I got to work with KJN Jon today. There is just something about that guy that drives me to drive myself. His positive energy and willingness to give are infectious. I always walk away wanting to train more, be more, and achieve more. Some people you just click with. There is also a level of trust. If he told me to do something as stupid as Tough Mudder, I would do it. In fact, I am. This Saturday, Tough Mudder Tahoe 2013 kicks off at 8am and 20 of us lemmings will be in line to jump off and into stuff, crawl through mud, climb over walls and generally beat the tar out of ourselves. Afterward, we will have that anchoring moment of personal achievement. We did it. Together. Last year, I did this event with the same people and through the encouragement of KJN Jon. Given my personal struggle, I was pleased to have completed the event without being carried. This year, I am more fit and more prepared, excited to do better. It seems insane that I would go back but like I said, KJN Jon has this inspirational way about him. I have tried to match this inspiration, and be the same spirit that KJN Jon brings to our school. He is unphased. He simply brings more enthusiasm, more excitement, and more great ideas to our group. This makes all of us better students.
Today, we worked on sticks. I think it's going well. I am working on speed and flow and trying to maintain over time. I remember they make us go for two minutes straight at the black belt test. I have to work up to maintaining form and speed over time. Practice, practice, practice. I'm training at least twice a day now, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. This week, I have laid off the fitness training. I'm trying to rest to prepare myself for Saturday. I am sleeping like a rock at night and it feels good to get lots of sleep. Temperatures get pretty hot during the day so most of my workouts have to be done early in the morning or in the late evening. After Tough Mudder, I will rest a day or two, then it will be back to full on fitness and curriculum.
Diet is going fairly well. I've managed to not eat too much sugar. I've been hitting the protein a little hard with organic chicken, eggs and fish and neglecting my vegetable intake. I eat a salad but I need something different than lettuce and tomatoes. I've been drinking spinach smoothies and laying off the cow's milk by eating plain goat milk yogurt with a little honey. It turns out to be lower sugar than the store bought flavored kind. Water intake is also down. I get at least two liters per day but in these temperatures, I need 3. The girls are so busy on top of our already busy schedule. I just need to prepare a little better. My weight is stable. No gain, no loss. I'm convinced that I am gaining muscle mass. After TM, I will have to start cutting weight by restricting calories. I'm a touch nervous about this given my cancer history. I want to keep my immunity strong and I am hoping that restricting calories won't affect that goal too much. I will ask my Oncologist in a couple of weeks.
So far so good. I feel that I know the curriculum well but certain fitness weaknesses affect my performance. For example, I'm working on quad strength to lower my stances for my forms and enhance my kicks. I'm working on flexibility to help with my kicks also. My hips are so tight from years of training, skiing, etc. I have limited mobility which affects my jumps, my kicks and my grappeling. I've been running for better stamina. The test is long and I will have to be working at peak performance for a full two days. After TM, I plan to switch to biking to get more stamina benefit and less overuse injury. The Life Skills thing is a bear. As hard as I try, I am struggling with memorizing so much. The logo paragraph is rough. I'm halfway there. All in all, I think things are going well. I'm managing my training and seeing results. However, September is not far away. My goal week to week is to make the most out of the time I have and not get into the trap of overtraining. That is a difficult tightrope to walk.
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