Monday Bacon: Gotta Wear Shades

Michelle and Za

As previously mentioned, Bigg and I headed over to Hutch for one last Mai Tai night before Bill and Mary shut down the Gold Coin. We’ve had plenty a crazy nights whilst consuming those Mai Tai’s and it was so nice to share with good friends one last round. A huge bonus was that friends from Denmark were in town and came up to chat for a while (Mum is originally from Hutch.) Chris (mum) has four girls who each are more stunning than the next and it just goes round and round in a vicious circle.

Another bonus was having my girl there who has just enjoyed getting out to Mai Tai night with her guy and friends. I snapped this quick pic of Michelle and Zandra and I just love it. All our girls are working so hard to make a good life for themselves. Scraping for gas money, going to school, working, and always finding time for some puck or some hunting or fishing. If our future were set by hard work, they’d be good to go. As we all know, it’s not. But hard work is step one and their future is looking so bright…

you gotta wear shades. Heh.

I’ve been thinking of that since I took this picture and THEN I got an adorable Christmas card in the mail of three little boys of dear friends who own one of the strongest and best equipped Black Iron CrossFit gyms in the country, CrossFit Retribution. Angie keeps us pretty entertained of tales of here three little Musketeers on The Facebook so having their angelic smiles on our fridge makes me smile. But the message on the card of our holiday being merry & BRIGHT is something I really love.

A bright future, isn’t that a nice goal? Bright for our children, for us, for our loved ones. Free from struggle or pain. The problem is, we live in the real world and tough times can sucker punch us from out of nowhere at any time. Life happens. What can we do to be prepared for it?

Bigg and I have worked very hard this last month at getting some key issues straightened up. Finances, communication, projects around the house. We have already reaped the benefits and could spend time kicking ourselves for not doing this sooner but have just decided to be thankful we made it through that particular tough patch to work on it now. So the future is looking particularly brighter not because we’re taking in more money, we’re just on the same page on where it’s going. Helpful.

We both have very particular goals for our sport this year. My games season will start with The Arnold in March and I’m doing all I can do in twenty below weather to prepare for that. Which means lots of indoor drills. Just keep working the movements, just keep spinning that hated hammer. Do what I can do. Bigg has been getting under the Iron and working his pulling harder than I’ve seen him do since I’ve known him. He’s looking around for a powerlifting comp for something fun and different to do and if Clevenger has his way, he’ll get the Bigg man throwing in a few games this season. Yeah!

But we’ll do what we can to prepare. Eat right, get plenty of good sleep, and train hard. We are not guaranteed to be disease free, but by gawd disease will have to fight hard to get into this body. Food is a huge part of that and we’ll do our part to have a bright future.

We’ll continue to cultivate friendship’s that are healthy, positive and fun. We’ll continue to scope out new places and new food as we’re able. We’ll enjoy small victories, cuz some days that’s all ya get.

But with each new day, whether the date is the 1st of January or the 10th of May…we have an opportunity to make that day bright. Leave the failures and disappointments of yesterday to yesterday. The carry over may still be there today, but so is the chance to make things right. And live brighter than the day before. SRSLY.

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there.

Zig Ziglar

Training Log

About tosabarbell

For training opportunities at tosabarbell, call or text Juli at 320-296-9313. e-mail to jep6095@gmail.com At tosabarbell, I build relationships cultivated in a strength and learning environment. There is no 12 week magic pill program to strength but rather a lifetime commitment to be the very best and most useful human you can be. tosabarbell is a private, home grown gym with three lifting platforms; squat rack; prowlers; throwing implements; bars, bumpers and everything else needed for an effective strength and conditioning program. Straightforward barbell programming including the Olympic lifts; sound (read: not fancy bullshit) diet advance for weight gain or loss; and strong coaching will ensure you will meet your goals such as becoming stronger, more explosive, and better conditioned. I have been coaching teams and athletes for over 30 years. I grew up participating in various sports at various levels but was always drawn to those that require strength training. I have multiple local, national, and world records in the sports of Weightlifting and Highland Games Heavy Events as well as a combined total of 5 World Championships. My 5 years of training and coaching under Mark Rippetoe provided a wide range of influence from some of the top strength & conditioning and throwing coaches in the country. I will strongly encourage tosabarbell athletes to compete (and prepare you to do so.) However, tosabarbell is also for those who wish to be stronger and go through life feeling better. Matt WanAt is a retired Professional Strongman who competed frequently with Strongman Champions League in Europe. He played a year of D1 football with Iowa before concentrating on his Chemical Engineering degree in Iowa City. He is a native of Wauwatosa and still remains a staunch supporter of Tosa East. This blog will be a mixture of strength notes, coaching and nutrition tips, personal shit; bacon delicacies, and a whole lot of fun.
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