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Active for Life

  • A Warrior is Born

    A Warrior is Born
    Marcus's parents have high hopes of raising a very kind, loving, strong, motivated, and dedicated son.
  • Think Big, Start Small

    Think Big, Start Small
    Marcus is now five years old and his parents have decided to place him in swimming lessons. Marcus enjoys playing in the outdoors and constantly pursues exploration and discovery. He does a lot of running and swimming with his friends.
  • Let's Get Competitive

    Let's Get Competitive
    Now at age seven, Marcus has had two years of experience in the water and feels comfortable in his movements underwater. His parents have decided to place him at a higher level of swimming, allowing him to prepare for races with kids his own age. As well as swimming, Marcus has recently been introduced to martial arts and is pursuing that path with joy and a lot of tenacity. Even at this age, he is striving to do his very best.
  • Broaden It

    Broaden It
    Marcus is now thirteen years old and has had six years of experience in the pool and martial arts. Since his family moves from country to country often, it is not always easy to find the right facilities needed for certain sports. He continues to swim whenever he gets the chance and has taken up greater interest in martial arts, constantly pursing it any way he can. At school, Marcus has decided to try out for multiple sports and became a member of the soccer, basketball, and volleyball teams.
  • Get Serious

    Get Serious
    Now at fifteen, Marcus has had a variety of experiences with different sporting activities. He has selected swimming and martial arts as his go-to sports. He wants to ake on higher challenges in the future. He swims with a team from time to time, but most of the time, he is alone due to the time at which he swims. Martial arts is practiced within a small group to ensure control and cooperation. Besides the sports, Marcus has been following calisthenics programs on his own to condition his body.
  • Navy Swimming

    Navy Swimming
    Marcus has signed up for the Naval Academy Summer Swim program. He has thought long and hard about his future and has already decided that he will follow a path in the Navy. He has trained for the week-long event, yet is very surprised to see the abilities of every other swimmer at the program. It was quite easy to understand that training in the U.S. did not compare to the training Marcus had undergone. He felt alone amongst the group of athletes, yet persisted and pushed forward.
  • USNA Summer Seminar

    USNA Summer Seminar
    Now seventeen, Marcus attends NASS in order to better understand what the Naval Academy represents, what life there encompases, and if he is ready and willing to serve and commit. The week-long program involves heavy amounts of physical conditioning and calisthenics. Throughout every evolution, teamwork is emphasized to the maximum and each candidate is pushed to their limits both physically and mentally. All is geared towards preparing the body and mind for what is to come in the future.
  • I-Day

    I-Day
    Life at the Naval Academy for Marcus will be highly competitive in everything done. Teamwork must be the first priority throughout every evolution. The class, companies, platoons, and squads will come together as one family throughout the four years at the Academy. The first year is set to test one physically and mentally. There is risk of injury due to muscle stress, and squads must be there to watch out for each other.
  • Half of the Real Test

    Half of the Real Test
    The first three years at Annapolis for Marcus are an excelent way to develop himself mentaly and physically. He now pursues a higher challenge, and what better than the 70.3 Ironman? It is a great way to test himself and define himself. He will take on the race with his buddies and through that, teamwork and motivation is built. Training for such an event will test Marcus to a high limit, but endurance and dedication will result in success.
  • Team Up

    Team Up
    Annapolis promotes fitness and activity in every possible way. Marcus travels around the world during the Summer and is able to visit grand locations and scale some of the highest peaks on Earth. Such an activity, especially with a group of highly motivated people, promotes fitness and tests one's ability to endure such a journey up a mountain. This activity promotes health and fitness through the mental strength needed to push forward and the endurance and knowledge to work one's way up.
  • Life at the Naval Academy

    Life at the Naval Academy
    Marcus has taken up the challenge to join the Naval Academy's boxing team. He has decided to pursue this sport as he has had experience in the field and he would be allowed to work his way up to a more competitive and professional level at a demanding but effective pace. Boxing is mixed in with personal calisthenics which builds personal strength in mind and body, as well as foster a greater sense of teamwork, family, and trust, amongst the Midshipmen who Marcus lives, works, and trains with.
  • Trial By Fire - BUD/s

    Trial By Fire - BUD/s
    The physical and mental evolutions which must be passed foster growth in teamwork and self. One grows stronger, faster, more endurant with each mile run, with each kick in a swim, with each pushup. Marcus encounters a mental and physical test like no other he has ever faced in his life. All the training he had done for years on end helped to a great extent, yet were never fully the full image of what was to come. What is earned is optimal fitness and mental strength at the end of the journey.
  • Thirty Year Mark

    Thirty Year Mark
    Marcus is now thirty, having been in the Navy for twelve years. Staying physicaly fit is a must in the Teams as it promotes stronger leadership and respect. If the Navy asks for it to be done, it is done. Marcus wakes each morning and does PT with his platoon, following much of what was taught and learned during earlier years. This fosters yet again, a stronger bond within the family, as well as optimal fitness at the age of thirty. If one is to lead, one has to lead by example.
  • Play and Enjoy

    Play and Enjoy
    It is is important for Marcus to take on his role as a father to the very best. Sports now become as large a part of his children as it was for him while growing up. Marcus is out as often as time will allow him, playing, swimming, and running around with his kids. That is a lighter, smoother, way of staying fit while promoting fitness and joy in the lives of others. Through sport, Marcus will build countless bonds with his children and show them the importance of simply having fun with life.
  • Test Yourself Mentally

    Test Yourself Mentally
    This time around, Marcus wants to take on one of the greatest tests of mental and physical strength - The Ironman Triathlon. Having already completed the Half Ironman, this is the next challenge. Preparing for this event with his Team and perhaps getting them involved as well will promote a close bond within the team. If one does not prepare well, the body will land in a world of hurt, but if one prepares correctly, then nothing can stop them. Ironman is a great way to prove oneself in strength.
  • Spare Time from the Military

    Spare Time from the Military
    Now at thirtyfive, Marcus is considered a true veteran and senior member of the Teams. Apart from his regular PT and operations as a member of the Navy, Marcus enjoys playing more relaxing sports as a secondary way of training. He follows the Army-Navy football games yearly and plays a little bit of football himself. It really depends on the mood of the situation at that particular time and the location. Perhaps one day basketball is best, other times volleyball, and yet other times a nice swim.
  • Senior Member of the Teams

    Senior Member of the Teams
    Now at fourty years of age, Marcus is hitting new levels of leadership and experience within the Teams. His physical evolutions still stand strong and challenging. He cannot afford to losen up at this stage in life. Keeping physically fit as needed might become harder at this age, depending on the amount of harrassment the body went through prior to that time. Staying fit is much more important at this stage in life if Marcus wishes to stay at the top of his game and at the front of the group.
  • Keep Going?

    Keep Going?
    Now at fifty years of age, Marcus is going strong physically and mentally, yet his body has taken a lot of damage and abuse throughout the nearly thirty years in the Navy. It is at this point where Marcus reflects upon his state of being and determines if he is still physically capable of moving with the same strength and speed which he moved at at a much younger age. If Marcus sees that he is now hindering the team, he will consider retirement. He still maintains a physical regime day by day.
  • Time to Go Home

    Time to Go Home
    Marcus's body has suffered a lot of abuse and has grown strong over thirty years in the Navy. However, while Marcus maintains his physical abilities at a high, as always, his body simply cannot continue to move the same way it one did. It is time to retire from the Navy and allow a new generation to take over. While in retirement, Marcus continues to follow his physical regime since his body is not yet that hurt, causing him to let go of a high intensity workout.
  • What Now?

    What Now?
    Now that Marcus is retired, he spends a lot of his time with his family. Sport once again becomes elemental in his life. Playing soccer, volleyball, basketball, and swimming becomes the new mission. Staying fit has been an elemental part of life for so many years, so letting go now is no option. Marcus is careful not to push his body too hard and works a lot with swimming and running to condition his body, gain flexibility, stamina, and strength.
  • Getting There

    Getting There
    Marcus now takes up swimming as a main form of fitness and training. It is a relaxing way to take on health and strength and stamina training. One wild idea is to take on one final triathlon. Much like the Hoyt family, taking on the Ironman at this age is a grand way to say goodbye to a strenuous life of fitness.
  • Perhaps it is Time for a Break

    Perhaps it is Time for a Break
    Upon hitting eightyfive years old, Marcus has decided to lessen his physical vigor for more relaxed activities. He still plans to stay active, but seeing as his body has been decreasing in strength and abilities, he will pursue lighter sports which he has found enjoyable throughout life, such as badminton, swimming, and going for light jobs or walking. Keeping up with mental activities are also heavily important in order to stay sharp and aware.