Pneumatised!

MM,

I went for a two-mile run. It was a little hot still, but the humidity dropped – it wasn’t too bad out for me. The time for my run was 17 minutes 53 seconds. A little slower than my best time, but I felt like I could run faster or more.

I’m planning on getting two more runs in this week. I’m thinking another two-mile run on Wednesday and maybe a shorter run on Thursday or Friday.

Friday, I should be in bed by 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 the latest. To be fully awake for the 10k and the test, I need to be up at least two hours before the run. That means I’ll be up with the sun at around 4:44 a.m.

Official countdown: 106 hours left

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local martial artist
Brigid’s Flame

My horoscope for this week (courtesy of astrocenter.com).

“The Right Perspective

You are gradually finding the courage to overcome some of the fears that you have been battling with, C. J., and this is due to the presence of Mars in your sign. However, don’t allow your fantasies to get the better of you on Wednesday when Mars will be opposing Neptune. You may find it more difficult to understand what your partner wants from you, or how you can cooperate with their plans. Don’t jump in regardless, especially as you may lose out rather than gain from this. You need to have the facts at your fingertips before you agree to anything. Mercury will also turn retrograde in your sign on Tuesday – which is not the best of times to make agreements or sign anything, whether of a personal or business nature. If you are thinking of getting more involved with anyone then leave the commitment out of it until after July 29, by which time you will have a much better idea of any problems that could arise. Thursday looks as though it could be a very interesting day socially. Plenty of chemistry – have fun! Jupiter will also turn direct in your home, so you may find that your hopes and dreams now begin to materialize.”

So, I suppose I’ll pass my test on Saturday with flying colours and perform a great demo…

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I went to the do jang on Wednesday. I ended up helping to teach poomse class and then took the regular class after. We worked on technique kicking and practiced our patterns. After the do jang, I went to the gym for some conditioning.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)
Back extensor

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Pectoral fly
Weighted squats
Shoulder strengthening

Saturday, July 1, 2006

Happy Canada Day! I spent my afternoon at the do jang training. We had our test preparation class. It was the second last class to help prepare for the test and my twelfth class. We needed to take ten out of sixteen available classes. After the two-hour class, I went home to rest. I still need to do some studying – history of taekwondo and terminology. I have no clue how well written the test questions are. I just hope they aren’t trivial questions.

My knee has been acting up again lately. A little bit of swelling. So, I skipped taekwondo on Thursday. Friday, there is only gumdo class. I didn’t go because I wanted to keep my focus on taekwondo and not get too distracted by something else. In any case, I wanted to give myself not only the physical break, but a mental break.

Sunday, July 2, 2006

I needed to rest and decided to skip the last test preparation class. It’s all good though, because the last class was time for working on our demonstrations and I have my demonstration idea already. I plan on practicing later this week during the day-time open training time when there isn’t much people around to distract me.

I still need to keep up with the running. In fact, I hope to get a few more good runs in. Two more mile-and-a-half runs would be good. I think I will be taking time off the regular taekwondo evening classes so I can work on conditioning and get myself focused on the test.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your resident martial artist
Brigid’s Flame