131 Days to go

I have been coming up with every excuse under the sun to not be on the treadmill and working out.  That ends now.  We have 131 days until our black belt test.  I have been coming up with a good calendar of workouts, I will go to the Chiropractor tomorrow and acupuncture too for vertigo.  I'm gonna give my Garmin devices a workout this winter.  I will #beatyesterday.  I will succeed!

As a very patriotic person I feel it's Time to weigh in on #taketheknee.  I grew up as an Air Force Brat. My dad had the coolest job in the world-a fighter pilot.  I so wanted to follow in his footsteps.  When I went to the University of Cincinnati I joined the USAF ROTC. I was on my way.  My major at University was Asian Studies with an emphasis on Japanese language and culture.  Between my studies and my ROTC education I made the difficult decision that service was not where my life was headed.  I have nothing but respect for all our service people but knew I could not handle the job, so just before it was time to sign on the dotted line I dropped out.  It was a hard decision, I love my country so much but can not say I would put my personal convictions aside to follow orders.  Since that day I have married a fellow Air Force Brat and worked at the USAF Museum where I would talk to veterans.  I have recently joined the Daughters of the American Revolution and my son is a Child of the American Revolution.  (My views expressed here are my own and don't reflect on any of my society memberships, jobs etc) I am so proud of Mary Yancey and the belief she held in a very tumultuous time that lead to our wonderful USA.  Our country was founded for a number of reasons which almost all lead back to the right to disagree with our government and the right to protest it when we do.  Mary helped her sons fight, and over the years I've had many ancestors fight to keep those rights.  Kneeling during the National Anthem has been a legitimate form of protest since before the Star Spangled Banner was accepted in the US code as our anthem.  Federal judges have decided multiple times that the right to protest specifically to #taketheknee is protected as free speech.  Colin Kaepernick and those who choose to kneel have done so as a way to show peacefully that they want something in our country to change.  They kneel to show the world and us citizens of the USA that all is not "hunky-dorey" I feel for the BLM movement as their cause has been trumped by an issue #taketheknee that their cause isn't getting the discussion it deserves.  

Back at it - after over a week off from everything physical due to injury and illness I am back at it again today.  Last night I couldn't fall asleep until after 4:30 so I didn't rise earlier than I needed to to get little man to school, but I did do some Yoga (1/2 hour) and a new tabata routine. The routine I'm using is, mountain climbers, pushups, side lunges, squats, high knees, jumping jacks, burpees and flutter kicks. As much and as fast as you can for 20 seconds, then only 10 seconds in between. Do that circuit at least twice with a minute in between sets.  I only did twice as I am still fighting sinus issues.  I will be back on the treadmill soon too.  We are going to try to do the swampfoot run this year in St. Clair.  It is a 4 mile run with lots of obstacles.  I am very excited to attempt it but I know I need upper body strength that I don't have.  So I will be adding in a ton of uper body along the way. All of this will be very beneficial when BlackBelt Bootcamp starts.  

I haven't posted in a while and this post has nothing to do with karate so please pardon the interruption.  I have just been accepted as an approved member of the Daughter's of the American Revolution.  Many cousins have asked about the history so I am including it below for them.  I am very proud of the tradition of service in my family.

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I was born in 1973 to my mother and father (both living, names omitted).
My father is retired USAF and served his country for over 20 years.
He is the son of Edward Archibald Rountree who served in the US Navy and then spent his
career in the US Postal Service.
Edward's parents were Lester V Rountree and Marybelle Archibald.

Lester was the son of William F Rountree and Minnie Dora Wall. Lester served as a machinist
for the US Navy and for the railroads. His mother Minnie Dora Wall was the daughter of Andrew
Jackson Wall and Mary Caroline Hancock. Andrew Jackson Wall (Minnie Dora Wall's father)
was the son of Elam Wall and Lucy Tillotson. Andrew served in Georgia 17th Regiment
Company B during the civil war. He was captured at Gettysburg and wound up losing an
arm and his right eye. Lucy Tillotson was the daughter of John Tillotson and Philadelphia
Yancey. Lucy and her husband were mentioned in her father's will. Philadelphia Yancey
was the daughter of Robert Yancey and Philadelphia Jones. Philadelphia was mentioned
 in her father's will dated 1819. Robert Yancey was the son of Richard Yancey and his wife
Mary. Robert Yancey performed civil service in the Revolutionary War. According to DAR
records, he was a road viewer-viewing and making report on alteration of Gillis Rd. as
ordered by Mecklenburg Co. Court on 13 May 1776.

Mary Yancey (mother of Robert) is a verified Patriot with the DAR for furnishing beef for the Cause.

Bad news - Scheduling conflict!!!

So for years before we ever even started karate we have been looking forward to Eclipse2017.  It is the first solar eclipse on the mainland USA since 1979 and the first to sweep the entire country since 1918.  Knowing this is coming we have planned a trip of a lifetime to go to Grand Teton National Park and be surrounded in all Mother Nature's glory.  The eclipse is August 21.  I was thinking/hoping our test would be the weekend before as last year's August test was the 12th.  No such luck.  The test is scheduled for August 19th.  We will already be at Grand Teton.  So as it stands right now I will not earn my black belt this year, I will have to wait until the next February.  My priorities are set, the eclipse viewing with my family  and the once in a lifetime experience we have planned means another 6 month wait.  Oh well.  Patience is a virtue, right?

For more info on the Eclipse visit eclipse2017.org

Yesterday I finished week one of Couch to 5K training.  I highly recommend the program, I followed it last year and was ready to run a 5 k in 8 weeks.  I decided to restart the program after dealing with 4 weeks off my feet.  This time I am doing it at a faster pace though.  The blackbelt test I will face in August finishes (after 8+ hours of karate) with a one mile run, 50 pushups, 50 situps and 50 deepknee bends. I need to be faster than I was last summer for the mile and I am basing my c25k pace on that goal.  I have also decided to add in pushups, situps and deep knee bends daily.  For January it will be 20 a day, February it will be 25, March = 30, April = 35, May = 40, June = 45 and July 50.  I am also wanting to develope the mentality of a martial artist in the rest of my life and so I've brought home a few reads from the library.  I think I will start with Zen in the Martial Arts.

One thing I have learned about myself through this journey is that I can do it.  I have come back from injuries and I have every faith in my ability to live a martial artist life.  I am the Ninja Librarian!

Playing with my GoPro today gotta learn somehow.

So today I started my c25k training - it's an 8 week program meant to take you from being a couch potato to running a 5k race.  I have used this program before and really liked it.  Given how much I have not exercised in the last month I thought it best to start at the very beginning.  This week there is a 5 minute warmup followed by 8 intervals of 1 minute run and 1.5 minute walks.  I have challenged myself to use a faster run pace than I have in the past.

You can check out my Garmin data here: Garmin data


I also chose to wear my heart rate monitor to karate class tonight and until I find an app that I like to record just hr during class I used the indoor treadmill setting but you can see my average heartrate for class at Garmin Karate

First day back at karate class after 4 weeks off and I made it through.  I even did jumping jacks in warmups - I hadn't done those since I injured my ankle a year ago.  My toe is a little aggravated but nothing I can't deal with.  I've been doing 30 minute walks on the treadmill for a few days now and using our versaflex.  I hope that by February I will be able to increase the stretch from 110 to 120 degrees.  Jan 9th starts c25k at a faster pace than I had previously done.  I practiced our form a few times with kiddo before class too.  Now to start working the midset as well.

Question for my readers - what martial arts books/films do you enjoy?