Hell or High Water

I'm soaked.
I'm training for the Ozark Trail 100 in Steeleville, Missouri, which will take place on November 7th. I'm on the regimen: MRest T6 W8 R6 FRest Sa8 Su12, and my goal is to finish 1 marathon-length training run, 1 50k, and 1 50mile, before the end of October. Thus I plan to run my 26 miles this coming Sunday, 31 the next Sunday, and 50 the Sunday after that. Then, from that point on, I will taper off. Now,

I'm soaked, but I'm happy. And exhilerated. I have just finished the capstone of this week, 12 miles. I'm not surprised about being soaked, either. Rain has been bombarding Arkansas recently, so I have been getting drenched from time to time. I finished the training run in 2 and 1/2 hours, averaging 5 mph. I've figured that in order to finish the ultramarathon in November, I must complete the first 1/4 with an average of at least 3.6 mph, then the next 3/4 in at least 3.2 mph. I suppose there's an algorythmic way to estimate how I would do with my current stats, but honestly I am too sleepy right now. I will do it tomorrow. Good night everyone!

Ben

Choir Tour 2009

This year's choir tour had a very small impact radius, but it was great. Last night was a very happy evening for me. First, the Chamber Singers sang a portion of the tour program in Munger Chapel for a large crowd of people. The first song was mine, "Veni Creator Spiritus"--Dr. Lindstrom waited until after it was finished to let people know that a student had composed it, and I felt very loved. The next song was "You are the New Day", made famous by the King's Singers, a beautiful piece about nuclear war. Then we sang a Russian Song, a Swedish Song, "MLK" by U2, in which I was proud to have a solo. Then, we sang "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" a song which Hugo Distler had made his own. We performed Anna Yong (a good friend of mine from Malaysia)'s beautiful arrangement of "Moon River", "In Spring", a hot-off-the-press composition from one of Dr. Lindstrom's friends at UCA, and "Rest" by Ralph von Williams, a real tear-jerker.

INTERMISSION

Then, Chamber Singers join with the Clarksville High School choir to perform Haydn's "Missa Sancti Nicholai", a mass with consisting of 7 Parts and many solos, 3 of which I jumped on (Kyrie, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei). It's always good to sing with Dylan as well as the very nice group of orchestral instrumentalists.

After, the performance, I felt so honored when Mr. Brody and Mrs. Pitts from the CHS music dept. both came up to me and praised my "Veni Creator Spiritus". They didn't expect a student to have written it, and I found myself making connections for my compositions. I was 100% invited to send them my songs to be performed by the bands and the choirs.

TODAY:

"Service Before Self" and $100

--Award's Ceremony for Students: I felt honored again to receive a Music scholarship and the Rotary Student of the Year: 2 certificates, 1 plaque, and $100 dollars (so now I can completely take care of all my fees! :) And Everything is fine.)

So, I've been very happy lately. Coming up next, I get to sing "'O Sole Mio" for Vocal Seminar. Then, Finals. Then, Summer.

Spring Break Day 3 Yesterday's Gone

Nadia got back last night, and she was so excited about all the cool food she was able to purchase at the Asian Market in Oklahoma City. So, we've been having a great time with that. I decided to rest a bit today. My blood sugars have been great. Early this morning, it was 62; at 1 PM, it was 158; and it was 56 at 7 PM. I may do a few exercises today, but not too much. I'll hit it hard tomorrow.

"Dont stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Dont stop, it'll soon be here,
It'll be better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone."

-Fleetwood Mac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8arvEzHsA8

Spring Break Day 2 There is No Spoon

Well rested. Woke up at 11 and checked blood sugar. It's 187, so not ideal (still technically high blood sugar), but an improvement on how it's been lately. I go to see Laurie for a check up on April 20th, and I want my Hemoglobin A1C to be at least below 8. 6 is healthy, but I have to set a realistic goal, because the A1C gathers the blood sugar average for the past 3 months. If I can get below 8, I will consider it a major success. I want to find my MP3 player and go for a nice, long run today.

11 AM

BG: 187 mg/dL
Carb intake: 100 g
Bolus: 12.2 units
Music: Bon Jovi
Movie: Thank you for Smoking
Pushups: 50
Crunches: 200
Jumping Jacks: 100
Bicycle kicks: 200


"She says: We've got to hold on to what we've got'Cause it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.We've got each other and that's a lot for love -We'll give it a shot.
We're half way there - Livin' on a prayer!"
-Bon Jovi

_____________________________

2PM

BG: 84 mg/dL

I'll start my run at 2PM
I don't know where I'll go, but I'll find out soon

_____________________________

5PM

BG: 230 mg/dL
Carb intake: 50 g
Bolus: 5.0 units

"Send a heartbeat to
The void that cries through you
Relive the pictures that have come to pass
For now we stand alone
The world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate
With no more to hate."

-Smashing Pumpkins
_______________________

7:30PM

BG: 59 mg/dL
Carb intake: 116 g
Bolus: 11.4

"Push the fader gifted animator
One for the now and eleven for the later
Never made it up to Minnesota
North Dakota man was a gunnin' for the quota
Down in the badlands she was savin' the best for last
It only hurts when I laugh."

-Red Hot Chili Peppers


My daily fitness tip wants me to hang a diagram of the food pyramid on my wall. Hmm...

Spring Break Day 1

I've decided that I've had enough. 269 Blood Sugar today at 12:50. I am going to get healthy this Spring Break. Step 1: Spend Small Fortune at Wal-mart on "essential supplies":

Yoga Mat
Doors CD
Bon Jovi CD
Select Harvest Light: Vegetable Beef and Barley
18 Eggs
6 Bananas
Inspirational Movies: The Matrix Series

Today is the first day of Spring Break at the U of O. I will take full advantage of this time to:

I) Take complete and utter control of my blood sugar
II) Get into good shape or at least get on the road to good shape
III) Record it on the blog (to help me organize my blood sugar and exercise.

Day 1
1 PM
BG: 269 mg/dL
Carb intake: 150 g
Bolus: 19.9 units
Goal for tomorrow at 1 PM: 100 mg/dL
Protein intake: 58 g
Pushups: 50
Crunches 200
Music: The Doors
Movie: The Matrix
Reading Material: SPORTS AND FITNESS NUTRITION by Robert Wildman and Barry Miller: Ch 1. Nutrition, Exercise, and Health

"I'm gonna love ya til the heavens stop the rain
I'm gonna love ya til the stars fall from the sky
for you and I"
-The Doors

___________________________

Walked/Ran for a good hour and a half
First time I've felt truly motivated since February.

5PM
BG: 95 mg/dL
Carb intake: 0 g
Bolus: 0.0 units

__________________________

6PM
BG: 53 mg/dL
Carb intake: 28 g
Bolus: 1.5 units

_________________________

9PM
BG: 193 mg/dL
Carb intake: 0 g
Bolus: 0.0 units

_________________________

11PM
BG: 82 mg/dL
Carb intake: 80 g
Bolus: 8.2 units

Phishing Attempt

It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd come on and write a little more. Recently, school has been getting busy with the double major in Music and Communications. I'm learning to play the piano, my former room-mate and best friend Brandon Barron is doing incredibly well with Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C# Minor", and it's really reminded me of my Mama Laura; I've been playing around with composing, camera work, helping Nadia understand cross-hatching in her Drawing class, proof-reading tutees' papers for pay, and sleeping very little, but enough.

I've recently formed a band with Brandon, my former room-mate and three other guys named Tony, Carlos, and Patrick. Our band's name is Phishing Attempt. Our first performance was "Freebird" for the Talent Show at the U of O, but we've been playing at the Coffee House and want to pursue further gigs elsewhere. Here is the link to the video on Youtube of us performing in Rowntree. My microphone was too soft in the beginning, but things improved, so the first verse is missing, but the second verse is there as well as the crazy guitar solo by Brandon.

Anyway, enjoy!

"Something's Scratchin' its Way Out"

Found a cute song that I thought I'd post--a little morbid, but a morbid song can still be cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_ZxYdu8p7o

On another note, school has started; everyone seems to be in their place; the Arrowhead starts in less than a week, and I'm looking forward to seeing who will survive! I've been writing, composing, running, studying, all that kind of stuff, so I just thought I'd update the "blog-o-sphere" (par. citation Scott Weber :). I am currently on duty as a writing lab tutor in the library at the U of O, reflecting on how the semester has been going so far. It's been pretty good, if a little different than previous semesters--I've been feeling a lot easier about some of the emotions I've had in the past, and I've learned to be at the center of the wheel (rather than on the outside: having extreme ups and downs). Life is good right now--And I love the cold!




"If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry."
- Dalai Lama

Haw Creek Falls

Nadia and I have been looking into the stretch of Ozarks Highlands Trail that extends from Ozone Campground to Big Piney Creek Campground. It's a wonderful hike and full of potential (I've been having some creative thoughts about it) It's a 20 mile stretch through the Ozarks with steep but beautiful elevation changes, following the Little Piney Creek and then the Big Piney Creek and also going over at least 2 mountains. During this time of year, everything is gorgeous, so I'm betting in the autumn, it's just amazing. Here are some of our photos:

Ozone Campground

Nadia on the trail out of Ozone Campground

Little Piney Creek

Haw Creek Falls

Nadia at the Falls

Me at the Falls

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
-Dalai Lama

Dreaming on Two Feet

Lesson 1: Love endures (lesson learned)
Lesson 2: The Shining is a great warning to those staying on college campuses over the break with the person they care about (lesson learned)
Lesson 3: Arrowhead was a bad idea for now (alright)

It's 2009, and I want to take a realistic approach to everything I do from now on. I have so many ideas buzzing in my brain, but I have to focus on what's right and what's manageable. Right now, my goal is not to do Rocky Raccoon, or any 100 this semester. My target is the Arkansas Traveller 100 in October. I must be able to dream on two feet, but I must also be able to plan on two feet. That means that I must not only set goals (things I want to accomplish), but also targets (things I WILL accomplish). I want to do a lot of things, so I do have many goals, but I must set aside those objectives which I will absolutely do no matter what. One of them is the Traveller, one of them is to finish school, and one of them is to love Nadia and show her that I love her. The other goals can turn into targets, but for now, these are big enough. It's the difference between dreaming and living.

This is REALLY SCARY

I was innocently having fun on the Internet, looking around at Google Maps at the University of the Ozarks, when I saw an icon that you can click on that looks like a little orange man. I clicked on it, and you (anyone) can manuever the streets of Clarksville at your liesure and can rotate and look up and down to take in the sights (and the people walking on the sidewalk and the cars driving on the street.) It turns out, you can even see Nadia's car (a blue Geo Prism) driving by with her hand sticking out. You can even pull up beside the car for a better look. The link is attached to this blog. The cool thing is you can see just about any street in the US in this fashion. You can go anywhere and look around at the surroundings (Even Mount Shasta--I got to revisit Sengthong's this evening from the comfort of my own home--and Badwater--and look up at the Sea Level Mark). It's cool and scary at the same time--it makes me wonder what windows they can look into... Anyway, thought I'd share.

Love Ben

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Clarksville,+AR&sll=48.531384,-93.293495&sspn=0.085939,0.307617&ie=UTF8&ll=35.477228,-93.466248&spn=0,359.997597&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=35.477134,-93.466251&panoid=gkdp5aZ09wT09if-uN5BJA&cbp=12,239.9102408531461,,0,5