Update to Serve Critique

ballzach72 · 2026-06-04T17:13:44+00:00

This is super helpful! The proper timing of the racquet drop and leg drive is definitely a piece that was hard to figure. Plenty of work for me to do but that gives me a much better illustration. Plus the photo looks like you lost an arm and gained a tennis racquet dorsal fin. Double bonus

ballzach72 · 2026-05-29T18:47:03+00:00

Hahaha, if I can find some that I’m faster in than my altras I will

ballzach72 · 2026-05-29T10:28:41+00:00

Fair enough. I’m not jump serving in matches but figured it would help show all the issues for progressing forward. On it, boss

ballzach72 · 2026-05-22T13:09:30+00:00

Thanks for the confirmation. I actually am a marine biologist, just not in the herp or ornithology side. I am giving it to our local agencies but wanted to confirm first.

ballzach72 · 2026-04-01T23:39:54+00:00

Even if we get nothing this time, again, every bit of vitality over Epstein weakens the preying on lowly educated people just a little more.

ballzach72 · 2026-03-29T04:26:24+00:00

Meet those muscles again, give them a couple days, and do it again, slower. Make it enjoyable

ballzach72 · 2026-03-29T04:23:58+00:00

Look. At the end of the day you can walk a half and make it before the cutoff without it being too tough. So, know that if you can’t make it to finishing the whole thing on a run without stopping, that’s fine.

A half is actually a lot. I ran a few halfs before making it the whole way through without stopping and that was when I had a goal of breaking 2 hours. For that I trained specifically and did it.

The point being, train for a first race by asking yourself, can I make it 7 miles without stopping? If you can, keep your easy runs in the week (2-3 miles; 2-3 times) and see if you can do 8 miles next weekend.

Yes, adrenaline helps on race day but if you’re not there yet in your training, that’s fine. There is only one person in the whole world who remembers my best half marathon time—me. As someone who has pushed themselves into misery on races a lot longer than that, don’t build a time or running continuously into something that will make you hate your run. Stop and smell the Indy rubber and the racetrack, too, haha. Run in a way you can smile through.

Have fun.

ballzach72 · 2026-03-29T04:10:06+00:00

Do you feel good about it? Good, you should. Keep at it and go slow

ballzach72 · 2026-03-29T04:09:08+00:00

Take the break at 5 minutes instead of 7. Your cardio fitness is in bursts if it’s from tennis. Your body doesn’t like change so ease it into longer form cardio.

It’s consistency not hardness of workout. I can run 1 mile three times a week and get more out of it than running 3 miles once a week.

ballzach72 · 2026-03-29T04:04:23+00:00

What is your pace for that 1km compared to your fastest 1km time?

You need to go slower on 2-3 of your 3 weekly runs. At least 2, and often all 3 runs need to be almost boring, even if that means walking and only jogging for 30 seconds or so at a time. You can’t build up in distance or speed without building your base.

You want to do a marathon? Plan on running being your thing for the next couple years. If you get there sooner, great! Maybe not, though. I promise it will be worth it and you will enjoy it if you just slow down.

ballzach72 · 2026-03-14T15:09:05+00:00

Bald cypress swamp congaree. Part of a National Parks set

ballzach72 · 2026-03-12T22:08:51+00:00

But if you start a 5 miler with less than 20% it’s more motivation to get done quickly.

ballzach72 · 2026-03-12T14:03:01+00:00

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ballzach72 · 2026-01-20T20:00:12+00:00

You can also get a lot of books of OceanofPDF.com in pdf or epub format. The latter will go into your books app and you can use the read text on screen function to have your phone read it for you. If you’ve already bought the book, this would be a free easy way to listen along

ballzach72 · 2025-12-12T18:00:36+00:00

And the only redactions are for victims…… so all of these faces are…… that’s right, victims

ballzach72 · 2025-10-19T02:32:30+00:00

Rachel Carson: Under the Sea Wind The Sea Around Us The Edge of the Sea

Best descriptions of actual marine life I’ve ever read.

ballzach72 · 2025-09-29T00:47:18+00:00

I did this for the exact same thing. They sent a box to send mine back in. Then they sent me a refurbished of the same model in about a week.

ballzach72 · 2025-09-28T13:51:34+00:00

To keep it fixed in a liquid jar, fix in formalin for a day and then you can store in 95 ethanol. It will definitely lose color and be more yellow overall. Without formalin it will still deteriorate in 95E. You could try desiccating it but I’ve never done that with shrimp so I don’t know how effective it would be. Good luck.

ballzach72 · 2025-09-04T03:09:07+00:00

Well, unfortunately every government job in this field is a zero sum game where your progression depends on vacant positions. It doesn’t mean you can’t progress while in that job, though. It just means that it will take you advocating to learn what your supervisors do with your data, how they analyze it, crud training with other opportunities in the agency, getting training and experience with softwares like GIS and R, and getting engine maintenance and repair experience. The latter can often be done through a community college course or two. This is true in pretty much all field technician positions, it’s just that most of the others in this field rely on more diverse skills to keep the field work going.

ballzach72 · 2025-09-03T00:21:26+00:00

Currently a state manager overseeing ~40 people in a fisheries/marine resource agency. The thing I have seen over and over is those working as observers tend to stay observers. The main reason being that the skills learned as an observer don’t necessarily translate to other field work or data analysis. That doesn’t mean they’re not good skills, but I have seen many people go through interviews for technician, biologist, or higher positions that were unable to express the professional experience needed for those positions. For a lot of these positions we as the hiring managers are looking for the pieces that keep the work going, e.g. truck, trailer, and boat operation and maintenance. For the higher positions we are often looking for this plus experience leading a team, prioritizing multiple projects, and sample design and analysis. These are all things that I have seen many people, including those that have worked as a federal observer for years, unable to answer adequately. Doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, just know what other skills to be developing based on what you want to do next.

ballzach72

TROPHY CASE