"An eventful weekend" is certainly one way of putting it.

-Sunday: Upgraded my Tiberius 9.1 and spent more money that day than I should have.

-Monday: Labour Day = Stat Holiday.  Rumours may cast me in the light of "doing absolutely nothing at all".

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours, Wrestling, 1 hour.
First day back to training after vacation, and it showed.  I've been worse, but I've been way better.  Small class, but grappled with a girl, and showed her a couple of escapes to help her along.  Wrestling afterward was tough and demanding, but I have never been more grateful to grade 9 than now.  Helped even the odds out against a couple of people, but the exhaustion sucked.

-Wednesday: R'n'R
Un. E. Ventful.

-Thursday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Left arm started acting up, threw a decent-sized monkey wrench in everything.  It is a major handicap.

-Friday: Hell at work/R'n'R
Work was eventful and busy, and not in a way I enjoyed.  However, some OT will definitely help next payday.

-Saturday: GTS Run, 16km, 01:48:23
Nice warm day, second run solo, but this time had a properly sync'd iPod to help keep me company.

Weekly Oddities:

-Seeing Red 3 was Saturday night, and featured the amateur debuts of fellow training partners Brendan Kim and Christian Tremayne.  The seats I acquired through work put me spitting distance from cageside and on the blue corner which meant I got to watch my teammates walk out and enter on my side.  Both of them won in the first round via TKO from full mount.  I definitely strained my voice cheering for them.

-Next weekend's may be delayed as well, but it's all for a good cause, I swear!

-I'm not the first, I'm not the last, but goddamn I need more time in the day/week.

Three at once!

-Sunday: Ladner Half-marathon
Another early morning wake-up, another event to help out at.  Lisa and I were posted to the third water table while Chris did other things.  Not entirely sure what he did actually.  There were some fast people on this course, and some dumb drivers.  Fortunately, there was enough of a police prescence to keep most of them in check.  And pancakes afterward via donation.  Yum!

-Monday: Vacation Prep
Had to decide what gear I wanted to take with me, and narrowed it down to a duffel bag for BJJ and running.

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Small turnout, just myself and Brad.  Worked on Gogo pilata and talked about upcoming tournaments and fights.

-Wednesday: Packing
Packed up pretty much everything for vacation, and tried to go to sleep early.  Almost worked.

-Thursday: Driving, 11 hours
Made the drive from B.C. to Alberta via the usual course of Coquihalla/Highway 5 and through Jasper.  Hinton had quite a lineup from some theater crew getting lunch.  Forgot which way the timezones worked for about an hour.  Also missed my opportunity for the Native discount at the Esso in Kamloops.

-Friday: Blood donation
First-time blood donation.  Went a lot smoother than I thought it would go, but some blood refused to stay in my body.  Leaked a bit, so was awarded with a double-wrap bandage.  Flirted with a 20-something girl before I was finished to help ease her nerves (the nurse assigned to her certainly wasn't up to the task).  Must do this again.

-Saturday: R'n'R
Oh sleeping in, how I've missed you.  Worked on the slideshow for the wedding.

-Sunday: R'n'R
Cut the front acre at my parent's place.  First beer back home.

-Monday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Hung out with Jordan after his doc's appointment and consumed a Big Brewskie.  Went to Master Ford's after that to see some old friends and try out his new Tatami-ish mats during BJJ.  Fun stuff, but taking on an opponent who has 100+ pounds on you negates pretty much all of my advantages.  Came out of that night with a small cut from my scalp down past my eye just to the outside of my right eye.  That is the only downside to having a gi with a lot of patches sewn on, they can scratch you like Hayabusa gear.

-Tuesday: R'nR
I don't even remember what I did.  Nothing horribly important obviously.

-Wednesday: Wedding Rehearsal and Dinner
Rehearsal went well, was paired with the best looking bridesmaid of them all.  Was the only groomsman who could make it, so Stu's dad and aunt help fill Tony and Dan's spots.  Dinner was great, and at a fancy restaurant.  Used my knowledge of cycling gained from Pierre at work during many conversations about varying physical activities.

-Thursday: Bachelor/ette Party
Dan arranged for groups of five to get cheaper prices at Whitemud Amusement Park, which including mini-golf, go-karts and batting cages.  The entire wedding party met up for the morning adventures.  The cages weren't as good as Castle Fun Land in Abbotsford.  The go-karts were awesome as always, especially if you know how to corner properly.  After, the bridesmaids went elsewhere while the groomsmen proceeded to a hockey arena to play hockey.  After that it was off to the Twisted Kilt for dinner (apparently a semi-formal affair) and some drinks and then off in a stretch SUV limo to Dave's place for the entertainment.

-Friday: Tuxedo pick-up, McGillivray family barbeque
Traditionally it's the job of the Best Man to pick-up the tuxes, but Dan was busy with work, so Stuart said he was going to go get them.  I met him there to pick everything up, and we each tried ours on.  Mine fit perfectly (slim-fit jackets are phenomenal, even if they do make my traps ache), but Stuart's was a little tight (and his weight wasn't entirely to blame).  We dropped them off at his dad's place, had a quick lunch, did an errand and then met up again at his aunt's place for dinner.

-Saturday: THE WEDDING!
Met up at noon to get changed, at Union Bank Inn by 2PM.  People were seated by just after 3PM.  Ceremony started moments later.  Anna and I nailed the walk-out music timing perfectly.  (This is what happens when you let the girl in high heels set the pace, especially when you have a foot of height over her)  Stuart and Dani surprised almost all of us by adding onto their vows by singing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin.  He was always pretty good at Karaoke, and even a lung virus couldn't mess him up too much (but Dani sings better).  Most people were in tears by this point (except for Tony and I, we seem to be heartless robots when it comes to sappyness).  After the ceremony it was wedding pictures and their photographer was pretty awesome.  Dinner/reception started late since there were a family or two who misread the time, but things were adjusted to save a bit of time.  Stuart's dad closed out the dance floor with the last dance at 2AM.  There's something to aspire to.

-Sunday: R'n'R
Returned my tux (again, traditionally a duty of the Best Man, but I told him I would get mine back since I had some business on the South Side), and then went to visit some former co-workers at ye old Wye Road (Save-On).  While talking with Ashley, I realized that since moving to B.C., I have put on nearly 15 pounds, and most of it being muscle.

-Monday: Driving, 10.5 hours
Made the drive home, and absolutely destroyed on the Coquihalla.  Watched the price of gas increase every hour I traveled away from Edmonton.

-Tuesday: R'n'R, Fall Cleaning
Decided that I really needed to clean up my space, which involved a reorganization of everything.  Collected 4 boxes of clothes to donate, downsized another 2 boxes of stuff.  Moved my bed, t.v. and bookshelf, and vacuumed the crap out of every piece of floor I came across.

-Wednesday: More Cleaning
Continued my efforts into organizing and uncollecting things.  Recycled my empties and finally made space for the dumb amounts of gear I have.  Replaced one old duvet with a new one from mom (albiet the new one is for a Queen, not a Twin) and replaced my old pillows.  Hooked up my computer's 5.1 to my t.v., though I have yet to test it.  Compiled a list of my books and let a friend know I was selling them for cheap.

-Thursday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
First day back at BJJ, found out Kyle had returned to Revolution (that traitorous bastard).  Nicknamed two other students as "Spud" and "Hashbrown, cubed, not shredded" because they're both quite young and wear black gis.  Didn't do too badly considering I've only done one training lesson in almost two weeks.

-Friday: R'n'R
Shit hit the fan at work, and I'm pretty sure that the bosses have never been happier that I'm still in their employment.  Not the best way to end the week, but Eric and I have honestly have worse.

-Saturday: GTS Run, 21k, 02:30:something
The official 21k training run/walk for all of the half-marathon participants.  The course was the same, which meant I knew exactly what to expect.  I ran solo for the first time since the fourth week of training.  My time wasn't bad, but wasn't the best either.  Taking 3 weeks off from running is a bit too much, but that's the way the cards fell.  I'm confident for Disney, which is all that matters.

Weekly Oddities:

-Realized on Tuesday that I had temporarily misplaced my wallet.  It was quite nerve-wracking for a few minutes until I remembered that I left it in the work van from my little joyride run on Monday.  Very thankful I have keys to unlock work.

-I feel as though the gas in Alberta is higher quality than the stuff we use in BC.  Could just be how I'm driving though.

-If you feel that someone may not bring clothes appropriate for a certain day, please warn them in advance to bring something nice.  When I'm on vacation during the summer, you're lucky if I bring t-shirts, much less pants.  Semi-formal wear?  Please son, you'd have to be out your mind to expect that.

-Please tell me I'm not the only one who graduated in the early 2000's who knows "Paradise by Dashboard Lights" by Meatloaf.  It sure seemed that way during the dance.  Definitely impressed everyone over 40 though.

-Blue Gatorade and raspberry-flavoured Shot Bloks do not mix well.  Horrible mix of tastes.

Well, my weekly recap for your reading pleasure.

-Sunday: Volunteered at the Walnut Grove Triathalon
Oh boy, why do volunteers have to check in by 6AM if the race doesn't start until 7:30AM?  My job was "Transition to Bike/Transition to Run" (they transitioned in the same area), and my partner and I served as the analog backup to the chip readers.  It was a little hairy at one point as I called out numbers transitioning from the swim to the bike and then very quickly calling out transitioning numbers from bike to run.  Fortunately for the record keepers I let the female handle the tricky part, and she kept up really well for writing down numbers, time and switching between clipboards on the fly.  Kicked my ass, that's for sure.

-Monday: R'n'R
It's pretty sad when you can sleep in longer on a work day than you can on your days off.  Oh well.

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours, Wrestling, 1 hour
I aggravated my cauli during the day and during class, but finally (FINALLY) managed to get Christiaan to tap out with an Ezekiel.  Then Brad handed my ass to me on a silver platter.  And then we worked on Wrestling, which included a lot of shooting for takedown lessons.

-Wednesday: Door-to-Door fundraising, North Vancouver
Swapped out my tactics a bit and did some door to door with Lisa.  Didn't raise any money but managed to get a decent idea of what to say when at the door talking to people.  Not a wasted day.

-Thursday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
My thighs still hurt from Tuesday's lessons, but then, so did Brad's.  We were on a pretty even keel.  When against Christiaan, managed to lock in an Anaconda, but couldn't seal the deal.

-Friday: R'n'R
I honestly don't remember what I did on Friday.

-Saturday: Retail shift, 8 hours
Had to skip the GTS run thanks to a shift I picked up to work the retail store.  Since the start time of the run was early than the start time of my shift, I showed up at the usual meeting spot to wish them luck and snicker a bit.  Then it was a boring day at work.  Also missed a convention.

Weekly Oddities:

-I enjoy sleeping on my left side, which is where I have my cauliflower ear.  It's either really painful to sleep or really difficult to fall asleep on another side.  I may be the odd one out using wrestling headgear while I sleep.  At least it means I won't unintentionally make it worse.

-Told the groom of the wedding party I'm in that I have cauli ear.  Technically there is no good side of me anymore since each side has scars or lumps of hardened fluid.  Maybe the wedding photographer should take some shots of my abs while I'm dehydrated (that'll make them pop really good).

-My right instep has stopped hurting whenever I flex my toes into a ball.  This may be a result of the lack of running this week, the lack of shoes this weekend (sandals the entire time) or both.  Not sure, but I certainly enjoy the feeling.

The destroyer of cartilage.

Seriously.

-Sunday: R'n'R
I somehow put a lot of pressure on my knees while sleeping, the pain woke me up in the middle of the night.  They were so stiff I had to move them with my hands as slowly as possible.  That is a hard feat at 3AM when you're short on sleep.

-Monday: R'n'R
Welcome to BC Day!  Otherwise known as Civic Monday to me.  Super glad it was a day off, I needed the rest more than I knew.

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Did a Shark Tank to work keeping your opponent in guard.  While I never managed to keep anyone in my guard, I did sweep two into full-mount, submit another, and gain side-control on all but one.  On the flip side, I managed to pass everyone's guard but Christiaan's.  Being aggressive is definitely key for me.  My transitions have improved dramatically, but like last week I still need work on my Triangle defence.

-Wednesday: R'n'R
Because as previously stated, I be a lazy git.

-Thursday: Douglas College Info session
I wish I could have made it to BJJ, but the session went for quite a while.  Answered some of my questions, but I left them stumped at "What happens if your schooling was in a different province and do the entrance requirements matter if you've been out of high school for a while?".  Her question to me was "Define 'a while'" and my reply was simply "Going on 10 years".  Pretty sure that threw them off track more than my original questions.

-Friday: R'n'R
My cousin Courtney was celebrating her 27th birthday, so I helped her celebrate.  Man I forgot how bad Smirnoff Vodka is.

-Saturday: GTS Session, 21km, 02:26:54
10 weeks ago I never would have imagined being able to do 21 klicks in under 3 hours, but training has improved my time and stamina immensely.  Unfortunately I've also gone and done something to my left knee.  It is out of the blue, meaning I can't trace why it's hurting.  Actually going to go see a doctor or physiotherapist about it this time.  The silver lining?  My right knee seems to be back at full capacity.  Going to have to try my anti-armbar move on Kyle, since he is the closest to my weight class without being over the 200lbs mark.

Weekly oddities:

-On the Saturday run, a truck with a horse trailer drove past Lisa and I.  The drive leaned out his window and yelled "Go Horsies!" as he passed by.  I have no idea what that is supposed to mean in English.

-My main bartender Kyle just returned from three months at Firefighter camp.  In Texas.  I shall say only this: he could be the poster boy for any recruitment poster.

-Krispy Kreme doughnuts are indeed delicious, but they are not the way I want to hit 170lbs.  But for a good cause, I'll make a sacrifice.

Yup, another weekly roundup!  Can you believe it's the end of July already?

-Sunday: R'n'R
I was planning on getting up to watch some friends cross the finish line at the Fort Langley half-Marathon, but I slept in a little late thanks to a very busy and sake laden Saturday.

-Monday: R'n'R
I'm getting old, needing two days to recover from one fun day ...

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Still need to work on Triangle defence, get caught in too many of those.  Made Christian fade in and out of consciousness for over 30 seconds with an Ezekiel, man I love that choke!

-Wednesday: R'n'R
I am a lazy git these past two weeks.  At the very least I need to walk for an hour.

-Thursday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
We worked at a stop and go pace, where Christiaan would pair us up and then randomly pause us and ask what we could do from there.  He was mainly looking for submissions, to try and teach us that we should be able to find a submission from any angle.  Had a good scramble with a guy who learned what Don recently taught me, but wasn't quite prepared for my follow-up which reversed side-control positions.

-Friday: R'n'R
Discussed the finer techniques of cycling and what long-distance racers do right before a race.  Yup, only at Bushido.

-Saturday: GTS Run, 15k, 01:52:11
Good time with a decent amount of slacking.  Was also the halfway-point in training, a few more weeks before we hit longest distance and then back down we go before the races.  Held a small party afterwards, fruit, veggies, water and chocolate milk a-plenty.  And dogs.

Weekly oddities:
- Thursday I re-named Christian from “Anaconda“ to “Triangle“ since he can never lock a good Anaconda choke on me, but can sink a Triangle in his sleep.

-My left knee decided that after last week it was the one that wanted to be in pain, and my right knee acquiesced and barely ached at all on Saturday.  I have no idea what is going on.  Going to have to experiment with tape jobs.  On the bright side, it means I can do a proper single- or double-leg takedown and use my right leg to post up.

-Discovered Friday that I am developing a wee bit of Cauliflower ear.  This explains why my left earlobe has been feeling like a giant bruise for over a week.  The pain has all but disappeared, which means the fluid has hardened and can no longer be drained.  At least now I know what to keep an eye out for.  It isn't too noticeable, but you can certainly feel the difference between each lobe.

Ever have those days when you're perfectly content to ignore the outside world and just sit in one spot and do absolutely nothing?  Yeah, this is one of those days.

-Sunday: Rest and Recovery
Lounged around, kept the knee moving periodically and stayed warm.  Yup, nothing like the rain to throw off your game.

-Monday: Rest and Recovery
Made up snack bags to eat between meals and times of exercise.  It's almost sad how many empty calories I need.

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Got some great practice with body triangles and rear-naked chokes.  Used an Ezekiel and managed to get out of one as well.

-Wednesday: Rest and Recovery
Felt super lazy and just chilled.

-Thursday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Was fired up when we free-rolled, successfully defended a lot of techniques and worked a few offensive.  Defence has improved greatly since starting.

-Friday: Rest and Recovery
Made a trip to Popeye's for more protein powder, picked up a bigger tub.  Somehow earned myself 10% off every purchase I make.  Not complaining at all.

-Saturday: GTS Run, 18k, 02:11:50
Longest run yet, and pretty good time.  Barely stopped to walk, but both legs felt heavy/leaden by the end of the run.  Nice warm sunny day.

Weekly oddities:
-Tried to even out my tan-lines and may have created more instead.  Tank top tan-line blends with backpack tan-lines quite well.

-Left knee started to ache by the end of Saturday's run.  Possibly due to going two weeks and only two runs total.  Will experiment with runs and taping over the next two weeks.  I really need at least one knee to be solid, otherwise it makes going for a single- or double-leg takedown extremely difficult.

-My boy Garnet should have his first fight coming up at the end of August, assuming he isn't on the Quest 4 Glory card which apparently has been moved to September.  That is exciting in itself, but he's also looking for sponsorship and came to me.  It's kind of weird being well-known enough to be approached for stuff like this.

-Sunday: Rest and Recovery Day.
Knee was still in a pretty bad way from Saturday.  Did some stretching to warm it up before taking stairs.

-Monday: Rest and Recovery Day.
I couldn't scope out a decent 5k route and didn't want to over-aggravate my knee on the soft track.  Stretched.

-Tuesday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Overview: Reviewed some techniques we learned on Saturday.  Received fat lip for my troubles.
Summary: There may be some mental aspect of getting a stripe and then facing off against those who didn't go for grading.  Modified techniques to ensure multiple chances of success.

-Wednesday: Rest and Recovery Day.
Knee was fine, but I may have overdone it regarding my core.  Obliques were put to the test, that's for sure.

-Thursday: TNT Pub Night.
A bit of a celebration with the Fraser Valley Team, good to chat with the team outside of running days.  Alcohol definitely involved.

-Friday: Semi-hangover recovery day.
All I can say is it was a good thing my bosses were in the Okanagan for a cycling race, 'cause I wasn't 100%.

-Saturday: GTS 15k run, 2 hours.
This week took a little longer, partially due to not running at all this week, partially due to the rain, and partially due to injuries (and not all of them mine).  Maybe this will help strengthen the knee.

Weekly oddities:
-I sent out some sponsorship letters in the mail to various people, including a long-time family friend, and literally three hours after dropping the letters off at the Post Office, I received an e-mail notifying me of their donation.  Too bad Canada Post doesn't work that fast.  Pure timing right there.

-I have decided that I definitely need a camel sack backpack with molle.  This will allow me to store and reach for my Shot Bloks easier, and will provide a bit more storage if I run with layers again.  The layers did not last long, even in the rain.  My body seems to be conditioned to sweat almost immediately.

EDIT: Whoops, forgot a few pieces of news:

-I bought a patellar knee-strap so I wouldn't have to tape my knee.  Tried if for the first time Saturday, worked pretty well, though a more certain answer won't be gotten for a couple of days.  Need something for my tibialis, then I can do away with taping completely.

-Jordan "Young Gun" Mein, the 21-year old MMA Welterweight out of Lethbridge was signed by Strikeforce.  He may fight as soon as September.  Conrgats to the Mein family!

-Rory "The Waterboy" MacDonald, a rising Welterweight originally from Kelowna, fights his fourth fight in the UFC on August 6th for UFC 133.  This is the final fight of his first UFC contract, and I'm certain that there are more to come.

I may have used that title before ... oh well it was probably a long time ago.  I also had most of the week already written and "auto-saved" but I guess LJ doesn't really like that.  My auto-save disappeared and I restored a blank draft.  Crap-nuggets.  Here we go again eh?

-Sunday: Rest and recovery
Overview: any day that I'm not salt-encrusted is a good day.  Of course, any day that I am salt-encrusted I usually feel good, so it's a good day.  Hard to lose.
Summary: Knee was a bit stiff the next morning, but nothing unmanageable.  Also managed to gain four pounds over the course of the long weekend.  The Usual.

-Monday: 5K run, 32 minutes, some-odd seconds
Overview: flat track at McLeod Athletic Park
Summary: had to stop to retie each shoelace once.  Doing a flat-surface run is a little odd.  Experimented with forgoing the taped knee and tibialis.  The Usual.

-Tuesday: Rest and recovery
Overview: absolutely nothing.
Summary: In hindsight, not taping was probably a bad decision.

-Wednesday: 5K run, 29 minutes, 6 seconds, 56 milliseconds
Overview: flat track at McLeod Athletic Park
Summary: was going to tape but forgot.  Attribute difference in time to not having to tie shoes again.  The Usual.

-Thursday: BJJ, 1.5 hours
Overview: free roll and working to stop mount from side-control, working to stop passing the guard.
Summary: Worked an Ezekiel and Anaconda, standard 5-minute matches.  The Usual.

-Friday: Rest and recovery
Overview: well-deserved but under-fed
Summary: Huge Saturday ahead, used as prep-time. The Usual.

-Saturday: GTS 15K run, 01:50:something, BJJ, 2.5 hours
Overview: up,down and around.  Even got lost.
Summary: Probably would have been a few minutes faster, but we misread the final directions and went the wrong way during our run.  Afterward was a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar and ranking.  Achieved my first stripe and rolled against a black belt.  The Usual.

Weekly oddities:
-Ever sweat so much that you run out of sweat to sweat out?  Yeah, that was Thursday.  It took a bottle of Gatorade to realize that I wasn't sweating because I had cooled down, but because I literally couldn't sweat anymore.

-My running partner Lisa has decided to do a full marathon.  In San Francisco.  It makes sense since she's been running the training distances for a full-marathon.  So despite the fact we are now in different runnings, I'll continue to run the full distances so I can have somebody there to keep me going.

-She wanted me to join the full-marathon for Nike Womens in San Fran, and it was tempting.  I have a round-robin BJJ tournament a week before the Disney Wine'N'Dine half-marathon, and having an additional two weeks to recover sounds like a good thing.  But I already have plans laid out for Orlando, including the fact that I'll be celebrating my birthday down there.

-Sunday: rest and recovery day
Overview: Nothing strenuous.
Summary: Right knee a bit stiff, but quickly warmed up moments out of bed.  Tibialis anterior good, ankle good.  Tape job on Saturday worked well.  Will repeat, possibly minus ankle.

-Monday: mixed-course run. 40 minutes
Overview: used pedestrian overpass for uphill and downhill.  Repeated often.
Summary: Botched knee tape job.  Re-doing on the fly not advisable.  Gatorade, water, protein shake with RiceDream (from now on known simply as "The Usual").

-Tuesday: BJJ in Gi. 1.5 hours
Overview: Worked on Omoplata and Spider-Guard.  Free roll to work for position, then free roll go for submission.
Summary: Forgot ankle guard.  Sparred an opponent bordering on the bottom of Lightweight division, speed countered with experience against Lightweights and strength.  The Usual.

-Wednesday: rest day
Overview: Brain-fried this week, even with Friday being Canada Day.
Summary: What the Overview said.

-Thursday: Transformers: Dark of the Moon. 2.5 hours
Overview: Was invited to go see the new Transformers.  Skipped BJJ for it, otherwise I would run the risk of falling asleep in the movie.
Summary: Despite all of the bad reviews and complaints I'm hearing about the movie, I would recommend going to watch it.  But maybe in regular 2D.  Never liked 3D that much to begin with.

-Friday: Canada Day
Overview: Canada's 144th Birthday.  And it was brilliantly sunny.
Summary: Little bit of barbeque, little bit of beer, little bit of coffee, little bit of sun.  Enjoyable and relaxing day.

-Saturday: Group Training Session (GTS), 12km run. 80 minutes.
Overview: Bumpy roads, somewhat lack of sidewalks, decent uphills and great downhills.  Flat to the finish.
Summary: Sunny and warm at 8:30 in the morning.  Decided to do the full-marathon practice run of 12km this week instead of the half of 8 (partly so I could keep Lisa company and partly so she could push me forward when needed).  Received free samples of Clif Shot Bloks and Clif Gel.  Tried the Bloks, good flavour.  Finally remembered my watch to time my run.  Felt great on the last several blocks of the run and increased my pace comfortably.  The usual afterward with some breakfast (at noon).  Tibialis and knee taped, went with half-diameter tape for knee.

Muscle-groups: nothing new this week.

Weekly oddities:
-I was watching "The Striking Truth" a documentary on Georges "Rush" St-Pierre and David Loiseau.  The Crow mentioned before his fight at UFC 115 in Vancouver that he had eaten only four egg whites to help make weight.  At that point I realized I left my carton of egg whites out on the counter.

-Lisa, the girl I ran with last week, finished her first half-marathon (13.1 miles) and crossed the finish line at 1:53:21.  Unfortunately this may become my time to meet and beat.

-Why is Hayabusa advertising EVERYwhere I go on the internet?

-The downside of being 85% bald: sweat doesn't stay in your hair.  It drips down into your eyes.  Especially when you're missing a piece of eyebrow (which is really good at acting as a funnel).  I may need to upgrade my camel sack.

And a bit of a game changer. 

I believe my last post was somewhere back in December, something like seven months ago.  And it wasn't really that interesting.  Or long.  Or even sensical.  But despite my absence from LiveJournal I have kept myself occupied.  I started blogging for an anime podcast out of Orlando, Florida, and at one point contributed over 50% of the total posts to the blog.
That is definitely not the case right now, but that may be another story altogether.

So it's time to dust things off, shake them up, reorganize, and take a fresh look at things.

You may have noticed I renamed this page "Bones + Joints".  This will chronicle the ups and downs of my various trainings that are ever-changing.  Right now I'm training for a half-marathon to be run in Orlando, Florida in October.  I'm running on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada, raising funds to be donated towards curing blood cancers.  The team I'm training with is called Team In Training, an organization which has chapters all across Canada and the States.  You can find out more at TeamInTraining.ca or help sponsor me at http://tinyurl.com/KMPLLSC.  Be eligible for prizes and help put an end to cancers, what more can you ask for?

I'm also training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the aim of competing at the world level by next year.  North America is home to both Grapplers Quest and NAGA (North American Grappling Association), as well as being a major participant in the Pan-American Games.  The next Pan-Am will be hosted in Toronto during July of 2015.  I hope to compete there as well.  I've competed in five local tournaments since 2009, all of them without formal training.  Despite the handicap, I managed to place third in Lightweight (150-162lbs) No-Gi division for the 2009 Submission Grappling Championships and fifth in Middleweight (163-176lbs) Gi division for the 2011 Submission Grappling Championships.

The two are a bit at odds with each other (running and grappling that is, the weight classes changed by my choice), and it's less fun having to split my time between them.  Of course, an injury in one will carry over to the other, so I need to be as careful as I can in both, lest I set things back.  Fortunately I don't believe I have any tournaments until October, though there may be something in September that I don't quite remember.

Bones + Joints.  Training.  Running.  Follow my training and hopefully the lack of permanent injuries.  Sore muscles are to be expected.

Let's start this off:

-Tuesday, BJJ in Gi.  1.5 hours.
Overview: Worked on passing-guard transition for knee-on-stomach.  Worked on core.  Worked on Armbar-Triangle-Armbar transitions.  5-minute rounds of free-roll, work for the submission.
Summary: minor muscle exhaustion countered by Gatorade, water and protein shake with RiceDream.

-Wednesday, mixed-course run.  25 minutes.
Overview: Flat, minor-downhill, flat, minor-downhill, flat, medium-uphill.  Repeat twice.
Summary: Core sore from Tuesday.  Right knee sore.

-Thursday, BJJ in Gi.  1.5 hours.
Overview: Shrimping, Wheelbarrow, core, chest, shoulders and quadriceps exercises.  Worked on takedowns.  7-minute rounds of free-roll, work for the submission.
Summary: Core sore, noticeable exhaustion in lateral deltoids.  Countered with Gatorade, water and protein shake with RiceDream.

-Friday, rest day.
Overview: Rest.
Summary: Abdominals and obliques mildly sore.  Lateral deltoids sore if arms lifted above shoulder lever.  Latissimus dorsi sore if arm(s) stretched forward to maximum capacity.

-Saturday, 7k run, unknown time.
Overview: Flat to double major-uphill, flat, major-downhill, minor grade-variations during the remainder.
Summary: Timer forgotten again, running partner acquired. Ankle, tibialis anterior and knee (for either superficial or common peroneal nerve) taped for prevention, support and recovery purposes.

Thus ends the week.

Now to play the muscle-group game!  I must apologize for all the technical stuff I pulled out there, I work with two guys who are nearly finished their B.C. RPA course.  Every question I asked them about muscles, exercises and routines were answered, but usually with Latin terms.

-Deltoids (Anterior, Lateral, Posterior): Shoulder muscle and the three compartments they consist of front, middle/side and rear.  Commonly referred to as "Delts"
-Abdominals: Commonly referred to as "Abs", the muscle group over the stomach area.
-Obliques: otherwise known as "Obliques Externus", the groups of muscle to either side of the abs.
-Latissimus dorsi: a.k.a. Lats.  On either side of the ribcage, offset more towards the back area.

More terms as different muscles become sore!

Thanks for reading, see you next week!

Make me your anime/video game monkey!  Details at http://tinyurl.com/2d3jyv6

There is something to be said about a name.  It can have great meaning attached to it from previous circumstances, or it can be something that you really like.  Or it can grow to have great meaning.

In this case, we honoured our squad name on Sunday.

Let's begin:
Sunday the 11th was an all-day scenario game at Tsawwassen, 10AM-5:30PM (end time approximate).  Nick, Brian and I were assigned to Blue Team (which is awesome because I completely support the Blues in Red versus Blue.  Go Church!), and we were made into a backup SpecOps squad, hampered by two things:
   1) we didn't have radios
   2) Nick's electronics for his marker crapped out
Fortunately I had bought myself a 9.1 Ranger the preceding Tuesday, and was planning on going back and forth between that and the Delta Elite.  Brian borrowed my APEX barrel so he could snipe people behind cover (he's our Sniper Wolf), and I was going to use his LAPCO barrel whenever I took the DE out.  Since Nick no longer had a main to use, I let him borrow my DE, and he used Brian's LAPCO.  I was originally going to use Nick's old noisy-ass hopper (I can't even remember what brand it is), but since his SP-1 died, I ended up borrowing his Halo Invert Too.  Yes, that's "Too" as in "Also".  The setup worked quite well, though the Delta is a bit heavier than the SP-1.

I ended up forgoing my remote line and just putting my tank directly onto my 9.1.  It made my thumb a bit tired if I was shooting constantly, but my speed increased dramatically.  And since I didn't have to worry about a coiled line, I could sight things up easier.  It also helped immensely when Blue team was laying tank traps down.  We had to move them up, but the traps were large enough to require two hands.  I simply put my rifle down, took off my pod pack and moved any traps that required relocation.  At one point Brian covered me with akimbo rifles: his A5 and my 9.1.

During the final game, we came to the agreement that if Nick was shot out first, he would leave the pods full of paint with Brian and I.  If I was shot out first, I would leave my rifle behind since it wasn't attached to my back.  If Brian was shot out first ... well, I guess he would get to clean his gear first.  We ran low on paint before the last game, so we filled up three pods (one for each of us) and then topped up the hoppers.  I took my pack off to allow for more freedom of movement (a good thing when defending), while Nick put all of the pods in his vest.  Unfortunately, I was eliminated first, so I left my rifle with Brian.  It was used well, but in the end Blue team failed to defend the hostages, allowing Red team to overtake the Blues by 300 points.

Oh, and our squad name?

We're the Junk Guild, so named from the experts in Gundam SEED Astray.
Nothing is impossible with us on the job.

Some ramblings on this poor neglected LJ while my rice cooks.

Getting pulled over on your way to get lunch because you don't have a current sticker on your license plate which means they have to tow your vehicle because technically your insurance is expired even if you've renewed it is an expensive way to get lunch.  Especially if you didn't even get food.  Also, very run-on sentence.

On that note (the Police note, not the run-on note), lots of cops out today.  Lots of accidents.  People here seem to be surprised by rain more than Albertans are surprised by snow.  And by god, Albertans are surprised by snow every time it falls.

I've worked two jobs out here, applied for a dozen more, but it seems different than working in Alberta.  Not just the difficulty of finding a job (I'm actually still with my first employers here in BC, but by god people [myself included] will attest to how difficult it is to find a job in this province), but finding a job that's satisfying or fulfilling.  I figured out a piece of the job puzzle a week or two ago:
-The job has to be fun (already knew that)
-The people have to be interesting (already knew that)
-The people need to inspire me to write them into something (that's new)
Seriously.  I can pull names from all but one old job and show ideas and stories with them or based around them.  But so far, I haven't felt the need to include anyone from my current job in anything.  Oddly enough, I have two names waiting in the wings from my second job here.  Go figure.

Back in October I did my first belt testing in about 8 months.  My opponent in sparring that I looked forward to going against commented after our match about my skills.  He said "how do you get better at sparring when you never show up to class?".  It's not that my skill increased, or my repertoire of moves, but rather my agility and explosiveness (in my opinion at least).  I shrugged and chuckled as I massaged my jaw (he got me with an illegal head shot, but I carried on in the match anyways), but I didn't give him an answer.  I didn't give him one because at the time I didn't know.  He's a great opponent, able to mix things up to keep me on my toes, despite my advantage of height, weight and reach.
But now I have an answer: Jiu-jitsu.

Movies and shows normally get my blood pumping, but so far there's only one show that's made me antsy to the point of wanting, no, NEEDING to do something.  Anything.
Hajjime no Ippo (Ippo's Beginning).  It's a boxing anime, and it does a great job of mixing entertainment with the reality of training and fights.  I feel the pain of injuries, the joys of winning, the sorrow of losing, the difficulties of training beyond your level.  I'm so attached to the characters, that I don't want any named fighters to lose.  I always want them to stand back up, to never give up, to shake off the shots to the head, to block to body blow ... well, I'm sure I got the point across.
The only thing that comes close is participating in a tournament, and that's sort of cheating, because then I'm actually doing something, even if I lose.

Go to urbandictionary.com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, then write the FIRST definition it gives you, no matter how embarrassing.

1) Your name? Kiyoshi

1. Sexy ass exhibitionist.

"did you see his pictures all over FS he is such a Kiyoshi!"



2) Your age? 25



3) One of your friends? Mike


2. The most amazing boy in the world. He is quiet around the masses but he opens up around the one he loves. He is extraordinarily protective in the best of ways. Mike can and will make you laugh harder than anyone else. He is the most adorable, cute, nice, sweet, kind, generous, loving, caring, genuine, funny, considerate, awesome person I have ever met. Every moment of my life would be better if I could spend it with him. I could talk to him all day long and we’d never run out of things to say. His smile can make my day; even if it’s from across the room. I love him more than the sun, I need him more than breath it’s self. I can’t imagine my life without him; it scares me more than anything. I will spend the rest of my life in his arms.


4) What should you be doing? Cleaning


5) Favorite color? Blue



6) Birthplace? Ardrossan (re-directed to Sherwood Park) [I'm altering "birthplace" to "hometown"]



7) Month of your birthday? October

Tenth month of the year, and also the month of the Libra. Opal is the beautiful birthstone for October. Very exciting month. Fall takes effect, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and you can give a treat or get your ass tricked all in this month.


8) Last person you talked to? Nick

1. the most amazing person alive with a huge penis



9) Your nickname? K-Chan


...

So ... some of those answers are quite odd, and others quite boring.  Now, tag yourself and do the survey!

Uh ... Happy New Years! Welcome to the Gregorian Calendar's version of 2010!

I've celebrated the past 24 years of New Years Eve in Alberta, with the 25th being in British Columbia. However, I have spent 2 of those 25 years NOT single. I know, horrible track record. Let's take a look backwards in time!

2009: The Year of the Ox.
Also, I have no idea if that decade got a name or not. "The Zeroes" doesn't really roll off the tongue.

What happened in 2009? Well, a lot of strife apparently. Attempted plane bombings, houses burning down, jobs lost, being passed over, messy breakups, horrible rejections, burning of bridges, rebuilding of bridges (literally, this one), lots of fights ... except, not all that happened to me. In fact, most of it didn't happen to me.

But some of it did. Obviously.

There were also a lot of good points: first "outside of Alberta, but inside Canada" convention, meeting LRR, catching up on podcasts, moving out, winning fights, watching fights, reconnecting, planned projects, experiments, and probably more that I can't quite think of at this time of day.

I helped end 2009 with Gundamn!, Podtoid and the DrunkTank podcasts in the morning before work. I helped bring in 2010 with alcohol, a rent cheque and the final episode of There Will Be Brawl. I'm not sure my tastes are entirely diverse enough some days, and others I feel like I'm polar opposite of myself. S'Fun.

Anime. 2009 finished up several good series and started off several more. I'm not a prolific viewer, but I think 2007 was the earliest that I started watching more than one show at a time.

Podcasts. I managed to finish several broadcast runs of older podcasts, as well as catch up on many more. Right now I have a list of six podcasts being actively recorded, produced and uploaded that I listen to. Some update more frequently than others, but I'm very aware of how difficult it is to maintain a set schedule for something like that. Try expanding your hosts beyond your city and you run into some major logistical problems.

Games. Oh boy, I think I bought more games in 2009 than the rest of my life combined. 2009 was a stacked year for releases, bringing a lot of sequels, spin-offs and adaptations to the table, and not all of them good either. I also waited in line at the midnight release for a game for the very first time.

Movies. I wanted to see a lot of the movies released in 2009, but didn't quite get around to seeing all of them yet. 2009 was a stacked year for releases, bringing a lot of ... sequels ... spin-offs ... oh hell, just read the "Games" paragraph again but change the first word to "Movies". Amazing how similar they can be.

Abridged series. Hell, I can't even remember how I got into them, but I'm fairly certain HBI2K's "Berserk Abridged" was the first one I watched. This year I sampled Gantz, Escaflowne, Code Geass, Avatar, Bleach, Zelda and a few others. This is what happens when you're unemployed. You get bored easily.

Training. Now, I didn't train harder this year compared to last year, but I certainly learned a lot. This leads to the next section of ...

Fighting. I competed twice this year, gaining a record of 1-1-0. Win by submission, Lose by TKO. Time to train harder to win more. And maybe look less bruised after. Though it certainly gave my parents and relatives a good shock when they saw me ... I'm such a mean bastard sometimes. Some of my friends stared a lot as well.

UFC. I've only missed two broadcasts of UFC since UFC 98, and thanks to my job and a good bartender, I have a familiar place to watch them every time they're on. In fact, there's one on tomorrow (Saturday the 2nd), and I shall be there like clockwork.

When I look back at the past 365.4 days, I remember a lot of good times. Sure, there are not-so-good times among them, but not enough to actually make 2009 a bad year for me. I'm not certain all of my friends, family members and acquaintances can say the same, but I hope they can.

That is my abbreviated Review. See you all in 364 days!


...

Or maybe less.