Monthly Archives: December 2008

Run 97, 2008

I ran 5 km today on the indoor track in 28 minutes and 43 seconds for a 5:45 pace. I felt pretty good, and wore no knee braces. Wednesdays have become our indoor training day at the Tri-Leisure Centre and after we have a bit of a swim then a stretch in the hot tub. Then we head into Edmonton for some Sushi after which we go to our favorite Second Cup coffee place to watch amateur guitarists sing and play on the open stage. That’s the only reason we go out of our way to Edmonton. We never go to coffee shops like that normally. So because we discovered the open stage we thought it would be fun to go there every Wednesday.

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Karate 76

In a freezing winter storm/gale/monstrous raging blizzard with a wind chill of minus 376 F and against 70 foot drifts of ice and snow in a 239 MPH wind, off we went to the dojo for to get whacked. We beat on each other until we were black and blue. The blue bits were much bluer than the frozen blue bits. We broke each others arm and legs as we fought bitterly until there was one person left standing. Or should I say kneeling in a pool of his own blood. I might be exaggerating here. A bit. But it might have made for a more interesting post than what I’m about to say next. We practice kata and kihon kumite. That’s about it. No one was hurt. It’s winter, but a mild one, though it is relatively much colder than it has been in a while. We found out … Continue reading

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Run 96, 2008 The Dog Days of Winter?

I did complete the 11 km run but my time is trashed. Although I ran at a very good clip for a while, I lost at least 15 minutes when I was brought up short because I got cornered, or “circled” by a pack of 5 dogs. I was pretty upset about that. I still am. I was running on public roads, but dogs don’t really care about that. And I don’t blame the dogs, they are just doing what dogs do. So anyway — on the way there I was chased and barked at (as usual) by the same old dog who does the same thing to me every time. I just totally ignore him and keep on running. But this time, on the way back, he took courage from the fact that there were now suddenly 5 dogs who appeared out of nowhere it seemed. I just kept … Continue reading

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Karate 75

Man, it’s hard to keep count sometimes. I had to go back and change the number because I noticed I had two Karate 73 posts. I was really unsure I could make today’s class because of the intense pain in my right big toe, but somehow the pain disappeared only to come back later this evening, long after class. Now I can barely hobble along on that foot. But it’s nothing serious, it will disappear and I will be back to normal for my 11 km run tomorrow (complete with Yaktrax). I think the foot pain is just a remnant of last Wednesday’s kick where I performed a series of front thrust kicks and on one, I missed, hit the very bottom of the hanging bag, and bent the toe back too far. We did the usual warm-up, which varies greatly from class to class. The warm-up exercises do vary … Continue reading

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Run 95, 2008

Today I could have used my Yaktrax for the first time this winter. But I wasn’t going back to get them. I had a pretty dismal, tedious, boring “run”. I felt tired and it showed as I walked a lot and did the 11 km in 1:31:30 for an 8:19 pace. At least there are no further knee problems to report, although I currently can barely walk on my right foot. It’s got nothing to do with the run, it just flared up suddenly a few hours ago. On Wednesday, at the Tri-Leisure Centre I practiced a few kicks on the bag and in one of the front thrust kicks, I missed and I just caught the bottom of the bag with my right big toe. It got bent back at an unhappy angle and maybe this soreness is now manifesting itself. As you might know, this particular toe has … Continue reading

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Run 94, 2008

I ran 5 km on an indoor track today at the Tri-Leisure Centre in 28 minutes and 57 seconds for a 5:47 pace. I ran it without any knee braces. I got two calls during my run, one work-related but the other was the hospital calling me that they had an appointment for my knee MRI January 27th, 2009 at 2 PM in Edmonton. After my run I went for a brief swim then I soaked in the public hot tub there. I stretched, paying particular attention to my IT bands. The water jets and the heat really helps post run recovery. Why did I have a good run? I haven’t a clue. So every Wednesday that’s where we will be I guess.

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Karate 74

Hey, how about adding some tabs to my blog posts? Check out these below: [tab:Blank Tab] [tab:Question 1] Why am I messing with the code and using these tabs? [tab:Answer 1] Because my philosophy is, if it ain’t broke, fix it anyway! [tab:Question 2] So, what good is it anyway? [tab:Answer 2] I dunno. Guess it’ll all become clear in time. [tab:END] _________________________________ Well, it seems the above in-post tabs work nicely! I think it is a cool feature that will let me add lots of content without having to scroll far or change pages. I just don’t know what I’ll be using them for really, but time will tell. You’ll notice I had to add a solid line to separate the tabs and the main post. I just think it looks better and is less confusing than if the line wasn’t there. Now let’s talk about today’s karate class. … Continue reading

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