Busy Day

This morning, I went to a boxing class. I don't usually go on Saturday mornings because I have other activities, but it worked out today.  Unfortunately, an instructor that I really don't like was subbing.  Blah.  I did burn a lot of calories, but I just don't like how he does things.

After the boxing class, I went to a fitness equipment store to try out treadmills.  My 15-year-old NordicTrack Apex 4100 is about to bite the dust.  It's on its fourth belt, and it's having other problems.  My husband and I agreed that we'd get me a new treadmill after Christmas.

After some research on the Runner's World's fora, I decided to look at Precor, Spirit, and True treadmills.  This store had Precors and Spirits to try out.  I ran on a Spirit 485, Precor 211, and Precor 223.  The Spirit was the cheapest, and happily enough, I liked it the best.  It's certainly a lot quieter than my current treadmill, but that's really not saying much.  I liked the set up of the console and the arms, and it felt fine to run on.   I ran and walked a little over a mile on it.  It also goes up to a 15% incline, which I can't imagine using, but it's notable.

The Precor 211 doesn't have arms, and that turned out to really bother  me.  The console is also very minimal, without much space to set a phone or tablet, and not much in term of quick-buttons.  I didn't bother to run on it much.  The Precor 223 had arms and a better console, but I thought it felt clunkier to run on.  Also, the tablet-holder on the console stuck up high enough that I think it would block my TV view at home.  Given that it was almost $1000 more than the Spirit, it didn't seem worth choosing it.

So, hopefully I will get the Spirit 485 in a couple weeks.  The salesman gave me the sale price for New Year's, so it is not as expensive as I thought it would be, although the delivery/assembly and take-away of my old one add to the cost.

This afternoon, I had an indoor tennis practice with my team.  In the first round, my partner, Shelley, and I got creamed, 6-1, 3-0.  We weren't playing that badly, but our opponents were playing really well.  In the second round, my partner, Jill, and I did well, with a score of 7-6, 1-1.  In the last round, my partner, Whitney, and I won 6-2, 1-1.  We played well together.

Extra Easy Run

Yesterday after work I had been planning to do cardio tennis at TCCP.  However, there weren't enough people signed up for it, so it was canceled.

Instead, I did an easy run on the treadmill instead.  I ran for 60 min at 5.6 mph, so the distance came to 5.6 mi.  This seemed like a really boring run. 

This morning, I did P90X2 Plyocide.  I haven't done this workout for quite awhile, and it was hard.  That means it's good for me, I suppose.  I didn't do the neurointegrated stretching at the end, but did my own stretching. I burned about 215 calories, even so.

Easy Run

Yesterday after work, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was an 80-min easy run.  I ran on the treadmill at 5.6 mph for 80 minutes, which came to a distance of 7.45 mi.  This run felt pretty blah - I don't think I was in the mood.  I have switched back to my previous running shoes to test the hypothesis that my current running shoes are contributing to my lower back pain.  I'm really not sure that that's the case, but we'll see.

This morning, I did P90X2 X2 Shoulders + Arms.  I burned about 115 calories.  I increased my reps on a few moves.

Combo Match

Last night I played my first 6.5 combo match of the season.  Unfortunately, my partner, Joan, and I lost 6-2, 6-3.  One of the players we played against was a 3.5 that Joan and I lost to at the end of last season - very frustrating! The other two courts both went to match tie-breakers - we won one and lost one.  Too bad to not get an overall win for the first match.

This morning, I did P90X2 X2 Core.  I really tried to emphasize keeping my body straight in the moves and not stick my butt up.  I burned about 130 calories.

Monday Night Doubles

Yesterday we drove back home to Silver Spring.  Last night, I had my usual Monday night tennis doubles at TCCP.  It was good to be back playing tennis!  My partner, Jill, and I lost our first round 6-2, but we were playing a really good pair, and we kept all of the games close.  In the second round, I lost at singles 6-5.  I had been ahead 5-3, but couldn't hold on to it.  In the last round, my partner, Lindsay, and I lost 3-1.

This morning, I did P90X2 Chest + Back + Balance.  I really feel this workout when I do it!  I burned about 110 calories.

Two Runs

Yesterday, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was an 80-min easy run.  Since I like to watch something while doing a run that long, I went to the local YMCA to use the treadmill.  In the 80 minutes, I ran 7.45 mi.  This run did feel a bit hard on my hamstrings.

My lower back has really been bothering me again.  I think the fact that I'm running more than usual and I'm not stretching as much is what's causing it, similar to the situation I was in in September when visiting Grosse Pointe for my mother-in-law's funeral.  I've been trying to be good and stretch more, but we'll see how it goes.

Today, since it is Sunday, the YMCA wasn't open in the morning, so I did my run outside.  I went to the same paved trail along the river that I did on New Year's Day.  The temperature was a bit below freezing, but at least it wasn't windy, and it wasn't snowing, at least when I started running.  By my turn-around point, it had started precipitating very small pellets of snow/ice.  Fortunately the precipitation rate was pretty low, so it didn't bother me too much.  In 1:00:36, I ran 5.56 mi, which was an average speed of 5.5 mph.  Not bad!  Even better, my splits were all negative on the run.  Considering the conditions and the run I did yesterday, I'm very happy with that.  A bonus I discovered about these cold winter runs in Franklin is that since there is pretty much NO ONE else on the trails, I can see along to my 80s pop music while I run and not bother anyone!  Ha!

Snow Run

Yesterday, Bill and I traveled up to Franklin, PA to visit my mom, my sister, and family for the holidays.  This morning, the local YMCA was closed because it was New Year's Day, so I couldn't run there.  I decided to brave the weather and do a run outside on the paved trail near the river.

It was snowing lightly the whole time, and the temperature was a few degrees below freezing.  I wore a couple long-sleeved shirts and a wind-breaker, along with running leggings and light gloves.  That really was enough to keep me warm during the run.  I ran 4.86 mi in 53:47, which gave an average speed of 5.42 mph.  That wasn't bad at all for the conditions.