Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Morning Exercise

This morning I did P90X2 X2 Core.  It went OK.  I'm really trying to concentrate on keeping my torso straight in the plank-type moves.  My BodyMedia device said I burned 176 calories.  My new Basis Peak said I burned 106 calories.  A bit of a difference there...

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Little Exercise

Yesterday we drove back home from Pennsylvania.  I had originally planned to do a workout or a run in the morning, but I was still pretty tired from being sick, and since I didn't really eat anything on Sunday, I didn't think I'd have the energy.  When we got home, I had a lot to do around the house, so at least I was moving a bit.

This morning I did P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+.  I figured that I'd take it easy if I didn't feel OK, but it went well.  I burned about 265 calories.  I was supposed to start into my new workout plan for January and do P90X Legs & Back, but I really wasn't in the mood for that.

i got my Basis Peak fitness monitor today!  I've only been wearing it for a few hours, so I can't say much about it yet.  It is a bit chunky, but I am definitely ready to get rid of my BodyMedia armband.  I'll be wearing both of them for at least a few days to do some comparisons, and then hopefully it'll be all in for the Basis Peak!

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Longer Run

Yesterday morning I did a 6-mi run at the Oil City YMCA.  I ran at 5.8 mph, so it took, about 1:02:00.  This run felt harder than it should, and I'm not sure why.  I have run a lot more this week than I usually do, but I haven't been playing tennis or any of my other activity, so I thought that would balance out.  I may be a bit dehydrated, because I definitely don't drink as much when I'm away from home as I do at home.  Who knows.

Yesterday evening, I got quite sick, possibly just from overeating at our family Christmas party, or maybe somehow I got something that didn't agree with me.  At any rate, I was up a lot over night and didn't really get good sleep until about 8 - 11am this morning.  I'm not doing any activity today and taking it easy on my poor stomach.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Short Run

Yesterday I was off because of Christmas.

This morning I did a short run at the fitness center in Grosse Pointe again.  My intention was to run for 40 minutes, at a speed increasing from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph, to average 6.0 mph.  But the treadmill was acting funny and not counting time properly, so I just approximated this.  It totaled about 4.0 mi.

I ordered a Basis Peak fitness tracker.  I am excited to get it and get to something newer than my BodyMedia device.  Hopefully it will work well.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Tennis and Runs

On Sunday evening I played tennis doubles with some ladies from my team.  In the first round, my partner, Fran, and I won 7-5.  We had been down 4-1, so we were happy to come back for the win.  In the second round, my partner, Shelley, and I won 6-4.  In the last round, my partner, Libby, and I were ahead 5-0 when we ran out of time.  It was a good day of tennis!

I was off on Monday for travel to Grosse Pointe, MI, where my in-laws live.

Yesterday morning I did a run at a local fitness club.  I ran for 40 min and totaled 4.0 mi.  I increased my speed from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph in order to average 6.0 mph.  I did take quite a few breaks, as my hamstrings were kind of sore for some reason.  I also had to argue with the treadmill several times, as any inadvertent taps on the control screen wanted to send it to an 8.5-degree incline, which was most definitely not what I wanted.

This morning I ran 8.0 mi at 5.8 mph.  I'm not sure the exact time on the treadmill, since the dumb thing decided to stop about halfway through.  However, It should have been 82 or 83 minutes at that speed.  I did take breaks, but the run did not feel horribly hard.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Run with Intervals

Yesterday afternoon I did a 60-min run with some speed intervals.  This was the next run on my training schedule.  For the easy run parts, I ran at 5.8 mph.  Then, for six 1-min intervals, I ran at 7.5 mph.  The run ended up being 5.97 mi in 60 min, which wasn't bad.  I did take quite a few breaks.

This morning I did the earlier boxing class, like I did last week.  We didn't have to do grocery shopping today, so I was able to go to the earlier class.  It's nice to get it done right away, and it was a good class.

I need a new activity monitor, because Body Media is gradually going away, now that they've been bought by Jawbone.  I was thinking about getting an UP3 when they come out, but they don't have an activity display of any kind of them, which I don't like.  So I'm debating between a Basis Peak, which is available now, and waiting or a FitBit Surge, which is supposed to be available in early 2015.  The Basis Peak looks nicer, is available now, and has sensors more similar to the BodyMedia device that I have.  But the FitBit Surge will have GPS and all the good FitBit software.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Tennis Twice

Last night Bill and I went to TCCP to play in their members appreciate doubles mixer.  We did some drilling for an hour, and then we had an hour of some quick match play.  It wasn't very tough, but it was reasonably fun.  I won a trophy for winning the most games in the match play!  Can't complain about that.

This morning I played tennis with Janet and the 7.5 women's combo team that I will be playing with in the winter 2015 season.  It's a bit intimidating to come in as the new 3.5 on the team.  I played with Janet first, and we lost 6-3.  We really had a lot of unforced errors, while our opponents were hitting very well.  We lost the second set 6-2, if I remember right.  We did play better with me on the ad side.  Then we switched partners, and I played with Carol for a few games.  We managed to squeeze in a set, and unfortunately lost 6-1.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Morning Workout

Yesterday evening I didn't do any activity.  I actually went out with a tennis friend socially, which is amazing.  I do that so rarely!

This morning I did P90X2 Chest + Shoulders + Tris.  I still find this workout to just be OK.  I did increase my reps on a few moves.  I can see why it and V-Sculpt did not make the cut as the primary strength workouts in P90X2.  I burned about 160 calories.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Catching Up

I have been busy with work and finals and grading, so I haven't had a chance to blog.

Monday morning I didn't do any exercise because I had to get up early for an 8am final exam.  Monday night I had my usual doubles tennis at TCCP.  In the first round, my partner, Anda, and I didn't play that badly, but we got crushed by our opponents, one of whom was playing really well.  We lost 6-1.  In the second round, I redeemed myself; my partner, Lindsay, and I won 6-2.  It was all fun.

Tuesday morning I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Xtrainer.  I was feeling a bit better in this workout this week, since I'm starting to get caught up on sleep.  I burned about 270 calories.  Tuesday evening I went to cardio tennis at TCCP, which was fun.  The new guy is learning how to keep me moving, and I was also playing pretty well.

Yesterday morning, I did P90X2 V-Sculpt.  I still don't get much burn out of this; I guess I should increase the weights on my moves, but individually, they feel like I'm using enough.  Also, for some of the balance/plank moves, the issue is not the weights, but the core.  I burned about 150 calories.

Yesterday evening I did an easy run on my training schedule.  I ran for 45 minutes at a speed increasing  from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph, averaging 6.0 mph.  This totaled 4.5 miles.  The run started out feeling OK, but started to feel hard toward the end.

This morning I had P90X2 Plyocide on my schedule, but I really wasn't feeling it today.  Instead, I did my favorite: P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+.  It got a good sweat going.  I burned about 260 calories.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

A Bit of Everything

Last night I had my last scheduled match with my combo team for this season.  Unfortunately Susie and I got beaten pretty badly: 6-4, 6-0.  In the second set, they really figured out how to take advantage of my partner's weaknesses, and I couldn't figure out what to do about it.  Fortunately our team won the other two courts, so we won the match overall. 

This morning I did an earlier boxing class than usual, but still with the same instructor, so it was pretty much the same class.  I felt pretty good and could push myself harder than I have been able to do lately, which was nice.

I had gone to the earlier boxing class because one of my teammates was organizing a practice in the early afternoon, since it was supposed to get relatively warm.  However, it turns out that we didn't get a doubles foursome, so I didn't do that.  Instead, after lunch I did a short run.  I did 3 miles in 30 min at an average 6.0 mph speed.  This run felt hard after yesterday's long run, so I took a lot of breaks.  My legs were just sore.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Long Run

Yesterday afternoon and evening I did not do any activity, as it was my rest day - my first full rest day in a long time.  I did eat a bunch at our department holiday party.  Happily, this morning that was not reflected in my weight.

Today before lunch I did the next long run on my training schedule.  It called for 9 miles.  I did the whole thing on the treadmill at 5.8 mph.  It wasn't as bad as I was expecting!  I only took drink breaks every 10 minutes for the first 40 minutes, and then I increased the frequency of the breaks.  The total run was 1:33:10.

This evening I had played a match with my combo team.  Unfortunately Susie and I lost 4-6, 0-6.  However, our team won the other two courts so we won the match overall!

Friday, December 12, 2014

Cardio Tennis

Yesterday after work I finally was able to do cardio tennis - enough people signed up!  A new guy, Devon, taught the class.  He did a pretty good job.  I was in much better shape than the other people there, so when I told him part way through that I wasn't getting much of a burn, he definitely stepped things up and kept me moving in particular.  He had some fun games for us to play.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility, with the focus on the foam rolling and stretching.  I burned about 95 calories.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Two Runs

On Tuesday I wanted to do cardio tennis at TCCP after work, but it was canceled.  Lately they haven't been having enough people to do the class.  So I went home and did a 30-min run on the treadmill.  I increased speed from 5.8 to 6.2 mph as usual, and so I ran 3.0 mi.  This run felt SO much easier than the run on Sunday night.

Yesterday morning I did P90X2 V-Sculpt.  This is a back and biceps workout.  The moves are OK, but I don't feel like I worked as hard as I should have.  I think it's because I really can't do very pull-ups yet, so I end up with a lot of down time.  I could try to do assisted ones on a chair, but my pull-up bar is so low, I feel like I'm getting way too much help with the chair.  At any rate, I burned about 165 calories.

Yesterday evening after dinner I did a 40-min run on the treadmill.  Again, I increased my speed, but my average was 6.0 mph.  I did the first 20 minutes with only one break on the rails.  My distance came to 4.0 mi.

This morning, I did P90X2 Plyocide.  Still a tough workout, but it was feeling slightly better than last week.  I did not do the neuro-integrated stretching in order to save a few minutes, since I foam rolled after the workout.  I burned about 200 calories.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Two Days

I've been too busy with work to blog much.

Sunday night, I did a 30-min run on the treadmill.  I increased from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph so that I averaged 6.0 mph.  I don't know what it was, but this run was way too hard for 30 minutes.  I took a lot of breaks.

Monday morning I did P90X2 Chest + Shoulders + Tris.  This is not my favorite workout.  I don't feel like it works the shoulders in enough directions, and the chest moves are pretty repetitive from previous workouts.  I burned about 150 calories.

Last night, I played my usual tennis doubles at TCCP.  I played quite well.  In the first round, my partner, Andrea, and I won 6-5, despite playing a good pair.  In the second round, my partner, Lindsay, and I won, 6-3.  In the last round, my partner, Whitney, and I tied 2-2 - this was probably the hardest round.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 XTrainer.  I'm tired, so I didn't do great at it, but OK.  It's definitely a good workout.  I burned about 275 calories.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Painful Day

Yesterday, my abs were sore all day.  It wasn't like it was killing me, but it was really annoying and distracting.  I was also so tired all day.

I did the next run on my training schedule, which was 50 min with 4 - 6 60-s hard intervals.  I ran on the treadmill starting at 5.8 mph and increasing to 6.2 mph so that the average of my "easy" pace was 6.0 mph.  I did 5 60-s intervals at 7.5 mph.  This was a hard run, since I was just so tired.  My abs didn't really hurt more during the run, but I'm sure it affected me.  I took a lot of breaks.

Fortunately this morning my abs started to feel better.  I could still feel some soreness, but not nearly as bad.  I still don't know what the problem was!

This morning I went to my usual boxing class.  I was still tired, but it went OK.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Last Mixed Win

Last night, Bill and I played our last mixed combo match together for awhile.  Since I've moved up to 3.5, we'd have to play 8.0 mixed next season, which we don't think we're ready for.  At any rate, we won our match last night 6-1, 6-2.  Our opponents were two 3.5 players, and they were getting frustrated about not being able to win against us, especially against me.  I played quite well, and could rally with the other man just fine.  It was good to go out on a high note.  Our team won the other court played, and we got a default, so we swept the match!

My abs have been hurting since yesterday morning, which is really strange.  It feels like I've done a million crunches, but I haven't really done anything that should affect them.  I can do most things, and in fact, playing tennis feels better (probably because I'm distracted), but it's annoying and kind of worrying.  They are still hurting today.

This morning I went to a boxing class.  The class was taught by a pro who is not my favorite, but that wasn't the issue today.  I just really felt out of it and tired.  Maybe my sore abs are draining me?  I really dogged the class.  I came home and took a nap before lunch.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Big Doubles Win!

Wednesday evening I was supposed to have a team practice, but it was still too damp to play, so we canceled.  I had a lot of work to do, so I didn't find a replacement activity.  In fact, I stayed up extra late grading some projects, so I slept in a bit in the morning and did not do my P90X2 Recovery + Mobility as planned.

Last night I subbed into our last tri-level match of the season.  Mary Ann and I played a marathon match, but finally won!  Our opponents did not hit fast-paced shots, but mostly hit softer, looping shots, which we had no problem dealing with.  We were pretty evenly matched and everyone was playing very consistently, so the points went on forever.  We won the first set 7-5, over an hour into the match.  In the second set, our opponents somehow ended up winning 6-2 - I don't feel like they did anything in particular to beat us, but it just ended up that way.  We started the match tie-breaker with fewer than 10 minutes left in the match.  We were pretty even in the tie-breaker...we were at 6-6, with just a couple minutes left.  We managed to win the next two points before time ran out.  We won the tie-breaker 8-6, and so we won the match! 

Our 3.5s won also, so we won the match overall.  A good ending to the season.  Last season in tri-level, our team only had a record of 1-11.  This season we ended 6-9, and three of our wins were against the top team, which was great!

This morning I did P90X2 Plyocide.  I could tell I hadn't done this workout in awhile!  I skipped the neuro-integrated stretching at the end, because I was going to do some foam rolling and needed to save time.  I burned about 210 calories in the workout.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Easy Run

Yesterday afternoon I did a 45-min run on the treadmill.  I increased my speed from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph in order to average 6.0 mph and achieve a distance of 4.5 mi.  I ran the first 20 minutes with only one break, but I had more after that.

This morning I did P90X2 Chest + Back + Balance for the last time in my current workout schedule.  I did increase reps on a lot of moves, but I still feel like I'm getting tired too fast.  I burned about 180 calories in the workout.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Monday Night Doubles

Yesterday morning, I did P90X2 X2 Shoulders + Arms.  This is the last time I'll be doing this workout for awhile.  I did up the weight and/or reps for a few moves.  It's definitely a good workout.  I burned about 155 calories.

Last night I played my usual tennis doubles at TCCP.  I did pretty well.  In the first round, my partner, Mary Ann, and I lost 2-6.  We tried to play at the net a lot, but our opponents had really good angles and lobs and kept getting by us.  In the second round, my partner, Michelyn, and I really played well and won 6-2.  We played very well together at the net, forcing our opponents back to the baseline.  In the third round, my partner, Andrea, and I tied at 2-2.  This was good for us, because we were playing quite strong players.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum Speed & Agility.  I'm still not feeling like I can really do this workout as well as I should - I'm just tired with it.  I burned about 270 calories.

This morning I found out that my USTA rating increased to 3.5 for the 2015 season.  I've been on the verge of moving up for awhile, so it's gratifying for it to finally happen.  I'm going to have to figure out what to do with my 3.0 team.