Movember & Oxygen

Movember , that time of year when men have an excuse to attempt to grow a mustache, all in support of a worthwhile charity. While not as much fun as the charity where you go around in your underwear, it is a lot warmer (important at this time of year). I am collecting on behalf of my team at work in case you would like to donate. One lucky person will get my secrets to growing an almost instant mustache.

Tonight I am going back to class for the first time in a while, my back is not perfect but is healed enough to gently start training. In discussions with my wife about my training, I have realized that my lung issues have been affecting my training in ways I did not think of originally. The main thing that happens is I get hypoxic, but I don’t realize that I am (my wife can see the indicators easily though). So what happens is that as my blood-oxygen levels drop, my coordination starts to go, and I get clumsy. Also, my memory doesn’t work as well either. So if I do several forms at full intensity, I have problems with lots of little things that if I am working with normal oxygen levels are not an issue. This is something I will have to watch for, and ask for breathers as required. If the warm up is actually a cardio workout, it can take 20 minutes or so before my mind is working properly again, and depending on the lesson I might be home before everything returns to normal. As there are a number of people in the Kwoon with asthma, I am probably not the only one that is affected this way

Dennis Donohue