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.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, February 23, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, February 16, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, February 09, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Finally Somewhat Warm
The arctic sub-zero temperatures have finally let up, at least for a little while. Although a nasty wind turned Dr. Z and I around from skiing after about a mile on Saturday, we skied almost four miles on Sunday and only turned around because we didn't want to overdo it, especially with me having the Fun Run on Saturday.
Today was warm again, 30 degrees, and it was a pleasure to run outside. Or, it WOULD have been a pleasure if I were in shape. I ran four miles for the first time since October and it was TOUGH. Took me 35:58 with lots of walk breaks, but I wanted to get a feel for four miles before Saturday.
The rest of the week will be easy. Tomorrow will be three miles on the treadmill, followed by Wednesday off, three miles on Thursday and a two mile jog on Friday. Yay!
Tonight is Karate as well. After today's run I think I'll cry if we have sparring. LOL!
Today was warm again, 30 degrees, and it was a pleasure to run outside. Or, it WOULD have been a pleasure if I were in shape. I ran four miles for the first time since October and it was TOUGH. Took me 35:58 with lots of walk breaks, but I wanted to get a feel for four miles before Saturday.
The rest of the week will be easy. Tomorrow will be three miles on the treadmill, followed by Wednesday off, three miles on Thursday and a two mile jog on Friday. Yay!
Tonight is Karate as well. After today's run I think I'll cry if we have sparring. LOL!
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