3 weeks til Boston!

This one’s going to be different than previous posts. I’m doing it free-form without headings.

Sort of like one of my daily emails I used to send.

I’ve been focused on work a lot during the month of May, so my workout cadence suffered. I didn’t go nearly as much as prior months.

But I accomplished notable things and made a big impact on my team. No regrets there.

Yet still I remain trapped above 100kg. Lately I’ve managed to eat less and feel satiated, mostly thanks to popcorn and other low-calorie high-fiber foods.

And I looked recently at my trend lines since the start of 2025, and I am heading in the right direction. It’s just incredibly slow to the point that it’s been agonizing 🐌 

Muscle Mass 📈 

Fat % 📉 

Right now I’m hovering somewhere around 26.5% body fat and 94 lbs. of muscle if you find the “line of best fit” on these charts like we learned to in math class.

But the past month I’ve gone in the inverse direction vs. the 2025 trend, or I’ve somewhat plateaued. I know why and it’s totally reversible, but it’s still discouraging.

And to add insult to injury, on Friday I overexerted myself with a speed run and while I got an 8:09/mile pace from a 0.85-mile run — unprecedented for me since my injury in 2022 — I caused that patellar tendon to flare up again, and this time, the pain hasn’t gone away in a day. It’s lasted a few days already. It’s at least starting to subside but it feels like this is going to be a longer recovery. I’ll need to pump the brakes on high-impact jumping and heavy leg lifts until Boston, just to be safe.

That’s in 3 weeks, by the way. I can’t believe it. You already read the title, though, so you know.

It’s wild to think what I’ve gotten myself into here.

I’m hoping I don’t regret it! I really want to coach parkour, but I want to do it with 2 fully-functional knees. We’ll see how that goes.

For now, I’ll be smart and rest, and switch focus to my upper body, which didn’t get enough love this past month.

I found out 2 weeks ago that my nutritionist was retiring at the end of May, so I’m back to square 1 on that front. I did learn a few lessons from her that I’ll continue to implement, though, so I don’t think there’s a need to see another one just yet.

I’ve been continuing through the ADAPT Level 1 Learner Pack to brush up on everything I learned 10 years ago about parkour coaching, and I’m just about done with it. Just have some open-ended questions to answer. I feel like I’m back in school and this is the final exam, except this time there’s nobody signing off on it. Just the honor system this time around.

In the time since I wrote the last post, my wife and I got tickets to go see one of EXO’s members in Seattle after I come back from Boston, so I ended up taking my first 2-week vacation from work ever. I’m not big on long vacations. It’s always felt weird, probably because I’m a typical American with “vacation guilt”.

But I’m excited. This summer’s going to be full of new experiences and challenges.

I haven’t filled out the “new program template” the program executive at the YMCA gave me a few weeks ago, but I plan to get it done before I leave for Boston, just to get the ball rolling.

I won’t do any lesson planning til I come back, since I’m sure my ideas will change after going through the Level 2 course.

For now I’m just gonna keep chugging along on my weight loss efforts. I took the past 2 weeks to do something my wife and I call “Treat Level Midnight”, which is a no-sugar challenge we did a couple years ago to some success. I’ve made it 13 of the 14 days and tomorrow’s the last day. My skin’s cleared up, my energy levels are higher, and I feel good in that sense. I do miss having comfort food on a bad day, though. Pros and cons.

My nutritionist told me to attempt to do it for too long, though, since it’s not a very sustainable approach to eating.

I agree with her, and so does my wife, so I’m gonna have some ice cream on Wednesday most likely 😂 

Signing off til my next post 👋 Might be before I leave or after I come back. Either way, I’ve enjoyed having this outlet for my thoughts during the journey.