Adam’s Cerebral Spillage

I think that pretty much sums up 2009 for me so far, being rid of everything that’s no good for me. The Christmas break took its toll on my body, or perhaps more accurately the impossible amounts of food and booze I rammed down my face did. I’m pretty sure it’s a bad sign when you decide to take a day off the beer because you realise just another couple each day is topping you back up to where you were the night before. It’s only once a year though, and for the most part it was a brilliant break.

After an abortive attempt at going back to training on Sunday (I twisted my ankle within five minutes of starting and had to sit the rest out), last night went a lot better. I realise just how badly my fitness had suffered and how much holiday weight I’m carrying. Like the rest of the population though I’m being good in the New Year and eating properly, and so far it’s doing the trick – and I already feel a hundred times better. No Christmas cold this time either, for the first time in ages. I’m nearly back into a normal sleep pattern too now, Monday morning was no fun I can tell you!

Tonight is the first Games Rot of the new year (for the uninitiated, Games Rot is when my friends and I get together sans females and play some video games) which I’m looking forward to. I guess my endless talking about the 360 has rubbed off, people are starting to buy them. One of my fellow rotters bought one, my brother got one for Christmas, and the third side of the rot triangle is due to within the next few days. I’m not surprised though, it’s a great machine, and with the price of Blu-Ray players dropping so much there’s no longer the argument that a PS3 is a sound investment, as you can buy a 360 *and* a BR player for the same price as a PS3 – and as far as I’m concerned the catalogue of games and integrated online services for the 360 make it no competition.

I’ve been doing a bit of technical stuff too, and until I can afford to replace my crippled computer I’m pleased to keep my hand in and doing stuff. The other day I was able to use an old wireless access point I had to help a friend get his console online. After a lot of frustration, a firmware update and some perseverence I got it working as a wireless bridge – result!

So that’s me for 2009 so far. The decorations are down, the hotel for Seni is booked, and my mass is reducing.

My knee has been getting no better really since I hurt it on Friday, so today I did as I told myself I would do, and went to see the doctor after work. Naturally I’ve been looking up knee injuries online and know the full horror of what it could be, I just wanted to know for sure. The good news is that it doesn’t look like it’s anything which will require surgery. I knew it wasn’t ACL, my worries were more MCL or meniscus damage as that’s exactly where the pain is. After being prodded, pulled, twisted and generally manipulated, the concensus is that I have sprained and strained several tendons and possibly ligaments down the outside of my knee. The bad news as such, is that the only thing I can do is rest it and let it heal, and so I’ve been told to stop all training immediately, and to stay that way for at least the next two, possibly three weeks.

The longest I’ve had to go without any training at all in the past has been about a week, so to be told that effectively I might not be doing anything – Tang Soo Do, Kickboxing, running, swimming, etc. – until July is a tough blow to take. Training has been my one outlet lately, my one little escape from everything, and now it’s been taken away from me. Needless to say, after this news, sleeping about 4 hours a night for the last 5 or 6 days, and being in constant pain, I’m not in the best of spirits at the moment.

Still, that’s enough of the melodrama and self-pity, I’ll get better. I’m a lot luckier than some people with knee injuries I know. I’m just going to have to find other things to occupy my time for the foreseeable future. I’m not sure I can face going to training for the next 10-15 sessions and just sitting and watching every time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m only to happy to learn from the sidelines and help out with pads and suchlike, but it’s hideously demoralising, and I could do without it.

Murphy had his boosters yesterday without so much as a yelp, so we went for a celebratory walk limp around the woods after. The vet said he’s about the perfect size and weight, his umbilical hernia is fine, and perhaps the best news of all, he doesn’t need to lose his nuts!

I’m signing off with this today, I think I’ve posted it before but I love it and so you have to listen to it too! (well, you do if you like me and click the ‘play’ button).

I Was A Cub Scout – Pink Squares

Technorati Tags down, I was a cub scout, knee injury, no training, pink squares

Friday was great, really great. A hot day in work got followed up by a very hard hour in training, as one of our fold who left to join the forces came back for the weekend, so he was given a good one to remind just how hard we like to work. My legs were in agony after the running the night before, and then that workout, so I was looking forward to cutting loose a little in Plymouth.

The club was pretty busy by about midnight, and everyone had a great time. 2am rolled around and I was starting to feel the need for bed, all that dancing on top of the hard training had finally caught up with me. We got some food then started heading back. After about 20 miles I noticed we had been followed by a Police Land Rover for about 5 miles, and then they decided to pull me over…. Apparently I was swerving(!), when in fact if anything I was just trying to see, as their stupidly big car was blinding me in all mirrors as they were driving right up my backside! He asked me if I’d been drinking (not a drop), and just couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that we’d travelled up for a night out, asking me why my car was registered in Cornwall if I live in Plymouth…. Anyway, we rolled back into Cornwall and I got back at about 3.45am, but as I got out of the car I was in for a bit of a surprise. Somehow, in the last 60 miles of driving, my knee had decided that it wasn’t fine, and that I wasn’t going to be allowed to walk properly. I got out of the car and nearly fell over, and walking down my (steep) lane took ages and was so painful it brought tears to my eyes. I put it down to tiredness until the next morning when I got up and found I still couldn’t walk properly. Not exactly the best start to my nice relaxing Saturday.

As the weekend’s gone on, it’s gotten no better at all. The pain is on the outside of my left knee, and it really hurts if I’m doing anything other than walking on the flat. Stairs and hills are my worst enemy right now. It means I’ve missed the seminar we had booked for today, and that I’m going to miss training tonight too. I’m still going to go along, maybe I can hold some pads or something useful. I’m pretty worried about it though, it doesn’t feel like a simple muscle pull, and I really doubt right now that I’ll be training again this coming week. It’s one of those few things which is actually going to stop me, the idea of twisting into a good side kick and permanently mangling my leg is one I’m not really going to entertain. If it’s no better by midweek I’ll be popping up the road to the hospital where the self-referall physio is. I’m feeling quite miserable now.

So all in all, excluding the first two hours, this weekend has been pretty terrible. I’ve spent the afternoon on the sofa with a bag of frozen cauliflower tied to my leg, and before I know it it’s back to work again. Surely next week can get better, please? I don’t know whether to feel sad or really f’ing angry, I’m starting to lean towards the latter.

Here’s a song which caused me to put my drink down, halt all conversation and leap to the dancefloor on Friday night.

Static-X – Push It.

Technorati Tags anger, frustration, injury, knee, metal, police, static-x

The famous words of Killian from The Running Man. That was as clever a title as I could come up with at this time in the morning, because last night you see, I was the running man! Ok, I was a running man. I took to the gym as intended with my running mates in an attempt to step up my training for the run in October. I’m not the greatest runner in the world but I’ve slowly been getting better, and last night I was determined to push myself a bit harder.

I had no specific goal when I pushed ‘Quick Start’ on the treadmill, but the last time I ran on one I remember feeling really bad after only a mile or so, and having done more than that on the road since I was determined to do better. I won’t give you a blow-by-blow account of every last step, but in order to track my own progress I can record that I completed 3.5 miles in 37 minutes, which includes a 2 minute fast walk to get my legs moving and a minute walking at about 2 miles to take a drink. I’m quite pleased with it, it puts me on course for around a 2h 30m half marathon, which isn’t great, but I’m sure as it ramps up over the next few weeks I can take the pace up and go longer. I think the plan is to go for around 2h 15 on the day, but I think I’ll just be pleased to survive it at the moment.

Tonight I’m back in the dojang again (although my legs really wish I wasn’t!). The last time I trained was on my birthday, and it’s traditional in our club to get a birthday punishment to remind you how old you are. We ended the class with a few rounds of sparring and then got told to form a circle around the floor. I was called into the middle and everyone was given the command to bow. It suddenly dawned on me that this was going to be my punishment…. I had to fight the eight others training that night in continuous style, and seemingly everyone wanted a little contact too! I ended up absolutely gasping, my headguard half-way round my head and pouring with sweat, but it was worth it for my card from the guys.

Straight after training tonight I’m heading to Plymouth for a much needed night out! It’s my friend’s girlfriend’s birthday so a few of us are headed up for a bit of an outing to a rock/metal night up there. I used to go there every other week in my younger days (I can say things like that now ) and I went back a few months ago, unsure what to expect and not knowing how much it had changed. I was so glad that it was almost exactly the same as ever! So I shall be throwing myself around the dance floor like some kind of bearded Dervish into the small hours of Saturday morning before a day of utter relaxation with any luck. After this last week my plan is for a lie-in, shopping for some meat, then spending the afternoon and evening in the garden with a lazy barbecue and couple of nice drinks – maybe the little bottle of bubbly I was given for my birthday. I’ll definitely be cracking the BBQ cookbook out and getting creative again. Sunday is going to be an utter sweat session, a two hour seminar in the afternoon followed by normal training and then sparring training. It’s really hot work in a 14oz dobok, but very rewarding.

Whatever you’re doing this weekend, I hope the forecast is as good as it is for here and you manage to get out and enjoy it.

Technorati Tags barbecue, c103, rock night, running man, sore legs, sparring, tang soo do, training

Ahem, oops. I seem to have left this dormant for a good while. I’ve got a really good reason though, you see there was this bigger boy and he…. ahhh who am I kidding, I’ve just been rubbish! After having a bit of a traffic spike though after a plug, I thought I owed it to the world (or both of my readers at least!) to start updating again. So, what’s been happening this past month?

I fought at the first tournament of the year a few weeks ago. It was a hard, hot day, but one which I’m pleased to say I walked away from with two trophies, a 2nd place in the Mens Heavyweight Point Stop and 3rd in the Mens Heavyweight Continuous. I took the soundest beating of my life in the continuous, with enough kicks to the head to leave me simple, but it was great fun and I’m looking forward to doing it again.

My new job is going well, but this past month has really pushed me. Basically everything that could have had a snag or problem, had one. I’ve muddled through though, and am much more confident heading into the new month when it all happens again. I finally feel like I actually work there now though, instead of being some kind of visitor or interloper. It’s taken its toll on my brain and sleep, and I’m looking forward to settling in properly.

I suppose the other big news was that of my birthday. Yes, on the 27th I hit the ripe old age of 31 1F. Yes, I’ve decided to start expressing my age in hexadecimal instead of decimal, that way, I’m still in my teens. It was an odd birthday in many ways, but a good one at the same time. I got some wonderful presents, some of which I know I’ll treasure for a very long time indeed. I remember being quite scared of hitting 30, but once you’re there it’s actually quite comfortable. I don’t have to worry again until 35 now, when I’m closer to being f.. f… no, I can’t say it. On the weekend before the big day we hosted the annual Eurovision party and sweepstake, which is really just an excuse to get everyone together and get a little ‘merry’, and on the Monday evening we all got together again for a bite to eat and to go to the cinema (for the first time in ages). I’m a massive Indiana Jones fan, right back from being a nipper, and I was keen to see what they’d done to the series with this new film, but I was really pleased with it. It was proper, over-the-top adventure nonsense and I loved it.

It’s time to crack on with things now. I’m running a half-marathon in October and really need to get my backside in gear with training for it, and with that in mind I’m heading to the gym with my training and running friends tonight to put in some miles and sweat. One of my presents was a completely-unexpected ipod touch, so that can come with me so I can’t hear myself gasping for air. The question is, what do I put on my playlist for it? Suggestions welcome!

update: I noticed today that Mozilla is attempting to set a new world record for the most downloads in a day when their Firefox 3 browser is officially released in June (the beta version is available to try now if you’re keen). I’ve used Firefox for a long time now, back from the Firebird and Phoenix days, so I’m keen to support it. Plus the firefox is actually another name for my al-time favourite animal, the Red Panda. Make it happen, and have a much nicer time browsing the web than with Internet Explorer .

Technorati Tags birthday, competition, fighting, Firefox 3, rubbish at updating his blog, Running, training

This week has taken it out of me, but I feel completely energised. Maybe it’s the increased daylight, maybe it’s something else, who knows. The grading left me exhausted and proud, but by the time training came on Tuesday things were looking up. It was hard work, it always is, but it’s always worth the effort in the end. It’s too rewarding to ever give up.

Last night I went to kickboxing for the first time in a while, and while it was very hard it was very much worth seeing through and giving everything. After the class I felt very lifted, if a touch sweaty. I’m off work today and it’s probably a good thing, I’m pretty tired. But at the same time I have the indescribable lift, which means I’ll be running our 2.5 mile route again tonight, looking forward to the hot shower and time to reflect after and the good feelings that come with it.

Things feel ‘right’ again now. I’ve got new challenges, new opportunities and a renewed optimism. I also need a new dobok.

I’m signing out today with a couple of old tracks I re-discovered recently, both of which I love and love to sing along to.

Moby – Dream About Me

Blink 182 – I Miss You

Technorati Tags blink 182, energised, moby, Optimism, Running, training

I’ve had my first taste of running with other people and I enjoyed it, although it really was a tale of two halves. I’d agreed with the guys from my club who I’m going to run the Great North Run with, to go for a road run all together last night. It seemed like a great idea as we’ve all run separately and run together in the gym, but we’ve not got together on the road yet. A couple of guys from the club joined us for our early-evening jaunt, and we set off in (literally) freezing conditions, somehow managing to avoid the sleet and hail showers which peppered the county last night.

I wasn’t a massive route by any stretch of the imagination, running from just outside my instructors house, through one small village and on to the next, but separating the two villages is a nasty hill which peaks in the middle. So the agreed route was to the village (Troon should you be that interested), turn around, and head back. I’m no fool, I didn’t think for a minute that I’d be able to keep pace with guys much thinner and fitter than me, so I wasn’t entirely surprised when I started to see them leaving me behind on the crawl up the hill, but I was pleasantly surprised at being able to run the whole way (especially given the hill). Google maps has the distance at just over a mile. In fact I’ve just gone and found a plugin for Wordpress which allows me to embed the maps, let’s have a go!

View Larger Map

When we got there we turned right around and ran back. This was a nightmare from my point of view, going up that hill again was very tough for me and it wasn’t long before I was running on my own again. When I eventually caught up with everybody (waiting for me at the end), I was feeling quite despondent. I was much slower, my legs felt like lead, and to be honest I really wasn’t feeling too happy at all. We walked back down a different route, towards the big estate where my instructor and brother live, and then decided to have one last run around some of the roads of the estate. I surprised myself at this point and just started running again, and at a faster pace than before. I was shocked to not be the last person to finish this time, but at the same time a few things hit home which made me feel a lot better about things.I know I won’t be finishing very quickly wherever I run, but I know now that I can run, and a lot further with other people around me. One thing that always jumps to the front of my mind when I’m really struggling with anything (and I may have mentioned it on here before) is something my instructor said once. “The difference between a Black Belt and anyone else is finding that something extra. Even when it feels like you’ve got nothing left, there’s always room to dig in one last time and find something more”. That really stuck with me, and it’s what got me over the tops of those hills last night, and it’s something I try to remember whenever I start to wain. In fact I don’t have to remember it any more, it’s just there. I was really pleased at my overall fitness levels too. That might sound perverse given what I’ve just written, but I guess I’m talking at a CV level. When we stopped to regroup my breathing and heart rate went back to normal much faster than I’d hoped, which was a real plus for me. I think it’s just a case of building some stamina now, and making sure my technique is better.

On a total tangent, I hope this makes you smile as much as it did for me.

THX Lemur

Technorati Tags black belt attitude, fitness, Running, THX lemur

Today is an unusual day, it’s that one day we get every four years, Leap Day. It’s not often I’ll get a chance to post on February 29th so I think I ought to, just for the archives. We only get the day because of some maths nonsense which means a year is actually 365.25 days long, and rather than trying to fit an extra hour in here or there this makes much more sense. I think I remember reading somewhere the years are getting longer by a second or so each year – I know, I’m so interesting . I bet there more than a few commitment-phobic men in hiding today, hoping their other halves aren’t going to try to make the most of the day when women are traditionally allowed to propose to men.

I was reminded today that I only have four weeks left in my job, which is a frighteningly short length of time. Once that’s up, one of two things will be happening around here in the land of blog; 1) Less frequent posting, and then in the evenings. I can’t see me landing on my feet two jobs in a row when it comes to un-moderated internet access (or being sysadmin at the very least), or 2) an abundance of posts when I have nothing better to do with my days. I’m sure something will happen, in fact I know it will because I have to make it happen, but it’s scary all the same.

Training’s pretty much on the go at the moment, I’ve a grading in 9 days time which could see the last of my green belt wearing days, and see me pretty much officially being a Senior at the club. It doesn’t feel like 10 minutes ago I was just starting, I remember my first classes vividly. It’s something I’m going to take very seriously while I have the chance though, I could be helping to teach and will be representing the club, something I intend to do well. I’m looking forward to the grading, I’m keen to see what happens and how well I perform. Despite being ill far more than I’d like, I’ve worked very hard on correcting a lot of my more obvious faults, albeit silently. They’re not all gone – I’m no miracle worker – but I’m happier about some things. Next week I’m going to start road running with my fellow runners, I don’t think it’ll be long before I’m watching their heels from the comfort of a pavement, my lungs in a neat pile in front of me, but I’m relishing the challenge.

The weekend starts here, and I’m determined to finish my damn book before Monday. For now, here’s comedy gold. Take heed Father Dougal’s warnings, the beast is at large….

Technorati Tags beast of craggy island, father ted, grading, leap year, Running, training

Am I the only one who feels an odd little pang of guilt if they take a potato out of bag and it’s just started to shoot? It’s like it’s still alive and trying to grow legs to escape from its ultimate destination of microwave Gehenna.

That’s what occurred to me as I took one out for my lunch today anyway as I broke the teeny shoots off. Some people say you shouldn’t eat them if they’ve started to shoot, to those people I say – Nahhh, sod it, it’s a potato! I’ve become a bit of a ‘Fifteen minute microwave chef extraordinaire’ at work lately, today’s creation was a sweetcorn stuffed jacket potato with piri piri chicken. Better than a pot noodle, and proof positive that it’s possible to eat something nice and filling at work.

I took a step forward in my vague semblance of a quest to learn more Korean today, in as much as I’ve pretty much taught myself the entire ‘alphabet’ during the day. Yeah, it surprised me too. I’ve had a look at Hangul before and hadn’t quite managed to grasp it, at least not in the way I wanted to, but today brought fresh perseverance and thanks to an awesome site (and a shove in the right direction from someone who knows all about learning the language), I’ve managed to do exactly that. It’s given me a bit of a spur to carry on on my own and learn the harder parts, like grammar and honourifics/levels.

My gym induction was good and largely painless last night (lateral raises aside), it’s such a nice little place they’ve made out of what was once my form room when I was at school there. And dirt cheap too! With it being directly next door to where we train on a Friday and Wednesday evening, those of us who have membership there can just nip in afterwards of beforehand and give it a bit of a blast.

The house was valued today too, at around the price we were expecting. Depending on what other interest there is in the property we’re looking at, we could be on the way to a nice new home in no time.

아담

Technorati Tags gym induction, hangul, leaning korean, ridiculous house prices

I guess I should start with a ‘Happy New Year!’ to all and sundry. So it’s 2008 now eh? Doesn’t it feel different? .

In some ways the last year has flown by, in others not. I sat down the other evening and tried to think of all the things that had gone on during 2007, as off the top of my head I was really struggling. When I put my mind to it though, and went back through photographs, emails and blog posts, there was a huge amount there. My training’s gone from strength to strength in many respects, and succesful gradings and competitions are my evidence for this. Just under a year ago I entered my first ever competition, and despite having the worst nerves of my life so far (yes, even more than getting married), I came through it with a trophy. I graded all the way to 4th Gup which fills me with pride, because I know how hard we work for our achievments at our club. And once again we visited the Seni expo, where we’ll be in attendance again this year. For anyone in the UK with even a passing interest in martial arts, it’s an absolute must, the real high point of the year. This year we’re working hard towards getting our own full-time premises, and an inter-club summer camp. It’s going to be a busy year as far as Tang Soo Do is concerned and no mistake.

On a personal level, I’m finding it hard to say whether I had a good year or just a mediocre one. My car got broken into, the house got flooded and took six months to make habitable again, and other various things have gone on, but on the whole it was a good year. I spent a lot of good time with some really good friends, and I look forward to doing the same again this year. I managed to shift three stone over the period of a few months in the middle of the year which I’ve kept off, and is going to be real inspiration for me for the coming year. Lord knows I could do with some. We also welcomed Murphy, our new spaniel pup into the house and lives, and I’m so glad we did. He’s an absolute gem and I wouldn’t be parted from him for the world.

It’s customary to make resolutions at this time of year, so here are mine.

• Train hard, lose weight.  I’m determined to be a lot, lot closer to my ideal weight by the time I grade for my first senior belt, my red belt. The only excuse I want to have for not being able to hold those roundhouses at head height is my old age .
• Run. I’ve already committed to entering the Great North Run, and regardless of whether I get a place or not, by October I’m going to be running at least 10 miles further than I can at the moment.
• Write more. One of my real loves, writing, has fallen by the wayside a lot over the last year. Having BBM take me on board as a reviewer has given me a good kick up the backside and reminded me how much I enjoy it, so there’s going to be plenty more output from me. I really want to neaten up and adapt my style too, I don’t like a lot of what I’m writing now, on this blog especially.
• Get organised. For too long I’ve been a bit of a slob when it comes to keeping myself organised. This has to change, and will.

That’s about it for now, and I think is plenty to be getting on with. I’ve had losses and gains over 2007, from the very start to the very end, but I’m going to focus on the good stuff now, the things and people which mean the most. I think I can consider myself another year wiser.

Technorati Tags new year resolutions