Monday (18/03/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - There was a change to tonight's lesson plan, as Iain (Abernethy) had offered to pop along to run a Throws for Karate session for us, at the last minute. It was only a 90 minute session, so instead of trying to cram in a wide selection of throws, we aimed at getting a better understanding of just a select few. Which were Nodo-Oseo (throat press throw) Ippon Seoi Nage (one armed shoulder throw - which we covered a few different grips and set ups for) Morote Seoi Nage (two/both arm shoulder throw) O'Goshi (major hip throw)* Uke Goshi (floating hip throw) Each technique covered was broken down into 3 key learning stages - The Set Up, the Balance Taking/Trip/Lift and then the Throw itself, each of which were repeated multiple times, before moving on the next, and then finally stringing them all together at the end - All drills also included Finishing Strikes and Escapes Note: *This is the throw that I had the biggest 'lightbulb' moments with, as due to poor shoulder flexibility, and frankly a lazy set up, there was very little that differentiated between my o'goshi, and my uke goshi. However, after a couple of very simple, and easy to understand, (and even easier to implement) drills, I (and others) were already starting to see massive gains. Travess
the way I used to try differentiate was uki goshi, hip 90% to partner, o goshi 180% Also looking at a few videos, I noticed a lot of under hook for o goshi, I always was taught to grip at shoulder or over if they were shorter, which probably works better with shoulder restrictions, or under if they were much taller for most hip throws. Glad to read that things clicked, I always like those moments
That's pretty much how I'd always viewed them too, unfortunately, due to the aforementioned shoulder issues, I'd reach my full ROM whilst in the 90% position, and therefore would be unable to complete the turn/drive-in for the remaining 90% This is what 'clicked' the most for me personally - Iain essentially taught it that it was less about where you have your arm (underhook, round the back, over the shoulder) and more about making sure that your near side shoulder is all the way under the armpit of the Uke. Not sure if that is standard practice, was something that I should have already know, but missed, or just something that made sense on the day, but I'm gonna run with it. Travess
Tuesday (19/03/19) - Rest Day... ...with the exception of my Plank Pyramid (which I didn't get around to doing yesterday) and some very low level Kata Revision. Wednesday (20/03/19) - Rest Day No. 2 This wasn't meant to be a rest day, but my wife surprised me with a trip to go see Captain Marvel during our downtime today, so I just went the flow - Hey, who am I to argue?! Thursday (21/03/19) I had nice (i.e. easy going) little 1-hour Long EMOM Strength Training Session on the cards this week (planned for yesterday) 6 x 10 minute EMOM Exercises, with 12 reps of each. Warm-up: Short Walk Moderate Kata (Ichi, Ni, Saifa, Seyunchin, Shisochin and Sanseru) EMOMs: #1 - Parallel Squats #2 - Push Ups #3 - Bicycle Crunches #4 - Deep Squats #5 - Bicep Curls #6 - Tricep Dips Cool Down: Stretching Duration: 1h 37m Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 162 bpm Average HR: 108 bpm Calories: 438 used (No Karate for me tonight, as my wife has just had a nasty extraction at the dentists, so I offered to do the girls bedtimes.) Travess
Friday (22/03/19) - Monday (25/03/19) inclusive I've been fighting a chesty cough and sore throat this past week, and it became apparent on Friday that I was severely losing ground - Breathing is a little laboured, resting HR is in the low-70's (compared to my usual mid-to-high 50's) and it feel like I have a good ball lodged at the back of my throat - so I have decided to issue myself a few additional Rest Days Travess
Tuesday (26/03/19 - Part 1) AM: Whilst I'm still not feeling 100%, even after giving myself a few days off, I am feeling around 70%, and with less than 2 weeks until race day, that was gonna have to do. Walk/Run*: Duration: 90 minutes Distance: 12.88km (3.65km / 9.23km) Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 187 bpm Average HR: 134 bpm Calories: 976 used Note: My Wife wanted to go for a bit of a walk this morning, so I headed out with her, and included that in my overall time/distance. (too be cont...) Travess
Tuesday (26/03/19 - Part 2) PM: Karate @ 60 minutes - As I had to skip both the Thursday and the Monday evening sessions, I decided to take a trip over to our clubs sister dojo, which is in the next county over. (and why I don't ever really make it over there) The session was broken down into 2 halves, with the 1st 30 mins being spent on a few Immediate Action / Management of Failure Pad Drills - We started off with Free Striking on the Pads, (nice and relaxed) then on the command 'Go' immediately react to a set drill: Drill 1 - Striker to Land 4 Hard, Explosives Strikes (returning straight to the relaxed strikes, which were the default setting for these drills, ready to 'Go' again) Drill 2 - Pad Holder to club striker around the sides of the head (4 shots) Striker to Cover Up, and 'weather' the shots Drill 3 - As above, but, instead of 'weathering' the shots, you to try and Shut the Pad Holder Down, and stunt their shots (preferably by the 2nd swing) Drill 4 - As above, but, once you've successfully shut the pad holder down, you then had to Create Distance (by giving them a shove) and Escape. Drill 5 - As per drill 4, but this time if the 'shove' was insufficient to Create enough distance, you could land a Power Counter Shot of your own. I do enjoy these kind of drills, not just because of how energetic and interactive they are, but because there is nowhere to hide, should your timing/covering be off, drinking any of the counters (and yes, I got clubbed around the head 1 or 2 times more than I would have liked, in more than one occasion.) The 2nd half of the session was spent looking at Kata, during which I was asked to take a handful (3) of our new 8th Kyu grades through an introduction to Gekisai Di Ni - Talking them through the differences/similarities of the Uchi Uke and Kake Uke, before including them in the Kata. Then, isolating and breaking down the mechanics of both the Mawashi Uke, and it's accompanying Neko Ashi Dachi, before doing the same. Travess
Wednesday (27/03/19) I decide re-tread yesterday's run route, this time heading out solo. Run: Duration: 1 hour 13 minutes Distance: 12.88km Starting HR: 69 bpm Max HR: 183 bpm Average HR: 166 bpm Calories: 1,048 used Cool Down: Stretching Travess
Thursday (28/03/19) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - I started the class off with a mixed Cardio / Kihon Warm-up, before moving on to Kata. All grades working together, we ran through either Ichi, Ni or Saifa, depending on which Kata they knew (if they only knew Ichi, then that is what they repeated, but if they knew all 3, then they did all 3) Next up, we ran a 3 Station BoB Gauntlet, made up of Jab, Cross, Lead Slap (on BoB 1) Ground and Pound - Jab, Cross, Elbow (on BoB 2 - Just the torso, laid on the ground) and Jab, Cross, Front Kick (on BoB 3) which they did several circuits of each. Finally, (whilst the junior and intermediate grades were on the Pads, practicing Slaps and Hooks, under one of the other instructors) I took the seniors thru the uses of an Elbow, during Ground & Pound Strikes, which we did both as a Pad Drill, and as a (very controlled) compliant Partner Drill. Not sure if it was something in the water, but there seemed to be a lot more disruption, and idle gossip taking place during this session, and not just amongst the usual suspects - But I am hoping that it was just a one off... Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - It looked like we were getting a pretty high intensity session tonight, jumping straight in with some Sparring Drills (not full contact, but still a little north of moderate contact) 6 rounds in total, with 3 different partners (got blood on my brand spanking, never before today worn Gi too! None of it was mine though, and it washed out okay, so I guess I shouldn't be grumbling) This was where the lesson changed though, at least for me (and a few of the other Black Belts) as I was asked to cover a Saifa, and its required Bunkai, session for a couple of our green belt (6th Kyu) students - They knew the barebones of it, so it was just a case of Refining, Revising, and seeing what Bunkai presented itself along the way. I was originally gonna class today as a Rest Day (or at least an Active Rest Day) due to the low level of output required, but ultimately felt that I'd be selling myself short if I did. Travess
Friday (29/03/19) I had my final Pre-run Run today, ahead of next Sunday's event, and it I was a little disappointed with the results, if I am honest - All of my training so far has been geared towards getting a sub-two-hour finish time, but if this morning was anything to go by, I may well struggle to achieve that... Run: Duration: 2 hours Distance: 20km Average Pace: 6m 01s per/km Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 180 bpm Average HR: 171 bpm Calories: 1,768 used I plan to take it easy for the next 7 days now, (with the exception of a couple of karate sessions) with my main focus being on Stretching, Nutrition and spending some quality time with my Foam Roller. Travess
A good taper week does wonders for your pace, that plus race day adrenaline/excitement I reckon you are still in for a high possibility sub 2 hour
That is my hope too, but I was hoping to have been able to give myself at least a glimmer of a physical reassurance of it... 'We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training' Travess
Saturday (30/03/19) & Sunday (31/03/19) Both Rest Days Monday (01/04/19) - Saturday (06/04/19) This was a massive Active Rest week for me this week - Just a 10 minute, runner related, Stretching routine on most days, (sometimes twice a day) plus spending some time with the old Foam Roller, and making sure that I did (at least) 12,000 steps per day. Monday (01/04/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - Spent the entire session working with 2 junior (10th and 8th Kyu) students, breaking down, and fine tuning Gekisai Di Ichi, which we did from 4 separate approaches - Isolated Techniques, Stance Transitions, Pad Drills, and of course, regularly returning to the full Kata. Thursday (04/04/19) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - I took a step back at tonight's class, allowing a couple of the asst. Instructors to fly solo, and run their sessions - One of whom ran a very small (4 students) Sanchin Kata session (which I planned for them, as they are very new to teaching) whilst the other planned, and ran their own Restrictive Striking Pad Drill session, for the rest of the class. Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - The session started off with 20 minutes of Kihon, (which I was very happy to get stuck in with) before the class was broken down into mentoring groups - Tonight I was to shadow one of our orange belts (8th Kyu) with aim of helping him refine his Gekisai Di Ni, which I did with Pad Drills, straight up Kata, and an introduction to Bunkai I found it pretty difficult taking my foot off the gas for a whole week, but I was assured that it was the best way to go, and hopefully it will pay off tomorrow. (Not that it's feeling that way now, as my legs are aching, and my energy levels feel a little low) Travess
Cheers Alex - I've kind of tentatively shelved my plans for a sub-2-hour time (really not feeling it) but I'm still gonna go out, and just enjoy the run, and who knows, maybe still smash a PB Travess
Seems to have paid off... Sunday (07/04/19) I started my training for today's half marathon, with the simple goal of beating my previous time - 02:17:21 - but after a few weeks of training, that goal quickly shifted to a (optimistic) sub-2-hour time. Flash forward 10 weeks (2 weeks to race day) and that goal shifted again to just hitting around an average 10-min-mile pace - 02:10:00 approximately - which came about as a result of illness/missed training opportunities due to the weather... ...Turns out that I should have had more faith in myself. Race Day: Distance: 21.17km Duration: 01:58:03 (Yay!) Average Pace: 05:35 per/km Max HR: 200 bpm (red-lined it a bit) Average HR: 176 bpm Calories: 1,763 used Extremely happy with the results, but that is me done with running now, at least for the foreseeable future! (Says the man who is picking up a new treadmill on Tuesday.) Travess
that is AWESOME Races are for red lining. I'm happy to read that rest paid off and 2 minutes under your target!!
