Physical Therapy Appt #4

So today was a little different, My therapist saw me and asked me, How long has it been since you had you surgery , I told him it was Jan 4, 2010 and he said, "get rid of those crutches" he had me walk about 20 feet without them and said I dont really need them. Now, I have been walking a little without them around the house but I didnt want to do too much walking without them out of fear that I may damage my knee more. So I guess I will be trying to get around without them now. So my Therapy started out like normal, I did the heatpack on knee for 20 minutes and then went to the step up machine for 12 minutes where I did 678 steps at 6 resistance; then I moved to the bicycle where I rode for 15 minutes and that went well, The next machine was the leg press while squeezing the ball and pulling knees apart for 3 sets of 10 and that went great. This therapy session is really boosting my confidence in my knee. I then moved to the bed where the therapist checked my knee bend and I hit 130 degrees which is good. I read online that 135 is normal even though I can probably get 170 degrees with my right leg, but it will come, I'm sure. So I then jumped on the Treadmill and walked backwards with a 15 percent incline for 8 minutes and this really made me feel good. i almost felt invincible again!! I finished that up and iced it for 15 minutes and went home.

Physical Therapy Appt #3 Retro dated

Today was a pretty good day, was kind of tired from class but today I have 125 degrees of flexion in my knees which is a big gain from my last appt where I had 115 degrees. I did the same of PT stuff so nothing new.

Physical Therapy Appt #2 Retro Dated

Well I have been is soo much pain I have been practically eating pain meds(hydromorphone and oxycodone) So I did my normal Physical Therapy stuff and I have 115 degrees of Flexion in my knee.

Parkerization Process

Equipment:
-3 Pots (water, degreaser, parkerize solution)
-1 Can of Carb or Brake Cleaner
-1 Gallon of Degreaser (409 degreaser from Lowes $8)
-Manganese Solution & dewater Solution (Bookmarks: Guns: Parkerization Process: 8 oz….)
-1 toothbrush


1.Dissaemble Weapon
2.Soak parts in carb Cleaner or Brake cleaner
3.Scrub parts with toothbrush
4.Boil parts in Degreaser
5.Place parts in dewater Solution
6.Bring Maganese Solution to temperature
7.Shake dewater solution off and dry off
8.Immediately place parts in Manganese Solution for required time
9.Place in hot water and rinse
10.Place parts in Dewater Solution

Making it happen!

Well there are a few things I want to make happen, 1) I want to be successful in business, 2) I want to start running again, 3) I want to start bicycling.  For the first one I am working on and I know I need to work harder, so I'll leave it at that, I just got to get busy.  The second one I used to do religiously but after I left fort benning 2 months ago I haven't done any, I have been super lazy.  For the third one, I think I may have found another Hobby that I may learn to love.  I just bought a bike 2 weeks ago and I have been on 2 rides so far and it was awesome.  I know what I need to do and How to do it, Bottom line I need to get off my butt and make this stuff happen

Get Back to business guy!!!

Well, It has been a while since the last time I have blogged, my last blogg was the "Jump 1 and 2 tomorrow" Blog. Well If anyone was reading that one they probably thought I died cause I posted that one and said I would blog back soon and it has been over a month since, haha. Well Since then I have done alot of stuff, I graduated Airborne School, went to Arizona for a Nouveau Riche College and learned alot, started doing Primerica and I think this is a Solid Company, They /We help out people with Life insurance, Debt management, Loans and more, it's awesome. I will blog about that later, right the message is Crossfit, running and mountain biking. Me and Amy started doing Crossfit this morning in nthe Garage and it was good, we plan on doing it everymorning or if it's a rest day we might just substitute something in on that day, but I'm excited to be doing it. I also bought a mountain bike to get my exercise in on non-run days. Speaking of running, I have the Sapper Joe 30K and guess what I havent done much training for it, Shame on me, and I am also running the Wasatch back Relay, which is a 12 man 182 mile race, in which each man will run 3 legs. So each man will run between 12-18 miles. So I gotta start running before it's really too late. So it's almost summer and time to get back outdoors. Peace.

Jump number 1 and 2 tomorrow

So tomorrow I am scheduled to conduct my first 2 parachute jumps from c-130 high performance aircraft with a -10 non-steerable parachute.  I have been waiting for years to attend this course and get my first jumps.  Well now it's finally here.  To a point I am wondering if I am sufficiently trained to conduct these jumps.  I know we have been trained on all the things we should know but if that training was reinforced enough is a different story.  Well we will find out tomorrow.  Until then, see ya.

Basic Airborne Course

Well I have been waiting for a few years to go this course and I'm finally here; here's the daily schedule:

Day 0, Friday, 13 March 2009:  I arrived at the patches building to start my inprocessing into Airborne School, that part went good.  After I completed that portion of inprocessing I walk over to the company Area to complete my inprocessing.  Here's the good part, from 820AM to 1200 noon, I filled out 2 yellow half cards, 2 full documents, received my roster number and kcked about a thousand rocks around while waiting in my Platoon Area.  Honestly all this could have taken about 20 minutes but no it took us 4 hours to do this, it was awesome.  

After lunch we got briefings from the BN Commander, Company Commander and the 1SG, the Battalion CSM was TDY or something, then we made our roster number tapes for our Kevlar, canteens and rooms.  Took a whole hour to complete that then the real waiting game began, we waited around until about 530 PM and at our last formation I got the privelage to to be appointed as the Platoon Sergeant. Yayyyyyy, NOT!!!!  So that was day 0, took all day to do do about an hours worth of work.

Day 1, Monday, 16 March 2009:Today was a very crazy day.  It started with wakeup and here it me and the rest of the NCO’s are walking up and down the hallway screaming and yelling at all the Soldiers, telling them to get there head out of there 4^th Point of Contact (haha, I’ll explain it to you after we officially get the Class.  If you are in the Army, you know what it is), wake up, get dressed, clean up and get to formation   After we get everyone to formation, I’m getting the feeling that some people don’t want to be here, and its really pissing me off.  And since we can’t smoke these guys.  I have a few stern words with the Soldiers and honestly, going through the day that didn’t seem like it had a big effect on them. 

Our first event of the day was an Army Physical Fitness Test.  For this course we only have to do 42 pushups, 53 situps and 2 mile run in 15 minutes and 54 seconds, too easy.  I knock out my pushups and sit-ups in less than a minute and wait to start my run, by this time it is pouring down, it is crazy how hard it was raining.  I would venture to say it rained more in that hour than it rains all year in Orem, utah.  So we start the run, all 200 of us, the other 200 were on the exact opposite side of this 1 mile loop track and I come in at around 14 minutes and 6 seconds.  I pass and we lose a few others in my platoon. 

So today’s training is Don and Doff (put on and take off) a Parachute harness w/ parachutes and reserve, how to properly move through a aircraft while hooked up, and  proper techniques to exit a c-130 and c-17 aircraft.  This train I thought was very good.  We did this all day all the while people are still doing stupid stuff and getting counseled for it, I am on the verge of killing someone.  By this time I am pretty pissed from Soldiers not doing what they are supposed to be doing.  I had a brief conversation with SGT Airborne and he suggested I hold another formation after dinner chow( during the Soldiers Off time) and have a barracks inspection.  I have this formation during the time the Soldiers were suppose to be off and have all the Soldiers do a room inspection with all the NCO’s doing the NCO thing. And by then I can tell the Soldiers are furious, and you know what, It doesn’t bother me a bit, cause I know the only thing more important to a Soldier than his money  is his time, and since I cant take their money (UCMJ) I can take their time. 

Day 2, Tuesday, 17 March 2009:  This morning we go through the same deal as far as wake up stuff goes, and its still not the way it should but it’s a lot better.   

Next up, PT we do a 4 mile run at a really good pace, I don’t think anyone fell out but a female.

Todays training event was the 34 foot tower, basically we practices proper aircraft exiting techniques, i was a very painful day, we had the parachute harnesses on all day and for guys if its too loose you WILL smash you friends between your legs, trust me it's painful.  And no matter if you wear it loose, tight or just right it rubs the inside of your legs raw, it's terrible, in a good way.  After I got my 4 Satisfactory jumps from the 34 foot tower I took control of assigning Soldiers to the duties of the towers.  That part was fine, haha.  After a long day at the towers, we ran back to the barracks, yayy running in boots is great for your knees, and got chow and was released for the day.  Overall it wasn't a really bad day.  

Day 3, Wednesday, 18 March 2009:  Today started off awesome, I woke up with a hurt knee, great.  For PT we had grass drills, now I know for a fact I am not in shape anymore, we didi grass drills for a bout an hour and it huuuuurrrrrrtttttt.  If I was still on AD it wouldn't have been problem, but it did.  

Todays training was PLF's.  We learned how to do rightside, left side, front right and front left PLF (parachute Landing Falls).  A PLF is nothing more than the correct way/technique to land on the ground while jumping the round parachutes so that you don't injure yourself or worse.  Essentially its landing on the ground and hitting all your points of contact( balls of feet, calves, thighs, buttocks and pullup muscle) in certain sequence and techniques to absorb the impact on the ground.  If you dont do it right you stand the chance of breaking things or killing yourself.  

We did this all day and let me tell you today was one of the slowest days we have had so far, it felt like we were there for days from constantly hitting the ground.  We had MRE for lunch.  I had Chicken breast and mexican rice.  The chicken was OK, the rice was terrible, but the M&M's were great.

Day 4, Thursday, 19 March 2009:  Todays PT wasn't that bad until they had us do about 300 meters of Iron mike lunges forward and backwards and made us firemans carry someone of our weight range for about 150 meters( I weigh 210 lbs).  That tore my knees up pretty good.  They were feeling better when I woke up this morning but immediately after the carries I felt my knees aching.

For training we did rear PLF's and learned how to release the canopy in case we are being towed/drug across the Drop zone by our parachutes and also how the hollywood and tactical way to stow our chutes after we land.  Other than this training we kind of sat around the last half of the day.  As soon as we got off for the day I went straight to the PX and got some Motrin, I took 4 Motrin (800 MG and 1 tylenol Extra strength).  It's been about 3 hours since I took them and it doesn't feel like they are working yet.

Day 5, Friday, 20 March 2009:   I woke up this morning and my knee was feeling good, We had a 5k run this morning that was a pretty good run, I felt good throughout it but after the run it began to tighten up again.   For training today we did................... nothing, we ate breakfast at 8am then went back to formation and waited there until noon, doing nothing.  At noon we ate lunch then went back to formation and from there they released us.  Next week is Tower week, hopefully that week is fun.

Day 6, Monday, 23 March 2009:  So today we have a 4 mile run this morning and I am dreading it, We start our run and it ends up being a painfully slow 3.2 mile run.  WOW, my knees hurt.  So We finish the run and start training for the day.  Today we did Mass exit techniques, To qualify on the mass exit techniques, we had to do 2 satisfactory hollywood jumps and 2 satisfactory combat load jumps out of the 34 foot tower.  What sucked is that my group was one of the last groups to suit up, we didn't even get to suit up until about 3:45 PM, so I was in charge of the recovery detail with four other junior Soldiers while we waited.  Finally when it was our turn to suit up, our first two hollywood jumps were satisfactory, Our 1st combat load jump had 1 deficiency and our next two jumps were satisfactory.  YES, we are good to go, and we did it fast!!

Day 7, Tuesday, 24 March 2009:  Today on the schedule we have a what???? 4 mile run, This is getting old very quickly, I like to run but I honestly don't like to have someone else tell me to run and have to run a forced pace.  Well turns out it was about 3.5 miles also.  Bottom line is we run everyday, first in shoes then in boot, running in shoes os fine, but the boots suck!

Todays training events were pretty relaxed, we first started with a class photo, then moved to the pit where we had classes on how to rig our combat loads for jumping.  That class was pretty easy for me cause thats what I did all day on day 6.  So I already knew how to do it.  The next thing we did was have the 250 foot tower class, They pretty much instructed us on the procedures for jumping the 250 foot towers.  The demonstrators weren't able to do an actual jump, because the winds were so strong today.  If the had done a jump the wind may have blown them into the power lines by the road.  

The next class was the class on slipping to the left, right, front and rear.  After this class we did a practical exercise for a while then we went back to the company area and sat around for about an hour to eat chow.

Day 8, Wednesday, 25 March 2009:  Today was another beautiful day at Basic Airborne Course in Fort Benning Georgia.  Today for PT we, of course went on a run.  I am sick and tired of doing these runs in boots.  After that was over we ran to eat breakfast.  

Todays training was proper rigging of Combat equipment for Airborne Ops. I already knew how to do it but coached a few Soldiers on how to do it , then the actual instructor took over, from then until lunch I sat around and talked to some folks.  After Lunch we did the swing land trainer and I qualified on that after a few painful PLF's and then sat around until the end of the day waiting for others to finish.  After that we formed up to go eat dinner chow, we actually walked back to the company area.  That was a much needed break and I am so happy they let us walk.  The end.

Day 9, Thursday, 26 March 2009:  Todays PT Session was very rigorous, we ran to the PT pits, about a .25 mile, we did 4 PLF (parachute Landing Falls) and then did 22 pushups, which took about 5 minutes to complete all those tasks, then we ate chow.  After Chow we went to the 250 foot towers to set them up to jump.  The winds were about a consistent 14 knots on the ground, I can only imagine how fast the wind was 250 feet in the air.  After about 45 minutes of standing around waiting for the wind to die down, they cancelled the 250 foot tower jumps.  

Our next raining event of the day was learning all the 1 hand slips and the emergency landing techniques.  That was pretty cool but the wiring landing hurt like I don't know what.  The nexy thing we did was layout all equipment we used for this weeks training and inventoried it and restacked it back in the storage shed.  From that point on we sat around for the rest of the day and got off at 5PM.  Another day down another day wasted.  I swear this course should be about 10 days long.

Day 10, Friday, 27 March 2009:  This morning when I woke up, it looked bad outside, there was a pretty nice breeze but it was pouring down.  So after standing in formation, in the pouring down rain for 20 minutes, we march to the track and proceed with our 5 mile run, after 1 lap around the track (1 mile) we ran back to formation area and then we ate breakfast.  Our next formation was at 7:45am, guess what time we actually did anything..................9AM.  9 freaking AM, What the heck did we need to have formation at 745am it we weren't going to even leave until 9AM.  

So we run to the Air field at 9 AM and rig our combat equipment and receive classes on malfunctions.  After that we ran back to the barracks and sat around for about 30 minutes and ate chow.  Our last formation was at 1:15 PM and we were released for the day.  

Day 11, Monday, 30 March 2009:  Well today was a very weird day it was exciting and scary at different parts of the day.  Today I executed 2 Parachute jumps from a high performance aircraft while in flight.  Heres exactly how the emotions went for me;  we run to the air field and I am totally excited, ready to get my first jumps; we do our JMPI which takes forever because we have 400 guys that have to get inspected by 8 people.  After waiting for what seemed like 2 hours or so, we finally board the bird (C-130); as we load the bird I am as excited as can be, the bird starts to move forward and the excitement turns to a little nervousness, When the plane leaves the ground I was still a tad bit nervous but ready to go, when they open the doors, the fear strikes, I suddenly start asking myself why am I jumping out of this plane that is not crashing, Why did I volunteer for this?  I am the third jumper in the door, there's a female LT who is the number 1 jumper and I am gonna force myself out of this thing one way or another , but I saw the Maam LT looking solid in the door and knew there was no way I am gonna wimp out of this, if she goes, I go.  We got the green light, the Jumpmaster (JM) yell GO!!!, gives her the whack on the butt, she Jumps and The guy in front of me hesitates in the door, the JM pushes him out of the door, things were happening so fast up there, the only thing on my mind was hand off static line to JM and exit aircraft.  Once out of the bird, it was beautiful, perfectly quiet, with the occasional yahoo scream from fellow jumpers, it felt like heaven.  It was awesome, some say even better than sex, I wont go that far but it was pretty close.  Both of my jumps went exactly the same except , the first landing was in 5 inches of water and the second was in ankle deep mud, both soft landings, both awesome.  

Day 12, Tuesday, 31 March 2009:  So today we were suppose to do 2 jumps but only got in 1 due to the thunderstorms and lightning.  The morning went like normal, at 4am had formation, did Pre-jump, ran to air field, ate MRE's, rigged up, JMPI and waited around for what seemed like forever.  We rigged up combat equipment today to jump, and let me tell ya it is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever been in.  All the gear weights about 60 pounds, but its all in aacward locations so it feels like it's actually 120 pounds.  We finally got on the birds around 9am and jumped about 5 minutes later.  Jumping with combat equipment was not that bad, you fall alot quicker but it's not too bad.  About 30 minutes after I landed it started to rain and about 45 minutes after that it started to storm.   From that point on we sat in the Harness shed for about 3 hours and finally called off the next jump and we derigged and made it back to the barracks around 5PM.  I am not too happy the next jump got scrubbed but its ok, we should be able to Jump tomorrow.  Until then....

Day 13, Wednesday, 1 April 2009:  Well today started out to be a pretty good day, we got our last 2 jumps in by 3pm due to the weather turning worse and us being rushed all day, which wasn't really a problem, but what we didn't know  was we were going to be up until 2AM in the morning doing Parachute Shake out and partial rigging.  It was the not fun at all and now i am glad I didn't get the rigger MOS, it is so tedious it is unreal.  I got back to my barracks around 2:20 am on thursday and finally got to bed around 3:30 am due to me having to wash clothes, because they were all filthy.  Oh yeah I forgot to mention formation was at 6:45am, 3 hours later.

Day 14, Thursday, 2 April 2009:  Today we did absolutely nothing, we got a brief that lasted about 3 minutes and then we sat around all day until 2 PM.  What a Great Army Day!!!! (right)

Day 15, Friday, 3 April 2009:  Well today is the big day, I got up at 3am for formation at 5AM and didn't do anything until about 7:45 am, when we ate breakfast.  After that we sat around for a while, formed up and had 1 graduation rehearsal, then sat around again, I took a nap and woke up when evryone started making noise at 11 am.  The Graduation lasted about 45 minutes to an hour and afer it we went back to the company area and waited to get our paperwork and certificates.  

Ragnar Relay 09

Alright, I am unofficially registered to run the 2009 Ragnar Relay (12 Man team, 178 Miles) on June 19th and 20th.  I am pretty excited to tackle this beast but a little hesitant at the same time.  You see for the last three days I have been plagued  with little pains in my foot and it's really bothering me especially since I have Airborne school in a little while. But like always I'll push through the pain.  Here's the link to the race.  http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/index.php

So I'm a fat slug

So it has been 23 days since I have been on a run.  But I was injured right, Yeah.  Was I too injured to play basketball this Sunday, nope.  I think most people have  a laziness gene in them somewhere.  A gene that causes them to not do something that will benefit them, because it feels better, at the time to sit around.  For instance most people know when you gain weight (body fat), it causes the heart to work harder and increases your risk of illnesses tremendously, but its more convenient to not do anything about it or to say you are too busy to fix your problem.  There are 168 hours in a week and at the minimum there are 672 hours in a month, you'd think we could get off our lazy tails to do something to progress a little.  

Well on another note, I'm going to my MOS School in a few weeks then I will be off to Airborne School.  I have been waiting to go to Airborne School for almost 8 years and it's finally almost here.  I also have to get ready for Pathfinder School, which I was begging to got to also a few years ago.  The End.

LAZY!!!!

Lately I have been super lazy.  I hurt a my leg on a run the other day and since then I haven't done anything physical.  Well I did about 60 pushups but that's about it.  But this is gonna change, after I finish this post I gonna knock out some pushups and tomorrow I'm going to put some running miles in and start hitting the weights again.  

Some People!!!

Well some think they are the only ones who have ever contributed or sacrificed.  I am not gonna get to much into it but, I think the guy who during the last 7 years of his life, working his butt off, worked no less than 13 hours a day, for 5 to 7 days a week, has been deployed two times has contributed a little bit of something.  

And the funny thing is when we first started our business, I was the ONLY one working the business, with no complaints from me or anyone else.  But now I never contribute anything.  

Well this is me venting, so I'll stop now before I go off and really hurt some feelings.  I need to go run.

Injured

Well I havent been running for the last 3 days because I injured myself during my 11 mile run on Tuesday. Not sure what happened, I was running pain free until about mile 9 or so and then my knee and ankle in opposite legs started hurting at the same time. I iced my knee and ankle on wednesday, I should have done it again a few times today but I didnt even think about it. I am not gonna run again until Saturday, and then I'm not gonna run hard maybe 2 or 3 miles or go on a walk. But I hope this injury goes away soon. Peace

We Have Overcome!!!

Today is a day that will live on for generations to come. Today is one of those days that makes me even prouder to be an American. Today's activities is proof that one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dreams has come true. Today is proof that most of America, no longer judge by the color of anyone's skin, but by the content of their Character. Today has been a bad day, other than my run this morning I have really been in a bad mood, for personal reasons, but as I think about the events of today, I can't help but smile. Mr. President you are in my prayers. America has truly included us in the Dream. Yes we CAN!!!

Todays Provo River Run

Well, lately I have been running the paved trails because there is soo much snow on the real trails and I dont have snow shoes, but todays run was pretty cool, I started at the Shop Ko in Provo on University and ran the Provo river trail (paved) to Utah Lake and back for a total of exactly 11 miles in 1hr 49 minutes. I was only scheduled to go 9 miles today but felt pretty good and decided to go a little further. The run was good till about mile 7.5 when I had the sudden urge to go to the bathroom, then a mile later I had a small ache in my hip and ankle. It eventually went away but I was still faced with the bathroom problem. But I maintained my 10 minute mile pace and finished strong. Tomorrow I have a 5 mile hill repeat and tempo run scheduled, but I might cut it a little short due to me going over today.

1/12 - 1/18 Training Summary

Mon 1/12- Rest Day
Tues 1/13- 9 miles ran on Provo Canyon easy, 1:23:00
Wed 1/14 - 5.32 miles at Provo Canyon easy, 50:16
Thurs 1/15 - 2 miles at gym
Friday 1/16 - Rest
Sat 1/17 - Suppose to be a 12 mile run but took kids sledding instead.
Sun 1/18 - Day of Rest

Guess who said this????

A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.



I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

The First Sledding Adventure

Well we took the kids on there first sledding adventure, and we had a blast. It was me and Lillie's first time sledding. I grew up in South Texas, so you can see why this is my first time. The first vid is of Lillie's first time and the second vid is of me and Lillie going at it. Amy and Brandon didn't get to go because Brandon cried like crazy because he was so cold. So instead of sledding, they stayed in our Super Van and watched Toy Story. Lillie had the time of her life, it was so fun. after our adventure we ate and the kids fell asleep in about 2 minutes.

Sapper Joe 50K

Yahoo!!! I just submitted my application for my first Ultra-marathon, the Sapper Joe 50K Trail Race. The race will be held at Camp Williams Military Reservation on May 23, 2009. The course will be a loop course and will have a altitude gain of 5500 feet. So it should be a pretty good run. I am really looking forward to this new challenge, but I need to find a marathon to enter so Ican use it as a training run. This is Awesome. I know I need to add more hills in my training because the first half of the race is uphill and this will really break a person down if they are not trained. So I am going to revise my training schedule tonight to add more hill training. Wish me luck

My Canyon

The 5 mile run today went great, but for some reason I am getting really sore in my right ankle and calf area.  Tonight I grabbed a galln size ziplock bag and filled it up with snow to ice it down an that seemed to help, but i think I am gonna have to start doing regular physical therapy and taking better care of my legs.  But other than that it was good, I saw tons of deer and ducks.  The scenery at Provo Canyon is awesome.  The canyon is so beautiful, I could run there all winter.  I just wish I had snow runnning shoes, I could actually run the whole canyon.  But in the mean time I cave to stay on the plowed stuff.  Tomorrow I have a 9 mile run scheduled, but my right leg is so tight, we'll see it that happens.  Until then See ya.