Wed 22 to Monday Nov 27

Things of beauty

I keep hitting the mornings. Morning stretching and meditation/getting my head ready for the daily activities in the garage gym is at 100%. Five by five.

Seriously, I am starting to treasure those minutes like they are steaks to a starving man.

Some coffee, some very relaxing tunes and some rolling and stretching. All are good. The sun sometimes even pays a visit.

The breakfast has been ok, coffee has been a Godsend.

Lunch has been regular - I'd rather be by myself, but my situation in that regard has not changed. I'm still eating in the staff room, which is not my first choice.

Dinner is still my problem. I'm trying to lead from the front, but there's a family dynamic going on that makes it difficult to eat properly for weight loss.

Meh, also the evenings are just stupid busy.

Ah well, I'm catching up at work at home and I got this done tonight:

four rounds of this

20 kb H2H switches
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 arm curls
20 step ups
15 BW Squats
15 push ups

After the fourth round, did 4 rounds of double cleans and presses - 12, 12, 12, 13 .... that was .. sweaty.

Thursday Nov 16 to Tues Nov 21

All of these days - and for the first time on the weekends, too - I've made the time to get to my gym to stretch and roll. Usually in the early morning.

I've watched five or six sunrises from inside my garage gym in a row. Not a bad thing to be doing. Not a bad habit to get in to. I've been thinking a lot about habits these days. The fact of the matter is I have a few habits that support a long happy life and a few that do not support a long happy life.

I'm trying Ringo, I'm trying real hard to be a shepherd.

Ah well, I got this done for four rounds tonight, too.

20 H2H kb swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb cleans and presses
20 kb squats
20 step ups
15 bw squats
15 push ups

After that, did three rounds of double kb cleans and press. One minute on and one-minute rest.

That was kind of interesting.

Tuesday and Wednesday Nov 15

Another slice of weirdness in my life these days. Did get the morning routines done both of these days; stretching and rolling. 

Even a little "meditation" ... if that is what you want to call sitting and staring out the garage window at the changing shades of grey/pink in the sky for about five minutes.

Tuesday night had to be a dad and could not make the team training session. Did do some evening gentle relaxation and stretching on my own. Still felling Monday's session.

Wednesday night I got into the pool at Cedar Springs for about 45 minutes. A lot of that was in the hot tub, to be honest. Helped make my shoulders and arms obtain a Jell-O like feeling.

Was very helpful.

me after the hot tub

Nov 10 to Monday Nov 13

Things are slowly looking up, but there are major changes on the horizon. Things that may majorly change my horizon.

I've been able to leave earlier for work these days, but every single day - Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was able to get some sort of morning rolling and stretching done. Mobility work, whatever you want to call it.

I am really happy to see the progress in my hips and knees these days. Pain-free; there is no pain after four rounds of this, plus four rounds of 10 two-handed deadlifts with the 40-kilo bell.

20 H2H Kb swings
10 kb cleans
10 kb cleans and presses
10 kb snatches
20 step ups
10 curls
15 bw squats
15 push ups

The deadlifts were different for me at this time. Haven't done them since before my surgery. It was nice to not blow anything in my stomach...

Oct 27 to Nov 9

Still on the level around here. Starting to dip down and then scramble enough to keep heads above water.

At least I started lifting with a few of the rugby team at EPC twice a week. Tonight was the fourth session I've made it to in November. A pretty good session while we listened to the Wu.

Bulgarian split squats, over head plate lunges and the like. A pretty good session all around. The part I like is that I got home and my wife appreciated the fact that it was just over an hour. I was also back in time to help with bath and bedtime for the youngest.

I'll also mention that the morning sessions with coffee, stretching and rolling have been going quite well. I have also added working on flexibility in my shoulders and rolling with lats and rhomboids, too. Lots of adhesions to work on and flexibility to gain.

I also paid for a float and a massage that I just haven't been able to book and show up for  ...

I also picked up an 88 pound (40 kilogram) kettlebell Oct 30th. Ain't no one going to be shoplifting that baby anytime soon.