Week 10 - Day 3 : The Gift of Tang Soo Do

Last month I began studying Tang Soo Do at River Valley in Ambridge, PA. My two children study there as well.  I have been super impressed with the degree and balance of professionalism, intensity, and the encouragement of family involvement. I started taking classes because my 13 year old daughter asked me to, and well, if your daughter wants you around, you figure a way to be around.

I have enjoyed the training and it has began to reconnect many of the synapses I created during my wrestling years. It has also revealed that my hip flexors are not as flexible as they could be. At the same time, they are becoming more flexible because of the required kicks and movements. This will greatly help as I am destined to do many flutter kicks at Heavy and Selection.

Week 10 - Day 1 : Fly Like An Eagle

Sorry for not posting more. At the end of this week I'll be 23 weeks out from Selection. I'm under 220lbs, right about 216. My goal was 215 by this point, so I'm not too disappointed.  I ran 8 miles yesterday and felt fine, although my pace biker got a bit tired going up Mudlick Hollow. I don't blame him, I did too.

This Sunday will be my first test, the Pitt 1/2 marathon. I'm not going for a certain time, just putting in the miles. To me, it's just another training run.  The next goal after this will be GORUCK Heavy in Pitt. The goal there is to be at 200lbs and running as close to as possible to my 5 mile goal, and rucking 12 under 2:30.
After this weekend I'll amp up the speed work and ruck weight to help make that happen.

I have found having intermediate goals helpful to keeping Selection in sight. It's so easy to have a long-range goal and assume you have time because it's 5 months away, but in the words of Steve Miller, " Time keeps on slipp'n".

Week 8 - Day 6 : Are You Content In The Upper Room?

It's Holy week. That may mean a lot for you, or it may mean very little. There is still a lesson to be learned. If you want to experience redemption, restoration,or transformation of any significant kind its going to require suffering.  The human race is always running from suffering. Who wouldn't? Jesus surely wasn't a fan of it, but he understood the greater good demanded it.

I'm all for avoiding suffering, but if we chose to be content in the upper room, we'll never experience resurrection. The upper room is cozy. There's a foot washing, a meal, and a betrayal. Yes, a betrayal. I betray myself all the time by choosing to stay in the upper room ( sleep in, eat another snack, skip a workout).  If you want to experience resurrection, you have to go through Gethsemane. This applies to just about every area of my life so far; financial, spiritual, physical, relational, and emotional.

In the words of Todd Rundgren, " If there's a short cut, Id'a found it, but there's no easy way around it."

This weekend I'm thinking of Selection as a type of Good Friday. Pain for a greater good.

All is Grace.

Week 8 - Day 1: Just Put One Foot In Front Of The Other

I put in a 9 mile run yesterday. It was hard. I didn't go for time, just the mileage.  I started out exhausted. I was up at 3:30 AM with stuff on my mind, then had my usual Sunday duties, plus food prep for our meal ministry. I sacked out for an hour, then got up and made myself run. Thankfully, my son Zane came along, and I was given a free bottle of water from a party cleaning up after a picnic. I felt much better for the last 4 miles, almost all downhill.

This morning was total body cardio. I either have another workout or run this afternoon.

My weight this morning was 217.5. lbs. Now down 21 lbs.

I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Week 7, Day 5: How Do You Eat A Bear? One Mile At A Time.

So, I have 26 weeks to go till Selection, 13 weeks till Heavy, and 3 weeks till the 1/2 marathon. Today I did my interval workout at 3 miles with a 20 second recovery between each mile. My average pace for each mile was 7:51. This was a huge morale boost for me. Tomorrow I'll do my long run of 9 miles early in the morning. Honestly, I can't wait. I feel like I have gained both physical and mental momentum. Next week my goal is to do 3 miles under 24 minutes without the rest.

Since January I have lost 20lbs. I started at 238lbs, and I'm now down to 218lbs. My goal for Heavy is to be at 200 lbs. My hope is that as I lose the weight my speed will continue to increase as it has these past three months.

I have not had any joint pain recently, which is also a huge boost. I took some time off in February because I was running too far and too fast for my weight at the time. I did P90X3 instead, which kept me moving. I modified some of the moves so the impact would be less. I am also using a pre-workout supplement called EnE from Beachbody. It's the real deal.

I am going to celebrate my goal, but not with the usual reward of bad food that I usually rationalize for having worked out. I'm not talented enough to do that. Instead, I'll just blog about it.

( I couldn't find a picture of someone eating a bear. I could only find a picture of Bear Grylls eating a dead Zebra)

Week 6: Days 1-4 - Relentless Forward Progress

This has been my motto for the past 3 years. This morning I went for a run that I didn't feel like running. I even stopped, looked at the sky, and said "Forget This", and then said "I'm not quitting". That's when I knew my mind was right.

It's easy to quit. Everyone does it, but I can't afford to. I'm not that talented. I have to keep going. I can rationalize that Selection is 7 months away, but reality is, it's only 7 months away. Every day I have to increase my capacity for adversity, because that's all Selection is, adversity.

Tomorrow, I wake up, and do it again.