Candidate Journals

Tuesday- Journal number 50! I’ve actually done quite a few more but I didn’t realize if I did one in the morning for the day before and one that night it only counts as one! Today was good, got up and did 2 miles but I struggled, I think the foggy air really affected me, hopefully Saturday is nicer. Ready for this weekend!

Monday- got up early and got the 2 miles and requirements in, the. We had a morning mentor session with master Marcus. We went over our breaks and what we are going to do, It was a good informative session,  Regular work the rest of the day, nothing crazy, can’t believe physical testing is this weekend!

Sunday- got up today and did 2 miles, I was a little out of sorts, got a late start and no one joined me. I forgot to take my glasses off and to grab my earbuds for music. With glasses sliding off my face and no music the run seemed to last a lot longer. I won’t do that again! I spent the day running some errands, and then after lunch finished drywalling up the bathroom, now for muddying and sanding, my least favorite part.  looking forward to the testing next weekend, I’m a mixture of relieved and stressed that it’s so close!

Saturday- Today was a long day, got up early for 2 miles before black belt class. Black belt class was good, I enjoy working on some of the basic stuff like preps that maybe I should have learned a little better as a lower belt. After class Abigail and I stopped by Home Depot and picked up drywall and cement board for the bathroom. Got a lot of drywall up but got distracted by football. Another day tomorrow!

Friday- Today was pretty dull. Got work done. Ran some errands at lunch and then went to Black belt class. Worked on red belt self defense, I feel ok about those but was mixing up kicking defense 2 and 3, I had those down last week but have somehow forgotten them. Oh well, on the list to practice at home!    

Work today, TKD tonight, got some leadership credits and sparring class done. I did a class as a white belt and hope  to do another Saturday so I can then write my essay.    

Wednesday- got up and got my requirements in. I hope the person below my hotel room Doesnt hate me. Spend the day at the plant and flew home late. Now we’re watching a movie, back to the regular schedule tomorrow!

Tuesday- Spent the day in Ohio programming a packaging machine. I didn’t get up in time to get the gym but did manage to get off at a reasonable time and get my requirements in before dinner. Then I worked on finishing up my essays. One more day here and then back to NC.

Monday- got out and did 2 miles this morning, then the plumber showed up to finish and get the inspection completed. I was able to also get the electrical inspected at the same time, all by 8:30am! Abigail and I did an early morning mentor session, which was really good! Worked and got my requirements done and went back for evening class. I’m now sitting on a plane headed for Ohio, back on Thursday!

Sunday- nothing too exciting today. Didn’t run but I will tomorrow. Got my requirements done and finished the electrical in the bathroom. Then spent the afternoon at a neighborhood football party.  

Friday- Kettlebell workout this morning and coffee with friends. I’m frustrated with work, and I’ll need to travel again next week. I really with I hadn’t injured my toe, it hurts a lot when I do burpees.    

Thursday, I didn’t run today, I’ll need to catch up tomorrow. I had to go to the office, but got in my reps there before lunch. I came back early and grabbed Abigail  and went and did a mentor session before the 4pm testing. I was hoping to stay but needed to get back home. I’m looking forward to a normal schedule next week. 

Wednesday- Ran 2 miles this morning and got a stretch and my requirements in, not having class is throwing off my schedule!  Had the plumbers out today to get started on the bathroom. Unfortunately I had to move a few thing and switch some plans due to stud locations but I think we got it all worked out.

Monday- up early for a work trip. Spent the day working and didn’t get back to the hotel until 9ish. Working on requirements and poomsae in the room before bed. 

Sunday- It been a busy weekend, I’m sore this morning from the kickathon. I did not run this morning, but did get my requirements done. Worked in the bathroom again this afternoon. Got the new door hung and most everything prepped for the plumbers next week. Traveling tomorrow morning, I’m hoping I can get my requirements in tomorrow night.

Friday- Went to my kettlebell workout, it had a lot more running than usual which would have been good except I majorly jammed my toes yesterday in class. It was a busy day at work, lots of meetings prepping for my travel next week. Got 2 loads of trash from my construction project tot he dump and spent an hour on the phone with mecklenburg county trying to understand permitting. Class was good, and home in time for dinner and early bed. 

Thursday- got up and did 2 miles this morning, and got some of my requirements done. Then to the office and back home in time for TKD. Helped out with the 5:15 class and worked with some students who were really ready for testing! Sparring class was good but I jammed my toes doing a poomsae during class. I can’t seem to do a week without something hurting.

Wednesday- Got up and RAN 2 miles for the first time in a while, felt ok running but my foot was hurting during class. Had to go into the office today- which makes getting my requirements done harder, had to borrow a conference room at lunch time. Classes were good tonight, I'm definitely feeling a lot more confident in what I'm teaching the Color belts and not second guessing myself. Got a Mentor session in with Master Marcus.    

Tuesday- Got up and did my requirements. Worked from home today and took a load of recycles to the dump, I wish recycling came every week in Huntersville! Abigail had swimming today so i went to class alone, but got a mentee and both leadership credits in. My mentee is looking good for testing next week!    

Monday- got up and do some requirements. Still not running, trying to  get this plantar fasciitis better before I got out again. We had a mentor session with master Marcus this morning, that was good we hadn’t done much weapon work. I’ve been thinking about enertia, I think I picked this project up because Ive got a lot of eneertia and can’t stop doing something, I’m already doing an hour plus of requirements, why not just keep moving….I Spent the rest of the day working on my bathroom project, electrical is almost done, ac is now piped in. Next will be plumbing, but I’m paying for that to be done,    

Sunday- what should have been a relaxing day ended up being a full day of working on projects. I’ve been talking about adding a bathroom upstairs since we moved in and for some reason while I’m in the middle of black belt cycle I decided to start. Did our shopping for supplies and materials and got the former closet ripped to the studs. Opened up a new door and framed it out. It looks good but I am questioning why I added another project while I am busy with this. We finished off our evening with poomsae and self defense with all the kids.

Saturday- got up for blackbelt class, it was a good one. Work with weapons which I haven’t done much of. Then stuck around and got a mentee session in and a helped with the family class after. Then we went home and I got a short walk/run in, I’ve hurt my foot/ankle somehow and am trying to not mess it up more.  Spent the rest of the day cleaning and prepping our room above the garage I am working on converting to an additional bathroom.   

Thursday- last day at the beach, we had a free pass to the go-cart place and decided to use it before we left. We packed up early and hit the tracks around 11. I was impressed with everyone’s driving skills, especially considering the girls hadn’t really done anything like that before.  We left around 1:30 and made it back just in time for evening sparring. I’m glad we kept up on our requirements as well as we did but now I’ve got to keep focused and finish everything up before testing!

Wednesday- a third good day at the beach, headed back tomorrow. Spent the morning on the beach, and most of the afternoon in the pool and relaxing on our balcony. I ended up doing 2 miles once the sun went down. It was much more pleasant. I’ve also decided sam Chong is boring and that’s why I always try to mix another poomsae with it. See everyone at sparring!

Tuesday- Great day today, ran 2 miles this morning. The humidity here really makes that hard. Then we spent all on the beach. I’m a little more crispy than I would like, keeping up with everything is hard!

Sunday- 1st full day our our beach trip, kids were up early, Got some requirements done, and we were at the beach by 8am… We spent the morning there and after lunch went to the Myrtle waves water park, pretty good. We all went back to the beach after dinner, Abigail and I thought it would be fun to do our poomsaes and self defenses on the beach, but we just ended up kicking sand at eachother and I don’t recommend it!

Saturday- got up early and finished packing my bag and the car for the beach. Got over to the morning blackbelt class. Man was that a lot of falls and rolls. But I’m not nearly as sore from them as I would have been at the beginning of this cycle, I guess I’m getting better. We made it to the beach this afternoon, everyone is off having a good time, I’m still worried about keeping Up with all our requirements while we are here!

Friday- I really felt good this week. We went everyday and got some sort  of leadership or mentor/mentee work done almost everyday. Saturday after BB class we leave for the beach,  I hope we can keep up our morning runs and requirements. 

Wednesday-I had to go into the office today, (funny how much this is a big deal to me now, when i did it 5 days a week for 15 years) which really cuts  into my morning routine, I was only able to run and get some requirements done, but not all. Afterwork, I got a quick haircut. I give the same instructions every time, but it was a different barber than normal and i got a completely different haircut. Oh-well, it grows back. Classes were good- the 4:45 and 5:15 seems to be extra busy now that school has started, happy to help assist with those. Then attended to 6pm and got a mentor session in with Master Marcus.     

Tuesday- Got up and did 2 miles and all my physical requirements and stretched for about 20 min. Today almost all the kids ran with me, which was fun.  Next week we are headed to the beach, normally I take Tuesdays off from classes but I went in today and had a really productive afternoon. Got both a mentee and mentor session in, as well as both leadership credits. It feels good to get things done!    

Monday- The routine is really helping, 2 miles, finish ALL exercises and then about a 20 minute stretch. I highly recommend Sarah Beth Yoga on youtube. We pop it on the TV in the living room and stretch.   Monday was a little busy at work, lots of things coming to a head trying to start prepping for the end of the quarter and end of the year, which is crazy that it's already almost September.   We went and helped with the 5:15 and took the 6 and 6:45, classes. Worked with some white belts, which is always fun, even my youngest is long past that age! I worked with a new Mentee between classes which was nice. It's interesting to me that each person really has their own struggles.     

Sunday- Back on the running today, I felt extra slow and my calves were tight so took some time after to do some stretching. I've never stretched this much in my life, but I feel good. Did some shopping today, went to the Super G Mart, which is one of my wife's favorite activities, we like exploring different foods and new things. Sometime they are more successful than others. I don't think we got anything too exotic this time, just variation of things we know we like. Plus their veggies are a pretty good deal usually.  Got home and did some requirements and ran through Poomsae's and self defenses with Abigail. I need to buckle down and get some Essays finished up this week. Almost halfway!        

Saturday- got up and went to blackbelt class, I felt good, but I’ve bruised my shoulder doing rolls and falls I think. I seem to always have some ache or pain during this cycle, I need to stop complaining! Saturday night my wife and I went downtown and had a nice dinnner and saw a play. It was a really good time. We don’t get out much!  

Thursday- Got up and did the standard 2 miles with Abigial and the dog. We really are getting that down and decreasing our time. It was a fairly stressful day at work, which hopefully means Friday will be better and more calm. I got through about half of my requirments before work and the other half at lunch, work from home days really make this much more achievable! Tonight was sparring, which I enjoy but I am always amazed how much energy those short rounds take up. Friday I should be on schedule with everything, got to get 3 miles in and try to catch up on some planks and pull ups. I know we are almost halfway- it's feeling more achievable!  

Wednesday- Got up and did 2 miles, it's getting easier, got about half of my requirements done before work. I've added about 20 minutes of stretching after my run, and it's helped my hips not hurt so much, but it does add a lot of time to my morning, I may need to get up earlier.  Abigail and I went to the 5:15 class to help out, I think teaching Poomsaes may be the best thing for me, as it really challenges how well I know each move and stance. recognizing someone elses mistakes are harder than recognizing my own.  We took the 6 and 6:45 classes, and made it home. I need to get into gear on some more of my essays this week.

Got up and did 2 miles. hit a record time on the first mile. It's nice to see improvement. I need to get a 3 mile day in later this week. I had to go into the office today and managed to snag a conference room and finish my exercise requirements at lunch.  In the evening Abigail and I did our poomsaes and self defense. I'm not sure how i would do this without her pushing me and helping me everyday. It must be harder for those people doing it alone.  I want to make a list of everything I need to know so i make sure I'm not missing something. We keep learning more and I'm worried I'm going to miss something!  

Monday,  Today was a good productive day all Around. Got up and went for a run, only a mile and I'll need to add a few to get to 10 this week. Did some stretching after and then my physical requirements.  5 Minutes is a lot, I've been able to do about 3 minutes of each in 1 minute increments, and then I feel like I'm not getting much out of it as I can't do many reps in minutes 4 and 5. So I've taken to finishing my requirements around lunch, which is fine if I'm working from home, but I need to figure it out for the day I'm in the office.  Today was the first day I've been able to go early and catch the 5:15 class to help with, It was nice and I'm hoping I can keep doing that.   

This weekend was good, had my mom in town. I tried to get her to go running with us but she wasn’t interested. Went to a lake Sunday and swang on a rope swing quite a few times. Not sure if I can count as my pull ups a but boy are my lats sore. This 5 minutes or exercises and an extra mile this week are really getting tough.   

Last day in Ohio, got up early again and was able to get a mile in and my exercises done. Spent all day on my feet and headed to the airport around 4. My flight wasn't delayed which i thought it would be with all the weather, so i made it on and thought i might actually be able to get to the Thursday night sparring. Unfortunately, we then had some electrical issue and sat for an hour while they fixed that. I ended up getting home around 9pm. I was able to work through my Poomsae's and finish my daily requirements before bed. It's always nice to sleep in my own bed.     

Today was day 2 in Ohio, got up early but had a little less time this morning so I didn’t quite finish my requirements. Spent all day on my feet so finishing up poomsae and burpees tonight was not fun. I’m tired and ready for one more day, hopefully I can get home tomorrow, but the storms look like it may be a long day of travel tomorrow night.

First day on the road, work up early and got 2 miles in at the hotel gym. I realize i really prefer running outside! I also had time to finish my exercise requirements. Spent the day walking around a factory and got back around 5:30. I had time to get my poomsae, kicks and self defense down into my hotel room, before dinner.  it was fun to FaceTime with Abigail so she could help me,  Overall today went much better than I expected! Hopefully I can do it again tomorrow. 

Got up and did 2 miles this morning, I’m still a little behind from being sick. Catching up feels almost impossible, I’ll get there but it’s a lot!  In the beginning I felt this was very do-able and the deeper in we get and the more time it takes me every morning to get through things the more I realize how hard this is! I have work travel today, tried to stick with my nutrition challenge but finding good food in an airport isn’t easy,   

I got up earlyish and Got 2 miles in, I've been trying to get a stretch session in after my runs. They feel good, but i don't know if I'm actually getting any more flexible. I didn't think going up to 4 minutes each on the exercises would be a big deal but I can tell a big difference in my energy on that 4th set still.   We went out to Collect-a-con and actually saw a few king tiger folks. It was an interesting event, something I've never done before, doing something new is always good.  I also started learning my new skill this weekend, harder than i thought it would be so far!

Today is the first day I’ve reallly felt completely back to normal from being sick. Long day of work, but I was able to get my requirements in at lunch. Today was sparring day, I enjoy sparring but I am always amazed how exhausted I am after 2 rounds. 

I feel back on track today. Now I've got to catch up on some of my requirements I didn't get to while I was sick. It's a little overwhelming, but i know I can get through this. I'm definitely sore and       

Feeling better today, I have not been that sick in a long time. Now to get back on track. Walked the dog and did some of my daily requirements. Hoping to get back to class Wednesday. Lots to catch back up on. 

Been sick the past few days. Feeling better, hopefully i can get back on track next week.

Travel Troubles.  I'm supposed to be in Iowa, but I'm back home.  I spent my afternoon and evening yesterday waiting at the airport for a plane that never left.  Thankfully I finished all the physical requirements before I left, although I did think about doing some pushups while waiting. There were so many people, the most I've ever seen in CLT. Now to get started with todays activities!

Up early for a run and early start on the requirements. Another day of no electronics. It is nice to just put the phone away and focus on whatever I’m doing. Got some essays worked on and finished up my

As everyone knows today was pretest. I had dreams about answering questions wrong but I knew I was right and was disagreeing with the masters! As for the actual tests I thought it went well, the run felt good after doing mostly 2 mile legs during the week, it was super nice of Joe Clowers to run my last lap with me after he already ran with Jovi! The physical and poomsae I felt went well, still need to improve but I feel so much more confident than 1.5 weeks ago when master Natasha  reviewed poomsae with us in class.  I spent the day off electronics (except for this) I got so much done cleaning and yard work. I did end up taking a nap. I think I like the person I am better when I’m not teaching for my phone everytime it buzzes! See you Monday!   

Got up this morning and did my Friday Morning Kettlebell workout. Luckily it had lots of running, pushups, sit-ups and planks So I'm counting some of that toward my required exercises. Coffee in the morning with some friends after working out is always a nice entry into the weekends. I'm a little behind on some of my requirements but I hope to finish everything up today before friday night class. Tomorrow's pretest will be here soon!

Here we go, Thursday, another morning of running and exercises down.  Unfortunately work has been a little slow the first half of the year. and now, as I wouldn't mind having the time and ability to focus on this black belt cycle everything is full speed ahead! It's nice to have Abigail doing this with me so we can hold each other accountable and work together on the daily requirements. See everyone at sparring tonight!

Well journaling seems to be the hardest thing for me to remember. Got up for the 2nd day in a row and did 2 miles and a few minutes of each of the exercises.  I've said this a lot, but trying to remember all the self-defenses and Poomsae's is like unlocking a different portion of my brain that what I use at work.  Sometimes I feel it's just having the confidence to take the next step, and generally it's the right one even if I'm doubting myself. Still mixing and matching Poomsae's. Hoping this week is the hardest in terms of making the routine, and the weeks to come I'm able to just add to it.

7/15/24 Journal

This weekend I spent time writing all the Poomsae's step by step with some memory "jogs" to help me remember them. I know I have known and will re-learn all of these but i seem to be struggling with them, especially when no one can help me!

I dont feel as prepared as I would like to be going into this. I would like to have taken more time to lay out a plan and get myself better organized. I generally go-with-the-flow but this is going to take some planning and preparation. 

Ilve really enjoted the Atomic Habits book- reading it prior to starting t