Race Pace Run

Yesterday was my rest day.  My only activity was some stretching and foam rolling in the morning.  Otherwise, I definitely sat on my butt a lot because I had a bunch of meetings at work.

This morning, the weather was bad, so we couldn't have a tennis practice.  I could've gone to a boxing class, but I'm not sure if the boxing last week is what bothered my back so much, so I decided not to do that.  Instead, I did a Hammer and Chisel workout at home, Hammer Plyometrics, followed by a bunch of stretching and foam rolling.  The workout burned about 120 calories.

This afternoon, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a race-pace run.  I did 5 x 2 mi at 6.3 mph (9:30 min/mi pace), alternating with 5 x 5 min at 5.0 mph (12:00min/mi pace).  I did this on the treadmill, and the distance came to 11.9 mi in 2:00:00.  This was a hard run, which I knew it would be, so I did take breaks on the rails.

Tennis Loss

Last night I had a match with my 3.5 tennis team.  Unfortunately we lost all of the courts except one that our opponents accidentally defaulted because someone didn't show up.  My partner, Whitney, and I lost 6-4, 6-2.  One of our opponents was extremely consistent and hit very hard, and we just couldn't figure out how to beat her.  It was a frustrating match.  I'm getting tired of losing - I seem to be in a bit of a slump lately.

This morning I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Chisel Balance.  I haven't done this workout for awhile, and it showed in some of the moves.  Other moves were fine.  I'm feeling it in my glutes, however.  The workout burned about 150 calories.

Easy Run

Yesterday after work, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 60-min easy run.  It's been awhile since my training schedule had such a short run on it!  I was going to do this run outside, but it was unseasonably chilly, so I stayed inside on the treadmill.  I ran at 5.7 mph for 1 hour, so the distance came to 5.65 mi.  My Basis Peak totally screwed up my heart rate during this run - most of the time it read way too low.  I stopped and checked my heart rate on my neck to be sure.  Frustrating!

This morning, I did a workout from The Master's Hammer and Chisel.  I'm pretty much done with the original program, since I had adapted it to four days a week.  I'm going to do a few more weeks of it, but I set up a schedule to use mostly the shorter workouts.  Today I did Iso Speed Hammer, followed by 10-Minute Ab Hammer.  This burned about 125 calories. 

I wanted a shorter workout this morning, because I put together a list of stretches to do to try to help loosen up my lower back and hamstrings and glutes.  I did those, plus some foam rolling, which took an additional 35 minutes, approximately.  Hopefully doing all this a few times a week will help!

Tennis Loss

Unfortunately last night my 6.5 combo team lost all the courts in our match.  The matches were all competitive, but we just couldn't get a win in any of them.  My partner, Justine, and I struggled to figure out how to beat our opponents.  We just seemed to hand them all of these great balls to put away, no matter how we tried to change things.  We lost 6-4, 6-2.  Next time, I guess!

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Total Body Chisel.  This is a good workout that I really do like, even if I hate lunges.  I increased my weights on a move or two.  I burned about 100 calories.  Unfortunately my lower back is still really bothering me, but I think it's a bit better than yesterday.

Very Long Run

Yesterday I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a repeat of my longest run ever: 150 minutes.  This time it went much better, although it was still pretty darn long.  I ran on the treadmill at 5.7 mph, so the distance came to 14.12 mi.  I did not take as many breaks as the last time, and I didn't get light-headed, so that was a big plus.  Oddly, though, as soon as I stopped the run, my ears got plugged up like they needed to pop.  It took about an hour for that to work itself out.

Today, my lower back is much sorer than it has been for quite awhile - I don't know if it was the long run yesterday, or the boxing the day before.  Either way, it's very annoying.

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Hammer Plyometrics.  With my sore back and sort legs from the run, I really wasn't feeling this; at least it's a short workout.  I burned about 100 calories.  Afterward, I did some stretching and foam rolling.

Tennis Loss/Win

Yesterday morning it was raining, so my team tennis practice outside was canceled.  I decided to go to a boxing class instead, which was something I hadn't done for awhile.  When I canceled my membership, I bought a punch-card for 5 classes, but it turns out when I got there that my membership hadn't officially ended yet, so I didn't have to use it.  The class was good in getting my heart rate up, but I didn't work hard on a lot of the leg moves, since I knew I had a 2.5-hr run waiting for me today.  I definitely got a good soreness in my lats, triceps, and shoulders from the punching.  That's why I always thought boxing was good for me:  it helped develop upper-body power that certainly should be good for tennis!

Yesterday evening, I had a match with my 3.5 tennis team.  My partner, Whitney, and I lost 7-6, 7-5.  It doesn't get a whole lot closer than that!  We were ahead in the first set 4-1 because we were playing pretty well and our opponents were making lots of errors.  They started to play better, and caught up to us and eventually won the first set.  The first set tie-breaker was 8-6!  In the second set, we started making more errors, but we still were neck-and-neck with them in the whole set until the very end.  It was frustrating to lose when we were so close!  Fortunately, our team won three of the other courts, so we won the match overall.

Tennis Loss

Last night I had a match with my 3.5 tennis team.  Unfortunately, my partner, Grace, and I lost 7-6, 6-4. It was a really run match!  We were very even, so there were a lot of good points, and it was really neck-and-neck the whole time.  It was too bad that we got edged out in the end.  All of the individual matches were close, but we only managed to win one of them.  Too bad!

Today is my rest day, so I did some foam rolling and stretching in the morning before work.