I perused my old entries today while I was at work. I was bored because I had to wait to attend some training near the end of the day. It was interesting to read what I had written so long ago! I didn't realize that I had utilized this blog so much! There were a lot of entries. I didn't read them all, but I did say some interesting things. It was exciting reading about my arcade cabinet. I'm still not done with it. I finished up the painting and got it up and running. Unfortunately, the computer died so right now it is used primarily for playing beatmania on the PS2. Reading about Maia's band-aid obsession was really funny too! I miss the days when the kids were smaller and funnier.
It is nice to get my thoughts and feelings down. I haven't been very good at keeping a journal. It isn't like keeping a blog is very convienient or easy, but I did manage to keep it going for two years and nearly 100 entries! Getting my feelings down on this blog is a nice way to vent and release stress and frustrations, and to also brag or boast when no one else is around.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Preparing for the Challenge
When it comes to preparing or planning ahead, I'm really terrible. For every long-term project that I've ever done in school, it was always a last minute rush to finish the job. When it comes to preparing for a vacation or trip, I tend to wait until the last minute to pack, usually leaving something behind in the process. Now I'm hard at work preparing for another type of challenge: a 13.1 mile "half marathon" through Anaheim, California and Disneyland!
I've always considered myself to be a decent runner. Being in the Navy, I have to run 1.5 miles within a certain time period for our Physical Fitness Assessments every six months. It is funny to hear people around me freak out when it comes to doing that short run because they are afraid to fail. Even without regular exercise, I can finish the run in about eleven minutes flat. I know that with practice I can do that run even faster! I have just been too lazy. I had never considered the notion of entering a marathon style run before because I haven't had the initiative to accomplish such a feat. Running for that distance kind of scares me! But, being able to achieve something like this shows just how fit I am. The steps it'll take to accomplish that goal, if continued afterword, will maintain my health and ensure a longer life.
I was asked to join the Disneyland half marathon by Juri's dad. Ever since he was told that he has a cholesterol problem, he has changed his eating habits and now regularly runs. Now that I am getting older (I turned 29 years old today), I realized that my health is much more important to me than ever before. So I figured, what the hell, and said yes. It was about two months ago that I was asked and I have done nothing to prepare for this marathon up until four days ago. That was my procrastination, obviously. Sure I ran some during the deployment I just got back from. I couldn't maintain a regular workout routine though because I was always busy with various work and repairs. But, now that I am home and back to a normal routine with work, I came up with a regular workout regimen. I have duty every four days, where I am stuck on the ship for a full work day. Because of my work scheduleon those duty days, I have decided to make that day a rest day to recover from my workout routine. On the days in between duty days, I will do my workout as follows. On the first day, I will do a 1.5 mile run for speed. I will start at 7 mph with a sprint at the end and hope to be running at 8 mph when I near the end of my preparation for the marathon. I will also do WiiFit strength training and balance games on that day. The second day will be strength training. I will do sets of pushups and crunches, alternating between the two. Right now, I'm doing ten pushups and thirty crunches per set. I hope to increase that amount as well as I go. I will also perform some yoga and strength training sets on WiiFit to add more variety and fun to my workout while working on my balance, posture, and breathing skills. The third day will consist of a long distance run, which I'm currently working on extending my time as I start this routine. I run at 6 mph constantly for thirty minutes and I hope to increase that time to forty-five minutes and then an hour. I will increase that time when I am ready to do so. In order to ensure that I follow through with this plan, I have made a workout log in Excel to track my progress.
So, that is my plan for the Disneyland half marathon! I hope that this adventure in physical health and fitness does more for me than just improve my overall health. I would like to use this planning example in other areas of my life to avoid future procrastination problems. A good plan will generally avoid future disasters. I will definitely use this blog to write out other futures plans in order to help cement these plans into being.
I've always considered myself to be a decent runner. Being in the Navy, I have to run 1.5 miles within a certain time period for our Physical Fitness Assessments every six months. It is funny to hear people around me freak out when it comes to doing that short run because they are afraid to fail. Even without regular exercise, I can finish the run in about eleven minutes flat. I know that with practice I can do that run even faster! I have just been too lazy. I had never considered the notion of entering a marathon style run before because I haven't had the initiative to accomplish such a feat. Running for that distance kind of scares me! But, being able to achieve something like this shows just how fit I am. The steps it'll take to accomplish that goal, if continued afterword, will maintain my health and ensure a longer life.
I was asked to join the Disneyland half marathon by Juri's dad. Ever since he was told that he has a cholesterol problem, he has changed his eating habits and now regularly runs. Now that I am getting older (I turned 29 years old today), I realized that my health is much more important to me than ever before. So I figured, what the hell, and said yes. It was about two months ago that I was asked and I have done nothing to prepare for this marathon up until four days ago. That was my procrastination, obviously. Sure I ran some during the deployment I just got back from. I couldn't maintain a regular workout routine though because I was always busy with various work and repairs. But, now that I am home and back to a normal routine with work, I came up with a regular workout regimen. I have duty every four days, where I am stuck on the ship for a full work day. Because of my work scheduleon those duty days, I have decided to make that day a rest day to recover from my workout routine. On the days in between duty days, I will do my workout as follows. On the first day, I will do a 1.5 mile run for speed. I will start at 7 mph with a sprint at the end and hope to be running at 8 mph when I near the end of my preparation for the marathon. I will also do WiiFit strength training and balance games on that day. The second day will be strength training. I will do sets of pushups and crunches, alternating between the two. Right now, I'm doing ten pushups and thirty crunches per set. I hope to increase that amount as well as I go. I will also perform some yoga and strength training sets on WiiFit to add more variety and fun to my workout while working on my balance, posture, and breathing skills. The third day will consist of a long distance run, which I'm currently working on extending my time as I start this routine. I run at 6 mph constantly for thirty minutes and I hope to increase that time to forty-five minutes and then an hour. I will increase that time when I am ready to do so. In order to ensure that I follow through with this plan, I have made a workout log in Excel to track my progress.
So, that is my plan for the Disneyland half marathon! I hope that this adventure in physical health and fitness does more for me than just improve my overall health. I would like to use this planning example in other areas of my life to avoid future procrastination problems. A good plan will generally avoid future disasters. I will definitely use this blog to write out other futures plans in order to help cement these plans into being.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A Long Time Ago...
I know, I know... It took me forever to update this blog. I've been really busy. I'm not going to apologize. I can't make up for the lack of updates. I didn't realize that blogging was actually a lot of work. But, Juri and I were talking recently during our road trip up to Sacramento, CA. She said that I should start up my blog again. I thought about it and realized that was a very good idea. I want to tell my family and friends about the things that I do and what I want to accomplish. So, getting the blog up and running again is a good way to do this.
So, many things have changed in the past year plus. My family and I moved across the country from New York to San Diego, CA. I am now stationed on the USS Nimitz, which has just returned from a four month surge deployment. We are scheduled to deploy again in a year or so from now. I'm delving back into the world of computer programming again. I recently bought a new laptop (which makes blogging easier) so that I can work on programming on deployment. I also signed on to run the Disneyland Half Marathon this year on August 31st! I'm preparing daily for it by alternating between running and strength training. I'm working hard to increase my endurance.
Anyway, I will be writing more in this blog now. I hope to have something to write everyday. I will talk about games that I am playing, programming that I done, and things going on in my life and work. Thanks for reading.
So, many things have changed in the past year plus. My family and I moved across the country from New York to San Diego, CA. I am now stationed on the USS Nimitz, which has just returned from a four month surge deployment. We are scheduled to deploy again in a year or so from now. I'm delving back into the world of computer programming again. I recently bought a new laptop (which makes blogging easier) so that I can work on programming on deployment. I also signed on to run the Disneyland Half Marathon this year on August 31st! I'm preparing daily for it by alternating between running and strength training. I'm working hard to increase my endurance.
Anyway, I will be writing more in this blog now. I hope to have something to write everyday. I will talk about games that I am playing, programming that I done, and things going on in my life and work. Thanks for reading.
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