Gonna get awesome

Finally, things have calmed down at work, travel should settle down (I won’t be on the road overnight this month), and all the freak injuries have pretty much healed.  My stitched finger isn’t 100%, but I can now use it to type.  Grip is still a little off, but not enough to be an excuse any longer.

So.

Monday I’ll be back in the gym.  The plan is a little fluid on timing, but the strategy is set.  I’ll start out using at template like the Starting Strength (Rippetoe) plan, with cleans replaced with rows and chins added in after deadlifts.  (I know, doing that isn’t Mark’s routine, and he can call me a pussy for not doing cleans.)  Next week will be just getting back to the groove, but I expect to run the linear progression for a month or two getting back in the swing of things.  After that, I’m going to need to evaluate my goals, but I think I’m going to shoot (again) to get a total in a meet this year (1200? More?)  I’m a masters lifter now, as I turn 40 this month; it’s time to really do and live what I’ve been preaching.

Assuming that’s the case, I’ll probably transition to a conjugate (“Westside”) style of training, although Wendler’s 5/3/1 is a solid option for adding strength slowly over time.

As far as eating and health, I’m probably going to eat ‘healthy’ but not worry too much about it, and use conditioning to drop a couple inches from the waistline.  I’ve been holding steady in that department (although I’ve lost some weight, so I’m fatter and weaker).  Eating is more about the experience, I need to do a better job of cooking and enjoying meals rather than deciding at 6:45 what I’m going to heat up to eat by 7.  As maddening as it is to some people, I can essentially not give a shit about what I eat, and I end up losing weight if I’m not training.

My 41st year is going to be the year of ‘DO’.  I’ve got a list of things I’ve wanted to do that I haven’t done (get a bike, take a scuba class, relearn Spanish); I’m going to do them and quit waiting for the right time.  One of the things I need to ‘do’ is lift.  It’s good for me, I know it, I love it, and I need to accomplish something with it before it’s too late and I regret it.

Gonna be consistent, or it’s time to take up something else.  I’m still healthy, relatively pain free, and capable of doing something most people can’t do.  So I’m gonna do it.  Time to get awesome.