Brief fall update
Mid-term hell is officially over. After this weekend, life in general will be less hectic. I finally took on too much this fall - somehow I reasoned it would be a good idea to try to juggle all of the following:
1) Take a full-time course load at university
2) Work 2 part time jobs (one on weekends, the other on weekdays where I only have afternoon classes)
3) Volunteer one day a week at the Collegium (for those of you who haven't been here, it's like a student lounge/study space and just generally awesome)
4) Tutor a first year Spanish class
5) Play competitive volleyball once a week
6) Take Fitness Instructor training at my gym on Sunday mornings/Monday evenings for the last 2 months
7) Start volleyball-specific training (aka get my ass kicked) at a gym for elite athletes
8) Maintain a general fitness program along with #7
As you might imagine, I am incredibly worn out. I feel lucky if I get 4-6 hours of sleep a night. I'm never going to take on this much stuff at the same time again. Luckily, midterms are over, I'm done one of my part-time jobs in a month (and hours have already been cut in half), the first year Spanish class is over in a month and Fitness Instructor training finishes after this weekend. Words With Friends / the Scrabble app on my iPhone are almost exclusively the only Scrabble games I've played since school started.
I wanna talk a bit about #7. It was absolutely intimidating for me to step into that gym the first time I went. I saw incredibly well-built individuals working out, and practically no one that appeared intermediate (which I feel I am), be it gym member or trainer. To give you an idea, the trainer I've hired for 1 on 1 time works with my university's varsity volleyball teams, which play in the CIS league (the highest level of inter-university play in Canada). One of his fellow trainers works with Kelsey Serwa, the current world champion at Ski Cross. These people are legit!
Remember when you decided that you didn't want to be a Scrabble bluehair anymore? You knew that you'd have to do something to get out of where you were at. Perhaps it was Zyzzyva, Jumbletime, Aerolith, Quackle, some combination of all of those. You likely played a lot of games to gain experience. Even then, you knew that to become a true expert, you'd have to talk to the best and learn how to think, play, study and prepare like them. Right now, that's where I'm at with volleyball. I'm decent at best, but I really want to get to a level where I can hang tight with the varsity athletes during summer grass volleyball leagues and beach volleyball tournaments. I've played a fair bit of volleyball the last several years, and I've learned as much as I can by just observing and picking up some general strategy ideas. Now I need to mold my body to operate the best it can in a volleyball context. Enter Pinnacle Elite Athlete, my new gym home as of the start of this week. Every bit of fear crept in as I did my first two workouts this week...
"Am I just going to injure myself again?"
"Am I too weak and pathetic for this?"
"Will I ever get my form right on these exercises?"
"Do I belong here?"
My trainer even offered me a way out after we finished the second workout of the week. I told him that no, I want this - I'm afraid, but in weakness I will become strong. I will not quit. I will overcome my fear and shame.
I hope that's encouraging for you in some way. Whatever 'dragon' it is that you want to take on, know that the 'dragon' doesn't want to be slain. It will do everything it can to inhibit your progress, or worse yet, stop you altogether. I'm gonna post more on the 'dragon' next time around, but for now, leaving it there. Where are you all at?
1) Take a full-time course load at university
2) Work 2 part time jobs (one on weekends, the other on weekdays where I only have afternoon classes)
3) Volunteer one day a week at the Collegium (for those of you who haven't been here, it's like a student lounge/study space and just generally awesome)
4) Tutor a first year Spanish class
5) Play competitive volleyball once a week
6) Take Fitness Instructor training at my gym on Sunday mornings/Monday evenings for the last 2 months
7) Start volleyball-specific training (aka get my ass kicked) at a gym for elite athletes
8) Maintain a general fitness program along with #7
As you might imagine, I am incredibly worn out. I feel lucky if I get 4-6 hours of sleep a night. I'm never going to take on this much stuff at the same time again. Luckily, midterms are over, I'm done one of my part-time jobs in a month (and hours have already been cut in half), the first year Spanish class is over in a month and Fitness Instructor training finishes after this weekend. Words With Friends / the Scrabble app on my iPhone are almost exclusively the only Scrabble games I've played since school started.
I wanna talk a bit about #7. It was absolutely intimidating for me to step into that gym the first time I went. I saw incredibly well-built individuals working out, and practically no one that appeared intermediate (which I feel I am), be it gym member or trainer. To give you an idea, the trainer I've hired for 1 on 1 time works with my university's varsity volleyball teams, which play in the CIS league (the highest level of inter-university play in Canada). One of his fellow trainers works with Kelsey Serwa, the current world champion at Ski Cross. These people are legit!
Remember when you decided that you didn't want to be a Scrabble bluehair anymore? You knew that you'd have to do something to get out of where you were at. Perhaps it was Zyzzyva, Jumbletime, Aerolith, Quackle, some combination of all of those. You likely played a lot of games to gain experience. Even then, you knew that to become a true expert, you'd have to talk to the best and learn how to think, play, study and prepare like them. Right now, that's where I'm at with volleyball. I'm decent at best, but I really want to get to a level where I can hang tight with the varsity athletes during summer grass volleyball leagues and beach volleyball tournaments. I've played a fair bit of volleyball the last several years, and I've learned as much as I can by just observing and picking up some general strategy ideas. Now I need to mold my body to operate the best it can in a volleyball context. Enter Pinnacle Elite Athlete, my new gym home as of the start of this week. Every bit of fear crept in as I did my first two workouts this week...
"Am I just going to injure myself again?"
"Am I too weak and pathetic for this?"
"Will I ever get my form right on these exercises?"
"Do I belong here?"
My trainer even offered me a way out after we finished the second workout of the week. I told him that no, I want this - I'm afraid, but in weakness I will become strong. I will not quit. I will overcome my fear and shame.
I hope that's encouraging for you in some way. Whatever 'dragon' it is that you want to take on, know that the 'dragon' doesn't want to be slain. It will do everything it can to inhibit your progress, or worse yet, stop you altogether. I'm gonna post more on the 'dragon' next time around, but for now, leaving it there. Where are you all at?