Adam’s Cerebral Spillage

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