Training Schedule

My plans in January for getting ready were stymied a bit. Not that I haven't worked out, because I have. In fact, I am in phenomenal shape, even if at the moment I am fighting off the summer flu. So how are my goals coming along?

Drop some weight.
Did not manage it. On the other hand, I look like I lost weight. What I did is put on muscle in my legs, core, and torso, and secondarily in my shoulders and arms.

Get faster. Much faster.
I am faster now. When I get a few days off to recover I'm pretty snappy quick.

Increase endurance.
The cycling, extra weights, and extra martial arts paid off. Especially the cycling. I can go a long, long time at full speed.

Improve technique.
Most of my strikes and stances are pretty good. I wish my stances were better, but I'll never be happy there.

Make the test look easy.
I've got the strength, speed, and endurance that I want. My technique is pretty crisp too.

What I managed to get done in San Francisco

1. Visit my friend Daryl Spitzer in Palo Alto for lunch at VMWare.

Wednesday, June 3rd I ate dinner at Pluto's in Palo Alto with Daryl Spitzer and Zain Memon. It was good catching up!

2. Rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and go mountain biking on the trails of Angel island in the bay.

Thursday, June 4th me and Zain cycled Perimeter Road on Angel Island on rented bikes (get the rentals on the island since they don't ask for a hefty down payment). The views were incredible.

3. Rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and go road biking through the hills of the Marin Headlands.

Well, actually I did not do this, but instead on Tuesday, June 2nd I bike the Golden gate bridge, through Sausalito, up to Old Mill park, through Tiburon, and up into Belvedere (which has a monster hill that pushed me to my limits).

4. Spend some time at Fisherman's wharf since I'll be there for the bikes anyway.

Best seafood place there by far is Nick's, a hole in the wall where the cook is on the sidewalk. Ignore the pricey tourist traps and go to Nick's!

5. Go to the Exploratorium

Fail!

6. Go to the SFMOMA

Fail!

7. Rent a cheap hotel room somewhere and then wake up at dawn to watch the sun rise over Golden Gate or something.

Fail!

8. See Alcatraz.

Went with Barbara Shaurette on Sunday, June 7th. I was tired from walking around San Francisco for many awesome hours the day before, but it was worth it.

9. See giant trees in Muir Forest.

Fail! But I did see some pretty decent sized trees in Old Mill Park.

Images can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pydanny/tags/sanfrancisco/

Lots more detail to come!

My current training schedule

In June I'm planning to test for my 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I'll quickly discuss my goals, diet, and training regimen.

Goals:
Drop some weight.
If I can lose 10 pounds by June and do it on top of my other goals, then that makes the other goals much more achievable.

Get faster. Much faster.
I used to be a very fast person. My reflexes were really good. My current speed is not bad but it could be so much faster. I aim to achieve my old speed yet again.

Increase endurance.
The cycling has been useful, but I need to supplement it. And come up with alternatives when the weather/work prevents.

Improve technique.
Everyone says I do things well. But I know my own weaknesses. My back kicks are actually turning side kicks. I have trouble delivering power on high round kicks. I do my spin kicks on the balls of my feet. And so much more.

Make the test look easy.
Our school's black belt tests are quite challenging. We are not a belt factory. People sweat gallons, get sick, weep, and that is in just the first hour. I want to make the other testers look like novices.

Diet:
Eat Less.
I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On workout days I'll eat a snack of nuts and dried fruit two hours before the fun begins.

Muscle Replenishment.
I am sore often so I make do with more protein and potassium.

Eat Better.
No more chips. Fruits and vegetables. More fish and less of other kinds of meat.

Training Regimen
Core Fitness.
On Mondays I meet with Ron Boykin for an hour doing weights and various other exercises focusing mostly on upper body and core. He has started to work my legs, which is good because cycling only hits a part of them.

I also do this on my own on Saturday. In addition to following a rough sort of plan, Ron Boykin got me hooked on jumping rope, which I can do forever if there is music.

Martial Arts.
Except for Friday I do at least 2 hours a day. Although the test is on Tae Kwon Do, I am also cross training with my old favorites of Boxing and Muay Thai, plus a bit of weapons work. A quick chart of who I am crediting as being trainers:

• Tae Kwon Do: Mohammed Husseini (Striking), Dave Lutes (Forms and footwork)
  
• Muay Thai: Andrew Goldfarb
  
• Boxing: Ron Boykin, Andrew Goldfarb
• Weapons: Ron Boykin, Scott Muzinski
  

Cycling.
I need a new bike but I am getting in a few miles here and there. My hope is that I'll be ramping this up getting towards June. My plan is to bike to work one day, then bike back home the next day. This will prevent overtraining in this one area.

Recap of 2008

• I went to Chicago for the first time. The architecture was beautiful. The local food was quite good, nearly as good as the Neapolitan fare I had in 2007.

• Cycled through New York City and reconnected with old family relations.
  

• Kept up with the martial arts. Competed twice.
  

• Almost up to 5 years without a broken bone!!!
  

• Worked another year with Python and Plone. Started to work professionally with Django.

• Stayed with NASA. Managed to see my team evolve into a group that doesn't make me want to pull out my non-existent hair.

• Launched our big project at work (http://nasascience.nasa.gov)
  

• Got my son into physical fitness again.
  

• Shaved my head.

• Got our finances more in order.

• Helped shepherd my students forward for the most part. I'm so proud of them.
  

• Didn't lose anyone close to me.

Update:

• Worked with Alex Clark to launch Take Back the Tap.

• Helped support Food and Water Watch.

• Lasted another year (4 years) at NASA.

• Had a painful kidney ailment in the spring that was a combination of bruising and dehydration.
  

Quick update

For those who care, here is what is in the Danny news:

• Bought the kid a nice bike as an early birthday present. Money came from his grandparents and us for the bike, and its much better than what I have. Now he easily outpaces me. I am very jealous!
• Jen is off to Calgary over Halloween.
• Saturday I compete in forms for the first time. I'll be doing Koryo, and if I can land the side kicks then I'm certain to win.
• Shaved my head. So far at work for 90 minutes no one has noticed.

Taught my son yesterday

He's been doing a lot more cycling and has started back up with Tae Kwon Do, albeit from the beginning. So far he's gone with me to one of my teacher's classes on monday nights with me. He really enjoys it, although he has trouble with the warm ups, but that will come with time.

So yesterday, on a Tuesday, he came to my teen class. I treated him like any other beginner, which meant a focus for part of the class on falling. My classes have a lot of falling and tumbling, and also get into sparring and a lot of rough contact. It will be months before he will be ready for that stuff in full, but this is the start.

He prefers the other class. That doesn't surprise me, since my class is limited to just 45 minutes and I have to cook in everything I can in that limited amount of time. Also, the falling part is different and a bit uncomfortable for him.

NYC century bike ride

My intention is to go up to New York City with my good friend James and ride for 100 miles. Thats if I can get a good bike rental I think. Otherwise I might go less. We'll stay either with my brother Doug or with my Mom's cousin Roxanne. Will be much fun!

July should be fun

I love summer. Nothing like cycling next to a river across DC for miles to and from work to make you happy. Each day is different. Just last week during a rain shower I saw a rainbow there that was unlike anything I've ever seen.

So July should be fun.

I love Independence Day. Fireworks, grilling, and flags. Whats not to love?

From the 14th to the 18th I've be in NASA funded training learning stuff I want to learn in order to help support NASA more. How fun is that?

From the 21st to the 25th I'll be on vacation. Nothing serious planned, just being at home with my son while the wife is away. We'll cycle, eat junk food, hit the museums, and goof off like only two guys can do. Might see my mom as well, if not my dad.

Good times.

Cycling in this heat

Riding home it was 96 degrees Fahrenheit and according to weather.com it felt like 101. I've ridden in that before, but yesterday coming home I felt very wiped at the end. So instead of going to the gym I took a shower and languished in our rather chilly basement. So how can I manage this better?

Its not just hydration. I had a carbohydrate heavy breakfast and lunch, which was not ideal. Greens and fish protein seems to work best for me on hot days. So I'm trying to do that today. I'll report later.

NYC cycling ride part 1

The night before we decided to wake up at 5:30. That would give us time to get dressed, eat, and take a leisurely pace to get to the ride start, south of Central Park. We woke up at 5:45 because I mis-set the alarm in the room, but JSR had also set his cell phone. Breakfast was bagels with cream cheese and a slurp of watered coffee.

We arrived 45 minutes early. It was damp and chilly. I don't like chilly. I grumbled about the cold while JSR took pictures. It was impressive the number of cyclists there. You can get a small sense of what we were in right here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jsaintrossy/5BoroughsRideNYC/

The ride finally started. Except for the first mile or so it was mostly a walk. Heck, in the first mile I probably did 10 beats on the pedals. Everyone had a great laugh at this. Things did pick up, but not until Central Park, which is where Roxanne started her ride.

More to come...

Best NYC trip ever!

This weekend I went up to NYC with a co-worker (JSR) to enjoy the famous 5 Boros Ride. We stayed with my family, specifically my mother's cousin and her husband, Roxanne and Michael. And all of it was great.

Our hosts were wonderful. They made very certain we knew how to get there, and even me with my bad sense of direction felt I could navigate there if needed. Their condo in Harlem was light and airy, large but cozy. Roxanne made an incredible lasagna for dinner the night before, which has spoiled me for life. More family came to share dinner, including their grown daughter Rose (who seems to have inherited all of the positive Aaron traits and none of the negative ones), her sister Diana and her husband Aria, and their adolescent daughter Jordana. It was Rose' birthday so we indulged in her ice cream cake.

The ride itself deserves its own post. Lets just say it was wonderful. More to come...