Less than a week to go

There is less than a week left before the black belt test. It's one week from tomorrow. A LOT of things are happening, some are good, some are so-so. I'm not going to get all stressed out with nowhere to go. I'm going to try to maintain a cheerful, happy mood. I decided that I wasn't going to let my office stress me out anymore. I'm only one person and I can only do so much, you know?

Last night's class was a bit more interesting than usual. I managed to do 75 jumping jacks in a minute by NOT racing through them! That was a huge surprise to me because I *usually* get either winded or I feel like my legs are going to fall off from the fatigue of doing the jumping jacks. We also had to do a BUNCH of push ups. 30/20/15. 30 regular. 20 wide arm, 15 diamond. UGH. Not my favorite thing to do. For the entire time I've been going to class, I've been doing my push ups incorrectly. I *sagged* at the hips instead of staying board straight. Last night I did them correctly for the first time and man! I can feel the difference! My shoulders are letting me know I did them. It's a great feeling!

Tonight I'm going to Mr. A's Den meeting with him. Hubby is going to a Dallas Stars game tonight (bum! Didn't even ask me if I wanted to go!). I was SUPPOSED to go teach with Susan but that's not happening. I called her at lunch and told her. All the fun thing happen when I'm not there anyway.

This weekend is the final run-through of the belt test. I'm actually looking forward to it. I want to work on my Bong Hyung Il Bu plus the other forms I have to know for next week!

Oh so tired!

Getting up and out at 7:30-7:45 am when it's 24 degrees is NOT an easy thing! It's really hard when you were previously snuggled up all toasty and warm under a bunch of covers, with a cat purring in your ear.
Class this morning was...COLD and challenging! We ran through a warm up to warm us up. There's a very bad pun there, I think.
We had a good workout. Sa Bu Nim had us run through techniques and Ho Sin Sul today. Ho Sin Sul is self defense. That includes wrist locks, shoulder throws and hip throws. I need to work more on those. The major problem is that working on them outside of class involves either children or hubby. Hubby likes to show me that he knows more than me and gets into a "I'm going to stop you here" mode. He isn't the best possible partner for working on Ho Sin Sul. I'll have to work on it with the kids. It'll help teach all of us and we'll be able to get some additional practice in at the same time. I SHOULD stay around for the Leadership Team classes at the end of the Basic classes so that I can work with them. That's another idea.
I have to miss a class next weekend because of a prior commitment for Cub Scouts. Hubby's working, so I have to take the little guy. I'll have to attend an extra class or something. I have classes at least two nights a week, so a third night is definitely a possibility. Have to convince hubby to get the kids fed. I'll hit up the Black Belt class on Tuesday. I have to be there for class at 7:00 anyway, so...6:00 isn't that much extra, only an hour. It's worth thinking about. I don't THINK it's my second pre-test but we'll see. I have to talk to my friend DB about it too. The really bad thing is, we're supposed to work on Bong Hyung Il Bu in that class. EEK!!

I think I've figured out that being dehydrated has something to do with the fatigue I'm feeling. I have just drunk 60 ounces of water and feel SO much better! I didn't drink nearly enough yesterday and it's affected me today. Then to have class this morning--only had a litre of water this morning and then nothing but coffee for the rest of the day. No wonder I'm worn out!! I need to watch that and improve that!!

50 days until Re-Certification

50 days until re-cert. I did get a chance to work on my forms last night and that was a good thing. The ONLY real issue I had was that my stances were really poor. I don't care HOW sore my leg is (did I mention I have tendonitis in my left hip?), I have absolutely NO EXCUSE for not holding a good deep front stance. For Pyung Ahn Sam Dan, there is a stance that requires you to step into a bent-knee, crossed foot stance. That stance about killed me last night! I had even taken an anti-inflammatory and it STILL hurt!! The boy I was working with had his stances right, but he had a few things to work on too. I wasn't alone with needing minor tweaks to the forms. Bassai was another weak spot for me last night. I was also off on my count for Sip Soo and THAT is totally unacceptable to me! I'm very fussy about my forms and want to do them at 100% accuracy. However, as Master St. James says, "the only room is room for improvement." so I know I was there. I definitely was in that room last night!

I also worked on Bong Hyung Il Bu last night. I got it down, I think. It was a good thing that I got to practice it. I feel a bit more confident in the form. I just need to make sure I get myself to run through it tomorrow too. I have the day off, so I'll work on it for a little bit. I want to make sure I get the forms worked on tomorrow. I do have a meeting at my son's school in the morning, then an appointment with my old cat at the vet's office.
Then it's home to rest again for an hour--I'll have two giggling girls in the house for the afternoon and that'll be fun. I've got to decide what to do with them. I may set them up in my room with movies and popcorn. They'll like that!!

First re-cert class-January 05, 2008

The first of 8 weeks' classes is over. I'm wiped out too! This morning has been VERY busy! I got out and went to WW (lost what I gained last week so I'm back on track!). I stayed for 20 minutes of the meeting, then raced out to the car and headed back to Allen. I made it to class with *minutes* to spare. I had my uniform in the car, so that was an easy thing to deal with--just grab and go! I got changed in nearly record time and was a minute or two late to line up, but not enough to freak out. What's really embarrassing to me is that I am an instructor and can't be late as I'm in the front row. The Cho Dan Bo's see me walk in and they must be wondering why I was so late! I've got to refine that process. I can do it.

We worked--HARD--for two hours. My friend Susan brought the coffee, so I was thrilled to pieces with that! I didn't have breakfast, so there were a few points where I got light headed and dizzy. Today's work out was advanced forms and weapons. I hadn't picked up a bong until last night when I was showing the guys at work how we worked with it. I now have to create a work out schedule/log and stick with it. I want to ace that form (Bong Hyung Il Bu). I have to work on the other forms too, the non-weapons forms. I can do Sip Soo well. I should as it's my newest form, but I REALLY need to work with it. We did Sip Soo, Nahainchi Cho Dan and Bassai today. Wait, we also did Pyung An Sam Dan, Oh Dan and Sa Dan. I know where I need to improve and that's something I'll start doing on my own at home. If he expects an hour a day from the kids, he'll get it from the adult in the class too.

I'm excited. I can already see how this is going to work. I am able to get many of my chores done Friday night, so I'll have Saturday as a "free" day after my class. Just need to figure out WHAT to eat that will give me energy and not sit heavily on my stomach when I go to class. I can't take another dizzy day! I ate when I got home and have finished my first 30 ounce glass of water for the day. MORE water! LOL!
I'm in a great mood and I'm sure this is going to carry over into the next week.

Tuesday-all about challenges

I was right...the scales are absolutely evil to me! I need to seriously watch what I'm eating and if I'm going to snack, it needs to be 0 point foods. If I can just stick with that, I'll do alright.

I have CIT class tonight. There's a black belt class before the CIT class, so I think I may go ahead and use my time wisely by attending said class. I need to be working with the higher dans to make sure that I get my bong form (Bong Hyung Il Bu) done correctly. I also need to start practicing it because that's something I know will need to be done by the next black belt test. March 8th is going to be here before I know it. I'm actually not counting down the days until then because I'm not nervous anymore. I made so many mistakes during my actual test that I figure it's out of my system. I have to go in and practice in between classes now. I'm considering taking classes daily. Mr. M says that it's acceptable since I'm in the CIT program.

I was thinking about a blog I read recently. The writer was talking about practice. When, how, where. One of his blogs dealt with training outside. That would actually benefit many of us who have only trained indoors. It would get us away from the clock watching that we do. I hate to admit it, but there are days when I don't WANT to go to class, that I'd rather watch the clock than do the warm-ups and the actual exercises. I know that the warm-ups are to help me not hurt my body. I need to get past that "clock watch" mindset. That's something I think would be a beneficial goal to set. If I get out of watching the clocks, then I'll be able to have a more efficient training session.

Now, that being said, I need to find a good stretch for the I-T band. I aggravated my left leg years ago by attempting to run when I was 25-50 pounds heavier than I am now. It's acting up again, so I have to take it a little easy. I am going to do the work that is expected, but if I feel a twinge, I'm going to stop and modify the movement to compensate. I really hope that we're not going to do jumping jacks tonight in either class because (news flash!) I. Hate. Jumping Jacks! I really don't like them. (Saturday though, I did 100 of them and didn't stop once!!)

I may stay after CIT tonight and get DB to work on forms with me. I haven't done my forms since Saturday and before that, it was at least a month. I need to do my forms!! I miss them. I like the challenge of improving upon what I've already learned. That is something else I can set as a challenge to myself.