Avatar

Marina Conte

OffLine
Member since: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Last Visit: Monday, 09 March 2026
Details
Username
Mconte23
Name
Marina
Last name
Conte
Email Address
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Blog

Candidate Journals

King Tiger Tae Kwon Do Black Belt candidates blog daily about their journey: their thoughts and feelings, their struggles and successes; their pain and their encouragement. Follow along on their journey; words of encouragement are always welcome!

3/9

After a long hard day yesterday, I am back in North Carolina and I’m so happy to be back. Looking forward to working out tonight and seeing all my taekwondo friends tomorrow.

  0 Hits
  0 Comments

3/8

What a day!!! I was supposed to be in Jersey until tonight but life has a way of throwing curveballs. I’m now home and get to handle emergency surgery recovery for my husband. While I didn’t get to do the things I wanted I did the things I needed. 

  0 Hits
  0 Comments

Saturday

So happy it’s the weekend! Time to get started for the next cycle week and have a little fun. 2 more days until I’m back in NC and back to the grind. Happy exercising all!

  24 Hits
  0 Comments

3/6

It is so much easier to work out when you do not have the normal day to day.  I will miss this time in NJ because it allowed me to do so much more than I expected to do.  That being said, I am looking forward to getting back to the routines next week.

  32 Hits
  0 Comments

Happy Friday Eve

Happy Friday Eve all!  Been a great week of training and running but I miss the classes so much.  I had to get creative this with my weapons as I did not have them in NJ.  My Bo staff was an old rain stick, and my sticks were old Hawaiian instruments.  Sometimes you have to be able to work with what you have in front of you and get creative :)

  32 Hits
  0 Comments

3/4

I am missing my routine of working and then going to Taekwondo class.  I can't wait to come back home and pick up classes again.  Having routines is not only good for the mind but also for the soul.  Practice hard this week my fellow people on cycle!!

  36 Hits
  0 Comments

3/3

OOF yesterday was a day.  Between working and working out I am taking care of my elderly mother, and it takes a toll on the mind.  Love my mom but I never want to grow old and have my kiddo deal with this.  The one thing that made me happy was I was working through Il and Yi Chong and my mom wanted to learn the arm movements.  While she didn't understand all the movements, she gave it a go and smiled and laughed the whole time.

  43 Hits
  0 Comments

2/27

Need these skies to be blue again because running in the cold gray world is sad.  Other than that it has been a great week on cycle getting stronger and can do pull ups now :)

  89 Hits
  0 Comments

2/25

Today was a bit of a struggle as there’s a lot going on with work, family, and home. However have 2-5 minutes every hour to work on my exercises really helped me stay on track. Looking forward to the end of cycle but Will utilize my newfound love of micro brakes to help me get through tough days

  70 Hits
  0 Comments

2/24

So excited to be in the home stretch of cycle.  It has been a tough but now everything is so much easier and I can see my toned arms!

Continue reading
  104 Hits
  0 Comments

2/20

What a great week for my workouts!  I felt the strongest this week because I did 2 pull ups and when I started this journey, I could not even do 1.  This is a huge accomplishment for me and I really can't wait to see how many I can get to by the end of cycle.  Hoping next cycle Cenzo will be able to join me because he graduated to high red yesterday and broke that board on his final attempt.  Overall a great week!

  80 Hits
  0 Comments

Testing

So excited for today, my son is testing for his high red belt.  I know he can do hard things even if he thinks he can't.  I am such a proud mama bear and can't wait to see where he goes.

  58 Hits
  0 Comments

Back at it!

After a long week of feeling tired and unmotivated, I pushed through over the weekend and finally feel like myself again. I’m especially excited for this week because my kiddo is finally testing for High Red. He has worked so hard, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

  55 Hits
  0 Comments

2/13

I am so happy to be closing out week 6 of cycle, halfway through the cycle. The first half of this journey has been great can't wait to see where the second half takes me.

  58 Hits
  0 Comments

2-12

We are 1/2 way through cycle and I can see the difference in me.  I am so grateful for this journey and can't wait for it to be done.  Each week gets easier but also harder with the amount that needs to be done. Looking forward to the finish line and saying," I did hard things!"

  100 Hits
  0 Comments

Running

It is nice to get outside and run, however my love for running has not improved.  It is still the bane of my existence, but I am getting better at running a complete mile without stopping.

  72 Hits
  0 Comments

2/7

After a really tough week battling sickness, I’m so grateful to finally be on the mend. This week was just a small bump in the road on my journey to earning my black belt—I know that, and I know exactly how to get back on track. You never know what life will throw at you, but it’s how you recover and keep moving forward that makes you stronger.

  74 Hits
  0 Comments

Snowpocalypse

Trekked through the snow this morning to get to Black belt class and what a crate black belt class we had. It was such a great start to my day. Then I got to come home and play in the snow with my dog and my son and have the best Saturday ever!

  94 Hits
  0 Comments

1/30

The good thing about all these snow days is I can get ahead of in my requirements.  However, I wish I was a kid down in NC when it snowed because I never received a snow/remote learning day when the roads were clear.

  76 Hits
  0 Comments

1/28

Woke up to another day of remote learning for my kid.  Trying to work, teach, and workout during the day is getting the best of me.  I hope CMS goes back to school tomorrow so I can get back to normal.

  0 Hits
  0 Comments

SNOW-YAY

Waking up to "snow" was great it was so nice to see my dog and son playing outside. This is perfect weather to get some workouts in as we are stuck inside.  Everyone stay safe and warm

  109 Hits
  0 Comments

Workouts

I felt like the workouts were becoming routine, so I decided to break them all down in 1-minute increments.  Let me tell you the amount of energy I put into the workouts today were 1000% better than my previous ones.  Gotta find ways to keep the monotony at bay when working out!

  64 Hits
  0 Comments

Tuesday

Yesterday was such a great day. I got some stuff done around the house and all my work outs done by 2 PM then got to spend the evening with friends. Looking forward to tomorrow and my day off from working out. 

  83 Hits
  0 Comments

White belt

So this week, I decided to do my white belt challenge. It was so wild going to the back of the line again and working on the fundamentals. This journey is amazing and is teaching me so much.

  0 Hits
  0 Comments

Fri-YAY!

Thank goodness for Friday's and 3 day weekends.  This is a great time to get ahead of cycle workouts for all of us.  Looking forward to the weekend full of blackbelt classes and the white belt challenge.

  95 Hits
  0 Comments

Day Off

Today is my day off from working out, I have been looking forward to this all week long.  I have to tell myself to give my body rest after a long week of work, working out, and taking care of my kiddo. Being a working adult and doing cycle is hard but as long as I take care of myself, I can do anything.

  89 Hits
  0 Comments

Week 2

Getting through pre-test was tough but did way better than I expected.  My whole body hurts A LOT, but now we are on week 2 of cycle and every body part should be getting used to this training.  

  105 Hits
  0 Comments

Sparring

Yesterday was my first sparring class.  I will say sparring kicked my butt, but it was more fun than I expected.  Looking forward to today's rolls and falls class.  First week almost complete!

  77 Hits
  0 Comments

Running

I hate running, it is literally the bane of my existence, however if you run to good music, it is not as bad.  Today I did my fastest mile with proper musical motivation.  Every step hurt because I am so sore from training, but it is worth it because I can do hard things and I will be strong.

  121 Hits
  0 Comments

Sunday

Sundays are for cycle training and homemade pasta.  After 2 longs days of training, it is important to recover with pasts :)

  76 Hits
  0 Comments

We can do hard things

What a first day of cycle!  I always tell myself I can do hard things and I can, but this is so much harder than I expected. It is important to keep in mind that it is only day 1 and each day will make me stronger and better.

  124 Hits
  0 Comments

Day 1

Here we go, day 1 is upon us, and I am so excited it is finally here

  116 Hits
  0 Comments

The Beginning

I am so excited this journey and show everyone that it does not matter what your age is you accomplish hard things.  I can't wait to see everyone on this journey and how they progress!

Continue reading
  117 Hits
  0 Comments