Triathlon

I've have a new goal:
One September 19th I'll run a triathlon to demonstrate to myself that this summer's physical training should be considered a success.
I always thought triathlons were longer but I'll be
Swimming 500 m
Cycling 26 km
Running 5 km

This makes it a "sprint"-triathlon. I'd rather try an "olympic"-triathlon of
Swimming 1.5 km
Cycling 40 km
Running 10 km
but this Triathlon doesn't have that as an option.

This War Continues

Eight weeks of boxing courses end tonight. This is the session and then there is a three week break.

All and all, it's been pretty intense. I never imagined that I would be able to skip-rope so well. In fact, if I had to point to the most important improvement to my self-defense skills it would be the vast improvement in balance. Boxers have good balance and I feel that I've picked-up some of that.

The other two major improvements are simply:

(1) practice hitting something solid. In Jui-Jitsu when we point-fight, part of the exercise is having the self-control to never make contact with your opponent. So I've really appreciated the experiance with true contact and how that effects your next move.

(2) endurance. Boxing classes have been exhausting and I'm not exactly out of shape anymore. One of the best results of BuildingBatman is that I've been in the best shape of my life for nearly two years and counting. Since the begin of the summer season I have been rotating running, biking and swimming on top of boxing class. I have loose plans to compete in a TriAthlon this year. We'll see about that but it's all because of this blog.

So there's a three week break and then I repeat the eight week course.

Up next: A review of police scanners.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

I finished Batman: Arkham Asylum last night. The dream is over and it only lasted three days. Too bad. Now that I'm done the game, I don't really feel like the Dark Crusader. Too bad. So I'm back to my training: 20 laps in the pool during lunch, a 25 mile bike ride this morning and Jiu Jitsu in the evening. But before I get back into it here at Building Batman why don't I review the game for? Just a few comments.
I'll do it in a Pro-Con format and start with cons because the good drastically outweighs the bad and so I want to finish on the positive notes:
Cons:
1) The game was too forgiving. They made this soundtrack and setting that are as creepy as could be. It's really tense BUT because Batman just re-spawns whenever you screw-up, there are no consequences for my actions and therefore I'm not scared. Why did Resident Evil work so well so long ago? Because not only was it scary in all the ways that a scary movie was but if you as the player screwed up there were terrible consequences: you might not have anymore ammo for hours, or maybe you would die and have to start from a point that felt like it was at the very beginning of the game. Batman: Arkham Asylum lacked that. Since I wasn't concerned about any consequences, the tension that they worked so hard to make so good was diffused.

2) The game was very linear. Although it was placed on an island and you could theoretically go anywhere, in actuality there was only ever one path and it was always right in front of you. I'm not asking for a game like Fallout but give the world's greatest detective multiple ways to go about solving a problem.

Pros:
1) You couldn't have this game without Batman. In many ways, it's not just 'another Batman game' but it's a game about Batman. You couldn't just be anyone with a boomerang. The game actually explores his character.

2) It's not the rogue gallery vs Batman. It must have been so tempting to just trot every Batman character in and say, "Everyone against Batman!" Instead, Batman is stuck in a crazy storm. It's all about him and the Joker. When other villains show up they are there on their own terms and for their own reasons, not just as super-henchmen in the Joker's scheme.

3) Paul Dini wrote it (really the last two just boil down to this).

4) Mark Hamill is amazing.

That's a lot of miles...

This weekend I spent a lot of time on my bike. Friday I did a 16 mile bike ride, Saturday a hard 25 mile ride and then on Sunday a final 25 miles but at a much easier pace. This wasn't just to get in better shape but also to explore potential bouldering sites outside of town. One of the locations has real potential but I think that before I can start climbing there I will have to be less exhausted from the bike trip by the time I make it out.

P.S. Batman doesn't bike. Batman flies. In a flying car. Everyone knows that - except The History of the Batmobile site which is uncharacteristically days behind the the current Batmobile (Batmobile iterations must be recorded on a day by day basis since it's changed so often).

Training - but not posting

Sorry about the large delay between posts. I know we all hate it when a blogger stops you from reading your favorite blog for an entire month (this is your favorite blog ever, right?). I've been working on another project and it took all of my attention. Sorry about that.

BUT although I haven't been posting, I have been keeping up with my training. In fact, I've started a whole pile of new enterprises. Firstly, I've started doing chin-ups and pull-ups everyday instead of so many push-ups in response to a comment by Thelonious_Nick on an old post. On top of that, I have been jogging three mornings a week, biking twice a week and swimming twice a week. All and all, I have never been in such good shape. As often as possible I am doing my flexibility training.

Why all of this exercise? Well first because Batman is supposed to be at the peak of the human condition. Now I'm not ever going to claim that I'll be in an athlete's shape but I would like to be in better shape than most of the people I meet on the street. And second because the next few Bat-skills that I'll be adding to my arsenal of superheroic arts are all physical.

I've found a friend who boulders. This will be great! Batman can ascend the highest skyscrapers with ease. I bet Batman is one mean wallclimber. We haven't gone yet but I'll let you know when we do and tell you how it went. Hopefully, I can get competent.

The second thing to learn is a martial art. I've been trying to figure out what to do first but wanted to go with someone. I finally found a pal who would like to learn Jiu-Jitsu. There's a school near our neighborhood. Hopefully, we can get in and learn a bunch. I hope that it's a good martial art to start with. I don't plan to master Jiu-Jitsu just learn the basics.

So those are my summer plans. Oh wait! There's two more things. I've bought a copy of Gray's Anatomy (standard textbook on anatomy from the turn of the last century - it's ok that it's old. The human body hasn't changed much over the last hundred years). I've been reading through it and making notes. Batman, always the scientist, would tackle his physical training with the precision of a surgeon. If I'm going to train my body, then I'll understand it too. I'll write you brief synopsizes of each component of the body. I promise that these won't be super in depth or boring. I'll spice them up with true comic book showmanship but they will be accurate and hopefully point those of you who want to know more in the right direction.

I'm also learning French (I know maybe not the most practical language but it is a language and if I'm going to learn multiple foreign languages in my life then it's time to start). Finally, I have some brain exercises that I'll be introducing to start getting the detective part of this project rolling.

So lot's of what I have been doing and what I will be doing for this season.

And finally a promise. I'm dedicated to posting more often than I have been. In fact, I'll have a post for tomorrow finishing up lock-picking once and for all.

Push Batman Push

A big set back yesterday. Having done my ten days of alternating A days (100 push-ups over spread over an hour) and B days (100 push-ups throughout the day) and then taken two days rest, I tried to do as many as I could in a single set. My big number: 55. Ouch. I've got to raise this. I have a whole set of excuses but the Batman doesn't get excuses and so neither do I. Next week I must have a significant improvement. So I'll up my number from 100 push-ups to 150 and try to do fewer sets of larger numbers. I don't think that I can jump right up to 200.

Also I have been learning knots (I've memorized my fourth one and have completed a couple more) but I don't have access to Gimp or a steady stream of internet right now so I'll hold off until after Christmas to post about them.

Batman and Ropin'

Today is day ten of the push-up regiment. That means it's the last day of Round 1. I still feel good about it although I have to admit, I'm a little bit stiff. After a two day break I'll see how many push-ups I can do consecutively. Before I started I could do about 45ish. I hope to double that on Tuesday.

I received two books that I ordered for this Building Batman project in the mail today.

Book 1: The Knot Book by Budworth and Compton. Batman knows knots. Trust me. Climbing up and down building... oh ya he knows knots. Tying up baddies for Gordon to pick up. Some fun with Catwoman. Mooring the Batboat.

Book 2: Visual Guide to Lock Picking by McCloud. That's right, not only am I learning from a friend but also on my own. It will probably take me quite some time to understand lock-picking well enough to explain anything but sooner or later we'll cover this stuff.

So here's the plan. Over the next few weeks I'll introduce you to a knot or so a day as I learn and practice them. As that happens I'll learn as much as I can about lock picking. Learning these couple of skills will be big step in becoming Batman.

Who Has The Time To Fight Crime?

You know the worst thing about push-ups? The ups.

It's actually finding time to spread the sets out evenly throughout the day. It's tough to find the little bits of seconds here and there.

Push-Ups

Four days ago I started doing push-ups following the Blog Comics, Films, Kung Fu, and Whatever the Hell Else. I'm starting easy since I've never been a particularly athletic guy but I'll try to improve fast.

The routine consists of picking a number of push-ups to do (I'm doing Elroy's gentle 100). On day one you do 100 over the course of an hour. The next day, you do 100 hundred sometime throughout the whole day. Then you repeat. You do this for ten days and then rest for two days. After the two days of rest, you try to do as many as you can in one go. Then start all over again with a larger number of push-ups.

I don't know what Batman would think about two days of rest but I think in the real world there's wisdom in giving yourself a break of some sort.