National Marquette Day

Today's Workout:

 - Legs and abs stuff

(Play this song while reading.)

Due to the fact that I am celebrating National Marquette Day, it is expected that today will be a day of tradition. In keeping with some more recent traditions, I got up early to get my workout out of the way, and onward to the rest of the day.

I also spent close to 30 minutes, in honor of Tom, to get this rugby jacket selfie just right. While my feelings towards Tom are not secret, I can recognize that without his involvement I might not have had a rugby team to join 15 years later.

But it is the other infamous Warriors I'm celebrating Presidents Day with, and in style too. Of course, in this case when I say Presidents Day, I'm really referring to the founding matron of the Marquette Women's Rugby team, and other club presidents throughout the years. (is founding mothers the female version of founding fathers?) You see, Shannon invited us to her box at the Bradley Center to watch the Marquette vs Villanova game, and network with the different leaders throughout the years.

As tradition would garner, we mustered at none other than Wolski's to organize tickets and rides to the Bradley Center. However before I could head over to one of my favorite daytime establishments, I had to first stop at the spirit store. Besides a ratty sweatshirt, most of my Blue and Gold clothing had a controversial warrior head instead of our current Golden Eagle symbol.

This brief detour ended up being more costly than the overpriced gear I purchased. Milwaukee was one of the first cities I've seen to replace coin operated parking meters with the centralized, credit card machines. I found a parking spot near the Union, and noticed the meter maid nearby ready to pounce. Usually, I live life on the edge, risking parking tickets by purposefully not feeding the meter. However, seeing the nearby public servant, today was not the day for that. I parked my car, and had to stand in line to pay at the central machine. I took my receipt, went inside to get my swag, and then hopped in the car without second thought. 3 or 4 blocks into the drive, what do I notice flapping brazenly on my window but a ticket written during the time I waited patiently to pay. Tradition strikes again, it would have been strange to leave Milwaukee with this familiar token. 

The game was great, we lost but I had a hot dog. Obviously, it is a rebuilding year if the thing I am most excited about is how delicious my ball park hot dog was. More importantly, Linda formulated a plan for a 20th year reunion this summer, and combining it with other clubs also celebrating milestones in 2015! Considering that I came out as being gay at the 15 year reunion, who knows what will happen at the next one. (I guess technically, the last reunion was the 10 year anniversary of when we were National Champs, so it was like 7 years ago.)

And on we went, leaving the ball game to hang out at a few other establishments in the city. It has been ages since I learned a new rugby song. Thanks to the wisdom of my fellow alumni, I left these Milwaukee establishments with the tale of Sir Jasper looping through my mind (to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.) 

Shannon brought our group together, not only this weekend, but in many other ways as well. This includes our first encounter in Nashville, later coaching me when we really needed it, and most importantly starting the team with Linda in the first place. My life would be extremely different if our paths had not crossed, and I am grateful they did.

Tomorrow's goal:

 - Rugby practice with the Wisconsin Women's team

7 Second Movie Reviews

So no work out today or yesterday, and with valid reasons. It is soo cold here today, I am pretty certain the temperature never reached a positive number. The weather just zapped any motivation I could have mustered at this point. 

Google Image search "snotsicle"
(that could be me in the hood)

What is even worse, the negative degree weather I am experiencing up in Canada, is warmer than the temperature at my own home in Wisconsin. Seriously, what rabbit hole did I fall through when our weather is worse than that of our cousins to the north?

I had a 3-4 block walk between the hotel and the hospital. Spending that brief amount of time outside, kept me shivering for 30 mins once inside the building. This could probably count as a core workout, and heck, I think my abs are a little sore from it even. 

Instead of working out the past couple days, I had dinner at the top of the CN tower last night with work people. It is kind of similar to the Seattle Space Needle, but 3 times as tall. Also, the restaurant rotates, to the point that I got motion sick and thought I would need to leave before we even placed our orders. Thankfully, I eventually got used to the rotating, because afterwards we went out on the walkway and the glass floor. Still cold outside, but the glass floor was extremely disorienting. I almost fell over just looking down to the street 1,800 ft below.

Even more disorienting than seeing a third of mile between your feet and the ground below, is how much better Netflix is in other countries. I watched so many movies today, and yes, broke the no TV streak. I have historically had a long running relationship with The Fault in our Stars even though I have never seen it before today. I almost started a Vine account to do 7 second movie reviews starting with this flix. Only, I couldn't think of a clever enough name (I'm open to suggestions though.) It was good to cross this one off the list.

Looking back I think I made the decision most people would between the two options. Either sweat it out in subzero weather or watch a hit movie and cathartically sob about dying kids. 
   ...Now, to start coming up with a Vine account name. 

Go Crazy?

Today's Workout:
 - Lifting weights - legs

Don't mind if I do!


Woke up early again! Boom squats and stuff. 

Also, Surprise! Last minute trip to Canada booked today! I found out in the morning, and was at the airport by 2. Apparently I know stuff about physicians and cardiology, so my specialty skills are in high demand, as of late.

How many times does a person need to leave the country for work purposes before they can be considered an International Business Person (...of Mystery)? Because this trip out of the country equals my 5th to a foreign land, and yes 3 of those trips have to the foreign land of Canada. I mean I'm no Mike Meyer's, but if I had some bling like this, I might try harder.

I think something that colorful seems appropriate today, considering it is Fat Tuesday. AND GUESS WHAT ELSE?!? Fat Tuesday is apparently also Pancake Day! Who knew right? I don't even like pancakes, and this is exciting news for me. If you think this is exciting, just wait for the new holiday I discovered in March.

Sadly enough, on this day of Crazy celebration and typical over indulgence, I get upgraded to Firsties and don't capitalize on the free beverages. Instead, I'm trying this like "healthy eating" thing. Mom's been getting healthy and fit in preparation for our mother / daughter trip to Paris, so I figure it is time I start doing the same. Hoo-ray for vegetables!

Well, tomorrow is a rest day, so hopefully the hotel has like a bike or something that I can do lightly.

No Beer and No TV

Today's Workout:
 - Run 1.75 miles
 - Weight Lifting - Arm Day

...Make Homer... something something.

Instead of having 1 big New Years resolution, I decided to pick 2 smaller things to focus on each month. January, I focused on waking up to my alarm without hitting snooze or setting additional alarms. February, I'm focusing on learning French and giving up TV.

Where the elevators see more action than most high school boys

Well, giving up TV with the caveat that I can watch it while I am exercising. Embarrassingly enough, I still need my weekly Grey's Anatomy fix. I have not missed an episode since the show started around Easter in 2005. I even stuck with it during those terrible times, like when Izzy was sleeping with her dead husband because of the tumor in her head (boy, her character was the worst.)

Today, I actually got to check off two goals. The first is obviously exercising and watching Greys, but the second was waking up early to work out in the morning. (I tried doing this back in September or something, and it is not something that comes naturally or easy to me). The general lack of sleep the past week must have helped me get up earlier than I am familiar with.

Beyond working out and just plain working. I have read like 5 books in the past couple weeks. I read a silly series about a baking witch and her vampire / werewolf friends, a book about a virtual reality in the near-distant future that tries to simulate everything from the 80's, and book 2 in a series with a spin on Alice in Wonderland. 

Tomorrow is a legs day, we'll see how that goes.

Now that I Found Valtrex

Today's Workout:
 - Swimming for a while

Well, it has been a hell of a week at work. I've been trying to finish some detailed and time consuming projects, which has lead to little sleep and time for little else. Its been a while since I've logged an 80 hour week, and I don't have that ability in me like I did 3 or 4 years ago.

Course, maybe I never could work at that pace. That might explain why I got the herp in college. Hold your horses, I do not have an STD (promise ladies, cross my heart), but I did have shingles my 5th year of college. Shingles, chicken pox, and cold sores are all in the same family as the STI, and shingles is officially herpes zoster vs the infection which is herpes simplex. It makes me giggle when I refer to having shingles as that time I got the herp, and then I realize most other people won't get what I'm saying. 


Now that I cleared the air, the reason I got shingles, according to my physician at the time, was that I was burning the candle at both ends and just plain run down for an extended amount of time. That was certainly true, at that time I worked 3 jobs, was taking 23 credits, and practicing rugby twice a week from 8-10 pm. Being that busy, I didn't get much time for sleep, and probably averaged 10 hours of sleep from Sunday night through Friday morning. Additionally, I was pretty lazy when it came to grocery shopping. Instead of making food, I would buy a bag of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and plastic knives. With this, I would throw those things in my backpack, and just make peanut butter sandwiches whenever I got hungry throughout the day.
       Cost efficient? - yes. Healthy? - far from it.
Add up the lack of sleep and the poor nutrition, boom! I get an illness that is typically reserved for people in retirement age.

Today, I took a break from work and stuff, to wander out into the cold to relax and go swimming. This was nice, and it felt good to move the limbs a little. However, there is still work to do today. Good thing shingles is like the chicken pox, you only get it once. I'm feeling a bit run down after this week.

Last thing, did I mention that since shingles is in the herpes virus family, I was prescribed Valtrex to treat it? When I got that script, I literally laughed out loud. Listen to this song from a local band out of Nebraska, to find what ran through my mind when I heard that.

Call me Whoopi

Today's Workout:

 - 60 mins on the rowing machine

Because I'm Back in the Habit! 

Why, you might ask, did you decide to start doing this after the hiatus the past few months? Well, let me tell you. Apparently, the rugby team is going to DC in March and they happen to be short on players (I guess there is another Hanks wedding that same weekend or something). In addition to that fact, my good friend Emma can be pretty convincing about getting me to come out of retirement. 

So, it is time to shake up the rust off these leggz and get back into things. The blogg seemed like a pretty good catalyst considering that the title was derived from the past few years on the rugby team.

You see, rugby is an exhausting 80 mins of continuous running. 1 half time, no time outs, no subs. Its like a football game, but instead of stopping every down for a 30 second break, we get up and keep going. Like any sport, constant communication is important to make plays work and get people in the right places. The thing is, as the clock ticks on, talking becomes less of remembered task because your body is just worn down. I combat this by removing any mental filter, and spilling any thought in my head out of my mouth. 

Turns out most of my thoughts are to motivate my body to keep going. My teammates laugh at me because you can usually hear me muttering "Come on leggz, get to the break down", "Let's go leggz, your teammates need you there", or my favorite "Alright leggz, big jump. Get up."

They laugh, but also tell me these mutterings motivate them too. And that's what I do well, motivate others around me. So, it's off to DC, and by then I'll be fit enough to keep up, at least a little.

Not really sure the schedule for the next workouts, but I'll keep you in the loop as things move forward.

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

Much like the 2nd smartest creature on earth, I left for a while due to extenuating circumstances. Well kind of, I didn't leave the planet because, as much as I've dreamed of being an astronaut, I would never get through the training where you spinning in circles at high speeds (poundsign messy).

While I stepped away from blogging and exercising, here are the extenuating circumstances I alluded to. I last left with some posts about Vitty's Wedding, from there 

• Overnight go-live shifts and Voodoo Donuts in Portland
• Overnight go-live shifts in Cleveland
• Car accident in a 2015 Camaro with a deer (I'm fine but lost my National Car renting privileges for the next 6 months, and paid too much money to take care of things)
• Halloween in London, and the week prior working Cambridge
• Came home with a cough and a potential allergy to Advil
• Dinner at the pizza place from Toy Story while in Bismark
• I ran outdoors here, like I said I would earlier, in 30 degree weather. The cough turned into some viral infection
• Day trip to Muscatine in the Great State, while my mom visited and cooked food at my house.
• Hot dogs at Portillos while working in the suburbs of Chicago

• Trip to the doctor because that viral thing started feeling like the time I had pneumonia. It wasn't, but this happened ==>
• Sadly, a breakup...
• Thanksgiving in the Great State
• My first "trip" to a customer in Madison. Going on-site was closer than going to the office.
• Crossed off another new state with my first of many trips to Boise Idaho.
• Pad Thai in the Twin Cities
• Bailey's 21st Brithday in Mo Valley. (I love birthday's so hard)
• Christmas

• This meant the final Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and a devastating loss in the cutthroat, Roback, cookie-baking competition. Congrats to Natalie for taking home coveted golden spoon. (Mine are the pooh colored, caramel delight wreaths. First time my cookies didn't come out AMAZING)
• Woke 6am Christmas day for an 8 hour drive home. Stopped in Council Bluffs for Moscow Mules and Coquito's with Grams and the Iowa clan. Finally, got home for presents and Christmas dinner with just our immediate family.
• New Years in Wisconsin
• A second trip to London. My only suvonir was a half price pair of holiday themed socks, only because I forgot to pack any.
• Multiple weeks (3) without travel, made me a little stir crazy just staying home.
• Drove down to Kankakee Illinois, or as Mom so aptly named it Kankersore IL
• Decided not to watch the superbowl for the first time since 6th grade because I literally could not have cared less about the two teams playing, Katie Perry, and the commercials are all on the internet anyway. From the sounds of it, none were worth watching so I haven't even bothered with that.

And that brings us to something close to today. I've decided to change the initial parameters of this blog. No Green Bay marathon this year, but maybe a Halloween / costume race towards the end of the year, and running in The Promise Land next year. AND I'm going to run inside when it is too cold. 

Today I leave you with the message from the dolphins before they left for space: