I had a banner year as far as feeding my mind with reading books this year.  I read a total of 48 books in 2012, some were repeats of some favorites, but most were additions to my library.  Below are my top 5 from those 48 books and a brief nugget or two that I received from their pages.

5. Powerful Peace, by Rob DuBois – this former Navy SEAL writes a great account of his experiences with multiple cultures, particularly the Muslim culture.  The book made me realize that I’m prone to react too fast, when I would be better served to pause and respond to events.  Peace can start with one person and how we approach others in our daily routines.

4. Inner Excellence, by Jim Murphy – an excellent read on building mental toughness and discipline.  The book re-instilled in me that I should pursue excellence for the sake of doing so…not for what success will do for me, but rather what the journey/pursuit will make of me.

3. Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, by Depack Chopra – Barring a cruel disease (e.g. cancer, etc.) if one takes care of themselves through proper diet, exercise, and meditation there is no reason one can’t live a vital life well into their 70′s and beyond.  This book is a great read for re-instilling the power of building your body, mind, spirit.

2. Awakening Spirits, by Tom Brown, Jr. – like other Tom Brown, Jr. books this is an excellent read to ignite your warrior soul.  It is from this book that I label my meditation as “sacred silence.”  This book also includes a guide to use in sacred silence.  Brown always teaches me that the way to true strength is from the blending of body, mind, and spirit.

1. Born to Run, by Chris McDougall – I almost did not buy this book, but it kept calling me back and I finally picked it up after 3 attempts to walk away.  I guess it was a message I needed.  The book contains an adventurous true story by the author is his search of what makes ultra-runners “tick”.  My main take away was to train for the soul, not to win the race.  Play for the love of the game & you will find spiritual awakening in your effort.

I’ll likely re-read a few if not all of the above in 2013.  I wish you all happy reading for the next year.  We need to feed our minds in our never ending quest to live the way!

Round 1: 30:00 SGPT warm-up www.sealgrinderpt.com

Round 2: Murph (w/20 lb. vest, partion 20 x 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats)

1 mile run

100 pull ups

200 push ups

300 air squats

1 mile run

My time – 52:41

Round 1: SGPT warm-up 30:00 (www.sealgrinderpt.com)

Round 2: For time (mark time & how many penalty push ups)

Cash in with 300 air squats

100 pull ups (every time you drop from the bar the penalty is 20 push ups)

Cash out with 50 burpees

My time – 30:57  (I dropped from the pull up bar 6 times, so 6  x 20 push ups = 120, plus I did an extra 20 for 140 total push ups).

Perform 40 push ups & 40 air squats on the hour, every waking hour.  I started at 8:30 a.m. and will likely finish my last set/hour at 9:30 or 10:30 p.m, which will equal around 520 to 560 push ups and air squats for the day.

Round 1: 15:00 warm-up of stretch/ROM and 75 flutter kicks (4 ct), 25 leg levers.

Round 2: 1 hour continual trail run

I covered about 5 miles on the American Birkiebiener XC Ski Trail (in National Forest).

Round 1: warm-up 20:00 with light stetch/ROB, push ups, squats, and ab/core

Round 2: For time

1 mile run

50 box jumps (20 inches)

50 double alternating KB cleans (two 35 lb. kb’s)

200 meter pick/toss 30 lb. d-ball (or sand bag)

1 mile run

My time – 24:22

Round 3: 10 tire flips (for finisher) 500 lb. tire.

Round 1: 15:00 warm-up with ROM/light stretch, 100 flutter kicks, 50 Russian Twists (14 lb.), 2:00 plank from hands (extended push up position)

Round 2: 5K Row for time

My time – 21:24 (can sub 5K run)

Round 3: Sand Bag Toss (clean & launch) AMRAP in 15:00

My reps – 70 (80 lb. sand bag)

Sub for sand bag is hang clean & press (95 lb. barbell)

Round 1: warm-up with1 mile run (about 8 min. pace), light stretch, & ab/core work (try to finish warm-up within 30:00)

Round 2: 5 rounds for time (adapted from SOF WOD’s)

1000 meter run

30 kettlebell swings (53 lb.)

30 pull ups

My time – 52:27

Round 1: 15:00 light warm-up/stretch/ROM

Round 2: Lopez – 3 rounds for time

1 mile run

10 barbell front squat (135 lb.)

10 barbell SDHP (135 lb.)

10 barbell push press (135 lb.)

max pull ups

My time – 51:42 (max pull ups were 6, 6, and 9 and my struggle here was with a sweaty grip…maybe should put the pull ups first in the sequence prior to barbell work).

Subs: db or kb for barbell.  On weight scale as necessary, but go “heavy”.

Round 1: 15:00 warm-up of jump rope and light stretch

Round 2: For time – 100 pull ups (owe DU’s & Push Ups when drop from bar)

Every time you come off the bar (break your set) you owe 30 double unders (or 120 single jump rope) & 20 push ups.

My time – 17:39 (my sets of pull ups ended up being – 21, 14, 12, 14, 15, 16, 8 = 100, thus I “paid” 210 DU’s & 140 push ups.

Round 1: SGPT warm-up (www.sealgrinderpt.com)

Round 2: Rowing & Punching (Heavy Bag) – 4 rounds for time

500 meter row (or 400 meter run, or 50 double unders, or 200 single jump rope)

100 heavy bag punches/combos (or 100 triple punches from horse stance)

My time – 15:18

Note: bag/punches is not a rest, go hard!