Encouragement from YOU on Rest Day!

Today is my official "Rest Day"...once a week. Why is it I have this crazy urge to work out and get all pumped up on my rest day? Last week I missed my rest day because of that, so I had to make it up on another day. Strange! Didn't miss it today though...NO WAY! HA!

So, a young lady walked up to me today and said she read my posts here at http://www.questfortheusopen.blogspot.com/, and said she was inspired...said "I" was inspiring. WOW! That meant a lot. We talked for a couple of minutes about what I was doing, and I was energized just talking about it. So I thought that, being a rest day today, I would go back and look up some of the emails, messages, and notes people are sending in and just let them energize me some more. As I sat down to write this, another one popped up in my Facebook inbox.

Here are a few from the past couple of days I thought I would share with you...

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I was catching up on your blogs and this quote came to mind...

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”
-Walt Disney

That quote has just stuck with me since I heard it a couple months ago. Glad you guys are doing well. Keep up the good work. Peace and sword defending sit ups.

from Alabama

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Hope all things are well and your training is going swimmingly.

from Florida

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...I will continue to lift you up in prayer in your quest for the US Open!! (I'm enjoying the blog, by the way!)

from South Carolina

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Thanks everyone...for ALL your support! I am always thrilled to get your messages and comments...it reminds me that I am not in this alone. Encouragement is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and it certainly helps me each week.

I've hit yet another plateau in training I think. Another evaluation later on how to kick it up another notch. It feels good to know that I am overcoming little mountains each week...hopefully I will be ready when I reach the BIG ONE in July!

Back to my rest day...Chat with you later!

P.S. - The Kanji in the picture says "Martial Arts" in case you are interested.

Dreaming of Rest Day!

"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." -Henry David Thoreau

Good thought after a difficult day...and looking ahead to rest day tomorrow. Rest day will find a relaxing walk to the lake, some breath work, a heavy dose of "mind" work, and some nice stretching.

Been quite a week so far. I suspect it gets no less exciting from here.

Exciting News...Oh, By The Way!

Well, I just got some exciting news. For now, you will have to trust me because I need to work out details before I make an official announcement. This Quest is about so much more than just me working out and competing at the U.S. Open. That is the core of the whole thing (and that is big enough by itself, believe me!), yes, but when you step out and go for something like this, it affects a lot of people. I have people walk up to me everyday or email me or even phone me and tell me they saw this blog and are supporting me. Furthermore I have had a few people tell me they are inspired and want to start working out again, or they are going to get involved in the martial arts. That is HUGE, people!

With that in mind, I always want to find ways to give back and to help others on their own Quest. In the meantime, I have some people who have stepped up to say they will help me as well. In the next few days (I hope) I am going to be able to make a couple of announcements that, at least to me, are very, very cool. Stay tuned.

By the way, I had someone say to me the other day that I must be doing this full-time and get paid for it and no wonder I can find all this time to train...blah, blah, blah! I wanted to introduce him to Mr. Roundhouse! (I didn't, don't worry!)

Let me say...I don't do this full-time (though I will certainly entertain that option in the future), and I don't get paid for doing all this. In fact, I am working full-time at another job, launching a small business in spare time (actually Holly focuses most on this now that I am pursuing the U.S. Open), am first and foremost a Husband and a Father of two sons (one of which is dual-enrolled in High School and College - and is my primary training partner, the other is a toddler - HA!), and am seeking further employment as my primary job is shutting down due to a national closing in the very near future. I have spent the past couple of years overcoming injury and a depression that I thought was going to wipe me out (which is why I stepped away from my professional line of work after nearly 20 years)! I still struggle with all of that sometimes. I struggle with this Quest. Sometimes "Quest" is short for "Questions" for me...but I push on!

Training sometimes is in the middle of the night, or before everybody else is up and around. I don't have a lot of equipment...jumprope, punching mits, a mountain bike, and a very old weight set, and an open space in the backyard. It's all pretty rustic. I kinda feel like Rocky when he went to live in that barn and workout in the wild. Most of the time it is pretty cool, to be honest. I feel like I am connected to a long line of warriors who didn't have all the modern "necessities" that we have today. Though, I will admit that stuff would probably help sometimes.

I'm like most of you in that I do the best I can with what I've got. I do feel immensely blessed because of who has stepped into my corner as a coach, Lauren Kearney (http://www.laurenkearney.com), and I feel a great deal of support from all my friends at http://www.kickgen.com, and of course, I have 24/7 support from my family.

The reality is I am like most of you in that I have stuff I have to do everyday, and I have struggles I have to face everyday... The only difference may be that I know I still have a Champion's Heart and Mind through it all, no matter what has happened, and no matter what will happen, and I can do this and I have decided to do this. I live with a lot of Grace that has been shown me, and I am thankful. I am thankful I can still step out and train and even attempt something like the U.S. Open.

So, there is a lot more to this than you might think. It is certainly multi-layered and not easy at all.

Soon, I will make some exciting announcements. For now, I am going to try and catch a 20-minute nap before work. The lat night training last night and the training today has worn me slap out. Just for the record...I absolutely despise being slapped in the face by low-hanging branches that I can't see when drivers blast their beams in my eyes while biking near the highway (on a sidewalk).

If you see me out biking in the middle of the night, please go drive somewhere else so I don't see spots for the next 2 miles, and I don't get mauled by tree branches that somehow are mysteriously not there in the daytime!

Ride on!

No Way Out Of This Tonight!

My day has been major crazy! I am just now at workout point of the day...almost midnight. Another "midnight run" so to speak.

I don't want to...but I must.

I will not post anything after the workout tonight (or tomorrow morning) as I will most definitely crash directly following...then go again in the a.m.

Here I go...(oh, and Holly told me I have an extra 3 miles on the bike tonight because I had a coffee tonight...sometimes I DESPISE accountability, but just like the midnight workouts, it is a MUST!)

Later! And I do mean LATE-er! (deep sigh and significant unwillingness to go through with this tonight...already dressed...so sigh!...here I go...my training partner is waiting...and I keep typing hoping somehow there is a way out...OK OK, I'm coming!)

Attacked With Swords During Training...

While training today, Nathaniel decided to increase the intensity of my workout. So, while I was doing situps, he proceeded to pound me with his foam swords...these are only a few of the pics as he was literally going all out on me. It was hilarious, but certainly does not make situps any easier. Michael was just sitting there laughing at me...thanks for the help training partner!

Oh, and Holly found this amazing recipe for Chimichanga's (sp?) that were healthy and she made it with the right portion of protein, carbs, and good fats...yum, yum! If you want the recipe, just email me or comment or something, I will be glad to send it to you.

Busy day tomorrow, so it's lights out for now. Hard to believe the U.S. Open is just around the corner...

Personal "Goals" Journal Entry...

As promised, here is a scan of a page in my personal "Goals" notebook. One thing I learned a long time ago, is that you have to write your goals down. Get them out, so to speak. One day I was listing some personal goals and I wrote down a goal to win the U.S. Open and the Disney tournament. Lofty by all accounts...but if it isn't out of reach, it might not be worth reaching for. The "B-HAG's" as we used to call them (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), have to be, well...BIG.

This entry was made a couple of years ago, way before I felt I would even be able to give a hint to the U.S. Open. As a matter of fact, someone had suggested back then to simply attend and enjoy the Opn as a spectator. Pfft. I don't talk to that person anymore...much.

So, you can see - this has been a dream/goal for a while (this entry is just when I wrote it down, it took me several years just to get it from my head to paper...I had been talking about the U.S. Open for a while before this). As for the other goals that are crossed out (for privacy, I gotta save something for another post :)...some have been accomplished, some are in the works...but of interest, 4 out of the entries on that page alone have to do with attaining high levels of training and recognition in the Martial Arts.

Here we go...

P.S. - Today's training was difficult, but good. It was a fast pace, and "heavy" on my body. I was mentally having a tough time aligning myself with training today. Ever have a day when everything seems to just be in the way...annoying? That was my morning. Then to make it worse, I was cut behind my ear and was bleeding like mad! Very frustrating, but engaged the training and came out the better for it...yoga later - woohoo!

Training from my perspective...

Here are a few photos taken from yesterday's training times. I took today off from workouts (still focused on nutrition and some stretching), because I forgot to take my one-day rest earlier this week and began to feel the effects this morning. Took the rest today...picking up again tomorrow and WILL NOT miss my rest day this coming week!

(1) I'm blurry because I'm so flippin' fast...or maybe it's because I'm dizzy...wait, I'm not taking the picture - maybe the photographer is dizzy. I don't know - but notice I am hitting the little black circle in the middle (actually at this point it was probably pure luck...or habit of training...because I was about to pass out from all these punches. What you don't see is that I am in a solid horse stance for these punches...100 at a time, over and over and over...you get the point!)

(2)My view from situp position in the backyard. Situps are my friend...at least, that's what I keep telling myself. I'll tell you for sure after the U.S. Open.

(3)The road ahead of me. Riding some new pavement during the bike ride section of the workout.

(4)O.k., remember that mit with the little black circle. Well, it went flying into the trees during my roundhouse kick portion. It hurt so much to keep kicking I just started getting mad to keep going and ended up with a flying mit a few times. Made me feel like big-tough-karate-man! HA!

(5)This pic is for my sis as she loves these bugs...this little critter flew up next to me the other day while jumproping, etc. and just stayed there through the whole workout...then took off. Kinda freaked me out a couple of times, gotta admit.

Tomorrow a.m. up and at 'em with some full-on workouts. Will work some more on katas/techniques tomorrow too. Plan is the have some yoga tomorrow evening. Don't laugh if you've never done yoga or think it's "girly"...yoga can kick anyone's butt...go ahead, I dare you!

I will also scan and post a small entry from my goals notebook from a couple of years ago. I carry it around everywhere with me inside my journal. After reviewing some things from the past...found it very interesting what I came across.