Mid-Way — 8 Dec 2014

Well, I’m about Mid-Way to my stated (yet uncertain) goal of weighing at least 212 lbs. by the time I step onto the stage in Pittsburgh, PA for the National Bodybuilding Championships in Jul 2014.  I can officially tell all of you that this odyssey to move up 2-3 weight divisions and win this contest has been brutal.  The training and eating and heavy supplementation has taxed this little guy.  I have never eaten this amount of food over this period of time in my life.

I asked for a coach that would not pamper me and I got just the guy!  Justin Dees continually refuses to accept my complaints and my pre-existing false assumptions and beliefs.  He is slowly shaping my mind and my body into a uniform entity bent on nothing less than victory.  When I try to explain to him “how I do it” he listens carefully until I finish.  He then goes about the business of helping me understand why my previous practices have not worked.  He then inserts the proper exercise performed the correct way the optimal number of times.  Each exercise is designed to be taken to exhaustion and no further.  Justin sets the tone and the vector of my training.  He reminds me of why I came to him and what I told him I wanted to accomplish.  All of this is what Justin does to keep me on task, overcoming obstacles, —-  driving toward the prize.

The Mid-Way point is like reaching the highest and most difficult part of a journey. Once I have cleared the summit and can see the end, my heart begins to beat faster as the excitement permeates my whole being.  I am beginning to gather the energy and motivation to finish this task in a mighty way.  As I look to July 2015 each workout is becoming less burdensome.  The workouts are more focused and the desire to reach the points of exhaustion increases exponentially.  I love the sweat, the heat that spreads over the muscle group being worked that day, the pain that is deep and penetrating, and the satisfaction that I have moved the size of my muscles upward.

Mid-Way has been reached and now we begin to drive to the reward.  In our lives we are certainly beyond the Mid-Point.  Thus, for most of us, we have been pushing to finish our lives on our own terms and in some cases it is working.  Let me repeat again, “This is Our Time! Let’s not lose track of where we are and where we are going. Let’s focus on the “end game” and prepare to finish well.  Take care of yourselves such that you can attain and accomplish those things that are set before us.

Mid-Way belongs only to me right now and with Justin’s kick in the ass and the constant drum beat of his belief in me I will win.

Until next time!

Douglas E. Graham