Archive for December, 2009

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With Flying Colors

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Today was my test for Second Level Black Belt in Kung Fu. As it turns out, all of the nerves and stress was unnecessary. I passed. With flying colors.

It was a difficult test: I had to perform everything I’ve learned since earning my Black Belt 2 years ago, as well as a large section of basics that encompassed material from the very start of my training as a lowly White Belt in April of 2005.

On top of everything, I was being graded by our Master, who, to my knowledge, never personally grades anyone. That made me  E X T R A  nervous, because I know he would be watching for all of the new things he’s had me focus on in recent weeks… The very things that made me nervous in the first place.

I’m pleased to report that I nailed all of his big points! I did have a hiccup at the beginning of one routine, and a few other minor details here and there, but all-in-all, I’m incredibly pleased with my performance. I feel like I did the absolute best I could.

And frankly, the absolute best I could do was pretty damn good, if-I-do-say-so-myself.

I ended up with an overall grade of a B, but again, that’s a B by our Master’s very. high. standards. I worked really hard for that B, and I’m proud of it.

Unfortunately, during one of my sparring matches, an opponent blocked one of my kicks and left me with a black & blue right ankle. It’s not that big of a deal – I bruise like a ripe banana – but boy does it hurt. And that’s on top of my general muscle soreness from 2 hours or so of Kung Fu.

It’s a good thing I’m supposed to knock out 6.2 miles tomorrow…

In my honor, today, Rachel, of Body by Pizza fame, pushed herself past her planned 5-mile run to do a full 10k. In the same spirit, I’m going to do my damnedest to run the full race tomorrow. No guts – no glory, right?!

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement. It was insanely helpful in getting me psyched up, rather than psyched out. You guys are the best.

Details on the Trot for Tots 10k tomorrow! Man, this is an active weekend…

Posted in Kung Fu, Personal Stories, Trials and Tribulations | 3 Comments »

The Nerves Are Setting In

Friday, December 4th, 2009

It’s the eve of my Second Level Black Belt Test. It will encompass things I’ve learned throughout the last four and a half years of training. Weapons. Self defense. Sparring. Open-handed routines. Basics. Etc. Etc.

And I’m nervous.

I felt ready for the test six months ago (there are only Black Belt tests every 6 months at my school), and ironically, now that I’ve had an extra 6 months of practice, I feel a little less confident. Here’s my theory: Because I knew everything pretty well, I started receiving more and more high-level corrections. Little nuances and details that make a big difference.

I got some of these corrections as recently as last night.

Now that there’s so much more to remember – things that I haven’t had long enough for them to be natural yet – I’m concerned that I’ll forget to do them (and I know they’ll be watching for these things in particular), or worse yet, that I’ll be so intent on getting all of these little details right, that I’ll blank on the big things.

I’m not good under performance pressure. At a Kung Fu tournament last year, I completely blanked on one of my routines. I did the best I could to string a bunch of moves together, but it was nothing like what I had been taught and had practiced for months on end. That’s a huge hit to the confidence level.

On top of that, it seems that I’m the only one testing for this belt – out of 5 schools. There was supposed to be one other person from my school, but, sadly, an injury took him out. He’ll join me in 6 months. At least no one will be able to directly compare me to anyone else. On the other hand, I won’t be able to “cheat off” anyone else if I blank on something…

Then, of course, there’s the 10k on Sunday – and I haven’t run all week. I would love to be able to run the entire thing, but if I can’t? I can’t. I’ve been concentrating on Kung Fu this week because, I figure, I can sign up for a 10k any time, but I’ve been building up to tomorrow’s test for almost 5 years… and intensely for 6 months. I’ll be more worried about the 10k tomorrow night, I’m sure.

But for now, I’m worried about my test tomorrow afternoon. I’d love to hear some encouragement, even if you have no idea what my Kung Fu skills are like. That’s right, folks: I’m fishing for empty compliments! Calm these nerves of mine! I’ll pretend they’re all true :)

Posted in Kung Fu, Personal Stories | 6 Comments »

One Month Left – Hot 100 Update

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

I feel like I just wrote one of these updates, like, 10 days ago. Weird.

With just 30 days left before 2010, it’s time for yet another update in The Hot 100. Without further adieu:

Keep running! Running has been great this period. Last week was the 5-mile Turkey Trot which was a huge success! My official finish time was 52:34(!), which is significantly faster than I was shooting for. I’ve been very consistent with my training, and have exceeded my goal of 10 miles per week since setting that goal.

This Sunday is the 10k. I’m a bit concerned about that one, for two reasons: 5 miles is the furthest I’ve run to date, and it’s a day after my test for second level Black Belt in Kung Fu, which I imagine will be quite grueling and result in some soreness. I will do my best, though!

For your viewing pleasure, a photo of the Turkey Trotters post race. Unfortunately, the friend portion of the trotters weren’t with us at this point, so this photo includes just my family. From left to right: Dad, Mom, Bro, Sis-in-Law, Me, and up front – The Husband, whose long arms made this photo possible.

Family Turkey Trotters

Lose some more weight. Every 10 days, it seems I’m saying the same thing on this one: Not good. I was unsuccessful at eating right this Thanksgiving… and the three days surrounding it. Even though I got in some good workouts, it wasn’t enough to counteract my terrible food choices and, once again, I’m up in weight rather than down. I don’t know what I was on Friday since I wasn’t at home, but my most recent peek at the scale – yesterday – showed 178.

That’s heartbreaking.

I know I can’t go back in time and make wiser decisions; it is what it is. I’m back on the wagon and have been doing much better since returning home. The plan is to stay on track and undo the damage in short order. Wish me luck!

Eat out less – cook more. Once again, the holiday wreaked havoc on this goal. I’ve harped on this enough, though, and I don’t think going over it again will do me any good… and frankly, it doesn’t make for very interesting reading.

The Husband and I have finally made an actual list (called Things to Eat!!!!) that has a number of meals we know we love, and a few things we’ve been meaning to attempt making for quite a while. That should help; it’s so much easier to get myself to cook dinner when I have something planned… and the ingredients on hand.

Here’s to the next 30!

Posted in Personal Stories, Road Races, The Hot 100, Trials and Tribulations | 5 Comments »

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