Doubles Practice

This morning I did my usual boxing class.  I really have been dogging them lately and not getting my usual calorie burn.  Too many breaks.  Blah.

This evening I had an indoor practice with my tennis team.  In the first round, my partner, Donna, and I lost 2-5, which was a bit surprising to me.  In the second round, my partner, Lisa, and I lost the first set 6-7, and then were ahead 4-1 in the second set.  In the last round, my partner, Sharynne, and I ended at 5-5 with our opponents.  I did not get the chance to come into the net as much as I would've liked tonight, which I think it why I wasn't playing as well.

Short Run

This morning I did a shorter run at the Oil City YMCA.  This was not a run on my training schedule, but I've been thinking that if I have a day without another activity planned, I should do a run to try to get better at it.  I did 4.04 mi in about 40:00, increasing in speed from 5.8 to 6.2 mph.  I took a lot of breaks in this one, since I'd just run 8 miles the day before.  I really need to learn to take fewer breaks.

Long Run

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and between traveling and the family dinner and the weather, I didn't do any activity.  I did get over 7 hours of sleep last night.

This morning I did the 8-mi run on my training schedule.  I went to the Oil City YMCA to use a treadmill there.  Again, I increased my speed from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph to average 6.0 mph for the 8 hours in 1:20:00.  I did take quite a few breaks, but it wasn't too bad.

Longer Short Run

Yesterday afternoon I did the 40-min run that was on my training schedule.  I did it on the treadmill, again increasing from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph to average 6.0 mph.  The total distance was 4.0 mi.  This run seemed easier than the run from the previous day, even though it was longer.  Who knows why.  I also watched one of the best Stargate SG-1 episodes ever, "A Matter of Time", which involves a black hole.

Short Run

Yesterday afternoon I had wanted to take the cardio tennis class at TCCP, but there were not enough people for it to be held.  Instead, I came home and did a 30-min run on the treadmill.  I increased my speed from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph, so that I totaled 3 miles.  This felt harder than it really should have.  My knees were bothering me all day, but they were better after the run - go figure.

This morning I did P90X2 Chest + Back + Balance.  I just wasn't feeling it this morning, but I did improve some of my reps.  I burned about 170 calories.

Good Doubles

Last night I had my usual doubles tennis at TCCP.  I was worried that I might hurt my calf again, but it was fine.  My knees were kind of bothering me, which was weird.  At any rate, I played some excellent tennis!  I have been so tired lately, but last night on the court I was energized.  My partner, Anda, and I won the first round 6-2; this was unexpected because we were playing against two 3.5s.  In the second round, my partner, Julie, and I won 6-0, again against a good pairing.  Something happened in the last round, though, and my partner, Mariann, and I lost 0-4.  Ah, well.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum Speed & Agility.  My leg was feeling OK, but I was just tired.  I definitely dogged it.  I burned about 280 calories.

Long Run

Yesterday afternoon, I did my first long run since the Marine Corps Marathon 10K, almost a month ago.  I did 7 miles on the treadmill.  I stuck to a 5.8 mph speed the whole time, since I was pretty tired.  That meant I finished in 1:12:25.  I did the first 20 minutes with only one break, but I did take more and more breaks as the run went on.  I ran without my calf wrap, in the hopes that my gait would return to normal.  I'm not sure if it did or not, but I didn't have any specific pain.  My left quad and the outside of my left thigh are still oddly sore.

This morning I did P90X2 X2 Shoulders + Arms.  I increased my weights for some moves, so that I'm using 20-lb per hand only for the triceps moves.  I'm also using 25-lb per hand for some of the shoulder presses.   I am already sore, but I'm pleased that I am able to lift so much, even while doing the balancing.  I burned about 140 calories in the workout.

Mixed Combo Loss

Last night Bill and I played a mixed combo match.  We won the first set 6-2.  The opposing guy was really tall and moved well, but Bill had some excellent shots and service games, and I managed not to give away too many points.  Then we lost the second set 6-0.  The tall guy seemed to have arms that were a foot longer in this set and somehow he was just everywhere.  He kept managing to place the balls exactly where I couldn't get them.  In the match tie-breaker, we stayed pretty even with them for awhile, but ended up losing it 10-7.  Such a frustrating match. 

This morning I did my usual boxing class.  I took it a bit easy because I didn't want to stress my calf too much.  I was very happy that I didn't re-injure it in all the tennis yesterday, so I didn't want to push it.

Harder Run

Yesterday I did a 50-min run on the treadmill.  I don't usually run two days in a row, but I need to get back on my training schedule after having time off for my calf pull.  Well, this run was hard.  I took a lot of breaks on the side rails.  I did start at 5.8 mph and increase to 6.2 mph so that I averaged 6.0 mph and did 5 mi.  My left quad was really sore after the run.  I think I must have changed my gait somehow because of my calf and the wrap I had on it.  During my next run, I won't wear the wrap.

This morning I had an indoor practice with my tennis team.  I played pretty well, although I definitely wasn't as quick off the mark as usual - wanted to not pull the calf again.  In the first round, my partner, Viqui, and I lost 2-4.  In the second round, my partner, Sharynne, and I won 7-5, 4-1.  Then in the last round, my partner, Flora, and I won 6-2, 1-1.  Not bad.

Running Again

Yesterday morning I did Insanity the Asylum Speed & Agility.  I wanted to not stress my calf muscle too much, so I took it a bit easy.  It seemed to be OK.  I could feel it with some of the jumping.  I burned about 255 calories. 

Yesterday evening I did a 45-min run on the treadmill.  I was supposed to run 7 miles, but I'm switching up the training schedule a bit to ease back into running with my calf.  I started at 5.8 mph and increased to 6.2 mph so that I averaged 6.0 mph and did 4.5 mi.  The calf felt OK throughout, which was good.

This morning I was supposed to do P90X2 Plyocide, but I didn't think all the jumping would be good for my calf.  Instead I did P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+.  It was a good decision, because I did feel my calf a bit on the few jumping moves.  Hopefully I'll be back to plyo next week.  I burned about 250 calories.

Calf Injury Again

Monday night at my doubles at TCCP I pulled my calf muscle again.  The same one I pulled on my birthday.  It had been feeling fine.  During one game, it was starting to feel tight and I thought I'd stretch it after the game, but that was too late.  It pulled, and I had to stop for the night.  Blah.

Tuesday morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility to rest the calf.  I burned about 70 calories.  Fortunately I had been planning to take Tuesday afternoon/evening off from activity, since a college friend was in town and we were going to dinner with her.  So more rest for the calf, and lots of ibuprofen.

This morning, I did P90X2 Chest + Back + Balance.  I did regular pull-ups and chin-ups for the pull-up moves, since they have crazy variations that I generally can't do at all.  I figure I should be able to do more than like 3 pull-ups in a row.  The chest and balance moves on this are not that hard for me any more.  I need to practice keeping my body straight in any plank positions and work on speeding up - I tend to go at a deliberate speed, so I don't end up getting as many reps as I could.  I burned about 185 calories.

This afternoon, I thought I'd try a run on the treadmill.  Well, the calf felt a bit off.  If I ran just right, it was OK, but I felt like any lapse from that form was going to tweak it.  So I switched to walking.  I walked for about 55 minutes at about 3.5 mph.  At least I burned some calories.  I'm going to try the run tomorrow.

New Workout Phase

Yesterday afternoon I did a run on the treadmill.  I ran for 40:00 min, which came out to 4.0 mi.  I increased my speed from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph, averaging 6.0 mph.  Again, I tried to take fewer breaks during the run.

This morning I started the next phase of my P90X2 and Asylum vol. 2 hybrid.  I did P90X2 Shoulders + Arms.  I can tell that I'm going to be really sore from this.  I tried to push the weights, especially for biceps and shoulders, and I think I succeeded in that.  I burned about 140 cal.

Afternoon Practice

Yesterday afternoon my tennis team had an outdoor practice.  It was warmer than it would've been in the morning, but not by much.  The cold made it kind of hard to get into, and the extra layers made movement more restricted than usual.  In the first round, my partner, Anda, and I lost 6-2.  We really should've played better.  In the second round, my partner, Jessica, and I lost the end of the first set 6-7, but then forged ahead in the second set, 4-0.  In the third round, my partner, Susie, and I lost 5-2. 

This morning I did my usual boxing class.  I dogged it a bit and didn't burn as many calories as usual.  I'm tired.

Evening Run

Yesterday afternoon after work I did a 50-min run on the treadmill.  I increased my speed from 5.8 mph to 6.2 mph so that averaged 6 mph and finished in 50:00.  I've been working on taking fewer breaks, and so my first breaks were at 10-min and 20-min.

My tennis practice for this morning was moved back to the afternoon so that it will be warmer.  I thought about going to a boxing class, but I decided I have to much to do to waste the travel time.  I did P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+ at home instead.  I burned about 280 calories.

This morning my weight was down to 126.0 lb, the lowest it's been in quite some time.  I've been eating about 1600 cal per day (except Saturdays and my birthday) since Oct. 28, and it's taken me this long to lose maybe 1 lb.  Frustrating, but at least I'm seeing some progress.

Short Plyo Workout

Yesterday evening I didn't do any activity.  For once I had a complete rest day.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Pure Contact.  I followed it with 3x6 squat with single-arm presses, alternating with 3x6 reverse wood chops.  Lots of good plyo this morning!  I burned about 180 calories.  This is the last day of my first 3-week segment of my P90X2 and Asylum vol. 2 hybrid.

Tri-level Win!

Last night I played a match for my tri-level team.  Anda and I beat the top team again on the 3.0 court!  We started out really badly - we just were hitting so many unforced errors and didn't have much energy.  We lost the first set 6-1.  We kind of pulled ourselves together and got more psyched up, and started playing better.  We won the second set 6-3.  In the match tie-breaker, we were pretty close at first, but we were always ahead by a point.  We pulled ahead at the end and won it 10-7.  Fortunately our 3.5s also won, so we won the match overall.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility.  I burned about 90 calories.  I'm taking the rest of the day off, because I have to substitute teach this evening and won't have time to do anything else.

Evening Practice

Yesterday evening we had a practice for my tennis team.  It was unusually warm for November, so it was pretty pleasant.  However, the possible cold weather kept most people away, so we only had four to play.  In the first set, my partner Whitney and I played pretty well, beating our opponents 6-4.  It was a long set, though, because we were a little chatty and unfocused.  In the second set, my partner Julie and I were ahead 5-2 when we had to stop because our lights were going to turn out.

This morning I did P90X2 Balance + Power.  I improved on a few exercises. I burned about 180 calories.

Good Monday Doubles

Last night I had my usual doubles tennis at TCCP.  I felt like I played really well.  In the first round, Andrea and I lost 4-6.  However, we were playing against two really strong players, and Andrea doesn't move as well on the court, so I thought that was a success.  In the second round, Jessica and I beat our opponents 6-2; this was surprising because again, we had strong opponents.  I've been coming in to the net a lot, and it's working very well.  In the last round, my partner Lindsay and I won 3-2. 

This morning, I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Agility Tutorial, followed by Ab Shredder, followed by a 90-s plank on a stability ball.  This always gets me sweating a lot.  I burned about 190 calories.

My blood test results came back yesterday - I'm still anemic, although not as bad as before.  So I keep taking the iron supplements.  I'm still pretty fatigued - I hope I can get my iron back up soon!  I keep thinking that if I'm playing tennis so well right now, how much better will I play when I'm not so tired all the time?

Longer Run

Yesterday evening I did a 45-min run on the treadmill.  I was supposed to do an easy pace, so I started at 5.8 mph and increased to 6.2 mph so that I averaged 6.0 mph.  The distance was 4.5 mi.  I'm trying to get myself to run for longer without taking breaks on the rails, and I did do that for the most part.  My calf felt OK during the run, but it's bothering me a little bit today.

This morning I did P90X2 X2 Total Body.  I added in 3x8 shoulder raises with 12 lb per arm.  I did increase my reps on a few of the moves.  I burned about 205 calories.

Combo Loss

Last night I played another match with our combo team.  Susie and I played #3 doubles.  We won the first set 6-2.  We were playing pretty well, and our opponents were playing really badly.  I thought we were going to zip right through the match.  Our opponents switched sides in the second set, and somehow that really changed things.  I'm not sure if it gave them a different view of the balls, or if it just woke them up, but they started playing much better.  In particular, they were more able to keep hitting to Susie.  We lost the second set 6-7.  In the match tie-breaker, we made it close but ended up losing.  Our team only won one of the other courts, so we lost overall.

This morning I did my usual boxing class.  It was a good class, but nothing special.

Easy Run

Yesterday afternoon/evening I did not do any kind of activity.  I thought it would be a good idea to rest my calf after the slight pull on Thursday night.

This morning, I had a practice with my tennis team.  However, somehow we ended up with five to play instead of four.  I had done some of the warm-up and felt like my calf was probably OK to play in the match tonight, so I bowed out and let the other four play. 

I came home and did a short, easy run on Rock Creek Trail.  My calf was OK still.  It was pretty chilly, but nice and sunny.  RunKeeper was having some problems with the tracking again.  I had to restart it halfway through, so my run was recorded in two halves.  Then the time on the second half got reset, so it thought I ran the second half at 274 mph.  This is a bit frustrating to have it keep screwing up the data.  I ran about 2.94 mi in about 31:30, which was an average speed of 5.6 mph.

Combo Win!

Last night, I subbed in again for a match for our combo team.  My partner, Julie, and I won 6-2, 6-0.  Despite the league being 6.5 combo, we played two 3.0 women, and one of them was very inexperienced.  They really didn't have a chance.  Julie and I practiced coming in to the net, which was good.  I served the last game, and we were ahead 15-0.  During that point, I pulled my left calf muscle a bit.  This is something I've done in both legs, but many years ago.  It wasn't awful, but I really didn't want to play much more.  At 30-0, I served to get an error on the return, so it became 40-0.  I was serving to the weak player, so I figured if I didn't get an error on the return, I'd just hit until she did make an error.  And that was pretty much how it went...I hardly moved, but just hit several cross-court shots until she hit it out.  Then I limped to the bench and took a bunch of ibuprofen.  Julie got me some ice, and I iced my calf until the other matches finished.  Our team won one of the other courts, so we won the match overall.

This morning, my calf is feeling a bit better.  I'd wrapped it up last night before bed.  I'm still taking ibuprofen regularly.  I did P90X2 Balance + Power today, skipping any jumping or balancing on the left leg.  I burned about 170 calories.

Combo Sweep!

Last night our combo team won all of the courts!  Michelyn and I played on #1 doubles, and we played really well together.  We were always just behind our opponents in the first set until we caught up at 5-5, and then we won the set 7-5.  One of our opponents could not move very well, and as a result, I think, she had some really odd-looking strokes that took some getting used to.  In the second set, we did much better, winning 6-3.  It was a good night for the team.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Pure Contact.  After that, I did 3x6 plyo squats with one-arm presses alternating with reverse wood chops.  I burned about 170 cal.

Big Tri-level Win!

Last night our tri-level team won a match!  We haven't been very successful this season, so that's good news, but the even better thing is that we beat the team that has been undefeated so far and was undefeated all last tri-level season!

Terri and I played on the 3.0 court.  We played some very consistent players, but they did not have a lot of hard shots or great angles.  One of them tends to hit higher, floaty balls, and Terri and I both hit a lot of them out of the air and put them away.  We won the first set 6-1 that way.  Our opponents changed sides in the second set, which let one of them hit a much deep groundstroke; that worked for them in the second set, plus we made some errors, so we lost the set 2-6.  In the match tie-breaker, we started out behind, but caught up to 8-8, and then won it 10-8 to win the match!

Our 3.5s lost their court, but our 4.0s won, so we won the match overall!  On the 4.0 court, they split sets and started the match tie-breaker with about 10 minutes left in the match.  However, there was a miscommunication with the facilities guy that was supposed to hit the buzzer to call the end of the match, and he didn't do it until late.  If the buzzer had gone off on time, our 4.0s would've lost the tie-breaker.  But because of the delay, they finished the tie-breaker and won it!  A very satisfying match win!

This morning I had to be on campus by 7:30am, so I didn't do a workout.  I'll do today's workout on Friday.  I need some sleep - I got to bed extra late after last night's match, and didn't sleep very well.

Monday Night Doubles

Last night I had my usual Monday night doubles tennis at TCCP.  I played OK.  In the first round, my partner, Michelyn, and I lost 6-3.  We had been down 4-0, so at least we made a small comeback.  We really needed to get more aggressive at the net.  In the second round, I played singles against Whitney, who is an excellent singles player.  I got down 5-0, but then came back to 5-4 before losing 6-4.  I was very happy with that.  In the last round, we only played 5 games.  My partner, Anda, and I lost 4-1.  We really should've done better, but had some unforced errors.

This morning I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Agility Tutorial followed by Ab Shredder.  This is a good combination, because the tutorial really gets you sweating with all the fast moves, and then the ab workout prolongs it.  I added on a 90-s plank on the stability ball when I was done.  I burned about 200 calories.

Windy Run

Yesterday afternoon I did an easy pace run outside on the Sligo Creek Trail.  It was chilly, in the mid 40s F, and really windy.  I thought I'd run better with it colder, and I wore a long-sleeved shirt, but it did not turn out that way.  I ran about 3.89 mi in 41:29, which worked out to be about 5.6 mph.  My legs were also still a bit sore from P90X2 on Friday, so maybe that contributed.  I'm trying not to worry if my easy runs are too slow, but it does bother me.

This morning I did P90X2 X2 Total Body, with additional arm raises, like I did last Friday.  I improved a bit on some of the moves.  Hopefully I won't get as sore from it this time.  I burned about 205 calories.

Mixed Combo Loss

Last night Bill and I played on #1 doubles for our mixed combo team.  We played a 3.5/4.0 pair; we knew they both from TCCP.  It was a really fun match, but unfortunately we lost.  We lost the first 6-4.  In the second set, we got up 5-1, but then let our opponents come back and even it out.  We eventually won the second set 7-6.  Then we lost the match tie-breaker pretty decisively.  Too bad!  Our team did not win any of the courts.

Overnight was the change from daylight saving time to standard time, so we got an extra hour of sleep.  I slept for about 9 hours, which was awesome!

This morning I did my usual boxing class.  A lot of push-ups and crunches today. I'm still sore from P90X2 on Friday, but I did OK.

Tri-level win!

Last night Terri and I won our court in our tri-level match: 6-7, 6-4, in a timed match.  The first set seemed to go on forever.  We were down 1-4, and then we got ahead 5-4.  We had so many long deuce games.  Unfortunately we lost the set tie-breaker pretty badly.  In the second set, we were pretty even until our opponents got ahead 4-2.  We managed to come back and win the set 6-4.  At that point, we only had about 8 points left to play the match tie-breaker.  The match tie-breaker timed out when we were ahead 5-4, so it didn't count.  Terri and I won because we'd won more games in the match.  So close!  We played pretty well.  Both of us are fast and cover the court really well.  Terri did a great job getting overheads and so we didn't get into long lob rallies.  It was a really good win!

Fortunately, our team won one of the other courts as well, so we won the match overall!  This is only our second match win for tri-level, so it was good for the team.

This morning I canceled tennis practice because it looked like it was going to rain.  I went to a boxing class instead.  I was moderately sore from my P90X2 workout yesterday, but even so, the class felt harder than it should have.  I have been really tired lately, so I'm sure that's part of it.  I'm not sure whether the tiredness is just from the fact that I've been so busy lately, or if I'm still not over my anemia.  I need to get another blood test for it, but I haven't had the chance.