Marshall Ramsey

Today was Mental Monday.  No, I’m not going crazy, but it was a tough, tough workout.  Paul wasn’t there and the other coaches worked extra hard to make sure we didn’t miss him.  Why I call it Mental Monday is that to quote my old coach John Paty, I needed to get my “mind right.”

It was a long weekend. Saw my nephew graduate (good) and then saw my mom carted off to the emergency room (bad). Mom’s doing much better now but I came into this morning tired and brain-dead.  I started with Clark’s coreapalooza. Lots of sit-ups, six-inches and planks seasoned with gassers (running across the width of the field twice and doing more core work).   Next station was Wayne’s in-between the ladder drills. The cherry on the top of that little dessert was doing bear crawls through the ladders. That’s when I started to falter. The last round I hit my knees waaaay too many times. Morgan’s session was a cluster-truck. I didn’t do well on it. My arms were tired and my brain was more tired. I got through it, but it wasn’t work I’m particularly proud of.  By the time we got into the weight room, my arms hated me.  But soon, we were done.

Or so I thought.

We all gathered in the end zone — where we normally do our post workout stretch. But no, we did 100-yard sprints with a twist. We broke them up in 40-yard, 20-yard, and 40-yard segments. The 20-yard was where we did bear crawls, inchworms, crab walks (which I can’t do very well) and walking pushups.

Life is tough. It will throw physical and mental challenges at you. I hear people say that I’m crazy for working out like this in the morning. But overcoming the impossible is great practice for when life throws you a curve ball.  Like this weekend for me. Like any day for all of us.

It’s more about become physically fit. It’s also about becoming mentally fit. It’s about working out your drive and your will.

Mine received a great workout today.

It’s PLS Friday — or the last day of the training week. Tomorrow, we have the day off. I am running five miles in the morning to celebrate.

Want to knock me down? Take your finger and jab my triceps. They are so sore that I would crumple like a house of cards.

I’m sore.

But I’m supposed to be sore.

And if I wasn’t after today’s workout, I’d be Superman.

Eight stations in an hour. Clark (who has a bionic stomach) on core work (60 sit-ups, six-inches, bicycles and more). Pushing the boards — (bent over pushing a plank down the football field 5 times x 40 yards = 200 yards.). Cone drills. Lunges. Jumping jacks with hand weights. Inchworms. Bear crawls. The gauntlet up and down the Madison County Football stadium stairs. Run run run. The boards were a challenge. I have a GREAT line to motivate me, though.

Add to it, another glorious sunrise.

I finished strong. And then I showered and drove to Meridian where I spoke for an hour at 9:15 a.m.

Week one is out of the way.  It was a tough week — Paul isn’t playing around this summer. We hit the ground running full speed. But that’s OK. It’s why I am out there.  I’m on the way to being in the best shape of my life.

It’s dark. You’re sore. Paul Lacoste is yelling. But off to the east, a faint ray of light cuts through the darkness. Your heart pounds and your breathing is labored. Part of you, mainly your muscles, is wondering why the hell you are out there. But your heart knows. You’ve turned off your brain. You do what the coaches tell you. And if  you don’t do it well, you hear from the them. Paul yells some more.  He fumes, cusses and cusses some more. A drill sergeant would blush at what he screams.  Your body is hurting but you’re focused on what you are doing. You’ve turned over an hour of your life to this. Precious time. You lean on your line-mates for support. They are going through the same hellish workout as you. They feel just as bad as you.  But before you know it, the hour is up. You’ve invested an hour toward your health. You know the investment isn’t easy. But the long-term payout will be worth it.  You will be rewarded with energy. With confidence.  Twelve weeks of hard work will forge you like steel.  The sun finally rises and you walk off the field.

That’s PLS. That’s the training I do every morning.

I know Paul as a coach and as a person. He has chewed me on the field. He pushed me until I nearly broke when I was 248 lbs. And he has shown me nothing but kindness off.  I consider him a friend –because I know he does what he does because he cares. I wouldn’t be there if I believed otherwise.  I am very human — I don’t particularly like pain. But I know if I suffer a little now, I will be able to have the stamina to achieve greatness.  It’s about discipline. Sacrifice. Goals. And rewards.

Today was Day 3 of the training. We ran the T-drill (cones shaped like a T ), a mile run, did speed work through tackling dummies and did hand drills to improve our speed. I got know my line-mates better and am honored with who I am in line with. They work hard and motivate each other. And they motivated me.

This is going to be a strong 12 weeks. I’m on the way to being in the best shape of my life.