Semester in Review

Life is good.  I want to recap this semester and talk about the next few months.  As I sit on my balcony typing this post, drinking my coffee with coconut oil and soaking in the morning sun, I can honestly say this has been the happiest time in my life.

Training

Many pieces finally came together with my training.  RTS and using RPE based auto-regulation has dialed in how much work I need to do while not blowing my guts out in the process.  I set multiple PR's in pretty much every lift I track.  Some PR's were a bigger deal than others, but there is no question that I did get stronger over the course of the semester.

I found conditioning and kettlebell work have a real place in my training.  To me, there is much value in running a fast 100m sprint, or being able to sprint up stadium bleachers over and over again.  Doing these sort of things well are an important component in my definition of "bad ass."  I just like doing it.  Its fun, it feels healthy, and keeps me balanced.

I don't have any grand training schemes for this summer yet.  I'll probably be lifting 2-3x a week.  I want to place a lot more emphasis on conditioning.  Lean and mean.  When the time comes, I will have a detailed and specific approach to my conditioning.  I will also set certain goals and benchmarks to measure my improvements.  For instance, the 1 mile run. Or, the 400m run. I'm not going to blindly run around and "work really hard" doing random shit to "get in shape."  Crossfit type programming can suck my balls.

I have a general sense for the direction I want strength training to go once I'm settled into D.C. and ready to implement a structured plan.  In the short term (4 weeks),  I'll work on getting my baseline back to full capacity.  I don't feel like I'm too far off, which was my entire goal for this transitional period.  In the medium term, I'd like to get down to 220 by the end of the summer and grow into that bodyweight.  Then maybe sometime in the fall or early winter I'll do a powerlifting meet and compete in the 220 class.  Beyond that, we'll see.

Diet

This is obviously the big one.  Over the course of the semester I've lost over 30 pounds.  On Friday, in a dehydrated, practically starved state from the final days of exams I hit 226.  This morning I am a bloated 231 after drinking/eating/partying all day yesterday.

I'm going to continue the hybrid style of backloading.  It just works great for my lifestyle.  I'm finally at the point where I can eat or drink whatever I want in social settings and not worry about it really setting me back.  This is really the entire point of leaning down for me.  Metabolic flexibility.  I don't want to worry about every morsel I food I put in body.   I want to enjoy life, and look great in the process.

Yesterday I went to an end of the year pool party at a friend's place.  Taking my shirt off (accompanied by immediate hoops and hollers from a bunch of chicks), made the past 5 months of intense dieting completely worth it.  It was a great feeling to just be out in the sun and really not give a damn how I look.  Sitting, standing, or in any position I don't look fat haha.  Multiple references to my "guns" were made.  One chick I didn't know was like "hey muscle man, I've been looking at your lats all day."  My drunk response, "I love big asses." Then I slapped her ass. Lol.

I no longer own a single pair of pants or shorts that actually fit . I've never really had a specific number I want to reach.  In general, I just have a certain look in mind.  I'm starting to close in on that... But I still have significant fat in the lower back/stomach I'd like to diet away.  So, I finally do have a number in mind.  I want to get below 220.  I want to weigh 219.

School and Life

The big development here is that I landed a summer associate position at a law firm in DC.  This happened last fall, but this semester I was also offered a student observer position at the S.E.C. for the coming fall.  That means I'll be in DC for about 9 months before coming back to STL my final semester.

As an initial matter, I feel extremely lucky.  The legal job market is entirely fucked.  It suffered a huge retraction in 2008-2009, and has not come close to any sort of a real recovery. Many, many students are out of luck right now, even though they made all the right choices.  I managed to land a high paying position in a very tough market.  If all goes well this summer, I will be back at the firm after graduation.

So, on the one hand I feel very fortunate.  On the other hand, landing the firm job and the SEC gig wasn't entirely luck.  I worked my ass off last year to get good grades.  I was ultra prepared for every interview I had last fall (over 15).  I worked hard to be a competitive applicant, and it paid off.

I guess this is why I'm so happy with life right now. Any measure of success is entirely more satisfying when you've worked hard for it.  Increasingly, I make decisions from what in law is called the ex post perspective: I ask myself, "Looking back after the fact, will I regret the choice I'm about to make right now?" For me, the answer usually goes something like this.  "Well, I can't be 100% sure whether I'm right or wrong, but I know if I try my hardest I won't regret this." What is there to regret when you've put forth your best effort?  I've found this outlook almost universally leads to positive decisions and behavior.  It doesn't matter whether its training, dieting, studying, drinking, etc.  

I'm happy because I have no regrets.  Did I try my hardest to maintain my diet and make the right food choices everyday? Yep.  Did I train hard and push myself to PR even while I was losing tons of bodyweight?  Yep.  Did I apply myself every single day in school and give it my all during finals? Yep.

Notice none of the questions are framed in a manner that is outcome dependent.  In this case, I happen to have a positive result in all three examples.  I'm stronger, leaner, and have a great job lined up. More and more I'm measuring my success by the quality of the journey.  You work hard to achieve your goals, but its all the shit along the way the make it feels great.  This is life!  Its way too short to measure success on one small moment in your life.  Generally, that is called achievement.  In strength training its called realization.  Work hard. Try your best.  No matter the result, you'll have very few regrets.  Your life is successful because the journey was a success.

Onward and upward!