I haven't posted anything this week simply because I haven't done any training at all. I had planned on having a deload week since thanksgiving was coming up and because my strength in the gym was tanking badly. Instead of the deload I decided to avoid the gym all together and spend time with my kids since they were all out of school and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Since I didn't train I figured I'd post some things that I've been up to.

  • On November 17th I made a trip over to the Tampa area to take part in a Teach-in at Ruskin Elementary. My buddy Greg Alvarado, who's been an educator for 17 years and a friend of mine for around 10 years, asked me to speak to the kids, that ranged from 2nd to 5th grade, about powerlifting. Greg even put together a video of my training and a meet video for the kids to watch. I explained to them what powerlifting was, how long I'd been doing it, the types of injuries I've had and that I wasn't Santa. I got a lot of questions ranging from "Can you pick up a pig?" to "Can you pick up a house?". I tried to end each talk by explaining to them how powerlifitng is similar to life...It takes a lot of effort and dedication so you only get out of it what you put into it, nothing comes easy, no one's going to do the work for you and just because it's hard doesn't mean you quit, it means you double your effort and keep pressing on. At least that's how I see it.
  • Some of you know I've been taking part in USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) matches where you get to shoot paper targets that are set up on the range to engage as you move through the course. I'm not great at it right now, but I'm having a great time with it and getting better. I did get DQ'd from my last match for not following safety procedures, but that was my fault and it won't happen again. It's a learning process like anything else. All the other shooters have been great and offer up a lot of info on which targets to engage first and how to move through the courses.
  • Movies,,,,I love movies. I've gone to see Jack Reacher and Fantastic Beasts with my wife and saw Trolls with Norah the other day and then watched Gods of Egypt at home. They were all pretty good movies except Gods of Egypt, but I think I liked Trolls the most. I haven't seen Dr. Strange yet because I never was a fan of that comic and I've heard mixed reviews about it. I may go see it on Wednesday on date night.