Before going to Pittsburgh Claire was eager to get another tip on her karate belt. For young children, tips come before belt changes. They have several levels of white/color belts that are tipped before they move onto full yellow, etc… When we returned from Pittsburgh, Claire was really excited because they were tip testing the next week but I was worried because she’d missed a month of classes. I asked her instructor to show her how to do the moves she needed to know while I watched, and she and I practiced every day for a week.

The following week she did tip test the first day of the week, and she immediately did the entire series of blocks. She was really excited to pass the test so quickly, and after class the instructors told us she had enough tips and experience to belt test that weekend. Saturday afternoon Donna and I took her into the dojo and they were packed. Parents lined the place with cameras waiting for their child to perform. They were testing all levels from white/yellow all the way through brown. It was really a cool event, and Claire went along with it very well even though we had no idea what half the process was like.

Eventually it was Claire’s turn. She listened, performed, and passed! We were really excited, and we could tell she was terribly happy as well.

I’m not much an exerciser, but I do have a friend, Biray, who is fanatical about it. I’ve always complained about having time and the damn hot desert summers (which don’t end until Halloween!), but when she decided to offer an online jogging class I didn’t have any excuses left so I signed up. I’ve actually been doing pretty well, and I feel great! I’ve been fighting some Crohn’s issues recently so as long as they aren’t on the day I want to exercise, then I am ok.

Recently Biray invited us all to run a 5K with her (3.2 miles), and I signed up without really letting myself chicken out. I knew I wouldn’t run it, and I begged my friend Joe to go with me because I figured he was out of shape too and wouldn’t make me look too bad.

I had no idea what to expect, and I was totally out of my element. I would’ve never done it alone but Biray, Coop, and Joe were there with me. We got there early, registered, got out free shirts, and then waited until 8AM. There was a huge crowd there, and when they said “Go!” I was just like “Oh my God, here we go!”. The first part was grass, and I’m not use to grass. Then we had some rolling hills. Joe said he’d jog til he needed to walk, and he went way farther than me. But then I caught up and we were near each other for more than half, and then he fell behind and I began playing games where I’d pick a point and jog to it, then slow down and walk. Then start over. It was a great strategy for me! I finished in 41 minutes and I felt great! I feel really good.

Here’s the video Coop shot of me finishing the race!

Jogging the Canal, originally uploaded by nooccar.

Every so often I think (read: I know) I need to exercise, and recently I became friends with an exercise freak. She bugged me (read: ecouraged me) all of the time to get out there, but part of my problem (read: excuse) is that it’s damn hot in the summer. Well, two things happened recently. 1) It’s cooler in the fall/winter. 2) She began teaching an online jogging class.

I know how funny that sounds, and I’ve gotten some odd looks. Well tonight I began my class officially. I did a run through last week with the dog, which I loved. All weekend I promised my daughter, Claire, that I would take her on a long walk up to the park where there’s a pond. I figured we could walk the canal after that and then come home the same way the dog and I walk.

Claire wanted to bring her wagon to carry her water and doll. Dante hates the wagon and won’t ride it it. Claire won’t really ride in it either since she’s pretty active. She runs a lot and never gets winded too. I ended pulling that damn thing 2.5 miles while she walked the dog, ran around, and had a good time at the park. I finally convinced her to let me pull her when we hit the highway on the other side of the canal, but as soon as we were off the frontage road, she was out of the wagon and running down the sidewalk with the dog. Even thought it was kinda fun, I think next time the daughter and wagon get to stay home.