The Glowing Edge

Tag: difficulty

  • Golden Gloves Training Journal: Day Three

    I started the day thinking “I can do ANYTHING for 18 minutes.” That’s nine rounds (and only 3 at a time!) in the Golden Gloves.

    But my day was a lot longer than 18 minutes. I was under way too much stress, and got out of the Zone. My insulin was all over the place, and my blood pressure was down. I didn’t realize it was happening until I crashed halfway through my workout, which was a pisser because I was prepared to rock it hard.

    Workout:
    Precor elliptical: 15 min, at/near 75% capacity
    Bosu ball crunches: 200 to front (50 with medicine ball), 100 each side
    Jump rope: 6 rounds of 2 minutes each, sprinting half of each minute. 30 sec rest between rounds.
    [C R A S H — also mild exercise-induced asthma attack]
    Leg extension: 40 lbs, 3 sets of 12 reps
    Squats: 100 lbs, 3 sets of 12 reps
    Front/side deltoid flys: 5 lbs each hand, 3 sets of 12 reps
    Bicep curl bar: 35 lbs, 3 sets of 12 reps
    Lat pulldowns: 70 lbs, 3 sets of 10 reps

    Evening recovery:
    Drink oceans of water, avoid sugars, eat well, rest, ice knee. Read fluffy fiction.
    Listen to Cloud Cult

    Cloud Cult / No One Said It Would Be Easy

    you came up from the ground
    from a million little pieces
    you’re a pretty human being
    yeah you’re a pretty human being,

    when it all comes crashing down
    try to understand your meaning
    no one said it would be easy
    this living it ain’t easy

    and you were sewn together
    with a tapestry of molecules
    a billion baby galaxies
    and wide open spaces

    and every thing you need is here
    everything you fear is here
    and it’s holding you up
    it just keeps holding you up

    you came up from the ground
    from a million little pieces
    you’re a pretty human being
    yeah you’re pretty human being

    when it all comes crashing down
    try to understand your meaning
    no one said it would be easy
    this living it ain’t easy

    9:00 pm, feeling much better. Some days are like that.

  • Why Boxers Can’t Lie

    Why Boxers Can’t Lie

    It’s just as easy to talk a big game as it is to wear baggy clothes to disguise an extra 10 pounds or cheat off somone else’s paper in high school. In the business world, execs know how to assign work to underlings and take all the credit if their efforts bring success. But boxers can’t lie.

    Boxers might use shady methods to enhance muscle mass but they are still going to be in a weight category with others the same size. They are still going to have to sweat to throw the high punch counts, focus despite dead-on jabs to the face, rib-crushing body blows, or a well-connected uppercut.

    Muhommad Ali’s delightfully arrogant I-am-the-greatest patter was the gospel truth. He had a phenomenal ability in the ring; he was the greatest. Lots of boxers go on about their domination of the ring, but when the bell sounds, it doesn’t matter what a boxer thinks or says. They have to show their mental and physical power, and what you see is what you get; all the talk is stripped away and the reality is right there for all to see and judge.

    Boxing is a relentlessly, sometimes crushingly, honest sport. Anyone who works their way up to ringtime experiences this, and they either relish or despise it; there’s very little middle ground. You are willing to be stripped bare of pretense in front of other people or you aren’t going to get in the ring again.

    For me, this is terrifying and invigorating at the same time. I think it’s partly a proscriptive against the daily bull I see people taking part in. Does anyone really care about rockstar perks at work, big paychecks and positions, and the top brand of shoes to sport and names to drop? I would rather know: am I real? Can I deliver under pressure? Do I know how to be the best person possible? Am I contributing to someone else’s growth and continuing to push my own as well? Can I turn aside from the endless distractions and focus on the most important issues at hand?

    If I wanted to hide, I would quit boxing. And I don’t just want to exist, either; I want to thrive and contribute and grow. Those are all hard things to accomplish, but well worth the effort.