Weird Week

It's been a weird week. I stepped away from training for a few days for several reasons. First and foremost I wanted to give my rib some time to mend. It wasn't excruciating just walking around but pulling/pushing/lifting/turning was way uncomfortable and I didn't want to aggravate it before going to Cincinnati. That's another thing - I leave tomorrow to work on a story for FIGHT! in Ohio. I'll be gone Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I also had to crank out a story on short notice for MMA Junkie and keep chugging on a second assignment for FIGHT! I was gearing up for a fight that got cancelled so now I have to wait until March. On top of all that I got some shitty news at work and wasn't offer the other job I interviewed for so my spirits have been low. I've been trying to help out more with wedding planning and catching up on sleep. This project is become a very long grind but I've made a good deal of progress - my cardio is getting better, my endurance is improving, I'm stronger, and my walk-around weight is 10-12 pounds less than when I started. Not Hydroxycut commercial-like results, but as I said in the beginning, this is about a long-term lifestyle overhaul, not short-term results.

Inexplicably Draggin' Ass

A few of us jog around the mat warming up and Pat starts badmouthing some of the guys' upcoming opponents, pauses, looks at me and says, "And fuck whoever you're fighting in February." Pat's starting to expect more from me now which is both good and bad. My capacity for work is expanding but I have inexplicable bad days when I am just dragging ass in spite of a good night's sleep and decent food. My rib hurts bad.

Diet 6 a.m. Granola bar, water. 10 a.m. LeanCuisine rice & beans. Noon Indian buffet - greens, rice, curried vegetables, and bread. Delish. 4 p.m. Banana, water. 6:30 p.m. Amanda and I met an old friend and his wife for pizza, mahfacka.

Conditioning Forty-five minutes on the treadmill at the Y, three rounds of sparring at Throwbacks, a couple rounds of bag work.

Skills Working a lot on crossing the gap against bigger fighters, throwing tighter punches inside, throwing punches in bunches.

I am Neal's complete lack of interest.

Fighting is interesting and challenging. It stimulates my mind, taxes my body, and strains my spirit. Right now, my job does only the latter. Working in an office has always chafed me but it's getting harder and harder to tell the white lies that help you get by and be polite about all the stupid shit that happens. Hour meetings drag on for what feels like days and all I can think is, "what the fuck am I doing here?" I'm over "career advancement," I just want to get experience, network, and sock enough money away to walk away from cubicle life.

Weighed in at 249# today.

Diet8 a.m. Two eggs, two sausage patties, toast, half a Naked Juice. Noon LeanCuisine rice and beans, side salad, water. Yeah, I'm eating LeanCuisine now. WTF. 5 p.m. Banana, peanuts.

No strenght & conditioning or MMA workouts today. Rest. Mmmmm, reeeeest.

"Our lives are starting to revolve around MMA."

I could tell Amanda was upset when I got off the phone. I'd made tentative plans for us to go watch the UFC 80 with a couple we're friends with, and I had previously discussed it with her. I'm smart enough to limit the unilateral decisions I make now that I am engaged, but I didn't think it was a huge deal. Amanda likes watching the fights (she used to train Muay Thai) as long as I answer any questions she has and she likes the couple we'd be hanging out with. A long silent stretch was followed by a teary discussion about how I am so busy with work and training that our social life and relationship are an afterthought. Between my training, blogging, freelance writing, and TV viewing habits, "Our lives are starting to revolve around MMA," she said. It is embarassing to hear your fiance tell you that she needs a little romance and excitement. Turns out that I dropped a ball during my juggling act and didn't even realize it.

The plan for this week is three-a-days (Crossfit/YMCA/Throwbacks) on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Satuday, YMCA on Sunday, and off days on Tuesday and Thursday.

Weighed in at 251# this morning.

Diet 6 a.m. Half a bottle of Naked Juice, granola bar. 8 a.m. Small bowl of granola. Noon Meatball sandwich, chips, salad, water. 4:15 p.m. Banana, handful of peanuts. 7:30 p.m. Spaghetti, marinara, steamed vegetables, Italian bread.

Conditioning Twenty minutes at Indy CrossFit, an hour on the treadmill at the YMCA, four rounds of sparring at Throwbacks, two rounds on the double-end bag and 100 reps of a four punch combination on the heavy bag.

Skills Worked with Keith Palmer on closing the gap, boxing inside, and counter punching with taller opponents. And we talked a little about how some of the things he showed me are not going to transfer to MMA.

I am tentatively scheduled to fight (ammy boxing) on Feb. 16, so I guess I am officially in camp starting today.

The Reverse Lay 'n' Pray

Lay 'n' Pray is the term fight fans use to describe grapplers who get a reasonably dominant position ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifn the ground and do just enough to avoid getting stood up but never push the action. Today after four rounds of boxing sparring, we drilled submissions a little and then we rolled. Twenty minutes in I began employing what I call the reverse Lay 'n' Pray. This is where I lay on my back and try to control a much more experienced MMA fighter while he tries to pass my guard and apply various submissions. It didn't really work but I was so damn gassed it was a struggle just to fight off submission attempts.

On a side note, after reading Ken Pavia's Lifefood cleansing fast journal, I have come to the conclusion that A) 99% of colon-cleansing therapies are phoney baloney, and B) regular jiu jitsu training will keep you regular in spite of yourself. All the torqueing and compression of the abdomen mechanically stimulates digestion. Hard training literally kicks the crap out of you.

More details tomorrow.

Diet

Conditioning

Skills