I had another break through today with my swimming - I have managed 400m front crawl. Now, lets put this into perspective, this time last year I could do 3 metres front crawl and really didn't like the water! I know it took me 28 minutes to do the 400m today, but I now know I can do it, I just need to now build on my endurance and have less breaks between lengths!
After the swimming I decided to go and train with a local group that do a Martial arts session on a Thursday (its the same instructor as done my boxing challenge) I thought this would help prep me for the judo section and also work on my CV. Now the best way of describing the Martial Arts that this group cover is mixed Martial arts. We done boxing and a variety of other disciplines that I really don't remember the name of and incorporated some Thai Boxing. Now, this boxing/Thai boxing gave me one of those life lessons you can only learn the hard way. We were sparring and I was with an instructor, remember now that I am the least experienced of the group, when I managed to punch him. I was so happy with my self that I then forgot to put my guard back up BANG, a light punch in the face! I couldn't quite work out why I had been hit, and in the next round again I finally got a punch on the instructor, working out what had happened last time I thought I would close the gap between us immediately to stop the punch from being swung. THWACK - I ran into his glove and had again forgotten to put my guard up. At this point I still couldn't work out why I had been hit, so I decided that the most effective way of making sure I didn't get hit was to keep throwing punches, working on the theory that if they were blocking punches then they couldn't throw them at me. 1 minute of continuous punching is a long time, and all that happened was that I got tired about 30 seconds in and then got punched in the face again as I had forgotten my guard! Life's lesson = don't take up boxing and remember my guard! This was re enforced when we were Shadow boxing and I fell over!
An hour after telling Mrs L what had happened, she has finally stopped pointing at me and laughing!
My legs now hurt from effectively 2 1/4 hours of training today!
I am an instructor with the Sea Cadets at Worthing Unit and have seen how much the cadets get out of the activities they do. I have also seen how much these activities and all the surrounding admin costs. The sea cadets are a charity, and I felt this was a fantastic way of raising money for Worthing in particular and also to encourage some of the cadets to try something different. If I can do it, so can they!
The gold challenge is based on the sports in the Olympics. Some of these sports I can do with the sea cadets, and I have purposely chosen several of these to illustrate the variety of activities that can be done, whilst also doing something that I think will be fun.
My challenge is to do the following activities.
1. Swim - Learn to swim - again. For those that have seen my swimming style, it has recently been described by Mrs Lawrence as "directional panic in water". DONE
2. Canoe - Learn to canoe. I have canoed in the past, but again this was a long time ago and all the new stuff I have learnt has forced this skill out! DONE
3. Boxing – Learn to box. I needed another sport and someone I work with can train this! DONE
4. Weightlifting – For those that know me, they will know how therapeutic gym time can be for me. This is a great opportunity for me to focus some of my energy on something different in the gym. DONE
5. Triathlon. This is a personal goal, to do a half triathlon. I have never done one and this is the one element that I plan to do in 2012. This will link my swimming and gym work together. DONE
6. Athletics - sprints. I was given the oppertunity to race at the 100m olympic stadium. DONE
7. Wrestling - in the process of doing the Judo section I managed to also cover the wrestling challenge, so it seamed approapraite to include it - DONE
8. Cycling. Take part in a cycle ride or three. I'm training for a triathlon. This incorporates a cycle leg, so why not do a cycle challenge too? DONE
9. 1/2 Marathon. This is similar in theory behind the cycle ride. If I'm doing a triathlon I might as well develop it further and do a half marathon. I'm not expecting to be fast round the course, just finish and not die on the way round would be a bonus. DONE
10. Judo - Try judo. To be perfectly honest, I needed another sport, as its in multitudes of 5, and this was suggested by some one at work. DONE
The challenge is to do them by the end of 2012, but I am aiming to have most of them done by the end of 2011.
Please feel free to add comments of support to this blog, and please sponsor me at - http://www.justgiving.com/alan-lawrence-SCC
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