Tsune of RisenPhoenix

[RisenPhoenix]

OHP:

55# x5

65# x5

80# x3

95# x3

110# x3

120# x3  (1+ set)

 

DL:

155# x5

195# x5

230# x3

290# x5

330# x3

365# x4 (1+ set)

 

 

DB Rows (per side)

35# x10

35# x10

40# x10

 

DB Curls (per side)

20# x10

20# x10

22.5# x10

 

Upped the DB weight in the last sets because I have no idea how DB weight progressions should go.  Either way, I'm glad I did the increase.  Weights felt just right after the previous 2 sets (enough weight that I felt like I had to work, but not so much I worried about being unable to finish the set).

 

Good Mornings:

45# x10

45# x10

45# x10

 

Kinda the same deal here, no idea how the progression on this should go.  Any tips out there? (Besides "Go slowly" because the exercise isn't meant for crazy weights.)

 

Dips:

10, 10, 10

 

Over all, a pretty solid-feeling gym session.  I do need to watch the form on the deads, making sure I'm activating dem hammis.  The last set I really focused on making that happen.  Wish I could have gotten 5 pulls from that, though.  Oh well.

 

Next week is deload, which will be interesting.  Every other time I've done a deload I've been rather haphazard with it.  This is already defined and ready to go.  And looks sooooo light.  Only thing I'm not sure of is if I should 'deload' my DB weights.  Thinking not, because it's not like I'm using 100# DB weights or anything.  And it's accessory work.  It doesn't matter like the main lifts do (in this instance, at least).

 

Also frustrated as all hell about my weight at the moment.  While not ideal, I weighed myself twice this week (before my usual weigh in day) in the mornings before work.  Apparently I'm back to 219.  Which makes little to no damned sense, given that's a 2-4 pound increase in a few days with me still being under my caloric goal for the most part most days (by a decent margin, no less).  Keeping steady at my weight would make sense, but gaining makes no sense.  And my gut was up a half an inch.  Less surprising there, because I flucuate a lot in my stomach.  But it's frustrating, since I've actually been eating better this week than last week.  Only slight differences are I have had a lot of salt (sunflower seeds, jerky, and a very salty corned beef), so there's hope that it's just a lot of water weight, and I've had a bit more carbs this week (in the form of using Honey Bunches of Oats as a breakfast item).  But even with the cereal, I've been VERY wary to keep it to only a serving or two (130-260 calories).  Even if I assume that I'm missing some calories from mindlessly snacking (which I doubt, but hey, good to take all potential weirdness when things are going on), I doubt it was 14,000 calories worth of snacking.  If it was, I have bigger problems than I thought.

 

But anyway, this weight issue is feeding into my not-great mental state that's been hovering over me the last week or two.  I'm just tired.  I can see my damned goal, and I'm trying to be patient, and after 2 and a half years I'm kinda pushing my patience limits.  It's really strange being less satisfied with a clearly more-fit body than I've ever had (ever, not even in my adult life, just flat fucking out ever) than I feel I had when I was 250+ pounds.  And I know that part of it was having briefly been at the 200# mark and then losing it because of getting laid off.  And then a little over a year later gaining back what was almost half my lost weight.  And yea, a decent chunk of that is muscle.  I don't have illusions about that.  But even with my altered goal of getting down to 18% BF (as opposed to a goal of a weight of 200 pounds), I seem stalled.  I should probably change things up, but I'm not sure how to yet. 

 

Don't mind my ramble.  I'm just feeling tired of fighting at the moment.

[Mistr]

Feeling tired, sick and stressed about work probably have a lot to do with it. There is good science behind this but I'm too lazy to look it up on a Friday afternoon.

 

Think about how your hindbrain works. This is where your body integrates all the signals about what is happening in your environment. Is your body under attack from bacteria or viruses? If yes, all your resources are devoted to your immune system. Growth is put on hold until you are healthy again. Are you stressed and missing sleep? That means you are in a fight or flight situation. Your body will conserve resources so that you have the energy to fight or run. The fact that you are training hard does nothing to reassure your hindbrain that things are okay.

 

Running a calorie shortfall ought to help but might be counterproductive. Stress + not enough food = famine. Your body will try to conserve every possible calorie as fat.

 

So what can you do? Fun things that give you a sense of satisfaction. Go to aikido. Talk to Company. Come up with a job hunting plan you feel good about. Play computer games or in-person games with friends. Meditate. Do whatever you can to convince your brain that everything will be okay.

[The Most Loathed]

I hate dieting and weightloss and the thing I hate the most about it is the inconsistencies. You can keep all the variables the same and still end up with a different outcome. I've had the most success in those times by just acknowledging that I'm just doing another form of reps. I have to do my diet reps the same as everything else. Not every rep gets to be a PR. Some times I just do them, take the fatigue and move on.

keep doing your reps.

[RisenPhoenix]

Deep breath.   Deload week.  Which felt ridiculously light on the barbell, cuz, well, deload week.

 

Rowing - 5 minutes, 1020m

 

Nice and easy to just warm up.

 

Squats:

95# x5

120# x5

145# x3

 

(Only three sets?!  What is this madness?!)

 

Benchpress:

 

115# x5

135# x5

155# x3

 

(Seriously.  Three sets feels way too short.)

 

Dumbbell Rear Laterals

10# x15

10# x15

10# x15

 

Chin ups

5, 5, 3, 3

 

Note to self, doing chin ups after rear laterals is a really bad idea.  Ow.

 

Dumbbell BP:

35# x10

35# x10

40# x10

 

Upped the weight in the last set, because I could.  Probably should have started more in the 40# area anyway.

 

Back raises

15x3

 

I am so sore over all though.  I feel like I need a massage.  A "Break everything so much I cry now" massage.  I think best I'll get is the hot tub at my parent's place this weekend.  Hopefully life in general will start folding back to normalcy and non-shitty events soon.

[chammy]

I am so sore over all though.  I feel like I need a massage.  A "Break everything so much I cry now" massage.  I think best I'll get is the hot tub at my parent's place this weekend.  Hopefully life in general will start folding back to normalcy and non-shitty events soon.

I hear there are nerds who are learning about massage. <.<

[RisenPhoenix]

I hear there are nerds who are learning about massage. <.<

 

Won't lie, I was debating flying you out here.  Because fucking OW.

[RisenPhoenix]

Oh, right.  Ran the Stadium this morning.  Alternated running/hiking by the odd/even section numbers.  Workout was Frogman1, which is simply 50 sections.  *snort*  Yea, simply.

 

 

Anyway, ran 35 sections, which will probably be something I regret tomorrow, because my knee/achilles tendon was bothering me a bit.  Oh well.  If I see any nifty photos of me I'll throw them up.  Though humorous things from this morning include TinMan's Fail-safe alarm to make sure he went to Stairs this morning by parking my car in and Agent Ska running 91 sections.  Wait, that last one isn't funny.  It's painful and indicates why I'll never fucking catch the man.

[RisenPhoenix]

Another Friday morning workout in the gym lifting heavy deload stuff.

 

Rowing: 5:19 minutes, 1020 meters

 

Stretching

 

OHP:

55# x5

65# x5

80# x3

 

Deadlifts:

155# x5

195# x5

230# x3

 

Dips:

10x3

 

These are feeling pretty solid now.  I clearly must be doing something wrong.

 

DB Rows:

45# x10/side

45# x10/side

45# x10/side

 

I seriously grabbed the 45# weight simply because I couldn't find the 40# weight.  Still.  Felt pretty good with these.  May as well keep it here next time, too.

 

DB Curls:

22.5# x10/side

22.5# x10/side

22.5# x10/side

 

I gotta say... my arm vascularity looks freaking bad ass when I do DB curls.  Maybe this is what mirrors were made for.

 

Good mornings:

45# x10

45# x10

45# x10

 

 

 

And with that, Cycle 1 is complete.  Next cycle I'm upping my training 1RM weights so Squat is 244#, Bench is 207.5#, Deadlifts are 392.5#, and OHP 131#.  Then letting my calculator do the rest of the silly math parts so I don't have to.

 

Also thinking of doing a hefty cut next challenge to drop my body fat percentage.  Because I sense that will more easier than my weight at this point.  And between the end of this challenge and my vacation I'm going to do a severe cut to see if I can shed some vacation weight before it gets tacked on to me.  Plus side is the girlfriend and I are united on this front and will be miserable together.  Huzzah!

 

 

Okay.  Maybe things are starting to look up.

 

Except for cancer dog.  Cancer dog is still a problem.

[RisenPhoenix]

So.  I'm in a bit of a pickle.

 

I'm apparently injured, and don't know why.  My knee has what appears to be a watermelon just north of it (really at what seems to be the junction of my knee and hamstring).  But it doesn't really hinder my mobility, and prior to today there was no real sensation beyond the usual tightness I get when I don't stretch well.  Today it's actively feeling tight and a little weaker.  Going to take it easy this week, though I haven't figured out if that means I'll go to the gym and do my upper body stuff and skip legs or just sleep.  No aikido for sure, and I definitely need to go to the doctors, I'm thinking.  Lame.

 

No crazy activity this weekend besides a bit of a hike through my parent's back property.  I kinda just bound through the woods, while my parent's plodded along.  I love hiking like that.  I need to do it more often.

 

Also starting a big cut for the next 10 days before my vacation.  Goal is a single pound in a week.  Only problem being I ate like an asshole this weekend.  So on my scale I'm 220# again - but that's all crappy water weight.  My gut measurement was up a bit, but not very much.  So odds are I'm looking to get down to 216 rather than 219.  We shall see what happens.  No workouts will either make this easier or crappier.  Not sure which.

[The Most Loathed]

Do you have insurance so you can see a physician? do you know any trainers or PTs who you trust to take a looks at it?

[RisenPhoenix]

Do you have insurance so you can see a physician? do you know any trainers or PTs who you trust to take a looks at it?

 

Yea, I have insurance.  I just haven't actively used it yet since I've gotten it in September.  Looked up things yesterday while I was still at my parent's place and found out the office where I went with my last insurance provider takes my current one, so I just need to schedule a visit.  Long over due for a physical, anyway... 

 

Though humorous note.  I logged into the office's patient portal to check out what I could do there.  One of the things was checking the notes left by the doctors after my visits.  First visit's notes was just this: "Issue:  Obesity."  Ha.  I don't think that will be on the docket this time.  (Unless my doctor is someone stuck on BMI.  Then I'll have to explain how with low balling my lean body mass and putting me at 180# - "Normal weight" for my height - I would have to be ~15% body fat.  And that's assuming I don't gain muscle mass.  And I only lose fat.  Hmmm....)

[The Most Loathed]

Though humorous note.  I logged into the office's patient portal to check out what I could do there.  One of the things was checking the notes left by the doctors after my visits.  First visit's notes was just this: "Issue:  Obesity."  Ha.  I don't think that will be on the docket this time.  (Unless my doctor is someone stuck on BMI.  Then I'll have to explain how with low balling my lean body mass and putting me at 180# - "Normal weight" for my height - I would have to be ~15% body fat.  And that's assuming I don't gain muscle mass.  And I only lose fat.  Hmmm....)

yep. You're technically obese, probably for the rest of your life. It doesn't mean you're fat, it doesn't mean you're healthy but you are obese.

If your insurance is like most these days, you may even be forced to do telephonic weightloss counselling. It's a brave new world and I can't see your bodyfat measurement from my computer screen so you get put in the fatty bucket. It'd be hilariously ironic if it wasn't tragic.

I'm right there with you though.

[RisenPhoenix]

yep. You're technically obese, probably for the rest of your life. It doesn't mean you're fat, it doesn't mean you're healthy but you are obese.

If your insurance is like most these days, you may even be forced to do telephonic weightloss counselling. It's a brave new world and I can't see your bodyfat measurement from my computer screen so you get put in the fatty bucket. It'd be hilariously ironic if it wasn't tragic.

I'm right there with you though.

 

Yea.  It always makes me giggle, rather than be concerned.  It was actually more of an issue when I was larger - because I was definitely always over-weight looking, but held my weight decently enough that I didn't look morbidly obese (like I was "by the numbers").

 

Anyway, we shall see.  Had a slight snafu trying to get my appointment schedule (no PCP listed on the website even though I shouldn't need one - gonna have to look into this more in depth later).  Need to wait now until the afternoon to schedule things, but with any luck I will get in this week.  Since I mentioned my knee being the reason I was calling (rather than actually needing a physical, though I'm long overdue there, too), they said they'd try to get me in as soon as possible.  Crossing my fingers that I can get something soon.

[The Most Loathed]

nice. good luck.

[RisenPhoenix]

Verdict:  Got an appointment for Thursday, with the guy who I'm angling to get as my PCP.  And apparently the time slot should be long enough to have an actual physical as well as a "What the hell is happening with your knee?" visit.

 

Now to just not do aikido, squats, deadlifts, or Stairs at all this week.  Ugh.

[Mistr]

I've had something similar happen with my knees. Elevation and massage help. I have no clue how or why the fluid is there. Getting rid of it is the key to being able to move again. Foam rolling and LaX ball massage.

[RisenPhoenix]

I've had something similar happen with my knees. Elevation and massage help. I have no clue how or why the fluid is there. Getting rid of it is the key to being able to move again. Foam rolling and LaX ball massage.

 

I imagine this will be what he says to do as well.  It's definitely weird looking, and needs a diagnostic glance.  Best case scenario is I get a decent "It's likely X, Y, or Z" issue that is taken care of by a bit of rolling and rest.  Worst is "Stop doing everything."  That option is not exactly acceptable, so if that's what he tries to give I may go look for a PT or sports doctor who might have more reasonable suggestions than a full stop, even if it's some massive Pre/Rehab.  But this is all horse before the carriage anyway.

 

In any case.

 

Doing a 10-day cut with the girlfriend.  My goal is to eat under 2200 calories.  Which when I do nothing isn't too bad, honestly.  Yesterday I at ~2150, and honestly I could have cut that way lower.  But I freaked out about my protein being low (for me) and I was craving some Greek Yogurt pudding.  If I had looked a bit more objectively, my protein levels were fine for an inactive day (~130g), and the caloric intake was a smidge higher (280 calories) than something else I could have munched on to just be eating something.  But I wanted pudding, and recently found out my protein powder + peanut butter tastes like the filling of a butterfingers.  I'm more annoyed that if I stopped to think about it for a few seconds, I would have realized I could have been under my (approximate) rest day TDEE by over 500 calories had I not eaten that.  Oh well.  No use getting bent out of shape for it.  But I do think I need to but a number on my protein intake.  I'm going to aim for under 2200 calories (~2400 if I double up on things, but with my knee it's unlikely to happen), and angle for ~140g of protein per day.  That gives me ~0.8g protein per lean body mass, using this calculator and assuming I'm 217 pounds and ~ 20% body fat (~170# LBM).  If I come across anything that says I should up the protein then I will eventually, but for now this is a bit stricter than I usually have it.  And I haven't been doing that great today. (I'm looking at you, tropical trail mix with lots of dried fruit and wasabi peas...)

 

Went to the gym this morning, too, so here's this update.  I skimpped on legs (for obvious reasons), but decided to do the 5+ week weight for my bench.

 

Rowing: 7:50 minutes, 1515 meters

 

Stretching

 

BP:

85# x5

105# x5

125# x3

135# x5

160# x5

180# x9

 

This felt almost too easy.  Weird, considering I had pretty much plateaued at 180# using the Starting Strength methods.

 

Chin ups + Air Squats

7+10, 6+10, 5+10, 4+10, 4+10

 

I needed to get squats in somewhere.  Also needed to confirm that I wasn't having too much mobility issues so I can more accurately describe the gimp knee to the doctor on Thursday.  I was going to stop after 4 sets.  But I wanted to say I did 50 squats today.  So I did another set.

 

Dumbbell Rear Laterals

10# x15

10# x15

10# x15

 

Haaaaaaate.  Though at least the first two sets of 15 aren't as terrible any more.  I can get through the two sets without major pauses.  Progress.  Only shows in endurance and not weight, but still progress.

 

Dumbbell BP:

40# x10

40# x10

40# x10

 

Felt pretty solid here, too.

 

No aikdio tonight because of the bork knee.  Stairs tomorrow, but likely doing injury deck instead of Stairs (if I go - kinda thinking if the weather sucks I may stay in bed...).  Then might hit the gym on Thursday morning before the doctor's appointment.  Not sure yet.  Gotta see how I feel.  If not, then I'll go Friday like usual (again, assuming I'm allowed).

[RisenPhoenix]

No Stairs this morning, because last night my knee got super tight and painful.  And then the forecast said it was going to be cloudy and grey (it lied).  And then Ska wasn't going to be around and I always feel bad hijacking his shower when he's not home (which is stupid, but the truth).  However, I'm now super antsy at work and think I'm going to go to the dojo tonight.  Only one class and I'll play it safe.  Honest.

 

Yesterday I had company over for dinner and a game night.  Dinner was home made chicken satay skewers.  Not friendly on the calorie budget.  Doubly so because my friend who made them doesn't do measurements.  As he said, he does recipes in Adjectives (Like "Heaps" of peanut butter and a "reasonable" amount of sesame seed oil and "a vampire proof" amount of garlic powder).  Took it in stride since I haven't hung out with the guy for a while, though.  Was a fun if a bit later-for-me night (people left a little before 11PM.  I'm usually in bed and turning in around 10...).

 

Calories yesterday: 2,437

 

Now for the confusing part.  I stepped on the scale this morning to see where I was (really to make sure my easter disaster had equalized itself out).  Weight? 216.2 pounds.  Wat.  That's one of the lowest weights I've had in a long, long while.  So now I'm terribly confused, since I haven't been active since Sunday's hike,  and my caloric intake has been fairly close to my resting TDEE of 2400 calories.

 

Bodies are weird.

[RisenPhoenix]

Doctor's appointment came and went, got an ultrasound, so now I'm waiting to hear back on that front.

 

Went to the dojo Wednesday night, helped a new student, and after watching him do a bunch of cartwheels and handstands attempted one.  I apparently can do a decent handstand, if I allow myself to kick up against the wall.  I did get a little positioning help from another newer student, but still.  Never managed a handstand in my life before.  It was kinda cool.

 

Gym this morning was light because of the knee wonk, but still felt good.  It's somewhat odd for me to realize that I now almost definitely need to do some form of physical activity every day or I feel wrong.  It's such a drastic change from 2-3 years ago.  Doesn't even have to be aikido or lifting, it can just be a solid walk for a mile or two.  But movement.  I needs it.

 

Anywho, workout from the morning:

 

Rowing: 12:22 minutes.  2500 meters.

 

Did something different to make up for lost exercises this morning.  I started with a slower warm up pace (500~600 calories, the only easily seen metric I could go by) and at the 500m mark I did a 'sprint' section for another 500m (~1000 calories/hr pace).  Got to the next 500m marker and slowed back down.  Only did it twice, but it felt pretty good.  Nice and warmed up for my morning.

 

OHP:

55# x5

70# x5

80# x3

90# x5

100# x5

115# x5 (5+)

 

This was kinda disappointing.  Ah well.

 

DB Row:

45# x10

45# x10

45# x10

 

I should bump this up.

 

DB Curls

22.5# x10

22.5# x10

22.5# x10

 

Might be able to bump this up.  I really need to look into some dumbbell progression suggestions.

 

Dips:

10, 10, 10,

 

Dips are becoming easier.  I don't know if it's because I've dropped almost 5 pounds since I started 5/3/1 or if it's because I'm getting stronger.  Both?

 

Still no deads.  Still no squats.  Hopefully the doctor clears me soon.  Likely I'll have to go to a Sports doctor.  Which, similar to my "need to move" observation/realization, also feels strange to me.

[RisenPhoenix]

Welp, Doctor more-or-less cleared me to be physically active.  He was... kinda useless.  He wants me to do an MRI, I'm kind of thinking it's not worth the hassle.  Going to ruminate on it's worth while I'm away on vacation, and keep and eye on the swelling to see if there are any changes.  Swelling means I'll get the MRI, no change means I probably won't.  But anyway.  Squats and DLs are back on the table, and it makes me happy.  Or it would, if the squats didn't feel like crap yesterday.  Oh well.  Been eating significantly less and I'll attribute it to that. (Also, according my scale this morning, I officially weigh under 215.  214.2#.  I've been cutting back a bit these past 10 days, but I didn't think THAT much.  My body is weird.  I also feel the need to say that this comes after eating 600 calories worth of Cadbury mini eggs last night.  So I just have no idea anymore.  Also I almost wish I would get sick from junk food.  Sadly, my body seems to just carry on, so I have no negative reinforcement to prevent me from eating it.  Ah well.)

 

The Lifts on Tuesday:

 

Cycle 2, 5+ week

 

BP:

85# x5

105# x5

125# x3

135# x5

160# x5

180# x8

 

Not great, but not too bad for a 5+ week.

 

Squats:

100# x5

125# x5

150# x3

160# x5

185# x5

210#x6

 

Not pleased with this.  210 felt incredibly heavy.  I'm hoping it's just a result of a week of a week with no leg workouts and eating less than I have been.  Guess we can see next week on 3+ week.  Notes I have in my journal are:

-Creaky squats.  Left knee complaining more than expected

-Feeling this, DOMS ahoy

-Ankles stiff and tight.  Hindered mobility.  Try to loosen them up.

 

My notes seriously remind me of my lab notebooks at work.

 

Chin ups

8, 6, 6, 5

 

Hoping that eventually I can get this to be 30 total instead of just the mid-twenties.  And then from there hopefully I can get it to three sets only.  Don't think I ever managed that while I did PLP, but maybe this time it'll be different.

 

Dumbbell Rear Laterals

10# x15

10# x15

10# x15

 

Haaaaaaate.  Though at least the first two sets of 15 aren't as terrible any more.  I can get through the two sets without major pauses.  Progress.  Only shows in endurance and not weight, but still progress.

 

Dumbbell BP:

40# x10

40# x10

40# x10

 

Back raises:

15x3

 

Anyway, also started a challenge over with the Warriors.  Not sure if I'll post my workouts here and then commentary over there, just post over there, or post everything in both locations.  Also this thread may get all Monked-up because I don't know where I can appropriately share my aikido stories now.  Or at least the philosophizing of them.  Might be a bit all over the place.

[RisenPhoenix]

Figured I can update this with some aikido and NP-realted talk.  Keep it active and in my brain.

 

Only did one class last night, as opposed to my usual two, because running on 4 hours of sleep wasn't doing me much good.

 

It was a decent class, got to see a few people who haven't been around as much lately and got to congratulate one person who tested on Monday.  Class was based on a shomenuchi (over head strike) attack, and we did 5 different techniques out of the attack.  For the most part I worked with the lower ranks, which forced me to slow down a bit more, which is good.  That being said the last technique I was clearly over thinking and needed to both stop that and blend a bit more.  I'm going to have to try it again, but the technique involved a slight irimi entry with a hip turn to avoid the downward strike, and then a combination of cutting down on the attacker's elbow while dropping down to one knee (to force them over) and an additional strike along their hips to help 'convince' them to go over.  And if that failed, sweeping their leg out while I was on the ground.  Had lots of issues getting the technique to feel comfortable.  But the two beginners I worked with got it pretty well, so I was happy about that.  But I'm going to try that technique a bit today after class if I can swing it.

 

Kind of bummed that I skipped second class, but I definitely needed to go home, devour food, and then pass out.  Still a bit of a sleep deficit today, but I got a solid 8 hours of sleep, even with waking up for NP this morning.

 

NP, however, was ugly.  My performance the last two weeks has been crap.  Today I barely managed 21 sections.  I was fully intending to get a full tour, and I wasn't even close.  Part of it was I started super late, and had I started earlier I probably could have gotten to at least 30 sections.  No time, because I wasn't really concerned with that metric, just wanted to move.  But I felt so... ugh.  I'm not sure if it's vacation brain, or the cut, or the recent leg weirdness, or a lack of water drinking yesterday, or the newly bright-and-sunny Stadium exposure.  But it was just a terrible, terrible performance morning.  Which annoys me, but I'll get over it.

 

Another aikido class tonight, then lifting tomorrow (maybe doing squats?  I still need to record myself for my challenge and Saturday will be easier I think to record myself than a weekday morning).  Miiiight do a class of aikido tomorrow night, too.  Not sure yet.  Might just be lazy and try to catch up on sleep.  And not only that, might run Hills on Friday.  Because Tribe.  But again.  Sleep.  Dunno.  Playing it by ear for now.

[The Tin Man]

J and I are planning on running hills on Monday, if that helps your decision process.

[Mistr]

My sympathy on everything feeling out of whack. I hope that things fall back in place soon.

 

Ummm, remember what you said about running hills the last time? I know you love the Tribe, but running? Wouldn't more aikido be better preparation for your Japan trip?

[RisenPhoenix]

J and I are planning on running hills on Monday, if that helps your decision process.

 

By "Monday" do you mean "Friday"?  Because Ska was asking me yesterday before I left if you would make this week your first full NP week.

 

My sympathy on everything feeling out of whack. I hope that things fall back in place soon.

 

Ummm, remember what you said about running hills the last time? I know you love the Tribe, but running? Wouldn't more aikido be better preparation for your Japan trip?

 

Thanks.  I want to blame it mostly on my cut, which is a bit more severe than I've had in a long while.  But I ate such crap in such quantities on vacation that I can't blame it on a limited energy supply totally.  Might have to look up some other things to help me.

 

And yea.  Honestly, NP's positive vibe is what makes me go.  But it's true I hate running.  A lot.  And aikido would be better, but I would rather go home at the end of the day.  Even the morning class isn't early enough for me to go to and then get to work at a reasonable-for-me time.  But yea.  More hours should be done.  I need 53 more hours before I can test for 2nd kyu.  I'll far surpass that by the time the next exam rolls around, but it means I want to look especially polished for the exam in that case.

 

Also class last night was fun.  I got to work with a junior instructor who's testing for his second degree black belt in August.  But what's awesome is that he really does want to help me polish everything to the best of my ability, and pushes my ukemi to get better by throwing me hard enough that it can improve (which is good, as I've felt I've been stagnating in that area lately).  I ended up working on dropping my center a lot more (which is one of my largest problems since I'm so much taller than most people and dropping my center below theirs is tricky), upward extension to get the head off the hips and cause unbalancing, and tried to focus on a stable ending position.  A lot of stuff, but I at least know these are all issues and I had people help point them out to me last night.  And then I got to work with one of our super-new students, which was great since it allowed me to slow myself down and break things down into individual steps to help him.  Just a good class that made me happy when I got off the mat (even the ladyfriend said I sounded super happy when I talked to her later that night).

 

No class tonight or tomorrow, though, and a full-stop rest day Friday.  But now I want to be on the mat more.  So close to Japan!

[RisenPhoenix]

Ugh.  This cut is killing me.  The stress probably isn't helping, but the cut DEFINITELY isn't helping.

 

Stairs this morning, where it's PR day.  I haven't hit a full tour in what feels like ages, between injuries, travel, winter, and cuts.  I was really hoping I would fix that today.

 

Newp.  Not even close.  At least I was on the correct side of the stadium.  And was in the single digit sections.

 

Anyway, 29 sections in 38:50 minutes.  I should have kept going to just hit 30.  But my legs were complaining on section 3, let alone 29.  But still, I could have pushed it.  Also tried to pull back my speed a bit and pacing.  Every 5th section I would hike/walk up instead of sprint.  Just enough to drop my heart rate.  But man.... I am out of shape for the Stairs these days. :/