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Camp

I have been in football camp with my days scheduled essentially 6:30 AM to 9 PM every day and as such did not have a lot of time to post last Sunday, but this post will encompass the last two weeks because it has sort of been like Groundhog Day anyway.

Personal Updates

With fall camp starting on the 19th, my lifting schedule has definitely tampered down. Our lifts pre-season and in-season are lighter than over the summer or in the off-season since we are also expending a lot of energy at practice. I definitely still feel like I am pretty weak relative to where I should be at, and I am approaching the limited lifts that I do have over the next 10-12 weeks with a lot of energy with the hopes to gain some strength during the season. My primary goal now for the season is to stay as healthy as I can and be able to play in every single game.

Some other things, I met with the town's zoning and construction department about a new addition to my eating club which was very interesting just from an experience standpoint to learn about all of the bureaucracy involved in those types of decisions. Before leaving for camp I was also able to meet up with some of my good friends from town which is always nice. It is great to see everyone coming back to campus and having my 9 roommates for the year move in this week. I am really excited for life on campus this semester and I hope that I am able to make the most of it and hit some of the personal development goals that I have for the year. I feel that this gap year has given me the opportunity to gain some perspective and come into my senior year with a new mindset and attitude towards the athletic, academic, and social aspects of my life in a more positive way than I would have otherwise.

Books/Other

I am excited for the start of the year because I will have readings for classes that are structured and I will make a considerable effort to keep up with them which I have struggled to do in the past. This past year reading over 100 books has shown me that it is definitely possible to be reading more and that it is just a matter of time management. I also have some interesting books that I have had on my list downloaded which I can chunk through in between my class readings. The only book I have gotten through since my last update is Utopia for Realists, which I actually really enjoyed and made me think about a lot of topics in a different way.

I have been maintaining my listening of the Daily Stoic podcast as well as the two podcasts from the Investor's Podcast Network that my brother put me on to this past December. I have learned a lot from both of these podcasts and think that they are still positively benefitting my life. I have sprinkled in some other podcast episodes that I come across either because of an interesting guest or a recommendation from a friend or online. I think that podcasts are a good casual form of information consumption that I can just make a part of my daily routine when I am maybe not locked in enough to listen to an audiobook.

Gratitude

For the last two weeks, the thing that is most top of mind that I am thankful for is my health. In the past couple of seasons, I feel like I have always had at least one thing that is a nagging sort of injury. Whether it be a sore knee, a sore elbow, or jammed/broken fingers. I have managed to stay pretty healthy so far this camp by trying to prioritize my recovery every day. I have done my best to try to prehab and quickly and aggressively rehab any tweaks that I get, but overall I am definitely fortunate that I have been as healthy as I am. 

In this game, there are so many moving parts and a lot of violence so it is inevitable that people get nicks and bruises and oftentimes moderate to serious injuries through no fault of their own. I am realizing as there are two more days of my last camp and about 12 more weeks until I am done with college football that I need to take advantage of every opportunity as it is presented to me. I would really hate to get an injury at a practice or a lift where I am not giving 100% effort. By appreciating being healthy, doing everything in my power to prevent and treat injuries as they come up, and giving my best effort in everything that I do I think that no matter what happens, I can hang up my cleats once I am done playing with pride knowing that I did my best, whether that day comes tomorrow or after our last game on November 20th. 
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