Beast of the East

I'm back from the best summer of my life. Colorado was more than I ever could have asked for it to be and I'm being honest when I say I couldn’t feel more blessed. The people I met at CCO were the highest quality of people I have ever surrounded myself with and it was amazing getting to grow as a person around them. On top of my amazing experience there, I spent a week road tripping home and going on a cruise. This was the greatest 4 months of my entire life, hands down. This summer was the palate cleanse I needed to get my life back on track, and I fully intend to do this going forward.

 

My senior year of college starts tomorrow. This is amazing to me, seeing as I started this blog before I even left for college in June of 2010. I still remember that version of myself so well, and many, if not all aspects of my life are different at this point. My future plans right now are looking to go one of two ways-

 

1.      Two more years of grad school to get my masters in Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology

Or

 

2.      Move out to Colorado on a permanent basis and start teaching and coaching.

 

Both have potential to be great decisions but they both have drawbacks. If I had the perfect situation, it would be getting a fellowship in Colorado for my master’s, but I’m finding this to be unlikely. Ultimately I’d be dumb to turn down free college education so if that opportunity presents itself (I’d like to think I have a good chance), then that’s probably the route I’ll go.

 

I have more plans after the next 2-3 years in my mind but I don’t want to put them down on paper yet. I won’t know what my future holds until around March 2014 so I have some time to just stew, which sucks for my psyche.

 

 

Training wise, I spent a lot of this summer working on the bodyweight movements. I got pretty good at ring pull-ups and dips and did a few “metcons” every now and then, but nothing crazy. My diet went to shit. This summer was so much more than exercise and nutrition that I can never even consider this to be a negative, more just a reality of the situation I was in. When I go back to CCO next summer I’m hoping I can set it up to incorporate training and nutrition a little bit more into my lifestyle, which will take some preparation.

 

I am leaning towards following a more CrossFit style of training going forward. At this point in my life, I’d rather be extremely lean and get more muscular slower than be big but holding excess weight. My training will ramp up in intensity in the coming weeks and months and I’m really looking forward to putting my body through the ringer (in a safe manner) and seeing how the old machine responds.

 

Until next time.