New Routine

So I got up today, stretched a whole big bunch, ran a mile and did forms at the Y, stretched a whole lot more, and lifted weights.

Went home, took a hot bath, had some Awesome Husband massage and did my usual Home Stuff.  Wearing ankle weights.

Went to class this evening, stretched a whole lot more.  Teen Ninja Girl checked to see if I could touch my head to my knees with my legs straight.  She's taking her role as my stretching coach very seriously. We took a brutal kickboxing class which included no less than 60 burpees on top of the usual kicking, punching, and crunches.  I focused on power.  Left the room drenched and exhausted at the end.

Then changed for class.

The Sabumnim who taught class haden't taken kickboxing tonight, so she had no idea of what we had just been through.  She started class with 20 pushups - executed on my fists - and it got a lot harder from there. Running, kicking, falling, taekwondo actions in backward and forward order, forms and more forms... class doesn't get much harder than this one.

We ended class by pairing up and working on hapkido and fighting techniques.  I was paired with a new 13 year old white belt and was instructed to fix anything he was doing wrong. 

Being put in the position of teacher is a new thing for me - generally, color belts are not permitted to instruct, unless they are specifically told to do so.  The fact that the Sabumnim did that tonight was clearly an attempt to build my confidence.  I worked with him carefully, hoping I was remembering these basic techniques and explaining them correctly. 

So even the easiest part of the class was mentally challenging.

Between the two sessions, I felt like I had been through a belt test.  Exhausted and drained, but at the same time, weirdly euphoric. 

After class, while waiting for Middle's demo practice to wrap up, I got some quality instruction from another of the Sabumnims and worked for about an hour tweaking my material. 

After grocery shopping and seeing the boys off to bed, I managed an episode of zombies with Savageman and now I'm headed for another bath, hopefully another massage, and bed.

Focusing on strength and flexibility has added a new sense of challenge to my routine.  I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow, both from the lifting and from the extra tough evening classes, but I regret none of it. 

Grateful tonight for this body and its ability to take whatever I put it through.