Week 57 - DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE

The Numbers (as of 12/31):

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		50,450	50,450	1,000	1,000	6	1,250	1,212	1,066	56	12
						2,468
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	56	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		101%	101%	100%	100%	103%			107%	100%	100%

Other Requirements:

Other Requirements/Goals
Empathy Training			Blind	✔	Mute	✔	Wheelchair	X		Complete:	✔
Read 6 books			✔ - 7 Habits	✔ - BABOK	✔ - A Call to Action	✔- Power of Now	✔ - China Study	✔ - Traditions		Complete:	✔
Seek out a Master			Kyoshi Fierro - Done							Complete:	✔
1 Personal Goal			Rancho Cordova Challenge - 1/2 Iron Distance (70.3) - Oct 5th							Complete:	✔
Memorize the Black Belt Pledge										Complete:	✔
1 Community Service Project			✔ - Swings for SMA		✔ - Team w/ Robotics Club					Complete:	✔
Conquer 3 Personal Fears			Riding	✔	Scuba	Scheduled	Reptile	✔		Complete:	✔
1/2 Marathon in < 1:46:00			Down to 1:50:01 so far							Complete:	X

Thoughts:

I'm glad this is over. It was seriously hard. 13 months is a long time. For the next few days until the test, it's all about mental preparedness. Physically, I'm as ready as I'll get.

January 9th: I'm counting the days and feeling nervous and excited and... Can't wait to see Mr. Ramos in a black belt. Can't wait to see everyone at the test. Can wait to get my butt kicked but can't wait 'til it's over. :)

Can't wait to see everyone there.

Video 12 - Recap

The last video... in the nick of time. A recap of what the last 13 months, some lessons learned, and what's doing' for the next 9 days.

Video 11 - Kata, kata... Everywhere

So I made a big oops in regards to the kata requirement for the test. It left me needing to average about 9 cycles (9 of each of the 7 katas) a day. That's about 90 minutes a day. That's a lot. And frankly, it wasn't fun. But I'm all for laughing at myself when the opportunity arises. So, here's to kata... Making me miserable, then making me laugh.

Week 56 - 4 Days to Go!

The Numbers (as of 12/27):

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		50,450	50,450	935	986	6	1,250	1,208	1,074	56	9
						2,463
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	56	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		100.90%	100.90%	93.50%	98.60%	102.65%			107.40%	100.00%	75.00%

Other Requirements:

Other Requirements/Goals
Empathy Training			Blind	✔	Mute	✔	Wheelchair	X		Complete:	✔
Read 6 books			✔ - 7 Habits	✔ - BABOK	✔ - A Call to Action	✔- Power of Now	✔ - China Study	✔ - Traditions		Complete:	✔
Seek out a Master			Kyoshi Fierro - Done							Complete:	✔
1 Personal Goal			Rancho Cordova Challenge - 1/2 Iron Distance (70.3) - Oct 5th							Complete:	✔
Memorize the Black Belt Pledge										Complete:
1 Community Service Project			✔ - Swings for SMA		✔ - Team w/ Robotics Club					Complete:	✔
Conquer 3 Personal Fears			Riding	✔	Scuba	Scheduled	Reptile	✔		Complete:	✔
1/2 Marathon in < 1:46:00			Down to 1:50:01 so far							Complete:	X

Sparring... almost there. Kata... not as almost there as sparring... but will get there. Video.... almost there. So basically... Almost there. 

Empathy training is done as I met the requirements. Enjoyed all the books, learned a lot about Kyoshi Fierro and achieved my personal goal of completing a 1/2 iron triathlon. Haven't memorized the Black Belt Pledge yet, but it will be done by December 31. Community service project... ✔. 



I set some additional goals: 

1. Spend a day in a wheelchair - I didn't get to it due to scheduling and surgeries, but I'm sure my friend will be up for it in a few months. 
2. Conquer 3 personal fears - I rode a horse, petted a snake (eeewwww) but didn't get the scuba lesson in. I was going to do it this month but the turns out they don't put you in the water. So, I did some research and found a place with a heated pool and am signed up for January's class. 
3. Get my 1/2 marathon time down to 1:46:00 - Not even close! Haha. I did shave 4:55 which I'm happy with. My new personal record is 1:50:01 (that :01 really hurt) and I feel good about that but will keep trying for that 1:46. 

Empathy Training - Blind Day:

I only made it 8 hours. It was HARD. I did a full 24 hours of no talking. I'd spend a week with no talking before I'd do another day without vision. I made a sandwich that had WAY too much mustard in it. I will always know how tall my kitchen counters are because my hip bones will never be the same. I tripped over my dog at least 4 times. I'm thankful for audiobooks and for a small house with no clutter. I know they say you don't know what you have until you lose it. This brought that to a whole new level. I am thankful for my sight. 

The Last 4 Days:

I'm taking Wednesday off from work to do kata and make videos :) "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." I will get there.

The Levels:
Motivation: Has been taken over by the cramming
Next Event: January 9th - Black Belt Test


Motivation:

Video 10 - One Year of Races

Week 55 - Let the Cramming Begin

The Numbers (as of 12/20):

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		50,450	50,450	864	977	6	1,250	1,200	1,045	54	9
						2,455
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	56	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		100.90%	100.90%	86.40%	97.70%	102.31%			104.50%	96.43%	75.00%

This being the last week of classes until next year, I was in the dojo pretty often - 9 hours. Thanks to all the classes that helped me with sparring this week, it gave me the edge I needed. Still have 22 rounds to go but I'll get those over the holidays with some help from classmates. Kata number is looming.


The Training:

Sparring is what it is. I'm just trying to keep my conditioning up. The Tabata strength training is helping with that, mentally at least. If you feel confident you'll be confident, right? 

As for kata... time to start that big push. I need to bump up to 12 sets a day for the next couple of weeks and add some extras on top of that. It's going to be pretty miserable, haha. Here goes...

Unfortunately, my scuba class got cancelled. Hopefully there will be an availability before the end of the year. Fingers crossed. Got some videos planned, just need to put them together. Thank goodness there are some days off coming up, perfect for cramming. :) 


The Challenges:

Well, the cramming isn't fun, but I set myself up for that one. I'm mostly jut trying to stay positive, the nerves can really mess with you sometimes. Already thinking about how it's going to feel demonstrate kata in front of a crowd. I don't mind getting my butt kicked in sparring, there's been plenty of that and will plenty more. Kata though, that's one of my favorite things. I really want to do well. 


The Levels:
Motivation: Yep :), still with the nervousness
Next Event: January 9th - Black Belt Test


Motivation: