My sitemeter program tracks visits to this blog so that I am able to see where visitors live (or at least where their computers are connected). Of course privacy is such that I don’t know who you are so I sometimes try and guess.
Who do I know in Toronto? In Barrie? In New York? In Ottawa?
Lot’s of people actually, that’s not the point. Point is, I’d be interested in hearing who you are! Put a comment on a post! Let me know from whence you hail!
This whole blogging thing is part of the bigger picture where we make our world a little smaller by touching base with people from far away. It’s a cool leveling effect that brings us closer together in time and place.
Have a great day. No really…have a really great day.
PS. Going for a run now. It’s the one thing you can do when your shoulder feels like the dog has used it for a chew toy while you were asleep. Good grief. And yes it is too early to be running. Hello raccoon eyes.
PPS. I am carefully editing swear words out of my vocabulary. Very difficult and painful. But ultimately pretty classy.
The physio people don’t seem like an optimistic bunch. In any case I am off for a few months while we see if it can heal. If not then what? Surgery? Hmmm. No BJJ. It sucks. I can’t work out because of my shoulder. SO….
Need to find a way to make this a positive experience. I guess running is still in.
Not really sure what is wrong. It was sore. Then sorer. Then a bit better. Then really sore. Then I stopped. Got it looked at. Then it got worse on it’s own. Now…I dunno.
So maybe I’ll just run a lot. What else can I do?
Not a good time to have given up swearing.
You wake up, shower drive, meetings, computer stuff, drive, physio therapy, tortellini and tomato sauce, dishes, kiss kiss, bang bang…. blah blah.
Then someone nice gives you a call and is so positive that you smile.
Then you ask the boys if, on the off chance, they might consider contemplating, the possibility of riding my coveted Rocky Mountain race bike beside me while I run in the dark? Who am I kidding? They’re on their computers.
Then, I decide that bed is a better option, I get a drink, and Aidan brings in the dogs.
Now Aidan, to be fair, rides beside me a lot. he always has. But wait…
“What was that about a bike ride in the dark?”, Liam asks.
So we’re back. Ran 7.5km on dark trails and quiet streets. Liam rode and lit the way with my Petzl head lamp. And we talked.
Life is very very good.
Great line. Liam, Aidan, Annette and I went to see Robin Hood. Movie was okay but I am a sucker for lines like that.
Back to physio today. I was doing the damn stretch wrong darnit. More exercises and stretches. I’m on it.
Still reading “Blink”. Cool concept. Worth the read.
Was away on business this week. Detroit. A lot of flying, a little training.
Now I’m back and bought…wait for it…yes…a bed!
Being a divorced full time father has it’s monetary drawbacks so I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor since I bought our house. Tonight I hit the point where I said “to heck with it” and bought a bed frame from Jysk. I can’t believe how good it is to be off the floor. It was affordable and it’s solid pine.
My shoulder is still taped. It still hurts. Yes I am doing my exercises and stretches. I go back to physio on Tuesday so we’ll see if I’ve made any progress by then.
Just read half of Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink” in a single session. Very interesting.
Looking back, yeah Contempt and Criticism were used to battle Stonewalling and Defensiveness. I wish Gottman had been there in ’85.
I guess I have always known that my “gut” can be a double edged sword. Mostly it has cut in my favour. I have rarely missed the mark in my assessment of people. The fact that other people have different criteria for friendship and acquaintance, doesn’t change the fact that my gut is right. It only means that it is tailored to my preferences and reality.
I like what I like. Simple really.
Be polite, fair, and pretend to take advice. It’s a strategy.
Via Ebay for less than 100$
A fully functional digital video camera that is smaller than a cell phone.
No software to upload. Works right out of the box. Fast uploads to Youtube etc and it is TINY.
A bit of a lull. So to speak. While I examine my motivation.
It took a lot of will power, that I didn’t know I had, to get ready for the tournament. I didn’t expect to be quite so nervous either.
So now what? I enjoy the classes, the rolling, the challenge. I admire the people who go hard and work at it. So now what?
I am older than most BJJ students. I’ll be 47 in July. Some days I feel like I am invincible. Strong, lean. Other times, broken and sore.
Thing is…I’m going to stay with it. Against all good sense. It takes a long time to get a blue belt. And there is no Master’s class after white. I’ll need to work twice as hard and 5 times as smart to compete with the younger guys. It takes even longer to get purple. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing that I latch onto things and then go after them like I do.
Discipline and curiosity. It’s what I do.
……….Time for a workout. All things being equal, and at my age they are not, one needs to have a really meaningful strength to weight ratio.
My first tournament is done. It was fun. I suffered and lost a lot of fat. I spent a lot of money on travel, food and fuel. I cheered on the Martial Arts Students who have become good friends. I spent time with my boys and and my brother and sister in law. Life is very very good.
I was very nervous before my match. My opponent drilled hyper-actively and aggressively with his team mate in the waiting area before our match. I was pretty intimidated.
At the weigh in I was 3.5 lbs under which was lighter than I expected. I drank a sports drink and ate my 3 gels. Fortunately everything was behind schedule and I could feel my energy systems starting to come online fairly soon after.
When we were called to the mat my opponent spent the last minutes bouncing up and down while I stood flat footed and immobile. It might not be optimal but it is optimal for me.
The match was a bit of a blur. I was careful not to waste energy I knew I didn’t have. The messy takedown was awarded to my opponent and he ended up in my full guard. That was where he stayed. I kept him broken down. When he stood in my guard I grabbed his ankles or legs and tried to sweep but he managed to block every time. I broke his posture when he tried a collar choke and I came very close to choking him with the tails of his own Gi. I was awarded three advantage points for some reason. He tried to push my guard of with an arm back, but I was afraid to try for the triangle because he was strong and I wanted him to tire a bit more so that I could be sure I could hold his head. Time ran out and he won with his takedown points.
Wow. I was scared. But I did it.
So now I’ll get back to a healthier diet. I’m going to stay at this weight but I want to trade the remainder of my fat for some muscle and hover right at the border of my weight class on the high end. That means I can actually gain a few pounds.
In terms of BJJ. Open mat, drilling, drilling. I want to abandon the closed guard for a while now and focus on butterfly, sweeps, and drilling for muscle memory of triangles, chokes and armbars.
Workouts are going to be almost exclusively strength and crossfit.
Success is a very individual concept. I listened yesterday to a co-worker describe success in terms of when he would get a 3 series BMW.
For me the BMW is out. But I wouldn’t turn down a Prius if it fell in my lap. Success for me is the act of meeting a challenge. It’s figuring out calculus with my son 20 years after I last cracked a book. It is consciously choosing what workout is appropriate and then going hard. And lately it has been the challenge of cutting weight.
I am now at target and I count that fact as a success. Next challenge?
The weight was lost by mixing equal parts of:
- Intermittent fasting (“Fast 5“)
- Running, BJJ, Crossfit
- Willpower and desire
This last item was the key. I have “tried” many times to get lean. As Yoda says, “Do or do not, there is no try”.
The highs and lows of cutting 14 lbs in a month?
- Ketosis results in bad breath
- Low blood sugar results in a lack of energy, bad moods and yes, the odd dizzy spell when I stand up.
- The diet frightens everyone who is eating normally. The level of discipline required makes me appear as if I have an eating disorder.
- When I did eat, energy came back FAST
- My clothes fit better
- Inflammation from injuries seems to subside faster
- Cravings for junk food are replaced with cravings for more healthful fare
- Food tastes better
I still carry some fat around my waist and my BMI is 23.6, which is described as being on the high side of normal. So I can lose more fat if I want without being unhealthy. My next challenge will be replacing the fat with some muscle. But that is another story.
