Some Thoughts on Healthy Eating

I haven't said anything here about the importance of proper nutrition in health and fitness. That surprises me because I am definitely conscious of that importance and I try to make wise food choices consistently. Good nutrition might be something we can take for granted if we are developing and maintaining good eating habits, but as with all things, it is easier to sustain that practice when I take some awareness to it and live consciously rather than unconsciously.

Over at The Philosopher's Stone, Russell Newquist, my friend, fellow athlete, and health-and-fitness kind of guy, shares his observations about the increased availability of healthy foods when we are away from our homes. This is one of those nutritional subtopics about which I've been fairly unconscious. Let me put it this way. Although I try to select healthy foods away from home, I don't often remember that it is more difficult to make those choices when I don't have direct control over the ingredients in the menu or the way the food is prepared.

Happily, as Russell points out, it is now easier to find one's favorite healthy foods in various places, even while eating meals away from home. Thanks for the reminder, Russell! Here's to some good eating for everyone, everywhere.

2007 Emerald Gloves Update

On Friday, March 16, my boxing club sponsored our second annual Emerald Gloves boxing tournament. It was a great time. We had a team comprised of amateur boxers from Ireland and England competing with a local team of champions. The bouts were excellent and, except for one, demonstrated a high level of sportsmanship. As far as I can tell, the event was an even bigger success than last year's tournament, so I'm happy about that, even though I was a lot less involved in the planning this year.

Three of our boxers boxed on Friday evening. Bill and Kevin boxed in an entertaining exhibition bout, while Matt competed against one of the Irish boxers whose opponent pulled out at the last minute. It was Matt's first bout and he did well, too. It was great to see my friends in the ring and doing so well. I hope to have a link to photos of the event in the next day or two.

I sat out the tournament this year. In fact, I watched the bouts with my friend Tim, who was my opponent in last year's Emerald Gloves, after enjoying a great dinner of Irish cuisine with Tim's friendly and charming wife.

Although I did not box this year, it was nice to see my bout mentioned in this year's program. There was a section called, "2006 Emerald Gloves Recap" which gave the following summary of my bout with Tim:

"2 attorneys and everyday friends, battled it out in the ring rather than the courtroom. They took the audience by surprise with their skill and all out effort. The roaring crowd declared a tie."

I certainly did not expect any additional recognition a year later, but it was nice to be mentioned. Here is a link to the rest of the 2006 recap:

http://www.chicagoathletic.com/Files/Library/EmeraldGlovesRecap.pdf

I wrote my own account of my experience at last year's event:

http://www.steveimparl.info/wiki/index.php?title=Emerald_Gloves_Report

Finally, there are some additional photos of my bout with Tim at the following page:

http://www.steveimparl.info/photos/thumbnails.php?album=1

Enjoy!

Roadwork Update

Yeah, I am still focusing on the roadwork and basic conditioning. Lots of stuff has been going on, some of it pretty difficult, so my workouts have not been what I want them to be. (For a little information about what has been happening, see this entry at The Manly Teas blog.)

In any event, I saw my coach, Bernard O'Shea, on Friday night. I told him what was going on and mentioned that I am still doing some basic, though limited, workouts with the roadwork, shadowboxing, and jumping rope. He seemed more concerned about the family stuff that's happening now than about my workouts and progress; he knows I'm pretty committed to this sport. It was good to have his overall reassurance and to have him gently suggest that I return to our team practices when the time is good for me.

So here is a little update on roadwork for the last couple of weeks.

• March 9: 20 minutes
• March 11: 36 minutes
• March 12: 30 minutes
• March 14: 30 minutes
• March 16: 30 minutes

Again, it's not exactly how I want things to be, but it is something to keep me in the routine. Hopefully, the rest of life will get less complicated soon and I'll be able to get back to the more regular schedule I had been following.

Wednesday and Thursday Roadwork

33 minutes on Wednesday; 25 minutes on Thursday.

Taking Today Off

I'm mentally tired today.  It was a reasonably nice day outside, but my mind feels wiped out.  Physically, I feel great.  Mentally, I have some fatigue.  I'm not very worried; it is temporary.  Perhaps things will be back to normal as soon as tomorrow.  Here's hoping. :-)

Roadwork Recap

I am kind of in a slow period lately: mostly roadwork and some shadowboxing. That is largely because work has been really busy. Here's a brief recap.

• March 1: 30 minutes
• March 2: 31 minutes
• March 3: 24 minutes
• March 4: 32 minutes

The State of the Sport (at the professional level)

What is the state of the sport?  That's an interesting question.  I've got some answers, courtesy of two men who share a first name.

First, Mike Houser, a sports writer at the Nevada Appeal, tells us, "Boxing needs to be cleaned up."

Next, Mike Casey, a writer at Boxing Scene, presents an impassioned and persuasive plea for such a cleanup, pointing out that nothing less than the sport's future is at stake.