Can it get any earlier???

Today I experienced my first kangeiko (寒稽古). I looked it up in the dictionary and it translates to "mid-winter training". Every year, during the coldest days of the year, morning practice starts at 5:30 AM. We only do it for a few days but it's very meaningful. As it was explained to me, it's meaningful for Japanese to be able to wake up early and train.

Today's morning practice was quite exhausting. The waking up part wasn't too hard. Sometimes I just don't want to get out of bed but today, I didn't have any problems with it. One problem I had was getting out of the dorm. Because it was so early, the doors were still locked. So I couldn't get out! But thankfully, I know I can get out by jumping out the kitchen window. Unfortunately, the two Russian girls didn't know that and were late to practice.

We did some warm-up exercises, some wheelbarrows, jumps, etc. And then we did 10 newaza (on the ground) randoris of 4 min. I was just exhausted after.

Today, I also had two big tests. So that means I couldn't sleep during class like I often do (lol). And, on Thursdays, I have a class during the fourth period as well, which finishes at 4:40 PM. Judo starts at 5:00 PM. So it was an especially long and tiring day for me.

Tomorrow, practice starts at 5:30 AM again. So I'm off to bed now to try to squeeze some zzz's in. Oyasumi !