2007.11.19

There is a cool interview with Alex Shelley on the Marvel website.

Mini-Mattis performing some his footwork drills.

I know I have stated 1,000,000 times that Mini-Mattis is ridiculously driven and it is sometimes challenging to remember that he is only an 8-year-old child. I am sure it easy to read my updates here on the website and believe that I am pushing the boy too hard. I swear to you that is not the case. Mini-Mattis has all of the drive. He is a self-starter. I simply attempt to positively direct his energies. I have two stories that illustrate my point.

On Thanksgiving morning, there is a 10K in Cincinnati, Ohio. I would die if I attempted a 10K. I do not enjoy running. I am a poor runner. Mini-Mattis heard about the race. Mini-Mattis wants to do the 10K. My wife has to work on Thanksgiving morning. She cannot do the race with him. So, if Mini-Mattis gets his wish to be in the race, I will have to do it with him.

I cannot release an 8-year-old into a crowd of hundreds or thousands and have him disappear for 6+ miles in Cincinnati. I have to find a solution to this quandary. I do not know what we are going to do. Moving on to the next story...

Mini-Mattis was not permitted to workout at 5:00 AM on Friday. He didn't get his homework done in time. He was disappointed. All weekend long, he has asked if he would be permitted to lift with me on Monday morning. Long story short, I agreed to let him lift if he went to bed early.

At 4:00 AM, Mini-Mattis walked into my bedroom to inform us that he was dressed and ready to lift weights. Mini-Mattis does not have an alarm clock. He woke up on his own at 3:50 AM to start getting dressed. We sent him back to bed and told him to get some more sleep.

How many 8-year-olds wake up and get dressed at 3:50 AM to lift weights? Oye vey. Anyway, at 4:50 AM, we did get out of bed to head to the gym. Today was leg day. There were five of us on hand for this morning's 5:00 am workout. We worked out hard without actually lifting any weights.

100 squats
3x20 lunges
30 crunches
3x10 up downs
30 v ups (abs)
3x10 (1) 6" hurdle side jump
3x1 lap on the bike
3x50 jump rope
3x10 (2) 6" hurdle side jumps
The big finish: 3x10 jump on/off a (24") plyo box

Mini-Mattis made the 24" jump for 2 sets of 10. Then, I moved him down to the 12" plyo box for his last set. My legs were fried; I missed the box once and completely skinned my shin. That is going to hurt for a few days.

Anyway, that was my morning.