Pneumatised!

I decided to test for my next gumdo belt this Friday. I figured I know the stuff well enough so far and it’s time to learn some new stuff soon. Also, the next test will be in December and I’d rather not have to test then as there is so much going on in December. So, here’s wishing myself luck on Friday. Tonight, I have to practice some candle snuffing – not sure if I can do it in less than 15 tries – and I might as well go through my sword patterns too. There’s still Thursday and Friday to practice though. There’s class on Friday before the test. I find that helps get me focussed for the test.

Hm… with everything going on lately. No wonder I couldn’t sleep through the night. I can’t believe I’m up so early again. It’s weird. My body is physically tired, but my brain isn’t. Too much to do I guess. Maybe some light reading or some divination or some Reiki will help. Okay, Dreaming Goddess of Malta, need some help here…

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Monday, October 17

I went to the do jang and though I wasn’t planning on taking class, I ended up in it anyway (needed a spare person). Afterwards, I practiced some stuff on my own. Some kicks, some hand stuff and my patterns.

After, I went to the gym. I really notice when I haven’t been in the gym recently. I missed a week a few weeks ago and muscles tend to get quite lax in just a few days. So, I did a quick run through of the following exercises:

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Bicep curl
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor

I was feeling a little tired so I just went home to relax.

Tuesday, October 18

I went to the do jang for gumdo class. What do you know? I managed to get there on time. 😀 I ended up taking about half of the taekwondo class. I wasn’t sure about taking it today because I needed to do stuff after the class. I decided to run through the what we’re doing for the demo since I was the one who came up with it (it’s a women’s self-defence demo). I think it will be good, but need lots of practice. By December, we should be able to run-through the demo and get the techniques down near perfect. I didn’t have time for a run, so hoping I can get one in today.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

I went for another run. Nathan wanted to go for a run and though I was feeling lazy, I decided to run after all. We ran to Yonge/Bloor using the same route as on the 10th. Our time was 9 minutes 10 seconds. A little shorter than before. I’m not sure the exact time because we had a few short stops at the traffic lights and I think I didn’t press the lap timer properly on my phone (my phone has a stopwatch :)). Not quite sure if we were running faster or not. Overall though I wasn’t too tired from the run and it’s starting to feel like just a little warm-up. Have to keep it up. I’ll try to run again tomorrow if there’s time.

Right now, it is late and I still have loads to do. I keep telling myself one thing at a time, so I don’t get so anxious about the things I need to do. So, signing off now. It’s time to see what the Maltese Dreaming Goddess has for me.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Okay, I swore I wasn’t going to watch anymore Survivor (instead I was hankering for some hockey action). Aside from the challenges, there really isn’t anything that interesting about a bunch of strangers stranded together. If anything, I found most Survivor players to be a little… well, I guess flakey is too harsh a word, but I’m lacking the right word.

Out of curiosity though, I decided to watch the first episode of this season’s Survivor in Guatemala. Of course, they decided to pull a twist in the very first episode in classic Survivor fashion with a little bit of the unexpected. The unexpected, in case you hadn’t heard yet, was the return of Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard to the game of Survivor (yes, the last two Survivors of the demolished Ulong tribe on Survivor Palau). Stephenie was the only survivor of her tribe defeating Bobby Jon in an individual challenge, but couldn’t break through tight alliances in the merged tribe to make it to final two with Tom Westman. Now she’s back for another attempt to win a million bucks. (Please see my review of last season’s Survivor.) So far, she’s doing better this time trying to hold her team together and hoping they don’t get demolished like last time. As for me, I’m hoping the best for her (not that I don’t like Bobby Jon who’s on the opposing tribe as her). Up to now, no one’s thinking of voting her off and she’s managed to get rid of some of her female competition (who frankly weren’t doing much in challenges anyway), so we’ll see if she really has control of the game. Still a long way to a merge. I can’t wait to see what happens. Go, Stephenie, go! You have my vote for the million bucks (since I can’t vote for myself anyway).

Did I mention hockey? Hm… I suppose I did. Yes, it has been a long time since I’ve watched hockey. I did watch the double gold win for Canada in the olympics and since then have missed watching the great game of hockey like I did when I was younger. It was disappointing to find out last year that the NHL season was postponed and eventually cancelled (first time to happen in a professional sport). In some way though, it makes the anticipation this season greater. So yay! Hockey’s back!! Go, Leafs, Go!

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and Leafs fan
Brigid’s Flame

Wednesday, October 12

I ran to the gym. It’s 1 km to the gym from home. My time was 5 minutes 24 seconds. I’m keeping track of the wait time at the traffic lights now so I get a better idea of my time over distance. At the gym, I did some weight training since I hadn’t done some in awhile.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Bicep curl
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor

I also did 50 stomach crunches (I hurt my tail bone about a week ago and full situps hurt too much still, so only crunches for now) and 100 pushups.

After, I ran back home from the gym. I didn’t time this run as I was a little tired already and wasn’t trying to push it. I just felt like running back instead of walking.

Thursday, October 13

I went for a run before going to the do jang. I decided to run to Church and Bloor and then back the same way. The distance was one mile (or a little under, it feels a little less). My time was 7 minutes 48 seconds (again, subtracting wait time at the traffic lights).

After I got home, I headed out to the do jang for sword class. Sword class was good, but my knee was feeling tired and shaky for some reason (a once a month woman thing!), so I decided to not take taekwondo. I ended up going home and resting for Friday.

Friday, October 14

I decided to skip the running and just went to the do jang for gumdo class. Next Friday is a test for gumdo and I’m trying to decide if I’m going to test for my orange belt. I was thinking of waiting until December (gumdo test is every two months), but that’s going to be a busy month. So, I might test this month for my orange belt. The class was good. We practiced some candle snuffing. My patterns are getting better. I’ll need to think about them all this week if I decide to test on Friday.

Today (October 15)

We had our monthly black belt meeting and training class. It was small. So many people away for some reason. We did a run-through of our patterns and then got to practice kicks on our own. Then we had a chance to work on what we wanted to do for the black belt demo in December. I’ll need to put together the stuff I plan on doing. I also want to do women’s self-defense, so I will have to get the people together to practice that. I need 5 men to volunteer to be “thugs”, otherwise I’ll have to ask some if they have break fall experience and won’t mind doing the demo. The black belt meeting went well. It seems that with a smaller turnout, there’s less debate. 😀

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

I went for another 1 mile run on Monday night (October 10). Nathan accompanied me. It was basically the same route I did on Wednesday (October 5), except this time we ran straight to Church and up Church to Yonge. Then we ran down Yonge to Bloor. I was running a little slow having had too many days of rest, but the run still felt good. My time on Monday was 9 minutes 30 seconds.

I’m finding that the cool weather is starting to affect me a little. My head gets too cold when running even though my body is quite warm. So I’m thinking I’m going to have to wear a hat when running now.

Tomorrow I hope to do some more running. This time of year is always a little hard on me – I tend to want to hibernate! So, it’s been hard for me to get out as much as I’d like to and run. I just have to keep reminding myself that the run is good for me and gets me energized. I think I need to post reminder notes for myself for when I wake up.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

I went to taekwondo today. I missed my gumdo class so I just practiced some sword patterns after class. However, my tail bone is still a bit sore, so I called it the day and went home. Tomorrow, I think I will go for a run.

I’m glad I went to class today though. My knee hurts a bit in class but seems to feel better after. Strange, but that’s the way it is.

Not much else to say so be back later.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

I went for another run yesterday (October 5) – this time I ran to Yonge/Bloor.

Here’s the route I took:

1. From home, run to Jarvis and Isabella
2. Run north on Jarvis to Charles
3. Run west on Charles to Church
4. Run north on Church to Yonge.
5. Run south on Yonge to the entrance to the concourse at Yonge/Bloor.

My time for the run was 9 minutes 3 seconds. The distance was 1 mile. This run felt a little longer than the one I did on Tuesday. I calculate the distances using yahoo.ca maps, but I think it rounds up when the distance is less than 0.1 km. Suffice it to say it does not give an accurate distance all the time. This is why I feel it’s important to do track work as well – it’s a little more accurate. Four laps is 1 mile at the track (1.6 km). The other major difference is that on the track I don’t have to worry about making the traffic lights. The extra time waiting for the light to change really adds on time. I’ll probably have to track how long the wait is at the lights to get a more accurate time. Overall though, I feel my running is improving even just marginally. I still have to increase the speed for this run though. I can do half mile in 4 minutes 16 seconds so I’m hoping to be able to do a mile in about 8 minutes 45 seconds. Then of course there’s working on endurance. I still have 8 months left to the 10k. In December, I will have a chance to do a practice 10k as there is a black belt test then (but I’m not testing yet). Black belts not testing are encouraged to volunteer run to help motivate those testing.

After I got back from my run (walked back from Yonge/Bloor), I headed to the do jang. I went to the patterns class and helped teach again. Then I took the taekwondo class. Afterwards, I practiced my patterns. 8 p.m. on Wednesday is scheduled for a black belt class and since hardly anyone takes the class, I try to use the time to practice some stuff we don’t get to do in class much. I had a good class though. The cardio is always good for me.

Today is gumdo day and I probably should take taekwondo after too. The do jang is closed Friday until Monday for Thanksgiving long weekend. 🙁 I guess I’ll have to be happy with going to the gym on the weekend. Funny, every time I think about going to the do jang on the weekends, it’s closed. Go figure! But I guess also I could use the time to do some more work. I have some projects on the go (as always, silly Gemini rising) so more free time is always a nice thing. 🙂

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

I went to my gumdo and taekwondo class. It felt good to get some exercise. The run earlier helped. I think it’s because it clears out my lungs in the morning (I get congested from my allergies). My tail bone still hurts a bit though, so had to give up on situps.

Tomorrow is poomse (patterns) class. I should try to get in earlier to practice mine. It’s been awhile.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame