Working Out Again!

Working Out Is Working!!!

I had gotten out of shape badly the last year.  Sure I ran a couple Half's and did the Salty Dog Triathlon in Hutch in August, but I was not where I wanted to be.  I did not have the motivation to train and I was putting on weight like crazy.  I was up to 228 pounds last March!!!  I was not sure what to do.  Then I saw an add for a deal at a local gym in Salina.  It sounded good so I gave them a call and went in to take a look.  The gym was Genesis Health Club, a chain in Kansas and now a couple in Missouri. I decided to sign up in the hope that if I paid money it would guilt me into working out.  Well so far so good.  I started going in as soon as cross country was over.  I pack my gym bag the night before and put it in my car.  Then as soon as school is out I hop into the Mustang and drive the 15 miles to town.  I am working with one of their trainers to do some weight lifting twice a week, which is going well.  I am getting in biking and running the other five days a week.   My wish is that I keep this up for quite a while.  The test will come when school gets out in May and my schedule changes.  Wish Me luck. 

 Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

State Champions!!!

Last Friday, October 31 was a very cool day.  I was up early and took a little trip to RimRock Farm just north of Lawrence.  For the last couple years I have made this trip every fall for the Kansas State High School Cross Country Championships.  My team would be represented by one Senior boy and the whole girls team.  It started off well with Ryan in the guys race.  He ran well and PRed.  He was 16th and was named All State.  He worked very hard this year and it showed near the end of the season.  The next race I was worried about was the girls race.  We have been the #1 team in all the polls, all year, but we needed to prove it today.  The gun went off and the girls started out great  with the top four packing together  I ran from spot to spot to cheer them on.  The race went by very fast and before you knew it it was over.  I knew we had run well but did not know the results.  It was a long 15 minute wait for results.  When they came out we had won by 15 points over the #2 team in the state Hiawatha. Our top four girls were all in top 25 in the race.   Lots of yelling, tears and hugs followed.   It was such a cool moment and one I will always treasure. 

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

October 2014 Reading List

I read an amazing book this month.  The title was The Road Back :  Journey Of Grace And Grit.  It was written by Michael Vitez.

 

  I first heard of this story on a daytime talk show this summer.  I was inspired to give the book a chance and I was not disappointed.  I read through the story and it made me want to do more with my life and be grateful for my many blessings  Here is a snap shot of the book from the authors website.



Matthew Miller had just pedaled up a mountain pass. He was 20, a member of the University of Virginia triathlon club, so fit his resting pulse was 42! He was on top of the world in so many ways, in love, with dreams of attending medical school. And then, cycling along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, tragedy struck. The real story is not what happened, but what happened after. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Michael Vitez shares with you the incredible, humbling, miraculous story of Matt’s survival and recovery. It is a story, truly, of grace and grit, of an America that shines – families, community, individuals and institutions. The story is as gripping as it is inspiring. Ride along!

 

 

If you want a good inspiring non-fiction book to read here is a good candidate

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

 



April 2014 Reading List

This month was very easy getting my three books read, in fact I got all carried away and read four.  The first three were part of a series that I started reading several years ago and am now finishing it up.  Book one this month was titled The Last Apprentice: Slither.  It was a huge departure from the other books in the series.  The only character that was familiar to me was the witch Grimallkin.  The story deals with a new evil society in the far north that thrives on blood and human slaves.  I did not like this story near as well as the other in the series.

 

 

The next book I read this month was also by Joseph Delaney and part of The Last Apprentice series.  It was titled I am Alice and it got back to the main part of the story.  Alice the young witch has to go to the Dark or Hell as we know it to steal a blade from the Fiend.  It was not a book that was as good as the rest.  I think Delaney was running out of ideas for the story at this point.

 

 

 

 

The next book that I read this month was the last in The Last Apprentice series.  It just came out and I purchased it on Ibooks.  Its title was The Last Apprentice: Fury Of The Seventh Son.  This book got back to a story line that was more acceptable to me, even though it had some elements in it that I did not see happening and I did not like. This series will be made into a movie coming out in the near future and I would like to see it. I doubt if I would go to the theatre to see it, but a Netflix viewing would work out just tight.

 

 

 

 

The last book that I read was a book that I purchased for the SES Elementary Library.  It was called Jungle Of Bones and was by Ben Mikaelsen.  I had read a Mikaelsen book years ago and this one was better.  I had one of my Fifth Graders read it and he and his Dad loved it, so I tried it after they brought it back.  It was a quick read and enjoyable.  It is about a troubled boy who is dealing with the death of his father.  He is sent off to live with an Uncle and they go on an expedition to find a WWII plane in the jungle Lots of action and adventure. 

 

 

 

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall



 





March 2014 Reading List

I was able to get four books read in March.  At the midpoint of the month I was not sure I would get two finished, but I kept at it.  My saving grace was a set of books that finished a series I had started years ago.  I ordered the last four book for my Secondary Library and they really sucked me in and kept me reading.  The first book of the month was The Thieves of Faith by Richard Doetsch.

 

 

This is a action adventure book that has retired master thief Michael St. Pierre breaking into one of the most highly guarded places in the world, the Kremlin.  He has to steal an item to save his birth father who has been kidnapped.  It has mile a minute action and was well worth the time to read it.  I read it on my phone after I bought it from Amazon.com.  The next book was a very fast read titled: The Flu pandemic of 1918.  It is a kids book that I bought that talks about the flu that killed millions around the time of World War 1.  I found it very interesting that it started in western Kansas in Haskell County.  It spread to Fort Riley and then the dough boys took it worldwide.The book was only 48 pages but was full of information.  It was written by Kristin Marciniak.

 

 

The last two books that I picked and couldn't but down were part of the series I mentioned earlier.  They were part of the last Apprentice series written by Joseph Delaney.  They are part of an ongoing story that has Tom Ward the seventh son of a seventh son learning to be a Spook.  A spook is a person that is charged with protecting their area from the Dark..  That includes witches, boggarts and demons.  Tom run into problems because he befriends Alice and eventually falls in love with her.  It is a problem because Alice is a witch. This is written for middle school and High school age group but I thought they were great..  The titles were Grimalkin The Witch Assassin and Lure Of The Dead.  These were the ninth and tenth books in this series.  I am reading the last two books in the series this month and I have heard the story is being made into a movie.

 

 

 

One more month I have met my goal of three books and I think I will have an easy time in April getting it accomplished as well.  The thing I have not accomplished is putting some of my other adventures and trips here on my blog.  I have been doing quite a lot, like shooting and skiing and golfing but just have not forced my self to write about it.. Hopefully I can change that.

 



 Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

 

Kendall

 





Feburary 2014 Reading List

I made it through my goal of reading three books a month in February, but just barely.  I had to cram at the last minute to finish a short book on the New Deal.  The first book that I read this month was a cool story about dogs that are being trained to work with our Navy Seal teams.  The book was one that I picked up from the Scholastic Book Fair.  It was very interesting.  As I read the book my mind would drift off occasionally and I would find myself thinking of our family dog Ty that died last Summer.  She was a Beagle and by no means an army dog, but I bet she could have sniffed out a candy bar as fast as one of the Seal dogs.  The book was written by a former Navy Seal and he now owns a company that trains the dogs for the teams.  His name is Mike Ritland.  I would recommend this book to anyone. 

The next book that I read this month was one that has been around a while but is in the public consciousness much more because it was made into a movie with Harrison Ford.  The book is Enders's Game by Orson Scott Card.  It came out in 1977.  It is a science fiction story about how a young boy is raised to be a military tactician and he has to save the Earth from an alien race that have attacked the Human race twice before.  It was a nice story and it has a sequel, but I think I will skip the sequel.  I also got this book from Scholastic and it will be going on the shelf in my High School library.

 

 

 

The final book for the month was a short but very informative nonfiction book on the New deal.  I have been teaching about this time period for a few weeks now in my American History classes.  A lot of the info I knew, but it did not hurt to take a new look at it from another source.  It is a book that I bought a few years ago and just had not had time to read it yet.  It was written by Susan Hamen.  I do not remember how much I paid for it but it is going for around $30 on Amazon now. 

 

 

 

 I hope to get a better start to reading in March, but time will tell!!

 

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

 

 

 

 

Bike Across Kansas Entry

The Bike Across Kansas route was announced on January 29 and I signed up again.  I have ridden across the state eight times and seven of them have been with the BAK.  I rode the first time on a forty pound Schwinn Varsity.  I was given that bike as a high school graduation present.  I love that bike and still have it.  The rest of the rides were done on my trusty Specialized Allez.  I went on the BAK last year and had a good enough time to do it again this year.  Last year the BAK filled up in eight days, which was the fastest ever.  The record was broken again this year because it filled up in two and a half days.  I am glad I did not procrastinate and got my entry in in time.  The route this year, which will be  the 40th BAK, will be a diagonal route from Elkart to White Cloud.  It is only the second time they have ridden a diagonal route.

 It is also a jersey year which means they offer a BAK jersey for sale.  That happens every five years.  I have a 30th anniversary one.

The Kodeman rode this BAK with me and one more.  It was a blast to have him along.  I think I enjoyed it much more than he did though.  It would be fun to ride one with him now that he is grown.   I signed up for a tent service today called Padres.  I first tried Padres last year on the BAK and thought it added to the experience.  It did have its drawbacks, such as hot tents in the afternoon and the price was a consideration.  The service is that they carry my luggage, set up and take down a camp, have fresh towls and snacks for me each day.  It becomes a community within a community during the week. I did sign up for a bigger tent this year which gives me the room to stand in.  I think the biggest factor for signing up for Padres is the fact that I do not have to unload the luggage trucks every day.  I have always hated doing that and worry about my gear being tossed out of the truck.

  The ride will be June 6 -14.  Lisa takes me to the border and then she picks me up at the end of the ride.  I have to be ready and get in more riding before this year.  It is a much easier ride if you are in shape and ready for it.  I think it will be a fun trip and this year I think I will try to shoot a lot more pics and see the sights a little more.  In years past I have had a hard time going slow.  I pushed it all the way.  I am not sure I can break that habit, but we will see.

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

January 2014 Reading List

The three books for the month of January are in the books, pun intended.  The first book on the list was by William Forstchen.  I bought this on my iphone for $2.99.  Great buy.  I first saw this title on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  It is the story of how a small Southern town reacts to life after an EMP hits the United States.  It made me want to go buy some supplies to be better prepared for the coming apocalypse. 

The next selection in this months crop of books was by Veronica Roth.  It was titled Insurgent and was the second book in a series.  I read the first last month and loved it.  It is the continuing saga of Tris and Four. They live in a world that has four groups, called Factions and the struggle between those Factions for power.  I bought this on my phone and paid $6.99.

The third book I read in January was the third book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth.  I read it on my iphone and bought it for $6.99.  As I enjoyed the first two books in this series, I did not enjoy this one near as much.  It felt like a completely different world.  The story was written with two main narrators, Tris and Tobias.  It takes them out of Chicago and into the surrounding countryside.  They find that their world is nothing more than an experiment to augment the worlds gene pool.  I found it much less exciting and now I am turned off from reading any of the companion pieces that Roth has put out.  

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

Groundhog Run 2014

I participated in my first run of the year last weekend.  I would normally say I ran a race but this was far from racing. The race was the Groundhog run in Kansas City.  It takes place in the caves at Hunt Midwest Subtropolis.  I have taken part in the 5K they have a couple times before.  The trip started with Lisa and I driving to Garry Gribble's in the Ward Parkway Mall to pick up our packets.  I was surprised when we got our shirts in that they were nicer than the shirts they handed out in the years past.  The comic groundhog was gone.  We then took a tour through Traders Joe's.  We had not been in before and I picked out some cheese and crackers, Laura bars and bananas for the next day.  Then it was off to the Power and Light District for a late lunch/early dinner.  We ate at a restaurant called BRGR.  I had a really good wedge salad and a not so tasty burger.  The burger was called the Juicy Lucy.  The waiter said I should get it medium and I usually get mine cooked well done.  I listened to him where I should have listened to experience.

 The next stop was the Harrah's North Casino and Hotel for the evening. I  have never stayed here and wanted to give it a try since it was close to the race.  It was OK but very expensive for this civil servant.  I do not gamble but we decided to try some video poker.  Twenty minutes later we were twenty dollars poorer.  It was a refresher course why I don't gamble.    The next morning we were off to the race by 7:30.  It was only a four mile drive and we parked and met the in-laws.  Lisa's dad and his wife Shirley came over for support.

 Lisa ran the 5K and did well at 8:00 and then I ran the 10K at 10:00.  I knew I was not ready to run that far but I decided to anyway.  It was a two lap course in the Subtroplis caves.  It makes the course seen longer than a race outside.  I went through the first 5K in 27 minutes, but I slowed down after that.  It was a a very difficult day for me.  I finished in an hour and 11 seconds.  I know now I have to get with the program and put in more miles before I run my half in April.

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

Jelly Beans

  I received an email today and I just have to share the news.  I have been using Jelly Belly, jelly beans for years, as a reward, in some of the classes that I teach.  Kids love to get the sugary treat every so often.  The flavor that is the least picked by the kids is the black licorice ones. They tend to stay in the can the longest.  Well today my iphone buzzed and announced that I had a new e-mail from Jelly Belly.  I took a look and it said they have a new flavor.  I don't think it is one that I will be getting for consumption in my classes though.  Here is is the new flavor!

Draft Beer

I would love to give it a try, but I think my beer of choice will still be one that I drink.

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall



Week In Review: Week #2, 2014

1/6/14 Monday:  I got on the scale today and had a little good news, I dropped four pounds last week.  I need to drop about 30 more, but I understand it did not get there in a day and it will not disappear in a day.  I rode my bike in the basement for an hour in the afternoon.  I went 22.5 miles.  I did not have school today because of the Polar Vortex.  It was just too cold.

1/7/14 Tuesday:  I was back in school today which was good.  I start to get cabin fever when we get too long of a break from school.  I went into GreatLife after work and ran on the treadmill.  I went 3 miles in 26:36.  I came home and worked out again in the evening.  I rode the Schwinn for 30 minutes and logged 10.8 miles.  

1/8/14  Wednesday:  I went to work today and found out I had detention duty.  I had one student in there for two hours.  I get paid a little for the job but at my age I would much rather just have the time off.  I was going to the gym after work, but that plan was scrapped and I just headed home.

1/9/14 Thursday:  I took today off because I had to stay home to get the Internet upgraded.  We have had at&t DSL for years and I felt it was not enough for all the devices we now have in the house, so I opted to change to at&t U-verse.  They give you an eight hour window for installation.  It only took about an hour to put in, but I still had to take the day off.  It is much faster now.  When we had DSL we only had 1.2 mps and with the new system we have 12 mps.  Much better!!  I should have worked out today but my old habits kicked in.

1/10/14 Friday:  Work and no workout!!!

1/11/14 Saturday:  Chris and I worked on the basement again today.  It is coming along nicely.  I am really enjoying the process.  

New workout area

1/12/14 Sunday:  We were back framing again today.  We ran out of lumber, so did not finish like I thought we would.  I will pick some up at Menard's this week and we can finish framing next weekend.

I did go for my first outside run of the year today.  Very slow, but I slogged through 4.1 miles.  I ran through downtown Lindsborg and had to dodge some ice and snow spots, but it was good to be out.

Weekly miles rode:  33.3

Weekly miles ran:  7.11

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall

Week In Review: Week #1, 2014

This week was a short one. I only want to keep track of things in 2014, so this week was only five days instead of a normal seven.  I hope to send out an update every week to chronicle the year.

1/1/14 Wednesday: I start off the year on a sour note.  I got on the scale and it read 222.8.  That is the biggest number I have seen for me in maybe ten years.  Not good!!  I had to work a few hours at school today so I drove in and worked on grades and planned for the new semester.  I then ran for four miles around the indoor track at school.  I did not time it, but it was slow, I guess around ten minutes a mile. I then rode my exercise bike for 30 minutes in the basement.  I went 11.3 miles.

1/2/14 Thursday:  I got up for work this morning and I turned my phone on to find a voice mail that announced that school was called off for the day.  I decided I needed to get out so I drove into Salina and did a treadmill run at the gym.  I went four miles at 9:23 a mile.

1/3/14 Friday: First day of school for the new year.  I decided to keep up the running today so after school I zipped back to the gym for another treadmill run.  Four miles again at 9:23.  I did notice some soreness in the achilles in my right leg. I decided a couple days off running was in order, better to baby it now and try to make up the mileage later.

1/4/14 Saturday:  I got a call from my good friend Chris this morning.  He wanted to know if it was time to start finishing my basement. We had discussed doing this since last Summer.  Last July while Lisa and I were on vacation in Colorado, a flood went through Lindsborg and I was one of the lucky ones that ended up with water in the basement.  It was about nine feet deep in there.  It was quite a deal cleaning and replacing things and it is still not done yet. Chris convinced me I could finish it myself with his help.  We bought lumber at Menard's and started in.  It went pretty well and I actually enjoyed it.  I am not the handyman type!!!!

This is a pic of the cause of all the damage. The Flood of 2013! My neighbors are floating out in a boat through my front yard.

Here is the basement with the weekends worth of work showing.  I did a little workout on Saturday. I rode the exercise bike for 30 minutes again.  I went 10.7 miles.  I do have to say my wife is not helping me on a mission to lose weight this week.  She fixed some really great meals. Her beef stew was amazing.  She also fixed this little number to start off the day.

1/5/14 Sunday: Chris came over again and we worked on the basement for a few more hours.  No workout today! I did sign up for a subscription on Netflix this week and I watched Skyfall and The Hunger Games.  It was an up and down week, but overall a good one.

Weekly miles rode: 22

Weekly miles ran: 12

Till next time, Remember, Live Life at Full Speed!!

Kendall