My Legs Have Staged a Minor Revolt

Epic leg cramp today.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I'm pretty sure that my hamstrings are part-Decepticon now, and they recently tried to transform my leg into a medieval head crusher. Wow.

I had a feeling that one of these was going to hit me eventually, but it happened mid-workout with my student team. They're great though. Lots of shouts of encouragement followed, and I finished up my set with them.

I love my team. :)

Workout Summary, Day 63

Pictured: Someplace I'd really love to work out at! (lol)

In two short months, I've made a lot of progress. There's still a lot more to be made, but I'm happy to have remained consistent for this long. I've slipped a little bit at times, but I have an amazing support team that's kept my course steady and true!

The hiking is going well. I've been hiking at Santa Teresa Park and exploring several of the trails that I've always wanted to see. There's so much more here than I originally thought! I'm hoping to wander around a bit more and become really familiar with this place this summer. In the fall, I think I'll start tackling Alum Rock and Quicksilver Parks to change things up.

I'm going to need a new pair of shoes soon. My trusty cross-trainers have survived more than a few black belt training cycles and tests over the years and this recent blast of training will probably finish them off by the end of the summer.


Tally for the week:

• Hiking: 22 miles (5 Sat, 5 Sun, 3 Mon, 3 Tues, 6 Thurs)
• Cycling (stationary): 30 miles (5 per day: Sat-Thurs)
• Running (elliptical): 3 miles (Wed)
  
• Basics: 45m (15m per day: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Forms: 36 (12 per day: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Bag Work: 12m (4x60s: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Kicks: 1800 (3x600: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Punching (w/5lb weights): 15m (3x5m: Sat, Mon, Wed)
• Push-ups: 375 (3x125: Sat, Mon, Wed)
• Crunches: 450 (3x150: Sat, Mon, Wed)
• Squats: 300 (4x25: Sat, Mon, Wed)
  

Total since Day 1:

• Running (total): 59 miles
• Cycling (total): 426 miles
• Hiking: 55 miles
  
• Pushups: 4425
• Crunches: 6775
• Squats: 2720
• Lunges: 1800
• Punching w/weights: 30m
  
• Basics: 90m
  
• Form repetitions: 272
• Kicks: 13900
• Bag work: 96 rounds (96m total)

Worldwide Black Belt Standards

Any questions?

I Lost Some Stuff

As a child, when I used to tease my mother about losing her keys, she smiled and told me that someday, my memory would start to play tricks on me, and I would begin to lose things too.

And look at me now! Now I'm losing stuff left and right. The thought of it makes me smile.

Most recently, I've noticed that in the past 56 days, I've lost 12 pounds. I'm not even the slightest bit concerned. I don't know where they went, and I don't even plan on looking for them. They can stay gone. (The first few pounds always go quickly. It's just water weight, but it still feels good.)

I have also lost the ability to walk around in my current wardrobe without a belt. When this happens, my pants begin to collect around my knees like some of the local kids. I don't mind this either. Soon enough, I may lose some money and find some smaller pants, but I guess that comes with the territory.

I can't seem to find my appetite for fast food and greasy diners these days. It used to be a source of post-traumatic comfort, but I suppose there are worse things that I could be losing.

I saw my mom the other night and she asked me how I was doing. I told her about my upgraded workout schedule, the running, lifting, sparring, training, and hiking. Then I told her about the ever-present soreness that I've been feeling, but how happy I've been to be losing so many things.

Now my mother thinks I've lost my mind.

Mom was always right.

Workout Summary: Day 56

What a difference variety makes! It's helping me to enjoy my workouts again, plus I'm getting some different feelings of soreness as well!

This week marked the beginning of my students' summer "Preparing to Live Like a Champion" workouts: a series of semi-casual, come-when-you-can (but come often) workouts aimed to get everyone into shape in time for January. The sessions are aimed to overcome the objection, "I don't know if I can keep up with the workouts," so there's a lot of confidence-building and team-building going on. I really like their energy.

If anything, I'm impressed by their desire to do well! They're hungry for success and it's pushed them to accomplish amazing things in a short amount of time. This week, we did some initial endurance testing and asked students to do as many push-ups, crunches, and chair squats as possible - pushing until they couldn't go anymore.

The push-ups went as expected, the results for the crunches was impressive, and the chair squats blew me away! Most of the students, while scoring under 15 for the pushups (many under 5), could do over 100 crunches without stopping! I was flabbergasted by the chair squat results: many students performed over 1,000 chair squats without weights before stopping! You can see more on this in my previous entry.

We plan to do a Saturday hike together, as a form of active recovery. My legs are wobbly. I hope I can keep up with the young'uns!


Tally for the week:

• Hiking: 15 miles (4 Sat, 5 Sun, 3 Mon, 3 Wed)
• Cycling (stationary): 30 miles (5 per day: Sat-Thurs)
• Basics: 45m (15m per day: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Forms: 36 (12 per day: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Bag Work: 12m (4x60s: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Kicks: 1800 (3x600: Sun, Tues, Thurs)
• Punching (w/5lb weights): 15m (3x5m: Sat, Mon, Wed)
• Push-ups: 400 (3x125: Sat, Mon, Wed...extra 25 on Mon)
• Crunches: 525 (3x150: Sat, Mon, Wed...extra 75 on Mon)
• Squats: 620 (Wed's squat marathon)
  

Total since Day 1:

• Running (total): 56 miles
• Cycling (total): 396 miles
• Hiking: 33 miles
  
• Pushups: 4050
• Crunches: 6325
• Squats: 2420
• Lunges: 1800
• Punching w/weights: 15m
  
• Basics: 45m
  
• Form repetitions: 236
• Kicks: 12100
• Bag work: 84 rounds (84m total)

Today I Did Squat

Six hundred and twenty of them, in fact, before my legs got wobbly.

My students and I have begun preparations for the "Live Like A Champion" project. We've been meeting this week to do initial tests. Today, we were going to max out on unweighted chair squats, just going until we couldn't go anymore.

Legs were on fire, and it was AWESOME.

I was even more impressed with my students. They truly are determined to make the most out of this experience. Many of them beat my score. Several broke the 1,000 mark. The top two students did 1,336 and 1,400! *jaw hits floor*

I'm really happy to have this kind of a group to train with.

Morning Encounter

This is one of the reasons why I love hiking. In fairness, I didn't take this shot, but it was the closest thing I could find online to what I saw.

I was working my way up a rough series of hills, focused mostly on myself and trying to get my hefty frame to the top, when I heard a rustle in the grass. I looked up, and what I saw was something like this...except there were 4 of them.

We stared at each other for a while, and I slowly continued on my way. The trail ran at an oblique angle to the deer, so I guess it didn't seem very threatening. They just watched me walk by, unshaken by my presence.

To think that I almost missed it completely.

Mood: one with the universe. :)

Workout Summary: Day 49

Haha, I should have really changed my workouts up after Day 42.

This week's workouts felt dull and less inspired than my previous ones. I was talking with my girlfriend, Jenn (who doubles as my personal expert in all things fitness-related), and she's comforted me by reminding me that it's a good idea to change up my workouts every 6-8 weeks anyways, but even though this is Week 7 (well within the 6-8 week target), I still feel like I haven't taken as large of a stride forward this week.

It could be my mental focus as well. This week was centered on final exams, grading, and summer school planning, so admittedly, my mind has been elsewhere. I found myself planning while cycling, constantly looping back to ensure that I had thought out my summer school curriculum completely.

In any event, I will be starting to train with several students to prepare for the "Live" project beginning in the coming week. Since it's "summer vacation" for them, and many have commitments at work, summer classes, and family events, it will be more of a "drop-in when you can, but come often" type of format. That's going to shift up my training (and theirs) in a number of ways:

First off, I'll be implementing weight training into my routines. Low weight, but high rep for toning. That's going to be the focus of my Monday/Wednesday routine. Some of this will happen with my students, some at the gym, and some at home. Doing it this way means I'll be getting two mini-workouts after my group workout. Should be neat.

In addition, I'll be doing a weekly hiking and training session with my students on Saturdays. We'll be covering a lot of ground, going up and down big hills. I like hiking. It's going to burn really nicely. :)

Also, I'll be condensing my martial arts workouts into Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Much of my focus will be on basics, forms, and advanced kicking, with some bag work on Sundays. I've received some invitations to train with friends in various locations on Sundays, and I may add that in eventually, with hiking as a backup in case I am unable to attend their workout.

Fridays will become my new "free day", effective tomorrow. It'll give me two back-to-back free days this week, but it'll also provide me with an opportunity to get my head on straight with my other work.

Tally for the week:

• Running (elliptical): 6 miles (Sat, Mon, Wed - 2 miles each)
• Cycling (stationary): 60 miles (10 per day Fri-Wed, not today)
• Pushups: 600 (100 per day)
  
• Crunches: 600 (100 per day)
• Squats (no weights): 300 (100 Fri, 100 Sun, 100 Tues, 4 sets of 25)
• Lunges (no weights): 300 (100 Fri, 100 Sun, 100 Tues, 2 sets of 25 - each side)
• Form repetitions: 30 (10x Fri, 10x Sun, 10x Tues. Each day consists of 5 traditional, 5 contemporary)
• Kicks: 1800 (600x Sat, 600x Mon, 600x Wed. Assorted kicking techniques.)
• Bag work: 12 rounds (60 sec rounds; 4x Sat, 4x Mon, 4x Wed. Assorted boxing techniques.)

Total since Day 1:

• Running (total): 56 miles
• Cycling (total): 366 miles
• Hiking: 18 miles
  
• Pushups: 3650
• Crunches: 5800
• Squats: 1800
• Lunges: 1800
• Form repetitions: 200
• Kicks: 10300
• Bag work: 72 rounds (72m total)

Mission Accomplished, Almost

Tomorrow, I will complete a commitment that I made to my students at the high school: writing one blog entry per day until the last day of school. Since I will be posting a workout summary tomorrow, that should be relatively easy.

Doing daily blogging has been a useful exercise for me. Just like a good martial artist requires regular practice, and being fit requires regular exercise, becoming comfortable with writing requires that you regularly put your thoughts into words.

I'd recommend this to any student who is preparing to "Live Like A Champion" next year, and also as preparation for classes in the fall: write often, daily would be best! Scribble at least half a page into a journal, diary, notebook, blog, whatever. Reflect on your day, focus on a moment or an idea, consider your future, or more.

Just be sure to write.

P.S. Now that I have fulfilled this commitment, I may post less frequently. It'll still be more than once a week, but it won't be daily. Don't worry, I'll use the extra time for training. :)

Pardon My Moral Outrage

This is a public service announcement, on behalf of the children who cannot say this for themselves.

New parents: your baby stroller is NOT a device used to force your way through large crowds in public gatherings and/or shopping centers, nor is it an automatic guarantee that oncoming traffic will stop if/when you walk (or run) into the street.

You see, my friends, it sort of works like this:

Usually, strollers are out in front of you while you walk or run behind it, pushing the rolling cart that contains your newborn child. When you use this device like a battering ram, you are not only bumping people around rudely, you're endangering your child...or at the very least, indirectly using your child as a battering ram.

Also, while it's true that the overwhelming majority of drivers in the world have a powerful urge to avoid running over human offspring of any age, some drivers (even those who are well-trained in the martial arts) also have a very difficult time stopping their cars at short range when they are on a highway entrance ramp together with you.

Fortunately, I wouldn't happen to know anyone who has been shoved around by "stroller bullies" or who've almost wrecked their cars while narrowly avoiding a vehicular manslaughter charge. I also don't think that such a person could ever have this happen more than a dozen times in a 48-hour period.

I am also a terrible poker player.

P.S. To those people who push empty strollers around in order to take advantage of the same manipulative phenomenon, that's rather messed up.

This concludes today's message. Had this been an actual emergency, I would have called in Chuck Norris to handle it.

Building My Team, Part 1

Today, I had my first information session for prospective "Live" student members. It was an after school session, held during finals week, so I was expecting a somewhat low turnout. To top that off, our school busses had to depart earlier than normal, so I ended up with a lot of interest forms signed. I'll need to follow up on that.

In terms of promotion, it's primarily been word-of-mouth, using the unparalleled power of the Teenage Communications Network to broadcast news about the program in a way which evoked a sense of school pride in the students. I also put out a couple of handmade infomercial-like posters , along with some digitally-edited photos of some of the club's members (much like the photo above). Lastly, I posted announcements on Facebook and my club's Google Group.

I could've promoted this much more effectively. I didn't utilize the school's advisory (homeroom) period to make any announcements, or to ask teachers to do it. I also needed to schedule this during a more convenient time, and with enough advance notice for parents. I didn't pick up the phone at all, and I could have developed better handouts.

Still, the turnout was impressive. I had 23 students show up, which is 10% of the school! Of them, 15 were prepared to commit on the spot. The other 8 are almost fully committed. I will follow up on them later. Additionally, I have a large stack of interest forms, and several teachers from the school who want to take part in the training!

Between all of them, I'm absolutely certain that we will have 20+ people participating in the program. Ideally, I plan to secure firm commitments from the rest of the interest forms and build to the point where 20-25% of the school is involved.

More on this soon!

Congratulations, Class of 2009

Today, I will be celebrating LPS San Jose's second graduating class as they take to the stage and collect their hard-earned diplomas. Yay!

I am reminded of how hard the journey has been for them, moreso than a typical senior class at a regular high school. These students stayed loyal and true through some of our school's rough growing pains. We hadn't yet found ourselves and the place had much to be desired. I am honored and proud that they chose to perservere through those challenging times and succeeded, despite the chaos!

It's been 15 years since my high school graduation. In the lifetime I've led since I walked across the stage to collect my diploma, my adventures and follies would fill many volumes; however, the volume that would dwarf both of those immense treatises would be the one containing all of the lessons that I've learned since then.

Kudos to you, Class of 2009. Today marks the beginning of several new chapters in your lives. It is my sincere wish that your "lessons" book grows like mine has. Bring some success stories back for the reunion, too!

Time Out For What Matters

I visited my cousin in the hospital today. She's begun treatment for Type-B large cell lymphoma, and it's tricky because she's also six months pregnant. Today, I set aside plans and made sure to stop by to comfort her and to help her pass the time as she waits in bed for the stream of medical personnel to perform tests and observe her reactions.

She's in good spirits, and for this, I'm glad. However, I think a part of me also realized that I often get too caught up in my daily routines and forget to share time with family and friends. Holidays, weddings, illness, and funerals shouldn't be the only times that I see my relatives.

In my own process of developing myself, I need to expand my awareness and my consciousness in layers. This begins with myself and expands outwards. I cannot skip layers of social consciousness and claim that I'm some kind of role model, if all I've done is to support noble causes by sacrificing quality connections with family and friends, or by ignoring my responsibilities at work, etc. I need to balance all of these things.

I need to evaluate the way I prioritize my time so that I can begin to share more time with those who are closest to me. That's what this boils down to.

Update 6/7: My cousin was discharged from the hospital today. She gets to go home. Yay!

Spicy Plan Backfires

In a mild effort to reduce my consumption of cheese, I started replacing any cheese in my meals with jalapeno jack. (and using less)

There's a short story behind this, though.

You see, spicy food is like kryptonite to me. I'm very sensitive to it. As I was growing up, the mild sauce at Taco Bell would bring me to tears. For a while, even certain kinds of pizza sauce would have the same effect. As a result, I've stayed away from many spices because they might be 'too hot' for me, and endured the amused jabs from friends who were more than entertained by my vulnerability. My girlfriend insists that I improve in this area, and I simply haven't gotten around to it yet.

Back to the cheese: I switched cheeses because I figured that I would use less of it that way. It was intended to be a subtle way of using my own aversion to spicy stuff towards my own benefit.

It backfired: it turns out that I like jalapeno jack cheese.

Back to the drawing board. :)

Workout Summary: Day 42

It's almost time for me to shake up my workout.

I've been reconditioning myself for the past 6 weeks, and I feel like I need to add some martial arts training into the mix. I've begun looking for places which will help me fulfill my UBBT goals of receiving 20 hours of pro-boxing instruction and 100 hours of jiu-jitsu mat time. Both of these will be "white belt" experiences for me, but I'll be able to work out while I learn.

I'll keep you all posted and let you know what turns up in my search. The cool thing about San Jose is that the city is full of martial arts schools, but the bad thing is that the city is full of martial arts schools. I'll stick to this program for another week or two until I commit to a new workout facility.

Tally for the week:

• Running (elliptical): 6 miles (Sat, Mon, Wed - 2 miles each)
• Cycling (stationary): 60 miles (10 per day Fri-Wed, not today)
• Pushups: 600 (100 per day)
  
• Crunches: 600 (100 per day)
• Squats (no weights): 300 (100 Fri, 100 Sun, 100 Tues, 4 sets of 25)
• Lunges (no weights): 300 (100 Fri, 100 Sun, 100 Tues, 2 sets of 25 - each side)
• Form repetitions: 30 (10x Fri, 10x Sun, 10x Tues. Each day consists of 5 traditional, 5 contemporary)
• Kicks: 1800 (600x Sat, 600x Mon, 600x Wed. Assorted kicking techniques.)
• Bag work: 12 rounds (60 sec rounds; 4x Sat, 4x Mon, 4x Wed. Assorted boxing techniques.)

Total since Day 1:

• Running (total): 50 miles
• Cycling (total): 306 miles
• Hiking: 18 miles
  
• Pushups: 3050
• Crunches: 5200
• Squats: 1500
• Lunges: 1500
• Form repetitions: 170
• Kicks: 8500
• Bag work: 60 rounds (60m total)

Building My Team

I'm six months away from the official "Live" start date, but I'm already beginning to assemble my student membership team. Since my program is based out of a high school, I intend to draw primarily from the students, faculty, and alumni of the school. I've already drummed up a lot of interest through declaring my admission into the "Live" project, my intention to test for rank, and my wish to share this journey with as many people as possible.

Now I get to see how many people have been inspired enough to commit. I'm holding my first info session on Monday and beginning to take applications for membership.

To be honest, I haven't done as good of a job promoting this as I could have, were I running a commercial school. Since my job is education, I find that I'm teaching and promoting the same ideals all of the time, but my focus is in multiple places, and my efforts to promote my program are not always appropriate in an English classroom. My best advertising is personal example, and it has earned me numerous students over the years. Still, I have time to dust off my marketing skills prior to January, and I can get a headstart with anyone who signs on early!

My target enrollment for Monday's info session is 12 members. Because school will be letting out for the summer, I will use the summer break to begin working with these 12, and then continue my recruitment efforts in the fall. I'd like to have a complete team of 20 by October 1, 20+ if I'm given the opportunity to include more than 20 student members.

Atychiphobia and Kakorrhaphiophobia

Atychiphobia = fear of failure.

Kakorrhaphiophobia = fear of failure or defeat.

I learned two new words today while preparing this blog. Yay me! (Don't ask me to pronounce them.)

It is often the fear of failure that prevents many people from initiating any change, whether in their own lives or the lives of others. There is a part of me that still whispers fears, doubts, and insecurities. 99% of the time, I can ignore them. My problem is the 1% of times when I listen.

What if I failed this project?

Well, I suppose my sense of failure would have to depend on the criteria with which I assess my success. Would I have failed if I did not receive a rank promotion? Would I have failed if I did not complete all of the UBBT criteria? How about if my students do not complete the challenge - would I take that as a failure?

Time for an attitude check.

Everything that I am doing, and everything that I inspire others to do, represents progress. It's a step in the right direction, and it's something beyond what any of us would have done alone. The longer we can maintain this, the more success we have attained.

If I view the "Live" project, my participation in it, and my students' participation in it as a collection of successes, celebrating each as they happen, then I need not fear the end point. I just need to appreciate the journey, and participate with nothing less than legendary effort.

Inspiring Perspiring

"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
-Thomas Edison

Since I've enrolled in the "Live" project, I've been feeling really inspired - almost all of the time. I feel so excited to have a new challenge in front of me. My first few baby steps towards that challenge have been met with success, which only further inspires me to do more!

However, I still need to keep a healthy sense of discontent. What I'm doing now isn't enough. It's not enough because I've been heavily focused on myself, and this project isn't just about me - it's about transforming my life, the lives of my students, and the kind of impact that we have on the community and world around us!

I've been giving this a genuine 100% effort, and I'm beginning to see results, but I also have to acknowledge that I'm getting these results because I'm only handling the first 1-2% of the challenge. When it starts to pile on, and it becomes harder and harder to meet my targets, my frustration level will inevitably increase. As I plateau, I may start to feel complacent and mull around a bit because I don't always know what my next step will be.

These are going to be times when I will need you. Watch me. There will be times when I tackle my challenges like a machine, and there will be more times when I will drag myself along because I've hit one of those points.

When this happens, I'd love to hear some gentle, but firm encouragement. Or, maybe you could invite me to tag along with you during your workout. Or, let's share a healthy meal together. In any event, I'd just love to know that someone's got my back and while I will always appreciate your support, those times are probably when I will need you the most to help inspire me to perspire.

Thank you in advance, for everything.