a metaphor that is beaten to a bloody pulp

I did not lose any weight this week.

I actually took the entire weekend off from exercise completely (last week's run total: 22.2 miles), and even drank a few beers on Saturday night while watching the UFC ppv. A few beers had a major impact because:

a) I haven't had any alcohol whatsoever in over two months and probably only two or three times since January
b) I have a lot less mass to shield me from the effects of drinking

I was drinking Bud Light(aka nearly water) and pretty much passed out as soon as the show was over.

But I didn't gain any weight, either, and from now on I am Brock Lesnar...



And the rest of my body fat is Frank Mir...


I am going to treat it like the lunatic that I am until it looks like it was attacked by an entire gang of people wielding baseball bats.

In other words, it will be dominated.

I am changing things up a little bit from this point forward. I got a little involved in running and maybe burnt myself out a little bit. The miles aren't going to decrease that much... I am aiming for about 30 miles a week, up to 35 max. No 40 mile+ weeks, and if so, it will be rare. No more running twice a day. It's a great feeling to run 10-12 miles in a single day but going out for two separate long runs in a day only serves to make it boring and make me sick of it and dread it.

So, from now until the end of the summer, this is my plan:

Run my regular 4.2 mile run every morning at 6:15AM, rain or shine, Monday to Friday. Saturday a bit of a longer run in the morning, up to 6.5 miles and on Sunday anywhere from 4.2-6.5 miles depending on how I'm feeling.

The difference going forward is that I'm going to get back in the gym. For real this time. No cardio - just weights. From now on when I go to the gym I'm not even going to go upstairs and exercise. That's what the runs in the morning are for.

I have realized that this is something I needed to do for a while now, but a conversation I had with a co-worker of mine the other day really got me thinking about it. I would be a lot better off if I could work everything in together and kind of go with the total package.

I haven't lifted for strength in over a year. I got quite strong last year when I was doing it. I haven't gone to the gym without doing cardio probably since high school, so I'm going to be lifting harder than I have lifted in probably a decade.

Right now I'm thinking:
Monday: Chest/Tris
Tuesday: Shoulders
Thursday or Friday: Back
Saturday or Sunday: Biceps/Abs

I'm thinking 8 different exercises for 3 sets a piece, which would be around 24 sets a workout. Except biceps/abs. That one will be a bit less because there's only so much biceps you can do, and that much ab work takes working up to... I pulled an abdominal muscle once and it was the worst pain of my life.

This is about double what I have been "lifting" all year when I just went through the motions before I hurried up and did cardio.

I already look the best I have in many years but if I stick to this routine for a few months I will be absolutely shredded.

Maybe like this guy used to be when he was a pro wrestler:


Ok, maybe that's never going to happen...