Woke up to a disappointing 271.2 lbs this morning. I had a bad week of eating during Thanksgiving week, and this past weekend wasn't too great either. The holidays are always rough when it comes to eating. I just have to get through Christmas and New Year's, and I should be ok. The other problem is waking up and getting to the gym on time. Now that Old Man Winter has reared his ugly head, it's harder for me to crawl out of my nice warm bed and brave the harsh Wichita winters. I know, they're all a bunch of poor excuses, but this is the shit that's goes through my head in the mornings.
A few weeks ago I hurt my right knee. It's not a terrible injury, but I can tell it's slowing me down. It's been about 2 or 3 weeks, and while it feels much better, it's still not 100 percent. I can bend it in its normal direction, and it feels fine. If I put pressure on it from the side when I stretch, or if I twist it when I kick with my left leg, it hurts pretty badly. Just like the cold I had a little while ago, it's more annoying than anything else. I'm hoping that it will be back to normal next week, but who knows. I mean it's carrying around 270 lbs everyday.
Today was one of those days when I was late to the gym. Chris asked me if I wanted to stay a little late after class to make up for the time I missed, and I did. I'm glad he asked because I got to spar again today. It's been a long time since I last sparred, and even though I'm still not very good at it, I love it. I sparred with a guy named Jesus (pronounced Hay-soos). He's much taller and more experienced than I am. I didn't feel like I did very well against him. He landed more punches than I did, and that really pisses me off. His reach is so much longer than mine. Every time I tried to get inside his reach, he just hit me on the top of the head. That gets annoying real quick. When I'd throw my jabs, they had about 4 inches to go before they could make contact. Jesus would just come back with a hook and get me right in the head. Again - annoying real fast. There was one point when Jesus caught me with a straight jab right to my mouth. My head flew back, and I felt a snap, crackle, or maybe it was a pop in the back of my neck. I thought, "Oh, man, I'm gonna feel that in the morning." I can feel some of the soreness setting in all through my neck and shoulders now, but I feel like these are the dues that I have to pay to become a fighter. Chris has more confidence in my abilities than I do, so I feel like maybe I just need more time sparring until I have that confidence in myself.
When we were done, I drank about half my bottle of water. As I was doing that, I tasted a familiar, bitter taste in my mouth. I spit out my mouthguard, and sure enough, there was a pool of blood in my mouthguard. All the punches and kicks that I've taken in the cage didn't hurt my body as much as this hurt my ego. This motherfucker drew my blood, and I let him. I can't let that go. I may not have the skills yet to settle this little "blood feud," but this definitely lights a much needed fire under my ass.
Not wanting to go out in the cold is not a bad excuse!! I use it all the time!
ReplyDeleteFire is a great motivator, if you really want something Eric. You gotta go that extra mile, there are no excuses. When you train, you have to train your mind just as you would your body. When I was in boot camp, they would always say today is an easy day while we ran, did push-ups, sit-ups, and everything in between. Because if you look at if from the outside looking in, how hard is is to do a push-up or sit-up or run. It's not hard at all you just have to move your body, and you just have to stay positive and focus on your goal. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or does. It matters what you think and do. Whatever it is that you want in life, you have to reach out there and grab it, and take control of it, because no one is just going to give it to you. You've got great people helping you achieve those goals, but they can only do so much the rest is up to you my friend.
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