Scotlands Favorite Son - Rabbie Burns

In the theme of Scottish things here on the blog, This Friday (Jan 25th) is the traditional Burns Night Supper to celebrate the life and work of one of Scotlands most famous poets, Robert Burns.

You might know him best on New Years Eve, as he is the person who penned Auld Lang Syne.

The Husband and I are going to be heading to a local restaurant, FEAST, that is having a Burns Night special. Most cities and places will have something similar, so I highly suggest that if you can, find a Burns Night supper in your area and attend!  Haggis is actually really quite yummy AND you get to wear your kilt! 

The traditional night includes lots of toasts, whiskey and the Piping of the Haggis followed by the slicing of the Haggis while reciting the Burns "Address to a Haggis".

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmaist! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
"Bethankit" hums.
Is there that o're his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect scunner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his wallie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whistle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thristle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinkin ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

Starting Lifting after Surgery

HELLO out there. Friendly Neighborhood Tammy posting after a long break.

Tuesday this week I had my first session back from hernia surgery (October last year). Mine was a hiatal hernia, not a lower abdominal hernia, but recovery from any intestinal surgery was significantly more difficult then I had imagined.  

3 x 5 reps of front squats – bar only (45lbs)

3 x 5 reps of bench press – 65lbs

Mildly pathetic, but you have to start back somewhere.

I’ve also been focusing on weight loss for the last 5 months. Now that I’m 40+lbs down since I last was lifting, my body is moving very differently.  chiefly, I’m weak as a newborn foal, and about as wobbly.  I’m actually a little worried that I’m going to have trouble with my events in the highland games now that everything is so much smaller.   Not a bad problem to have, but, worrisome.

I had talked about goal-setting with Brittney, but since life has seriously been getting in the way of enjoyment for the last 8 months, and currently no break on the horizon (we are selling our house and will have to move this year), I don’t have much energy left for any serious commitments to a training schedule that involves "regular like" practicing of my throwing.

Such is life. 

I have most of the basics down. My technique is often poor, ham-handed, and more BF&I (brute force and ignorance) than finesse, but I manage to get through, and damn it, I have a good time doing it.  So my goals this year are pretty basic:

1. Lift weights twice a week
2. Get on my bike three times a week
3. Walk the dog and enjoy what bright spots I can between working, cleaning, and (fingers crossed) packing and moving. Most of those bright spots will be weekends in the wilds of Texas on a large flat grassy spaces, with the  enjoyable people of the Highland Games, and their spouses, friends, and pets.

With that said, I’m currently printing off my first entry of the year – North Texas Kickoff Games.  Feb 23^rd in Fort Worth, TX at the excellent Zoo fields.  A fantastic day and I can’t wait to go out and give this new/old/repaired body a run around, visit with the great people of the games, and who knows, maybe even get a sheaf PR.

I Tried The Kool-Aid

To say that I am hesitant to write about my latest “gym” experience on this particular site is a wild understatement, but it happened, so here it is. As part of my holiday gifts and festivities I ended up with a short term membership to a local CrossFit. Being an open minded kid, I thought, it can’t be as bad as the press it gets from the strength community, so I will give it a shot.

After a few classes I can say I get the appeal to the masses. The attitude is one of acceptance, and as positive as a muppet covered in rainbows. The class times work with my schedule most days. The format is simple enough to
follow, and instructors/trainers are thick on the ground to help with any questions. This particular location offers oly lifting twice a week, and the instructor has some cred. (Caleb Ward) One of the other trainers has done voice work as both Batman and Superman, lemme say that can be a bit of a laugh during workouts. The folks that attend are friendly, welcoming and helpful, for the majority. We all know every gym has a fair share of jerks, but they are the exception not the rule.

Like all workouts, you get out of it what you put into it. Trust me when I say, I get a sweat going and am fully winded by the end of the sessions. The drawback to that is simply that the sessions are too short for me to feel like I have done a full workout.

With all that in mind, why won’t I be sticking around for all the kipping and WODs I can stand? The limitations of the facility and the workouts. I need more lifting time in a week than they offer to make my goals this season.
Not to mention the cost, 250 a month at this box, and that is without one-on-one training or the oly classes. It is Resolutionist Season, and they place is
packed, so learning names and faces is tough on the staff, I get it. However, after a few weeks I am DONE explaining to these folks that “No, as a matter of fact, that isn’t too heavy for me to start with.” There isn’t a slam ball in the facility that is too heavy for me to get through the whole WOD, so hush darling, mama is working here.

Would I do it again? You bet, it was fun! I always left with a smile on my face.

Would I let it be the only method I used to get to my particular goals? Not a chance.

Will I steal whole-sale some of the WODs and use them as warm-ups or replacement cardio? Regularly.

Would I recommend it to others? Depends on their end goals.