Candidate Journals

​Today was a good day. Woke up early and cut the grass before heading over to my parents' house for my nephew's 18th birthday. It's crazy how fast those 18 years have flown by. ​They had pizza, wings, garlic knots, and mozzarella sticks. I kept it sensible with a few slices of pizza and a few wings—pretty good overall! For dessert, there was ice cream cookie dough cake and ice cream Oreo cake. Wanting to stay on track with my intake goal, I opted for just a small slice of the Oreo cake. It was so good, and so sweet. ​Once I got back home, I hung out with Christian for a few hours. We spent time gaming, grabbed dinner, and worked on restoring a computer—he’s really excited to see how it performs. I also managed to knock out some requirements while watching part of a movie with him. ​Off to...

​Today was a great day. Didn’t wake up as early as I wanted, but I still got plenty of work in. ​Got to black belt class this morning, which was fantastic.  It was a great class taught by my sister, Master Natasya.  I'm so blessed to have some much experience in my family and around, not just me but all of the testers, there is no reason why we cant all get to the end goal. There are plenty of things I need to correct within a lot of the upper belt poomsaes.  A big thank you to Peyton for helping me after class get my notes right so I can practice properly. ​Got home and went out for a 3-mile run, and it felt terrible! Had to stop about 10 times, but I kept pushing through and finished. Ate some fruit and had a protein shake for breakfast before relaxing...

​Today was a great end to the workweek. Took the kiddos to the park—it was warm out, but the cloud cover and occasional breeze kept it pleasant.​I took black belt class this afternoon and learned some new material that I definitely need to practice. Afterward, I went to dinner with my dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew.​Planning on waking up early tomorrow to get a few miles in before class, hopefully with my son if he wants to join. My knee is pretty sore from sparring yesterday and sports a nice bruise, so hopefully the run goes smoothly. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning!

Today was a good day. Went to work this morning like usual, and arrived to find it was still hot—the AC guys hadn't been by the school yet. The little kiddos went to Urban Air today. Once we got all the kids, I helped move Group 2 from the pool over to King Tiger, then picked up the kids from Urban Air and hung out at Enzo for about an hour. Later, I set up a rotation with three different activity stations where the kids switched every 10 minutes. It worked out great and made the time fly by. Big shout-out to Audrey for being an awesome counselor—she’s always on top of what the kids enjoy and what they're capable of doing. Working with her makes managing the day with the little ones so easy. After a few more shuttle runs moving kids around, I wrapped up the workday. Christian and...

​Today was a good day. I was with the little kids today, and it went really well. Audrey does a great job with the group. I set them up for crafts later in the afternoon while she ran games for Game Show Day. The kids made masks out of paper plates today, and I think they really enjoyed it—a lot of them walked up and put them over their faces to show their parents. ​I did a little bit of driving today, but not much since Reena came back on a very quick turnaround. ​After work, I came home to follow up on some personal stuff, then hit the road for a 3-mile run. It felt good, especially after the 5-miler I did the other day. Came back home for a few more requirements, a shower, some dinner, and a movie with the wifey. 72 Hours is pretty funny. ​Hopefully, good...

Today was a good, busy day. It was pretty much nonstop driving from the moment I got to work: took one group of kids to the pool, another group to Urban Air (where I managed to capture some great action shots to upload), another trip back to the pool, and then brought kids back to King Tiger. After that, I picked up the remaining group from Urban Air to drop off at Enzo. During lunch, I grabbed a sandwich combo from Harris Teeter that came with a drink. I think it was actually the first time I've ever drank unsweet tea. Honestly? It was not good, but it did its job by keeping me under my daily sugar intake goal. The soda or high sugar drink challenge is still going strong—just dealing with small cravings here and there, but pushing through! One of the newer vehicles is acting really strange, so...

Today was a good day. Got to work and swapped in a battery for one of the vehicles—hopefully, it just needed a solid charge and isn’t a bad alternator causing it to drain or fail to charge. I drove the kiddos around today since our main driver was out. Got to hang out at the park for about an hour where I worked on some requirements; it was partly cloudy and breezy, with pretty comfortable temperatures. It definitely helped that I kept a hand towel wet with cool water from the fountain to stay fresh. The day seemed to fly by. Came home, sat down for a brief rest, and then headed out for a 5-mile run. Running on a level surface makes a massive difference! I planned a flat route to get the miles in, and it felt night-and-day compared to my 4-mile run the other day. As far as...

​Not too much going on today. I woke up, completed a few requirements, and grabbed some breakfast before heading into the garage to clean up a bit. Shortly after, we went over to my in-laws' house for dinner—it was delicious as always, and I always appreciate their cooking. ​After getting home, I knocked out a few more requirements, showered, and now I'm heading to bed. Today was Day 2 of my no-soda challenge. I had a strong craving to crack open a nice, ice-cold Coke, but luckily it passed pretty quickly.  

​Started the day off with black belt class! Missed an email from last night, so I was a few minutes late, but it was a solid session—definitely gave me a few things to work on. ​Afterward, I got the van door fixed and ready for summer camp next week (just need to charge a battery for Monday morning). Then, I picked up the boat and took it out for a few hours. It ran great! It was our first time taking it out since getting it fixed, so that was a huge win. ​Finished up the day handling a few quick tasks, getting in a little gaming, and catching up on some good sleep. Hope everyone’s having a great weekend so far!

Today was a pretty tough one to get through. My feet are bruised up pretty badly from sparring over the last two weeks, and while getting out of bed wasn’t the hard part, actually walking was brutal. I pushed through the pain, made my way to work slowly, and got through the day. Group 3 had movie day, so we watched Monsters vs. Aliens—it’s a good movie, and most of the kids hadn't seen it before. In the afternoon, I made sure the fleet was good on all fluids. I decided to skip black belt class today because I really wanted, and badly needed, to give my feet a rest. As soon as I got home, I plunged my feet straight into an Epsom salt ice bath for about 20 minutes. Once the feeling came back, they felt about 50% better and I was able to walk around somewhat okay after...

Today was a good day. I was running a tad bit behind this morning due to traffic being busier than usual. As soon as I arrived at work, I picked up a vehicle from the shop, then helped get a game together for Group 3 before leaving for Quest with the young kiddos. It was probably 5 degrees cooler today than on Tuesday when I went with the other group which was fantastic, yes it was hot but not to bad. Got to see some different things there today, which was cool. I didn't work out this morning in anticipation of taking sparring today, using the time while waiting for class to start to knock out some requirements. Sparring hurt like usual, but it felt better than last week in terms of moving around on the mat and just feeling out the opponent. Wrapped up the evening with dinner, completed a...

I skipped the morning workout today—I really wanted to test the difference in my energy levels throughout the day without an early session. By the end of the day, the difference was huge. Camp went smoothly: my group headed to the pool while the other half took care of things at King Tiger. After work, I came home to tackle two hours of yard work, grabbed dinner shortly after, and then knocked out some requirements. It’s a peculiar feeling—how you can physically feel stronger overall, yet feel so weak in the moment that you can't display your full strength. Happy Birthday to my mentor soon to be Master Jennifer Gould.  

​Today was a good day. Went to work out before work, and that was killer—chow at every round, 1,180 reps in total! I was exhausted after that, but I powered through work, and today's field trip was Quest. It’s always a cool experience; every year feels a little different visiting these spots with the kiddos. ​After work, I stayed for class, logged some leadership credit, and worked on self-defense. Came home, ate dinner, and relaxed with the family. Ended the night with a bit more self-defense practice, and now it's time for a good night's rest before doing it all over again tomorrow. ​Good night, all. Hope everyone is getting stronger, mentally and physically.

​Today wasn’t a great day. Woke up feeling like my head and shoulders had been beaten with a bag of quarters—splitting headache. It didn't help that I barely got any sleep. ​I called out of work, took some meds, and went back to bed until 12:00 PM. Ate some lunch, watched a little TV, and then went back to sleep for a few more hours. The headache didn't finally go away until around 7:00 PM. ​Ate some dinner, forced myself to get through my requirements, took a shower, and now here I am about to hit the sack. Good night, all. Hope everyone had a better start to their week than I did.

Today was a pretty laid-back day, which I really needed. I slept in late—the latest I’ve slept in for a long time. I got some laundry done, cleared out a ton of old paperwork I hadn't gone through in years, and picked up around the house before lunch. I even stumbled across two gift cards I’d completely forgotten about! Later on, I hit a wall and took a nap, which felt amazing since I haven't taken one in forever. Ended up getting my requirements taken care of, too. Looking forward to some growth this week.

Today was a good day overall. Slept right through my alarm this morning and ended up missing class, but I still got plenty of work done. Hit the pavement for a 4-mile run—by far the longest run I’ve done in a long time, and it felt like forever. It was tough; my neighborhood is definitely not flat, and some of those hills are brutal. Came in around an 11-minute mile pace, which I’m pretty happy with given the elevation. Spent some great quality time hanging out with the family. Right knee is feeling pretty sore today, which is weird since I’ve never had issues with it before. I'll keep an eye on it and hopefully it feels better tomorrow. Looking Ahead: Might take the boat out tomorrow after a morning football workout!

Today was an okay day. Took Christian to the dentist this morning before heading into work. My feet were definitely hurting well into the late afternoon from yesterday's sparring—comes with the territory, but I still made it to Black Belt class today. There’s so much I still need to lock in on. Tomorrow is going to be a push: starting with Saturday Black Belt class, followed immediately by football training, and then fitting in a few miles on top of that. No real plans for the rest of the weekend beyond that. Need to get some solid sleep tonight—got a long day coming up.

Today was easily the most exhausting day since the cycle started. I kicked things off with another solid 9Round workout. Summer camp went great today, especially thanks to Spare Time Bowling for being so flexible and accommodating us on short notice. After work, I attended class to get through my required self-defense drills. Since there was an extra class right after, I used that downtime to keep refining them. We finished up with sparring. It's been a while since I've sparred, and it definitely showed—I was rewarded with instant bruises! I felt super rusty, but I’m really grateful for everyone in class tonight. The energy was fantastic, with everyone encouraging and pushing each other to do their best. Knocked out some dinner, finished a few more requirements, took a shower, and now it's time for bed. Hoping for a solid night of sleep tonight.

Today started with a morning workout at 9Round. It was a refreshing change of pace compared to my usual evening sessions. Summer camp ran smoothly, keeping me busy shuttling the kids between the pool and the dojang. Back home, I managed to get the grass cut in anticipation for rain coming. For dinner, I experimented with air-frying some wings—they turned out great! My soreness has almost completely faded now. Keep on keeping on!

Today was easily my lowest energy day since the cycle started. I originally planned to hit 9Round early this morning, but another terrible night of sleep threw a wrench in that. Summer camp went well today. Later on, Christian and I took class together, and I earned a leadership credit by leading warm-ups. It was my first time leading warm-ups in over 10 years, but it felt like second nature—like I never stopped. I honestly felt like I could have run more of the class, but I respected that it wasn't my class to teach. After class, Christian and I hit 9Round together, and then I went home and logged a 2-mile run. I really hope I get some good sleep tonight so my energy bounces back tomorrow. Hearing others talk about their journeys and seeing some of their journals was a great reminder of why we’re all doing this.

Didn't sleep well last night for whatever reason. I started the day with a dentist appointment before work. Starting tomorrow I will be going to 9rounds before work to ensure I can get my classes and leadership credits in during the evening classes.  Summer camp went great overall—it was hot out there, but a good day with the kids. After work, I hit up 9Round for a solid workout with Dad and left with my shirt completely soaked. Finishing up a few more requirements tonight before heading to bed. I'm feeling pretty wiped out, so I think I'll crash fast tonight. Safe to say I shouldn't have any trouble sleeping this time around!

Today marked the second day of the current cycle. I began the morning with a stretching routine to alleviate soreness before transitioning into some of the day's primary requirements. I will say I noticed a huge lift in my appetite yesterday, the physical demands of yesterday’s session resulted in a significant increase in my appetite. Midday, me and the family went to visit my in-laws for lunch and watch the World Cup Finals. Spain delivered a dominant performance throughout the match, maintaining control well beyond what the final score suggested. Upon returning home, I prioritized my recovery with a protein shake and completed the remaining cycle tasks for the day. Knowing that so many others are diligently working toward this same objective keeps me fully focused and accountable. Let’s keep pushing forward—we have what it takes to succeed.

Completed the Fall 2026 Black Belt Cycle pre-test. Overall, I’m pleased with where my baseline performance is after a 10-year break from testing. While my core technique and form felt solid, the pre-test clearly highlighted a few specific areas that will require focused conditioning and refinement over the next few months to get them to testing standard.  Today was a massive reminder of the sheer scale of a black belt cycle. Talking with fellow testers put the collective dedication into perspective. It’s not just an individual physical challenge; it’s a shared commitment to excellence, discipline, and pushing past mental limits. Stepping back onto this path after a decade requires a high level of humility and focus.