gearing up for the new year

I am very excited for the coming new year. I've been doing a bit of reading about repairing and maintaining exercises I can be doing as well as some nutrition and supplement info for my lifestyle. I am looking forward to being in better shape and back into a routine, but a new and improved routine. I have been training very lightly the last few weeks, I feel like I was reaching a breaking point and my body was telling me to slow down, dull aches were becoming sharp pains. I still feel engaged and I am constantly thinking of my training and what I need to do for UBBT 8. I started drawing this week, something I haven't done in years but I had always loved it. I think I will incorporate that into my goals.
New Years day will start off with the Silent River Kung Fu UBBT team doing 1000 push ups and 1000 sit ups each. I will be doing a modified version of push ups: rows with resistance, light weight presses and flys instead of traditional push ups. It's a great way to come together as a team first thing and of course it gives you a nice running start to your numbers. Have a great new year everyone. See you in 2011.

one bite at a time

I have been struggling with my goals for the new year and UBBT 8. The coming year scares me and I feel like hiding. I have decided to go for black belt in October and I feel so intimidated by it. I am trying to make my UBBT goals reflect the training I need to do to be ready by October but every time I sit down to write a plan I just hit a wall. I have this overwhelming feeling like there is too much to do. I have let the injuries pile up without taking care of any of them and consequently I feel that those are a huge hurdle to overcome as well. The sensible side of my brain knows I need to stop looking at the whole picture and break it down into manageable parts. Don't you love blogging? Just writing things down helps you come up with a good starting point.

The year in mini review

I find it hard to put into words what the UBBT has done for me. Every thing that was promised and more, I suppose. The last two years of my life have been full of huge personal growth. I really do feel that I am a different person than I was before I started this process. When I read my blog entry "what the UBBT has done for me" from last year, it was just how I feel again at the end of this year. I think that it is such a part of my everyday life I forget how great it's been for me. UBBT 8 will be my third go, and its going to be all about focusing my training and repairing my body. It has become such a useful tool for me to set goals and then follow through. See you all next week.

homestretch

Finals next week, and UBBT 7 is in it's last month. I feel spread thin right now, but finals will be over next week so I can focus fully on training, how nice that will be! I am really struggling with push ups now, I have very sharp pain in my wrists when they are bent. I'm sure everyone out there has their own bumps and bruises from the past year too. Well, its back to stoichiometry and the factor unit method... see you all next week.

Aunt Jan

My aunt Jan is a real living hero. I know our living heroes can't be relatives, but this will just be an extra entry. My aunt Jan is my dads older sister and the most positive, loving, accepting woman I've ever met. She is like Yoda to me, a real Zen master. There has been so much tragedy in her life, the loss of her sisters, father, son, and two husbands: one to cancer and another in a car accident, but remains upbeat and loving. My aunt Jan came out to Edmonton a year ago when my dad was in the hospital. She and my dads best friend Dennis fell in love and she moved here to be with him. It was really lovely the two of them. Dennis was a confirmed bachelor in his early 70's and my aunt Jan just getting on with life after the loss of my uncle Cecil when they found each other. In august Dennis was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They married in the hospital a couple of months ago. Dennis is at home now, with my aunt Jan there taking care of him. She has done this before, so she takes care of all his needs, including feeding him through a stomach tube, so he doesn't need a live in nurse. I don't mean this to be a really depressing story about my aunt, rather it is an inspiration to me. The two of them are the definition of a happy couple. They are enjoying the time they have together, doing everything they can with the time they have. My aunt Jan is one of the few people who can really live in the moment. I strive to be like her. She is an angel on earth if there is such a thing. She is loving and giving, but she has the strength of a lion when she needs it, as she often has. I strive to be like her, she really is a living hero.