Changes of plan

So... when I started this all that time ago, I had a million ideas about 'getting fitter' as a whole general term without any kind of specific targets. I knew I wanted to be able to run faster and/or further, get bigger, get stronger and do it all with one massive change up all at once.

Whilst I know it's kind of possible, I realised that I had a priority, and that was adding muscle mass. Training to run long(ish) distances isn't really conducive to that aim, so that got knocked on the head. After a while, I found that keeping up with football, Taekwondo and weights wasn't really possible - no matter how much I tried mentally arranging it I couldn't find day number 8. I'd already dropped football one season in favour of TKD and didn't want to again. So, regrettably, I finished TKD. I still intend to take up fighting again as I do really miss it.

I got really interested in exactly how to build muscle - what to eat, when to eat, when to work out, for how long and how frequently. When to rest, what supplements to take and which not to.

There is a lot of conflicting information available and I read through a tonne of it. I've put together plenty of different plans to follow to keep mixing things up and the result was around 21lbs of muscle gain, going

         from this                               through this                                   to this
               V                                             V                                               V


I'm still a novice at this stuff but I'm enjoying learning and I think this might end up being a dumping ground for all the stuff I have learned/find out in the future...

It's slow progress, but it's progress...

lakes/2 months?!/competion/green piss...!

Well, I'm thinking about starting writing in this blog again and I came across this partly written post which I figured I might as well publish for the sake of it.

In reference to the title - I think I had been to the lakes so was gonna write about that, it had been 2 months since my last post when I wrote this (now 22 months) and protein shakes make your urine green....

So the post as I found it:


So...it's been a while.

I haven't really updated because as far as I thought nothing much has happened...then I thought about all the stuff I have done and decided there probably was enough for about 4 posts...

I've made some big changes in the weights side of things as well with some interesting results...

Firstly, the competition.

Well, the day as a whole and the week following pretty much killed me.  The night before trying to get myself properly prepared I spent hours double/triple checking that I had all my kit together, that I had an appropriate selection of energy boosting bars/drinks, enough water to drown a fish, fruits, knee support, elbow support and enough songs on my iPod to keep me singing for a month.  As such, I messed up on one vital area of preparation; appropriate amount of sleep.

I did however manage a hearty meal of chicken and pasta to pack up on the carbs and protein to keep me going through the next day.

Finally getting to bed at around 2; I was up at 8 to get ready.

We all set off in convoy down the M62 and arrived in Doncaster in plenty of time - especially plenty of time given that the adults weren't starting until around 1.  To be fair, I'm getting on now, so I do need an extended of period of time to warm up, but 4 hours is a little excessive even for me!

So, 4 hours later it was time for breaking.

Up steps Chris...KYAAA....fail....damn.....

Next is the patterns.

3 of us competing; 3 of us from the same club...1st 2nd and 3rd thank you very much!  I came away with a respectable 2nd and my first trophy of the day.

Once the patterns were over I was told there was one fight, then I was up sparring so to get my pads on sharpish.  3 minutes to get fully kitted up is not a long time - especially when you're broken like I am and need a knee support, an elbow support and hand wraps.  So off I sprinted to get ready while the first 3 minute fight went on.  Off to the toilets to put my abdominal (groin) guard on - couldn't exactly do that in the middle of the hall! Then back to get the rest of my pads/wraps/supports/life supports attached...

3 and a half minutes later and I'm stumbling towards the ring one glove on, the other a bit on, about 3 seconds from being disqualified.

A quick reminder of the rules, bow, touch gloves and fight on...  As I moved in he picked me off with a kick at which point the referee stopped us and moved us back to our starting positions...........which......is when I realised that this wasn't continuous but was in fact point-stop.  Oops...

Point-stop is definitely not my forté, as I found out when I lost 9-6.  I wasn't down-heartened though; he was a few belts above me and I hadn't come there expecting much from point stop, it was all about continuous for me.

So eventually the time came for the continuous first round.  I'd been watching the guys I would have to fight warming up earlier on, and they looked pretty good with the kicks.  Good enough that I felt if I stayed on the outside to compete kick for kick I'd come out the loser.  So, having thought about what happened to me in Ireland - getting steam-rollered by a messy, but ultimately effective style, centered more around punches than kicks.  I guessed they probably wouldn't have encountered it before and wouldn't have the answers.  I hoped so anyway!

So I tried to get on the inside of their kicks as much as possible, only really throwing a few kicks and mostly to set me up to come in for the punches.

It might not have looked right pretty, but it worked.  First round down against someone a few belts higher than me and I was on to the final.

I kept the same technique for this fight and this time was actually easier than the first round.

3 minutes later and I was receiving my trophy!

Between the group of us we got around 25 trophies I think

addendum

I forgot to mention on Wednesday about the run I did the week before.

I've decided to use a new exercise tracking app as well but tracked it on both this time.

Run on Endomondo

Run on Sports-Tracker

I upped the distance a bit but still only just over 4 miles.  It's difficult when I can't get out til late on, but I should hopefully be finishing earlier shortly so I'll be able to go for longer runs!

another week, another dollar

It's been more than a week now since my last post and I'm definitely beginning to feel the strains of doing so much.

Every muscle and bone in my body seems to have its own little moan, possibly due, in part, to getting no sleep Saturday or Sunday nights (thanks work).  So in the run up to the competition this Sunday I've eased off a bit. I've even gone so far as to give running a miss tonight!  Last night I did half a weights session then spent about 45 minutes on the punchbag and I'm missing Friday's weights altogether.  Obviously I'm missing Sunday weights being as I feel that I might be struggling a bit to move.  I'm also having to miss next Tuesday, but that's for other reasons (see below)

That aside, I don't intend to slack off...no pain no gain, pain is weakness leaving the body, pain is temporary pride is forever etc etc etc...

I've got a different kind of exercise coming up next week as well; a couple of walks in the lakes.  Day one is an easy walk up a little hill, then day 2 is Helvellyn. It is, apparently, the 3rd highest mountain in England...(which I guess is kind of like saying Happy was the 3rd tallest dwarf)...but one can't start at Everest (although I'm sure I've been up there...)

So yes, Tuesday we're up at daft-o-clock to drive up to Keswick in the Lake District, get our stuff dropped in the hostel and head out into the wilderness.  We'll have a few pints when we get back and watch the football, then we're back up at about 6 the next morning for a proper hearty breakfast and then it's out and on to Helvellyn.  I half want to take a flag with me and plant it at the summit! (By 'half want to' I mean 'totally want to and totally would if I could fit one in my bag').

I've got all my gear together now and even, geekily, have some walking poles on their way from ebay that will be arriving hopefully by the end of the week.  At some point later in the year work are meant to be organising a walk up Scafell Pike as well so it will all get used again I'm sure...

Before that however is...The Big Fight Live...sort of.
Taekwondo competition this Sunday in Doncaster...in case I hadn't already mentioned it...starting at about 9:30  there are 4 categories:
Point Stop Sparring
Continuous Sparring
Patterns
Destruction

Point stop is sparring where every time someone makes a legitimate scoring point (kick or punch to the head or body) the fight is stopped and brought back to the middle before starting again.  The winner is the first to a set number of points or whoever has the most points after a given time period.

Continuous is sparring where the fight continues until the time period is up or someone retires and the points are added as it goes.

Patterns are different sets of techniques done in a particular order that simulate defending yourself from multiple attackers.

Destruction is breaking boards.

So I entered all 4!

I'm gonna get hopped up on Red Bull and Lucozade to hopefully avoid passing out from lack of energy but I figured I'd get all the experience I can.  Especially when it's £10 for 1 event and then £2 for each additional event; it seems daft not to.

I got my yellow belt on Monday as well so I get to wear it for the comp which is cool and hopefully I'll bring something back with me...and not just a black eye and more moany body parts...

Expect photos and videos, unless I do badly in which case expect never to hear about it again and a complete and absolute denial of knowledge from me...

grading

I had my TKD grading last Saturday. I was gutted I didn't get to spar or break, but only a couple of weeks til the competition anyway.

And I just found out on Monday that I passed - B+...woohoo, no longer a white belt :D Hope I get it through in time for the fight.

2 weeks today!

Not a lot happened last week out of the ordinary. The standard weights/tkd/running combo.

Had some fun practicing sparring the last few sessions at taekwondo though, then today we did some board breaking as well.

About 5 or 6 months ago we were doing some breaking in class and, if you're punching, the rule is to punch with your first 2 knuckles; it spreads the impact.  It makes sense. However, despite this advice, I still just went ahead and punched square on with just the middle knuckle.  The board broke, but it felt like that wasn't the only thing.  My knuckle swelled up like I'd superglued a golf ball to it and even up to today, there was quite a big lump with a bit that moved around...not so good.

So when today we were doing more breaking I thought..."Ha, I have learned my lesson, no longer will I just use one knuckle for I have experienced the downfall of this strategy..." Unfortunately, mainly down to sheer incompetence, but partly due to the fact that; with my knuckle being quite a bit bigger than it used to be, in order to punch with 2 knuckles I would need to turn my wrist almost 45 degrees off to the side, I proceeded to use almost entirely my middle knuckle...again...and...once again the board broke.  But...once again my knuckle swelled up like I had pumped it full of helium.

And now it looks a bit like this:

And that's after icing it for half almost half an hour...
I could have someone's eye out with that if I punched them!

I'll be wrapping my knuckles carefully in Doncaster I think!...

Had a decent run on Wednesday as well.  Just over 3 miles at a steadyish pace.  I think I'm going to start increasing the distance in a couple of weeks time, this time though I'd done a few sprints along the way and I was totally ready to come in after 3 miles.

Indoor football starts again tomorrow as well, so weights at 3, football at 6...let's see how that one goes!

it's been...one week

In reference to the song, I don't know if any of my chickedy chickens were from China, but given the amount I've eaten I'd say there's a good chance I've gone international with my chickens...
Chicken and Pasta, Honey and herb chicken, chicken sandwiches, Nandos (does Nandos count as an international chicken?)

Taekwondo last Thursday was good, was a bit of an informal lesson, a bit of a laugh but that was definitely made up for with a beasting on Saturday.  Preparation for the grading which is in 3 days in 2 days *gulp* tomorrow!
Can't wait though, and definitely can't wait for February 13th and the Doncaster competition...

Last Friday night I somehow managed to do my ribs in after a few drinks when at some point it seemed like practicing some Judo throws was a good idea (I was the recipient of them).  I woke up on Saturday morning feeling like I'd been repeatedly kicked in the side in my sleep.  Which made weights on Tuesday a nightmare being that any sort of movement hurt, but I just about got through before whatever muscle it is that's damaged decided to spaz out and stab me.

Since Tuesday I've done 3 weights sessions now.  All of them a little bit light just to get back in to it, but I'm planning to nail it from Sunday.  No run this Wednesday but I am going swimming Sunday so that kinda makes up for it...doesn't it...? Don't judge me...

Still not eaten crap either which is good.  A big steak and chips tonight, and some carb-loading for tomorrow.

I have a feeling that I'll be peer pressured into a takeaway at tomorrow night's poker night.
Ok NOW you can judge me...
Chicken and pasta before I leave it is then!

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

owwwoww...owww

I had to double check this morning that I hadn't accidentally slept in a box of rocks.  It feels like I've been beaten about the chest and legs with a bag of snooker balls...

it's all worth it...it's all worth it...

Last night didn't start well at all...I was late back from work, then I realized I'd left my running trainers in my car which was parked at a friend's house, then on the way up the stairs to get a hoody, the cord from my (as yet unused) headphones snagged on the banister and snapped the jack clean off...

Undeterred; after 5 or 6 minutes violently beating the pillows on my bed in frustration, one £20 order placed on play.com for a new pair of headphones, a cheap pair of headphones unearthed and a crappy old pair of trainers laced up...I headed out.  With my phone strapped to my arm; exercise tracking software fired up and songs playing (albeit scarcely audibly through the headphones WHICH, annoyingly, spent about 50% of the run trying to eject themselves from my ears) I felt good...I was achieving!

And...after about a mile I began to think perhaps I wasn't in such bad shape after all!  This is easy!...

Then I got to an slight incline...

I dug in and pressed on, only about half a mile to the top.

The route I'd planned took me on a loop and back past my front door and the temptation was there to "just stop in for a quick drink of water and straight back ou....ooh Indiana Jones is on tv!!" Especially since the next section was the road up the side of Mount Everest.

After 3 days I reached the summit and resigned myself to the fact that the entrance to Surfachem was my bed for the night, even considering what would make the best duvet - an empty cement bag or some leaves.  Somehow I kept going, partly as it was all downhill for the next 1/4 of a mile (though downhill is surprisingly tough as well) and pounded on for the next loop round the town centre.

15 minutes later I arrived at my front door, hot, sweaty and with hair that would cause passers by to recoil and turn away in distress (imagine the horror fake scared hair on end look and you're close)
but glad to be home and beaming with an undeserved sense of accomplishment.

It would have been so easy for me not to have bothered going last night with it being late and not having trainers/headphones etc, but this blog did its job.  There was no way after 2 days I was going to miss out on scheduled exercise and have to write about how I failed, so sat on my couch watching Top Gear with a bag of Wotsits to comfort myself.

Taekwondo tonight.  I've got to get swotting up for the grading a week on Saturday.  Hopefully tonight I'll be able to lift my legs enough to kick people higher than their shins, though I'm not holding my breath...

This links to details of my run