A Quick Survey

    Hey all my loyal followers, here is a survey I am conducting for a paper I am writing. If you have a couple minutes, it would really help me out if you would participate in it. Thanks :-) and here's the link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDVBT1dvY3JqYXJQTFAwS2Rabk9YZ3c6MA

What an Awesome Weekend

    So last weekend was Super-Cross, and man was it awesome.  Samantha, Cory, and I left Friday morning around 11 and arrived in Atlanta a few hours later.  We rode in Cory's new Tacoma, man I have to get one of those someday, but anyways we dropped Samantha off at her sister's house to see her newborn niece. Then me and Cory went on to the Showcase, or the event that Super-Cross holds for all the dealers to showcase their newest products.  It was pretty cool, we got awesome free tickets in the lower section right in front of the "monster quad," the largest jump on the track.  We had taco's to eat, but as soon as we got back to Dee and Tatia's house, Samantha's aunts, Tatia had some food waiting for us.

    We ended up playing poker again, just like last year, and also just like last year lady luck was with me and I won the pot.  Since we all only put in $15 it was a $75 pot, which was still enough to pay for Samantha and me an event shirt and still come home with some extra. :-)

    We woke up around 10 a.m. the next morning, and Tatia cooked us some awesome omelette's and fruit smoothies.  Around 2 p.m. Dee dropped us off at the Georgia Dome and we headed to the Pitt party and had lunch at the Parts Unlimited Booth for Dealers.  After walking around looking at all the booths and such Samantha was able to get her picture with Kevin Windham.  Lets just say, she could have left after that and would have still been satisfied for the rest of the weekend.

    The race started around 7 p.m. and man was the intro for some of the riders awesome, there was great light shows, fireworks, videos, tricks, and music.  The preliminary races were first, but when the main event races began everyone was on the end of their chairs.  Christophe Pourcel came out with the win in the lites section after a very dramatic, epic race.  In the 450 section Dungey won with a good lead over the rest, however if it weren't for a few unfortunate wrecks he might have had a run for his money with several of the riders.

   After the race we went back to Dee and Tatia's and watched t.v. for awhile before finally hitting the hay.  The next day we left around 1 p.m. but before leaving we went to eat at Bella's Pizzeria, and man was it delicious. Dee and Tatia paid for our meal and we started our trip back home, listening to old CD's I had found in my car from about 5 years ago.  All in all a great weekend, I  really didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to.  We're all thinking about going back when it warms up.  As far as my workout went, I did what I could but it was mainly a weekend to relax, then I went back into the regular routine full force when I got back.  Actually due to the rest and relaxation over the weekend I was able to really push myself and strive for perfection when I started back working out.  So my advice for today, live life in happiness, always view the glass half full and take breaks, if you miss a workout don't fret just relax and enjoy the time off then give it your all when you return.

* One of my favorite quotes! *

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."
                - Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ

Super-Cross and a Bit of Fitness

    So this coming weekend, Feb. 26-28 I am going to Atlanta for Super-Cross. :-) My friend Cory, Samantha, and I went last year and it was quite a trip.  We are staying with some of Samantha's family, and more than likely will be playing poker Friday and possibly Saturday night.  Last year I won 100 dollars!  Maybe lady luck will be with me again. 

  

    This year will be another good race since Bubba Stewart and Chad Reed, two of the best riders, due to misfortunes have no chance at placing. Which will give the younger riders a chance to stand up and take the throne.  Last time I checked Dungey and Hill were tied for first, but with the wide range of experience in the standings; it should be a very interesting season.

    By the way the P90X recovery drink came in the mail, and it is like everyone says it is. . . it tastes like an orange creamsicle. However, if you use tap water instead of purified water it has a strange tinge to it. Overall it tasted good, but I would recommend using very cold water.  As for the Recovery aspect of it, it worked wonders! I used NOXplode to help my body push itself to it's limits, and using the Peak Performance Recovery drink definitely helped, I wan't sore at all the next morning.

"You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be."

       -David Viscott

Competition

    My friends Scott and Ethan recently started the P90X workout with me.  We have been working out at Scott's place since his apartment has a concrete base and doesn't shake when we jump or if we accidentally drop weights.  Plus he has a lot more space for the three of us to exercise.  Today is Yoga X, it's Scott's second time and Ethan's possible first if he gets to come try it.  It's definitely not a walk in the park, some might think yoga is something only women do, but when I can out-run, out-play, and just perform better overall than those that think that we'll see who's laughing :-). It's an hour and a half workout and holding those poses will make the sweat run like a rushing river!

    I enjoy working out and/or running with friends because I am a very competitive person.  If they are starting to lift more, run faster, or outperform me; I push myself to keep up or surpass them.  That's why I love doing P90X with Scott and Ethan, because I really push for those extra reps and good form.  Scott and I also split the cost of the Peak Performance Drink that supplements the P90X workout.  From the reviews, it supposedly tastes like an orange creamsicle and is great for recovery and muscle building.  I'll let you all know how it works when it gets delivered, hopefully sometime this week.

"Rome was not built in a day, and neither was your body."
     - Tony Horton

Winter Adventures

    So last week when it began snowing I had no idea it would snow hard enough in one day to prevent me from returning home for the weekend.  I walked out to my car the next morning and noticed the 3-5 inches of snow on my car so Samantha and I spent nearly 30 minutes scraping all the ice and snow off it.  Then come to find out that it wouldn't budge more than about 5 inches in my parking lot.  So we decided to walk back to her apartment, which is only around a mile or so away.  It was quite an adventure, I felt like a nomad travelling in a desolate new land.

   As I pulled into the Commuter parking lot that next Monday I realized that it was a sheet of ice covered in snow, so everyone ended up guessing where the parking spots were.  Later on we all found out that we were parking everywhere except in the parking spots.  While walking to class I heard a few stories of people building a 10 foot tall snowman, a giant igloo, and throwing some epic snowball fights.  As for me I just spent the weekend relaxing, playing some cards, and of coarse keeping up with my P90X workout.

    The workouts are getting easier, I mean they're still tough, but I'm not getting near as sore as when I first started.  I recently began phase 2 of the workout which changes two of the disks out for two new ones.  The first one was "Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps" . . . and man was it tough.  I definitely felt that one for the next couple days.  The second new disk was "Back and Biceps", it wasn't terribly hard since I'm used to working those areas but it was still a pretty intense disk! Well who am I kidding . . . every disk is intense, but it's like the old saying goes, "No pain, No gain!"


"If we had no Winter, the Spring would not be so pleasant: If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
   - Anne Bradstreet