Week #31 7/29/12-8/5/12

The capital of Maine is Augusta.

Augusta is the third smallest state capital in terms of population.  It was actually founded by the original settlers of Plymouth, but the settlers wound up selling the charter because Indian raids made it unprofitable.

Physical: 15 Push ups

Personal: Go fishing everyday

Result:  I like to fish, always have.  It's a relaxing sport, but challenging nonetheless.  I'm glad I had made this challenge to fish everyday and not catch a fish everyday...that would have been interesting.  I bought a cup of shrimp and decided I would take four shrimp cut into 3 pieces each day.  Here is what I caught: Mon-Pinfish, Tues-2 Mullet, Wed-Nothing, Thursday-Nothing, Friday-Pinfish, Saturday-Blowfish.  All of my surfing buddies got a nice laugh on the days when they caught me carrying my surfboard and fishing pole...but hey, that's the true meaning of "surf fishing."

Week #30 7/22/12-7/29/12

The capital of Illinois is Springfield.

You may be thinking Chicago, but it is Springfield.  Unknown to be the home of TV "Simpsons," it is home to one of America's most beloved Presidents...Abraham Lincoln.

Physical:  20 swims

Personal: Walk a mile everyday

Result:  I actually lucked up on this one, as my family had it's annual beach week at Long Beach.  I realize that there were other cards that would have been extremely difficult to complete being out of town.  I will have to remember that if I do this again next year.  There use to be a pier at Long Beach that was exactly 1 mile from our cottage, but they tore it down.  However, there remains a look out point marked by an American flag that used to represent the halfway point to the pier.  Each day, I simply plugged in my ear buds walked to that point and back which equalled one mile.  For those of you wondering about my ribs, they are almost back to 100%.

Week #29 7/15/12-7/22/12

The capital of Michigan is Lansing.

You may be thinking Ann Arbor or Detroit, but it's Lansing.  Lansing is actually shared by two counties is Michigan and is centrally located on the glove side of the state.

Physical: 10 sit-ups

Personal: Ride my bike everyday.

Result: Challenge completed to the best of my abilities...rode my bike 5 out of 6 days.  My ribs are still bothering me a month after my injury.  I took it upon myself to go surfing on Tuesday.  I had been experimenting a bit by "junk-diving" which is essentially standing on a sand bar and jumping into waves.  We finally had some swell Sunday-Wednesday, so on Tuesday, I decided to paddle out.  Mind you the only thing that hurts surfing is paddling as my ribs lay on my board.  You also have to use the lower part of your ribs to help plane your board upwards or downwards depending on your position on the wave.  Enough of a surfing lesson...I caught two waves and was in some pretty severe pain.  I literally sat on my board and wanted to cry.  That night I discovered while playing softball, that I had pulled something in my back, adjacent from my ribs, apparently from overcompensating for the ribs.  All this being said, I said, I did not ride my bike on Wednesday.  I rode with pain Thursday-Saturday.  I do not know why, but "taking it easy" just doesn't compute in my brain.  Maybe if I had a full body cast, it would register that I was truly injured.

Week #28 7/8/12-7/15/12

State Capital:  FREE (52 weeks/50 states...get it)

Physical: 10 push ups

Personal:  Walk the entire Cape Fear Riverwalk in downtown Wilmington

 Result: I walked the entire Riverwalk on the Historic Cape Fear River on Thursday.  It wasn't nearly as long as I thought, probably just a bit more that a quarter of a mile.  I went in the morning because of a recent heat wave.  It was very nice and scenic.  I even ran into my intern from two years ago.  He works in the summer on the Henrietta, a historic riverboat.  For those of you still wondering, my ribs are still hurting.

Week #27 7/1/12-7/8/12

The capital of Vermont is Montpelier.

By population, Montpelier is the smallest U.S. capital.

Physical: 20 Jumping Jacks

Personal: Wear a hat anytime I am out in public.

Result:  Well after failing my first challenge of the year due to the busted ribs, I was extremely relieved to draw a challenge that was not something physically trying.  I like wearing hats, so this was not all that big of a challenge for me.  I will say that it did become bothersome though.  Anytime I went out and wore sunglasses with the hat, the back of my head ached a bit.  Not to mention I had to deal with a week full of "hat head."  For those of you curious about those ribs, still hurting and still limiting my physical activities.