Tag: cardio

This morning I missed work because I was sick. I needed the rest, and I can’t drive while I’m taking this drug cocktail.

This sounds incongruous, but I rode to the beach with Nik in the afternoon. I thought the sunshine and sea air might make me feel better. I wasn’t wrong. I walked to the pier and back – taking frequent breaks.

After that I ordered an ice water from the bar and rested for a bit. I actually sat in the car because it was so windy outside. Then I walked to the boardwalk and back. After another rest, it was time to go home.

I felt pretty good, especially after eating a meal (fish tacos before we left the island). I took some knock-off Nyquil and a decongestant before bed. I’m hoping I’ll be drug free (or close to it) tomorrow. Then I can get back into my routine and work on getting ready for CIC 2. (I know I need to take it easy for a few more days so that my lungs can catch up, but I’m getting stir crazy over here.)

Today Nik and I hit the gym in the afternoon. Here’s my set list for today.

I tried to use the AMT (the hellspawn machine), but it kept telling me my heart rate was too high. When I slowed down, the machine reset. I got frustrated and tried running on the track. I think I ended up running 3.5 laps and walking 1.5. I had to click the mask down a couple elevations.

As a bonus, here’s Monday’s set list.

I thought I was taking it easy on Monday. I was not taking it easy.

Tonight Nik went to fencing while I attended a Krav meeting. We didn’t work out, but we ironed out a lot of details about our future as an organization. Tomorrow Nik and I will both go to Krav practice. I’m hoping to do more working out and less planning tomorrow.

The last few days leading up to MCA were brutal. It seemed like there was a ton of stuff to do and not a lot of time to do it, and then there were days when we couldn’t work ahead, so we had all this idle time. It’s hard to explain.

Anyway, I left off on Wednesday. Let’s get caught up.

Thursday: I didn’t have much time, so I did 15 minutes of cardio (elliptical with the mask on) and then met up with a handful of people for extra fencing practice. We all kind of phoned it in, but I fought a few passes with everyone.

Friday: We had regular club practice and then did a few hours of setup. We didn’t have time to go to the gym, but I definitely got my steps in (and then some).

Saturday: THE BIG DAY. I fenced every tournament that I was eligible for (minus the sword and dagger tourney). I did good fencing but didn’t advance very far. I did have some issues with fighting my gear, but I mostly stayed in my headspace. I had taken off and packed up most of my gear when the King and Queen came to me and asked me to participate in the championship tournament at the end of the event. I was honored and gladly obliged. Again, I didn’t advance, but I did good fencing.

That’s me on the right.

I took it easy yesterday. Today I’m headed back to the gym. Everyone in the club is pretty spent, so I think we’re going to check in with the club fencers and then go lift instead of fencing. My legs are really sore, so I feel like a day off won’t kill me.

In other news, I compiled a bunch of superhero-inspired workouts to share with my friends, and I took photos of some sample workouts from a book I got from the library. I’ve deleted BodySpace since it wasn’t really meeting my needs. We’ll see if compiling workouts helps or if it’s just another form of research rabbit hole that I can fall down without doing any actual work.

I ended up not stopping cardio yet. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical with the mask on and had an average heart rate of 144

After a short rest, I went to club practice. I got to fence with Nik’s mentor Mikolaj. He’s an extremely skilled fencer, so I felt like I was doing good fencing when I gave him a good fight, even though I didn’t make a lot of touches.

I got a lot of stuff done today (you know, like my real job and sewing projects and whatnot).

I went to the gym and did my 30 minutes of cardio with the mask on. I clicked up a level on one side. I don’t remember my average heart rate, but I am maintaining rigor.

Tonight I got tipsy and did some timing, judgment, and balance drills. It was not as much of a disaster than one would think.

I have two more real practice nights and one more extra fencing night until MCA.

Once again, I skipped dedicated cardio time because I was doing projects. However, I fenced hard for half an hour, so I think I killed two birds with one stone.

I worked on taking my sword and buckler against a long sword. It’s a challenge, and I really have to be aggressive to make it work. If I can gain the blade and keep it, once I’m in distance, the fight is over. It was a lot of fun too.

I was just telling Nik that I don’t feel like I’m fencing when I do rapier. I move around and sweat and get tired, but it isn’t the same as when I use my arming sword. When I do sword and buckler, I feel like I’m really fighting. I don’t know if that means I need to change my rapier game or if it just means the two are different beasts. I’m not stressing over it – just curious.

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.

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!