NYC Marathon, 35 more days!!

Wow. I can't believe it's only 35 more days till the New York City Marathon.....and 94 days till 2009......

I ended my last blog the night before my Black Belt Pre-Check #1. So how did it go?????

Well, as I suspected. Neither of my kids wanted to come and support me. 11 and 12 years olds don't want to "hang" with their moms. So, RJ went to the Yacht club, LR went to her friend's house, and I went to the dojo early so I could get in an extra good stretch!

I felt really good with my performance. I was energetic, I showed intensity, I powered through the strength drills (push-ups) and I rocked my katas! I only had one tiny "oops" in my American Bo Form, where my bo hit my leg when it should have been spinning. But overall, I was very happy with my performances. I was on cloud 9 when I left the dojo.

A couple of days later I got feedback from Master KC; she says that she and Kyoshi noticed my conditioning but I need to work on my upper katas, focusing on my performance energy.

Since the Black Belt Pre-check #1, the days have gone by in a blur. I took the pharmacy law exam for Nebraska this past Thursday and I'm not feeling that great about it. But then again, after I took Louisiana's exam I was certain I had failed, but oddly enough, I passed!

Speaking of Louisiana, I got the call this week that I have been scheduled to appear before the Board of Pharmacy. I am taking that as a sign that my background criminal check and fingerprints "passed" and that I am being granted a license to practice pharmacy in Louisiana.

So, with Kentucky, Louisiana, and Nebraska done, next comes Arizona, then Oregon, followed by Tennessee and Arkansas. Yep, I'll be busy for a while!!! :)

Now on to the homefront. The first open house was this weekend. It really sucks that so much effort was put into getting the house cleaned and staged and there was only 1 couple that stopped by. And, they weren't pre-qualified for the price of our house. We did get feedback that they loved the kitchen, the master bedroom, the master closets and the master bathroom.

Good night.
Dani :)

Twas the night before Black Belt Pre-Check #1

Now I lay me down to sleep..............But first I have some thoughts to keep
I guess I'll blog before my test...............and pray the Lord I'll do my best

Monday
Karate: Class at 8:30, SWAT at 7:00 and 7:45. Tonight was demo practice; but that didn't take the full class so we were able to get in some bag work. And, it was an extra tough workout because the transformer blew; the lights came back on but not the AC. And oh my, was it hot!!!!
Running: Rest day :)

Tuesday
Karate: Class at 7:30 and SWAT at 6:30; a good "A" day workout
Running: 8.07 miles in 1:31:23

Wednesday
Running: 3.05 miles in 28:54
Karate: Exam night!! The Demo went well. I did American Bo form with Ms. Kim and Ms. Mel. We were going at performance pace and the 2nd "set" where you do 4 figure 8's on the left, well I was a bit behind the other ladies. But I finished strong! After the bo staff, me and 13 other black belts and high-red belts performed 3 set kumites. We performed it in a square formation. It looked really cool and the staggered running kicks looked great. We did a pretty "easy" finale and then exited the floor. I went to the ladies room to change into my running clothes since Mel and I had talked about doing our 3 mile run after demo. But Mel wasn't in her running gear; instead, she was on the bench holding her knee.

She twisted it pretty good. And the stubborn lady she is, she was still talking about going out and running. But after some persuasion from a number of blackbelts, she iced her knee, she tried to "work out the kinks", and eventually went home to do RICE.

I then went on to the floor to help with the exam and after a few minutes, Mr. Mike asked me to check on a white belt who just went into the ladies room. Ms. Kelly wasn't doing very well; she was in the midst of having a migraine. I definitely could empathize with her. Migraines are the worst!!!! And I say that from personal experience. Unfortunately, Ms. Kelly wasn't able to go back to testing. And needless to say, I spent most of Wednesday night in the bathroom. :)

Thursday
Running:
5.11 miles in 50:21
Karate: Class at 7:30, SWAT at 8:30. It was a great Bugo class for me. I started off by partnering with Kathy. She is awesome; she's very good about giving you feedback (keep your right guard up higher; move to your right side). When we went into 3 person safety zones, I first was with Marlene and Kathy. Marlene and I are about the same size so it was a pretty "even" match. Kathy is shorter than me, but she's a petite powerhouse. Tonight I decided I was going to focus on staying in tight with my opponent and just keep throwing punches (and yes, expecting to take some punches). I did much better against Ms. Kathy with this approach.

We only did one 3-person safety zone. Then Ma'am had all the black belts and high-red belts line up in the red zone for a round. I sparred with Ms. Terri, a high-red belt. She too is close to my size and we had a good sparring round. Finally, Ma'am had just the black belts on deck. Ms. Jennifer was "assigned" to spar with me. Now Jennifer is a bit shorter than me, BUT.......she's another petite powerhouse, 3rd degree kick-ass martial artist. I kept with my strategy of staying in tight rather than try to use my reach. And I held my ground!!! I was able to go the full 2 minutes without having Ms. Jennifer kick my butt!!! It was at the end of class and I was getting tired, but my cardio kept up (thanks to my running!!!). I was so happy with my sparring tonight; it's really come a long way; between improving my cardio and really focusing on specific drills, I may end up actually liking bugo. Imagine that!?!?!?

Recap: as of mid-week
3 karate classes
5 SWAT classes; made up a few (I'm still behind a few SWATs) :(
3 Extra 100's; I'll get in the 4th sometime this weekend.
3 Runs for 16.23 miles

Now it really is time for me to go "lay me down to sleep"!!! I'm so excited because tomorrow is the 1st Black Belt Pre-Check for the December cycle. Going for my 1st degree black belt, I was nervous and lacking confidence; I stressed at every Pre-check. But now as I go for my 2nd degree black belt, I have "told myself" that I will enjoy this! I'm not going to stress out. I know the material and I will perform it to the best of my abilities. I will be strong, I will be confident, I will support my teammates and we will all achieve our goals!!


Good night!

Dani

A Bye Week, Bummer

No Gator football this past Saturday, it was a "bye" week. Next Saturday, we face Tennessee.



I want to get this blog posted, so it's going to be a quick recap of my training.....



Monday 9/8
Running: 3.27 miles; 31:58
Karate: class @ 8:30, SWAT @ 7:45, "extra 100's"
Tuesday 9/9
Running: Rest Day
Karate: Class @ 7:30, SWAT @ 8:30
Wednesday 9/10
Running: 8.03 miles; 1:33:46 (listened to NPR Wait, Wait; LMAO!!)
Karate: Rest Day; "extra 100s"
Thursday 9/11
Running: Rest Day
Karate: Class @ 7:30, SWAT @ 6:30; it's spotlight week so no Bugo (muffled YEAH!!)
Friday 9/12
Running: Rest Day
Karate: Class @ 7pm, "extra 100's "
Saturday 9/13
Running: 6.06 miles; 1:05:07, then a 2 mile timed run @ karate in 15:41 (didn't run at 100%)
Karate: Candidate class at 8:30am. Was "easier" than most candidate classes
Sunday 9/14
Running: 17.02 miles; 3:06:31
Karate: Rest Day; "extra 100s"



Weekly Total

Running: 5 runs totaling 36.38 miles; another all-time mileage high for me!!!

Karate: 5 classes, 3 SWATs, 4 "extras"



Overall it was a great training week on both fronts; running and karate. As of today (9/16/08), I only have 47 days till my next marathon, the ING New York City Marathon. I'm getting psyched, I'm getting nervous, I'm getting anxious, I'm getting concerned.......



I'm getting most scared because with all my training, I'm feeling physically really good; no major aches or pains. With all my mileage, classes, etc, I should be sore, stiff or otherwise complaining. But I'm not. Yeah, I still have my heel pain, but that's minor; it's very tolerable and doesn't really impact my running. When I was in training for my 1st degree black belt, I felt sore every day. Now training for my 2nd degree, I feel great everyday. Well, whatever is the reason, I like it!



Till next week,



Boa noite (good night in Portuguese)



Dani

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

Holy Hurricanes Batman!

OK, from the pictures, I'm sure you can gather how I will be spending the next week or so. I am already so "over" this hurricane season. Fay, Gustov, Hanna, Ike, Josephine......it's starting to remind me of 2004 and 2005 Charlie, Frances, Jean, and Wilma.......




My biggest concern right now is Hanna because it looks like she'll be in the Gainesville vicinity around Friday or Saturday. And, Saturday is the day of the Florida Gators versus University of Miami Hurricanes football games! How appropriate that we're playing the Hurricanes!!! Anyways, I am really looking forward to the game and hope it doesn't get cancelled.

Also, I'm not too thrilled that Ike is projected to be a category 4 storm. Wilma was a 3 and we had to get a new roof. A cat 4, yikes!!!

And now for the non-hurricane news.....
My daughter is going to the Jonas Brother's concert Thursday night with her best friend. For anyone who has a teenage daughter, the "JBs" are the hottest thing right now. The concert is in Tampa, across the state. This means she has to miss a day of school. I am not the type of parent who lets my kids miss school; ever (and you can ask either one of them!). But, I know this is something she really wanted. She always does well in school getting good grades and making honor roll, so I am chalking this concert up as a "reward".

Of course now my son thinks he is entitled to getting a "free day off from school". SoI told him, if his grades get as good as his sister's, I will honor that request. He has the capacity, he just doesn't have the drive. He's a typical, normal 11 year old boy who enjoys lazing around, playing video games and watching TV.


Training News......so far this week.....
Monday:
**Running: 5.15 miles in 53:51
**Karate: closed because of the Labor Day Holiday

Tuesday:
**Running: Ran 3.28 miles in 32:00 minutes; ran before karate behind the dojo.
**Karate: 7:30 class. Master KC threw in conditioning type drills in between the "usual" MMA, boxing type of drills. She always seems to do that after a holiday when we get an extra day off! I was a bit tired and extremely sweaty after class, so I didn't stay to SWAT the novice class.

Wednesday:
**Runnng: running Rest day!!
**Karate: SWATted the 7:45 novice class and then took my 8:30 bugo class. I was happy to see a good number of ladies for the late night sparring class. And it was a nice mixture of ladies. I sparred twice with Marlene, twice with a Brown belt lady (I'm bad with names!) and once with Ms. Kim. Overall it was a good sparring night for me. I'm trying to focus on using my left jab more; both offensively and as an "entry". I'm also trying to string combos together better using both my hands hands and feet.

Well, enought for 1 night. I'm off to sleep!!!

Dobroi nochi (Good night in Russian)

Gator Football is Back!!!!

The Olympics end and College Football starts, isn't life grand!!

Monday:
Running: Rest Day :)
Karate: Went to 5pm class! Yes, the early one. And why is that? Well, we had to change out the hopper at work (the machine that that drops the empty prescription vials into the labeler). The change out had to happen after hours and since they were working in the pharmacy, there has to be a pharmacist on duty. I didn't have a large number of pharmacists volunteer to work late; ok, no-one volunteered for Monday night and only 1 person signed up for Tuesday night. So, I left at 3pm, went to karate at 5pm and came back at 7pm to "babysit" the pharmacy and was there till 12:45am. It ended up being a great night for 2 reasons; (1) since it was "quiet", I got a lot of work done!!!; and, (2) the guys got everything done on Monday so we didn't need the pharmacist for Tuesday night (this saved a lot of overtime dollars!!!).

Tuesday:
Running: 7.14 miles in 1:17:34
Karate: No class tonight because of Home & School Meeting :(

Wednesday:
Running: 5.66 miles in 1:03:09.
Karate: I don't remember why, but I'm sure there was a good reason why I didn't go to class on Wednesday.....hmmm..... it's that darn CRS acting up again....

Thursday:
Running: Rest day
Karate: I didn't make it to class and I definitely know why. "He who must not be named" left the kids at the house with grandma. This meant I would have to take them to karate. When I told them that, they refused. This is going to be my biggest challenge in working towards my 2nd degreee blackbelt; getting in all my classes between my schedule and the kid's and "he who must not be named"'s schedule. Ugh....

Friday
Running: Rest day
Karate: I didn't make it to class (again). At work we had to run an Open Refill File for a plan that moved to another mail order provider. We couldn't run the file till end of day and then it had to be reviewed and signed off by a pharmacist. Although I assigned a RPH on staff, responsibility still fell on me and since this was the 1st ourbound open refill file under my "directorship", I coudn't go to karate class in case there were any problems. So......for the week, I only ended up with 1 karate classes and zero SWAT classes. This means, I will be in make up mode for the next couple of weeks.

Saturday
Running: 8.06 miles in 1:32:13 at CPS. It was a good run; not great.
Karate: The dojo was closed for the holiday weekend.
Football: Gators vs. Hawaii: W52-10. It was a good game; lots of good plays by the offense, defense and special teams. Tim Tebow wasn't "explosive", but hey, this was the 1st game and it wasn't a ranked team. No need to go out and take excessive risks. But next week.......we play Miami!!! I can't wait!!!!

Sunday:

Running: 8.10 miles in 1:30:43; again at CPS.

• My heel pain is the same; not better, not worse. It still "cracks" when I flex it and I can see/feel the protrusion. I'm not sure whether it's really a bone spur or bursits, but either way, I've decided to start back up on the Aleve (naproxen sodium), taking 440mg BID; I'm planning on taking it continuously for 2-3 weeks then re-evaluate.

This was a "stormy" week. We started the week off with several days of rain thanks to Hurricane Fay, since we were in the "dirty side" (north east quadrant) of the storm. We ended the week with rain thanks to the feeder bands of Hurricane Gustov. And right now, there's Hurrican Hanna knocking on our door with Tropical Storm Ike right behind her. I'm so "Weather Channeled" out!!

Till next week,

Uz drīz redzēšanos! (see you soon in Latvian!)

Dani

The Beijing Olympics

Well, it's been 2 weeks since my last post. And it's no coincidence that it's the same amount of time that I was glued to my TV watching the Olympics. Yes, I will admit it. I am an Olympics junkie.


Normally, I am not a big TV watcher. Maybe the local news while I'm getting ready in the morning, or in the evening, some HGTV or the Food Network; if I have some spare time (yeah right!). Usually I have so much going on that I don't have time for TV. But, there are 2 things that will guarantee that I will be glued to the TV; (1) the Olympics and (2) Gator football.


The Olympics

• The Olympics were awesome this year for a number of reasons.....
• #1: Michael Phelps; need I say anything more?
• #2: 41 year old Dara Torres and the 38 year old Rumania ladies marathon gold medalist. They proved you don't have to be in your early 20's to Win!
• #3: My kids are at the age where they really got into the Olypmics; they are at that "impressionable age" where they appreciate the athleticism and competitiveness; and they are inspired! Lauren really enjoyed watching Michael Phelps. Ryan and I watched the mens marathon. After watching that, he came to a much greater appreciation of my marathon finish (although my time was way off the Olympic record!).

I think this Olympics broadcast was the most diverse that I've seen, The kids were able to see a wide variety of different sports, much more than they are typically exposed to. NBC did a great job in their broadcasts; and I always enjoy watching Bob Costas and Chris Collingsworth.




Watching the swimming and diving has made an impact on my kids. Last week, Ryan asked to go to the Ft. Lauderdale Swimming Hall of Fame pool. We started out at the diving boards. The 1 meter spring board was great. We were able to do our dives. Moving up to the 3 meter springboard was a bit more nerve-racking. I did 2 front dives. I now know why the Olympic lady divers wear a one-piece bathing suit. Both of my dives resulted in me losing my bottoms. Let's hope I made enough splash to cover my "moonings"!!! Ryan wanted to dive off the high board so bad. The lifeguard, myself, and other people around the diving area gave him so much encouragement. But ultimately, he couldn't do it.

Watching the closing ceremonies, both kids mentioned they would like to go to the Olympics. We talked about what it would take to get to the 2012 Olympics and it is an attainable goal. So, the goal is now printed and hanging on the office wall; "London 2012".

Gator Football
College football gets started for me this coming Saturday, August 30th; UF vs. Hawaii! But the game I've been waiting 3 years for is the following Saturday, September 6th; UF vs. UM. And it is at the Swamp. Oh, how cool it would be to be at that game. I can only dream. I am so looking forward to UF kicking some UM ass!!! And then rubbing it in to all the UM fans that I must deal with on a daily basis.

Training: Running
I've gotten in a number of runs in the past couple weeks.

• Wednesday: 6.16 miles; 1:07:40
• Thursday: 3 miles; 28:46
• Friday: 5.81 miles; 59:38
• Saturday: 6.92 1:13:12; AND!! 1 mile timed run: 7:12
• Sunday: 7.25; 1:15:48
• Total mileage: 30.14!!!!
• Monday: 4.14; 38:12
• Wednesday: 6.09; 1:01:33
• Saturday: 2: 15:12
• Sunday: 6.02; 58:43
• Total Mileage: 18.25 YUCK!!!
• As of today (8/26/08), only 67 more days till my marathon!! I changed my flight to NY, deciding to come in a day sooner so I can go to the expo on Friday and leave Saturday as a "rest up" day.
• Right now I'm at that stage where I am half excited and half scared. Mostly the half scared part since I'm not getting in as much "hill training" as I know I need.

Training: Karate

So far the month of August has been a good month for my karate training. I've gotten in my classes, SWAT classes, my "extras" strength workouts and runs. My timed runs have gone great. I'm confident in my forms. My weapon katas are much better and I finally have American Bo Form down and getting my details tight. I've been working on my bugo (sparring) skills and my confidence is bugo is improving.

The Rest of My Life

The realtor is coming by tomorrow night so that the house can be put on the market. There's still lots that needs to be done to "stage" the house. Plus, this Labor Day weekend I need to study for my Nebraska MPJE pharmacy law exam scheduled for the 2nd week of September. UGH, so much to do, so little time........

Speaking of time, it's time for me to post this blog!

Ciao!

Dani