Chariots of Fire

"Thirty four-forty," Jeff shouted. "That's your best time ever."
Actually, Jeff, it's my only time ever.

Today was day two of the Indy CrossFit Challenge. The workout was simple: Run a 5K. Problem is, the number of times I've run 5000 meters, or 3.1 miles for you 'Mericans, is between not-on-your-life and fat-fuckin'-chance. I had a decent pace for the first mile but I kept slowing down. The trick, I decided, is to not stop. Every time I stop in a CrossFit workout, it gets worse not easier. If you drop the weight you start thinking about how much it's going to suck to pick it up. If you walk during the run, you think about how much your lungs burn, or how heavy your feet feel. Better to suffer for the shortest possible amount of time. So mark it on your calendars, another milestone for Taffy.

Diet 8 a.m. Homemade sausage muffin with ze egg and ze cheese. OJ. Noon Chicken fajita sammich, chips, sodee pop. Haven't eaten dinner yet - the future is unwritten!

Strength & Conditioning I rode my bike to work and back. See above.

Skills Nada.

Yes

Have you ever asked a question you knew the answer to but were still stung by the response?

"Hey, Pat, honest opinion. Do I need to be in here more?"
"Yes." He didn't even look up from what he was doing.

All my workouts have been sporadic for the last month. My wedding, other people's weddings, packing up our house, closing on another one, changing jobs and getting busier: my "project" has taken a backseat. But that's kind of the point. "Supposebly" there will be a much more flexible, and later, schedule at Red Cobra/Integrated Fighting so I can go in on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays to work on my jiu jitsu or Muay Thai.

Diet 8 a.m. Eight ounces of milk, EAS protein powder, banana, assorted berries. Delish. Noon Tuna sammich, chips, water. 4 p.m. Grilled chicken salad, water. 7 p.m. Steak 'n' Shake meal, dog. Father-in-law paid so it was his call.

Strength & Conditioning See below.

Skills Jumped in on the latter part of the MMA workout and worked takedowns and armbars. It was one of the more constructive drills I've done in a while and made me more excited for a formal BJJ class. After that we did shots back and forth across the room, then shots with resistance. After that we did pushups in the round which suuuuuuuucked.

Hm

I was listening to National Public Radio the other day and there was a piece on a Japanese heritage celebration in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It bore no immediate relevance to MMA but it set some thoughts in motion. Dana White talks about how MMA is THE global sport because everyone understands fighting. While that's true I think he is glossing over a greater truth, which is that MMA embodies globalization. The open-source sport sprang out of challenges issued by masters of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, itself a mingling of Japanese science and South American soul. Now MMA, like the economy, world music, fusion cusine, is a multi-ethnic stew, the true sport of the future. More on that thought as it develops.

Diet Soda in the morning, couldn't eat lunch until 3 p.m. because of work bullshit, sandwich and chips for dinner, sandwich and chips after the gym.

Strength & Conditioning I missed the MMA workout today so I went swimming at the Y. I feel really good after we swim laps but it makes my heart pound like crazy, so hard that it hurts my sternum.

Skills Nopers.

Workin' for the man every night and day

Still tired from last night, I overslept CrossFit and went to work at 8 a.m. so I could leave early. The ride in was super easy, I felt like I was gliding. Ran around like crazy, at like crap, but I did get shoot clay pigeons all morning and sit in on Ice-T rehearsing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Diet 9 a.m. Sausage egg McMuffin, Dr. Pepper. 2:30 p.m. Pizza and breadsticks. 7 p.m. Qdoba, goddamn.

Strength & Conditioning 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Sumo deadlift high pull, box jumps, and double unders. I asked Jeff what a good time would be for me. He said 12 minutes. I pushed and pushed and pushed and stopped just enough to breathe and finished in 11:34. Not amazing but competitive with the other guys lifting to prescription.

Skills Nada.

Yes, dear

I've been dealing with women, oh, all of my life now, but I'm still slow to catch on to the fact that discussions are never just about what you are talking about, noooooo, they are about 100 other things women won't mention until they burst into tears and make you feel like an asshole for not being psychic. The moral of this story is that when your wife asks you to go swimming at the YMCA at 8 p.m. after dinner with her family which was after your MMA workout which was after work the simple answer is, "yes, dear."

In other news my weight is holding steady now at 250. I am down a pant size and my overall fitness level is rising, but I am not losing a pound. My diet still sucks and that is the hardest thing to fix when my home life is so chaotic. Hopefully we can close on the house and not live amidst boxes forever.

Diet 8 a.m. Small bowl of leftover spaghetti, two eggs. Noon Two slices of pizza, two breadsticks, small soda. 7 p.m. Italian beef sandwich, small soda. 9:45 p.m. PB&J, chips, carrots.

Strength & Conditioning Swam laps at the Y. Nothing serious, and definitely not high intensity, but it was definitely tiring.

Skills Two five minute rounds of shadow boxing, two ? minute rounds of grappling. Pat wasn't there today and almost everyone there was getting ready to fight on Saturday so I drilled by myself for a bit - boxng, Muay Thai, BJJ - and took off.