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"The runner's greatest asset, apart from essential fitness of body, is a cool and calculating brain allied to confidence and courage." -Franz Stampfl
It has been a long, strange 2 months since I have posted in this space ladies and gentlemen, so allow me to explain myself. In my last posting I described the frustration I felt with my ability to become healthy. I had reached a melting point, and I needed to do something fairly drastic to kickstart some drive and momentum within me. Well, I may have taken drastic to a whole new level, because I packed my bags and left to THAILAND to train as a Thai boxer!!!! It was an incredible experience, and I really needed this life altering training regime. I left as a part of the Siam Muay Thai and Kickboxing team here in Regina, and ten of us lead by Instructor Craig Moser trained for a full 25 days. We trained at the prestigious Fairtex Muay Thai and fitness camp in Bangplee, noted as being the top Thai boxing camp in the country.
Within those 25 days I was able to melt some serious body fat, and condition my body in ways it has never seen. We trained two hours in the morning beginning at 6 am, and then another 2 hours again at 3 pm. The training was extremely vigorous, as we trained 5 to 6 rounds each with our own personal instructors. Each round was 4 minutes in duration, and afterwards we trained on heavy bags with an assortment of kicks, knees, elbows and boxing. What made my training special and unique was that in the mornings, instead of training in boxing, my trainers had me running. Each morning I mixed walking with running for a full hour and a half, and then the last half hour I would complete situps, pushups, and knees on the heavy bags with the rest of the camp. The heat in Thailand was just about unbearable, at a balmy 47 degrees Celsius! To make matters worse for me, I was forced to run in a sauna suit, which if you were to picture it, would remind you of running with garbage bags over your body like an outfit. The idea was that my body was going to flush out the toxins, burn the calories, and clean myself out completely. That it did.
In the afternoons it was business as usual in the ring, and I got the privilege of training with the top Muay Thai instructors in the world. This is something that I will cherish my whole life. The food was interesting and different, and we were fed twice a day, so nutrition was the only option for me. I had a team with me that wouldnt let me stray from my goals and fought along side me to keep me clean, and I will never forget that. The fact that not 10 months ago I was a dying 314 pound behemoth with about as much mobility as a 3 toed sloth makes it an incredible achievement. I am able to hang with the rest of my thai boxing troop back in Canada, and for the first time since I started this sport, I feel like I belong. All in all, it was the kick in the ass that I truly needed to keep this project alive.
3 weeks later, back in Canada I am seeing exactly were I struggled before and decided to keep that extremist mentality. I realize now that obesity is a disease that never goes away, much like alcoholism. If I do not remain clean my whole life, it has the potential to overtake me completely, no matter what goals I have accomplished in the past. Keeping with this ideal, I have officially signed myself up for a full 42 kilometer marathon in September! I know what you are thinking.... From the searing frying pan of Thailand's horrific humid heat wave to the fire of a task that is seen by many as a lifetime achievement! I am one of those people that cannot settle with the status quo. I get bored easily with things that are mediocre, and I live for the excitement of something really out of this world. So here I go, one step at a time toward a new goal, a new experience that will rock my body and change me forever!
It is funny though, with all this excitement around camp Heavy Jay, not once did I mention dropping weight....... Isn't that something? More on that next week.... ;)
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