Ninja Warrior!!!

After a bit of an absence, I’m finally back to the regular routine. More or less. I just got in from a 2 mile run, the first run in more than 2 weeks. Argh. I admit that I was a little less than diligent during Thanksgiving week. And the week after that, the weather turned nasty, and I didn’t bother to jump rope at my school…yes, I, too, can have my lazy moments. But now I’ve returned to my regular workout schedule, and I’m currently sitting with that slack-jawed look of exhaustion as I type. I sense a nap coming on.

Things are generally good. Our little monkey is recovering from a bug that had him feverish and puking the last few days, but he’s back in school today. Poor kid…he took it well. He just lay there on the couch, covered in blankets, just looking worn out. At one point, he looked sadly at me and then relocated to the floor just in time to throw up on himself. It was mostly water, and he actually did a pretty good job of keeping the worst of it from hitting the floor. So we cleaned him up and gave him some water. Instant repeat of the previous three sentences. But then he started to feel better, and was able to start his recovery from there. OK, so maybe this is more than you want to know on the subject, but this is my blog, so there.

He felt better in the afternoons, and since his gorgeous Momma was at work, I just took him with me to class. He stayed in the back office watching vids most of the time, but when he got tired of that, he’d come out and sit next to me while I ran the workouts. He enjoyed yelling ‘BREAK!’ for me when my timer would beep, signaling the end of a round of pushups or squats or whatever. I really enjoyed the time I spent with him this past few days. He’s grown up a lot, practicing his letters and numbers on his own, singing songs to himself, building things with his Lincoln Logs and such. It’s cool being a Dad…even with the puke.

So while we were home, vegging in front of the TV, I found this awesome new show. It’s called Ninja Warrior! It consists of four absolutely insane obstacle courses, and of course, it’s a Japanese program. WOW! These guys are put to the test, to be sure. The course is timed, and consists of some tremendously challenging obstacles with names like ‘Warped Wall’, ‘Curtain Cling’, ‘Circle Slide’, and so on. You have to jump, run, swing, climb, and some other methods of locomotion that defy description, all the way through the course before time runs out. Most of the course is 10-20 feet above large pools of muddy water (I guess that’s a cheaper way to break a fall than having expensive crash pads). Paul Hamm, gymnast from the 2004 USA Olympic team couldn’t finish the first course…that’s how tough it is. It’s got me to thinking, yes it has. Hmmmmm…..

One thing I love about the Japanese…they are all about the ‘fighting spirit’. I mean, you will see the most unlikely folks trying to make it through this course. Some of them are repeat customers who have never made it more than 3 steps, yes, you read that right, 1-2-3 steps into the course before being eliminated. Some of them are wearing their work clothes (as in the case of the sushi chef, construction workers, and bicycle racers) while competing, but they are dead serious about their effort. Dudes almost in their 60’s are out there giving it all they’ve got, and consequences be damned. So what if their chances are somewhere between slim and none? They’re gonna get out there and give it their best shot. It’s that fighting spirit that counts!!! Man, I love that. I’m gonna start my research and see what it takes to get into one of these things. I’m hoping I can make it more than 3 steps in.

Graduation is Friday night, so I’m looking forward to awarding new ranks to several of our students…they’ve earned it. And many of them are enjoying the new workouts I’ve been running lately. Especially Annie, who sent me a pleasant email that actually included the word @&%$#(*&!@#$%#$%^& in describing how sore her arms were. You go, Annie!!!

OK, that nap is calling me. Time for me to answer.