Off to Arkansas

We actually got to spar in Karate yesterday, which was AWESOME. Man was I out of practice. Best class we've had in months.

I was going to go speedskating today, but unfortunately I have to run to the dentist instead to get my permanent crown on before my trip. (No, I do NOT want to be in the wilderness with a temporary crown held on with light cement.)

Well, I'm spazzing out with stress wrapping up everything, but as of 7:00 tomorrow morning I'm off to canoe the Buffalo River for five days. With two days of driving on each side, that means I will see you suckers on Monday the third.

I'm outtie!

Nasty Ice

Running didn't go that great last night. I'm still eeking out a ten-minute mile for a 5K distance. I think what got me was having McDonald's for lunch. Evidently I haven't learned from The Great Post-Race Popcorn Hurl of 2007.

Went skating this morning. The ice was terrible. All pebbly and no glide whatsoever. It's been worse, but what gets me is that on cold days like this, all they have to do to fix it is flood the Oval and it's fixed in an hour. The reason ORDA didn't do it? The guys where too busy TEARING UP THE BASKETBALL COURT FLOOR. What the fuck EVER.

Anyhoodle, I have Karate tonight. Anyone want to bet that Sensei WON'T spend 90% of the class on bunkai? Yeah, didn't think so.

I was hoping to skate tomorrow, but found out they'll be closed in the morning and am not sure that I'll be able to make the 4-6 timeslot. We'll see.

Okay, I'm done bitching now. Man, I DO need to go on vacation.

Time Flies

Didn't realize it had been almost a week since my last post. I went to Karate on Wednesday - we spent the entire class reviewing the bunkai to the first four or so moves to Nahanchi Shodan. And that includes the set. Talk about mind-numbing.

Thursday and Friday were speed-skating, which went really well. I did my usual "2 pace laps one rest lap" for an hour. Friday also included a kata review at the dojo with Dr. Z.

Saturday I spent time with my family, so that became my de facto rest day.

Sunday I went to the gym, where I amazed myself with my distinct lack of any cardio fitness right now. Dr. Z says to not worry about it - I'll get it back in time for the running season.

Yesterday was Karate, where we continued to work bunkai on Nahanchi Shodan. Once again, SNOOZE. The one item of interest is that Sensei plans on testing me when I get back from vacation. Don't know how many stripes I would be up for - we'll see.

I also went for a walk of my 5K route, figuring that because it was 50 and rainy the Oval would be closed. Silly me. There were speedskaters out there when I passed by at the end of my walk. Oh well.

Tonight is the gym. Hopefully my run will go a bit better than Sunday. Like Karate, I have to get serious about running when I get back. It WILL be March, after all.

Tae-Bo Time

Monday was extremely cold, making speedskating impossible and I missed Karate class due to not feeling well and taking care of Dr. Z. Luckily I had done Tae-Bo that morning so I got SOME exercise in.

Yesterday the Oval was closed (as usual) and Dr. Z still wasn't up to the gym, so I put the Tae-Bo tape back in the VCR. I am REALLY hoping to get back into running soon - I'm scared of how much cardio I've lost.

Tonight is Karate class, assuming it's not cancelled due to the storm. (Sensei already sent out a warning note yesterday saying he might cancel.)

I'll be hitting the Oval as well for the first time in a while. (Hopefully THEY'RE not closed because of the weather.)

Karate Klass

After two days in a row of running, I decided to take yesterday off from it. I went to Karate instead. We did a lot of kata review, which is exactly what I needed. I actually felt like I had snap, which was nice. It's funny - there's a new student who, like me, studied Tae Kwon Do for years and he's having all the same style issues that I had when I first started - too much bouncing and jumping and telegraphing kicks.

Tonight I'm planning on doing some light speedskating at the behest of Dr. Z. (I was originally planning on giving myself the day off because my legs are sore.)

Run Run Run Run Run Run Run Away...

...Psychokiller, qu'est que c'est?

Sorry...anyway, the past two days have actually been warm enough for the rare February run. I ran 5k in 3:44 yesterday. A terrible time, but the sidewalks were covered in a half inch of ice the first 3K AND I hadn't run outside in a month. I decided to not go to Karate as I didn't want to overdue it with being sick last week. I am planning on going tomorrow though.

Today the sidewalks were still icy, but I managed 30:05 and that was WITH stopping to chat with a neighbor. A definite improvement over yesterday.

Tomorrow looks like it MIGHT be warm enough, but I'm going to go speedskating again, followed by Karate.

Sick

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I've been sick with the nasty virus that's going around town. It hangs on for two weeks with fatigue, aches, coughs and lack of appetite (and in my case bouts of outright nausea.)

Aside from a Karate class on Wednesday that nearly wiped me out completely (and that was with taking two breaks to sit down on the bench), I just have not been well enough to exercise. Argh.

Hopefully I'll be back to my old active self soon.