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Challenge

Coming back from the short getaway to Myrtle was very nice as it seems that the world sort of returned to normal in my absence. I returned to the lifting of mask mandates and capacity limits for NJ which makes it a lot easier to be social and interact with people.

Personal Updates

I do not really have many updates regarding my body as I had maxed out before leaving for Myrtle and since then have just gotten into a rhythm of doing my programmed workouts for football which are definitely a change-up from what I had been doing for the past year. I am excited to get into this groove and start working out earlier so that I am ready to get the most out of the limited amount of time I have left being a part of this team.

This paragraph is a little bit of cheating due to the fact that I am posting this a bit later than Sunday but I feel like it is important to post in order to give me an idea of when this started and to hold me accountable for this claim. I realized through encounters this weekend that I can definitely be doing more for my physical health even though I feel I currently am doing a lot. I have decided to start tracking a number of exercises that I will do daily and have them on a calendar on my wall so that I feel shame if I do not complete them.

The daily things that I want to complete and the reasons for each are as follows: minimum 50 daily pushups in order to continue to develop my chest and arms so that I do not get injured next season, minimum 5 daily chin-ups because I am horrible at them and feel like it will help me develop a stronger back which will help in all of my lifts, minimum 50 calf raises because I have tiny weak baby calves, minimum 50 band clamshells because I want to strengthen my glutes so that my muscular imbalance and hip pain does not worsen, and finally 5 minutes of meditation just as practice so that I can start to reap some of the benefits that I have read come with that practice. All of these are in addition to whatever I happen to be doing as a workout that day.

Books/Other

I really just read the one book this past week but have gotten back into audiobooks and using my kindle but it will be difficult as time continues to pass to keep up with books as much as I was earlier in this year. I will try to start to dedicate more time to my thesis and doing different research so that I am better positioned come the fall and can really get out ahead of this daunting project. 

The one book I did get through this past week was very interesting actually. It was Breath by James Nestor and I feel like it gave me a lot of general knowledge information on a topic that is so scarcely covered or talked about which is surprising given how much time I have spent in organized sports in my life. I feel like using these techniques to help with recovery and general well-being while working out or meditating will be hugely beneficial for me going forward.

I have fallen behind yet again on some of the podcasts, but almost like to do it this way so that I can crank through a lot of them sequentially that cover similar topics because I feel that it helps the ideas stick in my mind. Perhaps once I catch up on reading and can get going on thesis work/other work stuff then I will try to incorporate the podcasts into a routine so I do not get behind on updates, but I am not sure if that is the best use of my time or mental energy. I will think about this some more and decide in the coming week or two.

Gratitude

For this week's gratitude post I would like to shout out my old friends. I have a group of close friends that I have been close with for basically my whole life and although our personalities and interests have somewhat diverged in the past decade or so. It is interesting though because we all grew up together and you can see that although everyone has gone through massive changes they have also stayed the same in many ways. 

It was nice to spend some time with old friends and talk about life and just relax for a bit. I know that these people are graduated and are taking the next step in their lives now while I am stuck in college for another year, but by talking to them and learning about their experiences and feelings I feel like it is helpful for me as I try to shape my approach going into my senior year. 

The reason I call this out in a gratitude post is specifically because I was able to connect with some people that I had seen over a decade ago one time and still was able to connect with them reasonably well. I think there is something special about connections that you make while you are developing, especially if you can sustain them later on in life. It has made me think differently about which friends I want to devote my limited amount of time to and makes me realize how important it is to have that type of outlet in your life where you can just hang out and relax and not feel any types of pressure.
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