March 31st, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
Ugh – I think I ate something off today – I’ve been feeling pretty crappy all day. I didn’t quite feel up to going in for a full Muay Thai class so I did a workout at home instead. 100 jumping jacks, 100 squats, 100 crunches, 100 pushups, 50 leg raises, 25 pull ups, 25 chin ups. Plus some random stretching and a bit of shadowboxing.
Not quite the full cardio workout of an hour class of Muay Thai – but still a good one. I felt a lot better afterwards too.
Tomorrow I’m going to get up early and try running again. Not sure how it’s going to go – hoping for the best.
Following this plan: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
March 29th, 2008 Workout – Snowboarding
Went out yesterday for what is probably going to be the last ride of the season – I know I’ve said that before but it looks like everything is actually closing now even though there’s still a ton of snow on the hills :(
My brother and I went up to Mount St Louis/Moonstone just a bit north of Barrie. I hadn’t been there for maybe 15 years – the last time I tried to do a snow sport. I went up there with my uncle and cousins and tried to ski – tried being the key word as I ended up going out of control and doing a somersault.
This time was definitely a lot more fun. I’ve been feeling really comfortable on my board the last few times out and have started expanding my riding into freestyle tricks. Starting to learn some flatland tricks like 360’s and tail presses and have been going off some of the small features in the terrain park like fun boxes, short rails and small kickers. It’s so much more fun to me than just doing straight free riding. Pure speed doesn’t really do it for me and there’s only so much free riding I can do before I get a bit bored.
We spent pretty much the entire day either in the terrain park or on flat runs doing flatland tricks. I’m getting better at lining up when approaching a grind and I finally got the hang of keeping my board straight and landing flat after getting air rather than trying to land sideways on an edge. I learned a lot from watching my little brother ride and he gave me a lot of tips on how to ride freestyle. With his help I can finally do a tail press manual pretty well now.
Now to start running / biking / blading / skating. Just when my body thought it was going to get a break ;)
March 28th, 2008 Weigh In
Weigh In day today – results are below:
As of March 28th, 2008
Weight: 227.6 (-50.6 / – 62.4)
Bodyfat %: 27.2 (-8.7%)
Hydration %: 50.0 (+6.0%)
The loss has slowed down a bit over the last 6-7 weeks – losing maybe a pound a week or so now. Should pick up again though – snowboarding season is over, which means the weekends of questionable food choices on the road/at the hill are done and I’ll be outside a lot more.
As much as I loved the snow this year, I’m looking forward to the sun now. It’ll be nice to be outside with less of a fat insulation layer so maybe I won’t sweat so much now. I’m going to get my bike tuned up this weekend and take the dog for a run – poor guy has been cooped up so much. Now that it’s starting to warm up I’m going to start biking and rollerblading as much as I can. I’m going to give running another shot too – with 60 pounds less weight to move around I should find it easier on my knees / shins this time.
Also… Whiskey Militia had a good deal on Element skateboards. I’ve got one in the mail on the way here. What am I getting myself into?
March 24th, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
Went to Muay Thai class yesterday – was debating skipping it with my tailbone being sore, but I figured I’d be ok as it really only hurts if I’m sitting on it in a certain angle. Well, I forgot all about ab work as pretty much every exercise had me either resting on my tailbone or rolling over it – fun times! Probably the worst ab workout I’ve ever done as I had to stop throughout because of the pain.
Other than that the rest of the class went fine. We did a bunch of cross fighting work and got into combinations and fakes to get around your opponents guard. After that we did some clinch work, including different ways of breaking out of and reversing a clinch. My neck was sore from my rail fall on Sunday so the clinch wasn’t the most fun either and it’s a little sore today.
On a good note, I dropped a size in my snowboarding pants! My current pair of boarding pants is XL – I got them back at the end of November and they fit perfectly then. Now I need to wear a belt with them and even then they are falling down and the cuffs are getting all scruffed up from walking over them. I was on Whiskey Militia a while back and saw a good deal on pants so I ordered a pair of size L. They came in the mail yesterday – I tried them on and they pretty much fit already – a little tight around the waist, but they’ll definitely be perfect for next season. Whiskey Militia has sweet deals on gear – got 15k waterproof pants for $45 that are normally $150.
March 23rd, 2008 Workout – Snowboarding
My brother and I had a free pass to Alpine Ski Club up in Collingwood, so we took off early Sunday morning and made the long drive up. We weren’t quite sure what to expect as it is a private club and neither of us had been there before. We were pretty impressed once we got there – lots of runs, not too crowded and an express lift.
While looking at the trail map, we noticed a huge terrain park on the right side of the mountain. After doing a bunch of normal runs we headed over to check it out. They had a great terrain park there – setup on a really long run with a ton of jumps and lots of rails. They also had a good set of small features that I tried out. I ended up going off some small rollers and tried grinding for the first time on an actual rail rather than a table or box.
I found rail grinds to be pretty hard to get lined up properly – I’m going to practice finding lines in the snow and then lining up with them and riding straight over until I can really control my direction well. I went over the rail a few times and the last time I ended up crooked so I hopped off it – landed fine and turned to my toeside to stop, but didn’t cut in enough and I ended up falling backwards on my ass and slamming my head.
I think all the falls from learning to jump the last few times out have really added up – my tailbone has been hurting like hell the last couple of days. It’s not so bad that I can’t sit, but if I put a lot of pressure on it I get a decent amount of pain. Next season I’m getting a pair of impact shorts before I head out into the park again.
I was thinking of getting a more freestyle oriented board for next season, but I’m going to stick it out with the one I have now. It’s getting really banged up now, but I think I can get another full season of learning out of it for sure and it’s much more flexible than I thought. My brother was showing me how to do tail butters and I thought that my board was too stiff to do them, but it turns out I just wasn’t leaning back far enough. By the end of the day I was able to get a few inches of flex out of it in a tail butter – just need more practice to really get it down.
March 21st, 2008 Workout – Snowboarding
There’s still snow up north! I went up to Horseshoe for the day as I had a free pass I got for my birthday. My little brother was supposed to come with me but couldn’t make it so I ended up going solo. So I took the day and pretty much did nothing but practice basic skills.
I did just about every drill I had been taught in my previous lessons and tried to really focus on keeping proper form. Staying low while turning, keeping my knees bent and keeping my weight on my front foot. I noticed that the more I keep my weight on my front foot, the easier it is to turn by pointing my knees rather than kicking my back leg out. It also felt a lot smoother while turning too.
I did every third run switch too – at the beginning of the day it was pretty rough and I fell a couple of times, but by the end of the day I started to get used to it. By the time I left I was able to link turns riding switch pretty well – just need more practice.
While I was up there I saw a guy on skis doing tricks I’ve never seen anyone do on skis – doing crazy flatland tricks and spins / jumps off the tips of his skis. Crazy! I ended up riding the lift up with him and we got to talking – turns out he’s from Etobicoke and runs a skate park – he used to be a pro skateboarder and a freestyle ski instructor / judge. Turns out he offers skateboarding lessons for adults transitioning from snowboarding – looks like I found something to replace snowboarding with once the snow melts :D
March 19th, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
Had a Muay Thai class yesterday – was a tough one! After our warm-up we did an entire hour of clinch work. The Muay Thai clinch is a close-up move – you basically grab your opponents head in a way that allows you to control their movement and throw them off balance while attacking them with knees.
Video of Anderson Silva beating Rich Franklin with a Muay Thai clinch
Watch the video – Rich Franklin is a strong guy and an excellent fighter, but once Silva gets him in the clinch, he basically moves him around wherever he wants him to go. I can’t imagine what it’s like to take one of those knees to the body unprotected at full force – it must be absolutely devastating. Even in practice with pads you can feel each knee.
Fun stuff!
The Four Agreements
I was cleaning my room today and I found a folded up piece of paper. I opened it up and read it – I don’t remember where I got it from or who gave it to me. This is what it said:
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Don Miguel Ruiz.
4 simple concepts that would make all the difference in anyones life if followed.
I wonder where it came from…
March 15th/16th Workout – Snowboarding
Went up for the last time this season with my friends to Beaver Valley for another weekend of boarding. It’s starting to really warm up quick now – they lost over a foot of snow from the last weekend we were there and there were already some bare spots in the runs starting to form.
I went out this weekend determined to land a jump off a small kicker. I’ve been feeling pretty steady on my board and I don’t really fall anymore while doing normal riding so I felt like I was ready to move on to some harder things.
I started off just strapping in on a flat and doing some ollies. Once I got used to the movement I tried it out while going slowly down a hill. I was able to land those well and started gradually doing them while going faster and faster and over bigger dips. Finally just before lunch we did a quick run through of the small terrain park to check out the layout and get a feel for it. After lunch we headed over and I took my first run at the kicker – lined up, kept my board flat and picked my knees up as I launched off it. I went way higher than I was expecting and was leaning too far back so I didn’t land flat and I fell on my ass. It hurt, but not too bad and I had a huge smile on my face. I knew right there that I was hooked.
Second run I messed up by leaning onto my edge while going over the kicker so I took off sideways. Another fall, but didn’t hurt too bad. Third time I took off flat, picked up my knees, leveled out in mid-air and landed flat then quickly turned to my toe side to stop. I made it! After that run we went back to the other areas of the hill for some normal riding, but I came back at the end of the day and managed to land another 2 jumps off the kicker as well as some ollies going pretty quick off some mini-kickers.
I loved the feeling of flying through the air off the kicker. Even though I fell the first time, I don’t think I could have had a bigger smile on my face. I think I’ll only be able to get out 2 or 3 more times this year before the snow melts, but I’m going to be doing more jumps for sure. I can’t wait for next winter ;)
I also tried out the half-pipe. I just did pendulums down the first half to get used to it but was able to turn on the wall going down the second half. I think I’ll leave that until next year though.
March 12th, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
Got stuck late at work today and missed my 6:00 Muay Thai class – crappy! So I came home, put on some tunes and did a workout in my spare room. Did the usual – a ton of jumping jacks, stride jumps, stance changes, shadowboxing, pushups, crunches and bag work.
Not as good as an actual Muay Thai class workout, but better than nothing.