Tag: lyra

Today I did my fitness assessment. As I suspected, I gained some weight (about 10 lbs from my last weigh-in) and some fat (1% from my most recent test). The trainer couldn’t measure the fat on my thigh because my quads are so huge. That was nice.

I was pleasantly surprised at my muscular endurance score. I did 40 push ups before losing form.

I don’t fully understand the cardio endurance test. I was supposed to keep a specific rate on the bicycle while the monitor measured my heart rate. Then the computer changed the resistance on the bike. It worked in 3-minute cycles. The computer told me I was done, but I felt like I could have gone longer. Then my report said my cardio needs improvement. I don’t disagree, but I also don’t understand why.

Improving cardio will help the other area that needs help – my fat percentage. I also talked to the trainer about weight lifting for burning day instead of weight lifting to bulk up.

My BP and heart rate (which aren’t bad but could be better) should improve in tandem with my cardio endeavors.

All that leaves is back flex. My plan is to do more yoga and lyra, but I’m not sure what I can afford this month since I need to make some repairs to my car. Yoga is free at UWF, but lyra (which is just so much fun) is off-site and carries a small fee.

Today was rest day, so I don’t have anything to report on that front. I ended up skipping fencing because I didn’t feel prepared for my real job tomorrow, so there’s nothing new there either. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store for me.

There hasn’t been much to report.

The attendance in my Krav class tanked to the point that it wasn’t worth it to have regular classes. I’m looking forward to some seminars last month, but that was kind of a downer.

The good news is that I can fence more now (remember that Friday Knight Fights were keeping me from the only day per week that I could practice). I’ve held a regional SCA practice, and I’ve participated in fencing and conditioning with the UWF group (there’s lots of overlap). Fencing at UWF is great, but my SCA classes are poorly attended. I can’t help but wonder if I’m doing something wrong since my classes keep drying up. I have to remind myself that life gets in the way. I’m not necessarily a bad teacher.

There’s an SCA event coming up this weekend. I haven’t competed since MCA.

I’ve been hitting the gym with Nik – weight lifting mostly. He wants to go to the gym daily, and I tag along when I can. I was having trouble fitting workouts in with these ten-hour days. However, my job situation is about to change, so I’ll be able to (at least temporarily) devote more time to fitness.

I still take lots of walks on the beach.

I’m not doing yoga (my old yogi kind of spoiled me), but I have been taking acro classes here and there. I took an acro chair class and learned some neat poses. I’d like to do that and Lyra again. I’ve caught wind of a hand stand conditioning class, and I may try that out too.

I hate to boil down months of working out to a few short paragraphs, but it would be tedious if I didn’t. I will, however, brag that I worked out enough to earn my free movie tickets through my workplace’s employee fitness incentive program. One month of working out for at least 30 minutes per day 3 times per week gets you a water bottle; three months gets you a bag (this time – last time it was a pedometer); and six months gets you two free movie tickets. Last time I got the first two prizes but not the movie tickets because I lost my incentive sheet and didn’t know where to pick it back up (also I think I lost a week when I was sick).

Anyway, I have some changes coming up in my life soon – change in employment, going back to school, etc. – so I have no idea where my journey will take me. Literally I’ll still be in Pensacola, but aside from that, I’m not sure. I think we’re going to try to get a Krav class going again, and I’m looking forward to a new school year and recruiting new fencing club members at UWF.

Last Wednesday I worked out at Krav along with the class and then put in some extra practice with Michael and the Three Bears afterwards to work on P4 skills to get us ready for CIC 1.

On Thursday I took a Lyra class. It was all bodyweight – no cardio – but a fun challenge for me. I was able to do the moves and felt super proud of myself!

Starting Friday after work, my students and I helped with the SCA demo at Pensacon… in addition to regularly scheduled practice. Tiny Nick! and I met at the Bay Center to do a very brief demo and then cut out to go to UWF practice. My kiddo came into town just in time to go with us, so that was pretty cool. We also had some newcomers that night.

On Saturday and Sunday, we fenced intermittently more or less all day. Demo fighting is fun because you can do weird and flashy stuff you’d never do in a tournament. I wore my “Merida dress” with chain maille under, and that seemed to be a big hit. It’s important to me that little girls see that you can be a pretty princess and still sword fight.

Monday was another Krav night. I let Michael take the lead on that once since I wasn’t really prepared after my busy weekend. We stayed after and worked on a few more P4 skills. We’re almost finished working our way through that level!

Yesterday morning I got some bad news and stayed home from work. I slept a lot in the morning hours, but in the late afternoon, I felt well enough to go to the gym with Nik. We fenced with Tiny Nick!, lifted some weights, did some cardio, and then met up with more students and fenced a little more. When I was working out, I wasn’t so sad. I really appreciate my friends and students – more than they know.

Tonight is a Krav night. I actually organized the lesson and feel pretty good about it. February seems to be moving as quickly as January did slowly (if that makes sense), so I want to get as much floor time in as possible before April!

I’m two weeks post-op from LASIK. I can get sweat and tap water in my eyes, I don’t wear the shield when I sleep, and I’m allowed to enjoy swimming pools and hot tubs. I still take eye drops more than usual, but other than that, it’s a dream come true.