Mt. Woodson Redux

So I totally did the Mt. Woodson hike to Potato Chip Rock again, this time with Becka, and together I smashed my previous ascent time. Granted, the first time was more like an expedition with my buddy Jose, this time was more like "let's be badass." Big ups to Becka, for being a wonderful hiking partner and being tough as titanium despite the cramps while running down. I think I've found my new favorite trail/hike. There will definitely be a "Re-troi".

This time, I was looking for the "Zen rocks" only to find the rocks knocked over, but in the opposite direction we saw a boulder that looked like a lizard or the head of a frog. Methinks this'll be here the next time I come out here so I can point it out. And hopefully the Zen Rocks will be magically reformed.

Lastly, the icing on the awesomely badass cake, I do a Muay Thai side kick on the Potato Chip Rock; yes I know I had bad form but it was the best I could do to balance on that unlevel thing and not fall to my doom. Yes, I am afraid of heights, so the key is to not look down. Further, I bust a Crane pose ... for kicks. Get it?!

Muay Thai Madness

It all started with an innocent Groupon that made me think to myself, "What a deal!" What a great way for me to check out the techniques involved in the ancient art of Thai Kickboxing, aka Muay Thai. This was back in October of 2011. I've since enrolled in a monthly membership and I've exclusively trained in Muay Thai even though my membership allows me access to train in boxing and a handful of cardio conditioning classes. My membership does not include Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) but I might give it a shot if another Groupon presents itself at another gym, because they usually are only offered to first time members/visitors to the gym to attract new blood. San Diego had a handful of gyms, all of good repute. I laugh when I hear the term, "McDojo" as if these gyms focus on just getting a work out. As far as I know, all the gyms that specialize in mixed martial arts are not McDojo's as evidenced by the focus on making a fighter out of you. You actually learn techniques, and how those techniques actually apply in a combat situation. If you wanted, you could train to participate in an actual competitive fight with an opponent from another training camp. You'll start off in the amateur circuit and wear protective gear, but as you progress in your training, you might actually get in a full-contact bout. That so cray!

"When you practice drills with each other, you do yourself and your partner a disservice if you don't actually aim for their body or their head. What's the point of practicing blocking strikes if those strikes don't even reach you? So go ahead and try to tag them in the face, the ribs, the thighs."

"There is no such thing as a 100% successful defense. You WILL get hit. A lot. The point is to hit your opponent more. Of course, be smart about it, but you need to get over the fear of getting tagged with a strike. You and your partner will agree on the level of intensity during sparring, but make sure you're hitting each other using the techniques you've learned so far."

"Train to the point of exhaustion so that when you are in a fight and exhausted, your strikes will flow automatically."

Freakin' warrior status! Today, I must say that I came away from training, with two banged up thighs (from absorbing middle kicks), a bloody lip (from sparring), bruised inner biceps and fatigued back/neck muscles (from clinch training); and I loved it!

Tomorrow morning is gonna be hell. It's hard being bad ass, but so worth it!

Horitomo consultation (Part 1)

March 3, 2012
5am: Get up and get ready to get to the airport. Gonna take the commuter plane to Phoenix then eventually get to San Jose. The commuter terminal doesn't start having people go through security till 6am (last December, I was there at 5am and just stood in line for an hour). Plus the commuter parking lot is like 50 meters from checkin. So today, I was going to take a calculated leisurely prep this morning.

6am: Checked my itinerary to see what gate I need to get to, and then I saw something that changed the course of the day. I wasn't taking a commuter flight. I was supposed to go through "regular" checkin which takes forever and is at the furthest terminal. Oh, did I mention that my flight was 6:30am? Furthermore, San Diego International is once again going through construction and this time they're redoing the parking lot. As the time ticks away, I can't find a parking lot to I just park at Terminal 1 and my objective is to get to Terminal 2. So I park and then I run. Good thing I intended to make today just a day trip so I didn't have any luggage to bring. I continue to run till I get to the ticket counter. 6:15am. Not gonna make it through security and to the gate in time. The appointment that I had been waiting for about 3 years is at 1pm, in San Jose; I was not going to miss this.

About $450 later, I have a roundtrip flight and I'm on a last-minute flight on Southwest Airlines (why didn't I think of them when I booked my flight originally, instead of using Expedia which doesn't include flights with Southwest Airlines?).

So I arrive in San Jose via direct flight from Southwest Airlines, and I'm like 3 hours early. So ok, I take the time to have breakfast, find a phone charger, and basically dilly dally. I loved eating at Scramblz the last time I was in San Jose, so why not go there again?! Being a single let's me skip the huge wait and make a B-line for the counter seats.

Meanwhile, I realize, "I paid for a round trip flight originally. Would I still be able to use my original return flight and refund my return ticket from Southwest?" So I call the customer rep with my original booking. And I'm on hold. So I wait. Then I get a response, "you can't use the ticket to get back home, but you can get airline credit towards a future flight, but since it'll be looked at like a 'flight change' then you would be subject to the $150 flight change fee on top of using the credit. Basically it'll be like buying a ticket without a credit." WTF? Did I hear that right? Yes. And no thanks. Meanwhile, I'm gonna take this as a learning experience and stick with Southwest Airlines when going to San Jose. I'll be going there pretty often, so maybe I should be looking at any incentives I can earn while flying up there.

Oh, and Southwest Airlines has "open seating" which means you sit anywhere you want, but people get inside the plane according to ticket type and order purchased (I assume) so if you have a Group A position 30 ticket, you'll get better dibs than someone in Group B position 1.

Meanwhile, everyone still gets a small pack of peanuts and a beverage. 1 hour and 20 minutes later, we're back on the ground. Thank goodness.

Mt. Woodson

Feb. 26, 2012
The Mt. Woodson hiking trail via Lake Poway takes you about 4 miles from the start to near the summit where the fabled "Potato Chip Rock" is. Another 4 miles to go back down the same way you came in, and you have yourself a challenging 8 mile hike on your hands.

A buddy from work and I ended up being the only ones from work to wake up early enough on a Sunday (7am isn't that early) to get to Lake Poway and get the hike started. We parked in the lot to Lake Poway. Apparently there's no parking fee because you attendant was to be found.

Modest inclines and well-maintained trails made it a very pleasant trek. All leg work, basically. Awesome views along the way. Not too many crowds/people before 9am, but it appears to pick up after that evidenced by seeing all the people trying to come up when my buddy and I were already going down. Getting to the Potato Chip Rock was very satisfying, despite not really having prepared a "Potato Chip Pose." So dissatisfied with my pose, I vowed to hike this trail again to have another go at it. Something more awesomely badass. Meanwhile, I was so happy I spotted the Zen rock form that a thoughtful hiker created, not too far from the Chip.

All-in-all, awesomely badass.