Yesterday evening I had a practice with my team. It was a beautiful night - not too warm. I played pretty well, even though my partner, Becky, and I lost. We lost the first set 7-5, and then were losing 3-1 in the second set when we had to quit.
This morning I did P90X3 Eccentric Upper, preceded by Cold Start. I lowered my weights on a couple exercises, because my left forearm/elbow was bothering me. I burned about 80 calories.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Ebook "Finish Strong"
A couple weeks ago I got the ebook Finish Strong by Jason Fitzgerald. I got on his email list through the blog fANNEtastic Food. He and the blog author work together on some posts about running and eating that I think are pretty good, so I thought I'd like to try this book, which was on fueling for running: training and racing. Well, the ebook turned out to be WAY overpriced for what it was: 60 pages of text with so much white space that it could've been on 20 pages. And a lot of the space was taken up with tables that had things like the timing of three evenly-spaced fuelings for a 2-hr half-marathon. Really? I need a table to tell me to do this every 30 min? Are we really so bad at math?
The other thing I was disappointed about with the ebook is that the quotes by past clients of Jason Fitzgerald's that were used to promote the ebook suggested that it would have some guidance for eating overall and specifically eating to train and lose a bit of weight. Well, there was some very short and general guidance on eating overall, which basically could be summed up as "eat your carbs", but nothing on weight loss. I should know better than to believe quotes, but it was annoying.
There were some good parts to the book, such as specific calorie values for eating before a morning run, and exact suggestions on how much to fuel for various race distances. But overall it was not worth the money. And it's a big loss for Jason Fitzgerald, because I won't be buying anything from him again unless I have much better reviews and sources that let me know it's worth it.
One thing the book did emphasize was the caffeine has definitely been shown to enhance performance in running. The book suggested drinking coffee. I don't care for coffee, so I decided to get some caffeine pills. I got 100-mg pills, because for my weight the suggested supplementation was about 120 mg. I usually would be taking them with a soda before a run, so that will add some caffeine. We'll see if it helps.
Yesterday after work I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 50-min easy run. I did this on the treadmill at 5.1 mph, and the distance totaled 4.25 mi. This run really was pretty easy, even though it lasted awhile, so I suppose that's good. I'm not sure if it is because my aerobic capacity is improving, or because of my caffeine supplement.
This morning I did P90X3 MMX, preceded by Cold Start. This definitely got a good sweat going. I burned about 160 calories. Afterward, I did my shortened version of P90X3 Dynamix. I finally remembered to time it today, and it took about 13 minutes. I don't really have the time or patience to do the whole thing when I'm doing it as an extra routine, but that much time is reasonable.
The other thing I was disappointed about with the ebook is that the quotes by past clients of Jason Fitzgerald's that were used to promote the ebook suggested that it would have some guidance for eating overall and specifically eating to train and lose a bit of weight. Well, there was some very short and general guidance on eating overall, which basically could be summed up as "eat your carbs", but nothing on weight loss. I should know better than to believe quotes, but it was annoying.
There were some good parts to the book, such as specific calorie values for eating before a morning run, and exact suggestions on how much to fuel for various race distances. But overall it was not worth the money. And it's a big loss for Jason Fitzgerald, because I won't be buying anything from him again unless I have much better reviews and sources that let me know it's worth it.
One thing the book did emphasize was the caffeine has definitely been shown to enhance performance in running. The book suggested drinking coffee. I don't care for coffee, so I decided to get some caffeine pills. I got 100-mg pills, because for my weight the suggested supplementation was about 120 mg. I usually would be taking them with a soda before a run, so that will add some caffeine. We'll see if it helps.
Yesterday after work I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 50-min easy run. I did this on the treadmill at 5.1 mph, and the distance totaled 4.25 mi. This run really was pretty easy, even though it lasted awhile, so I suppose that's good. I'm not sure if it is because my aerobic capacity is improving, or because of my caffeine supplement.
This morning I did P90X3 MMX, preceded by Cold Start. This definitely got a good sweat going. I burned about 160 calories. Afterward, I did my shortened version of P90X3 Dynamix. I finally remembered to time it today, and it took about 13 minutes. I don't really have the time or patience to do the whole thing when I'm doing it as an extra routine, but that much time is reasonable.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Grand Tour of DC Monuments
Yesterday was another pleasant day of walking around DC and showing my Mom and her friend the monuments. It was a beautiful day. In the morning, we went to Great Falls on the Maryland side. The falls are always impressive, but we got to watch a couple kayakers actually going down several of the cascades - twice! Pretty amazing!
After a picnic lunch at Great Falls, we went back downtown to walk around more of the monuments on the National Mall.
First we went by the Washington Monument. Then we started around the Tidal Basin, hitting the Jefferson Memorial first. Then we went through the FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr, Memorial. Then we went back on the Mall and stopped by the Korean War Veterans' Memorial. Next was the Lincoln Memorial, and then the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Finally, we went to the World War II Memorial. It was quite a day of walking! Unfortunately my sunscreen (apparently) was oozing into my eyes a bit and really making them sting for the last part of the afternoon. I could barely keep them open!
This morning I did P90X3 Eccentric Lower, preceded by Cold Start. This workout went pretty well today and did not feel as hard as sometimes. I'm sure I'll be feeling it, though. I burned about 90 calories.
After a picnic lunch at Great Falls, we went back downtown to walk around more of the monuments on the National Mall.
First we went by the Washington Monument. Then we started around the Tidal Basin, hitting the Jefferson Memorial first. Then we went through the FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr, Memorial. Then we went back on the Mall and stopped by the Korean War Veterans' Memorial. Next was the Lincoln Memorial, and then the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Finally, we went to the World War II Memorial. It was quite a day of walking! Unfortunately my sunscreen (apparently) was oozing into my eyes a bit and really making them sting for the last part of the afternoon. I could barely keep them open!
This morning I did P90X3 Eccentric Lower, preceded by Cold Start. This workout went pretty well today and did not feel as hard as sometimes. I'm sure I'll be feeling it, though. I burned about 90 calories.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Walking in DC
Yesterday before lunch, I did a 30-min easy run to burn a few calories. I ran at 5.1 mph, so the distance came to 2.55 mi.
My Mom and a friend came to visit for the weekend. We did a short walk around the neighborhood after dinner.
This morning, I had practice with my tennis team. We had thought it would be rainy, but it turned out to be a beautiful morning. In the first round, my partner, Bhanu, and I tied our opponents 3-3. In the second round, I played singles; I lost the first set 7-6 and we tied the second set 2-2. In the third round, my partner, Anda, and I tied our opponents 3-3.
In the afternoon, my Mom, her friend, and I went to downtown DC. We walked around the Capitol, went into the Botanic Gardens, and then we went to Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guard.
My Mom and a friend came to visit for the weekend. We did a short walk around the neighborhood after dinner.
This morning, I had practice with my tennis team. We had thought it would be rainy, but it turned out to be a beautiful morning. In the first round, my partner, Bhanu, and I tied our opponents 3-3. In the second round, I played singles; I lost the first set 7-6 and we tied the second set 2-2. In the third round, my partner, Anda, and I tied our opponents 3-3.
In the afternoon, my Mom, her friend, and I went to downtown DC. We walked around the Capitol, went into the Botanic Gardens, and then we went to Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guard.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Long Easy Run
Yesterday after work, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 70-min easy run. I did this on the treadmill at 5.1 mph, so the distance totaled 5.95 mi. It wasn't too hard, which I suppose is the point. I hope these easy runs are really helping me!
Unfortunately my left forearm/elbow was really bothering me yesterday. I had lifted some weights in the morning, which probably aggravated it. Luckily, I won't be doing that again until Monday, so hopefully it will rest up a bit.
This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility. I burned about 80 calories. You know, right there is the reason that the Basis Peak can't be measuring calorie burn very accurately. This calorie burn is about the same as I got yesterday doing P90X3 Incinerator (plus Cold Start), which involved push-ups, pull-ups, some weight lifting, etc. And yet I didn't burn more significantly more calories? I just think that when steps are not involved, it is not as accurate. It's a bit frustrating.
Unfortunately my left forearm/elbow was really bothering me yesterday. I had lifted some weights in the morning, which probably aggravated it. Luckily, I won't be doing that again until Monday, so hopefully it will rest up a bit.
This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility. I burned about 80 calories. You know, right there is the reason that the Basis Peak can't be measuring calorie burn very accurately. This calorie burn is about the same as I got yesterday doing P90X3 Incinerator (plus Cold Start), which involved push-ups, pull-ups, some weight lifting, etc. And yet I didn't burn more significantly more calories? I just think that when steps are not involved, it is not as accurate. It's a bit frustrating.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Evening Boxing
Yesterday evening I went to a boxing class. I don't usually do that on weeknights, because it's across the metro area from where I work, but I feel like I've been missing a lot of Sunday classes with travel. The class I went to was not taught by my favorite instructor: I feel like he's phoning it in, and he usually does almost exactly the same thing every time. However, since I hadn't been to one of his classes in awhile, it was OK and I got a good calorie burn. I'm starting to wonder if my left elbow/forearm problems are from boxing, though. It's hard to tell.
This morning I did P90X3 Incinerator, preceded by Cold Start. This is a good workout, but it aggravated my left forearm more. Gripping with my left hand is not so fun these days. Very ironic, considering that I play tennis right-handed! I burned about 85 calories.
This morning I did P90X3 Incinerator, preceded by Cold Start. This is a good workout, but it aggravated my left forearm more. Gripping with my left hand is not so fun these days. Very ironic, considering that I play tennis right-handed! I burned about 85 calories.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
3.5 Match Win!
Last night I played in a 3.5 match with my team. We won four of the five courts! My partner, Joan, and I won 6-4, 7-6. We were pretty even in the first set until 3-3, and then we pulled ahead 5-3, finally winning 6-4. I was playing quite well at the net, getting a lot of volleys and overheads, while Joan made sure to keep the point going for us - she got a lot of tough shots back. One of our opponents started playing more aggressively in the second set, which did get them ahead of us, but then we came back to force a set tie-breaker. We won the set tie-breaker 7-5 with just a couple minutes to spare in the match. It was a good night for the team!
This morning I did P90X3 Triometrics, preceded by Cold Start. I don't know why this workout always seems so hard for me, because it certainly doesn't seem like it should be harder than P90X2 Plyocide! I was definitely quite sore today from Eccentric Upper yesterday. I burned about 150 calories.
This morning I did P90X3 Triometrics, preceded by Cold Start. I don't know why this workout always seems so hard for me, because it certainly doesn't seem like it should be harder than P90X2 Plyocide! I was definitely quite sore today from Eccentric Upper yesterday. I burned about 150 calories.
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