A Tale Told by an Idiot

[EricK]

Sat, 4/20/24

Up in the morning, out of the rack,
Greeting the dawn with an early attack!
First sergeant rushes me off to chow,
But I don't eat it anyhow...

Hail O’ Hail O’ Infantry
Queen of battle follow me
Marine recon's the life for me
O’ nothing in this world is free

From a big bird in the sky
All will jump and some will die
Off to battle we will go
To live or die, hell I dont know

Hail O’ Hail O’ Infantry
Queen of battle follow me
Marine recon's the life for me
O’ nothing in this world is free

Early at night its drizzilin’ rain
I am hit and feel no pain
But in my heart I have no fear
Because my ranger God is here

Hail O’ Hail O’ Infantry
Queen of battle follow me
Marine recon's the life for me
O’ nothing in this world is free

The mortars and artillery
The screaming bursts around me
Jagged shrapnel on the fly
Kills my buddy, makes me cry

Hail O’ Hail O’ Infantry
Queen of battle follow me
Marine recon's the life for me
O’ nothing in this world is free

One, Two, Three, Your Left
Hooah
One, Two, Three, Four
RECON

[EricK]

Not ded. Barely.

15.8 mi, 4:05 (4 plates!!)

[DCR]

15.8 mi

Today we went to a rodeo where dudes got tossed around like rag dolls by 2K lb bulls. I think that I’d try my luck at that before doing anything for 15.8 miles.

Seriously, though - ok more seriously because I wasn’t so much joking above - congrats on finishing, and hope you had a great time. I know that you were looking forward to this.

[EricK]

15.8 mi

Today we went to a rodeo where dudes got tossed around like rag dolls by 2K lb bulls. I think that I’d try my luck at that before doing anything for 15.8 miles.

Seriously, though - ok more seriously because I wasn’t so much joking above - congrats on finishing, and hope you had a great time. I know that you were looking forward to this.

My legs may be useless for a few weeks...

[hector]

Not ded. Barely.

15.8 mi, 4:05 (4 plates!!)

BMF!!!!

[EricK]

Not ded. Barely.

15.8 mi, 4:05 (4 plates!!)

BMF!!!!

Thanks my dude! I was definitely outclassed by the younger bucks but I'm glad I finished and I don't feel nearly as bad today as I expected to.

For old times sake:

Bruised My Flipper!!
Brass Monkey Funions!!
Body Mishapen by Fritos!!
Bad Mustard Frapee!!
Butt Makes Fart!!
Burrito Mas Frijoles!!
Banging MILFs Fun!!
Busted Mannequin, Fragile!!
Bromancing My Feelings!!
Bandaid Margarita Flavored!!

[EricK]

Mon, 4/22/24

200.8 (post-run gorge bloat pump)

Squat: 135 x 5 x 3

Just making sure my legs still work. The quads are sore but I can walk around normal; a little slow going down stairs.

[cole]

good job on the 15mi run, that crazy

[EricK]

Tue, 4/23/24

198 (like a bauce)

Guitar:
Jammin' On the porch during the pleasant evening a passing runner and dog walker gave me positive feedback on my playing (playing Good Riddance and Use Somebody).

good job on the 15mi run, that crazy

Thank you sir! I would have erred towards 16 rather than 15 but only because I'm insecure.

[EricK]

Thu, 4/25/24

197.4

I squatted some more. Nothing much to write about. My legs are fine, but my 3 year old has been very needy this week. He needs someone to sit with him while he watches his shows, otherwise he makes a bunch of noise crying and wakes up his brother.

Learned that Teenage Dirtbag is pretty easy and fun to play, though.

[DCR]

Learned that Teenage Dirtbag is pretty easy and fun to play, though.

I love that song.

[EricK]

Lame duck session when I got home just to earn a protein drink I made for yesterday...

Squat:

135 x 8, 225 x 8 x 3

I did some chins between sets because my right bicep still sucks. Nothing worth counting, though.

Bench / DB hammer curl:
135 x 15 / 30 x 15
[ 185 x 12 / 30 x 15 ] x 3

Learned that Teenage Dirtbag is pretty easy and fun to play, though.

I love that song.

It is fun. I might even be able to sing and play with it without too much trouble.

[augeleven]

On the easy song front - Brain stew.
I learned Karma Police the other day because I was watching the three body problem the other day and it has the most on-the-nose needle drop with that song.

Also can commiserate on scheduling my workouts around the schedule if a toddler.

My first like 6 years of lifting was done only after my kids were asleep.

[EricK]

Fri, 4/26/24

196.1

Now let's see if I can keep it off over the weekend. I'm going to see if I can set myself a goal of staying under 190 for a whole week and reward myself with a bingey Friday or Saturday.

Press / BB row:

135 x [ 8, 12 ] x 3

RDL / dip:

[ 225 x 10, BW x 12 ] x 3

LTE / BO fly:

[ 87 x 10, 22.5 x 12 ] x 3

Done at a good tempo to keep me a little winded. Still feels lame but better than nothing.

Treadmill:
25:00, 313 cal, 2.37 mi

I want to keep running at least a little, although I know it doesn't mesh well with lifting...

On the easy song front - Brain stew.
I learned Karma Police the other day because I was watching the three body problem the other day and it has the most on-the-nose needle drop with that song.

Also can commiserate on scheduling my workouts around the schedule if a toddler.

My first like 6 years of lifting was done only after my kids were asleep.

Love Brain Stew, it was one of the first songs I sounded out on my own. When you say Karma Police you mean the Radiohead song, right? That sounds like a good one, too. Definitely no shortage of songs I wish I could play...

I used to work out in the evenings, but we only had one at the time and now the older one has extracurricular stuff on top of longish work days. I think afternoon or early evenings are best for working out, but morning is the only time I'm guaranteed to have a significant block of time to myself, the only question is whether I work out, practice guitar or just fuck around. Unfortunately, I choose the latter too often. Sometimes I can sneak out of work and lift at home during the the day, but not reliably. Ce la vie...

[EricK]

Mon, 4/29/24

200.6

Failed to stay below 200, but not as bad...

Guitar:

1:00
-Teenage Dirtbag, pretty solid hour of practicing playing along to the tutorial video. I still get tripped up a lot of places and my chords are fairly sloppy at times because my transitions are not very smooth, but I noticed improvement since first starting. Just takes time and repetition.

Squat / chin:

W/u -
[ 135 x 8, BW x 8 ], switched to pullups to preserve my bicep
[ 135 x 8, BW x 8 ], [ 225 x 8, BW x 8 ]

S - 315 x 2, 350 x 1, 300 x 2

H - [ 245 x 8, BW x 8 ] x 3

Went in hoping for a 370 e1RM, adjusted down to 350 based on the sets. It's a starting point.

Bench / curl:

W/u -
[ 135 x 15, 62 x 15 ], [ 185 x 12, 62 x 15 ], [ 225 x 8, 62 x 15 ]

S -
245 x 2, 275 x 1, 245 x 2

H -
[ 205 x 8, 62 x 15 ] x 3

Went in hoping for a ~285 e1RM, think it's around that, maybe a little higher.

It occurred to me today that my bicep trouble might stem from the really high volume I went into from next to nothing. Since I did curls or chins between every lifting set, even warmups I was probably doing too many sets, too often. I think starting with 3-5 sets 1-2 times per week is more typical, but I was doing close to double that when my arm started complaining. I should probably be smarter about constraining weekly volume. That might be a good reason to prefer pullups over chinups. I have a tendency to keep pushing things until I get hurt. With that in mind, 6 sets of curls and chins/pullups today is probably a little too much, at least for now. I'll try to remember and keep it down to 3-5 sets.

I haven't been very diligent about exercise the past few weeks; I want to get my shit together again and get back on track. I'll try to stick to this (better diet control and exercise) for at least 6 weeks. If I'm successful I expect to be under 190 with the same (possibly better) e1RMs. If my e1RMs tank, oh well, as long as I'm still working out and losing weight.

[EricK]

Wed, 5/1/24

199.7

I am Jack's withering rage.

Guitar:
1:00
-Teenage Dirtbag; play along still continues to improve, probably need to break it down and work on getting the individual parts cleaned up, though

Press / BB row:
135 x [ 5, 12 ] x 3

Deadlift:
225 x 5, 315 x 4
365 x 2, 405 x 1, 365 x 2

RDL / Dip:
[ 245 x 10, BW x 10 ] x 3

LTE / BO fly:
[ 92 x 10, 22.5 (ea.) x 12 ] x 3

[EricK]

5/1/24 (cont.)

Treadmill:

32:00, 392 cal, 2.94 mi