If you remember my post from a couple of months ago, I stated my goals: (1) diet, (2) start, (3) stay the program, (4) stay, (5) stay. Well, #1-3 are complete! Granted, #1 has taken a little bit of a nose-dive since we've been restricted almost completely to "fine Army cuisine". Not to say their bad, per se, but they often fry things and don't really give me the unprocessed food and options I'm looking for.
We finally figured out how to get a "To Go" box of dinner. With that, I actually tend to do better portion control. Today's dinner had fried chicken "parts" and some fresh vegetables. As long as I can visit the salad bar and occasionally find some good protein (e.g chicken, fish or ribs). It's gotten better. Now if I could figure out a way to do it without using styrofoam containers each meal... Anyway, the diet will certainly be a struggle over the next year, so this is no surprise.
I stayed the course in DC, which is #3. I'm trying really hard to stay the course here at Atterbury (#4 is Atterbury and beyond, through me getting out of the Navy). I found several guys (in my current barracks arrangement, only valid for another 2 weeks or so) who want to CF with me. It's good to have support!
So, I've not been logging things consistently. I missed workouts the first few days (trying to figure out my own personal schedule) but finally got in my third workout this week. I don't remember 4 days ago. Yesterday, we did 5x3 bench press and tabata sit-ups followed by tabata air squats. I didn't realize those two would kill my legs as much as they did, and it's been over 24 hours!
Tonight, our initial plan involved bringing kettlebells outside of the gym; no surprise, really, they weren't supportive of this plan. So we did a simple one: ~200m spring, 10 knees-to-elbows, and 10 burpees. Oh, three sets, for time. It was short and to the point. I didn't say sweet, but perhaps someday it'll feel good ;-)
So, I've found friends to work out with which is great! Today we flexed to something pseudo-random but I'd really prefer to go with warm-ups, strength, and WODs of actual coaches to make sure I cover all muscles. We'll see what we can do Monday night.
Minana!
18 July 2010
The Navy sure is a well-oiled machine ...
... as several friends told me before coming here. It's not bad, mind you, now that I'm used to the ... well ... treatment.
A day or so ago, more people for the teams showed up (like our commanding officers ... nobody special). About 40 total. The intent (contrary to the published schedule, no problem there) was to bring them to the language training seminar with the rest of us. Unfortunately, the side of the training office that said "we'll get another bus to drive you there" and the side that actually does it ... are apparently separated by more than a short fence. Only about 1/3 of them were able to make it, and they made it very late morning. Awesome.
Oh well.
Regardless, we're in an eternal Groundhog Day (the link should say it all). Looking at the schedule, it's not exactly refreshing to see that we have no time off for the next couple of weeks. I don't expect any time off in the next few months, either. Joy.
So far I haven't gotten reimbursed yet (for June and the trip here). It's only been a week so far so I'm not nervous or pitching a fit yet. Just curious and concerned.
The fun part is my purchase of the "discount bargain internet access" provided by the ever-so generous Army MWR bubbas (under the name of Army Recreation Machine Program or ARMP) charges $39/month and has for many nights now averaged 5 minutes between getting kicked off the net and requiring around 5-10 attempts to re-join the net. Unfortunately I get very little phone signal, otherwise I'd just tether and deal with the slightly slow throughput (and ever-warming iPhone). Samada.
Can't wait for "Army Training" to start. (The first 10 days is just language/culture training at Indiana University.) Oh, that brings up one side point: after 7.5 hours of speaking Pashto, we are given some form of culture lecture. Apparently the Army decided to tell the instructors (none of whom live locally; they all fly in from elsewhere. Well, the Army tells them as they got here that they need lectures. I would think that getting that request out there earlier would produce better prepared instructors. Not that it shows ... much. (It's not encouraging to the see instructors shaking their heads and hearing the speaker bite their head off.
Awesome.
A day or so ago, more people for the teams showed up (like our commanding officers ... nobody special). About 40 total. The intent (contrary to the published schedule, no problem there) was to bring them to the language training seminar with the rest of us. Unfortunately, the side of the training office that said "we'll get another bus to drive you there" and the side that actually does it ... are apparently separated by more than a short fence. Only about 1/3 of them were able to make it, and they made it very late morning. Awesome.
Oh well.
Regardless, we're in an eternal Groundhog Day (the link should say it all). Looking at the schedule, it's not exactly refreshing to see that we have no time off for the next couple of weeks. I don't expect any time off in the next few months, either. Joy.
So far I haven't gotten reimbursed yet (for June and the trip here). It's only been a week so far so I'm not nervous or pitching a fit yet. Just curious and concerned.
The fun part is my purchase of the "discount bargain internet access" provided by the ever-so generous Army MWR bubbas (under the name of Army Recreation Machine Program or ARMP) charges $39/month and has for many nights now averaged 5 minutes between getting kicked off the net and requiring around 5-10 attempts to re-join the net. Unfortunately I get very little phone signal, otherwise I'd just tether and deal with the slightly slow throughput (and ever-warming iPhone). Samada.
Can't wait for "Army Training" to start. (The first 10 days is just language/culture training at Indiana University.) Oh, that brings up one side point: after 7.5 hours of speaking Pashto, we are given some form of culture lecture. Apparently the Army decided to tell the instructors (none of whom live locally; they all fly in from elsewhere. Well, the Army tells them as they got here that they need lectures. I would think that getting that request out there earlier would produce better prepared instructors. Not that it shows ... much. (It's not encouraging to the see instructors shaking their heads and hearing the speaker bite their head off.
Awesome.
11 July 2010
New topic: Why I'm Glad I Joined The Navy
The Navy certainly isn't perfect. Heck, it can be downright frustrating at times. But I'm learning to see how well oiled a machine it truly can be. And that's saying a lot.
This new section is going to highlight some of the fun associated with my training in Camp Atterbury. I obviously will not be discussing OPSEC-sensitive materials, and names will be changed to protect the ... stupid.
I understand the need to control -- somewhat -- students in a training environment. But if that Sgt tries to chew us out again, or expects us to follow directions she never clearly provided, I'll be in line to have a discussion with her. She should really re-learn a little decency. Positional authority only covers so much bull.
Scenario: you will be leading a convoy to a university over an hour away daily for the next ten days. Leading as in: lead car since nobody else has directions (mistake #1); and leading as in: in charge of all personnel (muster, etc). This group of people includes E-4's through O-5's, so you'd think perhaps a drive-through or at least a solid set of directions would be in order. Nope. She got lost. Since all other drivers (8 other vans) were from our group (i.e. no insider information), well, we eventually found our own way and had her follow. She got lost again going home. And when two of the vans stop somewhere to pick up a bite when we obviously wouldn't make it back in time for dinner (predictably), she tried to chew the rest of us out. Though she never gave us her rules.
I signed up for internet access so I might enjoy seeing my beloved wife occasionally. So, the "Army Recreation Machine Program" (ARMP) has been "generously" provided for us. Great. So, $24/week or $39/month is generous? Awesome. Connectivity is decent but blanks out periodically.
All of our other complaints right now seem relatively minor, but they should be remedied shortly (so we're told). We'll see.
I guess, all in all, I'm just surprised at how out-of-whack this appears right now. I truly expect some lemming-like expectation, and can even handle some of it (I know, that doesn't sound like me). I should relax and try take it all in stride ...
This new section is going to highlight some of the fun associated with my training in Camp Atterbury. I obviously will not be discussing OPSEC-sensitive materials, and names will be changed to protect the ... stupid.
I understand the need to control -- somewhat -- students in a training environment. But if that Sgt tries to chew us out again, or expects us to follow directions she never clearly provided, I'll be in line to have a discussion with her. She should really re-learn a little decency. Positional authority only covers so much bull.
Scenario: you will be leading a convoy to a university over an hour away daily for the next ten days. Leading as in: lead car since nobody else has directions (mistake #1); and leading as in: in charge of all personnel (muster, etc). This group of people includes E-4's through O-5's, so you'd think perhaps a drive-through or at least a solid set of directions would be in order. Nope. She got lost. Since all other drivers (8 other vans) were from our group (i.e. no insider information), well, we eventually found our own way and had her follow. She got lost again going home. And when two of the vans stop somewhere to pick up a bite when we obviously wouldn't make it back in time for dinner (predictably), she tried to chew the rest of us out. Though she never gave us her rules.
I signed up for internet access so I might enjoy seeing my beloved wife occasionally. So, the "Army Recreation Machine Program" (ARMP) has been "generously" provided for us. Great. So, $24/week or $39/month is generous? Awesome. Connectivity is decent but blanks out periodically.
All of our other complaints right now seem relatively minor, but they should be remedied shortly (so we're told). We'll see.
I guess, all in all, I'm just surprised at how out-of-whack this appears right now. I truly expect some lemming-like expectation, and can even handle some of it (I know, that doesn't sound like me). I should relax and try take it all in stride ...
06 July 2010
Pashto "complete"!
I took the OPI (oral proficiency interro... interview) last week. I was "hoping" for a 2/2 but earned a 1+/1+. Why do I say "earned"? Well, I don't think I was challenging myself well-enough with tenses and my vocab.
Despite knowing that the scenario required the instructor to throw a curve-ball at me, I heard most of it but missed one specific word and went around-and-around for about 3 minutes trying to understand what she was asking. Instead of "uhhh, repeat, please", I said "I understand you are saying this, this, and that, but what do you want now?", which is better. But I missed the curve ball. Granted, if I had applied strategery to it I would have known exactly what she was going to say before she said it, but I didn't. I honestly missed the word and stuck with it. Oops.
So, I think the "1+" is commensurate with my actual performance. It may be enough to give me a bonus in pay (not my justification but nice anyway), but it will certainly give me a leg-up for when I get in country.
Now my biggest challenge yet: 3 months of "Army Training" (said with a Bill Murray "Stripes" accent), trying to maintain what little Pashto I have.
Despite knowing that the scenario required the instructor to throw a curve-ball at me, I heard most of it but missed one specific word and went around-and-around for about 3 minutes trying to understand what she was asking. Instead of "uhhh, repeat, please", I said "I understand you are saying this, this, and that, but what do you want now?", which is better. But I missed the curve ball. Granted, if I had applied strategery to it I would have known exactly what she was going to say before she said it, but I didn't. I honestly missed the word and stuck with it. Oops.
So, I think the "1+" is commensurate with my actual performance. It may be enough to give me a bonus in pay (not my justification but nice anyway), but it will certainly give me a leg-up for when I get in country.
Now my biggest challenge yet: 3 months of "Army Training" (said with a Bill Murray "Stripes" accent), trying to maintain what little Pashto I have.
Long time no ... blog ...
Okay, so it's been a while. I've been busy, alright?
So, after I front-loaded (when my sibs came to town), I had a few more WODs the following week. I can't remember them off-hand, but they were good. Why? Because I don't remember being in much pain. Okay, so I'm over that part of it (the long-lasting physical pain of the WOD), but I think I'd remember if one was particularly bad. (Come to think of it, I do remember specifically doing a full Cindy. Though I scaled the pull-ups (red band), I didn't scale anything else and ended up doing 10+ sets, I think. Not the highest count but exhausting nonetheless and worthwhile. Especially considering that on Foundations Day One I did a half-Cindy -- and it kicked my butt -- I feel like I've adapted and overcome that hurdle.)
I'm now in Pensacola, and before yesterday it had been about 9-10 days since my last WOD (I tested out of my language training and moved back down to Pensacola, both of which took a lot of my time). However, I went to Razor's Edge with Molly yesterday. I like the facility and like the owner (Gil), which is great. I'm concerned about Molly's coach right now, in that she (the coach) applies unfocused pressure, pushing for the sake of pushing. She also taught bad form on at least one exercise (resulting in Molly being injured and out-of-commission for a couple of weeks). Her technique of instruction is certainly her own, but I find it less-than-productive with me (and Molly).
Granted, my exposure to Razor's Edge in Pensacola has been limited to two coaches: Gil and the other one. Like I said, I like Gil, but I haven't seen him coach. If I assume that she has Gil's blessing then I can only assume that the rest of Razor runs things the same, and I'm not impressed. Granted, I'm still a sub-novice in CF but mechanics/form do not appear to be stressed nearly as much as in Potomac CF. If Molly opts to continue with CF at Razor, I hope she gets exposure to different coaches running the WODs. Sticking with the other coach could easily be discouraging.
Soooooo, yesterday's WOD was relatively simple: warmup with 3x5 snatch full squats, and the WOD was 3x4 minutes of AMRAP (10x20" box jumps, 5 ring dips, and 8 GHD situps). I used a red band for the dips, but otherwise did 12 sets.
Today's was again good: warmup with 3x5 Romanian deadlifts (135#), WOD of 3x(400m run, 25 GHD back extensions, 15 pull-ups) for time. I scaled on the first sets of rom-DL but ended on 135# (yay!). For the WOD, I did the first set of pull-ups with a red band (15 reps) and went without a band on subsequent sets (10 each). I'm not thrilled with the 18 minutes it took, but I was able to do more unaided pull-ups than I had previously thought which is great. My kip form was alright with the band but really sucked unaided ... something I really need to work on.
I have an ice-pack on my neck/shoulders now but it's precautionary (felt a little tightness after today's WOD). I'll go back to Razor on Thursday before I go up to Indiana on Friday and am limited to whatever facilities they have up there. CF affilitiates on base? I can almost guarantee "no". CF-friendly gym(s)? Likely, but again it will be limited and certainly not solely CF-oriented (meaning I'll have to work in/around others). Wish me luck!
Quick post-script: if I were to give myself a report card right now, I'd say I'm really feeling the benefits of a good workout regime. My previous 5K was in May (a virtual race, running while Molly was running an actual race 1000 miles away) and was not thrilled with my 28:00 time; 4 days ago I ran another 5K here in Pensacola (this time much closer to Molly ;-), and crushed it (relatively) in 24:02. So, my general health is certainly improving (metcon, tabatas, etc). My strength numbers are getting better, though by a table I saw at Razor's today, I'm still at to slightly below "novice" for weight levels. I have my work cut out for me.
So, after I front-loaded (when my sibs came to town), I had a few more WODs the following week. I can't remember them off-hand, but they were good. Why? Because I don't remember being in much pain. Okay, so I'm over that part of it (the long-lasting physical pain of the WOD), but I think I'd remember if one was particularly bad. (Come to think of it, I do remember specifically doing a full Cindy. Though I scaled the pull-ups (red band), I didn't scale anything else and ended up doing 10+ sets, I think. Not the highest count but exhausting nonetheless and worthwhile. Especially considering that on Foundations Day One I did a half-Cindy -- and it kicked my butt -- I feel like I've adapted and overcome that hurdle.)
I'm now in Pensacola, and before yesterday it had been about 9-10 days since my last WOD (I tested out of my language training and moved back down to Pensacola, both of which took a lot of my time). However, I went to Razor's Edge with Molly yesterday. I like the facility and like the owner (Gil), which is great. I'm concerned about Molly's coach right now, in that she (the coach) applies unfocused pressure, pushing for the sake of pushing. She also taught bad form on at least one exercise (resulting in Molly being injured and out-of-commission for a couple of weeks). Her technique of instruction is certainly her own, but I find it less-than-productive with me (and Molly).
Granted, my exposure to Razor's Edge in Pensacola has been limited to two coaches: Gil and the other one. Like I said, I like Gil, but I haven't seen him coach. If I assume that she has Gil's blessing then I can only assume that the rest of Razor runs things the same, and I'm not impressed. Granted, I'm still a sub-novice in CF but mechanics/form do not appear to be stressed nearly as much as in Potomac CF. If Molly opts to continue with CF at Razor, I hope she gets exposure to different coaches running the WODs. Sticking with the other coach could easily be discouraging.
Soooooo, yesterday's WOD was relatively simple: warmup with 3x5 snatch full squats, and the WOD was 3x4 minutes of AMRAP (10x20" box jumps, 5 ring dips, and 8 GHD situps). I used a red band for the dips, but otherwise did 12 sets.
Today's was again good: warmup with 3x5 Romanian deadlifts (135#), WOD of 3x(400m run, 25 GHD back extensions, 15 pull-ups) for time. I scaled on the first sets of rom-DL but ended on 135# (yay!). For the WOD, I did the first set of pull-ups with a red band (15 reps) and went without a band on subsequent sets (10 each). I'm not thrilled with the 18 minutes it took, but I was able to do more unaided pull-ups than I had previously thought which is great. My kip form was alright with the band but really sucked unaided ... something I really need to work on.
I have an ice-pack on my neck/shoulders now but it's precautionary (felt a little tightness after today's WOD). I'll go back to Razor on Thursday before I go up to Indiana on Friday and am limited to whatever facilities they have up there. CF affilitiates on base? I can almost guarantee "no". CF-friendly gym(s)? Likely, but again it will be limited and certainly not solely CF-oriented (meaning I'll have to work in/around others). Wish me luck!
Quick post-script: if I were to give myself a report card right now, I'd say I'm really feeling the benefits of a good workout regime. My previous 5K was in May (a virtual race, running while Molly was running an actual race 1000 miles away) and was not thrilled with my 28:00 time; 4 days ago I ran another 5K here in Pensacola (this time much closer to Molly ;-), and crushed it (relatively) in 24:02. So, my general health is certainly improving (metcon, tabatas, etc). My strength numbers are getting better, though by a table I saw at Razor's today, I'm still at to slightly below "novice" for weight levels. I have my work cut out for me.
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