This week has been pretty good overall, a few emotional things have now been sorted and home life is starting to relax a bit, just need to get over the next hump which is Shelly's Mum going into hospital next week for her heart op. I wish I coudl say the same for my fitness! I am probably in the best physical shape since I was last in the Army, which to be fair I left in my late twenties and I am approaching 40 (1 year left ;)) I have been struggling with a torn muscle in my shoudler which has severly curtailed my upper body training and last weeks mammoth bike ride have also left a few damaged bits, most problematic is an injury to my left foot. Gort onto the treadmill this week and could only do 5 minutes as I had a severe pain in my foot that I tried to struggle through but was a sign that I needed to rest it, luckily I was still able to use the cross trainer but with the fitness test looming it looks like I may have peaked a week or two too soon!
No matter what, I will approach the fitness test with a zero excuse and attack it with maximum effort and go for it, physical effort I always think is 90% mental anyway, your body is designed to work hard and it is only in you rmind where you can really decide to keep going through a little bit of pain. Obviously I am not advocating pushing yourself too far, you need to listen to your body, hence why I have been off the upper body for 3-4 weeks. But you also need to undertsand how your body works, how quickly it takes you to reach a point where you need to push that little bit more and settle into the exercise and effort you are looking to achieve.
Will not hit the treadmill until mid week , just to give it a little bit more time to rest and then will do a couple of sessions before the weekend to stretch the legs and lungs.
Sunday 28 February 2010
Wednesday 24 February 2010
Stress...the stuff of life
Ah what a morning, nothing like getting up and feeling really old and broken down! My shoulder has started playing up again, I have rested it for nearly 4 weeks and I thought this week, just ease into some upper body, no more than say 20 press ups a day and up until today it all seemed okay, this morning i am finding it difficult to lift my arm higher than my shoulder. I think I am going to have to get some physio or something on it as this can't go on, the main problem with that is when can i do it! I can't take any time off work as things are just insane at the minute (and to be honest will probably stay like this for at least a couple of months, if not until Summer) and my weekends are filled up with having to do stuff with the kids and support Shelly with her Mum and Dad (he goes into a care home on Saturday whilst Shelly's mum preps for a heart op next week)
I really wanted to stay in bed this morning and have a day oblivious to anything, however got to just get on with things and not stress the stuff I have no control or influence over and concentrate on getting some positive outcomes generated to keep the, happy, happy, Joy, Joy stuff going.
I really wanted to stay in bed this morning and have a day oblivious to anything, however got to just get on with things and not stress the stuff I have no control or influence over and concentrate on getting some positive outcomes generated to keep the, happy, happy, Joy, Joy stuff going.
Monday 22 February 2010
Some points to note
Had a really enjoyable training session tonight, a couple of points picked up tonight were:
BASICS:
Basic techniques are done in a systematic way to exercise a range of motion to simulate a combatative situation. An analogy was given in the class which related basic techniques to army drill coupled with weight training.
PAIR WORK:
When carrying out pair work a good technique for yourself or in an instructional setting is to look for the angle of attack. A good visualisation technique is to picture a compass on the floor and position yourself on the right 45 degree angles.
BASICS:
Basic techniques are done in a systematic way to exercise a range of motion to simulate a combatative situation. An analogy was given in the class which related basic techniques to army drill coupled with weight training.
PAIR WORK:
When carrying out pair work a good technique for yourself or in an instructional setting is to look for the angle of attack. A good visualisation technique is to picture a compass on the floor and position yourself on the right 45 degree angles.
Feeling something...which is good
Had a bit of criticism this morning from my instructor which in some areas I judged a bit harsh but really was spot on the money and completely justified. The reason for posting is really that it made me feel, which to me is brilliant because it means I am still passionate about my training and if I feel hard done by then at least I am feeling something, not just, meh tick along with my training, do the minimum I think I can get away with etc.
Every bit of advice I have received from either my instructors, other black belts or fellow students, of any rank, I have tried to incorporate it into my training but I will hold my hand up and say, I only have a finite time that i can dedicate to my training but realistically I need to focus into that precious time and cut back on the prevarication, which does creep in from time to time.
This morning has been a great splash of cold water on the face and hopefully I am just being overly sensitive as I get closer to the grading date, I need to forget looking at myself in relation to other students and concentrate a bit more on myself and what I need to achieve.
Every bit of advice I have received from either my instructors, other black belts or fellow students, of any rank, I have tried to incorporate it into my training but I will hold my hand up and say, I only have a finite time that i can dedicate to my training but realistically I need to focus into that precious time and cut back on the prevarication, which does creep in from time to time.
This morning has been a great splash of cold water on the face and hopefully I am just being overly sensitive as I get closer to the grading date, I need to forget looking at myself in relation to other students and concentrate a bit more on myself and what I need to achieve.
Sunday 21 February 2010
Kick Ass
Had an awesome weekend this week, Shelly and I have had a weekend away planned with friends for ages so come 8.30am Saturday morning off we set to Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons (Wales if you don't know where they are) for a compelte decompress, no kids, no worries just do something enjoyable and have a great time.
Whilst Shelly and her mate went off and did their thing (It did end up involving some substantial spending on an original painting!) I got ready with my mate to crack the Crickhowell red route mountain bike route (22 miles). It didn't start off very auspiciously as we took the wrong turn straight away and so ended up going a mile down the road before we realised what had happend, so after 10 mins we were actually still no further down the route even though we had done 2 miles. As soon as we set off on the right route the first thing that hit us was a really steep climb out of Crickhowell and a mile later I had managed to keep going, a first for me on such a long steep climb!
We cracked on with the rest of the route and by the time we had climbed even higher we came across a new type of obstacle, SNOW! We had to fight through it and after a while we realised that we couldn't see the route, as we were contouring along a rifge we decided we should get down hit the road and rejoin the route slightly further on, the descent was pretty hairy as it was steep and we got up to a great speed, wind chill ended up freezing the tears that the wind was making stream from my eyes. After a coupel of miles on a long slow ascent on the tarmac we turned off the road and got back on the trails, however as we were quite high up the snow was everywhere and proved to be a really savage challenge as the snow, which was about 9-12 inches deep had ice below it so it was like cycling through very deep, soft sand, this was what was really sapping our strength as the routes are designed to provide tough sections but then easier to allow you to recoevr, the snow was meaning we had to tough it out with no real respite (the downed pine trees across the tracks didn't help)
Still a sense of humour reigned and some of the sights were spectacular, it wasn't until we had had to carry the bikes and fight our way across a mountain ridge for about 3 miles that I was starting to get hacked off, here the snow was really deep (up to the knees) and unfortunately the top layer was ice so it actually started to cut my shins, luckily it was really cold so it did numb the cuts!
Deciding that this was becoming a bit more than we had bargained for we tried to keep to the route and look for a gate that woudl take us back to the road for the last 5 miles back to Crickhowell, unfortunately we coudln't find the gate, and this led to about 5-6 miles of backbreaking, up and down following a fence/wall line just to get us to civilisation. It was at this point that I had to really dig deep as the snow was causing us to slip and lside all ove rthe place and the bikes were just weights that we had to carry along as it was impossible to ride.
Eventually we managed to hit a tarmac road and then it was luscious downhill all the way until the final 2 miles into Crickhowell which were uphill, but as the sun was coming down we were so determined not to be caught out without lights that we powered through the hills and rolled into the Hotel car park just as the sun was setting at 6.10pm.
Cold, wet, absolutely at the end of my endurance I thought about it and agreed that that was the most physically demanding thing I had done since my Army days, my mate who has been embarking on his own journey into fitness was hanging and sinking into a hot bath to thaw out my frozen feet was almost sexual!
2 pints of cider and a great meal later I collapsed into bed completely exhausted but so exhilerated I couldn't sleep!
Really enjoyed the whole weekend but don't want to repeat that experience for a long time!
Whilst Shelly and her mate went off and did their thing (It did end up involving some substantial spending on an original painting!) I got ready with my mate to crack the Crickhowell red route mountain bike route (22 miles). It didn't start off very auspiciously as we took the wrong turn straight away and so ended up going a mile down the road before we realised what had happend, so after 10 mins we were actually still no further down the route even though we had done 2 miles. As soon as we set off on the right route the first thing that hit us was a really steep climb out of Crickhowell and a mile later I had managed to keep going, a first for me on such a long steep climb!
We cracked on with the rest of the route and by the time we had climbed even higher we came across a new type of obstacle, SNOW! We had to fight through it and after a while we realised that we couldn't see the route, as we were contouring along a rifge we decided we should get down hit the road and rejoin the route slightly further on, the descent was pretty hairy as it was steep and we got up to a great speed, wind chill ended up freezing the tears that the wind was making stream from my eyes. After a coupel of miles on a long slow ascent on the tarmac we turned off the road and got back on the trails, however as we were quite high up the snow was everywhere and proved to be a really savage challenge as the snow, which was about 9-12 inches deep had ice below it so it was like cycling through very deep, soft sand, this was what was really sapping our strength as the routes are designed to provide tough sections but then easier to allow you to recoevr, the snow was meaning we had to tough it out with no real respite (the downed pine trees across the tracks didn't help)
Still a sense of humour reigned and some of the sights were spectacular, it wasn't until we had had to carry the bikes and fight our way across a mountain ridge for about 3 miles that I was starting to get hacked off, here the snow was really deep (up to the knees) and unfortunately the top layer was ice so it actually started to cut my shins, luckily it was really cold so it did numb the cuts!
Deciding that this was becoming a bit more than we had bargained for we tried to keep to the route and look for a gate that woudl take us back to the road for the last 5 miles back to Crickhowell, unfortunately we coudln't find the gate, and this led to about 5-6 miles of backbreaking, up and down following a fence/wall line just to get us to civilisation. It was at this point that I had to really dig deep as the snow was causing us to slip and lside all ove rthe place and the bikes were just weights that we had to carry along as it was impossible to ride.
Eventually we managed to hit a tarmac road and then it was luscious downhill all the way until the final 2 miles into Crickhowell which were uphill, but as the sun was coming down we were so determined not to be caught out without lights that we powered through the hills and rolled into the Hotel car park just as the sun was setting at 6.10pm.
Cold, wet, absolutely at the end of my endurance I thought about it and agreed that that was the most physically demanding thing I had done since my Army days, my mate who has been embarking on his own journey into fitness was hanging and sinking into a hot bath to thaw out my frozen feet was almost sexual!
2 pints of cider and a great meal later I collapsed into bed completely exhausted but so exhilerated I couldn't sleep!
Really enjoyed the whole weekend but don't want to repeat that experience for a long time!
Tuesday 16 February 2010
Feeling weird
I've started to notice that as I get closer to the black belt grading I am finding that I don't want to train, why is that? What's going on? I'm starting to get that rabbit in the headlight sensation that time is rushing on and I feel like I know next to nothing. It was only exacerbated last night when we were doing basics using Korean terminology, my mind went blank and all the things I thought I knew didn't make sense. Putting a positive spin on things it does re-inforce one of the key points I made at the start of this blog that the black belt isn't the end of the journey merely a milestone along the longer journey of martial arts. To be honest its remembering that I am in this for the long term that helps me to put it into perspective. However I am getting worried that my current mental state may lead to a more laissez faire attitude to my training and revision. There is a hell of a lot going on at the moment and worringly it all seems to be coming to a head around the middle of March.
Luckily this blog at least allows me to get it out in the open rather than keeping it all bottled up and adding to my already high stress levels, which rubs off on the family and isn't good for them or me. Do I have what it takes to be a black belt, I think so but have I done enough to earn one at the next grading, only my instructor will know that. I have mastery over my own destiny and I still have the time and capability to keep training and revising.
Luckily this blog at least allows me to get it out in the open rather than keeping it all bottled up and adding to my already high stress levels, which rubs off on the family and isn't good for them or me. Do I have what it takes to be a black belt, I think so but have I done enough to earn one at the next grading, only my instructor will know that. I have mastery over my own destiny and I still have the time and capability to keep training and revising.
Sunday 14 February 2010
Umm err...
Lack of posts on the blog have started to get me down but in a weird kind of way. The pain in the shoulder is still really giving me some difficulty. I have to say work has taken over my life this week as the handover has been dominating everything I have been doing and it is this week where to be honest I could have done with no training or anything else to distract me because the running of the department is all consuming at the minute with so many processes and personnel issues that I have been swamped mentally and physically and it has been kepping me up at night thrashing things out in my head. The disturbing thing is that this is purely the handover and as of tomorrow its my department, 25 plus people who have been having a rough time of the past year and all looking to me, ulp!
When it comes to keeping on top of the blog I'm my own worst enemy, I know I should do it but I get a stubborn streak come over me and I end up thinking "What can I talk about today?"
When it comes to keeping on top of the blog I'm my own worst enemy, I know I should do it but I get a stubborn streak come over me and I end up thinking "What can I talk about today?"
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Double Whammy
Not a very happy bunny today, woke up this morning with a pain that has been bothering me in my right shoulder. It has got progressively worse over the day to the point where using a mouse and lifting a glass of water was really painful, looks like it might have to be a trip to the docs this week, really, really REALLY P***ED OFF! Not many weeks to go and I get a poxy injury, its not as if I have been putting any great strain on it, must be my old bones finally giving up!
To add insult to injury a massive tender landed in my inbox this afternoon so bid prep and tender evaluation has to be done tonight ready for a bid meeting tomorrow rather than attending the open session. Day's like this I just think "Why bother?" then I wake up the next morning and just get on with it. The pain in my shoulder does concern me a bit because its probably a muscle tear but it feels like its right in the centre of the joint and is giving me a load of pain and making it painful to even lift my arm higher than my shoulder, damn it!
To add insult to injury a massive tender landed in my inbox this afternoon so bid prep and tender evaluation has to be done tonight ready for a bid meeting tomorrow rather than attending the open session. Day's like this I just think "Why bother?" then I wake up the next morning and just get on with it. The pain in my shoulder does concern me a bit because its probably a muscle tear but it feels like its right in the centre of the joint and is giving me a load of pain and making it painful to even lift my arm higher than my shoulder, damn it!
Monday 8 February 2010
Another day another dollar
Had a cracking weekend, managed to get out Saturday afternoon and met a couple of mates at the pub to watch the Ireland rugby game. I spent 2 hours drinking lime and soda as I didn't want to load up with empty calories, so was sticking to one of my goals on this journey. The night before, my wife and I had a free night from the kids so we settled down to a chilled night with a nice bottle of wine and some good food, really relaxing and a great way to recharge the batteries.
Looking forward to a weekend away in a couple of weeks with some friends, will manage to get a hard bike ride in and hopefully will be able to walk off a nice fried breakfast with a bimble up sugarloaf. Feeling pretty fit all round apart from the twinges in my right shoulder, I have used it today on some press ups and it is still giving me some gip but not as bad as it was a week ago. Will need to keep the effort up this week and start pulling all my black belt submission stuff together so that I can polish off the practical stuff needed at the grading.
Looking forward to a weekend away in a couple of weeks with some friends, will manage to get a hard bike ride in and hopefully will be able to walk off a nice fried breakfast with a bimble up sugarloaf. Feeling pretty fit all round apart from the twinges in my right shoulder, I have used it today on some press ups and it is still giving me some gip but not as bad as it was a week ago. Will need to keep the effort up this week and start pulling all my black belt submission stuff together so that I can polish off the practical stuff needed at the grading.
Thursday 4 February 2010
Anything to say?
Not posted for a few days and this kind of reflects my state of mind. Home is really hectic as well as work so I am in a kind of nuetral, just ticking along really. I took both my daughter Eleanor and a school friend called Robbie to training on Tuesday night and ended up helping out one of the assistant instructors. It was good fun, a bit nervy at first but the kids seemed to have a good time and it was great to see them carrying out some drills that we as adults had been doing the night before. Bar some chit chat that you wouldn't expect from adults, the kids showed real control during the drills and it was quite an eye opener. I'm a little bit strict (hangover from military days) but I had the kids laughing along, especially at the warm ups with the forfeit of 5 press ups for cutting corners a real winner.
I do have some aspirations in the future to be an instructor and I have been lucky enough to get some opportunities to help out and assist at the school over the years and it is a completely different thing to be out at the front trying to explain something that you want a class to do. This week I also got the chance to spend some time going through some of the pattern breakdown with a partner and it was good to see that I wasn't going off on flights of fancy but that a lot of what I have been putting down seems to work.
I have been cracking on the the phys and managed to get some runs in with I think the chance to go to the gym tomorrow for a bit more cardio and perhaps some weight training on the machines.
I do have some aspirations in the future to be an instructor and I have been lucky enough to get some opportunities to help out and assist at the school over the years and it is a completely different thing to be out at the front trying to explain something that you want a class to do. This week I also got the chance to spend some time going through some of the pattern breakdown with a partner and it was good to see that I wasn't going off on flights of fancy but that a lot of what I have been putting down seems to work.
I have been cracking on the the phys and managed to get some runs in with I think the chance to go to the gym tomorrow for a bit more cardio and perhaps some weight training on the machines.
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