2015 By the Numbers

2015 was the year of the gun. In 2015 I ran less but trained more and more diversely. It was a transition year that during some points were very melancholy and other times was very exciting.

Running,Biking,Hiking

Miles ran- 801 When I was lamenting about how few miles I ran this year a good friend of mine laughed and reminded me how I just ran as far as "normal" people.  The motivation wasn't there at times but I hope to get it back.

Miles biked- 209 I cross trained more this year. Most bike miles ever I think. Mostly Mountain Bike.

Other miles- 21 hiking,walking,rucking etc..

Total miles- 1031..869 miles less than last year. I need to ramp it up again

Races

I participated in 7 races this year. 13 less than last year but I took an 8 month break from racing. I didn't race on the road at all this year.

1-50K

1-Marathon

1-Adventure Race

1- Mountain Bike Race

3- Other trail races

EMS

My first full year as a Paramedic I ran over 200 calls. I was lead on about 150 of these. Ran my first code without a net as the Paramedic in charge. I expect to run more on 2016.

Shooting and Training

I became heavily involved in self defense/firearms training this year. Both taking training and giving it. I expect this to continue as I have started my own firearms training business.

Firearms Training Courses taken- 7

Contact Weapons/Defensive Tactics Courses taken-4

Instructor Credentials obtained-3

CCW classes instructed- 30

Random Numbers

Years since joining US Army-33

Years since retirement-10

Years since Ranger School-27

Years since Q course- 25

Number of jobs I have quit since retirement- 2

Number of jobs I currently have- 3

Number of Reserve LEO Departments- 2

Number of EMS Agencies-3

Thats it. 2016 is waiting

2012: The Year of the Ultra

So I started out to make this post my third annual Former Action Guy by the numbers post. As I started writing I realized this year's numbers were dominated by my ultramarathon running. I decided this post was not going to be about the numbers but about the year of the ultra. This year really started for me in November 2011, that is the month I got serious about nutrition and training for my desire to complete a 50 mile ultramarathon. As many of you read on a previous blog post my first attempt at the 50 mile distance was disastrous in 2011.

Well as they say it is mind over matter. Once I truly committed to my goal, things started falling in place like dominoes. I lost 35 pounds and have maintained that weight for over a year. I am lighter now than when I left the military in 2004. Less weight equals more speed and I set personal records at almost every distance I ran this year. From the 5K distance all the way to the 50 Mile. Not bad for an old guy. I committed to training and ran just short of 2600 miles in 2012, I competed in and completed 3-5K, 2-10K, 1-15K, 3-13.1 mile(half marathon), 2- 26.2 mile (marathon), 3-50K ultramarathon, and 2-50 mile ultramarathons. I even attempted a 100 mile ultramarathon but had to drop out at mile 90. So that distance will have to wait for 2013. I have been training and scheming and racing for a little over a year now.

But it isn't just about the races. The focus on training and nutrition has made me more aware and alive than I have been in a few years. Running has allowed me to meet some awesome people this year and for the first time since I left the military I have some people I can call friends. Friends that will drive 5 hours just to hang out and run all night or friends that will show up at your house at 3AM to accompany you on a training run or friends that will offer their hospitality and support time and again. Ultrarunning has allowed me to become part of something bigger than myself again. It has also allowed me to give back as I raised money for several charities this year. Charities like the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Team Red, White, and Blue.

2012 was a great year and I am rolling into 2013 with some lofty goals. I have already scheduled 6 races for the upcoming year to include another 100 mile attempt. I also plan on taking some trips into the wilderness to climb and run. Things my friend Wilderness Bob would call the "adventure life." I am looking forward to it.

Former Action Guy By The Numbers:2011

n Ok in what I have officially named The 2nd Annual By the Numbers Post, I now regale you with...numbers

 Officiating by the numbers
Football games officiated-50 ( this is down from last year. Didn't have as much time to officiate Lower level games)
Baseball games umpired-75 (see above)
Wrestling matches officiated-100-150 ( Roughly the same as last year)
Top Ten Athletes or Teams officiated-20
Hall of Fame Coaches whose hand I shook- 1 (Butch Pedersen Football West Branch, Iowa High School Coaches Hall of Fame )
Number of Coaches that told us good job- Can't remember any this year, was a bad year for grumpy coaches

Running/Biking by the numbers 
Ultramarathons complete- 1 (Dances with Dirt 50K)
Marathons complete- 1 (Rockford Marathon)
1/2 Marathons complete- 1 (Soaring Wings 1/2 Marathon)

Marathon Relay Complete 6.6 Miles-1 (Quad Cities Marathon)15K run complete- 1 (Muddy Monster 15K)

10K run complete( Passionately Purple Quest for the Cure 10K)

8K run complete- 1 (Return of Turkey Trot 8K)
5K run complete- 2 (Alliant Energy 5K,Freeze Fest 5K)
Mountain Bike races complete- 1 ( Sylvan Island)
Miles run in 2011-1025 ( I still have a week left so add about 45 more to that. Those are scheduled miles)

Social Media by the numbers

Social media accounts-16 (twitter,facebook,myspace,linkedin,dailymile,google+,blogger,tumblr,youtube,posterious,instagram,foursquare, gowalla,getglue, pinterest,flickr)
Tweets-10691 (yep I have no life..still)
Blogs started-1  (Former Action Guy: irun iowa www.mikemac356.posterous.com)
Blog Posts-  tumblr-1107

                   google+- 57  

                   posterous- 62

                   instagram- 38

                   flickr- 137

                   pinterest-17

                   blogger-33 ( again no life..still and I like to talk about my favorite subject..me)

Emergency Medicine by the numbers 

Ambulance Services working for-2
Number of calls-100
Number of ratings taken and passed- 2 ( EMT-Intermediate and Advanced-EMT

Law Enforcement by the numbers 

Agencies working for-1
Hours worked-108 ( still new at this)
Number of Reserve Deputy Modules taken and passed- 5 

Fandom by the numbers

Times I saw the Troy Trojans football team - 5 (ESPN3 is awesome)
Times I wished I hadn't-5
Times I watched the Iowa Hawkeye football team- 12
Times I I wished I hadn't-5 (was a bad year for football at the old homestead)
Times I saw the Minnesota Vikings live at the Metrodome-1 (even though we suck this year the game was still awesome)
Times I disowned the Chicago Cubs-Everytime

Random Numbers

Years since Army retirement-7
Years since joining Army-29
Years since graduating Airborne School-28
Years since graduating Ranger School-23
Years since graduating Special Forces Qualification course-21
Time I miss Special Forces -Everyday
Kids graduated this year-0 ( next year will be the last)
Anniversaries-24
Birthdays-48
United States Practical Shooters Association Matches competed at-4

So there you have my year in numbers. Some things different from last year, some quite similar.  I hope I can maintain the status quo and keep things steady for next year as well.

See ya in 2012

Wrestling-What Men do during Boys Basketball Season

Where I come from the sport of Wrestling is as popular as any other with possibly the exception of Football. The average wrestling fan in the state of Iowa is probably one of the most knowledgeable of any "casual" fan you might meet. We live and breathe wrestling at all levels like those in Texas do Football. In my room at my parents house I had two posters on my wall. John Wayne in the movie "Green Berets" and the above picture of Dan Gable, multiple Iowa High School,NCAA,and Olympic Champion. One defeat in his High School and Collegiate Career. Unscored upon in the 1972 Olympics, and legendary coach of the University of Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling team.

As a high school wrestler honestly, I wasn't very good. I was unbeaten at the Junior Varsity level and about .500 at the Varsity level. However this didn't keep me from dreaming big. I would get up in the morning and run the 10 miles to school in a rubber suit (most of this stuff is frowned on, if not illegal for High School wrestlers now.) I would lift weights every day with the football players, I would run home. I would go days without eating trying to make weight. I would do things differently if I knew then what I know now but who wouldn't? But I was going to be like Gable. I knew that I was going to be an Olympic Champion. I believed it with my entire being. The year I failed to make the District tournament was one of the most devastating of my life.

But look what wrestling taught me. It taught me you had to be tough to realize your goals. It taught me everyone doesn't always get what they want. It taught me that you can push yourself farther than you think you can.It taught me to make a plan, to drive on to the objective and aggressively take what you want. All these things I used and still use.

During my 22 year career in Army Airborne  Infantry and Special Forces units I readily credited my wrestling experiences with giving me the edge to take on and pass the challenges of Ranger School,The Special Forces Qualification Course, Military Free Fall School and many other special operations courses.Wrestling gave me my first taste of what I was made of and what I was capable of doing.

When I retired from the military and moved back to Iowa, the epicenter of wrestling, I decided to give back to the sport. I knew I wouldn't have time to coach but I thought I could officiate, so I became a wrestling offcial and have been one for 7 years now.Officiating has its ups and downs, the fans in this state cut no slack when it comes to the sport. At any given high school meet in this area, 20 miles from the University of Iowa, you might see any number of former state champions, NCAA Collegiate Champions or even the odd World or Olympic team member acting as a coach or even just sitting in the stands as a parent. Everyone in this state has wrestled or knows someone that did. The pressure is intense even at the High School level and the Iowa State High School Wrestling Championships are televised statewide and have a rich tradition.

I enjoy everything about the sport and as the season starts for another year I have started officiating once again. When I am out on the mat seeing two young men and even a few young women these days, I am intensely watching as they grapple with each, trying to bend the other to their will and assert physical dominance. Sometimes I look at these athletes and wonder which one of them will be the next Olympic Champion, the next Ranger, the next Green Beret. Or which one of them will always remember when they were simply just a "wrestler."

2010 In Review : Former Action Guy by the numbers

In it usually about this time of year that all your radio stations start their top 100 countdowns or VH1 broadcasts best of the year videos or any number of places select their"best of."  I thought I would hop on the band wagon and countdown my last year by the numbers. So here goes:

 Officiating by the numbers
Football games officiated-77
Baseball games umpired-100
Wrestling matches officiated-100-150 ( just a SWAG on this, I never counted actual matches just dates of tournaments and dual meets)
Top Ten Athletes or Teams officiated-17
Hall of Fame Coaches whose hand I shook- 2 (Butch Pedersen Football West Branch, Iowa High School Coaches Hall of Fame and Marv Cook Football Iowa City Regina,West Branch HS and University of Iowa Hall of Fame also NFL for 7 years with Chiefs)
Number of Coaches that told us good job-5

Running/Biking by the numbers
Ultramarathons complete- 1 (Hawkeye 50K)
Marathons complete- 1 (Quad Cities Marathon)
1/2 Marathons complete- 2 (Rockford 1/2 Marathon, New Bo Fest 1/2 Marathon)
 8.8 mile prediction races complete- 1 (Mall to Mall prediction race)
8K run complete- 1 (Return of Turkey Trot 8K)
5K run complete- 3 (Alliant Energy 5K,Lisbon Kraut Route 5K, Freeze Fest 5K)
Mountain Bike races complete- 2 ( Decorah Time Trials, Sugar Bottom Scramble Iowa State Mountain Bike Championships)
MTB races where I finished dead last- 1
IMBCS points-261
Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series Cat 3 final standing-18
Cedar Valley Running Association Circuit points-120
CVRA 40-49 age group final standing- 4

Social Media by the numbers

Social media accounts-9 (twitter,facebook,myspace,linkedin,dailymile,googlebuzz,blogger,tumblr,youtube)
Tweets-3967 (yep I have no life)
Blogs started- 2 (Former Action Guy www.mikemac356.blogspot.com , Former Action Guy 2 http://mikemac356.tumblr.com/)
Blog Posts-  143 ( again no life and I like to talk about my favorite subject..me)
Articles published on the internet-2

Emergency Medicine by the numbers

Ambulance Services working for-2
Number of calls-69
Car accidents dispatched to-20
Standby for Fires-1
People that thanked me for saving their life-2

Fandom by the numbers

Times I saw the Troy Trojans- 0
Times I wished I could watch them-12
Times I disowned the Iowa Hawkeye football team- 5
Times I said I wouldn't watch them again -6
Times I watched them-13 ( this counts the bowl game at the end of the month)
Times I disowned the Minnesota Vikings-7
Times I said I wouldn't watch them again-8
Times I watched them-11
Times I disowned the Chicago Cubs-Never mind this is pointless

Random Numbers
Part time jobs I quit-1
Part time jobs hired at-1
Promotions-1
Years since Army retirement-6
Years since joining Army-28
Years since graduating Airborne School-27
Years since graduating Ranger School-22
Years since graduating Special Forces Qualification course-20
Post military pounds lost-25
Post military pounds regained-5
Time I miss Special Forces -Everyday
Kids graduated this year-1
Anniversaries-23
Birthdays-47
United States Practical Shooters Association Matches competed at-2

So there you have my year in numbers. I probably missed some things but I will get them next year.

Tschuss