Eboncat visits the Monks

[BlamedCat]

That's so cool, EC!  Glad to hear your knuckles are on the mend.  So what's the plan for this week?  Is everything shifting back to "normal" for a bit before Christmas hits?

[Eboncat]

Heh, glad to hear he has the discipline to do the exercises he doesn't like as well.  That's a good sign and worth some extra high jumps :-) 

I thought so.  It's hard to jump really high when you're giggling though.

 

That's so cool, EC!  Glad to hear your knuckles are on the mend.  So what's the plan for this week?  Is everything shifting back to "normal" for a bit before Christmas hits?

No normal this week. 2 of my work partners are gone on vacation this week, so me and a part-timer are covering almost all the shifts. I'll be working 50 hours this week, closing (9pm) shift 3 days. No way to get to TKD class those days, and I'll have to try to get off work a little early to make it on the other 2 days. Work's been crazy busy, so I don't know if I'll be able to make that happen. The good part is I only have to work 30 hours next week to make up for it so I can get some more classes then. I might have to average the 2 weeks together to get my workouts in for my challenge.

 

Like a lot of people, I have trouble with motivation in the winter months.  I've never been formally diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure I have a mild form of SAD.  It's been better since I moved here - there's more sunshine most days, but the short days and cold (especially the cold) get to me.  I'm not trying to excuse myself (poor me), I think that putting it in words will help me control it.  So there it is.  Now I'm going to go lift.  And then I'm going to put on a really cute outfit for work that makes me feel good (after I shower, of course).  So there, bad feelings!!

[Kishi]

Kick those bad feelings to the curb! Ain't nobody got time for that!

[idealistinfire]

Sounds like you had a great week with your kid leading classes and whatnot.  Hard when you're covering shifts though - hope you keep sane this week!

 

I definitely struggle with SAD, especially being here in Tacoma, which is 40 minutes south of Seattle and has a well-earned reputation for have the cloudiest winters ever.  I've found the best help for me was learning to embrace the cold and wet and go outside anyway - not always fun, but since trying that technique the last couple years, the winters don't seem quite as bad.  And a lot of folks out here plan a trip to the other (sunny) side of the mountains in January/February when SAD kicks in the most.

[BlamedCat]

I'll be praying for ya EC, just stay the course where you can and you'll get through all this soon enough.  The important thing is to just roll with the punches and to keep going where you can.  If you can't make your goals this week because of work, no biggie, like you said, just average things together and do what you can the next week

 

As for the weather, I've not ran into this SAD, but I have some friends up there that talk about that. I think it's good that you wrote it down and got it out there, that way you can see it and not just battle it in your mind, ya know?  One step at a time, you'll get through this  P.S. I don't like cold either >_>

[idealistinfire]

Hoping you survived the crazy week!

[Eboncat]

Well, I survived.  Sorry I've been neglecting you all.  I've been busy with crazy week, then catch-up at home week (mostly getting presents ready to be shipped, cleaning up, spending time with my family).  I also have to make a presentation to my staff tomorrow night that I've been trying to prepare for.

 

It was also "take all the TKD classes I can trying to get enough to test for the next belt level in time" week.  I went to 2 on tuesday, 1 wed, 1 thurs, 2 Friday and 1 today.  I still need 1 more, but they have put my name on the test list anyway - the owner/head instructor noticed the effort I was putting in to make enough classes and made a couple comments to me as I was running in the door - encourgement.  The testing is this Friday, and I can make 2 classes Monday and possibly 1 on Tuesday, so I should be fine.

 

I have to admit - a big reason I haven't been posting (other than time and exhaustion) is that I haven't been keeping up with my goals very well.  I'm doing well with my water intake and TKD classes/practice, but that's it.  No pullup app at all last week, no extra cardio.  The lack of pullups is just laziness, since it only takes about 10 minutes and I dont have to change my clothes.  The cardio - no motivation and honestly I'm tired with all the other stuff going on.  I'll also admit to not lifting at all last week, which is usually not a problem for me.  I was embarrassed to not even be trying to meet those goals and I didn't want to admit it to you all.  I still am, but looking back up at those first two paragraphs - no wonder I didn't have any oomph left over. I just noticed that!  That was 7 classes in 5 days.  Plus work. Huh.  That doesn't include the home practices either.

 

Anyway, I am sorry I've been incommunicado.  I'm thinking of making my goals next challenge related to my overall health and not just exercise. For example - getting enough sleep.  And taking into account that I want to hibernate during the winter.

[Eboncat]

Sounds like you had a great week with your kid leading classes and whatnot.  Hard when you're covering shifts though - hope you keep sane this week!

 

I definitely struggle with SAD, especially being here in Tacoma, which is 40 minutes south of Seattle and has a well-earned reputation for have the cloudiest winters ever.  I've found the best help for me was learning to embrace the cold and wet and go outside anyway - not always fun, but since trying that technique the last couple years, the winters don't seem quite as bad.  And a lot of folks out here plan a trip to the other (sunny) side of the mountains in January/February when SAD kicks in the most.

Thank you, getting outside is probably good advice - especially since I'm on the sunny side of your mountains.  It's just been so dang cold here the last 2 weeks - wind chill had us at 3 degrees some days.  The neighborhood lake actually froze solid enough kids have been ice skating and playing hockey on it - a first since I moved here 12 years ago.  On the plus side - it's still sunny!  But I don't have cold weather gear - at least not for that cold.  It's warming up now, so maybe this week I'll take the pups and kid for a short walk.  They'd like that.

[Kishi]

Meh. It's the end of the year. Everything that can array itself against you is trying to do just that. I can relate to that, believe me. Between the jobs and the need to eat and sleep and everyone having given up on the pretense of healthy eating this holiday season, it's just a mess.

 

Yeah, lifting is a part of your life. And if your life happens - particularly if you're burning lots of energy in martial arts - then, yeah, of course other training is going to suffer. But at the end of the day, I would argue that you came to play with the monks because you wanted to spend this challenge working on your martial arts. I don't think you should hold it against yourself.

 

Shake it all off. We've got one more week. You finish as strong as you can, and you'll be able to look back at the challenge with a rosy tint in your view.

[Eboncat]

True enough.  Martial arts has been my (and my family's) main focus since we joined up in October.  That is going well, so I'll take that and run with it.  Thanks, Kishi.

[Eboncat]

I kinda got my crap together and did weights on Sunday.  Had 2 classes Monday and did a bunch of stretching before those - got enough classes in to test on Friday. Yay!  Tuesday was an early work day, so I took my gear.  Didn't make it to class, though, ended up working late because we were so busy.  Wednesday I wasn't feeling well, so I slept in - had work late shift.  I have been getting my water in every day.  No pullup app - but the bar is up, so I do 3-4 asst pullups as I walk by a few times a day.  Today is weights again - I better go get started. 

[Kishi]

No time like the present! Get it done!

[BlamedCat]

What Kishi said

[CB3]

Eboncat you may not be making headway with your pull-ups but you are obviously making up for it with TKD.

 

You go girl! I like your idea about making your goals next challenge more about overall health instead of just exercise (isn't that why we all do this?)

[Eboncat]

I did!  Weights yesterday.  Got all my water in too.

 

Tonight is my 1st belt test.  Wish me luck!

[BlamedCat]

I did!  Weights yesterday.  Got all my water in too.

 

Tonight is my 1st belt test.  Wish me luck!

You're going to knock it out of the park!  Do us proud!

[Teirin]

Good luck!

[Eboncat]

Thanks!  I did pretty well.  Only hopped a little on a kick stance.  I was so nervous!  They had us stand while they wrote our names/position on the floor, it took a couple minutes.  It felt like my heart was pounding out of my chest.  Once we got going and I had something to concentrate on it was better.  Hubby and I advanced to gold belt (8th gup) and my son advanced to orange (7th).  He's super excited because he gets to join the sparring class this morning.

[Kishi]

Very nice! Congratulations!

[idealistinfire]

Congrats!  Looks like the hard work is paying off

[Eboncat]

So, this challenge was mostly a bust.  I got overwhelmed halfway through and stopped tracking most of the goals.  Definitely need to rethink winter-time goals and simplify.

 

I did keep up with 2 goals - the TKD classes/home practice and the water.  80% for the TKD and about 70% for water, not great, but ok.  Totally dumped the cardio and pullup app. 

 

I'm not giving myself any points for this challenge (that's 2 in a row, sigh).   I don't feel that I really accomplished anything other than to tread water.

 

I'm going to spend the holidays enjoying my family and coming up with short workouts I can do at home.  I think I'll steal Idealistinfire's idea of putting the workouts in a jar and doing whatever I pull out for the day.  I've got some ideas for tabbata workouts and need to come up with some speed work (punching, kicking) to help me get faster in class.  I'll be putting up a Mini-challenge thread sometime today.

[idealistinfire]

It makes me so happy when people steal my ideas

Which reminds me, I need to reinstate the Loot Jar - thanks for the reminder! 

 

Have a very Merry Christmas with your family

[Kishi]

Well, treading water means you didn't drown. You could have done worse. And learning to simplify? That's never a bad thing. Simplicity doesn't have the same allure as complication, but it's no less easy, and it's every bit as effective in the long run, which is what we're trying to win here.

 

As for getting faster in martial arts, I wouldn't necessarily advocate for going faster. I would advise you to consider getting more efficient in the quality execution of techniques, for two reasons. 1) Raw speed is difficult to train, and there's a very short cap on what most people are capable of, meaning you throw a lot of energy into not a lot of good, and 2) if speed is the thing you train for, it often tends to come at the expense of quality of technique, because you're not thinking about throwing the kick well - you just want to get from start stance to end stance as quickly as possible, and that doesn't help you.

 

Your training is your training, of course, and you should do as you wish. It just seems to me, though, that you'd get what you wanted if you focused more on ironing out the transitions from the start of the technique to the end.

 

Whatever you decide to do, thanks for hanging with us this challenge! Are we gonna see you next time?

[Eboncat]

Well, treading water means you didn't drown. You could have done worse. And learning to simplify? That's never a bad thing. Simplicity doesn't have the same allure as complication, but it's no less easy, and it's every bit as effective in the long run, which is what we're trying to win here.

 

As for getting faster in martial arts, I wouldn't necessarily advocate for going faster. I would advise you to consider getting more efficient in the quality execution of techniques, for two reasons. 1) Raw speed is difficult to train, and there's a very short cap on what most people are capable of, meaning you throw a lot of energy into not a lot of good, and 2) if speed is the thing you train for, it often tends to come at the expense of quality of technique, because you're not thinking about throwing the kick well - you just want to get from start stance to end stance as quickly as possible, and that doesn't help you.

 

Your training is your training, of course, and you should do as you wish. It just seems to me, though, that you'd get what you wanted if you focused more on ironing out the transitions from the start of the technique to the end.

 

Whatever you decide to do, thanks for hanging with us this challenge! Are we gonna see you next time?

Yes, I'll be back next time.

 

I definitely don't want to compromise execution for speed.  I was thinking more of plyometrics or something like that as an addition to try to increase fast-twitch muscle.  Assuming that would be helpful.  I would like to be faster, but I know that performing the moves correctly is more important.  Also, I would like to actually manage to block something when sparring with my husband!

[Kishi]

Oh, yeah, that would help! That's power work more than it is speed, although, power is just displaying your strength super quick so...