Autumnal Renewal

It's the middle of October, and a time of renewal for me. I'm working on a number of projects, including marketing efforts, and staying focused on my work. Indeed, I'm renewing my commitment to making my law firm and my writing career successful. I have no lack of dedication, but the situation is frustrating because it is taking very long to generate new opportunities and cultivate them to the point where they develop some sweet fruit that can nourish me, both metaphorically and literally.

I'm not complaining; indeed, I consider myself blessed. I am taking a dream I developed over 16 years ago and I'm making it reality. That dream is to be self-employed, running my own law firm and earning a significant portion of my income from my writing. The flexibility and range of opportunities are unmatched and suit my personality very well.

I am a little disappointed that I am behind schedule on several things, including:

• my marketing efforts (with the law firm marketing consultants I have hired);
• completion of my minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) requirements, which are now overdue;
• pursuit of several additional writing and blogging opportunities that seem like they'd be great for me;
• completion of my currently quarterly update to my book, Internet Law, and writing the update that must immediately follow it; and
• of course, my boxing training.

I know things will soon get back to a more manageable routine and something that seems like order emerging from the chaos. It won't take long to get there, and I'm determined to enjoy the experiences I have along the way.

Simple Training Update

I've just been doing some roadwork over the last week or so.  Boxing-specific training hasn't happened a lot.  I know that's a temporary situation.  If things go well, I'll be able to get back to the gym tomorrow.  Work has been nuts lately; I've been working hard to get new clients and that is starting to bear some fruit.  I am determined to maintain a positive attitude.

Pre-Christmas Workout

Today's training was decent.  I made it a priority to train in the morning and, although making the time for the workout took some extra organization and focus than usual, I'm very glad I did it.  I've decided to renew my commitment to fitness and boxing training throughout the holidays so that I can continue it uninterrupted into 2009.

Here's today's recap.

• 35 minutes of roadwork
• 4 rounds of shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on heavy bag
• 3 rounds of stretching
• 1 round on uppercut bag
• 1 round on double-end bag

That makes 12 rounds in the gym plus the roadwork.  I'm varying the workouts a bit to keep them interesting.  The important thing is consistency.

The gym was pretty quiet today.  There were just 3 other members, but I got to meet another member I didn't know before, so that was good.

The gym will be closed tomorrow, but I expect to be back in action there on Friday.

Starting the Year with a Renewed Commitment to Fitness and Training

November 28 was my birthday. I've enjoyed, for the most part, a long Thanksgiving and birthday weekend.

Since I view each birthday as the beginning of a new year for me, one way I celebrate birthdays is to plan a set of goals for the coming year. Another part of my celebration is to renew my commitment to the things in my life that are important to me. One of those things is my boxing training.

To kick off the new year, I did the following workout today:

Bike ride: 2 hours 20 minutes
Roadwork: 15 minutes

It was an intense bike ride, but an enjoyable one. I rode through sleet, driving wind, and spray and flowing water that covered the bike trail as I rode alongside a very choppy Lake Michigan. I am considering biking to and from my gym, once I develop enough endurance to do that in a reasonable amount of time.

I am happy that I have done the most important part of renewing my commitment to fitness and training: I have begun doing it in the new year.

Brief Update

Not much to report here, but I figured it's better to write something than to stay silent.  Last week, I went to the gym, and over the last 6 days, I've done about 3.5 hours of roadwork, so that's not too bad.

Life has been nuts lately.  (What else is new, right?)  My mother has been hospitalized since Sunday.  She's doing better and should be able to go home soon.  I'm planning for my move and helping my parents to plan for theirs and get the paperwork done for their new condo and so forth.  Additionally, I'm running my law practice and hustling to get some new clients, as well as finish my various writing projects.

In other words, life continues to be challenging.  I'm hoping to get to the gym tomorrow.

Showing Up

It's not about the number of hours spent in training. It's not about the exact number of rounds logged. It's about commitment and staying in the game, about showing up for training.

Life's sorta, kinda insane right now with my law practice getting busier (yay!) and my upcoming move. As such, it's easy to find excuses not to train. Today was one of those days. I felt an intense wave of what Steven Pressfield would call "resistance." (Pressfield elaborates on resistance in his book, The War of Art: Break through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles--a very good read, by the way.)

What can I say? I went to the mat with resistance and managed to get to the gym for a short workout. It really was brief:

• 14 minutes of roadwork
• 5 rounds of shadowboxing
• 2 rounds of stretching

That's it. Of course, it's not about the amount of training time I can post here; it's about showing up to do the training.

Staying Positive in the Winter

Training has been sporadic for the last week or so. A combination of snow, work, and a lot of sinus congestion and sinus headache has slowed things down a bit. Nevertheless, I am remaining optimistic. I'm doing some mental training (affirmations and visualization) and working to maintain an optimistic attitude. Very soon, I'll be back to training at full speed. I hope you're all doing well!

Sunday Training

Quick roadwork and gym training yesterday. Here's the recap.

• 15 minutes roadwork (very cold out there!)
• 3 rounds shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on the heavy bag

It was a brief workout because I got a late start and wanted to get home to watch the San Diego Chargers vs. New England Patriots and the New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers.

I'm getting quicker on my repeated jabs (double, triple, quadruple...), and in hooking off my left jab. Now I just need to perfect it in sparring. That will happen, too. I'm enjoying training.

So You Wanna Be a Boxer, Huh?

I guess I really do. It took some pretty strong effort to get to my new gym today. The transition has been a little harder than I had expected. The guys at my old club don't seem terribly excited about setting up any new workout arrangements right now. I think we're going off into different directions. That's understandable, but still kind of disappointing to me.

Since our club closed on August 31--and it hasn't even been two weeks since that date--it is probably still too early to predict accurately what will happen. I have pretty much done what I can to keep the guys together; the rest will be up to them.

Why am I mentioning all this? Simply because it has been affecting my motivation. I really need to accept this change in my life. It has happened and is the reality I am facing now. The old arrangement was nice while it lasted, but now we're in a new situation (at least I am).

I like the new gym. Everyone is friendly there, I fit in well, and it's already starting to feel like home to me. Work has been kind of nutty, though, and I was really on the fence about getting over to the gym today. Oh, the excuses a man's mind can generate!

After I had my bag packed and went out the door, I really thought about turning back and doing the workout tomorrow instead. It was miserable outdoors. The temperature had dropped significantly this afternoon, and a nasty, misty rain was falling and making the whole scene look like something from a horror movie. Alright, maybe I am exaggerating just a little.

Anyway, I didn't turn back. I went to my new gym and had a decent workout. Here's the recap.

• 30 minutes roadwork
• 4 rounds shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on the heavy bag
• 2 rounds of stretching
• 1 round on the speed bag
• 1 round on the double-end bag

While shadowboxing, I got a few helpful pointers from Ray Pace, GoTime Chicago's boxing coach. He talked with me about doing some training with him and about meeting up with him and some of the other guys on Saturday mornings for sparring practice. That all sounds promising, too.

I don't know what will happen with my friends from my previous club. They are all great guys, and they're still my friends, but I don't know if we'll be pursuing our sport as a group. I cannot control that.

However, my experience today has taught me a valuable lesson. Even with the challenges, I am dedicated to this sport. I want to improve as a boxer. I'll stay with it.

Moving Ahead: A New Gym, A New Beginning

Finally, after all my talk, last Friday I joined a new gym. My former athletic club shut down officially on August 31, so I decided to waste no time in getting set up in a new place where I can continue my boxing training.

Although I am stating this in a matter-of-fact way, the transition is still somewhat painful. I left an athletic club where I had been a member for almost 17 years, and where I had been one of the principal instigators of the revival of boxing as a sport at the club in 1994. I have a lot of good memories from my years of membership, and I am unhappy about the circumstances under which we closed. Nevertheless, it really is time for me to move ahead.

On Friday, I found a new home at a gym called GoTime Chicago. Here's a link to their Web site.

http://www.gotimechicago.com

Chad Robbins, one of the co-owners, is a great guy who gave me a tour and orientation, explained all the details about membership, and talked with me about how we can bring in the rest of the guys from the Chicago Athletic Association's boxing team, if they are interested. I will work on that more this week. I don't know how many of our boxers will go along, but I'll try to get all of them.

Chad also told me he has been thinking of holding some boxing shows at the gym. I already told him I'd be interested in boxing in some of those events. That probably won't happen for a few months, but it's nice to know it will be an option. Also, I need to figure out how Bernard can join us. But I am not going to get bogged down with all the details and make it seem like yet another job. I'm just going to enjoy my workouts and have fun for a while.

I did my first workout there on Saturday morning. Here's the recap.

• 20 minutes roadwork
• 4 rounds shadowboxing
• 3 rounds stretching
• 3 rounds on the heavy bag
• 3 rounds on the double-end bag

I have a lot more to say about this new experience. Details will follow over the next few days. This is good. I feel grounded again.

Final Workout At My Current Boxing Club

It was a pretty emotional experience. Yesterday, I had my last workout at my athletic club. I didn't do much of a workout because I was running really late and was lucky to arrive while some of the guys were still there. First, the recap of my very brief workout.

• 20 minutes of roadwork (even this was short!)
• 1 round on the heavy bag
• 2 rounds on the focus mitts with Bernard

Yes, that's it. I felt incredibly guilty yesterday, but I got there late and did what I could to make the best of it. It was good to see several of the guys there. In addition to Bernard and me, Tim, Cory, and Bill were there. Kevin wanted to be there but had a dinner he needed to attend. Henry Coyle, a professional boxer and a friend of Bernard's, joined us to give us some help with sparring. Sadly, I was too late for sparring. Oh well, next time!

We all went to dinner afterward. Over dinner, we discussed some ideas for our future. I'd be really happy to keep all our boxers together. I am realizing it may be tough to do that, but I will sure try to make it happen. I will be talking later today to one of the owners of a fairly new gym in Chicago that might work very well for us. I'll post more about that here soon. I am determined to turn this difficult challenge into a great opportunity.