5k, Schm-k!

At the end of my last post, I stated that I needed to get back on the horse to working out. It was bit of a hectic week. Last Friday, I got a chance to go and try a part time job doing some janitorial work for a friend of mine. Seeing that I am not bringing in any income right now, I figured I would give it try. It was not a fun job, much less glamorous, but I did take a pride in doing the work.

Monday: I was going to try and do this class at LA Fitness in the morning. However, I got there a few minutes too late and noticed that there were nothing but women. I am usually secure with myself, but I just wasn't feeling it. I decided to go and do a little jog/walk on the treadmill for 25 minutes. I usually do a little jog/run but I was feeling kind of tired and wanted to take it easy. After that I then did what I call the full leg work out. It basically consists of me doing 3 sets of leg curls and extensions, calf raises, an exercise that works the glutes (I forgot what its called), hip abductions, hip adductions, and some squats. Prior to going to my evening job, I watched a documentary that was recommended by PFC McGuire (look to the right for his blog). It's called Restrepo. It is a documentary that followed a group of soldiers deployed in what has been the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan. What I like about it is that it was not politicized by any side, and it is as raw as it can be for someone. I recommend anyone to watch who may consider going infantry. Here is a good trailer for the movie:

After doing some laundry, I headed off to work. The company I am working for is run by a good friend of mine; Geovanni's Cleaning Solutions (GCS). If you are looking some a highly ethical and professional job done on your carpets, rugs, or house cleaning, this is the company. As I mentioned previously. What I like about Geovanni is that you get the work ethic to make you want to take pride in your work. You get the urge to make that toilet shine and feel good about it. Plus, I will take this knowledge with me to basic so I will know how to clean floors and bathrooms in a more efficient manner. 


Tuesday: After barely making my personal training appointment on time, my trainer worked my upper body. She was not happy with my contagious yawning. The night before wore me out and i was only able to get about 5 hours of sleep. After wearing down my arms and doing some ab suicides, I spent about 25 minutes on the elliptical. After the gym, I then rode over and picked up one of the other guys from GCS. We then went and spent 6 hours cleaning a house for a property management company. That experience made me appreciate the fact that my parents always maintained a cleaned home and instilled the same sense of self-preservation. This house was atrocious to say the least. I was tasked with cleaning the kitchen. It has seemed that no one had ever cleaned the top of the cabinets at all in the 50 year life span of this house. In addition to the dust, there was a thick coating of nicotine in many areas of the house. It is giving me chills just thinking about the fridge. Lets just say that there was less white than black before I started cleaning the appliance. I feel like I might need to get some kind of vaccination after that. I wish I took pictures to gross you out, but I did not want to procrastinate.

This is a fairly close to what I was facing!

We then drove back to my apartment and ate some lunch/dinner before our evening job. I must say that job that night was a lot easier compared to that house, not taking into consideration that I was wiped out.

Wednesday: A problem did arise from the work in the evening. My knees have become a little painful due the some of the tasks. Due to this, I decided to take the day off from working out.  ended up spending most of my day at office of my semi-previous company. A while back I was asked to put together a financial planning seminar for the Orlando/Central Florida Chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers or NARPM. This is a very cohesive and educational group that I formed relationship over the course of the last year and half. It is bitter sweet that I was able to finally to get the opportunity to do this. On the one hand, I have no incentive to really worry about this, however, I made a promise that I would put together a useful and educational seminar for business owners. I guess I just want to do the right thing. Anyways, due to my trip the previous week, some last minute changes were put in place. I had to fix these changes. I then spent most of the afternoon printing out various handouts. I think I killed a few trees in the process.

Thursday: The big day has finally come. The big educational seminar! I have been waiting and worrying about this for awhile now. Luckily, I had a few great gentlemen to help me out. I enlisted the help of Chuck, David, John, and Chris. All very exceptional, down to earth, and knowledgeable gentlemen in their field. I wish that I had taken some pictures, but I was too nervous to think about it. It was eventful in the beginning. Five minutes into our presentation, we had the pleasure of dealing with a fire alarm. I guess they will do anything to get insurance agents to quit talking. I think the highlight of the experience was when I spoke about the new Healthcare Reform Bill. I basically scared the crap out of the people there. I do not want to get political, but the responses were basically that of angry constituents that were going to be making some interesting calls and emails.

After the seminar, I drove to the recruiting station to participate in PT. However, PT was canceled. I did not get the memo. After chit chatting with the recruiters for a little bit, I decided to go to LA Fitness next door. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical to take an easy on my knees. I then a some sets of crunches, sit ups, and push ups. I then went on down to evening job. I learned a valuable lesson that night. I guess that the building I help clean is constantly under watch by well-hidden closed circuit surveillance cameras. Because of this, I guess I was observed taking a small break to take a picture of myself in a mirror for this blog. What makes it worse is that I could not get a good picture in that light. It was too bad because it would be amusing to see me with a back pack vacuum and nice red shirt uniform. On top of my picture mistake, I guess that I should not be cordial or talkative with anyone still working in the building. My problem is that since the age of 15, I have worked in customer service. This consists of me working diligently while be outgoing to anyone in my area. This should not be the case in this job. Fortunately, I did not lose the contract for my friend. However, this did not make me feel any better about the disappointment I experienced. I will take this lesson with me to basic as how to act. SHUT UP AND WORK!


Friday: I was on time for my 0700 personal training session. Because of the fact that my knees had some issues this week, my trainer decided to to some knee friendly exercises for the lower body. She did a workout that was similar to what I did on Monday. The difference was that she had me doing some light lunges and punished the core. After my workout, I went to a weekly networking meeting that I have been attending for about a year and half. There is no real point of me being at this meeting, but I like the group of people. This group is called Laid Back Business Builders. I have made some really good friends within this group and like the camaraderie. If you live in the Orlando area, and would like to build on your interpersonal skills in no pressure group, I highly recommend attending one meeting.


I tried to myself busy the rest of the day until my evening job. This was my last day working for GCS. The agreement was that the first week would be a trial period for both employer and employee. I let GCS know that I would be getting a little work from some other sources. Also, the drive for this job from my apartment has made the job a little inconvenient for me. He understood and had no problems. It was a great learning experiences on various levels. I truly appreciate the opportunity GCS gave me to make a little extra income. 


Saturday/Sunday: I forgot to mention that I signed up for a 5k race. This race was the House of Hope Run Around the Pines 5k presented by Florida Hospital and the Track Shack.I had never run one of these event before, much less run 3 miles before. I have run about 2.5 miles before, but not 3.1. It was a great experience. I wish that I had someone with me that I knew to share the experience. I did happen to run into my 10th grade English teacher. We chatted for about a minute before he ran ahead to try and find his brother. At my 1 mile marker, I my time was right at 10 minutes. At my 2 mile marker, my time was right at 20:10. However, after my 2 mile, I did walk or slow jog a few times. However, during the last half of my 3rd mile, I did buckle down and did not quit. I came accross two guys who were about the same pace as myself and chit chatted with them till the end. I decided to sprint my last 100 yards. What was surprising was that I felt like I could have gone for 200 yards. It was disappointing to know I could shaved a little more time off. But I was very happy that I finished!

Place	Name	Bib	Age	Div Place	Gender Place	Clock Time	Chip Time	Pace	Hometown
959	KEITH MILLER	416	25	55	558	34:29	33:06	10:39.0	ORLANDO, FL

I was happy with that pace for 3 miles. It was a real boost to my confidence with the progress I have made over the last couple of months. 

I now look forward to the next 5k I plan on running in next month. It is for the Wounded Warrior Project. It is a great program to help soldiers hurt in combat. If you are in the Central Florida area please check it out here. I am hoping to get some of the other Future Soldiers at my recruiting station to come out with me. I think it is a great program and want to show my support.