Power Rangers: A Pressing Engagement
Busy summer.
I truly believed that by working at a university, I would have an easy summer. There aren’t many students here now, right? It’s got to be easier.
Yeah, right.
One of the busiest summers of my professional life ever. (I’ll be honest – I’m really looking forward to having next summer off. My new nine month contract starts in August! Woo hoo!)
But I wouldn’t change a second of it. It’s been awesome. I’ve made some extra money, paid down some credit card debt (still have a ways to go, but we’re working on it!), had some good times, and kept working out. My weight, as always, is giving me a little trouble, but I’m in charge here, and the numbers are dropping. I’m actually excited about weighing in tomorrow. I expect to post at least a two pound loss, so woo hoo for me.
The Run For Your Lives is in just a few months. Holy crap. I have to get cracking! Weights are good, weights are great. The weight room makes me happy. And weights are going to be crucial during this challenge, because the Run For Your Lives isn’t an ordinary 5K. They’ve only released two of the twelve obstacles we have to navigate during the race (while running from zombies), but one involves climbing a wall. Climbing a wall will take muscles. It would be nice if I was about two hundred pounds lighter, but I’ll just have to do the best I can. Fortunately, we’re allowed to skip obstacles if we just physically can’t do them, so I always have that in my back pocket. (This is not the best option, for two reasons. One, if you skip an obstacle, while you are allowed to finish, you automatically finish as a zombie, and I’m still hoping to finish the race as a survivor.)
So, in a change of pace, rather than lift weights this morning, we did cardio at the gym this morning. I’m still nowhere near ready to run a 5K, and given that I’m being CHASED through a 5K on October 22nd, I should get a move on. I feel confident in my ability to tear it up; I’ve still got time. I just have to start. So today we did.
It’s funny. If you take a break from exercise, you lose it. A few months ago, I actually jogged 1.55 miles without too terribly much effort. Today, three separate 1-minute jogs almost killed me. Oh well. I was there once; I’ll get there again. Tina and I are even talking about hitting the gym after work a few times, too, just to get in more cardio time. (We like weights in the morning.)
But this morning, I watched an episode of Power Rangers at the gym. I just put my iPad on the treadmill, signed on to WKU’s wireless internet, pulled up the Netflix ap, and got the 4th episode of the 1st season going. The pregnant lady next to me on the treadmill kept giving me looks out of the corner of her eye when the show started. I know she was just jealous she had to watch AM Kentucky while I was rocking out with Zordon and Alpha.
So yeah, I accidentally took a little hiatus from my dorkdom to work on work. Geeze, it’s like there are bills that have to be paid or something. And while I can’t promise how often I’ll post, I’m really going to try and do more than just my weekly weigh-ins.
Without further ado, I present to you the 4th episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, A Pressing Engagement.
Plot
Our episode starts with Jason in the Youth Center, trying to set the Angel Grove High Bench Press record. For most reps. The record to beat is 1,010. Not heaviest weight. Most reps.
Okay, I’ve never heard of such a weight lifting record, but whatever. Ernie loses count around 1,005, and Jason is afraid people will think he’s a quitter. Kimberly and Zack assure him that they will think no such thing.
Rita notices that Jason is distraught, but his friends make him feel better. Therefore, she will send a monster called King Sphinx down who can flap his wings, blow the other Rangers away, and make Jason be alone or something.
This should have been the episode they submitted for the Emmy nod.
Anyway, Jason, Zack, and Kimberly hear from Zordon about the monster, morph, and sure enough, Kimberly and Zack are blown away from the fight and into the Youth Center, demorphed.
Jason, of course, is alone, but the other four get together, Zordon tells them something about Power Crystals or Power Somethings, and the Ranger find them, throw them, or something, Jason finds them, and they turn into his friends.
I really was paying attention. But in the end, Jason is reunited with his friends, they defeat the monster, and he reattempts the bench press record, this time with Trini counting. And of course, he succeeds, with his friend’s help. Mostly because Trini can actually count above 1,000 without being distracted.
Cheering for Jason's victory... and Trini is levitating
Weight Loss Analogy
Okay, I never claimed that every episode would be a winner. Part of the problem is that Power Rangers was adapted from footage of the Japanese show Kyoruu Sentai Zyuranger. Other than the appearance of the Ranger suits, very little stayed the same. It wasn’t a show about five teenagers fighting evil. It was about five ancient warriors fighting evil.
That made for some interesting fill-ins when the show was adapted for a US audience. The Power Crystals allegedly made more sense in the original footage. (The usage of Japanese footage is also why the Yellow Ranger looks masculine when morphed. Yellow was male in Japan.) But regardless, I’m going to disregard the Power Crystals or whatever other nonsense was going on and just focus on Jason.
Jason admitted that he needed his friends to help him out.
How perfect is that for weight loss and fitness? Whether you have a little to lose or almost 200 pounds to lose (or more), we don’t need to do it alone.
I’m not going to say that it can’t be done alone, but I know that I, for one, have no desire to attempt it alone.
I’m very lucky in that I am surrounded by people to help me out. Tina is my number one support. I have my coworkers, who always express an interest when I share any success I’ve had in the gym or on the scale. I have my Weight Watchers @Work group, who are likewise very encouraging and a great support system.
I’ve also got this blog and all of you. I love having a place where I can vent, share my dorkiness, and talk with others. Even if you don’t have a blog, you can leave comments and talk with people on their blogs. We’re all in this together, and collectively, we can accomplish more than we can alone.
Those are just some of the people I have in my corner, helping me in my weight loss fight. (And I’m including you in my corner, too. You’re a bigger help to me than you’ll ever realize.)
Who is helping you?
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