Seasons Greetings

Hi everyone.

The Bride and I went to Florida to visit her folks. Her mom has several physical issues. Diabetes, blindness and other health concerns but she has a fantastic outlook on life. Her dad lives the vows they made many years ago. Its cool to see them together and how they love each other. Good example for all of us, really.

My father-in-law has been a fan of The Confederate Railroad. Its a country band and its just so much fun to see him singing along to some of their songs. Songs like "She Took it Like a Man". "Jesus and Mama". "The Big One" .

Training has been going very well...but I have been enjoying the holiday food a little too much. I am keeping my eye on the prize but won't turn down goodies just for the sake of it..

I am working tonight, Christmas eve, but will be off on Christmas day. We will have lots of family over. The Bride and The Daughter, The Chef have been cooking for two days. The food will be amazing...

Heres a picture of tonights anchor team with our reindeer antlers....Bill Martin, next to me. (If you go to Facebook, he's the guy who taunts me daily and I give it right back!!) Stacey Bell, and legendary weatherman Dick Goddard. I like to say Dick gave Noah the first 8 day forecast.. Buhhh rummmmp!!! I am jealous of Goddards big antlers!!!

Keep training and keep reaching for greatness. Life's a Blast!!

FROM ANIMAL HOUSE TO COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Had a great time with The Bride going back to our alma mater...Ashland University for commencement ceremonies. Thats where we met. It was an out of body experience in many ways. They put us up in a suite that is on the top floor of the womens dorm The Bride lived in. I was recalling all those times I was in her room past visiting hours...haha... even through fire alarms and such...

It was very tough crafting a speech that wasn't too "preachy". I just wove lots of Ashland moments into it..and experiences during my career that related to the overall message... Yes..."Paradise is where I am". I asked that students get involved in mentoring someone..as I was very much influenced by people who mentored me. One of my profs, Larry Hiner, was a great guy who encouraged me alot. He and his wife were there at our invitation and sat with The Bride.

When I was introduced, it was mentioned about how I have been an endurance athlete all these years and that I have gotten more into ultra marathons and how my goal is to run a 100 mile race. I could tell people were reacting like "is he insane"?? The answer is...the running is my therapy..so maybe without the running, I would be insane. LOL!!

Training...

Great week but little running. Lots of crossfit. I took The Brides boot camp on Thursday that my son Patrick and The Bride co-taught. Very challenging. Even did an improvised crossfit workout Saturday am before the commencement ceremony in the suite. Pushups, Squats, Burpees..Handstand Pushups (I can manage 2) and more. My weight issues have been dealt with nicely this week and so, as I write this on a Monday am...all things are good.

Everyone have a great week.

Training Continues

Catch you up on some training.
Friday Dec 4
30 Mins Elliptical
Saturday Dec5.
2 hour, 9 minutes on trails...good chunk of them on hills
10.0 miles
Sunday Dec 6
Off
Monday Dec 7th.
3 Rounds
Skip 1 min
15 Pushups
Skip 1 min
15 Situps
Skip 1 min
15 Med ball slams
Skip 1 min
15 bicep curls (20 lbs)dumbells
Skip 1 min
15 dumbell over hand presses 20 lbs each (Total time 28:30)
Cool down 10 min elliptical.
Tuesday Dec 8
30 min on stationary bike 125 heart rate
5 min easy jog treadmill
2 min row with 30 sec rest time 5.
(4 rounds of)
20 box bounds 22 inches high
10 pushups total time 4:55
Life's a Blast

JT THE TRAINING FREAK

LeBron James is a freak. Of course, having covered him since his high school days, I know what he can do. On Monday, after an interview, James grabbed a football and threw a cross court pass that went 94 feet and nothing but net. Maybe you saw it. Our camerman was the only shooter who keep rolling after LeBron ended the interview. Now everyone wants it.FOX8.COM LINK ESPN took it and made it one of the Top 10 Plays. Folks, I see this stuff just about every week. LeBron takes a medicine ball, weighing 16 pounds and makes a 3 point shot with it. He is amazing and yes, if he applied himself, he could make it in the NFL. But with all the concussion stuff going on, he would be insane to try it.

Having said that, let me lay on you this freaks training for the past few days..(Laugh out loud here folks)
Tuesday Dec 1.
30 minutes strong effort on spinning bike.

Weds Dec 2.
Run 4.5 miles on muddy trails at North Chagrin. In the middle, I did 5, one minute sprints with 2 minutes recovery. Try sprinting in mud and on a trail.. Not smart. But I did not wipe out.

Thursday Dec 3rd (today)
Skip Rope 5 times 1 minute hard with :30 sec rest
Skip Rope 5 times 1 minute hard with :15 secs rest
Superset 5 sets of 20 pushups, alternated with 5 sets 20 situps.
Bicep Curls 20 lbs dumbells 15 reps 5 sets
Skip Rope 5 sets of 2 minutes hard with :30 sec rest
40 pound weigh carry... 5 sets
5 up and back bounding in Training Room
Kneel on Stability ball 3 minutes using light medicine ball making odd movements to test balance..
Skip Rope 5 straight minutes.

Life's a Blast!!