Doug McGannon, Mike Tatum, Michael McGannon

Myself, Mike Tatum, and Michael McGannon (my son and primary training partner) out in the open field training some self-defense over the weekend.  Can you say HOT and MUGGY (the weather, not the pic)!!!

Mike Tatum

Here’s Mike T. (right) striking a pose…um, I mean, traditional stance…   Congrats to Mike for receiving his Black Belt the night before our training on Friday.  He was preeeettty sore whilst undergoing some self-defense maneuvers (hee, hee!).

Doug holding a new uniform from The Bold Look!

There is definitely a lot happening this week as we zero in on some technique-specific training with our kata (forms) and self-defense.  Michael and I will be heading south again on Wed. for some intense training with our Coach, Lauren Kearney, and I think she is going to team us up with some other tournament champs in order to raise our game a bit.  There is certainly nothing like learning from a group of people that are waaaaay above you in this game.  Good times!  I am looking forward to learning more.

We are so close now…to the point where I physically felt the pressure of being less than 3 weeks away today.  It has all come down to this.  I will be prepared, and this will definitely be a “moment” to remember.

Do me a favor and check out my friends and sponsors (link up top and links to the right).  I would appreciate it and I know they would appreciate your support!  There is no way I could do this alone, and to have some great people and companies in my “corner” for this Quest means a lot.

July 3 & 4 people…here we come!!!

There have been a few times when I felt downright goofy due to the fact that some of my shirts are so big on me now that I look like a doof wearing them. Not going to buy new clothes yet though. Celebrate with a shopping spree later…who wants to go shopping!?

I don’t pay much attention to the scale as I understand muscle weighs more than fat, and I have been building muscle quite a bit lately in preparing for the U.S. Open. But I do pay attention to inches. Losing inches can tell you something significant about your success.

Of course my family has told me they can see the difference each week (sometimes daily) but I can’t always see it or feel it. so…

I think I am going to do a gut check in the next several days…literally. Gonna’ pull out the ‘ol tape measure and measure how many inches I have lost.

Now, don’t get all giggly just yet. Not like I’m going to win the Biggest Loser right now…I still have a ways to go. This has been a big mountain to climb (especially the one around my waist!) and it ain’t over yet! It is good to see progress though, so we are going to check the progress in a few days.

Tune in, tell your friends…I might just video it if I feel froggy enough about it!

Kata and self-defense practice tonight…should be fun! I think we are going to be getting some sunshine here in Orlando in the next couple of days…muy much can’t wait for that!

I think God was laughing at us today…in a good way.

The winds were so strong going in one direction, we were literally crawling on the bike to get down the road at one point. Then when we made a turn and I was sure we would at least cross the wind instead of it coming head on…the wind changed…head on again! Arrrggggh!

THEN…

When we pulled out of that direction to go in the direction where, originally, the wind would now be at our backs (did that make any sense at all?)…you guessed it…wind change, A-GAIN!

God had to have done that on purpose just to play with us…who knows!?

We only completed half of the bike today, along with the rest of our workout, because we thought we would die for sure if we had to do the other half. Call me a pansy, I don’t care… All I know is that was the hardest ride so far during our training.

Everything else went well (except for my arms feel like they have steel rods going through them because I switched my upper body workout this week).

We are definitely approaching the final stretch here (check the countdown clock to the bottom right)…there is a lot more to accomplish but I am feeling good about everything. Just excited about finally living out a dream of competing at this level in the Martial Arts when there were those who told me I might never compete in sports again.

Talk about winds of change…

Oh, and our shirts should be ready soon. I will definitely let you know on that one.

For now, going to keep upping the intensity this week in honor of our men and women in uniform who have and are serving us every day on the front lines! See previous post for info on that…

Keep it real friends and live intensely! Just watch out for changing winds…(that sounded deep!)

Aaaaahhhhhhh!

We just couldn’t get away from the little things. Every once in a while I would take a chance to take in a deep breath (before I passed out from holding my breath) and SCHWOOOOZZZZSH! Mouth full of gnats. I was coughing up gnats, blowing them out of my nose, wiping them out of my eyes, and even digging them out from under my headphones! I wear board shorts to workout in and at one point I thought they were flying up my shorts…almost ran off the flippin’ road at that point…terrifying!

They lie in wait, I tell you. Strategically picking off their prey… I can’t stand ‘em…enough of them.

On to more critical items…

Injury update: I did a full workout today/tonight, but only about 80% intensity (better than Monday and yesterday). Still small traces of the pain that set in earlier this week, but nothing like it was. It has caused some trouble sleeping a few nights this week, but I think I am catching up there. I have been receiving treatments each day and using hydrotherapy, stretching, massage, and other light therapies to help.

It was a bit scary, not knowing what was happening. But I think I am on the mend fully and should be back to full capacity following Gator Nationals this weekend. (btw…my friends over at www.Kickgen.com will be streaming live part of this event this weekend. Check out their website for some more info and tune in to some amazing martial arts action! My coach Lauren Kearney www.LaurenKearney.com will be there too.)

The worst thing for me this week is that I have missed a lot of time working my kata (martial arts form), and self-defense techniques. I am going to try and make up some time the next couple of days in that area, but without pushing too hard.

I had also felt like I hit a transition just before this happened where I was really beginning to burn a lot more bodyfat each day and was beginning to see some significant results. I don’t think I lost my ground there, but the momentum has shifted and it will take a few days to build that back up again.

The important thing is that I am still going forward and overcoming this. This is part of what this Quest is about…overcoming those things that have kept me back for so many years, and doing things that other “experts” said I would never do again.

I am learning so much about me, my art, my body, and my relationships through all of this and these things are definitely worth it. I can honestly say I have already won, and we are still just under two months out (that is scary all to itself!).

Thank you so much for the support, encouragement, and prayers. Keep them coming and I hope we can all show the world what living a life of a Champion is really about together. You, after all, are a HUGE part of the Quest team and I love that we are accomplishing this together.

I spoke with the guy/company who is designing our shirts, and he says he will have something soon, so I hope to unveil the official “Quest for the U.S. Open” shirt mucho fast!

Do me a favor and pass the word along to your friends about this Quest and the U.S. Open. I would love to make some more friends along the way and hopefully inspire even more people to live the extraordinary life!

I have listened. Took a nap. Did a light workout (and I mean light and smart), getting ready for some relaxing stretches, then some reading and lights out. I will heed the warning of my body as the whole kitchen sink thing just terrifies me, plus I don’t need to risk injury or sickness just because I want to be gung-ho Samurai every day!

I guess yesterday I pushed a little too hard too long. Didn’t realize it but I think I was in the sun a little too long yesterday too. I was really enjoying yesterday’s workout, so I just kept going. Still gotta play this smart, though, as I am still a long way from the goal. 59 days and counting…I now have a counter to the bottom left so we can all count down the days…tick tock!

Oh, and I think there will be an article in a local Orlando-area paper soon. Holly took a call from someone today I think and she got it all set up. Holly is working on some very cool things behind the scenes to help me out, so I can focus on what I need to do. I will definitely post links for that when it happens.

Going to finish up some stretching and reading now…I sense a big week ahead of us!

Um…

He caught up with me shortly, and said he crashed. I said, “Crashed, like in, crashed crashed…?” (Like that made any sense at all!) He said, “Yes, I ran into a mailbox then tried to adjust and…cars coming…” Then he fell back into formation and got out of the way of any potential future crashes.

Of course, at first I was concerned, but then I was silently laughing my head off! I still haven’t told him that (oh, wait, think I just did!).

Later on the same bike ride I felt like all the muscles in my legs and hips just blew wide open and I took off…I was like the wind…no, I WAS the wind. I was moving people! I kept looking back and Michael kept getting smaller and smaller. Haven’t felt that kind of surge in years, and it felt dang good! Michael dropped so far behind that Holly, my wife, asked if we needed to take the car and go check on him after I returned home and Michael didn’t show for a while. He showed up a few minutes later, and I don’t like leaving him that far behind (just in case another mailbox were to step out in front of him) but I just couldn’t resist taking that burst and going with it!

Oh…I will share with you PART of ONE of one of the announcements…I just can’t wait. I have gained a corporate sponsor who is agreeing to produce shirts for the Quest! I’ve known this guy for pretty much my whole life (I think we invented breakdancing together) and he has a phenom business and is stepping up to make this happen for me. I will share with you his contact info, etc. shortly as we announce the shirt itself. I am very excited about this…you should be too! In the meantime, if you need some signage or screen printing done, let me know, I will send you his info personally. Other announcements coming soon.

I just had a well-balanced nutritious meal following the a.m. workout…going to take a short nap now and work some more this afternoon. I feel some breakthrough right around the corner…very excited about that!

Watch out for friendly neighborhood mailboxes! HA ha!

With that in mind, I always want to find ways to give back and to help others on their own Quest. In the meantime, I have some people who have stepped up to say they will help me as well. In the next few days (I hope) I am going to be able to make a couple of announcements that, at least to me, are very, very cool. Stay tuned.

By the way, I had someone say to me the other day that I must be doing this full-time and get paid for it and no wonder I can find all this time to train…blah, blah, blah! I wanted to introduce him to Mr. Roundhouse! (I didn’t, don’t worry!)

Let me say…I don’t do this full-time (though I will certainly entertain that option in the future), and I don’t get paid for doing all this. In fact, I am working full-time at another job, launching a small business in spare time (actually Holly focuses most on this now that I am pursuing the U.S. Open), am first and foremost a Husband and a Father of two sons (one of which is dual-enrolled in High School and College – and is my primary training partner, the other is a toddler – HA!), and am seeking further employment as my primary job is shutting down due to a national closing in the very near future. I have spent the past couple of years overcoming injury and a depression that I thought was going to wipe me out (which is why I stepped away from my professional line of work after nearly 20 years)! I still struggle with all of that sometimes. I struggle with this Quest. Sometimes “Quest” is short for “Questions” for me…but I push on!

Training sometimes is in the middle of the night, or before everybody else is up and around. I don’t have a lot of equipment…jumprope, punching mits, a mountain bike, and a very old weight set, and an open space in the backyard. It’s all pretty rustic. I kinda feel like Rocky when he went to live in that barn and workout in the wild. Most of the time it is pretty cool, to be honest. I feel like I am connected to a long line of warriors who didn’t have all the modern “necessities” that we have today. Though, I will admit that stuff would probably help sometimes.

I’m like most of you in that I do the best I can with what I’ve got. I do feel immensely blessed because of who has stepped into my corner as a coach, Lauren Kearney (http://www.laurenkearney.com), and I feel a great deal of support from all my friends at http://www.kickgen.com, and of course, I have 24/7 support from my family.

The reality is I am like most of you in that I have stuff I have to do everyday, and I have struggles I have to face everyday… The only difference may be that I know I still have a Champion’s Heart and Mind through it all, no matter what has happened, and no matter what will happen, and I can do this and I have decided to do this. I live with a lot of Grace that has been shown me, and I am thankful. I am thankful I can still step out and train and even attempt something like the U.S. Open.

So, there is a lot more to this than you might think. It is certainly multi-layered and not easy at all.

Soon, I will make some exciting announcements. For now, I am going to try and catch a 20-minute nap before work. The lat night training last night and the training today has worn me slap out. Just for the record…I absolutely despise being slapped in the face by low-hanging branches that I can’t see when drivers blast their beams in my eyes while biking near the highway (on a sidewalk).

If you see me out biking in the middle of the night, please go drive somewhere else so I don’t see spots for the next 2 miles, and I don’t get mauled by tree branches that somehow are mysteriously not there in the daytime!

Ride on!

I don’t want to…but I must.

I will not post anything after the workout tonight (or tomorrow morning) as I will most definitely crash directly following…then go again in the a.m.

Here I go…(oh, and Holly told me I have an extra 3 miles on the bike tonight because I had a coffee tonight…sometimes I DESPISE accountability, but just like the midnight workouts, it is a MUST!)

Later! And I do mean LATE-er! (deep sigh and significant unwillingness to go through with this tonight…already dressed…so sigh!…here I go…my training partner is waiting…and I keep typing hoping somehow there is a way out…OK OK, I’m coming!)