Marshall Ramsey

There’s no more dangerous place than your comfort zone.  And there’s not a more dangerous way to travel through life than going through the motions.

But dam’… it was tempting to go through the motions this morning.

I’m whupped. Tired. Exhausted. Spent. Wiped out. Beat.

Today was our fifth day of PLS this week. We normally do four — but we’re making up a snow/ice day this week.  In the past three weeks, I have done 13 days of PLS training, run 13, 14, 4.4., 5.5. and 5.5 miles and rested three days.  My legs are mush. My brain is right behind my legs.

I would have been tempting to go through the motions this morning.  But I didn’t.

Why? One, there is such as thing as personal responsibility. If I’m going to show up, I’m going to do the work. Two, I’ve found that most of my injuries come when I am not giving 100%. As soon as I slack off or don’t do an exercise properly, I get hurt.

So I pushed today.  Thankfully I didn’t get hurt. But man o’ man, I was tired.

Back in the Stone Age, when I played football, my coach did a drill to teach us to always think when you are tired. You did silent jumping jacks and you had to stop all in unison or you added a jumping jack. In between, the coach ran our butts off. So you didn’t want to be adding more.  You had to focus even when your tongue was dragging.

You have to think when you are tired. You have to find that special something inside of you that keeps pushing you when you are exhausted. Life doesn’t give you rest breaks.

But I’d love to take one right now. I’m exhausted and want to crawl onto the floor and sleep. But I have a busy day ahead of me.

That’s the discipline I need to succeed. But I do look forward to resting on Sunday.

When you have to eat frogs, eat the biggest one first.

Today’s frog was Chips ‘n’ Salsa — you know, the one where we walk on our hands and drag our feet on a tray. We had to go to mid-court, pick up the tray and then run a sprint down and back. I think we did that six times.  It may have been five — I don’t know, but it was a lot of work. But I took the biggest frog and ate it.  And set the tempo for the day.

We did lots of wall sits.  We lifted a leg and passed a weighted ball.  I remember when that used to kill me.  That was a long, long time ago.

We also ran ladders and sprints. And Clark had us on the treadmill. We started at 6.5 mph, moved to 7.5 and finished the eight minutes at 8 mph.  It wasn’t easy (I really started to sweat when we went to 8 mph) but I survived it. We did have a teammate fall off the back of the treadmill. She, amazingly, did not get hurt.  Running at 8 mph on a treadmill isn’t for the weak at heart.  I’m thankful she is OK.

At the end of the session, we weighed. I lost another two pounds — which puts me at 12 total for the program. I want to lose 25 before the end of the 12 weeks — my goal is to never get over 200 lbs. again.  I really need to lose another 13 lbs.

We’re halfway done. I had better get serious on the diet part.  One of the areas where I have struggled is being exhausted all the time.  When I am exhausted, I eat for energy.  The trick is to eat the right things.  And maybe, eventually, get some rest.

This is a five-day workout week. Next week is, too. I’m running a 5K with my son on Saturday. Rest isn’t on the calendar.

Imagine three basketball courts side by side.  Now, lay folded towels on the edge of the far court. Run the width of two courts, bend over and push the towel the width of the third. Turn around and push it back to where you found it. Then get up and run back the width of two courts. When you get to where you started, do either squats, jumping jacks or some other exercise. Then repeat. Over and over and over.  I think I did six reps.  I might have done seven.

That was our first of five stations today.

I used to get ill when I saw towels folded on the court. The first time I ever did them, I hit my knees when I collapsed and hurt my kneecap. Now, I own them.  Flat out own them.

Towels are hard, don’t get me wrong. But a big part of them is mental. I think that’s a pretty good metaphor for many other things in life.

On our 3rd station, we ran at 6.5 mph for eight minutes. Then we did core in the aerobics room. That room was very hot and I started to sweat profusely.  My last station was the weight equipment and I was very conscientious about wiping the equipment off.  I’m sorry I sweat. But I try to be thoughtful about it.  Guess I need to spend some time in a sauna to get acclimated to the sudden hot gym conditions.  Until then, I just have one thing to say:

Sweat happens.

The heat’s on. No, I don’t mean from Paul — although he has been pushing us hard the last few days. No I mean since the temperatures are no longer Arctic-cold outside, the gym is now quite toasty inside.  And if sweat is your fat crying, mine is pitching a hissy fit.

The very first thing I did after warm-ups was Chips & Salsa. Line 1 starts with Leonard’s circuit and I purposefully choose the thing that I think it the hardest.  I have gotten so much better at Chips & Salsa in the past year. With two bad rotator cuffs, I’m quite amazed I can walk down a basketball court only using my hands. But it’s a lesson I’ve learned in life — take on the hardest thing first and get it out of the way.  I did Chips & Salsa twice. The second time, I did to half court and back in the time I had. It was my victory of the day.

I mentioned Line 1.  Paul breaks us up into lines.  You end up working out with the same people (for the most part) based on athletic ability and build a bond of friendship and competition. If you are lucky, you get in with some good athletes who will make you better.  I am lucky.  Line 1 this time is fantastic.  Everyone has their strength and will push you to make you better. They also will support you when you are struggling.  We all struggle.  There are bad days along with the good ones. I am honored to be Line 1. Paul and the coaches push us the hardest because the most is expected from us.  Halfway through the 12-week program, I am better shape than I have been at this point during any PLS training.  I am blessed to get to workout with my friends.  It is what gives me strength when I am about to give in.  And there have been some rough days.  Paul complimented our line and said we had great team spirit. I know we were all proud of that.

Brandon joined us today from Line 2.  He is as good of an athlete as I am and probably better in some ways. It is good to have him aboard.  He will push all of us. He is a great addition to our team.

We did the W-drill, sprints with bear crawls and inch-worms, the Gauntlet with 25-lb weights and the treadmill. By the time I was on the treadmill, I was a sweaty mess.

The heat’s on.  It’s time to make that fat cry.

It’s Monday and we had PLS. We don’t normally do this on Monday — at least in the winter — but today was a make-up day for the rain/ice from last week. Normally, I sleep until 6 on Mondays — but I was up a 3:40 this morning.  The hardest part of PLS is waking up so early.  Fatigue sits on my shoulder like a bull elephant, crushing me for the rest of the day.

So you are thinking, “then why the heck do you do PLS?!?”

Simple.  Not just for the physical training. I could run in the afternoon when I get off work if I wanted to stay in shape. It’s about getting tougher MENTALLY and physically.

PLS Training is about teaching myself to push through fatigue.  When I’m about to drop out on the gym floor, I have to learn to keep pushing. When my legs are burning when I’m pushing a towel, I keep going. When the treadmill is stealing my breath, I keep running.

Why? Well, what are you going to do in real life?  When you want something are you going to quit when things get hard? Are you going to give up when someone doesn’t believe in you? Are you going to sacrifice when you face one of life’s headwinds?

The training I do at 5 a.m. carries me through the rest of the day. It works out the muscle between my ears, too.

I hopped off the treadmill after running 7.2 mph for six minutes and ran two laps of the gauntlet. I was tired but kept pushing.

And I will for the next 23 hours, too.

Navy SEALS go through a hell week called BUDS training. It’s physically grueling and mentally taxing. And over 70% of  the candidates quit.  They ring the bell three times and are shipped back to the fleet.  Not kicked out — they quit. They don’t have the mental toughness to survive the nearly 24-hour-a-day grief thrown their way. And that’s perfectly OK with the SEALS.  Because in combat, you can’t afford to quit.

It’s about mental toughness.

I guess today’s PLS theme would be mental toughness.  Paul wasn’t happy with the caliber of our workout today and poured it on.  He pushed us hard. Some responded. Some didn’t.  The sprints at the end were tough. Very tough. He read us the riot act at the end of the session.

Of course, Paul had a different motive that the BUDS instructors. He’s not trying to get us to quit. He’s trying to get us to change.  To quit the bad mental and physical habits that got us in bad shape in the first place.  Yes, that change involves pain.

Ripping yourself out of your comfort zone is painful. Very painful. They don’t call the comfort zone for nothing.

I know. I’ve been doing it for three years now.

Today’s workout was hard. I pushed a towel the length of a basketball court six times. I walked at 4 mph at 15% incline and ran at 7.8 mph.  I bear crawled and inch wormed my way across the floor. I felt tired muscles try to cramp. I felt my age.

But I did it. My body told my mind to shut the hell up.