New Years Resolutions

So here are my New Years resolutions, in no particular order:

1. Be a better Dad
2. Be a better husband
3. Have a fitter, healthier Family
4. Eat healthier
5. Rebuild my wrecked motorcycle into a track bike
6. 100 pushups in 2 minutes
7. 100 situps in 2 minutes
8. 30 consecutive pullups
9. Put forth more effort in expanding my business
10. Do 20 business transactions
11. Get rid of all the stuff in the house and garage that we dont use or is taking up space before January 31, 2009
    
12. Buy us a new house
13. Buy kids a dog or horse (depending on how much land we get)
14. Enjoy life more
15. Get out of bad debt (theres a difference)
16. Save money
17. Run at least 4 Ultramarathons
18. Go back to school
19. Do more volunteer work
20. Learn to play the guitar
21. Be nicer
22. Stop yelling as much
23. Log 2080 running miles by the end of 2009, I'll pretty sure I'll log more.
    

Well this is it, I'm sure I'll think of more stuff, so I'll post it up when I think of it.

 I will also keep everyone informed when things are completed.

The Warrior Spirit is why I love being a Soldier!!!

I recieved this email a few days ago from one of my battle buddies, truly inspiring:

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as 'Iron Mike' or just 'Gunny'.  He is on his third tour in Iraq .  He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour.
Then, on September 19, he got blown up.  He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US Soldiers.  He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit.  "You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision," he explains.  So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term 'the longest walk', stepping gingerly into a 5 foot deep and 8 foot wide crater.

The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it.  He cut the wire and used his 7 inch knife to probe the ground.  "I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs," he says.  "That's when I knew I was screwed."
Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back.  At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet.  "A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded," he recalls.  "As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.'   I was just ticked off they were able to do it.  Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down."
His colleagues cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt.  None could believe his legs were still there.  "My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down," says Sgt Burhardt.  "I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like that.
 
They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and blood trickling down.  Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.'  As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in.  I decided to walk to the helicopter.  I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher."  He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute.  "I flipped them one.  It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week'."  
 
Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home.  But, like his father - who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam - he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans. 

Another Failed Run

Well, I neglected to run this morning like I planned to so I had to wait until Amy got off work today.  So when amy got home I found out we had a business meeting at 7PM, so I had to run and be home in less than an hour to eat, shower and change.  Well I went for only a 2 mile run, got back to the house, ate, brushed my teetha  and was waiting on the shower when we got a voicemail, saying that the clients wanted to reschedule the meeting to another day.  Well I'm kinda ticked off because I cut my run short for no reason.  Yeah I could have went back out and ran, but by this time I'm not in run mode anymore.  Well Looks like tomorrow i'll have to put in some extra miles.

Should I go or not? Oh my I gotta GO!!!!

Well I rose bright(it wasnt actually bright) and early this morning (5AM) to go on my 10 mile run and as I ran out the door I noticed that there was an unusual amount of ice on the ground, So I did what any smart person would do, I waited until the sun was out before I started my venture again. I am so glad I waited because I got to see the beautiful sunrise and I also was able to see the ice. I had some close calls with the ice when there was light out, it would have been tragic had I have run at 5AM. So I get on my run and I am feeling great, the cold wintera air is awesome, tthe mountain and railroad scenery is the best, it just made the run that much better. I get to the 4.3 mile point and I see 3 dogs about a 3rd of a mile aheadrunning around the back road, I run another .2 miles toward them and they start to bark and go nuts, so I immediately turned around and headed back in the direction I just came from, stupid dogs mage me cut my 10 mile route short, but no worries, I will just turn around and make my way back to the house. My 10 mile run turned into 9.02 miles. When I get to about mile 6.5 I am on the main road and I start to feel a little pain in my right hip and at the same time I have to pee really bad, I figured i could make it back home and then pee, but with the bouncing up and down from running and the cold( by the way it was 14 degrees when I left the house) there was no way I was gonna make it another 2.5 miles without peeing. So by this time there are plenty cars passing me up on the main road and there is no way I could pee without anyone seeing me, so I try and hold it some more, I held it until I couldnt hold it anymore, another 10 seconds and my legs would have been pretty warm, haha. I stopped mid strid and just peed on the side of the road, thate were people passing me probably wondering what I was doing. I was soo relieved, it was awesome. by the time I relieved myself the pain in my hip had gone. I made it to the house and I felt I deserved that toast with homemade apricot and pineapple jam, and very large bowl of oatmeal.

But I must say running in the winter is the best, when you are properly dresses you cant beat the cool breeze, the snow packed trails crunching under your feet, the beautiful snowy mountains and hills. You really gotta try it!

Gonna Fight!!!!

This is what sports is about:
We gonna fight, till we cant fight no more.
We gone lie down, bleed a while,
Then we gone get up, then we gonna fight again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nnstylh2g8&feature=related

My Everything or Nothing!!!!

Yayy!!!!

Well I guess I wont be running for the next few days. The weather right now is 27 degrees with snowing 35mph winds. So guess what this means, I will miss my freaking runs and I am so mad, I had a 7 miler scheduled for today and a 10 miler scheduled for saturday, so yeah thats that. Well on the good side I will be able to do the Crossfit workouts since they dont require much equipment. Oh wait tommorrow is a rest day according to CF. Well I'm gonna do todays CF workout, tomorrow. Well I might not do the squats though, I did the squats this morning too fast and I think I tweaked my knees a little. Well Thats All folks.

Merry Christmas to all. Please Keep the Troops in your Prayers.

A Blizzard this morning

I woke up at about 5:15 this morning to go on my 7 mile run, I go brush my teeth and all my hygiene stuff, I hear the wind blowing slightly as I'm walking throught the house, I get my clothes on and walk downstairs to go outside and HOLY COW!!!!!It is terrible out there the winds are about a constant 40MPH and theres Snow and rain coming down. I am not running in that, If something happens to me on the road it wouldnt be to good in this weather. Guess I'll try running later. Well I am gonna do the CrossFit Workout of the day in a minute and I'll get back an let you know how it went. by the way the CF workout today is:
100 Pullups
100 Pushups
100Situps
100Squats for time

Christmas Eve Party

So we made the drive to the Grandparents house today and made it here in 1 hour 3minutes, there was no traffic on the roads, surprised me a little. We had pizza for dinner, and it was good, not too sure if it will be good for my run tomorrow, but we'll see. Every year in this household they have a Christmas show, where each family does a skit of their chosing, This year Me, Amy and the kids sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The Kids had little red nosed that blink and reindeer antlers, it was pretty funny, I'll post up the video footage within a week or two. So our portion of the show went pretty good. But the Kids were so bad for the other families parts, I was so mad, I had to get ouit of the room before I blew up in front of everybody. I had to put Lillie in timeout for almost 20 minutes. After the show I let her go upstairs and apologize for being so bad, and everything went pretty smooth from then on.

In my last post I talked about the crossfit workout I did this morning well I am so sore from it and it feels so good. I cant wait to run tomorrow, so I can run that soreness away. It'll be great.

On the Road Again

Well this morning I got off my butt and put in some mileage.  I got up at exactly 5AM and brushed my teeth, washed my face and drank a cup of water, its amazing how long that takes in the morning.  So I start my schedules 5 mile run had to cut it short by .7 miles because I to get back to the house so Amy could go to work.  So I get back and she was sitting on the couch with her computer on her lap in her sleep clothes.  So now I'm a little dissapointed because I cut my run short, but I get over it, I decide to make use of my extra time, I took the trash out and put my new weight set to good use.  I did the CrossFit Workout of the Day (WOD).  For those that dont know what Crossfit is, high intensity workout thats put of daily to get stron, back in shap and whatever else they say.  You should check it out, its pretty cool.  The website is www.crossfit.com. When you look at it you may wonder what all the lingo means, well on the left side of the screen under the navigation menu, there is a link name "exercise and demos", that will show you how to do the exercises.

So the workout of the day is only 5 sets of squats, but trust me this is a easy one, most workouts if you do them with the right intensity will make you throw up or quit.  Now I never threw up doing a CF workout but I have taken a 5 minute break or 2.  

So yeah my run was good, honestly 5 miles is nothing, todays run was an easy run, the CF workout was awesome, I havent been to the gym in almost 3 weeks and I love that burn/sore feeling afterward.  Tomorrow is a scheduled 9 mile easy run with some hills, so that should be fun.  C'ya later.

Christmas Excitement

Well Christmas Is coming and I'm excited, no I'm not getting a new bike, snowmobile, truck, or ATV, althought that would be nice, it aint happening this Christmas.  What I'm am getting is time with the family, and thats pretty exciting.  

P.S.  By next June I will have a new Truck (Fully loaded Diesel (Chevy or Dodge)-to haul all my toys) and a new street Bike (Kawi ZX-10R or Honda CBR1000RR).

Slacking already

I made a new ultra training schedule and already i'm slacking, I was suppose to oonly run 6 miles this morning but I elected to sleep in.  Yeah I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night but thats no excuse I have trained on less sleep than that.  But there is a positive side to this, I bought a really nice weight set off of KSL.com last night for $150, so I can cross train today and run tomorrow.

Remember our Troops and their Families!!

Alright As I sit here in the house, the kids are taking a nap and I'm jut thinking about the deployed US Troops and Christmas.  As some may know I am in the US Army and have been for almost 1o years now, and I can relate to being a deployed Soldier during Christmas time.  I'll explain, Christmas is suppose to be a time where we give thanks for sacrifices made (Jesus Christ) and others, a time of joy, a time where you reflect on all the good things and a time to spend with loved one.  Well alot of people take that for granted.  

I just want to say that the US Troops and their Families are sacrificing for our country, some troops wont even get to call home on Christmas, some may even make that ultimate sacrifice.  I can go on and on, but I want to make this short and simple.  

Take the time to Remember and Pray for the Troops and their Families.

The Weekend before Christmas

We spent this weekend in Willard with the grandparents, and it was fun.  We got to watch BYU get crushed by Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl, we got to visit other relatives and we got to eat some awesome food.  It was great, I got to get my long run in which I referred to in my last blog.  So overall this weekend gets a 8 on the fun scale.  However I was glad to make it back home last night, until I walked in the house and got blasted with a nice breeze of cold air, it was 35 degrees in the house.  Before we left to Willard, I turned the heater down so that it wouldnt run as often, to save on electricity but apparently, someone turned the heater off before we left and it was miserable in the house for about 3 hours after we got home.  Buut oh course I fell asleep and I woke up tis morning with a cozy 75 degree house.  

I cant feel my arms and I like it!

Yesterday I went out for my usual Saturday run, the weather was nice, their was fresh snow on the ground, probably around 30 degrees, it was just cold enough to keep you feeling just right on a run. So I leave my grandparents house, headed to the trail in the mountains above the house and it was the best. So I'm running, I get around mile 3.5 and the wind starts to pick up and I'm feeling a slight discomfort but I keep running, the wind picks up some more and now I'm thinking this is not good, it feels like there is a blizzard headed my way , but I keep running to my turnaround point. When I get to my turn around point I start to feel a slight tingle in my hands but thought nothing of it I get to around mile 6 and my arms are tingling, and I know this isnt good. By this time the winds were about 25-30 mph and I'm thinking I better find some shelter before this gets too bad. But I fought that thought and kept running. I had it in my mind that I was not gonna stop running, but what I did do was find the quickest way to the main road, just incase some freak avalanch, or blizzard came out of nowhere, someone would see me. As I got to the main road I immediately noticed about a 20 degree difference from up there on the mountain. I continued my run and by this time I counldnt even feel my hands or arms, I tryed massaging them while running to get some feeling back but I couldnt even feel my hands touching my arms. But I kept pushing. I finally made it back to the house and all I wanted to do was lay down with a blanket wrapped around me. When I finally warmed up about an hour and a half later I was very pleased with myself. I didnt take the easy route and run to a warm store to call someone to pick me up. I kept running. Wow I sound like forest Gump.
There is no such thing as "I cant". I sure am looking forward to my first Ultra Marathon.

I'm gonna start running Ultra Marathons

Ultra What?????? haha, Thats exactly what I thought the first time I ever heard the term. Well for those who dont know what that is, I'll explain. I am sure most have heard of the term marathon, well an ultra marathon is the same only farther. Regular marathons are 26.2 miles in distance and an Ultra marathons is any distance farther than that. Normal ultra distances are usually 50K(30miles), 50 miles, 100K (62miles), 100miles and 135miles and 150miles.
Well I plan on running ultras for now on, and the reasi\on I want to do it is because its a real challenge, most others dont want to do it and I just want to see how much abuse my mind can take. The reason I say mind is because the body will do what you tell it to do as long as you're properly trained you can do it, but its the mind that will tell you to stop and go home. Well I started training for my first ultra (not sure which one yet) and my goal for my first is to not set any records or get certain times but just to finish.
There is no such thing as I cant.

10-29-2008. This is my first blog. I had a death in the family and I just dont feel like doing much. I am in the process of training for a few marathons and triathlons next year and I hae been slackin this week, but for good reasons though. I also need to get on the ball with my business. It just seems like something is always happening. But I know what to do, just keep pressing on.