Wow.  What fun!  This media fitness challege did what Robert “Super-Mann” Blount meant for it to do.  It motivated several of the nine local journalists who competed this morning to reach a higher level of fitness and health.  Several of us are resuming training programs and adding to what we’ve learned in the past three months.     

So, thanks to Supe for the motivation, everyone who competed for the challenge for the inspiration and challenge and to Martin Cota of Digital Photo 662 (www.dphoto662.com) for taking such awesome pictures and letting me use them on this site!

8:30 a.m. - we reported to Riverview Hall for measurements.  I was so awestruck by what Roy Lang and Val Horvath did in their attempts to lose weight.  Roy lost 34 pounds…Val, aboout 30!  I had some shifting of inches I was happy about.  I was surprised to learn I actually gained and lost in places I wanted to!

The challenge:

Bench Press (55 lbs. for women/men bench their weight) — as many as we could do in a minute.  Then, pushups (the boy ones!)  BTW, the military might be calling Fred Childers after his pushup performance.  Situps - as many as possible in a minute.  Then, in some cruel and unusual surprise, we were presented with a 220-pound tractor tire and offered the opportunity to flip it for time.  Thanks, Supe!  After all that, we ventured to the riverfront for a half mile race.

Click here to see the story on KTBS.

Congratulations to the winners!  It was a close and competitive (we’re journalists!) challenge.  A single point made the difference between first and second place in both categories.  Let’s do it again next year! 

Men—

1.  Chris Redford, KTBS-TV, 2.  Fred Childers, KSLA-TV, 3.  Roy Lang, The Times

Women—

1.  Katrina Webber, KSLA-TV, 2.  Sherri Talley, KTBS-TV, 3.  Christina Erwin, FOX-TV, 4.  Amber Miller, KTAL-TV, 5.  Val Horvath, The Times, 6.  Neisha Livingston, The Times

I’ve seen this phenomenon in other neighborhoods.  I just never thought I’d see it in my own yard.  Does this stuff grow on trees?  Was it in Joe’s forecast and I missed it?  Gerry and I are always talking during the weather.  That’s probably what happened…some sort of May El Nino occurance.

Another thought as I looked out the window this morning:  What makes this stuff go away?  Right off the bat, I’d say a son, home from college might be one solution.  Only, I can’t say for sure who might be more closely associated with the knowledge of how this came about:  him or me?

I think I’ll leave it up for a while so that the substance can be more closely studied.  Call it sort of a community contribution to the study of the environment.  What do you think it is? 

It’s no secret now that my fitness has fallen off.  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.  While my fitness didn’t happen there at all, it somehow stayed there, because I haven’t been back on my strength routine since. 

Tonight, we weighed-in for the Fit For Life Journalist Challenge at the Louisiana Boardwalk.  Eight time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney laughed hard when I talked to him about how a bunch of out-of-shape journalists (speak for yourself, Talley!) were going to give it a go in the morning during a fitness challenge.   I responded with one of those sort of fake, nervous laughs.

I’m a runner.  Not a fighter.  Ha…no, I mean not a strength person.  Anyway, each of us have had our own goals and while weight wasn’t as much a factor for me as was strength, I was so impressed by the weight loss of some of the other journalists.  30 pounds!  24 pounds!  Dang!

I really don’t want to get up early and toss around a tractor tire (as if!), throw down some iron and run faster than is necessary.  But I will.  I said I would.  And I think it just might jump-start my motivation back to where it needs to be for me to get excited about my racing goals again.   

So, (although I’ll be cussing him at 6am) I want to thank Supermann Robert Blount for being such a motivator in this challenge.   

Happy Barksdale Air Show this weekend! 

Thought you might want to revisit the famous Gerry May (my co-anchor) guest flight with the Blue Angels.   It was three years ago this weekend that May climbed aboard a Navy F-18 Hornet, but not before mentioning to the crew that he had already flown with the Thunderbirds.   Then, it was on! 

One of our Team Nation (behind-the-scenes in broadcasting) profiles is relocating.  KTBS 10 p.m. producer Lakesha Bennett has accepted a job as a morning producer for WSVN Fox 7 in Miami. Congratulations, Lakesha! 

“Everyone else around here thinks they’re a meteorologist.  Why can’t I be one?” –Sparky 05-02-08

“I need you to think about why I’m weird and get back to me on that.”  –Jody Lowery 05-02-08 

“I’d rather grate my tongue on a cheese grater than go to any social event!”  –Ron Thoma 05-03-08

Caller:  “You know what the J.D. in my name stands for, Shelly?”  Sherri:  “What?”  Caller:  “Just the Devil” –05-06-08

“Isn’t Shannon Royster about due?  What’s the gestation period for a Channel 12 anchor?”  –Sherri Talley 05-07-08

McCain Vows To Replace Secret Service With His Own Bare Fists

I’m sweating this weekend’s media fitness challenge.  As I’m writing this, I asked Chris Redford to bring me several M&Ms.   What the?  I used to be a serious athlete!

I’m actually serious for once.  …you know…that I’m scared…not serious about my fitness! 

I’ve been working the equivalent of a second job for the past few weeks and I’m terribly out of shape by my usual standards.   I know my competition has been training.   And since I have to work the next 12 days in a row, I’m not counting on a spa-health-training trip to Aruba or some healthy place (is that a healthy place?) to help me out. 

A short phone call from Supermann (Robert Blount), our trainer in this effort, helped … only because we laughed about how I didn’t have time to use him for training during the past three months!  

Weigh-in is Friday at 5pm.  The fitness hell…oops, I mean challenge, is Saturday morning at 9:00. 

Stay tuned.