Blow the Soot Out

“Sometimes you’ve got to blow the soot out of the mother…” My dad said as he smashed the accelerator of our old Chevy Nova to the floor and rammed the gear-shift home. I wasn’t about to look back to see if any soot or smoke was coming out of the exhaust. I was too busy holding on for dear life as we went flying over the winding country roads of southern Indiana.

That was my dad’s philosophy of life. “Fist and Skull” and “Balls to the Wall”. Bring it on, he was ready to go. I, however, have always been more of the “slow and steady wins the race” type.

I realized yesterday that was exactly how I was structuring my training. I can’t begin to train Jiu-Jitsu until the Spring when my son’s wrestling season is over and we have time to practice, so I’ve got plenty of time to prepare, right? Slow and steady. I have plenty of excuses for not pushing it. I’m old, overweight, out of shape. You name it. I HAVE to go slow and steady or I’ll have a heart attack. Then yesterday I was at the Y doing my slow jog thing on the treadmill and the attendant came up and flashed 5 fingers at me. “We’re closing up in 5 minutes since it’s New Years.” I looked at the treadmill and I still had more than half a mile to go to meet my goal. Now this would not be a big deal for someone who is in shape, but for someone who is doing 15 minute miles – this seemed impossible. But I was determined to meet my goal, so I cranked up the speed and ran at a pretty good clip and then with a quarter mile to go – I all out sprinted. Not only did I meet my goal with time to spare, but I didn’t keel over and die either. I was exhausted, but felt pretty good afterwards. It felt good to “blow the soot out”.

So with that in mind here is my “Blow the Soot Out” training plan for the rest of the week.

AM workout before work: (30 to 45 minutes)
AM Yoga (15 minutes for warm up)
20 Front kicks (10 each side)
20 Side Kicks (10 each side)
20 Roundhouse kicks (10 each side)
20 Outside Crescent kicks (10 each side)
20 Inside Crescent kicks (10 each side)
100 crunches (various types)
Shadow Box for 1 minute

PM workout after work: (30 to 45 minutes depending on how many times you have to stop and gasp for air.)
Run 2 miles on the treadmill
30 second Burpee Drill
30 second Mountain Climbers
30 second Mountain Jumpers
50 push ups

This may still not be a lot for some people, but trust me, this is A LOT for me. So, take your regular workout and kick it up a notch every now and then. Blow the soot out!

~ by jeff3885 on January 3, 2008.