Marshall Ramsey

It’s a little after 7 a.m. and I’m still looking for the truck that hit me. Not sure why today was a rough workout for me, but it was. To Coach Clark’s credit, the coaches threw everything but the kitchen sink at us today. And if they had, I’m sure we would have had to carry it over our head.

My shoulders are baked. Tired. Wiped out.

We started off with a mini Super-circuit — a series of exercises that pretty much work the whole body. One minute I was pushing a board, the next I was jumping rope. It was 25 minutes of high heart rate activity. We then ran quick-foot ladders and then went into the weight room (where we did intense shoulder workouts). The last session was starting at the goal line and making out way to the other goal line. In between was crab crawls, inch worms (with a push-up), sit-ups, leg lifts, bear crawls and a plank at the end.

I had run out of steam. There just are days when you’re going to have a bad day. And I was having one of them. But I kept pushing. And pushing. And pushing.

Why? It’s more important to push when you’re ready to quit. When you’re tired. Because that’s the training you need for life. It’s called perfect practice. You gut out the hard time so the field so you can in life.

I’m exhausted. But I do have the satisfaction of knowing that I have enough will to fight through wanting to quit.

It’s the bad days that define who we are. They’re the ones that shape us and keep us moving forward.

Now to look for that $%^ truck that hit me.

5 a.m.

I’m standing on the 45-yard line on Madison Central’s football field. It’s 45 degrees with a 13 mph wind that makes the 45 degrees on the thermometer a lie. I’m wearing shorts.

No one ever said I was smart. Or warm.

My bed was warm, though. I almost needed an oyster shucker to get out of it this morning. But I did. It takes 21 days to creates new habit. We’re six days into this one. My feet overrode my brain and hit the floor at 3:58.

Improvement requires action.

We start our warm-ups. High knees, inch worms, over and under the fence. With it being cold, my muscles need to be warm. I look at my Line 1 teammates. They’re great athletes. My goal is to be as great as they are.

I focus on each exercise. Coach Trahan has us running game through the cones. Coach Clark fries our shoulder muscles with hand weights. I feel the burn. That burn means I’m getting stronger.

After an hour, I wasn’t cold anymore. My heart rate was up and so were my spirits.

It was 6 a.m. My day was on the right track.

Congratulations, you survived the first week. You’re sore (and tired). You’ve done things you never thought you would in your life.

For example: Today, I jumped rope, then pushed a board 3/4 the way across a football field. When I was done with that I put my feet on a chips and salsa tray and pulled my body to the other sideline and turned around and went back to where I left my board. I then pushed it back 3/4 of the way to where I started.

Then I did it again.

It was tempting to say, “I can’t.” But “can’t” is a word I’ve taken out of my vocabulary (except for singing.) The next level requires the body and the mind to work together.

Right now both my mind and body are pooped.

My shoulders are baked. I am ready to eat my lunch (it’s 7:52 a.m.). But I’m happy. This will be an awesome 12 weeks.

I hope you feel the same way. That soreness you feel is your body changing for the better. You’ve got this.

The next level is in reach.