PtReyesGreg's Workout Journal

[RT1957]

Strong work Greg....that's a lot of work in 45 minutes...

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Week 2 Workout A of 531 "Beginner Bastardo 531" (531 Cycle 23 2A) as follows:

Superset:
Squats 5-115, 5-140, 5-175, 5-205, 5-225, 5-255, 5-205, 5-205, 5-205, 5-205, 5-205
Bench Press 5-115, 5-135, 5-137, 5-181, 5-206, 5-206, 5-206, 5-206, 5-206


Assistance Circuit (Repeat 3 times):
KB Swings 10 reps @ 35 Pounds
OHP 5 reps @ 115 Pounds
Chins 10 reps
Decline Situps 12 reps


Bodyweight: 214.2 Pounds (Down 6.4 pounds from 7/9

Workout Duration: 49:00.10 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout and start to week 2 of Bastardo. I got a massage last night and the therapist worked out some scar tissue in my trap/left lat/shoulder blade area and that seemed to alleviate the nerve pain I've had on the left half of my upper body for the past month or so. Because of that my workout today felt great. I've got to get back in the habit of getting regular massages.

I also need to get back in the habit of regular yoga. I've now found my favorite new yoga videos (to watch at least ):





*******************

Great looking bench workout yesterday Greg! Way to hit 220 for 5 reps! Strong work on the decline bench as well. The assistance work looks somewhat similar to what I did yesterday and the weight is pouring off!

Thanks Trent. Yeah I feel that I'm gradually working myself back into a good place strengthwise. The reset I did going into this cycle was a good idea I think.

Nice session Greg, benching and squatting! Assistance work looked good and another solid scale drop!

Thanks Shawn. Yeah the workouts are feeling good so that's definitely a win. It's nice to keep the scale heading in the right direction too.

Great work in here Greg. Incline and decline BP numbers are impressive.

I like the look of these workouts.

Great scale drop over the last 2 days.

Thanks Shane. I had a bit of bump on the scale this morning but for the week I'm still down over 6 pounds so that's good. I'm going to keep on keeping on with that and see where I wind up.

I'm liking these workouts a lot. I like the flexibility on the accessories while still giving primary focus to the core lifts.

Strong work Greg....that's a lot of work in 45 minutes...

Thanks Ron. Yeah, I've been focusing on keeping these workouts under an hour and so far that's been working very well.

[TM79]

Excellent session yesterday Greg! Man, that is some serious volume on squat and bench. Especially at those weights. That never ceases to amaze me about your workouts. Good looking assistance work as well. Thanks for posting the yoga videos. I didn't watch them though as that is probably right when my wife would walk out and I'd get in trouble. Digging the Waylon quotes too.

[raynerd]

Yes! So great yoga vids I um...learned a lot!
Solid squat and bench volume too!

[PtReyesGreg]

Yesterday morning I completed Week 2 Workout B of 531 "Beginner Bastardo 531" (531 Cycle 23 2B) as follows:

Superset:
Hypers 12, 12, 12
Deadlifts 3-140, 3-175, 3-210, 3-245, 3-280, 3-315, 3-280, 3-280, 3-280

Superset:
Incline BP 5-115, 5-115, 5-135, 5-155, 5-175, 5-195, 5-175, 5-175, 5-175
DB Goblet Squats 10-50, 10-50, 10-50

Assistance Circuit/Quad-Set:
Curls 8-60, 8-60, 8-60
French Press 8-60, 8-60, 8-60
DB Rows 10-77, 10-85, 20-70
TBar Rows 6-155, 6-155, 6-155

Bodyweight: 214.2 Pounds (Down 6.4 pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 1:00:25.69 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout. Deads are still feeling pretty light after my reset but it's nice to be able to focus on my form and getting some work in without killing myself.

*******************

Excellent session yesterday Greg! Man, that is some serious volume on squat and bench. Especially at those weights. That never ceases to amaze me about your workouts. Good looking assistance work as well. Thanks for posting the yoga videos. I didn't watch them though as that is probably right when my wife would walk out and I'd get in trouble. Digging the Waylon quotes too.

Thanks Trent. Yeah I'm liking the use of FSL/SSL weights of my work sets to get some extra volume into my workouts. It definitely seems to give me a good workout.

Careful with the yoga vids...

Yes! So great yoga vids I um...learned a lot!
Solid squat and bench volume too!

Thanks Shawn. Yeah I never knew yoga videos could be so riveting...once I started watching I just couldn't seem to look away.

[RT1957]

Couple strong session Greg....Love the Yoga vids....!!...I guess you're suppose to actually follow along ...

[shaneinga]

Good choice on the yoga vids Greg. I approve.

Great to hear you got a massage and they were able to work out some scar tissue. I bet that felt marvelous. I agree with you, I really think that massages need to be part of our regular scheduled programming. Deload week is a great time for them.

Nice squats and benching. Moving some great reps in heavy ranges man. Deads and incline BP today looked really good as well.

I am going to be picking your brain over the next couple weeks to see how you feel about some of the templates I am looking at. I am planning to do a couple anchor templates next.

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Week 2 Workout C of 531 "Beginner Bastardo 531" (531 Cycle 23 2C) as follows:

Superset:
Bench Press 5-115, 5-135, 5-155, 5-185, 5-205, 5-230
Band Facepulls 20, 20, 20, 20

Decline BP (SSL @ 75%) 5-205, 5-205, 5-205

Squats 5-115, 5-140, 5-175, 5-205, 5-225, 5-225, 5-225, 20-205

Assistance Circuit (Repeat 3 times):
Chins 10 reps
Dips 10 reps
Decline Situps 15 Reps

Bodyweight: 213.8 Pounds (Down 6.8 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 43:51.01 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout today. Bench felt very good. The squats also felt good although the 20 repper really left me huffing and puffing. I definitely need to do those more often.

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Couple strong session Greg....Love the Yoga vids....!!...I guess you're suppose to actually follow along ...

Hah Ron! I don't know...the videos work pretty well just exercising the eyes.

Good choice on the yoga vids Greg. I approve.

Great to hear you got a massage and they were able to work out some scar tissue. I bet that felt marvelous. I agree with you, I really think that massages need to be part of our regular scheduled programming. Deload week is a great time for them.

Nice squats and benching. Moving some great reps in heavy ranges man. Deads and incline BP today looked really good as well.

I am going to be picking your brain over the next couple weeks to see how you feel about some of the templates I am looking at. I am planning to do a couple anchor templates next.

Yeah Shane, the massage was great. Everytime I get one I tell myself I need to do that more often. It really helps get rid of nagging pains.

Feel free to pick my brain and share your programming ideas. I've got a lot of ideas from Jim's new book and from his site...I just wish I had more time to try them all out.

[TM79]

Great work the last two days Greg! Solid sets on your heavy stuff and, as usual, the accessory work really appeals to me. Love the body weight circuit you did today. I did mostly BW stuff in mine today too. Way to get it done man. It's great to see all of this great work going on in here!

[shaneinga]

Solid work as usual Greg.

Right now I am trying to decide on an anchor template.

Leaning heavily towards FSL, but also considering SSL. How do you like SSL?

[PtReyesGreg]

Sorry for my lack of activity in the journals lately. Work has been a real bear lately but hopefully I'll have the chance to get caught back up soon. I've got a back log of workouts to enter here but I don't have the time right now. I did want to reply to Trent and Shane though.

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Great work the last two days Greg! Solid sets on your heavy stuff and, as usual, the accessory work really appeals to me. Love the body weight circuit you did today. I did mostly BW stuff in mine today too. Way to get it done man. It's great to see all of this great work going on in here!

Thanks Trent. Yeah I've been trying to hit the core exercises harder lately, and doing the accessory work as BW exercises seems to allow to focus more and do that better. I really like the way they feel and hope to keep on with that for a while.

Solid work as usual Greg.

Right now I am trying to decide on an anchor template.

Leaning heavily towards FSL, but also considering SSL. How do you like SSL?

Thanks Shane. Actually I find that I like SSL more than FSL. The only difference for me is that with SSL I usually limit myself to 3 sets of 5. With the FSL I do the 5 sets of 5 or 3 sets of 8. On deads when I do SSL I do 3 sets of 3. The SSL really leaves me feeling like I got more "good" work in during the workout.

[TM79]

I know how you feel about work being a bear. Glad to know that you are still getting some training sessions in and look forward to reading about them. Keep rocking and rolling brother!

[shaneinga]

Great work Greg. Thanks for the info on the SSL. Something to consider, for sure.

Nice benching, and some good heavy volume with the declines put in there.

20 repper at 205 on squats. Holy!

Hopefully work slows down a little for you. I know them feelz.

[PtReyesGreg]

Time for a little journal catch-up...

Thursday morning I completed Week 2 Workout A of 531 "Beginner Bastardo 531" (531 Cycle 23 3A) as follows:

Superset:
Squats 5-115, 5-140, 5-175, 5-210, 5-240, 5-270, 8-210, 8-210, 8-210
Bench Press 5-115, 5-135, 5-159, 5-195, 5-220, 5-220, 5-220

No Assistance Work

Bodyweight: 213.8 Pounds (Down 6.8 pounds from 7/9

Workout Duration: 29:44.81 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

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Saturday morning I completed Week 2 Workout B of 531 "Beginner Bastardo 531" (531 Cycle 23 3B) as follows:

Superset:
Hypers 15, 15, 15
Block Pull Deadlifts 5-140, 5-175, 5-210, 5-265, 5-300, 5-335, 3-300, 3-300, 3-300

Superset:
Incline BP 5-115, 5-115, 5-135, 5-165, 5-185, 5-205, 5-185, 5-185, 5-185
Chins 10, 10, 10

Superset:
Pushups 10, 10, 10
Decline Situps 15, 15, 15

Bodyweight: 213.8 Pounds (Down 6.8 pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 49:36.25 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

*******************

This morning I completed Week 2 Workout C of 531 "Beginner Bastardo 531" (531 Cycle 23 3C) as follows:

Bench Press 5-115, 5-135, 5-155, 5-195, 5-220, 5-245, 5-220, 5-205

Squats 5-115, 5-140, 5-175, 5-210, 5-240, 5-240, 5-240

Assistance Circuit (Repeat 3 times):
Chins 10 reps
Pushups 10 reps
Decline Situps 10 Reps

Bodyweight: 215.0 Pounds (Down 5.6 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 39:34.28 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

*******************

I know how you feel about work being a bear. Glad to know that you are still getting some training sessions in and look forward to reading about them. Keep rocking and rolling brother!

Thanks Trent. Yeah the work stress comes and goes but the workouts are always there...at least I hope they always are. Seriously though they have become such a key part of my life I hope to always keep lifting in some capacity.

Great work Greg. Thanks for the info on the SSL. Something to consider, for sure.

Nice benching, and some good heavy volume with the declines put in there.

20 repper at 205 on squats. Holy!

Hopefully work slows down a little for you. I know them feelz.

Thanks Shane. Yeah I know you keep plenty busy at work too. It's nice to be able to pay the bills so I guess in that regard busytime at work is a good thing...or at least a necessary evil.

I'm curious to see what you come up with for your anchor. It's nice to test yourself and also get some assistance work in too. I think in that regard the Anchor cycles are very nice.

[TM79]

Great to see that you're still getting some training in even though work is going full speed. Excellent workouts the last few days. Solid sets on everything and the accessory work looked good too. Keep grinding my friend!

[PtReyesGreg]

Great to see that you're still getting some training in even though work is going full speed. Excellent workouts the last few days. Solid sets on everything and the accessory work looked good too. Keep grinding my friend!

Thanks Trent. Yeah the workouts have been going well. I'm about to kick up the intensity a bit and try to get some of my strength numbers back up to where they were 6 months ago. Making sure I get all of my workouts in is the only way I survive when my job gets hectic...pushing the iron definitely helps get rid of the work stress.

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Week 1 Workout A of "Madcows" as follows:

Superset:
Hypers 15, 15
Bench Press 5-115, 5-145, 5-175, 5-205, 5-230

Tri-set:
Squats 5-135, 5-165, 5-195, 5-230, 5-260
Bent Over Rows 5-95, 5-115, 5-145, 5-165, 5-185
Decline Situps 15, 15, 15, 15

Bodyweight: 213.4 Pounds (Down 7.2 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 33:25.48 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout today. I'm contemplating competing in a meet in November so in preparation for that I wanted to shift my training forward a bit and try to recover some of my strength levels from 6 months ago. I've been coasting a little lately, with sub-maximal 531 work. I've been making gains but not really pushing my maxes too much so I decided to change that. I'm planning to run Madcows until I stall. At that point I'll switch over to a Madcows/531 hybrid program that I've put together and follow that into the meet. As far as Madcows goes I am following the progression of starting a little light with the goal of hitting my 5 rep maxes around week 4-5. After that I'll be pushing into new territory.

[TM79]

This morning I completed Week 1 Workout A of "Madcows" as follows:

Superset:
Hypers 15, 15
Bench Press 5-115, 5-145, 5-175, 5-205, 5-230

Tri-set:
Squats 5-135, 5-165, 5-195, 5-230, 5-260
Bent Over Rows 5-95, 5-115, 5-145, 5-165, 5-185
Decline Situps 15, 15, 15, 15

Bodyweight: 213.4 Pounds (Down 7.2 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 33:25.48 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout today. I'm contemplating competing in a meet in November so in preparation for that I wanted to shift my training forward a bit and try to recover some of my strength levels from 6 months ago. I've been coasting a little lately, with sub-maximal 531 work. I've been making gains but not really pushing my maxes too much so I decided to change that. I'm planning to run Madcows until I stall. At that point I'll switch over to a Madcows/531 hybrid program that I've put together and follow that into the meet. As far as Madcows goes I am following the progression of starting a little light with the goal of hitting my 5 rep maxes around week 4-5. After that I'll be pushing into new territory.

LOVE the look of that workout Greg. Great combo of hypers and bench and then squats with rows and sit-ups. Solid sets on all of it too. It sounds like you're getting in gear to compete in a few months so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing your progress. Not to mention losing a few lbs in the last couple of weeks. We may have another Shawn on our hand here.

[RT1957]

That's a big day of work Greg...I'm looking forward to your hybrid and meet prep!!

[PtReyesGreg]

Yesterday morning I completed Week 1 Workout B of "Madcows" as follows:

"Light Day"

Superset:
Hypers 15, 15
Deadlifts 5-195, 5-235, 5-275, 5-310 (4" Block Pulls all sets)

Superset:
OHP 5-95, 5-105, 5-110, 5-125
Decline Situps 15, 15, 15

Superset:
Squats 5-135, 5-165, 5-195, 5-195
Incline BP 5-120, 5-145, 5-165, 5-190


Bodyweight: 212.0 Pounds (Down 8.6 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 38:45.25 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)


************************

LOVE the look of that workout Greg. Great combo of hypers and bench and then squats with rows and sit-ups. Solid sets on all of it too. It sounds like you're getting in gear to compete in a few months so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing your progress. Not to mention losing a few lbs in the last couple of weeks. We may have another Shawn on our hand here.

Thanks Trent. Yeah I'm liking the combo and superset possibilties on this workout. Plus, I've got a lot of room to lengthen my rest periods as necessary as the weights get heavier without lengthening the workouts too much.

I'm happy with the weight loss but I'm not in the same league with you or Shawn yet. I'll just keep trucking along (hopefully) and get back below 200 at some point.

That's a big day of work Greg...I'm looking forward to your hybrid and meet prep!!

Thanks Ron. Yeah my hybrid plan basically is just Madcows with the 531 percentages and weekly progression. I'm hoping to milk the Madcows weekly progression for a while and then once I stall switch over the 531 tri-weekly progression to keep on rolling.

[TM79]

Nice looking all around session Greg. I'd say you pretty much covered all of your bases on that one. Nice sets and good combos. Plus, that is a lot of work to get done in 38:00. I appreciate the compliment on the weight loss, but believe me, I'm not in Shawn's league either. Dude has lost 30 lbs. I've only lost about 12 lbs so you and I are in the same league.

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Week 1 Workout C of "Madcows" as follows:

Squats 5-135, 5-185, 5-225, 5-245, 3-265, 8-225, 5-225, 5-225

Bent Over Rows 5-135, 5-155, 5-185, 5-205, 5-205, 7-205

Hang Cleans 5-95, 5-115, 5-115, 5-115, 5-115

OHP 5-115, 5-115, 5-115, 5-115, 5-115

Bench Press 5-135, 5-165, 5-205, 5-225, 4-250, 5-225, 5-205


Bodyweight: 210.8 Pounds (Down 9.8 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 1:23:25.40 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Great workout today! I went to Alan Thrall's gym (Untamed Strength) for his open gym "Strongman Saturday" and wound up doing a full workout on what normally would have been my rest day.

The atmosphere at the gym was very good and everyone who was there seemed to putting in hard work. Silent Mike was there too working out and filming. Here's a shot I took of him and Alan talking while I was benching:



*******************

Nice looking all around session Greg. I'd say you pretty much covered all of your bases on that one. Nice sets and good combos. Plus, that is a lot of work to get done in 38:00. I appreciate the compliment on the weight loss, but believe me, I'm not in Shawn's league either. Dude has lost 30 lbs. I've only lost about 12 lbs so you and I are in the same league.

Thanks Trent. Yeah the full-body nature of these workouts really seems to hit everything pretty well.

12 pounds for you is super impressive as you were leaner than me to begin with. I have a LOT more fluff to lose...really I should be more in the 185 range than in the 220 range (where I started my cut from).

[PtReyesGreg]

Yesterday morning I ran 4.05 miles in 58m:21s on the Tech Trail in Nevada City. I climbed a total of 530 ft to a max elevation of 2687 ft and burned an estimated 683 kcal.

*******************

This morning I completed Week 2 Workout A of "Madcows" as follows:

Superset:
Weighted Hypers 15-25, 15-25
Bench Press 5-120, 5-145, 5-175, 5-205, 5-235, 5-205

Superset:
Squats 5-135, 5-165, 5-205, 5-230, 5-265
Bent Over Rows 5-95, 5-120, 5-165, 5-175, 5-190

Superset:
Decline Situps 15, 15, 15, 15
Hang Cleans 5-95, 5-95

Bodyweight: 212.6 Pounds (Down 8.0 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 38:56.89 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout today. I was still riding an inspirational high from Saturday's workout at Alan Thrall's gym. Also, I have come up with a good plan (with some good advice from Shawn) about how to combine Madcows and JC Strength program to reach a good peak in time for the November PL meet. I've got a dead workout tomorrow and then I'm off for the rest of the week to take my son Waylon camping in the mountains and let me body deload and get ready for a few months of pushing things as hard as I can.

[TM79]

Man, not sure how I missed your workout from Saturday, but that was a heck of a workout! A lot of heavy week across the board. That sounds like a really cool experience that you had at that gym. I recognize that guy from videos online. Cool that you got to go there and are still riding the high. Good looking trail run yesterday too. Digging today's workout as well. Solid sets on bench and squat and good accessory work. Combining Madcow and JC sounds like it is going to be interesting. Really looking forward to seeing how that goes for you. Hope you and Waylon enjoy some quality time camping!

[PtReyesGreg]

Man, not sure how I missed your workout from Saturday, but that was a heck of a workout! A lot of heavy week across the board. That sounds like a really cool experience that you had at that gym. I recognize that guy from videos online. Cool that you got to go there and are still riding the high. Good looking trail run yesterday too. Digging today's workout as well. Solid sets on bench and squat and good accessory work. Combining Madcow and JC sounds like it is going to be interesting. Really looking forward to seeing how that goes for you. Hope you and Waylon enjoy some quality time camping!

Thanks Trent. Yeah Saturday's workout and today's both felt good. Alan makes lots of good videos as does Silent Mike (the other guy in the picture). I usually work out by myself so just working out around a bunch of hardworking people seemed to make me work a little harder. He opens his gym for free on Saturdays so I might have to start making regular trips over there.

Camping is going to be fun. I'm taking my kayak and paddle board too to spend some good relaxing time exploring some lakes.

[raynerd]

Strong benching and squatting today. Jelli of your Saturday training environment

[shaneinga]

Awesome Greg! Pretty cool to open your journal and see Alan and Mike. I see Alan has become a starting strength coach. He is all "Hip driiiiive" now with Rippetoe.

Great numbers in here. Good luck with your meet prep! No softball this year!

[PtReyesGreg]

Yesterday morning I completed Week 2 Workout C of "Madcows" as follows:

Superset:
Hypers 15-0, 15-0
Bench Press 5-120, 5-145, 5-175

Superset:
Bench Press 5-205, 5-240, 8-185
Curls 8-65, 8-65, 8-65

Tri-set:
Squats 5-135, 5-165, 5-205
Bent Over Rows 5-95, 5-145, 5-145
French Press 8-65, 8-65, 8-65

Tri-set:
Squats 5-230, 3-275, 8-205
Bent Over Rows 5-165, 5-195, 8-145
Pushups 10, 10, 10


Bodyweight: 213.0 Pounds (Down 7.6 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 39:42.47 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Good workout. This was my first day back from my camping trip so I was a little nervous about having lost some strength but overall everything felt good. I ate camping food the whole week so I was anticipating some weight gain, but I actually only gained a pound so that wasn't too bad.

*******************

Strong benching and squatting today. Jelli of your Saturday training environment

Thanks Shawn. It was definitely a lot of fun working out at Alan's gym. He is a nice guy and I look forward to more workouts there.

Awesome Greg! Pretty cool to open your journal and see Alan and Mike. I see Alan has become a starting strength coach. He is all "Hip driiiiive" now with Rippetoe.

Great numbers in here. Good luck with your meet prep! No softball this year!

Thanks Shane. Yeah like I was telling Shawn it was definitely a good atmosphere. He said I can bring my son along next time so I think I'll try to do that. My son likes watching his videos on YouTube with me so I think he'll get a kick out of that.

No kidding about the softball. That killed me last year and really screwed up my meet I think. Nothing crazy like that this year...although it sucks when I'm so old that softball is considered crazy.

[shaneinga]

Nice work Greg! I think it would be neat for your son to go.

Pretty cool you have access to Alan like that.

Nice Tri sets. Squats and Bor Tri setted? You are a better man than me.

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Week 3 Workout A of "Madcows" as follows:

Superset:
Weighted Hypers 15-25, 15-25
Bench Press 5-120, 5-150, 5-180, 5-210, 5-245

Superset:
Squats 5-140, 5-170, 5-205, 5-240, 5-275
Bent Over Rows 5-115, 5-120, 5-145, 5-170, 5-195

Superset:
Decline Situps 15, 15
Hang Cleans 5-95, 5-95

Bodyweight: 208.2 Pounds (Down 12.4 Pounds from 7/9)

Workout Duration: 37:16.05 minutes (with 1:00 rest between sets)

Pretty good workout today. My weights are started to get heavier and closer to approaching my maxes again. On my final set of bench I seemed to tweak a muscle in my lower back and on my second set of squats I tweaked something in my right quad. In both cases I was able to keep going and finish out my sets. My back felt OK by the end of the workout but my quad was a little sore. I applied some Arctic Sports Balm so hopefully that does the trick.

*******************

Nice work Greg! I think it would be neat for your son to go.

Pretty cool you have access to Alan like that.

Nice Tri sets. Squats and Bor Tri setted? You are a better man than me.

Thanks Shane. Yeah it's about an hour down to his gym so I don't see myself going more that once every couple of weeks but I think I'll start attempting to go at least that often. The intensity from working out around others was definitely a nice change of pace from working out by myself. I'd like to keep that in the mix as I work towards my meet.

My son is definitely excited about going down there with me.