From Gold to Friday Night Lights to a New Path

I told Steve to quit going easy on me because of the difficulty of the two workouts I did Monday and Tuesday. I think the reality is that he's just been making me work harder and I love that. This is my fifth week training at  PowerThru  and I absolutely love it more now than ever. Wednesday: 1 round = Tire flip (down / back) with run to store  +  Tire pull on firehose (down / back)  +  10 pushups  +  10 machine row (0 plus machine)  +  ruck run with 30 lbs of sand to the light. I did four rounds in an hour - and felt like the hunchback of our town running with the ruck. Tuesday : 1 round = 10 handle pushups + 1 minute plank + 20 squats (B2B & regular)  +  10 manmakers (similar to burpees and T-pushup)  +  10 hammer curls (with 20 lb each)  +  wall climb (3x attempts)  +  pullups with bar  + sumo squat (45 lbs)   +...

With yesterday off, I elected to visit Steve a bit later than usual, and in some ways I regretted it. My revelation that I dislike working out with distractions was apparent during my six reps of GI Jane (10 Burpees + 1 bodyweight row after each, 20 situps with 12-lb med ball, 30 bw squats, 4 blocks run). At the hamster gym, my nerves are frazzled by the zumba ladies shrieking while I'm running 20 feet away, headphones on full blast and I can still hear them.  At the spartan gym, it's the person who gives not only their life story, but also the stories of anyone who they know anything about. I wonder if it is also a hazard of making your living as a bartender, hair / nail stylist, probate lawyer.  At any gym, any time, I'd rather not ever talk - I'm there to get in, get challenged and get on with my day.  It is a contradiction. At the hamster gym, I wear headphones, every day, as loud as possible to not only ignore other people and try to achieve focus,...

I read this funny posting about fitness philosophy. My favorite line was the one about letting your inner fat kid out... I have to battle mine daily. After two weeks of hitting the morning workouts hard and trying to eat cleaner, things are going well. Yesterday's workout was a 17-rep descending set of (DB swing with 20 & 20 DBs, squats, pushups and jacks). After I got to 1 rep, I made it back up to 10, and traded squats for situps for variety. Today's workout was a good combination of pressure (30 minutes) and the challenge to beat 34 reps. I turned in 25 reps of this: 10 pushups, 10 squats, 10 rows and 10 jacks. I did some very ugly pushups at the end, but I had a focus the past two days that was awesome. In my personal battle for getting ripped, I think it's worth it. My fat kid still loves cake, but I like muscle strength more.