Still Getting Back in the Saddle...

Summoning the beast within!

In my last entry, I plotted my return to the gym and started workout again. As some can relate and imagine, things change. I hit the gym solid for about 3 weeks and got lost in the mix of life and lost 2 weeks. So I guess it’s time to give it up right…not exactly, in fact not at all.

I think overall I had a good feel for the routine, but in the end I just get tired of being sore. I know that this is just my body going through the motions and it will go away, but it’s real easy when you’ve driven 45 minutes in gridlock traffic to lose motivation and simply hit the couch and coast into an afternoon slumber. I also found it real easy for me to have my workout plan in mind ahead of time, but when it came time to do the work, the plan would change gauged on how I was feeling and the availability of the equipment. My intentions were to use a great app I found for my iPod Touch that will chart my workouts and will chart my progress long term. When I upgraded to an iPhone, I managed to lose the workout progression data. This kind of lowered the morale unfortunately at this point I felt like the whole plan fell apart.

Despite the fall, I’m optimistic and excited about how I’m going to tackle the beast again. As long as I can find some innovative ways to keep working out interesting and not allow it to become a second job, I think I’ll be able to manage it. I also have adopted a workout philosophy where instead of trying to cram all my workouts into a seven day week and grouping body parts, I’m looking at the routines as Day 1-Day 2-Day 3 and giving each muscle group the attention they need. This will also allow me to take as long as my body needs to recover and prevent me from getting burnt out as easy and if I need 1-3 days away from the gym, the plan isn’t perceived as “all messed up” and stays organized and intact.

Bottom line is the metal must flow! When I come home from work, I need to have the hype music blasting and keeping my mind focused. It’s exactly like getting past the soreness, once I get past it, it should be a breeze. Since I’m not a professional athlete, I can ingest all the banned substances that would taint a piss test and not have a conscious about it….just kidding (even if I wanted to go that route, I wouldn’t like the costs both financially and mentally!) So wish me luck! We’ll get this done if it take 50 restarts a year damnit!

Getting Back in the Saddle...

After literally months of coming up with petty excuses to "wait until next week", I finally took my first step back into the gym to get this ass back in some type of shape. This was suppose to begin on January 1st! It goes to show that just crossing the mental challenge can be really hard. It wasn't that I was afraid of doing it again as I'd worked out for 8 months solid a few years back with some great partners. It was rather the idea of adding a new discipline that would impact all corners of my daily life. I have to curb my eating habits and maintain what I'm calling a "civil diet". I need to maintain the discipline to workout on the days that just feel like crap and keep the focus on the goal. I also need to learn to sleep! 4-5 hours a night will not provide my body with enough time to recover AND rebuild.

So...here is the plan:

Right now I'm doing general workouts to gauge what exactly my body is ready to handle. The last thing I want to do is be mentally ready to actually do this and then hurt myself because I think I'm Macho Man Randy Savage.

After I do this for two weeks at a broad ratio of doing 80% weight training and 20% cardio, I intend to change the focus specifically on cardio and at least have my weekly workouts up to 50/50 for a few months. I've never enjoyed cardio as it's been brutal on my feet and joints, but it MUST BE DONE!

After a couple of months of cramming cardio down my throat, I will then focus on power and strength training for 4 weeks going on a 60/40 weight training/cardio ratio. This will really reward my body and allow me to start bringing the good pain I was getting a few years ago.

Afterwards, I'll change the style up completely and focus on defining whatever bulk I've gained. The weight training/cardio ratio will go at 50/50 and I'll have a more body building or "cutting" approach to really lean out any muscle gained in the previous weeks.

So there you have it! My master plan to take the bull by the horns. I'll be using this blog to chart my progressions as I think it'll be interesting to reflect back on this process. Wish me luck!

A Memorable Memorial Weekend (Good and Bad)...

After thinking about it all week, I decided to take a small trek up to my father's place in Parks, Arizona (about 20 west of Flagstaff) where he was hosting a BBQ for his club brothers. I made my the trip up I-17 after work Friday evening and casually made my way up the mountains. Along the way I felt a need to stop by Cliff Castle Casino to test my luck, but had none as I dropped about $60 before I tucked tail and ran on my way. I got to my dad's place at around 9pm or so and relaxed by a fire outside for a few hours with my dad and his close friend and club brother Donnie and bullshitted under the stars until it was time to call it a night.



The next day we woke up and got started on preparations for the BBQ at around 5am. We expected some rain that day, so we put up numerous tarps around the property to allow everyone to stay dry.




People began to ride in at around noon or so as we struggled to set the fire on the grill (altitude?). We got the grill running just in time and got to cooking some steak, chicken, brats, with corn on the cob and baked beans.





After eating the meal with dad and some of his close club brother's, I figured I needed to start my way back to Phoenix to catch up with a few friends to watch the previous mention UFC fights. Along the way I hit some weather...



As I pasted Flagstaff and climbed the mountain, I hit some decent (but manageable) rain. I was running probably around 65-70mph with no problems what so ever. After I hit the mountain peak and made my descent, the storm flanked me with hail as I went down a 2 mile straight away.

Realizing the danger, I attempted to reduce my speed. Unfortunately I was too late as I completely lost control of my car and spun what seemed to be 480 degrees down the road @ at least 65 mph. I clinched up and braced for whatever hand I was going to be dealt as it all happened so fast and my attempt to keep control had failed. In combination with the spinning, the rain/hail made little to be seen outside the windshield. I felt the car go off the road and abruptly stop in what still goes by in my head in flashes. I was fine.

I got out of the car and realized I was about 10 yards off the road and about 20-25 yards away facing what would have been my demise in the form of a cliff as there were no guard rails.

With the weather bearing down on me and thunder and lightning erupting like a Father yelling at his son, I lost myself in the realization that I was not in control of my life for those few seconds and I was at the mercy of God and His elements. With Him scolding me for being so reckless in more ways than that specific moment, I felt humbled to say the least.

All that happened in what I would range from 5-30 seconds. After gathering my senses I realized another car had met the same fate as I except had plowed into the rock wall on the other side of the road. Expecting the worst, I ran across the road as others were already there surveying the incident. The driver riding solo...untouched.

Apparently, she had spun out first. As other came to her aid, I came spinning down the road in the opposite direction.

A lot of things could have happened with this incident. I could have hit the rocks as the other driver did. I could have hit her along with the others trying to help! I could have failed to follow my instincts and slam my brakes in mid-spin and hit other vehicles or ultimately fell off that cliff that still makes me a bit nauseous.

When it was all said and done, the other driver was uninjured and was going tobe fine other than the damage to her car, and I walked away with the burden of replacing one tire...pretty lucky.

Before I left in my car after getting out of the mud and slapping a doughnut on I went to see the other driver in the DPS car. I told her take care and that we were lucky not to hurt. She told me we weren't lucky, we were blessed. I took a lot of comfort in those words, squeezed her hand, smiled and went on my way.

Looking back I wish I would have been able to have caught the other driver's name just to look her up and see how it all faired for her. She was a nice girl about the same age as me with bright eyes and a wonderful smile. Despite what happened she seemed level headed enough and I'm sure was just happy to be alive. Even though I'll probably never see her again or hear of what happened to her, I have no problem with having faith that she'll make it through this minor stumble in her life. As she said before, "we were blessed".

UFC 98...

On this Memorial Day Weekend, the UFC is hosting another Pay per View fight card that should be quite entertaining. The main event showcases two light-heavyweight with undefeated records putting it all on the line for the UFC's coveted Light-Heavyweight Championship. The champion, Rashad Evans walks into the octagon on a mean streak, KO-ing former champions Chuck Liddell and Forest Griffin in devastating fashion while his opponent Lyoto Machida attempts to outwhit the champion and stake his claim as one of the best to step into the UFC.

Lyoto Machida has been under the radar more than even the standard UFC fan may realize. Before stepping foot in the UFC, Machida had already laid claims to victorious exchanges with some of the UFC's most prized contenders, defeating Rich Franklin (in only his third MMA fight), BJ Penn, and more recently Tito Ortiz. The only thing missing here for Machida is a UFC title as all three mentioned are or where UFC Champions.

It should be interesting to see how this fight ends up, but despite my fears of Evans recently viscious hands, I will be backing Machida tomorrow night just because I'd like to see him solidify an already elite resume as well as my feeling towards the cocky and errogant champion Rashad Evans. Although it wouldn't surprise me to see Evans get a KO since Machida and Liddell's fighting style of being counter punchers follow suit and how Evan's handled it then.

-Machida wins via stoppage (Rnd 3).

Also on the card is one of the longest running fueds in UFC history as Matt Hughes and Matt Serra clash skulls grudge match style. This fight should be pretty entertaining as the ever so loud mouth Serra gets a chance to back up his words against the future UFC Hall of Famer.

I think Serra bit off more than he can chew as to be honest, Serra really hasn't done anything worth note other than catch the reigning Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and snatch a title run like a thief in the night. Afterwards all he really managed to do was sit back and lay on the title (to his credit - Serra battled an injury that shelved him and the title) until a rematch was finally made and a healthy Serra got dominated by St. Pierre. Honestly, not a lot there to back up the trash talking he's brought to the table for this fight other than a lucky punch and an ability to hold a title a year without defending it.

Mat Hughes on the other hand has all the room in the world to talk trash - but really hasn't. With two championship title reigns with several title defenses, Hughes is arguably the most dominant champion in UFC history!

-Hughes wins via whatever he wants, whenever he wants and rides off into the sunset.

Either way, it'll be a real exciting part of the 3 day weekend and what better way to celebrate Memorial Day weekend than watch men compete in hand to hand combat!

Easter Weekend...

The morning started with a typical confusion of time at the Belous Compound. It was thought that we should be at church for breakfast @ 9am, but instead my wife informed me that it was a soft arrival time. Unfortunately when we arrived, most of breakfast was gone. We were fortunate though as there was just enough.

The Easter egg hunt was short and entertaining. Kids can seriously be savages during this egg snatching free for all.

The days sermon was well done as Pastor Dan dressed the part of the apostle Peter and interpreted some of the great moments of Jesus Christ.

Afterwards we went to enjoy Joanna's family together @ her parents place. We ate ham with some fantastic sides including sweet potatoes, deviled eggs (oddly, jk), and some tasty veggie combos.



Saturday night we spent eating a nice meal with our good friends celebrating Aaron's birthday @ Applebee's. It's funny how we increase in age and how mellow our outings are becoming. Sooner or later we'll have to interupt the trend and throw a good old fashion summer bash or something. TBD.



HAPPY EASTER!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

War Pigs...

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh Lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight
They leave their role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'till their judgment day comes

Now in darkness world stops turning
Ashes where their bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgment God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing spreads his wings
Oh Lord yeah!

Blogging from my iTouch...

June/July....that's the plan. The end of the plan actually. The end of my alltel plan that would make me a free agent in the cell phone market. Obviously I'll be jumping on board to the iPhone flagship to maximize my mobile abilities. NO MATTER WHAT. As for this entry, it's nothing really. Just me testing out a nifty iTunes app that allows me to create a blog entry from my itouch. Sorry if I got your hopes up.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Dumbfounded...

Apparently the new word on the streets is that Coward Brown and Rihanna have reconciled and are back together. A beautiful, successful woman like Rihanna can't move on and find just about any other dude on the planet?! Can someone please send Tina Turner quickly! Scratch that. I'm over these two turds. Coward Brown is a pansy ass woman beater and more dissappionting Rihanna is just another dumb skeezer.

Chris Brown Ain’t Nothing but a PUNK

So even though I traditionally stay streamlined in rock culture nowadays, I couldn’t help but get sucked into the Chris Brown/Rihanna ordeal that’s been working the media (or should I say ‘the media is working’).

I know very little of their background and I don’t typically listen to any of their music. Since I’ve been keeping watch of this story as it unfolds, one thing I am certain of. CHRIS BROWN IS A PUNK.

You have a dude here you preached to Tyra Banks on national TV that his mother got beat up when he was young and how he could never understand why a man could do that. This same dude’s demographic appeal is young women. I’m sure the perception of his image here is “what a handsome, sweet guy. You should support him and his art form”.

So then he turns around and whoops up on Rihanna whom is one of America’s most beloved sweethearts in the entertainment industry. Smacks, punches, and chokes her.

As the story unfolds more, Brown now wants to claim that it was all in the name of SELF-DEFENSE. He claims that Rihanna went ballistic, throwing a phone at him, hitting him in the head and basically just lost it. He's saying she attacked him.


The above pic was shot post-incident. Coward Brown sure looks like he needed to resort to self-defense beyond a typical restraining. Suppose he was dinged up a little as well. Based on the description of his self-defense, she’s just a little more beat up then just a simple self-defense happening there.

Bottom line with this slug of a human is that he’s a lying SAC who even in the face of obvious wrong, refuses to be a man and accept his mistake. Rihanna is not a “bruiser” type of woman. It will not take much to restrain her physically. You could wrap her up with your arms and I seriously doubt she would be able to overpower a common man. He put a beating down on her and now is too coward to deal with the ramifications. What a punk. His name is Coward Brown.

Back in Action!

After a few years of absence, I’ve decided to resurrect this blog. After going through the motions with myspace and facebook, I’ve come to the conclusion that even though I value the networking and other tools that they provide, blogging is something that was sacrificed in the process. Blogger gives me a wide range of ability to create my blog how I want it whereas the other networking sites were lacking. I’ll be modifying how this blog will be used in partnership with some other blogging ideas I’ve ran across, so some growing pains will be coming and going, but the results will provide a diverse example of expression…UNCLE CABO’S EXPRESSION!