workout Archives - Page 3 of 3

Wierd but True

At the Fitness Center, the treadmills that they have, have heartrate monitors. It’s always fun to see what my heartrate is like after my runs. Now, there’s a chart on it for how high your heartrate should be depending on what age you are. For people around 20 60% I believe is 120bmp, and 100% should be 200bpm. Now, after running my normal 2 miles, I grabbed the sensor to find that my heartrate was 77bpm. Now, I’m thinking to myself, this seems a wee bit low, so I let go of it, wait a few seconds, then grab it again. 81bpm. Obviously I have a busted machine, so I brush it off and go lift.

After lifting, I come back to the same machine and walk a little to cool off. I grab the heart rate monitor as soon as I jump on though. 110bpm. It’s quite scarey that lifting accelerates my heart that much more than running for 2 miles. Now, it’s not that I’m not working while I’m running, by the time I’m done I’m sweating. It just seemed very weird last night…

Leading the Way

To begin with, I’m sorry to everyone that was having a hard time getting their rebelpeon fill yesterday. It seems as if insight was having fun playing with their DHCP server, and my machine didn’t acknowledge the latest and greatest IP Address. Hopefully that won’t happen very often.

Just so everyone knows, my birthday is coming up (March 31st), and I only accept cash. Since my weekends are fairly packed for the next few weeks with climbing, I decided to head home to the tundra region last weekend. My thinking was that I could get my birthday gifts early. What I wanted was a set of Petzl Spirit quickdraws and some Petzl Attache locking ‘biners. I really wanted these early so that I could use them for the next few weekends. Well, I still needed to get my brother a birthday gift, so while I was up there, I got his, and he got mine. I got him the Dave Chappelle Show Season 1 DVD and Unreal Tournament 2k4. He got me 3 of the locking ‘biners. Later that day my parents and I went around to various places looking for the quickdraws. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any. Most of the places had the Spirit ‘biners, but not the draws. Unfortunately, if you buy the ‘biners and the webbing separately you end up paying more. The last place we went was Moosejaw, and they didn’t have the draws either. However, being the nice people they are, they pointed me to Planet Rock. Now, I had been to the Planet Rock in Ann Arbor (sweet place), but I had never been to the one out in Pontiac. It turns out it was just down the road from where we were. So we head over there and they had them in stock! Turns out they have both the anodized and non-anodized ones too. The guy first told me the price of the anodized ones, and not knowing which one he was referring to, almost left the store right them. $25 for a quickdraw is a little steep. However, the ones I wanted were only $20, PLUS all the spirit draws were 15% off. Ends up being just about the same price as the cheapest I could find on the internet. And I get the instant gratification of having them right away. So, my parents pick up 5, and I buy an additional 5. That should be enough for right now, but I’ll probably get 6 more sometime in the near future (after I get my next paycheck).

So, last night, I head over to Vertical Plains, and learn how to lead from James. All in all not too bad. I definitely need to master the art of clipping, but that will come with practice. Tonight I’ll be heading back to VP to do it some more, and Colleen will come with to get more practice leading, since she’s only done it a few times. This is a great week to be learning this stuff because it’s spring break here at UIUC, so I pretty much have the gym to myself. The only down side of learning to lead, is now I have rope burn on both of my pointer fingers. I’ll have to remember to tape that area tonight before I start, otherwise it’s going to hurt a lot.

For those of you that have shown interest in climbing, I’d recommend coming out to VP sometime this week. If you get in touch with me, I can probably get you out there for free too. I think Colleen has some free passes. I’ll be there tomorrow and Thursday, so just lemme know. The guy that’s working there this week, James, is great. He is by far the best person I’ve met for learning how to do various things. Even if you’re brand-spanking-new.

Deep Breath And..

*sigh*

I suppose I should elaborate a little. I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been feeling very, “bleh.” I know one of the reasons I feel this way, is because I felt very weak today at the gym. I was there with a couple guys that I’ve been climbing with lately. I don’t know why, but lately I’ve felt like I haven’t been able to do anything at the climbing gym. I’m sort of worried about going down South in a couple weekends. It’s not that I am worried that something bad will happen or anything, but I just don’t think I’ll be “as good” as I could/should be.

It’s very annoying, but it shouldn’t be. I’m not as good as the guys I try to keep up with at the gym. I shouldn’t be. They’ve been climbing a lot longer than I have (which is only a year or so). It’s just that 2 weeks ago (before I went to Grand Rapids and fell off my schedule), I felt as if I was able to keep up with them a lot more. I haven’t been able to get to the gym as much nor as regularily as I’d like in the past 2 weeks, and I think it’s started to show. Who knows, though. I could just be full of it, and am only thinking this way because of the way my mind seems to be set.

I think it started with that stupid test. And it feels as if it just keeps compounding. It most likely isn’t, and there’s no reason it should feel like this, it just does.

Ahh the joys of wanting to be great…(key word being “wanting”).

Sports and Me

So, I went to the fitness center a little earlier today to do my normal run and lifting regiment. I happened to jump on a treadmill with under 1 minute left in the Illinois, Ohio State game. I find it hilarious how excited people get about things that happen on the TV. It’s right up there with people who, when referring to a sports team, use the pronoun “we.” I’ve noticed that many people from Chicago have this affliction, but then again, it could be just the number of Chicago people slummin in the corn field. I find it equally hilarious that I work for the athletics dept, and I couldn’t care. How many of these people screaming at the TV wouldn’t just love to have a job working with all these people?

I don’t really have much else to talk about right now. I just found that quite funny today.

Xmas, in February?!

Well, yesterday I got my center channel and rears from the ebay auction. Weehaw, now I’m just waiting on 200’ of 12 guage speaker wire that I ordered from partsexpress. Apparantly it shipped today, and since they’re only in OH, I figure it may be here tomorrow or Wednesday. I also recieved my valentines day gift today (a little late, but I’ll forgive you Colleen). I ended up getting an Arc’teryx RT 45. I’m definitely glad I went with the bigger size, because the bag doesn’t poof out that much, so there isn’t that much space. It will work great as a day pack when I start heading down South in the spring though. Plus, it’s waterproof, which I like a lot. It’s going to be fun getting gear to fill it 🙂

I’ve been going to the gym and climbing regularily, which I love. It actually hurts to type on the keyboard right now because I just got back from the climbing gym not more than an hour ago. One of the guy’s that works there, Arie, really likes to try and kill me. I guess it’s my own fault though, since I try to keep up. I sometimes scare myself on what I can keep up with though.

Yesterday I went to the fitness center and did my usual routine. Yesterday happened to be the midarms, legs and abs day. Needless to say the Jacks pizza I had before I left didn’t sit with me too well. I definitely think it’s because of the abs workout. I hate feeling nauseated while not at home. Well, at least I made it home before worshipping the porcelain god. It was definitely one of those times where I knew I didn’t have the flu or anything, because as soon as it was over, I felt fine. Needless to say, when I went climbing today, I didn’t eat anything before hand 🙂

Ack, I hate getting sick like that. I hate the way it feels like I have a sore throat afterwards. The scratchiness causes my mouth to salivate more than normal, and I just hate it. I guess I’d never be a good bulimic, or is it anorexic, or both. I always forget.

Anyways, my fingers are really getting sensitive, so I’m going to eat ice cream or something.

Am I Missing Something?

Yeah, I know it’s been awhile since I posted last, but I have excuses. Lots of excuses, bwahahahah. Let’s see, Monday I went climbing, Tuesday Colleen and I went to look at packs at Champaign Surplus and there was a climbing meeting, Wednesday we went climbing again, and Thursday we met her dad in Springfield for dinner. See, I told you I got mad excuses!

Anyways, on to the title. So, I went and worked out tonight (actually I just got home before I started posting this), and as I was driving home at night, it felt like I was missing something. Of course, the reason I’m sharing this with all of you is because I’m not quite sure what it is. It just feels like there’s something missing. I go to work, come home and either go climbing, go workout, or sit on the couch. I then go to bed, and then rinse and repeat. I’ve been trying to find hobbies to get into (e.g. marine fish aquariums), but who knows if that will fix my void. Maybe if I could go outside and do stuff. However, being isolated in the middle of a corn field can allow you to do only so much. Or maybe it’s the lack of a group of friends that I can call up and go do stuff with.

Works been decent, but I’d hardly call it fufilling. I’m pretty much just doing the same stuff over and over. I really need to take my MCP test, but I’m not a fan of tests. For the most part I’m ready for it, I just need to get motivated, put 2-3 days of review in, and go take it. I wish there was some way in which people (read, employers) could see that I know the material without having to take a stupid test. I mean, so many people that just user braindumps take the tests anyways that the waters are so diluted. I really want to get on the ball with the getting my MCSE over and done with. It’s not that I don’t find the material interesting, it’s just that reading about it is the worst. Now, when I was having DNS problems on my home network, it was great to go to a book, read about it and then implement the fix (or try to at least). However, just reading the book to read and take a test defeats the whole purpose. It just plain sucks. I just need to keep telling myself, once I get my MCSE, I’ll go back and get my master’s. I don’t know what yet, but it will definitely be something technology related, because LAS is a joke (no offense LAS people, but it is to me).

Maybe that will cure my hunger, but I doubt it.

Sunday I’m going to meet the guy that I won the speakers off ebay, somewhere in the middle of IL at a walmart. Should be a good time. I need to measure Colleen’s car to ensure that they’ll fit, otherwise, I’m going to have to take my truck, and I really don’t want to do that, since they may bang around in the back. I can’t wait to get them and try em out.

Man, the apt reeks of bacon. I must remember to do the bacon in the oven instead of on the stove. Our stupid hood over the stove vents back out into the room, instead of outside (who thought of that, I don’t know…). Needless to say, it was a nice smog fest. And I wonder why we don’t have batteries in the fire alarm. Oh yeah, if we cook anything on the stove it goes off…

Was Going to Post This Yesterday

Well, I was going to post this last night, but I was exhausted, so I thought it best to wait until today. I think it was a good idea. The reason I was so tired yesterday was because I went to Upper Limits with James again. I did 13 routes, he did 15. All of this in 4 hours, plus he lead 4 routes (which makes it slower). For those of you that have never been, it’s 4 silos and then a main area. The silo’s are ~60ft while the main area is around 40. So, that means, I climbed over 700ft yesterday. Granted we weren’t doing the more challenging stuff, but still. I think this is why I felt tired all over instead of just my arms, or my forearms.

The rebelpeon.com blog world is still expanding. Our latest edition is Joeyligs. Granted, all the people that have blogs here are friends of mine, but still, that’s not the point. Hopefully I’ll have a tape backup solution running within the next few days too. That way none of these wonderful creations are lost if something catastrophic happens. Just to recap, we have my site, Colleen’s site, Bree’s site, and now Joe’s site. To add to other blogging news, Aaron Binford (a guy that works with me), has gotten his site up to more than 95% functionality. It may look similar to mine, but that could be because he’s using my templates, modified a little, until he gets a better understanding of html. Nick may also move to a movabletype backend. Man, once one person goes, it’s like the domino effect. I’m taking everybody with me!

Colleen wasn’t happy about me putting off the saltwater aquarium until we move again. As she puts it, “I’ve wanted one for a long time, we need to get it now.” Needless to say, waiting an additional 6 months for her is going to be unbarable. All I have to say is, tough. There’s no way I’m setting it up 2 times, just so she can look at them for 3.5 months before we move. TOUGH!

I watched Lost in Translation Friday night. I liked it a lot (much more so than Monster). Also Friday night, I won 2 auctions. My surround sound home theater system is nearly complete. I got a KLF C7 and a pair of KLF 10’s for a center channel and rears. Thankfully the guy that was selling them lives in Monticello, IN, so I’m just going to pick them up instead of sending them UPS/Fedex. It’s a little bit safer this way. I wasn’t even going to bid on the KLF C7, but it had stayed fairly low. Almost got outbid in the final minute, but the other bidder didn’t set his maximum high enough. Hell, nobody even bid on the KLF 10’s (which made it very easy).

***Currently Listening To: Nothing. It’s too early, and since I’ll be cleaning all day, I’ll be listening to music then.

Fitness Center

This is going to be a pretty short update because I don’t have a lot of control of my arms, and I want to start testing for what could become the new rebelpeon.com.

Well, Colleen and I finally got our subscription to the fitness center. This is why I can’t really feel my arms. I probably did a little too much for the first time back in, oh, about a year of lifting. It felt so good though, that I just couldn’t stop. I can definitely tell that climbing has increased my upper body strength because I was actually able to lift more now than I was a year ago. I’m definitely looking forward to getting into a routine between the fitness center and climbing. So far, I’m thinking Mon & Weds I’ll climb, and I’ll workout Tues & Thurs. That leaves me with the weekend free to (hopefully soon) start climbing down south. Man, it feels good to be pumped again. Hopefully the feeling won’t wear off, and I’ll be able to keep this up for awhile.

In website related news, I implemented a comments system on test.rebelpeon.com. It actually works fairly well, but there are a few things that bother me about it. First of all, the number of comments doesn’t update until you refresh the page. And second of all, I haven’t figured out a way to put the title (which in my case is the date) of the entry in the comments. Feel free to try and break it, or test it out as you see fit. I don’t think it’s going to last. I’m going to bring up a test server and try out MovableType instead of beating my head in with fixing those 2 problems (which I’ve been doing for the last few days). It seems to be promising. Hopefully, I can use it in place of my current blog technique, but still be able to customize it enough that it doesn’t look like all the other database driven sites. What I really want to do, is just have the database part, essentially, the text that I’m writing here, and the rest of my site (what surrounds my blog) by whatever I want. I think with the way that I’m currently doing it with iframes, may allow me to. That would be the coolest. However, MovableType needs MySQL to function. Yet another fun thing to play with. From what I heard, it’s not too bad. I mean Nick installed it for his forums, so it can’t be that bad. 😉

Off to work on new possibilities…

My Aching Body

Bleh, I don’t feel too hot. My body is tired, and I feel as if I have a lot of congestion in my sinuses. Oh yeah, plus a headache. It’s probably because I’ve been killing myself by climbing. On Saturday, a climbing friend of mine, James Fran, and I went to Upper Limits and climbed for around 5.5 hours. I was so dead. And then yesteday, Colleen and I went to Vertical Plains and climbed with James and a few other people there too. I think James wants me to go climbing tomorrow night too, but I haven’t heard from him yet. It’s fun because James is quite a bit better than I am, so he likes to do things, and I like to try and do them. Like on Saturday, I tried my hardest to keep up. I think he did 2 routes that I didn’t. However, he has way more endurance than I do, so he can go straight up a climb, where I have to stop around 2/3rds of the way up. Plus he’s lucky in that his hands don’t really sweat. Man, how I wish that mine didn’t. Zero to soaked in about 3 holds. Hell, even as I sit here typing, they are moist. It would help so much if they’d just stay dry…

I haven’t touched the new site design since I posted it the other day. Colleen agrees with me that the background image needs to go. It’s just way to overpowering. I’ll probably do something more minimalistic (how I like my desktop wallpapers). The only thing about that, is I either need to find something (probable) or create something (not so probable). I really like the contrast of the cingular wireless commercials, so I may do something with that color scheme. However, instead of orange, I may use a lime green shade. Who knows though. I doubt I’ll be doing anything on it soon. Unless I get worse by tomorrow and decide to not venture into work.

Today at work, glofish were brought up, and I’m bound and determined to get myself some. How can you go wrong, I mean, they’re glowing fish! I was going to call around to local pet stores today to see if they have any. I’ve always wanted to have a cool tropical aquarium, but the upkeep on them is way to much, so I think this would be a good substitute.

Speaking of buying stuff, I finally got around to purchasing a desk. Colleen was happy about that, since I’m kinda (well, ok, I am) using her desk for the time being. I purchased an Eames Desk Unit produced by Herman Miller. It looks like a very fun desk, and I know it’s quality since my parents have an Eames Lounge Chair, which is nothing but great. I made the purchase from retromodern.com, which has some really neat, and expensive, stuff. The way I see it, is I’d rather wait and save up to buy something quality, than go out and purchase something cheap that works for “right now.” Hopefully the lead time of 4 weeks listed on their website is the maximum, since I can’t wait to get it.

**Currently Listening To: Coldplay – Rush of B-Sides to the Head. If you like Coldplay, then I’d try to find this cd/collection of songs on your favorite file sharing network. There are some new songs, and lots of their normal songs, but accoustic, etc. I personally like the laid back-ness of Coldplay, and am enjoying the accoustic stuff on this compliation.