Meanwhile, In Canada...

I was kind of dreading the end of summer, and the thought of seven cold moons. But I've got to say, at this point, I'm embracing and enjoying the winter training. It has only just begun! This morning, we woke up to blizzard conditions, and I headed to the park to feed my birds and test myself against the elements...

I actually did the shirtless horse stance hold twice. The first time, I had to give up after just a minute and twenty seconds, not because my legs gave out, but because I didn't wear my toque, and I got a burst of wind in my ear that froze everything in there instantly. It felt like a spike had been driven through my head, and it came on so fast that I almost thought I was having an aneurism or something. All turned out well though. I warmed my head back up and tried it again, toque on, and went my minute forty (which has been the point where my legs have given out every day this week). I also tested my low squats to front kick - MASSIVE improvement in the couple months since my full fitness test. I did thirty during the test. I did fifty today, in snow, with heavy boots!

In the spirit of monitoring fitness improvements, I've been testing myself on at least something every day, and have started to keep a record of my bests in everything. In addition to the horse stance and squat kicks, this week I checked my handstand push-ups (same 14 as during my fitness test), 1 minute sit-ups (53 as compared to 41), 1 minute push-ups (70 as compared to 52), 1 arm push-ups (20 each arm as compared to 12), pull-ups (17 as compared to 16), and L-hold (28 sec as compared to 19). So almost everything is improving significantly. I was also going to attempt the 1 minute jump rope doubles, but that exercise is WAY more difficult than it appears to be, so I'm training just to be able to spin the rope fast enough in coordination with a high enough jump, on days when there's no snow...

In addition to the fitness, I'm continuing to work on the CLF form and on improving power with the heavy bag...

And one of the best things about the winter snow is that it brings clean, natural water right to my back yard, where I can harvest it for drinking.  Just in time too, because I just ran out of the last bottle I had of glacier melt water I'd collected in the mountains over the summer...