Black belts and big vert

Me being awarded my 2nd degree black belt 

And that box is ticked. Recently had my second degree black belt grading in Jeet Kune Do. I’d like to think it went well! This has been pushed back over and over again for various reason, no big deal really, but it’s now done. I went into it knowing the majority of the curriculum well and with confidence. At this level it’s a display of smoothness and flow, not some hard hitting fight. Blending different skills into each other fluidly. 

The entire grading lasted 3 1/2 hours with no breaks, so as usual, it was a sweat fest! We were asked to perform certain drills from our curriculum; Muay Thai boxing, Panantukan (Filipino dirty boxing), Jun Fan Kick Boxing, Kali (stick, knife, and empty hand), western boxing, and combat submission wrestling. The hardest part was the wrestling. It’s extremely difficult to practice on your own, so my friend Steve and I booked in some private lessons for a bit more focused training and as always these paid off tremendously! 

Not much else really to say. Next martial arts goal is to progress through Dacayana Eskrima which I started during lockdown. Here’s a bunch of photos:

Sticks sparring 

Stick sparring

Juan Fan kickboxing sparring: mix of western boxing, trapping (kung fu), low kicks

CSW - escaping a rear naked choke

CSW - Luke taking me down with a double leg takedown 

Disarming a knife during the palasut knife drill

Estrella sword drill

Single stick sparring, goal was to attack the hands

Part of a Jun Fan drill showing a shuffle kick

So, now that is done off to the back burner with martial arts, well let’s say middle burner, as it’s still important! 

Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is approaching fast and I’m into my peak training now. Focus will be to get my legs ready for a ton of uphill hiking/running as well as a ton of downhill running. The kids are off school in a few weeks so no more Mondays off for long runs either. So I’ve started a cycle of back to back long runs Monday and Tuesday.

Caer Caradoc, up over, down. And the down goes a lot longer down beyond! 

 

This Monday I banged out 20 miles with 10,000 feet of up and down. The route I’ve got has more vert per mile than UTMB so I need to take advantage of it. Most people drop out, or are reduced to a walk, because their quads are so trashed from the downhills. So I need to focus on the eccentric muscle contractions of downhill running. It was a hard day out, and thanks to my wife for getting the kids off to school, allowing me to leave a bit early, but I got it done! Then Tuesday I went to my usual route across the river and ran another 20 miles on tired legs. Only managed 3500 feet of elevation but it was more running than Monday’s power hike/downhill run. I’m hoping for one more of these if not two. I’ve only got one more Monday Tuesday opportunity and after that I’ll have to go at night. Not ideal, but considering the race is likely over 24 hours it’s not really a bad thing. Just difficult to motivate for after a day entertaining kids. We shall see. 

Strava map of Caer Caradoc

So that’s the current plan. Uphills and mainly downhills. Maybe then a little speed work as well. I want to be as ready as possible.