Sergeant Tony's Blog

“I think we should see other people, “ she said.

That was code for, “Tony, from now on I will be dating other guys, and none of them will be YOU!”

We’d been dating for a couple of months and I thought everything was going pretty well. But she broke that news to me on our way into a high school basketball game … after I’d bought her ticket.

Really?

Our school’s team had an open week, so we weren’t playing. Instead everyone from my school went to our cross-town rival’s game to cheer against them! Amanda (not her real name, because it’s rumored that she actually reads these posts!) broke the news to me as we walked into the gym.

That was a real buzz kill for sure. Actually, to be honest with you, it felt like a punch to the gut. The kind you’re not ready for and then knocks all of the wind out of your lungs and makes your knees buckle. I felt myself get weak and sick all of a sudden. I wanted to launch into a defense or a sales pitch, and try to talk Amanda out of her decision to quit me. You know, remind her how great I was, how funny I was, what a nice guy I was and how great a kisser I was. Tell her that she’d be FULL of crazy to break up with me!

It wasn’t the first time that I’d heard those words. The first time it happened I cried in my milkshake about it to my older brother Jack. I told him I was going to try to talk that Vickie out of her decision to break up with me. I was gonna plead my case. Vickie was gonna get a bullet point list of all of my attributes and at the end she’d be convinced of her folly. I was going to prove to her that dumping me was a terrible idea. I told him that with grand resolve and a new found confidence.

He told me to “shut the ‘firetruck’ up!” Except he didn’t say “firetruck.” But it DID begin with an f and end with a k.

My older and wiser brother explained that if a girl – in this case, the aforementioned Vickie — had dated me … and had taken a long hard look at me … and then decided to try her luck elsewhere … I was to LET THAT BENCH (again, not the word he used) GO!

But it hurt, I told him. And besides, I was SURE that I’d be able to change her mind with my awesome powers of logic, reason, and persuasion.

I disregarded Jack’s advice and attempted to talk Vickie into liking me again.

You guessed it.

Crash. Burn. No survivors.

Jack was right. I was an idiot.

So this time when Amanda started talking foolish, I was ready. I wouldn’t give into the temptation of reading her my resume. I just looked at Amanda and all I could think to say was, “Really? You break up with me AFTER I buy you a ticket to get in here?”

I shrugged my shoulders, chuckled, and said “well, see ya round!” and walked away with my heart broken, but my head held high … but walking away nonetheless. No looking back. No begging. No pleading. No trying to change her mind. None of that insecure, immature, mamby pamby crap! No sir!

I found some of my buddies already in the stands and quickly joined them and then tried not to look at Amanda during the game.

Moving on with your life after the door has slammed shut is one of the hardest things to do. Sometimes loss gives us an option. Most of the time it doesn’t. There’s often no negotiating. There’s nothing that can be done. Death of a loved one is like that. Losing your job is like that. You can’t avoid it, get around it, or sneak by it. You just have to go through it.

Sometimes relationships can be fixed, but that requires two people who want it badly enough to do the hard work to fix it; two people who are still emotionally invested in the relationship and in one another. However, I think when one person has emotionally “checked out” of the relationship that there’s no fixing it. The relationship either ends or just goes on life support “for the benefit of the children” or for financial reasons or for religious reasons. But there’s hardly any life in the relationship after that.

Sometimes loss presents us with a chance at a new opportunity. Sometimes letting go allows us to grow. Sometimes the crisis causes us to examine ourselves and choose another path for our lives. Sometimes the hardships force us to look inward and do some real life changing analysis. Sometimes we’re able to take that pain and use it as fuel to redefine and redirect the trajectory of our lives. Sometimes it’s the catalyst to new success and happiness. And sometimes … it’s only pain with no rhyme or reason.

As for Amanda, I left that game with Susan!

Susan was in the stands just in front of my buddies and I chatted her up most of the game. We were in the same history class but sat on opposite sides of the classroom and had never really talked. She was way cute, smart, funny, and she thought I was some of those things too. (By the way, Susan and I are still friends!)

Now get this. Amanda got really really mad at me cuz I hooked up with Susan at the game!

Really?

On the following Monday, Amanda started moving out of my locker. We’d “moved in together.” Which in high school meant that she had moved her books and stuff into my locker so that we’d see each other during the day. And now she was moving out and she called me a mean name when she left my locker for the last time. The name she called me rhymes with “plastered” and casts some doubt on the marital status of my parents at the time of my birth.

Really?

Didn’t SHE break up with ME? Totally confused, I asked a couple of my female friends what was up with that. Apparently, according to my female consultants, there was an unwritten “grieving period” that the dumpee was to observe. As the dumpee, I was failing to acknowledge and observe that grieving period properly to Amanda’s satisfaction. The first half of a high school basketball game was not a sufficient “grieving period.” I was happy too soon and Amanda was mad at me for that.

Really?

But Amanda hadn’t said, “Tony, I like you but we have some problems that I’d like to work on with you.”

She didn’t say, “Tony, I’d really like for us to move to the next level in our relationship, (whatever THAT would have been) but there are some things that aren’t working for me. Can we talk about them and work them out?”

She just said “I don’t like you anymore and I want to date other guys … guys I DO like. Not you! You are NOT one of those guys I want to date any more.”

A month later when I was dating Susan, Amanda wanted to get back together.

Really.

On that note, let me introduce a series of stories I’ll begin next week.

This is the 10 year anniversary of something I call my “Summer of Blind Dates!” Ten years ago, after a difficult but necessary breakup, well-meaning friends went about the business of “fixing me up” with women they knew and thought would be “perfect” for me. They thought that would be helpful, bless their hearts. So over the summer of 2002 I went out on no less than 12 blind dates!!! That’s right! Twelve! And not one of them was followed by a second date! They were awful, I tell ya! For years now I’ve been threating to write about those dates and the horror of them. So next week I’ll begin the painful, but hilarious, (I hope) process of giving you one date per week!

See you next week with installment number one!

- 30 -

—————————————-

Fifth Tuesday Physical Fitness Test is DONE, ALL DONE!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL you brave souls who got up early the day after Memorial Day, overcame your fears of the test, the heat and humidity, and took the challenge! Awesome job, everyone!

Here are the results:
Female push-up winner: Meg O’Neill Cannon, Honorable Mention: Teresa Faulk
Female sit-up winner: Ashley Hofeditz
Female 1.5 mile run winner: Melissa Moore (aka, “The Weiner Dog”)

Male Winner: Patrick E. Moore captured all male categories yesterday morning! Patrick’s push-ups, sit-ups, and 1.5 mile run were tops among all men! Congratulations, Patrick!

Next PFT is on July 31.
——————————————

SUB SEVEN CLUB

The “Sub Seven Club!” is BACK!!!

Seven Boot Campers ran 1 mile in under seven minutes (sub-seven) last week.

Congratulations to the following new members of the Sub Seven Club:

Lee Chase, Patrick Moore, Rob Johnston, Andrew Stolnicki, Chris McLelland, Bart Thomas, and Matt Green!

If you’d like to join the club, we’ll meet me at the U of M track on Tuesday morning (June 26) at 5:15am. That’ll be 15 min before our Mt. Fuji Workout. If you run the mile in under seven minutes, you get to join the club!

———————————————-

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning next Monday, June 4th, the 0645 class will go to FIVE DAYS, Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

What is The Goofy Challenge? It’s part of the Disney Marathon Weekend at Disney World, Orlando.
You can run the half marathon on Saturday.
Or you can run the full marathon on Sunday.
OR … you can run ‘em both, The Goofy Challenge!

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Following are two links. The first one is the Disney link with all of the registration info and so forth. The second link is to Boot Camper, and Goofy Challenge Finisher, Margaret Caffey’s travel website. Margaret is an Independent Vacation Planner with MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

With the 8:30am class on hiatus, I have available time in mid mornings for personal training. Training can be general in nature or for sports specific for tennis players, runners, triathletes, chess players, etc.

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

Running the track, speed work, and running in the neighborhood are options! None of the above are requirements and you are free to do your own thing. I’ll be glad to give you an assignment based on your running goals and experience!

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

M-16 WORKOUT on June 5 at 5:30am at CUMC!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

MEMORIAL DAY WORKOUT UPDATE: 6:30am and NOT 7am! We’ll go 6:30am to 7:20am, ending the workout a few minutes early so that we can get down to Overton Park and run the Overton Park Memorial 3 Mile Run.

It was about 2 AM when the bus came to a slow and eerie stop in the middle of nowhere.

I heard the air brakes of the bus make that sound that says “done, all done.” The bus driver turned the key and I felt the vibration of the engine stop and all went quiet. The bus was full, but terrifyingly silent.

We had crossed a short bridge about 10 minutes earlier and that had been the last recognizable thing seen. The tinted windows offered nothing to see in the blackness of night. We could have been in the middle of Times Square or in the middle of Kansas. We were in neither.

We were on a small island off the coast of South Carolina.

We were on Parris Island.

There had been a lot of clowning and joking on the crowded bus as we’d made our way through the darkness of a South Carolina night. But the talking had faded and then stopped altogether after we crossed that bridge. It felt like the mood of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar.” The point of no return was somewhere behind us.

No one was making a sound. I could feel everyone holding their breath. The concern that I’d had hours ago when I’d landed in Charleston, had steadily grown into fear that I could feel in the pit of my stomach. I saw the same thing in the faces of the other guys on the bus. The phony tough guys from the streets of the big cities had lost their swagger and the blood had rushed from their faces making them appear ghostly in the dim light of the bus. I wondered if they saw the same thing when they looked at my face. I tried to mask my dread with a look of confidence that was mostly weak and unconvincing.

There would be no time for group discussion or personal reflection. No one would be talking about their feelings. I could hear the bus door open and hell was about to be unleashed.

In an instant, a Drill Instructor appeared before us and no one made a sound or moved a muscle. I had never seen anything like this kind of man in my life. The famous Campaign Cover on his head, tilted down and forward so that just the top edge of his eyes were barely visible. His khaki shirt, pressed and perfectly tucked into his olive drab trousers, were adorned by ribbons and the stripes on his sleeves indicated that he was a Sergeant of Marines. He stood tall with perfect posture, athletic, fit, tanned, and menacing. The edges and creases of his uniform were so sharp you could have cut yourself on them. I had never seen such an imposing figure in my whole life.

Then he opened his mouth.

And in less time than it has taken me to write this sentence he commanded, with a tone of voice I’d never heard before, the kind of voice that comes from the depths of the underworld and becomes more menacing as it fills your ears and grips your soul by the throat. It was shocking and completely unbelievable. And within the 30 or so seconds he yelled his commands, I heard every foul word I’d ever known come out of his mouth. And somewhere within all of that he told us that we were not worthy to be on “his” island, that we had to get off “his” bus, and get our “scummy-worthless-civilian-puke-feet on ‘his’ yellow footprints” painted on the asphalt outside the bus.

Then he looked at us with contempt, a look that said “abandon all hope,” and yelled, “DO IT!”

Then chaos as all of us rushed forward at once.

All of us trying to get off “his” bus at one time, everyone throwing themselves toward the front in an effort to comply, only making matters worse, creating an intended bottleneck at the door.

What awaited me, and the other 80 members of the platoon we would become, as we got off the bus were the things of nightmares and your worst fears come true. The thick humid air was full of sand fleas and the sound of the yelling of other demonic Drill Instructors, probably 15 in all, as we came flying off the bus, trying to locate those yellow footprints painted on “his” deck.

Let me tell you about those other 15 Drill Instructors. They all looked just like the one who’d told us to get off his bus and they all sounded just like him. And they were ALL, every last one of them, FULL of anger and hatred for every one of us. It was as if we had just spat on something sacred or called their sainted mothers some loathsome name.

At one point there were four Drill Instructors on me like sharks in a feeding frenzy! One Drill Instructor in front of my face. One at each of my ears. And one directly behind me. The three of them, inches from my face, were all yelling the foulest and most degrading things I’d ever known that could be said to and about another human being. The level of their contempt and hatred for me is beyond my ability to describe. No one has ever vocalized such intense hated for me with such horrible fury.

And what of the Drill Instructor behind me? While this attack on my character, my physical appearance, and my values was going on in front of me, the Drill Instructor behind me was hitting me on the back of my head with a swagger stick, a sort of leather riding crop with brass coverings at each end. As the sand fleas feasted on my exposed flesh, I attempted to stand at the position of attention.

I could not move or flinch while all of this was going on. All the while standing rigid and straight at attention. I was told that I looked like a coward and that I was probably the kind of person who’d abandon his friends in a fire-fight. I was informed in the loudest tones that I was completely pathetic, that I wasn’t worthy to be on that sacred island, that I should never imagine earning the title of “Marine,” much less ever say “Marine” aloud. Drill Instructor Sergeant Hayes told me that the “sewer,” that was my mouth, was filthy and unfit to ever speak the word “Marine.” I was told to quit and go back to whatever hick town had produced me and from which I’d slithered away. I was a “miserable excuse for a male member of the species,” they boomed. And then they moved on to someone else and I had a few seconds reprieve where only the bugs abused me. And in less than a minute, four different Drill Instructors attacked me.

And all of this by 2:15 AM.

I stood there, unsure what would happen in the next few minutes, much less the next hour. What were the next three months going to bring? My mind could not fathom it.

There were 80 of us who, that night became known as Platoon 398, India Company, Third Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina.

For short, we were simply Platoon 398.

Over the next three months the 80 members of Platoon 398 gradually became just 32.

Only 32 of the original 80 graduated. Only 32 became Marines.

What had happened to the other 48?

I couldn’t say for sure. Some were sent home within a week or so. One guy, one of the phony tough street thugs from Detroit, cried himself to sleep every night until they sent him back to Detroit in humiliation. Some were injured during training and sent to the hospital and then either joined another platoon or went home. Some were “recycled” into platoons behind us in training because they weren’t getting it, yet they showed some promise and were being given a second chance.

All of this was one of the reasons I joined the Marine Corps. The attrition rate was 35 to 45%. As one of my commanding officers once said, “If everyone could be a Marine, we wouldn’t be the Marines. We’d be the Army.” Hahaha

Sorry.

So proud were we to be among those 32 that some said they’d get that number tattooed on their arms. So proud I was when, three months later — months that were much like those first 15 minutes — on graduation day, my Drill Instructors, including Sergeant Hayes, shook my hand and said, “Congratulations, Marine.”

It was the first time I was called “Marine” … and my eyes filled with tears and my heart with pride and joy.

That experience has more to do with the man I am today than anything I’ve ever experienced since.

What made the difference in the 32 of us who graduated and became Marines, and the 48 who didn’t? A lot of things, for sure. But without exception, determination and persistence played a major role in our success. “I will NOT quit! Failure is NOT an option. I will NOT yield!”

Your goals probably aren’t exactly the same as mine were when the bus that carried me to Parris Island came to a stop that night. But achieving your own personal goals will require the exact same thing! The EXACT SAME THING!

Determination and persistence!

I see people quit and give up all the time. Everyday. People talk a good game and then quit as soon as things get hard. And it applies to life beyond athletics. Quitters have a track record of quitting. They have a record of taking the path of least resistance, over and over. They have a track record of starting things and quitting before completion. They get all excited about something new and then the initial enthusiasm wanes and they fade away and find something else new. They have little experience with working things out, finding a solution, making it to the finish line. They quit. They run away. They blame others. They abandon ship. Over and over again. One ship after another.

There is no shortage of excuses or reasons for them to give up … and no shortage of people to blame for their failures. Giving up is easy. Quitting is simple. “Tony, it’s too hard. Tony, it’s too early. Tony, it’s too hot. Tony, it’s too cold. Tony, it’s too dark … ” For them, it’s always too something. Too many toos.

We don’t suffer for lack of knowledge; we suffer for lack of self-discipline.

But I see people succeed and achieve all the time too! Even people who’d formerly taken a lot of easy paths, become winners. It’s absolutely remarkable and one of the coolest things. For the cost of simple discipline and persistence, people achieve.

For them, things become possible because they refuse to lose. Their world expands. Their successful life experiences multiply. For them, there is no shortage of reasons to keep on keeping on, to not give up, to not give in, to strive and not to yield.

Sure, it’s hard. But are we ever proud of that which cost us nothing?

Whatever your goal is …

Don’t quit.

It’s the difference between 32 and 48.

—————————————

MEMORIAL DAY

Monday we’ll have one workout for the day at 7am! After we have a brief observance around the flagpole, we’ll then knock out an awesome hybrid workout! All other classes will stand down for the day.

—————————————-

TUESDAY, MAY 29 – Physical Fitness Test at 5:30am

We’ll have our 5th Tuesday PFT:
• max push ups in 2 minutes
• max sit-ups in 2 minutes
• 1.5 mile timed run

You do NOT want to miss this!!

——————————————

SUB SEVEN CLUB

The “Sub Seven Club!” is BACK!!!

Seven Boot Campers ran 1 mile in under seven minutes (sub-seven) on Tuesday morning.

Congratulations to the following new members of the Sub Seven Club:

Lee Chase, Patrick Moore, Rob Johnston, Andrew Stolnicki, Chris McLelland, Bart Thomas, and Matt Green!

If you’d like to join the club, we’ll meet me at the U of M track on Tuesday morning (June 26) at 5:15am. That’ll be 15 min before our Mt. Fuji Workout. If you run the mile in under seven minutes, you get to join the club!

———————————————-

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

DID YOU SEE ASHLEY’S ARTICLE IN THE CA?

Our own Ashley Hofeditz wrote a brilliant article published in the Commercial Appeal a couple of weeks ago. The article dealt with muscle and muscle loss as we age. If you missed it, here’s the link:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/07/muscle-matters/

———————————————————

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

What is The Goofy Challenge? It’s part of the Disney Marathon Weekend at Disney World, Orlando.
You can run the half marathon on Saturday.
Or you can run the full marathon on Sunday.
OR … you can run ‘em both, The Goofy Challenge!

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Following are two links. The first one is the Disney link with all of the registration info and so forth. The second link is to Boot Camper, and Goofy Challenge Finisher, Margaret Caffey’s travel website. Margaret is an Independent Vacation Planner with MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

With the 8:30am class on hiatus, I have available time in mid mornings for personal training. Training can be general in nature or for sports specific for tennis players, runners, triathletes, chess players, etc.

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

Running the track, speed work, and running in the neighborhood are options! None of the above are requirements and you are free to do your own thing. I’ll be glad to give you an assignment based on your running goals and experience!

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST ON MAY 29 AT 5:30am at CUMC!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

Repeat after me.

“I, Tony Ludlow, (insert your name)

will never

do a triathlon

without sufficiently

training for it.”

I did the Memphis in May Mountain Bike Triathlon a couple of years ago – I actually did the very first Memphis in May triathlon back in 1983. But this Mountain Bike Triathlon was the first time, in over a hundred triathlons, that I did one without training properly for it. I know, I know … stupid.

Here’s a list of my training sins:
I hadn’t been in the pool to train in several months.
I hadn’t been on my bike since LAST YEAR.

And on top of those training evils, I had NEVER raced a mountain bike, ever. In fact, I hadn’t even RIDDEN my mountain bike in a couple of years!

On top of that, I did the swim wearing a wetsuit that was too small for me, making it difficult to breathe, gasping for air in the middle of a lake with others swimming on top of me.

Yeah, this was awesome!

Here’s how it went.

At about 100 yards into the 1/3 mile swim I realized I’d made a critical error in judgment. I was already out of breath, my heart was beating out of my chest, my goggles were fogged up and I couldn’t see anything. And to make maters worse, the straightjacket, I mean, the wetsuit, I was wearing, made swimming ridiculous — imagine a T-Rex, with those tiny little under developed dinosaur arms trying to swim.

I somehow managed to flail over to a lifeguard canoe and grab the side of their boat. One of the guards onboard asked if I was done and ready to quit the race. Boy, was I EVER!! I couldn’t WAIT to crawl into that canoe and call it a day. “Permission to come aboard, sir?” was what I was thinking.

But instead, I heard myself say, “No, I just need to clear my goggles.”

No?? NO??? Just need to clear my goggles???

WHAT???

So I cleared my goggles of the fog and took off again. Somehow I managed to flip, flop, thrash, and splash around the swim course, on the verge of panic and distress, by an act of my will, trying every stroke that those about to drown make. I tried to imagine a way I could quit the race without embarrassing myself. But I could see the headlines in the newspaper the next day: “Boot Camp Guy QUITS Triathlon” “Sergeant Tony Pulled Out of Lake by Teenaged Girl Lifeguard.” Oh, the humanity.

So I breast stroked. I backstroked. I side-stroked. I dog paddled. I was really glad that the swim cap and goggles hid my identity. According to the clock, the “swim” took me less than 15 minutes, but it felt like an eternity and I hated, hated, HATED everyone of those minutes.

Fear, ladies and gentlemen, for lack of a better word, is good … when you face it, embrace it and do it anyway! Fear overcome makes you stronger and pushes the envelope and the boundaries of your comfort zone. That the comfort zone is for sissies and spectators ought to inspire you to get out of it. The comfortable seduces you to stay. But the comfort zone is boring, dull, and monotonous.

Dr. House says “Everyone lies.” That may be true. But here’s something for sure: “Everyone is afraid.” And anyone who tells you that they’re never afraid is proving what House says. What will you do, or what are you doing, when you’re afraid?

My 5 Strategies for Facing Our Fears

1. Scream like a girl. Seriously. If you ARE a girl you can get away with this. If you’re a guy, not so much. You’ve got to pretend that you’re not wetting your pants or that ball bearings of sweat aren’t rolling down your back, soaking your shorts. What this really means is that you acknowledge that you’re afraid and move on to the next step. Naming the fear is the first step to overcoming it.

2. Breathe. Sounds simple, right? Especially if you’re out in the middle of a lake trying NOT to drown. But breathing deeply helps you to relax AND to bring more oxygen to your brain! Panic means quick shallow breathing which only leads to more panic and more quick shallow breathing, leading to hyperventilation and passing out!

3. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” And if that DID happen, you’d just deal with it, right? (This wasn’t a good question for me to ask as I floundered and flopped about in the middle of that lake.)

4. Get up on your toes and off your heels! This is about body language. If you want to guess which tennis player or which boxer is going to lose, ignore the score and look at their feet. Look at their body language. Winners are up on their toes and agile. Losers are back on their heels, slow, and sluggish. Have you seen the new Gatorade commercial with women’s soccer sensation Abby Wambach? It’s all about that look of defeat. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4q6muVH6FE) So stand up straight! Sit up! Heads up! Shoulders back! Look the challenge in the eye and with a shout, beg it to throw down its best shot! Think Lieutenant Dan in “Forrest Gump” up on the mast of that shrimp boat in the middle of the storm.

5. Tell yourself you CAN! Positive self talk wins, negative self talk loses. “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this … ” Momma always said, “if you can’t say something positive, don’t say anything at all.” That applies to how you talk to yourself too. In fact, the conversations you have with yourself are the most important conversations you have. Don’t snivel to yourself or to others. Don’t whine to yourself or to others. Don’t act like a crybaby, a chump, or a victim, not to yourself and especially not to others. JUST DO IT!

Face the fear and do it anyway … but, if you’re going to do a triathlon, train for it!

Oh, by the way, I came in second in my age group in that race. Just because I was afraid, didn’t mean I wasn’t fast!

- 30 -

—————————————

JUST WONDERING

When some of you are going to come back to Boot Camp. Some of you reading this newsletter haven’t been in a LONG time and I miss you … and you KNOW who you are. Have the comforts and weight gain of Turdeville seduced you into being a slackerdog-loser-gutterslug?

The exit ramp to Turdeville is downhill, paved, smooth, and lined with smiling people. The ramp back onto Sgt. Tony’s Fitness Super Hiway is uphill, pockmarked, littered with construction trash, and lined with people telling you to turn back.

Get out of Turdeville! Your spot on the Quarterdeck is open and waiting for you!

————————————————————–

SUB SEVEN CLUB

I’m bringing back the “Sub Seven Club!” You veteran Boot Campers will remember that we had such a club back during out U of M days. Well, I’m bringing Sub Seven back! (Eat your heart out Justin!)

If you’d like to join the club, meet me at the U of M track next Tuesday morning (May 22) at 5:15am. That’ll be 15 min before our Mt. Fuji Workout. If you run the mile in under seven minutes, you get to join the club! You’ll get a special t-shirt, gifts, prizes, and the praise of the masses. Okay, just the t-shirt and special recognition! Go ahead and do it. It costs nothing to try!

———————————————-

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST

Our 5th Tuesday PFT will be on May 29 at the church. The test consists of max push ups in 2 min, max sit ups in 2 min, and a timed 1.5 mile run!

It’ll be LOADS of fun! See if you can better your score from last time or do it for the very first time!

———————————————-

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

DID YOU SEE ASHLEY’S ARTICLE IN THE CA?

Our own Ashley Hofeditz wrote a brilliant article published in the Commercial Appeal a couple of weeks ago. The article dealt with muscle and muscle loss as we age. If you missed it, here’s the link:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/07/muscle-matters/

———————————————————

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

What is The Goofy Challenge? It’s part of the Disney Marathon Weekend at Disney World, Orlando.
You can run the half marathon on Saturday.
Or you can run the full marathon on Sunday.
OR … you can run ‘em both, The Goofy Challenge!

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Following are two links. The first one is the Disney link with all of the registration info and so forth. The second link is to Boot Camper, and Goofy Challenge Finisher, Margaret Caffey’s travel website. Margaret is an Independent Vacation Planner with MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

With the 8:30am class on hiatus, I have available time in mid mornings for personal training. Training can be general in nature or for sports specific for tennis players, runners, triathletes, chess players, etc.

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

Running the track, speed work, and running in the neighborhood are options! None of the above are requirements and you are free to do your own thing. I’ll be glad to give you an assignment based on your running goals and experience!

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

Mt. Fuji Workout at the U of M next Tuesday, May 22 at 5:30am!

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST ON MAY 29 AT 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

I started lifting weights as a junior high school football player and have been at it ever since. I started running at about the same time too. And I’ve been at it ever since. But I never really understood either running or weight training until I was in the Marine Corps.

Coaches made us lift and run as part of the conditioning program associated with whatever sport we were playing. You guys know what I’m talking about. Coaches didn’t explain anything to us about why we were lifting or running. Those were the days of coaches who just told you to “rub some dirt on it” or “walk it off” when you got hurt. We were just told to run or lift with no explanation.

On the other hand, Marines are actually better at explaining why things should be done than my old coaches were. Learning why doing things a certain way will keep you alive in combat is knowledge that gets absorbed by the members of your platoon.

Early on, one of my Marine Corps roommates was Carl Johnson, an inter-service power-lifting champion. Workouts with him were like attending daily PhD seminars in exercise physiology. I asked him hundreds of questions and read all of his books on exercise and weight training. I became fascinated by human potential and endurance. In time, I earned my first certification in exercise and weight training from the Marine Corps Institute.

I’ve spent hours and hours in gyms and fitness facilities across the globe. When I was at Notre Dame, you could workout in the nice shiny fitness center on campus or the basement of the Knute Rockne gym where the equipment was old, rusty, and smelled like a real locker room and I loved it. I always liked exercising where Coach Rockne worked out, or allegedly worked out.

Since that first weight room I walked into when I was 13, I’ve probably seen every conceivable workout approach, plan, and strategy that you could imagine. Nothing really surprises me much these days. But every once in a while I’ll see something new that looks like fun. And plus my own diabolical mind works overtime to come up with interesting ways to abuse you Warriors on the Quarterdeck!

I’m very thankful for the trust that you place in me. Most of you who are active duty boot campers show up and throw your brain into neutral as I take on the job of planning and goal setting for each workout and drive you into oblivion. But some who are reading this don’t have the benefit of training with me. So for you unfortunate ones, let me give you some free guidance and advice about what’s “out there” in the fitness industry.

First thing, any program or trainer who doesn’t tell you that weight loss is 80% what you do about your diet and 20% about exercise is playing the shell game with you and just taking your money. Every program, including mine, plays a supporting, but rather minor, role in weight loss success. (However the percentages are different for strength and fitness.)

Next thing, exercises have a “what does this do” component attached to it. And that’s a good question to ask. “What does this do?” A given exercise may be strength oriented, cardio oriented, flexibility oriented, or the exercise may highlight balance and agility. But primarily, most exercises seen in gyms and in exercise videos fall into one of two broad general categories: strength and cardio.

Carl taught me about weight training for power-lifters. A body building champion friend of mine, Mike Baggs, taught me about strength training for body builders. At the same time, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book on body building was followed like the Bible. I wore out two or three copies myself, dog-eared, highlighted, and filled with notes in the margin. In the early 80s, triathlete and six time Hawaii Ironman Champion, Dave Scott, taught me about weight training for multi-sport athletes. Bill Pearl’s book, “Getting Stronger” is one of the very best books available on weight training for specific sports and purposes. I’ve worn out two of those books as well. I’ve read tons of books and thousands of health magazines and fitness journals.

All of those approaches to all of those sports and activities are vastly different, and that’s where I’m headed with this. Depending on your intentions, your goals, and what you’re aiming to accomplish with your training, the methods and strategies, will be very different.

Problem is, there’s a LOT of ignorance and confusion “out there!” Once again, Facebook confirms, almost daily, that good people are going about their training the wrong way. I read every day about someone going to the gym and doing this and that and I just cringe. More about that in a minute.

The approach that we take at USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP is the approach taken by the Marine Corps: functional strength and fitness that will keep you and your buddy alive in combat. And as it turns out, that functional battlefield fitness is more than sufficient for us engaged in our day to day engagements in East Memphis! If it’s good enough for The Corps, it’s good enough for us.

None of us are going to be on a battlefield in Afghanistan or some other god-forsaken place next week, but we might get asked to go water skiing, or white water rafting, or join a triathlon relay team, or go hiking, or something else physically challenging. And when that happens, we’ll be good to go! Won’t even have to think twice about it. We’ll just do it! We’ll roll. And that’s my goal for USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP … mission capable, ready to rock, anytime.

But if you’re not training with me, you need to do the things in the gym that lead to successfully fulfilling your goals.

So what kind of exercise stuff do I see on Facebook that alarms me. A lot, actually. But the thing that I saw on Facebook that made me want to clear things up had to do with what is called “the split routine.” East Memphis moms who need to lose about 20 pounds are doing split routines at their gyms. That’s a mistake.

What’s a split routine? It’s when you do legs one day, arms another day, shoulders another day, chest one day, and on it goes. In other words, you split the body up into parts and work those body parts on different days. Problem? It’s a body builder’s routine. It’s not an East Memphis soccer mom’s routine. Unless the soccer mom is planning to compete as a body builder.

The other thing is, a split routine requires going to the gym almost daily and a diet that is high in protein and calories. Recovery from a split routine is different from other routines too. The time devoted to the gym is high. And here’s the kicker, the results – read overly increased muscle mass – are different. And judging by what female boot campers tell me, you ladies aren’t interested in becoming body builders. Big bulky muscles aren’t what you want, you say. So why would a woman who needs to lose 20 pounds do a split routine? Lack of information, I’d guess. The blind leading the blind, I’d venture. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Here’s the thing, some of you who read this don’t even live in Memphis, so you’re not gonna be training with me. And others of you who do live in Memphis can’t workout with me because of your schedule or your fears! hahaha So here’s what you have to do. Homework. If you’re not training with a professional fitness trainer with deep knowledge and lots of experience in the field, do your homework. Pick a routine that leads to whatever your goal is. And if your goals line up with mine, you really really oughta be training with me.

When Lance Armstrong was riding professionally, he did NO upper body weight training. None. Zero. The added muscle would be additional weight that he did NOT need on the bike. A super high tech bike made of the world’s lightest and most expensive materials didn’t need to be weighted down by a rider with extra weight, even upper body muscle weight.

So, should someone not on the professional bicycle racing tour follow Lance’s routine? Of course not. And that’s my point.

- 30 -

————————————————————–

0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

—————————————————————-

DID YOU SEE ASHLEY’S ARTICLE IN THE CA?

Our own Ashley Hofeditz wrote a brilliant article published in Monday’s Commercial Appeal. The article dealt with muscle and muscle loss as we age. If you missed it, here’s the link:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/07/muscle-matters/

———————————————————

THE Ohio State University … THE USMC Fitness Boot Camp

If you’ve ever talked to an OSU alum, or seen one interviewed on TV, you’ve heard them say that they are graduates of “THE Ohio State University.”

“The” and “a” are articles. “The” is a definite article and “a” is an indefinite article. “The” is specific and “a” could refer to any number of things. THE Ohio State University refers to the one and only Ohio State University.

Yesterday a guy said to me, “you run a boot camp, right?” And I thought to myself, “When I started this outfit, there were only five boot camp programs in the entire country and all of them were run by guys like me, military guys.”
When I started this program there were no other “boot camps” in Memphis. Now, someone refers to me as running “a” boot camp program.

No! I’m running THE boot camp program!

Today there are dozens of boot camp programs in town. Last week’s step instructor or pilates instructor is this week’s boot camp instructor. None of them have any connection to the military. None have actually been to boot camp.
I’m thinking that we might have to start referring to us as THE USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP … or THE Boot Camp. That refers to the one and only real deal. Feel free to start saying that!

————————————-

– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

How about the St. Jude Half Marathon on 12/1/12?

What is The Goofy Challenge? It’s part of the Disney Marathon Weekend at Disney World, Orlando.
You can run the half marathon on Saturday.
Or you can run the full marathon on Sunday.
OR … you can run ‘em both, The Goofy Challenge!

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Following are two links. The first one is the Disney link with all of the registration info and so forth. The second link is to Boot Camper, and Goofy Challenge Finisher, Margaret Caffey’s travel website. Margaret is an Independent Vacation Planner with MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

——————————–

PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

With the 8:30am class on hiatus, I have available time in mid mornings for personal training. Training can be general in nature or for sports specific for tennis players, runners, triathletes, chess players, etc.

——————————–

ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

———————————–

TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

Running the track, speed work, and running in the neighborhood are options! None of the above are requirements and you are free to do your own thing. I’ll be glad to give you an assignment based on your running goals and experience!

———————————-

BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

Mt. Fuji Workout at the U of M next Tuesday, May 15 at 5:30am!

PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST ON MAY 29 AT 5:30am!

——————————————–

NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

—————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

————————————-

BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

————————————-

FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

———————————-

PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

0645: If you could park on the side of the building – not in the handicapped spaces, that would be great. And since we’re outside now, the parking spaces between the playground and the athletic fields would be ideal. Thanks!

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

Thanks everyone for your cooperation. Even though I pay the church a facilities usage fee for us to be on the campus, it would be helpful to them if we parked in areas that don’t interfere with their other ministries and activities.

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145

I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, doing what we all do. Thinking about shoplifting. No, of course not. I was looking around at the stuff that you can impulse buy.

The checkout lines give you another chance to buy candy bars, chewing gum, lighters, playing cards, and all kinds of reading materials. Tabloids and gossip magazines with their titillating headlines beckon you to buy it. They’re usually filled with information about people I don’t know about and things I don’t care about. I don’t watch American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars, or anything that involves a Kardashian or one of those “housewife” shows. I’m not interested in the latest young starlet’s shoplifting arrest, anything about Snooky, or looking at the unflattering beach photos of the mystery star who’s let themselves go. I don’t want to look at anyone’s cellulite or beer gut. I would, however, read stuff about the honeybadger.

I don’t want to know about those Duggars over in my home state or anything about the Octo-mom. (I don’t mind pictures of Jennifer Aniston, Cate Beckinsale, or Charlize Theron.)

And did I mention that the only political party I am willing to join is the one that has, as a part of it’s platform, “the removal of all things Kardashian from the media … forever.”

I also suffer from having done graduate level work in philosophy, theology, history, and language and that’s a curse. This makes reading stuff on Facebook and the cover of grocery store tabloids almost unbearable. I think I might write an essay someday called “Everything I Know About Metaphysics I Learned from Facebook.” Or maybe something like “Religion and Politics Championed on Facebook.” Or “The Soul of Our Republic According to US Weekly.” OK, I’ll move on. Sorry. Aannnnywway …

One of those tabloids was actually an astrology booklet. The booklet said something about how you can use the stars to be happy and lucky. Oh??? The stars, eh? OK. If that’s something you follow, good on ya! But …

The mention of luck reminded me of an article I wrote a few years ago about increasing your luck. Some people “seem” to be luckier than others. And most of the time, there’s a pretty good explanation for someone’s luck.

I thought today might be a good time to revisit those ways to bring more “luck” your way.

Ten Ways to Increase Your Luck

1. Pay attention to your surroundings. You won’t spot the $20 bill on the sidewalk unless you’re looking. Be alert! Look around! Keep your eyes and ears open! Noticing things, listening, and paying attention to what goes on around you and in the world in general gives you knowledge that makes you seem more lucky simply because you’re more informed and better equipped to make decisions.

2. Strike up conversations with strangers. (Ladies, you probably need to be a LITTLE cautious here.) You never know who you’ll meet, the contacts you’ll establish, the new friends you’ll make, or the people you can help. This is one of my favorite things to do! Clerks, waiters, cashiers, are usually pretty safe to talk to and an interesting conversation will often make their shift, if not their day!

3. Stay relaxed, especially in pressure situations. People who are tense and panicked tend to have tunnel vision, or no vision at all. They act out of fear, or anger, frustration, or confusion. And often react inappropriately, in haste, and almost always in error. According to Rudyard Kipling, a real man “can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.” Lucky people aren’t people who run their lives guided by the least reliable emotions in control of the situation.

4. Vary your daily routine. I know a woman who believes that God is going to give her a husband. She’s been waiting for over 20 years. She goes to work, comes home, and goes to church. Her routine never varies. I guess she’s going to marry the FedEx guy. I don’t think she’s met anyone new in years. If she wants to get lucky, she’s gonna have to get out of that little bubble that coddles her, insulates her, and which presents no risk … and no husband.

5. Be aggressive and decisive about making the changes you want in your life. I’ve learned a little about sailing. A sailboat isn’t maneuverable unless it’s moving. It needs wind in its sails. When it’s dead in the water, it’s impossible to steer. MOVE! Nike said, “Just Do It” And Shakespeare said, “The bow is drawn, make straight the arrow.” When I was giving initial thought to moving me and my family to Japan as a civilian, I realized that the only one who was interested in me achieving my dreams was me. And the only one who was going to DO anything about making that happen was … wait for it … ME! It would have been much easier to just talk myself out of it and forget about the whole thing. (Do you have any idea how daunting the task is to move yourself, your wife, and your three little kids to the other side of the world as a civilian? Try to imagine all of the details and concerns that go into making a move across town and then raise that to the 27th power.) Be aggressive and decisive about what you want in your life! You either pursue your own dreams, or you end up working to fulfill someone else’s.

6. Follow your hunches and gut feelings. Pay attention when something doesn’t feel quite right. I’m not talking about daily paranoia or constant suspicion of everything around you. But listen when the universe talks to you. Every time my gut has told me to run and I stayed, I regretted it. Every time my gut has alerted me that a situation or a person wasn’t right for me and I ignored the warning, I lived to regret it. I listen more carefully to my gut now and act accordingly.

7. Expect good things. If you think something good is going to happen you’ll be more likely to spot it when it does. And associated with this is giving people the benefit of the doubt. Miserable people assume the worst and usually get it. Remember the “reverse paranoia” I told you about a few weeks ago? Expect the world to be ready to help you. Have that attitude. Use that template to frame the world around you. Do you have any “Negative Nellies” or “Negative Neals” in your life? Don’t be them! When they post their negative crap on Facebook, or launch into their latest negative tirade in the break room, boardroom, or bedroom, move on, delete it, ignore it, unsubscribe, tune it out, or divorce it.

8. Smile. Not only does this inspire others to smile back, but it is the easiest and fastest thing you can do to make yourself look more attractive and accessible … unless you’re missing a lot of teeth. (Then you should contact my friend, and sometimes Boot Camper, Dr. John Whittemore, DDS.) Try it out. Smile at the people you meet. But not in a creepy way!

9. Outlast bad luck and look for opportunities. Often a negative turn of events creates unexpected opportunities for good things. I started USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP because I was strapped for money almost 15 years ago and needed to supplement my teacher’s salary to make ends meet. Now look at the EMPIRE that has grown from me being broke! A few years ago, a guy criticized and ridiculed my company and my work. He said, “too bad your business isn’t doing very good.” He’s not a friend, never been a Boot Camper, and felt a need to put me down. He was so full of arrogance and pride when he said those things to me. I said nothing in response or in defense. In the years since he made that comment he and his wife have filed for bankruptcy … twice. Outlast the “bad luck!” Outlast the naysayers! Outlast the arrogant and ignorant critics of your life. Look for opportunities in every situation to excel and succeed! Like a football player running with the ball, look for daylight in the whole of the chaos in front of you and run for it, no matter how small that light might be! And then don’t be like Lot’s wife from the Old Testament. Keep moving forward. Don’t look back.

10. Be positive, grateful, and thankful. Ever notice how people who exhibit those things seem to be so happy … seem to be so lucky? Putting positive energy out there into the world comes back to you! Your attitude determines your altitude, determines your luck.

Given my formal study of philosophy, you might think that my favorite philosopher might be Socrates, Voltaire, Aristotle, Kant, or Emerson. But you’d be wrong. My favorite philosopher is Eastwood. Clint Eastwood.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well … do ya … punk?”

Dirty Harry says, “Get lucky!”

I hope you all get lucky today!

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0645 CLASS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY!

The masses have compelled me to make the 0645 class a FIVE DAY A WEEK CLASS!

Beginning the week of June 4th, the 0645 class will go to Monday through Friday!

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USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP BUFFALO RUNNERS!!

Congratulations to every one of you who trained with me for one of the three half marathons this past weekend in Nashville, Louisville, and here in Memphis!

Many of these “Buffalo Runners” ran their very first half marathon!! How awesome is that!? I hope you make ALL of your family and friends SICK of hearing you talk about it!!

Training for the St. Jude Full Marathon and The Goofy Challenge begin on June 30th. Training for the St. Jude Half Marathon will begin on September 1st. If you’re thinking about running the St. Jude Half, you need to register NOW! The half marathon sold out last year in AUGUST! So don’t dilly dally.

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THE Ohio State University … THE USMC Fitness Boot Camp

If you’ve ever talked to an OSU alum, or seen one interviewed on tv, you’ve heard them say that they are graduates of “THE Ohio State University”.

“The” and “a” are articles. “The” is a definite article and “a” is an indefinite article. “The” is specific and “a” could refer to any number of things. THE Ohio State University refers to the one and only Ohio State University.

Yesterday a guy said to me, “you run a boot camp, right?” And I thought to myself, “When I started this outfit, there were only five boot camp programs in the entire country and all of them were run by guys like me, military guys.”
When I started this program there were no other “boot camp” programs in Memphis. Now, someone refers to me as running “a” boot camp program.

No, I’m running THE boot camp program!

Today there are dozens of boot camp programs in town. Last week’s step instructor or pilates instructor is this week’s boot camp instructor. None of them have any connection to the military. None have actually been to boot camp.
I’m thinking that we might have to start referring to us as THE USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP … or THE Boot Camp. That refers to the one and only real deal. Feel free to start saying that!

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– THE GOOFY CHALLENGE
– ST. JUDE FULL MARATHON
– AND ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON

Interested in running The Goofy Challenge in January 2013?

Want to run the St. Jude Full Marathon on Dec. 1, 2012?

How about the St. Jude Half Marathon on 12/1/12?

What is The Goofy Challenge? It’s part of the Disney Marathon Weekend at Disney World, Orlando.
You can run the half marathon on Saturday.
Or you can run the full marathon on Sunday.
OR … you can run ‘em both, The Goofy Challenge!

Training for the Goofy Challenge AND the St. Jude Full Marathon will begin on June 30th.

Training for the St. Jude Half will begin on September 1st.

Following are two links. The first one is the Disney link with all of the registration info and so forth. The second link is to Boot Camper, and Goofy Challenge Finisher, Margaret Caffey’s travel website. Margaret is an Independent Vacation Planner with MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

Using Margaret to plan your trip to Disney is FREE and no one knows Disney like she does!!! She can give you rate information for the costs of your trip to Orlando for the Challenge.

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

www.facebook.com/MouseFanMargaret

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PERSONAL TRAINING WITH SGT. TONY

With the 8:30am class on hiatus, I have available time in mid mornings for personal training. Training can be general in nature or for sports specific for tennis players, runners, triathletes, chess players, etc.

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ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?

We should be!

HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?

You should totally do that!

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TUESDAY / THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tues/Thurs evening track runs are back! We’re running at St. Mary’s School track at 5:45pm. (St. Mary’s track is behind the school/church at Walnut Grove and Perkins)

Running the track, speed work, and running in the neighborhood are options! None of the above are requirements and you are free to do your own thing. I’ll be glad to give you an assignment based on your running goals and experience!

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BOGA tomorrow morning at 5:30am – No chanting. No patchouli.

M-16 Workout at CUMC next Tuesday, May 8 at 5:30am!

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NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT

If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!

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USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!

0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)

0645 M-W-F (will become a M-F class on June 4th)

0830 Class is on hiatus for the summer.

5:45 PM: Monday and Wednesday, and 5:30 PM on Friday. (Tues/Thurs – track runs at 5:45am)

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BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)

Here’s how the discount works!

It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!

You can take up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

BE SURE TO TAG ME!

You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.

So log on and start getting your discounts now!

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FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!

Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!

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PARKING AT CHRIST METHODIST

No change for the 0530 class.

0645: If you could park on the side of the building – not in the handicapped spaces, that would be great. And since we’re outside now, the parking spaces between the playground and the athletic fields would be ideal. Thanks!

Evening Class: On Wednesday evening, if you could park west of the Quarterdeck in between the Quarterdeck and the athletic field, that would be great.

Thanks everyone for your cooperation. Even though I pay the church a facilities usage fee for us to be on the campus, it would be helpful to them if we parked in areas that don’t interfere with their other ministries and activities.

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WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

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CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

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What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145