Well, I trained my behind off for a month. Dropped 15 pounds, got myself into the best shape of my life. Then traveled 2 hours to the middle of some small town in Pennsylvania and my first fight lasted all of 10 seconds.

The final 24 hours before the fight were definitely the hardest. I had to go without food or water until weigh ins, needed to sweat out the last couple of pounds. That combined with anxiety and a beat up body made for a rough day. That being said, I made weight easily and felt great once I rehydrated and got some food in me.

I felt good but my trainer definitely had to tell me to calm down a few times as I was anxious and a bit jittery. I warmed up, got into the ring, saw my opponent across the ring and all the nerves and anxiety seemed to vanish. It was time to work and I was ready to go. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about my opponent. I know you are not supposed judge a book by it’s cover but I don’t know that he was ready for this fight. Physically, he looked very soft and under trained and I could tell that he was a nervous wreck. After the bell rang, I took the center of the ring, we exchanged a couple of kicks and he went down with a knee injury about 10 seconds into the fight. Fight over, and it goes into the books as a victory for me.

A bit anticlimactic and there was obviously a little frustration once it set in. I trained so hard and didn’t get the work that I wanted to get but this happens. Unfortunately, fighting at all levels, especially at the amateur level, can be very unpredictable. Anything can happen. One guy had his opponent show up, weigh in and simply get back in his car and leave.

Even though I didn’t get the work that I wanted, there was a lot of positive to take out of it. I got myself into the best shape of my life, and can carry this over to my next fight. I also had the chance to go through the process of preparing for a fight, all the way up to getting into the ring so next time I’ll be a little more relaxed and familiar with the process.

After cutting 15 pounds and eating perfectly for a month I did enjoy my bacon cheeseburger. Now it’s back to work and hopefully I’ll have another fight soon.

I’ve always been athletic but I kind of grew up as an athlete without a sport and when I started training Muay Thai, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the right fit. Thankfully, I have great trainers and training partners who were able to keep me motivated and helped me develop some decent skills. I put in a lot of hard work, time and mental energy into learning the sport and changing from an athlete to a fighter.

On January 2 I learned that all of the work was going to pay off. On that day, I was notified that I’d have my first amateur fight on January 28th, giving me 4 weeks to prepare. I can honestly say that I have never worked this hard for anything. The combination of a very strict diet to get my weight down, running and 2+ hour training sessions (while still working) have definitely taken their toll but I’m also in the best shape of my life and there is a sense of accomplishment that goes with completing a training camp like this.

It’s strange to think that a person Can work so hard for something in which he isn’t getting paid and there is a risk of injury but it’s one of the most valuable experiences of my life. The focus, work ethic and drive that I developed are things that only this sport could have extracted from me but they translate to all aspects of life. If I gain nothing else out of it, I know what I’m capable of when I put my mind to something and that’s a very valuable lesson.

As for the fight itself, I don’t know much about my opponent which is usually the case at this level. I do know that I’m putting my best foot forward and Saturday night, win or lose, will be a big personal milestone. Will post results.

Go to TheWat.com for more info.

Though I have a ways to go, I have noticed my running is really paying off. My conditioning is far better in the classes than I would have expected. I always feel fresh and ready to go which has been a big bonus. I’m really excited, already in a month I have noticed significant progress.

Workouts
Since I’m now taking Muay Thai classes 4-5 times a week, my running has tapered off a bit. I’m running 3-4 days a week. I work out with weights about 2-3 days a week.

In my entire life thus far, I really only have one true regret. My one regret is that I didn’t play football in high school. This may seem a bit silly but it’s true. The reason for this is that I have always been a very good athlete and never truly had an outlet to showcase that athleticism. Ironically, my reason for not playing was that I didn’t want to wake up early and now I wake up at 5am most mornings.
     Since high school I have obviously embarked on a career in fitness and genuinely love what I do but I have always felt like something was lacking. As it turned out, what was lacking has been something which would push my body to it’s physical limits.
     In the past 6 months, I have gone through major changes in my life and I made the decision to finally make an attempt at reaching my physical potential. I made the decision to train and compete in Muay Thai which is a form of kickboxing that originated in Thailand. I have had a Muay Thai trainer for the past 3 years but have not trained at a very serious level. I love it and I decided that this would be the perfect outlet for me. Even though I have some experence, I begin training seriously in September and for all intents and purposes, my approach will be as if I was starting from scratch. Every week I will be posting updates chronicling my progress up to my first taste of competition.

That’s all for now, check in next week as I will be posting what my pre- training workouts have been like. Thanks for reading.