Hanna Hustled, Ike Inched and Dani Did a PB

WOW!!.......there must be a forcefield around South Florida; Hanna took a right turn and hustled to the north. Ike has inched southward and now South Florida is out of the "Cone of Concern". Yeah!!! Good news for us; bad news for the Carribean nations that have already been pounded this season.

On to happier news: University of Florida Gators 26, University of Miami 'Canes 3!!! The 1st and 4th quarters were exciting. Quarters 2 and 3 the Gators seemed to lose some momentum. The 'Canes defense picked up and the Gators had a hard time getting past the line of scrimmage. But the final result is a win!!!

The "for sale sign" got hung and the house listing went up this past Tuesday. 3 days later came the 1st call for a showing on Sunday. So part of Saturday and Sunday was spent moving boxes to the storage unit, and cleaning up/tidying up the house. Then the call came in and the showing got cancelled. Oh well, maybe next weekend.

Training News:

Thursday

-Running: 5.07 miles in 51:11.

-Karate: 7:30 bugo class and 6:30 SWAT class. It was a good bugo class; Chloe, a brown belt (again, I'm bad with the names), Sam, 1 other person (?name?) and then finished off with Marlene. I did much better in my final match with Marlene on Thursday than I did with her on Wednesday. My SWAT class was with the advanced junior class. I haven't SWATTED a junior class in quite a while and forgot how inattentive the younger kids can be but also how much fun they can be too.

Friday

-Running: Rest Day

-Karate: Friday was a candidate class. We warmed up and then went into boxing skills and drills. Next were the forms. Ma'am called for the December candidates to go in the front row; 1st Mel. And then me. I was surprised because normally I don't stand out and get overlooked. We did appreciation form, short 2, bookset, XMA form 2 and threw in 2-count kicking in between. Then the weapons, XMA Chuck form 1 and American Bo Form. I'm sure the 1/2 bottle of Speed Stack before class helped, but I was ON FIRE!!!! I think I performed at my all time best. I was the most happy with my bo form; I performed it at performance speed and everything just clicked. I was smiling so hard afterwards. We ended class with Kyoshi going over the MMA drills.

Saturday

-Running: Up at 4:30am for the long run; my training plan called for 14 miles. Met up with the running club. For a 14 mile run, the route goes up Bayview to Commercial then crosses over to A1A, heads south to the Yankee Clipper, then turns back north and heads to the running store. There were 4 of us doing that route: myself, Coach Robert, Alicia and Sandy. We started on a good pace around 10 minute miles for the 1st three miles. I ran next to Sandy and we chatted about her training for the Chicago marathon. After 3 miles we picked up the pace a tiny bit. By mile 5, Sandy slowed a bit. I was still feeling good so I partnered up with Alicia while coach ran back to check on Sandy.

Alicia was keeping a steady 9:30-ish pace. My long runs are usually 10:30-11:00 (or more) minute miles. I am not very good at keeping an even pace. Alicia was planning on running 12 miles so I decided to run 12 with her. And, since I was running "faster" than usual, I figured we'd be done close to 8am so I would have time to make it to karate for the timed 2-mile run. That would give me my 14 miles.

Well, my timing was off a bit; we finished our run at 8:15, but only because we started our run late, at 6:15am. We ran 12.01 miles in 1:58:59! It was a great run. And, it was a symbiotic run. Alicia thanked me for helping her finish the distance. She says she probably would have stopped at 9 and 1/2 miles. I thanked her for pacing me. I would have easily run 20 minutes slower if I was by myself.

It's a bit ironic. The night before the run, I was talking with someone at karate about the fact that I joined the running group so that I could have people to run with. But every run so far had left me running by myself. I was starting to think joining the club was a waste of money. And then I have one of my best runs; in fact, it was a "PB" for me. And what timing! As the New York City Marathon quickly looms around the corner, my confidence is starting to wane. So Saturday's run was a fantastic confidence boosting run. I saw that I could handle a faster pace over a long distance. New York, HERE I COME!!!!

The only sour note was that after a brief cool down from the run, I got in my Jeep to head to karate and realized I would never make it on time for the timed run at 8:30. Rats.....hopefully Ma'am will accept my 12 mile run!!

Sunday

Running: Today was a "recovery" run. Ran 8.08 in 1:30:18. I really like catching up on my podcasts on my longer runs but I definitely run "faster" when I listen to music versus podcasts.

For The Week

Karate: 4 classes, 3 SWAT classes

Running: 5 runs totalling 34.01 miles; another milestone for my training!!!!

I really am starting to feel bipolar. Last week was a pretty crappy (depressed week). Now, this week was spectacular (manic). It was one of the best karate weeks I have ever had. I took 2 bugo classes and didn't feel intimidated. In stead, I felt strong and confident. In the candidate class, I felt like a "2nd degree black belt"; I was able to focus, have "tiger eyes" and perform to the level I know I can. And in my running, I made huge strides in total mileage and in seeing that I can push myself a bit harder.

I guess I need the crappy weeks to better appreciate the spectacular weeks.

Well, let's keep our fingers crossed that this week is another Spectacular Week!!!

Dani