Tag: elevation training

My roomies are here!

I was awake when they got in last night. I’m sleeping a little better. It took me awhile to fall asleep, but I stayed asleep. I’m making a point to not take a nap today so that I can go to bed early tonight.

Today we bought groceries and found our way to the gym where we’ll be training.

This afternoon, Eddie and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. He convinced me to run. We ran about 4 minutes, took a break to walk, and then ran another 6 minutes. Cardio warmups take 3-4 minutes, so we wanted to hit that range and push a little further. Now I know for sure I can do it.

That being said, the run was fairly unpleasant. I did my best to control my breathing, but I still couldn’t get enough oxygen. At the end of the four minutes, I couldn’t feel the end of my nose. At the end of the six minutes, my ears felt all stopped up. As uncomfortable as that was, I stayed on my feet, I didn’t stop moving, and I didn’t pass out.

Day 0 of CIC 2 is a success.

Today I tested out my lungs in this new and unusual land. I was on the elliptical for about an hour and felt pretty good. I had a light headache, but managing my breathing wasn’t too bad. Here are my stats, but I didn’t keep my hands on the heart rate monitor the whole time.

What astounded me was that my sweat actually evaporated instead of drawing more moisture to my body. My shirt was the same color after my workout as it was before!

After a short rest, I changed and hit the hotel pool. I swam for about 20 minutes (head out of water) and enjoyed the hot tub for 5 more.

I didn’t push myself super hard today, but I’m feeling optimistic.

Yesterday I hit the gym and had chest day with Nik. I’m sticking with the low weight with high reps. I don’t have a set list for you because…

…I’m in Colorado! I got on my plane yesterday evening and arrived safe and sound around midnight. I have a couple of days to acclimate to the elevation and utter lack of humidity, and then it’s time for CIC 2!

My plan for the day is to take it easy, maybe check out some stuff in my 5-mile radius. My hotel has a fitness center and a pool (with a hot tub), so I’ll be making use of those at some point as well. I’d like to try a little cardio up here to see what I’m in for before I’m in the thick of things.

Let’s see… I’ve been slacking with updates but not with exercise.

Last Monday I had a good Krav class. I don’t remember if I went to the gym or not. If I went, I did cardio.

I did go to the gym Tuesday. It was arm day. I cut my workout a little shorter than Nik’s so that I could run.

On Wednesday I did chest and abs and then went to Krav. That was a mistake. Conditioning was agony that day.

On Thursday I was sore, and we had company, so no workout for me. I skipped fencing on Friday because we had different company.

Saturday made up for it. I did a Krav seminar in the morning. Then I helped with a fencing demo in the afternoon and walked a 5K (in armor) at sunset.

I might go to the gym today; I don’t know. It depends on whether I can coax my feet into my sneakers. I have some pretty impressive blisters from yesterday.

I was without Internet access a few days, so I’m behind on my updates.

On Tuesday I had limited time at the gym. I hit the elliptical for about 15 minutes with the mask at the highest setting. Here’s a photo of my stats.

I had another short workout yesterday (Wednesday). I did about 20 minutes on the elliptical with the mask on high. I didn’t get a good photo of the machine.

After that, I went to Krav. Mike and I had one student, so we trained with her. I got a nice workout. After class, I worked security at a bar until midnight – it wasn’t much of a workout. I just got some steps in.

Today was a rest day.

Today I hit the elliptical with the Everest mask on the highest setting. Here are some numbers.

I went to Krav in the evening. Michael was teaching, but I helped with the warmup, demonstrations, and stuff like that. I participated as much as I could.

The game was really challenging for me. I’m a little concerned about CIC 2. I was hoping my fitness level would be higher, but I’m not seeing much change in class. Bring able to run on the elliptical is all well and good, but I need to keep up in class for long periods of time.

I hope part of the problem is trying to talk and work out at the same time.

Yesterday I did some cardio with the mask on. Here are my numbers from the elliptical.

Today I didn’t make it to the gym, but I did have a very active Krav class. None of the guys could make it, so I was lead instructor. Three people showed up. I definitely got my workout in by explaining, demonstrating, and partnering up with the odd (wo)man out. Everyone did the techniques right, was huffin’ and puffin’, and had a good time.

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.