Monday Night Doubles

Last night I had my usual tennis at TCCP.  I played OK.  In the first round, my partner and I lost 6-3.  We did play a tough pair, and I thought we didn't do too badly.  In the second round, I played singles and won 6-3.  In the third round, we only played 4 games, and my partner and I lost 3-1.  It was all fun.

My tri-level tennis team lost its first match last night - I did not play in it.  Unfortunately we lost all three courts of doubles.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum Vol. 2 XTrainer.  I haven't done this one in awhile, and it left me totally dripping.  I dogged it a bit, but still got a good calorie burn - about 265 calories.  I like the agility moves in this one.

More NROLW

Yesterday afternoon I did not do any specific workout or exercise.

This morning I did the first workout of Stage 2 of NROLW.  This is my last time through this workout.  I have the second workout in this stage on Wednesday, and then I will be on to Stage 3.  I did not change any of the weights in my workout today.  The A/C is off in the house right now, so it was a bit warm and definitely humid this morning.  I burned about 145 calories.

Tempo Run

Yesterday afternoon I did a tempo run on the treadmill.  It was 6.0 mi at 6.5 mph, which I finished in 55:25.  This was a tough one.  I took a lot of breaks on the side rails.  I really need to stop doing that.  I didn't necessarily feel like I was breathing too hard or out of breath.  It's that my hamstrings were hurting and wanted to stop.  I watched another episode of the second season of Stargate SG-1, which was fun.

This morning I did my usual boxing class.  The normal instructor was back, which made me happy.  This class felt pretty good.  I think maybe I'm finally getting out of the over-fatigued state I've been in.  I don't know if it's because I've been trying to get a little more sleep, or if the iron supplements are finally getting my hemoglobin back up.  Probably a bit of both.

Morning Practice

Yesterday afternoon and evening, I did not do any specific activities.  That turned out to be good, because I had to go out to the department observatory to help the TA for my class.

This morning, I had a practice with my tennis team.  We had 14 players there, and the weather was beautiful!  I played pretty well.  In the first round, my partner Susie and I won 3-1.  In the second round, I played singles.  I won the first set 7-6, and we stopped in the second set 1-1.  In the third round, my partner Justine and I won 6-0, 1-0.  I think I played pretty well, but I also think I was playing doubles against some players having a bad day.

Long Run

Yesterday afternoon I did the long run on my plan.  It was raining, so I did it on the treadmill. I did 6.0 mi in one hour at 6.0 mph.  It still felt kind of hard.  My hamstrings were feeling sore; I wasn't out of breath from working hard in the cardio sense.  I watched an episode of Star Trek TOS.

This morning I did the second workout of stage 2 of NROLW.  I didn't change anything from when I did it on Monday.  The deadlifts and Bulgarian split-squats were pretty hard, but the other exercises were not that tough.  The HIIT was still annoying, but I suppose that's the point.  I burned about 220 calories.

Extra Run

Last night I was supposed to have practice with my tennis team, but it rained.  So I came home from work and did a 3-mi run on the treadmill.  It took 30:00 min at 6.0 mph.  My stomach felt a little yucky during this, because I did it about 90 minutes after dinner.  I really need to wait longer to run, which is why I usually do my runs before dinner.  On the up side, I watched the first episode of season 2 of Stargate SG-1, which was a lot of fun.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility.  I burned about 115 calories.

Speed Intervals

Yesterday afternoon I was planning to go to cardio tennis at TCCP, but I was the only one signed up, so it wasn't held.  Instead I went home and did some speed intervals on the treadmill.  I did 5 minutes of warm-up at 3.5 mph.  Then I did 10 x 2 min at 7.3 mph, alternating with 10 x 3 min at 3.5 mph.  Finally, I did 5 minutes of cool-down at 3.5 mph.  I really like these intervals with the longer rest periods better.  I hope they are effective.  The workout took 1:00:00 and I ran 4.77 mi.

This morning I did the first workout in Stage 2 of NROLW.  I did not increase the weights on any of the moves.  I'm not sure they are feeling much easier yet - it's so hard to judge progress.  I burned about 145 calories in this workout, which was a lot fewer than last time for some reason.

Monday Night Doubles

Last night was my usual doubles tennis at TCCP.  I played pretty well.  My partner Thedra and I won the first round 6-1.  In the second round, my partner Mariann and I lost, but it was 6-7, so it was extremely close.  I didn't have much luck with my slice serve, but in general I played well.

This morning I did Asylum Speed & Agility, which is a workout I haven't done for awhile.  I dogged it a bit and ended up being a sweaty mess.  I burned about 280 calories.

More NROLW

Yesterday afternoon/evening I didn't do any specific activity.  I really am trying to get recovered.  I even when to get about 30 minutes early!

This morning when I got up before sunrise, there was a beautiful, thin waxing crescent Moon that I could see out my kitchen window.  Almost makes it worth getting up early.

What wasn't nice was that my weight jumped up a pound overnight for no good reason.  I really need to ditch this vacation weight.  In the past year or so, I have lost weight by eating about 1900 cal/day, but in a zig zag pattern.  So I'm going to start doing that this week.  I ate 2100 cal yesterday.  Today, I'm going to do 1700 cal.  We'll see.

This morning I did the second workout in Stage 2 of NROLW.  This workout was 2 sets of 10 reps.

• Wide-grip deadlift from box: I realized after this workout the last time that I had only lifted 58 lb, not 68 lb.  Today I did 68 lb, and it was much, much harder.
• Bulgarian split squat: I used my weight bench to elevate my leg on this one.  I used a 20-lb dumbbell for each hand.
• Pull-ups: I did unassisted pull-ups and got 3 for each set.
• Reverse lunge from box with forward reach: I used 12 lb per hand, which seemed reasonable.
• Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch:  I stayed at 5 lb per hand.
• Swiss-ball crunch: 20 reps per set.
• Reverse crunch: 20 reps per set.
• Hanna side flexion 1: same.
• Prone cobra: I did a 60 sec hold in each set.
• HIIT: I did each of these moves for 60 sec.  Honestly, they were hard, and I had to take short breaks.  First high knees, then tuck jumps, then sideways hops, then split lunge jumps, then burpees.  These went much better than last week.

Overall I burned about 205 calories in the workout.

Back to Running

Yesterday afternoon I did my first run since my half-marathon.  My legs were not too happy about it.  I ran on the Rock Creek Park trail (the scene of the crime, so to speak).  I did 3.02 mi in 31:19, which is an average speed of about 5.8 mph.  I had negative splits, so it did seem like my body was warming up to the running.

I read something on Coach Jenny's blog on Runner's World about running problems.  One thing she mentioned was how some runners end up trying to run all of their long runs at their race pace.  She pointed out that this is not good, because long runs are supposed to be boosting endurance and should always be run at a pace that feels pretty easy.  Well, this hit home for me, because I feel like all of my outdoor long runs feel so hard.  I think I'm just pushing too much.  I made an effort to do yesterday's run at an easier pace.

This morning I did my usual boxing class, after missing last week's because of my race.  There was a substitute instructor though, and not one of my favorites.  I really felt like he was phoning it in today.  He didn't bother to demonstrate any of them moves.  Oh, well. I did get a pretty good calorie burn.

Saturday Practice

Yesterday afternoon Bill and I took a walk around the neighborhood.  It was wonderful weather.  I would've liked to walk longer, but I knew Bill would not go for it.  Such is life.

This morning I had practice with my tennis team.  I played badly the whole day.  I was just tending to hit things a little long.  Very frustrating.  Whitney and I lost the first round 1-5.  Donna and I lost the second round 5-7, 1-2.  Susie and I lost the third round 2-4.

Even More NROLW

Yesterday afternoon I had signed up for cardio tennis at TCCP, but I was the only one, so it was not held.  I ended up staying at work for awhile and not doing any kind of activity for the rest of the day.

This morning, I repeated the first workout from stage 2 of NROLW.  I actually think it felt a bit harder today - maybe because my muscles were more recovered so I could get into it more?  It did go more smoothly because I had more idea of what set-up and break-down of equipment was needed.  I burned about 175 cal.

More NROLW

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a walk from my house down toward Rock Creek Trail and back.  It was very pleasant weather for walking; I have to take advantage before it gets cold and dark too early.  I walked about 3.8 miles.

This morning, I did the second workout for the second stage of NROLW.  There are a lot of exercises in this workout, plus some HIIT at the end, so it took me about 65 minutes to do.  Again, each move was 2 sets of 10 reps with 75 sec of rest in between.  I shortened the rest between the ab moves to 60 sec because I was getting impatient and they weren't that hard.  The HIIT sequences were 60 sec of work and 120 sec of rest.

• Wide-grip deadlift from box: I used the book's diagram guideline and used my step with one additional tier.  I lifted 68 lb.  This didn't feel too tough.
• Bulgarian split squat: I used my weight bench to elevate my leg on this one.  I held a 25 lb dumbbell, which was too light.  This was 10 reps per leg per set.
• Pull-ups: I did unassisted pull-ups and got 3 for each set.
• Reverse lunge from box with forward reach: this is kind of an odd move.  The cueing in the book said to use light weights, so I used 5 lb per hand for the first set.  However, that was way to light.  I switched to 12 lb per hand for the second set, which may have been just a bit too heavy.
• Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch:  no comment from the book about the weight on this one, but I could tell I would need light weights, as this focuses on the rotator cuff.  I used 5 lb per hand and used my stability ball to support me at an angle.
• Swiss-ball crunch: I upped these reps to 20 per set.  I put the stability ball under my back and farther toward my butt, which made it harder.  Still not a problem to get 20.
• Reverse crunch: I upped these reps to 20 per set.  They did get hard right at the end.
• Hanna side flexion 1: an odd move that is clearly for mobility and not for strength.  These were not difficult.
• Prone cobra: I did a 60 sec hold in each set.  I can't get my arms twisted around as much as they show in the book, but I don't think that's really the point.
• HIIT: I did each of these moves for 60 sec.  Honestly, they were hard, and I had to take short breaks.  First high knees, then tuck jumps, then sideways hops, then split lunge jumps, then burpees.

Overall, this workout did not feel extremely hard.  A lot of the moves are using lighter weights because they are aimed more at stabilizer muscles or mobility.  I burned about 205 calories.

Team Practice

Last night I had a practice with my tennis team.  I played OK.  In the first round, Fran and I lost 1-5.  My slice serve was not working very well - I have a hard time getting the ball toss right when I'm outside, and the night lights make it even worse.  Fran also has been sick lately, so I think she was a little off along with me.  The second round went better:  my partner Lisa and I scored 6-7, 1-1.  Our opponents were both really good net players, so we concentrated on lobs and passing shots, which worked pretty well.

This morning I did the first stage 2 workout in New Rules of Lifting for Women.  My legs were still pretty sore, but I didn't want to push it off more - it's already been about 2.5 weeks since I did the last NROLW.  All exercises were done with 2 sets of 10 reps, with 75 sec of rest in between sets.  I often had more time, because there was more equipment to change around, and I was unfamiliar with the moves.  Here are the exercises:

• Squat with push-press:  you put a barbell across the front of your shoulders, squat and then push up the bar as you come out of the squat.  I really don't think I was getting the dynamism of the move down and separated the squat and the press too much.  I used a barbell with 53 lb.
• Step-ups: this was a move from stage 1.  While holding a dumbbell in each hand, use one leg/foot to step up on the exercise bench.  I used 28 lb per hand, which was plenty, even though I'd been using 30 lb per hand at the end of stage 1.
• One-point dumbbell row:  while holding a dumbbell in each hand, lean over on one foot, extending the other foot out behind.  Then do the rows.  Half of the reps are done on each leg.  I know from watching myself in the mirror that I don't get my back very flat on these.  I used 20 lb per hand.
• Single-leg lunge with leg up:  one foot is behind you, raised on a step.  While holding a dumbbell in each hand, lower into a lunge.  10 reps are done on each leg.  I used 28 lb per hand.  This was hard, because it really hit my sore quads.
• Push-ups:  none of the push-up variations in the book are hard enough for just 10 reps, so I did them with one leg elevated.  I did half of the reps on one leg and half on the other.  I concentrated on really lowering my chest close to the ground, which is something I often shortcut.
• Plank on swiss ball:  A 60-s plank hold on the big stability ball.  Challenging, but not killer.  I tried to keep my butt down.
• Prone wood chop: While laying on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, pull a dumbbell from the left side of you (arms extended) to the right side.  Do 10 in each direction.  This is a substitute move for doing this on a cable machine, and I don't feel like it works very well.  I used a 12-lb dumbbell.

This workout took awhile, about 50 minutes, because it was unfamiliar.  I burned about 170 calories.

Monday Doubles

Last night I played my Monday night doubles at TCCP.  This was challenging, because my legs were still pretty sore, and I was tired.  However, I did well.  My partner and I won the first round 6-2.  A different partner and I lost the second round 6-2.  A third partner and I tied the last round 2-2.  Like I was last week, I tried to really get the slice on my serve, which was working pretty well.  I started to wander a bit with my toss toward the end of the night, so I need to concentrate on that.

This morning I originally had scheduled for myself to begin the second stage workouts of New Rules of Lifting for Women.  However, my legs are still really sore, so I put that off.  I did P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+ instead, although I didn't put out full effort into it.  I burned about 255 calories.

Recovery

I didn't do anything after my half-marathon yesterday except limp around the house.  I did take a nap - I was really tired.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility.  It was definitely good to foam roll my legs thoroughly.  I burned about 105 calories.

Half-Marathon Disappointment

Unfortunately I had a very disappointing race for my half-marathon today, the Parks Half Marathon. My official time was 2:12:07.  In May, I ran the Frederick Half-Marathon in 2:07:16, so I had been hoping to improve substantially on that.

The weather was great.  It was probably about 60 F when we started, and it was a nice clear day.  I started with the 2:00:00 pace group, which was probably my biggest mistake.  The first 3 miles or so are flat to downhill, and it wasn't a problem for me to keep up, although it definitely did not feel as easy as my previous half.  But then we got to a hill between 3 and 3.5 miles, and the pace runner just zipped right up it without slowing down, and I just could not keep up.  When I got to the top, the pacer was still in sight, so I tried to catch up on the downhill.  I couldn't quite do it, and by then my legs were really tired already and my breathing was awful.  I realized that there was just no way I was keeping up with that group, especially since there is a killer hill at about 11 miles.

So I slowed down to catch my breath and figured I'd go slow until the 2:05:00 pacer caught up with me and run with him or her.  Well, that didn't happen for a few miles.  When it did, I tried to step it back up and run with her.  That just wasn't happening.  I was still so wasted.  So I kept going slower and hoped that I could keep ahead of the 2:10:00 pacer and at least do about as well as I did in my first half.

The second half of the race was just so, so hard.  It seemed so long.  I had to take some walking breaks.  Between miles 10 and 11, the race goes right by the trail spur leading up to my house, which was a brief temptation.  I stuck with it as best I could.  Right at about 12.5 miles, the 2:10:00 pacer caught up to me.  However, I realized that even if I stuck with her, I probably wouldn't get under 2:10:00.  That's because there were wave starts and within waves, a lot of depth, so she probably started a good 2 minutes after me - if I finished with her, I'd have 2:12:00, probably.  Anyway, that was pretty demoralizing, so there was no extra burst of adrenaline, and I didn't really try to stay with her.

The very end of the course has an abrupt left turn - up a ramp! - and then just a few hundred feet to the finish line.  I walked the ramp, even, not realizing how close the finish was.  I did manage to run it out as fast as a could for like the last 100 feet.  I was so tired and out of breath, I pretty much fell into the chairs so the volunteer could remove my timing chip off my shoe.

So it was really disappointing overall.  I felt extra bad because Bill had actually come to the finish line to greet me, and I did not manage to finish well.

Then, we got in the very long food line.  Everyone had been talking about how great the food was after this race, but I was not impressed.  No muffins or granola bars.  I did get a couple cookies and a couple brownies.  At that time of day (morning) and after a race, I have no desire for the pizza and sandwiches and hot food they had.  After about 10 minutes, I got really, really chilled.  Fortunately I had planned ahead and asked Bill to bring my sweatsuit, so I put that on and it helped.

This race was did not seem to be as well-organized as the Frederick half-marathon.  There were lots of water stations that were well-run.  The bib pick-up was poor, the results took awhile to be posted, and there was no expo.  There was no finishers' medal, although they gave finishers a commemorative glass; not sure that I prefer that.  The course itself was a little frustrating because the trail is not very wide, but that's not something they can do anything about.

What do I think went wrong?  First, I think I was too ambitious with my starting pace group.  If the course was perfectly flat MAYBE I could've kept up with them for quite awhile, but I knew the course wasn't flat.  If I'd started with the 2:05:00 group, maybe I could've finished with them, or at least only fallen back enough to beat my previous time.  Second, I have run the trail the race was on before, but I often avoid it because of the hills - duh, bad idea.  I think I need to run more hills in my training runs.  Third, I have to wonder how my (slight) anemia has affected me.  I've said before in this blog about how I've felt like a lot of my training runs have been hard - how much did the anemia contribute to that?  I've been taking the iron supplements for 10 days now, which is probably not enough time for them to really help me.  (My doctor wants to re-test my iron levels after 6 weeks of them.)  I can't really control that except for taking the supplements.

Now for a summary of my runs since my last half-marathon on May 5:

• May 7: 3.0 mi, 30:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• May 13: 3.53 mi, 41:30, speed intervals (7.2 mph), treadmill
• May 21: 6.0 mi, 60:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• May 23: 6.0 mi, 57:41, tempo run at 6.2 mph, treadmill
• May 25: 7.13 mi, 1:10:45, approx. 6.0 mph
• May 28: 6.04 mi, 58:48, temp run at approx. 6.16 mph
• May 30: 10.02 mi, 1:46:21, approx. 5.7 mph
• June 3: 3.53 mi, 41:30, speed intervals (7.2 mph), treadmill
• June 13: 12.0 mi, 2:00:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• June 15: 3.53 mi, 42:00, speed intervals (7.2 mph), treadmill
• June 18: 7.0 mi, 1:10:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• June 21: 6.0 mi, 57:09 tempo run at 6.3 mph, treadmill
• June 24: 9.0 mi, 1:30:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• June 25: 3.53 mi, 42:00, speed intervals (7.2 mph), treadmill
• June 30: 11.0  mi, 1:50:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• July 3: 6.0 mi, 57:09, tempo run at 6.3 mph, treadmill
• July 6: 13.0 mi, 2:10:00, 6.0 mph
• July 8: approx. 4.0 mi, 55:00, speed intervals (7.3 mph), treadmill
• July 10: 6.0 mi, 1:00:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• July 14: 6.0 mi, 56:16, tempo run at 6.4 mph, treadmill
• July 19: 8.02 mi, 1:28:12, approx. 5.5 mph
• July 22: 3.6 mi, 41:30, speed intervals (7.3 mph), treadmill
• July 24: 10.08 mi, 1:38:15, approx. 6.15 mph
• July 27: 6.0 mi, 56:16, tempo run at 6.4 mph, treadmill
• July 31: 12.0 mi, 2:00:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• Aug. 3: 7.5 mi, 1:15:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• Aug. 5: 3.5 mi, 35:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• Aug. 6: 3.0 mi, 30:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• Aug. 9: 6.01 mi, 59:47, approx. 6.0 mph
• Aug. 11: 3.56 mi, 41:30, speed intervals (7.3 mph), treadmill
• Aug. 16: 8.89 mi, 1:31:11, approx. 5.85 mph
• Aug. 20: 6.0 mi, 56:16, tempo run at 6.4 mph, treadmill
• Aug. 21: 4.73 mi, 60:00, speed intervals (7.3 mph), treadmill
• Aug. 24: 11.05 mi, 1:56:51, approx. 5.7 mph
• Aug. 28: 4.36 mi, 52:00, speed intervals (7.3 mph), treadmill
• Aug. 30: 6.0 mi, 1:00:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• Sep. 1: 3.0 mi, 27:45, tempo run at 6.5 mph, treadmill
• Sep. 6: 4.0 mi, 40:00, 6.0mph, treadmill
• Sep. 9: 3.0 mi, 30:00, 6.0 mph, treadmill
• Sep. 14: 13.1 mi, 2:12:07, approx. 5.95 mph - Parks Half Marathon

I ran 246.61 miles in my training runs since my previous half-marathon.  Prior to my previous half-marathon I had run 288.3 miles for training.  Not as much different as I had expected, since I had more time before my previous half.

My next race is the Marine Corps Marathon 10K, which is on Oct. 26, the same date as the marathon.  I don't know how I'm going to do with that.  I think the course is flatter, and obviously the race is shorter, so hopefully it will go well.  There's not much recovery and training time between now and then.  I don't know how people that race all the time manage that.

Still Resting!

Bill and I went on a very easy walk yesterday afternoon in order to stretch our legs and enjoy the nice weather.  It was less than 2 miles.

This morning I was going to have a tennis practice with my team, but it looked like rain, so I canceled it.  Instead I went back to bed.  I'm really trying to take this resting idea seriously!

I'm getting a little nervous for the race tomorrow.  I have a pretty ambitious improvement goal, to go from 2:08:16 to less than 2 hours, and I haven't been feeling that great in training.  Fortunately, the forecast for tomorrow is for dry, sunny weather in the 60s F.  Hopefully it'll stay on the cool end of that.  I also hoping that the rest I've been getting and the excitement of race day will get me through at the pace I want.  Thank goodness there are going to be pace runners.

The race organizers have definitely been having problems though - this is the Montgomery Parks Half Marathon.  They sent a very useful email earlier this week, which had links to the course maps and stuff.  But yesterday, maybe before that, their website was not longer working.  It looks like they forgot to pay the hosting fees.  So now that information is inaccessible.  Today I went to pick up my bib and timing chip.  The sporting goods store where the pick up was being hosted is way too small for the number of people needing to pick up bibs.  The parking lot was also way too small.  Annoying.

Resting!

Yesterday afternoon and evening I did not do any activity.  I really am trying to rest before the race.  It was a good chance to get ahead on some work.

This morning my weight was down to 127.6 lb, which made me feel a little better.  I've got to let that go the next few days and just concentrate on prepping for the race.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility.  I burned about 100 calories.

Evening Practice

Last night I had a practice with my tennis team.  I lost my first round, which was singles, 2-5.  It was a mix of unforced errors on my parts and winners by my opponent.  The second round, my partner and I won 7-6, 3-2.  We played some excellent doubles with a lot of net play - it was fun.

This morning I'm up to 128.4 lb.  I know that's a tiny change from yesterday, but it's still going the wrong way.  I'm eating more this week because I want to be properly fueled for my race, but 1900 cal/day shouldn't be making me gain weight.  Or even maintain, really.  Grrr.

This morning I did Cathe Friedrich's 4 Day Split Boot Camp workout.  This has 12 short segments using a step for some of them.  This usually isn't a tough workout for me, but I burned about 205 calories, which surprised me.

Last Run before the Race!

Yesterday afternoon I did my last run before my half-marathon on Sunday.  On the treadmill, I ran 3.0 mi in 30:00 min at 6.0 mph.  It was a pretty easy run, which is good.  I also got to watch the last episode of Stargate SG-1's first season, which was a pretty good cliffhanger.

This morning I was back up to 128.2 lb.  Grrrr.  

This morning I did Insanity Core Cardio & Balance.  This is not a really tough workout, but that's the point.  I burned about 200 calories.

Monday Night Doubles

Last night was our first night back for Monday night ladies doubles at TCCP.  We took the summer off.  I played really well for the first two rounds.  Michelyn and I won our first round 6-1.  Jessica and I won our second round 6-3.  My serve was really on.  I was working at hitting it hard at the top to really get the spin going, and that was pretty successful.  My last round didn't go so well.  I lost at singles 1-3 to Donna.

This morning I did Cathe Fredrich's 4 Day Split Kickbox workout.  This is an oldie but goodie to me.  It's what gave me the idea of finding an actual boxing gym to do more.  I burned about 215 calories in the workout.

Kickboxing

Yesterday afternoon and evening, I did not do any real "activity".  I'm trying to take seriously the idea of resting up for my race on Sunday.  I am trying to get a reasonable amount of sleep, too.  So far, the weather forecast for Sunday looks great.

This morning I did P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+.  This should be my toughest morning workout all week.  I burned about 250 calories, which was much more reasonable than the crazy high number my malfunctioning BodyMedia device gave last week.

Short Run

Yesterday afternoon I did a short run.  I ran 4.0 mi in 40:00 min at 6.0 mph on the treadmill.  I'm really trying to do less in order to rest a bit, but that's kind of hard for me to do.  Thank goodness I didn't have to do this run outside, though, because it was extremely hot and humid.

This morning I did my usual Sunday boxing class.  We had to do a bunch of suicide jumps, which was a bit different. 

Saturday Practice

Yesterday I did not do anything active in the afternoon or evening.  It's the first complete rest day I've had in a long time.  I'm trying to actually rest some before my race!

This morning I was down to 127 lb.  It's progress! 

This morning I had my usual practice with my teams.  It was really, really humid.  I didn't feel like I played that well, but I did win all my rounds with my partner.  Anda and I won our first round 5-2.  Susie an I won our second round 7-5, 4-0.  Michelyn and I won our last round 4-2.

Evening Practice

At my annual physical, I found out that I am slightly anemic.  Some follow-up blood tests confirmed this.  I already take a women's multivitamin with iron, so I'm taking an additional iron supplement.  Since the symptoms of anemia are fatigue and difficulty breathing (among others), I'm wondering if this will help me out a bit.  My training runs have been tougher than it seems like they should be, so maybe this is part of the reason.  I don't know if the supplement will help me out in time for my half-marathon on Sep. 14, though.

Yesterday evening, I had a practice with my tennis team.  I played so-so.  I lost my singles round pretty badly 1-5.  Don't really have a good explanation for that, because my opponent is not the strongest 3.5 player we have.  In the doubles round, my partner and I won the first set 7-6, and stopped at 1-2.  Not too bad.  The waxing gibbous Moon was gorgeous around sunset while we were playing.

This morning, I was back under 128 lb again.  Who knows if I'll stay there.  I have been very hungry this week.  At least I've been busy enough with the start of classes that I haven't been able to dig up extra food.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility.  I burned about 110 calories.

Evening Boxing

Yesterday afternoon I went to a boxing class at the gym I belong to.  The pro that teaches it always does nearly the same things, so it was a bit boring.  However, he does love having us do high knees, and so I did get a good calorie burn.

Last night when I uploaded my BodyMedia data for the day, I could see that some of the calorie burn readings were just crazy high.  There's no way they were correct.  Obviously, the disintegration of the plastic casing has allowed the sensors inside to be affected.  So I switched back to my older device.  I had stopped using it and gotten a new one because it had not been reading my sleep correctly.  Except now I wonder if that was really something with my body temperature or something related to overtraining, because the new device did the same thing for awhile.  At any rate, the old device that I switched back to today seems reasonable so far.

I was back to 128 lb this morning.  Bah.  Even though I thought I looked leaner.

This morning I did FOCUS T25 Gamma Speed 3.0.  I needed something short because this is a teaching day.  Originally I was also going to do Asylum vol. 2 Ab Shredder, but I got going a little late, and I didn't really feel like it, so I didn't.  I burned about 190 calories in the workout.

Cardio Tennis

Yesterday was my first day of classes for the semester.  I had forgotten how many calories I burn and how much I sweat in a full-size lecture, even though I'm usually cold!  It really pushed my burn up for the day.

Yesterday afternoon I did the cardio tennis class at CPTC.  I haven't done it for awhile, mostly because of time conflicts.  It was a good class, although not too hard.  The pro definitely took it a little easy on us because it was very hot and extremely humid.  I was dripping sweat before we even got started.  Whew.

This morning my weight was under 128 lb for the first time in days!  Why is it that I'm having to dig myself out of vacation weight gain again?  I just don't understand, but hopefully I'm making progress.

This morning I did P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+, one of my favorite workouts.  I'm still trying to be a bit careful about my ankle, but so far, so good with it.  I burned about 360 calories according to my BodyMedia device, which is a little unbelievable.  The plastic casing on my device has been gradually falling apart from prolonged contact with my sunscreen, and so I wonder if that's messing it up somehow.  I have an older one that's not so bad, and I may have to switch back to it soon.  I was hoping to use this one until it completely stopped working, because I was hoping by then I'd be out of suncreen season.

Short Tempo Run

Yesterday afternoon I did a short tempo run, since I'm tapering before my race.  I ran 3.0 mi at 6.5 mph on the treadmill, which took 27:45.  This run was not too hard, which I was glad about, since I had really sweated and worked a lot on the mixed doubles earlier that day.  I'm going to have to run at this pace on average to meet my goal time for the half-marathon - that's going to be tough!

My weight is still up.  Grr.  I thought I'd at least get a drop today from loss of water weight yesterday, but no luck.

This morning I did P90X2 X2 Core.  I'm trying not to do really hard workouts for this last couple weeks before my race, so doing core work is good.  I burned about 200 calories in the workout.

Mixed Doubles

Yesterday afternoon I ended up not doing any other activity.  My husband and I had possibly planned on doing some biking, but then severe thunderstorms were supposed to be coming.  Of course, they did not arrive until after we probably would've gotten home, but better safe than sorry.  I dusted the whole house - it really needed it - to try to get a few more steps in for the day.

This morning Bill and I played tennis with another couple for fun.  Jessica is on my team, and her husband, Chris, is also a 4.0 player, so we thought it would be a good match up.  It would've been even better if Bill and I hadn't made so many unforced errors!  We lost the first set 6-4, and then also lost the second set 6-2.  They offered to play a third set, which we managed to win 7-6.  It was really pretty hot, and extremely humid from the thunderstorms last night and more rain over night.  I wish we had played better, but it was a lot of fun.