Sunday, May 3, 2009

Recap - 2 weeks out

So my short “camp” leading up to my next fight has turned out to be as frenzied as I thought it’d be. The air of desperation has thus far been extremely beneficial – there’s no room for a lackadaisical workout or unplanned day off, so I’ve made sure neither happens. Maybe this is how I’ll have to find my stride – accept that training won't ever be a paced trot and just embrace the sprint to fight night. Besides, I’ve always prided myself in the fact that I never “let myself go” and am just a few weeks of fine-tuning away from being fight-ready, and, well, we’re entering week 2 and I feel as good as I usually do...

So here's a quick recap of my training since scheduling the fight. Everything starts with 12-minute jump rope, 3 rounds shadow boxing:

  • Saturday: Sparred with Tommy Duquette, one of the best amateur 140 lbers in the country. (Yes, the country - he's got the belts to prove it.) Needless to say, he had the advantage over me across the board, but when our 3 rounds were done he and his trainer had nothing but praise for my showing. I love sparring with Tommy because, despite outclassing me, he works with this certain style and pace that we both still get great work, no matter how lopsided the theoretical scorecard would be. If a national champ says I have a tight defense and good counterpunches (obviously I didn't need to say the same to him - I just laughed and said "wow" as I checked to make sure I was still in one piece) I know I'm more than capable of handling whatever shmuck I face next week. I finished up with a 10-round bag circuit and abs, then went for a 5-mile run. Fantastic workout.
  • Sunday: Upper body weight circuit (chest, bi's, tri's, back, neck) and abs, plus a 6-mile run. Before my run, I walked backwards on the treadmill at the gym for 15 minutes, shadowboxing and keeping my weight low. Thanks, Ann Wolfe!
  • Monday: Rest
  • Tuesday: Declined some sparring to work on some things I learned from my rounds with Tommy. Had a nice, long, paced session on the heavy bag (12 rounds) and tried to focus on my balance and footwork. Finished with a 3-round burnout on the hook bag. Abs, plyos.
  • Wednesday: Speed day. 4 rounds double-end bag, 4 rounds heavy bag, 4 rounds focus mitts. Had my 16 oz. gloves (rather than my 20 oz. "lobster claws") and really let them fly. Gassed quick - not early, but quick, from throwing cattle-cars full of leather in a short amount of time. Abs, plyos.
  • Thursday: 4-mile run, sit-ups, push-ups, core exercises. Felt gross and unmotivated, but was glad to get in what I did.
  • Friday: Sat in a suite at the Bruins game. Love me some Stanley Cup playoffs. Good times.
  • Saturday: Detoxed with a grueling workout in the heat. 4 rounds focus mitts, 4 rounds hook bag, 4 rounds heavy bag, 3 round burn-out changing levels on the huge jumbo bag duct-taped to one of the ring poles. That thing owns me. Broke out the rope ladder and truck tire for some hardcore plyos and drills. Finished with abs and a 4-mile run. Watched the Royals beat the Twins and Celtics beat the Bulls instead of forking over $55 for the Hatton/Pacquiao fight. Watched "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" as I drifted to sleep and fell in love with Mila Kunis' character. Ah, what a Saturday.
  • Sunday: Today. Feel-good sore. Going to go for a run, stretch out real well, and do 8 rounds of mitts with the body pads. I figure I'll get my strength in today by leaning/pushing on my buddy as I move around in the ring and tee off on him rather than just lifting per my usual Sunday routine. Was tempted to double-up the workouts, but figure this will be better work if I'm fresh. Besides, I'll never bench-press or curl my opponent, but I'm sure the situation will arise when I'll need to nudge him off me to make some space and rip into his rib cage. So the ring work wins. Sorry, beach muscles.
So good stuff going on this week in the ring and out. I have a busy week at work, some softball games to juggle (or skip this week...) and the usual life/schedule shenanigans, but I have zero complaints or worries about how I feel 2 weeks out. Just few more hard workouts and then I'll start tapering. And then it's go time.

No comments: