OK I'm back to this system since it just seemed a little obtrusive to have all my training blog entries listed individually in the Blog section. I think I like this system a little better anyway.

So I've put myself on a no internet for personal use ban. It was meant to be a 3 week ban but I'm sick right now anyway so I'm on today and will start the 3 week ban from the beginning again tomorrow.

It worked well before I got sick. Instead of procrastinating I found myself using my computer to work which was a minor miracle!

So I haven't really kept up with my training blog much so I'll just put the highlights here.

Might be competing in July but not sure since this cold has put my training back another week and things were already really difficult to juggle between uni work and training without more setbacks!

Ironically I think I could have fought off the cold before it set in but I had a late night harvesting an experiment at uni - root washing - getting wet and cold and then came down hard with thsi cold. Typical - i work late to try to get on top of uni work and come down with a cold which sets me back a week anyway!

Ok the highlights:

  • I've realized I kinda have an itchy trigger finger. My back foot skips foreward when I'm stepping foreward with the jab. This might explain the fact that I have video footage of myself actually getting airborne in sparring a few weeks ago without even knowing! I was trying to land an overhand right and it did land but still - there's no way a punch can have any power behind it without having at least one foot to anchor it. That's my desire to be tall acting out in the extreme! Sooooooo stupid lookin!

  • My solution to this is to think of dropping the heel as putting a break on so sometimes I'm going to attempt to lower the heel of my grounded foot - having said that I think if I overthink it i'm likely to develop a new bad habit.

  • So my solution might be to use Scrap's bands which standing on a wobble board - I haven't tried it yet but I'm thinking I'll be forced to balance the foreward momentum of the punch by using the suspension in my legs. Will post again with how it goes.

  • Went to the chiro this morning - she said my right Quadratus Lumborum is tight and gave me a stretch to deal with it. I might look for a few more too. I think that's all messed up with my Psoas because I feel the tightness in the front of my hip too but I'm guessing stretching the both together will have more than an additive benefit.

  • Have started swimming with my old swimming club twice a week again. This is partly just because swimming is good for you, partly because their winter pool is at the aquatic centre which i have membership for and partly just to get a bit more social interaction since my PhD work seems to be quite solitary and all consuming lately.

  • I've also started running with the road runners again just once a week for their speed trainings. I suck compared to my former self but it feels good. I'd like to add another morning or two with them at some stage when I've worked out how to juggle it.

  • I made a list of all things which I think contribute to good health. On that list was destressing since we all know stress can have deliterious effects on your health through increased blood pressure, suppressed immune system etc etc. Then I thought I'd list all the things which you can do to achieve those things which are good for your health. I started listing things you do to destress and found that it was identical to things you do for good health stuff like - sleep, exercise, meditative stretching and maintaining good nutrition etc etc. So now eliminating stress has become my primary health goal.

  • I've decided that my main source of stress is worrying about my income. So to take that out of the equation I've decided to see if I can budget to survive on the doll. It's pretty damn tight but my way of cutting down my expenses might be good for me anyway. I don't live a frivolous lifestyle as it is so pretty much the only place I can save money is on food.

  • No more little trips to the cafe for lunch, no more diet coke fixes or buying coffees. I don't think I'll be shopping at my local supermarket either but instead getting up early to get to the markets to buy a lot of cheap fruit and veg.

  • This will mean eating less meat and being more creative with my vegies and herbs and legumes to keep my meals nutritous. I'll still have meat in most meals but just halve the quantity. Ironically this will be cheaper, healthier if I do it properly and better for the environment even! I feel like as an agricultural scientist who believes in sustainable farming systems I'd be a little hipocritical if I didn't factor that in.

  • One thing I'll need to be careful of is getting female athlete triad which is when women overtrain and diet and loose the ability to absorb Calcium etc. This is common with long distance runners and I've had this before. So I'm going on the pill to prevent this and just hoping it doesn't make it too difficult to keep close to competition weight. Funny thing about the pill is it makes me grow tits which I don't usually have which I'd normally like except as far as boxing's concerned it's a dead weight!

  • I've had mum's car for six weeks which she's away on holiday and it's been great but I won't be buying one because it's expensive. ronically I did read in a health magazine the other day that there is more negative ions in the air outside than inside. These are apparently used to form seratonin which is a feel good hormone so being car dependant and not getting outside to cycle for transport etc might've been putting a slight dampner on my mood!

  • The chiro did say that cycling might be bad for my back but I guess I'll have to look at how I can improve my cycling posture and keep using bag racks to avoid carrying anything on my back. It's winter here now and I WILL get rained on which sucks but I don't have many other affordable options really!