Jock Jam

Gym rat working out... on the Blackberry machine.

The problem about being a regular Joe athlete is that your mind is often going in a million directions. You're always full of confidence and positivity because you know what you can achieve, but because you know you can complete a marathon in 5:13 without training very hard (meaning, just three long runs, none of which surpassed 15 miles or 25 kilometers), you always wonder about what could have been. I won't lie. I'm pretty cocky. I know how far I can hit a softball if it was a big fat meatball I was sitting on and I know I can return impossible tennis shots. I know a combination of my physical affinity and mental psyche can make me good at most sports (except for gymnastics, skating, synchronized swimming and anything that requires grace) if I wanted to try -- and most times I do, so I can beat my competition. All my life playing softball, I was taught to play hard, and I do.

But I know there are better athletes than me in my life, and I am in constant awe of their power and prowess. They have always been my inspiration, as have my larger-than-life heroes -- John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Kirk Gibson, Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg, Kerry Wood, and so on. And when you're told your body fat percentage is 37.2 percent, it's like getting a 100mph fastball landing in your gut like sucker punch, before a Roddick serve lands in the middle of your skull. And I'm thinking, how much better could I have been in my 31 years of playing sports (I was put into a pool when I was barely a year old) if I had not been carrying a reserve tank I didn't need? Seven weeks ago, I began a self-imposed Tri-ing Hard program in which I targeted to lose, in three stages, five pounds, two pounds and two pounds. I started at 147.2 pounds and figured that once I hit 140, I would be less concerned about weight and more about body fat.

Three weeks into my program, I made good progress through a combination of training for my first race of the season, Tribob's Singapore Sprint Series on April 19, and a much improved nutrition program. Top on the list -- I restricted myself to no more than one beer a day, or a maximum of seven a week. I cut out as many processed foods as possible, minimized my saturated fat and unnecessary carbohydrates, and made sure I had at least five servings of fruit or vegetables a day. By the time I was measured at my first personal training session, I had already lost two pounds in about three weeks, but that's just part of the way.

When it comes to training, I don't compromise. I don't run shorter distances to cut corners -- in fact, I would make my distance for the day or even a little more, if I can. I do more reps in my resistance training than I have to, because, it won't hurt you, would it? In addition to tri training, I play softball and tennis and bike everywhere. It's fun, I love it. But when I began my regime at the Fitness Factory with Augustine Lee and Moses Ching, my training was taken to a whole new level. Put it this way -- when I started on March 2, I did 120 leg raises. This morning, March 24, I did 225. I'm not saying it was easy -- my last five in the my fifth rep of the day felt like someone was trying to rip my abs off me while digging through the beer belly. But the fact is that I did it, and once you're done, it feels like being drenched with ice cold draught Guinness after a marathon. Mmm.

Because I'm at a point where beyond the leg raises, I'm doing 125 leg curls (40 pounds), 130 chest presses (55 pounds), 125 weighted squats (20 pounds), 130 cable crosses (too challenging to notice the weight) and 130 bend rolls (25 pounds), I have also found myself accomplishing the following: running three miles in 25:00 (hitting a maximum speed of 9mph), running 7 miles in 1:05, a huge improvement in my swim, higher stamina on the bike, wider range at softball and tennis, and the ability to just keep going, going, going without feeling winded. More than that, the new surge in fitness and power is also pumping iron for my mind and spirit. Just like boxing, I feel pretty invincible and like I can Viva la Vida the world. I know what my limitations are, but still, for the first time in my life I'm thinking I could try to qualify for the Boston Marathon (3:45 and under, and whatever happened to my vow to only run one more marathon in this lifetime?). I'm beginning to get hung up on personal records, which is the nerdiest thing ever if you do endurance races. I've always said to Mofo and Jenny B and the rest of my softball girls that when we're 60, we should still be playing ball together and running races together. I think we're on our way.

And the weight? I am at 142.3 pounds, which means I have lost 5.2 pounds in seven weeks, which doesn't account for muscle toning weight I've maintained or put on. We've yet to re-measure the body fat percentage, but it better be down, goddamn it, or something's going to be at the receiving end of either my right cross or my right hook, my two best punches.