13 Oct Update: Piano, Pull-ups, Weight Goals
Everything finally clicked with John Lennon’s Imagine. I love this song, it feels so so good to play, especially considering all the effort I put in. After breakfast and before work call I head downstairs when the music room is empty (before 7am). I turn on the mixing board and the amplifier, then connect them to the keyboard. The mixing board is connected to speakers far larger than I would have thought the prison would go for. It’s in the basement, and the sound doesn’t carry, so I’m good to go there. I think it’s time I keep practicing the basics, and learning new songs, but for now, turning the volume up and playing that song is such a good way to start the day. It rumbles in there, you feel it. This morning as I was playing another guy came in who plays guitar. He started playing a few scales in C and it all just melted together. I kept playing the song again and again, he kept soloing. It was time for work so I stood up, thanked him, we both nodded and off I went. Then it rained on me all morning while I was outside working. Haha, win some lose some.
Pull-ups update. I nailed 18 the last week. 18 clean ones. Still a ways to go to 25 but it’s certainly progress. Stretching, foam rolling and rest days help. On Saturday afternoons I will walk the track and do pull-ups or chin-ups every quarter mile while trying to just enjoy the fresh air and fall colors. My base level, how many I can do before I get tired, is slowly ticking up.
Lastly, I’m tired of all this eating… I have to hand it to the chow hall. There is no shortage of food for lunch or dinner meals. The mid day snack is oatmeal, trail mix, protein powder and peanut butter. Having a heck of a time putting on weight and likely need to mellow out on the pickle ball if I really want to lock in the 15lb gain but I am hovering between 1-2lbs shy of it. Considering how much fat I’m burning off I can safely say I’ve put on 15 pounds of muscle, but just not quiet 15lbs of total weight. Wishing I had done a body fat composition test when I got here but oh well, that’s living in the past.
Finally, the moon has a stunning orange/rose hue to it this evening and you can vividly see the definition. I was only able to see it for a minute on the walk back from a night class to my unit but I soaked up what I could. I can’t wait until I can sit outside, camped somewhere in the Sawtooths or Whitecloud Mountains, and watch the moon and the stars.