How did I get here and what am I doing?

On December 18, 2015, at 55 years old,  I decided I wanted to get a black belt in Taekwondo.  It was a 'now or never' moment, one of several I have had over the last three decades.  When I was in my twenties, I was training for my first (and only) marathon, with my good friend Lori.  She was (and still is, 35 years later), one of the strongest, toughest women I know.  Over the next few years I watched as she trained hard and achieved her black belt goal.  It was something I always admired in her but never thought I had it in me to be tough enough to be "a black belt".  I don't question my level of commitment or tenacity, as over the years I have done several long-distance events including Oliver Half-Iron,  STP,  Whistler Gran Fondo twice, and countless 10k races.  It wasn't until my DNF in  l'etape de Tour that I hung everything up.  A DNF (did not finish), is demoralizing, yes, but for me it told me that I was done.  I was burnt out from sports that I had loved for over 30 years.  Every training day had become a chore.  I did not put the necessary hours in for l'etape, so it should not have been a surprise that I couldn't make the cut-off.  I moped for more than a year.  I tried to get my runners back on, to get back in the pool and on the bike, but the drive was gone.  I was always a 'middle of the pack' athlete, but now I was nothing, laying on the couch getting depressed.

Then I remember Lori and her journey in Taekwondo.  I am goal focussed, so the thought of getting coloured belts to mark my success appealed to me.  I liked that it was something completely different from anything I had done before, and hoped  it would get me off the couch and challenge me differently.   I found a local dojang at Third Eye Taekwondo in Vancouver, and was hooked within the first week.  

Aside from the belt colour, all the dobocks are the same.  There is no bike envy, no fast or slow swimming lane, no running shoes to wear through at an expensive pace.  It is just bare feet, a soft floor and a wicked, sometimes cruel, work-out.  Despite the hard workouts, the support from the Masters and instructors is phenomenal.  My peers, while many are still in high school, are supportive, encouraging, and fun to be around. Now, after four and a half years, I have my black stripe.  In the 8 months since I achieved that goal,  I have been trying to learn Koryo  and practicing my kicks.  As the black belt test looms 6 months ahead, I am beginning to realize I need a stricter fitness program if I am going to meet the standards required to pass this test.  This blog is my commitment to that process.