We are grateful for the time we have been given

You probably think I’m about to make a sad announcement based on the title, but I’m not.  For some reason that quote from The Village has always resonated with me.  Almost every time I look at a lot of random quotes online or in a book (which is not often) I tend to like/relate to the ones about time more–probably because I’m a procrastinator.  Interestingly, I also am really uptight about being early for appointments and starting meetings on time.  This inner struggle between laziness and an almost fanatical devotion to preestablished start times really explains a lot about why I am the way I am.  But enough about me..for now ;)

The trivia question has almost prevailed once again.  Glenn provided a quasi correct answer, so I’ll give him 25 points.  Lostartpublishing was the closest, without providing the details necessary for the full 100 points, so I’ll give him 75 points.  For all of you who are wondering, here is the answer.  A flag officer is any commissioned officer in pay grade O-7 (Rear Admiral) or above.  Today’s question is going to be deceptively easy, so make sure that you provide a detailed answer.

Navy trivia of the day

• What is a buoy?

Today’s workout schedule was changed around a bit.  I completed the push up workout as planned, but instead of doing my Cto5k run I did tomorrow’s sit up workout.  There wasn’t enough time for me to run and take care of errands before going to work so I decided to push it to tomorrow (when I’m off).

Push up workout details (Day 1, first column):

• 17, 19, 15, 15, 20; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 86 Total

Sit up workout details (Day 2, first column):

• 15, 15, 20, 20, 15, 15, 15, 41; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 156 total

Thanks to everybody who continues to check in and comment!  You’re making my journey that much better!

P.S.  There’s another Monty Python reference in this post (you really can’t blame me when the opportunity was right there).  Like last time, there’s 50 points available to the first person to correctly identify it.  Good luck!

I’m back!!!

Did you miss me?  Don’t answer that :)  I’ve certainly missed the daily Navy trivia and, believe it or not, doing the Body Rock and Cto5k workouts.  I’m sure my body will hate me for the first few days getting back into the regular schedule, but I can honestly say that I’d rather be sore than sitting around doing nothing all day.  Before I give you the details of today’s workout I guess I should talk about the ensign trivia question.  Lostartpublishing provided half of the answer and will receive 50 points as partial credit, but the correct answers are as follows: an ensign is a commissioned officer between the rank of Chief Warrant Officer and Lieutenant Junior Grade; the ensign is the national flag.  There aren’t that many vocabulary words left to cover, which means you have about a week before I’ll be moving on to even tougher subject matter for the trivia questions.  Get ready, but NO CHEATING!

Navy trivia of the day

• What is a flag officer?

Today’s workout was a killer, especially the Body Rock workout with its focus on the legs.  The sit up workout wasn’t too bad, but that’s probably because I switched to the first column from the second.  I forgot to complete the exhaustion test at the end of last week and I figured 41-50 push ups was about as much as I could probably do without stopping, so I decided to change it up accordingly.

Body Rock workout details (complete as many reps of each combination in 50 sec, 10 sec break between combinations):

• Since there are 6 combinations, each was repeated 2 times (hence the two numbers)
• Squat jumps: 22, 20
• Squat leaps: 14, 14
• 3-tier push ups (modified box): 9, 15
• Close push ups (modified box): 15, 16
• Squat and press: 28, 24
• Switch lunges: 25, 23
• My legs are seriously dead after this one

Sit up workout details (Day 1, first column):

• 26, 30, 23, 23, 41; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 143 total

Don’t forget to send in your trivia answer!  See you tomorrow!

Megapost 3 and other things

My sincerest apologies for not keeping up with my blog posts.  This week is beyond any attempt at workout redemption so I’m going to stop stressing about trying to catch up.  Instead, I’ll focus on doing the regular schedule for the push ups and sit ups and start fresh next week for the other exercise programs.  Since I’ve been away several things have occurred.  First, Glenn was the first to correctly answer the liberty trivia question.  The full definition is “permission to leave the base (usually not for more than 48 hours).”  Liberty is not the same as leave, which is usually for a longer period of time and is earned based on the amount of days you’ve worked.  A good way to think about it is to equate liberty to the time after you get off work or the weekend and compare leave to vacation time.  Hope that helps to clear things up before I drop another confusing question on you :)

Navy trivia of the day

• What is an ensign?  What is the ensign?
• There’s a difference and you’ll need to provide both definitions to get the full 100 points.

The second thing that happened since I posted on Tuesday was I updated my measurements/weight.  The latest numbers are below and the changes are based on the measurements from Megapost 2.

Current measurements

• Bust: 36.5 in (-.5 in)
• Chest: 33.75 in (-.25 in)
• Waist: 30 in (-1 in)
• Hips: 39.25 in (-.25 in)
• Thighs: 22.5 in (+.5 in)
• Calves: 13.5 in (no change)
• Upper arm: 11.5 in (no change)
• Forearm: 9 in (no change)
• Total change: -1.5 in

Current weight: 143.5 or 147 lb (-.5 lb or +3 lb)

You are seeing correctly, folks.  There are two possible weights.  The first reading is from my scale at home around noon on Wednesday and the second is from the scale at the DEP station around 4 PM on the same day.  Either way, I know that going forward I need to start updating my food diary daily and making healthier choices generally.

Thirdly, at my DEP meeting I received some surprisingly good news.  I have been promoted to XO (Executive Officer)!  This title means that I’m second in command, beneath the CO (Commanding Officer), and now all the other people in DEP have to salute me and then ask permission to come aboard/go ashore when entering/exiting the station (only if the CO isn’t there to fulfill the duty).  My recruiter really caught me off guard when he told me that I was the new XO (10 minutes before the meeting started and everybody showed up), but I’m really happy to have the extra responsibility and power, hehe.  He said I was chosen because I’ll be in DEP until August and I was already very knowledgeable about procedure and other necessary information.  Well, I guess that’s enough tooting my own horn…moving on.

Finally, I have done these exercises since Wednesday: sit ups and push ups.

Sit up workout details (Day 2, second column):

• 30, 38, 30, 30, 42; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 170 total

Sit up workout details (Day 3, second column):

• 35, 42, 35, 35, 50; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 197 total

Push up workout details (Day 2, first column):

• 14, 16, 12, 12, 18; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 72 Total

That was a lot of information.  I’ll stop providing you with more (for tonight) and let it all sink in until tomorrow’s post.  In the meantime, send in your answers to the trivia question.  Have a great night (or at least the 15 minutes that are left)!

I’m not dead yet

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday.  It was a full day, to say the least.  I’m back now so let’s get back to business.  First, two of the three definitions for geedunk were submitted, one by Glenn and one by lostartpublishing.  Each of you will receive 33 points for correctly guessing 1/3 of the answer.  The compete definition for geedunk is as follows: candy, gum, or cafeteria.  Second, Glenn was also the only person to identify the Monty Python reference from my last post and will be awarded 50 points for his efforts.  Are you ready for today’s question?

Navy trivia of the day

• To what does the term liberty refer?

Third, it’s confession time, again.  As I mentioned earlier, yesterday was beyond busy and, as a result, I was unable to complete any part of my scheduled workout.  To make up for that mishap I clumped all the workouts from yesterday and today into a mega exercise party.  Unfortunately, today was also rather busy and I was only able to finish the Body Rock, sit up, and push up portions.  Sadly, the Cto5k run will have to be pushed to tomorrow’s schedule, but after that I’ll be caught up.

Body Rock workout details (complete as many reps of each combination in 50 sec, 10 sec break between combinations):

• Since there are 6 combinations, each was repeated 2 times (hence the two numbers)
• Box jump & 1/2 burpee: 4.5, 3
• Lunges: 25, 23
• 3-Point jump & L/R knee to elbow touches: 5, 7
• Side leaps: 35, 30
• Tricep dip & knee tuck: 6.5, 6
• Walking pike push ups: 4, 4.5

Sit up workout details (Day 1, second column):

• 27, 33, 24, 24, 33; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 141 total

Push up workout details (Day 1, first column):

• 12, 14, 11, 10, 16; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 63 Total

Finally, tomorrow will be another megapost.  I hope all of you will check in then to see if I’ve made more progress toward fulfilling my fitness goals.  To make sure my scale is accurate I’ll do my best to remember to weigh myself while I’m at the DEP meeting.  In the meantime, don’t forget to send in you response to the trivia question.  Even if you aren’t sure that your answer is correct, send it in!  You won’t get penalized for a wrong answer, so you don’t have anything to lose.  See you tomorrow!

And then there were none

1, 2, 3, 4, you get the point, 13!  And Then There Were None (push ups, that is)!  That’s what was running across my mind as I finished up the push ups tonight.  You never know when that Agatha Christie mystery novel bug is going to bite you, right?  Ok, so everything I’ve written so far is not true…except for the part about me doing the push ups.  Even though that’s not really what I was thinking as I was trying not to collapse powering through my workout, I figured it would serve as a better segue than none.  I’ve been having trouble in the title development/interesting random information department lately; hopefully having a day off tomorrow will help get rid of this writer’s block.

Enough with the pity party.  This is supposed to be a happy occasion!  And so it is.  Not only did somebody respond with the correct answer to yesterday’s scullery question–place to wash dishes–, but it also happened to be a new commenter by the name of Bito.  Congratulations and welcome to the leader board with 100 points!  I hope that you’re prepared for the cut-throat atmosphere that surrounds this trivia competition because it’s too late to back out now :)

Navy trivia of the day

• What does the term geedunk mean?
• To get full credit you have to submit all 3 definitions.

I competed the Cto5k workout without too much hassle.  This was actually a bit of a surprise since I wasn’t able to do this workout on Thursday.  The push up workout was tough, but I’ve decided not to think of this as a negative.  It’s nice to have a challenge now and then because at the end I know that I’ve accomplished something.  Want to see what I accomplished?  Look no further.

Cto5k workout details (Week 2, Workout 3):

• Brisk 5 min warm up walk
• Alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Push up workout details (Week 3, Day 2, first column):

• 11, 13, 9, 9, 13; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 55 Total

Before I send you off to enjoy the rest of your weekend I thought I’d throw in a little curveball puzzle.  In addition to the 100 Navy trivia points available, I will award 50 points to the first person to point out the Monty Python reference in this post.  Ready, set, go!  See you on Monday!

Yawn

This post is going to be short and to the point.  No winner from yesterday.  Correct definition of brightwork: brass or shiny metal kept polished rather than painted.  Before posting today’s question, please remember: no checking the definition before posting your answer!

Navy trivia of the day

• What is the scullery?

All of today’s workouts, sit up workout and Body Rock workout, were completed!

Sit up workout details (Day 3, second column):

• 24, 32, 23, 23, 32; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 134 total

Body Rock workout details (complete as many reps of each combination in 50 sec, 10 sec break between combinations):

• Since there are only 4 combinations, each was repeated 3 times (hence the three numbers)
• 2 Press up/tuck jump & 10 straight punches: 3, 2.5, 2.5
• 2 Press up/tuck jump & 10 hook punches: 2.75, 2.25, 2.25
• 2 Press up/tuck jump & 10 combo punches (alternating 2 straight and 2 hook punches for 10 reps): 3, 2.75, 2
• 2 Mid reach sit ups & 2 high reach sit ups: 8, 4.75, 5

Sorry for being so short.  I will be better tomorrow.

There’s nothing like a bell pepper after a workout

If I wasn’t so afraid of getting a mouthful of seeds I would totally bite right into one just like Chairman Kaga on Iron Chef.  I’m referring to the original, obviously.  Iron Chef America is pretty great because it has Alton Brown and Iron Chef Morimoto, but it lacks a certain flare that only Chairman Kaga and an English dubbed Japanese show can bring.

Look at him! He's beyond great! FYI: Takeshi Kaga also starred in a Japanese production of Les Misérables as Jean Valjean. At the 10th anniversary concert in London, they bring out all of the Jean Valjeans from around the world during the encore and I could not have been more surprised to see Mr. Chairman walk on stage. He earned an infinite number of cool points at that moment.

I’ve always been a big fan of eating vegetables raw, but bell peppers (the green ones in particular) have become one of my new favorites; though no vegetable will ever compare to radishes.  I even buy two or three each time I go grocery shopping and eat one as a snack during the day.

Now that we’ve had our international media commercial break, it’s back to fitness business!  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fully complete my workout since it was raining and I couldn’t get out for a run, but I did my penance and the push up workout like I promised.

Body Rock workout details (complete each rep 4 times, finish as quickly as possible):

• 75 high knees
• 25 reverse abdominals
• Total time: 7 minutes, 20 seconds

Push up workout details (Week 3, Day 2, first column):

• 10, 12, 8, 8, 13; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 51 Total

I’m doing things out-of-order today, so I hope that putting the trivia question at the end of the post won’t throw you off too much.  Make sure to send in your answers/favorite Iron Chef (original or American)!

Navy trivia of the day

• To what does the term brightwork refer?

Confess. Confess! CONFESS!!!

Congrats to my two trivia buffs!  Glenn was the first to correctly guess that yesterday’s post title was a reference to Dr. Strangelove–50 points to you– and lostartpublishing was the first to correctly guess the answer to the deep six trivia question: to dispose of by throwing over the side–100 points to you.

I can’t take it any more!  I should confess before they bring out the comfy chair and things get really bad… *diabolical music plays in the background* Alright, I did it (or rather didn’t do it)!  I didn’t finish my workout from yesterday!  Before you jump to conclusions and assume (correctly, I might add) that I was just being lazy, I’ll have you know that I was busy and the night was over before I knew it.  The day was not totally lost, however.  I did manage to do the sit up workout before I went to bed.  To atone for my sin of heresy against the church workout schedule, I’ve decided to fit in the Body Rock workout from yesterday into today’s routine.  If you have no idea what inspired the melodramatic confession seen above, then you obviously haven’t seen the Monty Python sketch “The Spanish Inquisition.”  Prepare to be enlightened.

Sit up workout details (Day 2, second column):

• 21, 28, 21, 21, 28; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 119 total

Some of you are probably wondering where the trivia question is.  I will include a new Navy trivia question in tonight’s post, so make sure to check back in later.  I promise that tonight will not be a repeat of last night’s fiasco; I will do my exercises and write a new post like the fate of the world depends on its completion.  See you then!

Mr. President,we cannot allow a blog post gap!

Sorry for the delay folks.  Last night I was busy celebrating my grandfather’s birthday and didn’t have a chance to write a post  for Tuesday.  Once again, I have stumped my readers with the trivia question.  The correct definition of the term tattoo is this: five minutes before taps.  Don’t be discouraged, readers, I’m sure you will do better next time.  In fact, here’s your chance to bounce back now!

Navy trivia of the day

• What is the meaning of the phrase “deep six”?

Yesterday was rather uneventful, as far as workouts go.  I did the first workout of Week 2 on the Cto5k plan and the first workout of Week 3 on the push ups plan.

Push up workout details (Week 3, Day 1, first column):

• 10, 12, 7, 7, 9; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 45 Total

Cto5k workout details (Week 2, Workout 1):

• Brisk 5 min warm up walk
• Alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Well then, I guess I’ll see you again in about 12 hours with today’s post.  In the meantime, good luck with the trivia question and I hope everybody has a great Wednesday!

P.S. You can make today even greater by guessing what movie I’m referencing in the title; if you get it right, I’ll give you 50 points!

When in Rome…

I hope everybody had a great weekend!  Mine was definitely pretty good.  Glenn’s at it again!  He was the first to respond with the correct answer to the lifeline trivia question: lines erected around the weather decks of a ship to prevent personnel from falling or being washed over the side.  We’ll see if he/the rest of you are able to guess the meaning of today’s word :)

Navy trivia of the day

• What does the term tattoo mean?

It was certainly hard to start working out again after having yesterday off, but I felt really good when I saw that today was the first day of Week 3 for my sit up workout.  I’ve never stayed with the program long enough to get to Week 3–it seems that having a blog and boot camp in August is quite motivating.  Along with the sit ups I also completed the Day 4 exercises of the Body Rock workout.  I thought I’d try posting the Body Rock video for today’s exercises, so let me know if you want me to do the same in the future.

Body Rock workout details (complete as many reps of each combination in 50 sec, 10 sec break between combinations):

• Since there are only 4 combinations, each was repeated 3 times (hence the three numbers)
• Burpee, push up: 6, 8, 10
• Reverse pull up: 13, 19 squat jumps, 22 squat jumps
• Triple plank jumps: 4, 2.5, 3.5
• Sit up/grab knees: 10, 14, 17

Sit up workout details (Day 1, second column):

• 18, 25, 19, 19, 25; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 106 total

As always, thanks for the support!  Hopefully the weather will be nice tomorrow so I’ll have a chance to take the dog to the park and get in a run before celebrating my grandfather’s birthday at dinner, so stay tuned to find out.  Keep up the good work and send in your trivia responses!