Striking a balance

The past week+ of training has been nothing short of fantastic, thanks largely in part to quickly striking a work/play balance outside of the office. While this may sound like it's just increased self-discipline now that I'm healthy and training again (which it is), the fact that it's a work/play balance and not a work/life balance is a significant new development occurring largely because of the better logistics and culture of my new job. It's refreshing having to tell co-workers "sorry, can't make happy hour tonight, walking over to the gym," instead of calling and canceling on one of my training partners because I've got to stay late to rack up the billable hours and have it get too late (and me in too bad of a mood) to screw around with the commute out to the gym at 8:30 p.m.

Bitter? No. Just loving the new job and the newfound ability to synch up the different facets of my life - namely training consistently.

Some quick bullets regarding how the past week played out:

- Past 7 days of training synopsis:
Sunday: Upper body circuit, abs, 3-mile run
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 9-round bag circuit (3 heavy, 3 hook, 3 double-end), 3-rounds focus mitts, abs
Wednesday: Upper body circuit, abs, 3-mile run
Thursday: Rest (unplanned - flu)
Friday: Rest (unplanned - flu)
Saturday: Plyometrics, 12-round bag circuit, abs (bundled up to sweat out the flu - kinda worked)
Sunday: Crazy cardio and leg circuits with Antonio, 3-rounds focus mitts

I definitely want to start detailing my workouts (better than above) on a daily basis. I feel like typing out my workouts would help me see any possible holes in my routines and just make everything more efficient and consistent, although I'm confident that will happen on its own as my training gains some momentum. I guess putting it all out here will help keep me honest, but then again there's no lying or faking it in the ring, so...

- Being sick sucks. 'Nuff said.

- Looking to start sparring this coming weekend. That way I'll have 3 weeks of training behind me, have a comfortable cardio base and (hopefully) have some ring rust off before putting the headgear on. Speaking of which, Tommy (reminder: one of the best 140 lb boxers in the country) introduced me to a couple people he thinks would be good for me to spar with. I was glad to have my phone book expand, but couldn't help but laugh when he told his sparring buddy "Yeah, Jonathan's a good fighter. Great to spar with - real durable."

Yeah, that's right. I'm durable. I can fight the nation's best, he can hit me (essentially at will) and I'll keep right on coming. Durability - the stuff of champions, baby.

- Stayed in Saturday (after a great workout) to watch the Mizzou game (and by game I mean 52-10 ownage of Nebraska) and Boxing After Dark, which featured bouts with two fighters who are always entertaining (Yuriorkis Gamboa and Alfredo Angulo) and Sergio Martinez, a fighter I'd never seen fight before but whom I was completely impressed by. If you're reading this and aren't keeping an eye on these fighters, well, start. But then again, before long you'll be able to see shades of all three in me: Gamboa's otherworldly athleticism, Angulo's straight-punching aggression, and Martinez's blazing hand-speed and pin-point precision. That, and James Toney's love for food...

New (slow-moving) beginning...

So, unfortunately (always great to start a piece with "unfortunately," huh?) there's nothing new to report on the boxing front. My thumb is still creaky - better, but still a bit creaky - and I haven't put my gloves on in almost 6 weeks now. However, I'm still cross-training actively (not even going to bother posting my schedule and routines, just trust that I'm aggressively hitting the gym and road 5x/week) and am ready to hit the ground running once I get back in the gym. Which will now be sooner rather than later because...

I just changed jobs.

And I couldn't be happier.

I have a new found appreciation for athletes who battle off-the-field issues in the middle of a season. While I'm (obviously) currently only an amateur boxer and more working professional than pugilist (*sigh*) I never would have guessed how tiring and time-consuming job-hunting is. The "project" and "obligations" I mentioned in previous posts was a reference to me spending every hour not at work looking for, well, other places to work. I have a newfound understanding and respect for any athlete going through an ugly divorce, a family illness, or whatever storyline the Herald or ESPN feeds you, let alone the other aspiring, full-time desk-jockey/part-time athletes.

And not only am I getting settled at a great company, but my office is just a 15-minute walk from my gym. So no more setbacks or excuses.

The distractions are behind me. Work, while new, seems to be in order. Thumb is healing. Logistics are in my favor. I'm hungry, I'm in-shape and good lawdy am I restless.

Hopefully this is the last - no, this is the last - post illustrating my "out-of-gym" shenanigans. Not only will I have the time to update this more often, but I'll be able to actually, well, update it with progress and new developments.

Eat-sleep-work-BOX.

These past two months have crawled by, but now, it's truly a new beginning.