Week 16 - They are Kind of Going Fast Now

The Numbers (as of 3/22):

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		14,700	14,700	295	100	0	346	311	307	14	0
						657
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	52	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		29.40%	29.40%	29.50%	10.00%	27.36%			30.70%	26.92%	0.00%

The Training:
Well, got some good bike miles in this week. Need to up my running. And for the love of Pete I need to get to the pool. I'm just going to come out and say it: Training for a 1/2 iron is WAY harder than I thought it would be. Everything says it takes 9 hours a week minimum. I'm not doing 9 hours a week specific to triathlon. But I'm gonna do it anyway :) 

Getting the katas and push-ups and sit-ups in has become a part of my work day routine and is more habit than thought at this point. So, feeling good about my numbers and the consistency around them. Enjoying kata as usual. I've always said there are two things that make my head stop chattering. That's running and kata! Sparring is... the same, but things don't change over night. 

I've also been in contact with Kyoshi Marilyn Fierro. I chose to profile her for the portion of the test that requires we get in contact with a master. It's nice to have that in the works. She was great to talk to and I look forward to exchanging emails with her.

Challenges:
Figuring out when to swim, when to bike, when to run, when to kata, when to work on my deck, when to not do a darn thing. This test is also a practice in time management. I'm getting thru my second book slowly but surely. 

Levels:
Number of bruises: 4
Injury: still wearing these finger splints
Next event - Marin County 1/2 marathon - April 19th
Motivation Level - Pretty good

Kindness:
This article is cool. Plus, it kind of relates kindness to meditation, which we have to do daily as part of our test.

Week 15 - Feeling Some Challenges (And that's okay)

The Numbers (as of 03/20):

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		13,800	13,800	277	90	0	288	301	286	13	0
						589
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	52	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		27.60%	27.60%	27.70%	9.00%	24.55%			28.60%	25.00%	0.00%

The Training:
Started my swim training for the triathlon. Really have nothing nice to say about swimming so I'll just gloss over this :) I'm also working on making some modifications to my road bike to get a setup that's closer to a triathlon bike. Cycling is a weird thing. Increments of 2 mm can make big differences in comfort and efficiency. 

Still struggling with the sparring but have some things to focus on that will help: Don't force it, if I plan on trying for one target, but something else is open, go there instead. I need to be more fluid about it. I'm also still working on angles: Angling away from an attack to put myself in a better position. I'm going to focus on those two things for a while. 

As far as kata goes, I'm enjoying working on Seuichin. And I'm making sure to visit all my other katas as well so I don't have any more forgetful moments. I enjoy the process of deep-diving into the katas. The fine-tuning of foot and hand positions and the twisty awkwardness of the crane stance is something I can happily get lost in.

Challenges:

Life is a busy thing sometimes. And that's okay, just have to keep going anyway. Things at work are starting to get more... well, it's like I'm a grown up. I'm starting to study for my CBAP exam (it's a business analyst certification thing - work related) and that will need some time. Triathlon training usually requires 9 hours a week. Swimming requires making it to the gym. I haven't been able to play with  my welder or my plasma cutter for months. That's how it has to be for right now, I guess. I'm okay with it, but I definitely recognize that it feels... I am going thru some adjustments. Time management is a big part of this test right now. And I don't even wear a watch!



Levels:
Here's something I'm adding this week per my friends' observation and recommendation. Just for laughs...
Number of bruises: 6
Injury: 2 splinted fingers. How two? I really don't know...
Next event - Oakland 1/2 marathon on March 23rd

Kindness 
Here is it! A link to a pretty cool act of kindness.

Week 14 - I Had the Cooties & More on Kindness

I know, at first it's really hard to associate cooties (ear/sinus infection) and kindness, but try to be patient, I'll get there :)

The Numbers (as of 03/08):

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		12,900	12,900	255	80	0	256	286	265	11	0
						542
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	52	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		25.80%	25.80%	25.50%	8.00%	22.60%			26.50%	21.15%	0.00%

The numbers were low this week, only 24 miles, 600 push-ups/sit-ups, only 12 katas. Even my acts of kindness count was low. But that's what's gonna happen when I get sick (aka the cooties). Not every day is going to allow me to get the numbers I'd like; that's part of the challenge. And that's okay, because the year will. And once I got that thru my thick skull, I accepted that, sometimes, you just have to lay down and stop for a minute. That, especially while I'm in this test, it's really important to listen to my body. And then to not argue. I also learned not to underestimate the power the multivitamin and so I got a 3 months supply :) 

The Training

I feel pretty good about most things. Where I'm struggling is with sparring and trying to find ownership of some techniques. My cardio for sparring will improve, but I'm really having a hard time getting to a place where I'm confident that I can work techniques the way I should be able to. I have time, but I'm craving a sense of improvement. We have moved on from focusing on Seisan to diving into the fine details of Seiuchin. I really enjoy Seiuchin kata. I remember when I was learning it as a white belt how different it felt with the hard and soft movements and how the horse stance burns the quads after a while. :) 

The Kindness

So while I was sick I had a friend offer to bring me over some soup or whatever groceries I may need (which she ALWAYS offers when I'm not feeling well - thanks, Anna). And then I read this great article on acts of kindness that my friend linked on her Facebook (thanks Debie). And then I saw a man walking a woman around the grocery store asking if this item or this item would help her out (he was buying a homeless woman groceries - thanks stranger man). People! This kindness stuff is AWESOME! So I'm going to try to remind myself/us how good kindness feels. To motivate myself/us, how good kindness feels, both to give and to receive. I'm going to post a link to something about kindness in each of my journals. Cuz darn it, it just feels good! 

So, here it is, this weeks link to awesome kindness! Seriously, you should expect to tear up just a bit, at least once. :)

Weeks 12 & 13 - Side Effects & Plans in the Making

So we are 13 weeks into this thing now. That's 1/4 of a year, 3 months, 92 days. No matter how you count it, there's no denying that there have been a whole lot of pushups. So far so good.

The numbers:

		Pushups	Crunches	Kata	Sparring	Journey (Swim)	Journey (Bike)	Journey (Run)	Kindness	Journal	Video
Annual Totals:		12,300	12,300	243	80	0	244	274	246	11	0
						518
Annual Targets:		50000	50000	1000	1000	2400			1000	52	12
Percent of Annual Targets Complete		24.60%	24.60%	24.30%	8.00%	21.60%			24.60%	21.15%	0.00%

Still feeling confident about my numbers. They are consistent. I'm working some ideas on how to get my sparring numbers up. Hopefully I can make it work. Technically I'm about 80 miles behind but that doesn't concern me. The summer months are gonna be doozies! And... I Have some bike rides planned soon, registered for March's 1/2 marathon, and joined a team for the Golden Gate Relay (courtesy of our own David Brezinski). I hope to be a worthy Barbarian (that's the team name). 

Side Effects: 
I feel the need to share some side effects of this test. Because, in a way, they demonstrate how, if we continue to do the little things, they make big differences. I'm a runner. I think my dad had me running 5ks with him when I was 6 or something. I've never been a particularly fast runner, but I can run for a long time. Well, last weekend I ran the Getty Owl Foundation's 10k. I was shooting for 50 minutes. That's about an 8-minute mile pace. I ran the first 4 miles with my friend (thanks Michael Trotti), and then pushed a tad bit harder for the last two miles. I wrapped around the corner, maybe 50 yards from the finish line and looked at the clock... If I wasn't busy trying to keep my breath I think my jaw would have dropped. 


I crossed the finish line at 42:56, that's a pace just shy of 7 minute miles. Now, that's really not fast if you compare it to others, but for me... that's fast. For the first few days I was trying to understand where that came from. I've settled on the theory that it was 1/2 adrenaline (I'm very invested in the Getty run) and the other 1/2 is due to the fact that I'm in this test. It's due to the fact that I'm averaging 5.6 miles a day for 92 days. Those little bike rides on my trainer or short runs on my lunch break. Those sprints of kata, the overall conditioning requirements. Little things add up. And it's cool because there's a goal to get a black belt after all of this. But there are smaller goals being met every day. And those smaller goals are already adding up to bigger things.


The Plans:
I've also started planning my empathy training. Part of the test is 3 days of empathy training. One of those is a day in a wheelchair. I have a friend, Anjii, she was paralyzed from the sternum down after falling from a cliff. She's been in a chair for 12 years now. She is also a cyclist, a world ranked para-triathlete, and just an all around adventurous person. I will be spending a day with her, using her spare chair. We are planning a bike ride, a walk around down town Davis, some chores and I'm sure she'll come up with some more stuff. I just hope she doesn't try to teach me to drive her car because I still don't understand how the throttle works.

So far so good. 13 weeks down, 49 to go. It's like we're almost there! :)