A Geek’s Think

When I signed up for the Navy back in 2005, I had a problem.  I was out of shape. I weighted about 200 lbs and wore size 36 pants - now that's not huge for a guy who's 6'2", but it's certainly not small.  I could do maybe one push-up and couldn't run for more than a few seconds at a time.  My strong point was sit-ups - I could do a whole 30!  I worked out on my own and finally got up to the Navy's minimum standards about 8 months later, but it was a hard push.

Fast forward to now.  I weigh under 175 and wear size 32 pants - the same size I wore in high school!  My ship had its semi-annual Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA) this week, so on Wednesday I had to run 1.5 miles and do as many push-ups and sit-ups as I could in a two minute period.  I guess the Navy's doing something right, because I made a new high in my push-ups and run and almost matched my high in sit-ups.  I did my run in 11:05, which is a full 70 seconds faster than my previous PFA this spring and roughly equivalent to the speed I ran/walked a mile back in my high school days.  I was able to do 62 push-ups and 78 sit-ups.  Now that's not exceptional by Navy standards - a bit less than that, actually - but by my standards, I'm in a whole new world of in-shape-ness.  I even ran a 5K race not too long ago and finished in a decent (for me) time of about 27 minutes. 

My next goal: run a 10K next spring.  Anyone else up for the challenge?

I've always had a difficult time deciding on a Halloween costume.  My costumes over the years have been so bland as to be entirely forgettable - and, in fact, I can't remember more than one or two of them that have been recorded photographically.  This year was little different. I thought and schemed and thought some more, and finally ended up purchasing a cheap knight costume at Walmart.  I did have some fun making the sword and helmet, though.  

There is one interesting side note to this story - my sister and brother in law independently chose knight costumes for my nephews Adam and Joshua.  I must admit that they are much cuter than I am.

So, without further ado, I present Sir Tyler!