1.5 mile run
Max set of crunches in 2 mins
Frisbee football
This is the easy week with an initial strength test at the end of the week. The weather is getting cold. This is where the discipline part of the physical discipline kicks in.
Our study group watched the first installment of the miniseries, John Adams. We also discussed study methods and online tools (scroll down to see previous posts of flash cards and tests we are developing). The goal is to not only help each other, but to leave bread crumbs for others who want to study for the History I CLEP exam as well. I’ll publish more online resources as they come together.
Frisbee Football
Max set of pull-ups.
About 1 hour of mostly upper body calisthenics (wide push-ups, diamond push-ups, regular push-ups, underhand pull-ups, overhand pull-ups, flutter kicks, crunches, side straddle hops, and windmills).
The weather was warmer than it has been so we took the opportunity to play a sport. The calisthenics were challenging like always. Taylor did 21 pull-ups for his max set which was a new high for him. I think he started off around 12. Friday was the end of week 20. Next will be an easy week with an initial strength test at the end of the week.
This was done in Maya, a 3D software program. I’m really pleased with what the program can do. I still need to learn to set the controls for animation (called rigging) and then, I need to learn to animate. It’ll take a while to learn, but I like how much progress I’ve made so far.
While I am taking a class at JMU, the urge and road map to learn animation came from a lens Bryan Engram created on Squidoo: Link
I did the pencils and inks, and Kyle did the rest.
1 mile hill intervals x 3
22 minutes of lower body and abdominal calisthenics (boot beaters, star jumps, windmills, lunges, crunches, flutter kicks and stretches)
Travis on the left and me on the right (trying not to hurl) after the second interval.
Andrew doing boot beaters proving that invisibility through speed is the best camouflage.
Today was a short but high tempo workout. We did the lower body exercises with no rest between them and only a few minutes rest between the hills. The calisthenics we do are all variations on this workout: Link
Currently I’m taking a 3D modeling course at James Madison University. Here is an assignment I’m working on for class. We all have to do a cartoon character. I’m not quite done yet, but seeing as it’s Veteran’s Day, I thought it would be a good time to unveil my progress on Captain America:
Hopefully it’s evident that I’m learning something.
I used to have deep psychological hang-ups about going to school. Most of this stems from how poorly I did in high school. It kept me out of school for years because I was under the mistaken belief that no college would let me attend because of my high school track record. This kept me from taking classes when I was on active duty in the Marines. It also made me steer clear of officer programs that I otherwise would have applied for.
While it is true that there are some very difficult institutions to get accepted to, it’s fairly easy to take classes if you have a mind to. I don’t have the time or the money to go to school full time, but it would be a waste to be this close to a university and not check it out. I’m currently making use of James Madison University’s outreach program as a non-degree seeking student. I didn’t have to take the SATs or anything like that.
It doesn’t matter to me that I probably won’t get a degree from JMU — that’s not why I signed up for the course. I signed up because I was intellectually curious about what the class offered.
Even if you don’t have time to pursue a degree or already have one, if you live close to a universities or community colleges, check them out. You may find that they offer a class or two that you really might like.
3 Mile run
It was an easy day yesterday. Looking forward to hills on Wednesday.
