Pope's Comments on Priestly Formation

In today's general audience at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict spoke of the formation of priests. His comments are inspiring for the faithful. We should all pray for priests in formation, for those who are considering the call, and for those priests who are currently serving the Church in their vocation.

In fide, unitas; in dubiis, libertas; in omnibus, caritas.

Class Schedule

I'm taking 3 classes (for a total of 9 hours) this semester. It will be my first semester in graduate school and I'm pretty pumped up about it.

Econ 720 - Microeconomic Theory
Econ 735 - Mathematical Economics
Stat 706 - Basic Elements of Statistical Theory

It's a pretty healthy load of math. My mentor tells me that I won't be doing a lot of reading and writing, just learning the method. He says the economics classes will be pretty tough compared to what I'm used to, but I really think I'm up to the challenge and I am confident I'll start off graduate school with a bang!

Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.

Looking for Another Meet

It's been quite awhile since my last update, and indeed, my last meet. Lately I have been working out with a friend at the gym, doing mostly maintenance on the strength side and trying to get some cardio built up for general health. Also, I've been trying to drop into the mid-230s, but apparently not hard enough. I expect that when the semester starts next week the regimentation required will help me get a better handle on my diet.

I'm looking around for meets in the Kansas/Nebraska/Missouri area and haven't had much luck. It's tentative right now, but I may be heading to this meet in November in Hoisington. That is, of course, if I can free up my time to train during my first semester of graduate school.

Mens sana in corpore sano.

Back in the Gym

My first several workouts have been good.  I haven't had any major pain in my elbow and I've been using Icy Hot to keep what little pain I have down.  

This is really a good opportunity to correct my bench press form, as it was horribly incorrect and presented a lot of potential for shoulder injury.  I hope to get this corrected and be back to my former strength within a month.

The K-State rec center is having a powerlifting meet on April 10th.  It's about nine weeks before the next USAPL meet on June 6th.  I plan to participate, but I don't think I'll  go 100%.  This is so that I can do well in the USAPL meet.  

Overall, things are going well on the lifting front.  I have a new gym partner, which is a plus.  I think she'll help keep me motivated.

Rehab for the Left Arm

Today, I visited a physical therapist for a second opinion of sorts.  She gave me some good news, as her opinion was that it was nothing serious and I simply needed to ease into my old routine.  She admonished me to take it easy on myself and to organize my traning schedule with breaks to allow for healing.  I plan to start putting strength back into my squat and dead lift and take it slow in the bench press.  Next week, I'll start this routine and my plan is to begin formal training for my June 6 meet sometime in February or March.

I am considering abandoning my effort to drop a weight class, but I'm still on the fence, so to speak.  Any suggestion on this is greatly appreciated.

All that said, I'm just glad to be cleared to start moving weight again!

Injury Update

My arm is still giving me trouble.  I still have my appointment a week from tomorrow to attempt to diagnose it.  I won't be able to afford an MRI or anything, so I'll have to rely on good ol' diagnostics.  I have a good doctor, so I'm hoping for the best.  After that, I'll be consulting a friend who is a physical therapist's assistant.  We'll see what happens.

In the mean time, I'm going to drop a weight class.  My current bodyweight is 109 kg, and I'll need to get down to around 98 or 99 kg to be within the lower weight class limit.  That's going to be about a 25 lb drop.  

More info on the diagnosis and treatment next week.  

Injury

Well, it's happened; I believe I have my first injury. I plan to see a physical therapist in town as soon as I can. The pain is in my elbow. I think there is some tendon swelling because my hand goes numb every once in awhile. Also, whenever my elbow pops from moving my arm, it hurts like the dickens. I looked up "tennis elbow" on a medical website and it seems that's what I have. More on the situation when I have a diagnosis from the good doctor.

Next Meet

My next meet is January 24, 2009 in Lincoln, NE. I'm using a different workout that I found online called week phase sets. It has specific percentages, reps, sets, and rest phases (hence the "phase" portion of the title). So far, it seems to be going well. I nearly passed out last week after my squat workout and I've got a pretty chronic pain in my left elbow, but I think I'll be 100% by the end of the week.

At this point, I'm shooting for 217.5 kg. Squat, 145 kg. Bench Press, 227.5 kg. Deadlift this time around (for a total of 590 kg.).
I'm also hoping to get a new belt before the meet!