Ellie Benelli Ultra Light 20 gauge

This is a photo of Ellie Benelli. She has the cutest smile on her face thanks to her mom making faces at her (and her first shotgun shinning in her hand). We are already ready for bird hunting, but she is just a few years too young... Soon enough we will be out there getting some great father daughter time in. Until then I will keep things nice and clean for her :)

My wife ROCKS!

I have the best wife ever! She knows that I am bad about having wants and dreams. I guess I am just intense about things :) I have wanted a full size truck for quite a while, but I have not had a need for one. I had an awesome Ford Ranger that was all paid off and had low miles. etc But now we have a new member of the family on the way. I started thinking like a mature responsible future father. We need a safe vehicle, something with side airbags and traction control. :) I also thought wow... here is an opportunity to find something that can pull at least 10,500 lbs, have a truck bed for camping, a full size double cab for our current and future babies, and be an extremely solid vehicle that suits us well. I went for the gold! But, I brought home the Silver. Toyota Tundra that is... We actually bought a brand spankin' new Toyota. We did not plan on purchasing new, but when they offered a new one to us with all the great features for a used vehicle price , we both said yeah buddy and jumped on it. Alicia did not initially want the new body style but just to make me happy, she let me get the new one. She is so great. I owe her tons. She listed :

5 Things I would do with a Million Dollars:

*Pay off both houses

*Buy Eric a a Tundra

*Finish landscaping the back yard

*Hike Kilimanjaro and visit the pyramids

*Save for something exciting (if there's anything left . . .)

and she has already accomplished 1 and 1/2 of her goals. Now there is a woman who works hard and achieves her goals :)

Now I am going to work extra hard this Summer to help her accomplish.... Well, I'd say Kilimanjaro hikes, and pyramids. Those seem more doable in a Summer :)

The Wrestling mat.

Well, I finally got a wrestling mat. I have it layed out in my living room. I will most likely keep it in the garage or spare bedroom. I don't wrestle much, but now I can start. I have not been lifting heavy for the last week, because I strained my left trapezius. I did it while doing lock outs with 345 on Bench. I thought I was strengthening my joints, but on top of that It really worked my trapezius over. It hurts right where it ties into the shoulder. I have let it rest somewhat and it is getting better. I feel good and want to jump right back into heavy reps. But I know it will hurt again if I do not let it recover properly. So I do not like to run, and I still like to do my cardio. I will be doing up downs now :)

"Tough Times Don't Last Tough People Do"

Well that is a cool quote I found online. I have no clue who actually said it though. Tonight was a great bench night for me. I was lifting solo in the garage. I had Alicia come out and spot me for my 1 rep max at 315lbs. She gave me a slight lift off and I lowered it to my chest... I was thinking on the way down to my chest that I was really going to have to just bench this because Alicia is 7 months pregnant and physically can not help me whatsoever. So I pressed it up with some yelling and intensity. It felt great. It is the first time I have ever benched 315 raw. Tonight I can go to sleep with a smile on my face. But tomorrow is another day and time for new goals.... This video is my 1 rep at 300 for my last warm up before my 1rm. I was singing along with my IPOD, so disregard the yelling/singing :)

Weightlifters, Runners, and Regular People.

There are many great things to be said about all three of the above. I recently have been running and made some observations. I went from not running in 10 years to being ready to run a half-marathon in 3 weeks. It made my legs thin out some and I lost a few lbs. I ran 9 miles in an 1 and 45 mins a week into my running, and then one week later I shaved 20 minutes off the same run, doing it in one hour and 25 mins. A few miles into my run I noticed that there is pushing yourself speed or taking it at an easy pace speed. Only 2 degrees of running really... I personally do not like the thought of that. Running is respectable in my eyes but definately made for the average Joe (or Jill) athlete. Anyone can do it and get better. It does not take too much time, just minimal dedication.
Weightlifting however does require much more. It has multiple degrees of intensity. People lift at all different "speeds" or intensities. You can lift hard or take it easy just like running, but lifting hard has a huge spectrum. One may never know the intensity that someone puts into it such as Lou Ferrigno or Arnold Schwarzenegger. The pain and consequences of their work done it the weightroom by far outweighs that of any runner in an race. For myself, I feel as though running is an easy thing to excel at, and therefore not my physical apettite.
Regular people may not understand a runner or a lifter. Some people are content with how they feel, look, or at what they accomplish. That is also 100% okay. In the whole biological stand point, these people are not going to survive if it really comes down to survival of the fittest.

Squat 'til you puke.

I did squats a couple nights ago and they were so much harder than normal. The running I have been doing has been thinning out my legs and it showed. I did 10x135 for warm up, 10x225lbs, 6 at 275lbs, then I put 315 on and my belt and the belt came undone on the first rep, so I racked it. I then picked it up again and it felt way heavier than it should have. I did a set of 5x315. I felt every rep...
I am going to be hitting the legs much harder if I plan to keep running. I want to attribute some of the difficulty to squatting in the uneven dirt. I did a couple 3/4 squats with a fourth plate on there. Then I came inside and did 100 body squats to finish off my legs. Then last night I ran 3 to 4 miles. Alicia took a snap shot of me coming in from the garage. It is my cheesy look as always. Ha Ha

Strength is a product of struggle.

This is what 425lbs looks like. It is quite intimidating ( well at least to me), but once you start thinking of those few things or people who agitate the (動) 大便をする out of you, it comes up much easier :)


I have been having some great runs lately and I fear that my body will shrink, so I have been hitting the weights just as often as possible. I did dead lifts last night and they were pretty strong. I did 10x135lbs, 10x245lbs, 6x295lbs, 5x 335lbs, 1x 385lbs. and 1x425lbs. I had to yell and scream to get the last pull but it came up. So I have not lost anything from running, but it has enhanced my cardio greatly. Tonight is squats, so we'll see how they go...

Not Spot the Dog, but the dog as my spotter....

Bella thinks she has complete domain over my weights area. She loves to play around every piece of equipment I am using. I was doing dead lifts a couple weeks ago and I was "psyching up" and I had my eyes closed just before I did the pull, and Bella snuck in front of me and licked my face! I was not happy about it at that time, but it made me mad enough to get my 415 pull. She now stands back though when I do dead lifts.