Hedgehog on morning run.
So the UK is fully open I believe when it comes to Covid restrictions. It does seem like I know more people than ever that either have it or have been near someone who has tested positive and have to isolate! Kind of weird but whatever.
Watering up during the heat!
Kids are out of school so I’m off work until they go back. Just had a week of hot weather, around 90 which is super hot for here, so the kids played in the (not so) hot tub which worked really well. Unfortunately now we are back to rain so I guess our summer is over. Booked to go tool around on the canal on kayaks which was fun. We got rained on and everyone was a bit freaked out at first being in a boat but they seemed to get used to it and hopefully had fun.
I had been running fairly consistently early mornings and attempting a weekly trail 20 miler leading up to Cotswold Century 100 miler in September. I love early morning running this time of the year. Temperature is perfect and there’s quite a bit of light. It’s going well I guess. I feel decent overall, but nothing like last fall when I was super consistent with the long runs. It sure was nice to have a day off from everything to run 20-30 miles. Hoping to do that again this fall. Fitting in a 3-3 1/2 hour run once a week around family is super tough. The exhaustion slowly builds up with the early mornings and life, and it seems it all is slowly crashing down. I’m tempted to pull out of the Cotswold Century because of it. I’d like to have a decent race but the clock is ticking. Sure, I could just run to run but just once I want to train properly for one of these, something I’ve never been able to do.
Morning run in Scotland, Isle of Arran on the horizon.
We've been in Scotland since Friday which has been fun but tiring, I have been able to get running in early which has been good. Nice to just be out of town and to visit with family. Planning a running trip to Isle of Arran if I can figure out a decent ferry schedule. I was considering going to run part of the West Highland Way, but getting there via train, and only running the beginning non-mountainous portion I’ve swapped to Arran. It’s familiar and I know the ins and outs of being there so with a short window it just makes sense.
Muay Thai grading.
Martial arts is going well. Back at it and training 5 classes per week! Had a Muay Thai grading which went well so I’ve finally moved up into the next higher group. I should’ve moved up a long time ago but Thai was never really a priority so I’ve skipped about 5 gradings. It’s really a supplement to Jeet Kune Do to improve my stand up fighting skills. Super fun class though but sometimes too intense physically. Some classes, and all the gradings, my heart rate is redlining and super high. After an early morning run, a full day, a JKD class, Muay Thai at 730pm can be a struggle.
New armband in Muay Thai.
I also recently had an unofficial JKD grading. Myself and the other black belts took part in a lower level grading just to get back into it and see if we had lost any knowledge over the covid lockdowns. It was super fun, stress free, and we all were solid in our skills. My friend Steve unfortunately missed out. He had a full day of concrete work and major gardening at his new house a few days prior and he messed his back up. He couldn’t take part which was a bummer. Steve’s a really good guy, super enthusiastic about JKD, and helped me out tremendously with my mental health issues over the new year. He still consistently checks in to see how I’m doing as well, which by the way is just fine. He was back training a week later which was good.
I’m still going to Dacayana Escrima to, but only one day per week, it very much supports JKD and has improved my weaponry skills as well as my transitions from weapons to empty hand. Escrima is once again a Filipino weapons based art. We’ve got a grading in September I believe which will be my first in the art.
