A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!

Dan returns to the keyboard stronger, faster, and fitter!

3rd June, 2010 - Posted by Daniel Arturi - Leave a comment

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve written, so I’ll try to resist the temptation of overdoing it with an overly long post. Obviously if you read the blog you saw where Monika and I went to Hawaii, which I can honestly say was the best time I’ve ever had in my life… I haven’t felt that grounded, relaxed, and just plain happy in a long time… possibly never as much as I did on that trip.  I played golf  (shot 105 and a 92 on the Palmer course and a 98 on the Fazio) pretty well, rode a horse, walked on the beach with my shirt off, got a suntan (burn) and just enjoyed life.  Since coming back, I’ve been really busy with work but Monika decided to get us the unlimited package.  I thought I’d go 4 times a week instead of 3… but I’ve been going 5 times and even 6 when I can squeeze it in for a couple of weeks now.  It hurts, but I’m also stronger than I’ve ever been at this point and definitely making some new progress – I’m not really losing weight, but I am still losing inches.

I’ve been playing with a band called Thump 808 since early May.  Great guys, good music.  Thanks to Ron, Matt, and DB I can actually get some air now!  We have a Facebook page and you don’t have to be a member of Facebook to check it out, so check it out if you like great live music.

Last week I got into what could be considered a pretty serious car accident… I got “T-boned” on the passenger side of the car at about 30 mph, then did about a 120 degree spin-out, and ended up hitting a light pole head-on at about 25-30 mph.  My car was totaled… but I walked away without a scratch on me… no blood, no broken bones, no bruises… honestly, not even an ache or pain.  I would say “miraculous”, and also lucky… but I attribute this miraculous luck partially to the physical shape I’m in as well.  As Ron put it… every play in football is like a car accident and I am built to take the hit at this point – strong and fairly lean.

My latest battle at the gym has been bench pressing in the Pure Steel weight program I’m doing with Matt.  I was stunned the day a few weeks ago when I threw up 175 lbs 10 times… that was great for me… but these last two weeks I’ve failed at the heaviest weight (195, 5 reps, and 215, one rep, respectively).  I know I’m strong enough to bench the 215… I don’t know if it was form, technique, or just a mental block, but I could not lift the weight.  I was aggravated by it, but not discouraged.  I’m starting to feel like I can do anything the guys throw at me and I’ve definitely gotten much stronger since starting the weightlifting program with Matt.

I pledge to do a better job of writing more frequently and keep my posts looking like blogs rather than huge essays.  I forgot how much I enjoy blogging about this experience. More to come, soon!  :)

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