The Plan for 2008 was ....not what happened...
Having earned my black belt at the end of 2007, my plan for karate for 2008 was to focus on my bugo (sparring) and flexibility for most of the year. I had been planningto find some people to run with in Sept-Dec and to speed up my running times for 5Ks & 10Ks back to the speed that I was hitting just three to four years ago. Then, I was going to enter 2009 with great cardio and bugo skills and spend the year working on all the details and gearing up for my second degree in the winter of 2009-2010. Well, that was the plan.
It started fine and my bugo and flexibility improved in Q1 of this year. But in Q2, my feet were a problem and I had to take a little more than a month off due to the soreness and swelling. And in the early summer, I travelled for five weeks so I was pretty out of shape when I started again in July. All seemed fine until September when a back problem started. It came and went and in early November, I had to stop all exercise through the end of the year.
No, it hasn't gone according to plan. I haven't exercised at all in about two months and only intermittently since sometime early in the year. Very frustrating. Often, without the exercise, I have trouble sleeping and relaxing. sigh.
But thats the way life can be. To be honest, sports injuries have a life-long problem for me, the bane of my sports career. I was an intense and promising soccer player entering college. I was recruited and expected to be a big time player. But injuries hobbled me in years 2-4 of college and so my career fizzled rather than peaked.
More frankly, I have a lot more to be thankful for than to be frustrated about. At age 50, if I'm able to work out hard for more than 50% of the time, I'm way ahead of par. I'm a lucky guy. I've had many friends who thru hips, feet, or knees; have had no chance to pursue sports past a certain point.
So I'm biding my time, trying to watch my diet, and hoping that with some good therapy, good luck, and good painkillers, I can be a successful kohai in 2009. My goal now is to aim at a peak in 2010 and a chance to earn my 2nd degree then. With real luck (and some cooperation from my sensai), I'm hoping to go through my next black belt cycle with one of my kids. Wouldn't that be something!
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2 comments:
I like your positive attitude even though life has dealt you some roadblocks according to your plan. I have to mirror that attitude with all the "sidebars" occuring in my life lately, too. Hang in there and I will, too!
2008 did not go as planned for me either, but tomorrow will come and you can still achieve your goals. For me, I'm in the Army and had the opportunity to train with an olympic caliber black belt in Northern VA. With my background as a former CPT of the Army Martial Arts team she let me train with her for almost free and I was VERY excited. 1 month in I got a hernia and did not heal until about August when I changed stations to Fort Benning, GA. Here I work from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily and can't find time to train. I still have two years before I have time in rank to test for my 4th Dan, but I feel I need to contribute to my art in some way, so I started a blog to try to at least contribute to the martial arts world. I guess my point is regardless of the hand you are dealt, its how you play the cards. Good luck, I'm sure if you keep with it your body will hold out if you can not pound it too much. Take care.
Greg
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