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I trained for an hour before the Diana 5k Run:
- repeats of gyakuzuke in place (x60 each side)
- repeats of mai geri ushiro in place (x60 each side)
- basics, combinations
- 5 attack sparring
- Striking force training (kicks and punches)

Diana Run 5k race in Plainsboro – 21:52 (7:02 avg pace):
Mile 1.0: 6:35
Mile 2.0: 7:12
Mile 3.0: 7:20
Mile 3.1: 0:44

I finished in 32nd place; not my best 5k time but I’m pretty sore from my first week of marathon training, a new circuit routine on Wednesday, and lots of kicks this morning right before the race. Congratulations to Jen Liney who took first place in the women’s category with a time of 19:49. The course was great – slight decline in the first mile, then back up the same path in the last mile. The course was laid out in a very simple way, which was nice.

I’ve actually run near this course before. When I run eight miles at lunch I do an out-and-back starting at Dow Jones in South Brunswick and turn around at the parking lot of the middle school in Plainsboro (which is four miles each way). The parking lot is where the 5k began. Now if I’m feeling adventurous and have an extra 20 minutes I can add three more miles of familiar territory to my eight mile run.

A trainer at the DJ Fitness Center showed me a new training routine (listed below). It was tough, but I plan to repeat it next week. In the morning I did a warm-up run before karate.

- Run 3.1 miles (1 mile barefoot)
Karate:
- 70 reverse punches each arm
- 70 front kicks each leg
- freestyle basics
- sparring: double jodan attack to jaw
- sparring: 5 attack sparring full length of floor

At lunch, I did a free 30 minute training session with a trainer at Dow Jones’ Fitness Center, Lisa Curtin. It was a tough workout; here’s what the circuit involved:

- 0.5 mi sprint on the treadmill (ran 0.15 at 10mph, 0.15-0.40 at 11mph, last 0.10 at 12mph)
- 10 plyometric pushups on two risers
- 15 star hops (reaching to the ceiling)
- 500 meters on the rower
- 1 length of frog hops (down the long hallway)
- 1 length of walking lunges with two 35lb dumbbells
- 1 mile on the bike (~135 rpm)
- 10 step-ups with each leg on the large metal stand.

Repeat one more time.

I didn’t fit the second circuit into the half-hour of the trainer-led session since I burned a few minutes at the start on a warm-up. I did finish the routine on my own though. It was awesome and challenging. I recommend trying it out.

Karate Winter Special Training started at 5am on January 2nd, 2008. This marks the 38th year that Japan Karate Association of New Jersey hosted KWST. Kisaka Sensei led the class through some vigorous stretching, kihon, kumite and kata each morning. We had a good mix of dan students and brown belts. Everyone involved demonstrated good spirit and benefited from the experience.

As is the custom, we ran outside barefoot without shirts. The temperature on two of the mornings was perfect for our routine: 18 degrees, but felt like somewhere between four and ten degrees with the wind chill.

We had some good participation this year, as almost 100% attended training every morning, on-time. This marks my fifth year with perfect attendance; but I’m sure there are others out there from prior years that achieved better records than that.

Jan 1 – Hamilton Hangover Run
Jan 2 – Jan 5 – Karate Special Winter Training
Feb 5 – Feb 9 – Karate Special Winter Training II
Feb 23 – Polar Bear Plunge, Seaside, New Jersey
Mar 2 – E Murray Todd Half Marathon
May 4 – New Jersey Marathon
May 4 – Broad Street Run 10 Miler – Can’t do this as it’s the same day as the NJ Marathon.
Mar 15 – St Patty’s Day 5k in Bordentown
May 24 – Spring Lake 5
Sep 21 – Philly Distance Run – Half Marathon
Nov 2 – NYC Marathon

The 37th Annual Karate Winter Special Training (2007) at the Japan Karate Association of New Jersey was held from January 16 to January 20th, Tuesday to Saturday.

As is customary (for some odd reason), the weather on the first day of training was mild (58 degrees or so). And true to history, on the second day the temperature dropped more than 30 degress to 27. My barefoot, shirtless run was just under two miles that morning. The remainder of the week was not as cold as Wednesday.

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We practiced kihon, kata and kumite during each of the 5am classes. Training this week was very good.

Dow Jones has a fitness center on their campus in Monmouth Junction, NJ where I work. I joined back in 2001 when I started working on physical fitness because I was so out of shape. One of the trainers there, Darryl Shepherd, has studied martial arts. He begain teaching a combat conditioning class and I signed up. We pair up with a partner and do three-minute drills of focus mitt punching. This includes jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts and kicks. He’ll call out the combinations by number. One is a jab, two is a jab then cross, three is a jab, cross then hook. Or he’ll call out something like 10 left crosses. You get the idea. In between rounds, he’ll have us do push-ups or static holds, or jump-rope, or various other challenging exercises. It’s an all-around great class. Thanks Darryl. And thanks to Phil LaVoie too, who pushed for the class.

I practice Shotokan Karate under Katsuya Kisaka at JKA in Trenton, NJ. I recently passed my Ni-dan black belt test.