Tuesday: (21/01/20) Rest Day - I had the makings of a constant, niggling headache today, so I drank plenty of fluids, and stayed away from the exercise train. Wednesday: (22/01/20) Feeling a whole let better today, I thought It'd be a perfect time to get some of my Supplemental Training underway, with some Strength and Flexibility work. I got started with a 30-minute Walk (school pick up) to get myself warmed up, followed by some light Stretching (calves, IT band, hamstrings, hip and ankle flexor, and quads) before moving on to some Tabata based Circuits... Station 1: Reverse Lunge into Knee Raise Station 2: Squats Station 3: Butt Bridges Station 4: Side Clam ...which I repeated for a total of 4 rounds. Travess
Thursday: (23/01/20) I started off the day with another Short Walk this morning, (school drop off) then once home, was straight back on the Half Marathon Training again! (which should be day 5, but I think I've already lost a day somewhere???) My plan called for a 30-minute Run, sticking to a light (6m 15s - 6m 30s per/km) pace, but I wanted something a little harder today, at least as far as the pace was concerned... Distance: 5.96km Pace: 5m 02s per/km (Note: I unofficially set myself the target of 6km, OR 30 mins - which ever came 1st - and would have obviously been happier with the former, rather than the latter.) We are, unfortunately, having to say goodbye to our 4-legged-family-member early this evening, ( ) which means definitely no Karate for me (or the girls) tonight, and probably no training tomorrow either! Travess
Friday: (24/01/20) Rest Day - a very sombre day today, and even if I did have the time, I certainly would not have had the focus to train. Plenty scheduled for tomorrow though, which is all pre-planned, and involves other parties, so can't really be cancelled. (despite prefering it if I actually could!) Saturday: (25/03/20) AM: It was the Kids Karate club's new year's party this morning, with Round Robin Stations, a selection of Cakes, and a visting Reptiles/Lizards display, all which kept me preoccupied for a couple of hours at least. Afternoon: I had booked a private 1-on-1 session with my Sensei this afternoon, for an in-depth look at the Teaching Methods of Shisochin Kata. Evening: My Sensei had organised an Open Matt session, ahead of our adult's class annverisary (12-years-old this Tuesday) meal / presentation evening, which we were allowed to bring a guest along to - I took Mrs Travess. I got her warmed up with a variety of Pad Drills, sticking to simple techniques (Jabs, Crosses, Slaps, and Front Kicks) both in Isolation, then, after a while, as longer Combinations. Next up, as she has no base knowledge, (but as she has seen my eldest and I going thru it thousands of times) I got her started on Gekisai Di Ichi - Just the 1st 3 moves of the Kata for today, but I also included our Stock Bunkai, as well as its associated Pad Drill. It was only a 70 minute session, so this was where we drew the line, but she did really seem to enjoy herself. Travess
Sunday: (26/01/20) Not a lot planned today, just a short 20-minute effort, made up of a 10-min Stretching (for runners) Routine, followed by a 10-min Strength Training (for runners) routine. Monday: (27/01/20) No HM Training today, just 120-minutes of Karate - I got to the hall early (ish) as I had been wanting to work on my Tensho Kata, which I did, for approx. 15 minutes. Sensei got the class started with a few short Sparring Drills, working again on Footwork, Range, Angles and Timing. Slowing things down a tad, we all got involved in Kihon Work, with a heavy emphasis on Stance Transition, and Whole body Delivery of Movement. The last hour was spent on Kata, where I was given a group of green and blue belts to help work with them on their Saifa Kata, (working on the same emphasises that we did during the Kihon) which I achieved with Peer-to-Peer Kata, as well as a few Partner Drills. Travess
Tuesday: (28/01/20) Karate - another trip over to one of my Sensei's other sister schools tonight, for basically a repeat of last night's session (minus the sparring drills this time, as these sessions are 30 mins shorter than the Monday / Thursday night ones) Warming up with Kihon work, with the focus again on Transitions, Posture, as well as the Drive Train - This only lasted 15 minutes, with left me with 45 minutes, to continue with my work on Saifa Kata, with the same group (+1) that I had last night, reaffirming and revising last night's drills, before moving on to complete the rest of the Kata. Travess
Wednesday: (29/01/20) Getting back on track with my HM Training today (Day 6) which I oddly feel like I am falling behind on, despite being on track for the 50km I was down to run this month. (**Shrug**) Duration: 45m 02s Distance: 8.02km / 4.98 miles* Pace: 5m 37s per/km / 9m 03s per/mile (Note: *This was another one of those 'which ever came 1st runs' between 45 mins, or 5 miles, and as with before, I would have preferred to hit the distance marker, rather than the duration one!) Travess
Thursday: (30/01/20) Had myself another Dojo-tastic evening tonight, firstly with 60-minutes of Kids Karate (spent mentoring an assistant instructor in training) then directly following that, 90-minutes of Adults Karate. We got underway with around 15-minutes of Kihon Drills, before being broken down again into our individual Instructor/grade groups - I had my Saifa type guys and gals again tonight. As they have already made some massive improvements on the Kata, and as this is their 4th straight session to run thru it with me, I decided to put a heavier emphasis on Bunkai and Partner Drills (drilling individual techniques) than I did the Kata itself. Whilst all of the above Kihon and Kata was going on, Sensei opted to run one of his Ambush Sparring sessions, where at any point during the class he would shout 'Ambush' which was you cue to stop what you were doing, and start sparring with the nearest person(s) to you. A fun session, always enjoyed by all... Travess
Friday: (31/01/20) HM Training (Day 7 & 8) My training plan called for a 6km run today, followed by a 10km run on Sunday, but due to a last minute change in work plans, I will no longer have the time for my Sunday run. Not wanting to sell myself short, I decided to combine the two (+ .1km) for today's Road Run instead - Following a 90:10 Timing Split (45s of walking, for every 6m 45s of running) for the duration. Distance: 16.1km / 10 miles Duration: 1h 30m 45s Best Pace: 4m 33s per/km (running) Slowest Pace: 7m 48s per/km (walking) Average Pace: 5m 38s per/km Fairly happy with those results if I am honest, especially with 8 weeks of my 11 week plan still to do. Saturday: (01/02/20) It's been a pretty full on week so far, so I'm gonna make today a Rest Day Travess
Cheers - The idea was to use to walking portions to gauge (and possibly improve) my recovery time, but I just end up using them as an excuse to up the running tempo, so that my overall time doesn't suffer. Sunday: (02/02/20) Woke up full of cold today (sniffles, headache, scratchy throat, tickly cough etc...) so kept today's workout to the absolute minimum (short of doing nothing!) Bodyweight Drill (10-down-to-1) Supersets made up of: Push Ups and TRX Curls Leg Raises and Crunches finishing up with Squats and Glute Bridges. Which was as much as I could mange today! Travess
Monday: (03/02/20) REST DAY My youngest was kind enough to share her cold with me over the weekend, which my Asthma saw as an opening to ATTACK, which has left me in a pretty poor state! Tuesday: (03/02/20) Still struggling with my breathing (even had to leave work 5 hours early last night) but after 8.5 (great) hours of sleep, I felt a short Arm Session, would be comfortably within my range today... 5 x 20 reps (16kg KB) Bicep Curls* 5 x 20 reps (8kg KB**) Skull Crushers 5 x 20 reps (10kg KB) Lateral Raises (Note(s): *Alternating between supernated grip, and hammer grip / **Tried heavier weights, but it turns out that the little wrist niggle that I had 4-weeks-ago, is still loitering) Travess
Wednesday: (05/02/20) REST DAY Feeling a whole lot better, but giving myself that extra day, just to be safe... (...and, because, after today, I've got 5 days straight of training planned...) Thursday: (06/02/20) I had a fair bit planned today, but ultimately decided that the 3-hours spent in the Dojo (including the 60-minutes spent teaching the kids class) for my 1st Karate session of the week, would have to suffice. Before the session started, I kept myself occupied with some Tensho Kata revision, which I plan to work on personally, over the coming weeks. Once the class got underway, we paired up for some Kata Analysis, and revision - my partner and I both worked on Shisochin Kata. The focus for the remainder of the session was to be Tension and Relaxation, and identifying the appropriate points for each - in this case as they are found in Saifa Kata - and recognising when your technique has too much of each one, or the other. Continuing the theme, we then worked on Zero-tension Striking (aka heavy handed, or ballistic striking) Pad Drills, which relied heavily on the momentum, and the whipping motion of the striking area, rather than using any real 'effort' Travess
Friday: (07/02/20) A.M. I'm probably (very likely in fact) gonna be participating in the (national) 3-Peaks-Challenge this June, so I decided that, rather than just heading out for a flat terrain Road Run, I'd get a jump on the Elevation / Incline Training, and head out for a preliminary Off-Road-Hilly Adventure. Duration: 1h 11m 08s Distance: 10km Average Pace: 7m 07s per/km Lowest Elavation: 137m Highest Elavation: 258m or 267m Note: I was looking at/expecting around 8 or 9 minutes per/km, so am very happy with getting just over 7. Note 2: Note sure why one max elavation is listed as 258m, and the other 267.5m? P.M. 2nd (and last) Karate session of the week tonight, (barring the kids class tomorrow morning) where we worked on the structural differences between Sanchin, and Heiko Sanchin Dachi, as well the transitional differences - These were done in Isolation at 1st, then whilst working on Kakie Uke, in the 1st instance, then Hiki Uke, before finishing up with Mawashi Uke / Toraguchi. When the rest of the class broke off to work on Kata, I paired up with one of the junior grades, to assess his Gekisai Di Ichi, and then introducing to the 1st piece of Stock Bunkai, and its associated Pad Drill. Going to bed absolutely pooped tonight!!! Travess
Saturday: (08/02/20) Today was to be a Leg Day, but following yesterday's hill work, I figured they'd earnt their day off. Instead, I selected 2 x 6-minute Tabata Drills - Tabata 1 was Core based, and alternated each 20s work period between (R) Side Plank, (L) Plank and Plank. Tabata 2 focused on the Arms, alternating as above, this time between Hammer Curls and Skull Crushers. Pretty low key compared to some days, but it'll have to do for today. Travess
Sunday: (09/02/20) - REST DAY Unplanned unfortunately, which already puts me 7km behind schedule, for February's HM Training figures. I did however squeeze in between 50 and 60 Push Ups (kept count up to 50, but then kinda lost it after that...) Monday: (10/02/20) I had an AM Strength and Conditioning session planned this morning, but was absolutely done in, and subsequently ended up in bed before 8am! In the Dojo In the evening though, for 100+ minutes of Karate - Which again, started with some personal Tensho Kata work, ahead of the start of class. Sensei must have sensed my inner disappointment in myself tonight, because, following a brief Sparring based warm-up, we got stuck straight in with close to an hour of Sheiko Dachi (horse stance) Drills - These included: Kihon/Transitions (just stances) Grappling Drills, both Grounding (dropping weight) and Lifting/Displacing (raising weight) Downward Striking (Hammerfists & Slaps) Sidestepping Elbow (adding bodyweight to the transition) Fair to say that I'll be feeling all that, and the 15,964 Steps that I have done, when tomorrow rolls around! (But at least I'm not giving myself a hard time anymore) Travess
Tuesday: (11/02/20) - REST DAY (again!!!) Wowzer - Feeling proper lazy at the moment!!! Did just about manage to squeeze in just north of 11,000 steps though, so not 100% sedentary! Wednesday: (12/02/20) Today should have marked day 18 of HM Training (including strength, conditioning and flexibility days) but due to varying reasons (excuses!!!) that number only sits at 14 days - Which, given that I only have 4 sessions planned each week, means that at just 4-weeks in, I've already managed to lose myself ONE-WHOLE-WEEK!!! So, with the above in mind, I set about making up for some lost time/miles... The aim today was a 40-minute Treadmill Run, with a goal pace just slower than GHMP. Distance: 7.22km Average Pace: 5m 33s per/km (GHMP: 5m 26s per/km) I also clocked up a solid step count, of just over 16,300 step. (Which were in addition to those taken during my run) Travess
Thursday: (13/02/20) A.M. Today's HM Training (day 15) was identical to yesterday's - a 40-minute Treadmill Run, with a goal pace just slower than GHMP. Distance: 7.24km Average Pace: 5m 32s per/km (GHMP: 5m 26s per/km) P.M. 60-minutes of Kids Karate - Covering Sparring Drills, a small amount of Kihon, and lots and lots of Pre-emptive Striking to Escape Drills. 90-minutes of Adults Karate - Teaching again tonight, working with a group of 8 intermediate grades, starting with Sparring Drills, a small amount of Kihon, but predominantly working on Saifa Bunkai - This involved running thru the Kata in blocks, dissecting their own piece of Bunkai (in pairs) for that particular block, and then presenting it back to the group. The aim was to do this for the whole Kata, but barely got to the halfway mark. Travess
Friday: (14/02/20) A.M. Today's HM Training (day 16) was another Treadmill Run - I had today down as a sort of Benchmark Day, to gauge where I currently stand, when meeting (or beating) my GHMP targets Distance: 12km Duration: 1h 05m 53s Average Pace: 5m 29s per/km (GHMP: 5m 26s per/km) A little slower than intended, but on the whole, still within range. P.M. 60-minutes of Karate - Tonight we started out with some Peer-to-peer Kata Analysis (my 'peer' only knew up to Seyunchin, so that is what we did) following that, we spent some time on Ichi Bunkai, firstly looking at our stock stuff, and then having a little play with Oyo. Sensei recently bought 2 Dummies - one for Grappling, the other for Throwing - which he brought along to class tonight, for us to have a play with - Mostly just so that we could offer him some feedback (which was all pretty positive) As for tomorrow... Saturday (15/02/20) - Rest Day Back on it on Sunday - Maybe! Travess
Yeah, that quickly turned into a definite NO - Mrs Travess surprised me with a night away (dinner, show, hotel...) so the only exercise I did involved raising forks/spoons, and/or a glass to my mouth! Sunday: (16/02/20) - REST DAY Monday: (17/02/20) Karate @ 90-minutes - I started with 10-15 minutes of Tensho Kata, whilst everyone else was getting warmed up. We went (what Sensei thinks of as) 'old school' tonight, with just 90-minutes solid of Line Work, drilling a multitude of Kihon Combinations, ahead of next month's grading. Unfortunately, for this groups grade level (6th & 5th Kyu) the standard didn't not quite meet Sensei's expectations, so we didn't end up progressing as much as I would have liked. I shifted it from general Kihon towards the end, to more specific Kicking Drills, covering Mae, Kin and Yoko Geri (ran out of time to do Mawashi Geri unfortunately) It was a tough session, no doubt, but they all worked really hard, with one of the least accomplished kickers even pulling some of the best Yoko Geri of the group outta the bag. I've not included the weekend's step count, as quite frankly, it was pretty dismal - I did better today though, with 17,503 steps taken in total Travess
Tuesday: (18/02/20) I did have a Run planned today, but after stressing all night about when I could fit one in, and then actually finding the time to do so, I couldn't then find the motivation to get it done!!! 60-minutes of Karate - Not happy with just beating myself up over this morning's laziness, I decided to head to the (sister) Dojo, to allow others to get a few good shots in too... I got warmed up with some Light Kata, running (well, walking really) myself through just Ichi, Ni and Saifa. We then paired up to do a little more Peer-to-Peer Kata Analysis, with me and my partner focussing solely on Shisochin. The last 40-minutes were then spent on Gekisai Di Ichi based Sparring Drills, working specifically on Counterstrike Ranges and Timing, utilising the mechanics from the 1st 2 moves of the Kata (i.e. protect your head, destroy their head!) against a Semi-compliant Partner. Next up we moved onto the Kicking Sequence portion of the Kata (still working on timing/range) this time counterstriking with Hiza Geri and Mae Geri (targeting the torso with the former, and either the in-side of leg, or the hip joint for the letter) These were done against both semi-compliant partner, and then finally against a Non-compliant Partner, with increased levels of contact. Travess
