its about that time

there's not doubt about it, i'm not getting any younger so i think its time to start an official Bucket List, so here goes (in no particular order) - i'll add to it when i think of more, the possibilities are endless especially when my independently wealthy plans come to fruition!

1. learn how to snowboard (and be good at it!) (as of 11/13/2009 - this one is officially in the works! my first snowboarding trip will be this January as an early birthday present from a VERY old friend! SO STOKED! i am SO on my way ;) )
2. visit Fiji for a two week vacation
3. go hiking in Slovenia
4. visit Hart Brown in the Caribbean
5. go zip lining in Costa Rica
6. go skydiving in New Zealand
7. eventually fall in love (real love) and get married and then have a family
8. visit Italy to learn about my heritage
9. sit front row at a UFC fight in Vegas
10. go to a Steeler's game in PA
11. eat a Kobe beef filet (medium rare please)
12. stay at an ashram in India for a month of personal growth and inner development
13. become independently weathly (this one is a given, but i thought i'd write it to be on the safe side, just so the universe and i are for sure on the same page)
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

yum

football Sunday is our time to relax and get ready for the coming week so i cooked for T and me. we had a meatza :) i got the idea here, but of course, i didn't use the recipe because, well, i just don't use recipes. so here is what it came out looking like...

ingredients for the "crust":
2 lbs of ground chicken breast
1 lb of beef chorizo (to give it some fat and spicy flavor)
garlic and herb spices (to taste)
Italian spices (to taste)

toppings:
fresh spinach
sauteed mushrooms
sauteed red onions
crumbled goat cheese
mozzarella cheese


it was freaking good! you should try it, even if your not a primal eater like we are :)

PSA

i need medication. or to start working out again. one of the two. i really hope the huge mother effer of a shot i got today in my shoulder, chalk full of steroids, will allow the latter to happen soon. until then - i wanted to make a public announcement that i am fully aware of the fact that i am a full fledged looney tune and the first step to recovery is admittance...right?

a new addiction

oh no, it has happened. i have officially crossed over to the "fight side." i watched the first show of the season for The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights last night and all i can say is...i'm hooked. now i do have to admit that the company i watched it with added tremendously to the enjoyment of the show - i mean how can you go wrong with your own batch of home grown commentators that remark on everything from the fat bellies to the "tiger eating a baby dolphin" tattoos. priceless. now that's not to say i enjoyed watching the bloodiest fight EVER through the cracks of a hand that happened to be covering my horrified eyes, BUT i am learning to appreciate the fighters and what they are doing. how can i not when i'm surrounded by them so much lately? so here is the breakdown of the new cast:

• Zak Jensen (11-2): The 6-foot-4, 265-pound 26-year-old Jensen was a collegiate wrestler and football player at Northern Illinois University and Augsburg College. After college, he found success in "Tough Man" competitions and Golden Gloves competitions and eventually made the move to MMA in 2007.
• Marcus Jones (4-1): The 6-foot-6, 260-pound 35-year-old Jones is the most prolific of the show's NFL quartet. While playing defensive end at the University of North Carolina, Jones was an All-American and the 1995 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and became the 1996 first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After eight successful years in the NFL, he joined Gracie Tampa and made the transition to MMA.
• Scott Junk (6-2): The 6-foot-1, 265-pound 30-year-old Junk was a former Division II All-American football player at Southwest Oklahoma State. After college, Junk began training in mixed martial arts, earning his way into the UFC in 2007. Junk, who took the fight on less-than-two-weeks' notice, suffered a first-round submission loss to Christian Wellisch.
• John Madsen (3-0): The 6-foot, 240-pound 29-year-old Madsen grew up in South Dakota, where he earned all-conference and all-state honors in football, wrestling and track. After defeating current UFC champion Brock Lesnar in a high-school wrestling match, Madsen went on to earn a Division II wrestling national championship at South Dakota State University. Madsen currently trains at Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad.
• James McSweeney (12-4): The 6-foot-4, 230-pound 28-year-old Englishman McSweeney started with a striking background, beginning his training in kickboxing at 6 years old before moving to Thailand to train full-time. After amassing a 136-9 combined record in multiple kickboxing organizations, McSweeney moved in with former UFC champion Rashad Evans and now trains full time at Greg Jackson's MMA in New Mexico.
• Matt Mitrione (0-0): The 6-foot-3, 275-pound 30-year-old was a two-position football All-American while in high school. After attending Purdue University and earning All-Big Ten honors, Mitrione played six seasons in the NFL as a member of the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. Following a devastating injury, Mitrione returned to his childhood passion of combat sports and began training with UFC veterans Chris Lytle and Jake O'Brien.
• Roy Nelson (14-4): The 6-foot-1, 265-pound 33-year-old was born and raised in Las Vegas, training in martial arts from an early age while playing football, baseball and wrestling. After turning pro, Nelson surprised many opponents with his less-than-impressive physique. "Big Country" earned the now-defunct IFL's heavyweight crown, before suffering recent losses to notables Jeff Monson and Andrei Arlovski.
• Demico Rogers (4-0): The 6-foot-4, 235-pound 27-year-old was a stand-out wrestler and football player while attending high school in his native Washington. Rogers began training jiu-jitsu as a means of staying in shape, and after winning a local mixed martial arts tournament, he began to focus on the sport as a potential career.
• Brendan Schaub (4-0): The 6-foot-4, 240-pound 26-year-old credits the Jean Claude Van Damme movie "Bloodsport" as his inspiration to pursue martial arts. Growing up in Colorado, Schaub was an all-state athlete in both football and lacrosse. Schaub went on to play fullback at the University of Colorado before later playing in the Arena Football League and earning a spot on the Buffalo Bills' practice squad in the NFL. Schaub remained active in tae kwon do and jiu-jitsu, and he currently trains at T's KO Fight Club and Jackson's MMA.
• Darill Schoonover (10-0): The 6-foot-2, 250-pound 24-year-old Schoonover grew up in Texas and began training in jiu-jitsu, judo and submission grappling at 17. After graduating high school, Schoonover entered the Army, serving two years in the armed forces. Schoonover remains on active reserve while pursuing a career in teaching, though with 10-stoppages wins in 10 trips to the cage, mixed martial arts may quickly take precedence.
• Wes Shivers (3-1): The 6-foot-7, 285-pound 32-year-old Shivers grew up in Mississippi, earning a scholarship to play football at Mississippi State University. Shivers earned all-SEC honors before playing in the NFL with both the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons. Shivers followed his football career with a four-year stint in law enforcement. Shivers continues to train in Mississippi, including with UFC veteran Alan Belcher.
• Wes Sims (22-12-1): The 6-foot-10, 260-pound 29-year-old Sims originally planned to pursue a career in professional wrestling before UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman convinced "The Project" to take a shot at mixed martial arts. Sims earned his way into the UFC in 2003, dropping back-to-back outings to current UFC interim champion Frank Mir. Sims currently runs a gym in his native Ohio.
• Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (3-1): The 6-foot-1, 235-pound 35-year-old Ferguson needs little introduction to hardcore or casual MMA fans. The streetfighting YouTube sensation played football at the University of Miami before working as a bodyguard, earning extra money with his bareknuckle brawling exploits. A four-time veteran of the now-defunct EliteXC, Fergsuon last fought in a now-infamous loss to Seth Petruzelli.
• Abe Wagner (6-2): The 6-foot-4, 265-pound 29-year-old Wagner grew up in Wisconsin, excelling in both football and basketball while in high school. Wagner played linebacker at Michigan Tech University, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. Wagner began training in mixed martial arts in 2005.
• Mike Wessel (6-1): The 6-foot, 255-pound 31-year-old Wessel was raised in Ohio, eventually playing his way onto the University of St. Francis football team. Wessel played briefly in the Arena Football League before accepting a position as the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Arkansas. Wessel suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of Antoni Hardonk in his lone UFC appearance at UFC 92 in December 2008.
• Justin Wren (10-1): The 6-foot-3, 264-pound 22-year-old Wren was a two-time high-school national champion wrestler in his native Texas, earning a spot on the Iowa State University wrestling team before an injury forced him to take a year off and recover. During his time away from wrestling, Wren focused his energy on mixed martial arts training, eventually electing to turn pro. Wren trains in Texas with "The Ultimate Fighter 4" champ Travis Lutter, and he plans on moving to Las Vegas to train full-time with current UFC interim champ Frank Mir.

now i can't remember for the life of me the names of the guys who fought last night, but i'll find out...now i gotta pick my favorite guy to root for...which will be hard since i know NOTHING about any of this stuff. oh but i did learn about the term for when you switch your stance from the natural left foot forward to the right foot forward...but damn, i forgot what it was. worthless i tell you. worthless.

;)

Muay Thai Hurts the Weak

well i am worn the eff out from last night. Jhanex tried to kill me - literally. we did 80 squat jumps, 80 bear crawls, 80 squat jumps, 80 bear crawls to start the class AFTER our running warm up, shadow boxing and jump rope...the middle sets included 1) jab/straight/jab, two right, two left 2) 10 right, 10 left 3) jab/straight/hook/straight, 5 right, 5 left 4) 15 right, 15 left...we ended with 50 sit ups, 30 sit ups, 50 sit ups, 30 sit ups......BRUTAL! esp for being out for two straight weeks with a shoulder injury AND going low carb trying to find my sweet spot, ugh!!!! he just smiled the whole time - he was having a blast making us all hurt.

it felt great to be back, even though i was sucking it up! i had planned on going this AM too, but my shoulder just felt really tired this AM and kinda throbby (but not hurty like it has been), along with my body feeling like it had been thrown into a moving MAC truck so i opted to sleep a little bit longer. the doc said to get back in it easy so i decided that getting in tues/thurs nights this week will be good and then i can start doing Tony's classes on mon/wed/fri next week too. so muay thai 5 days a week until the shoulder is back to 100%, YAY :)

i do have to say that the rehab exercises are really helping. i can feel a pretty noticeable decrease in my shoulder pain and i've only been doing them consistently for a couple of days so that is fantastic news! now to just get my cardio level back up to par, oh the fun that will be had ;)

a bit of good news

well, i finally went to see the good doctor and he gave me some good news - my shoulder is not torn (possibly some micro tears, but no major tear) which is great news. he gave me the ok to modify crossfit workouts and go back to muay thai along with rehab exercises to do daily - so that was a huge relief. he said to get back into it VERY slowly and that i am not allowed to go heavy under any circumstance. like the 25 lb bar at the most IF it doesn't hurt it, so we'll see. he says if its not better in two weeks, we'll give it a steroid shot to see if that helps. he believes its a case of going too heavy without proper form and not having the strength needed in my scapulae to stabilize the movement which in turn has irritated my rotator cuff quite a bit and is probably causing some tendinitis. obviously don't do anything that hurts it, but to try to modify movements to get it moving and strengthen it. he was impressed with how much stronger i was overall so that is good. he says probably 4 more weeks of recovery which means not going 100% which is damn near impossible for me. i hope i can pull this off with out losing my sanity! i guess my week is going to look like this (with the unsaid "taking it easy on the shoulder" clause in full effect):

mon - PM warm up with 4 X 400's, 4 sets of 25box jumps, 25squats, 25back extensions and 25sit ups then my rehab exercises. maybe the elliptical after that for a bit.
tues - PM muay thai
wed - AM cross fit (YAY!)
thurs - PM muay thai
fri - cross fit (YAY!)

i doubt i'll get much of anything in this weekend, but i'm shooting to at least squeeze in a run - we'll just have to see how the weekend goes.

a moment's pause

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" —Mary Anne Radmacher