Day 43/63 – September 17th, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
I think the two weeks off I had actually did me some good and let my body recuperate or something, because I just got back from 2 hours of Muay Thai and I feel great. I never felt really out of breath during the two hours until the last 5 minutes when we were doing sparring in the clinch position.
First class we did nothing but push kick defense. Different ways to defend and counter the push kick as well as what to do when you throw a push kick and it gets caught.
Second class we did some tough pad work and then did a lot of clinch work. Different combinations to get into the clinch and then lots of work on what to do when you’re on either side of the clinch.
From now on I’m going to do 2 hours of class on Wednesdays and Saturdays… if I can get out of work early enough, I’ll do it on Mondays too. Time to start stepping it up and getting to the next level.
Day 41/63 – September 15th, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
We did a conditioning class at Muay Thai yesterday. Started off with our normal warmup, then did a bunch of drills with high reps to work on our conditioning. We partnered up, got thai pads and then did a bunch of drills, then did sets of 25 pushups or 25 squats in between drills.
We finished up doing 100 kicks… counting 1-5 and then down on one leg, then the other, then both again. For a change, I didn’t feel like I was dying after ;)
I won a fitness challenge… and back posting again finally!
I found out yesterday that I won my division (male 25-35) in the 9 week fitness challenge I did a couple of months ago at Kombat Arts! I never thought I’d win anything fitness related, so it was a nice surprise to get chosen. Ironically, part of my prize was a gift card for a video game store… funny because I cut down my game playing a lot to get in better shape ;) But I’ll definitely use it when Rockband 2 comes out!
I’ve been pretty inconsistent lately about keeping my site updated. I’ve been getting workouts in, but haven’t been posting much at all. Well – I’m back and I’ll be updating regularly again. I had a massive project at work and some other crap come up and I lost some of my motivation along the way with all the stress. But I see that if I keep letting the stress get to me that I’ll eventually end up back on my old path – somewhere I am not going to go.
I’ve still got a bit over 3 weeks left in my current 9 week challenge. Realistically I am not going to reach the goals I set out for initially, but I am going to improve and I am going to bust my ass for the next 3 weeks. Looking forward to Muay Thai class tonight!
Day 32/63 – September 6th, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
Class today was pretty good. We did some really tough drills with focus mitts where our partners would call out numbered combos and then we would throw them at the mitts. I think I’ve finally got it drilled into my head to keep my hands up and it feels natural to me now to get them up no matter what is happening.
After those drills we did some knee drills – learning to come in with different knees after going into a one handed clinch. Fun stuff… and I didn’t get kneed in the head today, so it’s all good.
We finished off with 15 minutes of some tough yoga-style stretching. I’d like to get more into yoga for flexibility and core strength – some of those moves were tough!
After class, I went home quick and got cleaned up then went back to Kombat Arts. They were holding a spar-fest where students from different schools come in and do quick matches between 1 and 3 rounds. It’s kind of like the entry level Muay Thai matches. I am going to go in for the next one in 3-4 months and I wanted to see what I’d be in for.
Watching spar-fest was awesome… it looked tough and all the fighters did an awesome job. Now I want to train harder than ever so I can be ready for the next one.
Day 29/63 – September 3rd, 2008 Workout – Muay Thai
It’s been 2 weeks since I last went to Muay Thai class and I’ve missed it so much. Now that work is under control I was able to make it back in today for a class.
We spent the whole class doing drills in response to catching a jab from our partner. We went through different routines, responding to the jab with different combinations of jabs, crosses, hooks, knees and inside and outside leg kicks. We then did a really fun drill where we threw a jab and a hook with the same hand, then grabbed our opponents head and launched a jumping knee to the head.
It went well – I thought my energy levels would be a lot lower than they ended up being, but then I was really excited to get back to class so that could have been it too.
Saturdays class will be fun. The school is running a spar-fest with a bunch of other fighters coming in from other schools to fight our guys. It’s the kind of event that I’ll enter first when I’m ready, so it’ll be good to watch and get a feel for what I’ll be in for.
Day 28/63 – September 2nd, 2008 Workout – Misc
Had my first real workout in 2 weeks! Did a quick warm up, then alternated doing pull ups, chin ups, push ups and squats until I couldn’t do any more. Finished up with some core work and stretching.
It feels so good to move again and get my blood pumping. I haven’t felt like myself at all in the last 2 weeks. Between the craziness of my work schedule and some other junk, I just was not in a good state. I had to keep reminding myself throughout that this was a temporary thing and not allow myself to internalize any of these negative feelings.
Now it’s time to push it. I set some goals for myself and I am going to reach them. Taking the last 2 weeks off my 9 week challenge leaves with just over a month left. I’ve hit some setbacks, but I am going to reach the goals I set out for.
Day 28/63 – Finally back
I haven’t updated the site in 2 weeks now. I’ve been working on a project for work pretty much non-stop in that time. I’ve literally been working 14-16 hour days 7 days a week for the last 2 weeks. I decided to not count the last 2 weeks in my 9 week challenge because other than some walks and a bit of calisthenics, I’ve been working.
I’m feeling really burnt out. I haven’t been working out and I haven’t been eating the greatest. Not a lot of crap, but lots of skipped meals and not enough fresh foods. I’m really feeling it too. Between the lack of exercise, proper nutrition, lack of sleep and just general fatigue, I feel like I have absolutely no energy left right now. It’s just after 1pm and my energy levels are crashing hard – a problem I haven’t had in months. Anyway – the tone of this is getting more negative than I like, so enough of that.
I’m done! I’m going to collect my bonus for getting the project done and I’m going to get a new snowboard at the show in October. I figured out that I can spend $250 on a weekday nights pass at Glen Eden and a 5×7 pass at Blue Mountain and be set to get out boarding at least 2-3 times a week this winter at minimal cost. I’m really looking forward to winter this year – gonna get out as much as I can and work on my freestyle boarding a lot.
Now that I’ve got my free time back I am going to get back to doing a lot of the little things that make me happy. I’ve got a lot to catch up on around the house, but over the next week I’m going to do the following:
- Go for a midnight run
- Ride my bike through the Lake shore trail
- Go to Muay Thai
- Spend time with my family and friends
- Take Ozzy to the dog park
- Clean my room up
- Watch the new Hatebreed live DVD
- Catch up on my reading and movie watching
Lots to do – but all of it relaxing and centering. The whole experience made me realize some other things… but that’s for another post. For now, I’m just happy to be back in the real world – back to Muay Thai class tomorrow night – can’t wait!!!