One Night In Bangkok

Another interesting twist in my life is at the gym. It turns out that Kru Scott is sufficiently satisfied with my progress and prior exposure that he’s going to let me skip the Level I test and go straight to Level II. This means I get to cut at least a full year off my training time! Likely I will be able to test for my Muay Thai Assistant Instructor certification in the next year to year and a half. That is freakin’ awesome.
What is not freakin’ awesome is the physical condition I’ll have to be in for the test, which will likely occur in November. I’ve got about 3 months to get in the best shape of my life. I’m already coming off bloated slob status from my degree, where I topped out at over 185 lbs and had complete muscular atrophy. May not sound like much of a bloated slob, but those who knew me before grad school know I’ve always had a high metabolism. To see me carrying that much visceral fat on my frame is quite astonishing.
Since I started training again in February/March, however, I’ve cut a full 20 lbs and I’m down to 167, which is the same weight I was when I started grad school in 1997. I’ve probably lost more than that in fat because I’ve put on a little muscle again, without any intensive weight training. But merely being in decent shape isn’t going to cut it. Running 3-4 times a week and sporadic maintenance lifting isn’t gonna get me through. Accordingly, I’ve ramped up to running 3-5 miles every day, plus alternating weight training days with core training days. And I’m sore as hell.
I’m toying with doing a bit of a fitness journal here. Perhaps I’ll include sporadic pictures of my progress. Gotta keep it fun.
“Kickboxing, sport of the future!”
–Lloyd Dobler