What I did on my summer vacation

I'm late posting this week, we've been doing a lot of camping over the past week and a half. We spent a few days in Jasper National Park, one of the highlights was hiking on Mount Edith Cavell and seeing the Angel glacier, it's behind me on the video. I wonder if anyone else has done push ups there? I hope I was the first.

Detour

So as year two of non stop pushups continues, my shoulders, elbows and wrists hate me more and more. This morning I got out of bed early because my joints from shoulders down were aching too much to sleep. Its officially time to come up with an alternate plan for pushups.

My plan is to hold the plank position and do these sort of reverse rows with a tension band to put less stress on my joints. I will still be doing some regular pushups depending on how much pain I'm in.

The food journaling is going really well. I am more aware of what I'm eating through out the day as opposed to mindlessly snacking, as I tend to do when I'm bored. I even made myself my new favorite sandwich in my quest for more fruit and veggies. See you all next week!

food journal

So Silent Rivers UBBT team will be doing a month long food journaling project. This decision was immediately followed by two days of camping where I ate like crap to say the least. At first I thought this was a great idea,but the idea of everyone knowing my bad habits is scary. I can see the value of this project already. Since I was away and I'm not set up on the food blog yet, I'll just post what I've eaten the past two days here. Beware.

August 1st

breakfast- 3 cups coffee (cringe), 1 whole wheat english muffin and 1 cup of pineapple

snack- handful almonds and a fruit to go

lunch- whole wheat bun with ham, cheese, pickles, tomatoes

dinner- (keep in mind we threw a birthday party for adriens mom and there were people and snacks everywhere)-taco chips with nacho dip, more taco chips with fresh salsa, a couple veggies and dip, 2 grilled chicken kebabs with red pepper mushrooms and onions, salad and a piece of birthday cake with ice cream and caramel sauce, yes I'm a pig and yes it was delicious.

I limited myself to one alcoholic beverage, knowing I'd be posting, so one malibu, orange juice with 7up.

August 2nd

breakfast-granola bar, 2 cups coffee

2nd breakfast (haha) 2 pancakes, 2 sausages with maple syrup

lunch- 2 smokies and 1/2 a tomato

snacks- garden grazing ( cherry tomatoes, peas and saskatoons), a few cherries

dinner-pasta with chicken and lemon, salad with lettuce from the garden

well, that was scary, until next week!

These boots weren't made for walking

I was updating my numbers this week and I have completed one of my goals. I have walked 1000 miles or about 1600 kms so far this year. I have to say, it feels like it. My feet are killing me! I am way behind on my jui jitsu hours, maybe too far to catch up, but I am back doing at least an hour every week now that all my related injuries are healed. Pushups are my nemesis right now. I fall behind because my shoulders and elbows need a break and then I need to catch up. I'm sure a lot of people are experiencing the same thing as time goes on. It's injury vs. requirements.

My oldest daughter is 9 and she has been participating in the daytime kung fu class I normally attend when they are in school. She has really impressed me with her spirit. Last week the class did timed kicks, something she has never done. The next day she gets out of bed and says her legs hurt, she doesn't know why... I wanted to take a picture and put it in her baby book. First workout to ever make you sore the next day. It was great because now she'll be a little more sympathetic when Adrien and I are hobbling around the house as we do so often. I think it was also the first time she felt a real bond with her class mates after training. It's very cool to see her step up and push herself. If only I'd started martial arts at 4!

me- this week

Tied up some loose ends this week, that always feels good. I've had the chance to train quite a bit too. It's amazing when you work on just one thing how it evolves, and this is over maybe half an hour. We've been talking about having an eye for detail and I'm trying to develop mine. I was practicing forms and I realized how much I zone out when I do them instead of thinking of what I'm doing. It's a work in progress.

There have been moments over the past months when I'm at the kwoon and I'm sprawled on the floor after a set of pushups or situps or just talking with someone after a class and I realize I'm almost as comfortable there as I am at home. There is definitely still the respect there for the kwoon and the instructors as well as the etiquette, but it's really my home away from home. I tried to imagine not being in kung fu and I really just couldn't. I couldn't even imagine who I would be without it.

I was talking to a co worker about the boot camp experience and she asked my why anyone would put themselves through that. There is no way to explain to someone who has never had to struggle through something or to push themselves to their limit and then beyond, how you come out the other side a changed person. A better person. I think that is what joining kung fu has done for me. I've gone way beyond what I ever thought I could possibly do physically and in turn I've realized I can go places I never thought in life as well.

Progressing wisely

July has been a pretty good month so far, I'm still not caught up on my numbers, but I'm working on it. Although I am down to 2 days a week at work I am noticing all of my repetitive stress injuries a lot more. I don't know if it's because they have a few days to actually start healing and then the next day I go to work everything gets undone? Last Tuesday before San Shou class started Sifu Freitag was walking around doing the same arm/shoulder stretch thing that I always do for my shoulder pain. I asked her what was up with her shoulder and she said tendonitis. I haven't gone and gotten an actual diagnosis but it seems likely that the pain I'm having in both shoulders is tendonitis or bursitis. I know I have inflamed tendons in my hand which is causing the sticking when I flex my fingers and I know I have plantar fasciitis in my feet... the tendons separating from the bone. There seems to be trend here. Right now I feel like my biggest problem is not knowing when it's smart to rest and when I should be pushing through and training. I want to get better but I almost feel embarrassed sitting on the bench watching class instead of participating. Most of the people I know who have been training for more than a couple of years have chronic injuries, it's nothing new for someone in the martial arts. Why is it so hard to progress wisely?

the black belt success cycle

Over the past few weeks there has been something bugging me, something besides the overuse of LOL everywhere. The general lack of effort that most people put into everything they do drives me absolutely bonkers. I can tolerate a lot from kids and co workers and friends, but people that don't care to put any time or thought into anything besides there appearance is the limit for me. When I'm around people like that I feel like there is a void I'm being sucked into, I feel like I'm trying to walk through mud.

Sadly it's these people that always complain about their bad luck and how there are so many obstacles in the way of them and their goals. These are the people that are always looking for the secret to success, or the easy way to get something.

Last week in Sihing class we talked about the black belt success cycle- Have a goal, make a plan and get a success coach, TAKE CONSISTENT ACTION, review your progress, and review your goal. Obviously,(or maybe not so obviously) this can be applied to any area of your life. I think it's easy for most of us to have goal and maybe even make a plan, but it's the consistent action part that's so hard.

Just like pushups the more I take consistent action in my life the easier it gets. I've figured out the secret! Too bad most people will be disappointed to know it involves a lot of hard work.