18:12 PM: Looking forward to tonight! I just got back in from California - where I attended my ten year high school reunion - and I am sore from the twenty hour drive. It is going to be good to get the blood pumping again. It will also be good to feel exhausted again! It is a little weird to say that, but I spent some time practicing down at a local park that is near to where I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and I felt like I was not get any productive practice done. I went for a long time and did not feel tired or winded at all. I realized later that it was due to the difference in oxygen levels between Colorado and California, which I had always known about but never really experienced. Well, aside from feeling as though I am swimming in air whenever I get down to sea level. You can actually feel the air on your skin down there! One hour till class, and I know it is gonna be good.
20:45 PM: So sad! I went to the YMCA for the usual Yamakage Dojo practice and I was the only one there. I suspect that Maestas Sensei must have thought that I would still be out of town due to the high school reunion that I just attended. Oh well. I pressed on all the same, and practiced for about an hour before the pain of driving 20 hours (from California to Colorado) last night caught up to me. I practiced suri-ashi back and forth for about half an hour, practiced some suburi and haya-suburi for awhile, and also practiced holding center some more. I feel like my footwork has improved! It is not perfect but it is better than it was! Oh, and I forgot to mention that Eli (the most amazing roommate evers) cleaned out the garage so now I can practice in their as well. Just in time for the impending winter season, when it will be much too cold to practice outside.
I love park training! When our dojo floor was being worked on, I helped organize a few outdoor training sessions in one of the bigger parks here in our city, and we all had a great time with it.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you mention your 10-year reunion. Mine was this year, too, although I failed to attend. Mine was a VERY small school and I think only a few people (as in 6 or so) actually went.
Good to see that you are pushing forward, even when you are the only one. Keep at it, and good luck!