Normal(ish) service resumed

Not done a blog post for over a week as Ive been having some connection issues and not been feeling 100% either but felt i needed to look back over the last week and comment on some stuff. Did the team walk on Sunday, was a good day out, the guys we are walking with are from United Welsh Housing Association and they were a friendly bunch, plenty of banter going on. The weather was as expected when you start getting up into the hills around Brecon, sunny on eminute then the clouds come in and its time to get soggy. The route itself wasnt anythng too strenous, one peak was particulary steep but a bit of zoning out meant I was at the top way before anyone else (cant escape that competative streak) The rest of the day was a nice hike and we even had some time to enjoy a well deserved pint at the end before having to drive back home, where my good lady put on a welcome roast dinner, not a bad way to spend a Sunday. The rest of the week was spent with work and finishing off stage 1 of the Black belt training, my thesis. When I did my 1st Dan I chose a subject that I knew a fair bit about, self defence and martial arts in the military, for this one I decided I would like to take a look at the story behind one of the ITF TaeKwon Do patterns, Hwa Rang. When it comes to things like projects, essays and writing a thesis I tend towards the hit it hard and keep going until its finished type approach. Its meant most spare time and lunch hours researching, coming up with an outline and then actually cracking on and writing the thing up. To me this thesis has been much more enjoyable than the last one as I approached this topic completly fresh and it was great finding out information that I hadnt heard of before and I have slowly built up a picture of who and what the Hwa Rang where, it most definately is not what I had imaged before I started the project. The running has carried on, even with the foul weather and it was when I was out yesterday that I got to thinking about what it means to push yourself and what achievement really means. This train of thought was kicked off as I was jogging to the top of a particulary long hill towards the end of my 6 mile route. As I was plodding on with the freezing rain lashing down and the wind howling, I noticed across the road a guy I see quite frequently around Wotton. This guy (i dont know his name) suffered some sort of injury or a stroke a couple of years ago and since then he goes out every day with his zimmer frame and does a long walk. He doesnt move very fast but he keeps on going and as I was getting towards the top of the hill and giving mysself a pat on the back, I saw him and it occured to me that I was kidding myself if I thought I was really 'proving' something or 'achieving' something because here was a guy who has limited mobility but does not allow that or a piddling thing like extreme weather stop him from achieving his goal, which is simply to walk. Seeing him was a great reality check and for the rest of the run I mulled over what it must mean to him to get out and do his walking. It certainly makes me think that anyone who says they dont have time to train or that they would rather put off doing something just because its abit wet most definately shoudl re-evaluate themeselves and for those looking for examples of black belt excellence and indomitable spirit, look to guys like him who do it every day, without fail and who set themselves a simple goal, do something positive with your time. Anyway I'm not in tip top form myself at the minute, there is some sort of bug doing the rounds and I think I may be fighting something off as I am definately feeling lethargic and very achey, so an early bath tonight methinks and a bit of a lie in before a full day of working and getting on with stage 2 of BB, the pattern breakdown. P.S. I have said I would put up a couple of extracts of the thesis and will endeavor to do it now on the next post.