New Blog Sighting

This morning, I happened upon a relatively new blog that has some good content and insights into our sport. It's called The Current Boxing Scene, and it is published by a fellow who calls himself "the boxing fanatic." According to the archives, this blog has been online for about two and a half months and provides very good commentary about what is going on these days in boxing. It's a fine blog and I hope "the boxing fanatic" will be posting more frequently. I already like what I see!

Hat tip to Marc at My Boxing Blog for the link.

Update:

Usually, I don't second-guess myself, but shouldn't that read "glove tip" instead of "hat tip." Or, maybe, "glove tap"? Nah, the latter is too aggressive--Marc might think I'm challenging him or something!

Returning to Lifting Weights

After about 2 years off from lifting weights regularly, I resumed that part of my workout routine today. To make a long story palatably brief, I took a break from weight lifting when I lost my personal trainer, Matt, due to circumstances beyond my control. Even though there was nothing I could do about it--and I still think he got lousy treatment from the athletic club where I used to train--I got into a funk where I lost a lot of enthusiasm for strength training and building muscle. It's funny how our emotions can affect our workouts; I have found it is good to honor them and not ignore them. For me, workouts have to balance the four basic aspects of our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Anyway, it was great to get back to it today. My friend Mark joined me at my new gym and we had a great time pumping the iron. Since it was my first time back, I took it fairly and avoided the testosterone-fueled temptation to push myself really hard with a lot more weight than I ought to use on my first day of using weights again. Also, I was careful to stretch after almost every group of 3 sets for each exercise. I stretched a lot at the end of the workout, too; I don't plan to be immobilized tomorrow!

Here's the recap of the workout:

• 44 minutes of roadwork (it's getting cold out there!)
• 3 x 8 on leg press
• 3 x 10 upright row
• 3 x 8 lat pulldowns
• 3 x 8 bicep curls with dumbbells
• 3 x 8 tricep extensions

I know it's an easy workout, but I have learned (the hard way) to ease back into a particular type of training after an extended break from it. I'll be increasing the number of exercises and the weights I use soon.

I didn't do any boxing-specific training today. I am close to figuring out how I want to work weight training into my fitness routine. I'll probably alternate one day of boxing training with a day of weight lifting. I'm still adjusting to the new gym and getting there in time to work out properly. I know it has been a few months already, but there have been a lot of things demanding my attention recently, so the transition has not gone quite as smoothly as I originally had hoped. That's alright. I tend to be very persistent and on the attack in boxing, and that is how I approach life generally. I'll keep at the scheduling issues until I get it where I want it to be.

Mark seemed to enjoy himself. I hope he'll join my new gym; it would be great to have him here. I am moving on from what was becoming an increasingly dysfunctional situation at my old club. There was no problem with any of our boxers and certainly not with our coach, but the board of directors, and particularly the president, of our club made a lot of choices that really stink. I need to put that part of my life behind me while I still have mostly pleasant memories of my 17 years there.

Hey, weight lifting: it's great to be back! :-)

The Best Laid Plans...

On Saturday, I invited my friend Mark to visit my new gym and join me for a workout. He is interested in joining, and is interested in boxing as well as weight lifting. So far so good.

Mark and I arranged to meet there at 1:00 p.m. Of course, even though I allowed plenty of time to get there, I had to wait for the 18th Street bus for half an hour--the longest wait I've ever had for that bus--and I got their late. Still, no problem, because Mark wasn't very upset about having to wait for me. He got a tour of our gym and some basic information about it, along with a 7-day trial pass so he can use the facilities and see how well he likes it.

The problem is that we did not get to do our workout as planned. Since it was nearly 1:15 when I got there and 1:20 when Mark returned from walking around the neighborhood, there was time just for a tour and a few questions, but no workout, because the USA team, in town for the world championships, is training at my gym! How cool is that? Here's a little more detail.

"The 11-man squad arrived early Thursday before checking into their hotel and taking part in their first training session at GOTIME Chicago. The team will train at the local gym through the opening day of competition. Following their first training session in the Windy City, Team USA enjoyed a team dinner of Italian food at a local Chicago restaurant.

"They will continue their final few days of training on Friday morning, getting in an early morning run prior to training at 2 p.m. at GOTIME. The 2007 event is the first senior world championships for nine of the 11 team members with only flyweight Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) and bantamweight Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.) having competed in the 2005 edition. Both boxers took home bronze medals from the 2005 World Championships in Mianyang, China."

Source: http://www.usaboxing.org/92_2081.htm

The USA team was scheduled to begin their training at 2:00 p.m. It was my (perhaps erroneous) understanding that the gym was going to be closed to members for security reasons. I need to check into that because the news source I quoted above says the training sessions will be open to the media, so if media, why not members? I believe there is training scheduled for Monday, so I need to verify that. After all, as a blogger, I am part of the new media! It would be great to watch the team train, although it is probably in the early afternoon when it might be very difficult to get there, but we shall see!

In any event, I am psyched to be training at the same gym where the USA world championships team is training. Just knowing they are there is pretty cool. Hopefully, Mark and the other guys can join me there this week, and to see some of the tournament.

News from Other Boxer-Blogger Friends

Here are some updates from friends who are fellow boxers and fellow bloggers. I recommend reading these guys regularly.

My Boxing Blog

My friend Marc, who lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, has returned to his training! Woohoo! He even entitled his first blog entry, "Joy of Training." How's that for inspiring? I really enjoy seeing others who consider their training fun and joyful.

It is amazing that Marc finds time to do any training, given his work and school schedule. He is following the same career path I took. Mark is an information technology professional and is attending law school at the same time. That's how I did law school. I could blog lots more about that experience--and I probably will--but for now let me just say it is intense.

So welcome back to training, Marc. Way to go, and keep up the good work!

Nerd of Steel

Our man, Nerd of Steel, has returned to his training, too, after taking some time off to allow his ankle to heal from an injury. Welcome back to training, Nerd! To deal with the inevitable muscle soreness that comes from returning to training after a layoff, and even after routine hard workouts, Nerd offers "5 Tips To Handle Muscle Soreness." They're all effective methods, though I have to say I am not fond of the ice baths. Brrrrr.

Kayo Kid

Kieran O'Leary takes a walk down memory lane as he tells us about a match he had, a little over 4 years ago, with an investment banker nicknamed "Spider." He posts a video of that bout. It's definitely worth watching to see Kieran in action. Good job, Kieran!

So You Wanna Be a Boxer, Huh?

I guess I really do. It took some pretty strong effort to get to my new gym today. The transition has been a little harder than I had expected. The guys at my old club don't seem terribly excited about setting up any new workout arrangements right now. I think we're going off into different directions. That's understandable, but still kind of disappointing to me.

Since our club closed on August 31--and it hasn't even been two weeks since that date--it is probably still too early to predict accurately what will happen. I have pretty much done what I can to keep the guys together; the rest will be up to them.

Why am I mentioning all this? Simply because it has been affecting my motivation. I really need to accept this change in my life. It has happened and is the reality I am facing now. The old arrangement was nice while it lasted, but now we're in a new situation (at least I am).

I like the new gym. Everyone is friendly there, I fit in well, and it's already starting to feel like home to me. Work has been kind of nutty, though, and I was really on the fence about getting over to the gym today. Oh, the excuses a man's mind can generate!

After I had my bag packed and went out the door, I really thought about turning back and doing the workout tomorrow instead. It was miserable outdoors. The temperature had dropped significantly this afternoon, and a nasty, misty rain was falling and making the whole scene look like something from a horror movie. Alright, maybe I am exaggerating just a little.

Anyway, I didn't turn back. I went to my new gym and had a decent workout. Here's the recap.

• 30 minutes roadwork
• 4 rounds shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on the heavy bag
• 2 rounds of stretching
• 1 round on the speed bag
• 1 round on the double-end bag

While shadowboxing, I got a few helpful pointers from Ray Pace, GoTime Chicago's boxing coach. He talked with me about doing some training with him and about meeting up with him and some of the other guys on Saturday mornings for sparring practice. That all sounds promising, too.

I don't know what will happen with my friends from my previous club. They are all great guys, and they're still my friends, but I don't know if we'll be pursuing our sport as a group. I cannot control that.

However, my experience today has taught me a valuable lesson. Even with the challenges, I am dedicated to this sport. I want to improve as a boxer. I'll stay with it.

Final Workout At My Current Boxing Club

It was a pretty emotional experience. Yesterday, I had my last workout at my athletic club. I didn't do much of a workout because I was running really late and was lucky to arrive while some of the guys were still there. First, the recap of my very brief workout.

• 20 minutes of roadwork (even this was short!)
• 1 round on the heavy bag
• 2 rounds on the focus mitts with Bernard

Yes, that's it. I felt incredibly guilty yesterday, but I got there late and did what I could to make the best of it. It was good to see several of the guys there. In addition to Bernard and me, Tim, Cory, and Bill were there. Kevin wanted to be there but had a dinner he needed to attend. Henry Coyle, a professional boxer and a friend of Bernard's, joined us to give us some help with sparring. Sadly, I was too late for sparring. Oh well, next time!

We all went to dinner afterward. Over dinner, we discussed some ideas for our future. I'd be really happy to keep all our boxers together. I am realizing it may be tough to do that, but I will sure try to make it happen. I will be talking later today to one of the owners of a fairly new gym in Chicago that might work very well for us. I'll post more about that here soon. I am determined to turn this difficult challenge into a great opportunity.

Club Update

I got the official update today: our athletic club will be closing for good on August 31. Yes, I am angry about it. I feel that we, the members, have been lied to. However, at this late date, there is really nothing I can do to stop the closing and the sale of the property.

Of course, this is no surprise to me; I have known it was coming for about a year. Even so, it is a sad time for me. I was one of the founders of the boxing club at the Chicago Athletic Association in 1994 when another member and I brought the sport back. It's hard to believe that was 13 years ago.

I am hoping we can keep some of our guys together. I will talk to Bernard in the next day or two and see what he thinks about the situation.

Finding Friends Online, Finding Inspiration

There has been some difficult stuff going on lately; some of it is really unpleasant. I'll get through it--I know that--but maintaining a positive attitude has been hard lately. Again, I will get past this rough time, and I am usually pretty good at staying optimistic and looking for the positive aspects of a situation. Wednesday, however, I found myself feeling a bit low and engaging in some "woe is me" kind of thinking.

That's a toxic state to enter because the negative attitude tends to attract more negative experiences and things begin to snowball to the point where life starts to look ugly in all its aspects. Recognizing that I was starting to go in that direction and wanting to turn around and go the opposite way, I decided to reconnect with some online friends with whom I had lost touch for a while.

A few years ago, I used to frequent a site called Fit To Be Men. It's a really good site, focusing mainly on fitness and living life to the fullest, being the best we can be. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but work and various other things got busy and my participation dropped off. In any event, it was a natural place to return to reconnect with some friends and look for some inspiration.

I sought and I found. One of the friends that I haven't talked to in a while is a fellow named Rob, or "FishrCutB8," as he is known in various places on the Internet. Rob has a blog called, yes, Fish or Cut Bait. (I didn't even know Rob had a blog, that's how out of touch I've been.) I've been reading the blog and I know I have a lot of catching up to do, with him and with other friends, but I am writing about him now because he's a great guy and an inspiration to me.

Rob is a survivor of testicular cancer. His battle with cancer and his recovery inspire me. However, to be candid, Rob has been an inspiration to me before his cancer experience. Rob is one of those online friends I have been privileged to meet face to face. Even though we knew each other just from online contact at Fit To Be Men and a few other forums, Rob was always keenly interested in me, my progress with fitness, my struggle with depression (later diagnosed as bipolar disorder type II), and some other challenges I have faced in life (I'll blog about those sometime). He has always been very supportive.

Rob and I met in person in Little Rock, Arkansas at a men's fitness retreat hosted by our mutual friend, Jean-Paul "JP" Francoeur, in the spring of 2004. There's nothing quite like Little Rock in the early spring, and there's nothing quite like JP's fitness weekend (now called the annual "fitness summit"), filled with first-rate instruction about weight training and nutrition, JP's warm Arkansan hospitality, and some great food at the Flying Fish on President Clinton Avenue followed by a few cold beers at the Flying Saucer, also on President Clinton Avenue. Rob and I hit it off right away and I felt like I had known him since I was a boy. What a great time! I sure hope to go back to Little Rock and attend one of JP's events; they really rock.

Recalling these memories makes me happy. Hell, it does more than that: it inspires me to face, even embrace, the challenges that lie ahead. Rob and JP are both inspirational guys and good friends. Knowing I have their friendship helps give me courage to step forward and make the most of everything life has to offer, the fun stuff and the more challenging. Thanks, Rob and JP!

Just Let Me Take this One Call...

Mobile phones really are everywhere these days, aren't they? I sent this to my friend Chris, who lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I will be visiting him soon. Chris and I have agreed to put the gloves on for a friendly match while I am there. In my e-mail to him, I assured Chris that this picture would not give an accurate depiction of our bout.

For one thing, I would not be so rude; I would definitely use a hands-free unit! :-P

For another, I can't imagine that Chris would let me get away with a stunt like that! The old rule, "protect yourself at all times," comes to mind! Chris is a good guy, but I doubt he'd let me take a break to yak on the phone. (Would he have to go to a neutral corner while I was talking?) More likely, I'd be looking at the lights pretty darned quickly, so I will let voice mail answer any mobile calls that I might receive during this epic bout!

(Clipart Copyright © 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation. All rights reserved. Used by subscription license.)

Good Luck, Jeff! (Again)

My buddy Jeff Gilbert had a bout scheduled for a few weeks ago in Langley, British Columbia. It was postponed and rescheduled for today. So good luck, Jeff! Do well and have a blast!

Good Luck, Jeff!

My good friend, Jeff Gilbert in Seattle, WA, has a bout coming up tomorrow, in Langley, British Columbia. I am thrilled for him! He's been training hard and eagerly anticipating this match. I know he will do well and I sure hope he has a blast with it. Jeff will be going up against a Canadian opponent. The match will be at the Langley City Boxing Club. Here is the information; if you happen to be in the greater Vancouver, BC area, stop by and cheer Jeff on. He's a good guy and he is really psyched for this bout.

Do well, Jeff, and above all, have a great time!