Pneumatised!

Yes, I was asked to test for the next belt in gumdo. The test is this Friday and between now and then, I will have to review some of the stuff and practice a bit. I’ll be trying to blow out a candle with the sword with only 20 tries. Wishing myself luck on that and hoping my sword technique improves for that.

I’m a little nervous about the test, but think I’ll do fine. I pick up things quick enough, so I’ll just need to remain focused and concentrate on technique.

Next week, I’ll get to learn two more duelling techniques and two more sword patterns. Fun!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

I went to the do jang today for gumdo and taekwondo class. Gumdo class was fun as always. (More on this – next blog entry.)

I noticed some improvement in my kicking in taekwondo class. I felt like bouncing on my toes today which is a good thing, makes the kicks faster to execute. My kicks were a little stronger, although my legs were overall still a little tired. However, I think my muscles will just build up over time.

Tomorrow is patterns class and I’ll probably just work on patterns and techniques drills tomorrow. After, Nathan and I are going to do some running on a track. The track work will be mostly to develop some speed (as opposed to endurance on the trail runs).

So, I’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with an update on the track running.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Here are the distances for the route Nathan and I did on Sunday, August 14:

1. Starting from our place on Isabella St. near Sherbourne, head west on Isabella to Jarvis.
2. Go north on Jarvis to Bloor St.
3. West on Bloor St. to Park Rd.

Total distance for the above is 0.8 km.

4. North, then east on Park Rd. to Rosedale Valley Rd. (0.3 km)
5. Turn right onto Rosedale Valley Rd. to Bayview Ave. (follow the bike trail; 2.1 km).
6. North on Bayview Ave. to Pottery Rd. (follow the bike trail to Pottery Rd. only; bike trail continues north so look for the green sign to turn onto Pottery Rd.)
7. East on Pottery Rd. (uphill the whole road) to Broadview Ave. (intersection is Broadview and Mortimer)

Total distance for #6 and #7 is 3.4 km.

8. South on Broadview Ave. to Danforth Ave. (0.8 km)
9. West from Danforth Ave. via Prince Edward Viaduct to Sherbourne St. (1.6 km)
10. South on Sherbourne to Linden St. (a short side street a block before Isabella St.; 0.2 km)
11. Follow Linden St. to Huntley St. (0.2 km)
12. South on Huntley St. back to Isabella St. and head home. (0.3 km)

Total distance is 9.7 km.

Here is the new route with the distances:

1. From our place on Isabella St., west to Church St. (0.5 km)
2. North on Church St. to Park Rd. (0.5 km)
3. North-east on Park Rd. to Rosedale Valley Rd. (0.2 km)

The next few parts of the route is the same as #5, 6, and 7 above.
4. Down Rosedale Valley Rd. to Bayview Ave. (2.1 km)
5. North on Bayview Ave. to Pottery Rd, then up Pottery Rd. to Broadview and Mortimer. (3.4 km)

The additions to the route include Jackman and Huntley streets.
6. Continue east along Mortimer to Jackman, 1 block. (0.2 km)
7. South on Jackman to Danforth Ave. (0.8 km)
8. West on Danforth Ave., the Viaduct, and Bloor St. to Huntley St. (2.3 km)
9. South on Huntley to Isabella St. and home (0.5 km)

Total distance is 10.5 km.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Sunday, Nathan accompanied me on a trail run. (He said he was going to run the 10k with me. :)) While, I wasn’t intending to run the whole trail (it was close to 10k), we did a good amount of running for the first half of it. The main purpose of the run on Sunday was to check out the trail first.

This is the route we did.

1. Starting from our place on Isabella St. near Sherbourne, head west on Isabella to Jarvis.
2. Go north on Jarvis to Bloor St.
3. West on Bloor St. to Park Rd.
4. North, then east on Park Rd. to Rosedale Valley Rd.
5. Turn right onto Rosedale Valley Rd. to Bayview Ave. (follow the bike trail).
6. North on Bayview Ave. to Pottery Rd. (follow the bike trail to Pottery Rd. only; bike trail continues north so look for the green sign to turn onto Pottery Rd.)
7. East on Pottery Rd. (uphill the whole road) to Broadview Ave. (intersection is Broadview and Mortimer)
8. South on Broadview Ave. to Danforth Ave.
9. West from Danforth Ave. via Prince Edward Viaduct to Sherbourne St.
10. South on Sherbourne to Linden St. (a short side street a block before Isabella St.)
11. Follow Linden St. to Huntley St.
12. South on Huntley St. back to Isabella St. and head home.

The bulk of the running we did was on Rosedale Valley Road, Bayview and a short run up Pottery Road. By the time we got to Pottery Road, I was getting a bit tired, but I felt good. It’s good to get fresh air (as fresh as you can ever find in Toronto) in my lungs. I timed the distance from Park Rd. and Rosedale Valley Rd. to Broadview and Mortimer. It took us just under 45 minutes, but that was because we had to walk part of the way. That was fine with me though. I had some chicken noodle soup before stretching up to go run (a good half hour before, but for me it’s usually better if I eat about 2 hours before, but I couldn’t run on a completely empty stomach), so that probably slowed me down a bit. Also, Sunday was an endurance run. I wasn’t going to push myself too hard on the long distance yet. It was good to get a feel for how long 10km would be.

After we got back, we determined what the total distance was. It was about 9.6 km, so going to add something to the route and change one thing. After we come up Pottery Rd., we will continue East on Mortimer to Jackman, then go south on Jackman to Danforth. From there we will continue west on Danforth and across the Viaduct to get to Bloor. Instead of going on Bloor to Sherbourne, we will continue one more block to Huntley, then head south on Huntley to Isabella and home. At the beginning of the route, we will go from Isabella to Church, then north on Church to Park Rd. to Rosedale Valley Rd. The main part of the route stays the same. Rosedale Valley Rd. to Bayview to Pottery Rd.

After getting back, we did some conditioning exercises. Situps, pushups, back strethening, and then some stretching to soothe our muscles. (Then of course, we ate! Hehe… pasta with home-made bolognese sauce!)

Well, today is gumdo and taekwondo class, so I have to run. I’ll be back later with the distances calculated for the routes.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame