Author: fencingmarie

Monday was kind of rough. It’s been gray and dreary outside, and that affects me. I did my cardio with my mask on for 30 minutes, and then I joined Nik for some lifting. I was struggling to get my heart rate in the range I like (140-160). I didn’t go to fencing practice on Monday night because I needed to get ready to teach my Tuesday morning class. Nik and I played some timing and judgment games when he got home from practice.

On Tuesday I did another 30 minutes of elliptical with my mask on, and I was able to increase the elevation. I got my heart rate up into the 140s and even into the 150s. Extra fencing practice was a little more structured than usual. We talked about a simple but effective dagger technique. It can be a bit tedious, but I think it’s a good way for people who are new to fencing with sword and dagger to start off against other new fencers or even intermediate fencers.

Yesterday (you guessed it) I did my 30 minutes on the elliptical with my mask on. I was able to get my heart rate up pretty quickly (in fact, it went over 160, which I’ve been avoiding), and I was able to increase the elevation slightly for part of my run. I think my heart rate was so high because I was watching the news. Apparently I run faster when I’m upset. After that I went to regularly-scheduled practice. I got to fence a variety of fencers on a variety of levels. Since it was Valentine’s Day, I made a point to fence with my husband (we rarely actually fence each other since we’re usually maximizing our teaching by being in two different places at once).

Today… Man, I don’t know how I’m going to do today. I want to do 30 minutes of cardio, and I want to work on my fencing, and I need to practice Krav. I don’t know if I’ll have enough time to do all of it and still get a good night’s sleep.

Today was a lazy rainy day. Park practice was cancelled. I went to the mall but got frustrated and came home when I couldn’t find what I wanted, so I walked around a little, but I didn’t go to the gym. Nik and I did some timing and judgment drills to keep the streak alive.

Today I woke up a little later than I meant to. I skipped cardio but fenced. I haven’t practiced cut & thrust fencing much in my element yet, so fencing I.33 was a welcome change of pace. It felt really good to just fight my fight.

My bane mask came in!

First I wore it around the house for about half an hour trying it out. Then I wore it to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical (plus a cooldown, but I took it off for that part). I even bumped the setting up on one side (it has switches 1-5 on the right and left) for the last five minutes of my run. I felt pretty good. It took me a long time to get my heart rate up to 140 bpm, and my average heart rate was 136.

Since that was a success, I tried wearing it for warm-ups at fencing. I did my two laps but had to take it off and rest a second before doing the rest of the warm-up (high knees, etc.).

Fencing practice was okay. We warmed up and did a couple drills. Then I fenced with a new person, and a couple more people wanted to fence with me. My hands weren’t so tired that I couldn’t hold my sword, so that was nice.

In other news, I’ve lost 3lbs. I missed Body Fat Tuesday last week, so that stinks. I’d like to know how the body recomposition is going now that I’m primarily doing cardio. However, I’m seeing progress with my fitness in other ways, so I don’t mind not getting a fat percentage documented this month.

Today I did my 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. I can keep my heart rate in the neighborhood of 145 bpm comfortably. My mask comes in tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes once I try it out.

I noticed that I lunged a hole in my sneaker. Awesome. I’ll fix it with tape for now. Everything else about the show is fine.

Tonight I did Krav with Mike and Eddie. We practiced defense against hair pulls, so at the end of practice I looked like this.

When I got home, I showed Nik my lunge based on his suggestions. I still feel like it looks more like a big step than a proper lunge, but he says it’s an improvement, so I’m going to roll with it.

My elevation mask should be here tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Today I took my cardio in the form of a walk on the beach. The weather was stormy but not ugly.

After that I went to fencing practice. I missed the warm up, but I was there for drills, and I got to bout with four people (usually I’m lucky if I bout with one person). Today was a good day.

Tomorrow my mask should be here. I’m looking forward to trying it out. I’ll let you know how that goes!

Yesterday I did 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical before fencing practice. At fencing practice I worked with a new person, and then I fenced with the modern fencing guy. I haven’t done modern foil before, and it’s completely different from classical foil and rapier. I’m glad I tried it even if it isn’t my thing.

Today I did 30 more minutes on a different elliptical. I did some lunges today, this time focusing on making them explosive. I feel like my “explosive lunge” is really more like a big step forward. I’ll ask for feedback at our next practice.

In other news, I realized that CIC 2 will happen at a much higher elevation than I’ve ever experienced outside of an airplane. I’ve spent my entire life at sea level, so I bought an oxygen deprivation mask to wear at the gym. I’ll let you know how things go with the #baneofmyexistence mask.

Today instead of going to the park, I worked on some things I needed to do at home. If we’re being honest, I may have been avoiding practice, but I also made some money working on a dissertation and helped a friend with a sewing project. I think I’m better at actually helping (instead of steam rolling) when I’m busy, so it worked out well.

Nik just indulged me with some fencing games. We did the bean bag drop (timing & judgment), the rope & bean bag (timing), and the glove game (timing and distance). I also showed him some lunges, and he have gave me some feedback on placement of my back foot. My front knee is looking better.