Quest For The U.S. Open - World Martial Arts Championships » Gator Nationals

Back in Orlando…Almost Hit By Car (twice)…Into The Final Stretch Here!

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:38:00 +0000

Back in Orlando now…Gator Nationals was awesome, and I had a great time meeting some of you there. I have to admit, I relaxed on my eating plan slightly while there, and I didn’t do as much as I would have liked in the area of actual training, but I think it was good nonetheless in terms of resetting mentally and giving my body another chance to catch up with itself.

Lauren and I had the opportunity to do some live broadcasting of the main events Saturday night during Kickgen.com’s live stream of the event. It was pretty raw (we didn’t plan anything, just went with it…) but it was a lot of fun and we have received some great feedback. Looks like there is more of that to come.

While working out today I was almost hit twice by two numbskull drivers who decided they had no reason to pay attention to the rule of law while on the road. That kind of stuff drives (no pun intended) me nuts… PEOPLE! Obey traffic laws and watch out for bikers and pedestrians!!! One of the guys just smiled at me and waved his fingers around his head like he was admitting he was a dummy…um, YEAH!

Working out today was light, and as soon as I was finished the storms rolled in. I laid down with the little guy to get him to take a nap. Ends up, he stayed awake and ran off to play and I was out for a few hours apparently! I have lost a bunch of sleep this past week with the injury, stuff going on at work, and trying to integrate new schedules, so I hope I’m nearly caught up now.

This weekend gave me an opportunity to relax, enjoy some great competition, meet some really amazing people and look forward to hitting training hard and heavy again. We are almost there friends. The US Open is right around the corner, and what I saw this weekend in terms of competition is no laughing matter. This weekend also helped me see how serious some people around me are about this Quest for the U.S. Open. Lot of open eyes for me over the past few days.

I need nothing short of a miracle to step on the mat with these people (my competition). One thing I realized though…I belong in the U.S. Open. I am meant to stand next to these men and women in competition. I have full belief that I can do this and do it well. I want to be worthy of it, so I will continue to train hard and focus like a crazy-man.

Getting some technology on board to make this blog better is slow-going right now, but I’m ok with it as training and preparing for the Open takes priority. If it takes a few more days or a week in order to train properly, I’m ok with that. Remember, I’m doing this with just me and a couple of other people physically helping me do things, and there will probably be fewer people the closer I get to the Open. It’s just the nature of things…in the end, only I can stand on the mat and do what must be done. If there are those who don’t take this seriously enough to put in the resources needed, or simply cannot go on further with me on this Quest…so be it, I’m ok with that too.

It’s time to cut all excess loose and begin the final race to the finish line, so to speak. The U.S. Open is July 3-4, and there is a lot more work to do to prepare for it.

I thank you for your prayers and support, and I hope to see as many of you as possible at the Open or along the way on this Quest.

Here we go, folks…raise the torch…let’s finish this race!!!

Just Arrived In Daytona Beach…Time to Re-Center and Re-Gain Momentum

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 02:34:00 +0000

Holly, Michael, Nathaniel, and I arrived in Daytona Beach, FL a while ago for the Gator Nationals Martial Arts Championships (at the Ocean Center if you are anywhere nearby). This is a big tourney with a lot of very talented people competing. I’m here to observe, soak it in, meet up with Lauren (my coach), and basically re-center mentally.

This week was brutal. The injury…closing the business (nationally all our stores are closing)…having a full plate of other responsibilities…AND still training and trying to be careful so as to not make the injury worse. Two days ago, I thought I was past the worst of it, then yesterday..WHAM! I felt as bad or worse than I did at the beginning of the week. Lost a lot of recuperative sleep this week too, which hasn’t helped AT ALL!

I haven’t been able to get through a full practice session with my kata this week, which is driving me nuts because time is so very critical right now. For me, I can’t simply focus on the kata…but also the physical training to be able to present the kata. It is not easy, but then if it was, it probably wouldn’t be worth it. Right?

The best thing I can do is breathe, relax mentally and use this time in Daytona this weekend to get it together, so to speak.

My back feels so-so today, but I am not taking any chances.

I’m going for a light workout with Michael tonight at the hotel just to keep my body “awake” to the fact that we are still in this thing. Won’t be going too long as I’m going to hit the sack and sleep in just slightly tomorrow before heading over to the tournament.

We will break away at some point tomorrow and get some beach time in then be back for the live stream of the main events tomorrow night beginning at 7pm on http://www.kickgen.com/. I will be tweeting throughout the day updating on the event. Posting some pics too…probably here and at Kickgen.com.

I really need your thoughts and prayers right now. This has been a hard week, and I desperately need to regain the momentum I had going into this week. We are almost at the midway point, and if I ever needed your prayers and encouragement…it is now.

Talk to you some more tomorrow at some point. Night!

Updates…

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Still working on some new tech stuff with this site…should be up and running or at least where I can share some good stuff in a couple of days.

Update on Injury:
I am working out lightly. Very light right now. Taking advice from trainers, family, and my coach to take it easy. Really listening to the body right now. Feeling much better, but can still tell I need to be careful with it. Thanks for the support from everyone so far.

Gator Nationals This Weekend! I will be there hanging out with my friends from www.Kickgen.com and watching all the amazing martial arts action!

www.Kickgen.com will actually be doing some live feeds of the event. Be sure to check out www.Kickgen.com for more info and to tune in to one of the strongest tournaments in the nation. If you are near Daytona by any stretch, you definitely will want to try and stop in for this event.

Busy…Pictures Coming

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:46:00 +0000

I didn’t get to post anything last night, as I took some much needed time just to be with my family after a long day at work, then training hard. Pictures were taken during the workout yesterday, so I’ll post those later today. The pics were an attempt to give you my perspective while working out. A couple are humorous…

By the way, I am going to attend the Gator Nationals next month. I hope to see you there, whether competing or spectating. Let me know…I would love to meet some of you in person. The Gator Nationals is a biggie just before the U.S. Open.

Oh…and the next post or two I will give you a peek into a personal diary of sorts that I pulled out last week. Interesting to see what I wrote in it…

P.S. – You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/dougmcgannon if you use Twitter (and you should be!) or you can look over to the right of this page and see automatic updates from my tweets right here on this page. Also, if you get a chance check out http://www.Kickgen.com. Very cool place to hang out and I do some inspirational writing over there. You can also follow Kickgen.com News at http://www.Kickgennews.blogspot.com