Wednesday: (18/02/20) - REST DAY I knew allowing myself to skip yesterday's run, under the pretence that I'd get it done (and more) today, would come back and bite me on my backside... ...Going to bed by midnight last night, then waking by 3am, followed by a futile attempt to go back to sleep at 6am (maybe got 45 broken mins between 6 and 9) left me feeling pretty zapped. I did start a new Stretching and ROM routine today though, which was depressingly difficult/uncomfortable, but I suppose it is early days yet. I also managed near as dammit 11,000 steps today, whilst doing my day-to-day activities. Prett disappointed in myself if I am honest - I may have to right this half term off as a lost cause at this rate... Travess
Okay, so I pulled my head outta backside, sorted my headspace out, and got myself 'back in the game' Thursday: (20/02/20 - Part 1) I dropped one of my girls off at an all day sports camp, (which took the pressure off a little) then planned a Treadmill Run that would allow me to take frequent breaks, to check in on (and pander to) the other one. 10 x 1km / 5-min (which ever came 1st) with a 2-minute Stretching/ROM active rest between each. Total distance: 10.13km Total (run) time: 46m 21s Average Pace: 4m 35s per/km Fastest km: 3m 54s per/km (10th - new PB) Slowest km: 4m 56s per/km (9th) A fairly good effort, considering where my head was at yesterday! Travess
Thursday: (20/02/20 - Part 2) Karate @ 90-minutes - Had I known how much of a workout tonight's session was to be, i'd have made sure that my run earlier was a hell of a lot slower! We started out with 20-minutes of solid Kihon work, drilling Solo techniques, Combinations and then finishing up with some Kicking Drills. We then moved on, to 20-minutes of Kata Practice, for which, I concentrated my efforts on Shisochin. The Remaining 45/50-minutes were then dedicated to Pad Drills, working on the Lead Hand Slap to start with, then eventually adding a (same arm striking) Backfist, and the finishing up with a Rear Hand Hook - These were all practiced as isolated techniques at 1st, then as a duo combination, and then finally, with all three as a combination. Gotta admit that I feeling pretty fatigued by the end of the day, and found myself (uncharacteristically) in bed by half 10. Travess
Friday: (21/02/20) A.M. I had a jam packed morning, but still wanted to squeeze in at least one quick blast on the Treadmill. Distance: 5km Duration: 22m 58s (new PB) Av. Pace: 4m 36s per/km P.M. Karate @ 60-minutes I took a drive out again to one of Sensei's sister schools tonight, where we spent our time running through multiple Kihon Drills - This is Sensei's largest venue, with a hall space which can fit approximately 42/43 Zenkutsu Dachi (front stance) in, length ways, which (in his words) allows for more of a 'beasting' We were also given time to run through our grade group Kata, but which I used to run through all of my Kata, but with a heavy focus on Gekisai Di Ni, and Shisochin. Saturday: (22/02/20) - REST DAY Travess
Sunday: (23/02/20) No running planned, (though I still reached 14,400 steps throughout the day) but I did get in a short Superset Strength Training session, working for 12 reps of each exercise, for a total of 5 sets. Superset 1 - (arms) Hammer Curls / Skull Crushers Superset 2 - (abs) Crunches / Leg Raises Superset 3 - (legs) Squats / Calf Lifts Superset 4 - (chest/shoulders) Flat Press / Overhead Press Travess
Monday: (24/02/20) Karate @ 90-minutes - 45 minutes doing, 45 minutes taking part. Sensei got the session underway with some Kata Revision, which I spent running thru Shisochin (or at least I tried to, when I wasn't fielding questions about the Kata from others!) We then moved on to Kicking Drills - This took the form of both Kihon and Pad-work (switching back and forth between the 2, for each technique covered) starting with Mae Geri, and then Kin Geri. Following this, I took the junior grades to one side, (whilst the rest of the class went on to practice Yoko Geri, and Mawashi Geri.) to go a little deeper on the above 2 kicks - Starting with Mae Geri, we focused on both the Keage and Kekomi variants of the kick, and their diffences/similarities. My group then finished up with a Kin Geri variation, this time being utilised as an attack to the inner thigh. No run today, just a fair amount of walking again - 20910 steps in fact. Tuesday: (25/02/20) Active Rest Day No workout, running, etc. but I did manage 18,000 steps Travess
Wednesday: (26/02/20) I've been wanting to reintroduce some Yoga back in to my workouts, so I chose a routine today, as a warm up, that would complement my Treadmill Run Distance: 10km Duration: 52m 57s Pace: 5m 18s per/km This pace was ahead of my GHMP, and was still pretty comfortable (to a degree) from a cardiovascular perspective, but I still need to ramp up my distances. I am also happy to be adding an additional 13,000 steps (approximately) to my day, on top of my run. Travess
Thursday: (27/02/20) A.M. Giving my legs a bit of a rest, I ran myself a short (20 minute) Strength Session, working 1-minute on - 20s Bicep Curls / 20s Tricep Curls / 20s Push Ups - 1-minute off, for 17-minutes, then finishing up with 3-minutes of Plank Variation (1-min each side, 1-min centre) P.M. My youngest is home from school with (suspected) tonsillitis at the mo, so whilst I did attend the Kids Karate class this evening - Where we covered Sparring Footwork, and then worked on grade group Kata, even introducing some Saifa Bunkai for the senior grades - I skipped the adult's one to be home as 'back-up', during the girl's bedtimes. Travess
Friday: (28/02/20) I enjoyed a pretty relaxed, and sedentary morning, that, from an 'exercise' standpoint, only contained a 20-minute Walk, (1,200 steps approx) a 10-minute Yoga Routine, both of which I squeezed in around making packed lunches, having to get so shopping done, and other general day-to-day activities. I was so ready for Karate tonight, all be bit it for a shorter session than the one I missed last night - 60 minutes of Kihon and Kata (20m / 40m split) The kihon was not too complex, but it was fast paced, and highly energetic, whilst the kata was done at our own pace. Essentially, I found myself a little corner of the dojo to work in, and ran thru a variety of Kata, in random order, with varying degrees of intensity. Gekisai dai Ichi (x3) Gekisai dai Ni (x4) Saifa (x6) Seyunchin (x3) Shisochin (x9) Sanseru (x4) Seipai (x2) Sanchin (x2) Tensho (x2) I came to a few realisations, ironed out a few kinks, identified a couple of new problem areas, got a damn good sweat on, and, thoroughly enjoyed myself! Travess
Saturday: (29/02/20) I really didn't feel like banging out a Run today, but I had 90km planned for February, and as of waking up this morning, my total only stood at 61.5km There was no way I was gonna make up the full 28.5km deficit, not in 1- day, so I didn't even bother trying - What I did do though was 10km Negative Split (treadmill) Run, with aim of the last 5km being faster than the first. First 5km: 28m 14s Last 5km: 24m 58s -/+ Split: -3m 16s I'm very happy with the split difference, but this would have only been a minute or so faster, had I not chosen to sprint the last mile, but that did gain me 2 new PBs New PB 1mile: 6m 39s (previous 7m 15s) New PB 1km: 3m 33s (previous 3m 54s) So all in all, I'm glad that I didn't allow myself to not run today! Travess
Sunday: (01/03/20) - Active Rest Day Today was a planned rest day, with 2 minor exceptions. 1) I will be turning 45 on the 25th, so I have decided to ring that in with 45 reps, of a single exercise, on each day up until that point... Day 1: 15 reps each of Wide Arm, Military and Diamond Push Ups 2) I'm still trying to get more Walking done, with the aim of getting over my 10,000 steps (not every day, but at least a few times each week) Today I hit 11,765 steps, which is okay, but which is easily 20% lower than this time last week. Travess
Monday: (02/03/20) 45 @ 45: (day 2) Today I was set for 45 x Goblet Squat variation (3 sets of 5 x left side squat, squat, right side squat) using just an 8kg KB Karate: (90 minutes) We started with 20 minutes of Kihon Drills (multiple sequences, and Kicking drills) then moved on to Pad Drills, which we did for the remaining 70 minutes - These include 2, 3 and 4 Strike Combination, Dropping Weight techniques, Redirecting (before striking) and then all of the above, with Multiple Pad Holder Targets. This was a very physical and demanding session, but it was a whole he'll of a lot of fun too! Walking: Keeping up with my non-run day Walks, trying to get my 10,000 steps in, today I hit 13,547 in total. Travess
Tuesday: (03/03/20) - Active Rest Day 45 @ 45: (day 3) Doing a spot of Shadow Boxing today, I threw in a Jab, Cross, Roundhouse combination, which I did 3 reps of from Orthodox stance, 3 reps from Southpaw stance, and repeated until I hit 45 reps. Steps: This will likely be my last step count this week, as I'm now free to get in some actual training sessions - Went out on a high for the week though, with just shy of 15,000 steps. Travess
Wednesday: (04/03/20) I combined my 45 @ 45 Challenge with my Half Marathon Training today, with an Off-Road Run (45+mins out, 45+ mins back) Duration: 1h 31m 04s Distance: 10 miles / 16.1km Av Pace: 5m 39s per/km Not a great session - I think I've dedicated too much of my training to treadmill running for this event, which really showed in my leg endurance, or lack there of, when faced with the hilly, off-road terrain today. Travess
Thursday: (05/03/20) 45@45 Challenge I chose something very basic and time efficient today, with 3 x 45s Plank Variations, which was made up of 45s x RHS Plank, 45s x Low Plank and 45s x LHS Plank Karate: (75 minutes*) Sensei had a Ground Skills session planned for tonight, so, following a Grappling based warm up (transitioning thru "boss grip") it was matts down, for a Randori based Flow Drill. The drill, which starts from a kneeling clinch, rolls into Scarf Hold, then out in Side Control, followed by a transition into Full Guard, an escape the puts you into Mount, then back in Full Guard again - This was as far as we got to today though. (I believe that there are 2 more transitions to the drill) My partner for the session also trains BJJ, so it was insightful working some of the transitions with him. (Note: *We lost 15 minutes at the end of the session, getting all the matts stowed away, before the next hall users moved in.) Travess
Friday: (06/03/20) Morning: 45@45 Challenge: Today was all about the Triceps, focusing 3 variations - 3 x 15 Dips, 3 x 15 Skull Crushers, and 3 x 15 Tricep (TRX) Curls Afternoon: 2-hour Walk: One of my work colleagues, whom I will be doing the 3-peaks-Challenge with this June, arranged a get together, to cover an elevated (upto 311m) distance of 10km, which we did in 1h 59m 04s Evening: Karate: (60 minutes) It was the first ever kids class of one of Sensei's other schools today, and as only one kid showed up (who already attends the main club) I enjoyed a spot of 1-to-1 training with him - This ran the gamut of Kihon, Kata, Pad Drills, Partner Drills (counter striking) and even a Takedown (outer reaping sweep) thrown in for good measure. Saturday: (07/03/20) - ACTIVE REST DAY 45 @ 45 Challenge: 20 x Bicycle Crunches and 25 x (weighted) Mason Twists, followed by 6+ hours sat on a grading panel. Travess
Not too bad actually - Historically, despite not doing much tricep work, they are not really a muscle group that I experience DOMs with, especially when I vary the exercises. (Isolating Skull Crushers has proven to be the exception to this rule) Travess
Sunday: (08/03/20) Another ACTIVE REST DAY Didn't even manage to squeeze in a 45 @ 45 Challenge today, with all my running around, but did manage to bang out just shy of 22,000 steps (and I will make up the missed challenge tomorrow) Travess
Monday: (09/03/20) A.M. As I stated yesterday, I doubled up on my 45@45 Challenge exercises today, to make up for the one that I missed - 10-down-to-5 reps of Flat Press, interspersed with the same again of EZ Bar Curls. P.M. Karate: (105 minutes) I started with some Kata, before the class started, running from Ichi all the way thru to Seipai, at a walkthrough pace, to get myself warmed up. Once the class got under way, we were absolutely thrashed for the first 30 minutes, with 10 minutes of Kihon, 10 minutes of Kata, and 10 minutes of Footwork Drills - Then the real fun began... ...60 minutes of Sparring Drills, focusing on Closing the Distance, Limb Control/Trapping, Moving Offline, and Counter-striking, all of which I am assured we will be repeating again tomorrow night. Travess
