Today Nik and I were on a roll with projects, so we ended up skipping the gym. We did have fencing practice, but since we couldn’t get to the equipment, we did some conditioning at the beginning of practice. I got to fence a bunch of people, and I showed folks some basic buckler concepts.

After that, we ate cheeseburgers and went to the movies. I’ll call it a good night.

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.

Day 21

Today I did my lunges after doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes on the punching bag at the gym. My punches are getting better. The big knuckles are the ones with the chafing from my gloves!

I don’t know how much lowering the target for my lunges helped me because I’m still sore around the edges from Krav last night (it wasn’t nonstop like Monday, but it was a challenging class, and we did go over our time). I hit the target more often than not. When the movement gets robotic, I get sloppy.

I’m taking ibuprofen before combat activities and a muscle relaxer after (like as soon as I get home so I’m not a zombie the next day). Shoulders are stiff but starting to get back to where they were, flex wise. Now my calves are angry with me. Fortunately, what I’m experiencing now is soreness, not pain.