I earned the first stripe on my yellow belt a couple weeks ago. I've been working pretty hard toward it. The belt progression is even my exponential and nonlinear than I expected. I can't imagine all I'll need to do and know to get to my orange belt.
But I digress. One of my biggest fears is falling. From any height. I despise the feeling of free-falling, either from tripping, or from jumping off the Screamer at Hume Lake. We had to practice falling in kenpo class several weeks back. The idea is that if ever in a fight, we very likely may fall and need to be prepared for it so that it doesn't shock us to where we stop defending ourselves. A key point of it is kee-aye'ing (sp?) as we make contact with the ground, forcefully exhaling all our air so it doesn't get knocked out of us and leave us dazed. The exercises were very low-level falls, like from a crouching position almost jumping backward onto our backs. It was still a pretty tough one for me.
But last Thursday we were doing a circle-attack exercise, where we'd one-at-a-time enter a circle of everyone else in the class and have to defend against any attack a class member would throw, emphasizing both control and speedy reaction time. When our sensei went into the circle, I grabbed him in a bear hug, the technique he'd just taught me on Tuesday. Obviously, he had no trouble throwing me to the ground. He even complimented me later on my kee-aye as I landed. Granted, it wasn't intentional like it should have been. But I didn't have the panicky feeling that normally comes from falling. That was a pretty cool revelation. Progress.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
More Running
I can't believe where God has brought me. I remember being so determined to run the Fresno marathon this year. I wanted to PR (set a personal record), shaving 15 minutes off of last year's time since I hadn't trained enough last year.
Then I tried running sprints on cement. Four half-mile sprints. It was an awesome workout, except for the after-math of injuring my right heel. I was worried I sprained my Achilles tendon. I was frustrated not being able to run anymore. Not just frustrated, but scared.
Then my doctor told me I was good to start running again, slowly, and on dirt only to start. I got excited about the possibility of the marathon again. It was aggressive; too aggressive. For whatever reason, my left ankle has now started swelling at the beginning of most of my training runs. I massage it out and then it's usually fine.
So I'm running the half-marathon, which pridefully felt like such a wimpy effort to not do at least the full marathon (there was an ultra-marathon which was five miles longer). I honestly considered not racing at all. It was pride. The only thing that could really lift that was the prospect of something being free. I ran a 10K at the beginning of October in downtown Fresno, and there was a deal of getting two free items of past years' race gear (hats, tech shirts, etc.) if you signed up at this event. So I got two more racing caps, which are usually $15-$25 I think. It also helped to see that this year's color for the tech shirts is green, which is my favorite color. It's the little things in life.
So the race still kind of snuck up on me. I did 6 miles last weekend, somehow thinking I still had another month before the race. Nope, two weeks as my friend Stephanie reminded/shocked me that Saturday evening. So I pulled on my running shoes the next morning and did another four. Then another four Monday night. And Wednesday morning another four. That still didn't condition me to jump to ten yesterday, but I did it. I wasn't sore afterward, but I could tell my whole body just wanted to go on strike for what I was doing to it. But now I think I'm almost ready for the half next Sunday. I'm excited!!!!!
And the doctor confirmed it wasn't my Achilles tendon at all, but the misalignment of one of the bones in my heel. Continued chiropractic adjustments should continue to take care of it. He encouraged me to use this race to springboard to a marathon in a couple months. Now I just have to find a good one.
Then I tried running sprints on cement. Four half-mile sprints. It was an awesome workout, except for the after-math of injuring my right heel. I was worried I sprained my Achilles tendon. I was frustrated not being able to run anymore. Not just frustrated, but scared.
Then my doctor told me I was good to start running again, slowly, and on dirt only to start. I got excited about the possibility of the marathon again. It was aggressive; too aggressive. For whatever reason, my left ankle has now started swelling at the beginning of most of my training runs. I massage it out and then it's usually fine.
So I'm running the half-marathon, which pridefully felt like such a wimpy effort to not do at least the full marathon (there was an ultra-marathon which was five miles longer). I honestly considered not racing at all. It was pride. The only thing that could really lift that was the prospect of something being free. I ran a 10K at the beginning of October in downtown Fresno, and there was a deal of getting two free items of past years' race gear (hats, tech shirts, etc.) if you signed up at this event. So I got two more racing caps, which are usually $15-$25 I think. It also helped to see that this year's color for the tech shirts is green, which is my favorite color. It's the little things in life.
So the race still kind of snuck up on me. I did 6 miles last weekend, somehow thinking I still had another month before the race. Nope, two weeks as my friend Stephanie reminded/shocked me that Saturday evening. So I pulled on my running shoes the next morning and did another four. Then another four Monday night. And Wednesday morning another four. That still didn't condition me to jump to ten yesterday, but I did it. I wasn't sore afterward, but I could tell my whole body just wanted to go on strike for what I was doing to it. But now I think I'm almost ready for the half next Sunday. I'm excited!!!!!
And the doctor confirmed it wasn't my Achilles tendon at all, but the misalignment of one of the bones in my heel. Continued chiropractic adjustments should continue to take care of it. He encouraged me to use this race to springboard to a marathon in a couple months. Now I just have to find a good one.
Airplane
So I flew an airplane!
I bought a Groupon several months back. It offered a 3-hour instruction class and a one-hour discovery flight. I decided to stretch myself.
I finally used it a couple weeks ago. Our instructor's name was Ryan, and the class was at a private charter service near the airport. The class was really eye-opening as to the challenges that pilots and airports face, and will give me a much more understanding spirit with delays, etc. in the future. There were about 15 people in the class that Friday evening (one female, the rest male). We went over the structure of a plane, the pre-flight inspections, and walked around the plane parking area. They had four smaller planes (Cessna 172's and 182's, the type we'd be flying) as well as a Gulfstream, which I was familiar with because of reading John Grisham's The King of Torts.
Ryan mentioned planes being a great tax shelter somehow. I'm curious about this. Apparently why so many wealthy people purchase planes is because of the tax advantages. Their accountants talk them into it. I'm skeptical, but thought it was interesting that my career tied into his. Not that I'm in any position to invest in a plane.
Another cool thing I learned about planes is that they aren't considered to age like cars do. One wouldn't go buy a car made in the 60's and expect it to be reliable regular transportation. Planes can't have the mechanical and electrical glitches that cars do because of the safety concerns (to those in the plane and those on the ground below). So rigorous maintenance is undergone before each take-off. So a plane is always considered mechanically brand-new. A pilot wouldn't treat flying or buying a plane built in the 90's any different from one in the 60's. Which brings up another point, airplane engines haven't substantially changed since WWII. Car engines keep getting redesigned to improve horsepower and performance. With an airplane engine, you just want consistent output of power (different from speed), no revving the engine, so they're designed with some deliberate inefficiencies. It's a sacrifice of overall performance efficiency for consistently keeping the plane in the air. It's now two weeks after the fact that I'm finally typing all this up, so I hope I'm getting the details right.
At the end of class, we signed up in pairs for one-hour flight slots on Saturday. I picked the 3 p.m. slot with a guy named Doug. The way it would work is that we'd both be in the plane for the hour and would switch of flying and being in the backseat halfway through. We'd each have two take-offs and two landings, with the assistance of an instructor. The flight pattern was a rectangle along the left airstrip at the Fresno airport.
I showed up and met Chris, our flight instructor, as well as Doug's wife and daughter. I exchanged info with Doug's wife Kathy and she graciously agreed to send me pictures of our afternoon. I went first, and Chris taxied us onto the runway and did all the communicating with the Control Tower. He managed the speed, and we managed the lift-off, turning, elevation control and landing. I didn't know until getting going that he'd be managing the speed, and that was a a relief not to have to try to get that right along with taking off or landing the plane.
The experience was exhilarating. I thought I'd be terrified, both when I was doing it, and when Doug was in front. But each time, I was just absolutely enjoying myself.
When we landed, I asked out of curiosity the approximate cost of getting a pilot's license. I know it wouldn't be economical $-wise to fly back-and-forth to Orange County, but I would love not to have to spend 8+ hours driving each round-trip. $6K for all the gas, plane rental time, and other costs just to get my license. Okay, that goes on the list of "WAY out in left field" dreams.
But the experience was still a blast and absolutely worth it.
I bought a Groupon several months back. It offered a 3-hour instruction class and a one-hour discovery flight. I decided to stretch myself.
I finally used it a couple weeks ago. Our instructor's name was Ryan, and the class was at a private charter service near the airport. The class was really eye-opening as to the challenges that pilots and airports face, and will give me a much more understanding spirit with delays, etc. in the future. There were about 15 people in the class that Friday evening (one female, the rest male). We went over the structure of a plane, the pre-flight inspections, and walked around the plane parking area. They had four smaller planes (Cessna 172's and 182's, the type we'd be flying) as well as a Gulfstream, which I was familiar with because of reading John Grisham's The King of Torts.
Ryan mentioned planes being a great tax shelter somehow. I'm curious about this. Apparently why so many wealthy people purchase planes is because of the tax advantages. Their accountants talk them into it. I'm skeptical, but thought it was interesting that my career tied into his. Not that I'm in any position to invest in a plane.
Another cool thing I learned about planes is that they aren't considered to age like cars do. One wouldn't go buy a car made in the 60's and expect it to be reliable regular transportation. Planes can't have the mechanical and electrical glitches that cars do because of the safety concerns (to those in the plane and those on the ground below). So rigorous maintenance is undergone before each take-off. So a plane is always considered mechanically brand-new. A pilot wouldn't treat flying or buying a plane built in the 90's any different from one in the 60's. Which brings up another point, airplane engines haven't substantially changed since WWII. Car engines keep getting redesigned to improve horsepower and performance. With an airplane engine, you just want consistent output of power (different from speed), no revving the engine, so they're designed with some deliberate inefficiencies. It's a sacrifice of overall performance efficiency for consistently keeping the plane in the air. It's now two weeks after the fact that I'm finally typing all this up, so I hope I'm getting the details right.
At the end of class, we signed up in pairs for one-hour flight slots on Saturday. I picked the 3 p.m. slot with a guy named Doug. The way it would work is that we'd both be in the plane for the hour and would switch of flying and being in the backseat halfway through. We'd each have two take-offs and two landings, with the assistance of an instructor. The flight pattern was a rectangle along the left airstrip at the Fresno airport.
I showed up and met Chris, our flight instructor, as well as Doug's wife and daughter. I exchanged info with Doug's wife Kathy and she graciously agreed to send me pictures of our afternoon. I went first, and Chris taxied us onto the runway and did all the communicating with the Control Tower. He managed the speed, and we managed the lift-off, turning, elevation control and landing. I didn't know until getting going that he'd be managing the speed, and that was a a relief not to have to try to get that right along with taking off or landing the plane.
The experience was exhilarating. I thought I'd be terrified, both when I was doing it, and when Doug was in front. But each time, I was just absolutely enjoying myself.
When we landed, I asked out of curiosity the approximate cost of getting a pilot's license. I know it wouldn't be economical $-wise to fly back-and-forth to Orange County, but I would love not to have to spend 8+ hours driving each round-trip. $6K for all the gas, plane rental time, and other costs just to get my license. Okay, that goes on the list of "WAY out in left field" dreams.
But the experience was still a blast and absolutely worth it.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Seattle, Here We Come!
I booked flights to take Joy back to SPU for her sophomore year in a couple weeks. We were originally planning on a roadtrip, but my enthusiasm toward that much driving started to wane as the trip got closer. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older (I hope that isn't it), or because I'm doing a lot of repetitive daily driving for work now and I made four trips to Orange County this summer.
So I looked into flights and car rentals. I was able to use my Alaska Airlines miles to cover her one-way ticket and half of my round-trip ticket. And our dear friends Leroy and Karen are letting us stay in their house and use their car while they're in Orange County for a wedding.
I had really wanted to get back up there this year, so I'm really excited for this trip. I don't think my mom can handle another trip to Seattle, and I don't think Joy can handle a solo trip with Dad, so I'm grateful that work is being so flexible about letting me take this trip. And a chance to see my grandmother this year really makes me happy.
So I looked into flights and car rentals. I was able to use my Alaska Airlines miles to cover her one-way ticket and half of my round-trip ticket. And our dear friends Leroy and Karen are letting us stay in their house and use their car while they're in Orange County for a wedding.
I had really wanted to get back up there this year, so I'm really excited for this trip. I don't think my mom can handle another trip to Seattle, and I don't think Joy can handle a solo trip with Dad, so I'm grateful that work is being so flexible about letting me take this trip. And a chance to see my grandmother this year really makes me happy.
Running Again
So I finally got in to see a sports doctor after no running for a month. Thank goodness for karate and other workouts, or I may have gone postal.
Joe, the chiropractor I saw, told me to start running again, but cautiously. He wanted me to stay on dirt, then to run each day of Labor Day weekend, and then take Tues and Wed off. So I ran the canal by my house. Saturday morning 4 miles with Alicia and Amy, Sunday morning 3.5 miles with Amy, and Sunday night solo. I saw no reason to wake up early Monday since I wouldn't have running partners, and night running calms me down and helps ease my insomnia. But I got mighty bored with the canal. I need more changes in my routes. I don't care what the scenery is, but I don't want to run it often enough enough to remember landmarks.
It felt SO AMAZING to run again! My pace was slow, but I didn't care. I was in recovery mode. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but over the weekend I kept thinking about the Fresno marathon in two months. Could I get back on track to still race? Normally marathon training takes four months, but I did eleven miles over the course of three days with minimal pain in my Achilles.
On Wednesday, Joe said things were still looking good with my ankle, and that I should try a longer run. He said the marathon was a possibility! But I need to stay on dirt for now while I'm still in recovery. I wasn't up to getting to Woodward Park in North Fresno for a run, so I ran the canal again. But I mixed up my path on it as much as possible. And I got 7 miles in, and was able to average a decent pace!
So what did I learn from a month of not running? First, I relied way too much on running for self-validation. I need to rely on God for validation, not my earthly achievements. Second, I was caring too much about metrics: how fast and how long I could run. It's good for tracking the progress of my training to know those things, but I need to not put too much emphasis on them that I risk another injury. Third, I'm not indestructible. I was always a cautious kid, and I think I somehow figured it would keep me safe from any lifelong injury. And running seemed safe, except for the occasional near-miss of a car or bike, or collision with another runner. But I do need to take better care of myself if I want to be able to run until the day I die. Finally, running isn't my only workout option. I used to be very lazy with other types of exercise, getting easily distracted. I didn't fully master this one, but I did make great progress at staying focused and not wandering off from my workout with a sudden urge to vacuum.
Joe, the chiropractor I saw, told me to start running again, but cautiously. He wanted me to stay on dirt, then to run each day of Labor Day weekend, and then take Tues and Wed off. So I ran the canal by my house. Saturday morning 4 miles with Alicia and Amy, Sunday morning 3.5 miles with Amy, and Sunday night solo. I saw no reason to wake up early Monday since I wouldn't have running partners, and night running calms me down and helps ease my insomnia. But I got mighty bored with the canal. I need more changes in my routes. I don't care what the scenery is, but I don't want to run it often enough enough to remember landmarks.
It felt SO AMAZING to run again! My pace was slow, but I didn't care. I was in recovery mode. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but over the weekend I kept thinking about the Fresno marathon in two months. Could I get back on track to still race? Normally marathon training takes four months, but I did eleven miles over the course of three days with minimal pain in my Achilles.
On Wednesday, Joe said things were still looking good with my ankle, and that I should try a longer run. He said the marathon was a possibility! But I need to stay on dirt for now while I'm still in recovery. I wasn't up to getting to Woodward Park in North Fresno for a run, so I ran the canal again. But I mixed up my path on it as much as possible. And I got 7 miles in, and was able to average a decent pace!
So what did I learn from a month of not running? First, I relied way too much on running for self-validation. I need to rely on God for validation, not my earthly achievements. Second, I was caring too much about metrics: how fast and how long I could run. It's good for tracking the progress of my training to know those things, but I need to not put too much emphasis on them that I risk another injury. Third, I'm not indestructible. I was always a cautious kid, and I think I somehow figured it would keep me safe from any lifelong injury. And running seemed safe, except for the occasional near-miss of a car or bike, or collision with another runner. But I do need to take better care of myself if I want to be able to run until the day I die. Finally, running isn't my only workout option. I used to be very lazy with other types of exercise, getting easily distracted. I didn't fully master this one, but I did make great progress at staying focused and not wandering off from my workout with a sudden urge to vacuum.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Badge of Honor
I put in my first 12-hour day at the not-so-new job. It was the first time I had left work when it was dark outside (which I realize will soon become a normal occurrence with the time change). I saw the janitors show up.
It felt oddly comforting. Something about knowing I can still work hard. I joke with friends that I now only work 40-45 hours/week, and it feels like a part-time job, but there is a ring of truth to that for me. I feel guilty leaving at 5:15 for karate on Tuesday and Thursdays. While I don't arrive until 8:30/9, I don't take a lunch break usually. Some people leave by 5, others stay until 6ish, rarely until 7. But I still feel like I'm establishing my reputation.
But simultaneously, I have begun to feel more and more like this is my new normal. Not just a new audit I'm on that I'll leave soon, but that I really am here until I deliberately resign and take another position. We had some bank auditors come this week, and it was my job to prepare for them. I did pretty well, and I think being the experienced one conveying information about our company did a lot for making me feel more settled here.
It felt oddly comforting. Something about knowing I can still work hard. I joke with friends that I now only work 40-45 hours/week, and it feels like a part-time job, but there is a ring of truth to that for me. I feel guilty leaving at 5:15 for karate on Tuesday and Thursdays. While I don't arrive until 8:30/9, I don't take a lunch break usually. Some people leave by 5, others stay until 6ish, rarely until 7. But I still feel like I'm establishing my reputation.
But simultaneously, I have begun to feel more and more like this is my new normal. Not just a new audit I'm on that I'll leave soon, but that I really am here until I deliberately resign and take another position. We had some bank auditors come this week, and it was my job to prepare for them. I did pretty well, and I think being the experienced one conveying information about our company did a lot for making me feel more settled here.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Pastor of My Home
I gave the lesson this morning in my Sunday School class (adults, not a class I work in for kids).
We're going through the Psalms, and our regular leader Darryl asked each man in the class to take one Psalm and give the lesson on it that Sunday. I ended up picking Psalm 90.
I'm ashamed to admit I procrastinated a lot in preparing for this lesson. I read through the Psalm several times in the weeks leading up to today, but I didn't start looking up commentaries until last night.
Psalm 90 is the oldest Psalm of all 150, and the only one written by Moses. It contrasts God and His infallible, omnipotent, permanent nature with our existence being only to serve Him. One commentator I read, Matthew Henry, proposed that Moses wrote this Psalm right after the nation of Israel had been sentenced to wander the desert for 40 years. It puts a different spin on to think of hearing this after you've been told you've messed up one too many times, and you've now lost out on a dream you've been eagerly anticipating.
I picked this Psalm because of verse 12. How ironic that I procrastinated on a lesson on Scripture that challenges us to maintain good time management.
I took a little bit of class time to also share the memory verse system that my youth pastor Ron shared with me back in high school. Our Sunday School class has been talking about the importance of memorizing Scripture, so I wanted to share this method that worked so well for me. Granted, I fell off the wagon with it due to all my traveling at D&T, but I had over 300 verses memorized at one point. I need to do better at this now that I'm consistently at home every night.
I was frustrated that I ran out of time and that we as a class didn't get to fully discuss the Psalm, but I heard once that it was better to just wrap it up when time is exhausted. Better to leave your audience wishing you had had time to say more than wishing you had stopped earlier (and probably missing the point of your message in the process). We had our annual Ministry Fair in between services this morning, so both services were sliced a little to accommodate it.
I spoke to Darryl briefly after class. He thanked me for speaking and gave me some insight on why he had the men in the class each take a class session. I had thought it was him just wanting a break since finishing Colossians. He said that at some point, when you have a family, every man becomes a pastor of his own home. He felt this was a good practice environment for all of us. That really struck me. I know that if God is calling me to marry and have kids, I need to be a spiritual leader and lead family devotions, etc. But I hadn't actively connected it into doing advance prep when I do those things. It shouldn't be me looking at our family devotions at the same time as I share them, I will need to put in the extra time to familiarize myself with the lesson ahead of time. That's how important the dad job is.
We're going through the Psalms, and our regular leader Darryl asked each man in the class to take one Psalm and give the lesson on it that Sunday. I ended up picking Psalm 90.
I'm ashamed to admit I procrastinated a lot in preparing for this lesson. I read through the Psalm several times in the weeks leading up to today, but I didn't start looking up commentaries until last night.
Psalm 90 is the oldest Psalm of all 150, and the only one written by Moses. It contrasts God and His infallible, omnipotent, permanent nature with our existence being only to serve Him. One commentator I read, Matthew Henry, proposed that Moses wrote this Psalm right after the nation of Israel had been sentenced to wander the desert for 40 years. It puts a different spin on to think of hearing this after you've been told you've messed up one too many times, and you've now lost out on a dream you've been eagerly anticipating.
I picked this Psalm because of verse 12. How ironic that I procrastinated on a lesson on Scripture that challenges us to maintain good time management.
I took a little bit of class time to also share the memory verse system that my youth pastor Ron shared with me back in high school. Our Sunday School class has been talking about the importance of memorizing Scripture, so I wanted to share this method that worked so well for me. Granted, I fell off the wagon with it due to all my traveling at D&T, but I had over 300 verses memorized at one point. I need to do better at this now that I'm consistently at home every night.
I was frustrated that I ran out of time and that we as a class didn't get to fully discuss the Psalm, but I heard once that it was better to just wrap it up when time is exhausted. Better to leave your audience wishing you had had time to say more than wishing you had stopped earlier (and probably missing the point of your message in the process). We had our annual Ministry Fair in between services this morning, so both services were sliced a little to accommodate it.
I spoke to Darryl briefly after class. He thanked me for speaking and gave me some insight on why he had the men in the class each take a class session. I had thought it was him just wanting a break since finishing Colossians. He said that at some point, when you have a family, every man becomes a pastor of his own home. He felt this was a good practice environment for all of us. That really struck me. I know that if God is calling me to marry and have kids, I need to be a spiritual leader and lead family devotions, etc. But I hadn't actively connected it into doing advance prep when I do those things. It shouldn't be me looking at our family devotions at the same time as I share them, I will need to put in the extra time to familiarize myself with the lesson ahead of time. That's how important the dad job is.
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