Good Tempo Run

Last night's Karate class was pretty good, although I had to really drag myself to go. Sensei SixPack, Dr. Z. and I were the only blackbelts there so we rotated through teaching different groups of adults and kids with their kata. After the kids left, we worked competition presentation. We went in order of rank, which meant I had to do chinto after Dr. Z. killed on his. Oh well. He's practically a sensei and I just barely got my black belt. After we all went through and presented our kata, we moved on to stick defense, which was fun.

Today's tempo run went much better than last week and Tuesday. The weather was cool, dry and sunny and the wind had FINALLY died the hell down for once. I managed three miles in 25:58. Still not a great time, but a definite improvement. I'm going to try for an 8:10 pace next Tuesday.

Tonight will be some weight work for paddling plus core work for both paddling and running.

Tomorrow is an easy three miles. Dr. Z wanted me to run Friday night Karate class, but I think I want a chaperone the first time I run class, so I'm holding off until he gets back and will do it next Friday.

No Paddling After All

The beautiful 80 degree sunny day we were having turned into a vicious 50 degree pouring rain, so when I got to the boat launch in Saranac Lake, Dr. Z had already decided that seven miles in that kind of weather was NOT a good idea, especially since I'm still recovering from being sick. He's out of town from Thursday until Sunday, but hopefully we'll be able to do that route next Tuesday. We're also missing the Canton Canoe Weekend because of his trip. Between weather, trips and illness, we're certainly getting off to a slow start for a year when we're supposedly focusing on paddling. Oh well.

Today is a much-needed day off. It's nice and sunny out (although much cooler), so I'll probably play in the gardens a bit. Other than that, it's Karate (likely a kata class) tonight.

Tomorrow, another three mile tempo run, hopefully more successful than yesterday's, and some upper body weight work in lieu of paddling.

Behind Schedule

Last night's Karate class was non-stop sparring. Between having run earlier AND it being in the eighties - tough. Took a nasty hook from Dr. Z that had me seeing stars. Boy am I out of practice!

The frustration continued this morning when I went for a three mile tempo run and it took an incredible 26:05. Did I have, like, concrete in my shoes or something? I decided to cheer myself up by looking at what I was doing last year at this time and was greeted by FOUR mile tempo runs in 32:30 or so. FUCK. Excuse my language, but rather than being ahead of last year, I'm majorly behind.

I know everything will work out and I've been in running slumps before, but God DAMN.

On a positive note, paddling the last seven miles of the Round the Mountain race tonight. At least I'll feel a bit more prepared for it this way.

Tomorrow - Pretty much a day off except for what will no doubt be a low-key Karate class (since we had sparring yesterday). I may run an easy two miles as punishment for my slow performance today. Haven't decided yet.

Back to Monday

Friday night's Karate class went fairly well. Dr. Z and I managed to work on some black belt katas. Only one other student, a yellow belt, showed up, so Dr. Z alternated between grilling him and working with me.

Saturday we had PLANNED on using the 80-degree weather to do the Round the Mountain course. Unfortunately, the fierce wind had other ideas. After 3 miles in a dangerously strong wind, we took a break, then said screw this and turned right back around. Although we ended up drastically shortening our paddle, it was so tough that it was still a good workout. I'm still not happy though - I'm feeling very underprepared for the actual race. It's almost 11 miles and the most we've done is six. Unfortunately Dr. Z is going to be out of town Thursday-Sunday so we won't get another weekend to try again.

Yesterday was supposed to by my long run, but after running around Plattsburgh all day, I just didn't have the energy. (It being cold and overcast didn't help.) My bad. Freihofer's is practically around the corner so I have to stop goofing around.

Today will be 5K easy with my new toy I bought yesterday - an IPOD! Yes, after three years I finally replaced the one that broke in the move to NY. And no worries - I'm running a route that's all sidewalks and has lots of people on it, so it's relatively safe to listen to some tunage.

Tonight will be Karate - sparring if I have to guess.

Tomorrow - paddling and a 3 mile tempo run.

Running and Paddling

The new boat is working out great. Dr. Z and I managed to get out for a lap around Mirror Lake on Tuesday, blasting our old PR. Unfortunately yesterday was 36 and windy, so we settled for doing some upper body weight work instead.

I'm trying to get back into running after a week off. I started Wednesday with an easy three miles. I did an 8:41 pace and it felt great. Unfortunately yesterday's tempo run didn't go nearly as well - the aforementioned 36 and windy weather really affected me. I hit the 1.5 mile marker in a planned 12:10, but turned around into the wind and slowed down so much it took me 13:32 to get back, ending up almost the same pace as the day before with a hell of a lot more effort. Oh well, better luck next time. Yesterday was also Lake Placid Sports Medicine's annual running clinic. I found out that despite the fact that I supinate while standing and walking, I actually OVERPRONATE when I run. Astounding. Everyone was gathering to look at the film of me running. My extremely bowlegged lower legs make for an interesting running form, to say the least. I also found out from two stations that I need to incorporate core work into my training two or three times a week. I didn't think I'd get any new information since I had gone last year, but I'm thinking I should go every season because they always find something for me to work on.

Karate on Wednesday was all teaching unfortunately, but whatcha going to do? I at least had some good students to teach in the adult class. (Unfortunately I can't say the same about the children I ended up teaching first, but I managed to at least keep them busy for the duration of class.)

Today will be an easy three miles again, followed by Karate tonight.

Tomorrow - paddling the Round the Mountain route!

Back in Karate

Karate class last night was cool. We did sparring, but not "normal" sparring. We started with sparring in the normal ring, but then narrowed the space to only four gym squares, and then to only one, which is so small two people can barely FIT, forget FIGHT. Dr. Z also did a couple "2 on 1" rounds, taking on two kyu belts at a time. Lots of fun!

After that, we worked knife defense for a while, also cool. It just felt great to finally make it into class!

Stomach was iffy this morning, so instead of a run, I walked my 5K course. Mainly I need to build muscle strength after months of running on a treadmill anyway. Mirror Lake is completely open, so Dr. Z and I will FINALLY be taking our new boat out for a spin tonight! YAY!

Paddle-Free Weekend :-(

Saturday I went for my long run as planned, even giving up a hike with JewishMom, Dr. Z and a few others. I ran six miles in 53:52, making me very happy as I haven't run that far since last fall. It felt pretty damn good too.

Sunday Dr. Z and I were SUPPOSED to take our new canoe out on the water and get six miles in, but the weather decided otherwise. Despite it being APRIL, it was in the TWENTIES with wind gusts up to 30 MPH. It was simply to unsafe to go out. Unfortunately that means only a couple casual paddles before the first race of the year on Sunday. What the hell.

Today I did an easy four miles in 25:43. Well, it would have been easy if the wind hadn't been blowing for the THIRD RUN IN A ROW. ARGH! Headwind the entire way back and not a light one either. Man. I just keep telling myself that all this wind training is making my legs stronger.

Tonight I should FINALLY be able to attend a Karate class. I'm looking forward to it!

Tomorrow is a tempo run and a light paddle.

Freihofer's Prep

After having to take a two-day trip to Boston, I'm back into getting ready for Freihofer's next month. VeggieSis and I are officially entered as a Sister/Sister team.

Yesterday I did my new favorite workout - speedwork. I did 1 mile easy (9:00), then six intervals of .25 miles at 6:40 and .25 mile recoveries at 12:00, finishing off with another mile easy for a total of five miles. It felt GREAT! I had to do it on the treadmill (hence the mile measurements instead of meters), but it was too cold and windy to do trackwork. On a positive note, I need to do some hard workouts in warm temperatures anyway - it's going to be hot in Albany, especially with the later gun time, and that is a real weakness for me as a runner.

Today will be an easy four miles outside, followed by Karate tonight. (Which I've missed a ton of since getting my black belt between vacation, illness, work and the Boston trip. Sigh.)

Tomorrow I'm skipping out on hiking with JewishMom and Dr. Z in order to do my long run. Once Freihofer's is over and I'm prepping for the Mountaineer's Trail Run, the hikes will fit into my training nicely. (The Friehofer's course is flat as the top of a table compared to even my "flat" route here in the Adirondacks, so I'm not even doing hillwork right now and focusing more on speed.)

Back from Vacation

Arkansas was great! (A sentence I never thought I'd utter...hahahahaha.) It was 80 and sunny every damn day except the very last one, which was a more seasonal 50 and overcast. We covered about 80 miles, from pruitt down to the Highway 14 bridge. I had never camped in warm weather before and boy have I been spoiled!

Since I got back I've been kicking up the running in preparation for Freihofers. BabySis had to back out, so I registered VeggieSis and I as a sister/sister team. We shall rock the other sister teams like a hurricane! I'm doing the old 5K route around the lake in 25:08. I'm planning on getting it under 25 minutes this week.

Karate has been awesome - I was PROMOTED TO BLACK BELT! Yay! I had a "I'm not ready for black belt" freakout moment, but otherwise it rocks.

Paddling is just starting - Dr. Z and I went on Lake Flower for an hour on Saturday. We also stopped by Mac's, who does still have a stock boat reserved for us. It's going to cost $2300 - OUCH! Dr. Z may be able to sell the old boat today - that would go a long way towards paying for the new Jensen.

I'm supposed to go for a 5K tempo run today, but am not feeling well. As it was, I missed Karate last night. We'll see - I'm just playing it by ear for now.

Quick Note

I know I've been bad about updating, but it's kind of between seasons right now.

Anyway, I am leaving for vacation - paddling the Buffalo again! - and will be back on Monday the 23rd with pics and updates.

Then starts hardcore running and paddling! YAY!

Over a Week Passed AGAIN!?!?

Man, I am just not keeping up with my blog here.

Saturday I attempted to do a long run, but had to stop at four miles. Blech. My legs were just tired for some reason.

Sunday I was off to VeggieSis's wedding (YAY!), so no exercise that day.

Monday was a recovery day from all the traveling, so all I did was Karate class, which was a low-key kata class. I got to work on a new kata (Sayunchin), which was cool.

Tuesday was a light run, followed by upper body weights except for shoulders.

Tuesday night I didn't sleep well, so I took the day off from the gym and it turns out is was a good thing. Karate was sparring, and Sensei had me sparring one of the other brown belts for something like 15 minutes straight. Damn.

Yesterday was my tempo run, which I did indoors. I managed an 8:13 pace even with a 1% incline, so my speed is coming back slowly but surely. I also did legs and shoulders in the weight room.

Today I did a light run outdoors - 3 miles in 26:53. Faster than I meant to go (I wanted to do a 9:15 pace), but it felt good, so what the hell.

Tonight will be Karate. No plans for the weekend yet, although I do need to get a long run in at some point.

Outside Again!

Last night's Karate class was pretty quiet - almost all of the black belts showed up and there were very few colored belts, which made for an interesting class. We mostly worked on Sayunchin, which I had never learned. (It's one of the black belt kata.) Sensei was finally back, which meant that we worked on self-defense, of course. I messed up a breakfall and took a nasty fall onto my back, nearly knocking the wind out of myself. Very graceful.

It's warmed up to the upper thirties today, so I went for an outdoor tempo run. Finally broke 25:00 on my flat three-mile course. I did it in 24:57, for an 8:19 pace. Not bad considering I was aiming for 8:20 today. I would have done even better but my legs were tired from yesterday's bike and weights workout. I'm hoping for an 8:15 pace next week.

I haven't decided what to do tomorrow. I'll probably do a recovery run and maybe some weights. We'll see. And of course there's also Karate.

Gym and Karate

Hey All!

Last night was sparring - lots of fun, although after fighting Dr. Z, SoccerStar and Sensei Sixpack in a row without rest I was pretty beat. (Mainly because of the five miles I had run earlier.) We then went over some black belt katas - always good, and finished up with my favorite - sai! All in all it was an overview of all my favorite things.

This morning was a light jog at the gym - 3 miles in 28:37. I had a lot of errands to run, so I kept weights short - just chest, back and tri's (and of course abs). I'll finish up the rest tomorrow - I'm doing bike which I never last long on so I'll have plenty of time.

In addition to the gym, tomorrow will be the first Karate class with Sensei in two weeks!

Catching Up Yet Again

Well, Thursday Dr. Z and I (with the help of IronMom and IronDad) ran the kid's class in Sensei's absence.

Friday was gym - I did an easy three miles at a 9:31 pace, followed by a whole bunch of weights. I purposefully left out upper legs, figuring those would get a workout over the weekend.

Saturday proved that I wasn't wrong - Dr. Z and I went to Cascade Ski Center and spent an hour and a half Nordic Skiing. The weather was absolutely beautiful - sunny and 20s. I fell on almost every downhill of note, but hopefully will get the hang of it - Nordic skis are just so much harder to control than Alpine ones.

Sunday was a much needed day off. Went for a short walk but that's it.

Today was long run day - I did 5 miles at a 9:04 pace, the usual, but this time added a one percent incline. I did it for 3.5 miles before crying uncle and putting it back down to no incline. This is for endurance, after all.

Tonight is covering for Sensei in Kiddie and Adult class, and tomorrow will be weights.

Upper Body Today

Today's gym workout was all upper body. I warmed up on the recumbent bike for ten minutes - kept it at level one since my legs are already tired from yesterday's workout. I just wanted to get the blood flowing before I went and did weights.

I did all of my upper body - shoulders (three different exercises - need strong delts for the upcoming canoe season!), chest, back, tri's and bi's. I also did some ab work.

I purposefully skipped any real cardio because Sensei is out of town and with Sensei Sixpack in charge, we will most likely be sparring. I didn't want to make the same mistake I made last week of doing a tempo run and then going to class later in the day and sparring all the freakin' black belts and Sensei himself.

So tonight is probably sparring and tomorrow shall be a tempo run. Hopefully outdoors - it'll be warm enough, but a storm's coming in so we'll see how clear the sides of the roads are.

Legs, Legs, Legs!

Last night's Karate class was low-key, as expected, although I'm not going to complain after doing my first five-mile run in months earlier in the day. I actually spent almost the entire time teaching.

I changed up my gym plan today. I started off doing an easy 9:30 jog, which was too easy so I put the treadmill at a 1% incline. After doing that for three miles, I figured I might as well make it a full leg day and did all my lower body work in the weight room.

Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, aside from Karate class of course.

Catching Up

I hadn't realized it had been a week since my last update - Yikes! Last week was unusually busy, as my disaster area of a house on Sunday morning attested to.

Tuesday was a much-needed day off. No running, Karate or cross-training.

Wednesday I did a three mile tempo run in 25:59. I was not happy with that pace, but what the hell - it's February. In any case, it felt great to run outdoors instead of on a treadmill. Wednesday night was sparring, starting with Sensei and ending with four fights, only one of which was NOT against a black belt or Sensei. Needless to say, I slept like a baby that night.

Thursday I attempted an easy treadmill run, but my freakin' foot cramped up on me something fierce. It ended up being three miles very slow. I then went in the weight room and did abs, chest and tris.

My foot was still really bothering me on Friday, so I didn't even bother trying to run or do anything on my feet. Instead I made it a hardcore weight training day, with abs, shoulders, back, biceps, quads and hamstrings. I begged off of Friday night Karate to let my foot heal, especially with a hike planned for the next day.

Saturday, Dr. Z, JewishMom and two others bagged both Porter and Cascade. That's a total of three High Peaks done and accounted for, all in winter. It was windy as hell at the top but otherwise a beautiful day to be outside. The trails were jam packed with people.

Sunday was a much needed day off, although Dr. Z and I forced ourselves to go for a walk to work out some of the mucho stiffness from our first serious hike in months.

Today I went back to the gym and did my long slow run. It was only five miles, but that's plenty for now. I did it in 44:39, which is about my usual long slow day pace. I ran out of time and energy to do any weight training, and figured I needed to leave something for tonight's kids class and regular Karate class.

So, tonight will probably be relatively low-key since we just sparred on Wednesday, and thank God. *LOL*

Tomorrow is a light three mile run easy and upper body weights.

Busy Weekend!

Friday I went for a two-mile jog to stretch my legs before the Fun Run. I oh so brilliantly forgot my watch, but that was probably a good thing because it forced me to rely on my PRE instead of trying to beat the clock. (Which kind of misses the whole point of a light workout the day before a race.)

Saturday was the Fun Run. Although the forecast called for temperatures approaching forty, it was TEN FRICKIN' DEGREES out. Nonetheless, about 25 intrepid runners showed up to race. Yes, we're all nuts. I nearly died when I found out that we were doing the HillyMan route. (For those not in the know, it's called the HillyMan because it's a four-mile loop with three hills out, a HUGE LONG loop of a hill you run up and back down, and then those same three rolling hills coming back.) It was truly a brutal choice for an off-season run.

I started out totally bundled because I was freezing. Check it:









Luckily not only did it warm up fifteen degrees during the race, Dr. Z was there to take my parka when I finally warmed up. I crossed the line at 36:10 as 9th runner in, 3rd overall and first in my age group. Yay!





I was sore on Sunday(of course), but I went snowshoeing with JewishMom to stretch out and warmup the muscles a bit instead of going for a recovery run. It was absolutely beautiful out - thirties and sunny.

Today I went to the gym and just did the treadmill. I'm trying to build endurance, so I did a "long" run of 4.5 miles. I started at a 8:41 pace and dropped it to a 8:56 after a couple miles. Next Monday or so I'll lengthen it to five miles. I decided that that was enough of a workout, especially with Karate tonight, so I left the weight work for tomorrow.

Getting Ready

As usual, I took yesterday off from running since it was three days before the race.

I did have Karate last night. We actually sparred. At first we were all lined up in two rows facing each other. We did some feinting drills, then sparred for a few minutes, and then one line would rotate and we would spar someone else. The first three were pretty easy - kids who were lower-ranked. However, the last two were Dr. Z and Sensei sixpack, so I was wiped. Sensei noticed I was trying to catch my breath and he said, "We're just getting warmed up. We haven't even started the regular sparring yet!" I thought he was joking, but oh no he wasn't. We got a couple rings going and fought some more. I sparred Mr. G with Sensei AND Dr. Z both burning holes in the back of my head because they were watching so intently. Yeesh. I woke up this morning with my ribs literally sore from breathing hard.

So about twelve hours later, it was time for MORE cardio. Hey, have to get ready for the fun run on Saturday after all. I did three miles in 26:41. (An 8:54 or so pace.) I did some light weight work as well - shoulders and obliques.

Tomorrow will be a two-mile (hopefully outdoor) jog at a 9:30 pace and some light Karate work. Saturday is the Fun Run! YAY!

Karate and Gym

Karate last night was pretty good. Dr. Z and I helped out with the kids' class beforehand - I was the model for stances and blocks while Dr. Z went around and corrected everyone. Doing good stances for half an hour is TIRING! My legs were shaking by the end.

In class, we started off with bo. Sensei actually pulled me out from doing warmup so he could teach me sakagawa bo (the second bo kata) along with the blackbelts. Cool! In the actual class we did some bag work, followed by bunkai from Nahanchi Shodan.

Today I decided to run at the gym although it's not too cold because I've already done two outdoor runs in a row and want to ease back into it. It was crazy busy there because a bunch of luge teams had just come in. Luckily they only do cardio to warm up, so I didn't have to wait long for a treadmill. I did three miles in 26 minutes. It felt weirdly easy, and I suspect it was the treadmill I was using. It was one of the older ones and not one I usually use. No way an 8:40 pace should have felt that easy. We'll see on Thursday when I (hopefully) can get back on my regular treadmill.

Tomorrow is a day off from the gym and running since I have the fun run on Saturday, so it'll be Karate only.