week 6

This past week my energy level has been at its lowest and I felt more sore and tired than usual. The weather is changing and getting cold and I think hard training and a lack of sleep has caught up with me. My progress in training has slowed down this past week. The weather, being tired and having low energy were all part of it I'm sure. Another part is that my hands are all torn up and blistered from rope and cinder block training…I trained lighter on these exercises as the week went on so I could give my hands a chance to heal.



(Cinder Block Training...my hands get the most torn up doing this and rope)

Off to my appointments…

I left for Orange County shortly after Tai-Ji Quan practice on Saturday morning. Normally it takes about 9-10 hours for the entire drive but I drove a little slower and made a few stops so it ended up taking over 11 hours…still longer than I had expected. It was a nice scenic drive. This was the longest amount of time I’ve had to myself since being at the retreat center. It was nice to have some alone time and so I spent a large part of the drive just thinking and clearing my mind.

By the time I arrived at my grandmas house in Fountain Valley, Ca where I’m staying it was very late and I was so exhausted from the drive I ended up going right to sleep. My grandma went on a road trip with my mom to Missouri. She wont be back for a while and so for the next few days its just me here in an empty house.

It feels very different being back in a big city after living up on the mountain. Its very busy in Orange County. I have a great time visiting my friends and family when I’m down here and there’s definitely a lot to do. I’ve come to prefer the peacefulness of the mountain. I’ve really grown to appreciate nature….

Today (Monday afternoon) I went and saw my doctor, Dr. Carlos Prietta. He checked my knee out and said everything looked great and training has definitely helped with my recovery process. I had the feeling that my knee was doing fine but there was always that uncertainty of not really being sure…to actually hear it from my doctor was a big relief.

Tomorrow I see my Physical Therapist and from there its going to be a long drive home….back to the mountain.