You know what? I’m feeling accomplished. For the past two weeks I’ve managed to successfully train all week. I’ve avoided procrastination and burying my head in the sand and I think the “like it or not” mentality has started to transform back into the “training today” attitude that makes nights at the gym become the norm and not an exceptional push.

Training this week has actually been harder than last week. I think my body has had some kicking and screaming moments as I’ve made it settle back into an old routine it feels like it had just about forgotten about. However, despite things not always being as easy as I’d like (they very rarely are) I’m back on the horse again and I appear to be heading in the right direction.

I think the next step other than putting a bit more zing into my runs and bit more grunt in my punch (ha) is cutting out alcohol for a while. Without wanting to make myself sound like too much of a booze hound, I’ve been trapped in the Friday/ Saturday is beer o clock mentality for a little while now. If I’ve had a busy week in general it’s nice to let what little hair I have down but there’s no escaping the fact it does knock your fitness.

Recently the gym has been a mini sauna in the evenings so sweating out the bad stuff has made me feel a little better. A break from anything always does you good and if I want to fight again later this year I guess I need to get used to a bit of clean living again.

When it comes to any kind of change I want to make in training the best way to achieve it is to change the way I’m thinking. Negativity, despondency and procrastination is a trap. Don’t fall into it. Remain cautiously optimistic with all of your goals and even if it takes longer than you’d like you’ll eventually succeed. Believe me, I should know.

I’ve been telling myself for many weeks now that I want to get back to my old training routine, I want to get back on the horse, I want to.. you get the drift. Instead of seeing each challenge as an obstacle I don’t have time for and making excuses I step into it and focus on what I want.

Despite feeling there’s never enough time in the day, I’ve learnt that there’s always enough time. I’ve remembered that martial arts is an investment in myself and if you want to get really good at something you have to keep doing it. Training 4/5 times times a week can lead to real progress, 3 or less is recreational at best. Well, to be fair 3 can keep you at a half decent standard. In my world anyway.

I’ve always been someone who has enjoyed putting in a lot of time at the gym. But that’s just me. Muay Thai became my favourite thing very quickly. I still feel the same way about it as I did way back when.

So looking at the next 7 days it’s going to be more of the same. A bit more running and a lot less booze should compliment everything else and should else help keep me sharp. You know, I’ve even been running twice today .  Morning and evening.

I was training earlier too. That’s the sort of stuff they do in Thailand. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Go me. Change your thoughts you change your life and all that right? well at least that’s what a book I once read told me anyway. Have a great week, train hard and just like the last time.. I’ll see you on that road.