up a little early and whipped up an omelete. It was the first time I've used my brand new griddle to make an omlette. I just got the griddle last weekend on an ill advised trip to Target. I have spending problems when I go to Target because there are so many things that I "need" or have been wanting for awhile and the price seems right. I do prefer Target to Wal-Mart though. I recently watched a documentary about Wal-Mart and I don't think I'll ever go back to one of their stores. The Waltons seem like terrible human beings. They abuse their workers and destroy towns. They also are some of the top ten richest people in the world and yet don't give any of their money to charity. Bill Gates has given over half of his wealth to charity. Seems totally lame of those Waltons. Anyways the movie is called Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.

But enough about Wal-Mart, on to breakfast. I cut up about half and onion and 5-6 oz. of ham and grilled it up in a little vegetable oil. For the eggs I mixed up two whole eggs and one egg white from those egg whites in a container.

Egg mess on the griddle

I then threw the egg mixture on my square griddle surface and watched a nice little chunk of my eggs wash right off the griddle into the grease trap. I didn't let that stop me and it actually made a better omelet than I was getting from just using a pan on the stove. I'm getting better at omelet making but I could use a lesson so dad prepare yourself. Its all a work in progress but I love eating breakfast in the morning. I'm enjoying it while I know I have time to. Alright just thought I would update everyone that my breakfast cooking skills have moved from bowls of cereal to omelet cooking.

Completed Omelet

Bye bye!

Bike Man

Well it's spring and I've been celebrating spring time by biking to school/work. The weather still stays under 40 degrees so I have to bundle up a little bit. Hopefully it will get more spring like soon because I'm tired of being cold. It's not as cold as Montana or anything, you basically just need a longsleeve shirt, a fleece jacket, and some sweatpants. No big deal.

Me and My Bike and Warm Stuff

My bike an old school blue and silver Fuji (like these but at least 15-20 years older haha). I really don't know how old it is. I bought it at the Iowa City Bike Library. Its a cool place in town where people can donate their old bikes. They take those bikes, fix them up, and either sell them (like mine) or rent them out mostly to college kids for their commutes. Even though they are used bikes they are way better than you could get at Wal-Mart or Target and for a better price. I know this first hand. I bought a bike 2 summers ago at Target and it literally fell apart everytime I rode it. One time I had to stop at a firehouse and have the nice firemen help me put my bike back together. The last time it decided it wanted to fall apart mid ride, I let my temper get the best of me and I through it in a dumpster on the spot and walked home.

The Fuji Bike

But I do enjoy my rides to work. Its not too bad on the way in but there is a giant hill on the way back that is rough but its not too bad. You can map out any bike ride of yours at Map My Ride. Its purdy cool.

My Commute

Summer Fitness Plans Already!!

Jenny and I already have two fitness events planned for the summer! Hopefully I'll have a job by then (fingers crossed!) I have had one interview and have a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow March 27th. But anyways the summer plans. We are planning to do the Warrior Dash! Its an event that takes place all over the country and is basically an extreme obstacle course over approximately 3.5 miles. You can check it out at http://warriordash.com/register2011_midwest.php#

It looks like it will be a great time! You get a t-shirt and viking war helmet with your entry fee which is awesome. I can't wait to kick its ass on June 19th. The obstacles include: tires, a plank bridge, leap over fire, mud crawl under barbed wire, moss maze, log obstacles, cargo nets, run through a river, climb over haystacks, and even a little tunnel crawl. It should be awesome and remind me a little bit about my time at West Point haha.

The second event we have planned and registered for is the Des Moines Dam to Dam half marathon (http://www.damtodam.com/). I've never done a half marathon but I have hiked farther and done a crazy army thing for farther than that so I'm sure I can handle it. Jenny and I are going to get going on our run training as soon as the weather warms up which should be this week. I plan on trying out my new shoes for running this week. They are a pair of Vibram Five Fingers shoes. They are Bikilas and they are the running variety of five fingers shoes.

Five Finger Shoes

You can check out all the Vibram Five Finger variations at their website http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.htm. They are supposed to force you to run on your toes more instead of heel first. We'll see how that goes.

Well at least there's a plan in place. Time to deliver!

Jenny's Blogs

I would also like to share a couple of Jenny's blogs as well. She recently changed the name of her Guinea Pig blog

Jenny's G Pigs
jennysgpigs.blogspot.com
This blog is about our two little guinea pigs Guinness and Peanut. We have had Guinness since August and he's getting to be a big pig. We have had Peanut since January and he's still really little and really rascally.

Veggie Food Adventures
veggiefoodadventures.blogspot.com
This is where Jenny puts some of the recipes for the dinners and snacks we have. Its really cool because she makes up her own recipes or modifies existing ones to make them vegetarian. Some are even hardcore vegan (no meat, dairy, or eggs). They are all extremely tasty

Yenny in Transit
yennyintransit.blogspot.com
This is Jenny's blog where she talks about all her adventures either here in Iowa City or anywhere in the world she happens to get to. There are a ton of entries from her time in Europe and our massive road trip this summer.

ENJOY!!

Spring 2011

Wow it has been a VERY long time since I have posted anything. I believe that I was about to head back home to Montana when I last wrote. Quite a lot has happened since then. I visited Denver for the first time ever and LOVED it. There seems to be so much to do there indoors or outdoors. We (Jenny and I) did a lot of both. We went to several great breweries in the area including: Odell, New Belgium, and the Coors Brewery. We also took a hike that was advertised by Vanessa Veiock (Jenny's best friend from high school) as a nice little afternoon hike. It turned out to be a giant hike up to almost 14000 feet. We were rained and hailed on with lightning all around. We survived (although soaked) to eat some great pizza at BeauJo's. It was a great trip. We left and headed north up to Yellowstone National Park. It was a great road trip and we got to see all the important animals including: a black bear, buffalo, elk, and even a moose. We continued on to Sidney to hit up the Richland County Fair and Rodeo. It was great I got to see a ton of people I haven't seen in a long time. Jenny got to see my vast number of cousins which I think was a shock to here considering her and her sister Julie are the only kids in there family. Well that was the summer in a nutshell.

Mountains of Colorado (before the hailstorm)


Me and Jenny at the New Belgium Brewery

Jenny at the falls of the Yellowstone

The Montana Border at the top of the Bitteroot pass (very scary)

Fall 2010 was mostly consumed with Iowa Hawkeye football and school work. I got to go home for Thanksgiving for the first time since I was in high school which was nice. Also as an end to the year I got to spend Christmas with dad in foggy California. I got to see dad's new house, spend some quality time with dad and Beau including a snowboard trip! Incidentally I have decided I don't want to snowboard anymore and will be switching back to skis next time. Too much of a hassle to be worth the fun value. The end of the Christmas story actually leads in to the spring. After witnessing my supposedly college football playing brother being an overweight underachiever (sorry Beau), I decided I needed to look at what I was doing with myself as well. Also we three boys (Dad, me, and Beau) weighed ourselves and I weighed almost 240 pounds with jeans on which was unacceptable.

First I needed a workout plan. Dad helped with that by hooking me up with the P90x workout system. Its a great workout system with three different varieties: classic (more weight lifting), lean (more cardio), and double (both). The workouts are six days a week and each workout has its own video for you to follow along. Jenny and I chose to push each other to work out more and we decided to go with the lean version to start things off. It includes some weight lifting, some cardio, core, and even some Yoga.

It is now the end of March and I feel absolutely great. I have more drive to finish all of the workouts and more energy for everyday things. I'm stronger and feel more fit everyday. I still have lost a little bit of weight but the important thing for me is that I feel better about. I do have a bit of a belly but that's what I get for not eating healthy and drinking too much beer. But that is what I hope to help with a better diet.

Living with a vegan/vegetarian certainly helps with my eating habits. There are definitely more vegetables in the house than I have ever been used to. I have been cooking more and find that I have been doing kinda well with it. I'm trying to eat less processed food and more homecooked stuff. I took a tip from a Men's Fitness magazine that helped me plan more for the week. I seasoned and marinated a few cuts of meat so that they are ready for any evening's meal. I'll see how that works out. I have also been making a fried rice a lot. Its easy and its fast. I'm also trying not to fill up on pasta so much even though I love it. Jenny has also introduced me to some tofu and other "meat" things which has mixed results haha.

Well there is my update. I'll try to do this more and show some different workouts, meals, and trips. Excellent talk to you soon!