Training and Templeton Rye

I had lots of fun over the Thanksgiving holiday. Here's a summary of two of the fun events.

1. Touring the Templeton Rye distillery on Saturday. It was so much fun to meet the fun folks at Templeton. Scott, Keith, Meryl, and Michael were great hosts and put up with all my picture taking. I think I came off as a crazy Templeton Rye fan. Go figure!!

Scott Bush, me, Jerry, Keith Kerkhoff

Jerry, Meryl Kerkhoff, me, Keith Kerkhoff

We got to sample some whiskey straight from the still. It was really good! I labelled a bottle and bought a whole bunch of Templeton gear. Unfortunately, in Iowa you can't buy whiskey from the distillery, only from retail stores. Bummer! But I did have five samples so I was feeling great on the ride home!

Meryl and his grandson at the still. (Meryl is the man who brought the recipe back into production.)

Me with Michael Killmer, Brand Manager

You HAVE to check out the Templeton Rye website and blog to read and hear about the history of this whiskey which was said to be the favorite of Al Capone. You can also read about all of the great people who bring Templeton to us. www.templetonrye.com


2. Getting Jon, a personal trainer and Advocare advisor, started with kettlebell training. Jon is a big guy and very strong. He really didn't know what he was in for when I walked into his gym with my bells. He was a great sport about it - willing to try and to open his mind.

A lot of men I encounter are not as open to kettlebells. Why? Because kettlebells aren't hundreds of pounds. It isn't as cool to say you did squats with two 20 kg bells as it is to say you squat 500 lbs.


Jon put the macho stuff aside and went with me. He was a fast learner. I left him with a 16 kg bell and two hours worth of training. I also got in quite a bit of training myself. I easily cranked out forty 16 kg snatches. I'm ready to start snatching that 20 kg regularly.


Jon helped me do a couple pull ups and played with my dog. Here's a picture. Jon has two boxers as well, so he and my boxer Penny were fast friends.



Now it's back to my mountain of grading. The last 10 years have pretty much been the same in the month leading up to the fall semester's end. You'd think one of these years I would figure out a way to lessen the grading load at the end of the semester. I just don't think it's possible without reducing the rigor of my classes. So, until I'm willing to do that, I'll have to put up with the pile of papers and stress of getting through it. Sigh!