johnsjar

Tonight’s weapons class in Devon was all about Tonfa. Tonfa originated in Africa when local tribesmen discovered a way to defend themselves against the dreaded Tonfa beast which…OK OK I’m kidding.

Our Sensei relates that Tonfa were the removable and portable handles which were inserted into large grain grinding stones in order to turn the stones. The stones were safe from theft by virtue of their size and weight, but the handles were likely to disappear if one did not remove them.

The Samurai did not allow the Okinawan peasant farmers to carry weapons. Therefore the farmers who developed the defensive martial art of karate, or “the way of the empty hand”, found ways to use the everyday tools as weapons. OK, so I’m not an expert in that kind of history. Look it up yourself, then. I know I didn’t. But I will, trust me on that one.

Anywhoooo…we swung them around a lot and went through five katas which I couldn’t remember if my life depended on it. Well, I do remember a lot of it but need to … practice. Where have I said that before?

Now my frikken arms are sore. Go figure. OK, here’s a LINK

Remember, wiki is not an authority on anything since it is editable by anyone.

What am I, crazy? Why, yes I am, thank you for asking. Another 24 km today at goal pace took me 3:11:21 for a 7:58 pace. I was up at 4:30 AM, had two toast with almond butter, a power bar, and two cups of coffee. That combo seems to work well for me for my long runs. It lets me escape the heat and primes me for the actual marathon which I think has a 7 AM start time.

I strapped on my hydration pack and I headed out the door at 6 AM. I was still very sore from karate (and my previous runs) but I bit the bullet and ran anyway. I just fell behind in the healing department for a couple of weeks, and I don’t get a chance to heal up properly between workouts.

This week should do the trick though since it is a rest week and I will force myself to rest. I just need to heal up this week because I am maxed out right now and need to catch up. Which means I will look like I’m slacking off at karate this week. Oh well. Has to be done.

Don’t worry, I will be fine this week.

In spite of the fact that I trashed my quads doing karate last night I went out and ran an 11 km anyway in 1:19:37 for a 7:14 pace.

I got serious nipple burn again. I did not expect it, but I guess it must have been the heat or something. I don’t usually need band aids on my nipples unless I am doing a long run. There are so many variables such as the abrasiveness of your shirt, the heat, the sweat…there’s nothing like the pain of salty sweat on bleeding nipples…

I’ll know better next time. I did not wear my new shoes today since I was only doing 11 km. But I will for Sundays 24 km long run.

My quads are hurting real bad, just above the knee attachment. It’s a mixed blessing really, since it means that after I heal they will be that much stronger, but I have to be careful to avoid a serious injury like a muscle pull. I would hate to have to cancel my marathon just a few weeks away due to an overzealous karate workout. Plus I need to do a half marathon in October as well.

Healing takes way too long for my taste. It is very difficult to be patient. Sigh.

I missed last Tuesday’s class in Devon, but managed to show up for today’s class in Elmwood. It was an informal class, and so we were able to be personally instructed by the Sensei. Marilyn and I practiced a lot of stuff, but the most important was that we practiced going down a straight line in horse stance without bobbing our heads up and down. We also practiced the cat stance. It is really hard on my quads, because, well, I’m like 35 pounds over weight and running has done little to prepare me for the huge amount of strength needed to keep a low stance.

Still, I am very pleased that we see a glimmer of hope when it comes to the stances and the Shutos in particular. I know how to do it, I just don’t have the physical strength to make it work like it should work. But I am definitely getting better.

I am very happy with my progress and I can see the light at the end of the dark tunnel I’ve been in, not only in running but in karate too. For a while there, I was wondering if things would continue getting worse forever, but of course I knew it would improve if I just had patience.

Still, I wish it would not take so long for me to heal. I have the heart, but not the recuperative capacity I had when I was younger. But although there will come a time when I will be strong enough to hold a stance, I have no doubt that other challenges will appear!

Tomorrow I do a little 11 km run, then Sunday a 23 km run marks the start of my rest week.

I decided on a change of pace today and chose to run at the indoor track. I wanted to do just 5 km and see how fast I could do it. The problem is I think I lost count of the laps, I may have done one or two extra ones (unlikely) or one or two fewer ones (likely). The track is 236 meters which is 4.4 laps per km or exactly 22 laps for 5 km. I first walked a couple, then jogged a couple for a warm-up. After I did the same for a cool-down, so my total distance was about 7 km today.

So my stopwatch said I did the 5 km in 29:51 but I can’t really take that seriously due to the uncertainty in my lap counting skills.

I guess the time trial will have to wait for an outdoor measured one.

You just can’t predict how you will feel and perform before a race or a training run, no matter how much training or experience you have. Of course you can make much better guesses with experience but you never really know how it will go.

I would have thought I would not finish my 32 km today, or if I did I would have performed relatively badly because I only got 4 hours sleep last night for various reasons which I won’t get into.

I still felt a bit sore from previous training (from both running and karate), and I well remembered my last attempt ended in failure. On the plus side I did have new shoes.

Anyway, I was up at 4 AM and drank two cups of strong coffee. I had two slices of toast with almond butter on them plus a power bar product that has 23 grams of protein in it (not Power Bar brand). Then I was out the door for my run at 6 AM. It was quite cool, about 10 degrees and partly overcast with the occasional light sprinkle of rain on me. I fell behind my 8 minute plan by about three minutes at the 4 km point, but then I achieved a negative split and finished the 32 km in 4:09:37 for a 7:48 pace. And I lost a minute or so defending myself from a vicious attack by two large dogs! No damage was done thankfully and I managed to act and look the dominant one. But this is still very upsetting, especially when I was pretty much blind-sided by them as I was making the last sprint home which was just under 2 km away.

At this point I think I can probably finish the marathon. I ate as soon as I got home, since consuming a nutritious meal within 20 minutes after exercising leads to greatly improved recovery times. Protein and carbs are the best for quick recovery and there is no better combo than a chocolate milk for that, although I also had some bread, cheese and salmon.

And yes, I am now heading off for a nap. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my hydration pack which carries two liters works well (Gatorade); I had enough left over to maybe finish a marathon I think, possibly because of the cool weather. I also took electrolyte caps. E-zone I think.

I was really determined to ease up a bit and not run very fast at all today. So I started out aiming for an 8 minute pace and ended up with a 9:30 pace for the first 3 km, just shuffling along. Of course I ended up speeding up and catching up to my 8 minute pace anyway, just to see if I could do it.

I just can’t seem to discipline myself to run at a planned pace. I should have started out at an 8 minute pace instead of a 9:30 pace. At the very least, I should have maintained that 9:30 pace and not run like a maniac at a 6 minute pace just to catch up.

I’ll have to do much better than that if I hope to finish my 32 km on Sunday at an 8 minute pace or better. Anyway my final average pace was 7:57 for the 11 km I ran today.