Weeknight Boxing

Last night I went to a boxing class at my regular club.  I have missed some Sundays, so I like to go mid-week, if I can.  After all, I'm paying for it!

We warmed up by doing some shadow boxing with weights - 3 lbs per hand for me.  This is a good warm-up and typically makes my lats sore the next day.  Today, I am sore, but not too bad.  The class was OK; in some ways it was almost too much boxing, which sounds weird, but there wasn't much conditioning.  That's probably good, since I'm not looking to get really worn out before my half-marathon on Sunday.

This morning I did Body Beast BULK Shoulders.  I burned about 115 calories.

Monday Doubles and Tempo Workout

Last night I played my usual Monday night doubles at TCCP.  I played OK.  Michelyn and I got crushed in the first round by Julie and Jessica - we should not have lost so badly.  Julie was playing really well at the net.  In the second round, Jill and I were down initially, but came back to win decisively.  We finished with a 10-point tie-breaker; my partner and I were ahead when we had to quit.

This morning, I did Body Beast TEMPO Chest/Tris and P90X2 Ab Ripper.  The tempo workouts are very slow movements.  I think the idea is to have more time under tension for the muscles in order to stimulate growth.  I was certainly shaking on some of the moves.  However, they don't burn a lot of calories according to my BodyMedia device; it was about 180 calories for the whole workout.

Shoulders Workout

This morning I did Body Beast BUILD Shoulders.  I upped the weights for the shoulder shrugs and the scap traps.  I burned about 125 calories.

I've been receiving the prep info for my half-marathon this Sunday at the Frederick Running Festival.  I signed up to be able to pick up my bib and other stuff the morning of the race instead of the day before.  Unfortunately, that means arriving between 5:30 - 6:15am for the 7am race.  Honestly, I'd probably aim to get there early like that anyway, but it isn't fun to think about.

I found out from the race information that there will be pace runners doing the race, and I can join a pace group.  I had been aiming for a 2:15:00 or less finish, and of course there's no group for that.  I think I'll join the 2:10:00 group and see how that goes.  If I really can keep that pace (and not get going faster), I should be able to do it.

Weekend Tennis Tournament

I haven't posted for a couple days, so some catch-up.

Friday was my recovery day.  I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility and burned about 90 calories.

Friday night, I went to Bethany Beach, DE, with some friends from my 3.0 tennis team.  We stayed at Joan's beach house for the weekend.  We played in the Bethany Beach USTA tournament at Sea Colony on Saturday.

Our first tournament match was Saturday at 10am - against each other.  It turns out that no other 3.0 women registered for the tournament, so we played ourselves and the winner won the tournament at the 3.0 level for doubles.  Joan and I played Fran and Mary Ann.  We won 6-2, 6-1.  It was fun, and a beautiful day.  A little disappointing to come out to play one match.  But we got medals!

Joan, me, the referee, Fran, Mary Ann

Saturday afternoon we went back to Sea Colony and played again for fun.  Fran and I beat Joan and Mary Ann 6-3, 3-6, 1-0. 

Sunday also turned out to be beautiful.  I ran 3.03 miles in 29:42 (goal pace) to burn some calories.  Then we went to a different set of courts and played our last round of tennis.  Mary Ann and I lost to Joan and Fran 5-7, 1-6.  Ouch!  It was a really great trip!

Evening Practice

Yesterday in the early evening, I did a boxing class.  I don't usually do these during the week, but I had to be in the area at the time, and so I avoided the traffic.  It was a pretty easy class, honestly.  I was happy that the instructor didn't do any push-ups, because my chest was still pretty sore.  I'm sure he just totally forgot, because usually we do them.

This morning I did Body Beast BUILD Back/Bis and P90X2 Ab Ripper.  I went too light on some of the back exercises, so I noted that for next time.  I burned about 170 calories total.  I'm still pretty sore in my chest and triceps.  Not really feeling it in the shoulders, though, despite two workouts for them this week.  Does that mean I'm not pushing my shoulders as hard?

This evening I had an outside practice for my tennis team.  I played pretty well in the first rotation, but so-so in the second.  When the Sun gets pretty low, the angle of the light and the shadows really mess with my ability to see the ball properly.  I just feel kind of weird playing in that .

Intervals During Taper

Yesterday afternoon I ran some intervals on the treadmill.  I am tapering before my half-marathon now, so it wasn't too heavy.  4 x 2 minutes at 7.2 mph and then 4 x 90 sec at 3.5 mph.  With warm-up and cool down, it took 24 minutes and the distance was 1.89 mi.  Then I walked at 3.5 mph for the remainder of the hour to burn a few more calories.

This morning I did Body Beast BULK Shoulders.  I was correct yesterday in my assumption that my chest would be pretty sore today.  Nothing I can't live with, but everything seems just a bit more difficult.  I burned about 110 calories in this workout.

Monday Night Doubles

Last night I played my usual doubles at TCCP.  It was fun.  Although my legs were still tired, I ended up playing quite well.  I was seeing balls at the net better and had really good shot placement.  Sometimes I wonder if it's helpful to "pre-exhaust" myself so that I end up having more control.

I had been thinking last night before bed about how far I've come in my fitness abilities over the last 5 years or so.  After all, looking back over the last few days, I played four hours of tennis on Saturday, did boxing and ran 13 miles on Sunday, did a strength workout Monday morning, and still killed my tennis Monday evening.  That's a lot of activity to be doing, most of it at a pretty successful level.  And I am not unduly fatigued or sore.  (I did drink a heck of a lot yesterday, though.)  At any rate, it made me think about how much I've accomplished, and I'm pretty proud of it.

This morning I did Body Beast BUILD Chest/Tris and P90X2 Ab Ripper.  I wasn't as sore as I expected from the shoulder work yesterday.  However, usually my chest gets really sore the first time I work it in awhile.  I felt like I was quite a bit stronger in my chest today than the last time I'd done it, which I suppose is good.  I burned about 190 calories total.