The art of saying no, I havent quite mastered that yet.
Not that I really want to, however, there are times when I wish I just said; “sorry I cannot commit.” I never do though, I just say yes and look forward to the opportunity, then when in the middle of it I start cursing myself for getting involved in too many things. To be fair individually, they are all things I’m incredibly grateful for, particularly considering the whole pandemic stuff. Collectively, though, that is another story, at times, everything can become noise, and the fear of half-arsing it is real.
This was the biggest factor in deciding to stay off the hooch, I couldn’t afford to go into anything less than 100%. The effects of alcohol now I thought tended to last days for me, a fuzziness of the mind is how I can best describe it. That fuzziness is still there though now, and I am starting to attribute that to the mental checklist I create every week for myself. Even when I do get the chance to relax, my mind races and I can’t seem to pick something to watch or play, an uneasiness of the mind. Work, train, rehearse, manage, write and repeat. Work, train, rehearse, manage, write and repeat. Work, train, rehearse, manage, write and repeat. Mastering the art of saying no is not what I wanna do, I wanna master the art of enjoying the ride.
See also: “You’re good. Get Better.” Success & happiness, whats the trade off?
Speaking of one of those endeavors check out the link below :
https://watergatetheatre.ie/watergate_events/philadelphia-here-i-come-by-brian-friel/Monday
Monday I started off optimistic, a bit of training, sure why not. Chest and back day is always fun. The big man himself Davy Jones was on hand for today’s session. He reiterated the goal, low weight, high reps, up the intensity. Did 18 reps last week? Today we aim for 20. Look for that progression, that little bit of hope. That hope came when I realized that he put an extra 10kg on the bar without me noticing. It reminded me of a time I was training with my cousin, must be about 12 years ago now, and he unknowingly got his personal best on the bench press. He flew through it with an extra 20kg, something he was previously never able to even get one. A little bit of placebo thinking going on here.
The workout was fun until Davy threw in a little bit extra at the end, 5 rounds of 20 ball slams and ten burpees. I absolutely detest burpees! I don’t have the flexibility to get it done! As you can imagine it was a struggle and I was happy to see the back of em walking out the door.
Tuesday
Well, what a day this was. Hold onto your horses this may be a long one. So I thought it was a great day to run over to the gym from my gaf to get started on my warm-up. It was only just under 5km, but the problem was it was leg day. It didn’t help my cause when I walked in, knowing Vinnie would be taking the session, and I greeted him with “Hey, bitch!”. It was said in jest but Vinnie, took it as a personal slight on him. Vinnie had to set an example for me, considering he had a transition year student beside him on work experience. What followed was him adding reps to exercises in an attempt to break me. He did….but it took a while. Vinnie would say do 30, I’d say “30 sure why not 40”, and sure enough it 10 more reps got added. To be fair to myself, I hung in there until the leg press. Do 20 reps, however, he added the little details of doing 20 fast, then doing 20 slow, reversing it on the second set. My legs were screaming, cursing me. The screams became squeals as it became 30 reps, slow, fast, slow with super-setted Romanian deadlifts.
The sweat flowed, and as we finished off on hamstring curls and leg extensions, it dawned on me. I had to get home. Vinnie laughed at my plight. So I was determined to run it, giving the metaphorical middle finger to the abuse I had just put my legs through. It was slow, long, and arduous, but I ultimately got home with a barely passibly jog. I loved it, and need to thank Vinnie for pushing me to my limits that day and getting the best out of me, he is a star but Vinnie if you are reading this……See you next Tuesday! (Please be kind to me!)
Thursday
I wont lie, I did not want to go Thursday. I was tired, and cranky all day. Legs still aching, shuffling about the office, dreading what the immediate future held….which was shoulder and arms day. The rotator cuff had been experiencing issues throughout the day, but I wasn’t sure I was just making up excuses in my head as to why I could not go. Sure enough, I went in and hoped the warm-up would get me into gear, a good 20 minutes on the cross trainer ( I do not like the cross-trainer anyway) did not seem to do the trick. I had informed Lee, the designated trainer for the day, of my headspace and I think he could sense it wasn’t the usual messing. The tank felt empty but sure I was there now so might as well do what was required.
The workout was similar to the previous week’s one, it was about trying to finish out sets properly, and get some consistency. Throughout the workout, you inevitably have chats, whether, about training or whatever, PT’s can have that hairdresser vibe. Where you just chat and open up, and that’s what we did. There was a task at hand, yeah sure, but it was a nice space to be in, and overall walking out I felt better than I did when I walked in, and that is more important than any aesthetic benefit. I left and went off to rehearse
There were a few more runs included in the week, as the calf injury is healing, it’s a slow process but I am glad to be out hitting the roads with the headphones blaring out some Metallica!
If you want to make a change, you can contact Davy at 0892528904 or email [email protected].
