Monthly Archives: May 2009

Run 44, 2009 – It was Hot and I Almost Died!

Posted on Sunday, May 24, 2009 by Administrator

Today was the first day this year where it was actually hot. Although it was only about 23 degrees, I am not acclimated to this hot weather so I felt too hot. I began my run by starting my RunKeeper application on my iPhone. It worked well until about the 15 km mark when my battery died. I just can’t win! Anyway, I managed to finish my 17 km run without anything really bad happening. I have determined one thing, though. Karate is NOT a good cross training activity for marathon preparation. Karate is a really hard workout on the leg, core, and lower body muscles. So I’m finished running. I’m taking the next 6 days off from any exercise whatsoever except stretching. And I am definitely not going to participate in Tuesday’s karate class. I need to heal. I’m doing absolutely nothing until after the marathon.

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Karate 104

Posted on Saturday, May 23, 2009 by Administrator

As green belts, we were privileged to learn a Black Belt Kata today. It is called chin pa and uses several techniques we were not familiar with. It was very interesting and fun. Sensei Kevin Trotman led the class in warm ups and basic practice drills. We were the lowest ranking belts there today so maybe that is why they felt it was appropriate to dwell on the finer points of our katas and teach us chin pa too. Marilyn and I felt better than we normally do today since we have been getting a bit of rest from our other training duties. We will go to next Tuesday’s class, but we will miss Saturday since we are off to Calgary to prepare for my marathon.

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Run 43, 2009

Posted on Friday, May 22, 2009 by Administrator

Ran 11 km with a 7:16 pace today. Again, the iPhone let me down. I have tried runkeeper and iTrails, and they seem to be great programs. I just think that the iPhone GPS chip and software is crap. Not worth the aggravation. So – next time I am taking my new toy, a Garmin Oregon 400t loaded with canuk maps in order to PROVE that it’s the iPhone GPS that sucks big time, not the iPhone applications. I think the Apple company is very unethical to put put such a crappy GPS product. The iPhone itself is fine and work nicely. It’s just the restrictions Apple puts on applications running in the background that sucks. And also their GPS chips suck. Never again will I waste my time with GPS applications on the iPhone. The iPhone GPS is OK for general locating purposes if you have lots of time … Continue reading →

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Run 42, 2009

Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 by Administrator

In an effort to get back into running again I ran 6 km at the indoor track at a 6 minute per km pace. I have not run for 10 whole days due to being a bit sick, a bit injured, and work. I wanted to do 10 km today, but I was just too darn frikken tired. Only 11 days until my marathon. I can do it. I will do it. You’ll see.

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Karate 103

Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 by Administrator

Did I ever mention that I almost never feel like going to karate class? Did I also say that once I get there I almost always enjoy it and feel good about it? No? Well, I’m saying it now. I enjoy the warm ups where you practice basic kicks and punches and the x pattern and turning from left to right horse stance to zenkutsu dachi. I’m slowly getting better at that. I also like kata a lot. Today we did a lot of it and each time I did it I can focus on tweaking it. I’m getting better at that too. Hey Jo, if you are reading this, have you ever tried kata from different starting points? You should try it, it’s a riot. I mean you always start your kata facing a certain wall and end it that way too. Try the exact same kata starting from … Continue reading →

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Karate 102

Posted on Saturday, May 16, 2009 by Administrator

Guess what I did in karate class today? Yup. Basic kata. Still tweaking the most basic stuff. Trying to correct a bunch of mistakes no one would ever notice unless they were familiar with karate. I’m beginning to feel like I’m making some progress. Some of the problems stem not from a certain kata position, but in the transition from one kata position to another. In the beginning arms and legs flayed everywhere getting from one position to another. Then once the new position was in place, a lot of shuffling and minor adjustments happened to get the stance and arm positions just right. That part is still far from perfect or consistent. Now it’s all about the transitions. Instead of arms flying around, they have to be just so during the turns. Getting that right will help in achieving the proper end point the first time with no shuffling … Continue reading →

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Run 41, 2009

Posted on Sunday, May 10, 2009 by Administrator

My 32 km run started out well, but ended in a set back which I hope is not a major one. At km 27 I had to quit because my right foot sort of broke and I could not run on it anymore. It was just too sore. I could barely put any weight on it. It feels like there is a knife stuck in my ankle, just south west of the round bony part on the outside of my right foot above the heel. Maybe that happened because I was trying to stay away from the painful ball behind the big toe of that foot. It’s not physically broken, but I just can’t run on it anymore. It’s too painful. I have no idea why. My best guess is that in favoring my right toe I’ve altered my gait and put too much stress somewhere else. I have no … Continue reading →

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