Two Midweek Days of Roadwork

Tuesday: 37 minutes
Wednesday: 33 minutes

I took today off. I hope to be back at the gym tomorrow.

Monday's Workout

Here's the recap for my workout on Monday.

• 37 minutes of roadwork (outside)
• 2 rounds of shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on heavy bag
• 3 rounds on double-end bag
• 4 rounds of stretching
• 1 round of sit-ups
  

That's the report for now. More to follow!

Monday Roadwork and Shadowboxing in the Snow

30 minutes this evening, as the light snow was falling. It was a lot warmer than it was yesterday; today it was about 30 degrees when I was out there. Woohoo! Summer! OK, maybe not yet, but soon!

I am hoping to get into a more regular rhythm with my training. Maybe one day in the gym, alternating with one day of roadwork and shadowboxing. I don't know yet, because I need to fit in weight lifting also. No worries. I'll figure it out.

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.

Want Some Inspiration for Your Training?

You've got it, courtesy of Ross Enamait and Dustin Carter. Check out this video on Ross' blog. Enjoy!

New Year, New Blog Stuff

It's now 2008 and the year is well underway. Things are already hectic, but manageable so far.

Since we're in a new year, I've made some changes to the blog. Here are the highlights of those changes.

• Changed the blog to a new theme. I like the previous, darker theme, but decided to use something brighter during the winter.
• Added some new pictures in the right-hand column. One is for humor, the other is from one of my bouts and has a link to more photos of the match.
• Added a few links.
• Arranged the links by category. Since this blog is about law, boxing, and blogging, I want to add many links, particularly about law and blogging itself.

I am currently struggling to decide whether to consolidate more material about the law of blogging into this blog. I'm very interested in publishing a blawg about blogging's legal issues, and I have started to do that at Blog Law Guy. I want to have more legal content here, since practicing law, rather than boxing, is how I earn my living. I am also trying to avoid having a lot of blogs on various subjects, because that very quickly becomes a really difficult practice to maintain over a long time.

I haven't resolved this issue yet, so let's just say I'm working on it. For now, dear readers, just sit back and enjoy the blog. :-)

Last Day of the Year

Ah, New Year's Eve. My training has gotten disrupted by the holidays. Yes, I know that's an excuse, but I am regaining focus. Today, out in the snow, I did 51 minutes of roadwork and shadowboxing. I wasn't trying to be tough by going out in the snow; I just wanted to get some activity in to close out the year. Best wishes to everyone for a great 2008!

Snow Training!

It's not the most conventional, but today's training consisted of 25 minutes of shoveling snow. I am hoping to get into a more regular gym routine this week. As for roadwork, with all the snow and ice on the ground (not to mention the cold air), the treadmills at GoTime Chicago are starting to look a lot more attractive.

Has anyone else noticed that Great Lakes snow smells like fish? I guess it's not really surprising, but still interesting.

Roadwork Recap

Recently, the training has been just roadwork and shadowboxing. (Yes, it's cold out there!) I know I need to get more sport-specific training in--and I will--but for now, here is the update.

• December 5: 37 minutes
• December 6: 44 minutes
• December 7: 25 minutes
• December 8: 28 minutes
• December 9: 14 minutes
• December 11: 18 minutes
• December 13: 31 minutes

Some Roadwork and Shadowboxing on Tuesday

Work has been getting nuts again. Somehow, I am going to balance all of this. 25 minutes today.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am celebrating today. It's interesting: I don't feel 44 years old. I feel a lot younger, but maybe that is due to workouts. I hope so.

Training has been moving along. I'll post an update later today or tomorrow. For now, I'm simply savoring the moment.

May all beings be safe, healthy, happy, prosperous, and at peace.

Returning to Lifting Weights

After about 2 years off from lifting weights regularly, I resumed that part of my workout routine today. To make a long story palatably brief, I took a break from weight lifting when I lost my personal trainer, Matt, due to circumstances beyond my control. Even though there was nothing I could do about it--and I still think he got lousy treatment from the athletic club where I used to train--I got into a funk where I lost a lot of enthusiasm for strength training and building muscle. It's funny how our emotions can affect our workouts; I have found it is good to honor them and not ignore them. For me, workouts have to balance the four basic aspects of our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Anyway, it was great to get back to it today. My friend Mark joined me at my new gym and we had a great time pumping the iron. Since it was my first time back, I took it fairly and avoided the testosterone-fueled temptation to push myself really hard with a lot more weight than I ought to use on my first day of using weights again. Also, I was careful to stretch after almost every group of 3 sets for each exercise. I stretched a lot at the end of the workout, too; I don't plan to be immobilized tomorrow!

Here's the recap of the workout:

• 44 minutes of roadwork (it's getting cold out there!)
• 3 x 8 on leg press
• 3 x 10 upright row
• 3 x 8 lat pulldowns
• 3 x 8 bicep curls with dumbbells
• 3 x 8 tricep extensions

I know it's an easy workout, but I have learned (the hard way) to ease back into a particular type of training after an extended break from it. I'll be increasing the number of exercises and the weights I use soon.

I didn't do any boxing-specific training today. I am close to figuring out how I want to work weight training into my fitness routine. I'll probably alternate one day of boxing training with a day of weight lifting. I'm still adjusting to the new gym and getting there in time to work out properly. I know it has been a few months already, but there have been a lot of things demanding my attention recently, so the transition has not gone quite as smoothly as I originally had hoped. That's alright. I tend to be very persistent and on the attack in boxing, and that is how I approach life generally. I'll keep at the scheduling issues until I get it where I want it to be.

Mark seemed to enjoy himself. I hope he'll join my new gym; it would be great to have him here. I am moving on from what was becoming an increasingly dysfunctional situation at my old club. There was no problem with any of our boxers and certainly not with our coach, but the board of directors, and particularly the president, of our club made a lot of choices that really stink. I need to put that part of my life behind me while I still have mostly pleasant memories of my 17 years there.

Hey, weight lifting: it's great to be back! :-)

Back in Action

After an unexpected break in training, I returned to the gym yesterday. My hiatus from training was caused by two computers breaking down over 3 weeks, which happened right at the time that work got really busy and I was scrambling just to try to keep up with the increased workload. Nevertheless, things seem to be getting more normal now, and I'm really grateful for that.

To be honest, Sunday's workout was not as good as it might have been, but it was something, and it was the beginning of my return to my regular routine. Here's the recap of Sunday's training:

• 41 minutes of roadwork,
• 2 rounds of shadowboxing,
• 2 rounds on the heavy bag, and
• 1 round on the double-end bag.

I cut my workout short because Sunday was a very busy day with a lot of other things planned. In addition to training, I had planned to do my laundry, to help my dad fix his computer, and to watch the Chicago Bears vs. Oakland Raiders football game. Well, I did make some improvements on my dad's computer and I got my laundry done, but I missed the Bears game. Oh well, there are still six weeks of regular play in the NFL left in this season.

It felt great to be back in the gym doing my first boxing workout in over a week and a half. It was good to see the guys, work up a sweat, and see that I hadn't lost too much of my speed and timing, as I had worried I might have. Even though the training was a bit rushed, I'm glad I did it. Getting back to it after a period of being away, the most difficult battle was against inertia. It was really tempting to take Sunday off too, and just chill out at home. However, once I started my workout -- and even more so after I finished it -- I felt great. It's good to be back.

The Best Laid Plans...

On Saturday, I invited my friend Mark to visit my new gym and join me for a workout. He is interested in joining, and is interested in boxing as well as weight lifting. So far so good.

Mark and I arranged to meet there at 1:00 p.m. Of course, even though I allowed plenty of time to get there, I had to wait for the 18th Street bus for half an hour--the longest wait I've ever had for that bus--and I got their late. Still, no problem, because Mark wasn't very upset about having to wait for me. He got a tour of our gym and some basic information about it, along with a 7-day trial pass so he can use the facilities and see how well he likes it.

The problem is that we did not get to do our workout as planned. Since it was nearly 1:15 when I got there and 1:20 when Mark returned from walking around the neighborhood, there was time just for a tour and a few questions, but no workout, because the USA team, in town for the world championships, is training at my gym! How cool is that? Here's a little more detail.

"The 11-man squad arrived early Thursday before checking into their hotel and taking part in their first training session at GOTIME Chicago. The team will train at the local gym through the opening day of competition. Following their first training session in the Windy City, Team USA enjoyed a team dinner of Italian food at a local Chicago restaurant.

"They will continue their final few days of training on Friday morning, getting in an early morning run prior to training at 2 p.m. at GOTIME. The 2007 event is the first senior world championships for nine of the 11 team members with only flyweight Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) and bantamweight Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.) having competed in the 2005 edition. Both boxers took home bronze medals from the 2005 World Championships in Mianyang, China."

Source: http://www.usaboxing.org/92_2081.htm

The USA team was scheduled to begin their training at 2:00 p.m. It was my (perhaps erroneous) understanding that the gym was going to be closed to members for security reasons. I need to check into that because the news source I quoted above says the training sessions will be open to the media, so if media, why not members? I believe there is training scheduled for Monday, so I need to verify that. After all, as a blogger, I am part of the new media! It would be great to watch the team train, although it is probably in the early afternoon when it might be very difficult to get there, but we shall see!

In any event, I am psyched to be training at the same gym where the USA world championships team is training. Just knowing they are there is pretty cool. Hopefully, Mark and the other guys can join me there this week, and to see some of the tournament.

World Amateur Boxing Championships in Chicago

The World Amateur Boxing Championships will be held here in Chicago from October 23 through November 3. The event will be at the UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) Pavillion.

It looks like it will be a pretty hectic week at work (that's why I am blogging at 1:44 a.m. on Monday), but I am hoping to attend some of the event, since it lasts two weeks. I'm also hoping some of the boys from my old club will go. We'll see what happens.

If you happen to be in Chicago this week or next, and you plan to attend the tournament, you just might get to meet your friendly neighborhood lawyer-boxer-blogger. :-)

Randy Couture Resigns from UFC

Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports reports the story here. Wow. I wasn't expecting that.

Although this blog is about boxing rather than MMA, I'll comment here on MMA from time to time because I think it's interesting, it's related to boxing, and I may be interested in learning more about it for cross-training purposes.