Over the weekend, my friend Dani posted something way rad on Facebook. She’s the lead singer of Nashville-based ska/rocksteady band Soul Radics and apparently a gentleman bought one of their singles. He told her of his purchase and decided to inform her that he noticed the single had a Side-1 and a Side-A. He thought this was peculiar, potentially a mistake.

She corrected him — “That record has no 2nd or B-side — it was all fiyah!”

If that isn’t a metaphor for life, I don’t know what is.

There’s pizza below, but first…

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Last week I started my phase 4 and it rocked my world. Hitting that 90% weight for my working sets was certainly nothing to joke about and we go up even higher this week. Additionally, I put in days 1-3 of the 21 Day Kettlebell Challenge (day 3 was rest), finished another week of my pull-up program, taught 3 classes at TITLE Boxing Club, did two hours of Muay Thai and additional core + conditioning work as described last week, and got in three runs for a total of 5.5 miles on the week.

Half-Marathon training is three weeks away, y’all.

This week will be almost identical. I’ll be doing three classes at TITLE including two today (boxing this AM, kickboxing this PM), lifting twice, doing days 4-6 of the 21 Day Kettlebell Challenge, getting in my pull-ups and trying to get in at least 5 miles of running. The main differences are that I’m going to try to get in three hours of the Muay Thai training and my working weight/sets for my lifting will look like this:

Upper/Lower Body Days

Weight: 95%

Sets: 4

Reps: 4

It’s looking like the next week consists of the same weight and reps but one more set. Fabulous.

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Completely Unrelated

It’s been at least a year since I got this brilliant idea to have a trust fall-esque pizza party at my house where I’d invite friends over for a pizza and wine dinner. My guests would supply the wine and I would make a series of experimental pizzas. I put together five recipes with various topping combinations and went so far as to make all five, taking photos of each and making detailed notes on what worked and what I should try the next time I made them.

And that was it. I never re-made the pizzas and the party never happened. It’s been in the back of my mind, though, just waiting for the right time to reemerge, I suppose. That time was over the weekend when I found those photos and notes. I decided that last night it was time to get back on top of things and I put together a sixth pizza option. I’m keeping my toppings and recipes to myself — only to be revealed to party attendees — but I’m letting this one out of the bag because it was awesome and it felt good to be back in action.

Confession: I didn’t make the sauce. How embarrassing.

Not embarrassing, though: you’re looking at a homemade crust topped with sauce, homemade bacon, caramelized pineapples, fried mushrooms, chopped spinach, monterrey Jack cheese and fresh scallions. My take on the classic Hawaiian. I’m thinking next time I’ll add jalapeños and drizzle it with honey.

And there will be a next time.

And there will be a party.

Will you be invited?

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Relevant, Again

I’ve had a lot of interest shown lately in my meal prepping so look out for a detailed post (or posts) and maybe even a few videos describing what I do, how I do it and why I do it. Meal prepping is a good thing, y’all. They say abs are made in the kitchen and while I can’t guarantee that, I can let you know that Erin has lost 4 pants sizes, largely due to how hard she’s been working out, but also because of her nutrition.

FOUR SIZES, Y’ALL

If it works, it works. I’ll drink (in moderation) to that!

Anyway, that’s Monday for you. Here’s to living this week like we don’t have a B-Side.