I’m feeling pretty good to be honest.   I’ve lost about 5 lbs and my resting heart rate have also dropped.  My sleep seems better as well.

Chris Wellstood invited brown belt Jason Chin-Leung from Trenton in to teach our class on Friday.  It provided us with additional refinement to the techniques we have been practicing and was a cool surprise.  We worked on escape from side control and a cool sweep.  Martial Arts Planet really does provide quality instruction on a consistent basis.

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Today will mark 20 consecutive days that I have either rowed or run.  I am starting to feel like a fat version of the old me.  Aerobic capacity is starting to return.  My left shoulder is weak but starting to come back.  Aidan and I went to BJJ last night.  We sucked.  But damn it felt good.

So I’m older and have to be smarter to be able to continue being physical.  The rowing machine is helping…low impact  Low key BJJ will mean I don’t get injured.  Being mindfull will help essential ego supression so I can focus on learning.

Conclusion – I’m actually optimistic about 2012.  It will be a good year.  Day by day.  Minute by minute.  Second by second.

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I really enjoy BJJ and in order to progress I need to attend class and I need to stay healthy.  I also need to free up the time required.

In any case, my broken foot, while still a bit tender, is healed.  I ran last Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and today.  Easy runs but still a solid 40-45 minutes.  I’m back at the weights.  Pullups, deep pushups and deadlifts.  Let us see whether the marginal increase in age has brought a corresponding increase in the inner focus required to whittle myself into competition shape.

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The first two classes after being off for a month left me bruised and sore.  I gassed quickly and then got sloppy as I tired.  Such is life.

I also feel rejuvenated and keen to train which is an improvement for sure.

I did ok in open mat of Friday.  My concentration at the moment is to try and flow better, anticipate my opponents actions, and stop muscling through situations.

We worked on our butterfly sweeps and I did ok.  The first thing I noticed was that Aidan has grown again and is one heavy kid.  The second was that Lex does a terrific job of killing the arm on the side to which he is sweeping me.  He’s also a good rolling partner and passes on little things to help my game.

Annette will be teaching Yoga on Tuesday nights so I am now going to be doing yoga once a week. It will help my flexibility so it was going to happen anyway. Even better that it is with Annette.

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I broke my foot on June 23rd when I was thrown onto the edge of a low platform during a warm up for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  One of those stupid avoidable injuries.

At first, I thought it was just bruised and I was able to finish the class and drive home, walk the dogs etc.  The following morning however, I couldn’t put any weight on it at all.  I hobbled around for a day, iced it and finally took the advice everyone was giving me and went to the hospital.

The x-rays clearly showed a broken bone.  The doctor told me I could have an air cast or wear a supportive shoe.  I chose the latter because I felt it would give me more mobility.

The first couple of weeks were a bit painful and I limped to favour the injured foot.  I continued to roll at the club but I was careful.

After about 4 weeks I was able to walk a bit better but still with a a pronounced limp.  I could bear about 60% of normal weight without too much pain.

By 6 weeks after the injury I was able to bear full weight on the foot but it still hurt a bit.  I didn’t try to run.  There was still a noticeable bump at the injury site that was tender to the touch.  Sitting cross-legged was too painful to attempt but overall it felt good.

Then we went to Europe and walked A LOT for 16 days.  Although I could feel the injury, it did not trouble me.  It ached a bit at the end of the day and was still a bit tender to the touch.

Now it is approximately 95% healed.  Still a bit tender if I bump it.  I rolled last night and didn’t notice it at all.  I may try and run on it this weekend.

So you can expect 8-10 weeks for a simple fracture like this.  I’m sitting cross-legged on my mats in the basement as I type, and it seems just fine.

So if you do fracture your foot in the same fashion, that is what I went through, so it might by similar for you.

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Last night I put my Gi in my bag and slipped through the doors of Martial Arts Planet in time for the competitive class.  It was fun.

Some things change and some things remain the same.  I feel like the lay-off has given me some motivation to get past my plateau.  Even though I found myself holding on too tight on a number of occasions, I also forced myself to let go and try something else as well.  Chris Wellstood, my coach, also sat with me before we rolled to tell me just that.  So although I was tired, I managed not to gas with excessive effort and I remember conciously letting go of an arm, of full guard, of a rear naked choke, of a bow and arrow choke  etc and moving on to something else.  Not exactly a breakthrough but it’s a start.  :)

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The injury happened in a game we were playing where the goal was to push your opponent out of the central ring.  I did so and just as we got to the edge my partner took my forward momentum and translated all the force into a judo style throw that flipped me over top of him…and onto the edge of the platform in at the edge of the room.

I guess if I’d hit the mat instead of the platform I’d be ok now.  I wasn’t prepared for it though and I suppose if we were closer I could have broken something more serious.  Still the bone will take as long as two months to heal.  That is a long time.

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Nothing.

We did a lesson last night on dealing with issues from side control, under-hook sit-out and north-south. It was a very good lesson. I learned some valuable techniques. Then I rolled with Laura and Rob Wynne.

The advantage to rolling with Rob I discovered, is that he is so skilled, so strong and so experienced, that you have to abandon the fear of being hurt and just try to figure out what feeds he is giving you, and try not to make the same mistakes over and over again. Quite enjoyable really because there is no way he was going to let me get away with sloppy technique.

We are blessed with good students and instructors at our club. I continue to learn about myself and the sport and for that I am grateful.

Although…today I am bloody stiff and sore! Ha!

This morning was breakfast with the boys. Long conversations about a wide variety of topics and a delicious Wolfe Island Bakery breakfast.

They need new clothes and especially shoes so while I had them as a captive audience we went shopping and solved that problem with a minimum of fuss. Aidan now has size humungous feet.

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Screw it. Back to Martial Arts Planet to train.

Of course Aidan has gained 10 lbs of muscle since we last rolled. Good.

We did the lesson and then I rolled with Chris and then Sheldon until I was completely out of energy.

Felt fantastic.

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