Field Report #043

 

Good morning!

Since my last post, I've gotten off the exercise train and back on again. A punching bag failure was enough excuse for me to take another week off, and lose the momentum I built in mid-August. Now I have to start almost from scratch again but am happy to have everything operating.

I want to learn to approach things more like Kipchoge here, who, as John Kelly quipped, is "disciplined about his disciplines." All those skipped days, excuses, conflicts, etc. add up to the difference between a guy like him to gets it done and logs every run, and a guy like me who often finds reasons to not get it done. He has a very professional and disciplined approach to his training - just look at all those training logs!

Looking forward to practicing that consistency and strengthening that commitment this week.

On the Warpath

The burpees are back!

After a 51-day hiatus, I completed 60 burpees both today and yesterday. God be praised! I broke it up into 4 sets of 15 at working pace, and each one gassed me both days.

But I'm glad to be breaking my body in again, which I have time to do because the office is done! I prioritized getting my garage done over the summer, and almost all my free morning and evening time was dedicated to it. Now it's ready to be used for what I made it for - an office space and workout space! 

I used Sunday August 13th as a start date for my training, as I get on the "warpath" leading toward an amateur boxing debut Lord-willing in about a year and four months. The heavy bag I made is the centerpiece of the workout area of the garage, and I'm thrilled with how it's done these first two days of training. 

The plan is to go through a boxing training routine Monday through Friday, with a long run on Saturday and Sunday off. It's 60 minutes of exercise six days a week. That's Stage 1.

I envision Stage 2 incorporating more running and a homemade reflex ball setup, which seems quite doable as a diy project having seen it and used it once. Stage 2 would probably bump the total workout time up to 75 minutes daily - maybe I replace injury prevention lifts with the reflex ball three times a week, and add in a 1.5 - mile run M-F.

Then Stage 3 would be a full 90 minutes, with time for a 3 mile run M-F in addition to all the other boxing work. At that point I would also probably be ready to start sparring weekly, which might be in addition to a Saturday morning long run next summer.

I am targeting a specific boxing style, composed of the following three elements:

1. Conditioning - Dominate my opponent through superior conditioning, leading to higher total volume of punches, better sustained form throughout the fight, and overall freshness, speed, and power.

2. Outside Fighting - Dominate my opponent through superior outside fighting, using my jab effectively to punish him while maintaining distance and set up overwhelming and frequent combinations, all while maintaining good footwork, head movement, ring mobility etc.

3. Muscle Memory - Dominate my opponent through superior muscle memory, putting in the repetitions on the bag, mitts, and sparring partners to be a able to instinctively act and react during the fight more effectively and fluidly than my opponent.

Also, I am very excited to be putting this poster up in the garage. WAR! WAR! WAR!